Resources for the Viewer
Some things are easier to see than to read about. You can tell someone that people of every faith describe the same burning in the bosom, and they’ll nod politely. Show them a dozen of those people, from a dozen different churches, each one in tears and each one sure that their church is the only true one, and the point lands differently.
If you’re new, start here
Start with Testimonies and Spiritual Experiences Across Religions. I’ve watched many videos like it: Christians of nearly every denomination, Muslims, Buddhists, Jews, all testifying with the same fervent, heartfelt devotion as any Mormon. Those feelings are real. I’ve felt them too. But I don’t accept that a feeling, however strong, is evidence that a doctrine is true. This video shows why better than I can explain it.
Understanding spiritual experiences
What are these experiences, if they aren’t proof? These videos come at the question from several directions, including where the line falls between a spiritual awakening and a mental-health crisis.
- Testimonies and Spiritual Experiences Across Religions – Emotions are Not Reliable to Discern Truth
- Jordan Peterson: Spiritual Experiences
- What Is the Most Spiritual Experience You’ve Had? | 0-100
- Psychosis or Spiritual Awakening: Phil Borges at TEDxUMKC
- Jim Carrey Spiritual Experience
- Four-Year-Old Girl Says She Had Spiritual Encounter During Near-Death Experience
Mormon experiences
Long-form interviews and discussion from people who have lived inside Mormonism and changed. They vary a lot in tone, from gentle to sharply critical. Take what’s useful and leave the rest.
About human belief
Once you stop reading scripture as literal history, a fair question is whether it means anything at all. I think it does. These lectures read the old stories as maps of human psychology, the patterns Jung called archetypes. They’re long, and they’re worth it.
- Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief (Lecture Series)
- The Psychological Significance of the Biblical Stories: Genesis
If you’d rather read, see the reader list. For my own take on what those feelings are, read The Things We Feel.