To Err is Human

In An Essay on Criticism, Alexander Pope penned the famous line: "To err is human; to forgive, divine."

Yet God requires all of us to forgive, and each of us to forgive all:

"I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men." (D&C 64:10)

The doctrine is simple, though not always easy to apply.  In his Essay on Forgiveness, C.S. Lewis, one of Christianity's most articulate apologists, explains why this is so.

The Inner Ring

I don't know if C.S. Lewis' essay The Inner Ring has any direct connection to Tolkien's epic masterpiece The Lord of the Rings.  However, it would be hard to read this brilliant C.S. Lewis essay without considering the possibility that it might.  Tolkien wrote of "One Ring to rule them all,/ One Ring to find them,/ One Ring to bring them all,/ And in the darkness bind them."  It is at least conceivable that Tolkien's "One Ring" and C.S. Lewis' "Inner Ring" actually refer to the same thing.

History of Soccer: The Beautiful Game

The Beautiful Game... or at least one of them

If you ever want to watch a fascinating historical documentary, consider checking out History of Soccer: The Beautiful Game.  I find it particularly interesting how politics and soccer have been intertwined over the years.  If you like history, and if you like soccer, I am confident that you will also like this excellent film production.  Enjoy!

C.S. Lewis - Learning in War-Time

Here are a few precious pearls of wisdom from C.S. Lewis' timeless sermon Learning in War-Time:

• "The moment we do so we can see that every Christian who comes to a university must at all times face a question compared with which the questions raised by the war are relatively unimportant. He must ask himself how it is right, or even psychologically possible, for creatures who are every moment advancing either to heaven or to hell, to spend any fraction of the little time allowed them in this world on such comparative trivialities as literature or art, mathematics or biology." - p. 49

• "We have to inquire whether there is really any legitimate place for the activities of the scholar in a world such as this. That is, we have always to answer the question: 'How can you be so frivolous and selfish as to think about anything but the salvation of human souls?'" - p. 50

• "All our merely natural activities will be accepted, if they are offered to God, even the humblest: and all of them, even the noblest, will be sinful if they are not.  Christianity does not simply replace our natural life and substitute a new one: it is rather a new organization which exploits, to its own supernatural ends, these natural materials." - p. 54

• "I reject at once an idea which lingers in the mind of some modern people that cultural activities are in their own right spiritual and meritorious — as though scholars and poets were intrinsically more pleasing to God than scavengers and bootblacks." - p. 55

• "The work of a Beethoven, and the work of a charwoman, become spiritual on precisely the same condition, that of being offered to God, of being done humbly 'as to the Lord'. This does not, of course, mean that it is for anyone a mere toss-up whether he should sweep rooms or compose symphonies. A mole must dig to the glory of God and a cock must crow. We are members of one body, but differentiated members, each with his own vocation. A man’s upbringing, his talents, his circumstances, are usually a tolerable index of his vocation. If our parents have sent us to Oxford, if our country allows us to remain there, this is prima facie evidence that the life which we, at any rate, can best lead to the glory of God at present is the learned life." - p. 55

• "The intellectual life is not the only road to God, nor the safest, but we find it to be a road, and it may be the appointed road for us. Of course, it will be so only so long as we keep the impulse pure and disinterested. That is the great difficulty. As the author of the Theologia Germanicai says, we may come to love knowledge -- our knowing -- more than the thing known: to delight not in the exercise of our talents but in the fact that they are ours, or even in the reputation they bring us. Every success in the scholar's life increases this danger. If it becomes irresistible, he must give up his scholarly work. The time for plucking our the right eye has arrived." - p. 57

• "To be ignorant and simple now- not to be able to meet the enemies on their own ground, would be to throw down our weapons, and to betray our uneducated brethren who have, under God, no defense but us against the intellectual attacks of the heathen. Good philosophy must exist, if for no other reason, because bad philosophy must be answered." - p. 58

• "A man who has lived in many places is not likely to be deceived by the local errors of his native village; the scholar has lived in many times and is therefore in some degree immune from the great cataract of nonsense that pours from the press and the microphone of his own age." - p. 58

