The religious experience of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is based on a spiritual witness from God that inspires both heart and mind, creating an interpersonal relationship directly with the divine. It does not require one to pass a rigorous theological test. Nor does it demand the extreme self-denial and seclusion of asceticism. Rather, this unique individual experience unfolds in the natural course of everyday living. Thus, the beliefs of Latter-day Saints are not rooted in concepts and principles, detached from the realities of life. They are grounded in a much deeper level of experience that motivates individuals to action.
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Furthermore, religious experience is too varied and indefinable for systematic theology to fully account for. At the same time, it is not simply relative to the passing whims of each individual believer. For Latter-day Saints, it must be founded on revealed truth. Emphasizing the important role that doctrine plays in guiding religious experience, President Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles encouraged Latter-day Saints to internalize that truth: “True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior.”