In the not-too-distant past, I have had some theological exchanges with representatives from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) and the Church of the Almighty God. You are probably familiar with LDS; that’s the group that adheres to the Book of Mormon, which they believe contains information that’s additional to the Old and New Testament. The Church of the Almighty God, also known as the Eastern Lightning Movement, is a bit more obscure to Westerners. In 1989, a woman named Yang Xiangbin entered the House Church Movement scene in China and claimed to be Christ, the incarnate God. In the following years, she delivered some messages that the Church of the Almighty God accepts as authoritative. These “utterances” have been compiled into a book called The Word Appears in the Flesh.
These two organizations are vastly different from each other but they have a noteworthy similarity: both the Latter-day Saints and the Eastern Lightning Movement defend their alleged new revelation by turning to feelings. The missionaries whom I spoke with told me to read their texts and search to see if it felt like truth. They themselves read the texts and it felt good, so they accepted it as true. That’s what the missionaries told me. Here are some quotes that I found on their organizations’ websites:
From the Latter-day Saint perspective:
Elder S. Dilworth Young said: “If I am to receive revelation from the Lord, I must be in harmony with him by keeping his commandments. Then as needed, according to his wisdom, his word will come into my mind through my thoughts, accompanied by a feeling in the region of my bosom. It is a feeling which cannot be described, but the nearest word we have is ‘burn’ or ‘burning.’ Accompanying this always is a feeling of peace, a further witness that what one heard is right. Once one recognizes this burning, this feeling, this peace, one need never be drawn astray in his daily life or in the guidance he may receive.”1
From the Eastern Lightning perspective:
God uses the word to govern man; you feel good if you eat and drink of the word of God, and if you do not, you will have no path to follow. The word of God becomes the food of man and the force that drives him. The Bible said that “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” This is the work that God will bring to completion today. He will realize this truth in you.2
Both parties use feelings as the litmus test for truth, yet they end up with completely different results. This should be enough to demonstrate that the test is broken, but let’s try another test.
I have taken Numbers 1:25, which both parties will say is indeed the Word of God, and I copied and pasted it seven times, then I altered six of the seven copies. Can you read the seven versions and tell which one is correct simply by feeling the truth in it?
those who were numbered of the tribe of Gad were forty-five thousand two hundred and fifty.
those who were numbered of the tribe of Gad were forty-five thousand three hundred and fifty.
those who were numbered of the tribe of Gad were forty-five thousand four hundred and fifty.
those who were numbered of the tribe of Gad were forty-five thousand five hundred and fifty.
those who were numbered of the tribe of Gad were forty-five thousand six hundred and fifty.
those who were numbered of the tribe of Gad were forty-five thousand seven hundred and fifty.
those who were numbered of the tribe of Gad were forty-five thousand eight hundred and fifty.
I don’t think you can discern what is true simply by your feelings. The Bible actually confirms that our hearts are not the best source of truth:
The heart is deceitful above all things,
And desperately wicked;
Who can know it? (Jer 17:9)Keep your heart with all diligence,
For out of it spring the issues of life. (Prov 4:23)But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts. (Rom 13:14)
Now, it’s easy to pick on the LDS and the Eastern Lightning Movement, but I would like to offer something that we Protestants can take away from this.
I’ve recently observed an occasion in which a Christian told a Jew to read the New Testament and ask God if it’s true. The implication here being the same as what the organizations above say about their texts, that God will confirm the text with a feeling. As we have seen here, this is not a trustworthy way to test a document. Suppose the reader doesn’t get a feeling; would that nullify God’s Word? Of course not.
I propose that we analyze texts using the model of the Bereans:
Then the brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. Therefore many of them believed, and also not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men. But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was preached by Paul at Berea, they came there also and stirred up the crowds. Then immediately the brethren sent Paul away, to go to the sea; but both Silas and Timothy remained there. So those who conducted Paul brought him to Athens; and receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him with all speed, they departed. (Acts 17:10-15)
Build your personal resilience against false teaching. Be a Berean.