Our beliefs are not meant to stay the same
The task of discerning truth is difficult. Because the gospel is progressive, our search for truth is unending. We cannot simply have a static list of all of God’s commandments. Instead, we will live our entire lives in an unending process of letting go of previously held beliefs as we acquire more accurate ones.
Seeking truth will sometimes lead to disproving previously held notions, but letting go of false beliefs draws one closer to God. Therefore, whether resulting in affirmation or disproof, honest questioning can only lead closer to God. We can only improve by adopting higher order truth than we presently hold.
You shouldn't fear putative truth. If it turns out false, you can be that much surer of your current views. If it turns out true, you have advanced in your knowledge and will reap the advanced benefits.
There ought not be any fear of losing what you already have—a rational mind will only replace a previous position with a more solid position. An open mind and a desire to know truth will only ever lead a person closer to God.
Fear of finding new truth is simply not well-founded. As a camera focuses, the image becomes clearer. Although the view certainly changes, the progress is always a refinement. A focused camera picture represents only information gain, not loss. Perhaps this is why Jacob said: “I know that the words of truth are hard against all uncleanness; but the righteous fear them not, for they love the truth and are not shaken.” (2 Nephi 9:40) Jacob was no stranger to uncomfortable new truth. His life was a constant barrage of paradigm shifts. These showed him that he could always confide in God, even if it meant abandoning things he previously thought were true, or blazing paths unfamiliar to his culture and heritage.
Truth can’t be harmed by further investigation; only falsehood. The degree to which we fear hearing arguments that oppose our view is the degree to which we are not genuinely seeking the truth.
Any time we set bounds on what could be true, we limit the amount of truth we can acquire. Instead of describing our beliefs in terms of defined creeds, we ought to recognize that we expect our beliefs to change over time, and instead describe our belief as whatever is good and true.
Any religion or ideology, being lower and less than God himself, necessarily includes things that are incorrect or incomplete. Progress towards God is marked by invitations to do things you had either never before considered or things you previously thought were wrong.
God will consistently challenge your paradigms. Orthodoxy is the antithesis of seeking truth from God. The latter requires a constant search for new facts, new observations, and new theories. Ironically, orthodoxy is used as the measuring stick for apostasy, when the idea of a closed canon is itself apostate from the idea of truth.
Nephi warned that in our day many would not be interested in more truth:
27 Yea, wo be unto him that saith: We have received, and we need no more!
28 And in fine, wo unto all those who tremble, and are angry because of the truth of God! For behold, he that is built upon the rock receiveth it with gladness; and he that is built upon a sandy foundation trembleth lest he shall fall.
29 Wo be unto him that shall say: We have received the word of God, and we need no more of the word of God, for we have enough!
30 For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have. (2 Nephi 28)
We are told that those who adopt this position will not be given any additional truth, and thus will never reach the point where they can come back into God’s presence.
Just because you know something doesn’t mean you know everything. All the righteous ancients knew more than we do, and yet they were constantly seeking for more than they had. When we think of the over-wise, we tend to think of those who flaunt knowledge and are constantly challenging what they are told. In reality, the over-wise are those who are satisfied with ignorance:
And whoso knocketh, to him will he open; and the wise, and the learned, and they that are rich, who are puffed up because of their learning, and their wisdom, and their riches—yea, they are they whom he despiseth; and save they shall cast these things away, and consider themselves fools before God, and come down in the depths of humility, he will not open unto them. (2 Nephi 9:42)
These are they who are too “wise” to be taught:
O that cunning plan of the evil one! O the vainness, and the frailties, and the foolishness of men! When they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not. And they shall perish. (2 Nephi 9:28)
Pride is not knowing too much. It is knowing too little. The learned are not they who know too much, but they who believe they know more than they actually do.
The attitude of satisfaction is damning. The problem is not what you know, it is what you don’t know, and refuse to acknowledge. Awareness that there is more to know is what unlocks learning. The Lord does not despise those who acquire knowledge. He despises those who assume they know something despite their ignorance. He despises those who think they know more than God, and ignore what he tries to teach them, assuming they already know what he wants. Jacob states that the antidote to the poison of pride is to “hearken unto the counsels of God.” (2 Nephi 9:29)
No man setting his hand to the plow can turn back. Let the dead bury their dead. We must be willing to leave our dead ideas alone and move onto what is higher and better.
