What to Believe
I recently watched part of a podcast where three individuals, an academic, a theologian, and an author, spoke about systems of belief. Of course, each participant explained how and why they arrived at their current understanding concerning the great questions of existence as individuals and societies. As I consider these questions of reality for myself and others, I am struck by how little time most of us spend thinking about such things. Are we too busy going about life to delve into its mysteries? Most of us are content to simply go about our business without a second thought about our place in the vast ocean of humanity. Maybe it is too daunting or frightening a task because once you realize that you are the tiniest nano speck in the universe, you might discover that you are nothing at all or that the entire weight of existence rests on you.
In the Pearl of Great Price, Moses has a vision where he is shown as much of the creations of God as he can bear. During the vision, God says that his works and words are without end and then proceeds to show Moses our world from end to end and all things in between. After the vision, Moses is exhausted and realizes that “…man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed”. That realization probably answers why we are reluctant to consider our existence. However, later in the same chapter, God exclaims, “For behold this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” The explicit message conveyed in that statement is that even though we think we are nothing, God, the creator of the universe, is focused entirely on us; and not just as a species, but as individuals. If you doubt that God is interested in you as an individual, find a quiet place in your mind and heart and ask him.
I will try to illustrate why it is crucial for us to put time and effort into discovering what we believe. If our conscious actions begin with a thought, we must understand where our ideas come from. As far as I can tell, thoughts are born of faith, leading to belief. If that is correct, then what we believe is how we will act. Since we live in a world of seeming chaos or potential (however you want to think about it), it is helpful to consider the butterfly effect. “In chaos theory, the butterfly effect is the sensitive dependence on initial conditions in which a small change in one state of a deterministic nonlinear system can result in large differences in a later state.” (from Wikipedia) In other words, what you believe matters because your actions, no matter how small, will make a significant difference in the state of human existence. I’m sorry to put that burden on your shoulders, but there you go.
The most fundamental belief we can have is that we are sons and daughters of the creator of the universe. Being self-aware is a gift from God afforded to his children. Another gift is the ability to act of our own free will; we are moral agents. Those who say they don’t believe in God have to wrestle with theories that defy logic and leave them in a state of flux. Atheists, on the other hand, can argue that it is irrational to believe in things that are not objectively real. But what does real mean? It can’t be only the things we can observe because everyone observes things differently, and it can’t be just what we feel. However, when you combine all your physical senses, feelings, instinct, or intuition, apply logic and reason, and then sense your mind expanding or your understanding heightened, you get a sense of what is real. Revelation is a simpler term for discovering reality, but receiving it requires effort involving all our physical, mental, and emotional resources.
During the podcast I mentioned earlier, the author said he could believe virtually everything about Christianity except for the idea of resurrection. He saw the principles taught by Jesus and the prophets before him as the successful foundation of Western culture. By coincidence, we are studying the accounts of the resurrection of Christ this week. Using the preface above, we can see that believing in the resurrection or not believing in it would drastically change our behavior and attitude toward life, and especially death.
As I see it, the continuation of life after death is the logical way to think about our existence. I have tried many times to articulate this idea and will now try again. We have to start with the present. If we know anything, it is that we exist. If we look backward, we see our childhood in the near past. But what about the distant past? Our diverse personalities and traits may be traced to our parentage, but if that were true, wouldn’t the children in a family share more similarities than they do? The fact that we are all so different is evidence that our existence did not start at birth and, therefore, would not end at death. I will not get further into it here, but you get the idea. The point here is that if we believe we are unique individuals and not part of a hive and that life continues after our mortal death, we will be more cautious about how we act in the present.
The resurrection of Jesus Christ, with its many witnesses, changes everything for everyone. If people don’t believe it happened and consider themselves logical and reasoned, they do not understand logic or reason. During his mortal life, Jesus went out of his way to convince his disciples and others that he was the Son of God; few were convinced. But after his death, he made sure that his disciples knew for certain that he rose from the dead, that he was not a spirit, and that resurrection was also their destiny. They believed! Because they believed, they went into all the world and preached the gospel and resurrection of Christ.
So, what if we don’t believe in God, Christ, or religion? We can still be good citizens. Because of moral values and ethics, we can treat each other well; we do our civic duty and make the world a better place. Or we can be narcissistic and hedonistic, getting as much out of life as possible at the expense of others because, once it’s over, it’s over. But consider this warning about unbelief from the prophet Moroni in the Book of Mormon, “And now I speak unto all the ends of the earth—that if the day cometh that the power and gifts of God shall be done away among you, it shall be because of unbelief. And wo be unto the children of men if this be the case; for there shall be none that doeth good among you, no not one”.
The fantastic thing about it all is that what we believe is our choice. Depending on where you live, you are probably encouraged or possibly compelled to think one thing or another. However, being curious about your beliefs is best regardless of these circumstances. The problem with curiosity about belief systems is that there are too many to explore fully in a lifetime. Using the process of elimination, you can tune in pretty quickly on the general direction your life should take. Some things will work for you and may feel suitable for a while. But you can’t stop on one thing for too long unless you discover eternal truths.
Because we are eternal beings, we must believe and consequently do things that will serve us well into the next phase of existence—knowing what comes next, whether day to day or year to year, is based on past experiences. Knowing what comes after mortality is different; we must rely on at least two metrics to understand it. One is looking to the shared beliefs of ancient cultures about the idea that there is an afterlife. Because the concept is so pervasive cross-culturally, it is reasonable to assume its usefulness in forming behaviors that prepare us for it. The next is spiritual understanding. Spiritual beliefs are even more compelling than intellectual ones because they originate in our very being; they are part of us. We may not be able to explain spiritual beliefs, but we cannot deny them because if we do, we deny ourselves.
So, what should we believe? The answer is eternal truth, which is embodied in Jesus Christ. Jesus said it best, “And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.” Also, “I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.” These promises should convince us about what to believe.