Burning in the Bosom or Just Indigestion?

I never knew the Holy Ghost could testify as truth things which were actually untrue.

The promptings of the Holy Ghost is of paramount importance to the members of the LDS church. It is by the power of the Holy Ghost that humans may "know the truth of all things." (Moroni 3:5) The Gospel Principles book states the mission of the Holy Ghost is, "to bear witness of the Father and the Son and of the truth of all things." (Chapter 7: The Holy Ghost,” Gospel Principles, 2009,31–33). Members are taught that it is through the Holy Ghost that one may know that the Book of Mormon is true, that Joseph Smith translated it, and that Jesus is the savior of the world as the book describes.

There is not a single definition of what promptings of the Holy Ghost (or "Light of Christ" for those who are not baptized) are like. I was always taught it could come in different ways to different people; a deep sense of peace, extreme happiness, "warm fuzzies" or a "burning in the bosom", a profound understanding, or even uncomfortable laughter. Basically, any good feeling can be attributed to the Holy Ghost. It is upon these feelings or impressions that humankind is expected to base their most critical spiritual decisions.

There are occasions, I have come to find out now, that these feelings of the "Holy Ghost" are less than reliable. Mormon Urban Myths, or "Faith-Promoting Rumors" are rampant throughout the church, with the help of the Ensign magazine, testimony meetings, and even more so now with email forwards. These stories are known to stir emotions of the spirit, without being based entirely on reality. One of the best examples of this is in the tall tales of a former general authority, Paul Dunn.


Paul Dunn was a popular general authority during the 70's and 80's (or so I've been told, I wasn't old enough at the time to know). He served in the Quorum (Council) of the Seventy for 25 years, serving as one of its presidents for a portion of that time. Mr Dunn was apparently an excellent storyteller, spinning grandiose tales through his talks, firesides, and books. His stories touched the hearts of many who listened, as the Holy Ghost "testified" of what he taught. The only problem is, many of the stories he told were not completely true. It came out that he had fabricated part or all of some of his stories.

His Wikipedia entry gives a fairly succinct overview of the scandal:

During his time as a general authority, Dunn often included in his speeches and books extraordinary "real life" experiences that he claimed were from his past. In the late 1980s, a number of investigators, including Arizona Republic reporter Lynn Packer and church critics Jerald and Sandra Tanner, accused Dunn of fabricating or embellishing many of these events. Among Dunn's claims that came to be questioned were:

• that Dunn had played major league baseball with the St. Louis Cardinals;[1]


• that Dunn was one of only six in his 1000-man combat group who survived World War II, and was the only one of the six survivors who wasn't wounded;[2]


• that Dunn was the sole survivor among 11 infantrymen in a 100-yard race against death, during which one burst of machine-gun fire ripped his right boot off, another tore off his ammunition and canteen belt and yet another split his helmet in half—all without wounding him.[2]


• that Dunn's best friend died in his arms from serious injuries sustained in a battle on Okinawa.[3]

When confronted with evidence that several of his stories were either completely falsified or substantially embellished, Dunn admitted that the stories were not completely true, yet continued to defend his use of the stories: "I haven't purposely tried to embellish or rewrite history. I've tried to illustrate points that would create interest. [I was] simply putting history in little finer packages."[4] Dunn compared his stories to the parables of Jesus—although they were not true stories, they were nevertheless valuable means of teaching gospel principles.
(Wikipedia, Paul H. Dunn, Accessed 8/8/10)

Long story short, Mr Dunn was given "Emeritus Status" as a general authority, and released in good standing (his talks laced with "parables" remain on the LDS website to this day). He offered an apology to those he "may have offended," and quietly slipped out of the public memory. And yet the question remains, how did these stories that contained lies invoke the Spirit? Why was the Holy Ghost testifying to half-truths? Why was I never warned that the Holy Ghost was not always accurate?

For a more detailed discussion of the scandal, Sunstone dedicated an issue to the topic (Sunstone, Sept 1991, Volume 15:3, Issue 83, pg 28-56).

Mr Dunn was relieved of his duties before I got to the age that I would remember any of his talks (and nothing was spoken of him after he left his office). But hearing of his story telling style, his passion and charisma, I was reminded of the speakers that would be brought in from Utah to speak to us at youth conferences and firesides. You know the kind, the ones who would be the headliners at EFY, who put out the popular "Talks on Cassette", and whose books lined the youth section of the church bookstores. Guys like John Bytheway, Brad Wilcox, and other church education employees. They were skilled storytellers, their stories would have the audience in tears of laughter throughout, but would end with the audience in tears as the spirit touched their hearts. While riding on this one-hour roller coaster of emotions there were several times I suspected that maybe, just maybe, a story was exaggerated to make a point. But I just thought, "how could it be untrue, the spirit was so strong while listening? He must have known the young man whose girlfriend died in a car accident because they just had sex and he wasn't worthy to give her a blessing." (it is a little disturbing I still remember some of the stories to this day)

Lest there be any confusion, I am not calling into question the character or spirituality of any of these individuals. I know the popular saying "The gospel is perfect, the members are not," meaning that anything bad that individual members do cannot be held against the church as a whole. This has gotten to the point where authors, even general authorities, carry disclaimers in their books saying their books are only their own opinions and are not endorsed by the church. While I don't agree with this ("by their fruits ye shall know them" must work both ways), that is not my point here. I am questioning the Holy Ghost's response to their exaggerated stories. The Holy Ghost should be testifying of truth, not of "what isn't completely true but that could help you believe what is true."

Could the Holy Ghost be testifying of things which teach what is right? I suppose. Could these just be regular emotions confused with the feelings of the spirit? Very likely. But the inconsistencies in the response of the spirit or indistinguishable difference from common emotions should be enough to question the other feelings it gives us. This is something members should know about.