tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32118644237651648592024-03-13T03:16:30.862-07:00LDSplaceWhere believing and questioning hang out together.Steve Warrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972829970776193784noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211864423765164859.post-57327080302837013012021-11-04T20:44:00.396-07:002024-02-13T20:31:41.166-08:00Farewell to temple ordinances?<p> </p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: ""serif"","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i>Note to readers: This long entry on temple work has three separate essays. The first is titled </i><i>“</i><i>5 pillars of temple work</i><i>”</i><i> and is followed by a 12-point summary, “On shaky ground.” The third segment is the long main essay, titled “Farewell to temple ordinances?” Parts of each essay are repeated in the other others. It is a work in progress and may be combined into one article. </i><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 18pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 18pt;">5 pillars of temple
work<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 18pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">Are temple
ordinances necessary for exaltation? Let us carefully consider five well-known pillars
or underpinnings of temple work.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">1.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">1 Corinthians 15:29, “Else what shall they do
which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then
baptized for the dead?”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">The above passage is
critical to our LDS temple theology as it is one of the two verses in ancient, canonized
scripture most often cited as supporting work for the dead.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">Alas, this verse appears to have three
problems. (Not counting the failure of King James editors to capitalize “why” and
referring to people as “which” rather than who.)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">First, it appears that
Paul wants</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;"> to distance himself from those who
baptize for the dead; he twice refers to them as “they.” In contrast, he routinely addresses believers
as “we” and “us.” Therefore, we cannot conclude either that they were
members or that Paul supported the practice.
Instead, he merely appears to be saying that baptizing for the dead is
incompatible with believing that the dead don’t live again. </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;"> Similarly, if Paul
had said those who perform infant baptism believe in life after death, we would
<i>never</i> conclude that he believed in infant baptism.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">The
second problem closely relates to the first.
Although Paul mentions the <i>existence </i>of baptisms for the dead, t</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">here
is no evidence anywhere in ancient scripture that such baptisms were <i>advocated</i>
by apostles or prophets. If these baptisms were essential for eternal life,
surely they would have unambiguously told us so.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">Third,
e</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">ven if these Corinthian baptizers for the dead were members, the
epistles show a distinct tendency for members of that era to drift from correct
principles, with Paul needing to “set in order” (1 Cor. 11:34) the church. Was
this an area where “they” had drifted?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">As 1
Corinthians 15:29 is a shaky pillar, let us turn our focus to the other verse
in ancient scripture most often cited in connection with temple work.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="background: white; color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.5pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="background: white; color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">2. Hebrews
11:40: </span><span style="background: white; color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">“</span><span style="background: white; color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">God having
provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made
perfect.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="background: white; color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">Based on the above verse, we often hear in the Church that we
cannot be saved or made perfect without our dead. The assumption is that unless
vicarious work has been done for our dead ancestors, we cannot inherit eternal
life or the highest level of celestial glory. What is not mentioned is that
Joseph Smith in his inspired revision of the King James Bible <i>entirely
changed the verse's meaning</i>: </span><span style="background: white; color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">“</span><span style="background: white; color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">God having provided some better things for them through their
sufferings, for without sufferings they could not be made perfect.” In
other words, the inspired passage has <i>nothing</i> to do with
temple work.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="background: white; color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.5pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">Let us turn our focus, therefore, to what surely is a more firm
pillar: revelation. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">3.</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">Revelations to Joseph Smith.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">Members
widely believe that revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants consist of the
first-person voice of the Lord speaking to Joseph Smith. However, as LDS
historian Richard Bushman has noted, the prophet<span style="background: white;"> “had
a green thumb for growing ideas from tiny seeds,” and the Joseph Smith Papers
Project confirms that </span>nearly all D&C “revelations” were actually his
ideas or </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">impressions on various subjects. Matthew Godfrey, managing
editor of the Joseph Smith Papers Project, said: “for the <i>vast majority</i> of
the revelations that are in the Doctrine and Covenants, they came to Joseph
Smith the same way the Lord reveals things to us. It was through inspiration that
he received [from] his heart into his mind.” (Church News, Feb. 10, 2021) He dictated these thoughts to
scribes, who changed bad grammar and syntax. Later, additional editing and
rewriting occurred. This included the addition of expressions such as “thus
saith the Lord.” </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">A</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">
clear indication that many of these impressions were not the Lord's nor of
ancient origin is that</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;"> latter-day temple work has evolved in a hit-and-miss process
with numerous changes. For example, at first only men were endowed. </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">Prominent
sisters complained; they were soon included. Endowment ceremonies formerly included
an oath of vengeance in which participants made promises related to heart and
tongue removal, disembowelment and throat slitting. “The law of adoption” was
scrapped as was the ban on Blacks receiving temple ordinances. <span style="background: white;">In the early 20<sup>th</sup> century, leaders pruned
a great deal of the Freemasonry-linked segments from the endowment. A reference claiming Satan had black skin was
eliminated, second-class status for women has been modified, etc. The drawback
with referring to impressions as “revelations” is that with so many revisions we
must admit mortals made up stuff. Otherwise, it looks like the Lord can’t make
up his mind.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="background: white; color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.5pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">Rather than putting too much stock in gussied-up “revelations,”
let us turn to something clearly higher on the revelatory scale—visions.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="background: white; color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.5pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">4. Wilford Woodruff’s visions of the Founding Fathers</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">Elder
Wilford Woodruff stated that the Founding Fathers and others appeared to him
two straight nights in 1877 to “demand” ordinance work be done for them. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">As we
examine his assertion, however, a glaring omission arises. Although Woodruff, a
meticulous journal keeper, made entries in his journal at the time he said these
“visions” occurred, he wrote <i>nothing</i> about visions. His</span><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;"> journal entry for August 19, 1877, does indeed mention the
Founders but simply observes: </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">“I spent the evening in preparing a
list of the noted men of the 17 century and 18th, including the signers of the
Declaration of Independence and presidents of the United States, for baptism on
Tuesday the 21 Aug 1877.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">Writing
about a similar “vision” episode in later years, he noted that “I spent some
time with him [Benjamin Franklin], </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">and we talked over our
Temple ordinances.” He concluded by saying</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">, “I awoke.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">Moreover,
Woodruff’s actions after his</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;"> “visions” do not inspire
confidence that he was involved in a revelatory process. Although he writes that afterward he was promptly
baptized for 100 Founders and others, he was clearly unaware that such work was
entirely unnecessary; baptisms for the Founders had been performed years
earlier—in some cases, multiple times.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">His
visions were never canonized.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">On the
other hand, our fifth pillar is not only regarded in the Church as a vision, it
</span><i style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">was </i><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">canonized.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">5. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">Joseph F. Smith’s 1918
vision of the redemption of the dead.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">Section
138 of the Doctrine and Covenants is seen by many as notable divine
confirmation of temple work.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">Alas, a
close look at its teachings attributed to Christ strongly suggests something
that is rather shocking: Temple ordinances are </span><i style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">not </i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">necessary
for exaltation.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">Section
138 tells of Christ visiting the spirit world between his crucifixion and
resurrection. There he preaches the gospel to a receptive and “innumerable
company” of just spirits, including ancient prophets and other faithful, and
tells them that they will all “come forth, after his resurrection from the
dead, to enter into his Father’s kingdom, there to be crowned with immortality
and eternal life” (verse 51). The vast majority of these spirits
lived in Old Testament times and may not have been baptized as baptism is </span><i style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">never</i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;"> mentioned
in the Old Testament.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">Christ
says nothing to these spirits about temple ordinances. Instead, he simply
promises them that </span><i style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">after</i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;"> his resurrection, which occurred a
day or so later, they would all be crowned with “eternal life” in
“his Father’s kingdom” (verse 51). We know that these spirits did not
wait centuries to receive vicarious temple ordinances but instead resurrected
immediately into the promised eternal life because Section 138 makes clear that
Christ’s resurrection ended their “bondage,” i.e., “the long absence of their
spirits from their bodies” (v. 50).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">(Note:
An additional serious problem with section 138 is that the day after President
Joseph F. Smith received this “vision,” he stated in a brief general conference message only
that he had been communicating with “the </span><i style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;">Spirit</i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt;"> of the Lord.” It isn’t
until later that the section is called a “vision”—but only in its
final verse. In the preceding verses, the reader is twice told merely that
“the eyes of my understanding” were opened. President Smith had been suffering from serious health problems for several months, most likely was on medications and died the following month.)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"> </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 107%;">Conclusion: Our
five shaky pillars suggest that temple work is built on a house of cards. Still, temples serve other good purposes.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12.5pt; line-height: 107%;"> The
fact that Jesus taught in the temple and called it a house of prayer for all
nations reminds us that it is a place of peace, learning and worship where we
can draw nearer to Christ and where he may manifest himself in various ways. It also stands as a monument of praise to the
Lord.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: ""serif"","serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: ""serif"","serif"; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;">On shaky ground </span><o:p style="font-size: 14pt;"></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">12 problems with
latter-day temple work</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";">1. Doctrine and </span>Covenants Section 138 is viewed as strong scriptural support for temple work, and is referred to as the vision of the redemption of the dead. However, close scrutiny reveals that </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Section 138 has a major problem: It strongly suggests temple ordinances are <i>not</i> necessary for eternal life. Here Christ preaches to an “innumerable company” of spirits, telling them they will “come forth, after his resurrection from the dead, to enter into his Father’s kingdom, there to be crowned with <i>immortality and eternal life</i>.” Temple ordinances such as individual endowments or sealings of couples are not mentioned as requirements. Instead, Jesus preaches the gospel (presumably many were hearing it for the first time) and simply promises that after his resurrection, which occurred roughly a day later, they would <i>all</i> be crowned with “eternal life.” <o:p></o:p></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">We know that these spirits did not wait for vicarious temple ordinances but instead resurrected immediately into the promised eternal life because Section 138 makes clear that Christ’s resurrection ended their “bondage,” i.e., “the long absence of their spirits from their bodies” (v. 50). (Note: It is important to recognize that t</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">he
vast majority of these spirits lived in Old Testament times and likely had not
been baptized as baptism is </span><i style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">never</i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"> mentioned in the Old
Testament.)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 0pt; mso-ligatures: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: ""serif"","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">2. We
assert that the intent of temple work is to unite families forever. A closer look shows, however, </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: ""serif"","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">that if our temple dogma is true, it will prove quite divisive to families in the hereafter. Even for the temple-worthy, celestial glory almost certainly will require separation from many, if not most, family members. Why? Because o</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">ur teachings indicate that
exaltation won’t be attained by roughly 80% of our LDS family members as they fall into at least one of these
categories: They are less active, aren’t
temple-worthy or they have a
less-active or nonmember spouse, are single or identify as LGBTQ. (Exaltation is
only for straight couples. The exception is straight men who, in some cases, are permitted to have multiple straight wives. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18.6667px;">D&C 132:37-39 also says many concubines are permitted for certain men. Sorry, male reader. It was an Old Testament thing. You are limited to one wife.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">) </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: ""serif"","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> 3</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> Our </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">teachings suggest that nonmembers and less-devout members will learn long before getting to heaven's gate that temple-ordinance requirements, if true, are highly divisive. On earth, they are told that only active Latter-day Saints properly temple-married can expect to inherit celestial glory. But they also learn early in the afterlife—in the spirit world, actually—about the divisiveness of temple doctrine.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">In </span><i style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">The Holy Temple</i><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">, Elder Boyd
K. Packer quotes an October 1908 general conference talk by Elder Rudger
Clawson saying that all parents who haven't received temple sealing ordinances live “separate and apart” in an “enforced
separation” in the spirit world.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">
</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">Additionally, the promise made by Church leaders that small children who
die go to the celestial kingdom where they will eventually be raised by their faithful parents surely doesn’t apply to nonmember parents and less-faithful parents—we teach that nonmembers and the less-faithful aren’t allowed into the celestial kingdom.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: ""serif"","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> 4</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">If our dead are
“held back” because their temple work hasn’t been done, we must conclude that “cutting in line” typifies temple work and that the God of our LDS theology is unjust. </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">After
all, virtually all</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> ordinances have been performed
for comparative youngsters: those born after 1600 AD. If </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">ancients
still lack such ordinances, hasn’t God deprived them of equity, justice and agency? Indeed, Elder Dale L. Renlund, speaking of proxy ordinances, seems to confirm the unfairness of God: </span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Without these blessings, these deceased individuals [through no fault of their own] are <i>profoundly disadvantaged</i></span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">” (brackets and italics added).</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Regarding disadvantaged predecessors, temple work is
often incorrectly advocated by citing Hebrews 11:40: “that they without us
should not be made perfect.” Joseph Smith’s inspired revision changed this passage
to “without sufferings they could not be made perfect,” which has nothing</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> to do with temples.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: ""serif"","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> 5</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: ""serif"","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">. Very
likely, we have misinterpreted passages about turning hearts. </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: ""serif"","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> The Jewish community generally views turning the heart of the children to their fathers (Malachi 4:6) as learning about and heeding earlier
prophets. The best Book of Mormon chapter about children turning to their
fathers may be Mormon 7 wherein Mormon desires that future generations come to
a knowledge of their fathers. A prime
example of fathers turning to their children is the Nephite intention to leave
a record for future generations of God’s dealings with them (Jacob 4:2-5).
While they desire a believing progeny, the Book of Mormon never mentions temple ordinances. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: ""serif"","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> 6</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">. The Church’s view of 1 Corinthians 15:29 is a non
sequitur (a conclusion that does not follow from the premises). Here, when Paul
twice speaks of “they” who are baptized for the dead, we cannot conclude that
“they” refers to Church members or that Paul endorsed the practice. (</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Elsewhere in the chapter,</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"> he
routinely addresses believers as “we” and “us.”) </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">If proxy baptism had been authorized in the
ancient church, this fact would have been quite important, and we would expect apostles and prophets in the Bible and Book of Mormon to say so. Instead, they utter not a word either for or
against the practice.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: ""serif"","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> 7</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">. Church teachings
assert that temple ordinances are necessary to receive celestial glory.
Multiple scriptures suggest this is not the case. Three examples: D&C 132:37 states that Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob are exalted and “are gods.” There
is no scriptural evidence that they received temple ordinances or were even baptized. (Baptism is </span><i style="font-size: 14pt;">never</i><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> mentioned in the Old Testament.) Similarly, in Alma 14:11</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> when righteous women were burned to death, Alma says,
“the Lord receiveth them up unto himself <i>in glory</i>.” Also, see item 1 above wherein an “innumerable
company” receive eternal life.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: ""serif"","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> 8</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">. Elder Wilford
Woodruff stated that the Founding Fathers and others appeared to him two straight
nights in 1877 to “demand” ordinance work be done for them. Why was that unlikely? Woodruff, a meticulous journal keeper, wrote
nothing in his journal about these “visions” on or around the dates they happened. Later, in writing about another similar episode
in which “I spent some time with him [Benjamin Franklin],” he concludes by saying, “I
awoke.” A</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">fter
Woodruff’s first “vision,” he was baptized the next day for 100 Founders
and others. </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> Apparently, neither
he nor they knew</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> that these proxy baptisms had been
performed years earlier<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>in some cases, multiple times.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: ""serif"","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">9</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: ""serif"","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">.</span><span style="background: white; color: #2f393a; font-family: ""serif"","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> A look at the history of the endowment
ordinance points not to an ancient or revealed ceremony but toward a
make-it-up-as-we-go ritual. For example,
t</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: ""serif"","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">he endowment ceremony was originally males
only. Prominent sisters complained;
the ceremony changed. Endowment ceremonies long included an oath
of vengeance in which participants made promises related to heart and tongue
removal, disembowelment and throat slitting. </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">“The law of adoption” was scrapped as was the ban on
Blacks receiving temple ordinances. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">In the early 20</span><sup style="color: #2f393a;">th</sup><span style="background-color: white; color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">
century, leaders pruned a great deal of the Freemasonry-linked segments from
the ceremony. A reference claiming Satan
had black skin was eliminated, second-class status for women has been modified, etc.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="background: white; color: #2f393a; font-family: ""serif"","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p> 10</o:p></span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: ""serif"","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">. In
asserting that unbaptized deceased people need proxy baptism to obtain
celestial glory, the Church points to scriptures that say without baptism a
person cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.
However, the S</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: ""serif"","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">criptures also strongly suggest that baptism is for <i>mortals
</i>as they must go </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: ""serif"","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: ""serif"","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">down into the water</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: ""serif"","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">” (2 Nephi 31:13). Proxy-baptized persons remain
perfectly dry. Moreover, w</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: ""serif"","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ithout
any mention of a baptism requirement (or other ordinances), eternal life is
promised to righteous mortals in many</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: ""serif"","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> other passages of
scripture. Christ attained godhood as a spirit; his mortal baptism was an example for <i>mortals</i>. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: ""serif"","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: ""serif"","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">11.
Many assert that temple “revelations” to Joseph Smith are the Lord
speaking. But<span style="background: white;"> Matthew Godfrey, managing editor of the Joseph Smith Papers project,
said: </span></span><span style="background: white; color: #2f393a; font-family: ""serif"","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“</span><span style="background: white; color: #444444; font-family: ""serif"","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">for the <i>vast majority </i>of the
revelations that are in the Doctrine and Covenants, they came to Joseph Smith
the same way the Lord reveals things to us. It was through inspiration
that he received [from] his heart into his mind.</span><span style="background: white; color: #2f393a; font-family: ""serif"","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">”</span><span style="background: white; color: #444444; font-family: ""serif"","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: ""serif"","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> A clear indication that many of these heartfelt impressions
were not the Lord's nor restored from antiquity is that</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: ""serif"","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> latter-day temple work has evolved in a
hit-and-miss process with myriad changes. (See item 9.)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: ""serif"","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: ""serif"","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">12. Favoritism pervades t</span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-size: 14pt;">emple rites. Men, for example, can have multiple wives
sealed to them for eternity; women cannot be sealed to more than one husband at
a time. Similarly, our scriptures say
God has “given unto” some men numerous wives and <i>concubines</i> (D&C 132:37-39)
for eternity. Additionally, </span><span style="font-family: ""serif"","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">a secret ritual called the second anointing, an extension of
the endowment and viewed as the crowning temple rite, continues to be
administered by apostles but only to certain people. It confers exaltation (godhood) upon these couples. (Some recipients have left the Church, calling into doubt their promised godhood.)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: ""serif"","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">P.S. What purpose do temples serve? The fact that Jesus taught in
the temple and called it a house of prayer for all nations reminds us that it
is a place of prayer and learning as well as peace, worship, blessing, setting
apart, promise-making, personal revelation, and a place where families can
gather and where Christ may manifest himself in various ways. It also stands as a monument of honor and
praise to the Lord.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">MAIN ESSAY</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif";"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;">Farewell to temple ordinances?</span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">Temples can be of great value to followers of Christ. However, after examining the historical and scriptural roots of what we call </span></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">temple work,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">I believe its entire structure is built upon a house of cards that falls apart under close scrutiny. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">This article demonstrates that the Scriptures show beyond a reasonable doubt that temple ordinances are <i>not</i> necessary for eternal life (exaltation), that performing of vicarious ordinances has significant theological problems, that temple work comes to us through a shaky <span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“r</span>evelatory</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;"> process and that the work is vexed by perplexing questions and inconsistencies. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">Is the preceding paragraph correct? Doctrine and Covenants 132:37 tells us that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob have been exalted and <span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman";">“</span>are gods.<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman";">”</span> In temple work, exaltation is available only to those who are baptized and receive temple ordinances. But in this verse, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;">who likely </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">were never baptized (baptism is not even mentioned in the Old Testament) and almost certainly received no saving ordinances in earthly temples, have already been exalted and <span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman";">“</span>sit upon thrones.<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman";">”</span> Keep in mind that we teach exaltation is for married couples only, so they would each have likely had many wives and also possibly many concubines (goddesses) in their exalted state, although none would have been sealed in marriage to the best of our knowledge.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">We get another strong hint that temple work is built on shaky ground when immediately after proclaiming that seeking after our dead is <span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman";">“</span>our greatest responsibility,<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman";">”</span> Joseph Smith supports his viewpoint by invoking Hebrews 11:40: <span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman";">“</span>They without us cannot be made perfect.<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman";">”</span> Why is this shaky ground? Because in his inspired revision of the Bible a decade earlier, Joseph </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">entirely changed the verse's meaning: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">God having provided some better things for them through their sufferings, for without sufferings they could not be made perfect.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #2f393a; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;"> In other words, the <i>inspired</i></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;"> passage isn't about temple work at all. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;"> (</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">Two other problems with embracing the original verse are 1. it contradicts the doctrine of individual accountability, which allows people like Abraham to become a god without a third party doing ordinance work for him, and 2. there are ways to interpret it that do not involve temple ordinances .)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">For those of us who believe the restored church is the Lord's church, how can we say that the Church has drifted far astray in its temple theology? The answer may be related to the fact that whenever major teachings are advanced by prophets, the standard approach of the Church and its members is to embrace and defend them. If an incorrect teaching survives for a few years, it becomes like a weed with deep roots and is</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="color: #2f393a;"> </span><span style="color: #444444;">extremely difficult to remove. The</span><span style="color: #444444;"> priesthood ban, for example, did not survive for more than 125 years because it was correct. It survived because leaders felt culturally comfortable with it, failed to subject it to due diligence, and simultaneously exhorted acquiescent members to </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“f</span><span style="color: #444444;">ollow the prophet.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="color: #444444;"> The temple theology initiated by Joseph Smith has received even less scrutiny within the Church than did Brigham Young's priesthood ban. </span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="color: #2f393a;">Closely examining temple dogma also reveals an alarming fact: If it is true, its primary effect will be to divide rather than unite families in the hereafter. Why? Because it asserts that temple-worthy Latter-day Saints will go to a higher part of heaven where they will be separated </span></span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">not only from nonmember relatives but from most of their LDS kin as well. Remember, the majority of members are </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">less active</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;">” and are viewed as unworthy to dwell in celestial glory with the faithful. Consequently, </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">less-active members will have larger forever families in the LDS hereafter as they can dwell with nonmember relatives as well as other less-active family members. For temple-worthy Saints who wish to enjoy the company of most of their family members in heaven, our best bet may be to pray like hell that our current temple theology is as wrong as this article says. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Note: We teach that Heavenly Father and Mother lost a third of their children even before the earth was created. Plus, the above paragraph suggests that the vast majority of their remaining children who come to earth will end up unworthy to return to dwell with them in celestial glory. In today's world, parents with such a miserable record would be sent to counseling.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">At this point, many Latter-day Saints will read no further after saying to themselves, </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">But modern prophets declare these ordinances <i>are</i> necessary. Besides, we have felt the Lord's spirit in the temple, and we sometimes feel close to our ancestors there, in researching family history and elsewhere. Also, miraculous manifestations have been reported in temples.</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">” </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">This perspective is entirely truthful. Nevertheless, it has four serious flaws. First, spiritual manifestations inside temples do not make temple ordinances necessary for eternal life any more than spiritual manifestations outside temples make temples of no value. Second,</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> although Joseph Smith brought forth the Book of Mormon by the gift and power of God, experienced visions and was indeed a prophet, his revelations on temple ordinances appear to have been heartfelt but often incorrect assumptions and impressions resulting in interpretations of scripture and creation of rituals (or borrowing from the rituals of others) that reflected those impressions. In his prophetic role, he and his scribes felt it appropriate to express his impressions on temple work (and many other subjects) as though the Lord himself were speaking. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;"> (See end note 8.) Alas, a clear indication that many of these impressions were not the Lord's nor of ancient origin is that</span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> latter-day temple work has evolved in a hit and miss, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">make it up as we go</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> process, as noted in more detail below. (</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">And, as is also explained later, various temple-related <span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>visions,<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;">” including</span> Christ preaching in the spirit world and of the Founding Fathers demanding vicarious ordinances, have <i>major</i> problems.) Third, the Church interprets scripture in a way that supports currently accepted dogma and ignores scriptures and facts that do not. (Certainly, the restored church is far from alone in that regard.) This approach prevails despite the reality that many formerly accepted teachings as well as numerous statements of prophets have been mistakes (see </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>Oopsy Daisy</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">” </span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">on this site). </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Meanwhile, LDS writers, speakers and manuals strive to connect ancient temple practices to today's ordinance/covenant regimen, a regimen that has recently been given its own catchphrase: <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>the covenant path.</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">” (It replaced the previous catchphrase; namely, <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>the Lord is hastening his work.<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span>) Fourth, whether or not prophets say these ordinances are necessary, adult members who possess agency have a duty to examine for themselves such claims rather than automatically accepting them, particularly when acceptance may evolve into a large time commitment and produce stress and divisiveness in family relationship among those who are active, not active and not members. For adult members to automatically follow leaders by saying, in effect, <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>but <i>they </i>told me to<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> wasn't what Paul had in mind when he wrote, <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> (1 Cor. 13:11) For that matter, it wasn't what Einstein had in mind when he observed, <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>Blind belief in authority is the greatest enemy of truth.<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Among key scriptures that most likely gave rise to latter-day temple ordinances were 1 Corinthians 15:29 (a verse mentioning baptisms for the dead), several passages referring to turning the hearts of children to their fathers, and verses about being endowed with “power from on high.” </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Has the Church correctly understood these and other passages?</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> A multiplicity of scriptures suggests it hasn't.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In terms of scriptures
that indicate temple ordinances are unnecessary, one of the most clear-cut
passages is in Doctrine and Covenants Section 138, a section that, ironically,
is viewed in the Church as strong scriptural support for temple
work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Section 138 tells of Christ</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">
visiting the spirit world between his crucifixion and resurrection.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There he preaches the gospel to a receptive
and “innumerable company” of just spirits, including ancient prophets as well as many who apparently had never heard the gospel preached (verse 19) nor received its ordinances, and tells
them that they will “come forth, after his resurrection from the dead, to enter
into his Father’s kingdom, there to be crowned with immortality and eternal
life” (verses 50, 51). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unlike today, the various temple ordinances are <i>not</i> mentioned as requirements for these spirits to
enter into celestial glory. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rather,
Jesus simply promised them that after his resurrection, which occurred a day or
two later, they would <i>all</i> be crowned with “eternal life,” finally ending<i> </i><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>the long absence of their spirits from their bodies,<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> which they had viewed as bondage. (It is clear from the Scriptures that these innumerable spirits were part of the first resurrection that began with Christ's resurrection and included many who may now visit the earth in their resurrected bodies. Also resurrecting at this time were <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>many bodies<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> who arose from their graves, as recorded in Matthew 27:52, 53. See also Doctrine and Covenants 129:1, 130:5, which tell us that angels are resurrected mortals, and 132:29 a passage noted above that specifically notes that the resurrected Abraham is already an exalted being.)</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Another scriptural passage with a similar message is Mosiah
15.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here, Abinadi expounds upon the plan
of salvation and declares: “And these are those who have part in the first
resurrection; and these are they that have died before Christ came, in their
ignorance, not having salvation declared unto them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And thus the Lord bringeth about the
restoration of these; and they have a part in the first resurrection, or have
eternal life” (verse 24).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Notice that Abinadi
includes as recipients of eternal life <i>all</i> just spirits who died <i>in their ignorance</i> before Christ came. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He also notes that all who had died as “little
children” have eternal life (verse 25).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again, the various temple ordinances are not mentioned as a requirement for either group as they died long before vicarious temple work was introduced.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>(In 1840 Joseph Smith first preached of salvation for the
dead.)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Still another scripture that promises eternal life or celestial glory without a requirement for baptism, endowments or sealings is D&C 137:7. Here, the Lord promises celestial glory</span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> to </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">all those who would have accepted the gospel if they hadn’t died first. It's intentions vs. actions, and intentions rule</span></span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Christ looks upon the heart. </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">Again, there is no mention of a need for vicarious work to be performed. </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">The </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">Book of Mormon clearly supports this view. It states that </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">because of the atonement</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;"> those who have not heard the gospel or </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">have no law given</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;"> will receive no punishment nor condemnation but </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">are restored to that God who gave them breath</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;"> (2 Nephi 9:26).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">To review, the three passages above are quite clear: Just spirits who lived on earth before Christ's resurrection came forth in the initial phase of the first resurrection and were crowned with </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">eternal life</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> even if they hadn't heard the gospel preached on earth and hadn't received its ordinances. Others who would have accepted the gospel if they hadn't died first also inherited celestial glory. It is quite puzzling, therefore, that extra ordinances would be required for exaltation in these latter days. It's enough to make us feel like we are losers or are being treated unfairly. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">If we insist that modern temple ordinances must be performed
vicariously in order for those who died long ago to inherit celestial glory, we
are forced to view scriptural promises related to the afterlife in a much
different light.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">For example, in Alma 14
when righteous women were burned to death, Alma says, “the Lord receiveth them
up unto himself <i>in glory</i>.”</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">From today’s
perspective, however, we might have expected Alma to say that “the Lord receiveth them up unto
himself in glory </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><i>a couple of thousand years from now when the required ordinance work becomes available and is performed in their behalf.</i></span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">Baptism is at the root of our problematic temple dogma. Some scriptures teach that the unbaptized can neither enter the kingdom of heaven nor receive higher ordinances. Other scriptures disagree. For example, the Book of Mormon asserts that those who cannot sin (little children and others incapable of sinning) need no baptism, and the Doctrine and Covenants teaches that virtually all humans (baptized or unbaptized) will enter heaven. Elsewhere, scriptures seem to show that baptism is required only of <i>mortals </i>as they, unlike proxy-baptized spirits, can go <span style="color: #444444; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>down into the water</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">” (2 Nephi 31:13) after they accept the gospel.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;"> Saying that a person </span><i style="font-size: 18.6667px;">must</i><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;"> be baptized in water to be saved, then exempting them through proxy baptism in which they stay entirely dry seems a bit contradictory. Even if we assume that literal water baptism is necessary at some point, surely those who reside in the hereafter (gods, angels, engineers and masons, among others) have the expertise to build baptismal fonts. A more correct teaching about baptism might simply consists of saying that </span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">when mortals are taught the gospel and receive the witness of the Spirit, the Lord expects them to be baptized in order to receive the blessings that come to mortals from doing so. We also need to keep in mind that baptism is not even mentioned in the Old Testament, yet righteous people then were receiving forgiveness from sin through the retroactive power of the Atonement of Christ and were, therefore, worthy to enter heaven.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">It is also worth noting that </span></span></span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">the far higher status of being </span></span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">born again</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> requires only </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">an inner rebirth. </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Of course, some may observe that Jesus himself was baptized. But the fact that Jesus waited until he was a mortal to be baptized suggests that the ordinance is for mortals. Keep in mind that the premortal Jesus attained the stature of Lord God Almighty and creator of worlds without the benefit of baptism.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">The Church extrapolates that John 3:5’s message (echoed in D&C 76:50,51) that “except a man be born of the water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God” means that unless earthly baptism is available vicariously to the dead, they cannot inherit eternal life. Such a claim is not supported by many other scriptures, including the following passages: </span>Without any mention of baptism (or other ordinances), eternal life is also</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> specifically</span> promised to those who walk uprightly (Psalms 84:11); to those who have given up their house or land for Christ (Matt. 19:29); to believers who have separated themselves from family members (Matt. 19:29); to the poor who are rich in faith (James 2:5); to those who believe on the Son of God (Matt 19:29, John 3:36); to those who are spiritually minded (2 Nephi 9:39); to those who have done good (Helaman 12:26, D&C 58:27,28); to those who die as little children (Mosiah 15:25, D&C 137:10); to those who endure<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to the end (2 Nephi 33:4; 3 Nephi 15:9); to those who accept the Book of Mormon and <span style="color: #444444; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>work righteousness</span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> (D&C 20:8,14); to those who do the works of righteousness (D&C 59:23); to those who lay down their life for the Lord (D&C 98:13); to those who repent and sanctify themselves (D&C 133:62), </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">etc. </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> Even the modest promise to Cain<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span></span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?</span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"> (Genesis 4:7; see also Proverbs 28:18 and Moroni 7:47)</span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>hints at the availability of eternal life for good behavior. </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Ultimately, much in the Scriptures suggests that the pivotal requirement for eternal life may be a heart that is pleasing to the Lord.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">And while religious rites and rituals may direct us toward God, surely the tie that ultimately binds us more than any other is love.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">(This does not provide an excuse for mortals to ignore clear promptings of the Spirit that tell them to accept the Lord’s authorized gospel, be baptized, pray, practice the Golden Rule, etc., as the Scriptures repeatedly observe that rejecting the Spirit is a path to error, forfeited blessings and disappointment.)</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Another excellent scriptural example of those who have received the gift of eternal life without baptism or any temple ordinances is the account of Aaron preaching to the king of the Lamanites. The king, a sinful man up to that point, believes Aaron's words and asks </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">what shall I do that I may have this </span><i style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">eternal life</i><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> of which thou hast spoken?</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> Aaron tells him he must simply bow down before God and sincerely repent (Alma 22:15,16, italics added), which the king immediately does and is reborn spiritually. Later, after the Lamanites accept the testimony of this king, 1,005 of these righteous Lamanites are slain in battle </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">and we know that they are blessed, for they have gone to dwell with their God,</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> (Alma 24:22) again, with no mention in either case of being baptized, endowed, sealed, etc. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">The prophet Joseph Smith also promised eternal life to others without specifically requiring baptism or temple ordinances. For example, a father who granted permission to the prophet to marry his daughter as a plural wife was promised that the marriage </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">shall be crowned upon your heads with honor and immortality and eternal life to you and all your house both old and young</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;"> (<i>Rough Stone Rolling</i>, page 439). It should be noted, however, that this path to eternal life is currently not available. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Vicarious temple work also suffers from other significant theological defects.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Three </span>examples follow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First, temple work makes the eternal life of most people dependent upon something other than one's own behavior and upon the Atonement of Christ; i.e., if Joe Blow doesn't get around to doing your temple work, you're out of luck, you dead losers. What? You're righteous? Tough luck. </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">In other words, what Christ did for you wasn't enough. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(That may explain why </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:29 seems to distance himself
from those who baptize for the dead by twice using the term “they” in referring
to them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Elsewhere in the chapter, he generally speaks of “we” and “us” in addressing fellow believers. Not surprisingly, the </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Come, Follow Me</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> manual fails to mention this distinction and leaps to the conclusion that those who performed such baptisms were Church members and that Paul approved of the practice. Even if they were members, the epistles show a distinct tendency among them to drift from correct principles and to be rebuked for doing so. 1 Cor. 11:34; 12:2)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Second, vicarious work seems to embrace </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">cutting in line,</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> as </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">virtually 100 percent of the temple work that has been done is for those born after 1600 AD. If in 1877 the Founding Fathers and others did indeed appear to Elder Wilford Woodruff and <span style="color: #444444; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>demanded<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 18.6667px;">” </span>that their work be done, think how desperate those who have been dead for thousands of years must feel. To them, the message of modern temple work may seem to be, simply: Keep waiting, losers. Think how annoyed long-dead regular people in the spirit world must have been when they learned the Founding Fathers and other famous people were put on the fast track ahead of them. That God would allow such egregious cutting in line forces us to believe he is unjust<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>surely a doctrinally defective concept. (Of course God is <i>not</i> unjust, and the notion that recently dead Founding Fathers would demand immediate temple work is another indicator that this </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">vision</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> was a dream with theological problems (see Note 3 below). Third, i</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">n a world where so many suffer, are hungry and must do without, devoting enormous amounts of time to spirits who have long been free of such maladies seems contrary to the example and teachings of the mortal Christ who focused upon the poor, the broken-hearted, the captives, the blind and the bruised (Luke 4:18. See also Isaiah 58:6,7). </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Additionally, frequent changes in temple ceremonies point less toward a revelatory process and more toward making it up as we go. For example, the endowment ceremony was originally males only. A males-only celestial kingdom? That soon changed after prominent sisters complained. However, latter-day sisters were still required in the ceremony to commit to obey their husbands. But in recent years, even that part has been dropped as social mores have changed. </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">Numerous other textual changes have been made in the endowment ceremony. And sensitive souls may find it unsettling that endowment films were produced by a pervert (a convicted child abuser currently, 2022, residing in the Utah State Prison). </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Females weren't the only ones to be excluded from participation in temple ceremonies; all blacks and numerous non-blacks with even a small amount of black ancestry could not receive ordinances from the early 1850s until 1978. A revelation (D&C 132) recording principles in 1843 known to Joseph Smith since 1831 stated that all mortals not married in </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">the new and everlasting covenant</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> (more than 99 percent of mortal marriages) would in the hereafter </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">remain separately and singly, without exaltation, in their saved condition, to all eternity . . . (as) angels of God forever and ever.</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> Later, the Church determined that exaltation could be made available to these couples by the performing of </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">vicarious husband-wife sealings. In 1894, President Wilford Woodruff said he felt inspired to scrap something called <span style="color: #444444; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>the law of adoption<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> in which adult members</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><i>including those married to someone else</i></span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">were sealed to a Church leader. Endowment ceremonies also included an oath of vengeance in which participants swore never to cease to to pray for God to avenge upon the nation the deaths of Joseph and Hyrum Smith. Participants long made promises related to throat slitting, heart and tongue removal, and disembowelment. The throat-slitting promise remained until recent times. President Woodruff seemed to think it was up to Church leaders to decide who was worthy to have vicarious ordinances performed in their behalf; he directed that no work be done for three former U.S. presidents while giving a green light to ordinances in behalf of John C. Calhoun, an ardent pro-slavery, pro-secession politician. (Appropriately, the work for Southerner Calhoun was performed in the St. George Temple, located in an area often referred to as Utah's Dixie.) And Sunday School manuals to date haven't mentioned that Joseph Smith entered into marriages for time and all eternity with six women who were married to <i>active</i> LDS men, receiving permission from most, if not all, of the men, which would constitute polygamy for Joseph Smith and polyandry for the six women. (<i>Rough Stone Rolling</i>, p. 439.) In the early 20th century, Church leaders pruned a great deal of the Freemasonry segments from the endowment ceremony, perhaps out of concerns over plagiarism and coinciding with the declining popularity of Freemasonry. Among other differences between today and yesteryear is that males and females formerly could be baptized for someone of either sex. (More than 20,000 health baptisms were also performed in temples. One factor that perhaps contributed to their demise was that a woman seeking improved health died during the procedure. Although never a requirement for exaltation, health baptisms are another example of the make-it-up-as-we-go nature of temple ordinances.)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">In addition to scriptural, doctrinal and consistency shortcomings, temple work is a logistical nightmare.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> I</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">n an era of greatly accelerated temple construction, work for the living and dead is falling behind at a greatly accelerated pace.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">To illustrate: Worldwide births of 140 million in 2021 means that the total number of inhabitants without temple ordinances also increased by just under 140 million—a rise of 20 million per year over 50 years ago. Another way to express this would be to say that of the roughly 6.50 billion live births in the past 50 years, 6.49 billion have received no temple work.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Similarly, in 1988 the Church noted that after more than a century of members performing endowments for the dead, the 100 million mark had been passed. Recognition of the milestone was somewhat muted, however, as leaders acknowledged that most likely around 100 billion people had lived on the earth. Moreover, the roughly 60 million annual worldwide deaths means the disparity increases each year. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Other logistical problems will eventually arise. For example, a high proportion of inhabitants in some past civilizations often didn't live long enough to receive a name or didn't have their name recorded anywhere, and others had only one name. And let's remember that the majority of those who have died in human history have been single (singles include those who have divorced and never remarried). If these singles eventually fall in love with someone on the other side, will endowments and marriage sealings in earthly temples still be required? We should also not forget that intelligent humans existed for many thousands of years before Adam and Eve<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>where do they fit in when it comes to ordinances? (How do we know they were intelligent humans? They constructed homes of brick, dwelled in cities, domesticated livestock, created statuettes of mother goddesses, weaved cloth, created artwork and, in the most infallible indicator of whether a people are civilized, they brewed beer.) </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Vicarious temple ordinances look much different when contrasted from the perspective of a fringe group among the Corinthians baptizing for a few dead family members and two thousand years later from the perspective of a church that baptizes and confirms not just for dead relatives but also believes it must perform endowments and marriage sealings for </span><i style="font-size: 14pt;">all </i><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">living and dead on a planet whose population is growing by 140 million per year.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">Another vital point should be made: Data on church activity and tithe paying provide a huge reason for even faithful members to hope that temple ordinances are unnecessary. Why? Because j</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 18.6667px;">ust 30-35 percent of members worldwide are active, full tithe payers, which not only means that most members won't qualify for eternal life/celestial glory but, of those who do, most of their children and grandchildren won't. </span></span></span></span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 18.6667px;"> In</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 18.6667px;"> other words, our temple doctrine, if true, means that even most families of the faithful will be separated forever in the hereafter. Instead of <span style="color: #444444; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>Families can be forever,</span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">” our motto could be </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“In rare cases, f</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">amilies can be forever</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 18.6667px;">.<span style="color: #444444; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> Remember, </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 18.6667px;">inactive, non tithe-payers aren't even eligible for earthly temple entry let alone heavenly exaltation. Let us pray, therefore, that the Book of Mormon is indeed correct in teaching that good people go to heaven with no temple-ordinance requirement that would divide their families into different degrees of glory. (Temple ordinances would result, for example, in Joseph Smith's family being extremely divided in the hereafter as virtually all of his family members not only avoided temples in mortality but also chose not to affiliate with the church itself. On a personal note, my temple-married parents, always active, have five children and 13 adult grandchildren. Of these 20 family members, only five or six of us qualify as active, similar to the 30-35 percent level worldwide. Alas, some of our best family members are among the inactives.</span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">)</span> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">When it comes to whether temple work is necessary, adult members
