Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints are often criticized for having blind, uninformed obedience. Sometimes they are criticized of being indoctrinated to ignore scientific and historical issues that conflict with the beliefs they hold dear.
As an active member of the LDS Church I disagree with these criticisms. But growing up in the Church, I was advised by my parents and leaders to not read anti-Mormon literature because it would give me doubts. While this may be good advice for a person with a young testimony, it is also a little naive because at some point, every member of the Church will inevitably read or hear criticisms of the Church and have doubts.
Eventually I ran into my own doubts, and thus began my crisis of faith. One big factor to this crisis came from anti-Mormon literature that I could never seem to find the "answer" to, and just could not walk away from.
Is it OK to walk away from anti-Mormon literature?
For many, the question to walk away may be a very simple one. They know from God the Church is true, and so they do not feel the need to read or accept as truth any literature or criticisms that others may assert.
But for me and many others, walking away is difficult. Even though I had a spiritual witness that the Church was true, I would still find myself worrying about questions and doubts. I would come across anti and “know” it’s not true, but sincerely doubt, what if it is? I feared I would do what our critics said we do: blindly ignoring the truth. What if there was just something that "they" hadn't told me that definitively disproved the Church?
I have since walked away, and found peace and certainty with my testimony of the Church. I want to talk about how, at least in part, I was able to do that. If you have family members or loved ones struggling with doubts or having a crisis of faith about the Church, please share this article with them. This subject is especially important to me, because my own father fell away from the Church because he did not know how to deal with his own doubts as he ran into anti-Mormon and other philosophies that purported to answer the questions he had about religion.
Two Ways of Discerning Truth
The first step I had to do was recognize that the method of discovering truth that I was using is not the Lord’s way. Jesus taught this principle during his mortal ministry:
15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven (Matthew 16). Also see DC 50:17-22
Here Christ teaches of the two ways of discerning truth: the Lord’s way (revelation), and the world’s way (flesh and blood). As we know from the scriptures, the Lord's way involves seeking and asking God what the truth is, studying his word, and receiving an answer directly from him through the Holy Spirit. But on my mission I would teach this principle many times, only to have an investigator come back with many questions and doubts. Instead of asking God, they had asked the internet. I call this the world’s way.
The world’s way of discerning truth includes the following: trying to study it out using logic and reason, using the scientific method, looking for proof or seeking for signs and miracles, reading LDS Apologetics (defenders of the Church) or its counterpart: anti-Mormon literature, asking for archaeological proof that the Bible or Book of Mormon is true, or searching the internet to find out the Church is true.
The problem with the world’s ways is that if you use it to find out if the Church is true, or whether or not the anti that you read is true, you are never going to find a satisfactory answer. This dissatisfaction can go in two different directions, logically trying to prove or disprove the Church.
Proving the Church True
This can happen many different ways. One might try and prove the Church true by reading about the miracles and fulfilled prophecies that happened during the early days of the restoration. They may also study the physical evidences of the Book of Mormon, such as archaeology, chiasmi, or the 3 witnesses. I remember at one time reading an impressive article about physical evidences of the Book of Mormon. The whole time I was like ha ha. Take that people who say there is no archaeological evidence for the Book of Mormon. To me it seemed that people must consciously refuse to notice the physical evidences in it because they do not want to admit the truth.
But when I finished reading about the different physical evidences, my testimony was no stronger than before. All I wanted was another one. It did not satisfy. Why? because signs do not create faith.
For example, one may read that Joseph Smith had a limited education according to his wife and mother at the time he wrote the Book of Mormon. This proves the Book of Mormon is true, because anyone who reads the book knows that its author did not have a limited education. Or does it? Because maybe Joseph Smith didn’t write the Book of Mormon. Or maybe his wife and mother lied when they told those statements because they were “in on it” too. Or maybe the statements were simply made up by Church leaders today.
Every evidence that you study in this direction just leads to more questions and wondering. As Elder Christopherson said: “Faith will not come from the study of ancient texts as a purely academic pursuit. It will not come from archaeological digs and discoveries. It will not come from scientific experiments. It will not even come from witnessing miracles. These things may serve to confirm faith, or at times to challenge it, but they do not create faith. Faith comes by the witness of the Holy Spirit to our souls, Spirit to spirit, as we hear or read the word of God. And faith matures as we continue to feast upon the word.”
Trying To Disprove the Church
The principle is also true when one is trying to disprove the Church. Besides the fact that this manner of discerning truth is not the Lord’s way, you can never really sure. How does one know that a particular condemning thought is true? Perhaps it was written by detractors of the Church? If it is true, how does one prove that it is necessarily evil? Does someone else judge it to be a good thing? And if it is evil, how does one know it is not simply the mistakes of men? Once things of this nature are studied both from the perspective of someone who is apologetic to the Church and someone who is a detractor, it quickly becomes a battle of he said she said. He says it is a big deal, she says it isn't. He says she is biased, and she says he is biased.
But I invite you, if you do find some anti that gives you doubt, to do a little investigation. It will not give you soul satisfying answers, but hearing a counter argument with Mormon apologetics can get rid of the ridiculous anti. The most well known resource is fairmormon.org. Other good LDS apologetic institutions are FARMS or the Maxwell Institute. After searching these sources I am typically able to find just as strong yet equally dissatisfying answers most of the time. It is especially helpful for weeding out the things that obviously have no reason to give doubt.
But remember, you will not get a satisfactory answer discerning truth the world’s way. It is OK to do an investigation about doubts or accusations using the world’s method, but eventually you will have to stop and walk away. Many get trapped here, going back and forth between apologetic and anti-Mormon sources. Some fall away from the church. As Paul teaches, they are “ever learning, and never able to come to knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 3:7). If they had just spent that time instead drinking deeply from the Book of Mormon, the spirit would have born witness to its truth.
