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Mormons Saying "I Know" Rather Than "I Believe" - Page 3

None of that would stand up in a court of law. Its either you know or you don't. We are TESTIFYING as a WITNESS. Most times what they know is based on what others have told them. I can usually tell who really feels they know and who is just going through the words.

Believequot quotI Than Knowquot quotI Mormons

Luckily for us, Fast and Testimony meeting is not a court of law, otherwise many good people might be prosecuted for perjury. As it is, we can take into account the various different ways that the word "know" is used. For example, one definition of the word "know" that I found was the following:

"2 a : to be aware of the truth or factuality of : be convinced or certain of"

That seems to be the way that most people are using the word "know" when they are bearing their testimonies, and since they are using the word in a way that is perfectly acceptable, according to the dictionary, I don't feel that there is any reason to find fault with the way that they are using it.

Mormons Saying "I Know" Rather Than "I Believe" Studies Doctrine Mormon

I didn't know we did things in the church according to the dictionary. For me testifying is just that - witnessing what you believe to be the truth. If you have a belief just like everyone else then what is the difference between a member knowing and a prophet knowing.

Page 3 Believequot quotI Than Knowquot quotI Mormons

I hope that we at least speak according to the dictionary. If we do otherwise, then we have know way of knowing what someone means when they speak.
I tried to explain that there are different kinds of knowing as implied in the scriptures. Alma 32 says that faith is not to have a perfect knowledge. The very words "perfect knowledge" imply that there is also such a thing as "imperfect knowledge." If "perfect knowledge" is seeing, then logically "imperfect knowledge" would be based on something other than seeing. Hebrews 11 says that "faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." That would seem to correspond with a tentative definition of "imperfect knowledge." Thus, someone who has actually seen God, such as the Prophet Joseph Smith, would have "perfect knowledge." Most of the rest of us probably have an "imperfect knowledge" of the existence of God, or in other words, faith--I.e., "assurance of things hoped for, evidence of things not seen."