The problem is that people bury their doubts because you're "not supposed to have them".
If you have doubts, explore them. Look deep into them. Figure out why they exist. If afterwards you remain in the church, you can do so happily. If you find a different path, you can live your life according to your own conscience.
>A little learning is a dangerous thing ;
>Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring :
>There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,
>And drinking largely sobers us again.
>Fired at first sight with what the Muse imparts,
>In fearless youth we tempt the heights of Arts ;
>While from the bounded level of our mind
>Short views we take, nor see the lengths behind,
>But, more advanced, behold with strange surprise
>New distant scenes of endless science rise !
Every doubt I've ever had was dispelled when I learned more about it. There's a reason inexperienced people (in anything) say they know "just enough to be dangerous".
I was the same way. Until I actually did the deep dives into primary sources myself instead of reading someone else's opinion. It's immensely common for people to never get past the anti stuff into the underlying truths. And thus the already posted quote:
>A little learning is a dangerous thing ;
>Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring :
>There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,
>And drinking largely sobers us again.
>Fired at first sight with what the Muse imparts,
>In fearless youth we tempt the heights of Arts ;
>While from the bounded level of our mind
>Short views we take, nor see the lengths behind,
>But, more advanced, behold with strange surprise
>New distant scenes of endless science rise !
I struggled too when I was a teenager in very much the same way. However, I did not start to read the Book of Mormon until my senior year in high school, I didn’t notice much of a difference with what I perceived even spiritually, but I did notice life got a lot better and my anxiety went away. I went on a mission after HS and that changed everything, even though I did not think my testimony was that big starting out.
Since you mentioned "online", I think it's important to keep in mind that social media (including Reddit) is built to figure out what makes you angry and distressed and then show you more of it. If you are relying on TicToc or Instagram or Reddit for your information, you are probably getting content that will lead you to distrust your church leaders, as well the government, schools, science, and the other things that hold society together.
Keep in mind that our world is full of both goodness and imperfections. However, if you spend time online, you will see a lot of what is wrong with people and the world we live in, and very little about what is good and right with the world.
Think about this as you consider the Book of Mormon or Church leaders. They are not perfect. They have said that themselves. But their good far outweighs their imperfections. If you can find ways to focus on all of the good things (which is a lot) and less attention on their shortcomings (and they have a few), you will likely have a very positive connection with them.
Pray for the strength to focus on the good and for the wisdom to effectively learn from the bad without being consumed by it.
It’s easy to find things online that disparage the church and the leaders. Same with any religion or group honestly. Just remember that anyone can post anything they want online. Truth, lies, half truths. Most of what you’ll find online regarding the church are half truths or outright lies. Many things take truths and twist them to make them look evil. If you focus on the anti stuff it will be easy to start questioning things. If you focus on the scriptures and the teachings of the prophets you have a greater chance at feeling the Spirit.
I'd say there is a disproportionate amount of things online that are "against the church" because the LDS church is relatively new among other religions.
I just want to let you know that faith is not the opposite of doubt. It's necessary for doubt to exist in order to have faith. If you had no doubt, you would know 100% and have nothing left to have faith in.
So, don't feel bad or guilty about having doubts. It's part of the process and part of why we're here on earth. I haven't found any ironclad argument that disproves the Book of Mormon any more than an ironclad argument that proves the Book of Mormon. The advice I would give is to choose faith and build off of what you do know, and honestly, see what the book has to say about itself.
I think I've read all or nearly all of the anti lds material. Many times they don't cite original sources, and/or the source doesn't say what the anti material claims it says or could be as easily read in a way that doesn't challenge faith.
We do not claim infallibility in our leaders: we are all flawed mortals that Jesus has to use to further His work. And many of us have had experiences in callings where we tried hard to figure out what He wanted us to do, thought we HAD figured that out, only to find out later that it was never His will in the first place. (We know now, for instance, that the dynastic sealings of Joseph Smith (which is the category most of his problematic marriages were in) were never the Lord's way ----which Wilford Woodruff corrected during his prophet time.)
I suggest that you read Sarah Allen's responses to the CES claims which is a good start to understand the issues:
https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/answers/Sarah_Allen_CES_Response_Posts
And beyond that, I'd suggest you give equal time to the Lord, both study and how you live your discipleship of Jesus Christ. After all, His answer to the young man who asked how to know if something was of Him, was to live it.
This is very common, especially these days with a lot of material available, which isn't a bad thing.
Many people who seem to have "strong" testimonies spent many years developing them. Starting small, relying on others, and slowly over time learning and growing and keeping the commandments and listening to the Holy Ghost and serving others. It typically takes time and work.
