Hello, Why Religion friends, John Hilden here.

My guess is that everybody listening to this episode

know somebody who is struggling with their faith in Jesus Christ.

You might have heard the analogy of saying,

if there's a gospel question that you can't answer yet,

just put it on the shelf and revisit it at a later time.

For many, that's helpful advice, but others say, if I put anything else

on my shelf, it's going to break. This is a real challenge, and today Dr. Jared Halverson is going

to directly address it. I pointed out, he's not asking you to believe in the result. He's asking

you to believe in the process. If he's asking us to experiment upon the word, then at least trust that the experiment is worth conducting

and that it does result in understanding and knowledge and faith.

I think if we can believe at least that much, that desire to believe that, and again, that goes back to the shelves as well. If I believe

that God does bring things down, I believe I've had experiences where he's taught me before,

then why would I close off that kind of communication? In this episode of Why Religion, we'll

explore the shelf metaphor and see how the ninth article of faith can expand our understanding of what it can mean.

This episode will be especially helpful for anyone who is personally struggling with their own faith

or trying to help somebody who is.

I'm your host, Professor John Hilton, and this is why religion.

Each year, religion professors at Brigham Young University

produce hundreds of publications on subjects related to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

This podcast brings this research into one place to enlighten the everyday seeker of truth.

Seek learning, even by study and also by faith.

...