One of the most attractive features of the LDS church is the encouragement members get to pursue revelations. In the early days of the church, this might have been its most popular custom. However, after a short time with this arrangement, Joseph Smith recognized its dangers.
In September 1830 Joseph and Emma Smith moved from Harmony, Pennsylvania, to Fayette, New York. When they arrived, they found that some Saints were being deceived by claims of false revelations: “To our great grief, … we soon found that Satan had been lying in wait to deceive, and seeking whom he might devour. [1]
In response, Smith received a revelation that placed a limit on the revelations that might be received by members of the church.
But, behold, verily, verily, I say unto thee, no one shall be appointed to receive commandments and revelations in this church excepting my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., for he receiveth them even as Moses. And thou shalt be obedient unto the things which I shall give unto him, even as Aaron, to declare faithfully the commandments and the revelations, with power and authority unto the church. [2] (D&C 8:2-3)
The church still encourages revelations. In fact, the church insists that if you haven’t received a revelation, you haven’t received the Holy Ghost. As Harold B. Lee taught,
Any Latter-day Saint who has been baptized and who has had hands laid upon him from those officiating, commanding him to receive the Holy Ghost, and who has not received a revelation of the spirit of the Holy Ghost, has not received the gift of the Holy Ghost to which he is entitled. [3]
But these revelations are subject to the teachings of the church. As Elder Gerald N. Lund insisted in a 1997 devotional address at BYU,
Revelation from God does not contradict gospel principles or go contrary to established Church policy and procedure.
When there is new doctrine or new procedures to come forth, you will get it in one of three ways:
a. A formal press conference will be called by the leaders of the Church, at which an official announcement will be made.
b. It will be announced through the Church News, the Ensign, or other official Church communications.
c. It will be announced in general conference by those in authority.
Otherwise, we should be very wary about accepting it, and we should not share it with others. [4]
Over many years of life and ministry in Utah, I have heard many accounts of personal revelations. One man told me about personal conversations with George Washington and Ben Franklin. Politicians tell voters they received a direct impulse from the Spirit that led them to run for office. John Hyrum Koyle received a visit from the Angel Moroni. According to Koyle’s account,
the messenger showed him in vision a massive depository of gold ore in the hills near his home. He was also told that the mine would produce financial relief, in the form of gold coins, after a future economic collapse. The sacred treasure would benefit the people by keeping alive the local economy during the financial crisis and other devastating calamities. [5]
Thus, Koyle founded a mining operation and established the Dream Mine. Other members of the church (such as the Lafferty brothers and Brian David Mitchell) have had revelations that led them to commit heinous crimes. Thankfully, this kind of “revelation” is not common among the members of the church.
Personal revelation remains one of the LDS church’s most common and popularly held beliefs. As a case in point, when I ask my LDS friends how they know that Joseph Smith is a true prophet, that their church is the true church, and that the gospel is restored, I tend to get a very predictable answer. They tell me that they have received a testimony of these things. Maybe you would say the same thing. Many describe an experience that assured them of the truth of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Some talk about the “burning feeling in the bosom” they experienced, borrowing the description in D&C 9:8, which says,
But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right.
This raises an important question.
Is Personal Revelation a Way of Knowing?
The Apostle John relates a fascinating exchange between Jesus and Pontius Pilate during the trial that ended with Jesus’ crucifixion. Pilate insisted that the Jewish religious authorities judge Jesus according to their law, and their response shocked Pilate.
The Jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death: (John 18:31)
Pilate wondered what Jesus did to warrant a death sentence, so he returned to question Jesus more, asking, “Art thou the King of the Jews?” After a brief exchange, Jesus told him,
Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. (John 18:37)
In response, Pilate asked one of the most famous questions in history: “What is truth?” Many philosophers, world leaders, religious authorities, and everyday blue-collar people have asked that same question. It might be the most pressing question of all time.
Today, more than ever, people ask a related question: “How do we know the truth?” Some take the question even further: “Can we know the truth?” But, of course, truth is an inescapable concept. If we can’t know the truth, that impossibility is the truth. But if you have any doubts, Jesus spoke with certainty.
