Detecting the Philosophies of Men
Written in the early 90’s, this is, in my opinion, the most important work I’ve ever written. The principles and methodologies contained here should serve as the basis for all religious studies. It explains the sources and options for finding spiritual truths and avoiding deception in the last days. It also offers questions and methodologies for discerning whether a belief comes from God, Satan, or man and the significance of each category.
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The following is an excerpt from this manuscript:
INTRODUCTION
We have heard a great deal about the “philosophies of men mingled with scripture.” Most Latter-day Saints recognize this as a danger sign that should be avoided. Yet, it is often more difficult than we think to recognize a philosophy of man. This is especially true if it can be effectively mingled with a scripture or two to give support to the philosophy. This book is intended to help us in our effort of recognizing the philosophies of men as well as of Satan. It is paramount that we learn how to separate these doctrines from the doctrines of God, as revealed to man throughout the history of this world. It was written with the hope of helping Latter-day Saints to ask serious questions about why they believe what they believe, and to help them to clearly understand the origins of their beliefs, whether they be of God, man, or Satan.
It is perhaps important to note at the beginning of this work that the word “philosophy,” in and of itself, is not a bad word. It comes from the Greek words “philo” and “sophia.” The word “philo” represents love and the word “sophia” denotes wisdom. Hence, the word “philosophy” literally means “a love of wisdom.” I’m sure most people would agree that possessing a passion for wisdom is generally a good thing. Another definition of the word philosophy is simply a teaching or doctrine. With this in mind, the real problem with the phrase “the philosophies of men” is not the word “philosophies,” but rather the words “of men.” In other words, if we could successfully detect and separate the philosophies (doctrines) of men and Satan from the philosophies (doctrines) of God, and pursue the “philosophies of God,” our fear of the word “philosophy” would leave us. It is not philosophy that should be feared, it is the origin of a given philosophy that should be feared. This is important to note as we continue with our discussion.
I was once a teaching assistant for the Philosophy Department at Brigham Young University. During this time, part of my responsibilities included grading the papers submitted by students. Most of these papers consisted of two basic elements. The students had to 1) state a personal position or opinion on a given topic and 2) defend that position or opinion with reasonable arguments. In other words, the students were asked to tell us what they believed about a given topic and then tell us why they believed what they believed. It was very interesting to note that most people could easily submit the first part of their assignment. They would almost always have an opinion of some kind and most were not terribly afraid to express it when asked to do so. However, it was very interesting to see how many people floundered at the simple question, “Why do you believe that?” It became quite apparent that most of these students had never given much thought concerning the reasons for their beliefs. In fact, when directly confronted with the preceding question, many would rather boldly reply, “I don’t know. I just do.” It was as if having an opinion alone was quite sufficient for the world in which they lived.
There was another interesting event that occurred regularly in these classes (which may have dealt with their LDS upbringing and the fact that they were Mormons attending BYU). As often happens in such settings, there were occasions when the beliefs of the students were challenged or when very difficult issues were discussed - issues for which there are not always clear-cut answers. It was quite interesting to me how often the students would interrupt class and ask the teacher something like, “Well, what do we believe?” “We,” in this case, being members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. As sincere as their questions were, I couldn’t help but wonder, “If you don’t know what ‘we’ believe, how do you know whether or not you believe it?” I marveled at the power the teachers could have imposed upon those students if they would have chosen to do so. Whatever the teachers suggested as an answer to that question, almost regardless of the topic or the answer offered, would generally be taken at face value with no further questioning or research on the part of the student. If an answer was offered (wisely, many times it wasn’t), most students would take the attitude of, “Okay, now that I know the answer we can continue with class.” To me, this seemed to be an extremely dangerous way to find truth, especially considering the difficulty of the topics being discussed.
Were these students such blind followers as to believe anything that they were told? At least in some cases, the answer was clearly “yes.” The words of Elder B.H. Roberts were often brought to mind on this topic.
I maintain that ‘simple faith’ -- which is so often ignorant and simpering acquiescence, and not faith at all -- but simple faith taken at its highest value, which is faith without understanding of the thing believed, is not equal to intelligent faith, the faith that is a gift from God, supplemented by earnest endeavor to find through prayerful thought and research a rational ground for faith -- for acceptance of truth; and hence the duty of striving for a rational faith in which the intellect as well as the heart -- the feeling -- has a place and is a factor. (B.H. Roberts on the Intellectual and Spiritual Quest, Seventy’s Course in Theology, vol. 5)
This is often what I wanted to cry from the pulpit, so to speak, to these young students. “Find out why you believe what you believe! You may find that it isn’t true after all!”
During my life I have experienced countless beliefs of my own which I could not support from a scriptural standpoint (once I finally made the effort to do so). I have often been amazed at how easily beliefs which I have held since childhood could be proven incorrect through simple questioning and scriptural research. Things that I had always thought were very much a part of the gospel of Jesus Christ had to be reconsidered in light of further scriptural studies into the topic. This has always been an exhilarating experience to me. I stand as a firm believer in (as well as a second witness of) the words of Elder Roberts, just quoted. “Blind faith” is not as good as “intelligent faith.” I can only believe that questioning one’s beliefs and continually trying to defend them is a good thing. By “questioning” I do not necessarily mean “doubting.” Questioning indicates a continued search for further truth - for greater understanding. Doubting generally indicates a turning away from the belief or a discontinuation of further investigation. Questioning is generally open-minded while doubting is often closed-minded.
Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. (1 Thessalonians 5:21)
We should be constantly putting our beliefs to the test and trying to find out if what we believe is really true. If we endure to the end, with humility, prayer, and an honest yearning to know what is true as our guides, truth will always come up triumphant in the end.