• "The only people who achieve much are those who want knowledge so badly that they seek it while the conditions are still unfavourable. Favourable conditions never come." - p. 60

• "Never, in peace or war, commit your virtue or your happiness to the future. Happy work is best done by the man who takes his long-term plans somewhat lightly and works from moment to moment ‘as to the Lord.’ It is only our daily bread that we are encouraged to ask for. The present is the only time in which any duty can be done or any grace received." - p. 61

C.S. Lewis - The Weight of Glory

Here are a few precious pearls of wisdom from C.S. Lewis' timeless sermon The Weight of Glory:

• "If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith." - p. 26

• "Now, if we are made for heaven, the desire for our proper place will be already in us, but not yet attached to the true object, and will even appear as the rival of that object […] If a transtemporal, transfinite good is our real destiny, then any other good on which our desire fixes must be in some degree fallacious, must bear at best only a symbolical relation to what will truly satisfy." - p. 29

• "If our religion is something objective, then we must never avert our eyes from those elements in it which seem puzzling or repellent; for it will be precisely the puzzling or the repellent which conceals what we do not yet know and need to know." - p. 34

• "The first question I ask about these promises is ‘Why any one of them except the first?’ Can anything be added to the conception of being with Christ? For it must be true, as an old writer says, that he who has God and everything else has no more than he who has God only." - p.34

• "Perfect humility dispenses with modesty. If God is satisfied with the work, the work may be satisfied with itself." - p. 38

• "How God thinks of us is not only more important, but infinitely more important. Indeed, how we think of Him is of no importance except insofar as it is related to how He thinks of us. It is written that we shall 'stand before' Him, shall appear, shall be inspected. The promise of glory is the promise, almost incredible and only possible by the work of Christ, that some of us, that any of us who really chooses, shall actually survive that examination, shall find approval, shall please God. To please God…to be a real ingredient in the Divine happiness…to be loved by God, not merely pitied, but delighted in as an artist delights in his work or a father in a son—it seems impossible, a weight or burden of glory which our thoughts can hardly sustain. But so it is." - p. 38

• "When human souls have become as perfect in voluntary obedience as the inanimate creation is in its lifeless obedience, then they will put on its glory, or rather that greater glory of which nature is only the first sketch. For you must not think that I am putting forward any heathen fancy of being absorbed into Nature. Nature is mortal; we shall outlive her. When all the suns and nebulae have passed away, each one of you will still be alive. Nature is only the image, the symbol; but it is the symbol Scripture invites me to use. We are summoned to pass in through Nature, beyond her, into that splendor which she fitfully reflects." - p. 43

• "Meanwhile the cross comes before the crown and tomorrow is a Monday morning." - p. 45

• "It may be possible for each to think too much of his own potential glory hereafter; it is hardly possible for him to think too often or too deeply about that of his neighbour. The load, or weight, or burden of my neighbour's glory should be laid on my back, a load so heavy that only humility can carry it, and the back of the proud will be broken. It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics." - p.45

• "There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations - these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit - immortal horrors or everlasting splendors. This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously - no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption.  And our charity must be a real and costly love, with deep feeling for the sins in spite of which we love the sinner—no mere tolerance, or indulgence which parodies love as flippancy parodies merriment.  Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbour is the holiest object presented to your senses." - p. 46

The Anatomy of Peace

• "What if conflicts at home, conflicts at work, and conflicts in the world stem from the same root cause?"

• "What if we systematically misunderstand that cause?"

• "And what if, as a result, we systematically perpetuate the very problems we think we are trying to solve?  Every day."

These are some of the questions that the Arbinger Institute's book The Anatomy of Peace answers with remarkable and persuasive clarity.  It is a book that challenges widely held assumptions about the nature of conflict, but it also invites the reader, and indeed the entire world, toward real, sustainable peace. This might sound like an impossibly quixotic task, but The Anatomy of Peace accomplishes its purpose if it is able to reach even one human heart.

