Discernment
Seeing through the ambiguity of verbal claims, Solomon relies on intuition and stages a clever test of character that ultimately reveals which of the two litigants was the actual mother.
The Greek diakrisis, behind the English “discernment,” means a judging between, from a verb meaning to separate or decide. Paul lists “discerning of spirits” among the gifts of the Spirit, and Latter-day Saints often speak of discernment as a prompting, a sudden inner prompting that seems to arrive apart from ordinary thought. Scripture affirms such promptings, and the Epistle to the Hebrews also describes discernment as a trained capacity. Mature believers, it says, are “those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (Hebrews 5:14). The word translated “exercised” comes from gymnazō, “to train,” the root of the English “gymnasium.” On this account, discernment is a gift that its holder strengthens through practice, in the way an athlete strengthens a body.
An Understanding Heart
Solomon’s request for discernment, and the case that followed it, show judgment exercised on conflicting human testimony.
Invited by the Lord to ask for any gift, the young Solomon asked for “an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad” (1 Kings 3:9). The Hebrew for “understanding heart” is lev shomea, literally a hearing or listening heart, and the verb for “discern” comes from the root bin, to distinguish. The narrative then tests the gift: two women come before the king, each claiming the same living child, with no evidence beyond their own words. Solomon calls for a sword, and the true mother’s willingness to give up her son to save his life reveals her. Solomon judges by attending to persons, arranging a situation in which character shows itself. The account closes as “all Israel heard of the judgment,” so the verdict was public and its reasoning plain to everyone who heard the story.
The Light Given to Every Person
Restoration scripture gives every person the means to judge between good and evil and expects each to do the work of judging.
Mormon told his hearers that “it is given unto you to judge, that ye may know good from evil,” because “the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil” (Moroni 7:15-16). A revelation to Oliver Cowdery in April 1829 shows what that responsibility requires. Oliver had tried and failed to translate, and the Lord explained why: “you have supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought save it was to ask me.” The remedy was work: “you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right” (D&C 9:7-8). An apostle has taught that being “quick to observe,” the habit of noticing and heeding what is happening nearby, prepares the way for the gift of discernment. In Latter-day Saint teaching, the Spirit confirms what a person has done the work to understand.
Gifts Distributed for the Benefit of All
Scripture distributes the gifts of the Spirit, including discernment, among many members so that the community as a whole can judge well.
Paul names “discerning of spirits” as one gift among many, given “to another” (1 Corinthians 12:10). A latter-day revelation repeats the pattern: “to every man is given a gift by the Spirit of God. To some is given one, and to some is given another, that all may be profited thereby” (D&C 46:11-12). The same revelation charges the bishop to discern the gifts themselves, so that claims to spiritual power are tested in community. Some modern systems for checking information follow similar logic. One widely used method for adding context to social media posts publishes a note only when contributors who have usually disagreed with one another both rate it helpful. The method is slow, and most proposed notes never appear, yet it makes it harder for one faction, or one company, to decide alone what others will believe.
Delegated Judgment and the Test
Artificial intelligence now filters, ranks, and fact-checks much of what people read, and it can either extend human discernment or take its place.
Mormon transhumanists count scientific knowledge and technological power among the means God has ordained, and tools that help people sort truth from error in a flood of information can serve that purpose. The risk lies in the habits such tools form. Researchers in human factors have documented automation bias, the tendency to accept an automated recommendation without checking it, in novices and experts alike, and training does not reliably prevent it. A 2025 survey of 319 knowledge workers found that those with more confidence in generative AI reported less critical thinking when they used it. In an observational study at four colonoscopy centers in Poland, physicians who had grown used to an AI detection aid found fewer precancerous growths when they worked without it. Hebrews describes senses trained by use, and these findings suggest that senses left unused can weaken. A person who accepts a system’s verdicts without examining them repeats Oliver Cowdery’s error, taking no thought save to ask. The test for any technology that sorts or judges information is whether it exercises the judgment of its users, showing its reasons and leaving them able to weigh the evidence themselves, or whether it trains them to stop studying and only ask.