tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77462452024-03-05T12:00:20.170-08:00The Mormon Community Gospel Doctrine ROB. LAUERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10437607492146768666noreply@blogger.comBlogger105125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7746245.post-80938425705178095402019-12-09T11:30:00.001-08:002019-12-09T11:30:18.196-08:00MY JOSEPH: Mormonism Outside of the BoxReform Mormonism is Mormonism “outside the box.” <br />
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What is “the box?” <br />
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For the most part, it is the large church organizations that lay claim to the name “Mormon.” These are the institutions such as the LDS Church in Salt Lake City with its Temple Square, its Tabernacle Choir, its thousands of young missionaries knocking on front doors the world over. <br />
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The “box” is also an institution such as the FLDS Church, with its polygamous marriages, its women in swept up hairdos and retro-pioneer-style prairie skirts, its secret marriages of underage girls to older men, its distrust of modernity and the secular world. <br />
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The “box” is the attempt by an institution—especially the LDS Church—to proclaim that it alone is the “one true church.” <br />
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The “box” is the attempt by such an institution to convince the world that it is “THE Mormon Church,” and that all things Mormons can be properly understood only in the context of its laws and by-laws; of its history, traditions, and policies; of its power, authority, hierarchy, and priesthood. <br />
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Since all Mormon denominations and sects descend from the teachings of Joseph Smith—the First Mormon—the larger institutions try to keep Joseph himself in the “box” that they have created. They ignore his history, cover it up, apologize for it, deny it, lie about it, and create counter myths—all in an attempt to keep Joseph in their “box.” <br />
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The LDS Church in Salt Lake City has been particularly successful in doing this. It has convinced the world that—contrary to the proven facts of history—Joseph Smith's prophetic calling consisted of founding their institution, which they claim is the “only true and living church on the face of the earth.” Just as in the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church had succeeded in convincing the world that one could not be a true Christian outside of their church and priesthood—and that the Apostle Peter was the first pope—so the LDS Church has asserted as fact that one can not be a true Mormon outside of its institution and priesthood. The LDS institution has created the office of church president, stuck the label of “prophet, seer, and revelator” to it, and successfully convinced its millions of members that Joseph Smith was a “true prophet” in the way that the LDS institution defines “true prophet.” <br />
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In Temple Square murals and films, and in LDS Church educational and missionary publications, Joseph Smith is presented as the soft-spoken, outwardly meek and “Christ-like,” non-threatening person that modern LDS Church presidents try to be. <br />
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Proper priesthood authority” is essential to the LDS institution, and the LDS Church president is a “true prophet” BECAUSE he holds “the proper Priesthood authority.” The concept of this Priesthood authority is the most important aspect of the “box” into which the LDS institution attempts to cram Mormon theology and Joseph Smith. <br />
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For those Mormons raised in the LDS tradition, all concepts of Mormon theology and Joseph Smith are so intertwined with LDS institution’s authoritarian claims that they find it difficult to separate them one from another. <br />
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A few months ago I was explaining the tenants of Reform Mormonism to some good folk who had been raised LDS, but who had since left that tradition. Many had been so indoctrinated with the LDS Church’s official version of things that they struggled to even comprehend the basic concepts of Reform Mormonism. <br />
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Especially confusing and unsettling was the Reform Mormon approach to Joseph Smith—an approach which is more or less the same as that of secular historians. <br />
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One friend—Vahn—wrote the following to me: <br />
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“I'm actually very intrigued at what you believe and don't believe…One of the few things that separates Mormons [the LDS Church] from other denominations is the claim on priesthood authority…Why do you cling so heavily to Mormonism if you throw out the idea of Priesthood? A prophet isn't a prophet without it, only a charismatic man.” <br />
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Having been raised LDS, my friend had bought “the box” into which the LDS institution has tried to cram Joseph Smith; to take Joseph Smith out of this “box” (as we Reform Mormons do) was to deny that Joseph was a prophet. One simply could not BE Mormon outside of the LDS institution. <br />
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And so I wrote back, trying to explain not only how we Reform Mormons views Joseph Smith but also prophets in general. <br />
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I wrote: <br />
<br />
“Why would something like Priesthood be required to be a prophet? Such thinking is part of the box into which the LDS and FLDS churches have tried to cram Mormonism. <br />
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“Joseph Smith was acknowledged as a prophet for years before he and Sydney Rigdon came up with the doctrine of Priesthood. The first Mormons organized a church in 1830 without any claims to Priesthood authority. For the next four years, Mormonism flourished as a religious movement without any concept of Priesthood or Priesthood authority. The witnesses to "The Book of Mormon" deserted Mormonism because they argued that the doctrine of Priesthood, introduced for the first time in Kirtland in 1834, actually undermined the original prophetic spirit of Mormonism. <br />
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“You also said that a prophet without Priesthood is only a charismatic man. <br />
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“I humbly disagree. <br />
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“Instead I would say that a man WITHOUT CHARISMA is no prophet at all—regardless of how much Priesthood authority he might claim to possess. <br />
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“CHARISMA is part of what makes one a prophet. <br />
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“Joseph Smith was a prophet BECAUSE he had charisma. <br />
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“World-renowned Jewish writer, Harold Bloom, in his great work "The American Religion" went so far as to say that Joseph Smith was killed BECAUSE he had TOO MUCH charisma. <br />
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“People use the word “charisma” all the time (usually when discussing celebrities). They seem to have no idea that “charisma” is a religious concept. Here is the dictionary definition of the word: <br />
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“ ‘1. Theology. a divinely conferred gift or power. <br />
2. A spiritual power or personal quality that gives an individual influence or authority over large numbers of people. <br />
3. The special virtue of an office, function, position, etc., that confers or is thought to confer on the person holding it an unusual ability for leadership, worthiness of veneration, or the like. " <br />
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(From www.dictionary.com) <br />
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“CHARISMA is that seemingly inherent quality that an individual has, that draws the attention of others; that seems to give power and authority to his or her words; it is that wins the emotions and hearts of others so easily; that makes a person entertaining to a great extent. <br />
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“The decent, high-minded, successful businessmen and professionals who serve as the LDS Church’s General Authorities can claim all the Priesthood they wish. But to listen to them speak in their steady, low, sleep-inducing tones is to know that these men are not prophets— because they have no charisma. <br />
<br />
“Mind you: I think they highly principled, God-fearing men. But they are religious leaders—CEOs of a worldwide religious organization. They are not, to my mind, prophets. <br />
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“Prophets—because they are endowed with charisma—are rarely boring; they are rarely predictable. <br />
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“Because prophets radiate charisma, they disrupt society. They are an affront to the most cherished religious values and notions and traditions that people hold. Why would a prophet even open his or her mouth if the status quo were fine, or if the most cherished traditions of a culture were above reproach? <br />
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“Prophets enflame deep feelings in virtually all people with whom they come in contact—and those feelings include love, hate, admiration, revulsion, worship, loathing, sexual passion, despair, and hope. <br />
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“The one sensation that a true prophet never inspires is the feeling that society is fine just that way it is; that tradition and the status quo--especially regarding religion—are to be protected and preserved. <br />
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“Only one thing can guide us through the maze of burning passions--positive and negative—that prophets arouse within us. <br />
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“That thing is REASON. Not reason unattached to emotion, but the rational faculty within humans that is--despite all we've been taught—the very fountain from which all our emotions flow. <br />
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“Under the light of reason, every word, action, and principle of a prophet must be examined—for no prophet is infallible. <br />
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“A prophet is still a human being. The office of prophet is a mortal office, not a divine one—though the divine phenomenon of charisma flows through it. <br />
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“Though the power of charisma may tempt us to do otherwise, the one thing no prophet must ever be given is mindless adoration or unquestioning obedience. <br />
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(This is a temptation that humans often give into to when entering the presence of Gods. Overwhelmed by the holiness of Deity, men believe themselves helpless; they drop to their knees, and give into mindless worship and praise--forgetting that "the Glory of God is Intelligence," and that mindlessness is the one condition that alone separates the human from the Divine; for the mind of man, like the Gods, is uncreated—and in the image of God does man exist.) <br />
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“To examine and question a prophet--and to find him or her coming up short, in no way diminishes their office as a prophet. In the end, it is not the prophet, but the self-examination that he or she inspires within us that is of eternal importance. <br />
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“That examination must never end with a question like, "Will I obey or disobey this prophet? Will I submit or resist?" <br />
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“The final question must always be: does this principle conform to reality? Because truth is a knowledge of reality; it is a knowledge of what is objective; of things as they really are, really were and really will be. <br />
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“I decided to leave the LDS Church in January of 2003, when I realized that certain principles Joseph Smith taught about human nature were true. In a moment that seemed revelatory, I saw human nature for what it was, and I saw how that nature was the one and only connection we humans have not only to one another, but to any being we revere as God. <br />
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“At the moment I knew that I could never again enter an LDS Church or Temple as a believing member of that institution. But I also realized that on a level more deep than any I had ever contemplated or experienced, I was then—and would always be—Mormon. <br />
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“I wasn't raised Mormon or LDS. No missionary came knocking at my door to give me the discussions. I did not know a single Mormon growing up. But in my American history class, during my junior year of High school, we read one and a half pages of Mormon history. I was so intrigued by what I read, that the following Saturday I went to the local library and checked out everything I could find on Mormons. That day I began reading the first book I ever read about Joseph Smith: “No Man Knows My History” by Fawn Brodie. <br />
<br />
“The title for this classic of Mormon historical scholarship comes from the last few sentences of the last public address that Joseph Smith gave to the Mormon community of Nauvoo, Illinois: his famous “King Follett Discourse.” Joseph ended his greatest sermon by telling his own followers that they did not know him; that they would never, in this life, know him; that no living soul knew him or his real history, and that he would never attempt to tell that history to anyone. <br />
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“How many LDS Mormons understand the profound implications of that utterance by Joseph Smith? <br />
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“That statement hints at not only the profound loneliness of a human being endowed with charisma but the personal tragedy that prophets feel is their lot as human beings, no matter how close they may feel to the Divine or the transcendent. Brodie was a genius to have chosen that statement for her biography of Joseph! <br />
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“The Joseph Smith that I accept as a prophet was first revealed in Brodie’s classic book. And he continues to be revealed in the facts of early Mormon history that scholars are constantly uncovering. <br />
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“’My Joseph Smith’ was a genius who was born into poverty, drudgery, superstition and religious fanaticism. He became immersed in folk-magic as a teen; flirted with religious enthusiasm as a young man. Using his religion-making imagination, he took bits and pieces of ideas erupting all over the wild new American Republic and began fashioning something completely new. <br />
<br />
“The religion Joseph was creating was always a work in progress, and when he was murdered, I don't think it was anywhere near completed. But by that time, enough of a new religious paradigm existed that it could serve as the foundation for something exciting and new—something that could speak to rational men and women for centuries to come. <br />
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" ‘My Joseph’ was a religious fraud who eventually became a true prophet—not in the dry, institutional sense of LDS tradition, but in the Romantic sense; in the sense that Hawthorne, Dickinson, Melville, Whitman, Thoreau, and Emerson were prophets; in the sense that America herself was born of a prophetic impulse. <br />
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“And so ‘My Joseph’ tromped and often times strutted across New York, Ohio, Missouri and Illinois (nothing meek or lamb-like about him.) <br />
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“He laughed and mocked the overly pious; enjoyed pulling sticks and wrestling in the street; smoked an occasional cigar and enjoyed a stiff drink often. <br />
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"’My Joseph’ would threaten and even bully someone he believed wronged him, while at the same time was so generous in his first impressions of people that he was forever trusting the wrong people. The volatile, fanatical zealot Sydney Rigdon, and the cunning, politically-minded John C. Bennett are but a few of “the wrong people” who at first impressed Joseph with their own brands of charisma, and who later misled, manipulated and then turned on him. <br />
<br />
“Joseph once told a group of his closest followers said he would go to Hell to get his wife Emma if she were there—and "My Joseph” meant it, too; and yet he broke her heart by marrying many of her closest female friends behind her back...and all because, I think, he was a profoundly lonely individual who felt that no one on earth "knew his history." <br />
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"’My Joseph’ dreamed not of founding a church, but of building a great American city—a Zion, a New Jerusalem—which could boast every virtue, art and glory humans could devise, and to which the rest of the world would flow. <br />
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"’My Joseph’ never for an instant gave serious thought to the devil, to hell or damnation—though everything in his upbringing told him that he should. He said once that if he went to Hell, he'd kick he devil out and make a heaven out of the place. <br />
<br />
“Most importantly to me, ‘My Joseph’ could never get emotionally involved in the religious worship of his day. He freely admitted that when as a youth he attending camp meetings and religious revivals, he could never fall down, roll about and cry out; and though he could create narratives of past prophets quaking before the unveiled glory of Israel's God, "My Joseph” never experienced such a sensation when confronted by his God. "My Joseph” could only approach God as one man might another, as something of a mirrored image—rather like mythical Adam when he first opened his eyes on the morn of his creation and gazed into the face of Deity. <br />
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“Over the years I have become convinced that fearlessness before the face of God is the mark of a true prophet. The true prophet is unafraid of bartering with God—as Abraham bartered with the God Yahweh in an attempt to save Sodom and Gomorrah from destruction. The true prophet is unafraid to challenge God to a wrestling; unafraid to use his own human strength to defend himself against a divine assault; unafraid to pin God to the ground if necessary and demand a blessing—that God treat him with the respect due to a being who exists in the image and likeness of Deity. <br />
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“Of course, the true prophets are denounced, despised, persecuted and sometimes killed by the priests, the scribes and the Pharisees of their day. In this, “My Joseph” was no an exception. It was his passionate battles with the highest leadership within the Mormon community at Nauvoo that led to his downfall, his arrest and his murder by lynch mob. <br />
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“Sometime true prophets are fortunate enough to have their lives and teachings faithfully preserved in scripture. But those in later generations who claim to be their most devoted disciples—who claim the authority to defend, protect and honor their memory and the orthodoxy of their teachings—are the first to distance themselves from the implications of the most profound principles that they taught. <br />
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“Such authorities—while devoting their lives to praising true prophets—are the first to gloss over, to tone down and to overtly deny that true prophets ever wrestled with Deity. Thus the Biblical account of Jacob wrestling with God is transformed into the story of Jacob wrestling with an angel—and most are never told that the actual meaning of Jacob’s new name ‘Israel’ is ‘to contend with God.’ <br />
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“Such authorities build monuments to the memory of their prophets while intentionally obscuring what was truly prophetic in such men and women. <br />
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“You earlier wrote that you can no longer accept the Joseph Smith you saw on Temple Square and in the LDS Church films, paintings, and books. <br />
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“I've seen those films and images; I've read those books. I've been to Temple Square many times over the past 29 years. <br />
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“I have never once seen a likeness of ‘My Joseph’ there.” <br />
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ROB. LAUERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10437607492146768666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7746245.post-2079078548364805942018-08-17T10:36:00.001-07:002018-08-17T13:52:27.476-07:00CALL ME A MORMON--NOT A LATTER-DAY SAINT--PLEASE!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsaVNzfIBecJktuqyKshcUd4XNRdxJb4lyXRc7zjiLRuhgDEAIZEYX2wddNlNjdq5ExQzCHrJlmmaliJH9LtWHJTaBGmo7wVHfWIre1IK_cFkNeQl_qI3z0S8pDPBYGTvAGij1/s1600/Angelheartn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsaVNzfIBecJktuqyKshcUd4XNRdxJb4lyXRc7zjiLRuhgDEAIZEYX2wddNlNjdq5ExQzCHrJlmmaliJH9LtWHJTaBGmo7wVHfWIre1IK_cFkNeQl_qI3z0S8pDPBYGTvAGij1/s320/Angelheartn.jpg" width="320" height="177" data-original-width="479" data-original-height="265" /></a></div><br />
Yesterday (August 16, 2018), the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced a new policy: the media and all members are to stop using the word “Mormon” when referring to the church and its members. In response, some in the media whose memories stretch far enough back, sighed, “Oh, here we go again!”<br />
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In 2000, leading up to the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued the exact same directive: stop calling us “the Mormon Church” and stop calling our members, “Mormons.” Of course, no one listened.<br />
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Around that same time, the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints changed its name to Community of Christ. The denomination wanted the end, once and for all, any connection in the public’s mind to the church in Utah, Mormons or Mormonism. <br />
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Of course, the nickname “Mormon” was coined within the first year or so of the religious movement’s birth in upstate New York in 1830. This was several years before the term “Latter Day Saint” was coined, or the name of the original “Church of Christ” was changed to “Church of the Latter-Day Saints.” The name “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints” was adopted later in the 1830s, while the body that called itself “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints” (note the hyphenated words in the name) was not legally organized until several years after the death of Joseph Smith. So, before there were “Latter Day-saints” or even “Latter Day Saints,” there were “Mormons.”<br />
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Doesn’t anyone want to be called a “Mormon” anymore? <br />
<br />
I certainly can understand why many do not. Since around 1850, the word “Mormon” has been conflated with the Utah-based institution that called itself “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” As far as public relations are concerned, that organization got off on the wrong foot when, in 1852, it announced to the world that it not only practiced polygamy, but considered it divinely-mandated and superior to monogamy. (Even today, that institution is burdened by its continual recognition of “eternal” polygamous marriages as well as the inclusion in its scripture of a section commanding the practice.) The murder of over 100 innocent men, women and children by the institution's top local leaders in southern Utah on September 11, 1857 (the Mountain Meadows Massacre) was—and remains--a public relations nightmare. (One historian has correctly observed that following the massacre, and for the remainder of the nineteenth century, to be called a Mormon was akin to being called a Muslim terrorist today.)<br />
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In modern times, the corporation that now owns the trademark “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints” has made one public relations blunder after another. These include: its embrace of a 120-year-old racist theology and policy targeted against all people of African ancestry (neither of which were rescinded until 1978); its “successes” in defeating the Equal Rights Amendment in the late 1970s and overturning same-sex marriage in California in 2008, and—most recently—its policy against blessing or baptizing the children of same-sex couples. (Jesus Christ said, “Suffer the little children to come unto me.” The Utah-based corporation claiming to be his sole representative on earth says, “Not so fast, Kids.”)<br />
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Seeing how the corporation that owns the trademark “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints” has—by its actions, policies and theology—caused the word “Mormon” to become synonymous with homophobia, racism, sexism, pharisaical religious attitudes and Right-wing politics, it is perfectly understandable that it now wishes to distance itself from the name.<br />
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Please, please, please do! <br />
<br />
You—the corporation that owns the trademark “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints"—and all of you who are associated with that corporation do not deserve the name “Mormon.” Give it up—I beg of you! Dear members, if ever you have heeded the council of your so-called “Lord’s Anointed,” I beseech you, do so now, and immediately cease and desist from calling yourselves Mormons once and for all!<br />
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I, for one, will continue to identify as Mormon—though, in 2007, I dissolved my relationship with the Utah-based corporation that owns the trademark “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”<br />
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In the 1830s and early 1840s, the label “Mormon” had very different connotations that it had after the murder of Joseph Smith. Were Mormons seen a weird, odd, unorthodox, troublesome to established Protestant norms? Yes—without a doubt. But in a newborn Republic that encoded freedom of and from religion in its constitution, those Protestant norms needed to be challenged and, if people so chose, completely rejected. This was a period when the majority of Americans saw the Mormons as victims of violence, not perpetrators of violence (as they would in the 1850s, when the Utah institution hijacked the label and began preaching Blood Atonement.) Before that time, Mormons were laughed at for having emerged from the folk religion of the American frontier—with all of its weirdness, superstition, quaintness and…well…fun. (Re-read “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” if you want to better understand the American frontier folk religion that actually birthed Mormonism.)<br />
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My dear Latter-day Saints— (we can all agree that is what you are to be called now, right?)—please begin immediately to correct people when they mistakenly refer to you as “Mormon.” If you must, feign being insulted when they in ignorance apply the name to you. If I could have but one gift this coming Christmas Season, it would be that by December 25,no one would associate the word “Mormon” with the corporation that owns the trademark “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”<br />
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In short, my dear Latter-day Saints, I am sick and tired of having my family, friends and associates assume that I am one of you, or that I have any association with the Utah-based corporation that owns the aforementioned trademark.<br />
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Let me share some reasons why I am proud to be a Mormon, but have no desire to be mistaken for a Latter-day Saint:<br />
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Early Mormons eagerly explored all the newest trends and fades in religious thought, spirituality, science and pseudo-science, mysticism, etc.—and when they found an idea that resonated with their convictions, they incorporated it into their evolving theology. On the other hand, Latter-day Saints view any new idea with suspicion, withholding all opinions until the leaders of the corporation that owns the trademark “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints” have issued their opinion, at which time those Saints form an echo chamber. I find echoes irksome, and so, I am a Mormon—not a Latter-day Saint.<br />
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The early Mormons distrusted American Christianity. Joseph Smith confessed he couldn’t muster up the enthusiasm to hoot and holler at revivals and camp meetings—even when he wanted to. Eliza R. Snow declared that when she attended Christian services, she couldn’t humiliate herself by declaring that she was a naturally-corrupt sinner worthy of nothing but damnation by a just and righteous God. In contrast, Latter-day Saints worry constantly that others don’t see them as Christians, while fear of God’s judgement seem to be constantly on their minds. So, I am a Mormon—not a Latter-day Saint.<br />
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Though Mormons at first thought of Jesus as being God incarnate (the orthodox Christian view), they quickly dropped the doctrine of the Trinity, questioned and offered wild speculations about a literal Virgin birth, stopped focusing on the Atonement, began putting more emphasis on how Christ was similar to the rest of humanity and envisioning how humanity could become equally divine not only with Christ but with God. Latter-day Saints have retreated from all of these ideas, and embrace a neo-orthodox theology that in many of its fundamentals differs little from mainline Protestantism. So, I am a Mormon—not a Latter-day Saints.<br />
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Early Mormons accepted “The Book of Mormon” as scripture while knowing little to nothing about its origins. When, at a Mormon conference in the early 1830s, Hyrum Smith asked Joseph Smith to share the details of the book’s origin with those assembled, Joseph refused, saying the details were unimportant. Latter-day Saints, however, think the details are very important, and belief in later gold plate narratives is a central tenant of their religion. So, I am a Mormon—not a Latter-day Saint.<br />