The story begins with a group of parents who, in desperation, have dragged their children to Camp Moriah, a reformative camp in the Arizona desert directed by an unlikely pair of friends: Yusuf al-Falah, an Arab immigrant from Jerusalem, and Avi Rosen, a younger, once embittered Israeli man. The other main characters in the book are the parents of troubled youth who, with the help of Yusuf and Avi, begin to discover that there is much more to establishing peace in their homes and places of employment than they previously had supposed.  In other words, the parents, guided gently along by Yusuf and Avi, begin to discover that the real solution to their problems is located within their own hearts.

The basic message of The Anatomy of Peace is simple, but profound: there is no way to resolve conflicts, whether at home, at work, or even on a larger scale between nations and peoples, unless there is first a resolution of conflicts within the human heart.  A heart at war cannot promote peace because a heart at war causes its possessor to see other people as objects rather than as human beings with hopes, dreams, desires and goals.  Only with a heart of peace can individuals begin to see people as people, and thus begin to spend more time helping things go right instead of dealing with things that are going wrong.

The premise is simple, but in one way or another, and at one time or another, no one is exempt from having a heart at war.  How do we recognize a heart at war?  How do we turn from a heart of war to a heart of peace?  How do we share that peace with others?  These are all questions that The Anatomy of Peace can help us answer.  The Anatomy of Peace demonstrates that peace has more to do with our way of being than simply with our way of acting.  It shows how even the most bitter enemies and fiercest opponents can become friends.  

I highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone who is dealing with conflict in their lives, whether personally, at home, or elsewhere.  It may just hold the key to resolving difficulties that have long troubled or perplexed you.  Enjoy.     

  

   

  

The Dark Crystal

The Dark Crystal - Film Directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz

Have you ever heard of Skeksis?  What about Garthim?  Mystics?  Gelflings?  Aughra?  Fizzgig? Podlings? or Landstriders?

If you have never heard of these strange creatures on the mysterious planet Thra, it may be time for you to watch The Dark Crystal.  The Dark Crystal is a 1982 fantasy film that was directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz in which the protagonist, Jen, embarks on a dangerous quest to heal a world that had been divided by a shattered crystal.

If that sounds too weird for your taste, just watch how Jen and his friend Kira summon landstriders and engage in the following conversation:

Jen: "The prophecy didn't say anything about this!"

Kira: "Prophets don't know everything!"

Jen and Kira, On a Mission

They Who Tarry

In the Bible we learn that the Lord gave John the Beloved a special blessing:

"Peter seeing him [John] saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do?

Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.

Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?

This is the disciple which testifieth of these things, and wrote these things: and we know that his testimony is true." (John 21:21-24)

In April of 1829 the Prophet Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery inquired of the Lord to understand the meaning of John's blessing, and they received further revelation:

"And the Lord said unto me: John, my beloved, what desirest thou? For if you shall ask what you will, it shall be granted unto you.

And I said unto him: Lord, give unto me power over death, that I may live and bring souls unto thee.

And the Lord said unto me: Verily, verily, I say unto thee, because thou desirest this thou shalt tarry until I come in my glory, and shalt prophesy before nations, kindreds, tongues and people.

And for this cause the Lord said unto Peter: If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? For he desired of me that he might bring souls unto me, but thou desiredst that thou mightest speedily come unto me in my kingdom.

I say unto thee, Peter, this was a good desire; but my beloved has desired that he might do more, or a greater work yet among men than what he has before done.

Yea, he has undertaken a greater work; therefore I will make him as flaming fire and a ministering angel; he shall minister for those who shall be heirs of salvation who dwell on the earth." (D&C 7:1-6)

Peter, James and John Appear to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery

In other words, John the Beloved is still alive and ministering upon the earth.

But John is not alone in receiving such a peculiar blessing.  In the Book of Mormon we learn that there are at least three others who were permitted to tarry on the earth in order to bring souls unto Christ:

"And when he had spoken unto them, he turned himself unto the three, and said unto them: What will ye that I should do unto you, when I am gone unto the Father?

And they sorrowed in their hearts, for they durst not speak unto him the thing which they desired.

And he said unto them: Behold, I know your thoughts, and ye have desired the thing which John, my beloved, who was with me in my ministry, before that I was lifted up by the Jews, desired of me.