The temptation to investigate things the world’s way is much like giving into anger or revenge. When one is angry, it feels like expressing, justifying, and increasing that anger is the only way to feel satisfied about it. But this we know is only fuel for a fire, and it never satisfies. The only effective method is to walk away.
Why We Don’t Have All the Answers
The Lord designed our whole experience here on earth to force us to develop the gift of faith. I believe it is part of his plan of salvation, and that it is one of the chief essential characteristics that we will need in the next life. And God is so intent on us developing that trait, that he will never do anything to interrupt those lessons. This is why Christ would not give a sign of healing in the Book of Mormon, until after he saw their faith was sufficient (3 Nephi 17:8). It is also why discerning truth the world’s way will not be satisfying, because God designed it that way. So that in a sense we are motivated to try the Lord’s way, which because of its nature “forces” its user to have to exercise and develop faith.
Elder Callister further explained how this faith is always required. “Sorrowfully, on occasion, some are willing to set aside the precious gospel truths restored by Joseph Smith because they get diverted on some historical issue or some scientific hypothesis not central to their exaltation, and in so doing they trade their spiritual birthright for a mess of pottage. They exchange the absolute certainty of the Restoration for a doubt, and in that process they fall into the trap of losing faith in the many things they do know because of a few things they do not know. There will always be some seemingly intellectual crisis looming on the horizon as long as faith is required and our minds are finite, but likewise there will always be the sure and solid doctrines of the Restoration to cling to, which will provide the rock foundation upon which our testimonies may be built.”
This is not to imply a spirit of anti-intellectualism or ignoring things that conflict with our beliefs. But a recognition of the reality that there will always be things we do not understand, and these questions can coexist with absolute certainty through the revelations of the spirit.
To extend this thought, I believe God wants there to always be things we do not understand, so that we develop the attribute of faith. And I also believe that He designed the process of revelation through the Holy Ghost to be the way (as part of his plan of salvation) that we could perfectly know what was true, while still requiring faith to act upon that knowledge.
My Witness
No matter whether you are for or against the Church, there will always be some intellectual crisis looming on the horizon.
Those who are atheist have to explain the testimony of all those believers. (Alma 30:44). As a member you have to deal with science that “disproves” the Book of Mormon. Anti that says horrible things about our history which gives you doubt because you have no way to confirm the validity.
But as a non-member of the Church you have to explain the Book of Mormon and its mounting evidences. You have to explain the testimony of millions of members of the Church. You have to explain the testimonies of thousands of miracles the early Church members had. You have to deal with the prophecies that our prophets from the beginning have had come true. You have to explain the 80,000 missionaries volunteering and sacrificing their time and efforts. You have to deal with the incredible success of the Church. You have to deal with the sacrifices that millions of members of this Church have made since the beginning.
With these 2 worldly arguments balancing each other (and other anti being balanced by other evidences and apologetics of the Church) you are left neatly in the middle with no more satisfaction or discerned truth. I hope with all that I have written that you will see the foolishness of studying things the world’s way. So please, at least for a month or so, accept on faith that there will always be some seeming intellectual crisis looming on the horizon. Spend your time filling your mind instead with the pure doctrine of Christ, not the reasonings of the world. Leave those intellectual issues to the side, and turn to Lord’s way of discerning truth.
I leave you my witness that this work is true. I have not focused much on the Lord's method of discerning truth during this post, but I testify certain knowledge directly from God can come from it. There is a reason the Church seems to repetitively teach the importance of the Lord's method, because it is true and it works. And those who know the method is true (like me) just want so badly for others to know for themselves. I testify that God will answer your prayers, and I testify that He does give spiritual answers to rational concerns.
Works Cited
Ash, Michael R.. "FairMormon." FairMormon Archaeological Evidence and the Book of Mormon Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Mar. 2014. <http://www.fairmormon.org/perspectives/publications/archaeological-evidence-and-the-book-of-mormon>.
CALLISTER, TAD R.. "Joseph Smith-Prophet of the Restoration." - general-conference. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Mar. 2014. <https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2009/10/joseph-smith-prophet-of-the-restoration?lang=eng>.
CHRISTOFFERSON, D. TODD. "The Blessing of Scripture." - general-conference. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Mar. 2014. <https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2010/04/the-blessing-of-scripture?lang=eng&clang=ase>.
Notes and Additional Reading
Further thoughts on Sign Seeking:
All the physical evidence in the world does not have the power to build testimony. The Lord spoke to this truth about faith when he spoke about why he kept the gold plates hidden from the world: “ Behold, if they will not believe my words (the Book of Mormon), they would not believe you, my servant Joseph, [even] if it were possible that you should show them [the plates] which I have committed unto you (D&C 5:7).”
If someone asks for proof of the Book of Mormon, consider this question posed by Michael Ash: “What archaeological evidence might be considered the minimal irrefutable proof needed to convince a non-believing world of the authenticity of the Nephite scripture?” There are numerous things that were once criticized in the Book of Mormon for not having archaeological evidence. Now that these evidences have been discovered--evidences that Joseph Smith did not know about--do we see people flocking to the Church? “Thus, it can be seen that archaeological evidence for the Book of Mormon–which does exist–does not constitute proof, nor does it translate into belief.”
And do we not already know that signs do not create the belief that people think it will create? Did not the Sadducees and the Pharisees witness miracle after miracle, and still reject Christ and his divinity? Attributing his miracles to the works of the devil? Did not the Nephites in the Americas begin “to be less and less astonished at a sign or a wonder from heaven”? (3 Nephi 2:1-2, also see Helaman 16:13-23).
