The Bereans: A “More Noble” Way of Testing Truth

Who were the Bereans, and why should all Mormons know about them?

Latter-day Saints claim that we ought to pray to know if the Book of Mormon is true. We recently made a video explaining why followers of Jesus should NOT pray to know whether the Book of Mormon is true or not: https://youtu.be/BZ3hAoQqloc. Yet there was one New Testament story that didn’t make its way into the video: the story of the Bereans.

During the Apostle Paul’s missionary journey, he came upon the city of Berea—and proceeded to preach the Gospel of grace to them. When the Bereans were confronted with these claims, they acted in a “more noble” manner than some of the Jews in Thessalonica (where Paul had just been). They searched the Scriptures to see whether or not Paul’s teachings were true.

This story helps us recognize the Biblical standard for evaluating truth claims. The Bereans didn’t simply take Paul at his word. They didn’t gather to pray about its truthfulness. They didn’t claim to feel any “spiritual confirmation” or “burning in the bosom” that communicated the truthfulness of this Gospel message. The Bereans SEARCHED Scripture to discern if these things were true—and were called “more noble” because of that.

The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue. Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men. (Acts 17:10-12)