Therefore, more blessed are ye, for ye shall never taste of death; but ye shall live to behold all the doings of the Father unto the children of men, even until all things shall be fulfilled according to the will of the Father, when I shall come in my glory with the powers of heaven.

And ye shall never endure the pains of death; but when I shall come in my glory ye shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye from mortality to immortality; and then shall ye be blessed in the kingdom of my Father.

And again, ye shall not have pain while ye shall dwell in the flesh, neither sorrow save it be for the sins of the world; and all this will I do because of the thing which ye have desired of me, for ye have desired that ye might bring the souls of men unto me, while the world shall stand.

And for this cause ye shall have fulness of joy; and ye shall sit down in the kingdom of my Father; yea, your joy shall be full, even as the Father hath given me fulness of joy; and ye shall be even as I am, and I am even as the Father; and the Father and I are one;

And the Holy Ghost beareth record of the Father and me; and the Father giveth the Holy Ghost unto the children of men, because of me.

And it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words, he touched every one of them with his finger save it were the three who were to tarry, and then he departed." (3 Ne. 28:4-12)

These same three Nephites later ministered to Mormon (3 Ne. 28:26) and his son Moroni (Mormon 8:11), and like John the Beloved, they continue their anonymous ministry (3 Ne. 28:25) on the earth today. 

Three Nephites Desire to Tarry

The question might reasonably be asked: "Have there been any sightings of the three Nephites or of John the Beloved?"  While at least these four disciples of Christ continue their ministry on the earth, they seem to be doing so, as the Lord's best ministers always have, very quietly.  

Nevertheless, in the April 1954 General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Elder Legrand Richards recounted the following miraculous event:

"A short time ago, when a committee was sent there by President Truman, they were told by Chaim Weizmann, the first president of Israel, that it was their belief in a 'mystical force that would return the Jews to the land of Israel, that had kept them alive.

In the Jewish Hope, of September 1950, was an article by Arthur U. Michelson. I will not take time to read it, but he tells of a visit he made to Jerusalem, when he heard the experience of the Jewish army. They had only-one cannon, and were facing the Arabs with their well-trained and equipped army, and so when they used this cannon, they moved it from place to place so the enemy would think they had many, and every time the cannon was fired, they would beat tin cans in order to make a lot of noise so that the enemy would think they had many cannons.

I want to read what he said about what happened when the armies of Israel were about to give up:

'One of the officials has told me how much the Jews had to suffer. They had hardly anything with which to resist the heavy attacks of the Arabs who were well organized and equipped with the latest weapons. Besides, they had neither food nor water, because all their supplies were cut off . . .

'At this critical moment, God showed them that he was on their side, for he performed one of the greatest miracles that ever happened. The Arabs suddenly threw down their arms and surrendered. When their delegation appeared with the white flag, they asked, 'Where are the three men and where are all the troops we saw?' The Jews told them that they did not know anything of the three men, for this group was their entire force. The Arabs said that they saw three persons, with long beards and flowing white robes who warned them not to fight any longer, otherwise they would all be killed. They became so frightened that they decided to give up. What an encouragement this was for the Jews to realize that God was fighting for them.'

And then he told about another case when one man with a white robe and a long beard appeared, and they all saw him, and they gave up their arms. Now I do not know, but the Lord said that he would do something for the Jews in the latter days, and when he permitted the Three Nephites to tarry upon this land, he said:

And behold they will be among the Gentiles, and the Gentiles shall know them not.

They will also be among the Jews, and the Jews shall know them not.

And it shall come to pass, when the lord seeth fit in his wisdom that they shall minister unto all the scattered tribes of Israel, and unto all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, and shall bring out of them unto Jesus many souls, that their desire may be fulfilled, and also because of the convincing power of God which is in them (3 Ne. 28:27-29).

Whoever these persons were, they seemed to have 'convincing power' sufficient to cause a whole army to surrender.

