Speeches
Finding a Testimony as a Skeptic with Judge Thomas Griffith
On Feb. 21, the Southern Virginia University community gathered for a devotional with Judge Thomas Griffith, former judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, as he spoke about how skepticism helped him develop his testimony of God and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Trained to be a skeptic while a college student, Griffith shared that a skeptic’s skills allow one to recognize truth in a world filled with information, and that critical thinking and religion work together, not against.
”By skepticism, I mean the constructive, studied, arduous, and careful search for the truth. This search for truth challenges assumptions, demands evidence, and requires reason and logic,” said Griffith. “I am a committed, believing Latter-day Saint because of my skepticism, not despite it.”
Griffith testified of the validity of Christianity by providing evidence of Christ’s physical resurrection and appearance to those who saw Him and felt His side. He emphasized that a skeptic can similarly find the validity of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints based on the physical manifestation of the gold plates to Joseph Smith.
“At the heart of the story of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the claim of another miracle with a tangible, material, physical component,” said Griffith. “The gold plates were not the stuff of a mystical vision or of the ineffable. They were tangible, material, physical.’”
“Because I find that there is a compelling argument that the Book of Mormon is what it claims to be, my skeptical mind must acknowledge that there might be a spiritual world beyond the material world that I can see, touch and measure,” continued Griffith. “When I give myself over to the reality of that spiritual world, when I make an effort to enter into that spiritual world, something wonderful happens.”
Griffith testified of the value of attending church, and offered three suggestions to make services more meaningful: centering the focus of worship on the sacrament, recognizing that the Lord speaks through church leaders and teachers, and serving others.
”I am convinced, based on my reason, my experience, and the persistent witness of the Spirit, that the Church is connected to the powers of heaven in a real way,” said Griffith. “So please stay committed and involved in the unfolding wonder of the restoration. Because, quite simply, you need the Church.”
“I bear you my skeptic’s testimony that this is the Lord’s restored work in our time. It’s the most exciting enterprise in the world today,” Griffith continued. “There’s much work to be done to get us to where we need to be. You need to be involved in that, and the Church needs to be involved in that.”
The event featured a musical number of Giovanni Santos’s “Maya Guez,” performed by Chamber Winds, and ended with the traditional singing of “Love One Another.”