Seeking Truth Requires Considering Other Views
Glory comes proportional to the degree of the law lived. Those who limit themselves to the law they currently understand cannot advance to higher states of glory:
21 And they who are not sanctified through the law which I have given unto you, even the law of Christ, must inherit another kingdom, even that of a terrestrial kingdom, or that of a telestial kingdom.
22 For he who is not able to abide the law of a celestial kingdom cannot abide a celestial glory.
23 And he who cannot abide the law of a terrestrial kingdom cannot abide a terrestrial glory.
24 And he who cannot abide the law of a telestial kingdom cannot abide a telestial glory; therefore he is not meet for a kingdom of glory. Therefore he must abide a kingdom which is not a kingdom of glory. (D&C 88)
While spiritual stagnation is comfortable, it is also damning. It is easy and comfortable to live your religion when you assume that it will always be the same: your spiritual practices will never change, nor will the requirements of salvation. However, every saved person in the scriptures— every person with whom God made a covenant—was constantly subjected to principles that were beyond their previous comprehension despite their righteous lives. Abraham was asked to sacrifice Isaac, Moses was astounded by things he had never before supposed, etc. This is because we are not like God. We possess the degree of glory associated with the degree of the law we live. If we live a Celestial law, we possess Celestial glory, Terrestrial law, Terrestrial glory, and so on (see D&C 88:20-35). In order to ascend to a higher degree of glory, we will always need to embrace a set of laws of which we are ignorant. If you live your current beliefs perfectly, and have not been brought back into God’s presence, your current beliefs do not possess the power to bring you back into God’s presence. Like it or not, this means you necessarily do not possess the same beliefs as Jesus and all people who, by learning from him, obtained salvation. Therefore, coming up to a Celestial glory will require letting go of at least some of the things you currently hold as true. You cannot close yourself to ideas you perceive as contradictory to current beliefs and simultaneously let in further light and truth.
Not even Jesus himself possessed all there was to know in the beginning:
13 And he received not of the fulness at first, but continued from grace to grace, until he received a fulness;
14 And thus he was called the Son of God, because he received not of the fulness at the first. (D&C 93)
Those who believe that they already know all the doctrines necessary to be saved presume they know more than Jesus did, as he had to progress from one teaching to the next. They presume that, while Enoch and his city required hundreds of years to become Zion, they can do it with what little they learn at church! Enoch learned new fundamental truths about God’s character after having been in heaven with God for generations. As the Lord said:
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55)
Frankly, no one knows everything there is to know. If Jesus, Enoch, and others still had a lot to learn, we should be very cautious in our assertions of what we “know” to be true. Otherwise, we fall into the category of those who think they are wise, which incidentally means precisely that we do not hearken to God:
O that cunning plan of the evil one! O the vainness, and the frailties, and the foolishness of men! When they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing that they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not. And they shall perish. (2 Nephi 9:28)
Never think that what you have is enough, or the end, or final. “Wo be unto him that shall say: We have received the word of God, and we need no more of the word of God, for we have enough!” (2 Nephi 28:29) There is no such thing as final truth. Alma taught:
9 ...It is given unto many to know the mysteries of God; nevertheless they are laid under a strict command that they shall not impart only according to the portion of his word which he doth grant unto the children of men, according to the heed and diligence which they give unto him.
10 And therefore, he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word; and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full. (Alma 12)
No matter how sure you are about anything, no matter the criticality of your understanding of a certain doctrine to your entire belief structure, always consider the possibility that you are wrong. The only way to know, of course, is to ask the Lord.
Joshua and the Elders of Israel failed to do so when approached by emissaries from one of the nations the Lord had commanded to be destroyed. Falling for the disguise and false story, the Israelites made an oath with the emissaries, who claimed to be from a far distant land, to allow them to be their servants. Unfortunately, “the men...asked not counsel at the mouth of the Lord.” (Joshua 9:14) The Israelites foolishly made an oath to protect the men and their nation, and thus could not comply with the Lord’s command to destroy them. At least some of the idolatry and eventual apostasy of Israel can be traced to this one incident of overconfidence in the understanding of men.