must prayerfully ponder and decide for themselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After all these years, it won’t be easy for
active members to come to believe that temple ordinances for the living and
dead most likely are not necessary for eternal life and that they should not focus large amounts of time on the dead rather than the living.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But look on the bright sides.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
won’t have to wonder why a 20-year-old living today can receive all ordinances
necessary for exaltation whereas a righteous person who died centuries or millennia ago
is still waiting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Nor will we have to explain that exaltation in the highest realm is available only to heterosexual males and females sealed in marriage, not to singles or </span></span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;">good people such as prominent returned-missionary David Archuleta, who has decided not to marry a female and is also unlikely, therefore, to receive future invitations from the Church to participate in Christmas musical extravaganzas. </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Plus, we can bid
farewell to questions about why a husband can be sealed for eternity to multiple wives, but a wife can’t be sealed to multiple husbands.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">And then there’s the matter of not having to worry that we’ll be
separated in the hereafter from a perfectly wonderful family member who hasn’t
accepted temple ordinances while finding ourselves in the vicinity of an annoying
family member who has.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> A</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">nd let’s not
forget that older Latter-day Saints who have never married will no longer have to
sweat bullets about finding a mate.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">(Desperation
in the mate search often produces ugly results.) </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> We won't even have to wonder why, if temple marriage is essential for exaltation, is there no evidence that Christ has ever been married? </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">But the most universal and immediate benefit
may well be that we can stop asking about baffling aspects of temple work only
to be told: “It will all be worked out in the next life or in the Millennium,” an upbeat way of
saying, “Beats me.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">Yes, ceasing to perform temple ordinances will be difficult for some. For example, having no more endowment sessions will eliminate a prime opportunity for older, retired members to doze off. It should be observed, however, that they can still attend sacrament meetings featuring high-council speakers. Or, if they're males, they can attend stake priesthood meetings. And performing family history research, while no longer needed for temple ordinances, can still serve the worthwhile purpose of bringing families closer or, in the words of Malachi, turning hearts of the children to the fathers so that the earth won't be smitten with a curse.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Even if we cease to perform temple ordinances, latter-day
temples can continue to serve valuable purposes. </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">The fact that Jesus taught in the temple and
called it a house of prayer for all nations reminds us that it is a place of prayer and learning as well as peace, worship, blessing, promise-making, personal revelation and a place where Christ may
manifest himself in various ways—and that it stands as a monument of honor and
praise to the Lord.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> *******</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Post scripts</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">1. I am thinking of two wonderful people whom I love. Both were baptized LDS. Neither has been active for decades; neither has been temple-endowed nor temple-married. I do not anticipate that they will be. Will those of us who have been lifelong active, are temple-endowed and temple-married be separated from good people we love in the hereafter? Of course not. The God of love is a uniter rather than a divider. Those who believe otherwise must ask: Do I worship a God of love or a God who loves to make rules that separate good people from their families in the hereafter?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">2. Section 132 of the Doctrine and Covenants contains Joseph Smith's revelation on the new and everlasting covenant of marriage, a sealing ordinance performed in temples. The section also endorses plural marriage. How certain are we that this section was a revelation rather than fallible impressions? Four facts are interesting to note. First, the basics of the revelation were known to Joseph Smith in 1831, but he apparently wasn't comfortable making them public until 1843. Second, credible reports say that either Joseph, or Emma with Joseph's permission, or the two of them together, burned the original copy of the revelation after he dictated it in late summer 1843 or, according to one account, on June 23, 1844, four days before the prophet's martyrdom. (William Clayton saved a copy.) Third, when he received the revelation, the prophet would normally have shown it to Emma, as no fewer than six verses are devoted to her. Instead, he handed off the unpleasant task to brother Hyrum, which was not a ringing endorsement of the Lord's words by Joseph. Emma chewed Hyrum up one side and down the other, perhaps her way of saying some revelations are less believable. Fourth, although some top Church leaders had stated before 1890 that God would never revoke plural marriage as authorized by Section 132, President Wilford Woodruff revoked it with a manifesto in 1890. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">3. Elder Wilford Woodruff spoke of receiving visitations from the Founding Fathers, presidents of the United States and dozens of other prominent men and women (actors, poets, industrialists, military leaders, novelists, explorers, etc.) in the St. George Temple. For two nights in a row in 1877, Woodruff said these luminaries <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>demanded<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> that temple work be done for them. But at the time these visions happened, Woodruff made no<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"> written mention</span> of visions or of any unusual visitors. Why is this notable? Because Woodruff was a prolific journal keeper. On the two nights he later said these visions occurred, he merely wrote in his journal that he had been preparing a list of notable people who needed vicarious temple ordinances, something that perhaps was on his mind before retiring for the evening. Was this a case of meditations plus dreams plus time evolving into visions? Similarly, in later years some might be tempted to say Woodruff had another<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>vision</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> when he wrote of Benjamin Franklin, saying that </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">I spent some time with him and we talked over our Temple ordinances.<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> This March 19, 1894, experience sounds like a vision. It wasn't. How do we know? Because Woodruff himself described it as a dream and at the end wrote: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">I awoke.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> Notably, Matthias E. Cowley wrote of this incident that </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Woodruff <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>had a <i>dream</i> which followed his meditations upon the future life and the work that he had done for the dead.<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> These words give us another example of Woodruff meditating about something followed by a vivid <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>revelatory<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> experience (not a vision) on the subject. Also worth mentioning is that immediately after Woodruff received the </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“vision</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">” </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">demanding that temple work be done for them, the first thing Woodruff did was to be baptized in the St. George Temple for 100 of the Founding Fathers and other prominent men. Why is this of note? Because vicarious baptisms for the Founders had already been performed, some multiple times. In speaking about this in the Salt Lake Tabernacle in 1877, however, Woodruff said he performed these baptism because </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">nothing had been done for them.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">” These facts suggest that he may not have been highly inspired during this time.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">4</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt;">. In its heading, D&C Section 138 is described as a <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>vision<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">” received by</span> President Joseph F. Smith on Oct. 3, 1918. In the text of Section 138, however, it is described in three ways, only one of which is a vision. First, President Smith says he had been reflecting on Christ and that his mind reverted to the writings of Peter and <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>the eyes of my understanding were opened<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> (verse 6). Second, he observes that <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>as I wondered, my eyes were opened, and my understanding quickened, and I perceived . . . <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> (verse 29). Only in the final verse (60) does President Smith describe his experience as a vision: <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>Thus was the vision of the redemption of the dead revealed to me.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">” Additionally, in general conference remarks a day after receiving the </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">vision,</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;"> President Smith simply said, </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">I have had my communication with the </span><i style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">Spirit </i><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">of the Lord</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;"> continuously</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;"> (italics added). During this time, the elderly Church president was experiencing serious illness, likely was medicated, and died the following month. (Even if President Smith experienced a vision, in it the Savior spoke no words about vicarious temple ordinances. Instead, the words about temple ordinances are merely President Smith's extrapolations about how such ordinances might relate to Christ preaching in the spirit world.)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">5. When Paul talks of certain people being baptized </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“for</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">” </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">the dead, the Church takes the view that </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“for</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">” </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">means a previously baptized mortal performs a vicarious baptism in behalf of an unbaptized dead person. This may have indeed been the case among a couple of sects in the first and second centuries. But who is to say it doesn't refer to an unbaptized mortal simply deciding to get baptized because the deceased had been baptized and he wishes to please (or pay homage to) the dead person? Similarly, if a person's churchgoing father is buried on Friday and his previously inactive son attends church on Sunday </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“for Dad,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">” we would simply conclude that</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;"> the son is honoring the father. In any event, there is no ancient scriptural evidence that baptisms for the dead were endorsed by Paul and other apostles or prophets<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>the fact that they offer no words either in support or condemnation is not something we would anticipate if the practice had great importance in the Lord's church. It certainly contrasts with Joseph Smith's view that work for the dead is <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>our greatest responsibility.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">” </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;"> In Corinthians, Paul is not saying he believes in baptisms for the dead but is observing that those who perform such baptisms believe in life after death, unlike some sects. In the same way, if Paul had pointed out that those who perform infant baptisms surely believe in life after death, we would not conclude that he was advocating the performing of infant baptisms.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">6. Just as the Church interprets the verse on baptisms for the dead as evidence that vicarious baptisms should be performed for all of humanity, it also holds a singular and questionable view that verses mentioning the turning of the hearts of children to their fathers and fathers to children mean that children must perform vicarious ordinances for their dead fathers. However, a more widely accepted interpretation reflects the Jewish view that turning hearts of children to <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>the fathers<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> simply refers to heeding earlier prophets. (Those in the world of the New Testament viewed Old Testament prophets as <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>the fathers.<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span>) In fact, the best chapter in the Book of Mormon about children turning to their fathers may be the 10 verses of Mormon 7 wherein Mormon three times writes of the need for future generations to come to a knowledge of their fathers. He lists three reasons why this is important: 1. So that the children will know that they must repent, 2. so that they will believe in Christ and 3. so that they will know that they must not engage in warfare and bloodshed. He says nothing about temples or vicarious ordinances. </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;"> And in terms of turning the hearts of fathers to children, a prime example is the intentions of Book of Mormon writers in creating a written record for future generations about the dealings of God with them,</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;"> (see Jacob 4:2,3), a record that says nothing about vicarious ordinances.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;"> 7</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">. While I believe that temple ordinances are not necessary for eternal life, that doesn't mean I <i>know</i> they are unnecessary. That would similar to my incorrect assertion in the 1960s that <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>I <i>know</i> blacks should not have the priesthood.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;"> In fact, I have received temple ordinances and have performed some for deceased family members and others. In the unlikely event that these ordinances <i>are</i> necessary, I have left the following note in my obituary file: </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">Unless the work has already been done, I would also like around $3,000 or so from my IRA to go to a qualified genealogist to research and submit names from my family lines for temple ordinances.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> (Thankfully, my wife is doing that work, so it looks like we won't need to spend the $3,000.) B</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">ut as one who now believes beyond a reasonable doubt that temple ordinances are not essential, I believe it unwise for me to devote large amounts of time to this work.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;"></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">8. As LDS author Richard Bushman has observed, when Joseph Smith had thoughts in his heart or mind on a subject, he assumed that </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">the words came from heaven<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”; </span>that they might have come from his imagination <span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>seems not to have occurred to Joseph.<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> Bushman also noted that the resemblance of Masonic rituals to parts of the temple endowment seems to be an example of an area where Joseph Smith <span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>had a green thumb for growing ideas from tiny seeds.<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> Similarly, Matthew Godfrey, managing editor of the Joseph Smith Papers project, has said: <span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>for the vast majority of the revelations that are in the Doctrine and Covenants, they came to Joseph Smith the same way the Lord reveals things to us. It was through inspiration that he received [from] his heart into his mind.<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> Elder Orson Pratt said that Joseph thought the ideas he received came from God <span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>but clothed those ideas with such words as came to his mind.<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> (Ensign, December 1984) Because we know at this late date that not all of those ideas were from God, we must be sure that his other ideas, especially pivotal ones, hold up under honest scrutiny<span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>including examination through the prism of the Scriptures. We can suppose that if something like the Proclamation on the Family had been issued in Joseph Smith's time it would have begun with <span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you my servant, Joseph . . . <span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;">” </span>rather than <span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>We, the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, solemnly proclaim . . . <span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13pt;"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">9. Very much in harmony with the Book of Mormon view of heaven, which says nothing about degrees of glory or temple ordinances, is the experience related by </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">LDS poet Emma Lou Thayne: “How to tell even my closest family that I had died and yes, gone to a heaven so lovely and full of light and great affection? </span><em style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">So different from scriptural descriptions and my learned concepts.</em><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> So unlike a dream, as real as my mother and father's presence at the table. There never could be any denying of what I now knew had happened. . . . I had been to the place of knowing and returned with a view as broad as the galaxies and comforting as my mother's hand. . . No judgment. </span><em style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">No echelons</em><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">, only loving acceptance and that world beyond bliss, beyond joy, beyond ecstasy, a new life—childness.” (Italics added. From </span><em style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">The Place of Knowing</em><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">, pages 25, 28, 67.)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">10. When it comes to revelation, whether it is the current prophet or Joseph Smith and other prophets, heartfelt impressions that are incorrectly assumed to be revelations often may result from a</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> prophet combining a correct thought—that he is the Lord’s authorized prophet—with an incorrect assumption—that thoughts that linger in the mind of an authorized prophet surely must be there because the Lord put them there. The same could be said of prophets having dreams that they interpret as revelations but that, in reality, may simply be the result of consuming ice cream or blueberry pie too close to bedtime. A recent example was the failed 2015 policy/revelation related to prohibiting children living in same-sex households from being baptized until they reached age 18. Elder Russell M. Nelson, president of the Quorum of the Twelve, in 2016 described the policy as a revelation from God. </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">Each of us during that sacred moment felt a spiritual confirmation,</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> he said. </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">It was our privilege as apostles to sustain what had been revealed to President Monson.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> (The so-called revelation was scrapped three years later.) A more recent example was the church's announcement in June 2021 that Saturday evening sessions of general conference would cease. The new policy was dropped like a bad habit a couple of months later. As a person who often watches college football on Saturday evenings in early October and basketball on Saturday evenings in early April, I confess that I thought, or at least hoped, that the June 2021 announcement was inspired. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> ******</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">The church's approach to promoting temple work sometimes lands it in half-truth territory. One example is the frequent repetition of the claim in manuals and talks that we cannot be saved or made perfect without our dead or a similar phrase. The assumption is that unless vicarious work has been done for our dead ancestors, we cannot inherit eternal life or celestial glory. It is based on Hebrews 11:40: <span style="color: #444444; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> Two problems with embracing the current LDS view of this verse are 1. it contradicts the doctrine of individual accountability and 2. there are other ways to interpret it. But the major problem is that Joseph Smith in his inspired revision of the King James Bible entirely changed the verse's meaning: </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">God having provided some better things for them through their sufferings for without sufferings they could not be made perfect.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;"> In other words, the <i>inspired</i></span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;"> passage isn't about temple work at all. </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;"> However, this fact is never mentioned in lessons or talks. (Years after his Bible revision when he had begun to advocate vicarious temple work, even Joseph Smith himself would revert back to the original King James version of this verse. Note: Rather than resembling anything in the Bible, certain temple rituals bear greater similarity to ceremonies of Freemasonry, with which Joseph and other male family members affiliated.)</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><br /></p>Steve Warrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972829970776193784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211864423765164859.post-47704934140620859832021-09-02T16:24:00.101-07:002023-10-31T17:06:05.560-07:00The certainty of life after death<p> </p><p><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Admit
it.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">You’re worried about what happens
after you drop dead.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> Maybe </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">you’re
afraid that nothing happens.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">You’ve seen
dead bodies, and they look sooo dead.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The intent of this article is to show beyond a </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">reasonable doubt that there is life after death. For those who at this moment doubt there's an afterlife, here's my prediction: By the time you finish reading this, you will at very least believe life after death is likely.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 14pt;">Let’s begin with a couple of thoughts about matter and the universe.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 14pt;">Perhaps the two most incomprehensible realities of the universe are, first, that anything exists, and second, that there was never a time when nothing existed: </span><i style="color: #202124; font-size: 14pt;">something can’t be created from nothing</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 14pt;">.</span><span style="color: #202124; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 14pt;">This means matter has existed forever,
although the form it is in today isn't necessarily the form it was in yesterday (think solid, liquid, gas, energy, etc.).</span><span style="color: #202124; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 14pt;">Every cell in our body previously existed in
some state. In other words, nothing dies in the sense of ceasing to exist in any form.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 14pt;">Most nonbelievers aren’t buying the afterlife thing.</span><span style="color: #202124; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 14pt;">They simply assert that the life force of
man doesn’t exist after death because metabolism and brain activity cease when
we die. They might also point out that no immortal being has ever been caught on film. (Frankly, I'm surprised some TV evangelist hasn't produced fake footage.)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Additionally,
atheists contend that reason is on their side and that believers are
driven by emotions in hoping never to die; after all, fear of death is
instinctive.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Surely it is this fear of
death that causes simple-minded people of faith to embrace the dogma of salvation and resurrection.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="background: white; color: #202124; font-size: 14pt;">In a debate, this would be where the
believer jumps to his feet, yells “Godless atheist!” and a huge argument ensues
in which the believer spews drivel about faith and intelligent design and the atheist counters
with the usual facts. Atheists might even point out that a</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> lot of what the faithful—including Latter-day Saints—have
historically embraced has turned out to be baloney. (Frankly, much of what they currently believe also could be considered baloney, but that's a topic for another day.)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">What
is the believer to do?</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Not much,
actually.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">He needn’t argue science or
theology. All he has to do is establish beyond a reasonable doubt that at least
one authentic encounter has occurred between a mortal person and an immortal being, even if he lacks camera footage to prove his point.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Or that one authentic, substantial miracle connected to
divine power has occurred.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">(Divine power in a real miracle is strong evidence for life after death because divine power can't be exercised unless a divine, immortal being is available to exercise it.) </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">If the believer can do </span><i style="font-size: 14pt;">either</i><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> of these, the debate is over<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>there's life after death</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">. This era in which the existence of unseen dimensions and parallel universes seem quite plausible (seen any movies lately?) appears to give believers a good excuse for not being required to show up at the courthouse with credible camera footage</span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">or an immortal being by their side</span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">to make their case.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Below
are six categories of miracles and visionary experiences.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> Remember, if just <i>one</i> divinely connected miracle or just <i>one</i> interaction with an immortal person has occurred, there's life after death.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">First,
miracles in the Scriptures. Alleged biblical
miracles range from the dramatic such as Moses parting the Red Sea and Jesus walking
on water or raising Lazarus from the dead to smaller ones such as Peter’s healing
a man reported to be lame since birth. There
are also</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> scores of miracles cited in
the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants and in the Pearl of Great Price. I admit some are less believable. </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Lot's wife turning into a pillar of salt? </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">J</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">onah inside a whale for three days? (I'd be more inclined to believe that Jonah visited Scotland and then spent three days in Wales.) </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">And it certainly would have been a miracle if two of <span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>every thing that creepeth upon the earth</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> had entered Noah's ark. (Think polar bears, penguins and kangaroos.) However, it's quite a leap from saying some, most or nearly all scripture-based miracles didn't happen to saying <i>none</i> of them happened. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Second, appearances in the Scriptures of heavenly beings to mortals.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">To mention a few:</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">the Lord in the Garden of Eden, Isaiah sees
the Lord in a temple, an angel visits Mary, shepherds see heavenly hosts, and Christ
appears to Paul on the road to Damascus.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> Also,</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> Christ’s reported appearances in the Book of Mormon and the ones in the 1830s recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants of various heavenly beings such as Christ, Moroni, Moses, Elias and Elijah to
a number of Latter-day Saints.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"> Certainly, some of our LDS vision claims are less believable. </span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">I'm not convinced, for example, that Section 138 of the Doctrine and Covenants (<span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>the eyes of my understanding were opened</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">) was a literal vision. </span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"> And I'm not convinced that Wilford Woodruff actually conversed with the Founding Fathers. However, a</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">s mentioned
above, because the heavenly beings involved were once mortal and are now immortal, just
one valid post-mortal appearance provides evidence of life
after death.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Third, many reported historic sightings of heavenly
beings. Examples: A. Being
a fan of Joan of Arc, I lean toward believing her statements that from the age of
13, she experienced visions of </span><span style="background: white; color: #202124; font-size: 14pt;">the Archangel Michael</span><span style="background: white; color: #202124; font-size: 14pt;">, Saint Margaret, and Saint Catherine of Alexandria. Remember, Joan was a devout Catholic but not an unquestioning
follower—in fact, it was her commitment to truth that resulted in her fellow Catholics burning her at the stake for heresy. (It's hard to resist observing here that the religious establishment also apparently wasn't very fond of the mortal Jesus.) B. A more
recent vision that at least deserves consideration is the one seen in 1879 by 15 people and
lasting over two hours at Knock, Ireland, that reportedly involved Mary, Joseph, John the
Evangelist and the form of a lamb on an altar representing the Lamb of God. The reported apparition, interestingly, was not seen by
the parish priest as he declined to venture outside—it was raining at the time. C.
Also interesting are alleged appearances at Fatima, Lourdes, Medjugorje, etc. At Medjugorje, the appearances of Mary that began in 1981 </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 14pt;">are said to still be happening.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="background: white; color: #202124; font-size: 14pt;">Fourth, authentic personal
experiences that fall into the “miracle” category. You may have had such an experience or may
know someone who has. In this category
are regular people offering straightforward accounts of being visited by
someone from the other side. There are
lots of these stories out there. I heard one on January 16, 2022, in a home visit to an older man and his wife that involved their kinfolk. Here’s
one that I like f</span><span style="background: white; color: #3c3c3c; font-size: 14pt;">rom an online
article of April 29, 2018: “A year and two months to the day of my mother's
transformation, she appeared standing in my kitchen as whole, healthy and
young. I was surprised, knowing she was dead, but so happy to see her. We
embraced in a hug, and I said, ‘I love you.’ And then she was gone. She had
come back to say a final goodbye and let me know that she was happy and okay.</span><span style="background: white; color: #3c3c3c; font-size: 14pt;">” What does it mean if every single one of the items in 1-4 above are false except for this mother/kitchen story? It means that life after death is absolutely, 100 percent a reality. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Fifth, for those of us who are LDS, certain other reported appearances of heavenly beings to Latter-day Saints in the Joseph Smith era are impressive. A. Many </span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">of the LDS scripture-based visions of heavenly beings as noted in item two above, as well as other reported visions, were also described in individual written accounts that are not included in the Scriptures. </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> B. Consider the apparently quite active social life in the early 19<sup>th</sup> century of the Angel Moroni, a man who the Book of Mormon says died 14 centuries earlier. Joseph Smith recorded interacting with Moroni on no fewer than 22 occasions; moreover, 16 other people said Moroni visited them. (Can anyone blame him for such a willingness to spend time with mortals? After all, at the end of his own mortal life, the Book of Mormon says he wandered alone for many years.) If we don’t believe that even one of these Moroni appearances occurred, we are also forced to disbelieve specific and impressive descriptions of his visits, such as the following: </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">“After this communication, I saw the light in the room begin to gather immediately around the person of him who had been speaking to me, and it continued to do so until the room was again left dark, except just around him; when, instantly I saw, as it were, a conduit open right up into heaven, and he ascended till he entirely disappeared, and the room was left as it had been before this heavenly light had made its appearance.” Again, just one legitimate Angel Moroni visit means afterlife for mankind is a reality. C. Additionally, </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">I have long found the testimony of the Three Witnesses to be especially impressive, as I’ve noted in “Witnesses” on this site.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">To review, Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer and Martin Harris signed a statement, which appears in all Books of Mormon, that “an angel of God came down from heaven, and he brought and laid before our eyes, that we beheld and saw the plates, and the engravings thereon . . . the voice of the Lord commanded us that we should bear record of it.”</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">I find this impressive because all three men ended up having serious conflicts with the church and Joseph Smith, but in spite of those conflicts, throughout their lives (Whitmer and Harris lived to ripe old ages) they stuck by their account of the angel’s appearance. </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> I've found only a couple of weak attempts to refute their claims.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Sixth, near-death experiences that are difficult to explain away. Arguably, most NDEs seem to be</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 18.6667px;"> manifestations of minds in physiologically altered states. However, there</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18.6667px;"> are literally hundreds of NDEs posted in places such as YouTube, and some seem very credible. (Two examples are included at the end.) A book published in 2021 offers scholarly analysis and accounts of such experiences. It is titled </span><i style="font-size: 18.6667px;">After: A Doctor Explores What Near-Death Experiences Reveal about Life and Beyond. </i><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">I found many individual accounts and the analysis to be quite credible.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 14pt;">In the alleged miracles or sightings of
immortal beings mentioned above, please note that I have NOT included any of the
following seven gray areas, a couple of which are <i>really</i> gray.</span><span style="color: #202124; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 14pt;">1.</span><span style="color: #202124; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 14pt;">Claims
of seeing visions or apparitions made by people who are highly medicated, on
hallucinogenic drugs or attending rock concerts.</span><span style="color: #202124; font-size: 14pt;"> 2</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 14pt;">.</span><span style="color: #202124; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 14pt;">Any
healing, miracle or visitation involving a TV preacher. 3</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 14pt;">.</span><span style="color: #202124; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 14pt;">Any healing or any restoration of health that
invokes the power of God but plays out in a fairly normal time frame; after all, sick
people tend to get well.</span><span style="color: #202124; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="color: #202124; font-size: 14pt;"> 4</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 14pt;">.</span><span style="color: #202124; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 14pt;">Any
miracle that is viewed as a miracle because of timing, i.e., a person offers a fervent
prayer to receive a specific blessing and, just as the prayer ends, the phone rings . .
. you can guess the rest of the story.</span><span style="color: #202124; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 14pt;">(Closer
to home, the two most recent “miracles” I have heard up-close in this category
involved a lost set of car keys and a genealogical researcher locating a hard-to-find
family name. Elsewhere on this site, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 18.6667px;">in an article titled </span><span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 18.6667px;">It's a miracle!</span><span style="color: #3c3c3c; font-size: 18.6667px;">” </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 14pt;">I question the miracle stature of a couple of recent miracles claimed by LDS leaders. (That's one example of why Church headquarters keeps a file on me.) 5. Shapes resembling the Virgin Mary or Jesus that appear in trees, clouds, windows, etc., and statues of religious icons that appear to shed tears, bleed, move, etc. I confess that if a Mary image appeared in a window at our house, I would use it as an excuse to avoid cleaning the windows, especially if a big game is on TV. 6. Dreams. Fairly memorable dreams can sometimes take on vision status with the passage of time in the same way that an angler who catches a 14-inch trout may remember it as a 21-incher after a few years. 7. Low-grade supernatural experiences. I'll cite two from my own life. First, a very credible older couple who lived in my current neighborhood told me that on multiple occasions an apparent pioneer-era girl appeared briefly in their bedroom, then disappeared. I believe them, but this experience is out of my comfort zone, as I would not want my afterlife to include popping up in people's bedrooms. There are laws against that sort of thing. Second, I participated in a blessing that invoked the power of God in healing a person who was experiencing pain. After the </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #3c3c3c; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 14pt;">amen,</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #3c3c3c; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 14pt;"> the recipient of the blessing, referring to the pain, immediately said, <span style="color: #3c3c3c;">“</span>It's gone.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #3c3c3c; font-size: 18.6667px;">” I believe a healing may indeed have occurred, but I also recognize, as noted above, that sick people usually get well, some sooner rather than later. More recently, I have had similar experiences involving swift healings.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">Yes, many claims of miracles and manifestations are dubious or clearly false. And debunkers can find something to debunk in even the best claims. But when we carefully ponder the range of miracles and interactions involving immortal beings cited in items one through six, can we really
say every single one didn't happen?</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">
</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">That’s exactly what is required to assert there’s no life after
death.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">And to do so would be equivalent
to saying that 100 percent of those who have told of such occurrences were either delusional, deceived, lying or out to lunch.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">In other words, we would be saying
that all of them throughout history, including every believer in the Judeo/Christian God who declares “thou shalt not bear false witness,”
have borne some form of false witness 100 percent of the time whenever they have told either of miracles or of interactions involving divine beings.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">That seems absurd.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">Therefore, it is a great stretch to say there’s no life after death.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">I will live on.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">So will you. Just because some<span style="color: #202124; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>or much</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">of what religions teach about heaven, hell, resurrection, salvation, atonement, God, families, gays, abortion, etc., is nonsense does not alter the fact that the reality of an afterlife is supported by credible witnesses. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">So why do we still greatly fear death?
</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> Most likely i</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">t is because we have confused our instinctive but baseless fear of ceasing to exist with our legitimate dread of a long
separation from loved ones and our equally legitimate fear of leaving the known world and entering
an unknown realm.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> Such fears are understandable and entirely natural. I suspect that within seconds of transitioning from mortal life into the afterlife, one of our first thoughts will be: </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Wow! This place is so much better than where I just came from.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">Earlier, I had intended to write, “If
you disagree, I ask that the first thing you do in the afterlife is to come up
to me and admit you were wrong.”</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">
</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">However, I have changed my mind.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">
</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">I sincerely do not want your afterlife to get off to such a negative
start. </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">And early in my own
afterlife, I don’t want to feel like a priest taking confession. (In the hugely unlikely event that there is no afterlife, those of you who were right on that subject will be at quite a disadvantage as you'll be too dead to say, <span>“</span>See, I told you so.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">) </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;"> #######</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">A few more thoughts</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">A 12-year-old girl had an experience in which she died and lived again, but she didn't want to share it with her mother, as doing so would mean hurting her mother's feelings by telling her that the other place was so beautiful that she hadn't wanted to return. Finally, she shared the experience with her father. In it, she stated that her brother had been there and that he had held her with great tenderness, love and compassion. </span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">The only problem is that I don't have a brother.</span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;"> Her father started to cry, then confessed that she did indeed have a brother who died three months before she was born. They had never told her. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">An American Indian woman was struck by a hit-and-run driver. A stranger stopped to help, but she calmly told him she was about to die. She did ask, however, that some day he convey to her mother that she was okay and that she was happy because she was together with her father. The stranger was so touched that he soon drove 700 miles to the reservation where her mother resided. When he got there, the mother told him something her daughter had not known before her fatal accident: Her husband (the daughter's father) had died of a heart attack. According to their calculations, his death occurred roughly an hour before the hit and run. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">(</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">The two death experiences above are rewritten, in the interest of brevity, and are from </span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">On Life After Death</span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;"> by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, pp. 32, 55.)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Among the lesser-known Latter-day Saints to have an Angel Moroni experience in the 1800s was a fellow named Harrison Burgess, whose identity is a mystery even to 99 percent of Latter-day Saints. </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">While praying about the Book of Mormon, Burgess said that “suddenly a glorious personage clothed in white stood before me and exhibited to my view the plates from which the Book of Mormon was taken.”</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">He understood the personage to be Moroni.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">Have you read Jacob 5 in the Book of Mormon? It is one of the longest and perhaps the most boring chapter of scripture ever written. So what does it have to do with the afterlife? Consider this: </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">On the surface, Jacob 5 seems to be about people struggling to grow olive trees well. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">A more studious reading, however, reveals it to be very complex parable that both recounts and prophesies God’s dealings with Israel and the Gentile nations.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">Its complexity and out of time/out of place feel (it is said to have been written by an Old Testament-era prophet named Zenos) are remarkable. It is not something any English-speaking Westerner would have composed in 1829.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">Even in its Book of Mormon context, this olive-tree chapter sticks out like an orange in an apple orchard. In 1829 at the age of 23, the poorly educated Joseph Smith was said by his wife to be unable to compose a coherent paragraph. The clearly ancient origin of Jacob 5 strongly suggests divine assistance in translation, thereby pointing us to afterlife as those who are capable of providing divine assistance tend to be immortal.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">LDS poet and songwriter (also champion tennis player) Emma Lou Thayne had a near-death experience that she wrote about in <i>The Place of Knowing</i>. It includes the following thought that she offers about a 93-year-old friend who is dying: <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">“</span>She is winding down in some intuitive joining of her eternal self, the transition as right as being born and much easier. No violent awakening to her other life, only sifting like gentle wind through trees into the childness that awaits her.</span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">Holy Sonnet X, by English poet John Donne:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span face="adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif" style="background-color: white; font-size: 20px; text-indent: -1em;">Death, be not proud, though some have called thee</span></p><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;">Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="text-indent: -1em;">For those whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;">Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.<br /></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;">From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,<br /></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;">Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,<br /></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;">And soonest our best men with thee do go,<br /></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;">Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.<br /></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;">Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,<br /></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;">And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,<br /></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;">And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well<br /></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;">And better than thy stroke; why swell'st thou then?<br /></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;">One short sleep past, we wake eternally</div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="text-indent: -1em;">And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.</span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="text-indent: -1em;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #202124; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 0px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="text-indent: -1em;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #202124; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 0px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="text-indent: -1em;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #202124; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 0px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="text-indent: -1em;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #202124; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 0px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="text-indent: -1em;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #202124; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 0px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="text-indent: -1em;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #202124; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 0px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="text-indent: -1em;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #202124; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 0px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="text-indent: -1em;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #202124; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 0px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="text-indent: -1em;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #202124; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 0px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="text-indent: -1em;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #202124; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 0px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="text-indent: -1em;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #202124; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 0px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="text-indent: -1em;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #202124; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 0px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="text-indent: -1em;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #202124; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 0px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="text-indent: -1em;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #202124; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 0px;">Post script:</span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="text-indent: -1em;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #202124; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 0px;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; font-family: adobe-garamond-pro, Garamond, Baskerville, "Baskerville Old Face", "Hoefler Text", "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 20px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="text-indent: -1em;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #202124; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 0px;">Here's speculation worth considering: While our bodies also change their state (ashes to ashes, dust to dust), could it be that our soul, being, essence (or whatever we call it) is so elemental that it has always existed? In our LDS scriptures, that basic concept is expressed simply: <span style="color: black;">“t</span>he soul could never die<span style="color: black;">”</span> (Alma 42:9). It also seems very much in harmony with statements by Joseph Smith: </span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 0px;">“The intelligence of spirits had no beginning, neither will it have an end. … There never was a time when there were not spirits . . . ” And, “Man was also in the beginning with God” (Doctrine and Covenants 93:29). In other words, our LDS theology asserts that every one of us is as ancient or forever as the God who we describe as the father of our spirits. Moreover, Joseph Smith stated that God has not forever been a god but at some point dwelled on an earth and went through a growth process similar to our own whereby he eventually became the </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 18.6667px; text-indent: 0px;">“</span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 0px;">exalted man</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 18.6667px; text-indent: 0px;">”</span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 0px;"> who we refer to as God the Father. (Of course, if we're going to believe Joseph Smith, we need to bid adieu to scriptures that assert God is the same yesterday, today and forever.<span>) </span><span>Although the ideas of Joseph Smith on God's progress clearly describe a forever existence combined with an evolutionary process, most Latter-day Saints prefer to think of it as <span style="color: #202124;">“</span>eternal progression.<span style="color: #202124;">”</span> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 0px;"> </span></span></div>Steve Warrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972829970776193784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211864423765164859.post-79902902706382733582021-08-24T14:17:00.032-07:002023-03-02T16:02:36.915-08:00It's a miracle!<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> A
church that has new miracles to talk about can fire up its members far more
easily than a church whose miracles happened in the distant past. It should not be surprising, therefore, that top
church leaders often tell of miracles.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">In
the past couple of years, however, our neighborhood of miracles seems to have
become a bit of a ghetto. Consider, for
example, “miracles” offered in recent talks by Elders Ronald A. Rasband and David
A. Bednar.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">In
an April 2021 general conference address titled, “Behold! I am a God of
Miracles,” Elder Rasband told of a power outage that occurred at 5:40 p.m. on Sept.
13, 2020. The outage struck before the
scheduled 6 p.m. start of a Face to Face event to be broadcast to more than
600,000 from the church’s Jerusalem movie set near Goshen, Utah. Elder Rasband didn’t give the cause of the
outage but mentioned that there were wildfires in the area. He noted that a generator was on site “that
some thought we might be able to power up, but there was no assurance it could
sustain the sophisticated equipment at hand.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">Amid
tears and confusion among those who were to take part in the program, including
narrators, musicians, technicians and “even 20 young adults from our own extended
family,” Elder Rasband said he stepped away and “pleaded” with the Lord for a
miracle and for the power to come back on.
At 6:07 p.m., 27 minutes after the outage, power returned. “Everything
started working . . . we had experienced a miracle. . . . the Lord had put
forth His hand, and the power came on.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">Elder
Rasband also noted that he received a text from President and Sister Nelson
after the event in which the church president said “as soon as we heard the
power was out, we prayed for a miracle.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">While
all of us who believe in Christ believe in miracles, Elder Rasband’s miracle in
the land of Goshen raises a few questions. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">First,
if the power had gone out on a day in which no broadcast took place and no one had
been at the site, would its prompt restoration still be viewed as a miracle? (Keep in mind that power outages routinely
end in less than an hour.) In another
context, if my family returns home from a movie and finds, by looking at our
home clocks, that power had been off for a half-hour and had returned, would we
more likely view this as “a miracle” or as an annoyance requiring us to reset the
clocks?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">Second, before proclaiming power restoration to be a miracle, doesn’t the proclaimer have a
duty to inquire as to the cause of the outage and the means by
which power was restored? Otherwise, if every
restoration of power is a miracle, electrical maintenance personnel will be reclassified as miracle workers and will immediately demand huge pay raises. Yes, if an electrical maintenance worker was
very near the outage site at the exact moment of the outage, that would
certainly support the “miracle” narrative. But if the outage was caused, for example, by an onsite
circuit breaker tripping after a short-circuit in an appliance, would unplugging
the appliance and flipping the breaker back on be a miracle? In that case, rather than saying the Lord </span><i style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">put forth His hand</i><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">, it would surely be
more accurate to say someone </span><i style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">put forth
his finger</i><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> to flip the breaker back on.
Also, we are not told if the power was restored after someone started up
the generator. We don’t even know if it
was merely a case of crews briefly disconnecting power to perform repairs to a power pole that was damaged by a vehicle the day before.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">Perhaps
those who are happy to say that restoration of power was a miracle don’t want
to know the answer to the above questions because they fear the answer might show
the “miracle” to be a faith-promoting fairy tale.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">Third,
while the Nelsons prayed for a miracle “as soon as we heard the power was out,”
it would be interesting to know if their prayer was offered </span><i style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">after</i><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> power had been restored.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">Power
restoration in the land of Goshen could indeed have been a miracle and a direct
answer to prayer. But lack of answers to
relevant questions suggests that instead of elevating it to miracle status, perhaps
we need to be content to call it a blessing.
Otherwise, when power goes out briefly then returns at the start of a
concert featuring a vulgar punk-rock band, what’s to keep them from claiming
the “miracle” shows the Lord is a big fan of punk rock? (Most people know he prefers gospel, soft
rock and rhythm and blues.)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> On
Jan. 26, 2021, the church’s Web site ran an article titled “Elder Bednar Tells
of Temple Miracles During COVID-19” The
miracles were connected to government officials in a certain area of North
America announcing on Nov. 10, 2020, that in 72 hours, public gatherings would not be
allowed. Knowing that closure of the
temple in the area would be required and that it might last for an extended
period, temple leaders went to an around-the-clock schedule with workers
hurrying to contact members to fill time slots before the closure. In the COVID-era article, Elder Bednar praises </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 18.6667px;">the temple for rushing to get members to gather in close proximity during a three-day period, thereby presenting a stark contrast with First Presidency decisions that would soon close all 160+ temples for safety reasons and eventually include a mask requirement for everyone in all reopened temples.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">Elder
Bednar noted that one temple worker said, “Almost all available time slots were
filled in less than a day and a half.” He
described this quick action as “a mighty miracle.” However, those with a higher
bar for what constitutes a mighty miracle might have described the same episode
in these terms: “After a day and a half
of calling, several time slots remained unfilled as some older members were either
unavailable or were understandably apprehensive about gathering with no mask requirement during
a time of elevated COVID threat.” (We do not know whether the three-day, around-the-clock schedule resulted in temple staff or patrons contracting or dying from COVID.)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">Elder
Bednar further noted another temple worker saw a miracle “in having one
available appointment time precisely at the only time a patron was able to
come.” Someone else observed a miracle
in the fact that temple workers were “still smiling” at 5 a.m. (The less-faithful might see workers who were
thrilled that their night shift was ending and that they could get the hell out
of there.)</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">While
temple workers deserve to be commended for their efforts, and praying for the
return of electrical power shows faith, setting the bar for miracles so low suggests
that we may have to come up with a new, more impressive term to describe things such as walking
on water.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">Offering
gussied-up miracles might cause some to believe that the church has become one
in which real miracles are in short supply.