In permitting these Three Nephites to tarry upon the earth until he, Jesus, should come in his glory, he must have had in mind some great things for them to accomplish in bringing about a fulfillment of his promises. Whether it was convincing the army of the Arabs to surrender, I do not know, but this I do know: That what is going on in the Holy Land should convince one that the Lord is moving rapidly toward restoring the Jews to the land of their fathers and is giving them that land and redeeming it from its waste condition, as the prophets have foretold." (Legrand Richards, The Word of God Will Stand)

Whether or not the three Nephites and John the Beloved were the beings who preserved the Jews in these particular battles is within the realm of speculation, and others have written at greater length on such topics.  

The lesson?  If translated beings with long beards and flowing white robes appear to you and warn you not to fight against Jews any longer, it would probably be wise to obey them.

Like a Lamb to the Slaughter

The Martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith

"I am going like a lamb to the slaughter; but I am calm as a summer’s morning; I have a conscience void of offense towards God, and towards all men. I shall die innocent, and it shall yet be said of me—he was murdered in cold blood." - The Prophet Joseph Smith, D&C 135:5

Don't be deceived. Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God.

How Rare a Possession

How Rare a Possession: The Book of Mormon

Have you ever seen the LDS film How Rare a Possession?  It is a classic.  Watch how the Book of Mormon has transformed lives over the centuries, from the prophet Moroni, to the apostle Parley P. Pratt, to the Italian pastor Vincenzo di Francesca, and beyond. 

Parley P. Pratt

Vincenzo di Francesca

 

The Greatest Modern Miracle

One of the Best Books for Understanding the Virtuous Character of the Prophet Joseph Smith

Now this will be a fireside worth attending!  This Sunday at 7:00 pm in the Sunset Heights Stake Center in Orem, Utah, Andrew Ehat (author of The Words of Joseph Smith) will be speaking on The Greatest Modern Miracle: Joseph Smith and The Book of Mormon.  Be there, or be... a little less educated about the greatest modern miracle.

The Greatest Modern Miracle: Joseph Smith and The Book of Mormon
Brother Andrew Ehat
November 17th at 7:00 PM
Sunset Height Stake Center, 1200 S 400 W, Orem, UT

Sacrifice of All Things

"Let us here observe, that a religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation; for, from the first existence of man, the faith necessary unto the enjoyment of life and salvation never could be obtained without the sacrifice of all earthly things. It was through this sacrifice, and this only, that God has ordained that men should enjoy eternal life; and it is through the medium of the sacrifice of all earthly things that men do actually know that they are doing the things that are well pleasing in the sight of God. When a man has offered in sacrifice all that he has for the truth's sake, not even withholding his life, and believing before God that he has been called to make this sacrifice because he seeks to do his will, he does know, most assuredly, that God does and will accept his sacrifice and offering, and that he has not, nor will not seek his face in vain. Under these circumstances, then, he can obtain the faith necessary for him to lay hold on eternal life." - The Prophet Joseph Smith, Lectures on Faith, 6:7

It is Christianity to Do Good Always

Charles Dickens

"Remember! – It is christianity TO DO GOOD always – even to those who do evil to us. It is christianity to love our neighbour as ourself, and to do to all men as we would have them Do to us. It is christianity to be gentle, merciful, and forgiving, and to keep those qualities quiet in our own hearts, and never make a boast of them, or of our prayers or of our love of God, but always to shew that we love Him by humbly trying to do right in everything. If we do this, and remember the life and lessons of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and try to act up to them, we may confidently hope that God will forgive us our sins and mistakes, and enable us to live and die in Peace."--

- Charles Dickens, The Life of Our Lord, written especially for his children

Allow All Men the Same Privilege

The Prophet Joseph Smith

"We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may."

- The Prophet Joseph Smith, Articles of Faith 1:11

If you are looking for an explanation of how this article of faith ought to play out in real life, you could definitely do worse than Professor Daniel Peterson's Mormonism, Islam, and the Question of Other Religions.  In fact, as far as statements on religious tolerance go, there are probably not many better.