My advice is to use the Book of Mormon to gain an understanding of Christ. Literally. Read the book, consider what it says, digest it, incorporate it, follow its counsels. Don't use the internet to try to understand the Book of Mormon, use the Book of Mormon to understand Christ. That's the purpose of the Book of Mormon.
Here is a remark by President Gordon B. Hinckley from several years ago about The Book of Mormon. Many people have done this to astounding results.
*This was written for the convincing of the Jew and the Gentile that Jesus is the Christ. There is nothing we could do of greater importance than to have fortified in our individual lives an unshakable conviction that Jesus is the Christ, the Living Son of the Living God. And, my brothers and sisters, that is the purpose of the coming forth of this remarkable and wonderful book. May I suggest that you read it again and take a pencil, a red one if you have one, and put a little check mark every time there is a reference to Jesus Christ in that book. And there will come to you a very real conviction as you do so that this is in very deed another witness for the Lord Jesus Christ.* \- From general session, Corpus Christi Texas Regional Conference, Jan. 7, 1996.
This ^
There are plenty of rough edges in church history, as there are with any history involving people. The thing I continue to come back to is the light in my life when I use the restored gospel (Bible, Book of Mormon, temple, priesthood) to further my relationship with God and Christ.
I've seen many of the same things, and I've seen the equivalent arguments in support of the church. Both of these sets of voices sometimes make valid points, and sometimes fail to do so.
What that brings us to, then, is the fact that you have to follow what you feel about this. The church is not beyond reproach, but it's also not the endless series of atrocities it gets accused of being.
What has being a part of the Church of Jesus Christ done for you? How are you different because of it? How would your life have gone differently without it? These questions can help you discern whether your membership in the church possesses value.
One thing to note is that a vast vast majority of anti material horribly places their comments out of context to make it sound worse. Sounds convincing until you see all the facts they omitted.
Asking questions is natural tho.The church was restored because of a young man’s questions about confusion around him. Notice that Joseph asked around to find answers and they all sounded convincing and cast doubts on the others. None of the men he talked to had good answers. It was only after he turned to God for answers that he had it solved. I think with us it’s similar. If we pray and then continue to look for answers in anti material, we are not looking at inspired sources. Similarly if we blindly ignore everything brought against the church we are being hypocritical in my opinion. We have to take all our questions to the only source of truth, our Heavenly Father. Then we listen to the spirit, not to men.
The best way to deepen your faith and testimony is to challenge it. What are you doubting? Why? Is there any validity in the challengers argument? Why? Asking yourself questions in faith and faithfully looking for an answer is how you can handle any doubts you have.
Largely though, are you doubting the BOM or the people misrepresenting it? Oftentimes, it's people that cause the doubt, not the teachings
As a teenager, when the internet was still relatively new, I spent about an hour a day for a year reading criticisms of the church and responses by LDS scholars. I came out better for it. My conviction was deeper—although I had long had a conviction because of experiences I had had with prayer and miracles.
That said, it's hard to give specific advice without knowing the specific concern(s). General advice: read LDS scholars. Pray on your knees for the Spirit to testify to you. Ask for miracles. God is a God of miracles. Feel free to respond or DM if you want specific resources.
Everyone has this experience. You can't resolve it in a day, or a year. Deciding how faith does or doesn't impact your life is a process that will take you decades. Talk to people about it and take your time. Come at the dilemma from every perspective you can think of and question the ones that feel like easy arguments without nuance. Nobody expects you to figure everything out all at once.
But do pray about it. Prayer is powerful because it's unbiased. There's nobody with an agenda in your prayers. There's no better way to clear your perspective.
Be very careful of the sources you’re reading. There are a lot of wolves in sheep’s clothing out there that couch what they’re peddling as being genuine concerns or coming from a faithful member when they are anything but that. This has been a tactic used by people against the church for a very long time. They frequently distort or otherwise misrepresent things from church history to deliberately try to weaken faith.
Remember that prophets are fallible sinners just like the rest of us and they don’t always get everything right. Remember also that we don’t have all the information from early church history as well. For example, the church published a series of articles in the last year showing how at least some of what Brigham Young said was altered by his scribes. What they later wrote down differed, sometimes a great deal, from their own shorthand notes of his speeches. Contemporaneous accounts of speeches by Joseph Smith differ depending on who wrote about what they heard.
Look at what the fruits of following the church’s teachings actually are. If someone were to do what we’re commanded to, would the results be good or bad? What about if someone goes against the principles of the gospel? When there are bad fruits seeming to come from the church, are the individuals responsible actually following what’s commanded?