Besides, I fear that if my hard-to-impress grandfather had been around
to listen to Elders Rasband and Elder Bednar tell of miracles, I might have
been hard-put to persuade him not to hand them the card below, which he carried
in his billfold.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> My Card, Sir!</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I,
too, am somewhat of a bullshitter,<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But
occasionally I like to listen to a<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> PROFESSIONAL<o:p></o:p></span></p><p><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">
</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> Please Carry On!</span></p>Steve Warrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972829970776193784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211864423765164859.post-65910047800255786722018-12-03T08:02:00.007-08:002021-09-03T17:37:48.586-07:00Appreciating Christ<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">In the Church of Jesus Christ, we fall short in properly appreciating Christ.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">A prime of example is explained elsewhere on this site, wherein it is noted that the word God in the Scriptures more commonly refers to Christ than to God the Father. (See <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>Who is God?<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span>)</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Another example relates to why we should</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> make a much better effort in explaining how Christ is both Father and Son.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> If we did so, members would more easily recognize that often </span>the God who speaks of his Son or of “mine Only Begotten” is actually Christ/Jehovah in his role as the Father referring to himself as the Son.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> Furthermore, if we had a better understanding of Christ as Father and Son, we would cease teaching that Christ, in doing God the Father's will, is effectively a lesser god functioning <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>under the direction<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> of his Father. (See the section below titled <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>Under the direction of . . . ?<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”)</span> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">Elder Bruce R. McConkie observed that Christ's role as our father “is </span><em style="font-size: 18.6667px;">over, above</em><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"> and in addition to” Heavenly Father's role as the father of our spirits (BYU, Jan. 28, 1975, italics added). While I would never argue that Elder McConkie's views are always gospel, how many members have even entertained the thought that Christ's place as our father is over and above Heavenly Father's? And, as noted below, Christ qualifies as Father in seven ways. Yes, <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>I Am a Child of God<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> is viewed in the Church as referring to God the Father, but it could just as easily refer to Christ. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">We correctly teach that Father and Son are separate beings, but in my lifetime I've attended only one Sunday class on the subject of how Christ also serves mankind as both Father and Son. (I was the teacher of that September 2016 class of high priests; one of the perks of being </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">an assistant to the group leader was that I was allowed to choose my own topic.) The Scriptures provide much insight on the subject.</span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">It is worth noting that Joseph Smith changed Luke 10:22 to read: “no man knoweth that the Son is the Father, and the Father is the Son, but him to whom the Son will reveal it.” (The uncorrected King James version reads: “no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him.”)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Abinadi’s words suggest that in the Church we need to be teaching that the Son is the Father:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Teach them that redemption cometh through Christ the Lord, who is the very Eternal Father” (Mosiah 16:15).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px; font-weight: 700;">Christ is Father in 7 ways</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">There are at least seven ways in which Christ qualifies as father.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In 1916 the First Presidency and the Twelve </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">published “The Father and the Son,” a doctrinal exposition that covers in greater detail the first three items listed below.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">First, Christ is the Father or creator of the earth and numerous other worlds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> T</span>he Book of Mormon repeatedly calls him “the Father of heaven and earth” (Mosiah 3:8; Hel. 14:12; 16:18; Ether 4:7).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Second, he is the father of those who are spiritually reborn and receive eternal life. “They who shall believe on my name . . . shall become my sons and my daughters” (Ether 3:14; Mosiah 5:7, 2 Cor. 6:18, etc.).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Third, he is the Father through divine investiture of authority, which gives him the right to speak and act as though he were literally God the Father. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Numerous passages of scripture seem to refer to the Father rather than Christ when, in fact, the “Father” or God being cited is the Son speaking and/or acting as the Father. (“Behold, I am Jesus Christ. I am the Father and the Son.” Ether 3:14) For instance, i</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">n Moses 1:6 and D&C 29, the god who speaks of “mine only Begotten” is actually God the Son/Jehovah in his role as Father referring to himself as the Son.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">In Moses 7: 35, Christ says, “Behold I am God; Man of Holiness is my name.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Fourth, the Scriptures teach that the premortal Christ is the father of the physical bodies of Adam and Eve and all others who dwell on earth.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">He tells the brother of Jared: </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">“Behold, this body, which ye now behold, is the body of my spirit; and man have I created after the body of my spirit”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">(Ether 3:16).</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">“For by the power of my Spirit created I them; yea, all things both spiritual and temporal.” (D&C 29:31.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">See also Isaiah 44:24, 54:5, 64:8; Mosiah 26:23; </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">1 Nephi 17:36, </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">etc.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">)</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">His creation of the physical bodies of Adam and Eve obviously is related to the fact that mortal bodies come from and return to the dust (or elements) of the earth, <i>which he created. </i>Therefore, Christ is the first father of our physical bodies. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Note:</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">A Feb. 10, 2020, letter to me from Brook P. Hales, secretary to the First Presidency, states that according to “the consistent teaching of Church leaders, God the Father is the father of Adam.”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">At the conclusion of this essay, under “Christ created our</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">physical bodies,” I explain why I disagree.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Fifth, the crucified and resurrected Christ is the father of our resurrected bodies.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Sixth, as the God who reigns over the whole earth, he interacts with mortals as a father or parent. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He compares this relationship as that of a hen who would gather her chickens and as a shepherd and his sheep. He refers to us as his <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>little children<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> (D&C 50:41; John 13:33; Mosiah 5:7).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Seventh, the mortal Messiah was the Father. Abinadi says Jesus was “the Father, because he was conceived by the power of God; and the son, because of the flesh; thus becoming the Father and Son.” We may also infer from Mosiah 15:1-5 that as the mortal Christ grew, he became more as Father because he subjected the <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>flesh<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> (being the son of Mary) to the Father (being the son of the Father) [see also 3 Nephi 1:14].<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Speaking of this passage, the 2020 <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>Come Follow Me<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> manual, p. 71, offers the following: <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>Because of this, Jesus Christ is both the Son of God and the perfect earthly representation of God the Father.<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> (A more complete wording would have been: </span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Because of this, Jesus Christ, our God, is also the Son of God and the perfect earthly representation of God the Father.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">” Keep in mind that Mosiah 15:1 states: <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>God himself shall comedown among the children of men, and shall redeem his people. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">) </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">It’s difficult to think of the younger Jesus as the Father, because he learned line upon line. During his ministry, however, we get a strong hint of why the mortal Messiah is also the Father when he says to Phillip, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” (John 14:9) We get another clue when the outraged Jews say “he makes himself equal to God”<o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> and when </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Paul taught that Jesus “thought it not robbery to be equal with God.” (Philippians 2:6)</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> Additionally, in the 1830 edition, 1 Nephi 13:40 reads: <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>the Lamb of God is the Eternal Father and the Saviour of the world.<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> (Changed to <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>is <i>the Son of </i>the Eternal Father<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> in later editions. Similar changes were made in 1 Nephi 11.) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Some suggest that Christ may be a father in one or two other ways—as the married father of children on earth and/or in heaven—but this is non-scriptural speculation. It may somewhat be connected to the LDS conviction that to be a god, one must possess a resurrected body, be married and have children--none of which characterized the God (Jesus Christ) of the Old Testament.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Correct theology is to teach that Christ is the only God in whom </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">resides “all the fullness of the Godhead” (Col. 1:19; 2:9; D&C 93:4).</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Interestingly, in terms of the Godhead and Christ, w</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">hen the Savior speaks of being baptized in “my name” in 3 Nephi 11:23-38, “my name” appears to refer to Father, Son and Holy Ghost.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Th</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">e Son has ascended to the throne of God where he is at the right hand of the Father.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Being at the right hand means neither below nor above nor behind nor in front of.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It means side by side or on the same level.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Indeed, a flow chart depicting celestial authority yesterday, today and tomorrow might show <em>yesterday</em> with the Father at the top, with Jesus and all spirit children of the Father below. The <em>today</em> phase would show Christ directly right of the Father, with the earth below him and all mortals and those who have come to earth or will come to earth also below him. The <em>tomorrow</em> chart might show the Father and Son side by side, perhaps with other righteous, exalted beings on the same level. Unexalted beings would be at different levels below them.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Rather than continuing to follow the unscriptural practice of using God as a synonym for Heavenly Father, if we better understood that Christ, the God of the whole earth, is both Father and Son and that his roles as Father are over and above that of our Heavenly Father, we would understand that when the term God stands alone, it usually refers to Christ. (See <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>Who is God?<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> on this site.) In The Church of Jesus Christ, I believe it should be used that way. In cases where we intend God to refer to </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Heavenly Father rather than to Christ, we would be well-advised to specifically say Heavenly Father or God the Father. </span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Perspectives on Christ</span></b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">There are three perspectives on Christ that in particular deserve our attention today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">First, the mortal Messiah is our exemplar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He teaches us to pray, exercise faith, love one another, resist temptation, cope with difficulties and as children to be subject to parents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While it may be useful to follow the example of the mortal Messiah as he subjected himself to the will of the Father and taught his disciples to do likewise, it is important to remember that the risen Christ who we worship is different from the mortal who learned line upon line and precept upon precept.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a mortal, for example, Jesus prayed often.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the risen Lord, perhaps he has not prayed in 2,000 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a mortal, he counseled his followers to “be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matt. 5:48). As the risen Lord speaking to the Nephites, however, he counseled us to first be like him, saying, “ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> (3 Nephi 12:48). Notice how in the second passage, with its singular verbs, he appears to be speaking of himself as both Father and Son. Note also the use of <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>or<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> rather than <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>and.</span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Also, in delivering the Sermon on the Mount during his mortal ministry, he never uses the words “come unto me.” But during a similar sermon as the risen Lord, he three times commands the Nephites to “come unto me.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Second, it is the dying Christ who saves us.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">As Elder Jeffrey R. Holland stated, “It is the wounded Christ who is the captain of our soul.” (</span><i style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Ensign</i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">, November 1995) When Mormon tells his son Moroni to “keep the death and sufferings of Christ in your mind … forever” (Moroni 9:25), he is reminding him that t</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">he living Christ has power to save only because the dying Christ conquered death and hell.</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">“For us on Calvary’s cross he bled, And thus dispelled the awful gloom That else were this creation’s doom”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">(“While of These Emblems We Partake,” hymn 174). See “The cross = victory” elsewhere on this site.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Third, the Christ who we worship is the living, risen God of the whole earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His disciples interacted differently with the mortal Jesus and the risen Lord.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During his ministry, they often had difficulty grasping his teachings, sometimes behaved in ways that showed lack of faith, and one of them betrayed him. But when the risen Lord appeared to them, Matthew and Luke tell us “they worshipped him”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Matt. 28: 17; Luke 24:52).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the risen Lord appeared to the Nephites, “they did fall down at the feet of Jesus, and did worship him” (3 Nephi 11:17). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Is Christ <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px; font-weight: normal;">“</span>God of Gods<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px; font-weight: normal;">”</span>?</b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px; font-weight: normal;">Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote that Christ is the “God of Gods” (Mormon Doctrine, p. 129), a concept that also is taught in the Bible (<b style="font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px; font-weight: normal;">“</span></span></b>For the Lord your God is God of gods . . . <b style="font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px; font-weight: normal;">”</span></span></b> Deut. 10:17. Also, Daniel 2:47; Joshua 22:22). Whether this is true or not, it certainly is worth considering.</span></span></b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Let's begin by reminding ourselves that the Scriptures and modern prophets teach that worlds without number were created by Christ (Moses 1:33, 35). There are at least three reasons to believe that Christ may be the Savior of all these worlds. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">First, Joseph Smith said so. Church publications and speakers credit the prophet with writing or co-writing the following poetic lines based on Doctrine and Covenants Section 76 verse 24: “By him, of him, and through him, the worlds were all made, Even all that careen in the heavens so broad. Whose inhabitants, too, from the first to the last, <i>Are sav’d by the very same Saviour of ours</i>” (Italics added).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Second, in the Plan of Salvation, it was essential for Christ to die for our sins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apparently, he came as a mortal to this earth because the prospects of being killed were far better here than elsewhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As we read in Moses 7:36, this earth was the most wicked of all the worlds he had created. Moreover, even with all the wickedness on this earth, the Book of Mormon tells us there still was only a single nation here that would actually crucify him (2 Nephi 10:3). In other words, if Christ had lived on another world, the people would not have been wicked enough to kill him, thereby frustrating the Plan of Salvation in all worlds.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Third, the words universal and infinite, which often are used to describe the Atonement, suggest that it has no bounds or limits. In other words, if the Atonement were limited only to this earth or to the worlds that Christ created or to the worlds in our <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>realm<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> of the universe<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>it would have limits and, therefore, would be neither infinite nor boundless. To say that the Atonement applies to <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>our universe</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> alone misconstrues the definitions of both infinite and universe. The Atonement must apply to every person who has ever lived on this world or any other world and to any person who will ever live on this world or any other. Otherwise, it would be less than infinite.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">The boundless nature of the Atonement is reflected in the fact that it was in force long before it occurred.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Early prophets knew that Christ would successfully atone for sin. Both the Old Testament and Book of Mormon teach that repentant sinners were receiving forgiveness thousands of years before Christ entered Gethsemane.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">But the Atonement’s impact may go back much further.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">If Christ indeed is the Savior of worlds, then his Atonement also would have been in force on worlds that existed</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><i style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">before</i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">our 4-billion-year-old planet.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">How do we know worlds existed before ours?</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">In the Pearl of Great Price, Christ tells Moses: “There are many worlds that have passed away by the word of my power” (Moses 1:35).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Furthermore, if Heavenly Father was indeed once a mortal child of two mortal parents (</span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Lorenzo Snow taught that </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">as man is, God once was</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”) </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">and, unlike Christ, committed sins, it is reasonable to assume that the<i> infinite and retroactive power </i>of the foreordained Atonement of Christ also remitted his sins. </span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">(LDS leaders have taught that t</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">he Father lived on an earth and apparently committed sins. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> For example, Elder Bruce R. McConkie observed that the Father <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>worked out his salvation by obedience to the same laws he has given us so that we may do the same.<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">” The mortal, sinless Christ, on the other hand, did not <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>work out his salvation<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> but was already a God and creator of worlds without number.</span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">We may need to expand our horizons (along with our capacity to speculate) when we consider Christ’s words: “Other sheep I have which are not of this fold.” The Lord’s Atonement may have redeemed all beings anywhere in any so-called universe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> If so, it is hardly surprising that </span>McConkie and the Old Testament would describe him as “God of Gods.”</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Under the direction of . . . ?</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">We
sometimes hear in the Church that Christ functions “under the direction
of” the Father. However, if Christ functions “under the
direction of” someone else, that would constitute a stunning demotion for
a being who is “the Lord your God, even Jesus Christ, the Great I AM,
Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the same which looked upon the wide
expanse of eternity, and all the seraphic hosts of heaven, before the world was
made; The same which knoweth all things, for all things are present before mine
eyes.” (D&C 38:1,2) In a nutshell, if two beings are
omniscient and possess the same mind and will, one would have no need to
function under the direction of the other.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">The confusion on this subject may be related to the numerous passages in which the risen Lord tells
the Nephites that he is doing the Father’s will and that the Father “hath</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">commanded me.”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Let’s look more closely at these passages.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">First,
in his appearances to the Nephites (3 Nephi 11-28), it is quite clear that the
Lord, although resurrected, continues to display characteristics of his mortal
relationship with his Father.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">For
example, although Jesus tells the Nephites that he is God, rather than exercise the
full powers of godhood, he still prays to the Father as though the veil remained between him and heaven.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">It is quite likely that in doing so, he is continuing to act as the
great Exemplar for mortals and is merely showing the Nephites how to approach the Father in
prayer as he previously had done among the Jews.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">In other words, his prayers were a teaching
moment, as suggested by his words: </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">“Behold I am the light which ye shall hold
up—that which ye have seen me do.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Behold
ye see that I have prayed unto the Father, and ye all have witnessed”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">(3 Nephi 18:24).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Second,
the fact that Jesus among the Nephites is doing the will of the Father and doing as “the Father
hath commanded me” is not the same as acting “under the direction” of the Father.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead, when he, the Lord
God Almighty, carries out the will of his Father, he is simultaneously doing his
own will. This is exactly what we would expect from an omniscient being who
possesses “all power” over the earth and who declares that he is both
Father and Son (Ether 3:14).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Indeed, at the very end
of the 18 Nephite chapters in which he says </span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Father</span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> 154 times, Christ reminds
us:</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">“I am even as the Father; and the
Father and I are one”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> (3 Nephi 28:10).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Third,
when Jesus tells us in 3</span><sup style="font-family: "times new roman", serif;">rd</sup><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> Nephi that he is doing the will of the
Father, the term Father usually means himself in one of his roles as Father, as
noted earlier in this essay.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> Although</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> Jesus often reminds the Nephites of the covenants of “the Father” with
ancient Israel, Moses, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, etc., the Father who covenanted
with ancient Israel was Jehovah, the premortal Jesus Christ.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> As an example, in telling Nephi that <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>on the morrow come I into the world,<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> he states that he as the Father has revealed all things to mankind: <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>I come unto my own, to fulfill all things which I have made known unto the children of men from the foundation of the world, and to do the will, both of the Father and of the Son<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>of the Father because of<i> me</i>, and of the Son because of <i>my flesh</i><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> (3 Nephi 1:13,14, italics added) Another </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">example: In 3 Nephi 21:29, Jesus
appears to be speaking of God the Father when he says, “And they shall</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">go out from all nations, and they shall not
go out in haste, nor go by flight, for I will</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">go before them, </span><i style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">saith the Father</i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">, and I will be their rearward” (italics added).</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">But the Isaiah rendering of this passage
makes it clear that “saith the Father” (a term Christ uses often in 3</span><sup style="font-family: "times new roman", serif;">rd</sup><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">
Nephi) actually refers to the God of Israel (Christ):</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">“For ye shall not go out with haste, nor go
by flight; for the Lord will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your
rereward” (Isaiah 52:12).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">It is not sound theology to try to
remake the Godhead into a celestial First Presidency in which Christ is first
counselor and needs “direction” or needs someone to preside over
him ostensibly because he lacks knowledge, power, authority or leadership
skills. Nor does such a notion honor the Father; instead, it turns him
into a backseat driver; it's almost as though we could picture a scene in which a worried Father reminds his earth-creating Son: </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“Don't forget </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">to create the vegetation before the cattle, because we wouldn't want those poor critters to go hungry.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">” </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Additionally, when we consider that LDS scripture says that Christ is the creator of worlds without number, to say that after
billions of years he continues to create under the direction of someone else is
to suggest that the Lord of the Universe is a slow learner.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Furthermore, if Christ</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> after eons of time</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> is acting </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">under the direction</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> of his Father,</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> we are left to wonder whether his Father, who apparently was once a mere mortal sinner, remains </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">under the direction</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> of whatever God created him. Call it the downline.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><b style="font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><b style="font-size: 18.6667px;">Christ created our physical bodies</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">As
noted in the fourth point above under the heading “Christ is Father in 7
ways,” Jehovah/Christ created the physical bodies of Adam and Eve and of man on earth.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">The First Presidency, however, currently (2021) believes that God
the Father is not only the father of our spirits but is also the father of our physical
bodies.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> Church leaders</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> say that several passages of Scripture,
mainly from Moses, support this view. B</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">ut</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> multiple passages also assert that it was Christ who created our bodies and </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">all things.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> Why the confusion?</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Most likely, the Father’s “creation”
of the earth and of our physical bodies is more about semantics than about an actual creation. For example, a developer who drives past one of his housing developments might legitimately say, “I built those homes” when in reality
he never set foot on the property. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> In a similar way,</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> the Father can technically say he created “all things,” including the bodies of Adam and Eve, but in reality he gave full authority to Christ (Moses 1:32), who actually performed the work of creation—a rather
important distinction given the fact that authorizing someone to do something doesn’t amount to a hill of beans unless the work gets done.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">However, let us assume that Church leaders are correct in saying that certain verses in the Pearl of Great Price do indeed point to God the Father creating the bodies of Adam and Eve. Because those passages conflict with the clear teachings of the Book of Mormon on the subject, we are well-advised to keep in mind that these same leaders also teach that the Book of Mormon, not the Pearl of Great Price, is <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>the most correct<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">” </span>of any book on earth. Furthermore, the Pearl of Great Price provides more confusion than clarity on the subject. It provides four scenarios for the creation: 1. that our bodies were created by the Father alone, 2. that they were created by Christ alone, 3. that they were jointly created by the Father and Christ, and 4. that they were created by <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>the Gods<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> with outside help from many <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>noble and great ones<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> (Abraham 3:22). Take your pick.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The confusion in Moses is exacerbated by the fact that beginning in verse one, the God who speaks to Moses from the burning bush about the creation and often mentions <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>mine Only Begotten<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> is not God the Father</span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">—<i>it is </i></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><i>Jesus Christ. </i>Repeat: The <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>God<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> speaking throughout the Book of Moses is Jesus Christ.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">There simply seems to be no good reason why Christ, <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>the great Creator<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">” </span>of the Book of Mormon, would create the whole earth and its elements<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>including t</span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">he perishable bodies of all other creatures that dwell on earth (Moses 2:21)</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">but wouldn't create the equally perishable bodies of mortals (Moses 2:27). After all, a human eaten by wolves is digested in exactly the same way as a deer eaten by wolves. </span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">The Feb.
10, 2020, First Presidency letter to me cited above included three pages of undated commentary by Elder Bruce R. McConkie asserting that God the Father created the
physical bodies of Adam and Eve.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> Elder </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">McConkie’s
case is built by creatively interpreting various passages of Scripture, omitting
others and making strong declarations in support of a weak case in an essay titled “Did
Christ Create Man?” </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Yes, Elder McConkie deserves credit for years of research, speaking freely and generating great insight into LDS doctrine. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> But </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“Did Christ Create Man?”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> belongs in </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">the pile of theological malarkey that he also produced.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Rather
than attempt at length to rebut Elder McConkie’s arguments, I will reference only a pivotal one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He attempts to show that in the
appearance of Jesus Christ to the brother of Jared (Ether 3) that our Lord is acting in
his capacity as “Father and Son” and that we should, therefore, believe that Jesus
is referring to the Father when he says, “ye are created after mine own image.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> (McConkie</span> uses this conclusion to buttress similar
thoughts regarding the teachings of Abinadi on the subject.) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Alas, a</span>ny objective reader of Ether 3:9-21 will quickly see that Christ is speaking repeatedly of <i>himself,</i> not in his role as Father and Son, as<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the creator of man on earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>McConkie uses an ellipsis to skip over Christ’s
words “never have I showed myself unto man <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">whom
I have created</i>” (italics added) and simply ignores the fact that when
Christ frequently says I, me and my, he is clearly speaking as himself, not
as his Father. Indeed, Ether 3 is far superior to any other passage of scripture when it come to answering the question </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“Did Christ Create Man?”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">and its answer is an emphatic YES.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">And, rather than citing the many passages ignored by Elder McConkie and others that clearly identify Christ as the creator of our bodies, I will reference only two: <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>Behold, <i>the Lord </i>hath created the earth that it should be inhabited; and he hath created his children that they should possess it<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> (1 Nephi 17:36 Verse 30 reveals to us that <i>the Lord</i> being referred to in 36 is not the Father but is <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>the Lord their God, their Redeemer.<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span>). Similarly, in Mosiah 27:30, Christ is identified as <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>my Redeemer,<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">” </span>followed by <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>he remembereth every creature of his creating.<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Other
Church leaders cited in the First Presidency letter often use the term God as
though it refers to Heavenly Father as creator when, in fact, it
usually refers to the Son. In Ether 3, the usage of God as a synonym for Jesus Christ
occurs in verses 12, 18 and 20. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> In the Church, we routinely misuse the term God. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">(See “Who Is God?” on this site.) </span></div>
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Steve Warrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972829970776193784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211864423765164859.post-54369385714645984172017-03-16T17:07:00.010-07:002023-03-04T18:58:00.541-08:00Oopsy-daisy<br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">As I have noted elsewhere on this site, I believe that prophets, seers and revelators are authorized of God and deserve our prayers and support. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">When it comes to praying for our leaders, one prayer worth offering is that their decisions not be unduly or incorrectly bound up in the chains of incorrect traditions<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>chains that tend grow a bit tighter on a person the older he gets.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">As I have also noted, prophet leaders aren't infallible and don't claim to be<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>although claims made in their behalf often tiptoe along the borders of infallibility. T</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">he p</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">rophet-</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">related errors listed below underscore that we should prayerfully consider whether to follow their counsel, then do what we believe is right. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">A couple of dozen of the more significant foul-ups are listed under the heading <span style="background-color: #fdfbfc; font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Oopsy.<span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> They are followed by an</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> <span style="background-color: #fdfbfc; font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>Oops<span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> list that contains another 20 or so items that may be less serious but that are also either mistakes, highly questionable and/or contrary to what is widely believed in the church today. (Naturally, just because something is not widely believed doesn't automatically make it false.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 24px;">Oopsy</span></span> <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>In the mid-1830s, Joseph Smith predicted a bright economic future for Kirtland, Ohio, and promised members that if they continued to build up and invest in Kirtland, they </span><span style="background-color: #fdfbfc; font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">should be rich.</span><span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> Instead, the panic of 1837 devastated the area, the church's undercapitalized quasi-banking enterprise collapsed and many who lost money understandably viewed Joseph as a fallen prophet.</span><div><span style="font-family: times new roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">—Based on the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, it appears that Joseph Smith and the church believed God the Father was a personage of spirit. It reads: <span style="background-color: #fdfbfc; font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>The Father being a personage of spirit, glory and power, possessing all perfection and fullness. The Son, who was in the bosom of the Father, a personage of tabernacle, made or fashioned like unto man . . . <span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> (A few years later, Joseph Smith stated that the Father has a physical body.)</span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>In an April 1843 conference, Joseph Smith said, </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="background-color: #fdfbfc; font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>There are those of the rising generation who shall not taste death till Christ comes.</span><span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">” </span></div><div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">—In 1875, Wilford Woodruff said, <span style="background-color: #fdfbfc; font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>I believe there are many children now living in the mountains of Israel (Utah) who will never taste death; that is, they will dwell on the earth at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.</span></span></span><span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>Before the 189</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">0 Manifesto revoking plural marriage, Brigham Young, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff and Lorenzo Snow, all of whom served as church president, stated that God would <i>never</i> revoke the law of plural marriage. Brigham Young observed that </span><span style="background-color: #fdfbfc; font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 14pt;">“the only men who become Gods, even the Sons of God, are those who enter into polygamy.”</span></div><div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: #fdfbfc; font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>Many LDS leaders taught in the early decades of the church that the earth was created 6,000 to 7,000 years ago and that there was no death on the planet until after Adam and Eve partook of the fruit. Doctrine and Covenants 77:6 puts the </span><span style="font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">temporal existence</span><span style="font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> of the earth at 7,000 years. Even our current Bible Dictionary states: <span style="font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>Latter-day revelation teaches that there was no death on the earth for any forms of life before the fall of Adam.<span style="font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">” (In other words, our temple films/illustrations would better reflect </span><span style="font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">latter-day revelation</span><span style="font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span><span style="font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">and would be more exciting</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span><span style="font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">if they showed dinosaurs in the Garden of Eden. And if there was no death for </span></span></span><span style="background-color: #fdfbfc; font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="background-color: #fdfbfc; font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">any forms of life</span></span></span><span style="background-color: #fdfbfc; font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="background-color: #fdfbfc; font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;"> before the Fall, we are left to wonder whether creatures in the Garden were prohibited from eating fruits and vegetables</span><span style="font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">.</span></span></span><span style="background-color: #fdfbfc; font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">)</span> </span></span><span face=""roboto" , sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 18px; font-style: italic;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>We now accept that the 126-year prohibition of black males holding the priesthood was wrong from day one. But in 1947, the First Presidency stated: <span style="background-color: #fdfbfc; font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>From the days of the Prophet Joseph even until now, it has been the <i>doctrine</i> of the Church, <i>never questioned</i> by any of the Church leaders, that the negroes are not entitled to the full blessings of the Gospel.</span><span style="background-color: #fdfbfc; font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> (Italics added. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Note: It is very doubtful that Joseph Smith supported a priesthood ban on blacks. The prohibition most likely began in 1852 with Brigham Young as church president.) </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"> In addition to preventing males from holding the priesthood, the doctrine kept black families from participating in temple ordinances that the church views as necessary for exaltation. The Church repeatedly called the prohibition a revelation from God. (See, for example, the Dec. 15, 1969, statement by the First Presidency.)</span></div><div><br /></div><div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>Brigham Young declared that if whites marry blacks, <span style="background-color: #fdfbfc; font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>the penalty under the law of God, is death on the spot. This will always be so.</span><span style="background-color: #fdfbfc; font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> (He likely was speaking of spiritual death rather than physical death, because there are no reports of brides or grooms dropping dead after saying <span style="background-color: #fdfbfc; font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>I do<span style="background-color: #fdfbfc; font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">” nor of whack-job, 2nd Amendment-loving Utahns gunning them down.</span>) Until the mid-20th Century, subsequent church presidents agreed that interracial marriage was forbidden by God. Some called it a doctrine. Church leaders </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">also supported racial segregation in public places including redlining of real estate and a policy that required blacks to ride freight elevators in the Hotel Utah.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18.6667px;">—In 1979, t</span>he First Presidency declared, </span><span style="background-color: #fdfbfc; font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">The</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> Lord will never allow the president of the church to teach us false doctrine.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">” (<i>Gospel Principles</i>, p. 46. This statement came just a year after </span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">a revelation that, in effect, asserted that many presidents of the church had taught false doctrine related to blacks and the priesthood.)</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>On May 6, 1843, Joseph Smith said: </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="background-color: #fdfbfc; font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>I prophecy in the name of the Lord God of Israel, unless the United States redress the wrongs committed upon the Saints in the state of Missouri and punish the crimes committed by her officers that in a few years the government will be utterly overthrown and wasted, and there will not be so much as a potsherd left for their wickedness . . . <span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> (The U.S. government did not redress the wrongs, did not punish Missouri officials and was not utterly overthrown in a few years.)</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>Brigham Young stated that <span style="background-color: #fdfbfc; font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>God revealed to me<span style="background-color: #fdfbfc; font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> that Adam and God the Father were the same person. He taught Adam-God on multiple occasions.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>Elder </span><span style="background-color: #fdfbfc; font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 14pt;">Orson Pratt said, “it will be seen that the great Messiah who was the founder of the Christian religion was a polygamist . . . the Messiah chose . . . by marrying many honorable wives himself, to show to all future generations that he approbated the plurality of wives . . . ”</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>In 1862, perhaps frustrated at the slow pace of construction on the Salt Lake Temple, Brigham Young said: </span><span style="background-color: #fdfbfc; font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">There will not be any temple finished until the one is finished in Jackson County, Missouri, pointed out by Joseph Smith.</span><span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>On Nov, 7, 1900, President Lorenzo Snow said, <span style="background-color: #fdfbfc; font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>There are many people now under the sound of my voice, probably a majority, who will go back to Jackson County and assist in building the temple.</span></span><span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">” </span><span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span><span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">(As of 2018, the church has no temple in Jackson County, but the Kansas City Missouri Temple in nearby Clay County was dedicated in 2012. It is the church's 137th temple. The Community of Christ, formerly the Reorganized LDS Church, dedicated a temple in 1994 in Independence, Jackson County.)</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18.6667px;">—Oliver B. Huntington recorded in his journal that <span style="background-color: #fdfbfc; font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>as far back as 1837, I know that he [Joseph Smith] said the moon was inhabited by men and women the same as this earth, and that they lived to a greater age than we do<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>that they live generally to the age of 1,000 years.<span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> The Journal of Discourses records that Brigham Young believed the sun was also inhabited: <span style="background-color: #fdfbfc; font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>Do you think it is inhabited? I rather think it is. Do you think there is any life there? No question of it; it was not made in vain.</span></span></span></span><span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>Brigham Young, Joseph Fielding Smith, Elder Bruce R. McConkie and others taught that Mary became pregnant with Jesus as a result of sexual relations with God the Father. (</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="background-color: #fdfbfc; font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>Begotten means begotten; and Son means son. Christ was begotten by an Immortal Father </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">in the same way that mortal men are begotten by mortal fathers,</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> wrote McConkie.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">—Joseph Smith and others</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> traveled to Salem, Massachusetts, in 1836 after he reported receiving a revelation that large amounts of money would become available there. <span style="background-color: #fdfbfc; font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>And it shall come to pass in due time that I shall give the city unto your hands, that you shall have power over it . . . and its wealth pertaining to gold and silver shall be yours.<span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> (D&C 111:4) When no money was forthcoming, they returned to Kirtland, where the church soon experienced what some view as the worst monetary crisis in its history. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>In 1838, Elder Parley P. Pratt said, </span><span style="background-color: #fdfbfc; font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">I will state as a prophecy, that there will not be an unbelieving Gentile upon this continent 50 years hence; and if they are not greatly scourged, and in a great measure overthrown, within five or ten years from this date, then the Book of Mormon will have proved itself false.</span><span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">President David O. McKay called the Roman Catholic Church one of the </span><span style="background-color: #fdfbfc; font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">two great anti-Christs in the world.</span><span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> Communism was the other. (</span><i style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism</i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">, p. 120.) Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote in <i>Mormon Doctrine</i> that the Roman Catholic Church was <span style="background-color: #fdfbfc; font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>the great and abominable church.<span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-size: 18.6667px;">” Today's Latter-day Saints use neither great nor abominable in describing the Catholic Church, although </span><span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-size: 18.6667px;">false</span></span><span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> is acceptable.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>At least three church presidents have said it would be better for females</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> to be killed by an attacker rather than to be raped by him.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-size: 18.6667px;">—Wickedness. A crime. An evil practice worthy of punishment. Until the 1980s, these terms were used by church presidents to describe birth control and limiting family size. In 1998, however, the Church Handbook stated, <span style="background-color: #fdfbfc; font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>The decision as to how many children to have and when to have them is extremely intimate and private and should be left between the couple and the Lord.<span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> </span></span><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Prophets have reversed or revised their position on other women's issues such as women in the workplace, dress standards and certain limits on female participation in church meetings. For example, women didn't offer a prayer in General Conference until 2013.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #111111; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">—Many t</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">op authorities, including Presidents Wilford Woodruff and Joseph F. Smith, knowingly made false statements (sometimes under oath) relating to the continued practice of plural marriage after the 1890 Manifesto. (See <span style="background-color: #fdfbfc; font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>Plural Marriages after the 1890 Manifesto,<span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> by D. Michael Quinn.)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>Joseph Smith and subsequent prophets believed that all American Indians were Lamanites. However, the introduction to the Book of Mormon was revised in 2007 to say that the Lamanites are </span><i style="font-size: 18.6667px;">among</i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> the ancestors of the American Indians. In the Doctrine and Covenants, American Indians are still referred to as Lamanites. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18.6667px;">—Today's church does not believe </span>Brigham Young's statement that God the Father is a developing being and is <span style="background-color: #fdfbfc; font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>still progressing in knowledge and wisdom.</span><span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>Elder Orson Hyde taught that <span style="background-color: #fdfbfc; font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>Jesus was the bridegroom<span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> in the marriage of Cana and that his wife later bore him <span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>natural children.<span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-size: 18.6667px;">” </span> (In ancient Israel, couples married young. If Hyde is right and Jesus did indeed have children, it is likely those children were entering their teen years during his ministry. This may partly explain why the Lord spent long periods of time away from home and was known to be a winebibber.)</span></span><span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>President Lorenzo Snow's teaching, </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>As man now is, God once was; as God now is, man may be,</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">” has</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> fallen on hard times and today is often greeted with roughly the same enthusiasm as poor relatives who show up unannounced at the front door. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">(The lack of enthusiasm may be related to scriptures saying that God is unchanging.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Similarly, Joseph Smith taught that God the Father is an exalted man who once dwelled on a planet as we do now. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18.6667px;">—The church allowed</span> m</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">ultiple members to drink from the same large cup in sacrament meetings. When health problems arose, the practice was discontinued.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>President Heber J. Grant and other leaders supported Prohibition in 1919, </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">opposed Repeal of Prohibition in 1933,</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> and opposed Social Security and other New Deal programs.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">While European nations and Jews were under assault by Nazi Germany, the First Presidency supported isolationism as late as 1941. (When Utah native Marriner S. Eccles, chairman of the board of the Federal Reserve, received a copy in early 1942 of a 1941 First Presidency letter supporting isolationism, his response to the sender (another government official) about the letter was that <span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>I found it every bit as unenlightened as I had expected.</span></span><span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">)</span></div><div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>President Anthony R. Ivins of the First Presidency said that the lost Ten Tribes were in the British Isles, <span style="background-color: #fdfbfc; font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>where we have always known them to be.</span><span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18.6667px;">—Authorities</span> have taught that children who die in infancy will be reared to adulthood in the celestial kingdom. (This teaching is greatly complicated by the fact that the church also teaches that most earthly parents are not bound for celestial glory and by the fact that some worthy parents do not die until 90 years or more after their child died, leaving us to wonder if the child remained a child for all those decades.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>President David O. McKay told a 1961 general conference audience that the church was <span style="background-color: #fdfbfc; font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>grieved and shocked<span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> that the U.S. Supreme Court refused to allow federal and state governments to make belief in God a requirement for all officeholders. He and others favored requiring prayer in public schools.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Church leaders have called homosexuality a crime, a mental illness and learned behavior. They have</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> approved the use at BYU of weird aversion-therapy techniques to cure gays of their gayness.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>Church leaders have supported very strange Utah liquor laws and later opposed (or declined to support) the same laws.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>President Harold B. Lee, President Spencer W. Kimball, President Gordon B. Hinckley, Elder James E. Talmage and, in 2014, Elder David A. Bednar are among those who have cited modern </span><span style="background-color: #fdfbfc; font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">revelation</span><span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> in declaring that Jesus was born on April 6. Their assertions were based on a single verse of scripture, D&C 20:1, which said that the church's April 6, 1830, organization occurred </span><span style="background-color: #fdfbfc; font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">one thousand, eight hundred and thirty years since the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in the flesh.</span><span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> However, the Joseph Smith Papers Project has recently shown that this verse was not revealed to Joseph Smith as part of Section 20 but was added by scribe John Whitmer merely to preserve the date of the church's organization. Whitmer used similar language elsewhere for dates other than April 6. Moreover, even if Jesus had been born on April 6, the date in the manger would have been March 27 as 10 days were added to the Julian calendar centuries later by Pope Gregory.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>Elder Joseph Fielding Smith predicted in 1958 that <span style="background-color: #fdfbfc; font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>it is doubtful that man will ever be permitted to make any instrument or ship to travel through space and visit the moon or any distant planet. . . . All this talk about space travel and the visiting of other worlds brings to mind vividly an attempt long ago made by foolish men who tried to build to heaven.</span><span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>A </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">First Presidency declaration of Jan. 5, 1982, described oral sex as “an unholy and impure practice.” Subsequently, the church stated it is up to couples to determine for themselves which sexual practices to engage in and is no one else's business.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>In conference, Elder Gordon B. Hinckley said that it is a negative thing to be reminded of the dying Christ. He observed that Latter-day Saints do not use the cross as a symbol of our faith because </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“for us, the cross is the symbol of the dying Christ, while our message is a declaration of the living Christ.”</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> However, the sacrament hymns and the Scriptures repeatedly remind us that the death and suffering of Christ achieved victory over death and opened the doors of heaven to us. See </span><span style="background-color: #fdfbfc; font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">The cross = victory</span><span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> on this site.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>In general conference, </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">President Hinckley supported the 2003 Iraq War: “Those of us who are American citizens stand solidly with the president of our nation.”</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">—C</span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">hurch leaders supported three anti-gay marriage laws that likely contributed to the eventual legalization of same-sex marriage in all 50 states. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">In 1996, LDS leaders backed the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which was ruled unconstitutional in 2013. </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">In December 2013, Judge Robert J. Shelby ruled that Utah's Amendment 3 outlawing same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. Two years after Shelby's ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court made gay marriages legal throughout the nation in 2015. The court's ruling cited California's Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage and had been strongly supported by the church. It can be argued that the passage of DOMA, Amendment 3 and Proposition 8 all contributed to the momentum to legalize same-sex marriage in all 50 states that occurred with the Supreme Court's 2015 ruling. With Republicans in 2018 in control of the White House and Congress and with two right-wing justices joining the Supreme Court since the election of President Donald Trump, same-sex marriage might still be illegal in many states had the court not acted in 2015. (Also, in 2015 church leaders announced an apparent revelation that children living with gay parents could not be baptized, but this action was reversed in 2019.)</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">—Many</span> of today's church members likely disagree with an Aug. 18, 1894, First Presidency recommendation that Latter-day Saints <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>faithfully devote their energy and influence<span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> to the University of Utah rather than to BYU because they expected that the U. would <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>become the great intermountain center for the diffusion of knowledge.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>Last but not least is a well-intentioned whopper by </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">President Thomas S. Monson in which he stated that in the all-church basketball tournament </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">the most coveted prize was not to be adjudged first-place winner but rather to receive the sportsmanship award.</span><span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span>
<br />
<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Related articles on this site: <span style="background-color: #fdfbfc; font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>Obedience gone awry,<span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-size: 18.6667px;">” <span style="background-color: #fdfbfc; font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>Falling short, staying put</span></span><span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span></i><br />
<i><span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span></i>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Failed to make the top 40:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Although the church supported the execution of John D. Lee for the Mountain Meadows Massacre, it failed to push for the execution of other members who actually killed the 120 emigrants. (Lee said he killed no one.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18.6667px;">—Following is an example of one of the many passages of scripture that conflict with other passages and/or with teachings of church leaders: D&C 20:19 asserts that, for those who live on earth, God the Father is <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>the only being whom they should worship.<span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> Not only do many passages show we should also worship Christ, President Gordon B. Hinckley declared in 2002 that Christ <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>is the <i>central focus</i> of our worship.</span></span><span style="background-color: #f8f9fa; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> (italics added).</span></div>
</div>Steve Warrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972829970776193784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211864423765164859.post-7259507599607824112017-02-24T20:06:00.053-08:002023-05-25T14:43:34.728-07:00A few heresies<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "" "times new roman" "" , "serif"; font-size: 18pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; vertical-align: baseline;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 18pt;">Rethinking salvation
of little children</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">The Doctrine and Covenants teaches that children who die before the age of accountability inherit the celestial kingdom (D&C 137:10) and eternal life (Mosiah 15:25), which is the greatest of all the gifts of God. The Book of Mormon also teaches that little children who die do not need baptism as t</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">hey are
not capable of sinning. (Moroni 8) Some might contend that it hardly seems fair that after living six months on earth, a dead baby who came to earth to be </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">tested</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">” automatically gains heavenly glory while such glory is far from certain for those of us who are tested in this vale of tears for many decades.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt;">The Church goes further. To comfort parents of children who die before
the age of accountability (age 8), it declares that these children all inherit the
celestial kingdom, where they will eventually be raised to adulthood by their righteous parents, in particular, their mothers. What grieving parent wouldn’t
want to hear such soothing words? (See July 2021 article in Liahona.)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt;">The above teaching reflects a comment of Joseph Smith to Mary Isabella Horne and Leonora Cannon Taylor who each lost a young child. Sister Horne said, <span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>He told us that we should receive those children in the morning of the resurrection just as we laid them down, in purity and innocence, and we should nourish and care for them as their mothers.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt;">Nevertheless, this feel-good teaching, like a wheat field in gopher country, is full of holes.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt;">First, some parents who have lost a child have told of an appearance of that same child to them decades later but as an adult rather than as a child.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Second, roughly half of first marriages in Utah
and elsewhere end in divorce. Bringing two divorced parents back together for many years in the hereafter to raise their dead small
child could turn into a real nightmare. Plus, think how annoying it would be to their current spouses.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Third, at what point after parents die do they actually get to enter the celestial kingdom to raise their long-dead small child? For example, if the dead child and parents were
drowned during the Great Flood and the parents have not yet had the required ordinance work
done in their behalf, wouldn't the little child be facing more centuries of remaining in
his little-child limbo? We seem to be putting God into the position of saying to 5-year-olds, </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“Because you died before the age of accountability,</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> you will remain a 5-year-old for decades or centuries until your parents finally have their vicarious work done and they become available to raise you.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt;">Fourth, what if the parents are unworthy and/or refuse to join the Church? Would they get a temporary pass into the
celestial kingdom to rear the child before being booted out forever? Or is the child assigned to LDS step-parents?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 16.8pt; margin-bottom: 12pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Fifth, what is the theologically correct
term for the long time dead children must wait until someone finally becomes
available to rear them to adulthood? Dormancy?