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Early Mormons knew nothing about any “First Vision” in 1820—because that story hadn’t yet been written, and wouldn’t be widely known until the early twentieth century. If you were to talk about Joseph Smith’s “Vision” to an early Mormon, they’d assume you were referring to “The Vision” of the three degrees of glory in D&C 76. Latter-day Saints believe their faith began in 1820 when Joseph had a vision of the Father and the Son; the historicity of this event is a central tenant of their faith. So, I am a Mormon—not a Latter-day Saint.<br />
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Early Mormons rejected salvation by grace because in the new theological paradigm they constructed, the focus was on Eternal Progression by one’s efforts. Latter-day Saints think of “salvation” in much the same way as do Catholics and Protestants. So, I am a Mormon—not a Latter-day Saint.<br />
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Mormons rejected the idea of Hell and embraced universal salvation—within everyone inheriting some degree of glory. Latter-day Saints believe in three degrees of glory, but most still believe in the existence of Hell as traditionally imagined by Catholics and Protestants. So, I am a Mormon—not a Latter-day Saint.<br />
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Early Mormons believed that humans and Gods shared a common nature. Latter-day Saints concentrate on how humans are different from God —and any talk of Gods (plural) rattles them.(They insist, after all, that they are Christians—and Christians are monotheists.) So, I am a Mormon—not a Latter-day Saint.<br />
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Early Mormons believed that one’s spirit was eternal, uncreated and “co-equal with God.” Latter-day Saints, since their adoption of polygamy in 1852, have taught that one’s spirit is sexually begotten by Heavenly Parents—thus making heterosexual marriage central to their now-convoluted neo-orthodox theology. So, call me a Mormon—not a Latter-day Saint.<br />
<br />
Early Mormons held that marriages were to always be performed openly as public ceremonies in accordance with local law. Since 1852, Latter-day Saints have performed their marriages hidden from the view of not only the general public, but also from the eyes of those church and family members who their leaders label “unworthy.” So, I am a Mormon—not a Latter-day Saint.<br />
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Early Mormons had but three offices in their initial church organization: elder, priest and teacher. Latter-day Saints have—well, just look at a flow chart of their organization and try to make sense of it. So, I am a Mormon—not a Latter-day Saint.<br />
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Early Mormons governed their churches by Common Consent, with decisions being made democratically from the bottom up. The Twelve Apostles had no church-wide authority but merely oversaw the Mormon missionary program. Church authority was local, with the local Stake High Council being the highest authority. The Latter-day Saints, since the time of Brigham Young, have embraced a pyramid structure—with all authority flowing down from a Church President, through the Twelve Apostles, then General Authorities, and so on to the local level. When Latter-day Saints talk of Common Consent, they mean the right to affirm whatever the leaders at the top have already decided. So, I am a Mormon—not a Latter-day Saint.<br />
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Early Mormons didn’t excommunicate people for a difference of opinion. Joseph Smith thought doing so was too similar to the practices the Methodist societies of his youth: one accepted Methodists beliefs, or one was booted from membership. Latter-day Saints are so famous for booting out members for differences of opinions, that they could market a line of footwear for the occasion. So, I am a Mormon—not a Latter-day Saint.<br />
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Early Mormons sympathized with the poor and the outcast; Latter-day Saints admire the wealthy and affluent. So, I am a Mormon—not a Latter-day Saint.<br />
<br />
Early Mormons embraced life here and now as good. They sought to build Zion and the Kingdom of God here on earth. They believed that this earth would eventually be clothed in Celestial Glory. Latter-day Saints focus on leaving this world, which they tend to view with much the same negativity as do Evangelical Christians; they aspire ti “enter the Celestial Kingdom” or “return to the presence of our Heavenly Father” after they die. So, because I really like life here on earth and thoroughly enjoy the daily routine of waking up, eating and drinking, working, engaging with friends and family, having sex, reading, writing, learning—not to mention my fondness for more mundane things such as breathing and aging—and because I believe God likes these things, too—I am a Mormon—not a Latter-day Saint.<br />
<i></i><br />
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Early Mormons took the Word of Wisdom as advise, not as a commandment: most continued to drink coffee, tea, beer and alcohol. (Joseph Smith even installed a bar in his Nauvoo home and hired Porter Rockwell to be his bar tender—until tea-totaling Emma told him that either the bar went or she would leave with the children.) Latter-day Saints consider the Word of Wisdom to be a commandment (despite the fact that their own scripture declares explicitly that it is not), and obedience to it is required for full participation in their church. So, I am a Mormon (a coffee drinker with a fondness for margaritas)—not a Latter-day Saint.<br />
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The list of why I am a Mormon--not a Latter-day Saint—could go on, but I think I have made my point. If you don’t think I have, then I’m sorry to have wasted your time. I’ll sign off with but one small request: please, please, <i>please call me a Mormon--not a Latter-day Saint!<br />
</i><br />
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ROB. LAUERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10437607492146768666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7746245.post-26925577593807843072017-09-21T06:37:00.000-07:002017-09-21T08:05:25.182-07:00SEPTEMBER 21, 1823 ....AND NOWSeptember 21st could be thought of as the birthday of Mormonism.<br />
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For nearly two centuries stories have been circulated about events that millions of people around the world believe took place on Sunday night, September 21, 1823 in a small log home near Palmyra, New York. <br />
The first stories were told among members of Joseph and Lucy Mack Smith’s family. Within two years, some details of those stories leaked out and were circulated among certain neighbors of the Smiths. Over the next few years, rumor, speculation, superstition and religious enthusiasm led to the telling of conflicting stories—some greeted as evidence of Divine intervention in human history, some seen as omens of darker supernatural powers at work, and others cited as proof of a great fraud being perpetrated on the gullible. <br />
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In the confusing swirl of conflicting stories about the events of September 21, 1823, a new religious tradition was born that quickly grew beyond the expectations of most people. As that movement spread beyond upstate New York into Ohio, Missouri and Illinois, its leaders tried to bring clarity to the chaotic stew from which their faith sprang. In short, they tried to create an official origin story for their religion. <br />
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They made several attempts. In each of these origin stories, details were added that conflicted with those found in earlier versions but which supported recent innovations in the faith’s theology and organizational structure. Each of these later retellings became more miraculous and majestic—presenting a cosmic struggle between the forces of Divine goodness and Satanic evil. When the movement splintered into competing denominations in the late1840’s, some relegated these later stories to history books while others canonized them as scripture.<br />
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Reform Mormons tend to think that greater spiritual value is found not in trying to prove or disprove the historicity of these later “official” histories, but in returning to the earlier versions of the story—the ones closer in time to 1823—and looking for the elements of those stories that might speak to the spiritual concerns of people living today.<br />
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One of the earliest detailed accounts of Sunday night, September 21, 1823, was written by Mormonism’s co-founder, Oliver Cowdery in a letter dated September 7, 1834--and published in the October 1834 issue of “Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate.”<br />
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Oliver wrote that on that the night of September 21, 1823, teenage Joseph Smith was not even sure if God existed. The teenager called “upon the Lord in secret” for an answer to the question: “If a Supreme Being did exist, to have an assurance that he was accepted of him.”<br />
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To understand why 17-year-old Joseph Smith doubted the existence of God, one needn’t look any farther than his parents. His father, Joseph Smith Senior, was a Universalist who rejected any theology that relegated any portion of humanity to a burning Hell for all eternity. Joseph Senior has no use for organized religion, and expressed his spirituality in terms of folklore and folk magic. In contrast, young Joseph’s mother Lucy Mack Smith embraced a more Calvinistic faith: she was deeply afraid that she, her husband and children might face eternal damnation—that they needed to secure their Christian salvation. The religious differences between Joseph Smith’s parents were profound, and they undermined any sense of unity and stability in the life of the family. It does not take much effort to imagine that discussions of religious differences in the Smith household might have easily escalated into powerful arguments that could have caused the teenage Joseph to be critical of religion generally and of traditional notions of God specifically.<br />
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According to Oliver, the teenage Joseph Smith “was unusually wrought up on the subject that had so long agitated his mind—his heart was drawn out in fervent prayer, and his soul was so lost to everything of a temporal nature, that earth had lost its charms, and all he desired was to be prepared in heart to commune with some kind of messenger who could communicate to him the desired information of his acceptance with God.”<br />
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Oliver Cowdery wrote that near midnight, after Joseph’s brothers had fallen asleep, “while continuing to prayer for a manifestation, on a sudden a light like that of day, only of a purer and far more glorious appearance and brightness, burst into the room.” Joseph later told Oliver that it seemed to him “as though the house was filled with consuming and unquenchable fire.” At first the appearance of such luminous splendor “occasioned a shock or sensation, visible to the extremities of the body,” but that was soon followed by a “calmness and serenity of mind, and an overwhelming rapture of joy that surpassed understanding.” <br />
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In a moment, a personage stood before Joseph floating in mid-air. Although the room had previously been filled with light, Oliver wrote, there seemed to be an “additional glory surrounding or accompanying the personage, which shone with an increased degree of brilliancy.” Though the countenance of the messenger was “as lightening,” it was of such a “pleasant, innocent and glorious appearance,” that all fear was banished from the boy’s heart and “nothing but calmness pervaded Joseph’s soul.”<br />
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The turning point in Cowdery’s story comes when Joseph, laying in his bed and wondering if God even exists, desires to know if the God—whose existence he questions—finds him acceptable.<br />
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How many people find themselves in that situation? Raised in a particular faith, they find themselves unsure of everything they were taught to believe—even the existence of God. And yet, at the same time, though unsure if God does exist, they still want to know that they are loved and accepted if God does exist.<br />
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According to Oliver’s account, while Joseph was in the midst of this conflicted state of mind, light began filling the room, bringing with it a calm and a glory that banished all fears. This sets into motion miraculous events which three years later leads to a new book of scripture and the opening of the scriptural cannon.<br />
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According to various stories told about the coming forth of that new scripture, for the next four years (1824, 1825, 1826 and 1827) September 21st became a day for Joseph Smith to re-evaluate the previous year of his life, to meditate on lessons learned, to repent and prepare for the future he felt God had in store for him. In this way, it was similar to the High Holy Days in Judaism—which coincidentally takes place every year during this same week in September. The process of honestly accessing one’s life and spiritual state, of accepting doubts, repenting of sins is essential in order to prepare for the revelation of further Light in our lives.<br />
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And so, on the night of September 21st, Reform Mormons try to take a deeper look at where they are relative to their spiritual and ethical progression. They contemplate the events of the previous year and what might be in the year to come. If they have doubts about God—or any other belief or idea related to their faith—they try to confront these doubts openly, honestly and with integrity. Just as one needn’t stay married to one’s current beliefs, one needn’t be divorced from one’s doubts. Beliefs and doubts can both fuel one’s Eternal Progression. The goal is not to get to somewhere else by virtue of believing “the right things,” but to become the type of human being whose personifies the Divine. Accepting doubts, being able to live with ambiguity, repenting of those things that we honestly, within ourselves, believe are wrong (as opposed to those things that traditions, institutions and others insist are wrong)—being able to do all of these things may not only bring a profound sense of peace, they can also open our eyes to the Light that will lead us into the future.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnxMAl-tgkxhd5MyqOm96sxpaLDLuXKlvemuwcuTaCTbStFVImEL2ars-bhm7CzANQ_c31Qv4LV-M3vO-vxwzo06JmElH7tzl-gP15waq-glrrnElrqJsYnwK8fK72sT2y89XN/s1600/palmyra-perfect-place.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnxMAl-tgkxhd5MyqOm96sxpaLDLuXKlvemuwcuTaCTbStFVImEL2ars-bhm7CzANQ_c31Qv4LV-M3vO-vxwzo06JmElH7tzl-gP15waq-glrrnElrqJsYnwK8fK72sT2y89XN/s320/palmyra-perfect-place.jpg" width="320" height="240" data-original-width="640" data-original-height="480" /></a></div>ROB. LAUERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10437607492146768666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7746245.post-63243127976540861032017-09-11T09:18:00.000-07:002017-09-11T09:54:36.289-07:00REMEMBERING 9/11 ... 1857<br />
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Can a community born of faith in the loftiest of ideals, descend into hatred, intolerance, murder and terror? Can a people who embraced a prophetic tradition—who gathered together because they were keenly aware of the injustice, hard heartedness and self-righteousness in the world become so zealous that they move beyond merely embodying the attitudes that they once decried, to embracing barbarism?<br />
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The answer is yes, and no people should be more aware of that truth than those belonging to the Mormon religious tradition. Mormonism is, after all, a tradition that originally sprang from the embrace of “The Book of Mormon.” Before the earliest believers had any fully formed explanation of the book’s origins, they had in their hands the book itself. That book told a story that spoke to their experiences and reflected their understanding of human nature and the world in which they lived.<br />
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“The Book of Mormon” told the story of two ancient peoples—both descended from a prophet who saw the corruption of the society in which he lived, and fled with his wife and children to a distant land. There, separated from his kinsmen, the prophet hoped that his children and their descendants would live as a free, just, godly and virtuous people. But from the beginning of the story, all of his children engaged in violence, jealously and division. <br />
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The prophet’s descendants divided themselves into two distinct civilizations—neither of which were purely just or virtuous, and both of which embraced violence and war when they felt threatened. In each of these two cultures there arose divinely-called prophets and leaders—and in each, there arose charlatans, demagogues, war-mongers and tyrants. For six hundred years, these two cultures not only warred with one another, but were each internally divided ethnically, religiously and politically. Each cultural was blinded by the belief that its enmity with the other was either rationally or divinely justified. Brought to the brink of destruction not only by violence but by catastrophic natural disasters at the time of Jesus’s crucifixion, they were visited by the resurrected Christ who taught them the principles embodied in the Biblical Sermon on the Mount. After six centuries of ethnic division, demagogy, social injustice and war, the two civilizations come together as one people and lived in peace for over a century. The reason for—and the key to—this lasting peace were the pure and simple principles taught by Jesus: love your enemy, pray for those who despitefully use you, turn the other cheek, bless those who curse you, go the extra mile, bear one another's burdens, avoid being sanctimonious. <br />
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After a century, prosperity, pride, self-righteousness and contentiousness took root within the people. Ancient grievances were revived, and people divided themselves along ethnic lines. Both descended into barbarism, with one civilization becoming even more sadistic than the other. That civilization—which, through most the story, had the stronger prophetic tradition—was eventually annihilated by the other. <br />
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“The Book of Mormon” was cautionary tale for the people who first read it—first and second-generation Americans who were still insecure with the personal liberties their newly formed Republic guaranteed them. These first readers were cautious regarding potential abuses of power by civic as well as ecclesiastical authorities and institutions. They embraced the “pure and simple Gospel of Christ”—which could best be summarized as putting love and charity above all else.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqrropeX6KN4YK7HTLyC9BKKr8GdW-duciea_3y285KdkjFubO48dHOT8u3JsBqRSij6lSc7UtXr7xwsxbp3mbGO2AAhHDyBkJ1gZ9UROwaNuA37EaIZzwSxV_5zKMfun4VPUM/s1600/MONUMENT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqrropeX6KN4YK7HTLyC9BKKr8GdW-duciea_3y285KdkjFubO48dHOT8u3JsBqRSij6lSc7UtXr7xwsxbp3mbGO2AAhHDyBkJ1gZ9UROwaNuA37EaIZzwSxV_5zKMfun4VPUM/s320/MONUMENT.jpg" width="320" height="213" data-original-width="275" data-original-height="183" /></a></div><br />
It is one of the supreme ironies in American history, that the largest community of Mormons would, in the 1840s, as a result of persecution and political intrigue, leave the United States, settle in the Rocky Mountains and desert southwest, and there turn inward on itself—instituting an internal “reformation” in which the choice was either unquestioning obedience to ecclesiastical authorities, or punishment—including death (so-called “Blood Atonement”) for blasphemy and apostacy. The theocratic government established in Utah Territory bought its Mormon population in direct conflict with the principles of the United States Constitution. It was soon assumed that military conflict between Utah territorial militias and Federal troops was inevitable. <br />
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During this period—in the late summer of 1857—a wagon train made up of Americans primarily from Arkansas and Missouri was making its way to California, through southern Utah. Twenty-five years earlier, Missouri had been the central gathering place for Mormons, but religious persecutions there had ended with a massacre of Mormons at a settlement called Haun’s Mil, and an extermination notice signed by the Governor of Missouri—the only such order ever issued by a U.S. governor against U.S. citizens. The memories of those persecutions and the resentments had only festered among the Mormons seeking to pioneer the harsh desert southwest. The California-bound wagon train wandered into what could now be described as a “perfect storm” for tragedy.<br />
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Led by the Mormon Priesthood High Council of Cedar City, Utah, the local militia attacked the wagon train in a spot called Mountain Meadows. After a conflict lasting several days, on September 11, 1857, the wagon train surrendered to the militia after being assured that they would be escorted to safety. Having given up their weapons, the men, women and children of the wagon train formed a long line and, escorted by Mormon militia men, they began to walk out of Mountain Meadows. Suddenly given the signal, each Mormon militia man turned on the man, woman or child nearest him. Within minutes, over 100 men, women and children—aged 8 and older—lay massacred in Mountain Meadows. Their mutilated bodies were left unburied for weeks.<br />
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This event—the Mountain Meadows Massacre—was the worst case of domestic terrorism in U.S. history until the Oklahoma City Bombing in 1995. What is so tragic and ironic, is that the perpetrators of the massacre were themselves the victims of earlier religious persecutions and massacre.<br />
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Perhaps the greatest irony is that the worst act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history would be perpetrated on September 11, 2001—144 years to the day since the Mountain Meadows Massacre. As with the terrorism of 9/11/1857, the terrorism of 9/11/2001 was perpetrated by religious zealots who clung to memories of and resentments regarding earlier persecutions that their religious communities had suffered. <br />
Reform Mormons embrace 9/11 as a Day of Remembrance. The two terrorist acts that took place on this day—in 2001 and in 1857—are taken as warnings of what can happen when a community clings to grievances of past wrongs, and assumes that they have either a rational or a divinely-mandated license to avenge those wrongs.<br />
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Reform Mormons turn to the story told by “The Book of Mormon” for guidance. They realize that no community is immune to bitterness, to fantasies of vengeance for wrongs suffered, and to the intoxicating but deadly illusion that violence against one’s enemies is divinely sanctioned. <br />
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On 9/11, Reform Mormons seek to remember that despite wrongs and injustices suffered, they have committed themselves to emulating the character of God as revealed in the character of Jesus. That character is embodied in the principles found in Biblical Sermon on the Mount and in “The Book of Mormon’s” Sermon at the Nephite Temple:<br />
<b><br />
“Behold, it is written, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth; <br />
but I say unto you, that ye shall not resist evil.<br />
Whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other…<br />
Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, <br />
so good to them that hate you, <br />
and pray for them who despitefully use you and persecute you; <br />
that ye may be the children of your Father who is in heaven; <br />
for He makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good…<br />
Old things are done away with, and all things have become new. <br />
Therefore, I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect."</b> <br />
<i><br />
(See III Nephi 12: 38—48 [LDS Edition] / III Nephi 6: 84—92 [COC Authorized Version]</i><br />
ROB. LAUERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10437607492146768666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7746245.post-89780774791801321022016-12-23T11:38:00.000-08:002016-12-23T11:48:50.863-08:00THE FIRST DAY OF CHRISTMAS: THE LIGHT IN THE MANGER<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLnXN60bmfqxd2PQceYQFI_EbB_yG6PXqtj8a4Ip0yYDUJUpK0_RfGhLVWN5mEBjdLDjxTz0locEAAXNjK63bTomksvgWYZvP_JepOIedLmBFF00gJjfmtcG3F0nKBlRQdh6bT/s1600/MANGER+OF+LIGHT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLnXN60bmfqxd2PQceYQFI_EbB_yG6PXqtj8a4Ip0yYDUJUpK0_RfGhLVWN5mEBjdLDjxTz0locEAAXNjK63bTomksvgWYZvP_JepOIedLmBFF00gJjfmtcG3F0nKBlRQdh6bT/s320/MANGER+OF+LIGHT.jpg" width="320" height="230" /></a></div><br />
The land into which Jesus was born burned with Messianic expectations. Prayers for a long-promised national deliverer arose constantly from homes, synagogues and the great Temple in Jerusalem. A nation which had for over six centuries been divided, humiliated and dominated by foreign powers awaited God’s anointed deliverer who would restore national honor, integrity, piety and power. The coming of this national redeemer would be a joyful event for the people—a momentous event that would be witnessed by all the nations of the earth. At least that was the populist belief of the time given the common interpretation of scriptural passages such as this:<br />
<br />
“How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, <br />
who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, <br />
who proclaim salvation,<br />
who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!”<br />
Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices; together they shout for joy.<br />
When the LORD returns to Zion, they will see it with their own eyes.<br />
Burst into songs of joy together, you ruins of Jerusalem, <br />
for the LORD has comforted his people,<br />
he has redeemed Jerusalem. <br />
The LORD will lay bare his holy arm in the sight of all the nations,<br />
and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God."<br />
<i> (Isaiah 52:7-10)</i><br />
<br />
The central reason why most believers in these scriptures rejected Jesus as God’s Messiah—His Anointed—was that his birth, life and death (and even the claims of his resurrection) met none of the expectations that the vast majority of the people had for their long-hoped-for redeemer.<br />
<br />
In the decades and centuries following Jesus’s earthly ministry, those who did embrace him as the Messiah passed along stories and created traditions that commemorated his birth as a miraculous, earth-shaking event. <br />
<br />
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Thus, Christmas is celebrated by erecting Nativity scenes, singing glorious carols, and retelling stories of singing angelic hosts filling the night skies above shepherds in their fields; of Wise Men on camels following a blazing star from Persia to Bethlehem; of ancient Americans falling to their knees as the skies above them remain bright for a day, a night and day in recognition of the Savior’s birth.<br />
<br />
There are two things that these stories have in common. <br />
<br />
All of these stories involve great lights: the star of the east; a day, a night and a day as if they were one day; bright angelic host filling the night sky.<br />
<br />
And all of these stories involve humans looking heavenward for signs of the Messiah’s birth.<br />
<br />
Whether these particular stories are historical or legendary is of little importance to our discussion here. If they are indeed historical, they happened to only a handful of people in the Middle East or to an ancient America civilization that had no contact with the rest of the world. The fact remains that the rest of the human family—including those living in the small town where Jesus was born—had no idea that a Messiah had been born.<br />
<br />
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No one was looking earthward. No one was looking down.<br />
<br />
With all of the reading of scripture that took place daily in synagogues and communities throughout the Roman Empire; all of the anticipation, all of the talking, bickering, debating, speculating and theorizing about the Messiah which consumed the faithful of that day—no one thought to look for the Lord’s Anointed in a dark stable, lying in a manger.<br />
<br />
Certainly if (as the Gospel According to Luke testifies) Mary gave birth to Jesus in overcrowded Bethlehem during the taking of a national census, it would stand to reason that others in the crowded inn and adjoining stable would have been aware of the event. Others would have heard the newborn Jesus crying. Others would have passed the babe in the manger. Even with no heralding angles or stars rising in the east, Jesus was not born in isolation, in secret or even in the privacy of a home. <br />
<br />
And yet as far as our traditions tell us, not a single soul in closest proximity to the newborn babe had the slightest inkling that their Messiah had come—that the child was “Emmanuel”—meaning “God with us.” The populist notions of national pride and power, the certainty that national and sectarian interests were the measure of God’s interests, the testimonies delivered by the multitudes asserting that they already knew the truth regarding the ways in which God operated—all of these combined to blind people to the way in which redemption, salvation, restoration, peace and the reign of God were being brought into the world.<br />
<br />
For those who accepted Jesus as the Messiah—the Christ—God had entered the world quietly, undermining not only popular beliefs about how He operates but also undermining all traditional, orthodox assumptions about the very nature of the Divine’s relationship with humanity. <br />
<br />
In Jesus’s day, as in our own, people were looking for blinding beams of glory streaming from the heaven, for the bright flash of a national deliverer’s sword, for the glowing radiance of thrones, crowns, riches and royal opulence. <br />
<br />
No one thought of looking for the Light in the countenance of the weakest of humans—a seemingly ordinary infant asleep among the animals in a common stable.<br />
<br />
As Phillip Brooks wrote his immortal 1868 Christmas carol:<br />
<br />