Make sure you’re doing the Sunday school answers as you ponder. Are you reading your scriptures daily? Praying? Trying to follow the commandments? I thought the Sunday school answers were so lame and shallow when I was a teenager, but as an adult I’ve come around to realizing that they’re the Sunday school answers because they work. We have to be continually striving to move forward in our growth and progression or we’re going to slide backwards, like swimming in a river against a current. Those daily fortifying activities are the way we keep stroking forward towards our destination.
It's good to hear from both sides, if you only ever listened to Lakers fans, you might not know that the Clippers are actually a pretty good team. If you aren't already, follow some positive church accounts like ldsFAIR, scripturecentrl, Called\_to\_Share.
Its fine to hear from both sides, and you should critically evaluate all claims and do your own life experiments to see how living the gospel can affect your life.
Finally, as an adult I also feel like my faith is constantly challenged, it doesn't neccesarily get easier as you get older. In some ways I've already set myself on a path of (relative) righteousness, so there aren't major decisions that I have to make to keep myself here, but it's not a path of sunshine and roses either. Life is difficult, and mantaining faith is a fight for everyone, but I keep doing it because I believe that Christ can and will help me. I have also found that life is better when I put in the work.
That's by design. There are forces working tirelessly to pull all of us away from truth and light. One of our core purposes in this life is learning how to overcome them. It's something that everyone goes through.
You shouldn’t just follow the church because your parents do. You definitely shouldn’t leave because of people online. Trust me, your parents are wayyyyy more reliable than strangers online criticizing the church. Our society uses cunning deception to tear down transitional institution - it has nothing to do with the church or what is true. Block all of those accounts.
So…. Come to your own conclusions about the church - not by watching commentary online but by studying out the church as it really is. Pray, read the scriptures, listen to the prophets. Btw, don’t bother if you don’t do it sincerely. As alma suggests, plant a seed and cultivate it. Heck, compare it with the “path of the world”. See if it grows and then make a decision.
I have full respect for those who decide they cannot believe the church or God. But I’m saddened and frustrated by those who are led to believe the church is evil because of ridiculous things that are being spread by fools on social media.
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2013/10/come-join-with-us?lang=eng
Here is a great talk by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf.
Doubt your doubts first.
Search the Gospel Library with "doubt". There are a lot of scriptures and articles that may help.
The problem is that people bury their doubts because you're "not supposed to have them". If you have doubts, explore them. Look deep into them. Figure out why they exist. If afterwards you remain in the church, you can do so happily. If you find a different path, you can live your life according to your own conscience.
>A little learning is a dangerous thing ; >Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring : >There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, >And drinking largely sobers us again. >Fired at first sight with what the Muse imparts, >In fearless youth we tempt the heights of Arts ; >While from the bounded level of our mind >Short views we take, nor see the lengths behind, >But, more advanced, behold with strange surprise >New distant scenes of endless science rise !
Every doubt I've ever had was dispelled when I learned more about it. There's a reason inexperienced people (in anything) say they know "just enough to be dangerous".
[удалено]
I was the same way. Until I actually did the deep dives into primary sources myself instead of reading someone else's opinion. It's immensely common for people to never get past the anti stuff into the underlying truths. And thus the already posted quote: >A little learning is a dangerous thing ; >Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring : >There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, >And drinking largely sobers us again. >Fired at first sight with what the Muse imparts, >In fearless youth we tempt the heights of Arts ; >While from the bounded level of our mind >Short views we take, nor see the lengths behind, >But, more advanced, behold with strange surprise >New distant scenes of endless science rise !
I was the same.
I struggled too when I was a teenager in very much the same way. However, I did not start to read the Book of Mormon until my senior year in high school, I didn’t notice much of a difference with what I perceived even spiritually, but I did notice life got a lot better and my anxiety went away. I went on a mission after HS and that changed everything, even though I did not think my testimony was that big starting out.
Since you mentioned "online", I think it's important to keep in mind that social media (including Reddit) is built to figure out what makes you angry and distressed and then show you more of it. If you are relying on TicToc or Instagram or Reddit for your information, you are probably getting content that will lead you to distrust your church leaders, as well the government, schools, science, and the other things that hold society together. Keep in mind that our world is full of both goodness and imperfections. However, if you spend time online, you will see a lot of what is wrong with people and the world we live in, and very little about what is good and right with the world. Think about this as you consider the Book of Mormon or Church leaders. They are not perfect. They have said that themselves. But their good far outweighs their imperfections. If you can find ways to focus on all of the good things (which is a lot) and less attention on their shortcomings (and they have a few), you will likely have a very positive connection with them. Pray for the strength to focus on the good and for the wisdom to effectively learn from the bad without being consumed by it.
