Doubting Your Doubts
Many years ago, I was discussing doubt with a member of my stake. The member in question has a doctorate in Church history from Brigham Young University (a university owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), and she told me a bit about her experience as a grad student in that area of study.
As part of her studies, she read publications that were critical of the Savior’s Church. (I do not believe this was a requirement for her degree, but was relevant to her thesis.) At times, the things she read gave her pause and she took them to her doctoral advisor. These meetings always began and ended with a prayer, and they usually appeased her concerns. However, there was also one question that preceded every meeting:
“Before you read anything else, do you study the scriptures of the Restoration for at least 30 minutes per day?”
If that question were answered in the negative, the meeting never began. She was instructed to return home, study the scriptures, and come back if she still had the question. Sometimes she came back, but often she did not. Immersing herself in the scriptures was enough.
As part of her studies, she read publications that were critical of the Savior’s Church. (I do not believe this was a requirement for her degree, but was relevant to her thesis.) At times, the things she read gave her pause and she took them to her doctoral advisor. These meetings always began and ended with a prayer, and they usually appeased her concerns. However, there was also one question that preceded every meeting:
“Before you read anything else, do you study the scriptures of the Restoration for at least 30 minutes per day?”
If that question were answered in the negative, the meeting never began. She was instructed to return home, study the scriptures, and come back if she still had the question. Sometimes she came back, but often she did not. Immersing herself in the scriptures was enough.
When I think about this conversation, I am reminded of former President Dieter F. Uchtdorf’s more recent counsel in the 183rd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:
“Some might ask, ‘But what about my doubts?’
“It’s natural to have questions—the acorn of honest inquiry has often sprouted and matured into a great oak of understanding. There are few members of the Church who, at one time or another, have not wrestled with serious or sensitive questions. One of the purposes of the Church is to nurture and cultivate the seed of faith—even in the sometimes sandy soil of doubt and uncertainty. Faith is to hope for things which are not seen but which are true.
“Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters—my dear friends—please, first doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith. We must never allow doubt to hold us prisoner and keep us from the divine love, peace, and gifts that come through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ” (Uchtdorf, Come, Join with Us, 5 Oct 2013).
It’s amazing how much getting back to basics can do for our faith.
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