<i>“How silently, how silently<br />
The wondrous gift is given!<br />
So God imparts to human hearts<br />
The blessings of His heaven.<br />
No ear may hear His coming,<br />
But in this world of sin,<br />
Where meek souls will receive him still,<br />
The dear Christ enters in.”<br />
</i><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxic19i5BHSo1JrPhi1YieaJYnxjiXcTI1D1WjQo4CJwvm0usJKdHuu80KlN_kDubHK9Qa3MCnuElGMJxAVn_uiLA4fqy9e1V4sqf9JmDCk7794w8C5gmlsHxZFHfeknajNZsp/s1600/OLittleTownOfBethlehemCOLOR150line.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxic19i5BHSo1JrPhi1YieaJYnxjiXcTI1D1WjQo4CJwvm0usJKdHuu80KlN_kDubHK9Qa3MCnuElGMJxAVn_uiLA4fqy9e1V4sqf9JmDCk7794w8C5gmlsHxZFHfeknajNZsp/s320/OLittleTownOfBethlehemCOLOR150line.jpg" width="320" height="215" /></a></div><br />
<b>FOOD FOR THOUGHT:</b><br />
<i>How much time and energy have I spent looking heavenward for signs and wonders rather than looking at the world around me, in the faces and lives of others?<br />
<br />
How have my experiences of God undermined the expectations I had based on my religious upbringing?</i><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>SHARING FOOD FOR THOUGHT:</b> This Christmas Season bring up the above questions in conversations with family members or friends.<br />
<br />
Don’t argue; don’t attempt to convince or convert one another to any particular idea. Just discuss your thoughts openly and honestly. Seek to understand one another first and then try to make your ideas understood. The objective is to create a bond between yourself and the other person in which such ideas can be expressed openly and without fear; in which each person can be true to what they believe while still feeling respected by the other person. The objective is to strengthen the sense of community between you and others.<br />
<br />
For more information on Reform Mormonism visit www.reformmormonism.org<br />
ROB. LAUERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10437607492146768666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7746245.post-77277785105741515152016-12-22T12:20:00.000-08:002016-12-22T12:22:11.717-08:00ADVENT OF THE LIGHT: LOVEADVENT OF THE LIGHT: LOVE<br />
<br />
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<br />
“If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, <br />
but do not have love,<br />
I am only a resounding gong <br />
or a clanging cymbal. <br />
<br />
If I have the gift of prophecy <br />
and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, <br />
and if I have a faith that can move mountains, <br />
but do not have love, <br />
I am nothing. <br />
<br />
If I give all I possess to the poor <br />
and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, <br />
but do not have love, <br />
I gain nothing.<br />
<br />
Love is patient, love is kind.<br />
It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. <br />
It does not dishonor others, <br />
it is not self-seeking, <br />
it is not easily angered,<br />
it keeps no record of wrongs. <br />
Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.<br />
It always protects, <br />
always trusts, <br />
always hopes, <br />
always perseveres.<br />
<br />
Love never fails. <br />
<br />
But where there are prophecies, they will cease; <br />
where there are tongues, they will be stilled; <br />
where there is knowledge, it will pass away. <br />
For we know in part and we prophesy in part, <br />
but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. <br />
When I was a child, I talked like a child, <br />
I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. <br />
When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. <br />
<br />
For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; <br />
then we shall see face to face. <br />
Now I know in part; <br />
then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.<br />
<br />
And now these three remain: <br />
faith, hope and love. <br />
<br />
But the greatest of these is love.”<br />
<i> (I Corinthians 13)</i><br />
<br />
ROB. LAUERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10437607492146768666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7746245.post-35002497226499516072016-12-21T10:45:00.000-08:002016-12-21T10:45:02.907-08:00ADVENT OF THE LIGHT: JOY<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWJsFfODT3etF3jQsOLKDgNTbHStupZvdeMaa-OmcTVSfW-WnRCkA7IuAnUfDrQKo14lYfkDh6BL0Nnu_JUREPC_d8wOSBaMZKedqlMdwUUjiDqyFr16OMA5gOvk9wh5sl_KWv/s1600/JOY.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWJsFfODT3etF3jQsOLKDgNTbHStupZvdeMaa-OmcTVSfW-WnRCkA7IuAnUfDrQKo14lYfkDh6BL0Nnu_JUREPC_d8wOSBaMZKedqlMdwUUjiDqyFr16OMA5gOvk9wh5sl_KWv/s320/JOY.jpg" width="320" height="180" /></a></div>In even the darkest times, the promised advent of Christ’s Light offers us a reason to rejoice. For despite the chaos, despair and violence of the current age, the vision of a future age in which these things have no place has long inspired prophets and poets throughout history.<br />
<br />
Anciently the defeated and dispersed Children of Israel were encouraged by their prophets to never lose sight of a joyous future age that would be ushered in by a coming Messiah:<br />
<br />
“The desert and the parched land will be glad;<br />
the wilderness will rejoice and blossom.<br />
Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom;<br />
it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy.<br />
The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,<br />
the splendor of Carmel and Sharon;<br />
they will see the glory of the Lord,<br />
the splendor of our God.<br />
Strengthen the feeble hands,<br />
steady the knees that give way;<br />
say to those with fearful hearts,<br />
“Be strong, do not fear;<br />
your God will come,<br />
he will come with vengeance;<br />
with divine retribution<br />
he will come to save you.”<br />
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened<br />
and the ears of the deaf unstopped.<br />
Then will the lame leap like a deer,<br />
and the mute tongue shout for joy.<br />
Water will gush forth in the wilderness<br />
and streams in the desert.<br />
The burning sand will become a pool,<br />
the thirsty ground bubbling springs.<br />
In the haunts where jackals once lay,<br />
grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.<br />
And a highway will be there;<br />
it will be called the Way of Holiness;<br />
it will be for those who walk on that Way.<br />
The unclean will not journey on it;<br />
wicked fools will not go about on it.<br />
No lion will be there,<br />
nor any ravenous beast;<br />
they will not be found there.<br />
But only the redeemed will walk there,<br />
and those the Lord has rescued will return.<br />
They will enter Zion with singing;<br />
everlasting joy will crown their heads.<br />
Gladness and joy will overtake them,<br />
and sorrow and sighing will flee away.”<br />
<i> (Isaiah 35:1-10)</i><br />
<br />
In early nineteenth century America, another prophet, while illegally imprisoned for months in a small Missouri jail, cast his thoughts forward to that same future time, envisioning how the dead would be restored to the living in an eternal joyful union. Rather than give in to feelings of gloom and despair because of current injustices and suffering, this prophet encouraged his brothers and sisters to press forward with joy:<br />
<br />
“Now, what do we hear in the gospel which we have received? <br />
A voice of gladness! <br />
A voice of mercy from heaven; <br />
and a voice of truth out of the earth; <br />
glad tidings for the dead; <br />
a voice of gladness for the living and the dead; <br />
glad tidings of great joy… <br />
Brethren, shall we not go on in so great a cause? <br />
Go forward and not backward. <br />
Courage, brethren; and on, on to the victory! <br />
Let your hearts rejoice, and be exceedingly glad. <br />
Let the earth break forth into singing. <br />
Let the dead speak forth anthems of eternal praise to the King Immanuel…<br />
Let the mountains shout for joy, and all ye valleys cry aloud; <br />
and all ye seas and dry lands tell the wonders of your Eternal King! <br />
And ye rivers, and brooks, and rills, flow down with gladness. <br />
Let the woods and all the trees of the field praise the Lord; <br />
and ye solid rocks weep for joy! <br />
And let the sun, moon, and the morning stars sing together, <br />
and let all the sons of God shout for joy! <br />
And let the eternal creations declare his name forever and ever! <br />
And again I say, how glorious is the voice we hear from heaven, <br />
proclaiming in our ears, glory, and salvation, <br />
and honor, and immortality, and eternal life; <br />
kingdoms, principalities, and powers!<br />
…Behold, the great day of the Lord is at hand; <br />
and who can abide the day of his coming, <br />
and who can stand when he appears? <br />
For he is like a refiner’s fire, and like fuller’s soap; <br />
and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, <br />
and he shall purify the sons of Levi,<br />
and purge them as gold and silver, <br />
that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. “<br />
<i>(Doctrine & Covenants 128: 19, 22, 23-24)</i><br />
<br />
Though the past year may have had its fill of disappointments, hurts and anger, let us pay renewed attention to the prophetic voices found in scripture. Let us learn from the things we may have suffered and then let us release that pain, allowing it to recede into the darkness of the past. As Christmas approaches, let us rejoice in the coming of Christ’s Light into a world in need of healing and restoration—for as the scripture testify, we are that we might have joy! (See II Nephi 2:25)<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_FOwBi4SnhcRWS2D3OZxFHp-0IPWYVrD3Qzy9EVRh8MOhUTSgnGS0dO6le_cS6uFqLj7MUoDWBkSaYmdc7OQqvO8nzOjV_ymCbXgfYDIEt7dK9X7yEXAM456djXDGxQtxOkkY/s1600/Tiding+of+Great+JOY.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_FOwBi4SnhcRWS2D3OZxFHp-0IPWYVrD3Qzy9EVRh8MOhUTSgnGS0dO6le_cS6uFqLj7MUoDWBkSaYmdc7OQqvO8nzOjV_ymCbXgfYDIEt7dK9X7yEXAM456djXDGxQtxOkkY/s320/Tiding+of+Great+JOY.jpg" width="320" height="151" /></a></div>ROB. LAUERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10437607492146768666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7746245.post-39965943559877805312016-12-15T09:40:00.001-08:002016-12-15T09:40:41.401-08:00ADVENT OF THE LIGHT: PEACE<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCGJ8Ly9-fcSKuJxIeQd8Y3iVrV-QJoVV3KCGDdiaT2s6SwoU01LdE6MImpxxX-yF-erNxEroHIi1XLYK0zJQLcpv_DOA7CPeQyqSohVNmST8aidse6-g3Lk4SpeuOh5EospnA/s1600/peace.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCGJ8Ly9-fcSKuJxIeQd8Y3iVrV-QJoVV3KCGDdiaT2s6SwoU01LdE6MImpxxX-yF-erNxEroHIi1XLYK0zJQLcpv_DOA7CPeQyqSohVNmST8aidse6-g3Lk4SpeuOh5EospnA/s320/peace.jpg" width="320" height="102" /></a></div><br />
In a world that is often darkened by war, violence and injustices, the human family has clung to the hope for a future time of peace. <br />
<br />
Too often peace is mistakenly seen only as the absence of war and social unrest. But history is filled with examples of so-called peaceful ages that were nevertheless filled with injustice and suffering. The Roman Empire—into which Jesus and his first followers were born—prided itself on maintaining peace (the<i> Pax </i><i>Romana</i>). This “peace” was narrowly defined as putting down any rebellion and social unrest; silencing critics and dissenters; imposing strict social order while quickly and severely punishing any who dared break the law. It was assumed then—as indeed, it is often assumed now—that peace can be imposed; that violence and the threat violent punishment can bring about and maintain peace.<br />
<br />
The ancient prophetic writings of the Israelites put forth a vision of peaceful age that would be brought about by a future Messiah—and this vision was embraced centuries later by those who followed Jesus. The most famous example from these prophetic writings is found in the Book of Isaiah:<br />
<br />
“A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might; the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist. The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling[a] together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the cobra’s den, and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. In that day, the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious.’ <i>(Isaiah 11:1—10) </i><br />
<br />
At first glance, the vision seems to maintain the same ideas regarding peace that are found elsewhere in the history of the ancient world—namely, that a messianic individual (the “shoot” or stem that will come up from “the stump of Jessie”) will appear and impose peace by force.<br />
<br />
But even as this vision concentrates on the work of this one messianic individual, there are some differences. When he appears, he will not judge by what he sees and hears, but with the spirits of knowledge and wisdom he will be able to discern the true condition of the poor and the needy; and so, his judgments will be rooted in righteousness; he will act justly.<br />
<br />
This expands the concept of peace beyond just the absence of violence, war, crime and social unrest: the concept of peace is broadened to include justice—and justice for the weakest and least influential people in society.<br />
<br />
The concept of peace is further expanded to include a change in natural inclinations themselves: animals that instinctively attack each other are envisioned as living peacefully side by side with each other—and with human beings.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguT-_2cgvAOB1ReIL5ySZc9IQGRGlh3sOPu2MPH7xA408ReIqz7fOLIRDTLDa9hitichcorFqLmAvmX9wDGQS2WB8_n4P7NqTyxZPnW7XnMgvK8yXR1sxIjAadKbMg7FylzYJk/s1600/march-lion-lamb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguT-_2cgvAOB1ReIL5ySZc9IQGRGlh3sOPu2MPH7xA408ReIqz7fOLIRDTLDa9hitichcorFqLmAvmX9wDGQS2WB8_n4P7NqTyxZPnW7XnMgvK8yXR1sxIjAadKbMg7FylzYJk/s320/march-lion-lamb.jpg" width="320" height="216" /></a></div>Can the transformation of such seemingly natural instincts and inclinations, be imposed from without by someone—even by the powerful messianic figure envisioned in this prophecy?<br />
<br />
Certainly many people anciently thought so—which is why the majority of those who clung to Isaiah’s prophecy rejected Jesus of Nazareth as their long-awaited Messiah. Simply put, though he may have been seen a just, wise and merciful, he was executed as a common criminal by the Roman Empire. Indeed, he was executed in a manner (crucifixion) that was reserved for political enemies of the state. After his execution the world apparently continued on in darkness, with a constant stream of wars, violence, crimes and injustices. The wolf, the lion and the lamb were still not living peacefully side by side.<br />
<br />
Perhaps Peace is not something that can be imposed upon us but is something which we must actively pursue —as is suggested by this scripture:<br />
<br />
“Therefore, renounce war and proclaim peace…” <i>(Doctrine & Covenants 98:16)</i><br />
<br />
<br />
Perhaps we must first renounce war—a powerful act of faith in itself, since we live in a world in which physical power and the threat of physical attack are the foundation of all human law and government. <br />
<br />
But renouncing war—even refusing to participate in war—will have a limited effect on bringing about the kind of peace imagined without this:<br />
<br />
“And above all things, clothe yourselves with the bond of charity, as with a mantle, which is the bond of perfectness and peace.” <i>(Doctrine & Covenants 88:125)</i><br />
<br />
While this scripture speaks of clothing oneself with charity (Love), what is referred to is actually an internal process—an inward change. Charity—Love—comes from within a person. Merely going through the actions of loving others, will have a limited effect on the world. To honestly cultivate genuine love for others opens our minds so that we—like the messianic figure of Isaiah’s prophecy—do not judge by appearances. Instead we open ourselves upon to the spirit of wisdom and a greater probability of judging righteously.<br />
<br />
This internal, spiritual process can enlighten our minds—even when we are dealing with those who threaten us, harm us or unjustly use us.<br />
<br />
“…make proposals for peace unto those who have smitten you, according to the voice of the Spirit which is in you, and all things shall work together for your good.” <i>(Doctrine & Covenants 105:40)</i><br />
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The Peaceable Kingdom envisioned by Isaiah will come about with the Advent of Christ’s Light in our hearts.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs6qxGCWJCac9e5ouqD49gQTbpxFe6jEAbD97GsNYwlU3l9hjKZdBY_CGnHyJ5JwanoVVMWZltQcSZKTnwGbI5Ik60KEWwXetdgPg4MGpmcYpq41rA1PLaYS6cxNn5tGUDVuHu/s1600/peaceable+kingdom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs6qxGCWJCac9e5ouqD49gQTbpxFe6jEAbD97GsNYwlU3l9hjKZdBY_CGnHyJ5JwanoVVMWZltQcSZKTnwGbI5Ik60KEWwXetdgPg4MGpmcYpq41rA1PLaYS6cxNn5tGUDVuHu/s320/peaceable+kingdom.jpg" width="320" height="241" /></a></div><br />
<b>FOOD FOR THOUGHT:</b><br />
<i>How narrow or broad is your idea of “Peace?”<br />
How has your idea of “Peace” changed during the course of your life? What things have influenced that change?<br />
Can the “Peace” envisioned in scripture be imposed by outside forces—even by God? If your answer is “yes”—why? If your answer is “no”—why?</i><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>SHARING FOOD FOR THOUGHT:</b> In your conversations with three different family members or friends bring up this question:<br />
<br />
<i>How is Peace related to Justice? How is it related to Love? </i><br />
<br />
Don’t argue; don’t attempt to convince or convert one another to any particular idea. Just discuss your thoughts openly and honestly. Seek to understand one another first and then try to make sure your ideas are understood. The objective is to create a bond between yourself and the other person in which such ideas can be expressed openly and without fear; in which each person can be true to what they believe while still feeling respected by the other person. The objective is to strengthen the sense of community between you and others.<br />
<br />
For more information on Reform Mormonism visit www.reformmormonism.org<br />
ROB. LAUERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10437607492146768666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7746245.post-84240007580699093112016-12-08T06:07:00.001-08:002016-12-08T06:10:56.336-08:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv7oRUTfSxOxUEHuS_W61_XrC9w3eFc6wJKVcBCxtQ53SkKwL1OUTrays8eqxCMvX-fxhgbNeGP_diwqqjXQqtJUFLWmmgt45lH8C57u7r2nd5FI-0RYc5dCribiytR3LbJThY/s1600/advent.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv7oRUTfSxOxUEHuS_W61_XrC9w3eFc6wJKVcBCxtQ53SkKwL1OUTrays8eqxCMvX-fxhgbNeGP_diwqqjXQqtJUFLWmmgt45lH8C57u7r2nd5FI-0RYc5dCribiytR3LbJThY/s320/advent.jpg" width="320" height="213" /></a></div><b>ADVENT OF THE LIGHT: HOPE</b><br />
<br />
“<i>And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons…’” (Genesis 1:14)</i><br />
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Throughout all of recorded history, the human imagination has been fueled by what was observed in the heavens. Around the world in all cultures and among believers of all faiths, the daily rising and setting of both the sun and the moon brought forth rich religious symbolism. Likewise, the passing of the seasons and the changing movement of the stars with those seasons, inspired symbols and myths.<br />
<br />
The winter Solstice which usually occurs during the third week of December in the earth’s Northern Hemisphere is the shortest day of the year. And yet from ancient times, among virtually all people, this Solstice was venerated as a time marking the return of light to the world. From this date, onward, the days become increasingly longer, culminating in the longest day of the year six months later. In regions that experience cold weather or intense winters, the light also symbolized the eventual return of life-giving warmth. Light also became a powerful metaphor: light dispels darkness; light reveals what was hidden; light bring clarity of vision.<br />
<br />
When pagan nations embraced Christianity, they continued their solstice celebrations as Christmas, interpreting the return of sunlight as symbolic of the coming of divine light into the word, embodied in the birth of Jesus Christ. The Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, which is also celebrated during the same of the year, commemorates the return of light to the ancient temple in Jerusalem during the time of the Maccabees.<br />
<br />
As the Winter season sets in, a reminder that, despite the darkness and cold, the days are becoming longer and brighter, can be a source of hope. The coming of light to a darkened world is found throughout scripture:<br />
<br />
“The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.” (See Isaiah 9:2 and II Nephi 19:2 )<br />
<br />
The Advent Season—the four weeks leading up to Christmas—encourages us to look forward with eager anticipation the coming (the Advent) of Christ and his Light into the word. The theme of Advent’s first week is Hope.<br />
<br />
<b>HOPE</b><br />
<br />
Hope is one of the three spiritual gifts and virtues extolled in the writings of the Apostle Paul and in “The Book of Mormon”—the other two being Faith and Love (Charity). <br />
<br />
The first followers of Jesus embraced a belief in the resurrection of the body—a belief that death itself was only temporary; that God would bring about a renewal of the heavens and the earth and establish an eternal realm of justice, righteousness and peace. All who had died would be restored to life and be invited to take part in God’s eternal Kingdom.<br />
<br />
But despite this belief, the world remained unchanged overall. In fact, many who converted to this new faith became objects of scorn, ridicule and outright persecution by the legal authorities of the time. Despite a belief in a future of Light, the present remained Dark. <br />
<br />
In such a time, the concept of Hope became important to these believers. Despite the advances of the past two thousand years since, the world can still be seen as a dark place. Violence, injustice, ignorance and hatred are as potent in our day as they were in millennia past. Hope for a world over which peace, justice, knowledge and love flow like a river is still a powerful force—not only in the struggle to maintain an individual’s private faith but also in the advancement of the human family generally. <br />
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“Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God.” <i>(Ether 12:4)</i><br />
<br />
F<b>OOD FOR THOUGHT<br />
<i>How have you used the symbols of “light” and “darkness” in your thinking and in your faith?<br />
How is ‘hope’ different from ‘optimism?’ <br />
What could be the downside of always being ‘optimistic?’<br />
What is the relationship between ‘hope’ and ‘knowledge?’<br />
What is the relationship between ‘hope’ and ‘faith?’<br />
To be a force for good in your life, where should your hope be focused? Why?</i><br />
<br />
SHARING FOOD FOR THOUGHT:During the coming days, in conversations with three different friends or family members why not try bringing up these questions and see where the conversation goes:<br />
<br />
<i>Do you think hope different from optimism? In what do you have hope? What would your life be like without this hope?</b></i><br />
<br />
Don’t argue; don’t attempt to convince or convert one another to any particular idea. Just discuss your thoughts openly and honestly. Seek to understand one another first and then try to make sure your ideas are understood. The objective is to create a bond between yourself and the other person in which such ideas can be expressed openly and without fear; in which each person can be true to what they believe while still feeling respected by the other person. The objective is to strengthen the sense of community between you and others.<br />
<br />
For more information on Reform Mormonism visit www.reformmormonism.org<br />
ROB. LAUERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10437607492146768666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7746245.post-49586687994891721652016-11-23T10:55:00.002-08:002016-11-23T11:17:52.777-08:00FOR THE BEAUTY OF THE EARTH<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI0WFng5PRRLoVhyGytEFeUbZQ83igLScA1GnFW9YYmplKd22uqCuLdOD7brzbryO-WAK55GUUAdsXGJLov6oW86HKRCMMeu2HXCZgVa3_VOse_RYrMSSs9Aggzs-bJT6huz-F/s1600/Hicks_peaceable-kingom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI0WFng5PRRLoVhyGytEFeUbZQ83igLScA1GnFW9YYmplKd22uqCuLdOD7brzbryO-WAK55GUUAdsXGJLov6oW86HKRCMMeu2HXCZgVa3_VOse_RYrMSSs9Aggzs-bJT6huz-F/s320/Hicks_peaceable-kingom.jpg" width="320" height="267" /></a></div><i>In our previous lesson, we explored how most religious traditions, by focusing focus of going somewhere else after we die (Heaven, Hell, the Celestial Kingdom, the presence of God, etc.), overlook the very thing upon which Christ, Prophets and Scripture focused: that of our character—the type of person we are and the type of person we’re becoming. Our focus should not be on going somewhere but on becoming someone—someone who has within them all the qualities and virtues we envision God having.<br />
<br />
A second effect of focusing on where we go when we die, is that the value we give to life here and now on earth is diminished.<br />
</i><br />
<br />
Often in gatherings of devout Christians, one will hear people say: “This world is not my home; I’m just passing through; heaven is my home.”<br />
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Popular Evangelical songwriters Bill and Gloria Gaither expressed this in one of their popular songs, “Going Home”:<br />
<br />
<i>“Going home, I'm going home!<br />
There is nothing to hold me here!<br />
I've caught a glimpse of that Heavenly land!<br />
Praise God, I'm going home!”</i><br />
<br />
The line, “There is nothing to hold me here”</i> expresses a very dismal outlook about life on earth. For many Christians—and for many believers in other religious traditions—this world is seen as a “vale of tears”—a cursed, fallen state of corruption to be escaped or overcome. But how many of us—regardless of our professed religion—can actually look around us and, in all honesty, say that we see nothing that we value—nothing to “hold us here?”<br />
<br />
Such a belief also affects how we view ourselves. It is common for many Christians and Evangelicals to describe themselves as just “damaged earthen vessels” in which their spirits reside. While these same people are usually very vocal in declaring themselves “Bible-believing Christians” the idea that one’s spirit is one’s “true self” and that the body and physical existence is faulty, sinful and something to be discarded is NOT Biblical at all. Such an idea is found in the teachings of the Greek philosopher Plato and in the mysticism of the ancient Gnostics, but it is anathema to the beliefs and views of the ancient Israelites and first century Jews—those people who wrote the Bible.<br />
<br />
The popular religious view of seeing life on earth as something to which believers should joyfully bid farewell is contrasted in Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, “<b>Our Town</b>.”<br />
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The play follows day-to-day life in a tiny New England town—Grover’s Corner—where nothing out of the ordinary ever happens. The heroine—a teenage girl named Emily—grows up, marries the boy next door but then tragically dies in childbirth. The play’s final act takes place in the town graveyard where Emily’s spirit watches her own funeral. Before letting go of the earth and moving on to whatever awaits her in eternity, she attempts to relive one day of her life—her twelfth birthday. Only then does she fully realize how quickly times passes, how little time people take to actually look at one another, listen to one another and connect. Only then does she realize the true beauty life on earth. Only then does she fully appreciate how precious every minute of even the most mundane day was. <br />
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<b>“I didn't realize it. So, all that was going on in life and we never noticed. Take me back—up the hill—to my grave. But first: Wait! One more look. Good-by, Good-by, world. Good-by, Grover's Corner—Mama and Papa. Good-bye to clocks ticking and Mama's sunflowers…and food and coffee…and new-ironed dresses and hot baths…and sleeping and waking up. Oh, earth, you're too wonderful for anybody to realize you! Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it—every, every minute?”</b> <i>(“Our Town” by Thornton Wilder)</i> <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Unlike the Gaithers and so many other believers, Emily is overwhelmed by all the beauty of the earth, of her relationships with her loved ones—all of which have a profound hold on her and define who she is at the deepest level.<br />
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In Hebrew the word for “Adam” (which is initially used in scripture to define both man and woman) is a play on the Hebrew word for the earth—“Adama.” So while it is commonly translated into English as “Adam,” “man” or “human,” it more accurately could be translated as something akin to “earthling”—a word which sounds ridiculous given its use in Science Fiction. But this Hebrew play on words conveys an essential truth: to be human is to be part of the earth. Earth is the rightful abode of human beings.<br />
<br />
That idea can be seen as positive or negative based upon the story that your religion tells.<br />
<br />
Every religion tells a story of some kind. Whether that story is historical fact, myth or fiction is really of little importance to the living of one’s day-to-day life. What is essential—the thing by which “the truth” of the story is found in the meaning that it holds for the believer—in the values that the believer develops based upon the story.<br />
<br />
For example—<br />
<br />
Drawing from the Bible, a religion tells this story: Adam and Eve lived happily in Eden with God, but because they ate the forbidden fruit, God cast them from his presence and now they are lost in a sinful word, doomed to Hell unless God saves them.<br />
<br />
If this is the story one’s religion tells, then the focus of that religion is simply to be saved from sin so that one can return to God’s presence. <br />
<br />
But the religious tradition that begins its story with the Fall of Adam and Eve has already ignored the story that the writers and editors of the Bible told.<br />
<br />
Their story begins with God organizing the earth and bringing forth all life upon it—including human beings who exist in the image of God. God declares earth and all life upon it as being good. Later the humans eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge and in doing so, God declares that now they can discern good from evil in the same way He does. Because of this, He casts them out of Eden. On their own, they are now responsible for their own choices—for they know good from evil. When they are inhumane toward one another—when they cheat, steal, harm and kill one another—God condemns these actions as evil, sinful and ungodly. But God does not give up on humans and their capacity for righteousness and holiness. Neither does God condemn or denigrate the earth and nature because of the evil committed by some. Instead God sets about to restore human beings to the relationship He intended them to have with Him and with one another. God sets about restoring the entire earth to reflect His original intention for it. <br />