Limbo? Stasis? It seems like we ought
to come up with something better. Plus, there's the problem of a child dying very young when the parents are both 25, but one parent eventually dies at age 50 and the other parent dies at age 90<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>does the parent who dies at age 50 have to wait for 40 years so that the two of them can raise the child? If the child is not allowed to be reared until the other parent arrives, we can picture a scene in which the first parent is stuck reading and re-reading </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Winnie the Pooh</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> books to the child for 40 years. </span></p>
<span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Sixth, if all little children who die will indeed be raised by their parents in the celestial kingdom, it becomes quite clear that most
people who have lived on earth are headed for celestial glory. Here’s why:
Most couples in centuries past had one or more children die before the age
of accountability, often at or near the time of childbirth. This means that all
of those parents, together with their dead little children, end up in celestial glory. This, of course, is quite contrary to Church doctrine on
the makeup of the celestial kingdom. (We teach that most mortals are bound for the telestial and terrestrial kingdoms, not the celestial, where residents must be members of the Lord's church. This forces us to conclude that LDS parents will be doing a lot of step-parenting in the celestial kingdom.)</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Seventh, on a practical, down-to-earth note, let us visualize what rearing of a small child in celestial glory would be like. It is guaranteed to be successful. Remember, Satan isn't there, so the child can't be tempted to sin. Most of these children will be raised as an only child as their siblings won't be around, having already lived their comparatively sinful lives on earth. And the sinless child might be fearless and tempted, er, inclined to take risks, knowing that he's immortal, can experience neither pain nor death, and is assured of eternal life. In fact, if this doctrine is true, we have to ask ourselves two questions: </span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">What is the point of a child being reared in celestial glory if the outcome is assured?</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> and </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“W</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">hy in the world would any loving parent on earth allow their children to live past the age of 8?</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Note: A July 2021 Liahona article asserts that small children in the celestial kingdom will be required to enter into the covenant of marriage in order to be exalted into the highest order of celestial glory, but, as noted above, Mosiah 15:25 clearly states these children will receive eternal life, the greatest gift of God. In other words, just as they were exempted from being tested and from being baptized, our theology teaches they will also be exempted from the new and everlasting covenant of marriage.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 18pt;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", "serif"; font-size: 18pt;">Heavenly Mother</span></div><br style="color: black; font-size: medium;" /><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Although there is no scripture or revelation on the subject, church leaders say we have a Mother in Heaven. I'm perfectly happy believing that. </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">But short of a revelation, whatever the church says about Heavenly Mother is no more than speculation.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> Rather than automatically believe the church's position, </span><span lang="EN" style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">as individuals we would be better advised to ponder the subject, decide for ourselves and act accordingly. Here's why: First, because consistency has not characterized our LDS beliefs on Deity. And, second, because</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> the same church that today says Heavenly Mother exists may say tomorrow that Heavenly Father always presides, that we must not seek to commune with her, that she is but one of God the Father's numerous wives, and that she should not be an object of worship. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Our LDS track record relating to Deity has not been sterling. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">We are a church whose prophet taught for a couple of decades that God the Father and Adam are the same.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">We are a church whose scriptures proclaim that Heavenly Father is the same yesterday, today and forever while we simultaneously assert that he was once a mortal and that he eventually rose to the stature of an exalted man, i.e., God.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">We are a church that teaches that in order for anyone to become an exalted person or God, he must obtain a physical body and enter into the covenant of eternal marriage, but our scriptures also state that the premortal Christ</span><span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: times new roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">was God over the whole earth, created numerous other worlds and is the creator of the physical bodies of Adam and Eve</span></span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"> all of this while having only a spirit body and, as best we can tell, never entering into the covenant of eternal marriage. Additionally, in the mid-1830s, the church-approved Lectures on Faith taught that God the Father was <span style="color: black; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>a personage of spirit.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">We are a church that teaches that our Father in Heaven is himself a fully omnipotent God while hinting that he lacked power to create spirit children without some form of assistance from a female god or gods.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">We are a church that claims to know that we have a Heavenly Mother but is entirely uncertain about whether there might be more than one. (Asserting that there is only one Heavenly Mother would likely have problematic implications relating to plural marriage and to the continuing temple practice of sometimes sealing one man to multiple wives.)</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">We are a church whose scriptures (and some leaders) state that God the Father is <span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>the only being<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> (D&C 20:19,29) we should worship, but our scriptures also speak of worshiping Christ, and one of our recent prophets, Gordon B. Hinckley, declared that it is Jesus Christ, not God the Father, who <span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>is the <i>central focus</i> of our worship.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">” The existence of a Mother in Heaven would, naturally, cause us in this era of equality to ponder whether she, too, might deserve to be worshiped, the affirmation of which would likely cause certain people to declare, <span style="color: black; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>There goes the freakin' neighborhood!</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">We are a church that is highly reluctant to use the term God to refer to Christ although our Scriptures routinely refer to him as God. (See </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Who Is God</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"> on this site.) </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: times new roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">Finally, we are a church that possesses c</span></span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">anonized, revealed scripture dealing with such low-end topics as whether certain missionaries should ride horses or mules (D&C 62:7). Yet, on the subject of Heavenly Mother, not a single word. Shouldn't profound silence from God on such a major issue be sufficient reason to take a “we don't know” position? (Also, profound silence on such a significant subject might be viewed as sufficient reason to seek a revelation.)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Yes, we may indeed have a Heavenly Mother. But church leaders who say so are simply engaging in uncanonized speculation. </span><br /><span lang="EN" style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Frankly, when Eliza R. Snow wrote “In the heavens are parents single? No, the thought makes reason stare! . . . truth eternal tells me I've a mother there,” she was not issuing a revelation for the church but was merely engaging in deductive reasoning. Still, what Joseph Smith <i>might have said</i> on the subject may not be heresy, but it is certainly hearsay. Yes, the Heavenly Mother teaching has a comfortable feel, it harmonizes well with other LDS doctrines, many prophets have embraced the concept, and most of us feel good about it. But that doesn't make it revelation nor does it make it true. Nevertheless, the church's inconsistent teachings on Deity need not prevent us individually in the meantime from deciding for ourselves that the church's speculation about a Mother in Heaven's existence is indeed true. And giving her a more prominent place in our minds would affect how we see ourselves and the world and would likely recognize the proper stature of femaleness; namely, equal to maleness. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">W</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">hen one looks at where males in control has brought our world, this might be the perfect time not only to decide that she exists but to decide that her female children should be much more involved in running the world. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">P.S. Let's also ditch that nonsense about Heavenly Father refusing to reveal anything about his heavenly companion because he didn't want foul-mouth rascals here on earth to profane her name. If we actually believe that Mother in Heaven is so girly sensitive that her tender feelings would be hurt if mortals misused her name, we are forced to conclude that she isn't much of a goddess because an omniscient goddess would be fully aware of the myriad despicable deeds that her children commit that are far worse than the mere misuse of her name.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Also, let's ditch this nonsense that God the Father created his children through some process that required an <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>interaction<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> with a Heavenly Mother. Look at the numbers. If the Christ mentioned in the Pearl of Great Price created <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“worlds </span>without number,<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> then how many spirit children would our heavenly parents have created to populate those worlds? Let's say <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>worlds without number<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> is actually only 10,000 and that 25 billion spirit children are sent to each world. Total: 250 trillion. Now let's assume that our heavenly parents had an amazing tolerance for repetition and were actively doing something (procreating?) to produce all those children for 100,000 years before going completely stir-crazy. To have created the 250 trillion spirit children in 100,000 years, they would have had to create 7 million children per day. (And to think some people make a big deal out of having twins!) Creating 7 million children each day would leave even the most frugal couple with little time to become personally acquainted with each child. (Keep in mind that patriarchal blessings often say we knew our Heavenly Father or heavenly parents and that we dwelled with them.) I suspect that long before 100,000 years, if they had found a free moment to chat, they would have said something like, <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>Maybe we should consider other activities. Let's watch a Utah Jazz game!<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> (Rest assured, God is not a Lakers fan.) </span></div></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "" "times new roman" "" , "serif"; font-size: 18pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "" "times new roman" "" , "serif"; font-size: 18pt;">When revelation goes bad</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "" "times new roman" "" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "" "times new roman" "" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Although Joseph Smith and others reported visions in
the early years of the church, revelations for the church are typically received when the
prophet feels something is the Lord’s will, he prays about it, and if he senses
a confirming impression or voice in his mind, it might be presented to counselors, apostles and, eventually, to the church. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "" "times new roman" "" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">But how do we explain so-called revelations that are wrong from Day
One? Rather than examining the usual suspects (blacks and the priesthood, plural marriage, the role of women, etc.), let’s consider two other examples.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "" "times new roman" "" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">First, the LGBT exclusion policy of November 2015 that
prohibited baptisms of children in families with gay parents was viewed as a revelation. Some leaders said it showed the Lord’s love for children. By the time it was reversed less than four
years later, a senior apostle who had referred to it as revelation, Elder
Russell M. Nelson, had become president of the church.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "" "times new roman" "" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Second, Joseph Smith and others traveled to Salem,
Massachusetts, in 1836 after the prophet prophesied that large amounts of money
would become available to the church there and that the Lord would “give this city into
your hands.” They returned empty-handed to Kirtland. This failed revelation comprises Section 111
of the Doctrine and Covenants.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "" "times new roman" "" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">As with other failed revelations, prophecies and
teachings, the preceding two raise a couple of questions: Do prophets sometimes make up crap and present it as revelation? Or, more likely, does the Lord permit prophets to proceed
with certain courses of action (or teachings) even when what is being followed is incorrect and will be changed? In the latter scenario, perhaps Christ is saying, in effect, “I will provide no feeling to dissuade you from proceeding as you currently think is correct, but you
will eventually learn that your course is a mistake just as Joseph giving the manuscript to Martin Harris was a mistake. This will enable you to learn the importance of due diligence and will help demonstrate to you the difference between a feeling that it's OK to proceed versus a clear impression that proceeding is actually my will.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 18.6667px;">” Such a course would manifest the Lord's deference to the agency of man in which prophets, like everyone else, make mistakes and learn from them.</span><br />
<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "" "times new roman" "" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">Of course, the weird Salem revelation might better be explained by saying that the prophet combined a correct thought—that he was the
Lord’s authorized prophet—with an incorrect assumption—that thoughts that
linger in the mind of an authorized prophet surely must be there because the
Lord put them there. The same could be said of prophets having dreams that they interpret as revelations but that, in reality, may simply be the result of consuming ice cream or blueberry pie too close to bedtime. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">In both cases above, the failed revelations might have been avoided through seeking input from a range of people, not just like-minded church associates and leaders. In the LGBT matter noted above, this might
have been particularly helpful. By listening to members and others who disagree, rather
than treating them as pests, leaders might slow the flow of bunk from church headquarters.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">Unfortunately, the problem of today's accepted dogma becoming tomorrow's heresy is not limited to revelation; it also includes other accepted teachings and beliefs </span><span style="color: #2f393a;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">that don't qualify as revelations</span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">and</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> it is far from a modern problem. For example, we believe the Bible and Book of Mormon are the word of God, but the word of God contains many words that aren't from God. As with modern teachings and </span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">revelations</span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> that are later discarded, well-intended ancient prophets were caught up in traditions and cultural biases as well as the problem mentioned above of </span></span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 18.6667px;">combining a correct thought—that they were the Lord’s authorized prophets—with an incorrect assumption—that thoughts that linger in the mind of authorized prophets surely must be there because the Lord put them there. </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 18.6667px;">Obviously, many people slain by </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">righteous</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 18.6667px;"> sword wielders and stone throwers would have preferred a little less certitude from the prophets who green-lighted their killers.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 18.6667px;">Even the church today is acknowledging that the way prophets receive most <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>revelations<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> is no different from how average members pray and feel inspired. As Matthew Godfrey, managing editor of the Joseph Smith Papers project, has said: <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>for the vast majority of the revelations that are in the Doctrine and Covenants, they came to Joseph Smith the same way the Lord reveals things to us. It was through inspiration that he received (from) his heart into his mind.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 18.6667px;">” (Church News, Feb. 13, 2021, p. 15) In Joseph Smith's case, many of those thoughts were spoken to scribes and edited by others before they were published.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 24px;">Dressing for the last time</span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Having an earthly burial has never been a requirement for a heavenly resurrection. Therefore, the type of clothing placed on our corpse will have zero impact on our prospects for heavenly glory. Still, most active, temple-endowed Latter-day Saints prefer to be attired in temple clothing in their coffins. Indeed, the church handbook says worthy endowed members should be buried in temple clothing. Here are 10 thoughts about why there is no need to dress the dead in temple clothing.</span><br />
<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">1. Jesus was not buried in temple clothing, nor were virtually all of the great prophets. Enoch, Elijah, Moses and Alma apparently </span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">weren't buried at all but went directly to heaven.</span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">2. </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">In the unlikely event that temple clothes are actually required on the other side, every worthy person will receive them. Being buried in regular clothing won't hurt the worthy, and being buried in temple clothing won't help the unworthy. </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">It simply doesn't matter to a just God whether someone's body was buried in a clown suit or whether it re-entered the food chain after it was cremated, lost at sea, eaten by wolves or blown to smithereens.</span><br />
<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">3. Any temple c</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">lothing provided in the next life will be superior to what was produced on earth and will not wear out.</span><br />
<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">4. Any temple clothing made on the other side will be in the correct heavenly style. (Most temple-goers today wouldn't be caught dead in the styles of the late 1800s.)</span><br />
<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">5. We anticipate that in the Resurrection our bodies will be in the prime of life. If this is indeed the case, earthly temple clothing (or any other clothing) that fits the bodies of worn-out, creaky old dead people is unlikely to fit the body of a vibrant, resurrected being. It will need to be replaced.</span><br />
<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">6. When Peter and John arrived in the tomb, they discovered that Christ had left behind his burial clothing. Yet, when he later appeared to Magdalene and to other disciples, the risen Lord was clothed. By discarding burial clothing made in this world, Jesus was perhaps telling us that clothing made on earth stays on earth. He was also telling us that clothing (temple or otherwise) is available on the other side. </span><br />
<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">7. The Doctrine and Covenants says that children who die before the age of 8 go directly to the celestial kingdom</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">and not a one of them ever wore temple clothing. </span><br />
<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">8. Temple clothing made in heaven will not have been exposed to a corpse for an extended period of time.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">9. Instead of adorning the dead, maybe temple clothing would better be donated for use by the living. For Latter-day Saints who feel uneasy about using clothing left behind by a person who has died, be assured that such clothing is completely decoffinated.</span><br />
<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">10. Familial conflicts over whether to dress the deceased in temple clothing would be eliminated if everyone recognized that the clothing worn by the dead makes no more difference in the next life than whether the dead person was buried at all.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Putting temple clothing on corpses is nothing more than an unexamined tradition that we Latter-day Saints have become comfortable with. As long as it has the imprimatur of church headquarters, it will be as hard to shed as any other bad habit. Of course, that doesn't mean we are stuck with it forever because, when it comes to reversals of church policy on matters of burial, it wasn't too many years ago that cremation was taboo for members in the United States, whereas today it is acceptable.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">It is also good to keep in mind that the Scriptures say our bodies came from the dust of the earth and unto the dust they return. (Gen. 3:19, Eccl. 3:20, etc.) Despite scriptures that appear to say that our mortal bodies undergo change and resurrect, these temporary bodies partly consist of matter from plants and other animals (including long-dead humans whose remains had returned to the food chain). Our resurrected physical bodies, therefore, will surely consist of a new, nonperishable substance.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: times new roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 24px;">Half-baked theology</span><br />
<span face="" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span>
<span face="" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">As I have noted elsewhere on this site, the
Church cranks out theological malarkey on a regular basis. </span><span face="" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">One of the most prolific contributors to the malarkey pile was Elder Bruce R. McConkie.</span><span face="" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span face="" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">(He
also contributed much valuable insight on gospel topics.)</span><span face="" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span face="" style="background-color: white; font-size: 14pt;">One of Elder McConkie’s most dramatic additions
to the pile was titled “We worship the Father and him only and no one else,” which was a
subsection of a BYU Devotional address titled “Our Relationship with the Lord” that he gave on March 2, 1982.</span><br />
<div style="background: white;">
<span face="" style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span>
<span face="" style="font-size: 14pt;">Below are Elder McConkie’s verbatim thoughts in their entirety, divided into five parts, followed by my comments.</span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<i><span face="" style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span face="" style="font-size: 14pt;">We do not worship the Son, and we do not worship the Holy Ghost. I
know perfectly well what the scriptures say about worshipping Christ and
Jehovah, but they are speaking in an entirely different sense—the sense of
standing in awe and being reverentially grateful to him who has redeemed us.
Worship in the true and saving sense is reserved for God the first, the
Creator.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span face="" style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span><span face="" style="font-size: 14pt;">That we do not worship Christ in the “true”
sense but simply find ourselves “standing in awe and being reverentially
grateful to him” is a claim that Elder McConkie pulled out of thin air. The Nephites were not “standing in awe</span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span face="" style="font-size: 14pt;"> of Christ but were kneeling in worship when “they </span><span face="" style="font-size: 14pt;">did
fall down at the feet of Jesus, and did worship him.” 3 Nephi 11:17 And Nephi was speaking of total, all-out, 100 percent worship of Christ when he stated: <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>Christ is the Holy One of Israel; wherefore ye must bow down before him, and worship him will all your might, mind, and strength, and your whole soul.<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> 2 Nephi 25:29 </span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span face="" style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span><span face="" style="font-size: 14pt;">Also, to say that worship in the “<i>saving sense</i> is reserved for God the
first, the Creator” has two significant problems. First, prophets and the Scriptures make it
abundantly clear that the atoning Christ, not the Father, saves us and that he is the only source of eternal life. In other words, we could worship the Father 24 hours a day, but without Christ we'd still not be saved. Second, the
title “the Creator” in the Scriptures generally refers to Christ, not to the Father.</span><br />
<span face="" style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span>
<span face="" style="font-size: 14pt;">To say that The Church of Jesus Christ, which builds temples in “Holiness to the Lord”
and always remembers him in Sunday worship services, does not worship him would seem to suggest that the church is misnamed.</span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span face="" style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<i><span face="" style="font-size: 14pt;">Our revelations say that the Father “is infinite and eternal,”
that he created “man, male and female,”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span face="" style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span>
<span face="" style="font-size: 14pt;">Our revelations also say not only that Christ is both the Father and the Son, but that he is “the Lord your God, even Jesus Christ, the Great
I AM, Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the same which looked upon
the wide expanse of eternity, and all the seraphic hosts of heaven, before the
world was made; The same which knoweth all things, for all things are present
before mine eyes.” (D&C 38:1,2) </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span face="" style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span>
<span face="" style="font-size: 14pt;">Christ, not the Father, created the physical bodies of
man. Ether 3:9-21 is far superior to any
other passage of scripture when it comes to answering the question “Did
Christ Create Man?”—and its answer is an emphatic YES. (See the final section of <span style="color: #222222; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>Appreciating Christ<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> on this site.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<i><span face="" style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span face="" style="font-size: 14pt;">And gave unto them commandments that they should love
and serve him, the only living and true God, and that he should be the only
being whom they should worship. [D&C 20:17-19]</span></i><i><span face="" style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span face="" style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span><span face="" style="font-size: 14pt;">In the above-cited 20th Section of the D&C, the God who was speaking and who gave to Joseph Smith <span style="color: #222222; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>his will and commandment” and who is entitled to <span style="color: #222222; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>all glory, both now and forever<span style="color: #222222; font-size: 18.6667px;">” </span>was <i>not </i>God the Father but was Jesus Christ, as is clearly noted in the section’s
heading and in verses 1-4.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span face="" style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span face="" style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;">Far from saying that the Father is “the
only true God,” Nephi declares that “the true and living God” is
Christ, <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“t</span>heir Redeemer,<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> 1 Nephi 17:30, and Mosiah declares that </span><span face="" style="font-size: 14pt;">“Christ,
the Lord God Omnipotent . . . is God above all” Mosiah 5:15.</span><span face="" style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;"> In view of the
fact that the D&C and Book of Mormon appear to disagree on this
topic, let’s keep in mind that the Church’s view is that the Book of Mormon is “the
most correct” book.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span face="" style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span>
<span face="" style="color: #222222; font-size: 14pt;">Indeed, far from saying the Father
is “the only being whom they should worship,” President Gordon B. Hinckley,
speaking in April 2002 General Conference, observed that Jesus Christ </span><span face="" style="font-size: 14pt;">“is <i>the central focus</i> of our worship” (italics added).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<i><span face="" style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span face="" style="font-size: 14pt;">Jesus said: </span></i><i><span face="" style="font-size: 14pt;">True worshippers shall</span></i><i><span face="" style="font-size: 14pt;"> [note that this is mandatory] worship the Father in spirit and in truth;
for the Father seeketh such to worship him. </span></i><i><span face="" style="font-size: 14pt;">For unto such hath God promised his Spirit. And they
who worship him, must worship in spirit and in truth</span></i><i><span face="" style="font-size: 14pt;">. [JST John 4:25-26]</span></i></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<span face="" style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span>
<span face="" style="font-size: 14pt;">Or, we could again point out that Christ repeatedly tells us that he is God and that he is both
Father and Son. We also note that the Father himself desires that we come unto the Son: “For it shall come to pass, saith the Father,
that at that day whosoever will not repent and come unto my Beloved Son, them
will I cut off . . . ” (3 Nephi 21:20)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="background: white;">
<i><span face="" style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span face="" style="font-size: 14pt;">There is no other way, no other approved system of worship.</span></i><br />
<span face="" style="font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span>
<span face="" style="font-size: 14pt;">The “other way”—the
correct way—is that we worship both God the Father and Jesus Christ while
heeding President Hinckley’s words to make Christ “the central focus of our
worship.” In other words, Christ is No. 1 in our worship, something that is perfectly consistent with the fact that the Scriptures declare that he is the God who rules with <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>all power<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> over the earth.</span></div><div style="background: white;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span></div><div style="background: white;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">Finally, an apostle equal in rank to Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote these emphatic words about Christ: </span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">I'll <i>worship</i> him with <i>all my might</i></span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">” (italics added).</span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"> Those words come from the LDS hymn, </span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">I Believe in Christ.</span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"> It's author? Elder Bruce R. McConkie.</span></div><div style="background: white;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span></div><div style="background: white;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">Case closed.</span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span></div><div style="background: white;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18pt;">Isaiah said zero about the Book of Mormon</span></div>
</div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">We Latter-day Saints for decades have routinely asserted that Isaiah prophesied the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. </span><br />
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<span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span>
<span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">However, a closer look at Isaiah 29 reveals that the prophet almost certainly was speaking specifically about the Jerusalem of his era rather than about a latter-day people. In 29:11, when he writes <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> his <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>vision of all<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> seems to refer to the existing spiritual blindness of both the learned and unlearned. The <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>marvellous work and a wonder<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> mentioned in verse 14 most likely refers to the ending of this sorry state of affairs when Jerusalem's meek and humble turn to the Lord, perhaps a reference to Christ's earthly ministry.</span><br />
<span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span>
<span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Writings in ancient times were routinely sealed (1 Kings 21:8), so the metaphorical learned man saying he couldn't read a sealed book (scroll) may merely point to his lack of interest in spiritual things; he apparently makes no effort to unseal the scroll, an effort that might have consisted of taking the scroll to someone authorized to unseal it.</span><br />
<span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span>
<span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">In saying </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">the vision of all is become unto you <i>as</i> the words of a book,</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> the word </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">as</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> tips us off that Isaiah is not speaking about an actual event but rather that he has made up a short parable to illustrate his point that the inhabitants of Ariel (Jerusalem) have departed from the Lord. </span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Yes, there are significant similarities in Isaiah 29: 11,12 to the modern experiences of Professor Anthon and Joseph Smith, but there are also significant dissimilarities. </span><br />
<span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Nephi himself provides the best evidence that Isaiah was not speaking of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. In borrowing from Isaiah 29, Nephi never says that Isaiah prophesied about a latter-day book. Instead, Nephi tells us that he has turned Isaiah's words into <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>mine own prophecy<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> (2 Nephi 25:7; see also 28:1; 30:3; 31:1).</span><br />
<span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span><span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">It was Nephi, not Isaiah, who prophesied about the latter-day coming forth of the Book of Mormon.</span><br />
<span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18pt;">An impression from above—or below</span></div>
</div>
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<span lang="" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">I was gazing toward heaven not long ago while pondering the words “following the prophet is always right,<span style="color: #2f393a;">”</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span> when a 125-word sentence distilled upon my mind as dew from heaven. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Actually, I was in my recliner and bored, and there are plenty of English teachers who will insist that any sentence over 100 words sure as hell never came from heaven.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here’s what popped into my head:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">“Proclaiming it is</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><em style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">always right</em><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">to follow another mortal is a concept hatched in the darkest corner of hell—in fact, not far from Donald Trump's summer residence—and was sent forth by Lucifer himself in the form of a putrid vapor that wafted through perdition’s borders, drifted toward our galaxy and eventually distilled on the lobby floor at LDS Church headquarters where a custodian fully intended to wipe up the foul mess but became distracted by a perky young thing in a sleeveless T-shirt, thereby allowing it to ooze into the curriculum, correlation and publications areas where it spread like manure upon a pasture and has remained to this day although without the benefit of gentle breezes that often make manure-covered pastures more bearable.”</span></div>
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18pt;">The future of sex</span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">A common LDS assumption about immortal beings is that it takes male and female—and probably sexual relations—to produce children. In the Doctrine and Covenants, for example, we are told that a couple must be sealed as man and wife in order to have “an increase” in the next life. (D&C 131:4) An inference is that “an increase” refers to offspring and is achieved through sex. (Some Muslim men believe that if they die for their religion, they will be rewarded with 72 virgins who, presumably, would lose their virginity rather quickly after meeting up with the virile martyr to whom they were assigned. This isn’t taught in the Quran. It may simply be a tool to get Muslim men to do their home teaching. If they're anything like a lot of LDS men, they'd probably settle for 36 virgins if they were permitted to skip the home teaching.)</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">A strong scriptural case can be made that sexual relations may not be the way of the gods. We believe that circulatory, digestive and other bodily systems undergo major change in the next life. (It is hard to conceive of Bandaids, indigestion, root canals and restrooms in the Celestial Kingdom.) Consequently, we may discover that reproductive systems will also become distant memories. Indeed, at some future day we may all enjoy a good chuckle if it turns out that the very God who gave us a powerful sex drive deliberately placed our sexual organs near organs of excretion merely to demonstrate that a heavenly being can have a down-to-earth sense of humor.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">It is a virtual certainty that God the Father did not produce his trillions of spirit children in the way mortals produce their children. Otherwise, his newborn children, would have possessed physical bodies just as he does. It's a natural-law thing. Imagine the shock in a local maternity ward if a woman gave birth to a spirit child! Pity the poor nurse who must explain to her supervisor why she recorded zero as the birth weight.</span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Likewise, when Christ tells the brother of Jared “man have I created after the body of my spirit,” we can be sure the creation process used by Christ, a spirit at the time, was not a sexual one. Otherwise, “man” (Adam and Eve and their descendants) would also have been born on earth as spirits.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Also, Mary was told that “the Holy Ghost shall come unto thee” (Luke 1:35) and “that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” Again, the creation process is clearly not intercourse—the Father isn’t even present.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">If we presume that God needed to interact sexually with one or more wives in order to create his spirit children, we put ourselves in the rather awkward position of wondering how he “interacted” to create animals. We have laws against that sort of thing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">For those who speculate that immortals reproduce through sexual relations, it may be advisable to keep in mind that “as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than yours.” (Isaiah 55:9) In her experience with dying, LDS poet Emma Lou Thayne glimpsed “that world beyond bliss, beyond joy, beyond ecstasy,” which hints at something “higher” than any mortal sexual ecstasy. It may also be useful to keep in mind that if all resurrected beings have physical bodies, children produced through sexual relations would also have physical bodies and would not need to dwell on an earth to obtain such a body, clearly contrary to the Plan of Salvation. (And speaking of resurrected beings, the Scriptures suggest we all will live as adults and that the traditional family—babies, children, parents, grandparents, etc.—will be merely a relic from our earthling era. Of course, if we become gods and somehow produce spirit children, they presumably would inhabit an earth and temporarily experience the same baby, child, parent, grandparent thing that we went through.) </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">If the idea of no male-female sex in the hereafter seems depressing, this essay does not assert there is no sex in heaven. It only suggests that when it comes to either a Mother in Heaven or sex in heaven, we should not present opinion, belief or speculation as knowledge or doctrine. Heaven may have a way of creating children that does not require male and female gods to get all hot, bothered and humpy. And I wouldn't blame a gay person for viewing this essay as confirmation that the male-female thing is way overrated. </span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="font-size: 24px;">Pity the poor teacher</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">(The following was written in 2017.)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">In relief society and
priesthood classes, the course of instruction since 1998 has been </span><i style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Teachings
of Presidents of the Church</i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">. The 2017 manual features President
Gordon B. Hinckley. We instructors understand that we are expected to
teach in a way that invites the Spirit and that builds confidence in leaders of
the church. Unfortunately, the manuals often make that tricky.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">What is a teacher to do
when he disagrees with the theology taught in a key section of the lesson? An
example: In Chapter 8 of the Hinckley
manual, the first page and a half imply that it’s a negative thing
to be reminded of the death and sufferings of Christ. (See “The cross = victory” on this site.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Or, what were teachers
to do when Lesson 11 on following the living prophet in the Ezra Taft Benson
manual in 2015 was based heavily on a Benson talk that was not well-received by
then President Spencer W. Kimball? Naturally,
this would be especially difficult when the teacher totally agrees with President
Kimball.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Or, how comfortable
would a teacher be testifying to the truthfulness of a lesson that contains internal
contradictions as well as teachings that aren’t accepted today? On this final conundrum, I offer six problems
below from Chapter 2, “God the Eternal Father,” from the 2011 Joseph Smith
manual.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">1. Joseph Smith is quoted as saying, “I learned
in the scriptures that God was the same yesterday, today, and forever.” He also refers to the Father as the God “who
was and is and will be from all eternity to eternity.” Later, however, the manual quotes Joseph as
saying, “God Himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">2. The lesson says Joseph Smith believed that God
the Father was “the Great Parent of the universe” and that “the Great Parent of
the universe looks upon the whole of the human family with a fatherly care and
paternal regard; He views them as <i>His</i>
offspring.” (Italics added) The Heavenly
Father described by Joseph Smith seems to be a single parent; no mention is
made of a Heavenly Mother. This, of
course, does not mean Joseph was wrong; it’s simply different from what the church teaches today. (It also is apparently different from what some say Joseph taught later in his life.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">3. Referring to God the Father, the manual
quotes Joseph Smith: “Adam . . . received instruction from, and walked,
talked and conversed with Him.” LDS scripture teaches that Christ was the God
who created the earth, who created the physical bodies of Adam and Eve (Ether 3:14-16, s</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18.6667px;">ee the final section of </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18.6667px;">Appreciating Christ</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18.6667px;"> on this site)</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">, and who
interacts with mortals. </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">The only scriptural account of the Father appearing to man is his 1820 appearance to Joseph Smith. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">4. The prophet Joseph instructs us to come to
the Father: “When we understand the character of God and know how to come to
Him, He begins to unfold the heavens to us, and to tell us all about it. When
we are ready to come to Him, He is ready to come to us.” While it can easily be argued that the practical effect of coming unto the Father or Christ is the same, the
Scriptures repeatedly and emphatically teach that man is to come specifically to
Christ. The Father commands: “whosoever
will not repent and come unto my Beloved Son, them will I cut off . . . ” (3
Nephi 21:20) The Son is the God who has
been revealed to us and is the revelator authorized by the Father “to unfold the heavens to
us.” I</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">n the January 1976<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><i>Ensign,</i><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>Elder Bruce R. McConkie noted that<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">whenever Joseph Smith
asked the Father, in the name of the Son, for answers to questions, “the
answering voice was not that of the Father but of the Son.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">5. Speaking of the Godhead, Joseph Smith
observes that “the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones but is a
personage of Spirit.” A few lines later,
he is quoted as saying that any being “without body or parts is nothing.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">6. The manual cites secondhand sources who say
they heard Joseph Smith say that God the Father “presides” in heaven in the
role of “President.” For purposes of understanding our relationship
with the Godhead, however, it would have been helpful to mention that when it
comes to man on earth, the Scriptures say that Christ is both Father and Son,
that the fulness of the Godhead resides in him and that he possesses all power
over the earth and, like the Father, has all knowledge. As God of the whole earth, he simply does not
need to be “presided over” or to be “under the direction” of someone else. Whatever he says or does is automatically the
mind and will of the Father. Christ is a
full-fledged god, not a counselor in a presidency or bishopric. Indeed, Elder Bruce R. McConkie says Christ’s
role as Father is “<i>over, above</i> and in addition to” that of God the Father and
that Christ is “God of Gods.” (Not that Elder McConkie was always correct.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Note: The manual writers didn’t include Joseph Smith’s
statements that Jehovah is God the Father, a viewpoint that pops up in <i>Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith,</i> and in Section 109 of the D&C but is in conflict with Section 110. (The church says Jehovah is Christ.) For
what it’s worth, the fact that Joseph Smith misidentified Jehovah
(at least for a while) shouldn't bother anyone. It confirms he was no scriptural scholar in his earlier years and needed to rely on “the gift and power of God” in translating the Book of Mormon.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">By the way, I’m not
saying that I know my views on the Godhead, Mother in Heaven, etc., are more accurate than prevailing
teachings in the church, but I think there’s a fine chance that some of them are. Frankly, I’d like to hear less
of “we know” in the church and more of “we believe”<span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>or </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“w</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">e don't know.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span></div>
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Steve Warrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972829970776193784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211864423765164859.post-52821128633552884252015-10-22T13:36:00.019-07:002024-02-28T18:46:38.167-08:00Short takes <br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: 24px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: 24px;">Mortal souls? Not exactly </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">The church's definition of immortality is defective: <span style="color: black;">“</span>Immortality is a state of endless life beyond the power of death, which is obtained following the Resurrection. All mortal souls will eventually become immortal through the power of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Joseph Smith stated that all souls are co-eternal with God. Here's a better definition:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">“The souls of all men and women are everlasting and co-eternal with God, who became God after dwelling on an earth and attaining exaltation. Through the Resurrection, all souls unite with immortal physical bodies and can obtain exaltation through the Atonement of Christ.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span></div></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18pt;">Never see R-rated movies? Just another myth</span></div>
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Some active members of the church routinely assert that Latter-day Saints must not attend R-rated movies in order to </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">follow the prophet</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"> or to be obedient. Perhaps they are unaware of the answer to the question below.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Question: How many presidents of the church have said adult members should never view R-rated movies?</span><br />
<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Answer: None</span><br />
<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Yes, President Ezra Taft Benson counseled young men at a 1986 General Conference priesthood session not to view R-rated movies in order to keep their minds free of <span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>entertainment that is immoral, suggestive or pornographic.<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> (He later offered similar counsel to young women of the church.) But the general membership of the church has <i>never</i> received counsel from a church president not to attend R-rated movies.</span><br />
<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Indeed, President Benson's counsel to youths suggests that attending R-rated movies might be acceptable even for LDS young people if the movies contain no sexually explicit material. In fact, I would not hesitate to recommend to my fellow Latter-day Saints age 16 and above that they view such R movies as <i>The King's Speech</i>, <i>Gran Torino</i> and <i>Schindler's List.</i></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Although no president of the church has said we should never see R-rated movies, Elder Robert L. Simpson stated in October 1972 general conference that members should not view R-rated movies. Let's keep in mind that Elder Simpson was an assistant to the Twelve and was expressing his opinion, not the position of the prophet, the First Presidency, the Quorum of the Twelve or of the church. (If certain members feel they need to be extra faithful by striving to obey fringe-area guidance from lower-level authorities, these same members should feel free to do so. And while they're at it, if they engage in the in-vogue practice of repeating the word <span style="color: black; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>Father<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> in prayers, they would also be well-advised to obey a higher-level authority</span></span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">—a president of the Twelve</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">—who has counseled us to s</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">top repeating the name of Deity in public prayers</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">. See </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“Father, Father, Father</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> on this site.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Here's a couple of other problems with letting a rating given by the Motion Picture Association of America determine whether we see a movie. First, by relying solely on rating and ignoring movie content, we may miss a great movie containing one F-word while convincing ourselves it's OK to see a PG-13 movie that is mediocre and full of vulgarity, violence or idiotic content. Second, the MPAA rating ignores the fact that many members live in countries where their movies receive no MPAA rating. T</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">hird, by </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">automatically following someone's counsel never to see an R-rated movie, we trust in them and the MPAA to guide us rather than wisely exercising our agency.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18pt;">No public prayers, plenty of inspiration</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Latter-day Saints are quite gung-ho about our U.S. Constitution being inspired, and most active members see prayer as entirely acceptable in government meetings. They might not be enthusiastic about a certain passage on page 88 of <i>The Great Prologue</i>, by Elder Mark E. Petersen. There, Elder Petersen observes that Benjamin Franklin earnestly appealed for daily prayers at the constitutional convention. How did the delegates react to his request? They firmly rejected it. Franklin later wrote: <span style="color: black;">“</span>The convention, except for three or four persons, thought prayers unnecessary.” </span></span></div></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18pt;">Inspired revision of a biblical passage</span></div><div><br /></div></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">In the Bible, we read that Jonah was on a ship, a great wind came up and he ended up in the belly of a whale for three days.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18.6667px;">My inspired and more believable revision of this passage is as follows: <i>Jonah was on a ship when a great wind came up, and three days later he ended up in Wales. It was possibly Scotland, but when a local asked Jonah if he wanted the address (pronounced uh-dress in a British accent), Jonah misunderstood and replied, </i></span></span><i><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18.6667px;">No, I don't want a dress. I'm a man.</span></span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> Oh, and by the way, the Germans are gonna eventually bomb you guys.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span></i></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Inspiration comes from different places. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18pt;">No individual exaltation?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">President Russell M. Nelson has said <span style="color: black; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>Salvation is an individual matter, but exaltation is a family matter.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><br />
<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Or not.</span><br />
<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">We teach that salvation is Christ's victory over death and that <i>everyone</i> resurrects through the Lord's merits and generosity. In other words,</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">the entire human family is saved regardless of individual behavior. Exaltation, on the other hand, is an individual matter. Abel, yes; Cain, no</span></span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">—same family</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">. If an individual's heart is sufficiently pleasing to the Lord, he will eventually be exalted even if no one else in his family is. Yes, we currently believe that one man and one woman must be sealed to each other to receive exaltation, so perhaps exaltation would be more often a </span><span style="color: black; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;">couples</span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> matter than a family matter. (Many couples are childless.) </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: times new roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: times new roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">Besides, if exaltation were a family matter, the following people might be up a creek: Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother; Joseph and Emma Smith; Adam and Eve. (Read on.)</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: times new roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: times new roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">According to LDS doctrine, Heavenly Father and Mother lost a third of their children even before the earth was created. Later, we were informed by revelation that of their remaining children, the vast majority will be unworthy to return to dwell with them. In today's world, parents with such a miserable record would be sent to counseling.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: times new roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: times new roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">As far as Joseph and Emma Smith's family exaltation, keep in mind that neither Emma nor any of their children remained active in the church after Joseph's death.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: times new roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: times new roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">Adam and Eve's exaltation is based on their individual behavior, not their son Cain's terrible behavior nor the misbehavior of nearly all of their descendants whose lives, not sins, were washed away by a flood.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: times new roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: times new roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">Nothing is more individual than a person's own worthiness level, which, I'm sure President Nelson would agree, is connected to exaltation.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: times new roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18pt;">Lehi's family landed . . . </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">In the New World, when Lehi talks to his family about this <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>land of promise,<span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> he is talking about a land to which other people would come as they were <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>led out of other countries by the hand of the Lord.<span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> (2 Nephi 1:5) This brings to mind the centuries-long immigration to the United States from other nations. We are reminded of the welcoming words on the Statue of Liberty about bringing to the United States <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>your huddled masses.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">When we read Lehi's words, we certainly do NOT think of people yearning to migrate to Central America, where poverty, crime and government corruption have long made the area a place from which residents flee. Moreover, we hardly think of Central America as <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>a land of liberty unto them; wherefore, they shall never be brought down into captivity.<span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> (2 Nephi 1:7) In fact, many who have lived in Central America have found themselves often dealing with widespread lawlessness and fighting against dictators who come and go</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">not exactly a place where Lehi's descendants </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">shall dwell safely forever.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"> (verse 9) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">Yet, many believe that Lehi and his group settled in Central America, more specifically in the area of what is now Panama, with its </span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">narrow neck of land</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"> presumably providing geographic evidence that this was where they lived. </span>Perhaps we need to give up our fixation on Central America being the landing zone for the original Nephites and Lamanites. Another candidate might be the Chesapeake Bay area, which has a stretch that could be called a <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>narrow neck of land.<span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 18.6667px;">” </span> Moreover, when Moroni carried his golden plates and other objects to bury at the present Hill Cumorah site in western New York state, it is certainly much easier picturing him making the journey north from the Chesapeake Bay region or elsewhere in today's eastern United States, rather than traversing 4,000 miles from Central America. (Crossing the Rio Grande and the Mississippi likely wouldn't have been great fun for the aging Moroni.) On the other hand, Alma 63 does say that the shipbuilder Hagoth launched his ship <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>forth into the west sea, by the narrow neck which led into the land northward,<span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> which does sound more like the Panama area. Still, in the Chesapeake Bay area if he had launched into the west sea, he could still have proceeded north via the Susquehanna River.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18pt;">The best focus</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">The paragraph below is from reflections by Linda and
Richard Eyre about their friend Stephen Covey.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">It ran in the July 20, 2012</span><i style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">,
Deseret News</i><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">“One evening he told us that there were many large,
extended families who summered at a different lake, the one where he and Sandra
always took their kids for the Covey family reunion. He said that after
watching all those families for several years, he realized that they fell into
three categories: families that were church-centered, families that were
family-centered and families that were Christ-centered. It was only the third
category, he said, that lasted, stayed strong and stood the tests and
challenges of life without becoming divided.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: times new roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: times new roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">The paragraph below is from the Aug. 9, 2020, obituary of LDS scholar Armand Mauss.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: times new roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: times new roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">I gradually reached the decision, as Jesus of Nazareth taught us, that the good, moral life boils down to the two great commandments of loving God and loving each other as God's children. This is the simplest, but most profound and effective, moral code in human history. Compared to these two commandments, all other moral demands, from whatever sources, pale into insignificance. The <i>main focus</i> becomes how we should treat each other in this life, rather than on preparing for the next life.</span></span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">” (Italics added.)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">(Mauss' </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">main focus</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> on the second great commandment is reminiscent of Christ's later words: </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Our need to focus on the second great commandment over all others also seems to be the message of message of the Golden Rule, as stated in 3 Nephi 14: 12: <span style="color: black; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them, <i>for this is the law and the prophets.</i><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">” (Italics added). </span> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
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<span lang="EN" style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18pt;">Proof that there is a God</span></div>
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">I</span> offer the following experience as proof that there is a God.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Around midnight in the late 1990s, I waited in my car for a left-turn signal on northbound State Street and North Temple in Salt Lake City.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had just finished a Saturday afternoon/evening shift at the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Deseret News</i>, but for the
occupants of many of the other 10 or so cars it perhaps was late-night party
time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">At the front of the left-turn line was a car with several rowdy
young men, windows open and loud music rolling forth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Behind them was a car with two more males.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was third in line, and other cars to the
right occupied the northbound lane. As the rest of us dutifully waited for the
lights to change, the first car peeled out and accelerated through the red
light onto westbound North Temple.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
effect, the message the young men sent to the rest of us was: “Hey, losers. You
can obey the law if you want, but we sure as hell don’t have to.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">A few seconds later, as I muttered to myself, it got worse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The men in the second car also peeled
out!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> I surmised that </span>the fellows in both
vehicles were part of the same night-on-the-town group. My muttering grew more
intense. I'm ashamed to admit that I might have thought, or spoken, the words “cocky bastards.” My main thought was: Why is there
never a cop around when you need one?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Finally, the light changed and the rest of us proceeded.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>About two blocks later, to my surprise
I saw the two peel-out cars parked on the side of the road.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I passed, I saw flashing lights on the
dashboard of the second car—it was an unmarked police car!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">In that moment I went from being a muttering loser to a man with
one joyful thought:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Yes,
there is a God.”</span><br />
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18pt;">The Spirit made me do it</span></div>
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Many active, mainstream members take a dim view of those who don’t always follow the Brethren and who appear to pick and choose when to obey. That's especially true if the picker and chooser is an Obama-lovin' bleeding heart liberal. Yet mainstream, more traditional members also pick and choose—but with a major difference.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> W</span>hen one of them chooses to disobey, he may feel he is doing so because the Spirit has directed him. (Which is, by the way, a good excuse for disobeying.)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Following are five common ways that active members disobey the Brethren.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">First, testimony bearers, perhaps the majority, tend to disregard specific counsel from the church about testimonies not being, in effect, mini-speeches or verbal newsletters. Yes, some may be unaware of the counsel, but unawareness represents a failure to pay close heed to leaders—also a form of disobedience.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Second, speakers routinely disregard the time limit assigned for their talk.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Third, the leaders of some organizations, perhaps caught up in a presumably spiritual lesson, allow their meetings to run several minutes over the time specified for the meeting block. Often, when a meeting has already gone over, leaders compound the disobedience by allowing the closing song to be sung, followed by a prayer.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Fourth, LDS young people appear to feel it's OK with the Spirit for them to attend, view or participate in football games, despite specific counsel from church leaders not to attend, view or participate in anything that is violent <span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>in any way.<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">” </span> (See <span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>For the Strength of Youth<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">” pamphlet, p. 11.</span>) They also routinely attend or view such movies as <span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>Star Wars</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"> that contain violence. (Give BYU credit for cutting back on football violence in 2017 thanks to many missed tackles and a 4-9 record.) I recognize that this fourth reason is more a function of crappy wording in the </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">For the Strength of Youth</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">” pamphlet. Still, it's official and that's what it says.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Fifth, leaders have repeatedly counseled against repeating the name of Deity in prayers, but we constantly hear Father this and Father that. (See “Father, Father, Father” on this site.)</span></div>
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">A rather dramatic example of “Spirit-driven” disobedience happened a number of years ago in a previous ward that I attended.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During two sacrament meetings a couple of weeks apart, the first speakers went well over their allotted time, leaving no time for the final, main speakers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In order to right this wrong, the bishopric invited the two speakers who had been jilted to speak in a sacrament meeting the following month.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This would have been a wonderful solution to the unfair treatment of these two brethren except for one thing—the first man proceeded to hog nearly all the time!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18pt;">An approach to the Word of Wisdom</span></div>