Meddle Not With Any Man for His Religion

The Prophet Joseph Smith

"But meddle not with any man for his religion: all governments ought to permit every man to enjoy his religion unmolested. No man is authorized to take away life in consequence of difference of religion, which all laws and governments ought to tolerate and protect, right or wrong. Every man has a natural, and, in our country, a constitutional right to be a false prophet, as well as a true prophet. If I show, verily, that I have the truth of God, and show that ninety-nine out of every hundred professing religious ministers are false teachers, having no authority, while they pretend to hold the keys of God's kingdom on earth, and was to kill them because they are false teachers, it would deluge the whole world with blood." - Joseph Smith

"It is good economy to entertain strangers—to entertain sectarians. Come up to Nauvoo, ye sectarian priests of the everlasting Gospel, as they call it, and you shall have my pulpit all day." - Joseph Smith

Athens, Jerusalem, and Wherever You Are

Learning in the Light of Faith

What is the role of education in God's eternal plan? Are scholarship and discipleship compatible?  What is the relationship between reason and revelation?  What should we study and learn?  Why?

These are just a few questions that disciple-scholars of the past have frequently posed.  Here follows a brief selection of quotations, speeches, and articles that may be helpful in exploring the answers to such questions:  

Quotations:

• "The kind of people we are is more important than what we can do to improve the world; indeed being the kind of people we should and can be is the best, and sometimes the only way to improve the world." - Richard John Neuhaus, C.S. Lewis in the Public Square 

• "To be ignorant and simple now–not to be able to meet the enemies on their own ground — would be to throw down our weapons, and to betray our uneducated brethren who have, under God, no defense but us against the intellectual attacks of the heathen. Good philosophy must exist, if for no other reason, because bad philosophy needs to be answered." - C.S. Lewis, "Learning in War-Time," in The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses

• "Though argument does not create conviction, lack of it destroys belief. What seems to be proved may not be embraced; but what no one shows the ability to defend is quickly abandoned. Rational argument does not create belief, but it maintains a climate in which belief may flourish." - Austen Farrer

• "The LDS scholar has his citizenship in the Kingdom, but carries his passport into the professional world—not the other way around." - Elder Neal A. Maxwell

• "We should have our citizenship in Jerusalem and have a passport to Athens." - Elder Neal A. Maxwell 

Speeches:

The Disciple-Scholar, Neal A. Maxwell

Enhancing Secular Knowledge Through Spiritual Knowledge and Faith, Elder James E. Faust

 

Reason, Faith and the Things of Eternity, Elder Bruce C. Hafen

On Becoming a Disciple-Scholar, Elder Cecil O. Samuelson

Articles and Publications:

Learning in the Light of Faith, Henry B. Eyring

What Has Athens to Do with Jerusalem?, Daniel C. Peterson

Of Mormon Studies and Apologetics, Daniel C. Peterson

Revelation, Reason and Faith: Essays in Honor of Truman G. Madsen, Edited by Donald W. Parry, Daniel C. Peterson, and Stephen D. Ricks

Key to the Science of Theology, Parley P. Pratt

Laws of Marriage and Procreation, Parley P. Pratt

Reason and Revelation, Ralph C. Hancock 

Concluding Thought:

Finally, as Elder Neal A. Maxwell repeatedly emphasized, "Though I have spoken of the disciple-scholar, in the end all the hyphenated words come off. We are finally disciples-men and women of Christ (see  3 Ne. 27:27)." 

On Asking Questions

"Can a mortal ask questions which God finds unanswerable? Quite easily, I should think. All nonsense questions are unanswerable. How many hours are in a mile? Is yellow square or round? Probably half the questions we ask - half our great theological and metaphysical problems - are like that."

― C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed

"Once you were a child. Once you knew what inquiry was for. There was a time when you asked questions because you wanted answers, and were glad when you had found them. Become that child again . . . You have gone far wrong. Thirst was made for water; inquiry for truth."

-- C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce

The Envy and Wrath of Man

"And as for the perils which I am called to pass through, they seem but a small thing to me, as the envy and wrath of man have been my common lot all the days of my life; and for what cause it seems mysterious, unless I was ordained from before the foundation of the world for some good end, or bad, as you may choose to call it. Judge ye for yourselves. God knoweth all these things, whether it be good or bad. But nevertheless, deep water is what I am wont to swim in. It all has become a second nature to me; and I feel, like Paul, to glory in tribulation; for to this day has the God of my fathers delivered me out of them all, and will deliver me from henceforth; for behold, and lo, I shall triumph over all my enemies, for the Lord God hath spoken it." 