Damnation is literally to advance no further. Those who refuse new truths from God (they cannot come from any other source—though they may come through many sources, including people we presume to be fools) will be permanently limited in their eternal progression, because higher law is required for higher blessings. “All kingdoms have a law given; And there are many kingdoms...And unto every kingdom is given a law; and unto every law there are certain bounds also and conditions. All beings who abide not in those conditions are not justified.” (D&C 88:36, 38-39) When God offers a blessing or knowledge to someone, and they refuse it, they are damned—it will permanently block them from obtaining what otherwise could have been theirs:
For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have. (2 Nephi 28:30)
It may seem difficult to imagine that thinking you know something and failing to hearken to God are the same. Yet, Jacob equates it to being deaf (see 2 Nephi 9:31) and blind (see 2 Nephi 9:32), probably because God continues to reveal new things to everyone as long as they continue to listen to him. Therefore, if you become set in your idea of the truth, you could only have become so by ignoring what God is continuing to say to you. Living revelation means constant revelation. We should expect to frequently displace our current understanding with something better.
If one assumes that they lack knowledge, the next step is to seek it. If we want to learn more than we know, we will have to investigate points of view that don’t belong to us already. While it is possible that new knowledge exists outside the bounds of accepted truth, scriptural examples suggest it is much more likely that further light and truth will clash with what we already think we know than support it. However, this gives us no reason to fear reading or hearing information that doesn’t agree with what we believe. After all, if we believe man is fallen and God is perfect, we ought to understand that his revelation of our misconceptions is how we become more like him.
You should not assume something is false simply because you have never heard it before. Anyone who does not believe they know everything ought to expect to hear something that they’ve never heard before, or something that contradicts what they have been told previously.
Searching for truth requires a willingness to investigate both sides of a position as objectively as possible. If you are merely arguing for your position, you cannot honestly say you are searching for truth. You do not know all things, and therefore you cannot ever be totally sure that you are right. If you aren't willing to be wrong about something, you can only go so far in your search for truth.
Knowledge of opposing views is absolutely necessary for two reasons. First, a rational position requires knowledge of both sides of an issue. For example, how could you honestly say that one variety of apple is the tastiest if you’ve never tried another variety? Second, you cannot effectively persuade others if you are not aware of why they believe what they do.
Knowing your counterpart’s reasons for their belief is a two-fold benefit. First, construction of a persuasive argument on your part requires you to address their reasons for believing. How could you persuade a fan of Golden Delicious apple that Granny Smith is superior if you have never actually tried Golden Delicious? The strength of your position depends on your addressing their reasons for believing. Secondly, an intrinsic benefit of investigating your opponent’s position is the possible discovery that they are, in fact, correct. Just as you could possess evidences of your position that your counterpart had never considered, so could they. You could very well end up supporting their position should their evidence prove stronger than yours. Yet, such a situation is to be desired, not feared, for those in possession of greater truth have drawn closer to God.
For most, unbiased evaluation of opposing views is particularly difficult. After all, no one wants to turn away from their life's work, or the legacy of their ancestors. The more that is sacrificed for a belief system, the less likely one is to abandon that belief system. The loss isn't all ideological, either.
Accepting putative truth might cost you your job, your loved ones, or anything else your heart might be attached to. In order to maintain objectivity, one must adopt a posture where they can temporarily detach from their persona and consider putative truth absent of what it would cost them if it were true, what they think of the source, etc. The search for truth must be detached from our temporal and philosophical circumstance.
Setting up Stakes
People often refuse new truth because they can’t figure out how to believe it without letting go of something they already believe. The Lord said:
36 No man putteth a piece of a new garment upon an old; if otherwise, then both the new maketh a rent, and the piece that was taken out of the new agreeth not with the old.
37 And no man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish. (Luke 5)
The Lord was referring to how the Pharisees struggled to accept his teachings during his mortal ministry. The Pharisees and company not only had preconceived notions about the truth, they prided themselves on being ideological leaders of the people. Then Jesus came and told them they were blind leaders of the blind. Trying to teach them anew with old scriptures just didn’t work, because the people just couldn’t accept the possibility that they had it all wrong.