<br />
As the ancient Israelites and the earliest followers of Christ saw it, yes there was suffering and evil on earth—but this was not the earth’s destiny. Justice, goodness, mercy and love would triumph in the end. The earth would be renewed—and what good we do now would remain eternally as a part of that renewal.<br />
<br />
Reform Mormonism embraces this message. That message was central to the lives of the first Mormons, who gathered together for the purpose of building up a New Jerusalem—of establishing Zion, which was defined as “the Pure in Heart.” <br />
<br />
Jesus taught his followers to pray “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.”<br />
<br />
The Kingdom of God is not some far off ethereal realm beyond the grave—some fairyland of puffy clouds and angels with harps. The Kingdom of God is here on earth—and it is established when we open ourselves to the influence of God’s Spirit and begins to cultivate the virtues we envision God possessing. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBzcYoJUCad2Q-sb56Qz5gGzx0EzdLIWgAEKCtnw_UoflCtpaRZBOJITrAU9YLMkmRdrWEwywsrsFJjWQ4rCNbqxSUrx2ilMQjvEe9xkfCiLLD1V-QmOMwoPUhI-2LHcGWnsqz/s1600/thanksgiving21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBzcYoJUCad2Q-sb56Qz5gGzx0EzdLIWgAEKCtnw_UoflCtpaRZBOJITrAU9YLMkmRdrWEwywsrsFJjWQ4rCNbqxSUrx2ilMQjvEe9xkfCiLLD1V-QmOMwoPUhI-2LHcGWnsqz/s320/thanksgiving21.jpg" width="320" height="216" /></a></div><br />
Far from denouncing this life in hopes of life after death, the earth and all things in it are to be embraced with thanksgiving! Every moment of our lives has value! Our relationships with others here and now are the very things that define us as individuals and they will extend into eternity! So, give thanks!<br />
<br />
This view is celebrated in the words of Folliot S. Pierpoint's beloved hymn "For the Beauty of the Earth":<br />
<br />
<i>"For the beauty of the earth, <br />
for the glory of the skies, <br />
for the love which from our birth <br />
over and around us lies...<br />
<br />
"...For the joy of ear and eye, <br />
for the heart and mind's delight, <br />
for the mystic harmony, <br />
linking sense to sound and sight...<br />
<br />
"...For the joy of human love, <br />
brother, sister, parent, child, <br />
friends on earth and friends above, <br />
for all gentle thoughts and mild; <br />
Lord of all, to thee we raise <br />
this our hymn of grateful praise."</i><br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Questions: How can viewing the earth and our life upon as good influence our choices, the formation of our character—and how might these things impact the lives of others and society at large? <br />
How can we live lives of thanksgiving? </b><br />
<br />
<b>Challenge: In your conversations with three different family members or friends bring up this question:<br />
<br />
What if religion focused on valuing our life here and now; on valuing the earth and nature; of valuing other people—how differently would we live our day to day lives? What kind of people would we become if we at least tried to do this?<br />
<br />
Don’t argue; don’t attempt to convince or convert one another to any particular idea. Just discuss your thoughts openly and honestly. Seek to understand one another first and then try to make sure your ideas are understood. The objective is to create a bond between yourself and the other person in which such ideas can be expressed openly and without fear; in which each person can be true to what they believe while still feeling respected by the other person. The objective is to strengthen the sense of community between you and others.<br />
</b><br />
For more information on Reform Mormonism visit www.reformmormonism.org<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
ROB. LAUERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10437607492146768666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7746245.post-1747835115267622862016-11-19T07:22:00.002-08:002016-11-21T09:10:23.275-08:00WE'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW6Vurp5AKgt8wIXBuxIPf3iaREPnqzFKjz4Cvz58cMgCqlJCf9nA8eH0dMqCoJtRA3EVfSsWvYLr691IT_5BDITh7wOlvNZLwnpPuxwCoyJxh2ILDmK8yi_LXgJwojjcPSukG/s1600/alvin-smith-headstone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW6Vurp5AKgt8wIXBuxIPf3iaREPnqzFKjz4Cvz58cMgCqlJCf9nA8eH0dMqCoJtRA3EVfSsWvYLr691IT_5BDITh7wOlvNZLwnpPuxwCoyJxh2ILDmK8yi_LXgJwojjcPSukG/s320/alvin-smith-headstone.jpg" width="320" height="240" /></a></div>When twenty-five-year-old Alvin Smith died suddenly on November 19, 1823, his family and the community were shocked. <br />
<br />
Alvin had always been the picture of health: a hard-worker, he had spent the previous three years clearing the land he had leased for his aging parents and leading the efforts to build a house for their large family. Tall and athletically built, he loved to wrestle and was known for his physical strength. For recreation, he often accompanied his father, younger brother Joseph and other local “money diggers” on night-time hunts in the local forests and hills for buried treasure. <br />
<br />
The Smiths were newcomers to Palmyra—having moved there from Vermont only six years earlier—and while long-time Palmyra residents tended to look down upon them as uneducated, superstitious and lazy, most locals admired Alvin for being hardworking and practical-minded.<br />
<br />
When in November of 1823, Alvin complained of abdominal pains, no one could have imagined that his death was imminent. A local doctor administered what was then a common treatment—one which contained mercury. Within days Alvin died—not from disease but from mercury poisoning.<br />
<br />
The entire Smith family was stunned by Alvin’s death. Father Smith—Joseph Smith, Senior—had struggled for years with alcoholism. Mother Smith—Lucy Mack Smith—had for years swung from periods of frenetic, hard-working determination to periods of near crippling self-doubt and depression. Father Smith was a liberal-minded Universalist while Mother Smith tended to be a theologically conservative Calvinist. Throughout their marriage their differences and arguments regarding religion were on full display, and their children were caught in the middle—each having to navigate their way on their own. Being the oldest child, Alvin had been the one stabilizing influence not only for his younger brothers and sisters, but also for his parents. <br />
<br />
Now he was suddenly gone.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOxEaOiJKoJY3R-dx8H2PcS3qQ7NhQfKFgsZ8a3jknAr4Kv38tujFc55Njr0uS-bWhsF8UY2yldhKpAWvKMfLrcejiQkJzBkoMUdaT_1NgQN_IzCqqU8_CCydAblSw3ZrWiWZ_/s1600/Alvin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOxEaOiJKoJY3R-dx8H2PcS3qQ7NhQfKFgsZ8a3jknAr4Kv38tujFc55Njr0uS-bWhsF8UY2yldhKpAWvKMfLrcejiQkJzBkoMUdaT_1NgQN_IzCqqU8_CCydAblSw3ZrWiWZ_/s320/Alvin.jpg" width="275" height="320" /></a></div><br />
Alvin’s funeral was held at the Western Presbyterian Church in Palmyra. Though Father Smith opposed any family members joining any existing religious denomination, Mother Smith had been friends with many of the women of the Presbyterian congregation. Given that fact, it seemed only natural that Alvin’s funeral be held at Western Presbyterian and that his body be interned in the Presbyterian cemetery. <br />
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Rev. Benjamin B. Stockton conducted the funeral service. William Smith, who was twelve at the time, later recalled that in the funeral sermon Rev. Stockton “intimated very strongly” that Alvin had gone to hell because he had never professed the Christian faith and joined a church. <br />
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The very idea that someone as kind, upstanding and hard-working as Alvin would spend eternity in hell because of religious differences infuriated Father Smith and his seventeen-year-old son, Joseph. For them the idea seemed to undermine the concept of a just and loving God. <br />
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Arguments were probably made then—as they are now by Christians who hold such beliefs—that because God is so holy and righteous, He can’t tolerate any degree of sinfulness in His presence. Such arguments rang hollow with Father Smith and Joseph.<br />
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It seems reasonable to conclude that Rev. Stockton’s consigning of Alvin to an eternity in Hell, troubled Mother Smith and other Smith children. Over time, however, their reaction to Rev. Stockton’s beliefs were the opposite of Father Smith’s and Joseph’s: Mother Smith and her eldest children, Hyrum and Sophronia, became Presbyterians. <br />
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This no doubt led to even more intense divisions within the family. One can easily imagine Father Smith being not only outraged but hurt that his wife and oldest children could accept the faith of a minister who had publicly suggested that their beloved Alvin was in Hell.<br />
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“Where did Alvin go when he died?” The question was a bombshell—one with the potential to rip apart a family already under tremendous financial and emotional stress.<br />
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<b>Discussion Questions: How have questions, beliefs and feelings about where one goes when one dies affected your relationships with family and friends? <br />
What have been the negative effects? <br />
What have been the positive effects? <br />
How were the effects of this question upon the Smith family like or unlike those on your family and friends?<i></i></b><br />
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<b>WHERE DO WE GO WHEN WE DIE?</b><br />
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That question is at the heart of most religious thinking—even today. Most people—religious and non-religious—assume that the purpose of religion and faith is to get them somewhere else after they die.<br />
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How often has a Christian asked, “If you were to die today, would you go to heaven or hell?”<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTrwssEEz-PnmqdWZ1YyIt3-8YiQc08HJe7dcSaBgHHcetK5LkvSvpsJ0hdC_UXyBLvl69dcuvrTzJrOwNmdZTjHpMczAOJsn5QYMq7wBlvZ3BG5TiQy0SY2D_rGY3JL0VsjTt/s1600/burn-in-hell.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTrwssEEz-PnmqdWZ1YyIt3-8YiQc08HJe7dcSaBgHHcetK5LkvSvpsJ0hdC_UXyBLvl69dcuvrTzJrOwNmdZTjHpMczAOJsn5QYMq7wBlvZ3BG5TiQy0SY2D_rGY3JL0VsjTt/s320/burn-in-hell.jpg" width="249" height="320" /></a></div>When people talk about “salvation” or “being saved”—this is what most of them are talking about. To “be saved” is to go to heaven when you die—or so they assume.<br />
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Believers from other traditions might talk about “Returning to the presence of Our Heavenly Father” or “entering the Celestial Kingdom.”<br />
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GOING SOMEWHERE ELSE has become to be-all/end-all of religion.<br />
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And to GO TO THIS PLACE people are told that they need to…<br />
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…believe the right things…<br />
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….or have faith in the right things….<br />
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.....or say and pray certain things (such as the so-called sinner’s prayer)…<br />
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….or join the right church and remain faithful to it until they die…<br />
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...or participate in some ceremony, sacrament or ordinance...<br />
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…or embrace a certain lifestyle….<br />
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…or turn from a certain lifestyle.<br />
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Regardless of the religion or the prescription, the focus is all about going somewhere else when you die. Believe, say or say, join, do this or don’t do that and you will be rewarded when you die by being admitted to a good place for eternity—rather than being sent to a bad place for eternity.<br />
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<b>Discussion Questions: How much of your time and energy has been devoted to thinking about or worrying about where you will go when you die? <br />
If you believe in an existence after death, how central to that belief is the idea of “going somewhere else?” <br />
How could you separate your ideas about an afterlife from the idea of going somewhere else when you die? <br />
In your own life and in your relationships with others, what have been the effects—both positive and negative—of thinking that the central purpose of religion or faith is to make sure that you go to some particular place when you die? <br />
How can focusing on going someplace else when you die negatively affect your life here and now?<i></i></b><br />
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<b>IT’S ABOUT BECOMING SOMEONE—NOT GOING SOMEWHERE</b><br />
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The Smith family spent years worrying about believing or doing the right things so that when they died they would go to Heaven and not Hell. In many ways, these worries and anxieties undermined their day-to-day efforts to work their way out of the grinding poverty in which they lived.<br />
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Early in his life, Joseph Smith, Jr. shared his parents’ anxieties and attempted in various ways—some irrational and some reasonable—to address the questions that plagued not only his family but many religious seekers in the early 19th century. During the course of his life, Joseph embraced, explored and then discarded or altered many different theological premises regarding the nature of God, human nature, existence, life’s purpose and life after death.<br />
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The theology that he developed later in his life switched the focus from going somewhere else when you die to becoming a particular type of character.<br />
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This theology is the foundation of the good news proclaimed by Reform Mormonism…<br />
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…And that good news is this: There is no need to worry about where you are going when you die. Yes, there is life after death, but the focus of Reform Mormonism is not about going somewhere else when we die. The focus is on becoming a certain type of person. <br />
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And that doesn’t mean changing yourself to conform to some cookie-cutter mold created by others. It means to progress, to grow and to develop within yourself those virtues and qualities that you envision God possessing. <br />
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How many people calling themselves Christians—people who go around talking non-stop about Christ and salvation—are actually like Christ himself? The name “Jesus” is constantly on their lips, but when you think of Jesus and then look at them, there are few if any similarities in their character.<br />
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How many people go around talking about God, claiming to act in God’s name—and yet when you think of God’s character—God’s Love, Grace, Forgiveness—you don’t see that character reflected in these people.<br />
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Because most religions focus on going somewhere else when we die, they completely overlook the most important thing that Jesus, prophets and scripture addressed—that of our character. Indeed, many of those who are the loudest in proclaiming their faith in Christ, declare that human nature is so corrupt that to focus on character at all is wrong and misguided. It is just assumed that when we die and move on to that better place (if we do what we are told to do in order to be admitted there), that our character—our emotional and ethical makeup—will somehow miraculously change.<br />
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Reform Mormonism holds that character matters. In fact, character is the thing upon which we should all focus.<br />
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We envision God possessing certain qualities and virtues—and it is these virtues that entice us to love God. It is these virtues and qualities that we should develop within ourselves. <br />
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By doing this, we impact the world here and now. Eternal Life begins this very moment. The seeds of Heaven are planted here on earth and they begin to grow. <br />
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We’re not going anywhere.<br />
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The purpose of religious faith is not to go somewhere.<br />
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The purpose of religious faith is to become someone.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5kWpVoTZVbUOax1pSN5VZWnYCt1pEp3u33bOTWhy9FDcgCbxjLiElVQ1I4lUCYjDH5CDnfMgyUjV5Xf747c9DhkZkYpyzYlJNmTXA4dDS4DFkcBDUfpoOs4R3OTlQfQm3YasO/s1600/connection.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5kWpVoTZVbUOax1pSN5VZWnYCt1pEp3u33bOTWhy9FDcgCbxjLiElVQ1I4lUCYjDH5CDnfMgyUjV5Xf747c9DhkZkYpyzYlJNmTXA4dDS4DFkcBDUfpoOs4R3OTlQfQm3YasO/s320/connection.jpg" width="320" height="213" /></a></div><br />
<b><i>Challenge: In your conversations with three different family members or friends bring up this question:<br />
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What if religion focused on what type of person we’re becoming instead of where we’re going when we die?<br />
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Don’t argue; don’t attempt to convince or convert one another to any particular idea. Just discuss your thoughts openly and honestly. Seek to understand one another first and then try to make sure your ideas are understood. The objective is to create a bond between yourself and the other person in which such ideas can be expressed openly and without fear; in which each person can be true to what they believe while still feeling respected by the other person. The objective is to strengthen the sense of community between you and others.</i></b><br />
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For more information on Reform Mormonism visit www.reformmormonism.org<br />
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ROB. LAUERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10437607492146768666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7746245.post-75536049666042019862015-02-11T11:43:00.002-08:002015-02-11T11:52:23.530-08:00ON ORTHODOXY, APOSTASY, JOHN DEHLIN & KING BENJAMINFirst consider the following: <br />
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You are approached by someone who is clearly in a desperate situation. This person begs for your help. What do you do? <br />
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Could you easily help them without any great personal sacrifice? What if in helping this person your own well-being or that of your loved ones is compromised? What do you do if you know the person begging for your help bears full responsibility for his desperate situation? Do you help this person anyway—knowing that in the future he might do things that will again bring him to another desperate situation? <br />
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How you respond to this person’s plea for help will not only affect him. It will also reveal something essential about you—about your values and ethics; your relationship with others generally; your views on human nature; your ideas regarding justice; your emotional makeup and the content of your character.<br />
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To find one’s self in this sort of situation is to come face to face with many of life’s biggest questions. It is to find one’s self in that place where one’s ideas of right and wrong are challenged—where they must be put into practice or discarded. If one believes in God, this is the sort of situation in which one might contemplate the will of God and the relationship of God to the human race. If one is not religiously inclined, this situation could nevertheless cause one to contemplate one’s place in society and the duty—if any—that citizens owe one another.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPUAiCSdGw_tIKyCTZTvpdeaOP5Mf2ASJ8h2Tw8NNX1Cdze7vwhg11WX3lbwIIdkL2F-YpdJPnc_TvtGe3LJA7taEweDSENBPGNfoN1KB19o_PWZ7uxq3Ceup12uY1YECku4mk/s1600/BEGGAR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPUAiCSdGw_tIKyCTZTvpdeaOP5Mf2ASJ8h2Tw8NNX1Cdze7vwhg11WX3lbwIIdkL2F-YpdJPnc_TvtGe3LJA7taEweDSENBPGNfoN1KB19o_PWZ7uxq3Ceup12uY1YECku4mk/s320/BEGGAR.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Now consider the following: <br />
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On this past Tuesday (February 1, 2015), John Dehlin—the creator of the hugely popular and socially impactful podcast “Mormon Stories”—was excommunicated for apostasy from the LDS Church—Mormonism’s largest denomination. The decision by John’s local LDS Priesthood authorities to excommunicate him for apostasy was unanimous. In the official LDS Church statement regarding the nature of John’s so-called apostasy, these LDS Priesthood authorities cited John’s statements that “The Book of Mormon” and “The Book of Abraham” — part of the LDS canon of scripture — are fraudulent and works of fiction.<br />
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The LDS Church teaches that “The Book of Mormon” is a divinely given, literal translation of ancient American writings that had been engraved on gold plates prior to 425 AD. The LDS Church teaches that Mormonism’s founder, Joseph Smith, was led by an angel to a spot on a hillside in New York State where ancient American prophets—themselves descendants of earlier Jewish refugees from Jerusalem—had buried the book in the fifth century AD. The LDS Church teaches that “The Book of Mormon” contains a thousand year history of two great ancient American peoples who were the descendants of ancient Israelites. It also teaches that some of these ancient Israelites were the actual ancestors of some Native Americans. <br />
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A great part of John’s so-called apostasy is that he accepts the findings of traditional mainstream archeology—which asserts that there is no evidence whatsoever for the existence of the two great cultures which makeup the central plot of “The Book of Mormon.”<br />
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John also accepts the findings of research in Native American DNA. There is no DNA evidence of a link between Native Americans and the population of ancient Palestine. <br />
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John has also studied early Mormon documents, accounts by Joseph Smith’s contemporaries—both Mormon and non-Mormons; he has explored the history of American society and American religion in the early 19th century—and all of this study has convinced him that “The Book of Mormon” is not an ancient American historical document but an early 19th century American work of religious fiction.<br />
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Because John not only came to these conclusions but broadcast and discussed them publicly in “Mormon Stories Podcasts,” the LDS Church has labeled him an apostate and has excommunicated him from their organization.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLUojJdS7MCtCVozNmZ75BNc_DCpnP_oUr_11cj1_QOehZxyWe9O5hHi4_T0o3rsgC1NZ9dpxXhJlqQufndL2knTBO2luA0iWjSHpMRBnx9vuoGUo9prcCPxJ3qKLX7h9nzDS7/s1600/JOHN+DEHLIN.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLUojJdS7MCtCVozNmZ75BNc_DCpnP_oUr_11cj1_QOehZxyWe9O5hHi4_T0o3rsgC1NZ9dpxXhJlqQufndL2knTBO2luA0iWjSHpMRBnx9vuoGUo9prcCPxJ3qKLX7h9nzDS7/s320/JOHN+DEHLIN.png" /></a></div><br />
HOW ARE THESE TWO THNGS—John Dehlin’s excommunication from the LDS Church from apostasy, and having someone in a dire situation begging your help—RELATED?<br />
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“The Book of Mormon” contains an account of an ancient American king of Jewish ancestry named Benjamin who, shortly before his death (supposedly in the late second century B.C.), preached a great sermon to his people, regarding their relationship with God and their duties to their fellow human beings. In this sermon, King Benjamin taught the following regarding helping others in dire situations:<br />
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“…ye yourselves will succor those that stand in need of your succor; ye will administer of your substance unto him that standeth in need; and ye will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain, and turn him out to perish.<br />
“Perhaps thou shalt say: The man has brought upon himself his misery; therefore I will stay my hand, and will not give unto him of my food, nor impart unto him of my substance that he may not suffer, for his punishments are just—<br />
“But I say unto you, O man, whosoever doeth this, the same hath great cause to repent; and except he repenteth of that which he hath done he perisheth forever, and hath no interest in the kingdom of God.<br />
“For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold, and for silver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind?<br />
“And now, if God, who has created you, on whom you are dependent for your lives and for all that ye have and are, doth grant unto you whatsoever ye ask that is right, in faith, believing that ye shall receive, O then, how ye ought to impart of the substance that ye have one to another.”<br />
(Mosiah 4: 16—21)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipatrsHh27-9aKasTpF_WdN_i3EQXB1PFNy-pYhYngoiFk4immb_3SSOIGMepQJ67FczexfidO0H6fSKGuKAxvB-enAWx9OjlSBovUeLTfzLp7c2daG1pDHwgMDf0QF5TrH95I/s1600/BENJAMIN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipatrsHh27-9aKasTpF_WdN_i3EQXB1PFNy-pYhYngoiFk4immb_3SSOIGMepQJ67FczexfidO0H6fSKGuKAxvB-enAWx9OjlSBovUeLTfzLp7c2daG1pDHwgMDf0QF5TrH95I/s320/BENJAMIN.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Now whether one accepts King Benjamin’s reasoning or not, one must admit that he puts forth very succinct, very clear principles that one could consider when one is approached for help by another in a dire situation. Rejecting King Benjamin’s principles or acting upon them will reveal much about the content of one’s character and how one views his or her relationship to the human family.<br />
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One is approached by someone in need; one must decide how to respond that person’s cry for help; in deciding how to respond, one considers King Benjamin’s principles; one makes a decision and acts upon it; one’s actions reveal much about one’s character and one’s spiritual and ethical state at that time.<br />
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Notice the one thing absent from all of this—the one thing that is completely unimportant. It is this question: Was King Benjamin a real person who lived in ancient America, or is he a completely fictional character created in the 1820’s by Joseph Smith?<br />
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In the end the answer either way is completely irrelevant to the actual situation at hand: how does one respond to another’s plea for help. <br />
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In the context of ethics, of personal spiritual progression, of human relationships, of how one envisions his or her relationship to God—how one responds to a beggar’s plea for help is of immeasurable importance. The role that King Benjamin’s principles play in that response are much more important as far as one’s relationship with “The Book of Mormon” is concerned that one’s beliefs regarding the historicity of either the book and King Benjamin. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrnwcApRcWW0OJaNhowRgwvpDkZACQiT21NwCKpEjKI4EyzU8LxOF9fnAYRtMunhQyYy9I-DGme6Ej9SUbnsid-w_7yTWk5WtWRdj0f2WVXCArQ99qcrHbvRiHZzhwlsXPAdQC/s1600/BENJAMIN+on+tower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrnwcApRcWW0OJaNhowRgwvpDkZACQiT21NwCKpEjKI4EyzU8LxOF9fnAYRtMunhQyYy9I-DGme6Ej9SUbnsid-w_7yTWk5WtWRdj0f2WVXCArQ99qcrHbvRiHZzhwlsXPAdQC/s320/BENJAMIN+on+tower.jpg" /></a></div><br />
If an international religious organization like the LDS Church continues the Dark Ages tradition of excommunicating members for apostasy, it might consider using the principles found in their scriptures as the basis for those actions rather than beliefs and opinions regarding the historicity of those scriptures. <br />
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But like so many orthodox, fundamentalist or literalist religious organizations, the LDS Church does not teach a religion that is based primarily on principles. Instead it teaches a religion that is first and foremost a religion ABOUT a set of scriptures and ABOUT the LDS Church itself. One believes without doubting and without any public questioning the things that the LDS Church claims about itself and what it claims about its scriptures. To not believe and to publically question is to court excommunication and the label of “apostate.”<br />
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Reform Mormonism is a religion that is first and foremost about principles. <br />
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When a Reform Mormon is approached by one in need, considering King Benjamin’s principles is much more important than believing that the king was an actual historical figure. Likewise, Reform Mormons might draw upon the principles attributed to Jesus in the New Testament Sermon on the Mount and in “The Book of Mormon’s” sermon at the Nephite temple. Whether the historical Jesus actually stood atop a Judean mount and taught those principles—or whether he actually appeared in ancient America after a resurrection from the dead and taught them—is of no importance.<br />
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Reform Mormonism is a religion centered upon one’s quest to develop within one’s own character the virtues and attributes that one envisions God possessing. Reform Mormonism teaches that all human beings—by virtue of their humanity—exist in the form and likeness of the Divine, and thus they have within themselves a potential for Divinity.<br />
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Through the living of our lives, through the use of our individual agency, through the manner in which we interact with others and encounter adversity, through the degree in which we engage our intellects and emotions, through the manner in which we navigate our way through the complexities of life---through all of these things we are either developing Godliness within ourselves or we are not. <br />