And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. (John 8:32)
Pilate at least had the question right. The question is not whether truth exists but what is truth. Earlier in John’s gospel, Jesus gives a glorious answer:
I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6)
When Pontius Pilate asked the question, the answer stared back at him. Soon after, Pilate sent The Truth to death.
If you are LDS and are reading this, I’m pretty sure we agree on the existence of truth. We might even agree on Jesus’s identity with the truth. But I would guess we would disagree significantly on how we find the truth. Given that you have been taught to seek an experience confirming the truth, I would say that we strongly disagree about how we come to the truth.
The difference between what is “subjectively” true and what is “objectively” true depends on your relationship to the truth. Subjective truth depends on something in a person’s mind. Certain things are true because you make them true – like your tastes, goals, priorities, hopes, and ambitions. Objective truth isn’t person-specific. The Pythagorean Theorem is true whether I exist or you exist. The sun would be bright even if neither of us ever existed.
I wouldn’t argue that there is no place for subjective experience in our pursuit of the truth. All of us have recognized the “ring of truth” – what is reasonable to believe – in certain truth claims. I will admit that there is a subjective element to the idea of “what is reasonable.” Plausibility should weigh into our judgment when considering various truth claims. Some things we know to be true because, upon reflection, it makes sense to us.
We might add that we know our own minds. You know what you like and dislike, what you want and don’t want, what you hope for in any situation, and your goals, priorities, and intentions. You have the power to speak truthfully and confidently about these things.
So, I don’t dismiss the subjective out of hand, as if it has no value. However, we should admit that subjective experience isn’t the most substantial reason for believing something true. I might reflect on the meaning of a simple math problem, say the sum of five and twelve. But my mental assent to the answer doesn’t add anything to its truth. The answer is seventeen, regardless of my feelings or taste for it. Wanting it to be true doesn’t make it true.
Since so many members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints refer to the special whisper that confirmed the truth of their church, we should pause to consider an important, related question.
Can Sinful Men Find a Holy God?
Zophar the Naamathite asked a (somewhat) rhetorical question of Job.
Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? (Job 11:7)
Part of the challenge relates to our humanity. We are finite; God is infinite. How does a finite man comprehend the infinite God? We wouldn’t know where to begin to look, and even if we did, we couldn’t reach Him.
But we face another, more serious challenge. Our ignorance of God comes from a belligerent refusal to see or know Him. Our rebellion blinds our eyes and keeps us from seeing.
In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. (2 Corinthians 4:4)
As a master of deceit and misdirection, Satan turns our hearts against God in hostility.
But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. (I Corinthians 2:14)
Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. (Romans 8:7)
The Bible teaches that our sin keeps us from knowing God. Our rebellion is such that, even if I give you objective reasons to believe, apart from God’s work of grace in your heart, you won’t believe. Giving a sinner objective reasons to believe is like describing the color green to a blind man. Nothing in his experience is relatable to green or any other color. Even so, nothing in our human experience is relatable to the knowledge of a holy God. Thus, the Bible connects blindness, ignorance, and rebellion together.
This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. (Ephesians 4:17-19)
My point? When sinful men look in their own hearts for answers about God, it is like trying to find ice in a furnace or looking for hot coals at the bottom of a lake. Finding God and knowing His Word is truth isn’t as simple as praying, pondering, and looking for a feeling sense that it is true. Because the Bible describes fallen humanity as “alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works” (Colossians 1:21), we must understand that our sinfulness stands in the way of finding God. Because of your sinful, wayward heart, if you find God at all, you are much more likely to find a false God than the true God.
Do You Rely on Your Testimony?
I ask this sincerely, not facetiously. I’m asking you to consider your own testimony. If you are like many, you rely on your testimony to confirm what you believe about Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, and the Church. Shouldn’t you examine the value of your testimony about these things?
Of course, I don’t deny that your testimony is valuable to you. I’m sure you treasure it as much as anything in your spiritual life. But, as someone said, “the unexamined life isn’t worth living.” I’m asking you to consider the value of your testimony as an arbiter of truth. Does your testimony confirm the truth? Can you rely on it to lead you down the right path?