When higher truth is revealed, and we are confident that it comes from God, we must refit previously accepted truths into the new perspective given us by the Lord. If things do not fit, they ought to be removed. The old order is not amenable to new truth. You have to start fresh.
An example of letting go of lower truth in order to accept higher truth is given in Nephi, who firmly believed that killing someone was contrary to God’s law. He was told by God to kill. He was taught what principles define the finer edge between sin and righteous action when it comes to killing. He was introduced to a higher law which required him to let go of the lower law. Failing to accept that light and truth when it came would have led to many short-term negative consequences and the long-term negative consequence of his eternal damnation (or limitation) except and until he was willing to accept the higher law.
If you arrive at a new truth that does not fit in your present understanding of things, you should just keep trying to ask questions and seek new knowledge until everything is reconciled. When God commanded Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, he did not refuse. Eventually, he was taught exactly why this was necessary.
Lack of truth is not a result of it not being available—it is all around you, all the time. Every artificial boundary we place on putative truth limits the quantity of truth we receive. It seems each of us has a line in the sand where we say “God would never ask me to _.” We should recognize these arbitrary bounds for what they are. Instead of lauding our assumed superiority in moral judgment (which should be blatantly obvious due to our lack of spiritual fruit), we ought to recognize our sacred cows as evidence of a lack of trust in God. Trust in God’s character gives us prior belief of whatever he is going to teach us, no matter how outlandish it seems.
Perfect love removes all fear. If you truly love God, then seek to know him on his terms, holding nothing back. Only those who put everything they think they know about God on the altar can come to know him.
We can extend our capacity to accept new light and truth through penitent prayer and humility towards God. When we truly believe we know nothing, we are much more willing to accept new truth. When we are totally willing to let go of anything we think we know, we are much more willing to accept new truth.
When we refuse to dismiss anything out of hand (as John instructs us— “try the spirits” or test new truth to see its fruits), we are much more willing to accept new truth. When we refuse to dictate to God what is right and what is wrong, we are much more willing to accept new truth. When we realize that what was right before and what God might have inspired us to accept before could be superseded by something higher, we are much more willing to accept new truth. It is possible to come to the point where no truth pertaining to the Celestial, Terrestrial, or Telestial kingdom has power to derail you, despite the fact that you do not yet know them. This is when your calling and election is made sure, or rather this is what it means and what it takes.
Too often in life, we subscribe to the idea that we can, at some point, be “done.” We rest on the laurels of previous truth acquisition. When something becomes known and ordered, it is not a sign that it is done. Functionality does not imply completeness. Something good does not imply the nonexistence of something better. Truth does not confine you to a box; it gives you the confidence to explore everything you don't yet know, and test against what you think you do know. Much of the pain of hell comes from the surprise that everything you assumed was final is in actuality anything but.
Anyone willing to set up limits on the domain of truth will succeed only in limiting their own acquisition of it.
A Willingness to be Wrong
Your efficacy as a truth seeker will be proportional to how much you believe that everything you know is incorrect or incomplete.
Most adults get excited at the idea of going to a party, a baseball game, or some other social event. How excited do you get when you are corrected?
Most people would do anything to prevent getting corrected. Most actually do. That is no surprise.
We delight in learning the truths that align with how we choose to act, but are slow to recognize and do not seek the truths which would require us to change.
It feels good to experience life according to our preconceived notions. It feels bad to experience contradictions to our preconceived notions. It feels good to think you are wise. It feels bad to be shown that you are a fool.
By definition, an opportunity for further light and knowledge is also a realization of personal inadequacy. This is because improvement always involves changing something already in practice. Seeking light and truth is, by definition, uncomfortable. It is only borne by those who have come to hunger and thirst after the results of the search: righteousness. Unfortunately, it is the tendency of the natural man to hide in fear rather than expose himself in faith to the Lord, ready for instruction on how to improve.
Adam ran and hid when God came to correct him, and mankind has been running and hiding from reality ever since. The difference between a truth seeker and a truth avoider is not in the opportunity for improvement, but in the reaction to the invitation to improve.