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An orthodox religion that is primarily ABOUT the Bible, “The Book of Mormon,” Jesus or Joseph Smith is simply of no practical use or great importance in this process; thus it has no place in Reform Mormonism. <br />
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To label someone as “devout” or as an “apostate” regarding such things is meaningless. One could accept orthodox theologies regarding the scripture, Jesus and Joseph Smith; one could eloquently defend that orthodoxy from all attacks and by that same eloquence convert others to that orthodox faith. And yet those orthodox ideas in and of themselves alone are meaningless in developing a Godly character. Orthodoxy does not equal Godliness.<br />
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If one reads “The Book of Mormon” with clear eyes, one might see that such a principle is central to the book’s message. <br />
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That message is worth considering even if the book is a work of 19th century American religious fiction.<br />
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That message is central to Reform Mormonism—which is an “excommunication-free zone,” in which doubts, hard questions, unorthodox beliefs and a diversity of opinions are not only welcomed, but regarded as essential in the Eternal Progression of the human family.<br />
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ROB. LAUERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10437607492146768666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7746245.post-83996915039069971552014-08-22T15:45:00.001-07:002014-08-22T15:45:01.540-07:00ROB. LAUERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10437607492146768666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7746245.post-29363519714064524622014-08-22T11:54:00.000-07:002014-08-22T17:09:36.039-07:00UNITY VERSUS UNIFORMITY<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsxzsZEuTBFcYmaLP1miziYIOULFsC9TU6MpfNS4fFYG2iWeA1xTHGW-i0WgJAmkZfxxa56XgweeHHiq8qpj_PXJ2-dCrO7TGBNJbIVC7-YPzWqB73Jf4IaGqAGjqDMAGRfHVv/s1600/UNIFORMITY.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsxzsZEuTBFcYmaLP1miziYIOULFsC9TU6MpfNS4fFYG2iWeA1xTHGW-i0WgJAmkZfxxa56XgweeHHiq8qpj_PXJ2-dCrO7TGBNJbIVC7-YPzWqB73Jf4IaGqAGjqDMAGRfHVv/s320/UNIFORMITY.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Unity is a guiding principle in most of the world’s religions. But more often than not, the pursuit of unity becomes a demand for uniformity—so much so that the two concepts become confused.<br />
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Religions begin issuing commandments or enforcing policies on everything ranging from the type of clothing worn, to hair styles, to the use of language, to which books should be read, what music should be heard, which movies and TV shows should be watched, what types of thoughts should be entertained and what thoughts should be repressed. Even those who express their faith using words or phrases not in common use, become suspect; other adherents begin to worry that such a person “is losing their faith” or has “lost their testimony.” <br />
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Obey. Don’t doubt or question. Follow the fold—or leader—or the prophet. Don’t cause waves. Conform. One’s willingness to negate one’s self and blend into the crowd becomes the litmus test of one’s faith, one’s moral character, one’s spiritual health and one’s relationship with God.<br />
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In many Mormon denominations, uniformity is usually mistaken for unity. If one uses the same words used by everyone else when bearing one’s testimony , one is seen as faithful—regardless of one’s inner spiritual or ethical condition. If a testimony is born using phrases, language or images that are not familiar, many listeners become uneasy, looking with suspicion upon the person bearing the testimony. If a little girl wears a sleeveless shirt or blouse, many worry that her moral character could be more easily corrupted than the little girl who wears a top with sleeves that meet that denomination’s dress standards. The same goes for young women and their choice of clothing. Men have traditionally been encouraged to have their hair cut at certain lengths and to avoid beards. Often men are not allowed to pass the sacrament or participate in certain ordinances because they are not wearing white shirts and ties—even though there is no official policy on the matter. Uniformity is such a powerful force in some denominations of Mormonism that many believe—sincerely but mistakenly—that they can spot another Mormon at first sight.<br />
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The result is that the sacrifice of one’s individuality comes to be seen as an act of great virtue, while being true to one’s self is often denigrated as “selfishness,” “hard heartedness” “being proud” and “having a rebellious spirit.” In such a culture, hypocrisy comes easy since uniformity is more about outer appearances than inner substance. Most tragic of all is that sincere, well-meaning, highly ethical individuals who crave an atmosphere of emotional and intellectual transparency—a space where there can be a true meeting of the minds; an honest discussion of the actual issues confronting human beings; a thoughtful examination of their faith’s history and theology; a respectful and even loving difference of opinions—become frustrated to the point where they conclude Mormonism is simply not a viable, meaningful religion for them. These individuals finally succumb to the false idea that uniformity equals unity; unwilling or honestly unable to any longer wear a one-size-fits-all uniform, they leave the faith they once deeply valued.<br />
<br />
This problem is not unique to Mormonism. One finds it in all religions. The demand for uniformity destroys true unity. <br />
<br />
To first century followers of Jesus, the Apostle Paul wrote:<br />
<br />
“Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.” (I Corinthians 12:4)<br />
<br />
Paul believed that Jesus’s followers were united by the same Spirit, which could manifest itself through them in diverse ways. In the midst of strife between Jesus’s followers—usually revolving around how to incorporate the traditions of distinct cultures into the movement that Jesus began—Paul encouraged them to keep in mind the bigger picture…to stay focused on moving forward, on cultivating the image of God within themselves and on transforming the earth so that it was in harmony with the Kingdom of God.<br />
<br />
Divisions continued, of course—usually because one group, one church or one body would try to enforce uniformity in the name of establishing or preserving unity.<br />
<br />
Shortly before Joseph Smith published “The Book of Mormon,” he revealed the reason that the book was being brought forth:<br />
<br />
“…if the people of this generation harden not their hearts, I will work a REFORMATION among them, and I will put down all lyings, and deceivings, and priestcrafts, and envyings, and strifes…” (Book of Commandments 4:5)<br />
<br />
The reformation that was the original objective of the movement that became known as Mormonism was a reformation of religion that would end such things as “envying and strifes” and bring about religious unity.<br />
<br />
This unity was not a matter of establishing a new system of uniformity. It was to be a unity brought about by the Spirit, which would manifest itself in all people and all cultures the world over in many different ways. “The Book of Mormon” itself declared:<br />
<br />
“…I exhort you, my brethren, that ye deny not the gifts of God, <br />
for they are many; and they come from the same God. <br />
And there are different ways that these gifts are administered; <br />
but it is the same God who worketh all in all; <br />
and they are given by the manifestations of the Spirit of God unto men, <br />
to profit them…<br />
…all these gifts come by the Spirit of Christ; <br />
and they come unto every man severally, according as he will…” <br />
<i>(Moroni 10: 8, 17)</i><br />
<br />
Reform Mormonism embraces this concept. <br />
<br />
Reform Mormonism celebrates individuality and personal differences, declaring that these need not undermine spiritual unity within a community of faith.<br />
<br />
One does not sacrifice one’s individuality in being a Reform Mormon. We declare that the purpose of life is the eternal progression and growth of the individual. <br />
<br />
Reform Mormons declare that in developing a relationship with God, people need never put on a uniform.<br />
<br />
Rather, Reform Mormons proclaim that in order for the Spirit of God to work in and through people, they must shed all pretentions, discard the labels that have been placed upon them and approach God honestly, as they are—knowing that they are fully embraced as they really are, here and now, by a loving Heavenly Father and Mother.<br />
<br />
The foundation of Reform Mormon theology is the old Mormon adage: “As we now are, God once was; as God now is, we may become.”<br />
<br />
Therefore human nature is nothing to be repented of, or overcome, or forsaken. Rather human nature—in all its complexity—is our most potent link to God. Existing in the image of God, humans share with God a common nature. <br />
<br />
Reform Mormons openly deal with all aspects of human nature, all fields of human endeavor, all episodes of human history—for we declare that God intends for us to deal with reality, here and now; that only in doing so can we grow and progress and become like God. <br />
<br />
This does not mean that we all are progressing toward some cookie-cutter image of God, but that the Divine image we are cultivating within ourselves is the result of our unique and distinct experiences, relationships, preferences and points of view—and the interaction of all of these things with the Spirit of God, which is universal and at work in all things. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitmxq8ScbcMVk-m14o8b-2XTZHMte83pcH3xnAYH6KTBbFAyyQ0krNf_E_6kQgD8JMH_4ebaHJFRp4eruWjXRG4MQcIJd98KrKPqoZmRu5S650sEbZyI8UeahXZ7YlSl5n3Qo1/s1600/Return+of+Captive+Israel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitmxq8ScbcMVk-m14o8b-2XTZHMte83pcH3xnAYH6KTBbFAyyQ0krNf_E_6kQgD8JMH_4ebaHJFRp4eruWjXRG4MQcIJd98KrKPqoZmRu5S650sEbZyI8UeahXZ7YlSl5n3Qo1/s320/Return+of+Captive+Israel.jpg" /></a></div><br />
ROB. LAUERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10437607492146768666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7746245.post-67828633169734864792014-06-24T16:12:00.000-07:002014-06-24T16:12:33.768-07:00REFORM MORMONISM: Excommunication is Excommunicated here<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilCp7Ts-4vcq23exFIW9HLnCw3hx5HrzGv0Sel8PKSQWMzGp3Qm3OsMuvI3NMkCRQuduD3pjqJNO7H8H5sqLkhtT_y7c5qa7MvqrP3Bg6N0vAEPvraP29n1B2jm5proWvZUKNH/s1600/GARDEN+flowers+trees.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilCp7Ts-4vcq23exFIW9HLnCw3hx5HrzGv0Sel8PKSQWMzGp3Qm3OsMuvI3NMkCRQuduD3pjqJNO7H8H5sqLkhtT_y7c5qa7MvqrP3Bg6N0vAEPvraP29n1B2jm5proWvZUKNH/s320/GARDEN+flowers+trees.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Recently Mormonism has again made the news because the LDS Church has again excommunicated devout, believing members who followed the Light they had received. The LDS General Authorities insist that those who are excommunicated from their church are no longer Mormons: that they have been stripped of forgiveness, of Priesthood authority, of Temple blessings, of their eternal standing within their own families. The LDS Church leaders insist that they, and they alone, determine who is a true Mormon.<br />
<br />
In response, we offer the following parable for your consideration:<br />
<br />
<br />
"A garden (Mormonism) was planted by God, and it began to grow and spread. The few men who had at first tasted the fruit of the garden, erected fences (a church) around the garden to stop it from spreading beyond the boundaries they envisioned for it. <br />
But the men were not the garden; they were not the plants, the flowers or the fruit-bearing trees.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBeiQ0D3WersWWbsdRZwOuVe7tR6cxca39lAo1jE4v8huighdbsiQ-9ggIgEdsd4KePyY3ncsSHmBDVtLyqBxCaetF79UI2uPDeplKWt0TSLxBVWtPTRj8xd4AQTFF2D-eTz3i/s1600/bees-on-flowers-photo345345.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBeiQ0D3WersWWbsdRZwOuVe7tR6cxca39lAo1jE4v8huighdbsiQ-9ggIgEdsd4KePyY3ncsSHmBDVtLyqBxCaetF79UI2uPDeplKWt0TSLxBVWtPTRj8xd4AQTFF2D-eTz3i/s320/bees-on-flowers-photo345345.jpg" /></a></div><br />
"And so roots crept under the fences and sprouted beyond the small area inside the fences. The pollen from the flowers within the fenced area was picked up by the wind and blown out beyond the confines of that area. Bees, too, came into the garden and gathered pollen--and despite the fact that the men who appointed themselves the protectors of the garden swatted at the bees and drove them from the garden, the bees carried the pollen out into the world, spreading it far and wide. <br />
<br />
"Birds also flew into the garden and ate fruit from the trees. The men who appointed themselves the guardians of the garden drove the birds from the garden. But Nature, being supreme, took its course and the birds who'd eaten the fruit, flew in all directions and the seeds of the fruit they'd eaten eventually passed into the soil so that fruit trees grew far away from the sight and control of the men. <br />
<br />
"The day came when the men who'd appointed themselves guardians of the garden looked out beyond the fences they'd built and they saw that the whole earth outside had become like the Garden of Eden.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh304OPyw3f7dBikmMrQEJ91wT1bjthuuCkUF93rUaN8hkmMnFUpmwfcu2lAivU2YLROWCx11RFecrK2IV_Jh_AVEBUfmKSRTN4_5uh7VgOM-oTFfrfoDOk1ZZLSRe3RacvqEBz/s1600/BIRD+EATING+FRUIT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh304OPyw3f7dBikmMrQEJ91wT1bjthuuCkUF93rUaN8hkmMnFUpmwfcu2lAivU2YLROWCx11RFecrK2IV_Jh_AVEBUfmKSRTN4_5uh7VgOM-oTFfrfoDOk1ZZLSRe3RacvqEBz/s320/BIRD+EATING+FRUIT.jpg" /></a></div><br />
"This was because of the birds they had driven from the garden for eating the fruit; because of the bees who partook of the pollen and were driven away by the guardians; because of the roots of the fruit trees that snaked beneath the fences the guardians had erected.<br />
<br />
"The garden outside the fence, unencumbered by the self-proclaimed guardians, was bigger, more lush, more full of good fruit than the tiny fenced in garden. The people of the world enjoyed the outside garden, praised its beauty and goodness; were nurtured by its fruit and cooled by the shade of its trees.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpXDn7cSW0wxJpjI0H1IfOXvSJZKBnNHxu5ed3z1WKgHzJmYW8qN3QvpwuKjyMMC6lWFcEOgx7ttYiy3n6Xmus2fMpDdZ4V4fuUKIsCH0i7yL5-goOe8ETOv_nmkdS0J9iaaVf/s1600/Locked+GARDEN+GATE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpXDn7cSW0wxJpjI0H1IfOXvSJZKBnNHxu5ed3z1WKgHzJmYW8qN3QvpwuKjyMMC6lWFcEOgx7ttYiy3n6Xmus2fMpDdZ4V4fuUKIsCH0i7yL5-goOe8ETOv_nmkdS0J9iaaVf/s320/Locked+GARDEN+GATE.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<br />
"And on those rare occasions when people happened upon the small fenced-in area, which was now hidden deep within the wide flourishing garden that covered the whole world, they shook their heads and marveled that anyone would think they could control a garden planted by God."<br />
<br />
Who determines if you are a Mormon? YOU do.<br />
<br />
What determines if you are a Mormon? Your relationship with God--and God alone; your intimacy with the Spirit working within you; the way you envision the universe and your place in it.<br />
<br />
God is doing a marvelous work and a wonder in the world. God has revealed the human family's divine potential.<br />
<br />
If you have caught a glimpse of this; if it has resonated within your soul; if the principles of Mormonism guide you in the way you live your life, in your relationships with others--then YOU ARE MORMON regardless of whether you belong to this church or that.<br />
No one can excommunicate you from those things that you hold sacred within your own heart--especially your relationship with your Heavenly Parents.<br />
<br />
THIS IS THE MESSAGE OF REFORM MORMONISM: there are more ways than one to be a Mormon. Mormonism is like a garden and if you have eaten of its fruit; it that fruit nourishes you, then you carry Mormonism within yourself.In Reform Mormonism, excommunication has been excommunicated. <br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2uQ6eMIj8fL6a4jbIhISWy5rrc28cgPEwwuPMx12rj2OAWwexdFAPTF6bgmBj9cNI4dweMlwaqvSBJ5s5_Y1IZncIC37NIoykEJNsYRthv4ZdP3XZ-z9iLkmOXwyxXkTf_8aW/s1600/MEETING+THE+SUN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2uQ6eMIj8fL6a4jbIhISWy5rrc28cgPEwwuPMx12rj2OAWwexdFAPTF6bgmBj9cNI4dweMlwaqvSBJ5s5_Y1IZncIC37NIoykEJNsYRthv4ZdP3XZ-z9iLkmOXwyxXkTf_8aW/s320/MEETING+THE+SUN.jpg" /></a></div>ROB. LAUERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10437607492146768666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7746245.post-36642818816094197402013-08-04T12:46:00.000-07:002013-08-04T12:47:46.762-07:00OPPOSITION IN ALL THINGS, or "THE TRAUMA OF BEING ALIVE"<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjySZekIgvLAy6i3uqD88ixHVZgT45BI0ufeaeDE0o_5xVUKuQtQiXXdfxoR9KznRoloHU2NZpN0_qybjk22zfcl3KcCsDnl_6MYxlt1_1l8pcm_esR5sOuECQhmTxY7nrmfC2p/s1600/family-graveside-mother-wheelchair-death_1083570.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjySZekIgvLAy6i3uqD88ixHVZgT45BI0ufeaeDE0o_5xVUKuQtQiXXdfxoR9KznRoloHU2NZpN0_qybjk22zfcl3KcCsDnl_6MYxlt1_1l8pcm_esR5sOuECQhmTxY7nrmfC2p/s320/family-graveside-mother-wheelchair-death_1083570.jpg" /></a></div><br />
A excellent piece appears in this weekend's NEW YORK TIMES entitled “<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/04/opinion/sunday/the-trauma-of-being-alive.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 ">The Trauma of Being Alive.” </a>In reading it, I contemplated something that happened yesterday afternoon. <br />
<br />
My partner Cary sang at a wedding and afterwards we attended the reception together. Carey proudly showed friends there photos of his first grandchild, Jadelyn, who was born just two weeks ago. While flipping through some of the photos of the baby on his cell phone and watching some of the young woman at the reception interact with their toddlers, I instantly began to tear up, emotionally overcome. It was a momentary thing, passing as quickly as it came; but it was intense enough that Carey asked in surprise, “What’s the matter?” I couldn’t explain exactly what I was feeling or what images passing through my mind triggered the onslaught of feelings, other than I was thinking (vaguely) about my Mom and feeling (momentarily but intensely) the loss of her in my daily life.<br />
<br />
This author of this NY TIMES piece (Psychiatrist Mark Epstein) writes honestly about two common assumptions: that grief is something from which one can eventually recover completely, and that life “normally” is balanced and trauma-free. BOTH OF THESE ASSUMPTIONS ARE FALSE. As human beings, we do ourselves a grave injustice if we don’t reject these assumptions. By continuing to insist that these assumptions as true, we set ourselves up for lives of unnecessary disappointment and frustration, and—more importantly—we do battle against the very aspects of ourselves that make us human. <br />
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7aowgcIJ9P1k1Pmom2tdgbL8K2h28gmZUFFNc-J1gE3ScCKzpIK0grrNoP6dBTpM9UYzDmvzzVMXLViKYz92VBhIAaoDgfruAXZOZYdZRNGh3HzhazUbvwat2YVjblALRXzqc/s1600/adameve960.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7aowgcIJ9P1k1Pmom2tdgbL8K2h28gmZUFFNc-J1gE3ScCKzpIK0grrNoP6dBTpM9UYzDmvzzVMXLViKYz92VBhIAaoDgfruAXZOZYdZRNGh3HzhazUbvwat2YVjblALRXzqc/s320/adameve960.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
Epstein’s piece also reminds me why I continue to cling to my Mormon faith—which, when dealing with human nature and the nature of human life on earth, here and now—goes in the exact opposite direction of Christianity and most other religions. While Christianity interprets the mythical exile of Adam and Eve from Eden as a curse; while it declares human nature fallen and sinful, and life of earth as a series of woes from which human must be saved, Mormonism sees the mythical eating of the Fruit of Knowledge (what Christians call “the Forbidden Fruit”) and the exile from Eden as a GOOD thing, as a step UPWARD and FORWARD in the Eternal Progression of the human race. <br />
<br />
“There must need be opposition in all things,” <a href="http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/2.11?lang=eng#10">Mormon scripture declares</a>. Without conscious awareness of the opposition that is inherent in the natural world, we would be less than human. Mormonism goes so far as declaring that without this opposition, “God would cease to be God.”<br />
<br />
The awareness that human love is eternal—that our love for a mother, a father, a child, a spouse, lover or friend does not end when that person dies; that this love continues to be experienced as a potent, deeply-felt, important ongoing relationship even when that person is physically absent from us—means that the sadness and frustration over the loss of that person’s physical presence are realities with which we must deal for the remainder of our days upon the earth. It’s not only foolish but destructive of something essential to our humanity, to try to “overcome,” “get over,” or “get past” those feelings. There is no “closure”—a concept I detest when applied to the real and potent traumas and tragedies inherent in life.<br />
<br />
Epstein confirms that “trauma” IS the norm. Life is not predictable, controllable or satisfyingly understandable. The human experience of life is complex, baffling, confusing, mysterious, demanding, sad, painful, challenging and frustrating—and it is EQUALLY beautiful, stimulating, pleasurable, rewarding and joyful. (I was tempted to use the phrase “on the flip side” when describing these contrasting and conflicting qualities; but in fact there is no flip side; all of these qualities—the traumatic and the non-traumatic—are tightly and seamlessly interwoven as equal parts of one great whole.) This is the way life is supposed to be. Human intelligence and human nature are perfectly suited to deal with it. In fact, human intelligence and human nature are unimaginable in any other context.<br />
<br />
And so I try to embrace the “contradictions in all things” so that I might “have a fullness of joy”--to use Mormon phrases. Or, using Epstein’s words, I try to “lean into” the trauma. As he concludes, "we are human BECAUSE of trauma, not despite it."<br />
<br />
ROB. LAUERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10437607492146768666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7746245.post-45085822602379325192013-03-29T14:25:00.000-07:002013-04-02T08:07:09.511-07:00The place of Jesus Christ in Reform Mormonism<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXG7xhY_hZmOdo20cTYAdv4Rvi-LPKzBpqCbJfF1ZO2K5UxSBQidESQg52IKbnDP2OUY8I4xMksXZ86g4629vWYwRkVt0LDDM2-Bm9PsSzmjUCQyDY1pSLWZ5dq0q3FPzamJLI/s1600/christ_in_america_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXG7xhY_hZmOdo20cTYAdv4Rvi-LPKzBpqCbJfF1ZO2K5UxSBQidESQg52IKbnDP2OUY8I4xMksXZ86g4629vWYwRkVt0LDDM2-Bm9PsSzmjUCQyDY1pSLWZ5dq0q3FPzamJLI/s320/christ_in_america_1.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
During this Easter week, as Christians around the world focus on Jesus, we thought we would take this chance to explore the place of Jesus Christ within Reform Mormonism.<br />
<br />
We should begin by saying that Reform Mormonism does NOT claim to be a Christian faith. <br />
<br />
While Mormonism had its roots in the Christianity of early 19th century America (just as Christianity had its roots in the first century Judaism of Jerusalem), Reform Mormons acknowledge that Mormonism quickly evolved from a small Christian sect into a completely new religion—one distinct from Christianity (just as Christianity evolved from a small Jewish sect into a new and distinct religion).<br />
<br />
That being said, the evolution of Mormonism into a new religion was the result of a new understanding on the nature of Jesus Christ. That understanding is radically different from the understanding taught in Christianity.<br />
<br />
Christianity emphasizes the differences between Jesus’s nature and human nature; it focuses on how Jesus was unlike us. It erects a barrier between God and the human race which only Jesus himself, in his mercy toward humanity, can overcome. Christianity teaches that it is human nature itself that separates us from Jesus and God. According to Christianity, since we humans have no control over our nature, we are victims of it; we are unable to overcome our nature; we are in desperate need of someone to save us from ourselves—and that someone is, according to Christian theology, Jesus—and only Jesus. If we throw ourselves on his mercy, Jesus—being completely unlike us in nature—will “save us” from eternal separation from God and all that is good and holy.<br />
<br />
In contrast, Mormonism emphasizes what we have in common with Jesus; Mormonism focuses on how Jesus is similar to us. <br />
<br />
Though Mormonism had its roots Christian theology, within months after the first Mormon congregation was formed in upstate New York in 1830, a new understanding of Jesus’s nature—and human nature—was taught. Though Mormons used much of the same language and terminology used by Christians, the Mormon understanding of what that language and terminology meant was different—radically different.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnwnptwa4Zn36DcSzPAblx-MSLJUDei7QV0mtcrfeJAiOxGZIuLDR1m4qSOqERCpHdxOgDujGelmt7PkLV9QckHDN-7_IV8TfYVxuoiUs9mQu8euU8p7rjj2gm7UdbHsHplym8/s1600/christ_in_a_red_robe.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnwnptwa4Zn36DcSzPAblx-MSLJUDei7QV0mtcrfeJAiOxGZIuLDR1m4qSOqERCpHdxOgDujGelmt7PkLV9QckHDN-7_IV8TfYVxuoiUs9mQu8euU8p7rjj2gm7UdbHsHplym8/s320/christ_in_a_red_robe.jpg" /></a><br />
<br />
<br />
Over the past century or more, most Mormons denominations have drifted back to a more traditional Christian understanding of things—including a more traditionally Christian understanding of Jesus’s nature and human nature—an understanding that imposes distance between God and the human race; an understanding that emphasizes how different Jesus and God are from us.<br />
<br />
Reform Mormonism is different from these other Mormon denominations. It is founded on mid-19th century Mormon teachings about nature of humanity, Jesus and God—the very teachings that other Mormon denominations now deny, downplay or disregard.<br />
<br />
<br />
By emphasizing how we are similar to Jesus, Reform Mormonism embraces one of the most unique concepts of early Mormonism: that our greatest and most profound connection to Jesus—and to God—is our human nature; that God, Jesus and all human beings share a common nature.<br />
Joseph Smith—the founding prophet of Mormonism—looked to Jesus as the link between God and humanity, but not in the same way that Christian theologians did. In the divine character of Jesus Christ, Joseph Smith saw the potential of every human being.<br />
<br />
<br />
Just as Jesus was a son of God and therefore an heir of God (meaning someone who could inherit Godhood), so Joseph Smith taught that all humans, by emulating the character of Jesus, could also become “children of God” and therefore “heirs of God.” <br />
<br />
<br />
Much is written in the Biblical Gospel of John about Jesus “being one with the Father [God}.” Christian theology teaches that Jesus was, in fact, God Himself come to earth in human form—that Jesus and God the Father are one and the same being. At first Joseph Smith seemed to embrace the traditional Christian doctrine of Jesus and God “being one,” but very soon he began teaching that this one-ness was a one-ness of purpose, a one-ness of type; that they shared a common nature—and he began emphasizing that Jesus and God were separate, distinct beings, each with his own body.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi84T2jO1a_804XCaR_sqEZTuqcjMEMRBhnhytizHbK4rQXqW-rb7kM6UB1Su32RW6v1vWgc8JgocykTLTLvMpBUQVekylIqQIGUp8r-yWy52EEiKdD7nB5n9bg9vL37Aec_9lU/s1600/Jesus+first+vision.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi84T2jO1a_804XCaR_sqEZTuqcjMEMRBhnhytizHbK4rQXqW-rb7kM6UB1Su32RW6v1vWgc8JgocykTLTLvMpBUQVekylIqQIGUp8r-yWy52EEiKdD7nB5n9bg9vL37Aec_9lU/s320/Jesus+first+vision.jpg" /></a><br />
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Joseph Smith went on to teach that the “one-ness” of purpose and type shared by Jesus and God—as well as their common nature—was something shared by the entire human race. By embracing the ethical teachings of Jesus, by following Jesus’s pattern of behavior, by emulating Jesus’s virtuous character—anyone could become one with God. Jesus’s virtuous character was identical to God’s character. Both of them were the same type of being—the same sort of being. And it was within the scope of human nature, for anyone to become that same sort of being. Emulating Jesus was the key to becoming like God.<br />
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Whereas Christianity taught that human nature was fundamentally sinful and evil (because Adam and Eve had eaten from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil), “The Book of Mormon” (in harmony with the actual text of Genesis) taught that when Adam and Eve ate the Fruit of Knowledge, their eyes were open and they actually did become like God, knowing good from evil. Only by being able to tell the difference from good and evil, could Adam and Eve become fully human in the deepest sense of the word—and only by becoming fully human could they begin to comprehend God’s character and, if they chose, become more like Him.<br />
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The Christian belief that human nature was contrary to God’s nature (the doctrine of Original Sin) was rejected by early Mormons. In the Mormon view, humans were not inherently sinful or inherently virtuous. Instead, every single human being was born innocent, with an inherent capacity to reason and learn (intelligence) and with free will (agency). Human beings, while born into circumstances beyond their control, nevertheless were able to reason and determine what was right and wrong—and they were free to act accordingly. Human nature was nothing to overcome in the Mormon view; it was nothing that one needed to “repent of.” <br />
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Because Original Sin was rejected, because human were seen as being completely free, with a natural capacity for Godlike behavior and character, if chosen—the Christian doctrine that Jesus had been die on a cross and shed his blood in order to save human from damnation in Hell began to take a back seat. The cross and the crucifix were never used as symbols within Mormonism. Traditional Christian hymns focusing on the supposed redemptive power of Jesus’s blood, and on human depravity and the need for “Amazing Grace” weren’t sung. By the mid-1800s when Mormon leaders preached about “atonement,” rather than preaching about Jesus’s atoning blood being spilt on the Cross of Calvary, they instead preached that individuals had to be responsible for their own wrong doings—that atonement for personal actions came by making restitution for wrongs done.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYpN_LVh6OpInkn3bRf_RvaJ7okC4mQ6RfDZkLQe2_FgxbG912YBC4_38-cwiPwBvWvjQI7q3RWaikopcAXNEO2SUx38YpIDY0fPyNWm49oZ33A35mYFCIdUDiAJKOro6PNdSb/s1600/Ascension%2520of%2520Christ.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYpN_LVh6OpInkn3bRf_RvaJ7okC4mQ6RfDZkLQe2_FgxbG912YBC4_38-cwiPwBvWvjQI7q3RWaikopcAXNEO2SUx38YpIDY0fPyNWm49oZ33A35mYFCIdUDiAJKOro6PNdSb/s320/Ascension%2520of%2520Christ.jpg" /></a><br />