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">For years, a man named Cory entered the same bar every Tuesday night, sat at the end of the counter by himself, and ordered three small beers. On his latest visit, however, he ordered two large beers.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">As he arose to leave, the bartender said, “Hold on just a second. I've gotta ask you something. You've been coming in here for years and drinking three small beers, but tonight you had two large ones. What's going on?”</span><br />
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Cory smiled, leaned against the bar, and said, “Here's the story. In Vietnam in 1968 I had two good buddies, Mike and Matt. We promised each other that if one of us didn't make it out of there alive, the other two would drink a beer every week in his memory. Well, we had a terrible firefight a month later, and Mike and Matt were killed. Since that time I've had one beer a week in memory of Mike, one in memory of Matt and the third one for myself. Tonight I drank one for Mike and one for Matt but none for me because last Saturday I joined the Mormon Church, and I'm not allowed to drink.”</span><br />
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18pt;">Two glasses half full?</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">My wife and I attended a regional conference at the Conference Center in 2014 at which Elder Dallin H. Oaks was the final speaker.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first of several speakers addressed the importance of family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Elder Oaks arose, he noted that no topics had been assigned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, because the speakers all independently chose to speak on the same topic, family, he observed that they had selected the message that the Lord wished to emphasize.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Elder Oaks comment brought to mind words that President Gordon B. Hinckley had spoken as the final speaker in the April 1995 general conference:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">“My brethren and sisters, just a few words in conclusion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First, I’d like to say that we have participated in a miracle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I have listened to all who have spoken, I have noted that there has been <i>no duplication of treatment</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every man and woman who has spoken has chosen his or her own theme to treat. There are no assignments made to any of the speakers concerning what they should say</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">” (italics added).</span><br />
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18pt;">We're not <i>that</i> rude</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">F</span>or decades, letters to the editor have popped up in Utah newspapers insisting that our state's drivers are the rudest in the country. I never thought that was true. Having driven in all of the Western states except New Mexico, my view is that, yes, our Utah drivers may be <em>among</em> the rudest, but saying we're No. 1 is a total guess. In 2014, I was pleased to get support from an outfit called Insure.com. They conducted surveys of 2,000 drivers nationwide, asking which state has the rudest drivers. I'm happy to say we Utahns got good news—we're only the ninth rudest!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Neither the </span><em style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Church News</em><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"> nor the </span><em style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Ensign</em><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"> bothered to inform their readers about this wonderful survey and its positive implications for Latter-day Saints. After recently studying the numbers more closely, maybe it's best that they let that sleeping dog lie. That's because the four states with the highest proportion of LDS residents—Utah, Idaho, Wyoming and Nevada—all finished in the top 10. Idaho was No. 1; Wyoming was 3; Nevada was 8 and Utah was 9.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Post script, Dec. 10, 2016: A study recently released by QuoteWizard reports that Utah's drivers are “the worst in the nation.” (To be fair, worst doesn't necessarily mean rudest. It may merely reflect our competence or intelligence level.)</span><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18pt;">Who was that man?</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">An Idaho-raised, LDS college student related the following experience at a U.S. university.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">“When [the speaker] strode onto the stage, I recall him first greeting invited guests, university leaders and dignitaries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then he turned, smiled and waved, and a powerful feeling washed over me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can only describe it as a presence of great virtue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was as though I felt a wave of goodness rush past me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I recall being shocked by the experience. . . . his soul touched mine—no doubt through the virtue of a life of choosing good over evil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I left inspired to be better.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Perhaps most Latter-day Saints in reading this account by Matt Sanders would surmise the speaker was the president of the church or an apostle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, it actually tells of Nelson Mandela’s 1998 appearance at Harvard University.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Deseret News</i>, Dec. 13, 2013) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18pt;">Kernels of truth<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">“The whole religious complexion of the modern world is due to the absence from Jerusalem of a lunatic asylum.”<span style="mso-tab-count: 4;"> </span>--Thomas Paine<span style="color: #333333;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">“If you, who are organized by Divine Providence for Spiritual communion, Refuse, & bury your Talent in the Earth, even tho’ you should want Natural Bread, Sorrow and Desperation pursues you thro’ life, & after death shame & confusion of face to eternity.”<span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 4;"> </span>--William Blake<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #2f393a;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">“Here in America, we are descended in blood and spirit from revisionists and rebels—men and women who dared to dissent from accepted doctrine.”<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>--Dwight Eisenhower <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">“It is better not to have so much faith, than to have so much as to believe all the lies.”<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>--Hyrum Smith<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">“It is when the hour of conflict is over that history comes to a right understanding of the strife and is ready to exclaim, ‘Lo, God is here, and we knew it not.’ ”<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 5;"> </span>--George Bancroft<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">“I believe that with God it is such that all who loved each other on earth—genuinely loved each other—will remain together with God, for to love is part of God.”</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 5;"> </span>--Dietrich Bonhoeffer<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">“The work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance forever.”<span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span>--Isaiah 32:17<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">“God is . . . a very present help in times of trouble.”<span style="mso-tab-count: 5;"> </span>--Psalm 46:1<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">“The life of discipleship can only be maintained so long as nothing is allowed to come between Christ and ourselves . . . The disciple always looks only to his master, never to Christ <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and</i> the law, Christ <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and</i> religion, Christ <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">and</i> the world. He avoids all such notions like the plague.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only by following Christ alone can he preserve a single eye. His eye rests wholly on the light that comes from Christ . . .”</span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 4;"> </span>--Dietrich Bonhoeffer</span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"></span><br /><div style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>The tumult and the shouting dies;</span></div><div style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">The Captains and the Kings depart:</span></div><div style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Still stands Thine ancient sacrifice<span style="font-size: 18.6667px; text-indent: 0px;">”</span> --Rudyard Kipling</span></div><div style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18pt; text-indent: 0px;"><br /></span></div><div style="padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18pt; text-indent: 0px;">The Bible is true</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px; text-indent: 0px;">—</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18pt; text-indent: 0px;">except for the false parts</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">On
occasion I have said that I think it would be just fine if about 40 percent of
the Bible and Doctrine and Covenants went missing. In the Bible, I wouldn’t mind if many of God’s anger outbursts along with the tedious details on observing rituals and the
law of Moses were deleted. Also, I
wouldn’t miss about half of the psalms and proverbs along with nearly all of
the genealogies. (Speaking of genealogy, Nephi makes a notable observation on the subject: <span style="font-size: 18.6667px; text-indent: -16px;">“</span>And now I, Nephi, do not give the genealogy of my fathers in this part of my record; neither at any time shall I give it after upon these plates which I am writing . . . Wherefore, I shall give commandment unto my seed, that they shall not occupy these plates with things which are not of worth unto the children of men.<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> (1 Nephi 6:1,6)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Of
course, the best parts to delete would be those that are simply false. For example, I don’t believe: “I the Lord your God am a jealous God,
punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and fourth
generation . . . ” (Exodus 20:5) I suspect this passage was inserted by a crotchety
old loser who was mad at someone. Some
people just need to lighten up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Another
reason I don’t believe the Exodus 20 passage is because it contradicts numerous
other scriptures. I’ll offer a few examples. Speaking to Cain, the Lord
said, “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?” (Gen. 4:7)
The Lord most assuredly did not say “if your parents mess up, I’ll
punish you for their iniquity.” Also: “The
fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children
be put to death for the fathers” (Deut. 24:16) and “The son shall not bear the
iniquity of the father” (Ezekiel 18:20). And there's something in the Articles of Faith about people being punished for their own sins.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">One
of the best ways to evaluate whether a scriptural passage is true is to ask
whether it is in harmony with the attributes of God and whether it comports
with the preponderance of scriptural passages on the subject in question. (Speaking of the “attributes” of God, I
believe God loves and desires joy for us all while encouraging—not compelling—the
behaviors that lead to joy.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18pt;">Hastening</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">We often hear these days that the Lord is hastening his work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let us not assume, however, that in the past the Lord was dilly-dallying.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Didn’t President Kimball exhort us to lengthen our stride?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And President McKay said “every member a missionary” rather than <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>leave missionary work to the missionaries.<o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">On the other hand, Isaiah said, “Woe unto them that . . . say, Let him make speed and hasten his work, that we may see it.” (Isaiah 5:18, 19)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">P.S. It is now 2024, and </span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">hastening his work</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"> went out of style several years ago. Our go-to phrase today is </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">the covenant path.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">” With the high percentages of active members who vote for the lying criminal Trump, let's be grateful it isn't </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Make America Great Again.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18pt;">More revisions</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">One of the remarkable things about reading the printer’s manuscript of the Book of Mormon and comparing it to the current English edition and to an 1830 replica edition is how insignificant have been the changes in the text.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The “thousands upon thousands” of changes noted by the book’s critics almost entirely consist of adding punctuation (the printer’s manuscript had none), correcting spelling, changing terms such as “because that” to “because” and “which” to “who,” where appropriate, and adding verses and chapters.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Still, a few trivial errors remain.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Some were errors in the original (see “What in the World?”).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the examples listed below are likely modern glitches.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">“Wherefore, the wicked are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">rejected</i> from the righteous . . . ”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">(Rejected probably should be separated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1 Nephi 15: 36)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">“Nephite coinage set forth—”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(This is in the chapter heading for Alma 11, which makes no mention of coins.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">“And when she had said this, she <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">clasped</i> her hands, being filled with joy” (Clasped should probably be clapped.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alma 19:30)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">“and he <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">plead </i>with them that they would not slay him”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Should be pleaded or pled.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oliver Cowdery appears to have written pled correctly in the printer’s manuscript. Ether 8:6)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">In the introduction, which isn’t part of the original book, the description of Lamanites as “the principal ancestors of the American Indians” was changed in 2007 to “are among the ancestors of the American Indians.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the Doctrine and Covenants, Lamanites remains as a synonym for Indians. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18pt;">Why bother with Isaiah?</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Although I far prefer the Book of Mormon and the New Testament to the Old Testament, I agree with those who say that Isaiah deserves our attention. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Here are seven reasons to give heed to Isaiah:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">1. He is the Old Testament prophet most often cited in the New Testament.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">2. Christ commenced his ministry by quoting Isaiah (Luke 4:17-19)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">3. Isaiah saw Christ. (Isaiah 6:1; 2 Nephi 11:2)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">4. Nephi twice tells us “my soul delighteth in the words of Isaiah.” (2 Nephi 25:5; 2 Nephi 11:2)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">5. Moroni advises us to “search the prophecies of Isaiah.” (Mormon 8:23)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">6. Christ twice instructs the Nephites to search the words of Isaiah. “Yea, a commandment I give unto you that ye search these things diligently; for great are the words of Isaiah.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(3 Nephi 23:1; 20:11)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">7. The Book of Mormon, “the keystone of our religion,” includes many chapters of Isaiah’s writings</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">in fact, far more from Isaiah than from any other biblical prophet.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18pt;">Emerson needed an editor</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">A number of times I have heard the following words of Ralph Waldo Emerson quoted in conference and other meetings:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">“That which we persist in doing becomes easier—not that the nature of the task has changed but our ability to do has increased.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">OK, he was a great writer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But in this instance, maybe he was being paid by the word. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Here’s what he could have said:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Practice makes perfect.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18pt;">What I believe</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">I am a disciple of Jesus Christ who believes in the fundamentals of the restored church including the Book of Mormon and the divine mission of Joseph Smith. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Among the various religions, I believe that the LDS faith, having authority from God, offers the best prospects for mortals to draw close to Christ. But I also believe that certain doctrines, teachings, policies and practices in the church are questionable and, in some cases, incorrect and harmful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">I believe Christ moves closer to us as we move from dogma toward truth and that he is merciful, patient and understanding, and is especially pleased with those who strive to live a good life, to put “love one another” into practice and to become better people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His love extends fully to those who do not actively participate in organized religion.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Steve Warren<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Sept. 22, 2014</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">(minor revisions, June 2016, July 2020)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18pt;">Copy editor wanted</span></div><div><br /></div></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">In one sentence, Mosiah 15:24 has two language inconsistencies.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px; mso-spacerun: yes;"> Can you spot them?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“And these are those who have part in the first resurrection; and these are they that have died before Christ came . . . </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">First, there is no reason to say </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">these are those,</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;"> changing it a few words later to </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">these are they,</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;"> as both phrases refer to the same people. Second, we first read </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">those who,</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;"> then we read </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">they that.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;"> Who is preferable in both cases, as people, rather than inanimate objects or animals, are being referred to.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">For those who would argue that keeping the original language is preferable, please read a few pages of the 1830 edition, which contains hundreds of grammatical mistakes that have been corrected. </span></div></span></div>
Steve Warrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972829970776193784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211864423765164859.post-21970808958085251272015-10-22T13:35:00.024-07:002021-10-01T11:05:33.574-07:00In the beginning<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span><p class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Saying the universe came into existence
from a big bang is roughly equivalent to saying ice came into existence because
it turned cold.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">The Big Bang theory
lacks an explanation for the existence of charged particles that exploded, and
the ice theory lacks an explanation for the existence of water that froze.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The solution, however, is not to proclaim
that God (or an intelligent designer) created everything because such a proclamation suffers from exactly the
same problem as the Big Bang theory and the ice theory. We can still believe in God, but let’s admit
that we don’t have a clue about how a God or anything else came into existence.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Those who would like to bolster their faith by seeing an angel or
some other miraculous manifestation are already witnesses to the most incomprehen</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">sible miracle of all. It’s called existence. Somehow, matter has existed forever. How do we know this? Because</span><span style="font-family: times new roman, serif; font-size: 18.6667px; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><i style="color: #202124; font-size: 14pt;">something can’t be created from nothing</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #202124; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt;">.</span><span style="color: #202124; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">In fact, existence ought to be impossible except
for . . . well, just look around. Lot a crap out there.</span></p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">None of this precludes us from believing that a god at some point created (or organized) the earth and that Adam and Eve were in some way our first parents.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> In fact, Joseph Smith said that God the Father himself had been a mortal before becoming a god. But Adam and Eve most assuredly were not earth's first human beings. The archaeological record shows that intelligent humans existed long before the 4,000 BC generally given as the approximate date Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden. People who existed thousands of years earlier </span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">created art and music and wove linen into cloth; they domesticated animals and farmed; many lived in cities with homes made of mud bricks; they brewed beer, they created statuettes to mother goddesses, they made tools from copper, etc. A good argument could be made that some pre-Adamites were more advanced than the nomadic American Indians of the Columbian era, yet no informed person would argue that the cultural disadvantages of Indians in 1492 made them not human. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">How could Adam and Eve have been </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">first</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”? Well, we can always speculate. P</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">erhaps a die-off of humans occurred before the coming of Adam and Eve in the same way a die-off of Neanderthals occurred 30,000 years ago shortly after modern humans appeared on the scene. Keep in mind that a die-off of humans ought to sound perfectly reasonable to us religious folks who believe that only eight people survived the Great Flood. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Or perhaps Adam and Eve were the only children of God placed in an earthly realm (the Garden of Eden) where death, miraculously and perhaps briefly, didn't exist. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Or </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">perhaps they were simply the first to receive heavenly messengers and to learn of the Plan of Salvation, making them earth's first true believers. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">This is all total speculation, of course, but the gaping holes in the creation stories advanced by religion leave plenty of room for such conjecture. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Of course, if Adam and Eve were the first humans created by God, then we have another problem; namely, figuring out how the intelligent pre-Adamites fit into the Plan of Salvation. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">We are well-advised to avoid pat answers about the Adam and Eve story and about the creation itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> After all, c</span>ertain details about the Creation, the Great Flood and other biblical events seem not far removed from saying that Santa guided his sleigh using Rudolph’s red nose. (I've got nothing against Rudolph. I just think that a red nose would provide far less illumination than a white nose.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">For Latter-day Saints, the four commonly used versions of the Creation story are found in Genesis, Moses, Abraham and the temple presentation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Virtually hidden in the Scriptures is a fifth version.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Many Christians believe that the Genesis story of creation is literal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Creation Museum in Kentucky teaches that the earth is 6,000 years old, that each of the six days of creation lasted 24 hours and that Adam and Eve were contemporaries with dinosaurs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to actual rumors, museum directors consider videos of “The Flintstones” to be documentaries. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">The LDS interpretation of the earth’s creation, based heavily on the books of Moses and Abraham as well as Genesis, is more realistic but not by much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We say that the “days” of creation were extended creative periods.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And church leaders have described the Creation story as allegorical while affirming the existence of Adam and Eve. (Note: </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Few Latter-day Saints today accept a 6,000-year lifespan for the earth, but m</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">any LDS leaders have taught that the earth was created 6,000 to 7,000 years ago and that there was no death on the planet until after Adam and Eve partook of the fruit. </span><span style="background-color: #fdfbfc; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Even our LDS Bible Dictionary states: </span><span style="background-color: #fdfbfc; font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="background-color: #fdfbfc; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Latter-day revelation teaches that there was no death on the earth for any forms of life before the fall of Adam.</span><span style="background-color: #fdfbfc; font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">” Nevertheless, temple presentations depicting Adam and Eve before the Fall have never contained dinosaurs. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Doctrine and Covenants 77:6 puts the </span><span style="font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">temporal existence</span><span style="font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> of the earth at 7,000 years, which is either nonsense or a highly creative use of the words </span><span style="font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">temporal existence.</span><span style="font-family: "open sans"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“The most correct book on earth,” the Book of Mormon, may provide the most correct scriptural version—it basically says God (meaning Christ) created heaven and earth, and leaves it at that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the Book of Mormon, we don’t read about Eve coming from Adam’s rib or about grasses and herbs flourishing without sunlight (grasses and herbs were made on Day 3; the sun on Day 4) or that the earth's creation occurred in darkness, i.e., before the sun and stars were created.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">The Doctrine and Covenants, Old Testament and Book of Mormon contain verses that suggest a fifth approach—instant creation.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Although I’m not advocating something like the Big Bang theory, we must admit that the following scriptures at least suggest that the Creation—whether of the universe or the earth—might have occurred quickly.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“I am the same which spake, and the world was made, and all things came by me.”<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span> <span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>--D&C 38:3 <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.”<span style="mso-tab-count: 6;"> </span>--Psalms 33:6<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“Let them praise the name of the Lord: for he commanded, and they were created.”<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 8;"> </span>--Psalms 148:5<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“Wherefore, if God being able to speak and the world was, and to speak and man was created, O then, why not able to command the earth, or the workmanship of his hands upon the face of it, according to his will and pleasure.”<span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> </span>--Jacob 4:9<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">I believe that writers of the Creation stories prayerfully produced narratives of the earth’s creation that they thought were inspired accounts of what happened and that would be helpful for believers wanting insight on the subject.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some parts of their narrative, such as the following passage in Genesis and Moses, have a credible ring:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That sounds like organic evolution.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Nevertheless, once we go beyond “God created the earth,” we find ourselves on shaky ground.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px; mso-spacerun: yes;"> In moving to firmer ground, s</span>cience has been helpful over the centuries in bringing us closer to truth. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It may yet offer answers on how the earth came into existence and how matter comprising the universe has existed forever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the meantime, we believers are well advised to focus more on the why of creation than the how.</span><br /></div>
Steve Warrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972829970776193784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211864423765164859.post-20012703341045325632015-10-22T13:34:00.028-07:002023-02-19T17:29:39.975-08:00Who is God? <br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Latter-day Saints routinely use God as a synonym for Heavenly Father. A Gospel Principles manual has defined God as: <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>The Eternal Father. The Father of Jesus Christ and of the spirits of all men.<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">In referring to Jesus Christ, members use terms such as</span> Lord, Savior and Redeemer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Yes, Heavenly Father is correctly called God the Father or God,<i> but by failing to routinely refer to Christ as God, we have chosen to ignore a central truth of the Scriptures. Indeed, s</i></span></span><i style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">criptural usages of the term God that reference a specific member of the Godhead are far more likely to refer to Christ than to Heavenly Father. It is hardly surprising, therefore, that t</i><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><i>he earliest mentions of the word God in all four Standard Works refer to Christ, not to the Father. </i></span><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">On the day before Christ was born in Bethlehem, Nephi <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>cried mightily to his God<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> and is told by that same God (i.e., Christ) <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>on the morrow come I into the world,<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> (3 Nephi 1:11-13) </span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Christ in his mortal life is routinely called the Son of God and Lamb of God, and he also describes his Father as God. But these a</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">nd similar usages of the term God during the Lord's mortality merely are an abbreviated form of God the Father. We must keep in mind that i</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">mmediately after his crucifixion Christ resumes his practice of calling himself God.</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> (The term God sometimes means both the Father and Christ, and also can refer to all three members of the Godhead.) </span></span><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">The message of </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">the Book of Mormon, “the keystone of our religion,” and the Doctrine and Covenants, called by some </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“the capstone of our religion,”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">is emphatic:</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> Jesus Christ</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> is our God. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">In the Book of Mormon, the segment that most emphatically distinguishes between God (Christ) and God the Father (Heavenly Father) is chapters 11-28 of 3rd Nephi. Many view these 19 chapters as the most inspiring part of the Book of Mormon. Here, in his momentous appearances to the Nephites, the Lord mentions the Father 154 times; he calls our heavenly parent </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">the Father</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> 119 times and uses other forms of Father 35 times. How often does he directly refer to the Father as God? Only once, and even then it is in connection with himself when he describes himself as </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“the Son of God</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">” (3 Nephi 20:31). </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">By contrast, how often do these same chapters speak of Christ as God? Answer: Six times. Indeed, after the Lord twice declares himself to be God, the Nephites unitedly call him </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">the Most High God!</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">” (3 Nephi 11:17)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Similarly, in the first 14 sections of the Doctrine and Covenants, Christ tells us five times: </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Behold, I am God</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;">” (1:24; 6:2; 11:2; 12:2; 14:2).</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> And, since we're counting, let's also note that in the first 19 sections, Jesus asserts no fewer than 20 times</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">20 times!</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">that he is God.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Much confusion in the Christian world about the Trinity or Godhead would be eliminated if we all made a better effort to distinguish between God (Christ) and God the Father (Heavenly Father). As noted above, this confusion likely originates from scriptural passages often connected to the mortal Jesus that consistently use the short form God in referring to God the Father. Certainly it is understandable that the mortal Jesus, a little lower than the angels, would describe his Father as God without adding <span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>the Father.<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">” </span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">But the greater truths for every Christian are: 1. In the 4,000 years before the Lord's mortality and in the 2,000 years since, the God of the Scriptures has primarily been Christ, and 2. the risen Lord repeatedly reaffirms that he is God.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">One of the </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">most clear-cut scriptural passages distinguishing between our God and his Father is D&C 19:16-19: </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all . . . Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble . . . Nevertheless, glory be to the Father . . . </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">” </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Christ's instruction to modern apostles that they are to be </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">especial witnesses of my name</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> occurs only moments after he had reminded them that he is </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">your God</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> (D&C 27:1,12). While is is wonderful that modern apostles insist on calling the Church of Jesus Christ by its correct name, it is puzzling that these same apostolic</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">witnesses of my name</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> hardly ever call Christ by the name he so often calls himself: God. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Moreover, recognizing that God in the Scriptures usually refers to Christ elevates our Lord to his true stature; namely, that he is the one God who possesses <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>all power<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> over us and that we follow him. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">He is the <i>only</i> source of eternal life. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Failure to routinely describe Christ as God suggests that we primarily think of him as the mortal, praying, learning Jesus rather than as the risen, glorified Lord God Almighty who reigns over the earth. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Also, failure to describe Jesus Christ as God shows lack of understanding of the relationship among Father, Son and us.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Briefly stated, our relationship with the Father is significantly different from Christ’s relationship with him.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">The Father is the God who lifted the Son to godhood. T</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">he Son, not the Father, is the God</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> who lifts us. (Clearly stated in D&C 19:2-4.) That's why when Christ visited the Nephites, he prayed <span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>that they may be purified in me, that I may be in them as thou, Father, art in me<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> (3 Nephi 19:29, also see verse 23; 3 Nephi 9:17, John 1:12). Indeed, when it comes to Christ's power to lift, a strong scriptural case can be made that if God the Father is an exalted man, the unlimited retroactive reach of the <i>infinite</i> Atonement of the sinless Christ also paid for the Father's mortal sins. (See <span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>Appreciating Christ<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> on this site.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">As noted above, the earliest mentions of the word God in all four Standard Works refer to Christ, not to the Father. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">In the Book of Mormon, even before we get to the first verse, we are told in the title page that <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>JESUS is the CHRIST, the ETERNAL GOD,</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> which are the <i>only</i> words in the title-page text that are entirely capitalized. Verse one of the Bible says, “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” (Christ was God the creator.) The first words of the Pearl of Great Price are: “The words of God, which he spake unto Moses at a time when Moses was caught up into an exceedingly high mountain. And he saw God face to face, and he talked with him . . . ” (We believe that the God who spoke to Moses was Jehovah or Christ.) And in Section One of the Doctrine and Covenants, Christ tells us three times<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>three times!<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>that he is God</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">—<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>God the Lord, even the Savior of the world<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">” (v. 20),</span> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“Behold, I am God” (v. 24) and “the Lord is God” (v. 39). Let us not forget that Christ himself directed that Section One be placed first and that it is viewed as the Lord's preface to the book. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">(</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Even in the New Testament the <i>first </i>mention of God is a reference to Jesus</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> (Matthew 1:23).</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">How much clearer can it be that the God of the Scriptures from Page One is primarily Jesus Christ?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">For Latter-day Saints, it should be especially noteworthy that the Book of Mormon</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>the most correct of any book</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">teaches from start to finish that Christ is God. Yes, the Book of Mormon also calls Christ the Son of God and sometimes refers to the Father as God, but as noted above, those references to Heavenly Father as God can usually be viewed as shortened versions of God the Father.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> E</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">xamples follow:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“And also to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that JESUS is the CHRIST, the ETERNAL GOD . . . ”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(title page)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“there is one God and one Shepherd over all the earth.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1 Nephi 13:41<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“know that I, the Lord, am God . . . </span>the Lord their God, their Redeemer . . . And he loveth those who will have him to be their God.<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> 1 Nephi 17:14,30,40</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>if the day shall come that they will reject the Holy One of Israel, the true Messiah, their Redeemer and their God . . . </span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">” </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> 2 Nephi 1:10</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>O how great the goodness of our God . . . And because of the way of deliverance of our God, the Holy One of Israel, this death of which I have spoken, which is the temporal, shall deliver up its dead . . . and it is by the power of the resurrection of the Holy One of Israel. O how great the plan of our God!</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> 2 Nephi 9:10-13. (The church teaches that <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>the plan<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">” </span>is Heavenly Father's plan, but in this passage Jacob clearly teaches that God is Christ and that it is also his plan.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“and there is none other nation on earth that would crucify their God.</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"> 2 Nephi 10:3</span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“For if there be no Christ there be no God; and if there be no God we are not, for there could have been no creation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But there is a God, and he is Christ . . . ”<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 6;"> </span>2 Nephi 11:7<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">“it must needs be that the Gentiles be convinced also that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God.” </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">2 Nephi 26:12</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>come unto God, the Holy One of Israel . . . I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel . . . </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">” Omni 1:25,26 (Words written by Mormon.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“Christ, the Lord God Omnipotent . . . is God above all.” <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Mosiah 5:15<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“And because he said unto them that Christ was the God, the Father of all<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>things . . . and that God should come down among the children of men, and take upon him flesh and blood . . .” <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 7;"> </span>Mosiah 7:27</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“God himself shall come down among the children of men, and shall redeem his people. And because he dwelleth in flesh he shall be called the Son of God . . . ” Mosiah 15:1,2</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">whosoever were desirous to take upon them the name of Christ, or of God, they did join the churches of God; and they were called the people of God.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> Mosiah 25:23,24</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“I rejected my Redeemer . . . </span>Yea, every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess before him. Yea, even at the last day, when all men shall stand to be judged of him, then shall they confess that he is God . . . </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">” Mosiah 27:30, 31</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>And it shall come to pass, saith the Lord of Hosts, yea, our great and true God . . . </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">” Helaman 13:18</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">And behold, he is God, and he is with them, and he did manifest himself unto them, that they were redeemed by him; and they gave unto him glory . . . </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> Helaman 8:23</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole Earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world. . . . they did cry out with one accord, saying: Hosanna! Blessed be the name of the Most High God! And they did fall down at the feet of Jesus, and did worship him.”<span style="mso-tab-count: 6;"> </span>3 Nephi 11:14,17<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“and they did pray unto Jesus, calling him their Lord and their God.</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">” 3 Nephi 19:18</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel—the God of the whole earth shall he be called.”<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>3 Nephi 22:5<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“that Jesus, whom they slew, was the very Christ and the very </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">God.” Mormon 3:21</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">” Ether 2:12</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>Behold, I am Jesus Christ . . . And he ministered unto him even as he ministered unto the Nephites; and all this, that this man might know that he was God</span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> Ether 3:14, 18</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">It is helpful for disciples of Christ </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">to distinguish among the three contexts in which the Scriptures use the term God.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">First, as the PREMORTAL Jehovah, Christ has such names as God, God Almighty, the Mighty God, Lord, the Lord God, the Lord thy God, the Lord God of Israel, the Lord of Hosts (a favorite in the hospitality industry), the Lord God Omnipotent; the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob; the Lord God of the Hebrews, etc. When Christ gives the Ten Commandments to Moses, he first identifies himself as <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>the Lord thy God,<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> (Exodus 20: 2) then declares in the first commandment: </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Thou shalt have no other gods before me.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">” Centuries later, the mortal Christ again refers to himself when declaring that the first and great commandment is <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>Thou shalt love the Lord thy God . . . <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> When God tells Moses to tell Israel that <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>I AM hath sent me unto you,<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> (Exodus 3:14) we know that the God of the Old Testament speaking to Moses is the eventual Jesus Christ of the New Testament because in John 8:58, the mortal Jesus declares, <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>Before Abraham was, I am.<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> In the Old Testament and in the Book of Mormon, the vast majority of scriptural uses of the term God refer to the premortal Christ.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Second, as a MORTAL, Jesus Christ sometimes is called God (Isaiah 25:8,9; Matthew 1:23; Mosiah 15:1; Helaman 8:20,23), but usually writers of scripture, the early apostles and the Lord himself call him Jesus, Lord or other names while describing the Father as God. This is especially true in the </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">New Testament. But here and elsewhere in the Scriptures, when</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> the term God is not a direct reference to Christ, it often is a short form of God the Father, which</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> explains why when Christ declares that <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>I am God<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> or <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>the Son of God,<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> he is not claiming to be his own father. Sometimes, of course, God is merely </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">a generic reference to an unspecified member or members of the Godhead (serve God, things of God, worship God, kingdom of God, etc.).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Third, as the POSTMORTAL risen Lord, he proclaims, <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>Behold, I am God<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">” (D&C 1:24, etc.) and <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“I am the God of Israel, and </span>the God of the whole earth</span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">” (3 Nephi 11:14).</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Thomas, after three years of referring to the mortal Lord as Jesus or Lord, doesn't hesitate after touching the resurrected Lord to call him both <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>My Lord <i>and</i> my God<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> (John 20:28, italics added). Note that the appearance to Thomas occurs eight days after Christ had told Mary not to touch him because he had not yet ascended to <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>my God, and your God,<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> (John 20:17) another witness that although the Father was correctly called God during Jesus' mortality, after those 33 years the Lord reclaimed the title of God. The Scriptures proclaim t</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">he risen Lord to be the God who reigns over the earth and possesses <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>all power<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">” over mortals</span> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">(Matt. 28:18; D&C 19:3, 93:17; 1 Nephi 9:6, Alma 26:35, Ether 3:4. etc.). </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">He is the central focus of our worship,</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> observed President Gordon B. Hinckley in April 2002.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> Moreover,</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> in the 3rd Nephi version of the Sermon on the Mount, we further see that the mortal Jesus of the New Testament has returned to his previous God stature when he tells us three times to <span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>come unto me,<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> words that he did not speak in the New Testament version. This is somewhat analogous to the language Jesus uses in cleansing the temple where at the start of his ministry he calls the temple <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>my Father's house<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> (John 2:16), but at the end of his ministry, the mortal Christ who is soon to reclaim his title of God describes the temple as <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>my house<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> (Luke 19:46).</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Further, whereas in the New Testament he tells us to be perfect <span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect,<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> (Matthew 5:48) in 3rd Nephi 12:48 the postmortal, resurrected Lord first tells us to be perfect <span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>even as I,<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> then adds <span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>or your Father who is in heaven is perfect.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> (Note: Some have suggested that the singular verb means that Christ in this verse may be referring to himself as both Father and Son.)</span><br /><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">The Scriptures can make it difficult to answer the question <span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>Who Is God?</span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span></span>For example, Mormon 5:16,17 is a passage that creates the impression in one verse that Christ is not God</span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">they are without Christ </span><i style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">and</i><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> God in the world</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>but then immediately turns around in the next verse by seeming to say Christ and the Father are the same</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">they had Christ for their shepherd; yea, they were led even by God the Father.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">” </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"> Thankfully, </span>Mormon elsewhere makes it clear that the he believes Christ is indeed God: <span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>Jesus, whom they slew, was the very Christ and the very God</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">” (3:21) and mentions Christ's role as the Father: <span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>And because of the fall of man came Jesus Christ, even the Father and the Son<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> (9:12). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Similarly, what are we to make of such words from the mortal Jesus himself
as “this is life eternal to know thee the <i>only true God</i>
and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent”? (John 17:3, italics added; see also D&C 132:24). First, while this verse calls the Father the true God, other scriptures say that it is Christ, not the Father, who is the true God. E</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">xamples: Nephi declares that <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>the true and living God<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> is Christ, 1 Nephi 17:30; the brother of Jared says that those who possess the land of promise should serve Jesus Christ <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>the true and only God<span style="color: black; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> and <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“t</span>he God of the land,<span style="color: black; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> Ether 2:8,12. Similarly, Mosiah declares that Christ</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">is God above all” </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Mosiah 5:15.</span><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> Second, while Father and Son are physically separate, the God in the Scriptures who most often speaks of sending his Son is actually the premortal Christ/Jehovah, the Lord God of Israel, referring to his own future mortality; for example, in 2 Nephi 30:2, where it is clear that the <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>Lord<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span>who covenants and wants us to believe in <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>his Son<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span>is Christ himself<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>see 2 Nephi 28:5. The fact that Christ both acts and speaks as Father and Son underscores his place as God over the whole earth. (See <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>Appreciating Christ<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> on this site, which lists seven ways in which Christ is the Father.) Third, John 17:3 is spoken from the temporary perspective of a learning, praying, mortal Messiah who for a three-year period does not call himself God; fourth, </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">two verses later Jesus
speaks of returning to his former glory, a glory apparently equivalent to that
of the </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">only</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> true God: “glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I
had with thee before the world was”; fifth, whether considering this passage
or passages from elsewhere in scripture, we must remember that many more scriptures use God to refer to Christ than to the Father </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">and sixth, in modern canonized scripture, the risen Lord repeatedly tells us <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>I am God,</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">” meaning that unless Jesus is a false god, the Father cannot be the <i>only</i> true God.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Until the Lord's Prayer, the faithful had seldom prayed to Heavenly Father;</span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"> instead, </span><span style="color: #333333;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">they almost always had prayed to God (i.e., Jehovah, the Lord God and various other titles for Christ). I</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">f we taught that Christ acts and speaks as the Father, we would more easily understand that although we pray to God the Father, who hears prayers, God (Christ) both hears and answers them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> And the fact that Christ directs mortals to pray to <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>our Father</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> rather than to God may be another indication that Christ expects us to view him as our God.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">As Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote in the 1976 <i>Ensign</i>, </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“It is true that when we pray to the Father, the answer comes from the Son.” </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span>Elder McConkie noted that </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">whenever Joseph Smith asked the Father, in the name of the Son, for answers to questions, “the answering voice was not that of the Father but of the Son.” This is hardly surprising because there is no record of the Father dealing directly with man except to bear witness of the Son. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> Hearing and a</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">nswering prayers is exactly what we would expect from the Christ who</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> declares <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>at my command the heavens are opened and are shut; and at my word the earth shall shake; and at my command the inhabitants thereof shall pass away<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> (Ether 4: 9). The song <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>In Humility, Our Savior,<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> correctly states our prayer relationship with Christ: <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>Let our prayers find access to thee in thy holy courts above.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Mormon clearly understood this. In Moroni 8:3, he speaks of <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>continually praying unto God the Father<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> while making it clear four verses later that a prayer addressed to God the Father is also a prayer addressed to the Lord (Christ) and that Christ both hears and answers: <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>I inquired of the Lord concerning the matter. And the word of the Lord came to me by the power of the Holy Ghost, saying: Listen to the words of Christ, your Redeemer, your Lord and your God.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">” (This is a change from roughly 50 years earlier when the young Mormon both prayed to Christ and had his prayer answered by Christ, see Mormon 3:12,14,21.) Indeed, in D&C 29:2, when Christ tells us to <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>call upon me in mighty prayer,</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> he is not revoking his admonition for us to address prayers to the Father but may simply be acknowledging that a prayer addressed to the Father is also a prayer addressed to him.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">For members who suggest that the first Article of Faith (</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in his Son Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">) means that we should refer to the Father, rather than Jesus, as God, here is a thought: In the remaining Articles of Faith, the term God applies to Christ. In the fifth article, the God who calls man and gives authority in The Church of Jesus Christ is Jesus Christ (See Mosiah 18:17,18). In the ninth article, God the revelator is Christ, as Elder McConkie suggests above. And </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Almighty God</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> in the eleventh article is a scriptural term that applies primarily to Jehovah/Christ: </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">And I appeared unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name JEHOVAH was I not known unto them</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> (Exodus 6:3 Also: Isaiah 9:6; 2 Nephi 9:46; 28:15; Mosiah 3:17,18,21; Moses 1:3, etc.). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Joseph Smith’s First Vision is the only scriptural record of the Father appearing to man and is an excellent teaching moment because the Father does something with great symbolic meaning—he <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">points </i>to Christ as he says, “This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!” The message is not only for Joseph Smith to look to Christ, it is for the whole world to look to him</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">To Joseph Smith, the centrality of Christ in the First Vision was so clear-cut that in his brief first written account of it, he mentioned only Christ. A</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> key reason why we should place Christ first and foremost in our lives and recognize that he is our God is that by doing so, we obey the Father.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Elder Neal A. Maxwell said, “One cannot have adequate faith in a Christ whom he does not adequately know” </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">(April 1986). </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">We certainly do not <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>adequately know<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> Christ unless we recognize that </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">throughout our mortality, into the spirit world and in the resurrection, </span><em style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">he is our God and possesses all power over us</em><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><i>.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">In the church, our grasp of the term God hasn't been firm. For example, in D&C Section 109 (the dedicatory prayer of the Kirtland Temple), multiple terms that commonly describe Christ (Jehovah, Lord, Mighty God of Jacob, Lord God of Israel) are used only as synonyms for God the Father. Oddly, the words Jehovah and Lord quickly revert back to their usual meaning, Christ, in Section 110. It's well-known that Brigham Young asserted on multiple occasions that God the Father was Adam. And a few passages in the 1830 Book of Mormon in which Christ was called God or the Eternal Father were changed in later editions to <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>Son of<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> God or the </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Son of</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">” the </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Eternal Father, but most remain unchanged, leaving us to speculate what was on the minds of editors. (Perhaps they were simply trying to clarify that the Father and Son are two distinct persons.) With this track record, it behooves us to make an extra effort today to use the term God in the way Christ has directed. If </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">it is a good thing to call the church by the name Christ has given, surely it must also be a good thing to often call Christ by the name (God) he has given himself. </span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Conclusion<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">It is always correct to refer to God the Father first when we speak of the Father and Son. He is the heavenly parent of us all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We love him and address him in prayer. Although the Son is the central focus of our worship, we also worship the Father.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We seek to dwell again with him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the Father has placed Christ as the God who rules and reigns over the earth and “hath given all things into his hand” (John 3:35). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He both hears and answers prayers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As our God, the risen Lord instructs mortals to “look unto me in every thought” (D&C 6:36) and that we are “subject unto him” (2 Nephi 9:5).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> When</span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> the term God stands alone in scripture, it generally means Christ in his roles as Father, Son or both. He is our advocate and our judge. In him alone resides the fullness of the Godhead and all power over us. He alone is the giver of eternal life. Although Heavenly Father is often referred to as God, a shortened form of God the Father, he is not <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>our God.<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> That title belongs to Christ. (In 2 Nephi 9, Nephi refers to Christ seven times as <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">our God.</span><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span>)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Unfortunately, as long as much of mainstream Christianity posits that the Father and Son are one and the same, the restored church may continue to worry that routinely referring to Christ as </span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">God would cause everyone to think that we, too, believe they are the same. Nevertheless, we must ask whether it pleases the Lord that we allow incorrect perceptions of others to persuade us to use the term God in a defective way, especially when the Lord has spoken so clearly on the subject. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Because scriptural usages of the term God that reference a specific member of the Godhead are far more likely to refer to Christ than to his Father, surely the best remedy for any confusion is to routinely describe Christ as God and Heavenly Father as God the Father. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">May we understand, believe, appreciate and share the </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">message of the Book of Mormon and other scriptures that Christ is God.</span></div>
