When I debated whether to leave the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, two things concerned me if I left. The first was the Book of Mormon. The second was several powerful spiritual experiences I had had over the years. If I was honest with myself, I could not adequately explain them. I knew critics minimize “the Spirit” as just personal feelings manifesting themselves. Perhaps that would explain some of what I had been through, but certainly not all.

Critics of the Church who criticize the invitation from missionaries, church leaders, and the Book of Mormon to pray and ask God for the truth of all things must explain spiritual experiences away. Secularists attempt to rationalize a testimony from the Holy Ghost with counter-neurological and psychological explanations.²

Any one or multiple of the critics' explanations could explain some members' experiences. However, how do they account for the collective following?¹¹

• Early Latter-day Saints were persecuted, mocked, tortured, murdered, and driven from state to state. The Kirtland bank failed. Governor Boggs issued an extermination order. Some leaders left the Church. The prophet was killed. What gave the early saints the strength and encouragement to press onward? Why did they do it? Didn’t they have every reason to abandon the cause? Do critics really believe they endured all that because of confirmation bias or elevated emotion?
• Members of the early Church went to great lengths to finish the Kirtland and Nauvoo temples. The already poor saints donated money, means, and time to building those buildings. My ancestor, Nicholas Silcock, was one of the carpenters who worked on the Nauvoo temple. His wife, my ancestor Jane Heath, sold clothes and valuables to buy food so Nicholas could continue working on the temple. They sold other treasures to purchase curtains and trimmings for the temple. Were my ancestors manipulated into making all of those sacrifices? Did they succumb to the backfire effect, as the critics may suggest?
• After the death of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, under Brigham Young’s direction, the saints worked day and night to complete the Nauvoo temple. They did so, knowing that they would soon be expelled from Nauvoo. How did thousands of saints have the motivation to complete the temple? What drove them to finish that building? Did they experience cognitive dissonance?
• How do the secular explanations explain the faith and devotion of thousands of Mormon pioneers? Some were driven from New York to Ohio, Missouri, Illinois, and Utah, but never wavered. Do the critics really believe that these devoted, dedicated saints never stopped to ask themselves why they were doing what they were doing? Can that level of devotion be explained by having a “frenzied mind”? (Alma 30:16)
• If I left the Church and had to face my pioneer ancestors someday, what would I tell them? That their spiritual experiences were the result of neurological issues?
• Did Christ’s disciples testify of Christ’s resurrection at their own peril and death because of frisson?
• How do the critics explain the millions of church members, past and present, who gave up their lives in service to God?
• What do the critics think about that night in high school in the fall of 2003 when I was in a dark place, and Jesus rescued me? He saved me from my anguish and despair. Was that confirmation bias? How was I able to go on?
• Do critics believe that my unexpected sacred experience outside my home in 2017 resulted from the illusory truth effect? What about the countless other whisperings and promptings?
• How do critics account for the millions of experiences and answers to prayers across time from millions of people? How about the strength given to countless people yearning for God and receiving answers?

These examples are not proof of why someone beyond the self should believe. However, isn’t it farfetched to sweep all these devotion-causing experiences under the “rug” of neurological or psychological triggers? Is there a reason critics attempt to tone down the divine and reinterpret it as some misfire in the brain or manipulation from an external source? The longer I listened to critics, the more I saw them twisting themselves into knots to explain spiritual experiences away.

Only a few months after my confession that I was not sure about God, I was sitting in my car sipping on a Dr. Pepper. I was also eating a slice of beef jerky and had a bag of candy sitting in the passenger seat, with music blasting through the speakers, and playing a game on my phone. Why? I was about to leave my employment. It was a difficult decision that would disappoint my colleagues. I knew that their feelings would be hurt. Once I stepped through those doors and delivered my resignation letter, my life would be forever changed. I would have to sell my house and move out of state. My wife had finally made some good friends in our community, and now I was asking her to leave that behind. I wasn’t sure how we would make ends meet. Suffice it to say, I was a nervous wreck.

I had a moment of self-awareness and looked at myself. I was doing everything I knew to do to comfort myself. It was a sad and pathetic scene. I turned off the music, put the snacks away, and put the phone in my pocket. I sat in quiet reflection and said a simple prayer. “God, please comfort me.” I felt an exhilarating feeling of peace and warmth and a wave of enthusiasm for the future. Finally, I had the courage to do what I set out to do.

Could I minimize this simple but profound experience as some mental survival mechanism? Sure, I could, but I know better. Could I explain away this and many other experiences as a neurological quirk? What an empty, foolish explanation.

Spiritual truth requires both the heart (feeling) and the head (rational thought). I know faithful members whose experiences are primarily one or the other. Some have never had the burning in the bosom experience but understand the vast evidence of the restoration’s truth claims and see the fruits of the Church. Others feel the Holy Ghost everywhere they go but know nothing about early church history. Both of these kinds of experiences are totally valid. I believe that God does not withhold light and truth because a truth seeker is more heart or head.

I am convinced that God meets us where we are. Whether that is through a burning bush for communication, washing seven times in the river Jordan for cleanliness, seer stones for revelation, or spit and clay in the eyes for sight.

For My Christian Brothers and Sisters

If I believe in God, why wouldn’t He manifest himself to me through the Holy Ghost?