I would argue that you don’t actually rely on your testimony. You might feel that it strengthens your belief or even that it is the reason you believe. But it isn’t. not really.
You wouldn’t normally pray and ponder a thing to know it is true. I’m quite sure you haven’t done this with any math facts or formulas you learned in school. You don’t pray over historical facts. You likely believe that the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 2, 1776, even if we celebrate it on July 4. You don’t pray and ask for confirmation of this. You’ve read history. We can research historical data and form conclusions without a special whisper from God to confirm it. Truth in the realm of science might be more straightforward to prove. I don’t need to run specialized tests to know that water is wet or the sun is bright. I could lose the use of my faculties – my eyes or ears – and still know this.
You sought a testimony because you were taught to do this. Maybe your parents taught you to pray and ponder. Perhaps you read it in Doctrines and Covenants or in James 1:5. Someone told you this is the way to know. I am reasonably sure you didn’t pray and ask God to reveal whether this is the right way to know the truth. You were told to do it or saw it in Scripture; it made sense, so you decided to do it.
But, suppose you are the exception, and before you prayed and pondered, you asked God to show you if the instruction in D&C 9:8 was telling the truth. Did you also pray about whether or not praying about it was a way of knowing? If you did, maybe it dawned on you that you assumed beforehand that praying about it is a way of knowing.
That raises a dilemma. If these verses are the authority in advance, then there is no need to pray about this authority or seek authentication of it. Either Scripture speaks with authority, or it doesn’t. If it does, we don’t need to pray about it. We still don’t need to pray about it if it doesn’t.
But if you prayed about it because D&C 9:8 and James 1:5 tell you to, you are already committed to its truth. The confirmation you receive is window dressing. Nice if you need reassurance, but superfluous. You have acted on an objective reason – the authority of Scripture.
He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered. (Proverbs 28:26)
Does the Bible Speak with Authority?
If it doesn’t, we should discard it. The Bible doesn’t present truth as one option among many. The Bible doesn’t speak uncertainly as a kind of religious theory for your amusement or consideration. Jesus declared it to be the truth.
Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. (John 17:17)
God the Father commanded us to live by His every word, and God the Son insisted on this as a necessity.
And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live. (Deuteronomy 8:3)
But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:4)
The Apostle Paul tells us that God breathed the words of the Bible.
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: (2 Timothy 3:16)
The Psalmist insists that every word is pure and eternal.
For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven. (Psalm 119:89)
Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. (Psalm 30:5)
The Bible promises that God’s word will never fail or pass away.
Blessed be the LORD, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant. (I Kings 8:56)
Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. (Matthew 24:35; Mark 13:31; Luke 21:33)
These are extraordinary claims. They don’t leave room for us to merely agree that the Bible is a good book. Either God has revealed Himself to man in the pages of Scripture, or the Bible is a lie. We don’t need to pray about it or ponder it. We need to see what it says and believe it. And if we refuse, we will face a holy God on the judgment day to give an account for our rejection of His Word.
What are the Objective Reasons to Believe the Bible?
The Bible is objectively true, objectively good, and objectively beautiful. We have no need for our “bosom to burn” within us, no need to receive a special whisper from God to see the objective reasons for believing it. Let me offer four objective reasons that seem most apparent to me.
First, we can verify that God is the one speaking.
The Bible says many things that men would never say. Consider, for example, what the Bible says about the human race. When we talk about ourselves, we say things like “man is basically good.” We tend to hold exalted notions of ourselves. The Bible doesn’t feed that conceit. In fact, the Bible tells us that “there is none righteous, no not one,” “there is none that doeth good,” “there is not a just man upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth not,” and “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” [6]
The Bible tells us things about God that men would not – in fact, could not – invent. The Bible tells us that there is only one God, the living and true God. [7] Then, the Bible tells us that the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. The doctrine of the Trinity isn’t an invention of men. I don’t know any man who can fully grasp the doctrine, let alone explain it. We believe it because the Bible declares it.
