The Spirit of Truth

This Blog entry is an excerpt from an answer to a series of questions that were posed to a member of my ward. The questions were anti-Mormon in nature, and were asked to serve the purpose of opening an argument about the LDS church. We should be careful when we engage in conversations of this sort, because  if they result in argument, the spirit cannot fully be present. You may have the spirit, but if the one asking the question does not, no fruit will come of the conversation. Remember the council given from Jesus Christ to the Nephites in 3rd Nephi, He said, “For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another”. Written below is my answer to arguing the gospel.

When people ask pointed questions like, “don’t you believe BLANK”, or “doesn’t you church teach BLANK”, oftentimes what they are doing is attempting to engage in an argument or debate about the church, rather than honestly seeking truth. A spirit of learning and discovery is difficult, if not impossible, to create in a situation like this. In order to illustrate what I mean, I will use scriptural examples of those who engaged in arguments of this kind and their outcomes, as well as those who honestly sought after truth and their outcomes.

My first example is Korihor. This man, whom the scriptures call an "Anti-Christ", was famous for making very pointed comments, and asking very pointed questions (when I say pointed, I mean that he was asking others to self reflect, rather than asking questions that caused him to self reflect). ALMA 30:13-17 “why do ye look for a Christ...no man can know of anything which is to come”. “These things called prophesies…are foolish traditions of your fathers”. “How do ye know of their surety? Behold, ye cannot know of things which ye do not see; therefore ye cannot know that there shall be a Christ.” He continues telling them that the repentance they believe they will receive is a result of their “frenzied mind[s]”, and that they are deranged because of the traditions of their fathers. He also lies about Alma and the other High Priests, claiming that they preach to get gain (a lie that Alma calls him on). Alma does his best to show Korihor the reality of the Savior, and he does this by laying the scriptures before him, and baring his testimony to him. However, those things do not interest Korihor, he wants a physical sign. Alma warns him that he has already had proof enough that Christ is a reality, and that a sign would do him no good, but Korihor’s hard heart demands the sign. Alma then says, and this is the important part, “Behold, I am grieved because of the hardness of your heart, yea, that ye will still resist the spirit of truth, that your soul may be destroyed.” Korihor did not feel the spirit of truth, because he was not honestly seeking truth. Korihor did not feel the truth, because, as D&C 50: 17-25 states, both the teacher and the student must preach and receive in the spirit of truth for that light and truth to combine, grow brighter, and chase away the darkness. See below.

17 Verily I say unto you, he that is ordained of me and sent forth to preach the word of truth by the Comforter, in the Spirit of truth, doth he preach it by the Spirit of truth or some other way?

18 And if it be by some other way it is not of God.

19 And again, he that receiveth the word of truth, doth he receive it by the Spirit of truth or some other way?

20 If it be some other way it is not of God.

21 Therefore, why is it that ye cannot understand and know, that he that receiveth the word by the Spirit of truth receiveth it as it is preached by the Spirit of truth?

22 Wherefore, he that preacheth and he that receiveth, understand one another, and both are edified and rejoice together.

23 And that which doth not edify is not of God, and is darkness.

24 That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day.

25 And again, verily I say unto you, and I say it that you may know the truth, that you may chase darkness from among you;

The outcome for Korihor’s desire to listen to darkness and demand a sign, was physical and spiritual death.

The next scriptural example is found in Alma 11-15 (Alma was a busy man). In this example, a man named Zeezrom attempts to “stir up the people against Alma and Amulek” in order to get gain. In the beginning, Zeezrom contends with Amulek, and this is the manner in which he speaks (pay close attention to the pointed nature of his questions). “Will ye answer me a few questions which I will ask you?” Amulek, new to the mission field, might be compelled to believe that Zeezrom is about to honestly seek after truth, but he learns in quick order that Zeezrom is desirous to engage in an argument. Notice that the verbiage from Amulek is the similar to what we read from D&C 50. You can ask me questions, Amulek says, only “if it be according to the spirit of the Lord, which is in me; for I shall say nothing which is contrary to the spirit of the Lord.” In other words, Amulek says, I’m only going to preach according to the spirit of truth, and he tells him this because he knows that the only spiritually profitable way to get through this question and answer session is if both he and Zeezrom preach and receive by the spirit of truth. Zeezrom wastes no time in bringing out the big guns, stating that he will pay Amulek six onties of silver to “deny the existence of a supreme being.” Even though Amulek’s chastisements, the pointed questions from Zeezrom continue to spew forth from his mouth. “Thou sayest there is a true and living God?” “Is there more than one God?” “How knowest these things?” He continued asking who is to come, and is the one who is to come the Son of God, All these things were asked to try and trick Amulek into saying something that Zeezrom could twist.

Fortunately, the outcome for Zeezrom was better because he chose to begin receiving Amulek and Alma’s words according to the spirit of truth. This change in Zeezrom’s heart takes place in Alma 12:8 when the scriptures tell us that he “began to inquire of them diligently, that he might know more concerning the kingdom of God.” The beauty of this transformation is that Zeezrom was no longer asking pointed questions of these two men of God in order to trick them, the scripture says that his questions were now being asked that he might know more. He was now an honest seeker of truth, and through trial, he received his forgiveness.

I feel it is important to see and understand that our answers must always be given to our non-member friends in the spirit of truth. In both examples, Alma and Amulek were consistent in teaching by the spirit of truth, and we must do the same. Those who ask the questions will have to get the spirit of truth too before they can be converted.