Knowing The One True God

Perhaps my favorite scripture is John 17:3 "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent."

It has always seemed logical to me that the first principle of the gospel was that one must come to know God. How can one that God exists? And if one came to knowledge of the existence of God wouldn't that be an acquaintance? Perhaps not an intimate acquaintance, but at this point this individual could say, "I don't know God well, but I know he exists."

In other words I know of him. But even after God's existence is confirmed why do we need to believe in him? How are we any better off knowing that there is a God than we were when did not believe or uncertain in our belief of God?

Most answers fail to answer the great importance of this question. A few include:

1. If people didn't believe in God there would be no morality.

This argument is easily disprovable. After all, I know a lot of people who one day decided they didn't believe in God and they didn't go haywire and start wacking people that same day. People don't turn into animals the minute the reject the idea of a God. (I would argue because they are spiritually his children and that whether they acknowledge him or not it is that heritage which separates us from the animals. But choosing not to believe does not take that heritage from us.)

2. If people don't believe in God then life has not meaning.

Though knowing God has added meaning to my life, once again, just because someone doesn't believe in God doesn't mean that their lives are meaningless. And just because someone believes in God doesn't give their life meaning. Meaning is, after all, a choice. Our lives mean what we choose them to mean.

Since I'm running out of time I'll make the rest of this snappy. One cannot nor should not believe in something which they themselves have not come to know through either reason or experience. And the same goes with God.

If I don't know God I have no reason to believe in him anymore than I have to believe in the boogey man.

But as I come to know God, not only to know he exists but know who he is my perspective on life changes.

Mormons believe that truth is knowledge of things as they are were and are to come. I believe that joy in life comes from finding, learning, knowing, loving and living life in accordance to truth. When I learned for myself that there was a God a lot of things changed. As I came to know who he was I came to learn who I was.

And as I learned who I was and who he is that changed the meaning of my life. Though people can be moral and have meaningful lives without knowing God, in my experience coming to know the one true God has only increased my strength to live a good and moral life and given life deeper purpose.

Where I had questions before, I now have perspective. I used to feel alone, now I know I have a constant companion. And truly one of the most important experiences in my life has been my gradual and slow acquaintance with the only true God and Jesus Christ who he sent.

Jason Bentley is just a punk college kid who is attending Brigham Young University.