God has given each of us a spirit capable of discerning truth from error, but evaluating candidate truth is neither easy nor fast. Mormon said, “Search diligently in the light of Christ that ye may know good from evil.” (Moroni 7:19) Truth seeking is not a passive activity.
Paul wrote: “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” (1 Thessalonians 5:21) It is difficult to give a fair shake to “all things,” as this would require all of your time and a great deal of your money. There are far more claims to truth than actual truth, like mining flecks of gold from a mountain of dross. Extracting higher order truth requires testing. If you want to maximize your intake of new truth, you have to become efficient at the process of testing it.
The ability to investigate the value of putative truth is perhaps the most critical skill you can possess, as it will determine how much truth you can obtain given your limited time and exposure.
Are existing beliefs a validator of truth?
Modern first-world people seem to test things by asking, “Does this new principle conform to my preconceived notions?” If yes, they accept. If no, they reject. If this is your disposition, you can never progress beyond where you are, because you will reject all truth that is higher than what you already possess.
New truth, by definition, must be different than old truth. There is no such thing as new truth that is the same as what you now believe. If it was, you would already believe it. This clearly does not mean that everything that is different than what you currently believe is true, but it does mean that all truth higher than what you now believe will be different than what you now believe. Though only some new truth will directly contradict what you currently believe, all will be either outside of what you currently believe or contradictory to it.
The Lord taught:
36 And he spake also a parable unto them; 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.
38 But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved.
39 No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better. (Luke 5)
Many times, old paradigms can’t support new and improved ideas. A new idea may not be as valuable in context of old ideas as it is in the context of an unrealized future. The invention of the automobile came at a time when people would have rather had a faster horse.
It might seem tempting to use the world as the standard of truth, but further consideration precludes this option. The Lord said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, darkness covereth the earth, and gross darkness the minds of the people, and all flesh has become corrupt before my face.” (D&C 112:23)
We ought not reject a putative belief simply because another person or group doesn’t believe it. Similarly, it is unwise to accept a putative belief simply because someone else (a friend, a family member, a celebrity, or church leader) maintains that belief. Peer pressure is not compelling enough to maintain your own adherence during trials. Nor does something become true merely because it is repeated often. Those who are off the strait and narrow path far outnumber those who are on it. Truth always stands in the minority, and therefore will always be the exception to what is heard most often.
Most young people adopt the beliefs of their parents. We should not believe something just because we were told it by our parents. The Lord’s beliefs quickly evolved beyond what his parents believed, and he taught others to likewise be willing to leave behind what their parents believe for something better. When he encountered a woman who professed that her parents had taught her the blasphemous practice of worshipping in her home town, he taught her that true worship was different than both her traditions and the traditions of the Jews at that time (see John 4:20).
Paul taught that not all childish beliefs are appropriate to continue as an adult. He said, “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.” (1 Corinthians 13:11) Paul was raised to be a strict Pharisee. Gladly, he was open to an alternative truth.
There are many other profound examples of people whose righteousness exceeded that of their parents only after they were willing to believe something better might be available.
We must address our crippling incorrect judgment of putative truth: In evaluating putative truth, we use our preconceived notions of good and evil (from a lower level of truth) to judge higher levels of truth. What we value as right and good can be but dross to those with a higher understanding, and what we condemn as evil is often right to those with higher understanding (for example, Paul’s Pharisaical traditions were good enough to lead him to Christ, but had to be put aside to embrace the greater light offered to him once there). At the same time, we dismiss higher truth as “wrong,” and in so doing damn ourselves to our current level of understanding (as the Pharisees did in rejecting Jesus’ teaching that divorce should not be a ready option in marriage).
Jesus taught, “Judge not according to your traditions, but judge righteous judgment.” (John 7:24, JST) It is not the false traditions of our fallen flesh that will teach us the truth of all things, but the Holy Ghost (see Moroni 10:5).
