Elder Paul V. Johnson Of the Seventy
Seminaries and Institutes of Religion
Satellite Broadcast • August 7, 2012
In the scientific world the
scientific method is used to learn truth and advance knowledge. It has been
extremely helpful over the years and has yielded tremendous amounts of
scientific knowledge and continues to push back the curtain of ignorance about
our physical world.
Learning spiritual things,
however, requires a different approach than learning scientific things. The
scientific method and intellect are very helpful, but they alone will never
bring spiritual knowledge. Learning spiritual things involves the intellect,
but that is not enough. We only learn spiritual things by the Spirit.
Paul said, “The natural man
receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto
him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1
Corinthians 2:14).
When Laman and Lemuel
wondered about the things Lehi had taught them, they stated their concern, and
Nephi explained how they could find the answers:
“We cannot understand the
words which our father hath spoken. …
“And I said unto them: Have
ye inquired of the Lord?
“And they said unto me: We
have not; for the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us.
“Behold, I said unto them:
How is it that ye do not keep the commandments of the Lord? How is it that ye
will perish, because of the hardness of your hearts?” (1 Nephi 15:7–10).
It’s not surprising that
Nephi asked them if they had inquired of the Lord. That seems like a reasonable
requirement for learning spiritual truths. But he also noted that they hadn’t
kept the commandments. What does that have to do with it? Well, it happens to
be a central part of the pattern in learning things of the Spirit. The Savior
taught, “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).
Nephi continued with a brief
summary of the process for learning spiritual things: “Do ye not remember the
things which the Lord hath said?—If ye will not harden your hearts, and ask me
in faith, believing that ye shall receive, with diligence in keeping my
commandments, surely these things shall be made known unto you” (1 Nephi
15:11).
This pattern is crucial for
our students to understand if they have questions about spiritual things. We
can make the mistake of trying to resolve doubts about spiritual things by
leaning exclusively on intellectual answers. Answers to spiritual questions are
given to individuals who don’t harden their hearts; who ask in faith, believing
they will receive; and who diligently keep the commandments. Even when we
follow this pattern, we don’t control the timing of getting answers. Sometimes
our answers come quickly, and sometimes we must place questions on the shelf
for a time and rely on our faith that has developed from the answers we do
know.