- epistle from the Prophet Joseph Smith to the Latter-day Saints at Nauvoo, Illinois (D&C 127:2)

 

Wrestling with Wrestling the Angel

"And I will tell you of the wrestle which I had before God, before I received a remission of my sins." (Enos 1:2)

Recently I've been reading Terryl Givens' first volume in his two part series on the foundations of Mormon theology and practice, and I've almost reached Theosis (the last chapter in Wrestling the Angel: The Foundations of Mormon Thought: Cosmos, God, Humanity).  In the unlikely event that while reading the last chapter I will be wrapped in the power and glory of my Maker, and caught up to dwell with Him, I have decided to begin writing a review immediately.

Various scholars have already summarized and analyzed Wrestling the Angel (see here, here, here, here, and here) with great precision and detail, and Givens' ambitious work certainly merits more careful scrutiny than I can possibly provide in one blog post.  Nevertheless, since my own apotheosis still appears to be at least as remote as the next time I open his book, perhaps I can contribute a brief exegesis of Givens' exegesis.

What stood out most to me, besides the most excellent chapter on our Mother God, was the value that a perspective informed by intellectual formation in the fields of comparative literature and religious studies adds to the world's collective understanding of intellectual history in general, and of the history of Mormon thought in particular.  Rumor has it that Givens' second volume will focus more specifically on Mormon praxis.  If that is the case, the trajectory of Givens' latest works seems to follow his earlier descriptions of the paradoxical nature of the Articles of Faith contained in Joseph Smith's Wentworth Letter:

"I want to add a fifth paradox to those I have surveyed. I would refer to it as a hallmark of the modus operandi of Joseph Smith—the twin imperatives of originality and assimilation, or revelation of what is new and syncretism based on what is already present. I see this duality beautifully enacted in the way Joseph Smith commences his exposition of doctrinal belief, the Articles of Faith." (Paradox and Discipleship)

This is not to say that Wrestling the Angel and its sequel are merely more elaborate re-articulations of Joseph Smith's original Articles of Faith, but that Givens' understanding of that which he calls Joseph Smith's "modus operandi" ("Joseph the syncretist; Joseph the Prophet.") plays a major role in his reading of the history of Mormon thought, especially as it pertains to the positioning of Mormon thought in the larger context of the Western intellectual and religious tradition.

Givens' Wrestling the Angel might not be a book that you would want to quote from during your next Primary class (if you are a Primary teacher), nor do I suspect that many missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will choose to distribute copies of Givens' book instead of pamphlets containing the original Articles of Faith, but it is definitely a book that should be read by anyone who has not yet reached apotheosis.  If there is still time, it would not hurt to read Givens' other books as well:

• Dragon Scales and Willow Leaves Putnam Juvenile, 1997. ISBN 978-0399226199
• The Viper on the Hearth: Mormons, Myths, and the Construction of Heresy Oxford University Press, 1997. ISBN 978-0-19-510183-6
• By the Hand of Mormon: The American Scripture that Launched a New World Religion Oxford University Press, 2002. ISBN 978-0-19-513818-4
• The Latter-day Saint Experience in America Greenwood Press, 2004. ISBN 978-0-313-32750-6
• *People of Paradox: A History of Mormon Culture Oxford University Press, 2007. ISBN 978-0-19-516711-5
• *The Book of Mormon: A Very Short Introduction Oxford University Press, 2009. ISBN 978-0-19-536931-1
• When Souls Had Wings: Pre-Mortal Existence in Western Thought. Oxford University Press, 2010. ISBN 978-0-19-531390-1
• *Parley P. Pratt: The Apostle Paul of Mormonism (with Matthew J. Grow) Oxford University Press, 2011. ISBN 978-0-19-537573-2
• *The God Who Weeps: How Mormonism Makes Sense of Life (with Fiona Givens) Ensign Peak, 2012. ISBN 978-1609071882
• The Crucible of Doubt: Reflections On the Quest for Faith (with Fiona Givens) Deseret Book, 2014. ISBN 978-1609079420
• *Wrestling the Angel: The Foundations of Mormon Thought: Cosmos, God, Humanity Oxford University Press, 2014. ISBN 978-0199794928

Meet the Muslims

There is far too little understanding of Islam in the West.

