The Book of Mormon talks about a man named Korihor who taught that there is no God, nobody could know of things to come, that man faired in this life according to his genius, and that there was no sin (The Book of Alma, Chapter 30, Book of Mormon). He claimed that there would be no Christ (as this was several years B.C.). He taught that there would be no final judgment or punishment for displeasing an unknowable and unknown being. When Korihor asked for a sign, Alma, the prophet and Korihor’s final contender, told him he had had “signs enough.” You see, Korihor’s epistemology, or way of discerning truth, was largely empirical, or based on what can be observed with the senses (Lund, Countering Korihor’s Philosophy, 1992). If Korihor was right, and this is the only way to know of truth, then he would have to have evidence that there was no God in order to make that claim. Which, as Alma pointed out, he did not have. How could he? Ironically, only someone who could see and comprehend every Planck length of this Universe and all of it’s parallels all at one time could empirically claim that there is no God. On the inverse, if merely one person actually saw God, you could not empirically disprove Him. Alma aptly stated that “the testimony of all [those his] brethren, and also all the holy prophets” were “signs enough.”
One spring morning in 1820, a 14-year-old Joseph Smith saw God and Jesus. The last chapter of a book he brought forth, a book with no adequate explanation other that his own, states clearly and empirically that if you ask for yourself, you can know by the power of God that Joseph actually saw Him. You can know that Joseph’s work was God’s work. You can know that this book, the Book of Mormon, is true. You can then know that the Holy Bible is true, and that Jesus Christ has an essential and amazing role in every human life.
I have asked for myself. It took courage and faith. It took, at least in my case, desperation in the status quo and hope for something more. It took an acknowledgement that the concept of God is possible and that a religion might actually bring some relevant meaning to my life. It took immense bravery to humbly allow another being to have more power in my life than myself. I can’t explain what happened well enough to convince you of all that it was. I can’t prove to you that God is real – even though I know it. All I can say is that God answered me! It was liberating! It filled me with such immense peace and love that I was able to pull myself out of a deep depression and begin life again! I was noticeably a different person. I was constantly told by many neighbors and family members for some time after that something was different about me. I was no longer stuck. I no longer felt alone. To this day, I never feel alone. I wish I could prove to you that God is real, but that would be doing you a grave disservice. Some may say my claim is convenient – putting the proof of my claim into the hands of the claim itself. I say, at least for those who lack the faith to ask for themselves, how terribly inconvenient. How terribly inconvenient for both of us. But that is not my goal or my role. I can’t prove it, so I won’t. Instead, I’ll focus on what I can do.
I could debate it. I could cite scholars and philosophers, physicists and psychologists, doctors and mathematicians. I could go into the theory of relativity and genetics, the concept of time and type IV civilizations, and the concepts of selfless giving and information in DNA – but why? I don’t like the God-debate that apologists get pulled into because no man ever proved to me that God is real; therefore, how can we, as men, prove it to others? God holds Himself responsible for proving Himself. He had to prove Himself to me. I can only offer others some reasons to reach out for that. If anything, these articles should be proof enough to get on your knees and have God tell you Himself that He is real, that He cares, and that He has a plan for you. In the name of Jesus Christ, ask with faith and real intent and He will answer you in a way that only He knows how.