New truth cannot be evaluated through the lens of the current beliefs of an individual. Candidate truth can only be evaluated through the light an individual has from God.
Is attractiveness a test of truth?
The naïve belief of most is that we will find higher truth attractive and desirable the second we perceive it, and that we will notice it as soon as we are exposed to it. This is a destructive myth.
Higher truth is both hidden and repulsive. Were it not so, you would already possess it. In order to see what is above you as right, you have to learn what is above you, which you currently either do not see at all, or incorrectly see as wrong. If it were any other way, you would already be at that higher level of truth instead of your present lower one.
What pleases our carnal sensibilities is almost assuredly not what improves. After all, the natural man is an enemy to God. Paul said that to use what feels good as a proxy for what is good leads to degradation:
6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. (Romans 8)
In reality, “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” (Proverbs 16:25) What we see as desirable simply mirrors what we desire, and our desires are not set on truth. “All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the Lord weigheth the spirits.” (Proverbs 16:2) Knowing this, the Lord invited us to overcome our poor judgment by changing our criteria. He said: “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” (John 7:24)
Instead, we must use the light within us to discern between good and evil: “And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.” (Moroni 10:5)
Remember that whatever is of this world is fleeting. No matter how good it seems, we have to judge in a much broader context, an eternal context, to see that it is not what it seems, not as enduring as it seems, and not as pleasurable as it seems.
Is authority a validator of truth?
Because almost every prophet in the scriptures came from outside the recognized hierarchy, applying this standard would require us to throw away almost all of scripture. Clearly, this is an invalid test.
Even Jesus’ authority did not come from the church authorities of his day. Nor did it come from the fact that he was the Son of God. Jesus’ authority came through the provenance of his message. He spoke the words of the Father. Those who judged the truthfulness of his message based on earthly authority incorrectly rejected him:
54 And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this man this wisdom, and these mighty works?
55 Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?
56 And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?
57 And they were offended in him.... (Matthew 13)
We ought to assume that those who use the same false standards today will also reject light and truth.
Developing discernment
Light is a signal. When you boost a signal, you boost both signal and noise, which are respectively like wheat (what is beneficial) and tares (what is not). Some people never boost their signal at all. They will die with the same paucity of truth they obtained at some early point in their lives. They will most likely have all the noise intact, because it is impossible to ferret out the noise without acquiring new truth in the process.
Some people are good at opening their aperture for truth. They are very open-minded, and consider a broader and deeper range of ideas than most people. Because they take in more truth, they will likewise end up with more noise to filter. The open-minded intentionally suspend judgment until any new information has been considered, but they need not skip judgment.
The odds of a person being open-minded and the probability of that same person having increased discernment seem to be independent. Open-minded people seem to be just as likely to have an aptitude for discernment as closed-minded people. Because of the combination of likelihood of low discernment and an increase in ideas considered, open-minded people tend to be easily derailed in their pursuit of truth by ideas that are absolute nonsense. They tend to be non-conformist and unconventional, but not in necessarily advantageous ways. Without developing discernment—the ability to filter—the open-minded will be disadvantaged compared to the close-minded.
There is a difference between being open-minded and being undiscerning. The scriptures state that “The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looketh well to his going.” (Proverbs 14:15) Surely, it is wise to be prudent. One must consider “his going,” or question their current understanding of life, salvation, the commandments, their principles, and how they are applying them.
The undiscerning do not differentiate between options—they have no standards and do not sort. Pigs are undiscerning. They will eat anything given to them. When a messenger starts preaching a contrarian message, the majority of people who are attracted to such a message are the undiscerning, because the odds of being both open-minded and discerning are lower than the odds of being open-minded and undiscerning. After a culling period (typically when they are asked to sacrifice something) their numbers thin out. Do not cast your pearls before swine.
Those who acquire the most light are not like pigs, but like whales. Whales spend their days sucking in massive quantities of chaotic waters, filtering out the tiny organisms that provide it with food. They spit out everything else.