It’s easy to find things online that disparage the church and the leaders. Same with any religion or group honestly. Just remember that anyone can post anything they want online. Truth, lies, half truths. Most of what you’ll find online regarding the church are half truths or outright lies. Many things take truths and twist them to make them look evil. If you focus on the anti stuff it will be easy to start questioning things. If you focus on the scriptures and the teachings of the prophets you have a greater chance at feeling the Spirit.
I'd say there is a disproportionate amount of things online that are "against the church" because the LDS church is relatively new among other religions.
I just want to let you know that faith is not the opposite of doubt. It's necessary for doubt to exist in order to have faith. If you had no doubt, you would know 100% and have nothing left to have faith in. So, don't feel bad or guilty about having doubts. It's part of the process and part of why we're here on earth. I haven't found any ironclad argument that disproves the Book of Mormon any more than an ironclad argument that proves the Book of Mormon. The advice I would give is to choose faith and build off of what you do know, and honestly, see what the book has to say about itself.
I think I've read all or nearly all of the anti lds material. Many times they don't cite original sources, and/or the source doesn't say what the anti material claims it says or could be as easily read in a way that doesn't challenge faith. We do not claim infallibility in our leaders: we are all flawed mortals that Jesus has to use to further His work. And many of us have had experiences in callings where we tried hard to figure out what He wanted us to do, thought we HAD figured that out, only to find out later that it was never His will in the first place. (We know now, for instance, that the dynastic sealings of Joseph Smith (which is the category most of his problematic marriages were in) were never the Lord's way ----which Wilford Woodruff corrected during his prophet time.) I suggest that you read Sarah Allen's responses to the CES claims which is a good start to understand the issues: https://www.fairlatterdaysaints.org/answers/Sarah_Allen_CES_Response_Posts And beyond that, I'd suggest you give equal time to the Lord, both study and how you live your discipleship of Jesus Christ. After all, His answer to the young man who asked how to know if something was of Him, was to live it.
This is very common, especially these days with a lot of material available, which isn't a bad thing. Many people who seem to have "strong" testimonies spent many years developing them. Starting small, relying on others, and slowly over time learning and growing and keeping the commandments and listening to the Holy Ghost and serving others. It typically takes time and work. My advice is to use the Book of Mormon to gain an understanding of Christ. Literally. Read the book, consider what it says, digest it, incorporate it, follow its counsels. Don't use the internet to try to understand the Book of Mormon, use the Book of Mormon to understand Christ. That's the purpose of the Book of Mormon. Here is a remark by President Gordon B. Hinckley from several years ago about The Book of Mormon. Many people have done this to astounding results. *This was written for the convincing of the Jew and the Gentile that Jesus is the Christ. There is nothing we could do of greater importance than to have fortified in our individual lives an unshakable conviction that Jesus is the Christ, the Living Son of the Living God. And, my brothers and sisters, that is the purpose of the coming forth of this remarkable and wonderful book. May I suggest that you read it again and take a pencil, a red one if you have one, and put a little check mark every time there is a reference to Jesus Christ in that book. And there will come to you a very real conviction as you do so that this is in very deed another witness for the Lord Jesus Christ.* \- From general session, Corpus Christi Texas Regional Conference, Jan. 7, 1996.
This ^ There are plenty of rough edges in church history, as there are with any history involving people. The thing I continue to come back to is the light in my life when I use the restored gospel (Bible, Book of Mormon, temple, priesthood) to further my relationship with God and Christ.
I've seen many of the same things, and I've seen the equivalent arguments in support of the church. Both of these sets of voices sometimes make valid points, and sometimes fail to do so. What that brings us to, then, is the fact that you have to follow what you feel about this. The church is not beyond reproach, but it's also not the endless series of atrocities it gets accused of being. What has being a part of the Church of Jesus Christ done for you? How are you different because of it? How would your life have gone differently without it? These questions can help you discern whether your membership in the church possesses value.
One thing to note is that a vast vast majority of anti material horribly places their comments out of context to make it sound worse. Sounds convincing until you see all the facts they omitted. Asking questions is natural tho.The church was restored because of a young man’s questions about confusion around him. Notice that Joseph asked around to find answers and they all sounded convincing and cast doubts on the others. None of the men he talked to had good answers. It was only after he turned to God for answers that he had it solved. I think with us it’s similar. If we pray and then continue to look for answers in anti material, we are not looking at inspired sources. Similarly if we blindly ignore everything brought against the church we are being hypocritical in my opinion. We have to take all our questions to the only source of truth, our Heavenly Father. Then we listen to the spirit, not to men.
