How Mormons Know Things

 The annual Exodus debate during Passover season and a recent discussion with a congregant highlight the divergent ways in which Jews and Mormons attempt to discover for themselves whether stories found in Scripture are meant to be taken literally. While Jews are generally more inclined to look to secular fields of study for confirmation of biblical stories (e.g., history, archaeology, textual analysis, linguistics), most Mormons believe that divine inspiration as a result of study and prayer is the only sure way to know spiritual things.

Years ago a rabbi approached me after hearing one of my presentations on behalf of the Israeli Consulate General. After discovering that I speak and read Hebrew, he offered to “prove” to me using the Hebrew-language Torah that Jesus was not in fact the Messiah. I readily agreed to meet with him, on one condition: I would offer a prayer before we began. Since we were going to discuss spiritual topics, we needed to invite God’s spirit to join our conversation. Although the rabbi promised to get in touch with me, I have not heard from him since.