Discerning of spirits

[Guest]

In 1 Corinthians 12 where it discusses spiritual gifts, one that is named is the discerning of spirits- small "s", plural.

What do you believe this means?

Are there those in the world who can regularly see and/or communicate with spirits of those who have passed on? Why would someone have this gift, and how should they use it?

[NeuroTypical]

Maybe.  Or maybe it's talking about the ability some people have to 'read' folks and see what's in their heart to a greater extent than humans usually can.  I don't know.

[person0]

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The gift of discerning of spirits allows the faithful to distinguish between the influence of good and evil spirits.

In the early days of the restored Church, members of the Church, as well as members of other religious groups, sometimes acted upon influences from evil or false spirits, believing they were under the influence of the Holy Ghost. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught: “Recent occurrences that have transpired amongst us render it an imperative duty devolving upon me to say something in relation to the spirits by which men are actuated.

“It is evident from the Apostles’ writings [in the New Testament], that many false spirits existed in their day, and had ‘gone forth into the world,’ and that it needed intelligence which God alone could impart to detect false spirits, and to prove what spirits were of God [see 1 John 4:1–4]. The world in general have been grossly ignorant in regard to this one thing, and why should they be otherwise—‘for no man knows the things of God, but by the Spirit of God.’ [See 1 Corinthians 2:11.] …

“A man must have the discerning of spirits before he can drag into daylight this hellish influence and unfold it unto the world in all its soul-destroying, diabolical, and horrid colors; for nothing is a greater injury to the children of men than to be under the influence of a false spirit when they think they have the Spirit of God. Thousands have felt the influence of its terrible power and baneful effects. …

“As we have noticed before, the great difficulty lies in the ignorance of the nature of spirits, of the laws by which they are governed, and the signs by which they may be known; if it requires the Spirit of God to know the things of God; and the spirit of the devil can only be unmasked through that medium, then it follows as a natural consequence that unless some person or persons have a communication, or revelation from God, unfolding to them the operation of the spirit, they must eternally remain ignorant of these principles. . ."

“A man must have the discerning of spirits, as we before stated, to understand these things, and how is he to obtain this gift if there are no gifts of the Spirit?"

“Lying spirits are going forth in the earth. There will be great manifestations of spirits, both false and true. … Every spirit, or vision, or singing, is not of God. … The gift of discerning spirits will be given to the Presiding Elder. Pray for him that he may have this gift.”

(Teachings: Joseph Smith)

The gift to discern spirits is not so much related to communicating with them as to being able to distinguish by revelation from the Holy Ghost if someone is teaching, performing miracles, etc, by the true Spirit of God, or if it is by an evil spirit of the devil.  This gift can be given to anyone for an extended time or one time use, however, an individual who possess this gift continually would use it to warn others of dangers concerning groups or individuals in the world who would cause them either temporal or spiritual harm.  A real life example/application was given by Niel L. Anderson as follows:

Quote

“We knocked on the door of the drug dealer. The suspect opened the door, and upon seeing us, tried to block our view. But it was too late; we could see the cocaine on his table.

“A man and a woman who were at the table immediately began removing the cocaine. We had to prevent them from destroying the evidence, so I quickly pushed the drug suspect who was blocking the door to the side. As I pushed him, my eyes met his. Strangely, he did not appear angry or afraid. He was smiling at me.

“His eyes and disarming smile gave me the impression that he was harmless, so I quickly left him and started to move toward the table. The suspect was now behind me. At that instant, I had the distinct, powerful impression come into my mind: ‘Beware of the evil behind the smiling eyes.’

“I immediately turned back toward the suspect. His hand was in his large front pocket. Instinctively I grabbed his hand and pulled it from his pocket. Only then did I see, clutched in his hand, the semiautomatic pistol ready to fire. A flurry of activity followed, and I disarmed the man.”

(April 2005 General Conference - Beware of the Evil behind the Smiling Eyes)

You also asked:

1 hour ago, Eowyn said:

Are there those in the world who can regularly see and/or communicate with spirits of those who have passed on?

The spiritual gift applicable to this question would be, “The beholding of angels and ministering spirits” (Spiritual Gifts - Moroni 10:14)  This gift would presumably not be something upon which the individual could call upon to use, but rather that the Lord could use on a regular basis to bless the individual and/or others.  On my mission, an individual who was baptized, had become a very faithful member of the church but often had difficulty changing certain behaviors.  He told us of many occasions when he had visions and was visited by Moroni and others, usually to encourage him to change a behavior.  In one specific case he didn't feel the need to clean up his language, and recounted how he was visited by a ministering spirit who told him to read Matt. 15:18 which says "But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man."  He immediately repented and made the applicable changes to his habits.

These two gifts come hand in hand,  If you personally had the gift of discerning of spirits, and spoke with this individual who claimed experience through the gift of beholding of spirits, your gift to discern would be able to indicate to you if he was visited by a true spirit from God, or was deceived by a lying spirit of the devil.