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The image of the dying Jesus was not central to 19th century Mormonism. Instead it was the resurrected Jesus—the virtuous man emerging Godlike from the tomb and ascending heavenward to sit enthroned in eternal glory next to God—that was the center of Mormon theology. The path of Jesus—from his humble birth through a life in which he was tempted but never gave in (thus gaining knowledge and intelligence in the process), to death, then a resurrection from the dead and finally an anointing of Godlike Celestial Glory in eternity—THIS path was the path that Mormons believed every human should pursue in order to fulfill God’s purpose for their lives. <br />
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Reform Mormonism emphasizes this approach as well. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibzokTxt2bswaSyN-2hMvYRC9CBxHYbu4Jrl4Od1PsBXrsRzeJmVJZEkCJX3HwBc3xYOUyMCxdqurKdgcBqaNOi5QT3hCeZis_j-b-MxWo3dJcsaN7zkbN2af_bvSlU5Juy9TR/s1600/caravaggio-thomas.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibzokTxt2bswaSyN-2hMvYRC9CBxHYbu4Jrl4Od1PsBXrsRzeJmVJZEkCJX3HwBc3xYOUyMCxdqurKdgcBqaNOi5QT3hCeZis_j-b-MxWo3dJcsaN7zkbN2af_bvSlU5Juy9TR/s320/caravaggio-thomas.jpg" /></a><br />
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The Christian doctrine of Jesus’s Virgin Birth (the belief that his mother Mary was a virgin who conceived him without sex, by miraculous means brought about by the power of the Holy Ghost) was not central to Mormonism. Most early converts from Christianity to Mormonism brought this belief with them, but there was no creed (such as the Apostles’ Creed) that converts had to accept regarding the matter. In fact, Mormonism rejected the ALL traditional Christian creeds—believing that they instilled narrow-mindedness and superstition that could thwart one’s ethical and spiritual progress. Joseph Smith never focused on the Virgin Birth; there is no evidence that he preached a sermon or gave a lecture on the subject. In fact the earliest Mormon Scripture—“The Book of Mormon,” 1 Nephi 11:18—taught a somewhat vague concept: that Mary was a virgin who gave birth to Jesus, “after the manner of the flesh.” By the 1850’s, Mormon leaders in Utah were teaching that the only means by which any human being had ever been conceived or born—including Jesus—was through sexual generation. Some Mormon leaders—such as Brigham Young—went so far as to mock as ridiculous and irrational the idea that Mary conceived Jesus without sexual relations through a miracle brought about by the Holy Ghost. As late as the middle of the 20th century, Utah Mormon leader Joseph Fielding Smith taught, “The birth of the Savior was a natural occurrence unattended with any degree of mysticism.”<br />
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Building upon this line of thinking, Reform Mormonism does not teach the Virgin Birth; nor does it require that Reform Mormons believe in it. While individual Reform Mormons may certainly embrace the doctrine, in the overall Reform Mormon view of things, there is no need for Jesus to have been born of a virgin. A virgin birth for Christ is simply irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE3-8gjPMQrk0N0XRvLDDuS8x_FWd5R1W67olC2dXTjU_0bFAHYnysR_6ZfyInfkkgml8Cl67oLgnyawCo_jvZQb9nXU36pOafCghNXRr-qcc5OQo2m-Vu-OFJroFjirSmEkAC/s1600/incarnation-of-christ.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE3-8gjPMQrk0N0XRvLDDuS8x_FWd5R1W67olC2dXTjU_0bFAHYnysR_6ZfyInfkkgml8Cl67oLgnyawCo_jvZQb9nXU36pOafCghNXRr-qcc5OQo2m-Vu-OFJroFjirSmEkAC/s320/incarnation-of-christ.jpg" /></a><br />
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Jesus was born with the same human nature, the same type of intelligence, the same free will that all of us naturally possess. Jesus lived in the same conditions in which all humans live. He experienced every hunger, drive and limitation that every human experiences. He was not born all-knowing, but learned through his experiences just as we all must do. The way in which early Mormons viewed Jesus as being different was that he never choose to do wrong; he never chose to sin. In his character, he was seen as being the type of person God would be if God was a human being living here and now upon the earth. Mormons reasoned that if they wanted to be Godlike, then they should look to Jesus as a pattern for their character, their values and behavior. They took comfort in the belief that since Jesus, while being like them, never choose to sin, they too were always free to “choose the right.”<br />
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Reform Mormonism is not a religion about Jesus. Rather Reform Mormonism aspires to be the religion of Jesus. The intimate relationship with God that Jesus enjoyed—the relationship of a beloved child with a parent—is the relationship that Reform Mormons envision themselves—and all people—as having with God. <br />
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In many ways this approach to following Jesus is consistent with the approach of millions of Christians—even though the theology behind the approach is radically different from that of Christianity.<br />
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But Reform Mormonism—-by fully embracing that radical theology—goes further.<br />
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Drawing from ideas found the Gospel of John in the Bible, Christianity teaches that Jesus existed with God before he was born—even, before the creation of our earth. Christianity teaches that Jesus’s spirit was—like God—eternal and uncreated.<br />
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Joseph Smith and early Mormons accepted this very ancient idea—and then built upon it. <br />
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Yes, Jesus existed in the beginning with God (that is, before the earth was formed) but “man also was in the beginning with God” Joseph Smith declared in the first year of Mormonism’s existence.<br />
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Later Joseph taught that the human mind (the human spirit) was—like God and like Jesus—uncreated and eternal. While acknowledging that Christianity was correct in teaching that God and Jesus had no beginning, Joseph insisted that every human being existed on the same principle. Joseph taught that the spirit of each human being will survive the death of the body, because that same spirit existed before the birth of the body—in fact, it existed before the formation of the earth. Just as Jesus “came from [God] the Father” (meaning, his spirit existed with God before his birth) so the spirit of each and every human being came from the God and was with God “before the foundations of the earth.” <br />
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During the Christmas Season, Christians the world over sing carols celebrating the idea that Jesus came down from heaven to live on earth. According to Reform Mormonism, every single person ever born, likewise, came“down from heaven to live on earth.” We are all like Jesus in this respect.<br />
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There are many passages in the Biblical Gospels in which Jesus says that anyone who has seen him has seen God that Father; that his image [Jesus’s] is exactly the same as God’s; that in his actions, he [Jesus] was merely doing what God his Father had done.<br />
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Christianity has traditionally interpreted this as meaning that either Jesus was actually God appearing on earth as a human—or that Jesus was the human embodiment of God’s character.<br />
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While Mormonism certainly believed the latter interpretation, Joseph Smith went much further. Yes, Jesus was the human embodiment of God’s character—but, Joseph Smith taught, when Jesus declared that he was doing in his life what God his Father had done, this implied that God—Jesus’s Father—had once lived through the experience of being human. Joseph Smith linked this idea with an idea found in the first two chapters of the Bible: human beings existed in the image of God; that people if could see God, they would see a human being like themselves—albeit one that was perfectly righteous, holy, just, wise and loving. <br />
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So, in the Reform Mormon view, Jesus in a profound sense brought God down to earth. It wasn’t human nature that has separates us from God. That separation exists because of ancient traditions and superstitions we’ve accepted regarding the very nature of God. <br />
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“As we now are, God once was; as God now is, we may become.” The unity of Jesus and God that Christianity had historically proclaimed—the unity of their nature—in Reform Mormonism is now extended to all human beings.<br />
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To this day, Christianity still struggles with the reality of the human body with its urges, drives and desires. Christianity has drawn ideas from certain ancient Greek philosophers and taught that the spirit and the body are, at essence, at war with one another—and that the spirit must prevail because the body with its appetites is corrupt.<br />
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Joseph Smith looked to the Biblical accounts of Jesus’s resurrection from the dead and taught the exact opposite. The New Testament contains stories of the resurrected Jesus appearing to his followers and when they at first think he is a spirit or a ghost, Jesus invites them to feel his body and touch the wounds from his crucifixion, saying “Handle me and see, for a spirit has not flesh and bones as ye see me have.” (Luke 24:39)<br />
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From this and other Biblical stories, Joseph taught—in opposition to Christian teaching—that the body was not evil but was good; that the spirit separated from the body was powerless; that happiness involves being fully alive with a physical body.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEuVNdH8VtWAVxFfhPd-mkEqUu1ZquIANHFkfiY8tppT9MrALrcs6mHE3W6x46p8HKySzCjiFms-R46jIEc46hRFGdKwAGm_o5_rpEsHcrJ5Ju6omFB5cowPMAq_Q4ewwR_G0V/s1600/mary_martha_minerva_teichert.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEuVNdH8VtWAVxFfhPd-mkEqUu1ZquIANHFkfiY8tppT9MrALrcs6mHE3W6x46p8HKySzCjiFms-R46jIEc46hRFGdKwAGm_o5_rpEsHcrJ5Ju6omFB5cowPMAq_Q4ewwR_G0V/s320/mary_martha_minerva_teichert.jpg" /></a><br />
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With such a positive view of the human body and physical existence, Reform Mormonism embraces life on earth as a good thing—filled with possibilities for learning, progression, growth and profound joy. Relationships that are grounded in physical needs, desires and functions—such as romantic/sexual love, marriage, parenthood—are not distractions from emulating Jesus and becoming like God. Instead these relationships are the means by which a Christ-like and God-like character may be developed.<br />
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For two thousand years, Christians have envisioned a resurrected Jesus sitting at the right hand of God in heaven—sharing equally God’s glory and divinity.<br />
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Reform Mormons accept this vision and, drawing from the New Testament and their own additional scripture, they expand this vision to include, potentially, all human beings who live; who have ever lived or ever will live.<br />
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Just as Jesus learned from the things he suffered (experienced) in life, and became a son of God and then inherited all that God has—so each of us may, by emulating the path Jesus trod, inherit all that God has, and become like God.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhevsiC-4FAU91T4n7rUCm4dPFFC4CqNlRWmXKIy3ZquUSz4elIc8XMCZa1oPaR-sVTRyIDWApj9BC5Q0TcEtJs_SyaJMfSP-DU71MkjTiLwqKRLcVv1jp3n1Oj8_D_bDJQ7QvC/s1600/sheep+JESUS.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhevsiC-4FAU91T4n7rUCm4dPFFC4CqNlRWmXKIy3ZquUSz4elIc8XMCZa1oPaR-sVTRyIDWApj9BC5Q0TcEtJs_SyaJMfSP-DU71MkjTiLwqKRLcVv1jp3n1Oj8_D_bDJQ7QvC/s320/sheep+JESUS.jpg" /></a><br />
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<b>“<i>What manner of [person] ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am.”<br />
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(Jesus in “The Book of Mormon,” III Nephi 27:27)<br />
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ROB. LAUERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10437607492146768666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7746245.post-68080931640104484352012-12-13T09:46:00.001-08:002012-12-13T09:59:24.392-08:00THE VALUE OF SCRIPTURAL FICTION<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimMUO_YggKd1uDh8TYhlhrZvd-IFf6ElkZzCg-naEVb_HfUhbwbRCH8mQdd0QlZKiwxHLnSJyzn9oMGV_94r9j7bq2qa7sA4zxL3HPCHprEnHePd0C6GnCHcnrACevO0U3UlAT/s1600/BK+of+MOR+painting+USE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="299" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimMUO_YggKd1uDh8TYhlhrZvd-IFf6ElkZzCg-naEVb_HfUhbwbRCH8mQdd0QlZKiwxHLnSJyzn9oMGV_94r9j7bq2qa7sA4zxL3HPCHprEnHePd0C6GnCHcnrACevO0U3UlAT/s400/BK+of+MOR+painting+USE.jpg" /></a><br />
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What is the Book of Mormon if it is not a record of pre-Columbian Hebrews revealed angelically to Joseph Smith, Jr.? <br />
Science has not found any DNA evidence linking American Indians to ancient Semites; nor is there any firm archeological evidences that Book of Mormon geographical sites that actually existed. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHqkmeYdzKnB8Hyl2HSzNqLgvMup9JOVL3UFio5B9NAYjh747Yu5vqi6CVhReBpBDjVbBk5hPKrKGd9l4D6Ommpv7LJfP7C_4xuKGFving40juMFMAC7TS7EszKvE7gJvCbT5n/s1600/VIEW+OF+HEBREW+title+page.jpg" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="400" width="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHqkmeYdzKnB8Hyl2HSzNqLgvMup9JOVL3UFio5B9NAYjh747Yu5vqi6CVhReBpBDjVbBk5hPKrKGd9l4D6Ommpv7LJfP7C_4xuKGFving40juMFMAC7TS7EszKvE7gJvCbT5n/s400/VIEW+OF+HEBREW+title+page.jpg" /></a><br />
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There is evidence, though, that a lot of Ethan Smith’s ideas, expressed in his 1825 book, <a href="http://olivercowdery.com/texts/ethn1825.htm#pgi">“View of the Hebrews,” </a>do appear in Joseph’s record of the Nephites and Lamanites. So, does this mean that Joseph Smith, Jr. and Oliver Cowdery or some other 19th Century individual wrote the Book of Mormon and plagiarized other people’s ideas to enhance its readability and theology? If so, was this not wrong? <br />
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First let us address the issue of plagiarism. Plagiarism was not even considered ethically or legally wrong until the 1700’s and then laws against it were loosely and ineffectually enforced. By the 19th Century, plagiarism, though illegal, basically in the same way that it is today with requirements to cite other works in footnotes or reference pages. (<a href="http://johnmckay.blogspot.com/2009/03/very-brief-history-of-plagiarism.html">A Very Brief History of Plagarism</a>) The writers of ancient scripture, though, the ones Joseph wished to imitate, knew no such concepts.<br />
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So, if all of this is true, does this mean that Joseph was a shyster, a flim-flam man like “The Music Man’s” Professor Harold Hill who sold music instruments and music lessons, “when he didn’t know one note from another?” Or is there some other, alternative way of viewing this Latter-day scripture and its translator? After all, “Joseph Smith, Junior” is listed in the very front of the first edition, the 1830 edition as “Author and Proprietor.” <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMaLPV5S8VsGPJsB_lVQU-iVMgt0Yv4nlANVrWVIRx7tm-NEAHSPkUjv9_V2A9r7lzhmqGMi9lV2pQlEIJKLXkWDYYtKhhH3zrbahnUNRytq0_EUhUGG4HyuAW_9y_HCYsUbc2/s1600/TITLE+PAGE+edited.jpg" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="400" width="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMaLPV5S8VsGPJsB_lVQU-iVMgt0Yv4nlANVrWVIRx7tm-NEAHSPkUjv9_V2A9r7lzhmqGMi9lV2pQlEIJKLXkWDYYtKhhH3zrbahnUNRytq0_EUhUGG4HyuAW_9y_HCYsUbc2/s400/TITLE+PAGE+edited.jpg" /></a><br />
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Did he originally mean to have published the Book of Mormon as a religious novel like the many that appeared during the 19th Century, before and after Joseph, such as Civil War General Lew Wallace’s “Ben Hur: A Tale of the Christ” which appeared fifty years after the Book of Mormon but like the Book of Mormon, partook of American Evangelical Protestant doctrines and values? When did our young prophet decide to turn his religious novel into a religious myth and attempt to add it to Christianity’s already large mythology collection and why should we 21st Century citizens wish to read and study it?<br />
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Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary defines mythology as,<br />
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<i>“MYTHOL'OGY, n. [Gr. a fable, and discourse.] A system of fables or fabulous opinions and doctrines respecting the deities which heathen nations have supposed to preside over the world or to influence the affairs of it.” –: an allegorical narrative.”<br />
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The definition above leaves quite a bit to be desired. “An allegorical narrative,” though, is correct. I do personally feel that the term “heathen” is pejorative and should be removed.<br />
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Myths were the original way of writing theology. As civilization became more “advanced” and literacy became widespread, theology was set down in lengthy and dry tomes that only appealed to other theologians. Theology became what is known today as “systemized.” The “Iliad” and the “Odyssey” by Homer were stories that were epic poems and were often sung. They were the original scriptures of Hellenic civilization.<br />
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The Hebrew Scriptures, too, were myths that taught very subtle doctrines under the guise of history. The arts of philosophy and philosophical debate were developed in Greece and during the Bronze Age were unfamiliar with the early writers of the Hebrew Bible. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUiU5eRyl5RFaoug0sbgkOdAV8Ie6gsTPLma37ic6FmoyDl3h0aBU-sDbetUhgb0RQPNS303OJYLBqjLTxTggwZupmXnu-0hvzG8c0lHNz1_wFk9tW8XWXze1wuoDOVPHF7EuR/s1600/PAUL+writing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="297" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUiU5eRyl5RFaoug0sbgkOdAV8Ie6gsTPLma37ic6FmoyDl3h0aBU-sDbetUhgb0RQPNS303OJYLBqjLTxTggwZupmXnu-0hvzG8c0lHNz1_wFk9tW8XWXze1wuoDOVPHF7EuR/s400/PAUL+writing.jpg" /></a><br />
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In fact, biblical experts today cannot firmly attribute any of the books of the Old Testament, Apocrypha, or the New Testament to the writers whose names they bear except for seven of Paul of Tarsus’ epistles. If one had a new theological concept and wanted a large audience for it, he or she would chose a long dead prophet and write under his name. This was known as a pious fraud. It might have been a “fraud,” in a literal sense but it was often the only way a gifted and creative religious thinker could get his thoughts read. The priests and the aristocracy of the day had a monopoly of religion and were adverse to any upstart outside theologians. To be recognized an individual would then claim he discovered a long lost scroll authored by Isaiah or some other already recognized prophet and if the writer was lucky, his forgery would become received scripture. <br />
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If Joseph Smith, Jr. did write the Book of Mormon, he was following in a time honored tradition. In 1830 upstate New York or anywhere in the United States for that matter, who would have listened to a farm boy with little formal education? This is probably one of the reasons why the Book of Mormon regales so much against the rich with their chances for learning.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBOXCKFvCDgQwp5A4Gt3wgTvYJE-6nOo44zVJ3fqOsOKHva-0pi83KNxbea8-QgQCXoljQxKXNRkZpNrncecMPWfxpMUB0Bg95h_G13S9n_hW7mYv0Tfzip8wBD0tOk_JEelSx/s1600/JOSPEH+writing.png" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBOXCKFvCDgQwp5A4Gt3wgTvYJE-6nOo44zVJ3fqOsOKHva-0pi83KNxbea8-QgQCXoljQxKXNRkZpNrncecMPWfxpMUB0Bg95h_G13S9n_hW7mYv0Tfzip8wBD0tOk_JEelSx/s400/JOSPEH+writing.png" /></a><br />
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There have been recently a number of propositions introduced at the Community of Christ World Conferences to de-canonize the Book of Mormon based on the view that Joseph wrote it and not pre-Columbian Hebrews. This would be most unfortunate in that for them to be logically consistent they would have to decolonize the entire Bible but for seven epistles of St. Paul. The Book of Mormon as well as the Bible should be considered for what is said theologically in them and not whether they authentic in the smallest degree or not. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt9v34lKqLluAb__7ATc8Mr1afen_Q_LfO1v5Vde4ioo5pBOT-bVK8XiCothctD7XqqvV9KT0BlrSS2HlIQmUEO3VfF-S-oSA-QJpqFMq-AsclXTTVVGhwc2IiRkljavwlDdrU/s1600/RELIGIOUS+REVIVAL+MTNG+AUDIENCE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="287" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt9v34lKqLluAb__7ATc8Mr1afen_Q_LfO1v5Vde4ioo5pBOT-bVK8XiCothctD7XqqvV9KT0BlrSS2HlIQmUEO3VfF-S-oSA-QJpqFMq-AsclXTTVVGhwc2IiRkljavwlDdrU/s400/RELIGIOUS+REVIVAL+MTNG+AUDIENCE.jpg" /></a><br />
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The teachings in the Book of Mormon reflect the state of evangelical Protestantism in the early 19th Century and how young Joseph dealt with this. Joseph Smith, Jr. was a very creative man. His theological thoughts moved on from there climaxing in the beautiful King-Follett Discourse given on June 7, 1844 where he espoused the belief that God was once a mortal creature like us and through the acquisition of knowledge became an advanced being capable of creating worlds and universes, the ability to do this is being borne out today by modern Physicists and Quantum Physicists. (See “<a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6545246">Kurwich Wonders"</a> ) Joseph Smith the genius was far ahead of his time. Joseph was an extremely creative individual who built a worldwide religion of 14 million + adherents today (there are as many Mormons in the world as there are Jews) from an original membership at the Church’s organization on April 6, 1830 of only six. That is a 2333333.333% increase in 182 years or if the Church grew uniformly from year to year, which of course it did not, an average 12820.513% increase yearly. This is an astronomical growth, even adjusting this figure for the so-called “swimming conversions.” Why? Joseph built a fictitious world which was and still is in many instances, far warmer and more interesting than the work-a-day world of humdrum and boredom most of those who had investigated Mormonism had been used to before they converted. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkdpuPs16mb7SxLvhb2HEFEL1XXoFporUKAITviDg2Hxcya6m5qUh3JDrcONI450CH99OnLJmHNElN1YnBezbIy3xnHOt1utouY3qpVGUF9Rqu_RoF6xROdaPwMxeo5Xajb8G4/s1600/JOSEPH+SMITH+painting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="400" width="293" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkdpuPs16mb7SxLvhb2HEFEL1XXoFporUKAITviDg2Hxcya6m5qUh3JDrcONI450CH99OnLJmHNElN1YnBezbIy3xnHOt1utouY3qpVGUF9Rqu_RoF6xROdaPwMxeo5Xajb8G4/s400/JOSEPH+SMITH+painting.jpg" /></a><br />
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Joseph sparked the imagination. Not only that, but he gave them a cooperative way of life where individuals and families could not fall through the economic and social cracks of society. Joseph gave them goals to work for and a way of life. I have not even mentioned the many Jungian archetype and other rich and meaningful symbolic representations in Joseph’s work, but that would make this presentation much too lengthy. So, even if Joseph Smith, Jr. did not tell the literal truth in all things, like Professor Harold Hill in “The Music Man,” we who have been privileged to have touched his magic would be so much worse off if we had not. This is why Mormon history, Mormon culture, and above all those parts of Joseph Smith’s teachings that reverberate with modern science need to be preserved. This is why we are still Mormons even if we do not believe in the literalness of the Book of Mormon. If Mormonism is fiction, it is the very best fiction to have come out of 19th Century Western tradition.<br />
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<b>TODAY’S REFORM MORMON GOSPEL DOCTRINE TEACHER, JIM NICKELS, INTRODUCES HIMSELF: </b><i>I was a member of LDS Church for 44 years, joining the Church as a convert at age 21, 1969. I left the church in 2006 and was baptized into the Community of Christ. I have been very inactive in that church due to physical disabilities that have confined me to my home. I find both Reform Mormonism and the Society for Humanistic Mormonism, where I am Assistant President, to be my sources of spiritual nourishment. I am married to a beautiful lady, Tracey Levendusi-Nickels, who does not share my religious beliefs. While having been once baptized into the Community of Christ, she now attends the Protestant church to which she originally belonged. I am 64 years old. I have three grown sons. Tracey is my second marriage. My first "eternal" marriage was sealed in the Salt Lake Temple in 1970. Eternity ended in 1991. When in the LDS Church, I was active and served in many callings including Sunday School President for over 5 years. I left for philosophical reasons. I like to think for myself and not be told that I am "on the high road to apostasy." I worked for the Lake County Indian Department of Public Welfare in public assistance, child welfare placement, child protective services, and quality control. I retired from all gainful employment 7 years ago when the doctor ordered me to. I have a Bachelor of Arts degree in History/Comparative Literature (double major) from Indiana University in 1970, a Master of Science degree in History from Indiana State University where I had a teaching assistantship teaching 2 semesters of the "United States to 1877: End of Reconstruction" an introductory U.S. history course. I also have received a Master of Science degree from Indiana University in 1974, and an online Master of Arts degree in Creativity Studies (my concentration was "Creativity and Process Theology) from Union Institute and University in May, 2012. I am currently working on a fourth Master of Arts degree online from the same school in Psychology (concentration "Carl Jung and Religion), graduation date will probably be in 2015. I hope to do a Jungian analysis of Joseph Smith as my thesis. My goal? To become a polymath. I was born on August 25, 1948 in Russell County, Virginia. I currently live in Mishawaka, Indiana.<br />
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ROB. LAUERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10437607492146768666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7746245.post-15286825222681171552012-09-21T22:20:00.002-07:002012-09-21T22:21:07.715-07:00"VISITATION EVE" September 21st<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-ArAEpq5Hl08euBh1LbkUB7FGkP2gr4yrDsAf4VN9OKb-GMFshGYieMtG5wWgOabjY3C0cswQzsrXGuRJBI9ebmvh_pioLIg3qKMdizDInhgiKFUpQE5YiYrLM3BLxaHWGuT3/s1600/malm-moroni-appears_MD.jpg" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="400" width="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-ArAEpq5Hl08euBh1LbkUB7FGkP2gr4yrDsAf4VN9OKb-GMFshGYieMtG5wWgOabjY3C0cswQzsrXGuRJBI9ebmvh_pioLIg3qKMdizDInhgiKFUpQE5YiYrLM3BLxaHWGuT3/s400/malm-moroni-appears_MD.jpg" /></a>
On this night—September 21st—189 years ago, 17-year-old Joseph Smith claimed he was visited by an angelic spirit who told him of an ancient American history inscribed on gold plates, buried in a hillside in his upstate New York neighborhood, containing the fullness of the everlasting Gospel.
For the next four years at midnight on this night, Joseph went to that hill where he claimed he was visited and interviewed by this angelic spirit to determine if he was ready to begin the prophetic career to which he had been called.
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBpMI4WJGEhpwtS-e9iprvCrKLhxDdfuGtVuZnxXXpgrXT8sauqDuy9nQ0SZyvSm_xmBp7KkZnX6bEI29Dz5zWlT4TmEGYp8yL3Vk8x3HVLZlvkyaIxeZRzfM391xU6ie7XBhi/s1600/tColored+he-angel-moroni-delivering-the-plates-everett.jpg" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="400" width="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBpMI4WJGEhpwtS-e9iprvCrKLhxDdfuGtVuZnxXXpgrXT8sauqDuy9nQ0SZyvSm_xmBp7KkZnX6bEI29Dz5zWlT4TmEGYp8yL3Vk8x3HVLZlvkyaIxeZRzfM391xU6ie7XBhi/s400/tColored+he-angel-moroni-delivering-the-plates-everett.jpg" /></a>
For some Reform Mormons, the night of September 21st is a holiday: Visitation Eve.
On this night Joseph’s stories of spirits, angelic visitations and gold plates (whether accepted as literal events or as symbolic tales) are remembered and used as vehicles for self-examination.
And so tonight as I say my bedtime prayers and as I drift off to sleep, I will contemplate where I stand on the path of Eternal Progression.
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMhzoWZowLI3ROeleuEuptQgpqKXyMu01I6PyoDwVOdfcBKZpJFecpQcw1GkI_rvQQSvVmvori-5oEn9OtFfOrkz4kCHXc-3YFkdugy2jiyYgqrk4NfyPx0sZIJzOSt2AkRQ8M/s1600/Joseph+Smith%2527s+bedroom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMhzoWZowLI3ROeleuEuptQgpqKXyMu01I6PyoDwVOdfcBKZpJFecpQcw1GkI_rvQQSvVmvori-5oEn9OtFfOrkz4kCHXc-3YFkdugy2jiyYgqrk4NfyPx0sZIJzOSt2AkRQ8M/s400/Joseph+Smith%2527s+bedroom.jpg" /></a>
<b><i>(Above: The attic bedroom of the restored Smith Farm House near Palmyra, New York, in which Joseph Smith claimed he was first visited on Sept. 21, 1823 by an angelic spirit.)</i>
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I will try to be brutally honest with myself. I will envision a blazing angel standing before me, shining light into those dark places within I’d rather keep secret. I will envision a salamander or giant toad (characters from other versions of Joseph’s evolving story) smacking me down for allowing short-sighted greed or selfishness to undermine my attempts to develop within myself those Celestial attributes I envision my Heavenly Parents possessing.
