Seminary
Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge, Part 1: Act in Faith

“Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge, Part 1: Act in Faith,” Book of Mormon Teacher Manual (2024)

“Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge, Part 1,” Book of Mormon Teacher Manual

Introductory Materials

Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge, Part 1

Act in Faith

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Young women reading and study

One of the purposes of doctrinal mastery is to learn to apply principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge to help you build your foundation on Jesus Christ. This lesson can help you act in faith in Jesus Christ as you seek answers to questions and concerns in your life.

Teaching students the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge. When students know and apply the principles of gaining spiritual knowledge, they can better accomplish the purposes of doctrinal mastery. Be sure to regularly review these principles in class and help students understand them. Students will have opportunities to apply these principles in doctrinal mastery lessons.

Student preparation: Invite students to ask a family member or Church leader who shows great faith in Jesus Christ what they do to stay strong when faced with questions or concerns about the gospel.

Possible Learning Activities

Note: It may be best to teach this lesson toward the beginning of the school year or whenever students are first introduced to the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge.

Are questions good or bad?

Think about which of the following answers apply to this question:

  • Which of the following are possible reasons someone might have questions about the gospel or the Church of Jesus Christ?

    Consider reading the following options to students. Pause after each option to ask some students why they believe it might be accurate or inaccurate. Help students understand that any of these options could be accurate or inaccurate depending on someone’s desires and choices.

    1. They don’t have a testimony of the gospel yet.

    2. They care about the gospel enough to want to understand more.

    3. They doubt the faith they once had.

    4. God might be inspiring them to think about something He wants to teach them.

      The answer depends on each person’s attitude and reasons for asking questions. Read paragraph 3 of the “Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge” section of the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document (2023), looking for how our approach to gospel questions can either strengthen or weaken our faith in Jesus Christ.

  • What stood out to you in this paragraph? Why?

Consider inviting students to reflect on how questions or concerns have affected their own spiritual progress. The following paragraph may help with this.

Everyone has questions and concerns. We should be careful not to judge the faith of others when they have questions, and we need not doubt our own faith when we have questions. Our faith in Jesus Christ and our testimony of the restored gospel can be strengthened or weakened depending on how we approach our questions and concerns. As you study today, think about the role your questions play in your spiritual progress. What questions do you have about the gospel or the Church of Jesus Christ? Do you feel that your questions are drawing you closer to the Savior and His Church?

Acquiring spiritual knowledge

Throughout your experience in seminary, you will have the chance to practice using the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge. The following three principles can help you to draw closer to Jesus Christ when questions or concerns arise in your life:

  1. Act in faith.

  2. Examine concepts and questions with an eternal perspective.

  3. Seek further understanding through divinely appointed sources.

If some students in the class have had seminary in the past, consider asking them what they already know about these three principles. This could give the class a brief overview of the principles and could indicate students’ current level of understanding.

The remainder of this lesson will focus on the principle of acting in faith in Jesus Christ.

Read paragraphs 5–7 of the “Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge” section of the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document, looking for several ways you could finish the following sentence.

Consider writing the following unfinished sentence on the board.

When questions or concerns arise, we can act in faith in Jesus Christ by… .

Invite several students to come to the board and finish the statement. Consider asking follow-up questions to help students personalize what they found. For example:

If a student writes, “Continuing to keep the commandments” (see paragraph 5), a follow-up question might be “How do you think keeping the commandments can help you stay close to Jesus Christ as you face difficult issues? Would any of you like to share an experience you’ve had with that?”

If a student writes, “Holding on to what we already know to be true” (see paragraph 6), a follow-up question might be “Take a minute to ponder what you know to be true that you can hold on to when questions arise. How do you know those things are true?”

If a student writes, “Trusting in God until the answer comes” (see paragraph 7), a follow-up question might be “What do you know about God that helps you trust Him while you wait for answers? Why might God choose at times not to give us complete answers right away?”

  • Which of the ways that you selected do you think best applies to teenagers today or even to your life? Why?

  • How could choosing to act in faith in this way affect someone’s relationship with the Savior?

  • Who do you know who has acted in faith when dealing with questions or concerns? What did she or he do?

Consider showing students the video “Act in Faith: The Stonemason” (4:57), available at ChurchofJesusChrist.org. If the video is shown, invite students to identify and share on the board how the youth in the video demonstrate the truths. In determining whether to show the video, be sure to save time for the scripture search activity that follows.

If the video is shown, consider inviting students to identify and share how the youth in the video demonstrate the truths on the board.

Consider watching the video “Act in Faith: The Stonemason” (4:57), available on ChurchofJesusChrist.org. Look for how the youth in the video acted with faith in the Savior when they faced important questions and concerns.

Scriptural examples

Consider combining the “Supplemental Learning Activity” suggestion with the following activity to help students see how attitudes and choices can lead to increased or decreased faith in Jesus Christ.

The scriptures contain many accounts of those who faced difficult questions or concerns with faith in Jesus Christ. One of these is the prophet Nephi. Read the following examples from Nephi’s life, looking for how he acted in faith in Jesus Christ when facing questions and other issues.

  • 1 Nephi 2:16—Some of his loved ones were angry about what his father, the prophet Lehi, asked them to do.

  • 1 Nephi 3:7—He was asked to do something difficult.

  • 1 Nephi 9:5–6—The Lord commanded him to do something for reasons he did not understand.

  • 1 Nephi 10:17; 11:1–5—He wanted his own witness of what his father, the prophet, taught.

  • 1 Nephi 11:17—He didn’t fully know the answer to a question he was asked about the gospel.

  • Which elements of acting in faith did Nephi best exemplify?

Consider inviting students to share the following in small groups so that more students will have the chance to share.

Describe a modern question or concern that could affect someone’s faith in Jesus Christ or His Church. How could someone act in faith when faced with that question or issue?

  • How could choosing to act in faith or not to act in faith affect his or her relationship with the Savior?

  • What do you most want to apply in your life from what you studied today? How could this help you in your life?