Differentiation of the good from the bad requires raw experience. The more you venture into the unknown, the more good you can mine. When we learn what is good and what is bad in this new experience, we transform the unknown into the known. As we discard the bad, we retain elements of the unknown that are good, forging incremental improvement in our character.
Wheat and tares look the same until it is time for harvest (see Matthew 13:24-30). You can’t weed out the tares until it is time for harvest, because only in the appearance of their fruit do they look different. Because truth is progressive, you have to continually retest the truths that you have already acquired. It is unavoidable that your wheat will contain tares, and when your knowledge on a topic is young, it is by design that it be so. As you grow in that topic, the time when it is appropriate to have tares among your wheat comes to an end. As you grow in light, you will find that some of what you previously held to be true requires further distinction. There will be some tares scattered throughout your wheat, and in some cases, some or even all of what you thought was a patch of wheat will be tares. Weeding your field is a process that never ends. You will always have to reevaluate your beliefs—incorporating new observations, asking new questions, and learning new things.
As you acquire more truth, you will need to reinterpret what you previously learned based on your advanced awareness and your advancing understanding of good and evil. In the scriptures, this process is sometimes referred to as “searching in the light of Christ.” The parable of the wheat and tares provides a sense of security in our search for truth, without which it may seem too unsure to venture into. In searching for truth, there is no risk of losing anything of value—all wheat must be preserved in any filtering routine. Any observations or experiences of value within a later-proved belief must be addressed in a replacement belief. 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.
How to test truth
Paul said that the things of the Spirit can only be known by the Spirit (see 1 Corinthians 2:14). The light within you consists of your conscience— your sincere understanding of good and evil. This is the mechanism God will use to tell you whether something is good or evil. As you will realize if you’ve read the preceding chapters, this is not a static resource. God’s light will grow and change as you reconcile to what it tells you. As you will also realize if you’ve read the preceding chapters, this is not a passive process.
You have to have a conversation with the light, where you hash out all the details to the level merited by the weight of the issue at hand. You have to weigh out what is edifying and what is not: “And that which doth not edify is not of God, and is darkness.” (D&C 50:23) “All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.” (1 Corinthians 10:23) You have to actively consider what empowers you, and what exercises power over you: “All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.” (1 Corinthians 6:12)
By querying God and searching your conscience for the answer, you will know with a perfect knowledge what you should do:
15 For behold, my brethren, it is given unto you to judge, that ye may know good from evil; and the way to judge is as plain, that ye may know with a perfect knowledge, as the daylight is from the dark night.
16 For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil... (Moroni 7)
What are you looking for? Improvement.
Paul admonished us not to be “conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” (Romans 12:2) What does it mean to be transformed? It means that you actually change. Change for the better is the outcome you are seeking when you test truth.
The Lord said that “wisdom is justified of all her children.” (Luke 7:35) He also said: “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.” (John 7:17) What do these sayings mean? The Lord was saying that if you test putative truth, you will see its consequences and know whether it improves or degrades. This is what John was teaching when he said: “believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” (1 John 4:1)
Testing differentiates what is beneficial from what is not. Testing means exposing an idea to reality and evaluating its fruits.
For example, a house will look the same whether it is built on sand or a rock until floods come:
24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. (Matthew 7)
Wheat and tares look the same until harvest time. The only way to filter wheat and tares is to plant the seed and let them grow until you can distinguish them. If you are willing to assume a putative truth might be true, you will know for sure whether or not it is as it matures and bears consequences:
28 Now, we will compare the word unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me.
29 Now behold, would not this increase your faith? I say unto you, Yea; nevertheless it hath not grown up to a perfect knowledge.
30 But behold, as the seed swelleth, and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow, then you must needs say that the seed is good; for behold it swelleth, and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow. And now, behold, will not this strengthen your faith? Yea, it will strengthen your faith: for ye will say I know that this is a good seed; for behold it sprouteth and beginneth to grow.