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi5nZ9yQ9ryP06oF-yrHRt8ZXC2Auna_ioCEARGaz2xqPvxNEEcna0Uo2fNC48y87xNlbWDnNJEvZYKixSOF7o4fNmZIztK6k23QJqdh1buYAY7zRzG8Y3KHKkI6V5-zqKLdHI/s1600/painting+moroni+hill+josepj.jpg" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="194" width="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi5nZ9yQ9ryP06oF-yrHRt8ZXC2Auna_ioCEARGaz2xqPvxNEEcna0Uo2fNC48y87xNlbWDnNJEvZYKixSOF7o4fNmZIztK6k23QJqdh1buYAY7zRzG8Y3KHKkI6V5-zqKLdHI/s400/painting+moroni+hill+josepj.jpg" /></a>
Come the morning I may not walk away from this symbolic angelic visitation with a Gold Bible tucked under my arm. But if I greet the day with a keener awareness of my weaknesses, coupled with a greater appreciation for the ever-present reality of personal revelation, Intelligence, Light and Truth—all of which will help me turn those weaknesses into strength—then I walk away with something more precious than gold plates.
ROB. LAUERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10437607492146768666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7746245.post-46212747395098999632012-04-07T11:18:00.025-07:002012-04-19T15:32:43.856-07:00April 6th--The Day of RestorationApril 6th is an important day in Mormon history; a date that Mormons of all denominations reverence for different reasons.<br />
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Reform Mormons celebarte April 6th as "The Day of Restoration."<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnPCX-puAvtlAf5Sgj8fhyphenhyphenIMY3elVNLck0tgNC8sDuSuP6hk6ubhchDSajNC0d5JiavWUvO6WDY-hSV3b7aSsvazoKR7n4UyAs-Czw3bBFL7qa1Q3P0S5ByLuHxzjwlxcj5jlS/s1600/whimer+farm+house.jpg" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="266" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnPCX-puAvtlAf5Sgj8fhyphenhyphenIMY3elVNLck0tgNC8sDuSuP6hk6ubhchDSajNC0d5JiavWUvO6WDY-hSV3b7aSsvazoKR7n4UyAs-Czw3bBFL7qa1Q3P0S5ByLuHxzjwlxcj5jlS/s400/whimer+farm+house.jpg" /></a></div><b><i>(Above: The Peter Whitmer Farm)</i></b><br />
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On <a href="http://www.saintswithouthalos.com/m/300406.phtml">Tuesday, April 6, 1830 </a>representatives from the first three Mormon congregations (in Fayette, NY; in Manchester, NY, and in Colesville, Pennsylvania) met at the Whitmer farm in Fayette to legally form a new denomination according to the laws of the state of New York. <br />
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Originally called simply "The Church of Christ," this new denominations members were nicknamed "Mormons" or "Mormonites" by their neighbors and by the newspapers of the day, because of their belief in "The Book of Mormon"--a new book of scripture that was then being prepared for publication. On April 6, 1830 those first Mormonites/Mormons elected Joseph Smith (the author and proprieter of "The Book of Mormon") and Oliver Cowdrey to offices of First Elder and Second Elder over the legally organized denomination.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5LkSMFmhqIgp0yJhbgYeckg2aJs5kTWs0LNAaEHxFDOV_y4NqovtZDCHhRaQ5GB-L6_BHOQqkK9pAoWHAtZBriJVT4xIb08-5tJrgHJuO9wf0_L4gTceFT7WaQ6VdwVO10yLI/s1600/joseph-smith2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="400" width="340" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5LkSMFmhqIgp0yJhbgYeckg2aJs5kTWs0LNAaEHxFDOV_y4NqovtZDCHhRaQ5GB-L6_BHOQqkK9pAoWHAtZBriJVT4xIb08-5tJrgHJuO9wf0_L4gTceFT7WaQ6VdwVO10yLI/s400/joseph-smith2.jpg" /></a></div><b><i>(Above: Joseph Smith was elected First Elder of Mormonism on April 6, 1830)</i></b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmZa-0G0YWoNNWaJGxVgUKMJCilyUfVUA0-aUyVuvgo7h42cPwme3k4IseCMmjidOPvaqqURP75qW3WEdbIovWi8FHjClzIvmd57pGD892LDckwt0RpzzXvUVFRrkQNvyeCiAj/s1600/Oliver+cowdery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="400" width="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmZa-0G0YWoNNWaJGxVgUKMJCilyUfVUA0-aUyVuvgo7h42cPwme3k4IseCMmjidOPvaqqURP75qW3WEdbIovWi8FHjClzIvmd57pGD892LDckwt0RpzzXvUVFRrkQNvyeCiAj/s400/Oliver+cowdery.jpg" /></a></div><b><i>(Above: Oliver Cowdrey was elected the Second Elder of Mormonism on April 6,1830)</i></b><br />
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What set the original Mormonites/Mormons apart from their neighbors was a belief that God was immediately present in their individual lives, that God was again active in human history and that there had been a "restoration" of "spiritual gifts" that had mostly disappeared from the earth--spirituals gifts" including such things as Divine visions and revelations, prophecy and faith healings, the unveiling of new knowledge and the endowments of Divine power into human hands. <br />
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In short, the power and the intimacy between God and humans that these early 19th cnetury Americans had been reading about in the Christian Bible all of their live , had been "restored" as part of modern day (latter day) life.<br />
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This "collapse of distance" between the human and the Divine is a foundational concept of Reform Mormonism.<br />
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Reform Mormons do not believe that God is an all-powerful, unapproachable, mysterious entity in some far off heaven, Who they should fear, and Who demands their worship, their blind faith and their unquestioning obedience.<br />
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Rather Reform Mormons know God as an intimate presence in their lives. God is a loving Heavenly Parent who shares a common nature with them; Who understands from His own experiences everything that they are experiencing and feeling, and Who can, therefore, speak to their condition--whatever that condition may be.<br />
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Freed from the type of thinking that has for centuriues distanced huamnity from God, Reform Mormons are encouraged to live life fully, embrace as good life on earth, establish eternal relationships with loved-ones, to accept and encourage human progress, to develope their talents and abilities, and to fearlessly and happily approach God--just as one would approach a beloved father or mother.<br />
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In this sense, Reform Mormons hold that a proper understanding of humanity's relationship to God has been "restored."<br />
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Reform Mormons also embrace the original understanding of the word "restoration" that was made known to the world in the late Spring of 1830 when "The Book of Mormon" was originally published.<br />
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This concept of "restoration" is related to the central concept of a holiday celebrated by Christians each spring--the concept of "resurrection."<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1R2AlgHas97__1ArlcnS3DPS9cDpB5nmOYxHwlMPydz0M2s5Xqb02BMfnZ210B-3kwccbnCa8FJWC5yqmZaw7F-oD_Sfb8W5vlWT17C4notIpg1xog0O4krbuxNLLxDikXlaR/s1600/resurrection-of-the-flesh-1499-1502-fresco-by-luca-signorellichapel-of-san-brizio-duomo-orvieto.jpg" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="283" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1R2AlgHas97__1ArlcnS3DPS9cDpB5nmOYxHwlMPydz0M2s5Xqb02BMfnZ210B-3kwccbnCa8FJWC5yqmZaw7F-oD_Sfb8W5vlWT17C4notIpg1xog0O4krbuxNLLxDikXlaR/s400/resurrection-of-the-flesh-1499-1502-fresco-by-luca-signorellichapel-of-san-brizio-duomo-orvieto.jpg" /></a></div><b><i>(Above:Luca Signorelli's "The Resurrection of the Flesh." Below: A detail from Signorelli's painting celebrates the reunion of loved ones in the resurrection--a concept central of Mormon ideas of the Resurrection and Restoration.)</i></b><br />
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Early Christians, drawing certain propheices found in the writings of older Jewish prophets (such as Ezekiel and Daniel), believed that at some future time, God's perfect justice would be restored to the earth,and that all humans who had ever lived would be resurrected from the dead, to stand before God, to be judged and rewarded according to their deeds. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixgom1g8pirk1OpMaF0p4GQwe2F7y9qY3QTpg0YzhNu1tulM9PNu_AeYyh-WI02njKjnNk0ZkheW7cwEX6k3HmfHE5PbViIVIVrK4hV0lF5iQapFbyc6aO2xyzZC3RAbX_gAQG/s1600/Easter+resiurrection.jpg" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="400" width="333" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixgom1g8pirk1OpMaF0p4GQwe2F7y9qY3QTpg0YzhNu1tulM9PNu_AeYyh-WI02njKjnNk0ZkheW7cwEX6k3HmfHE5PbViIVIVrK4hV0lF5iQapFbyc6aO2xyzZC3RAbX_gAQG/s400/Easter+resiurrection.jpg" /></a></div><br />
The first generation of those who followed Jesus of Nazareth believed that Jesus himself had been resurrected from the dead following his execution on the cross by the Romans; that through this event, the bounds of death and the grave had been broken forever; and that the time was at hand when there would be a universal resurrection--when everyone who had ever died would be "restored" back to life. At that time "the tabernacle of God" would be established on earth in the presence of all huammity. An intimate relationship between God and the human race (like the relationship envisioned in the Garden of Eden story--between Adam, Eve and God) would be "restored" to the earth.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHDm3PAmmIVip1QaITt0LdvBp82oNdTVWAR7zfmcRStCMxtdHiMXsP6d3Gt9fXMe5IcKArg9U4IJYNZErkm2QP_rgV5eHNP9EYJWYaGcsUgS4PTEmEcGmIJaTbcO5igh3iB3Xt/s1600/risenlord+Book+of+MormonArnold+Frieberg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="283" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHDm3PAmmIVip1QaITt0LdvBp82oNdTVWAR7zfmcRStCMxtdHiMXsP6d3Gt9fXMe5IcKArg9U4IJYNZErkm2QP_rgV5eHNP9EYJWYaGcsUgS4PTEmEcGmIJaTbcO5igh3iB3Xt/s400/risenlord+Book+of+MormonArnold+Frieberg.jpg" /></a></div><b><i>(Above: A painting by Mormon artist Arnold Friberg depicting a story from "The Book of Mormon" concerning the resurrection of Jesus.)</i></b><br />
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Such ideas of "restoration" serve as the foundtaion of Easter--the holiday which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. These same ideas consitute "The Book of Mormon" concept of "restoration"--as is evident in the following passages:<br />
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“… the grave must deliver up its captive bodies, and the bodies and the spirits of men will be <b>restored</b> one to the other; and it is by the power of the resurrection of the Holy One of Israel. O how great the plan of our God!... the spirit and the body is restored to itself again, and all men become incorruptible, and immortal, and they are living souls, having a perfect knowledge like unto us in the flesh, save it be that our knowledge shall be perfect.” <i>(“The Book of Mormon,” II Nephi 9: 12-13) </i><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCD3Wsn8Ps3Fmbqausf5-LXoJYnTv47xWBYHooTCFDJyol8lhM548HmLE82MAhg2myLgXrRVrmpoQVRohaDsY4KlJobNpiCQljL4nzzzNWovR7FFOiKmEcjKkpcE84ODOxG-XH/s1600/michelangelo_resurrection.jpg" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="281" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCD3Wsn8Ps3Fmbqausf5-LXoJYnTv47xWBYHooTCFDJyol8lhM548HmLE82MAhg2myLgXrRVrmpoQVRohaDsY4KlJobNpiCQljL4nzzzNWovR7FFOiKmEcjKkpcE84ODOxG-XH/s400/michelangelo_resurrection.jpg" /></a></div><b><i>(Above: A Michelangelo's study of The Resurrection of the Dead)</i></b><br />
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"The spirit and the body shall be reunited again in its perfect form; both limb and joint shall be <b>restored</b> to its proper frame, even as we now are at this time; and we shall be brought to stand before God, knowing even as we know now, and have a bright recollection of all our guilt. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl4Qkej32SXJKu2OUtoZCbOLh4dyMmyFkiHcq8x8IqSg-crVSMmszf15aDoXzVxRIFafc2tesfk9Vzev9zYE9JS_xXWGmvm_HcGX6_iIfHH-mMcHXZfjItWrpJhNXaojN9k4i5/s1600/William_Blake%252C_Resurrection+of+the+dead.png" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="400" width="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl4Qkej32SXJKu2OUtoZCbOLh4dyMmyFkiHcq8x8IqSg-crVSMmszf15aDoXzVxRIFafc2tesfk9Vzev9zYE9JS_xXWGmvm_HcGX6_iIfHH-mMcHXZfjItWrpJhNXaojN9k4i5/s400/William_Blake%252C_Resurrection+of+the+dead.png" /></a></div><b><i>(Above: A William Blake drawing of "The Resurrection of the Dead")</i></b><br />
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"Now, this <b>restoration</b> shall come to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, both the wicked and the righteous; and even there shall not so much as a hair of their heads be lost; but every thing shall be <b>restored</b> to its perfect frame, as it is now, or in the body, and shall be brought and be arraigned before the bar of Christ the Son, and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit, which is one Eternal God, to be judged according to their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil.” <i>(“The Book of Mormon,” Alma 11:43-44)</i><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwApAo-SX8Wc8kWVpnt3RD1kLLVqlMI6mRa8rtjto0Mis2Pj17U58GECCPHIUiU6QRAIfD2kZmgrDx863qcy-9GyQfH68R1KxrIDV4eXZQ4R3o4F3iOZpSCWM_jx4xjUgJ_8vi/s1600/William_Blake%252Cresurrection+of+couple.png" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="400" width="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwApAo-SX8Wc8kWVpnt3RD1kLLVqlMI6mRa8rtjto0Mis2Pj17U58GECCPHIUiU6QRAIfD2kZmgrDx863qcy-9GyQfH68R1KxrIDV4eXZQ4R3o4F3iOZpSCWM_jx4xjUgJ_8vi/s400/William_Blake%252Cresurrection+of+couple.png" /></a></div><b><i>(Above: Another William Blake drawing of the Resurrection, this one celebrating the restoration of couple once divided by death. A belief in the restoration of couples and families in eternity despite death is central to Mormonism.)</i></b><br />
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For Reform Mormons, existence is eternal. Death is not the end. There something eternal in each of us--something that existed before our birth, and which will continue after death. The knowledge that we gain in this life will stay with us eternally, and can benefit us forever. The relationships we establish in this life--our marriages, our families, our friendships--can last eternally. The experience of living here and now will stay with us lomng after this life is over-influencing our Eternal Progression. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAqeHsivF_LLEDKECbqM0gOHXFjKuT1ILyzZm4r9W7hwZjhA592jOf0Ax4AlIibH9H-5Do3dgUmBJBzvEKVECoJn6i99K3zw35pWgmdwTEhQgNgVol4ju4ZQ4PSWwDJGckRjMe/s1600/frederic_leighton_38_and_the_sea_gave_up_the_dead_which_were_in_it.jpg" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="400" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAqeHsivF_LLEDKECbqM0gOHXFjKuT1ILyzZm4r9W7hwZjhA592jOf0Ax4AlIibH9H-5Do3dgUmBJBzvEKVECoJn6i99K3zw35pWgmdwTEhQgNgVol4ju4ZQ4PSWwDJGckRjMe/s400/frederic_leighton_38_and_the_sea_gave_up_the_dead_which_were_in_it.jpg" /></a></div><b><i>(Above:Lord Frederic Leighton's "And The Sea Gave Up The Dead Which Were In It"--depicting the restoration of a husband, wife and son through the resurrection of the dead.)</i></b><br />
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In the end everything which death seems to destroy and take from us, will be restored to us.<br />
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With this vision, Reform Mormonism teaches that each of us should strive to see the eternal aspect of all things; to apporach God with the conviction that we have been restored to a loving relationship with Him; to live today as if we were already living in eternity--with faith, hope, love, integrity and joy.<br />
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For more information visit the <a href="http://www.reformmormonism.org/">Reform Mormonism website.</a>ROB. LAUERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10437607492146768666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7746245.post-47248022424240872902012-03-23T09:45:00.000-07:002012-03-23T09:45:03.458-07:00The 2012 Reform Mormon DirectoryThe 2012 Reform Mormon Directory is now being organized--and all are invited to be listed in it. (Only those listed in the directory will be emailed copies of it.)<br />
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The directory is a great way for those interested in Reform Mormonism to connect with others wherever they live.<br />
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Copies of the 2012 Directort will be emailed out the first week of April. <br />
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If you would like to be listed in it, submit the following info:<br />
<br />
YOUR FIRST AND LAST NAME<br />
YOUR CITY/STATE/ COUNTRY<br />
YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS.<br />
<br />
Email the above information to: reformmormons@aol.com<br />
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The deadline for submitting the above information is Sunday, April 1, 2012.ROB. LAUERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10437607492146768666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7746245.post-91637587475335906812011-11-16T13:26:00.000-08:002011-11-16T13:26:20.734-08:00REFORM MORMON TEMPLE EVENT: February 19, 2012 in Virginia<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQbP2_6DTop6hcuvaP686BLTRP96x5fUeDbNKit-meVLHuRXhxbzWWEDKhq6KdH4jlnj8s9uviLc3dQgF0uRezoPyA0eykqhr68dFrtuzeAwDMZbDOGfJGCXR2R47wIv9ThggO/s1600/ANGELedited.jpg" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="221" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQbP2_6DTop6hcuvaP686BLTRP96x5fUeDbNKit-meVLHuRXhxbzWWEDKhq6KdH4jlnj8s9uviLc3dQgF0uRezoPyA0eykqhr68dFrtuzeAwDMZbDOGfJGCXR2R47wIv9ThggO/s400/ANGELedited.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<br />
A REFORM MORMON TEMPLE EVENT is scheduled for Sunday February 19, 2012, in <a href="http://www.visitsmithfieldisleofwight.com/">Smithfield Virginia</a> (just 30 minutes from historic Jamestowns and Colonial Williamsburg). <br />
<br />
If you would like to participate, and receive the REFORM MORMON ENDOWMENT and/or SEALINGS (including same-sex sealings), please contact reformmormons@aol.com for more information, including an overview on our Temple Events and a study guide.<br />
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<b>All Reform Mormons are welcomed!<br />
</b><br />
For more information on the Reform Mormon Endowment (including a study guide) write: <br />
<b>reformmormons@aol.com<br />
</b>ROB. LAUERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10437607492146768666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7746245.post-13962739077557608022011-04-10T11:42:00.000-07:002011-04-10T12:21:01.110-07:00Worlds Without EndThe world’s major religions all came into existence when human understanding of the natural world was sorely limited. In the pre-scientific ancient world mythology, superstition, emotionalism and baseless speculation were the rule, not the exception, in formulating theories regarding the nature of the universe. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_m3uB_MAnGNFpglqplA5KJSbE7uP8XSRho1_Hh2_UW58Di74au8ZZdThbsO5i9GU5BG3e25zJR729za-NOlxgragDpgJvmuGZlw0Ea7hVmJ88SpOMQ7DtYsTblNExqipEqvXa/s1600/ancient_Hebrew_universe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="400" width="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_m3uB_MAnGNFpglqplA5KJSbE7uP8XSRho1_Hh2_UW58Di74au8ZZdThbsO5i9GU5BG3e25zJR729za-NOlxgragDpgJvmuGZlw0Ea7hVmJ88SpOMQ7DtYsTblNExqipEqvXa/s400/ancient_Hebrew_universe.jpg" /></a></div><br />
The earth was seen as a flat table top. The sky was seen as a great domed ceiling, supported by high mountain ranges (called “The Pillars of Heaven”) that stood at the edges of the earth. In the sky—thought to be, quite literally a dome or vaulted ceiling--there were gates through which rain fell from a great sea above know as “the firmament above the earth.” Beneath the flat earth was another great body of water (“the firmament beneath”) which feed the earths rivers, streams, seas and oceans. It was assumed that the sun, moon and stars quite literally “rose” in the east, traveled across the sky above the earth, and then “set” in the West. <br />
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From the subjective view of mankind at that time, the earth itself was assumed to be the center of existence.<br />
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This was the view of most ancient cultures, including the Israelite culture that gave the Bible to the world. Indeed, the above view of natural world—now called “The Flat Earth Theory”—is found throughout the Bible, and was accepted universally by the world’s great monotheistic religions until just five hundred years ago. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX1TjjI8MQtKDS6eqNIQoWvi5b-2xs-SnQXt5jhSH9gehF6-SFSHp77Prfl718C6OjU7XWii-CJfGvchv-aIYQQkVyAyk0ohjiocQnTymGNiHJ9iaV1OMDTip3wy7yor2VGCpi/s1600/telescope.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="306" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX1TjjI8MQtKDS6eqNIQoWvi5b-2xs-SnQXt5jhSH9gehF6-SFSHp77Prfl718C6OjU7XWii-CJfGvchv-aIYQQkVyAyk0ohjiocQnTymGNiHJ9iaV1OMDTip3wy7yor2VGCpi/s400/telescope.bmp" /></a></div><br />
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Scientists such as Galileo were considered heretics for suggesting that the earth moved around the sun, and was not the center of the universe. Christopher Columbus was one of the first European explorers to operate on the then-startling and “unproved theory” that the earth was round. When the first English ships sail to Virginia in 1607, navigating by the stars was still just as immersed in superstition and mysticism as it was in any sort of objective science or technology.<br />
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Ignorant of basic facts regarding the shape of the earth and its relationship to the sun, moon and stars, it is understandable that religions with ancient origins would have come up with complete erroneous ideas regarding the universe. Even many enlightened Christians, Jews and Muslims who embrace what modern science has revealed regarding the galaxies, may still, on an emotional level, cling to the ancient idea that the earth and life on it are, in some sense, the very center of the cosmos as far as Deity is concerned.<br />
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Mormonism came into existence at the beginning of the modern scientific age. While dictating “The Book of Mormon” Joseph Smith included the following: “…surely it is the earth that moveth and not the sun.” (<i>Helaman</i> <i>12:15</i>) While this was common knowledge in 1829, the Bible’s ancient authors (and Christian theologians until just a few centuries previously) believed just the opposite.<br />
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“The Book of Mormon” also contains references to planets. (One example is found in Alma 30:44.) While the world “planet” was coined anciently by the Greeks, it was used to refer to any heavenly body; the Greeks considered the sun and stars to be planets. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioVKaZexIzDUnEsSbhX1nwc5xWhAivqTq4T8Q6uZTZR0Uj0FWc9ZlPo5n7USOT2Fs3d1Frq6Irl-ZyfyY1g3Sn_74W6MdvsmpxCDcDOGZlHKyXqzqxA_UpDdrWjsz_FVPvZr5H/s1600/book+of+moses+first+page.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioVKaZexIzDUnEsSbhX1nwc5xWhAivqTq4T8Q6uZTZR0Uj0FWc9ZlPo5n7USOT2Fs3d1Frq6Irl-ZyfyY1g3Sn_74W6MdvsmpxCDcDOGZlHKyXqzqxA_UpDdrWjsz_FVPvZr5H/s400/book+of+moses+first+page.bmp" /></a></div><br />
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In June 1830 when Joseph began dictating new versions of Genesis’s first two chapters, he began incorporating into his new scriptures the evolving 19th century scientific understanding of planets and planetary systems. “The Book of Moses” refers to there being “worlds without number” beyond earth and our solar systems. (<i>See Moses 1:33, in “The Pearl of Great Price.”) <br />
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</i>Joseph also declared that the first chapters of Genesis contained “only an account of this earth, and the inhabitants thereof,” explaining that previously “many worlds that have passed away…. And there are many that now stand, and innumerable are they unto man.” (<i>Moses 1:33) <br />
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</i>So it was that in the first months of its inception, Mormonism put forth a view of endless planets and planetary systems being organized and passing away. The organization of new galaxies was a continuing, eternal process. The earth was not the center of the universe, nor did it come into existence at some imagined “beginning” of all existence. Galaxies had formed and passed away eons before our solar system formed.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyULPPFciIQIhsFfN5phKGr1cm11vTs9dFkZ8BA9zP8ehvN4HDSMj-ahQ_sVgcW7Q2Jy1ZuflkZvOoJvazJSACAnTW1eaXX-AzCLN4G1eqI4sGe3WmrpsoPFZG9s9VjnPnK56D/s1600/room+where+Section+76+was+given.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="263" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyULPPFciIQIhsFfN5phKGr1cm11vTs9dFkZ8BA9zP8ehvN4HDSMj-ahQ_sVgcW7Q2Jy1ZuflkZvOoJvazJSACAnTW1eaXX-AzCLN4G1eqI4sGe3WmrpsoPFZG9s9VjnPnK56D/s400/room+where+Section+76+was+given.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<i>(Above: The room in which Joseph Smith and Sydney Rigdon dictated a vision of eternity that involved the existence of other worlds with inhabitants.)<br />
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On February 16, 1832, when dictating a vision of eternity, Joseph Smith and Sydney Rigdon referred to other “worlds” not as empty, lifeless places but as planets filled with intelligent life—“inhabitants” who “are begotten sons and daughters unto God.” (<i>See Doctrine & Covenants 76: 24</i>)<br />
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Less than two years after Mormonism’s emergence as a religious movement, it was teaching a then-radical theological concept—one at odds with traditional monotheism: intelligent life as found earth was not a unique phenomenon <br />
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On December 27 and 28, 1832, and on January 3,1833, Joseph Smith dictated another revelation (<i>Doctrine & Covenants 88</i>) in which he laid out his evolving view of the universe—a revelation he felt was so important that he described it as a “olive leaf’ … plucked from the Tree of Paradise.” <br />
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The revelation begins by celebrating the powers and forces that govern the earth, the moon, sun, stars, and celestial bodies beyond. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOcT2EDugMpPSEJ39j1zQcbjW-OixXrv0JeHF4bdHOt9gNlhn6tNUb8o3r4bHvrbRJWexY0H9C1BStiX2gnIVYIdoEBy0K2wezsrrh9vNS-8o7yzWKg2mGwlaG9HGokT0-gotN/s1600/EARTH+orbe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOcT2EDugMpPSEJ39j1zQcbjW-OixXrv0JeHF4bdHOt9gNlhn6tNUb8o3r4bHvrbRJWexY0H9C1BStiX2gnIVYIdoEBy0K2wezsrrh9vNS-8o7yzWKg2mGwlaG9HGokT0-gotN/s400/EARTH+orbe.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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A complex but orderly universe is envisioned in which each thing that exists is governed by a system of laws tied to its nature. Everything which exists does so with boundaries and limits—within the “certain bounds and conditions” determined by these laws. (See Doctrine & Covenants 88:38<br />