Steve Warrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972829970776193784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211864423765164859.post-57261373569912651302015-10-22T13:33:00.007-07:002023-03-26T20:47:39.631-07:00Witnesses <br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Jews, Catholics, Muslims, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Latter-day Saints are among those who believe theirs is the Lord’s church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many other faiths simply say that their denomination, while not necessarily the Lord’s, is the best available.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">In this essay, I will list multiple witnesses that suggest The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in spite of its flaws, is indeed the Lord’s authorized church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I find it perfectly reasonable for readers to be somewhat skeptical about my objectivity because I’m LDS. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Therefore, I’ll begin by offering several thoughts that I hope will lessen the skepticism.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">First, over the past few decades I have been fairly prolific in pointing out—often publicly—problems with church teachings, history and policies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have been on a “watch list” at church headquarters for more than 30 years. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">My Jan. 3, 2015, Op-Ed in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Salt Lake Tribune</i>, titled “LDS political history shows plenty of failures,” has likely found its way into my file because some may not have appreciated my view that “if someone is determined to use LDS leaders as a barometer for how to vote wisely, history shows his best approach generally would be to learn the church’s position, then vote exactly opposite.” (With the strong LDS support for the corrupt, lying fascist Trump, I'd have had even more fodder if I had waited a couple of years to write the article.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">I also recognize that a couple of chapters of my 1986 book, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Drat! Mythed Again, Second Thoughts on Utah</i>, will never be required reading in the church. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One chapter, “LDS Second Thoughts,” cites failed teachings and prophecies of LDS leaders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The chapter “Tall Tales,” covers LDS stories or anecdotes once widely believed that have fallen on hard times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">I have long been inspired by the sermons of Billy Graham and attended his crusade at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona, in 1974. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I enjoyed a tent revival meeting around 1990 and “A Night of Hope” with Joel and Victoria Osteen in 2013, both in West Valley City.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I spent many late-night hours in the 1990s watching Jimmy Swaggart’s televised singing and sermons. (I recall one sermon in particular from Lima, Peru, that always makes me smile. Today, however, I view Swaggart as a money-driven huckster with a great singing voice.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was an admirer of Pope John Paul II and was inspired by the visit of Pope Francis to the United States in September 2015 and by his comments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(I’m not a fan of many prominent religious leaders and confess that I think some of them are about as acquainted with God as a hog is with a napkin.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">I am a huge admirer of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German Protestant pastor who began speaking out against the Nazis in 1933 and continued to do so when other Christian denominations were willing to accommodate the Devil as millions of Jews suffered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(The First Presidency in my church wrote a letter that supported a U.S. policy of isolation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thankfully, Franklin Roosevelt didn’t.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I view Bonhoeffer, who was hanged by the Nazis two weeks before the Allies liberated the camp where he was held, as a saint. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Now, to the point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Following are nine witnesses related to whether the restored church is indeed the Lord’s church and/or if the Book of Mormon is of divine origin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I simply believe that if one of these is credible, a person would be well-advised to seriously look into Mormonism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If more than one is credible, he’d be foolish for failing to do so. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">1.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The First Vision.</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Joseph Smith said that when he was in his “fifteenth year,” he went alone to a grove of trees with the intention of asking God which church to join.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He said that in answer to his prayer, God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to him and that Christ told him to join none of them. He said the Father's only participation was to introduce Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">2.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Multiple visions of the angel Moroni.</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At least 20 appearances of the angel Moroni were reported by Joseph Smith and others, all of which were related to the coming forth of the Book of Mormon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first four appearances of Moroni to Joseph Smith occurred within a period of less than 12 hours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the first three of those, Joseph said the angel appeared at night in his bedroom and gave him a message about the book, repeated twice at intervals during the night.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In writing about those three appearances, Joseph gave this rather remarkable description about the light that accompanied the angel:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“After this communication, I saw the light in the room begin to gather immediately around the person of him who had been speaking to me, and it continued to do so until the room was again left dark, except just around him; when, instantly I saw, as it were, a conduit open right up into heaven, and he ascended till he entirely disappeared, and the room was left as it had been before this heavenly light had made its appearance.” (This seems to be more from the <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>Star Trek<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> TV series of the 1960s than from 1823.) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Eight others besides Joseph Smith reported appearances of the angel Moroni.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">3. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The credibility of Emma Smith.</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Joseph Smith’s wife was an educated woman of great integrity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She was strong-willed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sometimes her husband felt her wrath; often it was directed at others, including such prominent Latter-day Saints as Brigham Young, Hyrum Smith and Eliza Snow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She refused go west with the church after Joseph was slain, married a non-LDS man and later chose to affiliate with the Reorganized Church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On one occasion, Joseph Smith, apparently fearful of provoking her, asked his brother, Hyrum, to present to her Joseph’s revelation on plural marriage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After doing so, Hyrum said that “he had never received a more severe talking to in his life, that Emma was very bitter and full of resentment and anger.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> In 1879, thirty-five years after the murder of Joseph Smith, </span>Emma Smith related the following details about the translation of the Book of Mormon to their son, Joseph Smith III, who led the Reorganized Church:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“In writing for J.S, I frequently wrote day after day, often sitting at the table close by him, he sitting with his face buried in his hat, with the stone in it and dictating hour after hour, with nothing between us. <u>He had neither mss nor book to read from. If he had had anything of the Kind he could not have concealed it from me</u>. The plates often lay on the table without any attempt at concealment, wrapped in a small linen table cloth, which I had given him to fold them in. I felt of the plates, as they lay on the table, tracing their outline and shape. They seemed to be pliable like thick paper, and would rustle with a metallic sound when the edges were moved by the thumb, as one does sometimes thumb the edges of a book. O Cowdery and JS wrote in the room where I was at work. <u>JS could neither write nor dictate a coherent and well worded letter;</u> let alone dictating a book like the Book of M. . . . When acting as his scribe he would dictate to me hour after hour, and when returning after meals or after interruptions, he could at once begin where he had left off, without either seeing the mss or having any portion of it read to him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was a usual thing for him to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It would have been improbable that a learned man could do this, and for so ignorant and unlearned as he was it was simply impossible.” (Source: 1879 interview by Joseph Smith III. In this same interview, Emma stated, <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>My belief is that the Book of Mormon is of divine authenticity. I have not the slightest doubt about it.<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">” </span>) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">4.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Sidney Rigdon’s consistent story.</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When it became apparent that a person as unlearned as Joseph Smith could not have written the Book of Mormon, critics suggested that Smith must have teamed up with the educated Sidney Rigdon to have written it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Later in life, when Rigdon had good reason to dismiss the book as a fake—the church had excommunicated him—his son, John, who also had left the church, asked his elderly father if he had written the book.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>John Rigdon recorded his father’s words:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“My son, I can tell you before high heaven that what I have told you about the origin of that book is true.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Your mother and me<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>. . . were present when that book was handed to me in Mentor, Ohio, and all I ever knew about the origin of that book is what Parley P. Pratt, Oliver Cowdery, Joseph Smith and the witnesses who claimed they saw the plates have told me, and in all my intimacy with Joseph Smith he never told me but one story, and that was that he found it engraved upon gold plates in a hill near Palmyra, New York. . . . I believed him, and now believe he told me the truth.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The younger Rigdon also noted that his father stated near the end of his life that “Joseph Smith was a prophet.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">5.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Other visions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></b>A. Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery said that John the Baptist appeared to them on May 15, 1829, and conferred upon them the Priesthood of Aaron. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>B.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Joseph and Oliver said that Peter, James and John appeared to them, probably in late May 1829, and conferred upon them the Melchizedek Priesthood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>C.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Joseph and Sidney Rigdon said that on Feb. 16, 1832, they beheld the Father and Son together with “holy angels” and others who were worshipping God. “For we saw him, even on the right hand of God, and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father.” (D&C 76:23) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>D.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On April 3, 1836, Joseph and Oliver said Christ appeared to them in the Kirtland Temple.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“We saw the Lord standing upon the breastwork of the pulpit, before us; and under his feet was a paved work of pure gold, in color like amber.” They also reported that Moses, Elias and Elijah appeared to them on this occasion and committed certain keys or authority.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(D&C 110)<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Lorenzo Snow stated that after the death of President Wilford Woodruff in 1898, Jesus Christ appeared to him in the Salt Lake Temple and instructed him to immediately reorganize the First Presidency. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">President Joseph F. Smith said that on Oct. 3, 1918, he received a vision of the Savior’s visit to “the hosts of the dead” in the spirit world.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">6. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Testimony of Three Witnesses.</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer and Martin Harris signed a statement, which appears in all Books of Mormon, that “an angel of God came down from heaven, and he brought and laid before our eyes, that we beheld and saw the plates, and the engravings thereon . . . the voice of the Lord commanded us that we should bear record of it.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">In a court of law, the testimony of a friend in support of a friend, a spouse in support of a spouse or a business partner in support of his business partner carries far less weight than the same testimony coming from a more neutral observer.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Similarly, if a witness has negative feelings toward a defendant, we feel no surprise when the witness testifies against him.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">But we are very surprised when a witness with bitter feelings toward a defendant testifies in his favor.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">This is exactly why the testimony of the three witnesses carries great weight—all three men, Cowdery, Whitmer and Harris, were excommunicated from the church in 1837 or 1838 as a result of differences with Joseph Smith.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Yet rather than expose the restored church's founder as a fraud, all three affirmed throughout their lives the authenticity of their statements about the Book of Mormon, the appearance of an angel and hearing the Lord's voice. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> Not once did any of the three witnesses (or the eight witnesses named below) ever retract his printed and signed testimony of the Book of Mormon. I have carefully read claims by those who say otherwise and have found such claims to lack merit, often bordering on laughable. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">(Note: Cowdery and Harris later returned to the church.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Cowdery would even assert that Smith “had fulfilled his mission faithfully until death,” while Harris in his final days observed “just as surely as the breath of life sustains us, so surely do I know that Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God.”)</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Note: The testimonies of the three witnesses (four, counting Joseph Smith)</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> about the Book of Mormon also provide affirmation of life after death and of the existence of God. It takes only one legitimate encounter in all of human history between a mortal and a heavenly being to confirm the reality of life after death and of the existence of God. Similarly, if it can be demonstrated beyond a doubt that just a single passage of the Book of Mormon could not have been written by anyone in 1829 but was of ancient origin and, therefore, necessarily translated by supernatural power, that single passage is all it takes to confirm the existence of the supernatural power by which it was translated. It simply doesn't matter that some people of faith are dumb as a rock or that they have long embraced and spread religious nonsense or that their behavior throughout history has often been atrocious or that certain passages of scripture may be problematic.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">7. <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Testimony of Eight Witnesses.</b><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Christian Whitmer, Jacob Whitmer, Peter Whitmer, Jr., John Whitmer, Hiram Page, Joseph Smith, Sr., Hyrum Smith and Samuel H. Smith signed a statement, which appears in all Books of Mormon, that Joseph Smith “has shown unto us the plates” and that they handled and “hefted” the plates.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“We also saw the engravings thereon, all of which has the appearance of ancient work, and of curious workmanship.” <o:p></o:p></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> F</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">ive of the eight witnesses were excommunicated from the church in 1838. Although it could be argued that excommunication offers a strong motive to deny one's testimony, there is no credible evidence that any of the eight ever denied his testimony of the authenticity of the golden plates.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">8.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><b style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Out of time, out of place</b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Certain elements of the Book of Mormon seem to be so far out of time and place in 1829 that for Joseph Smith or his associates to have written the book perhaps would have been a greater miracle than to have translated it by the power of God.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">See the essay titled “What in the World?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">I recognize that many have criticized the validity of the previous claims, which makes it important for people with legitimate questions to investigate both sides for themselves. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have read pro and con claims equally lacking in merit. Both sides engage in proof-texting as well as something I call kitchen-sinking—it consists of presenting a host of weak arguments when a person lacks a single strong argument. Still, I believe the pro side presents better sources and tends to document its case more thoroughly than do the critics, who frequently seem content to recycle arguments and hearsay that have little or no credibility. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s as though they are hoping that listeners share their biases and will not investigate further.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Alas, in a world that offers myriad distractions, this often proves to be the case.) <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">I also am not impressed with those who argue that because some writings in Joseph Smith's time offered views about people migrating from the Old World to the New World that are generally in harmony with the Book of Mormon, it must therefore follow that Joseph Smith <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>borrowed<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> from their authors. On the contrary, my view is that when well-informed researchers and writers of that era produced sensible conclusions about the origins of early people in the Americas, it should be expected that if the Book of Mormon is authentic, it would often<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>if not usually<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>be in harmony with such conclusions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">The following excerpt is from a letter I wrote to a critic of LDS claims, Dean Brown of Avon, Indiana, on Dec. 26, 2005: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“I do not think <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Book of Mormon</i> provides the most fertile ground to challenge the validity of Mormonism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For every perceived flaw in the book, a counterargument can be offered explaining either that the flaw is no flaw at all or that it is no more significant than flaws found in the Bible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To me, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Book of Mormon </i>resembles a granite wall that people periodically hit with paint balls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For a while, the impressions left by the splattering seem bright and noteworthy, but over time they fade and wash away and are replaced by others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>None, however, exhibit a lasting effect on the granite.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Additionally, in looking more closely at presumed defects related to the Book of Mormon, I have often discovered that these “defects” end up strengthening its credibility.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 203.25pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 203.25pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">9.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><b style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">An extraordinary verse</b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">. </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">If we encourage someone to read the Book of Mormon because
it is the word of God, how should we respond if he says, “Before I’m going to
read 500-plus pages, tell me one verse that best shows it might actually be of
divine origin.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 203.25pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">How would we respond to such a query? We couldn’t
give our usual Moroni 10:4 answer (“And when ye shall receive these things . .
. ”) because that would require reading far more than one verse. </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">So what verse would we cite?</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">For me, one verse stands out.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">Pardon the cliché, but it’s in a league of
its own.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">Alas, our lesson manuals never
mention it. </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">In fact, I’ve never heard it
quoted in a talk. </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">How, you might ask,
could we as a church ignore such an important verse?</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">Perhaps the answer is that it may be the most
boring verse in all of scripture.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">Yes,
even more boring than anything in the Old Testament.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">And more boring than every verse of the Book
of Mormon’s Jacob 5, which is really saying something.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">Here it is, 4</span><sup style="color: #2f393a;">th</sup><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> Nephi verse 6:</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">“And thus did the thirty and eighth year pass
away, and also the thirty and ninth, and forty and first, and the forty and
second, yea, even until forty and nine years had passed away, and also the
fifty and first, and the fifty and second; yea, and even until fifty and nine
years had passed away.”</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">This 57-word sentence consists entirely of saying
that eight different years “passed away” during a 21-year period.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">Why would anyone write such a thing? </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">It’s equivalent to writing an autobiography that
says: “The thirty-eighth year of my life came and went, and also the thirty-ninth
and the forty-first and forty-second came and went . . . ”</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">Why not simply skip the insignificant years
and wait to write about a specific year in which something happened that was
actually worth mentioning? </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">Those
questions have answers.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">However, they
require us to know certain things that the Book of Mormon says about itself.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">First, the book tells us that dozens of writers,
some called prophets, wrote about events and people of their time, often
recording divine interactions as well as their thoughts.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">Some wrote a sentence or two.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">Others wrote dozens of pages.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">We are also told that these writings
accumulated over many centuries and that they were kept together, although they
were sometimes moved from place to place.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">
</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">Finally, we are told that a prophet named Mormon at the end of this
record-keeping era believed that the Lord wanted him to “abridge” these
writings into a single volume; in other words, to read through the various
records and select the parts that would be of most value to later generations. </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">We are also told that he wrote this final
record on metal plates.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">So how do these
facts help us understand 4</span><sup style="color: #2f393a;">th</sup><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> Nephi verse 6?</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">Let us picture Mormon seated somewhere by himself
and in possession of the various records.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">
</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">He has already abridged more than 600 years of the older writings and
has set them to one side as he proceeds to open newer ones. </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">In some of his abridged record, he has devoted
many pages to important events that occurred in short time periods whereas other
writings may cover decades in only a few verses.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">For example, Mormon recently has devoted 54
pages to events that occurred in only 20 years from A.D. 15 to A.D. 35, many
related to Christ’s crucifixion and subsequent visit to the Americas.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">It is also not surprising that the four years
after Christ visits the Americas are less momentous, with the result that he
sees fit to devote but five verses to them.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">Then, we arrive at verse 6. </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">When it begins, Mormon has finished briefly
describing the 38</span><sup style="color: #2f393a;">th</sup><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> year after Christ’s birth. </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">After a period in which notable things had
happened in many of the years, we can now picture him in our mind’s eye further
examining the records for the years that follow, occasionally turning pages,</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">but not seeing anything notable, he simply
decides to advise us of that fact by saying “and also the thirty and ninth, and
forty and first, and the forty and second.”</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">
</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">Why didn’t he mention the 40</span><sup style="color: #2f393a;">th</sup><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> year? The answer may well be
that the long-dead original writer in that time period also made no reference to
the 40</span><sup style="color: #2f393a;">th</sup><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> year.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">Then, Mormon
proceeds to browse through subsequent years, jotting down the year forty and
nine, fifty and first, etc., but sees no events notable enough to write down.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">Even if the original writer wrote several
paragraphs or pages about these years, it seems obvious that Mormon simply did
not see these writings as valuable enough to include in the final shorter
record.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">Yes, Mormon’s approach produces a notably boring
verse, but its existence makes complete sense and produces a powerful mute confirmation
of the writing process that the Book of Mormon claims for itself.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">Remember, not only didn’t he know what he
would find in turning from page to page for the first and perhaps only time, he
also was using a metal writing instrument to inscribe on metal plates, meaning
that erasures would have been impossible and that scratching out words, even uninteresting
words, would have been extremely unsightly.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">
</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">It certainly would not have created a visual image one would want to hand
down to people centuries in the future.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">To summarize, one boring verse long shrouded in
silence may speak more loudly about the Book of Mormon’s divine and ancient
origins than any other.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">P.S.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">Above I
cite Jacob 5 as a notably boring chapter of scripture.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">However, just as I cite 4 Nephi verse 6 as
the one verse that best shows us the divine and ancient origin of the Book of
Mormon, Jacob 5 may be the chapter that best affirms the book’s ancient
origins.</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 14pt;">Its writing is from a different
time and place.</span></p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 203.25pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; tab-stops: 203.25pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div>
Steve Warrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972829970776193784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211864423765164859.post-7946618997109309482015-10-22T13:32:00.005-07:002021-03-01T07:35:13.073-08:00Father, Father, Father <br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">In hindsight, Elder J. Devn Cornish of the Seventy may better appreciate how General Custer felt in the presence of way too many Indians.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">After Elder Cornish strode to the pulpit during October 2011 General Conference, he uttered a sentence about prayer that likely had little support from the 21,000 in attendance at the Conference Center. That’s because Elder Cornish was taking a stand against an increasingly popular LDS practice when he said: “Remember that we have been counseled to avoid repetitions, including using the name of the Father too often as we pray.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">The repetition of the name of the Father in LDS prayers appears to have become the rule rather than the exception at all levels of church meetings. As a youth, I don’t remember this being the case.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Young people of my era were instructed not to repeat the name of the Father in prayers: “Use the name of Deity carefully. Address the Father by name but once—at the beginning; and then close in the name of Jesus Christ.” (General MIA Committee of the church, in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Church News</i>, Feb. 7, 1970)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Elder Cornish might have hoped that his counsel on the increasing overuse of the Father’s name would stem the tide.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> He even emphasized </span>his point by attaching a long footnote in the printed version, the <i>only</i> footnote in his talk. The footnote refers readers to directives by church leaders against repeating the name of Deity in prayers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">One source Elder Cornish cited in his footnote was a former president of the Quorum of the Twelve, Elder Francis M. Lyman:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“Sometimes our habits may control us more strongly than the Spirit of the Lord, so we should consider these things. Offer short prayers, and avoid vain repetitions, particularly the repetition of the name of Deity . . . <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">There is no prayer so great and important that it is necessary to use more than once the name of the Son of God and of the Father.</i>” (Italics added.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Another source cited by Elder Cornish was the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Encyclopedia of Mormonism</i>: “Jesus used simple, expressive language in his prayers, avoiding vain repetitions and flowery phrases. . . . Unnecessary repetition of God’s name is avoided . . .”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Elder Cornish might also have had in mind Bishop Keith B. McMullin’s counsel from the January 2003 <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ensign</i>: “O</span><span lang="DE" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">verusing the names of Deity [is] not in keeping with the pattern of prayer taught by the Master.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">”</span><span lang="DE" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Faithful members have had nine years to consider Elder Cornish's counsel. So how are we doing? We've gone from bad to worse. Not only do most who offer prayers in regular Sunday meetings repeat the name of the Father, it now appears that the majority of those who offer prayers in general conference are also ignoring his counsel; indeed, some repeat the name of the Father five or six times. (In fairness to today's violators of counsel, it should be noted that </span>those who offer Deity-repeating prayers weren’t exactly the first to do so in general conference.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> One example: I</span>n the October 1962 Sunday morning session, the Father’s name was repeated three times in the invocation and four times in the benediction.) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">For me, the crowning moments in this trend occurred in January and February 2013 at LDS Business College devotionals in Salt Lake City.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the January devotional, at which Elder O. Vincent Haleck of the Seventy spoke, the invocation was offered by a male student.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He began with the traditional, “Our Heavenly Father,” paused for a few seconds and said, “Father . . .” Why would he do that?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Did he feel “Our Heavenly Father” was too formal? Things got worse three weeks later. In another LDSBC devotional, the invocation began with “Heavenly Father,” a pause, “Father,” a sentence, and another “Father.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In other words, in just one sentence of actual prayer, a student had addressed the Father three times.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Why are we now hearing members prolifically repeat the word </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Father </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">in their prayers? </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">I <span style="color: black;">have a theory. It’s because God the Father keeps hearing the same prayers over and over, which causes the old gentleman to doze off as we pray. It takes a “Father”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>repeated now and then to snap Him back to attention. I could be wrong on this.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Another prayer practice that repeats the name of the Father and makes me even more uncomfortable is the often-heard declaration “Father, we love thee.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not only does its repetition of the name “Father” bother me, I also feel suspicious toward most public declarations of love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, when a husband arises in testimony meeting and expresses love and appreciation for his wife, two thoughts enter my mind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Boy, he must have done something really bad last week, and he’s trying to make up for it.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Second: “When this fellow gets home from work, I wonder if he plops in front of the TV and never changes a diaper or helps with the housework, so he figures his words of praise will mollify the little woman for a while.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Similarly, when I hear “Father, we love thee,” in prayers, I wonder if He might be looking down and thinking, “Hey, if you love me so much, maybe you ought to try following the counsel of my servants and stop repeating my name in your prayers. . . . and while you’re at it, try turning off the TV and give your poor wife a break from changing those #&@#! diapers.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">I believe that many members repeat the name of the Father in their prayers merely because it has become the norm. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Active Latter-day Saints can be quite monkey-see, monkey-do. </span>For me to do so, however, it would be grandstanding. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> If I said Father this and Father that, </span>I’d be trying to impress everyone with my apparent closeness to the Father and would, in effect, be turning the lectern into a Rameumptom. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’d be afraid that something attached to the ceiling, such as a chandelier, might break loose and fall on my head. (In a recent sacrament meeting that I attended, those who gave the prayers displayed no fear of falling chandeliers. The invocation had five repetitions of Father, while the benediction had eight repetitions of Heavenly Father.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Because I disagree with church leaders fairly often, I’m pleased as punch that I can actually support them on this issue. Nevertheless, among the general membership I recognize that I’m in the minority and that the practice won’t change unless the church issues a firm and specific directive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> And I also recognize that failure of the current (2021) First Presidency and Twelve to say anything on the subject is a form of passive approval, which would, again, put me at odds with church leaders.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">In the meantime, however, there is nothing to prevent bishops from reminding their wards of the counsel of Elder Cornish and others. And if a bishop felt very strongly on the subject, he might even warn ward members that any prayers that overuse the name of the Father will result in a member of the bishopric arising and whacking the guilty party upside the head with a rolled-up newspaper.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">As
a retired journalist who has watched newspapers struggle, I would
certainly welcome this new use for the printed copy.</span></div>
Steve Warrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972829970776193784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211864423765164859.post-36454525648468559662015-10-22T13:28:00.004-07:002021-03-24T20:42:14.939-07:00Pilate Tried <span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 18pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Most discussions about Pontius Pilate conclude that he was weak, indecisive and even cowardly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My reading of the New Testament yields a better picture of him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Let’s first consider a few distinctions between the two major players in bringing about the crucifixion of Christ:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pilate and the Jewish religious leaders.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Pilate likely was a follower of one or more of Rome’s pagan gods.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In his role as prefect over Judaea, Samaria and Idumea from A.D. 26-36, he sometimes infuriated his Jewish subjects by disrespecting their religious customs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His tenure, according to Philo, was characterized by corruption, bribery, “wanton injustices” and executions without trial. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Jewish religious leaders believed in the Jehovah of the Old Testament and followed the law of Moses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They viewed themselves as God’s authorized servants who were entitled to interpret religious law and establish rules for proper behavior, ritual and observances.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Not surprisingly, the Jewish leaders saw themselves as righteous and observant but viewed the pagan Pilate as a serious sinner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At crunch time, however, it was the “righteous,” authorized religious leaders who actively sought to murder the Son of God whereas Pilate actively sought to set him free.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">(Perhaps that’s something we need to ponder in determining how best to relate to religious authority.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We would do well to remember that history is replete with examples of those who thought they were acting in harmony with God’s will when they did terrible things to other people.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 17pt;">Pilate’s lesser sin</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Jesus assured Pilate that the chief priests and officers of the Jews had “the greater sin” in his crucifixion. (John 19: 6, 11)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Lord also did not look at Roman soldiers as responsible for his death: “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus’ strong and frequent words of condemnation of the Pharisees, scribes and chief priests who sought to kill him stand in sharp contrast to his words to Pilate, which seem empathetic toward a troubled man.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">The following chronological passages show the extent to which Pilate strived to avoid condemning Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">1. After Jesus is led into the hall of judgment, Pilate goes outside to inquire of Jewish <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>leaders what Jesus has done wrong and, based on their response, tells them it is their responsibility, not his, to pass judgment. (John 18:29-31)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">2. After questioning Jesus, Pilate again goes outside, where he tells Jewish leaders, “I find in him no fault at all.” (John 18:38)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">3. Sends him to Herod Antipas to be judged. (Luke 23:6,7) </span></div>
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">4. Tells Jews that both he and Antipas “have found no fault in this man touching those things whereof ye accuse him . . . I will therefore chastise him, and release him.” (Luke 23:14-16) [Note: Herod Antipas is the tetrarch of Galilee and killer of John the Baptist. A dreadful character, to be sure, but apparently much less murderous toward Jesus than the religiously observant Jewish leaders.]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">5. Tries to persuade the Jews to support the release of Jesus by offering them the choice of freeing either Jesus or Barabbas, who is guilty of murder and insurrection, whereas Jesus has been accused of lesser crimes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">6. Instead of complying with the demand of Jewish leaders to free Barabbas and crucify Jesus, he hesitates, asking, “Why, what evil hath he done?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Luke records that this is the third time that Pilate states he has found no evil or fault in Jesus. (Mark 15:14; Luke 23:22)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">7. Displays a scourged Jesus in hopes of eliciting compassion toward him. (John 19:1-5)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">8. Authorizes the crucifixion of Jesus, but after questioning Jesus again, he immediately changes his mind. (John 19: 6-12)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">9. Washes his hands, thereby disclaiming responsibility. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">10.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After he washes his hands, Pilate in the King James version says, “I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it.” (Matt 27:24)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These words create the impression that immediately after he washed his hands, he again authorized the execution of Jesus. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, the Joseph Smith translation contradicts this view and has Pilate saying:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that ye do nothing unto him</i>.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(JST Matt 27:26, italics added) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">11. After the chief priests and officers still insist that Jesus be crucified, Pilate goes to the judgment seat, says “Behold your King!” and asks, “Shall I crucify your King?” apparently hoping that the title “king” will cause them to reconsider.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(John 19:14,15)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">12.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Authorizes that Jesus be executed (John 19:16), but “he arose from the judgment seat before issuing his decree, which was a Gentile symbol of innocence” of the accused. [From <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">In the Footsteps of Jesus</i>, 1999]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">We also read in Acts 3:13 of Peter reminding the Jews that they “delivered up” Christ “and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">determined</i> to let him go.” (italics added) Even at this late date, we often find that the greatest desire to condemn and kill comes from those who claim the religious high ground and feel they are doing God's will.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">A few early Christian writers say that Pilate converted to Christianity not long before his death. </span></div>
Steve Warrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972829970776193784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211864423765164859.post-50204911384221503902015-10-22T13:26:00.004-07:002021-04-05T09:36:44.192-07:00The cross = victory <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">For several decades after the founding of the church, representations of the cross were common in LDS culture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the early 1900s, that began to change. Finally, President David O. McKay in 1957 made it official by saying cross jewelry should not be worn because crosses were “purely Catholic.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He noted that “our worship should be in our hearts.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">In 1975 Elder Gordon B. Hinckley observed in April general conference that Latter-day Saints don’t use the cross as “the symbol” of our faith because “for us, the cross is the symbol of the dying Christ, while our message is a declaration of the living Christ.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">LDS.org echoes Elder Hinckley’s words: “Because the Savior lives, we do not use the symbol of His death as the symbol of our faith.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> A statement on t</span>he official LDS site opposes the use of the cross by all members except for military chaplains: “The only members of the Church who wear the symbol of the cross are Latter-day Saint chaplains, who wear it on their military uniforms to show that they are Christian chaplains.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">In 2016, finding a cross symbol in an active LDS home was about as rare as finding a car in Utah County with a Hillary sticker.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">That’s unfortunate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> In my view, neither President McKay's nor Elder Hinckley's words offer a valid reason not to display the cross. P</span>resident McKay's idea that the cross is <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>their<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> thing, not our thing, is undoubtedly the true reason Latter-day Saints don't display it. As members of the restored church, we Latter-day Saints would be on firm ground simply to say that using the cross as one of our symbols would blur the fact that there are key distinctions between us and mainstream Christianity. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Elder Hinckley's statement, in suggesting that it is a negative thing to remember the dying Christ, is contrary to the Scriptures and to the gospel. Remembering the dying Christ is central to being a true disciple. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> The living Christ has power to save only because </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">the dying Christ conquered death and hell; t</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">hey are inseparable. As one of our sacrament hymns proclaims: <span style="color: #2f393a;">“For us on Calvary’s cross he bled, And thus dispelled the awful gloom That else were this creation’s doom.”</span><span style="color: #2f393a; mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="color: #2f393a;">(“While of These Emblems We Partake,” hymn 174.) </span> If t</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">he cross reminds us of his death and suffering, surely that's a good thing. Otherwise, we'd have to conclude that sacramental bread and water—symbols of his crucified body and of the blood shed for us—are bad things. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Elder Jeffrey R. Holland gets it right: “It is the wounded Christ who is the captain of our soul—he who yet bears the scars of sacrifice, the lesions of love and humility and </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">forgiveness. Those wounds are<span style="background: white; color: #333333;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> what he invites young and old,
then and now, to step forward and see and feel . . .</span></span><span style="background: white; color: #333333;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; orphans: 2; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"> All this we
could remember when we are invited by a kneeling young priest to remember
Christ always.<span style="color: black;">” </span></span></span>(October</span> 1995 general conference)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Moreover, it is precisely the dying Christ who ENDS dying<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>not just for mankind, but through</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> the shedding of his blood the Passover Lamb fulfilled the law of Moses and also brought an end to animal sacrifice. He was the great and last sacrifice. In other words, to object to the cross on the grounds that it reminds us of dying is a most puzzling position indeed because only by dying on the cross did our Lord achieve the ultimate victory over dying.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">In the church. we teach that it was in Gethsemane, not on the cross, that Christ suffered infinitely for sin and bled from every pore. While this may be true, it is equally true that without the Lord's death on the cross, there is no resurrection. Gethsemane means far less if we remain spirits forever. Moreover, Gethsemane did not achieve total victory over sin; death of a sinless man was necessary to complete the victory. (Indeed, even the voluntary death of a sinless man may not in itself have been sufficient to achieve that victory. Many have died having never committed sin. Yes, we may one day discover that Lucifer actually tempted Christ at a level beyond that of other mortals. But in the economy of the universe and its laws, we may also discover that it was Christ's supernal goodness in comparison with all others<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>not merely his resistance of sin<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>that made him the only being in eternity capable of an infinite payment for sin. <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>There was no other good enough to pay the price of sin,<span style="color: #2f393a; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> from </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">There Is a Green Hill Far Away,</span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> hymn 194.)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Both the Book of Mormon and the New Testament offer strong witnesses of the dying Christ and the cross.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">When the risen Lord appears to the Nephites, the first thing he does is to invite 2,500 of them to one by one feel the wounds in his hands, feet and side.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Such an event must have taken several hours. </span>He emphatically wants them to be witnesses of the dying Christ “slain for the sins of the world.” (3 Nephi 11:14)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Mormon tells his son Moroni “may Christ lift thee up, and may his sufferings and death . . . rest in your mind forever.” (Moroni 9:25)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">A similar message is emphasized elsewhere in the Book of Mormon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">In 3 Nephi 6:20, we read:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“And there began to be men inspired from heaven and sent forth, standing among the people in all the land . . . and they did testify boldly of his death and sufferings.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“Now Aaron began to open the scriptures unto them concerning the coming of Christ, and also concerning the resurrection of the dead, and that there could be no redemption for mankind save it were through the death and sufferings of Christ, and the atonement of his blood.” (Alma 21:9; see also Alma 16:19; 22:14; Mosiah 18:2)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>And I, Nephi, saw that he was lifted up upon the cross and slain for the sins of the world.<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> (1 Nephi 11:33)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me . . . ”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(3 Nephi 27:14)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">In the New Testament, Paul testified boldly concerning the cross.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . ” (Galatians 6:14)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. . . . we preach Christ crucified . . . ”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(1 Corinthians 1:18, 23) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(1 Corinthians 2:2)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">According to BYU professor Robert L. Millet, the apostle Paul viewed the cross as <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>a token of the Atonement. To say that one believed in and taught the cross was to say that one accepted the reality of the lowly Nazarene's suffering and death as having divine redemptive power. . . . Clearly, the doctrine of the cross, meaning the doctrine of the Atonement, was right where it needed to be<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>at the heart and core of Paul's teachings.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Th</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">e cross is a positive and powerful symbol.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> A</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> simple roadside cross shrine is not meant to say “look, some poor sucker died.” Instead, it signifies hope and declares, “We love and remember you and believe that through Christ you live again.” And how can any Christian not feel great reverence in the presence of row after row of simple white crosses in military cemeteries?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">What is the first thing we know about a person if we notice she is wearing or displaying a cross? Without exception, the message is <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>I believe in Christ.<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> The cross also sends three other messages: Christ conquered death for me, he atoned for me, and I remember his sufferings and death. No, a cross doesn't tell us whether someone lives a Christlike life. But the willingness of the wearer to make such a public acknowledgment of belief in Christ is entirely commendable and brings to mind the scripture: <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I also confess before my Father which is in heaven.<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> (Matt. 10:32) While it is also perfectly commendable to wear Angel Moroni jewelry, the first message sent is </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">I'm a Latter-day Saint,</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">” not <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>I believe in Christ.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">When we see a cross, we notice that Christ is not there. And why is he not there?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Because he is risen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Victory!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Death is vanquished. </span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">(Note: Crosses are far more common than crucifixes, which present a depiction of Christ's slain body on a cross.)</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">The shape of the cross suggests wings, upward movement and flight.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">It reminds us that just as Christ was lifted up on the cross, he can lift us up. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> While some say the cross is a bad symbol because thousands were executed on crosses in antiquity, no Christian displays a cross because he's trying to remind us that Romans killed people. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">As the previous scriptures suggest, after the Resurrection the early apostles taught Christ crucified as their main message.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was the gospel’s good news. To them, having witnessed the risen Lord, Christ crucified was a message of glad tidings and is well-expressed by the words “e’en though it be a cross that raiseth me” in the hymn “Nearer My God to Thee” and by “Nothing in my hand I bring, Simply to thy cross I cling,” from “Rock of Ages.” (Note: Although the LDS hymnbook includes “Rock of Ages,” the cross verse has been omitted.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">If Latter-day Saints feel uncomfortable with crosses and their connection to suffering, it might be well to remember that the mortal Messiah, a man acquainted with grief, sorrow and intense physical pain even before Gethsemane and Golgotha, showed by words and deeds that he was focused on those who suffer. As he commenced his ministry, he declared that he was specifically sent to the brokenhearted, the poor, the meek, to those who mourn, to the captives, to the blind and to those who are bruised. (Isaiah 61:1-3; Luke 4:18) In other words, the Crucified stands beside those who suffer.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Isn't is odd that in the most important part of our main LDS worship service we remember the body that was slain for us and the blood that was shed for us, but if anyone in that service wore a cross that reminds of those very things, it would make many of us feel uncomfortable? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Perhaps one reason Elder Hinckley's dying-Christ statement gets continued play is that even though his viewpoint is contrary to the gospel and Scriptures, his apostolic, President Hinckley stature makes it hard for the church to give his words the proper burial they deserve. After all, we venerate our Latter-day leaders. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">With regard to President McKay's statement that we should not wear cross jewelry because “our worship should be in our hearts,” no one is worshiping the cross nor the bread and water of the sacrament nor the fish symbol, nor doves, nor Angel Moroni, etc.<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>those symbols are merely reminders of the Christ who we worship.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Although the church resembles the average vampire in its determination to avoid crosses, we would be well-advised to cease referencing Elder Hinckley's misleading cross statement entirely. Even if one shares his view that the cross should not be “the” symbol of our faith, the church has failed to offer a single valid reason why the cross can't be “a” symbol of our faith. We certainly have plenty of other symbols available at a fair price from fine LDS merchants everywhere.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">A modest correction of our message is needed. The church needn't bluntly reject specific comments by presidents McKay and Hinckley but could simply issue a public statement such as: “Wearing cross jewelry or otherwise displaying the traditional Christian cross is an individual decision. The church neither advocates nor opposes such displays.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">For my part, although I choose not to display the cross or wear cross jewelry, if other members decide to do so, good for them. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Post script:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">In contemporary Christianity, the cross is a symbol of the atonement and reminds Christians of God's love in sacrificing
his own son for humanity. It represents Jesus' victory over sin and death, since it
is believed that through his death and resurrection he conquered death itself.” --Wikipedia<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“The Christian cross represents Christ's sacrifice of his body for the
sake of humanity and his victory over sin and death.</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> This symbol of atonement for one's
sins is a familiar symbol of Christianity.” --Reference.com</span><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">As far as chaplains being the only Latter-day Saints authorized to wear a cross (mentioned at the beginning of this essay), p</span><span lang="EN" style="color: #232323; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">erhaps LDS military personnel should point out to the church that saying <span style="color: black;">“</span>our message<span style="color: black;">”</span> is about the risen Lord but not the dying Lord is like saying we should observe Independence Day but not Memorial Day and Veterans Day.</span></span><br />
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Steve Warrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972829970776193784noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211864423765164859.post-75535367262081141642015-10-22T13:25:00.001-07:002021-12-04T17:35:34.789-08:00Some Kind of Miracle <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the organist sounded the final chord of prelude music, Kyle Richards guessed that today’s attendance was 225, typical for his Taylorsville ward.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Two days ago, he had not the slightest expectation of ever again speaking in sacrament meeting. But at 6:30 Friday evening, a counselor in the bishopric called and talked with Tammy, his wife. When Kyle arrived home ten minutes later, she had already accepted an invitation for them to talk “on any gospel topic of your choice.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“If the bishopric’s this desperate, let’s help them out,” she said.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He agreed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">The invitation came after the scheduled speakers canceled due to a family emergency in St. George. What made it an even greater surprise was that the bishop knew that Kyle and Tammy allowed highly uncorrelated thoughts to pop into their heads and stay there. Worse yet, they sometimes openly expressed those thoughts. For starters, they believed that emeritus status might be just fine for less-functional apostles. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Family history work? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Overrated. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And for Pete’s sake, why not trim 40 minutes off those three-hour meeting blocks? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">The Richardses listened as the second counselor introduced them and the 14-year-old girl who would speak first. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kyle’s choice of humility as a topic stemmed from his feeling that many Latter-day Saints these days were just a tad too eager to tell of family and individual successes connected to their faithfulness. Rolling toward Rameumptom, he called it. And when members told of miracles in their lives, he viewed many of the “miracles” as spin mixed with serendipity—stuff happens. Last Sunday he had skipped church entirely to watch TV coverage of the PGA Championship, which he figured might produce the kind of miracles he truly fancied; namely, those involving well-struck golf balls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">The youth speaker related experiences from July girls camp.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Tammy talked about Jesus’ focus on the poor and downtrodden.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">As the meeting progressed, a thunderstorm brewed. The open doors at the rear of the chapel lie on a straight line between the podium and the glass doors and windows of the building’s main entrance, which allowed those seated on the east-facing podium to glimpse lightning flashes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">After a congregational hymn, Kyle arose.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“Brothers and sisters, today I’d like to talk about humility.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">He noticed a flicker of lightning. A thought flashed through his mind: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><em>If this storm turns noisy, I’ll use the thunder to drive home my message.</em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Over the years, he had entertained their three children by engaging in contests to see which of them could most closely signal the arrival of thunderclaps. “Sound travels a mile in five seconds,” he told the kids, “so if you think the lightning flashed a mile away, count one-Mississippi, two-Mississippi silently, and on five-Mississippi raise your hand into the air. If the thunder arrives at that moment, it will look like you have superpowers.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">With practice, they got pretty good at it while standing near their living-room window, much to Tammy’s amusement. Although their daughter and two sons now were in their twenties and lived away from home, they still occasionally played their thunder game when they were together during stormy weather.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“First, I’d like to offer a few thoughts about marriage and family. I’m glad we emphasize family, but we must be careful not to act like we invented happy families. Let’s face it, Utah’s high divorce and suicide rates and porn watching and prescription drug overuse suggest we’ve got work to do.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Kyle noticed a few frowns. He also noticed another flash of lightning. Time it right, he told himself. Don’t rush it.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“We may be a bit too eager to pat ourselves on the back.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">As he said “on the back,” Kyle raised his hand in anticipation of thunder.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Nothing happened. He had mistimed the moment, blown it. Still, he knew the thunder would arrive in a couple of seconds. He lowered his hand, raising it a second time as he implored, “Let’s be more humble.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">This time as he uttered “humble,” a modest rumble of thunder began. It wasn’t loud enough to awaken several aging high priests who had dozed off, but it elicited smiles from many who were amused at the apparent divine approbation it gave to his words.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Kyle continued. He commended members for their Word of Wisdom observance while suggesting they take care not to view themselves as better than those “who smoke like a chimney, drink like a fish and shoot up like dandelions.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">He glimpsed another flash of lightning, but it seemed less bright than the previous ones. Had the eye of the storm passed so soon?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“Brothers and sisters, let’s resolve to better live the Lord’s health law.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He lifted his left hand, holding it up until thunder sounded softly two seconds later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, his timing continued to be imperfect and the thunder didn’t amount to much, but the apparent connection between his words and the rumbling was sufficient that more and more members noticed. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Five minutes and a couple of small lightning flashes later, the clock on the rear wall showed 2:04. Kyle needed to wrap it up. A huge thunderclap now seemed out of the question.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">He quoted the Apostle Peter’s admonition to become “clothed with humility” and wondered whether the stake’s lofty statistical goals for the year, which included no mention of helping the needy, conflicted with a recent general conference message by President Uchtdorf wherein he criticized an unnamed stake’s pursuit of easily measured numerical goals. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Finally, he urged humility in family history work.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“Yes, it’s fun to discover that we are related to a president or to royalty. But for every great and famous person we claim as kin, let’s remember that we are also related to dozens of alcoholics, murderers, perverts and jerks.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“Perverts and jerks” drew smiles. More important, at “jerks” he saw a huge flash of lightning. Instantly, he shoved his hand heavenward and said, “Let us be more humble!” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">A fraction of a second after “humble,” an enormous sound wave collided with the building. Ka-bbboooooommm! The structure shuddered. The blast lasted ten seconds, bouncing from wall to wall. Small children clutched older siblings or parents. Drowsy high priests regained consciousness.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">The noise took even Kyle by surprise. He resisted the urge to step back and gather himself. Instead, he stood frozen at the pulpit, presenting a commanding profile with hand upraised, until the noise ceased.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Two days later, at nine o’clock Tuesday evening, Kyle turned down the volume on their dining-room TV as Tammy answered the phone. It was Sister Hart, a counselor in the ward young womens presidency.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Tammy’s end of the conversation consisted entirely of “no, I hadn’t heard about that . . . you’re kidding . . . that’s amazing . . . you can’t be serious . . . we’ll check it out . . . thanks for calling.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Kyle: “What?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Tammy breathlessly explained. “Sister Hart said a teenage ward member used his cell phone to video parts of your talk. Monday night he posted a 50-second spot on YouTube. It includes the huge thunderclap at the end. She said the YouTube title is ‘Mormon speaks with voice of thunder.’ Anyway, it’s turning into a sensation; it’s getting thousands of hits.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oh, and a few commenters are wondering if you’re some kind of modern Moses, but they don’t know your name because it wasn’t posted.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“That’s hilarious,” Kyle laughed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Let’s check it out.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">After watching and rewatching the YouTube spot on their dining-room table laptop, the Richardses high-fived and called to tell their children.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">On Friday “Mormon speaks with voice of thunder” topped a half-million hits. Meanwhile, Tammy enjoyed fielding three more calls from members who thought they might be the first to alert the Richardses to its existence.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">At 6:45 Friday evening, their joyride down thunder road took a U-turn.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s when Brother Stout, the high-council representative for their ward, visited on assignment from the stake president.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">After cordial greetings, Brother Stout turned serious.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“President Bennion’s out of town until late Saturday and asked me to give you a head’s up about the fact that he will speak in your ward Sunday. A number of members have contacted your bishop and the stake presidency to express strong feelings about your talk, Brother Richards. Many of them believe some things you said were inappropriate.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">He noted that two family-history workers felt Kyle’s remarks targeted them personally. Others felt he had criticized the church as a whole and that he had disparaged the stake’s annual goals. “President Bennion is pleased by the impressive numbers that have been posted by the stake last year and this year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of the Brethren have congratulated us.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“Not to be defensive, but people may be overreacting,” Kyle said. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The high councilor smiled. “The president’s main concern is that some members think you spoke with power and authority from God, you know, the thunder and all that. The president wants to calm things down by saying politely but firmly that the stake’s goals remain intact and that only the prophet has authority to call the church as a whole to repentance. Your calling as ward building representative doesn’t authorize you to do that.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Tammy, irked. “So how does the president explain the thunder?” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“He and his counselors believe that the thunder could just as easily suggest that our Heavenly Father was signaling his displeasure, not his approval of your husband’s words.