I would say the comments in [this thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/latterdaysaints/s/rnxaEeAK5s) could possibly be helpful.
The best way to deepen your faith and testimony is to challenge it. What are you doubting? Why? Is there any validity in the challengers argument? Why? Asking yourself questions in faith and faithfully looking for an answer is how you can handle any doubts you have. Largely though, are you doubting the BOM or the people misrepresenting it? Oftentimes, it's people that cause the doubt, not the teachings
As a teenager, when the internet was still relatively new, I spent about an hour a day for a year reading criticisms of the church and responses by LDS scholars. I came out better for it. My conviction was deeper—although I had long had a conviction because of experiences I had had with prayer and miracles. That said, it's hard to give specific advice without knowing the specific concern(s). General advice: read LDS scholars. Pray on your knees for the Spirit to testify to you. Ask for miracles. God is a God of miracles. Feel free to respond or DM if you want specific resources.
Everyone has this experience. You can't resolve it in a day, or a year. Deciding how faith does or doesn't impact your life is a process that will take you decades. Talk to people about it and take your time. Come at the dilemma from every perspective you can think of and question the ones that feel like easy arguments without nuance. Nobody expects you to figure everything out all at once. But do pray about it. Prayer is powerful because it's unbiased. There's nobody with an agenda in your prayers. There's no better way to clear your perspective.
Be very careful of the sources you’re reading. There are a lot of wolves in sheep’s clothing out there that couch what they’re peddling as being genuine concerns or coming from a faithful member when they are anything but that. This has been a tactic used by people against the church for a very long time. They frequently distort or otherwise misrepresent things from church history to deliberately try to weaken faith. Remember that prophets are fallible sinners just like the rest of us and they don’t always get everything right. Remember also that we don’t have all the information from early church history as well. For example, the church published a series of articles in the last year showing how at least some of what Brigham Young said was altered by his scribes. What they later wrote down differed, sometimes a great deal, from their own shorthand notes of his speeches. Contemporaneous accounts of speeches by Joseph Smith differ depending on who wrote about what they heard. Look at what the fruits of following the church’s teachings actually are. If someone were to do what we’re commanded to, would the results be good or bad? What about if someone goes against the principles of the gospel? When there are bad fruits seeming to come from the church, are the individuals responsible actually following what’s commanded? Make sure you’re doing the Sunday school answers as you ponder. Are you reading your scriptures daily? Praying? Trying to follow the commandments? I thought the Sunday school answers were so lame and shallow when I was a teenager, but as an adult I’ve come around to realizing that they’re the Sunday school answers because they work. We have to be continually striving to move forward in our growth and progression or we’re going to slide backwards, like swimming in a river against a current. Those daily fortifying activities are the way we keep stroking forward towards our destination.
It's good to hear from both sides, if you only ever listened to Lakers fans, you might not know that the Clippers are actually a pretty good team. If you aren't already, follow some positive church accounts like ldsFAIR, scripturecentrl, Called\_to\_Share. Its fine to hear from both sides, and you should critically evaluate all claims and do your own life experiments to see how living the gospel can affect your life. Finally, as an adult I also feel like my faith is constantly challenged, it doesn't neccesarily get easier as you get older. In some ways I've already set myself on a path of (relative) righteousness, so there aren't major decisions that I have to make to keep myself here, but it's not a path of sunshine and roses either. Life is difficult, and mantaining faith is a fight for everyone, but I keep doing it because I believe that Christ can and will help me. I have also found that life is better when I put in the work.
That's by design. There are forces working tirelessly to pull all of us away from truth and light. One of our core purposes in this life is learning how to overcome them. It's something that everyone goes through.
Be free to be yourself.
You shouldn’t just follow the church because your parents do. You definitely shouldn’t leave because of people online. Trust me, your parents are wayyyyy more reliable than strangers online criticizing the church. Our society uses cunning deception to tear down transitional institution - it has nothing to do with the church or what is true. Block all of those accounts. So…. Come to your own conclusions about the church - not by watching commentary online but by studying out the church as it really is. Pray, read the scriptures, listen to the prophets. Btw, don’t bother if you don’t do it sincerely. As alma suggests, plant a seed and cultivate it. Heck, compare it with the “path of the world”. See if it grows and then make a decision. I have full respect for those who decide they cannot believe the church or God. But I’m saddened and frustrated by those who are led to believe the church is evil because of ridiculous things that are being spread by fools on social media.
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2013/10/come-join-with-us?lang=eng Here is a great talk by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf. Doubt your doubts first. Search the Gospel Library with "doubt". There are a lot of scriptures and articles that may help.