Pride and Prejudice and the Pursuit of Truth

I was listening to Audible's Pride and Prejudice dark and early this morning, and I heard something that made me think of my search for gospel truth. In the story, Elizabeth is asking her sister Jane what gossip she has gathered about their friend Mr. Wickham. Jane reports that Mr. Bingley says that Mr. Darcy says that Mr. Wickham is not a good guy. Elizabeth points out that Mr. Bingley does not actually know Mr. Wickham himself. He only knows what he has heard about Mr. Wickham. Such an opinion does not, of course, satisfy Elizabeth. She knows that she must find out the truth for herself.

When I heard this exchange, a refrain was looping in my mind. "Pray for yourself to know if it's true! Pray for yourself to know if it's true!"

Elizabeth Bennet is wary of receiving truth by hearsay alone; she determines to seek out truth by experience. She wants to know for herself--and that is exactly how we gain personal, substantial testimonies that will not fall.

In this morning's BYU devotional, Elder Allan F. Packer taught a five-step approach for knowing and accepting gospel truths.

1. Study it out. I'm following Sister Wendy Watson Nelson's challenge from Sunday to pray over the scriptures with a question and then read them until you find an answer.
2. Don't abandon everything you already know. Instead, continue studying to see how the truth fits in with the other truths. Connect the dots.
3. Use trustworthy sources AKA not Google. Listen (and feel) for the promptings of the Holy Ghost. Read within the canon of scriptures and continued revelation.
4. Put things in context, especially the original context. Consider the meaning of the words at the time they were spoken or written. Try to remove your contemporary bias.
5. Exercise faith, patience, and trust. ("Ain't nobody got time for that!") (Just kidding.)

This blog post has begun to delve into epistemological theory, which I really need to study more to understand better. In the meantime, I return to Elizabeth Bennet's side. Through her own experiences, she confirms what Jane said that Mr. Bingley said that Mr. Darcy said. Wickham is not a good guy. (He is, in fact, a rake.) Now she can act with confidence, with hope for a good outcome, because she OWNS this knowledge of Wickham's character. Of course, her search for knowledge also leads her to a less prideful, less prejudiced understanding of many other people, as well. 

I go forth to own knowledge. I go forth to experiment on the word of God. I go forth to remove my pride. All because of a handful of captured morning moments.