I know that God lives

So, before I move on to anything else, I would like to begin this blog describing why and how I believe in God, and trust Him enough to obey Him. While I grew up in the church, believing in God since I was little, skepticism still crept in, and I had a point in my life where I wanted to know the truth, no matter what it was, so instead of simply picking sides, I decided to go about it in a careful and logical manner.

I am a very logic based person, and a very scientific one as well. I understand the flaws that we as people have that drive us to blind ourselves to both logic and reason because we don't want to accept some hard truth. It's because of these two things that I had to look at both religion and science with a critical eye, and see the difference and similarities in the arguments for and against each.

I have since come to the conclusion that both correct science and correct religion are 100% compatible, so long as all things are based in basic facts and truths. Conflict between the two arises when one says, "Because this is true, that must be false", even though the two points are hardly related, and aren't exactly mutually exclusive. Sometimes the argument is the rather illogical "Because we have this, that is unnecessary and therefore cannot exist" statement, that seems to ignore the fact that simply because something may be unnecessary, doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

Many self-proclaimed "defenders of truth" (or more accurately, "attackers of falsehoods") fall into the habit of using these fallacies of logic and reasoning if only to defend their belief in the existence or nonexistence of something.

Why do I bring this up? To show the kinds of thoughts I had, and still have, towards the more "offensive" members of both sides of any argument. Very specifically in this post, the argument about the existence of God.

So, here I was, looking at two sides of an argument where both sides are presenting many facts and opinions, and adding many logical fallacies on top of them. But there were still a select few who were preaching something that made sense.

They said, "Test it for yourself, and see if it is true." In other words, apply the scientific method to proving God's existence.

How am I supposed to do that? Well, that's where the scientific method comes in:

• Step 1: Start with a hypothesis. ("If... , then... ")
• Step 2: Test the hypothesis and its control.
• Step 3: Gather data from both tests.
• Step 4: Form a conclusion and repeat.

Science has done a good job of claiming to stick to this process, despite generally not doing so specifically when it comes to this argument. The Bible in many places also prescribes exactly this same process to all people, saying "prove me now herewith" (Malachi 3:10), and "If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself." (John 7:17) The Book of Mormon puts it even more directly saying, "experiment upon my words" (Alma 32:27). Nevertheless, even believers in God don't always apply this advice.

Many people on both sides are guilty of ignoring this rather obvious path to finding truth. But despite that, it's still effective in finding truth. And so this is the method that I applied, at least initially.

So how would someone apply the scientific method to proving whether or not God exists? Well, we have to look at the differences that would exist in each situation.

Now, there are some who claim, "If God really existed, and really loved us, there'd be no war, no suffering, etc." We must take care not to think this way because the Bible tells us exactly the opposite would be true, that even in a world where a loving God exists, there will be "wars and rumors of wars" (Matthew 24:6), not because God wants that, but because he allows it. And so the differences that we will be looking for are subtle differences, not grand we-would-live-in-a-better-world differences. The reason being that we need something that we can change so that we can observe and compare. We can't change whether or not God exists, and therefore we need to look for something that we can change, and will cause clear differences if God exists, and cause no difference if He doesn't. So what should be our hypothesis?

Well, the word of God gives the answer: The commandments (not just the 10, but any of them). And what are the differences that we are looking for? The blessings promised for keeping them. Now sometimes, if not most of the time, the blessings for keeping the commandments are subtle, and are a lot of the time not the blessings we expect, but if God is there and giving useful blessings, they will still be there, and they will be noticeable.

And so, the differences we should look for, though mostly subtle and easily missed, are still enough upon which we can form a conclusion, especially if we are continuously performing the experiment for long periods of time.

As with any experiment, the certainty of the truthfulness of the conclusion raises as the results continue to repeat the same pattern given the same variables. This means that even science doesn't know anything with absolute certainty, and relies on what is best described as "faith". (If I put it into statistical terms, 'faith' would be defined as '1 - p'.) Scientists perform experiments multiple times, and observe the results until they have enough of the same result to be able to say "This is now proved. Let it be known to be true." So the more they get the same result compared to the control(s), the more "faith" they have in getting the same result if they tried it again.

