Mormon Beliefs

Crazy Mormon Beliefs: Burning in Bosom

If you ever talk to a Mormon missionary, they will likely invite you to read the Book of Mormon and to pray to know whether it is true or not.  Mormons believe that the Holy Spirit will testify to you that it is true when asked with faith and sincerity.  How can you know it is the Holy Spirit?  Galatians 5:22-23 teach us that the “fruits of the Spirit” are things like love, joy, peace, gentleness, etc.  Some members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints refer to the confirmation that they receive through the Spirit as a “burning in the bosom”.  However, each person may receive this confirmation differently through the Spirit.

But wait a minute, is this really how God expects us to seek confirmation of the truth?  Before Jesus left, He taught in John 14:26 that “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”  Jesus clearly taught that the Holy Ghost can teach us all things–certainly this applies to questions about God’s word and truth!

Through my interactions online, I have even heard other Christans counsel each other not to pray about the Book of Mormon.  Now this I definitely don’t understand.  Why would you ever tell somebody not to pray?  Especially when it’s to ask God for direction.  With Latter-day Saints, the invitation is to not accept the word of anybody else, but rather to find out for yourself by asking our Heavenly Father.  He will answer through the Holy Spirit and can teach us all things, just as our Savior taught near the end of His mortal ministry.

Tags: burning in bosom, burning of the bosom, confirmation, fruits of spirit, holy spirit, pray about the book of mormon, prayer