A Scientific View of Faith

by Robert Rosskopf

Each of us must learn to distinguish light from darkness, truth from error. Like the prophets of the Bible, Koran, and Book of Mormon, some people hear voices. Some have also had visions and dreams, but voices are almost universal. Even the worst sinner hears and heeds voices - he just doesn't know their source.

Those who don't believe in God, or a spirit world, accuse the rest of us who hear these voices or see these visions as being delusional. Either some people are aware of a reality that others cannot perceive, or they really are delusional. There is no middle ground. Either Moses heard a voice out of the bush, or he didn't. Most people choose one or the other without much consideration. This is perhaps the single most important question that any of us could face, and yet we are quick to decide without taking the due time for a reasonable investigation.

The investigation into the reality or unreality of a supernatural world cannot be done with man-made machines. We don't have any machines that can detect a supernatural realm, or these voices that are heard. There is only one machine which we can use to investigate - our own physical body. We either have to rely on the testimony of those who have had these spiritual experiences, or we have to make our own bodies into sensitive receivers so that we can tune in to these voices, and learn for ourselves. Unfortunately, this requires that we trust the testimony of others when they describe the process that we must undertake in order to sense this other world.

The single most important mental ability that anyone could cultivate may be the power to suspend disbelief. This ability has been proven to be invaluable in science. Einstein, for example had to suspend disbelief to come up with his theory of relativity. Those who followed Columbus on his maiden voyage had to suspend their disbelief and allow that maybe the world was in fact round. As children, we are taught to wash our hands. Each of us must suspend our disbelief and allow that
maybe there are things too tiny to see that can make us sick - we must trust the word of our parents. In order to investigate the world of spirits, or the world of the supernatural, we must suspend our disbelief. Another word for this ability is faith. Faith is a principle of power - only by suspending our disbelief can we learn about those things which are true, but not immediately obvious.

The best evidence that we have of supernatural events does not come from the Bible or the Koran, even though both record many such events. They typically have only one witness that has been rewritten by the hands of many people over a long period of time. The best evidence for the authenticity of supernatural events is the Book of Mormon, and the circumstances of its publication. There were a host of supernatural events that coincided with the publication of the Book of Mormon, and they were witnessed by several different people, and we have their unaltered first hand witnesses of what they saw and heard. In terms of quality of evidence, this blows away the Bible and the Koran.
As soon as I mentioned the Book of Mormon, I imagine some people stopped reading. They reached the point at which they could no longer suspend their disbelief. Those who are not Mormon, but are still reading this, have a little more "faith" than those who have already stopped.

First of all we have the source of the Book of Mormon - Joseph Smith was shown by an angel where it lay buried. We have the testimony of those who lived with him, and the testimony of his wife, which all corroborate that his statements were consistent, and that his actions were consistent with his statements. They were all watching as he began the process of translation, which by itself was of supernatural origin, as Joseph was a poorly educated farm boy, who could hardly write a coherent sentence, let alone write a book without the help of God. They were also witness to the many attempts by thieves to steal the Book of Mormon and stop the translation, and knew of the several clever hiding places where it was kept. Joseph's mother was allowed to see some of the artifacts that were buried with the Book of Mormon, and had no doubt to their authenticity and antiquity. His father, mother, and siblings all believed Joseph, and trusted in his integrity. When the work of translation was complete, the angel Moroni commanded Joseph to allow three men to witness the authenticity of the book, and the acceptance by God of the translation. These three men were allowed to see the angel Moroni, as he held the Book of Mormon, and they heard the voice of God proclaim the translation to be correct. This is a very strong witness to the reality of the supernatural - several different people seeing and hearing the same supernatural events at the same time. Other explanations, like mass hypnosis or mass hysteria, are not as credible. All four men bore strong witness to the Book of Mormon during their entire lives, even after some lost their faith in Joseph Smith. It is not the only time that multiple people witnessed the same vision during the what was known as the restoration of the Lord's church.

Another strong witness of the supernatural, is the gift of prophecy. Although some prophecies seem too vague (Your enemies will be cursed) and other prophecies seem fairly safe (Christ will not come this year), there are prophecies that are neither vague or likely. Take for example the prophecy given by Moroni when he conversed with Joseph Smith for the first time. Moroni told him that his name would be had "for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues, or that it should be both good and evil spoken of among all people". This prophecy seems tame in hindsight, but is actually very specific, and very unlikely - what chance did a farm boy from New York have of being known by so many people, let alone being praised by some and vilified by others. Many more prophecies followed, that were both specific and unlikely.

In the end such stories may intrigue people, but without personal experience of the supernatural, they remain as merely stories. They only come to life when someone has a spiritual experience of their own. When a person has a spiritual experience, It is often likened to their having their eyes opened - their whole view of the world changes.

In the Book of Mormon is a promise - a test if you will - that anyone who reads the book and prays with a sincere heart, and with real intent, will know by the power of the Holy Ghost that the book is true. Moroni recorded this promise himself just before he buried the book. This is the chance for someone to know for themselves - if only they can suspend their disbelief.