I received the following via email from an active, doubting member of a Mormon bishopric…

Surely you must agree with the following quotes here in this First Presidency message of President Faust in the Sept. 1998 Ensign. It sounds like Faust plagiarized you.

As a means of coming to truth, people in the Church are encouraged by their leaders to think and find out for themselves. They are encouraged to ponder, to search, to evaluate, and thereby to come to such knowledge of the truth as their own consciences, assisted by the Spirit of God, lead them to discover.

Brigham Young said: �I am more afraid that this people have so much confidence in their leaders that they will not inquire for themselves of God whether they are led by him. I am fearful they settle down in a state of blind self-security. � Let every man and woman know, by the whispering of the Spirit of God to themselves, whether their leaders are walking in the path the Lord dictates, or not� (Discourses of Brigham Young, sel. John A. Widtsoe [1941], 135). In this manner no one need be deceived.

Searching and inquiring are a means of coming to a knowledge of all truth, whether that truth be spiritual, scientific, or moral. The restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ and all that it means to us came about because of the inquiring after truth of the 14-year-old Joseph Smith, guided by the passage, �If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him� (James 1:5).

Many years of experience in courtrooms have taught me that truth, in the sense of obtaining justice, is arrived at only by questioning in a searching way.

Members of the Church are encouraged to seek learning from all good books and from any helpful source. For �if there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things� (A of F 1:13).

The Queen of Sheba, having heard of the fame of Solomon, came to visit him to learn if his fabled wisdom, his great wealth, and his splendid house were as great as had been reported to her. It is recorded that �she came to prove Solomon with hard questions� (2 Chr. 9:1). Solomon answered her questions, and she became satisfied and said to him, �It was a true report which I heard in mine own land of thine acts, and of thy wisdom� (2 Chr. 9:5).

The principal question that we each must answer for ourselves is that question spoken of by Amulek in the Book of Mormon: �And we have beheld that the great question which is in your minds is whether the word be in the Son of God, or whether there shall be no Christ� (Alma 34:5).

Some people in their searching, however, are not seeking for truth but are given to contention. They do not sincerely seek to learn; rather they desire to dispute, to show their supposed learning and thus cause strife. The Apostle Paul said to Timothy, �But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes� (2 Tim. 2:23).

Since each one of us has his free agency, the ultimate determination of what is inspired of the Lord, what is right and wrong, true or false, can be made by each of us. President J. Reuben Clark Jr. (1871-1961) made this statement: �The Church will know by the testimony of the Holy Ghost in the body of the members [themselves], whether the brethren in voicing their views are �moved upon by the Holy Ghost�; and in due time that knowledge will be made manifest� (�When Are Church Leaders� Words Entitled to Claim of Scripture?� Church News, 31 July 1954, 10). Each must bear the accountability of accepting or discarding the values of truth, which values if followed will produce his greatest happiness.

As we each ask Pilate�s question, we can learn from the wisdom of Sir Francis Bacon, who said there are three parts in truth: first, the inquiry, which is the wooing of it; secondly, the knowledge of it, which is the presence of it; and thirdly, the belief, which is the enjoyment of it (see �Of Truth,� in Essays [n.d.], 18).

President Harold B. Lee (1899-1973) on many occasions counseled the leaders of the Church to make time to think and ponder, to withdraw and evaluate. This wise counsel would be beneficial to anyone.

A key to individual knowledge and truth is contained in the ninth section of the Doctrine and Covenants, which promises that if inquirers will study a thing out in their mind, they shall have a burning feeling within their bosom of that which is right (see D&C 9:8).

Yet while the gathering of many facts may be very helpful and productive, the inquiring mind must not stop there. Henry Alford said: �Truth does not consist in minute accuracy of detail, but in conveying a right impression; and there are vague ways of speaking that are truer than strict facts would be. When the Psalmist said, �Rivers of water run down mine eyes, because men keep not thy law,� he did not state the facts, but he stated the truth deeper than fact, and truer.�

Those who earnestly inquire, under the Spirit of God, will enjoy a companionship, not only of the Spirit, but of others who seek truth. Thomas Carlyle said, �I have always found that the honest truth of our own mind has a certain attraction for every other mind that loves truth honestly.�

There is no greater truth than that spoken of by the Savior: �And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free� (John 8:32), and, He continues, �I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me� (John 14:6), and �Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice� (John 18:37).

All who seek to rise above themselves must make a humble and honest inquiry to determine where truth lies: an inquiry in their hearts as well as in their minds and in their lives. May each of us consciously seek to know the truths of God and to courageously live those truths in love and thanksgiving.

In response to his statement that "Surely you must agree with the following quotes…" I have to say that I do agree with much of it. The only problem I see is in some of the methodology. Honest inquiry is absolutely important to finding out what is likely true. However, Faust implies that facts aren’t the ultimate source for finding truth or that scientific-type methodologies be always employed. Instead feelings (the Spirit of God) are to trump everything else. Where does that get us? What happens when feelings conflict with the facts? What happens when feelings about the same issue differ between people?