The Science of Faith Part 2

The Science of Faith Part 2

Faith and the Scientific Method

Often I think we see faith as vague and impossible to prove. The more I have studied my own faith and its growth I have come to understand how simple and logical faith is and can become. Really it is just as simple to come to know the truth of a spiritual principle as it is to come to a scientific one; and the process is essentially the same. In Alma 32 we learn about how faith can grow (like a seed), and when you look at it, it is nearly identical to the scientific process that I am sure many of us who have suffered through middle science are familiar with: ask a question, form a hypothesis, complete an experiment, gather results, and form a conclusion. Here is the same process related to faith:

Ask a Question(Alma 32:27): the search for any truth must begin with a desire  to know something we do not know or understand something we do not yet understand. Without that curiosity we will be unmotivated to fully go through the process that must be completed if we are to know something for ourselves. Whether it is which laundry detergent works best on my whites or is or isn't the Book of Mormon the word of God, unless we sincerely want to know we cannot ever know for ourselves for we will lack the will power we need to find out. And most importantly, we must carefully define what it is we really want to know. If our quest is vague our answer will be as well. There must be little room for gray area or we will never really know for sure (yes or no question or either something is or it isn't).

"if ye do not cast it out...(then) it will begin to swell within you" Alma 32:28

Form a Hypothesis(Alma 32:28): Once we have carefully defined what it is we want to know we must form a hypothesis; an "if then" statement based off of careful and reliable research. I may look at the active ingredients of detergent to determine which will work best and how I will know it worked best. I may read the Introduction to the Book of Mormon to understand what it is I have to do to know it is true and how I will know it. If I wash a shirt with a stain of equal size once with Tide and once with Purex then the stain will be smaller after I wash it with Tide. If I read the Book of Mormon every day for a month, and pray to know it is true, then I will feel increase of joy, peace, and understanding in my life (Galatians 5:22-23)

Complete an Experiment(Alma 32:37-40): This is the tricky part. I don't know about ya'll but when I was a kid I often was kicking myself during this part of my middle school science projects. I always forget about day 3 of 10 to do the daily things I needed for an experiment. I was the kid that two days before the science fair I realized that the two plants I was testing out hadn't actually ever been watered or even looked at and thus, I speedily had to make up results... In order for us to really get solid results we have to be diligent and consistent in running our experiment. Just as it is unfair to say one detergent works better than the other if we only complete half the steps of our experiment, it is unfair to determine a spiritual idea is false if we have failed to truly go through every step it asks us to to know. We must do the "if" of our "if then" hypothesis, that is read and prayer every day and reflect on how we feel as we do so, only then will we get fair results.
Gather Results(Alma 32:42-43): After we are finished with our experiment we must look over what happened and gather all the facts. We must compare red stains for how faded and how big they are in comparison and record the differences. We must reflect on how our month went and how we felt as we prayed to decide if we feel more peaceful or not after reading the Book of Mormon. We simply gather as unbiasedly as we can the facts we see before us. Until we do that we cannot form an opinion.
Make a Conclusion(Alma 32:34): No matter how clear results may look we still have the choice within us to make a conclusion. It is up to us to "taste of the fruit" of the seed we planted in order to decide if it is good or not. It is so important to open our hearts to what we see and more importantly feel in order for us to know what is right and true. This is one of the most vital steps for it is the last step that will make or break our faith in any given principle. It is what determines what we do and don't believe. This is the step in which our "faith becomes unshaken"-as we repeatedly see the results and are able to form conclusions from the results of our actions.

Faith is simply defined and built. God is a God of order and reason and He has laid out a way for us to know for ourselves, all we have to do is diligently follow the way He has so beautifully laid out for us to follow. If we do so we will know truth for ourselves, as assuredly as we can know anything else, for there are no more powerfully witnesses than the witness of the Spirit and the tangible results he brings into our lives as we act in faith. Through Him we truly can know "the truth of all things" (Moroni 10:5).