31 And now, behold, are ye sure that this is a good seed? I say unto you, Yea; for every seed bringeth forth unto its own likeness.
32 Therefore, if a seed groweth it is good, but if it groweth not, behold it is not good, therefore it is cast away.
33 And now, behold, because ye have tried the experiment, and planted the seed, and it swelleth and sprouteth, and beginneth to grow, ye must needs know that the seed is good. (Alma 32)
When the consequences come, and if you pay attention, you will see whether the putative truth bears good fruit or evil fruit—whether it improves you or degrades you.
Light and truth transform you. They renew your mind, and provide a wider lens on what is good. They show you a more accurate and expansive view of God and God's character. How does the putative truth affect your kindness, generosity, patience, endurance, meekness, humility, knowledge, wisdom, etc.?
How does the putative truth affect your resilience? Does it help you exercise greater trust in God, in spite of exposure to greater trials? To a greater extent than most realize, God's grace shields us from the full spectrum of the awfulness of this life. One goal of the gospel is to build up our knowledge to the point where we can maintain a godly character in the face of the full scope of reality. Any true principle ought to assist us in this pursuit. True principles are powerful, they enable us to do and endure things we could not otherwise do or endure. By living this principle, are you more capable, less capable, or equally capable of dealing with the seen and unseen vicissitudes of life?
The technique of testing is not a license to ignore the light within you and give place to ideas that you know are wrong. Rather, it is an invitation to actively consider everything in your life in the light of whether it invites you to improve or whether it degrades you:
12 Wherefore, all things which are good cometh of God; and that which is evil cometh of the devil; for the devil is an enemy unto God, and fighteth against him continually, and inviteth and enticeth to sin, and to do that which is evil continually.
13 But behold, that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually; wherefore, every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God.
16 ...every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God.
17 But whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do evil, and believe not in Christ, and deny him, and serve not God, then ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of the devil... (Moroni 7)
The importance of fruit
“Fruit” is a scriptural term that refers to the outcomes of a certain belief. Why is fruit an important concept in the search for truth? Because fruit is evidence that penetrates through our limited capability to recognize truth directly.
Many times in the scriptures we read the phrase, “the light shines in the darkness, but the darkness comprehends it not.” What does it mean for light to shine in the darkness? What does it mean for the darkness to not comprehend it?
Light exists by degrees. Light is ever-present in its fullness, but it is not perceived or accepted in its fullness. A creation story from a translation of the Bible designed to preserve the meanings of words from the original language illustrates this idea: “The Light shines on in the darkness, and the darkness did not understand it or overpower it or appropriate it or absorb it [and is unreceptive to it].” (John 1:5, AMP)
The darkness is any part of us—our beliefs, feelings, actions, thoughts, etc.—that deviates from a fullness of God in some way. We only perceive some very small degree of this deviation. To perceive all of it would require the same knowledge God has. We can only perceive it in terms of the degree of light we have acquired and assimilated. We can only estimate our deviation from God to the extent that he has revealed himself to us personally. This begins with an awareness of basic right and wrong, and from there can progress a great deal further.
Just as we are extraordinarily limited in our perception of our deviation from God, and for the same reasons, we are extraordinarily limited in our awareness and assessment of greater truth than we presently hold.
Each of God’s creations has a varied awareness of the fullness of light that emanates from God. Matter of a lower degree of light can perceive light to a point just beyond what it itself has attained, but nothing beyond. Because of our blindness to light beyond what we presently possess, it is of utmost importance to learn how to recognize higher truth based on the fruit it produces. Light leaves clues, and we can perceive the clues even if we can’t perceive the light. This strategy is analogous to our inability to look directly at the sun. Though we can’t see the details of the sun directly with our eyes, we can look at its effects. We can feel the heat on our skin when we walk into it, and we can see the green grass and green leaves that grow from it.
