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In dit leven worden we door geloof geleid. Dit betekent dat we moeten
leren leven zonder absolute zekerheid en zonder tastbaar bewijs voor onze
geloofsovertuiging. Geloof is een proefneming, een waagstuk: hoop koesteren,
maar niet zeker weten of iets waar is (Alma 32:17-36).
Geloof is: niet twijfelen; ze gaat uit van bepaalde veronderstellingen
zonder welke ons leven ondenkbaar zou zijn - een vast verankerde hoop
die aan ons handelen ten grondslag ligt (Ether 12:6).
Maar omdat geloof een stuk onzekerheid met zich meebrengt, kan ze met
twijfel leren omgaan.
Wanneer we handelen vanuit geloof, begint dat onze ziel te verruimen
en ons verstand te verlichten (Alma 32:28),
en we noemen dergelijke ervaringen een getuigenis. Een getuigenis levert
geen onomstotelijk bewijs, maar motiveert ons om geloof te oefenen ondanks
onzekerheid en ondanks onze beperkte kennis. Geloofsversterkende ervaringen
kunnen dermate overtuigend overkomen dat we geneigd zijn te verklaren:
"Ik wéét." Echter, "geloof", "vertrouwen",
en "hoop", behoren ook tot de gaven van de Geest (LV
46:13-14) en zijn net zo goed een vorm van getuigenis.
Als het er op aan komt, hangt ons geestelijk welzijn niet zozeer af van
leerstellige zekerheid, dan wel van een stellige overtuiging aangaande
onze verhouding tot God en Christus. Kennen we hen zodanig dat we hun
aanwezigheid in ons leven ervaren? Stellen we ons vertrouwen in hen, m.a.w.
Kénnen wij hen (Johannes 17:3) ?
| Aanverwante Onderwerpen:
|
 Geloof,
geen Twijfel |
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| Be Still, My Soul (Hymns
124) |
B. H. Roberts: Would
absolute certainty be desirable? "Know ye not that we walk
by faith, not by sight," is Paul's statement. From which I
infer that this very uncertainty in the midst of which we walk by
faith, is the very means of our education. What mere automatons
[people] would become if they found truth machine-made, of cast-iron
stiffness, and limited, that is to say, finite, instead of being
as we now find it, infinite and elusive . . . |
A Comprehensive History
of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
(Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1930), 1:165-66 |
Obert C. Tanner: There
is nothing to fear now, unless it be a faith that is so weak it
fears honest inquiry. Only those not certain of the Gospel's eternal
truths are afraid of questions, and doubts, and seekers of truth.
Those with a testimony of the Gospel's great and noble standards
revealed from God will never have but love and encouragement in
their hearts for others who would pioneer for new truths or struggle
to comprehend old truths. |
| Christ's Ideals for
Living (Salt Lake City: Deseret Sunday School Union Board, 1955),
144 |
David O. McKay: That
is what a testimony means. To know God, and Jesus Christ, is to
have life eternal . . . But the question arises—How may I
know? . . . There is a definite answer—a clear-cut statement
for our young people seeking a testimony: If ye will do the
will [of God], ye shall know. . . . What is God's will? . .
. Jesus said the first fundamental law is to "love the Lord
thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all
thy mind, and with all they strength. . . . And the second is like
unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." |
| Man May Know for Himself
(Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1967), 13 |
Lowell L. Bennion:
Faith is the sphere of the possible. It is an hypothesis, suggested
by the existence of some facts, but projecting beyond these to the
realm of what might be or could be. . . . Faith is adventurous and
creative. It not only is the sphere of the possible, but is also
the power which often makes the possible come into being. . . .
The student should not feel compelled to choose between Geloof en Getuigenis. [G]ain and use knowledge where it is available. [W]alk
by faith where knowledge is not available. |
| The Best of Lowell L.
Bennion (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1988), 181-84 |
Neal A. Maxwell: In
this life, clearly we "walk by faith" rather than by perfect
knowledge (2 Corinthians 5:7). The plan ensures that our perspective
is intentionally limited.
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| Lord, Increase Our Faith
(Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1994), 51 |
| Dallin H. Oaks: Whereas
the world teaches us to know something, the gospel teaches
us to become something, and it is far more significant to
become than it is to know. |
"On Learning and Becoming,"
in On Becoming a Disciple Scholar
(Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1995), 92 |
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