Edited April 13, 2017 by person0

[Fether]

Ya, I agree with @NeuroTypical

"Discerning of spirits (verse 10)

    
Discernment of good and evil (see Moroni 7:12–18; D&C 101:95) and of false spirits from divine spirits (see D&C 46:23). The gift of discernment can make known “the thoughts and intents of the heart” of another person (Hebrews 4:12; D&C 33:1). The gift of discernment “arises largely out of an acute sensitivity to impressions--spiritual impressions, … to detect hidden evil, and more importantly to find the good that may be concealed. The highest type of discernment is that which perceives in others and uncovers for them their better natures, the good inherent within them” (Stephen L Richards, in Conference Report, Apr. 1950, 162" - New Testament Institute Manual

[NeuroTypical]

That is totally my wife.  She just has the ability to look inside people in a moment and see what's there.  Sometimes we are fun to watch out in public.  She knew which massive tattooed biker dudes to go talk to, and see if they'd let our little daughters sit on their bikes.  She hears "I was surprised, women with kids don't usually want anything to do with me" a lot.   She also once had us all pack up and leave from a Burger king in the middle of lunch, because three or four young men had come in to eat, and "they aren't where they're supposed to be, and something's about to go down".  Turned out they were a bunch of gang members out of their area, trying to pick a fight with another gang or take over territory or whatever. 

At church with the youth, she knows when to empathize with a kid, and when to call them a punk to their face.  She takes 5 minutes of hallway conversation, and people walk away with a new perspective on life.  It's amazing watching her work.

I'm the exact polar opposite.  I can't read people to save my life.  Maybe a little of her ability rubs off on me, over the years.  But she's a master.  If "discerning of spirits" means human spirits, my wife has that gift.

Edited April 13, 2017 by NeuroTypical

[Guest]

I believe @person0 summed up what I believe about it.  Often times people want to divide "discernment" from "discerning of spirits".  From our mortal perspective, they may be somewhat different.  But when we consider the spiritual connection between the two, we realize they are pretty much the same gift.

EXAMPLE1:

I make a remark condemning a certain behavior that "Person A" does (no, that's not code for Person0).  Without realizing my comment was about him, Person A then goes on to agree with me saying,"Yeah, I can't stand it when people do that."  And he's completely oblivious to the fact he himself is doing this.

EXAMPLE2:

A particular individual says statements that are absolutely true.  And if any other person were to speak them, I'd be smiling and saying,"Yeah, that guy's got it right on."  But for some reason, I recognize that when this person says exactly the same thing, he has the intent to twist it all.  I just get a twisted feeling inside when I read his words -- even though I technically know that all his words are true.

EXAMPLE3:

Likewise, I often get the reverse feeling when I know someone just doesn't know how to communicate well.  He may mess things up so much that the statements he makes are completely wrong.  But I perceive his true meaning.  And I know he's speaking the truth -- even if his way of phrasing it is completely wrong.

************************

The first example was an inability to discern the spiritual message.  And complete lack of self awareness.

The second example is of discerning of spirits.  His spirit is really messed up even if the words he speaks are correct.  Thus an evil spirit is trying to lead people astray.  And we can know that even if we cannot logically explain what is wrong with what he is saying.

The third is also discerning of spirits. But this is about spirit-to-spirit communication.

Edited April 13, 2017 by Guest

[person0]

16 minutes ago, Carborendum said:

EXAMPLE3:

Likewise, I often get the reverse feeling when I know someone just doesn't know how to communicate well.  He may mess things up so much that the statements he makes are completely wrong.  But I perceive his true meaning.  And I know he's speaking the truth -- even if his way of phrasing it is completely wrong.

I actually had a personal experience similar to this on my mission.  I was on exchanges with a missionary who had set up to provide a tour of the church building and teach about the first vision.  The way we alternated back and forth I was the one who recited the account from Joseph Smith.  When I recited it, It was literally the most botched and incorrectly worded recitation I had ever done, and have ever done to this day.  However, regardless of my slow tongue, the spirit was very strong and bore powerful witness of the truth of Joseph Smith's Vision, and the investigators recognized the spirit and accepted our message as truth.

The other missionary told me he believed an evil spirit had tried to prevent me from sharing the message but that the spirit prevailed regardless of my words.  I do not know either way for sure, but I do know that the spirit bore witness and conveyed the truth regardless of my failure to communicate.

[Rob Osborn]

Theres not just the discernment of spirits but a wide range of gifts of discernment also. Being able to discern danger or discern problems and discern the correct solutions is another closely related aspect of the gift.

[Guest LiterateParakeet]

On 4/13/2017 at 6:28 AM, Eowyn said:

In 1 Corinthians 12 where it discusses spiritual gifts, one that is named is the discerning of spirits- small "s", plural.

What do you believe this means?

Are there those in the world who can regularly see and/or communicate with spirits of those who have passed on? Why would someone have this gift, and how should they use it?

I agree with the others that discernment can be manifested in different ways.  But yes, it can be about being able to regularly see those who have passed on as well.  Over my life I have known a couple people who had this gift.  One in particular worked in a nursing home.  She said she always knew when someone's time had come because they would have a "visitor" in the room that the other nurses didn't see.  It was a common experience for this person.  But she didn't say she spoke to them....or could regularly see her own family members.   I think the purpose of the gift is to strengthen her faith and to be a comfort and strength to others.