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Testimony based on spiritual witness



Why do you believe the church is true? Why do you believe the Joseph Smith first vision story? Why do you believe the Book of Mormon is the word of God? Is it because of archaeological evidence? Is it because of photographic evidence? Is it because of DNA evidence? Is it because of anthropological evidence? Probably not. I guessing you will most likely say that your testimony is based on a spiritual confirmation, and as such, you do not need external evidences because the spirit has whispered to your spirit that the church is true.

So, this is something I am really struggling with. How do you know that your "spiritual feelings/testimony" are from God/Holy Ghost and not self-generated by your own brain (like feelings of love, anger, pleasure, fear, panic, depression, excitement and many “other feelings" that our own brains can produce)?

The reason I am struggling with this is because of what I have learned, I have friends from many different religions. I have met and gotten to know people from all walks of life and from many religions. I have spoken with them about their spiritual "testimonies" and have heard them talk of their "convincing spiritual experiences" and how they are convinced, based on their own personal god-experience that they belong to the one true religion (7th day Adventist, or Jehovah Witnesses, or Sikhs, or Muslims, etc.). I even know a individual who escaped out of the FLDS religion who knew that Warren Jeffs was a prophet by the gift of the Holy Ghost. Here is a great YouTube on that very thing- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJMSU8Qj6Go&list=WL&index=1&t=0s

The process of gaining a spiritual witness does not seem very effective, efficient or consistent. Your entire life view, world view, your very outlook on life, the afterlife, the creation of life, is based on your spiritual confirmations from God about the teachings of your religion. However, these same feelings, same spiritual promptings, same religious manifestations are being "given" or experienced by billions of people all over the world and being interpreted by them to gain a strong testimony in their own religions. People have very strong testimonies of their faith but it is entirely opposed to my faith. Both cannot be true; but both people have the same feeling (burning in the bosom, wave of peace and joy, a surety born by the spirit, answers to direct prayer, etc.).

Why is the spirit testifying to all people that their faith/religion is true? Why is God leading those people in all manner of diverse paths if the LDS church is the only true church? One might say that we have the truth and they are being deceived by Satan. The Muslims say that same thing about the Christians, while the Christians are saying that about the Muslims. So, how do we know that we are not the ones who are being deceived by Satan? Could that be possible? Could we be deceived by Satan and it is the Jehovah Witnesses who have the truth?

So how do you know that the LDS church is true? It is not the evidence or lack of evidence, it is your spiritual testimony? But how do you know that is correct, when everyone else is having similar kinds of experiences in all different religions that teach things that are mutually exclusive (resurrection vs. reincarnation, etc.)?

This is where I am struggling all together. I have not had any sort of “spiritual revelation” in a long time, concerning anything at all. So, thinking back of what I felt while looking at the creek at the family ranch with my daughter (the last time I felt something along the lines of a "spiritual" moment), I know that my body is VERY capable of producing those sorts of feelings. So if that is true, why do I not get any similar feelings when I am doing what I am supposed to do with the church? So, without any of the spiritual manifestations, I am going back to those other proofs that we have: archeological, photographic, DNA evidence, and anthropological evidence. And when looking at these, there is not a single thing there to convince me that the BOM is anything more than a nice story.

So, what do I believe then? I do believe in a higher power, I know that doesn’t make sense given every stand I seem to take up until this point, but I do. I do believe that there is something after this life. As to what that will be, I have no idea. I do believe that those we love here will be with us in that next life, not because we are sealed, but because we will all move from this plane of existence together to the next. These are things that make sense in my mind, and not because of teaching from a church.

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