Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

By Jim Greer

LW contributor

Part of my Sabbath routine includes watching music and the spoken word from the Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square. The Jan. 10 message was “Seek Out the True and Trustworthy.”

The message, written and delivered by Lloyd Newell, gives inspired direction on how we may, during these confusing times, determine truth from falsehood. Brother Newell begins, “In our day, finding answers to questions has never been easier. When we have questions, we simply search the internet—which is now as simple as talking to a handheld device—and we expect immediate responses. And we often get them. But how often do we stop to consider if we are asking the right questions of the right sources—and if we are getting the right answers?”

This is perhaps the most important question we can ask as we have become dependent on the Internet for so much of our pursuit of truth.

Newell went on to say, “In the information age, our problem isn’t that we have too many unanswered questions; it’s that our questions have too many answers. How can we discern between good and bad information, between truth and error, between fact and fiction? It’s one question that the internet isn’t really equipped to answer—the same question the Roman governor Pilate asked Jesus of Nazareth thousands of years ago: What is truth?” (John 18:38).

Newell explained how Sam Wineburg of Stanford University noted that researching any topic required that we reference numerous books in a well-stocked library in previous generations. We were confident that editors and respected publishers had carefully vetted those books. But now, personal research only requires that we type a phrase and click on the first web page that appears. Unfortunately, many websites may not have been scrutinized, or their data and articles subjected to peer review.

Just about anyone can create a website or a blog and present themselves as someone with authority or expertise that they don’t necessarily have. Wineburg observes: “What once fell on the shoulders of editors, fact-checkers and subject matter experts now falls on the shoulders of each and every one of us.”

The internet relieves us of the need to go to a library. Still, it does not relinquish us from the responsibility of evaluating and vetting all information. To determine the truth of what we now find so quickly, we must “check and double-check sources, assess the author’s motive, and consider context.”

As it says in D& C 88:118, “Seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith.” The Holy Ghost reveals all truth, and the source of all truth is our savior Jesus Christ. He is the way, the truth and the light. As he said unto Pilate, “To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth.” (John 18:37).