My thought was that this exact same principle, applied to the commandments of God would be a reasonable method of "proving" whether or not God exists, and building my "faith" (there's really no need for quotes at this point) in Him.

So, scientific method. The steps:

• Step 1: Hypothesis - If God exists, then keeping the commandments will bring noticeable blessings, and disobeying will not. If God doesn't exist, no noticeable difference will be seen.
• Step 2: Perform the experiment (keeping the commandments) and it's control (disobeying the commandments, which is something I already did anyway because I'm not perfect, so I already had plenty of control group experiments. No need to intentionally disobey, something that would not be wise to do if God does indeed exist).
• Step 3: Gather data from both tests (♫~Count your many blessings, see what God hath done~♫ (Hymn 241, LDS hymn book), or count my good luck if I've disobeyed. Note that what is counted here are not the direct results of being a good person, example: be kind to someone, and they're kind back and you feel better. That doesn't count.)
• Step 4: Form a conclusion and repeat. (If there is a noticeably higher occurrence of good things happening in my life when I do obey than when I don't, then I begin to trust (have faith) that God exists. If I repeat the process and the results continue the same, then my faith in God increases.)

So this is what I did. And, though I wasn't as rigorous in my methods as a true scientist ought to be, the results were still amazing.

Of course they didn't come right away, and of course when I obeyed my difficulties weren't just taken from me, but I saw major differences not just in how I felt, but in the things that happened, the inspiration I received, the answers to questions I found, the "luck" that I had in my daily work, and many other things that just turned out so wonderfully. To me, that was reasonable conclusion enough, and so I kept the experiment going, and things continued to get better and better. As I continued the experiment, my faith in God grew until I felt I could say that I knew.

I thought had found my answer. Or at least an answer.

But I knew that that answer wasn't the greatest answer to receive. The greatest answer to receive is described in the Bible and in the Book of Mormon.

James 1:5-6 - "(5) If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. (6) But let him ask in faith..."

John 15:26 - "But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me."

Moroni 10:4-5 - "(4) And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. (5) And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things."

The instruction was simple: Ask with faith, and the Holy Ghost will testify to you that all this is true, and that I am here.

And so I did that.

I prayed to know if these things were true, if God was really there. And I can't exactly describe what happened next.

What I felt after that can't really be explained. If I tried to I would fail. And while "feelings" may be "unscientific", they were unlike any feelings I'd ever felt before, and were so powerful that I could not ignore the impression that they were giving me, the impression that God is there, that He loves me, and that He will help me in doing what's right. It filled my entire being and thought and feeling. It was overwhelming and yet at the same time, extremely peaceful. It was something that I felt then and still feel to this day, and cannot help but acknowledge whenever I speak about God and His love for us and His plan for us. 

This massively overshadowed the mounds of evidence that I had already received that confirmed God's existence. And I know how that looks to those who find it strange to put feelings above scientific evidence, but what I felt does, in fact, take priority, as it wasn't a simple feeling nor emotion. It was like it became a part of me, and now denying it seems like the stupidest thing I can do. So I won't.

It came exactly when the scriptures said it would, exactly when I did what they said to do, and there was no way not to notice it. It was still the scientific method – hypothesis, experiment vs control, gather and analyze results – but this time, the results were 100% conclusive.

I know that God lives, that He's there, and that He loves us.

That's why I believe, and, in fact, know, that God exists. And that is why I trust Him, and have dedicated so much time to serving Him, and serving others. That is my testimony.

If you don't already know that God exists, I encourage you to experiment upon the word of God, and ask if these things are true, and you will know.

Now if you want to go the long way as I did and go through the whole scientific experiment thing first, you totally can. Will it work? If you do it right, absolutely it will. But is it as good as the primary method prescribed by God Himself through his prophets? Not even a smidgen.

I'm glad I got an answer, and you can too. Whether you are a skeptic, an atheist, or already a believer, the same logic applies. It's the scientific method. "...by their fruits ye shall know them." (Matthew 7:20).

I wish you well in your own search for truth, and leave this testimony with you in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Love sincerely,

Steven