FAIR is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Science and the Church of Jesus Christ/Determining truth
Mormonism and the determination of truth
Jump to Subtopic:
- Are Mormonism and science compatible?
- The "burning in the bosom" in Mormonism as a method of determining truth
Are Mormonism and science compatible?
Jump to details:
- Question: Do Mormons believe that faith and scientific knowledge are incompatible?
- Henry Eyring: "Is there any conflict between science and religion? There is no conflict in the mind of God, but often there is conflict in the minds of men"
- Brigham Young (1871): "whether the Lord...made it in six days or in as many millions of years, is and will remain a matter of speculation in the minds of men"
- Question: Do Mormons believe that faith and science are mutually exclusive?
- Question: Do Mormons believe that if there is a conflict between science and religion, that the science is incorrect?
- Oaks: "We are supposed to learn by both reason and revelation, and that does not happen when we compartmentalize science and religion"
The "burning in the bosom" in Mormonism as a method of determining truth
Jump to details:
- Question: Is a "burning in the bosom" simply a subjective, emotion-based, unreliable way to practice self-deception?
- Dallin H. Oaks (1997): "Surely, the word “burning” in this scripture signifies a feeling of comfort and serenity. That is the witness many receive. That is the way revelation works."
- Question: Why do critics of Mormonism who belong to other religions discount spiritual experiences?
- Question: Can a person "feel the spirit" while watching movies?
- Dr. Wendy Ulrich (2005): "How do the goosebumps and tearfulness I experience when someone speaks in a testimony meeting differ from the goosebumps and tearfulness I experience when the 4:00 parade begins at Disneyland?"
- Question: Can someone feel the spirit when listening to stories of apostasy?
- "Recognizing the Voice of the Spirit" (Podcast): "How can I come to know that spiritual experience is not just a product of chemical processes in the brain?"
- Question: Will our manifestation of truth from the Holy Ghost be a "spectacular" witness?
- Question: How can you know if an answer to prayer, a personal revelation, is true?
- Question: Why might someone not be able to see their spiritual impressions come to successful, obvious, and/or beautiful fruition?
- Question: Can spiritual experiences be simply willed to reality?
- Question: Can one simply decide when one feels and doesn't feel the Spirit?