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Kyle sighed. Under different circumstances, he and Tammy might have quickly confessed that he had engaged in a trivial “timing” game in pretending to speak with the voice of thunder. But the stake’s approach annoyed them—leaders were trying to placate several thin-skinned, overly defensive members. And besides, the church, stake and ward were far from perfect, so why not allow a little well-intended criticism now and then?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">They kept silent.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Brother Stout arose. “The president asked me to give you his cell number if you want an appointment to meet with him early Sunday.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">He handed Kyle the number on a three-by-five card, then left.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Tammy felt like kicking the wall. Instead, sensing her husband’s deep disappointment, she put her arms around him. “Don’t let it get you down, sweetheart. I’ve got an idea. I’ll tell you about it Sunday before church.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">An idea? Sunday? Kyle wanted to know <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">now</i>, but he also knew that the chances of getting anything out of her before Sunday were about as good as getting multi-level marketing out of Utah County before the Second Coming.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Saturday morning as he mowed their front lawn, Tammy drove off. He suspected her departure had something to do with “I’ve got an idea.” He was right.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Sunday at 10, three hours before their meeting block, he sent e-mails to family members from their dining-room laptop. She walked in wearing a bathrobe and sat across from him.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“I need to tell you where I went Saturday morning.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">First, however, she told of an odd experience at the meetinghouse that happened Friday afternoon while she filled an assignment to polish wood trim on chapel pews. She had felt small tremors and thought at first that it was a low-intensity earthquake. It reminded her of her childhood when her parents had rented a home close to a railroad track: It shook every time the train went by. When Friday's moderate, almost soothing, vibrations continued, she walked out front looking for the cause. Just south of the meetinghouse she spied a large bulldozer excavating a lot upon which had sat an abandoned, crumbling brick home condemned by the city.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“After our visit from Brother Stout, I got an idea about the bulldozer, so I drove over there yesterday morning and, sure enough, this young guy was finishing cleaning up the lot.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He told me the bulldozer would be gone first thing Monday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To make a long story short, I asked him if he could return Sunday and run the dozer vigorously back and forth in the same area for ten seconds at exactly 1:50 p.m.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I said I’d pay him. He said yes and I swore him to secrecy.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Kyle’s eyes grew larger. “What are you talking about?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“We’ll be in sacrament meeting then. Everybody will think it’s a small earthquake. The man who spoke with the voice of thunder last Sunday is going to produce an earthquake this Sunday.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">He grimaced.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">She continued.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Your superpowers are about to expand. OK, you don’t have superpowers. But let’s have a little fun. The righteous people who are pouncing all over you now will do an absolute double-take—they’ll be completely dumfounded—if there’s an earthquake and you predicted it.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Kyle shook his head. “But I can’t go messing up sacrament meeting by telling people there’s going to be an earthquake.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“Oh, you won’t be telling anyone anything. I’ve written a note that I can put in envelopes and give to three or four members just before sacrament meeting if they’ll promise not to open it until <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">after</i> the meeting.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">He grimaced again. “And what does this note of yours say?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Tammy removed a copy from her pocket and began reading.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“My husband, who has been known to bring down thunder merely by pointing toward the sky, has told me that a minor earthquake will occur during sacrament meeting today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sincerely, Tammy Richards.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Kyle covered his face with his hands. “And how much are you paying this guy to run his bulldozer for ten seconds?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I withdrew three hundred bucks, but when I asked his fee, he said two hundred.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a bargain.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Kyle rolled his eyes. He was a code enforcement officer in neighboring West Valley City, and she was a part-time beautician specializing in fingernail art; spending $200 on a practical joke took a bite out of their budget. And it had the feel of a junior high shenanigan—but way more expensive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was not the way soon-to-be grandparents are supposed to behave.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">He had to admit, however, that to be regarded as a fellow with special powers, sort of a low-grade superhero, might be fun for a while, especially among people he loved but regarded as a bit too pious.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">He sighed. “OK. It’s not like I can talk you out of it. But I’m skipping church and closing the curtains. And I’m not answering any phone calls until tomorrow.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Nearly four hours later, shortly after President Bennion arose to talk, the congregation felt the tremor. To Tammy it seemed stronger than Friday’s vibrations. Apparently, the bulldozer operator took to heart her instruction to run the dozer “vigorously.” She also noticed that the large chandelier at the center of the chapel swayed for a few seconds. No one ran out, but President Bennion paused, gripping the lectern tightly amid muffled sounds of concern.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Later, after recipients opened their envelopes, talk of “Kyle’s quake” spread quickly.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">When Tammy arrived home and gave her husband a report on “his” quake, he had one question: Who got the letters?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">The stake president, the ward clerk, the Harts and Bobbie Cazier, a copy editor at the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Salt Lake Tribune</i> who had recently moved into the ward.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“Whoa!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The stake president.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And why the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tribune</i> guy?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“Girl. Maybe she’ll spill the beans. If the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Trib</i> does a story on the fellow with superpowers, think of the possibilities.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Kyle, puzzled. “You mean media interviews? Well, the miracles were totally fake, so I can’t say much. I’m not going to lie.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“Sure, there’d be interviews at first. But what I’m really talking about is speaking fees. We could get rich.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Kyle threw his hands in the air. He wasn’t unhappy. It was simply his way of acknowledging that this creative and feisty wife of his was, as usual, several steps ahead of him. Could he make big money as a miracle-man speaker dude? They could certainly use it. And rather than lie about his miracles, he’d merely apply a coat of faith-promoting spin. Nothing unusual there, he reasoned, especially not in LDS culture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Besides, they’d pay tithing on every dime. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Sure enough, the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tribune </i>called. A female religion reporter and a photographer stopped by Thursday evening, and he managed to field her questions without lying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He wasn’t eager to see a story about himself in the paper, but if it led to speaking fees and a little fun . . .</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">The article came out Sunday under the headline <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Unorthodox ‘prophet’ stirs up his LDS stake</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">The story was what the Richardses expected except for one thing: The enterprising reporter had sniffed around and found a member of the ward—Sister Rasmussen, an elderly widow—who recollected that Kyle had given her a blessing years ago when she was “close to death” and that after the blessing she had been “totally healed.” Kyle knew the aging sister’s recollection had two major flaws.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First, he had merely anointed her with oil—the other priesthood holder pronounced the blessing. Second, she had suffered only from exhaustion and a bad cold.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Medication, rest and lots of 100 percent pure squeezed orange juice had already put her on the road to recovery, which meant that the healing likely had more to do with Florida fruit growers than Utah priesthood holders.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">No matter. Kyle had evolved into a full-fledged miracle man with power to call down lightning and thunder, predict earthquakes and heal people on their deathbed. The Associated Press picked up the story on Monday, and soon it appeared in various media around the world. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On Tuesday Tammy found an agent to handle speaking requests, strictly on commission. Thursday he fielded his first call for Kyle’s oratorical services. It came from an anti-abortion, evangelical-led organization in Kansas City that was hosting a national rally. They offered $5,000. After a text exchange with Kyle, the agent turned down the request, explaining that “my pro-choice client supports his church’s view that abortions can be acceptable before God in a variety of circumstances.” In reality, Kyle and Tammy were flat-out pro choice, but even the LDS position was more liberal than the evangelicals’.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Also Thursday, Kyle fielded questions about his miracles from two syndicated news organizations. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">On Friday afternoon, Utah’s miracle man received another confirmation that his life had changed in a major way. That’s when two dark-suited men strode into West Valley’s community preservation office. The first man introduced himself to the receptionist, flashed picture ID, and said, “We’d like to visit with Mr. Kyle Richards.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A minute later, with the first man standing near the main entrance, the other, older man introduced himself to Kyle as a representative of the State Department, and they sat by themselves in a corner of the reception area.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Mr. Richards, our conversation will center on your answer to one question: What are your thoughts about Israel and Palestine?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“Well, I, I favor peace,” Kyle stammered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“And, uh, a Palestinian homeland, a two-state solution, sounds best, and the settlements are bad, but I don’t . . . I’m not real knowledgeable on what’s happening over there.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">The man clapped his hands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Excellent!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s exactly what we hoped you’d say.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Monday afternoon, the Richardses found themselves on a flight to Washington, D.C.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">After a night and morning at a Residence Inn, with all expenses paid by the federal government, Kyle and Tammy were escorted into the State Department office of Corinne DeChristopher at 1:30, precisely as scheduled. Mrs. DeChristopher had served as undersecretary of state for Mideast affairs for three years and was thrilled to see them. “Call me Cory,” she said, and signaled for all three to sit in fabric armchairs in front of her desk.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Cory faced Kyle. “Tell me, what do you know about why you’re here?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“All we know is that the prime minister of Israel wants to talk with me at 3 p.m.,” Kyle said, “and that a major agreement between Israel and Palestine may be close . . . oh, and that we aren’t supposed to say a thing to anybody.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“Exactly right. One of the reasons we’re in my humble office instead of the secretary of state’s suite is that Prime Minister Ben-Tzur wants no media coverage of his chat with you. And why do you think he wants to see you?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“I assume it’s related to stories about me being a miracle worker.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“Right again. Let me explain. Daniel Ben-Tzur will turn 72 soon, and he’s been prime minister for six years and he’s frustrated. He promised a lasting peace, but it hasn’t happened. A treaty with Palestine has eluded him. He’s facing the prospect of retiring without achieving the biggest goal of his administration—of his life, for that matter.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Kyle shifted in his chair. “He thinks I can help?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Apparently. His Likud Party mostly opposes what the rest of us see as a wonderful, historic agreement. It would finally lead to two states, Israel and Palestine. It’s a huge deal. But he’s worried. He’s traditionally taken a hard line toward Palestine, and he’s afraid it could be a big mistake, that Israel’s giving away too much on borders and settlements.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">The Richardses exchanged glances that told the undersecretary they were out of their comfort zone. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“Don’t worry. The premier is quite affable. I expect him to ask about your miracles, Kyle, kind of convincing himself that you are a man of God, then I expect he’ll ask if you have any feelings about the agreement. He’s super religious, observes all the Jewish rituals. Maybe a bit of a fanatic.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She paused. “Sorry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t quote me on the ‘fanatic’ thing. I’m agnostic. Anyway, some of them in Israel, including the prime minister, look at you—your thunder and earthquake and healing that woman—as resembling an Old Testament prophet. If you could say something in support of the deal, it may help immensely. It could be the final straw, the thing that convinces him to tell his Likud people to approve the deal.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">The phone rang on the undersecretary’s desk.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“Excuse me,” Cory said. Two minutes later, she rejoined them, slumping in her chair. “The secretary of state just wrapped up a meeting with the prime minister and a Palestinian leader and a couple of others. The premier seems to be turning negative about the deal.” She sighed. “Somebody may have to pull a rabbit out of a hat.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Tammy smiled. “Maybe at the end of our visit, before we say goodbye to him, Kyle could sort of slide his shoes along the carpet and pick up static electricity so that when they shake hands the prime minister will get a shock and maybe think that God . . . ”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She stopped midsentence, sensing that her comment was coming across as silly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Cory frowned. Silence. Finally, she arose, took a step away from her guests, stopped, turned toward them and said, “I’ve got an idea.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Kyle’s entire body shivered. He couldn’t believe it. Those were the exact words Tammy had spoken before her bulldozer shenanigan. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">The undersecretary walked to her closet, retrieved something and for the next three minutes she described a scheme every bit as wacky as Tammy’s bulldozer scheme.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It didn’t involve static electricity. Kyle consented to do his patriotic part, but all color drained from his face as he asked himself, “Is this how business gets done in our nation’s capital?” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Afterward, the undersecretary took her Utah guests on a tour of the building. Back in her office, she briefed them on details of the agreement. It was important, they agreed, for Kyle to at least know the basics if they expected the prime minister to put any stock in his words.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">At 2:58, Prime Minister Daniel Ben-Tzur entered the office with one of his security agents.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Sure enough, the prime minister was affable and at ease in what became a ten-minute visit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He pointed out that he had watched the thunder video—several times, in fact—and had read stories in Israeli media. He even noted that his cognizance of the video was perfectly understandable because a staff assistant had longstanding instructions to stay alert for evidences of “the hand of God in the affairs of man” and to brief him on those evidences. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">He turned to Kyle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Mr. Richards, I must do the right thing on this agreement. You seem to be a man of God. Tell me what you think.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Thanks to Cory’s briefing, Kyle offered an articulate summary of the accord, concluding with, “I’m no diplomat, but my feeling is that if Israel and the Palestinians approve this agreement, the world may look back 50 years from now and say, ‘those people were inspired.’ ”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Tammy could tell from the undersecretary’s expression that she was delighted.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“I do appreciate your thoughts on the subject,” the prime minister said. He arose and the others followed suit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“But I must confess I still have serious reservations.” He shook hands with the women first, then paused in front of Kyle. “Like you, I am a man of prayer. I just want to do the right thing, Mr. Richards.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">In a firm voice, Kyle said, “We all want peace. I believe you <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">will</i> do the right thing. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God bless you.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">He and the Israeli leader smiled. As they shook hands, the prime minister suddenly stepped backward. “Mr. Richards, your hand is burning!”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Utah’s miracle man raised his hand and stared at it, smiling and pretending not to know what the Israeli was talking about. The security man stepped beside his charge, and the group exchanged final goodbyes.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> Kyle, Tammy and Cory knew exactly what the premier was talking about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An hour earlier, Tammy’s unfinished comment about static electricity had sparked an idea in the undersecretary’s mind: If the handshake of a “man of God” like Kyle left a distinct impression on the devout prime minister, he might indeed see it as a sign of divine favor toward the treaty. From her coat closet she had retrieved an “instant heat” hand-warmer packet that she instructed Kyle to put in his right pants pocket. Unnoticed by the prime minister, the Utahn had placed his hand in his pocket and gripped the hand warmer tightly well before farewells were exchanged. Cory had also turned the thermostat down to 65 degrees so that the premier’s hands would become cooler, thereby heightening the contrast between his palm and Kyle’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Yes, it was bonkers, Cory admitted. A wacky, cockamamie idea. But the undersecretary’s commitment to passage of the agreement bordered on obsession—it would be the crowning jewel of her diplomatic career—and she was willing to try anything. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">That evening, the Richardses flew home. To Kyle’s great relief, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday seemed back to normal, except for an invitation to speak at a motivational “inner self” seminar in Seattle for $4,000, which he accepted.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Saturday morning the normalcy ended.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“Kyle, get in here!” Tammy shouted through the kitchen window.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had been repainting a wood fence.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">A keyed-up TV reporter spoke live from Tel Aviv. Across the bottom of the screen, a news ticker repeated: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ISRAELI PREMIER BACKS U.S-BROKERED STATEHOOD FOR PALESTINE<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>CHEERING PALESTINIANS TAKE TO THE STREETS<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> IRAN PRAISES BEN-TZUR </span>PRESIDENT, CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS HAIL HISTORIC ACCORD</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Other channels had also broken into their regular programming.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Kyle and Tammy sat spellbound for 15 minutes. They muted the TV after a statement by Prime Minister Ben-Tzur that ended with: “This was a tough decision for me, but in the end I believe I was led by the hand of God in supporting this agreement.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Hand of God!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Wide-eyed, they stared at each other.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Kyle spoke first.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Do you think ‘hand of God’—”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“Yes. Absolutely. He was talking about your burning hand.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Silence. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">She started giggling.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“What’s so funny?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">She pointed at the TV.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“A couple of the people they interviewed . . . they said ‘miracle.’ One of the reporters said ‘miracle in the Mideast.’ Do you know what the miracle was?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Before he could answer, she continued.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“The miracle was the undersecretary, an out and out agnostic, walking over to her coat closet and pulling out a hand warmer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A freaking dollar-store hand warmer!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Otherwise, the prime minister never feels ‘the hand of God.’ ”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">He flopped back in his chair and gazed at the ceiling. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“Wait a second,” she said. “I’m wrong. We’re missing something. You know how this all started?”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“Sure. You and your two-hundred-dollar bulldozer.”</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“No, no. It was our bishop. No way should he have let flaming liberals like us get up there and speak for a half-hour. Think about it. He never likes to rock the boat. They didn’t even assign a topic.” </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Kyle stared at her. Suddenly, he jumped up, made a beeline to the phone and dialed.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“Hello, Bishop. Kyle Richards here. Sorry to bother you. Tammy and I are on speaker phone, and I have a quick question. You know about my heresies, our heresies. So why did you set all that aside and allow us to speak in sacrament meeting?”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">The bishop laughed. “OK, I admit we were desperate. See, a month ago Friday my family is leaving to go to a movie, and Brother Fox calls and says the Harmons can’t speak. He asks who he should invite to replace them, and I have no clue. Our teenagers are whispering ‘hurry, Dad, we’ll be late’ and Ron Fox is waiting. I can’t take time to review the ward list or kneel in prayer, so I say this silent five-second prayer, and the words that instantly stick in my mind clear as crystal are ‘the Richardses, the Richardses, the Richardses.’ ”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“So you had no doubts?” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“Well . . . ” The bishop hesitated. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Not at that moment. But when we got back home it’s bedtime. I’m staring at the bathroom mirror, and I whisper, ‘Bishop, what have you done? What in the holy hell . . .’ Sorry about the swear word. It took me three hours to fall asleep.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">After they hung up, Kyle slowly walked back to his chair. He took a deep breath.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“One of these days the State Department will clear us to talk openly about our visit with the prime minister. And then, first thing, we’re going to go see the bishop and his wife—he probably won’t be bishop by then, and you know what we’re going to say? We’re going to say, ‘Bishop, how do you think peace finally came to Israel and Palestine?’ Of course he will have no idea why we’re asking such a thing. And then we’ll say, ‘Bishop, do you remember that phone call you got from Brother Fox in which you told him to invite the Richardses, those borderline apostate liberals, to speak in sacrament meeting?’ <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’ll remember, of course, thanks to the thunder and the earthquake. And then it will be time for us to come clean about everything, and—”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Tammy interrupted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“And then we’ll say, ‘Bishop, you’d better lift your feet up and make yourself comfortable. Really comfortable. Oh, and tighten your shoe laces because unless your laces are good and tight, what we’re about to tell you is gonna knock your socks off.’ ”</span></div>
Steve Warrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972829970776193784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211864423765164859.post-80124247125324426652015-10-22T13:23:00.011-07:002023-03-26T20:51:01.391-07:00What in the world? <br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">On closer examination, certain strange features of the Book of Mormon seem to add to its credibility. Following are 10 examples.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 18pt;">Was Jesus born in Jerusalem?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">We all know Jesus was born in Bethlehem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the Book of Mormon says “he shall be born of Mary, at Jerusalem.” (Alma 7:10)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The book never mentions Bethlehem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why didn’t Joseph Smith or his scribes or the printer catch this mistake?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A serious blunder, say critics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Translated by the power of God?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hrrumph, hrrumph.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">A closer look shows nothing amiss in this passage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It merely says Jesus was born “at” Jerusalem, not “in” Jerusalem.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The full passage refers only to the “land” of Jerusalem rather than the “city” of Jerusalem: “he shall be born of Mary, at Jerusalem which is the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">land </i>of our forefathers.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Bethlehem is five miles from Jerusalem.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This city-land approach is consistent throughout the Book of Mormon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Only a few pages earlier, for example, adjacent verses distinguish between “the land of Zarahemla” and “the city of Zarahemla.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Alma 5:1,2)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 18pt;">A 584-page paragraph!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">The 1830 printed text of the Book of Mormon ran 584 pages.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Printer J. H. Gilbert observed that the handwritten manuscript he received “was one solid paragraph, without a punctuation mark, from beginning to end.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Although this apparently surprised Gilbert, it was consistent with Egyptian historical texts, which break up the text with stock words such as “and,” “behold,” “now,” “and it came to pass,” etc., but no punctuation marks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(The book claims to be in “the language of the Egyptians.” Nephi 1:2)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 18pt;">Forgetting to mention camels<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">If a Westerner—Joseph Smith, for example—writing in 1829, or today, were to spin a tale of travelers in a Mideastern desert, he would not fail to mention if they rode on camels. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For 41 pages, Nephi tells of his people traveling for years in the desert wilderness, with their tents, provisions, “seeds of every kind,” weapons, grain, children and more. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet he never mentions the mode of travel. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why not?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here’s an explanation: “When the Arab reports that he has journeyed in the desert he never adds ‘on a camel,’ for in his language ‘to travel’ means to go by camel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>. . . when the camel is the only means of travel, it is as unnecessary to mention camels in describing a journey as it would be to specify that one sails the seas ‘in a ship.’ ” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Lehi in the Desert</i>, by Hugh Nibley, p.63.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 18pt;">Odd behavior in the desert<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">As Lehi's party moved through the desert wilderness, they renamed streams, valleys, the sea and other places to suit themselves. “No westerner would tolerate such arrogance. But Lehi is not interested in western taste; he is following a good old Oriental custom. Among the laws ‘which no Bedouin would dream of transgressing’ the first, according to Jennings-Bramley, is that ‘any water you may discover, either in your own territory or in the territory of another tribe, is named after you.’ . . . Even more whimsical and senseless to a westerner must appear the behavior of Lehi in naming a river after one son and its valley after another. But the Arabs don't think that way.” Moreover, Lehi yearns for one of his wayward sons to be “like unto this valley, firm and steadfast, and immovable.” An immovable valley? Who ever heard of such a thing? “The Arabs, to be sure. For them the valley, and not the mountain, is the symbol of permanence. It is not the mountain of refuge to which they flee, but the valley of refuge. The great depressions that run for hundreds of miles across the Arabian peninsula pass for the most part through plains devoid of mountains.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nibley, pp. 85, 86, 105, 106<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 18pt;">An ancient writing form<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">In the 1960s, scholars discovered that the Book of Mormon contains a pattern of ancient Mideast writing called chiasmus in which word patterns are repeated. It is certainly not the type of writing structure anyone would have expected from Joseph Smith, who in 1829 “could neither write nor dictate a coherent and well-worded letter; let alone dictating a book like the Book of Mormon.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Emma Smith)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Chiasmus pops up a number of times in The Book of Mormon. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Following is an example from Mosiah 5:10-12. The letters in parenthesis have been added to highlight the abcde/edcba pattern of repetition.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">(a) And now it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall not take upon him the name of Christ must be called by some other name;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">(b) therefore, he findeth himself on the left hand of God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">(c) And I would that ye should remember also, that this is the name that I said I should give unto you<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">(d) that never should be blotted out,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">(e) except it be through transgression;<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">(e) therefore, take heed that ye do not transgress,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">(d) that the name be not blotted out of your hearts,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">(c) I say unto you, I would that ye should remember to retain the name written always in your hearts,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">(b) that ye are not found on the left hand of God,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">(a) but that ye hear and know the voice by which ye shall be called, and also, the name by which he shall call you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 18pt;">Problems with the plates<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“The knowledge and use of metal plates for the keeping of important records is beginning to emerge as a general practice throughout the ancient world. It will not be long before men forget that in Joseph Smith’s day the prophet was mocked and derided for his description of the plates more than anything else.” Nibley, p. 122<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">The Book of Mormon’s credibility was also once attacked for the claim that it was recorded in its entirety on plates that measure just 6 by 8 inches with a depth of 2 inches. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is now widely accepted that such a thing would have been easy, especially if the writing were in small characters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Joseph Smith and Orson Pratt both stated “the characters on the unsealed part were small.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Another complaint regarding the plates is that if they were indeed made of gold, Joseph Smith wouldn’t have been able to run while carrying them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whether the plates were gold or merely golden is an unsettled question.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some scholars suggest they were an alloy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, witnesses consistently put their weight at 40-60 pounds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it should also be remembered that Joseph Smith was a large and strong man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Luke Johnson gives an idea of the prophet’s strength in his description of a mob forcibly hauling the prophet from his home:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Waste, who was the strongest man on the Western Reserve, had boasted that he could take Joseph out alone. . . . Joseph drew up his leg and gave him (Waste) a kick, which sent him sprawling in the street.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He afterward said the prophet was the most powerful man he ever had hold of in his life.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 18pt;">The most boring verse of scripture<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">When Mark Twain described the Book of Mormon as “chloroform in print,” perhaps he had just finished reading verse 6 of 4<sup>th</sup> Nephi.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a verse that most readers pass over quickly and that modern editors would surely have trimmed from 57 words to eight or nine if they had been composing a book aimed at selling well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fourth Nephi 6 may be more boring than any other verse of scripture.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here it is: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“And thus did the thirty and eighth year pass away, and also the thirty and ninth, and forty and first, and the forty and second, yea, even until forty and nine years had passed away, and also the fifty and first, and the fifty and second; yea, and even until fifty and nine years had passed away.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Unless he wanted readers to doze off, it is unimaginable that anyone in America in 1829 would have come up with such writing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And if it was indeed written by the ancient prophet Mormon, what in the world was he thinking?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In reality, however, when it comes to the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, this verse may be a diamond masquerading as a chunk of coal. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Remember, the Book of Mormon is so named not because Mormon wrote it but because he abridged thousands of pages of other people’s writings into what came out as 584 pages in our 1830 edition.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In our mind’s eye we can see him seated at a table around 385 A.D. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In front of him are the golden plates upon which he is writing his abridgment. To his left are centuries of written records. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He reads one page after another from the records on his left and, when he finds something noteworthy, he turns back to the golden plates to jot it down, using a metal writing instrument. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the five previous verses he has already recorded several important occurrences. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But in verse six, as he turns back to his left to read records of the next couple of years, he finds nothing significant, makes a note of it, turns back again, finds nothing significant, notes it—pretty soon he has scanned an uneventful <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>21-year period.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is reading these original records for the first time and has no way to know that the 38th through the 59th years will be virtually identical.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Yes, it is a boring verse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it offers a powerful confirmation of the writing process that the Book of Mormon suggests. (Note: Another, longer explication of this verse is included as item 9 in </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“W</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">itnesses</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">” on this site.)</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 18pt;">The most boring chapter of scripture<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">When it comes to an entire chapter of scripture, Jacob 5 would be a great candidate for the most boring, at least to the average modern reader.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This chapter, an allegory about olive trees, is the longest in the Book of Mormon. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It tells of a master of a vineyard and his servant repeatedly grafting, pruning, plucking, digging, etc.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On the surface it seems to be about people struggling to grow olive trees well. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A more studious reading, however, reveals it to be a complex but understandable parable that both recounts and prophesies God’s dealings with Israel and the Gentile nations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Its complexity and out of time/out of place feel (it is said to have been written by an Old Testament-era prophet named Zenos) are not something any English-speaking Westerner would have composed in 1829.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even in its Book of Mormon context, this olive-tree chapter sticks out like an orange in an apple orchard.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: 24px;">Voices</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">The preceding two examples manifest what writers call <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>voices<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> in which different writers offer different writing styles, the presence of which speaks strongly against the proposition that one person, Joseph Smith, with his limited education and writing skills in 1829, could have written the book. Three other examples follow.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">As Jacob nears the end of his life, he laments, <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>And it came to pass that I, Jacob, began to be old . . . wherefore, I conclude this record . . . by saying that the time passed away with us, and also our lives passed away like as it were unto us a dream, we being a lonesome and a solemn people, wanderers, cast out from Jerusalem, born in tribulation, in a wilderness, and hated of our brethren, which caused wars and contentions; wherefore, we did mourn out our days.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">” (Jacob 7:26)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">A more joyful voice is that of Alma: </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death. And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more. And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">” </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> (Alma 36: 18-20)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">And consider the grief of Mormon himself: </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“A</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">nd my soul was rent with anguish, because of the slain of my people, and I cried: O ye fair ones, how could ye have departed from the ways of the Lord! O ye fair ones, how could have rejected that Jesus, who stood with open arms to receive you! Behold, if ye had not done this, ye would not have fallen. But behold, ye are fallen, and I mourn your loss. O ye fair sons and daughters, ye fathers and mothers, ye husbands and wives, ye fair ones, how is it that ye could have fallen!</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> (Mormon 6:16-19)</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 18pt;">Errors and all<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Book of Mormon writers employ what seems to be an odd way of correcting an obvious mistake.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead of starting the sentence over, they continue writing while saying, in effect, “what I meant to say was . . . ” <o:p></o:p></span><span style="color: #2f393a; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Interestingly, these writing mistakes point to the authenticity of the book's origins. Huh? you ask. Read on.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Examples:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“Yea, even the very God of Israel do men trample under their feet; I say, trample under their feet but I would speak in other words—they set him at naught, and hearken not to the voice of his counsels.”<span style="mso-tab-count: 3;"> --</span>1 Nephi 19:7<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“and thus we see that they buried their weapons of peace, or they buried the weapons of war, for peace.” <span style="mso-tab-count: 5;">--</span>Alma 24:19<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“And now, my son, all men that are in a state of nature, or I would say, in a carnal state, are in the gall of bitterness”<span style="mso-tab-count: 5;"> --</span>Alma 41:11<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“And behold, the city had been rebuilt . . . Behold, I said that the city of Ammonihah had been rebuilt.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I say unto you, yea, that it was in part rebuilt."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 5;">--</span>Alma 49:2,3<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“the people who were in the land Bountiful, or rather Moroni” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 9;">--</span>Alma 50:32<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Others:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mosiah 2:3; 7:1; 7:8; Alma 2:34; 9:30; 22:19; 26:28; 36:14; 40:2; 43:19; 43:38; 45:13; 47:2; 52:25; 53:3; 53:10; 56:14; 57:8; 58:20; 59:3; 61:8; 63:15; Helaman 2;13,14; 3:33; 4:22; Mormon 2:1 <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Errors on metal plates can’t be corrected by erasing or Wite-Out or deleting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Multiple drafts were out of the question because plates were too valuable to discard and start over.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Squeezing a few extra words of correction between lines wouldn’t have been tidy because individual lines were close together to maximize the amount of text that would fit on each valuable plate. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And scratching through the offending words would have been unsightly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, the writer simply made the corrections as his narrative continued.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">In other words, the existence of these frequent mistakes seems to affirm the use of metal plates and the antiquity of the text.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Lots of other </span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">errors and all</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> seem to confirm the antiquity of the plates. For example, if you were composing a book in 1829, you would not include lines that people would view simply as really bad writing. Yet, the Book of Mormon has plenty of that, something that contrasts with its many beautifully written passages. One example is Alma 31:7 where Mormon observes that Alma takes his sons to preach among the Zoramites. Writes he: </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Now the eldest of his sons he took not with him, and his name was Helaman; but the names of those whom he took with him were Shiblon and Corianton; and these are the names of those who went with him among the Zoramites, to preach unto them the word.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> The last 20 words of this verse add nothing that we haven't already been told and would be deleted as a matter of good English composition today. But when we read this redundancy in the Book of Mormon, we sense that this is exactly the way ancient writers wrote. (If I had been writing this verse, I would have reduced it from 50 words to 16: </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">He didn't take Helaman, his eldest son, with him, but he did take Shiblon and Corianton.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">”)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 18pt;">Lemme go—you can trust me<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">When Zoram, Laban's servant, discovered that he was in the presence of Nephi rather than Laban, Zoram was terrified. “In such a situation there was only one thing Nephi could possibly have done, both to spare Zoram and to avoid giving alarm—and <i>no westerner could have guessed what it was</i>. Nephi, a powerful fellow, held the terrified Zoram in a vice-like grip long enough to swear a solemn oath in his ear, ‘as the Lord liveth, and as I live,’ that he would not harm him if he would listen. Zoram immediately relaxed . . . The reaction of both parties makes sense when one realizes that the oath is the one thing that is most sacred and inviolable among the desert people ‘Hardly will an Arab break his oath, even if his life be in jeopardy.’ ” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nibley, pp. ll7, ll8, italics added<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">P.S. Certainly </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">the Book of Mormon contains puzzling aspects.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">For example, why do the Isaiah chapters and other passages so closely follow the King James
Bible? And why do we read about elephants and horses? But those wrestling with whether the Book of Mormon is of divine origin would do well to ask: W</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">hich is more likely<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>that the entire
book is illegitimate if it has a small amount of content that is perplexing OR that it is
legitimate if it has a great amount of content no English-speaking North American could have written in 1829?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Steve Warrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972829970776193784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211864423765164859.post-50248687878987645662015-10-22T13:22:00.002-07:002020-07-31T14:27:34.112-07:00Falling short, staying put <span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">In a church that teaches following the prophet is always right, it is hardly surprising that some good people become disillusioned when they learn that prophets, past and present, make their share of mistakes—including mistakes on doctrinal matters. And even on political matters, I have observed to the discomfort of some that <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>if someone is determined to use LDS leaders as a barometer for how to vote wisely, history shows his best approach generally would be to learn the church's position, then vote exactly opposite.<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Still, I believe that we should never allow errors by top leaders to become our re</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">ason for leaving the church.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">I have four reasons for feeling this way.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">First, the Scriptures show that fouling up—sometimes in a major way—happens even to holy men.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Consider the following examples.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">LOT— This brother of Abraham visited with angels and is called a “just,” “righteous” and “godly” man (2 Peter 2:7-9), but he undoubtedly was never a candidate for Old Testament Father of the Year because he offered up his daughters to the men of Sodom for sexual purposes. He later impregnated both daughters when he was drunk out of his mind (Genesis 19:31-38).</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">MOSES—Jethro told the Lord’s anointed in no uncertain terms that he was taking the wrong approach to governing Israel. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rather than getting all defensive or creating a PR department to help him drag his feet for years before doing anything, Moses simply admitted he was wrong and changed his behavior. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not long afterward, he received the Ten Commandments. (Exodus 18:13-27) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">DAVID—This hero of Israel, who the Lord refers to as “a man after his own heart,”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(1 Samuel 13:14) committed adultery and facilitated the killing of a good man to cover his sin.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">JONAH—After this prophet flatly rejected the Lord’s command to go to Nineveh, he paid for it by becoming a central element in perhaps the biggest fish story of all time. (Jonah 1,2)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally, he showed up in Nineveh and incorrectly prophesied its swift demise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alas, when the people repented, Jonah felt no joy at their newfound righteousness. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead, he became “very angry,” apparently because the Lord’s decision to spare the city had caused him to look unprophetic. (Jonah 3,4)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">PETER—The chief apostle so displeased Jesus on one occasion that the Lord said, “Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me.” (Matt. 16:23) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Peter’s shortcomings also were revealed in his water-walking, his cutting off of an ear and in his denying of Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">PAUL—Was “a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious” to Christians before he became one of them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">LEHI—The first prophet in the Book of Mormon narrative saw many visions but also “did murmur against the Lord.” (1 Nephi 16:20)</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">ALMA—Before becoming a great prophet, it could be argued that he might have been an even worse sinner than his buddies, the sons of Mosiah, who were said to be “the very vilest of sinners.” (Mosiah 28:4)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">MORONI—Pertaining to this faithful Nephite military leader, Alma writes: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“If all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever.” (Alma 48: 17) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nevertheless, at the height of his powers, this man of God writes numerous false accusations, including one that he says comes directly from the Lord (<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>the Lord saith unto me<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span>). His letter to the governor of the land was not just judgmental and threatening, it was so uninspired as to be entertaining<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>at least in hindsight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Alma 60)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Second, some errors are simply part of the growing and learning process of mortality that applies to everyone, including prophets, seers and revelators.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The fact that a prophet is still alive and functioning in his office can be viewed as prima facie evidence that he’s still making mistakes on a regular basis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Currently, the senior member of the Twelve is appointed president of the church, a tradition that assures that the position is occupied by an elderly man who must deal with physical and mental challenges associated with the aging process and who may be fearful to embrace correct changes because they aren't in harmony with his lifelong traditional beliefs or practices. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Perhaps there’s a better way. See Dana Haight Cattani’s excellent article, “A Dignified Transition: Emeritus Status for Apostles,” in the Spring 2014 <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sunstone</i> magazine.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Third, rather than leave the church because of a leader’s error, let’s simply recognize that the church doesn't belong to its leaders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s the Church of Jesus Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are his disciples.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He expects all disciples to be invested in moving it forward. For some, that may include advocating change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Leaders who fail to utilize available resources—including listening to sincere people who disagree with them—will be more inclined to make mistakes than those who are open and receptive. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For those who advocate change and find themselves ignored, patience and persistence become significant virtues.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Fourth, sustaining and supporting church leaders is a lot like sustaining and supporting anyone else in our life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If our father or mother err, we don’t leave the family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When a spouse, friend, neighbor, co-worker or boss messes up, we don’t end our relationship with them (unless the foul-up is so grievous that we have no other option). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By exercising patience toward the shortcomings of others, we find ourselves on firmer ground when we seek the Lord’s patience toward us.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Our best approach is to follow the example of faithful black members who remained in the church before the 1978 revelation on the priesthood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They simply recognized that the Church of Christ does not cease being the Church of Christ because its prophets foul up. They also recognized that God does not cease providing guidance to his authorized leaders even if those leaders fail to embrace the Lord's desired changes until long after they have been embraced by others. And, as Frances Lee Menlove's grandfather taught his family: “Even though Church authorities sometimes act like jackasses, the Church has a way of righting itself.” (From <em>T</em><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><em>he
Challenge of Honesty</em>)</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: black;">The inevitable question</span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">A problem with pointing out that LDS prophets often err is that it raises the inevitable question:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you Mormons are led by someone who messes up just like the leaders of other churches, why do you say your church is the Lord’s?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">First, let’s consider several wrong answers to that question.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">We are not the Lord’s church because of our remarkably fast growth or any other statistical measure that makes us look good. (Frankly, for every positive statistic out there, there’s also a negative, even if they don't show up in the <em>Ensign</em>.) Besides, some other churches are growing faster.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And fast growth should be expected in any church that stresses proselyting the way we do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Interestingly, with current full-time missionaries at the highest levels in history, the church’s annual growth in 2019 fell to its lowest rate since the 1930s. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lack of proselyting success has even caused a shift in focus among missionaries away from traditional conversion efforts, with more time now devoted to member reactivation and humanitarian service.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">And, our family, family, family focus doesn’t make us more true than other faiths.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Too-high rates of</span> divorce, suicide, prescription-drug overuse, white-collar crime and porn addiction prove that members of our LDS families have challenges and that many of our so-called forever families may be far less happy than they strive to appear. (While it isn't something that is mentioned in sacrament meeting, a sizable number of members may view with horror the prospect of having a forever relationship with certain </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">faithful</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> family members.)</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Lots of other differences—the Word of Wisdom, beliefs about the Godhead and our eternal destiny, tithe paying, first-rate humanitarian programs, temple work, etc.—also don’t mean we are the true church, although they do provide food for thought.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Also, even though we believe in the reality of certain visions and manifestations to Joseph Smith and others, it could be argued that those past occurrences do not mean that the restored church remains the Lord's church today. After all, a key tenet of our faith is that apostasy does indeed occur. </span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Instead, the key to why the restored church is the Lord’s church may be contained in words written by Joseph Smith and Elias Higbee about their 1839 visit with President Martin Van Buren.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">In our interview with the President [of the United States], he interrogated us wherein we differed in our religion from the other religions of the day. Brother Joseph said we differed in mode of baptism, and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands. We considered that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">all other considerations were contained in the gift of the Holy Ghost.</i>” (italics added)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">In my view, the Lord in a quiet, almost imperceptible way, claims the restored church as his own by manifesting the Holy Ghost on an expansive basis ranging from the most humble but believing LDS home to the highest leadership council.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> The Spirit seems in particular to be very present among the Lord's followers in times of trouble or despair. </span>Certainly, people of other faiths also experience various ministrations of the Spirit, and it is true that unrighteous behavior separates all of us from the Spirit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I believe that it is in the authorized church of Christ that the gift of the Holy Ghost is accessible in the broadest way, affording mortals the best hopes of moving close to Christ and of experiencing peace here and now, and of finding a path toward salvation (see “Pathway to heaven” on this site).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">It may be the presence of the Spirit that explains how the church, as noted earlier, “has a way of righting itself” after errors are made.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">It is common to sense the serene influence of the Spirit in various LDS settings, such as sacrament meeting, in spite of our myriad shortcomings as a people and as individuals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s as though the Spirit says “this church, despite its failings, is still the Lord’s authorized, restored church, and this place is indeed the appointed house of the Lord where humble seekers can feel his presence.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">As noted earlier, the presence of the Holy Spirit doesn’t shield prophets from error.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although we believe Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon by the gift and power of God, he made serious personal mistakes before, during and after the translation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But in spite of those mistakes, we believe that he remained the Lord’s authorized servant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In pondering why the Book of Mormon is key to setting this church apart as the Lord’s, we would do well to consider the words of Oliver Cowdery, who wrote nearly the entire book as it was spoken by Joseph Smith:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“If you, my hearers, will walk by its light and obey its precepts, you will be saved with an everlasting salvation in the kingdom of God on high.”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">I
believe that everyone must discover for himself how to follow Christ. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But if those few words by Cowdery are true,
they convey vital messages about Joseph Smith and the church he established. They also help explain why the Spirit is readily accessible in the church.</span></span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Related articles: <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>Obedience gone awry</span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Oopsy-daisy</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">” </span></i><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“Pathway to heaven</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span></i><br />
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Steve Warrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972829970776193784noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211864423765164859.post-80667892873185120422015-10-22T13:14:00.007-07:002022-10-01T21:10:11.909-07:00Obedience gone awry <br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">A fundamental belief of those of us who assert that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is indeed the Lord’s church is that a prophet leads the church and that he is authorized of God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Therefore, we sustain and pray for him and give close heed to his counsel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To faithful members, his words generally carry greater weight than those of any other mortal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">But the church expects members to go even further in their commitment to the prophet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">We are taught to <em>believe in, trust in, have faith in and to always follow</em> the president of the church. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> The church has declared that the prophet will <i>never </i>teach false doctrine. (See r</span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">eferences at end.) </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Furthermore, we learn from an early age that because he is the Lord’s prophet, we will be blessed for following him even when he is wrong.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">“Follow the prophet” is one of the most commonly used expressions in the church and is the title of an LDS song. </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Often it is cited along with two other popular teachings; namely, that obedience is the first law of heaven and that the prophet will never lead the church astray.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">What could possibly be wrong with believing in, trusting in, having faith in and always following another mortal?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">First, it elevates a mortal to a stature that belongs to the Lord alone.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">In The Church of Jesus Christ, we are disciples of Jesus Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We believe in and follow him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Following him is always right because he is never wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“Come, follow me” refers to but one person—Christ the Lord.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">When the Lord instructed Abraham through an angel to offer Isaac as a sacrifice, he was saying, in effect, “Disregard what the prophets have said about killing. Instead, obey only me.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> The same applies to Nephi slaying Laban. And when the mortal Jesus learned that teachings and practices of the authorized Jewish religious leaders ran contrary to the Spirit, he followed the Spirit. Some in the church erroneously offer the Abraham story of obedience and the example of the mortal Christ's obedience as evidence that we should always follow our mortal prophet when, in fact, the true message is to always follow God and “obey the voice of the Spirit” (1 Nephi 4:18) or, as Peter said, <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>We ought to obey God rather than men<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> (Acts 5:29). </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Yes, prophets deserve our support.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Certainly we should <em>usually</em> follow their counsel. </span>But with “follow the prophet,” a caveat is needed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For example, we could properly encourage each other to follow the prophet’s “inspired” counsel, thereby acknowledging that his words, unlike Christ’s, sometimes are uninspired.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Better yet, we could change our approach.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why not say “follow” only when referring to Deity? When speaking of mortal prophets, we could use words such as support, sustain, pray for and give heed to.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">If we concede in one breath that prophets make mistakes but in the next breath insist that following them is always right, we are telling members, in effect, that they are too stupid to exercise agency. This diminishes the place of agency in the Plan of Salvation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">The Topical Guide contains many entries under “Trust in God” and “Trust Not in the Arm of Flesh.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are very specific that disciples of Christ are expected to trust in him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Without exception, the offspring of two mortal parents is “Flesh”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">—even if he happens to be a prophet or an apostle.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> (Note: Christ, even as the son of one mortal parent and one immortal parent, was still God. See Mosiah 15:1-5)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Another problem with the church’s emphasis on always following the prophet and on obedience is that it makes faithful members reluctant to speak up when they believe the prophet, other <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>prophets, seers and revelators,<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">” and other authorities</span> have erred.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When few speak up, false teachings are the beneficiary—they get a long-term lease on life and tend to proliferate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">To illustrate, in the early 1850s some disagreed with Brigham Young’s Adam-God theory, but the unwillingness of large numbers of obedient members to promptly, respectfully and firmly reject this teaching surely contributed to the fact that he continued to teach it as doctrine for more than two decades. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Elder James A. Little’s commitment to obedience was apparently widely shared at the time: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I believe in the principle of obedience; and if I am told that Adam is our Father and our God, I just believe it.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> If Elder Little's obedience was indeed typical of the time, w</span>e shouldn’t be surprised that it was also during Brigham Young’s presidency that a member of the Twelve, Elder Joseph F. Smith, came up with “obedience is the first law of heaven.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Similarly, the willingness of “faithful” Latter-day Saints to always follow the prophet rather than sometimes disagreeing surely contributed to the 126-year lifespan of excluding blacks from priesthood and temple blessings, a policy that was wrong from Day One.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As a missionary in Colombia and Venezuela from 1969-71, I sometimes found myself using, with encouragement from leaders, a few rather weasel-like tactics in trying to determine if investigators had black African ancestry, even a trace of which would automatically disqualify them from receiving the priesthood. In hindsight, I recognize that I should have been less of a potted plant and more willing to question authority because complacency about the rights and blessings of others is not exactly a celestial virtue</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">J</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">oseph Smith urged his associates to “speak their
minds” and wasn’t</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">fond of yes men who
refused to disagree with him. He referred to them as “dough heads.”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">He observed that “Methodists have creeds
which a man must believe or be asked out of their church. I want the liberty of
thinking and believing as I please. It feels so good not to be trammeled . .
