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.
Array
Detailed response to CES Letter, Testimony and Spiritual Witness: Difference between revisions
| Line 156: | Line 156: | ||
|answer= | |answer= | ||
*The author seems to equate everything that makes him feel good or inspired with "feeling the spirit." Just because one can "feel the spirit" regarding religious matters does not mean that one is unable to feel good or inspired about anything else. | *The author seems to equate everything that makes him feel good or inspired with "feeling the spirit." Just because one can "feel the spirit" regarding religious matters does not mean that one is unable to feel good or inspired about anything else. | ||
*The movies ''Saving Private Ryan'' and ''Schindler's List'' are very accurate and profound dramas that depict certain important historical events: In this case, the D-day invasion and the | *The movies ''Saving Private Ryan'' and ''Schindler's List'' are very accurate and profound dramas that depict certain important historical events: In this case, the D-day invasion and the Holocaust. Yes, they are, out of necessity, "R-rated and horribly violent movies," nevertheless they are still deeply moving. We are moved by these portrayals because we empathize with the sacrifice and suffering of those depicted. Just because we seek "confirmation of the spirit" in religious matters in order to receive confirmation of their truthfulness does not require us to be "dead in feeling" to the rest of life. | ||
*The Spirit testifies of all truth. The Spirit can testify of true principles taught or portrayed in fiction as well as in real life. For example, why would one feel so compelled by the story of ''Les Miserables''? After all, the movie portrays prostitutes, thieves, and blasphemers. However, the message is of the importance of mercy over justice, of self-sacrifice, and of forgiveness. Why wouldn't the Holy Ghost tell us these are true principles? The same can be said of the movies in the author's list, even ''The Lion King''. | *The Spirit testifies of all truth. The Spirit can testify of true principles taught or portrayed in fiction as well as in real life. For example, why would one feel so compelled by the story of ''Les Miserables''? After all, the movie portrays prostitutes, thieves, and blasphemers. However, the message is of the importance of mercy over justice, of self-sacrifice, and of forgiveness. Why wouldn't the Holy Ghost tell us these are true principles? The same can be said of the movies in the author's list, even ''The Lion King''. | ||
|link= | |link= | ||
Revision as of 20:56, 20 July 2013
| [[../Kinderhook Plates and Translator & Seer Claims Concerns & Questions|Kinderhook Plates and Translator/Seer Claims Concerns & Questions]] | A FAIR Analysis of:
[[../|Letter to a CES Director]] |
[[../Priesthood Restoration Concerns & Questions|Priesthood Restoration Concerns & Questions]] |
A FAIR Analysis of the online document Letter to a CES Director section "Testimony & Spiritual Witness Concerns & Questions"
And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures? (Luke 24꞉32)
My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue. (Psalms 39꞉3)
What does a “burning in the bosom” mean? Does it need to be a feeling of caloric heat, like the burning produced by combustion? If that is the meaning, I have never had a burning in the bosom. 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.
—Dallin H. Oaks, "Teaching and Learning by the Spirit," Ensign (March 1997): 14.
- Response to section: "Every major religion has members who claim the same thing: God or God’s spirit bore witness to them" [Work in Progress]
- Response to section: "it would likewise be arrogant of a Latter-day Saint to deny their spiritual experiences and testimonies of the truthfulness of their own religion" [Work in Progress]
- Response to section: "If God’s method to revealing truth is through feelings, it’s a pretty ineffective method"
- Response to section: "Joseph Smith received a revelation, through the peep stone in his hat, to send Hiram Page and Oliver Cowdery to Toronto, Canada for the sole purpose of selling the copyright of the Book of Mormon"
- Response to section: "I saw a testimony as more than just spiritual experiences and feelings. I saw that we had evidence and logic on our side based on the correlated narrative I was fed by the Church about its origins." [Work in Progress]
- Response to section: Paul H. Dunn
- Response to section: "a testimony is to be found in the bearing of it"
- Response to section: "how can they be sure of the reliability of this same exact process in telling them that Mormonism is true?"
- Response to section: "I felt the Spirit watching 'Saving Private Ryan' and the 'Schindler’s List'. Both R-rated and horribly violent movies. I also felt the Spirit watching 'Forrest Gump' and the 'Lion King'."
- Response to section: "Why did I feel the Spirit as I listened to the stories of apostates sharing how they discovered for themselves that Mormonism is not true?" [Work in Progress]