Holy Ghost/Burning in the bosom

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Questions

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• Critics complain that the LDS appeal to "revelation" or a "burning in the bosom" is subjective, emotion-based, and thus unreliable and susceptible to self-deception.
• Sectarian critics also belittle appeals to spiritual experiences, comparing them to "warm fuzzies," or merely something "felt by simply watching a Hollywood movie."

To see citations to the critical sources for these claims, click here

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Detailed Analysis

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And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?
—Luke 24꞉32

My heart was hot within me, while I was musing the fire burned: then spake I with my tongue.
—Psalms 39꞉3

But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right.
—D&C 9꞉8

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Sectarian critics inconsistent

It is strange that sectarian critics fault appeals to a "burning in the bosom."

Following Jesus' resurrection, He walked with two disciples on the road to Emmaus. They did not recognize Jesus, but listened to Him as "he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself" (Luke 24꞉27).

After breaking bread with them, Jesus was revealed to the disciples, and vanished from their sight.

Interestingly, they did not say to each other, "We should have known it was Jesus because of his scriptural teaching." Rather, they said:

Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?(Luke 24꞉32)

Would the critics likewise dismiss Jesus' disciples' witness because it was a "burning in the bosom"? Would they characterize this experience as merely the emotional rush of a Hollywood film?

Misunderstanding or mis-stating

Critics fundamentally misunderstand or misstate the LDS revelatory experience if they think it is exclusively or primarily “emotional.” The united witness of mind and heart is key in LDS doctrine.

An LDS “spiritual” experience has as much—or more—intellectual content as it does emotions of peace or joy. Oliver Cowdery received the following revelation through Joseph Smith, and it alludes to previous revelation given to Oliver privately:

Verily, verily, I say unto you, if you desire a further witness, cast your mind upon the night that you cried unto me in your heart, that you might know concerning the truth of these things.

Did I not speak peace to your mind concerning the matter? What greater witness can you have than from God? (D&C 6:22–23).

Notice the information spoken to the “mind,” and the peace then follows. And, the solution for later doubts or concerns is not reliance on “a feeling,” but an admonition to recall specific information communicated earlier.

This matches the revelatory pattern explained later to Oliver:

Behold, you have not understood; you have supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought save it was to ask me.

But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right.

But if it be not right you shall have no such feelings, but you shall have a stupor of thought that shall cause you to forget the thing which is wrong… (D&C 9:7–9).

Again, the united witness of intellect and heart are essential. If either does not agree, then revelation has not confirmed the matter under consideration. Anyone who relies exclusively on a "feeling" does not understand or obey LDS teaching on this matter.

To be sure, many members will talk about how they “felt” when they prayed. It is to fundamentally misunderstand these experiences, however, if we assume (as hostile critics often do) that this talk of “feeling” means simply—or only, or primarily—“emotion.” The LDS member is stymied, in a sense, because there is no good word for what happens that doesn’t also have other secular connotations which critics could misinterpret if they chose.

Hugh Nibley’s description of the critic is apt:

He cannot conceive how anyone could possibly acquire knowledge by any method other than his. He cannot believe that any man has experienced anything which he has not experienced. . . . ‘I have never seen a vision,' says the [skeptic], ‘therefore, Joseph Smith never had one. I have seen dreams [or had emotionally moving experiences], therefore, I will allow him that.'”^[1]

Early Christians experience similar feelings to a "burning in the bosom". Justin Martyr wrote in his book Dialogue with Trypho, of his conversion that he was a philosopher until he met an old man who introduced him to the Hebrew Prophets when “a flame enkindled his heart” and he found “this philosophy (Christianity) alone to be sure and profitable.” ^[2]

The Shepard of Hermas, which was once considered scripture, reads “There are two angels with a man-one of righteousness, and the other of iniquity...The angel of righteousness is gentle and modest, meek and peaceful. When he ascends into your heart, he speaks to you of righteousness, purity, chastity, contentment, and every other righteous deed and glorious virtue. When all of these things come into your heart, know that the angel of righteousness is with you” ^[3]

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Answer

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Elder Dallin H. Oaks made the LDS position on revelation and "burning in the bosom" clear:

What does a “burning in the bosom” mean? Does it need to be a feeling of caloric heat, like the burning produced by combustion? If that is the meaning, I have never had a burning in the bosom. Surely, the word “burning” in this scripture signifies a feeling of comfort and serenity. That is the witness many receive. That is the way revelation works.^[4]

Ultimately, as the Bible instructs us, we trust in the Lord to reveal the truth:

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. (Proverbs 3꞉5-6)

== Notes ==

1. [note]  Hugh W. Nibley, The World and the Prophets, 3rd edition, (Vol. 3 of Collected Works of Hugh Nibley), edited by John W. Welch, Gary P. Gillum, and Don E. Norton (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book Company; Provo, Utah: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1987), 31.
2. ^[5] Dialogue with Trypho 8, Ante-Nicene Fathers 1:198
3. ^[6] Shepard of Hermas, Ante-Nicene Fathers 2:24
4. [note]  Dallin H. Oaks, "Teaching and Learning by the Spirit," Ensign (March 1997): 14.off-site

Further reading and additional sources responding to these claims