I hear the phrase "having a strong testimony," "losing ones testimony," often when mormon friends discuss their beliefs in their church. Usually I get that answer when I ask them just why they believe they have the one true church.

Does any other religion use that same phrase or is it unique to the mormon church? My friends use that phrase often, like it is familiar to those of us in other religions. Being raised Methodist, going to Baptist churches in high school/college and marrying a Catholic--I've never heard that before.

I have heard someone "testifying" at a tent revivial type thing, but that's about it.

In my experience, evangelical Christians use the the phrase but in a way that's quite different from the way Mormons use it. Instead of using it to refer to a memorized group of sentences that are almost identical to that of every other Mormon, evangelicals use it to refer to a person's personal, unique story of their life emphasizing how they came to believe in Jesus as their savior. Often people will talk about the contrast of their life before and after, difficult experiences in their life, etc.

"I have a strong testimony" = "I believe in TSCC"
"I have lost my testimony" = "I don't believe in TSCC anymore"

> Does any other religion use that same phrase or is it unique to the mormon church?

It is unique to the Mormon church.




But in some Evangelical congregations, as truthseeker said, you may hear the expression "giving a testimony", which means "talking about one's conversion". It has nothing to do with the Mormon jargon, though.

Yes, "testimony" in Mormon jargon is simply a belief in the One True Church.

What fascinates me, however, is the way Mormons recognise that their "testimony" is very fragile (exposure to anti-Mormon literature has been known to destroy testimonies), yet don't ever recognise the begging question: if a testimony can be destroyed so easily, that it constantly needs protecting and reinforcing, might it not be the case that it is not as strong as they wish it was, and therefore The Church might, indeed, not be true?

It was certainly a key moment of cog dis for me, that I eventually exposed - those who professed the strongest testimony were the least likely to expose themselves to anything that might cause them to question their beliefs.

Catholics use the terms "your faith", "what you believe". These are things that are beat into you at a young age, you never came to these beliefs using your own intuition and intelligence.
Just another case of brain washing.