The Crucible of Doubt: Reflections on the Quest for Faith

by Terryl L. Givens

As for the question of what is or is not revelation, the answer is simple. People just don’t like to hear it. . . . D&C 68:4 says: “And whatsoever they shall speak when moved upon by the Holy Ghost shall be scripture, shall be the will of the Lord, shall be the mind of the Lord, shall be the word of the Lord, shall be the voice of the Lord, and the power of God unto salvation.” There’s your answer and, in terms of simple language, it’s not hard to understand. The problem is that it doesn’t do what people want. What people want is to be absolved of responsibility. They want a formula, a rulebook, or an oracle to which they can defer tough questions. God says: “If you want to know if it’s scripture or not, you’re going to have to have your own connection to the Holy Ghost sufficient to figure that out.” In other words: “The burden is on you.” People say: “That sounds like hard work. Please give us a cheat sheet.” . . . And, when God refuses to give out a cheat sheet, people just invent one. They invent doctrines of prophetic or scriptural inerrancy or sufficiency or infallibility, all of which serve more or less the exact same purpose as the original golden calf: a simulacrum of the divine that doesn’t ask us to do any genuine hard work.15