"I know the Church is [good]"

“I want to bear my testimony that I know the church is true.”

This statement has made its way into the start of almost every youth’s testimony. Even adult testimonies have similar assertions: “I know that the Book of Mormon is true… I know that Joseph Smith is a true prophet… I know that the Restoration is true.”

While some people may say these things because of church culture, there are many who have a deep conviction that these things are true. But how does someone come to know that something is true in the church, and what does “true” in this context even mean?

I think most members would understand “true” to mean something similar to how we would call something in science or history true, but just for spiritual claims instead. For example, when we say the Book of Mormon is true, we mean it in a historical, scientific sense. But we didn’t come to that conclusion through science, we came to that conclusion from the witness of the Holy Ghost.

Now, this is fine when we come across confirming evidence that supports this kind of testimony, but what about when we come across counter-evidence? Or even worse, what happens when someone receives revelation that the Book of Mormon isn’t true? They used the same tools we did to gain our testimonies, but came to a different conclusion. These situations make our testimony feel threatened, and our first inclination is to explain away these things. After all, I received a witness from the Holy Ghost, and God does not lie, so this experience or evidence must be wrong!

Leaders of past generations taught members to focus more on their spirituality and put these things “on the shelf” to be answered in the future

. This may have worked then, but with the increased access to “anti-mormon” material, putting things on the shelf simply does not work any more. So the church has been investing more resources into apologetics. Members often just need room for their faith—to be shown that it is still possible and logical to believe.

But I think this still misses the mark because quite frankly, I believe that this kind of epistemology

is wrong and unproductive. Spiritual witnesses are not meant to tell us if something is true in a scientific sense—we already have tools for answering those kinds of questions.

Instead, spiritual conviction is designed to tell us if something is good. And this kind of testimony is personal and looks different for each person. It tells us that the path we are on will transform our lives with added value and meaning. A testimony in Jesus Christ is a testimony that Jesus Christ is good and that following his gospel will enrich our lives.

Science, on the other hand, uses different tools to explain truth. And that truth is fundamentally different from the truth that spiritual evidence explains. Scientific truth doesn’t care about goodness, meaning, or transformation. It just attempts to answer what and how something happened, and it does this through observation, evidence, and testing. It gives the answer that best fits the data.

Spiritual truth being equated to goodness is actually a pretty common theme in the Book of Mormon. One of the most popular verses that explains how the Holy Ghost reveals truth is Moroni’s promise in Moroni 10:3-5. “And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.”

But we often stop there and don’t read verse 6, which clarifies what kind of truth this is. “And whatsoever thing is good is just and true; wherefore, nothing that is good denieth the Christ, but acknowledgeth that he is."

Truth, in this sense, is anything that is good and testifies of Christ.

There are plenty of other verses like this in the Book of Mormon. For example, Moroni 7 is all about goodness. “For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God.”

This teaches us the same thing that we can know with a perfect knowledge that something is of God and true if it is good.

One of the best explanations of this is in Alma 32. Ironically enough, it reads like the scientific method and invites us to come to know things through experimentation. But the difference is that this kind of knowledge is different from scientific knowledge. Notice how many times the word good shows up in these verses:

28 Now, we will compare the word unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed…it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me.

30 But behold, as the seed swelleth, and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow, then you must needs say that the seed is good; for behold it swelleth, and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow. And now, behold, will not this strengthen your faith? Yea, it will strengthen your faith: for ye will say I know that this is a good seed; for behold it sprouteth and beginneth to grow.

31 And now, behold, are ye sure that this is a good seed? I say unto you, Yea; for every seed bringeth forth unto its own likeness.

32 Therefore, if a seed groweth it is good, but if it groweth not, behold it is not good, therefore it is cast away.

33 And now, behold, because ye have tried the experiment, and planted the seed, and it swelleth and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow, ye must needs know that the seed is good.

34 And now, behold, is your knowledge perfect? Yea, your knowledge is perfect in that thing, and your faith is dormant; and this because you know, for ye know that the word hath swelled your souls, and ye also know that it hath sprouted up, that your understanding doth begin to be enlightened, and your mind doth begin to expand.

35 O then, is not this real? I say unto you, Yea, because it is light; and whatsoever is light, is good, because it is discernible, therefore ye must know that it is good; and now behold, after ye have tasted this light is your knowledge perfect?

36 Behold I say unto you, Nay; neither must ye lay aside your faith, for ye have only exercised your faith to plant the seed that ye might try the experiment to know if the seed was good.

41 But if ye will nourish the word…it shall be a tree springing up unto everlasting life.

- Alma 32:28, 30-36, 41

I think the comparison of truth to goodness goes without saying. But one thing I do want to point out is that very early in this experiment, you can come to know perfect knowledge “in that thing.” Or in other words, that the word is good. But when asked a second time if the knowledge is perfect, Alma responds with “Nay…for ye have only exercised your faith to plant the seed that ye might try the experiment to know if the seed was good.” You cannot know something in a scientific sense through this experiment. That is why it isn’t the scientific method. This epistemology only gives you knowledge about something’s goodness, which as Moroni describes, is truth.

This kind of testimony solves, in my opinion, most problems that we see these days when it comes to people leaving the church over troubling church history. It allows us to examine claims of history or science in the same way that a scholar would using the same tools. We don’t need to feel threatened by evidence that could undermine our faith because our faith isn’t in that evidence: it is rooted in Christ and his goodness. We are free to go where the evidence takes us, to acknowledge the bad and the ugly in church history while also celebrating the good. I believe that right now in the church we are too focused on surrounding our religion with lines of truth claims when instead we should be focusing on the core of Christ’s teachings and what that can help us become. Our faith in historicity turns into faith in Christ.

One hard thing I have learned throughout my life is that the church is not good for everyone. I have heard experiences from people that are LGBTQ, have anxiety and depression, or experience religious OCD who are not able to find happiness and goodness in the church. There are also other people that simply leave the church and are able to find more happiness outside of it. This idea can make us feel threatened and confused. We may even start to wish bad things to happen to these people so that they will realize their mistakes and come back! These kind of thoughts often show that we are not confident in our own testimonies—that we ourselves may not be feeling happiness in the church.

But we must remember that our testimony is rooted in our own, personal experiences and not other peoples'. Our testimony isn't "the gospel is good for everybody" its "the gospel is good for ME." With this kind of testimony, we can recognize that the church is good for me AND it may not be good for someone else. This this us confidence to listen to others' experiences and help create a culture where they can experience Christ’s goodness. It allows us to build bridges and minister to the one.