Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the First Presidency said in November 2018 General Conference:
I. “When we seek the truth about religion, we should use spiritual methods appropriate for that search: prayer, the witness of the Holy Ghost, and study of the scriptures and the words of the modern prophets. I am always sad when I hear of one who reports the loss of religious faith because of secular teachings. Those who once had spiritual vision can suffer from self inflicted spiritual blindness. As President Henry B. Eyring once said, “Their problem does not lie in what they think they see; it lies in what they cannot yet see.”[i]
The methods of science lead to what we call scientific truth. But “scientific truth” is not the whole of life. Those who do not learn “by study and also by faith” (Doctrine and Covenants 88:118) limit their understanding of truth to what they can verify by scientific means. That puts artificial limits on their pursuit of truth.
President James E. Faust said: “Those who have been baptized put their eternal soul at risk by carelessly pursuing only the secular source of learning. We believe that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has the fullness of the gospel of Christ, which gospel is the essence of truth and eternal enlightenment.”[ii]
We find true and enduring joy by coming to know and acting upon the truth about who we are, the meaning of mortal life and where we are going when we die. Those truths cannot be learned by scientific or secular methods.”
II. I will now speak of restored gospel truths that are fundamental to the doctrine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Please consider these truths carefully. They explain much about our doctrine and practices, perhaps including some things not yet understood. (Link to President Oaks’ complete talk…“Truth and the Plan”)
[i] Henry B. Eyring, To Draw Closer to God: A Collection of Discourses (1997), 143.
