Faith crisis draft 1

1. REDIRECTTemplate:Test3

Faith Crisis draft 1

In today's internet-based society, finding information is getting ever easier. Unfortunately, interpreting this information is getting ever harder. With so much information available, learning how to identify helpful and truthful information is becoming ever more important.

For most of its existence, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been Church members' primary source of information about the Church's history, doctrine, and practices. In the internet age, this is often no longer the case (at least among members in the United States). Information about Church history, doctrine, and practices is available from a wide variety of sources online, some faithful to the Church, some against the Church, and others somewhere in between.

The problem many members now face is how to interpret the information they find from these other sources, and how to compare their interpretation of this information with how they interpret information coming from the Church. Often this challenge leads to what many call a "faith crisis." While understanding principles about information, interpretation, and sources can help in addressing "faith crises," it is important to first address the emotional component of a faith crisis.

Information, Interpretation, and Sources

Addressing a faith crisis using logic or reason requires understanding the different types of information, evidence, records, and sources.

In our context, information can be objective (descriptive) or subjective (normative).

• Objective (descriptive) information is a statement about the physical condition of something at a moment in time, or in other words. The statement is either true or false for everyone. For example, "Joseph Smith saw the Father and the Son" is an objective statement. Either the event happened or it didn't. People may disagree as to whether the statement is true or false, but the event cannot have happened for some people but not for others.
• Subjective (normative) information is a statement about the value condition (good or bad, better or worse) of something at a moment in time. Whether the statement is true or false depends on who is speaking. For example, "Joseph Smith was a good person" is a subjective statement. Good is a subjective value and its meaning depends on the person speaking. He could be seen as good by some people and not by others.

Information is also primary or secondary.

• Primary information means it was a statement made by someone directly involved in whatever is being discussed. In addition, generally the statement needs to be made close to whatever moment in time is referenced. (This is due to how human memory works.) For example, "Joseph Smith saw the Father and the Son" would be primary information if it was stated by Joseph shortly after the event. (Of course, it could also be stated by the Father or the Son, since they were involved, and the stipulation of being stated close to the time of the event doesn't apply because they do not have the same
• Secondary information means it was a statement made by someone not directly involved in whatever is being discussed. In addition, secondary information also usually includes statements not made close to whatever moment in time is referenced, even if the statement is made by someone directly involved. For example, "Joseph Smith saw the Father and the Son" would be secondary information if it was stated by someone other than Joseph, the Father, or the Son. Also, if Joseph stated this information 50 years after the event, it would be secondary information (again, because of how human memory works.)

Evidence: Direct, indirect, or negative

Record: original or derivative

Source: from whom does the information come

To adapt

Question: Do I need to have a faith crisis in order to have "real" faith?

The term faith crisis usually means that someone begins to doubt previous spiritual experiences to the point of questioning if the experiences, and beliefs founded on them, actually happened or are true. This is different from asking questions about (and striving to understand) those experiences and the beliefs founded on them.

Some people have a faith crisis and in doing so decide to study more fully if their spiritual experiences were real and if the beliefs founded on those experiences are true. Sometimes this can lead to a renewed faith. However, having a faith crisis is not necessary in order to more fully understand our experiences and beliefs. We can choose to deepen our faith without a faith crisis.

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf encouraged us to ask questions and affirmed that a faith crisis is not necessary to find more truth: "We are a question-asking people because we know that inquiry leads to truth. . . . God commands us to seek answers to our questions and asks only that we seek 'with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ.' . . . Fear not; ask questions. Be curious, but doubt not! Always hold fast to faith and to the light you have already received. Because we see imperfectly in mortality, not everything is going to make sense right now" ("The Reflection in the Water," CES devotional, 1 November 2009).

For further study, consider the following: Jeffrey Thayne, "Worldview Apologetics: Revealing the Waters in Which We Swim," 2021 FAIR Conference Patrick Mason, "The Courage of Our Convictions: Embracing Mormonism in a Secular Age," 2016 FairMormon Conference Jeffrey R. Holland, "Lord, I Believe," April 2013 general conference J. Spencer Fluhman, "Faith in the Past: Church History in an Information Age," address given at LDS Business College, 7 Oct 2014