Do I need to be a scripture scholar, historian, theologian, divinity student, pastor, and apologist to access God’s truth? Can anyone understand biblical truths even without the help of a favorite pastor or preacher? Why are some pastors and preachers right and others wrong?

Does God withhold himself and the truth from those who do not have the education to find Him and it?

When I worked long hours providing for my family, did God withhold truth from me because I did not have a degree in religious studies? Did my wife, the mother of my children, not have access to God while she operated on little sleep caring for a crying infant? Does God not speak to us because we have not studied early Christian history?

If God cannot speak to us through the Holy Ghost, how do I account for these bible verses?

• John 10:27- “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”
• Jeremiah 33:3 – “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.”
• Job 33:14 – “For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not.”
• John 16:12-13 – “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.” (emphasis added)
• John 14:16-18 – “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.” (emphasis added)
• John 14:26 – “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” (emphasis added)
• 1 John 5:14-15 – “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.”
• Romans 8:14 – “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.”
• Revelation 3:20 – “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”
• Mark 11:24 – “Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” (emphasis added)
• James 1:5 – “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” (emphasis added)

In 2 Corinthians 11:14-15 it says, “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.” Earlier in the New Testament, Christ gave this warning, “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” (Mathew 7:15)

These are fair points when talking about receiving a spiritual witness regarding the Book of Mormon and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. However, doesn’t Christ give us the remedy for this problem later in Matthew 7?

“Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” (Matthew 7:16-20, emphasis added)

How does a Christian critic account for the fruits of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? Or for the fruits of the Book of Mormon?

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does not gatekeep truth or claim to have all of it. It appears to me that we are among the most open religious groups to various forms of truth, regardless of where it comes from. Is that why the members of the Church are comfortable with someone from another church receiving spiritual experiences or a spiritual witness?

Who are we to limit God?

Testimony and Spiritual Witnesses Conclusion

When church leaders and missionaries invite people to ask God, they invite them to clear every distraction, be alone, and pray. The truth seeker is left to themselves to ask God. There is no persuasive influence from a missionary, no threat from an authority figure, no large crowds to excite the senses, and no substances to introduce a drug-fueled awakening. It is simply the individual and God. How in the world does this method work at all? How have millions of people taken this challenge for 200 years and received an answer?

In Jacob 7:11-12 Jacob teaches that he learned spiritual truths about Christ through a study of the scriptures, his experiences, logic, and the Holy Ghost. I suspect the same is true for me. Admittedly, my personal experiences are not conclusive evidence for why another person should believe. It would be like witnessing the breaking of a world record without an adjudicator or video evidence. I know it, but I cannot prove it. And that’s okay. It appears to me that God wants everyone to have their own witness of his light and truth.

Religious experience is not proof, but it is valid. If I’ve experienced God and the gospel bears fruit, what more proof do I need?

Footnotes

1. Quehijo11. “Discerning between spiritual confirmation and confirmation bias.” Reddit, April 12, 2019, https://www.reddit.com/r/latterdaysaints/comments/bck1io/discerning_between_spiritual_confirmation_and/ ↩

2. “Question: Is the Latter-day Saint conception of testimony from the Holy Ghost threatened by neuroscience or psychology?”, FAIR Latter-day Saints, accessed on April 24, 2024 from https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/answers/Question:\_Is_the_Latter-day_Saint_conception_of_testimony_from_the_Holy_Ghost_threatened_by_neuroscience_or_psychology%3F#cite_note-9 ↩

3. Shatz, Itamar. “The Backfire Effect: Why Facts Don’t Always Change Minds.” Effectiviology, accessed on June 28^th 2024 from https://effectiviology.com/backfire-effect-facts-dont-change-minds/ ↩

4. Villines, Zawn. “What is cognitive dissonance?” Medical News Today, January 15, 2024, from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/326738#:~:text=Cognitive%20dissonance%20is%20the%20discomfort,beliefs%20at%20the%20same%20time. ↩

5. “Confirmation bias,” Wikipedia, Wikipedia Foundation. Last updated May 29th 2024, accessed on June 28^th 2024 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias ↩

6. “Elevation (emotion),” Wikipedia, Wikipedia Foundation. Last updated December 6^th 2023, accessed on June 28^th 2024 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elevation\_(emotion)#:~:text=Elevation%20is%20an%20emotion%20elicited,exceptional%20conduct%20is%20being%20observed. ↩

7. “Frisson,” Wikipedia, Wikipedia Foundation. Last updated March 4^th 2024, accessed on June 28^th 2024 from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frisson ↩

8. “Intuition,” Psychology Today, accessed on June 28^th 2024 from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/intuition ↩

9. Pilat D., & Sekoul D. (2021). “Illusory truth effect.” The Decision Lab. Retrieved June 28, 2024, from https://thedecisionlab.com/biases/illusory-truth-effect ↩

10. Ruttan, L. A., Persinger, M. A., & Koren, S. (1990). “Enhancement of Temporal Lobe-Related Experiences During Brief Exposures to Milligauss Intensity Extremely Low Frequency Magnetic Fields.” Journal of Bioelectricity, 9(1), 33–54. https://doi.org/10.3109/15368379009027758 ↩

11. A general overview of early Church history can be found in “Saints: The Standard of Truth”, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2018. ↩