As a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we challenged people we taught to do an "experiment" in order to determine what was true. While some elements of this search for truth followed the scientific method, it largely did not. The main reason for this is because the "data" gathered wasn't something tangible or quantifiable. Paul teaches about this in 1 Corinthians 2:10-11:
"But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, except he has the Spirit of God."
We understand the things of God differently than we do the things of man, and therefor our search for "evidence" is different. As a missionary I loved to use this verse from James to invite people to find out the truth for themselves:
"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him." James 1:5
I liked using this verse for a few reasons: it removed the pressure from me of having to "convince" someone that what I was saying was true; it allowed the listener to relax from feeling like I was trying to convince them; and it allowed truth to come from God, through His Holy Spirit to the listener's spirit. And because God cannot lie (Enos 1:6), does not change (Mormon 9:9), and is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34-35), His answers would not only be consistent, they would be true. And no additional "data" could ever disprove them.
Forrest
-Who really hopes he is remembering the scientific method correctly.
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