.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">
</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">In contrast, today’s members who disagree with the prophet generally are
viewed as disobedient. At church headquarters, their “alternate” views are
unwelcome; i.e., keep your damned opinions to yourself.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> Alas, over the long term w</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">hen alternate views sometimes become prevailing views, church publications tend to present the change as evidence of
inspiration to authorized living leaders.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Just as obeying the prophet can be viewed as an excuse not to resist dubious doctrines that the church advocates, it also promotes a lazy approach to gospel scholarship. A Latter-day Saint committed to automatically obey prophets may feel little need to earnestly search, ponder and pray. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All he has to do is obey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The following experience illustrates that point.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">In my West Valley stake in midsummer 2005, I recall the experiences of two members who chose to respond differently to President Gordon B. Hinckley’s request to read the Book of Mormon by year-end.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">One sister, perhaps recalling that the Book of Mormon had been the course of study in 2004, was not enthusiastic about rereading it so soon, especially with only five months left in the year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nevertheless, she believed in always following the prophet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She resolved, therefore, to proceed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">In late December, with half of the book still unread, she could have chosen to give up but instead set aside late-evening hours for a few nights and completed the assignment just before midnight on Dec. 31.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Some</span> speed-reading was required.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Another member simply decided not to follow President Hinckley’s counsel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He felt well-versed in the Book of Mormon and had read it in both English and Spanish and, like the sister above, had participated in the 2004 course of study.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Besides, his gospel learning was focused elsewhere.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Nevertheless, he felt that he had a duty to at least heed (pay close attention to) the prophet’s words, so he located President Hinckley’s challenge in the August 2005 <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Ensign</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As he carefully considered the promises of “an added measure of the Spirit of the Lord” and “a stronger testimony of the living reality of the Son of God,” he had a change of heart.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was moved by the Spirit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Not only did he begin reading immediately, he soon found himself eager to read 10 to 15 pages daily, writing many pages of notes in the process.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He finished in just seven weeks and, as President Hinckley promised, found himself closer to the Lord.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">What do we learn from these experiences?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">The first member did the right thing but was motivated primarily by a check-list sense of duty to follow the prophet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She accomplished the minimum required, checked it off and might have received a gold star if she had been a child. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She had little curiosity about the details of what President Hinckley had said; she merely recognized that she must obey.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">In the second case, however, the initially disobedient member also did the right thing by reading and sincerely pondering President Hinckley’s challenge. After doing so, he was moved by the Spirit—as a result, by following Christ he not only found himself closer to Christ, he gained a much greater appreciation of the Book of Mormon than if he had speedily read through it merely to obey.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">These experiences teach us that the correct path for disciples of Christ is to pay close heed to the prophet with the understanding that such heeding usually leads us to follow both him and Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In doing so, we take ownership of our decisions and follow the Lord in a more profound way. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">The preceding story also underscores the need to understand the difference between heeding the prophet and obeying him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the church, heed often is used as a synonym for obey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the<span style="color: black;"> Topical Guide offers 19 entries for heed, and in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">every</i> case “pay close attention to” is a better fit than obey. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">In the 132 appearances of heed throughout the Scriptures, “obey” is never the best meaning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The closest heed comes to meaning obey may be in Doctrine and Covenants 101:87-89, but even there a better definition is support, uphold or agree with.</span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Among LDS speakers, the scriptural passage in which heed may most often be conflated with obeying the prophet is D&C 21:4,5: “Wherefore, meaning the church, thou shalt give heed unto all his words and commandments which he shall give unto you as he receiveth them, walking in all holiness before me; For his word ye shall receive, as if from mine own mouth, in all patience and faith.” </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Even in this passage it appears that “give heed” does not mean obey but instead more closely resembles “pay close attention to.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And<i> receiving</i> the prophet’s words in “patience and faith” is not the same as automatically obeying them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">In 2015, Sunday classes used the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Presidents of the Church/Ezra Taft Benson </i>manual, which cited a popular story about following the prophet even when he is wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was originally told by Elder Marion G. Romney.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“I remember years ago when I was a bishop I had President Heber J. Grant talk to our ward. After the meeting I drove him home. . . . Standing by me, he put his arm over my shoulder and said: ‘My boy, you always keep your eye on the president of the church and if he ever tells you to do anything, and it is wrong, and you do it, the Lord will bless you for it.’ ”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Apparently President Grant disagreed with—or had never read—a statement decades earlier attributed to Elder Samuel W. Richards of the Twelve:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“We have heard men who hold the priesthood remark, that they would do anything that they were told to do by those who preside over them, if they knew it was wrong: but such obedience is worse than folly to us; it is slavery in the extreme; and the man who would thus willingly degrade himself, should not claim rank among intelligent beings, until he turns from his folly. A man of God . . . would despise the idea.”</span><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">It is certainly an idea that the Apostle Paul would have endorsed. Although Peter is often viewed in today's church as the leader among the apostles after Christ's resurrection, Paul supported Peter only when Peter was right and was willing to strongly disagree with him. (Galatians 2:11)</span><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Those who follow a mortal even when he is wrong have relinquished agency and have drifted into cult territory. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The perpetrators of the Mountain Meadows Massacre felt they had a duty to obey a stake president who in turn thought (incorrectly, in my view) that his directions were in harmony with the First Presidency. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For them, following the Lord had become a secondary consideration.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">The admonition to always follow the prophet goes hand in hand with Elder Joseph F. Smith’s “obedience is the first law of heaven.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While this concept remains popular today, the Scriptures (as well as any dictionary) show that obedience is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">not</i> a law—it is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">behavior</i>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is illustrated by two frequently referenced scriptures: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.” (D&C 130:21)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“We believe in . . . obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.” (12<sup>th</sup> Article of Faith) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Even if obedience were a law, it could not have been the first, because before obedience can exist, at least one law must exist. Otherwise, there would be nothing to obey.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">If there were a first law of heaven, my hunch is that it would be something like: </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Love one another, </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Love the Lord thy God or the Golden Rule. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“Obedience is the first law of heaven” is an unscriptural notion that harmonizes well with many of the church’s current but incorrect teachings that overemphasize obedience to mortals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’d do well to replace it with something like: Obedience to God is a fundamental attribute of discipleship. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“Always follow the prophet” also breeds among the faithful a sort of star status for the 15 who are sustained as prophets, seers and revelators, all of whom are in line to become “the prophet” if they become the senior apostle. For example, the expected presence of an apostle at a local meeting is automatically a huge drawing card.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When an apostle enters a chapel or auditorium, members arise and a hush falls over the room.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe we need to heed First Presidency counselor Hugh B. Brown’s counsel about arising for apostles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the mid-1960s, I was present when he entered a packed auditorium at Ricks College, and students arose. At the beginning of his address, President Brown asked that they not arise for him in the future, saying that it would be best to arise only for the president of the church.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">We recognize that young children who lack knowledge, experience and judgment are best advised to obey parents and other adults who love them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But for intelligent adults, the wise exercise of agency is a higher attribute than obedience.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That concept was established once and for all when God forced Adam to give up his plan to obey all the commandments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Lord required him to choose which of two conflicting commandments to obey. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was wise exercise of agency, not strict obedience, that put Adam and Eve—and the rest of us—on the path to exaltation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Finally, excessive emphasis on following the prophet puts church authorities and personnel in a circle-the-wagons frame of mind that causes some to become fast and loose with the facts relating to presidents of the church and to such things as their physical and mental health. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>E</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">ven in this more open era, the church still struggles with how to present facts that make a prophet look very mortal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One example is the “Race and the Priesthood” essay.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">The essay concedes that the ban on blacks holding the priesthood was wrong.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But it describes the ban only as a “policy.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It fails to acknowledge that presidents of the church called it a doctrine and a commandment from God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is a key omission because the ban’s doctrinal status helps explain why nearly all active members accepted it<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>we weren’t racists; we just wanted to obey our leaders.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Also, the essay contains references to Brigham Young making “promises” that the ban would “one </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">day” be lifted. Readers are left with the false impression that this prophet was prophetic in making such statements and that his </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">prophecy</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> was fulfilled by the 1978 revelation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, what President Young said is that blacks would <i>never</i> receive the priesthood in mortality and that it would be available to them only after the redemption<span style="color: #333333;"> of the earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a similar vein, he said death (referring to spiritual death) would “always” come to whites who married blacks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Transforming his false statements into a</span> prophecy that blacks would <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>one day</span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> receive all priesthood blessings is merely feel-good bunk.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">In August 2015, I wrote church historian Elder Steven E. Snow about whether rewording was needed in the essay’s use of “policy” and about the misleading representation of Brigham Young’s teachings on blacks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His Aug. 21 response was:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“The essay ‘Race and the Priesthood’ has been thoroughly researched, edited and approved by the First Presidency.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t question that it was researched, edited and approved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I question its accuracy. His response seems to say, in effect: <span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“If the</span> First Presidency speaks, the thinking has been done.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">When we overemphasize obedience by teaching “following the prophet is always right,” it’s never easy to acknowledge when a prophet is incapacitated. T</span>he <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Teachings of the Presidents of the Church, Ezra Taft Benson</i> manual, the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>2015 course of instruction, illustrates this point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I refer in particular to the following statement in “The Life and Ministry of Ezra Taft Benson” section:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“President Hinckley and President Thomas S. Monson guided the Church with the authority President Benson delegated to them, but the Church never went forward with new initiatives without President Benson’s knowledge and approval.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">This statement leaves the impression that President Benson was capable of approving or disapproving initiatives toward the end of his life when in reality he was not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“The authority President Benson delegated to them” was a full transfer of legal authority from prophet to counselors that occurred in 1989, five years before President Benson’s death. In actual practice, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">the church tried, with some success, to minimize the public perception of his incapacity during his presidency.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">[The church deserves credit for recent efforts to correct and clarify various aspects of its history and teachings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Members can handle the truth. It</span> doesn’t bother me a bit, for example, to know that Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon with his head in a hat and without even looking at the plates—although it would have been nice to know sooner. And, frankly, the fact that meetinghouse libraries continue to provide art that inaccurately depicts the translation process suggests that the church remains a bit indifferent about correcting the historical record.] <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Sometimes, following the Spirit might require that we be disrespectful to a church leader. President Thomas S. Monson told the story of when he was in a priesthood leadership meeting as a 23-year-old bishop, and his stake president was speaking. The young bishop felt a distinct prompting to leave in order to visit an ailing ward member at the hospital. Instead, to show respect to the stake president, he waited until after the talk had ended before leaving. Alas, he arrived at the hospital a few minutes after the member had died. A nurse told him that the man had called Bishop Monson's name just before he died. President Monson said he regretted for the rest of his life his decision not to follow the Spirit promptly. Even if the speaker had been the prophet rather than a stake president, our duty is to obey the Spirit first and foremost.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">If we recognize that prophets err even on key doctrinal issues, we might be inclined to pray for them more often and more earnestly, with the possible result that they would receive greater inspiration and make fewer mistakes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">We are well advised, in the words of Helaman, to “remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation.” (Hel. 5:12) Teaching Latter-day Saints to strictly follow the prophet, similar to Lucifer’s pre-earth call for us to strictly obey him, promotes fealty to someone who is not Christ.</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Let us be content to sustain, support, pray for and give heed to the prophet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Otherwise, there’ll be hell to pay. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 16pt;">References for Page 1<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“ . . . believe in and follow the living prophet.” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gospel Principles</i>, 2009, Page 42.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“We can <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">always trust</i> the living prophets. . . . Our greatest safety lies in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">strictly following</i> the word of the Lord given through His prophets.” (italics added), lds.org/topics/prophets<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“We are to have faith in God’s chosen prophet.” <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Preach My Gospel</i>, lesson 4<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“Following the prophet is always right,” October 2014 General Conference, Sister Carol F. McConkie </span><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>The Lord will never allow the president of the Church to teach us false doctrine.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">” <i>Gospel Principles</i>, 1979, p. 46. (The church made this statement only a year after a revelation that, in effect, asserted that many presidents of the church had taught false doctrine related to blacks and the priesthood.)</span><br />
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">“K</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">eep your eye on the President of the Church and if he ever tells you to do anything, and it is wrong, and you do it, the Lord will bless you for it.” Attributed to President Heber J. Grant by Elder Marion G. Romney and quoted in 2015 Benson lesson manual</span>.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">P.S. On June 12, 2022, Scott Harmon, the second counselor in the Salt Lake Jordan North Stake Presidency, said in the ward conference of the Jordan North 5th Ward: <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>We need to be grateful for our prophet and mindful and attentive of the things he wants us to do.<span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> This wording is absolutely correct. May it someday supplant the slavish obedience mentality of the six preceding quotes.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br /></div>
Steve Warrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972829970776193784noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211864423765164859.post-59191583682256387662015-10-22T13:12:00.003-07:002022-02-25T16:33:08.153-08:00Knowing, believing, seeing <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">We Latter-day Saints have developed a relationship with the word “know” that is borderline dysfunctional.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Young LDS children quickly learn that saying “I <em>know</em> the church is true” elicits a favorable response from their elders.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This often occurs before they have learned the name of the church or the meaning of true.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Children eventually notice that active youths and adults prefer the certainty of “I know” in testimony settings to “I believe.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“I believe” sounds like <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>I'm not quite sure<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span> whereas “I know” feels like the Holy Spirit has spoken.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let’s face it, no one ever gets up in testimony meeting and says, “I have a hunch that the church is true.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">In LDS meetings, shedding of tears or displaying strong emotions are often viewed as evidence that the Spirit must be present. From there, it is but a small step to conclude that “the Spirit has borne witness to me; therefore, I <em>know</em>.” However, as Elder Howard W. Hunter has noted, “strong emotion or free-flowing tears . . . ought not to be confused with the presence of the Spirit itself.” Sometimes, the presence of the Spirit is accompanied by “total silence,” Elder Hunter said. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">A significant proportion of “I knowers” serve missions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, an interesting thing happens to some of them during and after missions—they confess that “I didn’t really know the church was true until my mission.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Another change occurs as the years pass.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although 100 percent of new members are active at least for a short time before and after they are baptized, the overall activity level in the church is around 35-40 percent in the United States and about 25 percent elsewhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Full tithe paying, sometimes viewed as a better measure of commitment, is somewhat lower.) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of the majority who drift into inactivity, many were once “knowers” who have become less knowing—or even doubtful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A few even question the existence of God.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">How does one go from being a “knower” to doubting the existence of God? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">We might say that observing how some “knowers” behave is enough to turn anyone into a doubter. But a</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> better answer might be that many are content to remain Moroni 10:4 Saints. They felt the Spirit after following Moroni’s counsel to ask “if these things are not true” but haven’t laid a deeper foundation for their faith by studying and pondering and questioning. Perhaps they feel that serving in callings and enjoying fellowship in the church, along with shedding tears and experiencing strong emotions occasionally, provides all the spiritual roots that they need. They may sense little need to search knowledge or examine difficult questions. In fact, they may believe that questioning indicates a lack of faith and lack of confidence in the Brethren. Then, when the trial of faith comes, they go wobbly and, ere long, find themselves among the less-active majority.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Another answer may be that many knowers weren't really knowers at all; they were simply strong believers who failed to grasp how hard it is to know anything<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">—</span>especially for mortals. In the church, yesterday's dogma often becomes tomorrow's heresy. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">Social pressure in the church to declare “I know” is hard to resist, especially for young people in certain testimony settings where everyone is expected to participate. </span>I should not, for example, have asserted on my mission that I <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">knew </i>it was the will of God that blacks not have the priesthood in this life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Similarly, those of us who once stood up and said we <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">knew</i> blacks were not entitled to the priesthood cannot be taken seriously if we now say we <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">know</i> women will never receive the priesthood. (My <em>belief </em>is that in this life the priesthood is for males only. In the realms of the exalted, priesthood may have a much different look.) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">Those of us who are fallible need to be careful how we use the word know lest we erode our credibility.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Besides, Christ expects us to be humble like a little child, and believers are humbler than knowers. Because the church is indeed the Lord's, we may sense that we are entitled to say <em>know</em> when humility would guide us to say <em>believe</em>. It won't harm our salvation, for example, to admit we believe<span style="font-size: small;">—</span>but do not know<span style="font-size: small;">—</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">certain major details of the Plan of Salvation. For example, we teach that the path to godhood/exaltation for all spirit children of Heavenly Father consists of such requirements as coming to an earth, obtaining a physical body, being baptized, being sealed to a spouse for eternity and being resurrected. Yet the few verses of Ether 3:12-18 suggest that godhood/exaltation is possible without meeting any of those requirements. These verses show that Christ was a full-fledged god long before he came to earth, before he possessed a physical body, without being baptized, etc. Posts elsewhere on this blog note the startling frequency with which things we once “knew” in the church have proven to be false. (See <span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>Oopsy-daisy<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">” and </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">Obedience gone awry</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 18pt;">Seeing is not believing</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">With apologies to doubting Thomas, we also need to remember that seeing is not believing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">A magician’s audience knows the fallibility of seeing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We all have had experiences that within seconds can turn knowing into doubting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>President Harold B. Lee’s words suggest testimonies are like that:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">A testimony is fragile. It is as hard to hold as a moonbeam. It is something you have to recapture every day of your life.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">If we saw an angel, would we never doubt again?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I doubt it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But when Harold B. Lee spoke of “a sureness beyond sight,” he was speaking of the Holy Spirit. Maybe it’s when our inner spirit connects with the Holy Spirit that we most “know” anything.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In any event, the following experience reaffirmed to me that seeing is not believing and that knowing is “as fragile as a moonbeam.”</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">In the spring of 2013, I arose early and went golfing at a nine-hole course in West Valley City.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just as I hoped, I was the first golfer out, which meant I could walk at a brisk pace and not get stuck behind groups or slow golfers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">At the sixth hole, a 500-yard par 5, I hit a fairway wood from the tee and ended up about 200 yards out near the right side of the fairway in grass moist with dew.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On my second shot, being somewhat unsatisfied with the distance of my first shot, I took a fairly energetic swing, but at the instant the club struck the ball, my feet slipped out from under me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I ended up on my back, dazed and hoping I hadn’t injured myself—especially since no one was around to help out. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">I was happy to find myself uninjured.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I arose and reached for my club, I was also happy that no one had been around to witness my embarrassing fall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, in total disbelief I saw my ball on the ground in front of me. It hadn’t moved!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How could this be?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">knew</i> I had made good contact.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I quickly realized that I had never actually seen the ball move.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After all, I was hitting directly into the early morning sun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, when I slipped, my feet had gone up into the air, and my line of sight had instantly shifted from the ball to the sky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Could it be that the feel of contacting the ball was nothing more than an illusion created by the sudden twisting of my body as feet slipped out from under me?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a half minute, I had gone from knowing I had struck the ball to knowing I had missed it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">I then took another swing, made good contact and could see the ball flying toward the grass along the right edge of the fairway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I pulled my cart toward the location of the ball, I noticed something fairly common—a ball in the center of the fairway.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(One good thing about being the first golfer out is that you may find a ball or two left behind by the final groups from the previous day.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I picked up that ball and checked its markings, I got my second shock—it was my ball!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I could have sworn that my second shot had gone to the right edge of the fairway, not in the center.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Had it struck some object and ricocheted to the left?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I simply couldn’t believe it, so I walked over to where the ball should have landed to see if I might find a clue.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What I found was another ball—my ball!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">At that moment, it dawned on me exactly what had happened.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the instant before my feet had slipped out from under me, I had indeed struck the ball.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, when my feet were in the air and my back was striking the ground, the second ball had fallen from my pocket and landed exactly where the first ball had been.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hence, I had gone full circle from knowing I had hit the ball to knowing I had missed it to knowing I had hit it. And in between, I had been baffled about how a ball that I saw flying toward the right edge of the fairway could apparently end up in the center of the fairway.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">You just never know.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">If you’re wondering about my score on the hole, please don’t.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In actual competition, I would have received penalty strokes for playing the wrong ball (twice), and for illegally moving a ball.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">And by the way, I've had two other experiences in recent years where I couldn't believe my eyes and a third experience where I couldn't believe my ears—an episode that almost cost a dog its life. One of these days I may recount those experiences in this post.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;">I admit that my standard for knowing anything may be unrealistically high. For example, I do not “know” that the sun will rise in the morning. I am content to say that I am quite sure that it will rise. In fact, I'd be willing to bet everything I own that it will rise—unless the persons betting against me were God, Lucifer or one of their angels.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: times new roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: times new roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"><span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> *******</span><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: times new roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: times new roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">P.S. In the next to last paragraph above, I mentioned that someday I might tell the story of an experience in which I couldn't believe my ears. It almost cost a dog his life. Well, here we are seven years later, one day after 2/22/22, and I finally get around to it.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: times new roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: times new roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">In January about 10 years ago, we found an older dog, 15 pounds or so, hanging around in our driveway, obviously lost. I can't remember the breed. As it was quite cold, we invited the dog inside, fed it and began inquiring about lost dogs. During the day or so it was with us, we showed it how to use our dog door so that it could enter our fenced back yard. After I noticed the dog hadn't been inside for quite a while, I worried that it might have a problem outside in the cold. When I saw that a sliding glass door to our cabana was open almost a foot, I looked inside to make sure it hadn't entered and fallen into the water of the hot tub. I was relieved that it apparently hadn't, but another serious problem arose</span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span><span style="font-family: times new roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">although I couldn't see a dog, I could hear a muffled whining sound off and on. As the cabana hot tub area is only about 10 feet by 10 feet, it was fairly easy to see every square inch. Still, I saw no dog but continued to hear a whining noise from inside. I couldn't believe my ears. After a few minutes, I gave up and went back to the house, wondering if some spiritual entity was playing games with my mind. After a length of time that I cringe to contemplate</span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span><span style="font-family: times new roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">was it a couple of hours?</span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", "serif"; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span><span style="font-family: times new roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">it finally dawned on me where that whining sound was coming from. I rushed back to the cabana and, sure enough, the dog was there. Here's what had happened: Earlier, when I was standing in the cabana wondering where the noise was coming from, it never occurred to me that I was standing atop the plastic cover to something called a skimmer, through which water circulates from the hot tub through filters and returns to the hot tub. What clearly had happened is that the dog had fallen into the water and, unable to crawl back out, had swum into the skimmer where the water was only a couple of inches deep. As the skimmer area is only about eight inches high by 10 inches diameter, it was unable to turn around. I immediately removed the skimmer lid and saw that the soaked, shivering dog was still alive. I rushed it inside and placed it in a sink that I filled with warm water. Later that day when we learned the identity of its owner and called him, he informed us that the dog was virtually blind, which likely contributed to its falling into the hot tub. Dog and owner were thrilled to be reunited. Meanwhile,</span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">I was so grateful that my denseness had not cost a dog its life. If it had, in the dead of night I might still hear the sounds of it pleading for help. </span></div>
Steve Warrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972829970776193784noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211864423765164859.post-55418084038767988412015-10-22T13:10:00.013-07:002022-05-13T16:31:34.604-07:00Pathway to heaven <br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">We Latter-day Saints fear that if a family member isn't baptized—or if a baptized family member loses interest in the church and fails to return to activity—he may become forever separated from “faithful” family members in the next life. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">On the other hand, when all family members are active in the church, a parent or grandparent may proudly observe that there are “no empty chairs” in the family circle. (This can become annoying to those of us with <span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>empty chairs.<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span>) Not surprisingly, an unbaptized or inactive family member (or non-LDS friend or neighbor) may find himself the object of concentrated efforts—including prayer, fasting and friendshipping—aimed at bringing him into the fold.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These well-meaning efforts tend to follow guidelines presented in Sunday meetings but to those who are targeted, they may seem to be an insincere, check-list approach. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Perhaps we need to lighten up. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> T</span>he Book of Mormon and other scriptures offer hope for all—even for covenant-making Latter-day Saints who now have little interest in church activity. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They teach that whether a person lives his mortal life as an agnostic, an atheist, a believer who is indifferent toward involvement in any church, or as a believer who is active in the restored church or another church, a path exists for returning to dwell with God. (In this essay, the term God generally refers to God the Father. It is not meant to suggest that there is no God the Mother nor that the term God does not apply equally to Christ.)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">The key ingredient: A heart that is pleasing to God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> That's it. It isn't about active/inactive, gay/straight, agnostic/atheist, single/married. It's the heart. </span>And it is quite clear in the Scriptures that a person can change quickly from not believing in God—even from being an enemy to God—into someone who is pleasing to God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">To illustrate, in an often-referenced Book of Mormon story, the four sons of Mosiah were “the very vilest of sinners,” and their accomplice, Alma, was apparently at least as bad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They not only were unreligious, they enjoyed persecuting believers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet so swiftly did their hearts turn to Christ<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>that at the end of just three transformative days, Alma testified, “And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!” (Alma 36:20)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">We see a similar change in Saul on the road to Damascus.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">We also see a whole multitude of Nephites changing quickly from a “carnal state, even less than the dust of the earth” and from a “worthless and fallen state” to being “filled with joy, having received a remission of their sins, and having peace of conscience” (Mosiah 4:2,3,5). Other large groups who were guilty of “many sins and murders” but who had a sudden change of heart were the Anti-Nephi-Lehies and numerous other Lamanites (Alma 24:10,24,25). [For those who wonder who came up with the name Anti-Nephi-Lehies, suffice it to say that it was the work of a committee of prominent leaders. See Alma 23:16,17. The people later had the good sense to permanently get rid of the name, Alma 27:26. Alas, committees, even at this late date, are everywhere.]</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Conversely, that same Saul who became Paul and who changed from persecuting Christians to leading them, offers a stern warning to “religious” people whose hearts are not pleasing to God:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">“Though I speak with the tongues of men and angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.” (1 Corinthians 13:1,2)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">The Church teaches that temple ordinances for living and dead are necessary for eternal life, but the Scriptures teach otherwise (see <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>Farewell to temple ordinances?</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"> on this site). Whether or not the ordinances are necessary, Paul's words appear to say, “Only if you have charity do the ordinances have power.” To the person who possesses charity but lacks ordinances, his message becomes “charity qualifies you for any necessary ordinances” or as Mormon says, speaking of </span><em style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">anyone</em><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"> who possesses charity: “it shall be well with him” at the last day. (Moroni 7:47)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">To “religious” people whose hearts are not pleasing to God, </span>Christ offers a stern warning in the parable of the Good Samaritan wherein the priest and the Levite, perhaps on their way to fulfill seemingly important religious responsibilities, pass by an injured man, whereas the man from the wrong church (Samaritans were universally despised by the Jews) acts in a way that shows his heart is right with God.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">So what kind of a heart pleases God?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a question that may best be answered by trying to discern what motivated God the Father to become our parent.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">LDS theology asserts that we were once intelligences or souls that existed forever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> We know little about intelligences, although i</span>n a “Ghostbusters” universe, they might be described as free-roaming semi-conscious vapors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In any event, God turned these intelligences into his spirit children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Apparently, we had been doing fine and were experiencing no pain as intelligences, so why didn’t Deity just leave us alone?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">The answer perhaps is connected to the idea that our heavenly parents may feel toward intelligences—and toward you and me—a lot like our earthly parents feel toward us or how we feel toward our children. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Let's suppose that long ago and far away, God the Father looked out, beheld a host of intelligences floating around, and for the first time turned a few of them into spirit children. As he nurtured these children and they eventually became like him, he found that having a family and sharing everything with them pleased him immensely. In other words, his universe became a more joyful place.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Just as earthly parents find joy in their children, I believe that loving, serving and being generous to his children is a primary source—perhaps <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">the </i>primary source—of the Father’s happiness. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Obviously, i</span>f he had allowed us to remain as intelligences, he couldn't have loved and served us, and there’d have been less joy and love in his universe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s why I believe the words of Fiona
Givens: “We worship a God who chose to love us, and by so doing made himself vulnerable to our suffering.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s also why I believe “men are, that they might have joy” (2 Nephi 2:25), “this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39), and “endless ages roll around perfected by his love” (from <em>Come All Ye Saints Who Dwell on Earth</em>, by William W. Phelps).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">God’s motive for turning intelligences into his spirit children may best be expressed by words from a Kris Kristofferson song: “Love is the reason we happened at all.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It bears repeating: “Love is the reason we happened at all.” </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">(Note: Kristofferson's words are <i>not</i> expressed in the context of couples falling in love and having children. They are expressed in a Plan of Salvation context: “Love is the reason we happened at all/And it paid for the damage we done/And it bought us the freedom to fall into grace/On our way to our place in the sun.”) Similarly, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland observed in 2016 that <span style="font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>the first great truth of all eternity is that God loves us.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Therefore, the answer to the question “what kind of a heart pleases God?” may well be </span><i style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt; mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">a heart filled with love.</i><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"> As noted earlier, it isn't about active/inactive, gay/straight, etc. God looks upon the heart.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">If a person is becoming like God, he practices the Golden Rule and Love One Another not because he has been repeatedly told to do so or because he hopes to receive a dividend or because “God’s gonna getcha” if he doesn</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">’</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">t. Instead, he loves because that’s where his heart guides him.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">I believe that hearts change and become pleasing to God when a person heeds the Holy Spirit, even though he may not be aware that the Spirit is guiding him and even though he may not be “religious.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">The following Scriptures are among those that suggest that pleasing God is possible regardless of whether one affiliates with a church:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">“the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">--Psalms 84:11<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">“Whoso walketh uprightly shall be saved.”<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">--Proverbs 28:18</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">“what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">--Micah 6:8<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">“whoso is found possessed of it [charity] at the last day, it shall be well with him.”<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 5;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;">--</span>Moroni 7:47<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">“And except ye have charity ye can in nowise be saved in the kingdom of God.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 7;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">--Moroni 10:21<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">“If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?”<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">--Genesis 4:7<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">“he who doeth the works of righteousness shall receive his reward, even peace in this world and eternal life in the world to come.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">--Doctrine and Covenants 59:23</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">I also like words from a First Presidency statement of Feb. 15, 1978: “We believe that God has given and will give <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">to all people</i> sufficient knowledge to help them on their way to eternal salvation either in this life <em>or the life to come</em>.” (italics added)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Let's consider more closely the situation of baptized members of the Lord’s church who fall into inactivity and stay that way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The words of Christ offer great hope for them, too. (Keep in mind that in the baptismal requirement, he is speaking only to mortals who hear the gospel preached and have baptism available.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">“I say unto you, ye must repent, and be baptized in my name, and become as a little child, or ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Verily, verily, I say unto you, that this is my doctrine, and whoso buildeth upon this buildeth upon my rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against them.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(3 Nephi 11:38,39)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Many in the church point to teachings that say baptized mortal members must take the sacrament regularly, pay tithing, accept callings, receive higher ordinances, go to the temple often, attend meetings, etc., or the Lord may cease to fellowship them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although those things may indeed please the Lord, a case can be made that he asks of mortals <em>only</em> baptism and becoming as a little child.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Referring to the need to be baptized and become as a little child, Christ says:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">“And whoso shall declare more or less than this, and establish it for my doctrine, the same cometh of evil, and is not built upon my rock; but he buildeth upon a sandy foundation, and the gates of hell stand open to receive such when the floods come and the winds beat upon them.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(3 Nephi 11:40) In verse 40, the Lord is referring to a point he made in verse 33: “And whoso believeth in me and is baptized, the same shall be saved.” </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Consider
this case study:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>David and Alexis marry
in 1927 in Salt Lake City and later are sealed in the temple.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
have several children and an occasionally difficult marriage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>David serves quite prominently in the church and strictly follows the prophet, who he knows quite well, but
Alexis, who also knows the prophet well, sometimes disagrees with David and the church—angrily at times—even on doctrine. When David dies suddenly
after 17 years of marriage, she becomes increasingly critical of the new prophet
and other leaders, stops attending, stops making financial contributions, decides to settle far away from church headquarters, marries a nonbeliever
who has fathered an illegitimate child, and affiliates with another
religion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She remains inactive for 35
years and dies at age 74 in 1979.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So
what happens to David and Alexis in the next life?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The answer, of course, is that we don’t
know.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But my hunch is that if David and
Alexis lived good lives, love each other, and yearn to be together, they <i>will</i> be
together.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Although
the names and places were changed, the people and every event in the David-Alexis story actually represent Joseph
and Emma Smith 100 years after their 1827 marriage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A son stated that
Emma, a few days before her death, had a vision of being reunited with Joseph
Smith. Family members said her final words were “Joseph, Joseph.” In any event,
if she and Joseph are indeed reunited in heaven, her life story suggests that the
key factor in their togetherness may be found in words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer: “I
believe that with God it is such that all who loved each other on
earth—genuinely loved each other—will remain together with God, for to love is
part of God.” </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">It is also interesting to note that the Scriptures differ on what happens in the hereafter.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Doctrine and Covenants speaks of heaven having three degrees of glory, with the highest having three degrees and comparatively few attaining it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Book of Mormon, however, teaches only that the righteous will dwell in the kingdom of God and that those who choose to remain unrighteous dwell with the devil. (2 Nephi 9:16, 18; see also Matthew 25:31-33,46)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> Elsewhere we read of one heaven (“my Father's house”) but with many mansions, presumably not identical, which seems to somewhat combine the two previous concepts.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">A fourth view of heaven is offered by LDS poet Emma Lou Thayne, who writes, “How to tell even my closest family that I had died and yes, gone to a heaven so lovely and full of light and great affection? <em>So different from scriptural descriptions and my learned concepts.</em> So unlike a dream, as real as my mother and father's presence at the table. There never could be any denying of what I now knew had happened. . . . I had been to the place of knowing and returned with a view as broad as the galaxies and comforting as my mother's hand. . . No judgment. <em>No echelons</em>, only loving acceptance and that world beyond bliss, beyond joy, beyond ecstasy, a new life—childness.” (Italics added. From <em>The Place of Knowing</em>, pages 25, 28, 67.)</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Our modern prophets embrace the D&C view of heaven, although it should be noted that they also embrace the view that the Book of Mormon, not the D&C, is “the most correct” of any book. (In any event, the church has taken no official position on whether progression from one glory to another is possible or whether there are generous visiting privileges between kingdoms. Besides, I personally am fond of Emma Lou Thayne's view of a heaven without echelons.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Rather than subscribing to a narrow dogma that causes us to agonize over the eternal future of family members and other good people who do not participate in religion, perhaps we simply need to be kind, positive and hopeful, having “a view as broad as the galaxies.” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> I'm not saying we should hide our convictions; like other Latter-day Saints, I have come to believe that baptism and activity in the Lord’s church move us closer to Christ and put us on the path toward peace and happiness in this life. </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> But rather than feeling uptight over those we love who have little interest in the church, perhaps our primary feeling should be gratitude for a merciful God who looks upon the heart and, therefore, loves those we love even more than we do and may find them more in tune than we are. At the very least, taking this view would decrease the frequency of obnoxious interactions initiated by active members in behalf of others.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">(My belief in accepting the ordinance of baptism is connected to my conviction that the God who says “Come, follow me” was himself baptized and that his request for us to be baptized stems from a desire to bless us<span style="font-size: small;">—</span>perhaps the same desire that motivated his Father to turn intelligences into spirit children.) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;"></span><br /><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">We who view ourselves as faithful must also remember that, just as we didn't become faithful without lots of help, those who seem unfaithful didn't get that way by themselves. Indeed, those who seem highly inclined to sin may end up having the greatest love and appreciation for He who is highly inclined to save. (Perhaps that's why I often hear that religious services among prison inmates have a spirit that exceeds that generally found in our regular meetings.) While acceptance of certain ordinances may be necessary at some point to dwell with God, I believe that the ultimate, most powerful tie that binds us to God and to each other is love, and I expect to dwell in the presence of those I love in the hereafter<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">—</span>no matter what. In the end, we may gain new respect for the words <span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">“</span>love conquers all.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 18.6667px;">”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">I believe there is a God who loves us, but even if there isn’t a God and we aren’t active in any church, we are still well-advised to heed Marcus Aurelius:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "times new roman", serif; font-size: 14pt;">“Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.”</span></i></div>
Steve Warrenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01972829970776193784noreply@blogger.com0