The Bible tells us that God is absolutely good. And the Bible describes God doing things and ordering things to be done that men would not call good. Why would the Bible do this? If the point were to present a God that men would embrace, the Bible wouldn’t say the things it says about God. But the point isn’t to present a God who is palatable to men. God reveals Himself in Scripture. He doesn’t try to soften His image or sell Himself to us. He tells us who He is. Reject Him at your own risk.
Only God would say the things the Bible says.
Second, we can verify that the Bible speaks the truth.
The Bible speaks the truth about man, God, sin, the gospel, and God’s desire to redeem mankind. All of the doctrinal content of Scripture is true. The Bible gives a true account of the creation of the world and speaks the truth about the world of nature. Long before science understood the life-sustaining role of blood, the Bible spoke of it. The Bible alludes to the fact that the earth is round and hangs on nothing, describes the water cycle, ocean currents, and even the fact that there are only two sexes. [8]
Maybe the most outstanding feature of the Bible is its historical accuracy. The Bible describes many historical events so accurately that when archeologists make a discovery in Bible lands, they consult the Bible to interpret that discovery. That’s amazing. Even more remarkable is the fact that many historical events were predicted in detail before the event. We could point out many cases where prophecies were made centuries before they happened and were precisely fulfilled. [9]
The most astounding example of fulfilled prophecy in Scripture might be Isaiah’s prediction, 180 years in advance, that Israel would be delivered from the Babylonian captivity by a Persian king named Cyrus (Isaiah 44:28, 45:1). Isaiah named Cyrus 80 years before Israel was taken into captivity in Babylon and 150 years before Cyrus was born. [10]
Third, we can verify that God has kept His Word pure in all ages.
The Bible is the most verifiable ancient book in history. Ancient writings from the same era (the works of Greek philosophers like Aristotle, Plato, Homer, etc.) lack a stellar manuscript tradition compared to the Bible. Today, we have more than 5,800 manuscripts of the New Testament available for examination. Some of these manuscripts trace back to the second century after Christ – some within fifty to one hundred years of the original writing. The Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts has helpfully provided a digital manuscript collection that allows us to examine many of these manuscripts freely. [11] Scholars have found that these manuscripts agree about 92% of the time. When you consider that these manuscripts were handwritten copies of copies, that is extraordinary. And of the 8% disagreement, many of these “variants” consist of variant spellings, word orders, and copyist errors. We have such a high level of agreement between manuscripts that we can say without reservation, “There is no concrete evidence that monks in the dark ages intentionally altered the text of Scripture.”
Fourth, we can see God’s glory on vivid display.
I invite you, my friend, to read it for yourself.
Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. (John 5:39)
If you will read it, not with a skeptical eye, but with your eyes open and a desire to see the God who reveals Himself in the pages of Scripture, I assure you that you won’t be able to escape him. The glory of God shines forth in the pages of Scripture in all His breathtaking majesty. I say it is as impossible to read Scripture without seeing God’s glory on vivid display as it would be to step outdoors during daylight hours and not feel the energy and brightness of the sun. You can squeeze your eyes shut and force yourself to ignore it, but you cannot escape it. This is the glory of Scripture: it reveals the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:6)
[1] https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/teachings-joseph-smith/chapter-16?lang=eng
[2] https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/28?lang=eng&id=2-3,6-7,11-13#p2
[3] https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/teachings-harold-b-lee/chapter-6?lang=eng
[4] https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/new-era/2004/07/is-it-revelation?lang=eng
[5] https://www.intermountainhistories.org/items/show/32
[6] Romans 3:10, Psalm 14, Psalm 53, Ecclesiastes 7:20, Romans 3:23
[7] Deuteronomy 6:4
[8] Leviticus 17:11, Isaiah 40:22, Job 26:7, Amos 9:6, Psalm 8:8, Genesis 1:27, Matthew 19:4
[9] Daniel 2:39-40, Zechariah 9:4, Ezekiel 26:12, Matthew 24:1-2, Micah 5:2, Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah 53, Psalm 22
[10] The following websites will supplement this information: https://reasons.org/explore/publications/articles/fulfilled-prophecy-evidence-for-the-reliability-of-the-bible or https://livingwaters.com/scientific-facts-in-the-bible/
The Village Smithy 