Most people require a positive ratio of compliments to correction, whether the source is another person or God. How willing are you to be wrong? What is your ratio of compliments to correction? Why does it matter? If a person gains more knowledge in this life, it is because he exercises more diligence and obedience than another (see D&C 130:19). When it comes to how much light and truth you acquire in this life, your correction ratio will make all the difference. This is why the Psalmist said: “Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out of thy law.” (Psalm 94:12)
We ought to love correction:
5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil....
11 My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of his correction:
12 For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth. (Proverbs 3)
Correction is always a good thing. “Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth: therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty.” (Job 5:17) Every time anyone accepts correction, they are better off than they were before. These are opportunities to discover how to have a more accurate view of reality. Whatever is more accurate is better, without exception, even though it might hurt a little initially: “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.” (Hebrews 12:11)
Illusions can bring pleasure or comfort, but always with interest. The bill always comes due, and when it does, it will always cost far more than acting according to a more accurate estimate of reality would have. Closing your eyes on a tightrope might ease your fear, but it won't make you safer, and might be the last decision you make.
We ought to beg and plead with God to correct us, and be diligent in seeking every interaction with others as a potential correction. “Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is brutish.” (Proverbs 12:10) We ought to feast on the scriptures and other materials that could expose our weaknesses.
31 The ear that heareth the reproof of life abideth among the wise.
32 He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul: but he that heareth reproof getteth understanding.
33 The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom; and before honour is humility. (Proverbs 15)
Humility is a word thrown around a lot. What is real humility? It is how much correction you can take before you quit!
In order to consider yourself a fool before God, and yet relentlessly seek and obtain further light and truth from him, you must adopt the difficult position of at once being perceptive and faithful enough to act on everything you have been taught thus far while also being ready at a moment’s notice to cast it aside in favor of greater light and truth. You must be like a cat and like a bird at the same time. When you try to remove a cat from its location, it will dig in its claws and bite you. If you try to remove a bird, it will fly away at the first intimation of movement towards it.
Adopting principles of higher light and truth requires the greatest tenacity. You will have to tenaciously seek for it, and tenaciously reconcile your perceptions, actions, thoughts, and desires to what you learn. Then you will also have to tenaciously cling to the light God has given you in the face of persecution from those with less light. At the same time, adopting light and truth requires great humility, because you never know the source or content of the next dispensation of light and truth. While charging forth in tenacity, you have to be absolutely humble to any potential additional light and truth. When presented with putative truth, you have to instantly consider whether it might be true, putting your most bedrock assumptions and beliefs up to reinspection if need be.
A proper response to an invitation from another to consider a different point of view should always be met with patient, unbiased consideration. Some respond to an invitation to consider a new point of view with anger:
10 And it came to pass as he began to expound these things unto them they were angry with him, and began to mock him; and they would not hear the words which he spake...
12 And it came to pass that they saw that the people would harden their hearts, therefore they departed and came over into the land of Middoni. And they did preach the word unto many, and few believed on the words which they taught. (Alma 21)
Should you find yourself getting angry at such an invitation, it should serve as a signal that you have cut yourself off from the learning process, and have become one who thinks they are wise (see 2 Nephi 9:29, 42). Anger is never a result of rational consideration of evidence. It causes God to withdraw the opportunity to learn more.
When putative truth is responded to with anger, it is not the putative truth that is on trial. Instead, this reaction reveals the desires and intent of the hearer:
20 For behold, at that day shall [Satan] rage in the hearts of the children of men, and stir them up to anger against that which is good.
28 And in fine, wo unto all those who tremble, and are angry because of the truth of God! For behold, he that is built upon the rock receiveth it with gladness; and he that is built upon a sandy foundation trembleth lest he shall fall. (2 Ne 28:20, 28.)
Why would putative truth ever make you angry, when everything in the gospel is designed to improve you by leading you from something worse to something better? When a good person hears putative truth, they consider it. If something they believe is wrong or incomplete, they want to know! If they reject a putative truth, they do so only after hearing it out, and do so with calm reason, not emotional rage.