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Joseph declared: “Verily I say unto you, that which is governed by law is also preserved by law and perfected and sanctified by the same,” Joseph taught. (<i>Doctrine & Covenants 88:34</i>) <br />
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Joseph did not use the Biblically-inspired concepts of being “preserved, perfected and sanctified” in the way Christian ministers of his time did. Other ministers used these concepts to refer to the process by which an individual was forgiven for his sins, saved from damnation in hell, grew spiritually and finally entered heaven. Rather than “going to heaven,” Joseph was more concerned with things “fulfilling the measure of their creation”—meaning the process by which something can “be all that its capable of being,” or progressing to the maximum extent of its nature.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd2zuVKlYKUZdCdShlYEwXPw50MkTyuhK6-tcQCg-IHAgbBGX1em6jNw8Rj-gzXdLHfJz-oXsL1VwPKsia5sdX7erb3iemQFqJWbqyxrt_VemQEgTmc9nE7CKX64Ye0Ti96u46/s1600/joseph+smith+preaching+in+kirtland.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="400" width="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd2zuVKlYKUZdCdShlYEwXPw50MkTyuhK6-tcQCg-IHAgbBGX1em6jNw8Rj-gzXdLHfJz-oXsL1VwPKsia5sdX7erb3iemQFqJWbqyxrt_VemQEgTmc9nE7CKX64Ye0Ti96u46/s400/joseph+smith+preaching+in+kirtland.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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Joseph applied the concepts “preserved, perfected and sanctified” to all things that existed within nature—including planets and planetary systems. He taught that the earth itself was governed by a law, and because it “transgresseth not the law…it shall be sanctified; yea, not withstanding it shall die…” (Doctrine & Covenants 88: 25-26) <br />
Joseph symbolically called each system of law governing something “a kingdom”—co-opting another popular Biblically-inspired Christian phraseology of his day. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo8AqMhrymhxF40pibGICLeSHuzQNzrCWGqslgJa3bj-mCxQtZYhXGU8jVioW4wg1SpuMBFJuH8r7YEbUZq5_VQHOrPyYFTtwstp5x3aeG63M_GUJc5KXhQy22G6xX-l0WLMRo/s1600/wallpaper-solar-system.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="298" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo8AqMhrymhxF40pibGICLeSHuzQNzrCWGqslgJa3bj-mCxQtZYhXGU8jVioW4wg1SpuMBFJuH8r7YEbUZq5_VQHOrPyYFTtwstp5x3aeG63M_GUJc5KXhQy22G6xX-l0WLMRo/s400/wallpaper-solar-system.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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Joseph’s revelation (<i>Doctrine & Covenants 88</i>) not only envisioned existence as orderly but as dense—with no sustainable complete vacuums at any level. Joseph declared “And there are many kingdoms; for there is no space in which there is no kingdom; and there is no kingdom in which there is no space, either a greater or a lesser kingdom.” (<i>Doctrine and Covenant 88:37)<br />
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</i>The endless planetary systems existed within the boundaries of laws “by which they move in their times and seasons; and their courses are fixed…and they give light unto each other in their times and seasons, in their minutes, in their hours, in their days, in their weeks, in their months, in their years…” (<i>Doctrine & Covenants 88:42-44</i>)<br />
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In 1835, in “The Book of Abraham,” Joseph expounded further on his vision of the endless planetary systems found throughout the universe. Inspired by contemporary theories based on those first advanced by Isaac Newton, Joseph taught that time could be measured differently from one planetary system to another, based on that planetary system’s location and other things such as the gravitational pull of neighboring planets, stars and other celestial bodies and phenomenon.<br />
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By the late-1830’s a distinct Mormon cosmology had emerged that was at odds not only with the views of ancient religions but also with the view of the Enlightened Christianity (Christianity that rejected Biblical fundamentalism, and embraced science and reason.) Mormon Cosmology was radically pluralistic—going so far as to embrace an endless number of planetary systems (many of them filled with intelligent life) but also an endless number of Gods—each existing within the boundaries set by the laws governing time and space.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiei2oNeKKR-VS3ovKSZ78Eoaph6V5D3R14LrSMdBWFqSW92UzyG61AvSNo4L35XFehLNUQxpSi0XLcT2XNj66GZeXkeGlNUJNLe0PF1tIJBYZjYyzC0tSjqN-IfJNkWkxHKSjR/s1600/hubblem104.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="239" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiei2oNeKKR-VS3ovKSZ78Eoaph6V5D3R14LrSMdBWFqSW92UzyG61AvSNo4L35XFehLNUQxpSi0XLcT2XNj66GZeXkeGlNUJNLe0PF1tIJBYZjYyzC0tSjqN-IfJNkWkxHKSjR/s400/hubblem104.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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A new phrase entered into Mormon religious dialogue: <b>“Worlds without end.”<br />
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The phrase “world without end” had been used for centuries in Christian liturgy—both Catholic and Protestant—to convey the idea that the earth would endure throughout eternity. The phrase “without end” had reference to time.<br />
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Joseph Smith was familiar with phrase since it was used by all the Protestant churches he had dealings when he was in his late teens and early twenty. At age 17, Joseph Smith had been very involved in the Methodist congregation in Palymra, and had applied for membership in the Harmony, Pennsylvania Methodist congregation in 1825. In their worship services, Methodists ended their singing of the Doxology with the phrase, “World without end, Amen, Amen.” <br />
<br />
Joseph took this traditional Christian phrase, added one letter to it and changed its context altogether. The singular “world” became the plural “worlds.” The new Mormon phrase “worlds without end” did not refer to time but to the number of planets found throughout the reaches of space.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFW6b-n6MYMWaIzNBLwFYwODMcEPbPGESyMYIBOuAi2nocinpeHTNmqDJylk4diNbDJehYWGDgGOCpxU8EU-kZDJTBG_eVa62JkDLxeHAPvwkENaHh8Dpwx3gUA5Mim_CwebrK/s1600/hubble-space-telescope-crab-nebula-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="398" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFW6b-n6MYMWaIzNBLwFYwODMcEPbPGESyMYIBOuAi2nocinpeHTNmqDJylk4diNbDJehYWGDgGOCpxU8EU-kZDJTBG_eVa62JkDLxeHAPvwkENaHh8Dpwx3gUA5Mim_CwebrK/s400/hubble-space-telescope-crab-nebula-2.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<br />
Mormonism’s expansive, pluralistic view of the cosmos was captured by the mid-19th century Mormon writer, W.W. Phelps, in his classic Mormon hymn, “If You Could Hie to Kolob.” Below are Phelps' lyrics, inspired by the teachings of Joseph Smith:<br />
<br />
<i>“If you could hie to Kolob in the twinkling of an eye,<br />
And then continue onward with that same speed to fly,<br />
Do you think that you could ever through all eternity,<br />
Find out the generation where Gods began to be? <br />
<br />
Or see the grand beginning where space did not extend?<br />
Or view the last creation where Gods and matter end?<br />
Methinks the Spirit whispers, “No man has found ‘pure space,’<br />
Nor seen the outside curtains where nothing has a place.” <br />
<br />
The works of God continue, and worlds and lives abound;<br />
Improvement and progression have one eternal round.<br />
There is no end to matter; there is no end to space;<br />
There is no end to spirit; There is no end to race. <br />
There is no end to virtue; There is no end to might;<br />
There is no end to wisdom; There is no end to light.<br />
<br />
There is no end to union; There is no end to youth;<br />
There is no end to priesthood; There is no end to truth. <br />
There is no end to glory; There is no end to love;<br />
There is no end to being; There is no death above.”<br />
</i><br />
(Note: In a vision of the universe laid out in “The Book of Abraham,” the star closest to the throne of Abraham’s God is called Kolob.)<br />
<br />
Below is a performance of the hymn by the (LDS)Mormon Tabernacle Choir:<br />
<br />
<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/MHi9E3hCqIA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
<br />
And here is a music video of a contemporary pop version of the hymn...<br />
<br />
<iframe title="YouTube video player" width="480" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/jBHu_KYrOEE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>ROB. LAUERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10437607492146768666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7746245.post-87318860974252827932011-03-16T11:31:00.000-07:002011-03-24T10:03:10.303-07:00ORGANIZED, NOT CREATED<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghA2hPVmVS8gS5X4t9ICqW70ie1pmL3tLhZRtp4jBJwHwdFmwg71OW-noHD71SYVmzCcyPqSgsbJt7Rov3Hrxvn6d15EEAKXFDUJC-fsWbkjSZ4ON7m3dLByX69cZTKrsT6-4X/s1600/god_creationg_the_world.jpg" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="278" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghA2hPVmVS8gS5X4t9ICqW70ie1pmL3tLhZRtp4jBJwHwdFmwg71OW-noHD71SYVmzCcyPqSgsbJt7Rov3Hrxvn6d15EEAKXFDUJC-fsWbkjSZ4ON7m3dLByX69cZTKrsT6-4X/s400/god_creationg_the_world.jpg" /></a></div><br />
It is difficult for many people to conceive of a religion that does not embrace Creationism—that is: the doctrine that our universe was created. <br />
<br />
The central premise of all monotheistic faiths is that, first and foremost,God is the Creator of all that exists; that God spoke and by the power of His word, everything, from nothingness, was called into being.<br />
<br />
The Mormon Theological Paradigm, as constructed by Joseph Smith, rejects Creationism outright. <br />
<br />
The physical elements themselves are eternal. Existence itself is primary—not God. This is the basis of Classical Mormon Theology and Philosophy. This is what sets Mormonism apart from all other religions. This is also what makes Mormon thought more compatible with the ever unfolding understanding of the universe given to us by modern science.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTwozLDCvfWf19VGVKRonOkQDKJaXUus43MruMBm4HX21QTIfDDEEbvIRojbnmlvzl8eFE8mi6Egzp2VIjRllPewYgZbbFnZzeAtz-iyhtezZ9jg8BbFx7pBIluunjaD2ngzeq/s1600/ex_nihilo_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="400" width="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTwozLDCvfWf19VGVKRonOkQDKJaXUus43MruMBm4HX21QTIfDDEEbvIRojbnmlvzl8eFE8mi6Egzp2VIjRllPewYgZbbFnZzeAtz-iyhtezZ9jg8BbFx7pBIluunjaD2ngzeq/s400/ex_nihilo_1.jpg" /></a></div><i>(Above: Frederick Hart's sculpture, "Ex Nihlio")<br />
</i><br />
Mormon theology rejects the Orthodox Christian doctrine of “<i>creatio ex </i><i>nihilo</i>”—the Latin phrase meaning “creation out of nothing.”<br />
<br />
In the funeral sermon for Elder King Folliet, Joseph Smith—The First Mormon—asked:<br />
<br />
<i>“Now I ask all who hear me, why the learned men who are preaching salvation, say that God created the heavens and the earth out of nothing? ….they account it blasphemy in any one to contradict their idea. If you tell them that God made the world out of something, they will call you a fool…<br />
“You ask the learned doctors why they say the world was made out of nothing; and they will answer, ‘Doesn't the Bible say He created the world?’ And they infer, from the word create, that it must have been made out of nothing. Now, the word create came from the [Hebrew word] ‘baurau” which does not mean to create out of nothing; <b>it means to organize; the same as a man would organize materials and build a ship.5 Hence, we infer that God had materials to organize the world out of chaos—chaotic matter, which is element, and in which dwells all the glory. Element had an existence from the time he had. The pure principles of element are principles which can never be destroyed; they may be organized and re-organized, but not destroyed. They had no beginning, and can have no end</b>.”<br />
</i><br />
<br />
Mormon theology begins with the idea of “<i>creatio ex materia</i>”—meaning (in Latin) creation out of some pre-existent, eternal matter.<br />
The Biblical creation story as found in Genesis, is something to which Joseph returned time and time again throughout the course of his career. He rewrote the opening chapters of Genesis several times.<br />
<br />
In 1830, within months of publishing “The Book of Mormon,” he began dictating a new version of the opening chapters of Genesis—narrated in the voice of the character of Moses, and later published “The Book of Moses.” <br />
<br />
Five years later, in 1835, Joseph dictated yet another version of the opening chapters of Genesis—this time narrated in the voice of the Biblical patriarch, Abraham, whom Joseph envisioned as an ancient priest and astronomer influenced by the culture, polytheistic religion and knowledge of the ancient Egyptians. This creation account was later published under the title “The Book of Abraham,” and it established Mormonism break not only with orthodox Christianity, but with monotheistic religion itself.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLeCcfn3zdZioCRpj20a-9hFvVttY5D5HChLXQl-lldGb1UVEhHt0HBaG9cETQmbVjATvXkBwsOOtq_pGSL4-ENv6dbDnhOaqRqpxpfGsyPnqsXOiiM2Hr16PcOCykkpXZAD_E/s1600/egyptian_astronomer_promo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="375" width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLeCcfn3zdZioCRpj20a-9hFvVttY5D5HChLXQl-lldGb1UVEhHt0HBaG9cETQmbVjATvXkBwsOOtq_pGSL4-ENv6dbDnhOaqRqpxpfGsyPnqsXOiiM2Hr16PcOCykkpXZAD_E/s400/egyptian_astronomer_promo.jpg" /></a></div><i>(Above: a depiction of an ancient Egyptian astronomer.)<br />
</i><br />
By the time he began working on “The Book of Abraham,” Joseph Smith had furthered his education somewhat, having studied at the School of the Prophets—a seminary and school for adults established by the Mormon community at Kirtland, Ohio. <br />
<br />
Knowledge of Newton’s theories on gravity and physics were becoming more accessible to Americans during those years; also religious doctrines which had gone unchallenged for thousands of years were being called into question by the emergence of modern scientific theories regarding the origin and makeup of the natural world. It is evident that these things also greatly influenced Joseph’s personal religious views as laid out in “The Book of Abraham.”<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBVwM9Le29_ZThgXgQjwG3UEbSPPGJOKDJPu8SOKjR8qAL9l2_6r78-ZSLjNHUM6vWTlB7A5ocF6HWd-a0iGonwXrh7iwz2Z67LA-h4a46F8sKjlCZyccYTctBXUREVsPBpxhyphenhyphen/s1600/schoolprophets3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="267" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBVwM9Le29_ZThgXgQjwG3UEbSPPGJOKDJPu8SOKjR8qAL9l2_6r78-ZSLjNHUM6vWTlB7A5ocF6HWd-a0iGonwXrh7iwz2Z67LA-h4a46F8sKjlCZyccYTctBXUREVsPBpxhyphenhyphen/s400/schoolprophets3.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<i>(Above: Interior of the School of the Prophets in Kirtland,Ohio)<br />
</i><br />
While the tendency among the majority orthodox Christian clergy was to resist emerging scientific theories, Mormon leaders attempted to incorporate contemporary scientific theories with Biblical narratives. The Mormons believed that “all truth [defined as ‘the knowledge of things as they are’] can be circumscribed into one great whole.” Their approach was to accept all truth regardless of where it was found—be it in religion, science or secular philosophy. As a result of this, Mormon theology evolved very quickly and changed greatly during the 1830’s. The Mormon theology that emerged by the end of the decade was not a new school of Christian theology, but a new and distinct religion—a completely new religious paradigm.<br />
<br />
In “The Book of Abraham” the word “created” is thrown out altogether—replaced by the word “organized.” Thus the heavens and the earth are not “created” as they are in Genesis, chapter one, verse one. Instead the heavens and the earth are “organized” from the pre-existing, uncreated, eternal elements.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaXtHr_w2ftM6UWqw3H_IMx6oyP9sgsgAUId7cpf6OIvVFesC0xe31BnO7li2XfzXmtJTmb4wTIuJ0ux0hm1YoJ-RG0-cETMaw_1fK3GNIU0XrbUUj7RExtFXNBzPgKhbnDPAQ/s1600/dark_matter_millenium_simulation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="227" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaXtHr_w2ftM6UWqw3H_IMx6oyP9sgsgAUId7cpf6OIvVFesC0xe31BnO7li2XfzXmtJTmb4wTIuJ0ux0hm1YoJ-RG0-cETMaw_1fK3GNIU0XrbUUj7RExtFXNBzPgKhbnDPAQ/s400/dark_matter_millenium_simulation.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Stars, moons, planets and all things on them—living and non-living—are organized out of pre-existing matter/elements. In time, these things may die or decay, but the elements/matter from which they are organized remains, merely changing forms.<br />
<br />
As a result of this were a Reform Mormon and a Christian to have a discussion on the origin of the universe, the conversation might go something like this:<br />
<br />
<b>CHRISTIAN:</b> <i>Do you believe that God created the universe?<br />
</i><br />
<b>REFORM MORMON:</b> <i>No.<br />
</i><br />
<b>CHRISTIAN:</b> <i>Who do you think created it then?<br />
</i><br />
<b>REFORM MORMON:</b> <i>No one created it. The elements from which all things are organized are eternal; they have no beginning or end.<br />
</i><br />
<b>CHRISTIAN:</b> <i>But everything has a beginning.<br />
</i><br />
<b>REFORM MORMON:</b> <i>Where do you believe God came from?<br />
</i><br />
<b>CHRISTIAN:</b> <i>God has always existed.<br />
</i><br />
<b>REFORM MORMON:</b> <i>So you believe that God has no beginning?<br />
</i><br />
<b>CHRISTIAN:</b> <i>That’s right. God has no beginning.<br />
<br />
</i><b>REFORM MORMON:</b> <i>But that contradicts your other belief—that ‘everything has a beginning.’<br />
<br />
</i><b>CHRISTIAN:</b> <i>That doesn’t apply to God.<br />
</i><br />
<b>REFORM MORMON</b>: <i>If it doesn’t apply to God, why shouldn’t it apply to the universe in general?<br />
<br />
</i><b>CHRISTIAN:</b> <i>I don’t know. It just doesn’t. It’s a mystery.<br />
</i><br />
<b>REFORM MORMON:</b> <i>But you’re accepting as true two ideas that are mutually exclusive. On the one hand you’re saying that everything which exists has a beginning, but on the other hand you’re saying that God, who also exists, has no beginning. <br />
<br />
</i>The Mormon doctrine on the uncreated, eternal nature of the elements, and its doctrine of “Organization” rather than “Creationism” are in harmony with First Law of Thermodynamics as found in physics:<br />
<br />
<i>“In its simplest form, the First Law of Thermodynamics states that neither matter nor energy can be created or destroyed. The amount of energy in the universe is constant – energy can be changed, moved, controlled, stored, or dissipated. However, this energy cannot be created from nothing or reduced to nothing. Every natural process transforms energy and moves energy, but cannot create or eliminate it….The First Law of Thermodynamics is one of the absolute physical laws of the universe. Everything in the entire universe is affected by this law, as much as time or gravity… A burning log in the fireplace seems to violate the principles of conservation of matter/energy. Burning the log appears to create energy and destroy matter. In reality, the energy and matter are only changing place and forms; they are not being created or destroyed. The wood in the log has chemical potential energy, which is released when it is burned. This released energy appears in the form of heat and light. The matter of the log is changed into smoke particles, ash, and soot. The log’s total energy and mass before burning are the same as the mass and energy of the soot, ash, smoke, heat and light afterwards.” <br />
<br />
</i>—(<b>www.allaboutscience.org/first-law-of-thermodynamics-faq.htm)<br />
</b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivz4vWBpJ4eUJzJiO1PMNI3ZMnstJC_MCfJVg0OFXW_roIArfMKb-5NmAYmU0pfn0FP_NBtvNnohfNMjfYaoW4WQew7eHaj3oPhMp4Lg0Rn4UjGcpdVwYp3uuYpXbDGyZT5Zv2/s1600/creation+room.jpg" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="368" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivz4vWBpJ4eUJzJiO1PMNI3ZMnstJC_MCfJVg0OFXW_roIArfMKb-5NmAYmU0pfn0FP_NBtvNnohfNMjfYaoW4WQew7eHaj3oPhMp4Lg0Rn4UjGcpdVwYp3uuYpXbDGyZT5Zv2/s400/creation+room.jpg" /></a></div><br />
In conclusion, the first principles of the Mormon Paradigm can be summed up in this way:<br />
<br />
<b>The concept of “eternity” is most accurately symbolized by a circle or a ring. A circle and ring have no beginning and no end. Something which is eternal has no beginning and no end.<br />
<br />
The elements are eternal. They are uncreated—without beginning or end.<br />
<br />
All things that exist are composed of these uncreated, eternal elements; therefore existence is also eternal. It has no beginning or end. Existence itself is primary.<br />
<br />
The universe—galaxies, stars, moons, planets and all things in them—were organized from the eternal uncreated elements. <br />
<br />
Things in the universe may die, decay or become disorganized, but the elements from which they are organized, remain. They are eternal, without beginning or end.<br />
<br />
</b>Our next lesson: “Worlds Without End.”ROB. LAUERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10437607492146768666noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7746245.post-50983317004149688652010-06-11T10:49:00.000-07:002011-03-16T09:35:34.867-07:00The Elements<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJx0BcCfCh9OFT5sgj7VDCou9gkZdTYWdAmk6P0z-imEJJu9d7k5yBQjO90ni9HvfOGxj-q5ia0uHmo5Pg4D6S_fkfCCW2r7NbZWDKUVpIxDfMiEUN8v8y9BKNzcoONZz3sRCc/s1600/eternal+space.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 224px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJx0BcCfCh9OFT5sgj7VDCou9gkZdTYWdAmk6P0z-imEJJu9d7k5yBQjO90ni9HvfOGxj-q5ia0uHmo5Pg4D6S_fkfCCW2r7NbZWDKUVpIxDfMiEUN8v8y9BKNzcoONZz3sRCc/s400/eternal+space.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5481580621651212658" /></a><br />
Mormon theology and philosophy is founded upon a particular concept of what it means for something to be eternal.<br />
<br />
Joseph Smith—the First Mormon—taught that if something had a beginning, then it could have an end; if something was created from nothing, then it could potentially be annihilated—it could cease to exist. <br />
<br />
Joseph used a ring—a circle—to illustrate his understanding of what makes a thing eternal. Like a circle, something which is eternal must be without beginning or end; it must simply exist; it must be self-existent, depending on no one or no thing for its existence.<br />
<br />
Traditionally the religions of the world have taught that only God (whether envisioned as a personal being or an impersonal force) is without beginning or end. In this way, the religions of the world envision God as “the First Cause” of existence itself; God is that before which nothing existed, and without which nothing could exist. In short religions almost universally teach that the existence of all things depends upon the existence of God.<br />
<br />
Joseph Smith broke with all known religions on this idea. While he did envision God as being eternal—without beginning or end—he taught that other things were eternal in the very same way.<br />
<br />
Joseph Smith lived at the dawn of the modern scientific age. In the same decades in which Joseph brought forth his new theology, Charles Darwin was studying the various species of animal life, and developing the Theory of Evolution. Others were exploring the material world and nature of the elements from which all things are composed. The emerging scientific theories would challenge many of the faith-based ideas that mankind had unquestioningly accepted for thousands of years.<br />
<br />
When Joseph laid out the foundations of his new theology, he did not begin by exploring the largest things imaginable; instead he began by dealing with the smallest things: the basic building blocks of all things which exist in the natural world: the elements.<br />
<br />
Science has shown that all things known to exist are composed from some combination of 118 known naturally occurring elements. Each of the 118 elements is distinct in nature from the others. An element can not be broken down into something simpler. An element simply is what it is. Period.<br />
<br />
The various religions of the world teach that God—being the only thing that is eternal, without beginning or end—created the elements, either from nothing, or from some other pre-existing substance or supernatural element. But there is not evidence that such an idea is true—and such a notion contradicts the essential facts about the elements: an element can not be broken down into something simpler; an element simply is what it is.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ch2JJU48yqD_HaP0io6iB3Y0y1lyix0TNKO1w4lni2hOCBWgzNxiX9-ajHUOKSSsCKNMdkwCg_AQyHM9AfMWK-jwTP530OytxCcqRvt7Jy_OtFnzcvga0qJNCdrzRZCf9gi9/s1600/Peridoic_Smith.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7ch2JJU48yqD_HaP0io6iB3Y0y1lyix0TNKO1w4lni2hOCBWgzNxiX9-ajHUOKSSsCKNMdkwCg_AQyHM9AfMWK-jwTP530OytxCcqRvt7Jy_OtFnzcvga0qJNCdrzRZCf9gi9/s400/Peridoic_Smith.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5481578157134884594" /></a><br />
Joseph Smith sensed this contradiction, and so he taught as the doctrinal foundation of his theology a concept which no other religion has embraced:<br />
<br />
<strong>“The elements are eternal.”</strong> <em>(Doctrine & Covenants 93:33)</em><br />
<br />
This was—and still is—a revolutionary concept in religion. Joseph Smith was proclaiming that the known elements (the ones listed on the Periodic Table found in school science classes worldwide) are without beginning and without end. The elements themselves—the building blocks of all things which exist—have the very same nature that the world’s religions have ascribed only to God!<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHwN88mPbY2m9-bP39c-6_nMmWcV3N3oxiAJEEuYhytqvj9Y5P8ZSwwFkfjbLGMAqOVbEazhOARA_ybdK2OEU3t_7x8axZBJSH0Q0IZAtKKyOINqjlpL1hloVEA6a0itszLZxs/s1600/sufdper_nova_no_chevron_jpg_rZd_109.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHwN88mPbY2m9-bP39c-6_nMmWcV3N3oxiAJEEuYhytqvj9Y5P8ZSwwFkfjbLGMAqOVbEazhOARA_ybdK2OEU3t_7x8axZBJSH0Q0IZAtKKyOINqjlpL1hloVEA6a0itszLZxs/s400/sufdper_nova_no_chevron_jpg_rZd_109.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5481579622858002338" /></a><br />
This new doctrine—astounding, if not heretical and blasphemous in light of traditional religious thought—when carried to its logical extreme, turns all traditional religious concepts of God, man and the nature of the universe on their heads. <br />
<br />
Further astounding the religious world, Joseph Smith not only taught that God did not create the elements; he went so far as to teach that God COULD NOT create the elements.<br />
<br />
If the elements are eternal—self-existing, without beginning and without end—then God could not be envisioned as the actual “Creator” or “The First Cause” of all existence. <br />
<br />
If the elements are eternal, then existence itself is not dependent on God or some other force or entity. Existence itself simply is. <br />
<em><br />
Our next lesson: "Organized--Not Created"</em>.”ROB. LAUERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10437607492146768666noreply@blogger.com