The Savior taught that true doctrine can be proven by the fruits it produces. He taught that it was both necessary and possible to prove candidate truth. He taught that new truth is always accompanied by signs:
65 And these signs shall follow them that believe—
66 In my name they shall do many wonderful works;
67 In my name they shall cast out devils;
68 In my name they shall heal the sick;
69 In my name they shall open the eyes of the blind, and unstop the ears of the deaf;
70 And the tongue of the dumb shall speak;
71 And if any man shall administer poison unto them it shall not hurt them;
72 And the poison of a serpent shall not have power to harm them. (D&C 84; see also Mark 16:17-18 and Mormon 9:24)
We search in order to find two kinds of fruit: charismatic and rational. Charismatic fruit consists of experiences we have had that support a principle. In this category, we could place Paul’s witness of Christ: He saw; therefore, he knew. We could place Joseph of Egypt’s dream of the 14 years of plenty and famine in this category. In fact, the scriptures are full of visitations, visions, dreams, and voices that all serve as charismatic evidence for a particular idea. We should exercise extreme caution in considering emotional experiences as charismatic evidence.
Rational fruit is a historical, scriptural, or logical argument that supports or contradicts a given principle. Rational fruit can be evaluated absent of experience. Rational fruit is a powerful tool for disproving principles, since only one counterexample is needed to disprove something. (Alma 30 provides an excellent example of a rational argument used to root out falsehood.) But rational argument has another more important use. While charismatic experience is how we gain unshakeable testimonies of truth, charismatic experiences come largely as the result of experimenting on God’s word. Without logical, scriptural, or historical reason to believe on a proffered principle, one will not have enough faith to experiment on it. Rational evidence provides a bridge between where we currently stand and where we need to stand in order to receive a charismatic witness.
Unfortunately, not all “fruit” is good fruit.
Throughout time there have been men who practiced counterfeit miracles. Remember that truth produces works, independent of the intent of the truth holder. Satan’s power comes from his possession of truth, not his desires, which are evil. The priests of Pharaoh were able to imitate many of the miracles the Lord commanded Moses to perform. Had the Israelites allowed miracles to convince them of truthfulness, they would have had as much reason to believe the Pharaoh as they would Moses.
Elijah’s challenge to the priests of Baal indicates that they, too, performed miracles. He challenged them to call down fire from their God. They accepted his invitation, suggesting that they had done similar works before (see 1 Kings 18).
These counterfeits are not limited to the Old Testament. The book of Acts contains the accounts of Elymas and Simon, sorcerers who fooled men into thinking they had God’s power (see Acts 13 and Acts 8).
If you consider the ability to perform miracles an indication of truthfulness, you will be deceived, for the devil has power to perform miracles.
The key to avoiding deception is to remember that supernatural power is not a witness of truth. Improvement is. The glory of God is not miracles, it is intelligence. It is improvement. It is greater capacity to withstand reality, greater awareness of reality, and greater adherence to godly character in spite of every obstacle and contradiction.
By showing fruit that could only come through God's approbation, Jesus showed he possessed higher light, even if that light was beyond the comprehension of those to whom he ministered:
4 And Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?
5 For whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Arise, and walk?
6 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (then saith he to the sick of the palsy,) Arise, take up thy bed, and go unto thine house.
7 And he arose, and departed to his house. (Matthew 9)
Miracles from Satan do not entice you to do good. They do not entice you to improve. They do not help you withstand the challenges of life. They weaken you, making you dependent on things outside of your control.
Misattributing fruit
Finally, it is important to address the importance of specific attribution. Truth produces good fruit. However, the possession of good fruit doesn’t imply that your assignment of what caused it is correct or complete.
If you misattribute a correct conclusion to a given premise, you will hold that premise as improving you, when in reality it could be detrimental. For example, suppose that God tells you that the U.S. Constitution is inspired. You could conclude that everything that the U.S. government does is sanctioned by God. That belief would degrade you, and lead to a lower order life than the truth.
Don’t fool yourself into writing off a challenge to one of your beliefs just because you have experienced blessings that you attribute to that belief.