I’ll start with the beginnings.
In September 2012, I sat down for my first day of Organic Chemistry 351. The professor, Paul Savage, didn’t waste a lot of time going over policies for attendance and late work. Instead, he jumped straight into the core of the course by introducing the list of “postulates” for the class. Starting with “Atoms are most stable with filled electron shells,” this was a list of scientific statements that were to serve as the foundation pillars for the next 2 semesters.
“There are simply too many different chemical reactions to have any chance of memorizing them all.” Dr. Savage told us. “But if you can trace everything you learn back to these basic, fundamental principles, you will build real understanding that will allow you to reason through any o-chem reaction, without any need to blindly memorize. For each reaction we study, ask ‘why does it work that way?’ and then ask ‘why?’ again until you arrive at one of these postulates.” Going deeper than that, he said, would have to wait until later classes. For now, we were to accept these postulates as the final “answers to why” and try to tie everything we studied back to them.
I managed a B+ in Dr. Savage’s class, and I was grateful for it. I’ve since forgotten most of the o-chem reactions he taught, but his method of reasoning has stuck with me: don’t just memorize scattered factoids, dig deeper until you get to foundation principles, then you’ll have a solid basis for thinking through future questions. I have found this applies far beyond strictly scientific fields: it is a powerful lens to analyze human behavior, economics, politics, and even, or rather especially, religion. In fact, I was taught the same method of thinking in another course that same semester: The Scriptures as Literature 303R, by Steven Walker.
“In the scriptures, answers are a dime a dozen,” Dr. Walker taught us. “They’re all over the place. It’s questions that really matter. Good, thoughtful questions, asking ‘why?’ and then asking it over and over again, allows you to stretch beyond your present comfortable, superficial understanding of the scriptures, dig deeper, and find real pearls.” He taught us to shake ourselves from the stagnant “I already know this story” mode of reading and look with fresh eyes at what was really going on for Abraham, Jonah, Nephi, Peter, and Joseph Smith. In the process, I found myself examining my own beliefs, and trying to sift through and separate the assumptions and theories from the fundamental core.
Years later I am still thinking, digging, sifting, and searching, and I intend to carry on doing so for the rest of my life and beyond. What is emerging is a slowly growing set of postulates, foundational ideas which I hold as my core of truth and strive to connect everything else to. They are grounded in a combination of personal experience, logic and reason, observation of the world, consistent feelings and insights which I recognize as promptings from God, and hopes for a universe that makes sense and has meaning and purpose. Here they are, as best I can express them at present:
- There exists absolute truth. Truth consists of concepts, principles, and eternal laws which describe and govern reality, or things as they really are. Truth is truth whether or not we know it, believe it, or like it.
- Recognizing, understanding, and applying truth brings power, progression, and joy.
- Exercising moral agency, that is, making choices with respect to truth in an environment of opposition and consequences, is absolutely necessary for learning and growing in truth.
- There is a God, a divine living being who has a full and perfect understanding of truth borne of experience, and thereby a fullness of power, perfection, and joy.
- All human beings are children of God, literal daughters and sons of loving Heavenly Parents, with divine potential to grow and become like them.
- Every action of God toward His children individually and collectively is founded in mercy and love.
- God formed this Earth as a place for His children to receive physical bodies, make choices, learn by experience, and take critical steps to become like Him and live in eternal families.
- Jesus Christ came to earth to set an example of perfection, teach truth, gain understanding of each of God’s children, and be empowered to cleanse us from sin and guide us into all truth.
- Repentance, that is, changing our mind, desires, and actions to align with truth and God’s will, is real, cleansing, empowering, and joyful. Jesus Christ makes repentance possible, guides us through the process, and brings about the change in our very nature.
- Resurrection, the reuniting of body and spirit after death into an immortal, eternal soul, is real, and through Jesus Christ will come to every person who has ever lived on this Earth.
- God communicates with His children individually by means of the Holy Spirit; a being of spirit who speaks to us through thoughts and feelings which carry true insight, peace, and strength.
- God communicates with His children collectively by means of prophets; designated individuals inspired through the Holy Spirit to share specific messages of truth with a group or the world. Select prophetic messages are compiled in the scriptures. Every individual can obtain personal confirmation by reason and revelation that a prophet’s message from God is true.
- The Book of Mormon is true, a genuine ancient record of prophetic messages focused on Jesus Christ brought forth by God for our day.
- Prophets and leaders in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are mortal men and women with special authority and responsibility from God to receive and teach specific messages of truth.
- Covenants, that is, authoritative commitments between God and an individual, bind us to God in a special relationship of love, mercy, faithfulness, kindness, and grace. God will never forsake His end of a covenant, and will continually reach out to His covenant children to help them draw closer to Him.
- Humility before God, recognizing our limitations and weaknesses and acknowledging Him as the source of all our blessings, talents, and achievements, is the beginning of true wisdom and strength.
- Focusing primarily on oneself causes stagnation and shrinkage, while focusing on serving others leads to growth and joy.
- Gratitude is a divine key to happiness and seeing God’s power, kindness, and mercy in our lives and the world.
These postulates are by no means complete or final, I will continue to refine and add to them as my understanding grows. As they are, they stand as the surest points of truth I know and hold dear. I do not hold them as self-evident per se, and I am willing to discuss sincere questions regarding the validity of any or all of them. However, they undergird much of my reasoning and worldview. Many times when I find myself in a serious clash of opinions with someone, I can trace the conflict back to a disagreement or differing interpretation on some of these fundamental points. I therefore wanted to give you, the reader, a clear and honest explanation of “where I’m coming from” as a thinker and writer, as a matter of intellectual transparency, and in hopes that it will enable productive discussion of important matters, especially when we disagree. I also wanted to begin this blog by sharing the things I consider to be most important, in hopes that someone might find them intriguing and enlightening and desire to learn more. I’ll conclude with a beloved quote from my would-be namesake:
“If someone is able to show me that what I think or do is not right, I will happily change, for I seek the truth, by which no one was ever truly harmed. It is the person who continues in his self-deception and ignorance who is harmed.” Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
Written February 14, 2019. Last revised January 26, 2023
