My testimony rests with the certainty of the objective existence of God based on a concept introduced by Joseph Smith as a result of his own personal experience: that of personal revelation. …[more]
I freely acknowledge that my lifelong serendipitous scholarly meanderings through the broad field of German Studies correspond closely to certain ideas suggested by doctrines and lore of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to which I have a particular personal affinity. …[more]
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, by proclaiming the good news, the true Gospel of Christ, saved my spiritual and intellectual life. Without the restored gospel I would have become a total skeptic like most of my contemporary German friends. …[more]
Following those early days of my introduction to the testimony of Joseph Smith I have had time to look more closely at the information that God has spoken to people in places over the earth spanning all the centuries of these several dispensations of time since Adam. …[more]
In reviewing my early life, I’ve come to realize that my faith developed according to the process taught by Alma the Younger to the Zoramites in Alma 32:21-43, although unknowingly and not without pitfalls and wrong turns along the way. …[more]
My intent here is to provide some justification for why I continue to believe in God, in the Book of Mormon, in Joseph Smith, and in the modern hierarchy of the LDS Church when I have been trained in the fundamental tenets of science and accept them as being true. …[more]
My testimony is based on simple experiences typical of those of other Latter-day Saints. Do not construe this, however, as suggesting that my testimony or any other is trivial. It is not. …[more]
I have never been particularly bothered by seeming disconnects between science and religion. When I depart this earth, one of my first orders of business is going to be to find the Master Chemist and learn how all this happened. …[more]
What does it mean for me, a somewhat Marxian social scientist, to testify—to bear witness—that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is true and that what Mormons call the “Restoration” is likewise true? …[more]
I briefly give my witness of that which I have seen and experienced with the hope that others might desire to “experiment upon the word” and know through their own experience (see Alma 32:27). …[more]
So . . . when did the dew form on the leaf? When I can answer that age-old question, I’ll give you an answer as to when I obtained a testimony that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the re-established original Christian church. …[more]
I have a testimony that God is directly involved in our lives. I know that He will bless us after we have honored our commitments to Him—particularly our commitments to our families. …[more]
As a scientist, I seek for truth, and as a believer in Jesus Christ and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I seek for truth. I have found that one enhances the other in a number of ways. …[more]
I invite any person who desires to strengthen his understanding and testimony of creation to study both the scientific and scriptural evidence prayerfully, with the goal of learning and understanding. Properly understood, this study will provide you with a rich and deep perspective. …[more]
There are a number of things that I take so much for granted that I don’t even think about questioning them. Much of this confidence comes from the inner whisperings of the Holy Spirit. But some of it comes from the experiences that I have had. …[more]
My personal journey of faith is deeply rooted in the power and reality of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I have found peace and joy in seeking Him, and pain and frustration when I depart. …[more]
I am thankful that our religion professes no doctrine that requires me to ignore scientific facts that I know to be true, and that my understanding of science requires me to accept no observations that would controvert my religious beliefs. …[more]
Because I’m a third generation LDS scholar, many people have jokingly said that “of course” I would teach the gospel and know its truths. But a testimony is not something automatic or genetic. …[more]
Personal testimony is a source of comfort and motivation in a world that seems to have lost its moral compass and is drifting with whatever wind prevails. The knowledge we have through the restoration provides us with principled direction and firm anchors in troubled seas. …[more]
Though I was raised in a faithful Latter-day Saint home with a strong Gospel heritage (my great-grandparents joined the Church in 1842; from 1933-37 my parents presided over the Netherlands Mission), in one sense mine was perhaps not the conventional LDS home. …[more]