I include myself in this indictment.  It is regrettable that so many of us know next to nothing about one of the world's great monotheistic religious traditions.  Furthermore, what we do know, or what we think we know, is too often informed by the consumption and regurgitation of sensationalized media reports.  If the recent film Meet the Mormons has helped in any way to shed light on the lives and beliefs of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (which I think it has), I can only imagine what a film like Meet the Muslims might accomplish.

But since, to my knowledge, such a film has not yet been produced, allow me to outline a few resources that may be useful in helping us to better understand Islam and the people who adhere to this widely practiced and vibrant faith.

Rules of Religious Understanding:

• Krister Stendhal's Three Rules of Religious Understanding

The Noble Qur'an

Islam:

• Islam: A Very Short Introduction
• Great World Religions: Islam

Qur'an and Hadith:

• The Noble Qur'an
• Hadith

Verbal Description of the Prophet Muhammad

The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH):

• Muhammad
• The Life of Muhammad

Latter-day Saint Perspectives on Islam:

• All Are Alike Unto God
• God's Love for All Mankind
• Ishmael, Our Brother
• A Latter-day Saint Perspective on Muhammad
• Islam and Mormonism - A Comparison
• Building Bridges to Harmony through Understanding
• Muslims and Mormons*
• Understanding Islam (see here also)
• Muhammad, Prophet of God

A Few of my own Blog Posts on Islam:

• Empowering Moderate Islam
• No Complusion in Religion
• The Life of Muhammad
• The Sura of Light

Twin Pillars of Eternal Truth

The Family: A Proclamation to the World

The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles

Christ Stopped at Eboli

Carlo Levi's Memoir in Exile: Christ Stopped at Eboli

Soon after I received the call to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Southern Italy, my dad gave the book Christ Stopped at Eboli as a gift.  I read and enjoyed the book before my mission, but only after my mission could I appreciate it more fully.

Carlo Levi

In 1935, as a result of his political activism, the Italian-Jewish painter, writer, activist, anti-fascist and doctor Carlo Levi, was exiled to Lucania, one of the poorest regions of Southern Italy.  Christ Stopped at Eboli is a poetically written memoir of his exile, the title of which comes from an expression of the people of 'Gagliano' who said of themselves: "Christ stopped short of here, at Eboli."  Levi explained that this phrase "means, in effect, that they feel they have been bypassed by Christianity, by morality, by history itself—that they have somehow been excluded from the full human experience."

Of course Levi -who was also a friend of the Italian writer Italo Calvino- wrote his memoir in Italian, but it has been translated into English.  As an undergraduate student at Brigham Young University, I wrote a brief essay on Levi's memoir Cristo si è fermato a Eboli.  There is also a cinematic adaptation of the book that I recommend to anyone who might be interested.

The film adaptation of Levi's memoir

Here is my essay:

file:///C:/Users/welfare/Downloads/La_chiave_per_il_cuore_della_Lucania%20copy%20(3).pdf

Two Gospel Centered Conferences

Two Gospel centered conferences this weekend:

• The 43rd Annual BYU Sidney B. Sperry Symposium

• The 2014 Temple on Mount Zion Conference

 

A Trip to the Not So Local Library

The Vatican Library, Online Edition: https://www.vatlib.it/

Speaking of a time in which hidden things will come to light, it will soon be possible to instantly access more than 4,000 ancient manuscripts from the Vatican Library.  That's right.  The Pope's personal library:

"Formally established in 1475, though in fact much older, it is one of the oldest libraries in the world and contains one of the most significant collections of historical texts. It currently has 75,000 codices from throughout history, as well as 1.1 million printed books, which include some 8,500 incunabula." (Wikipedia)

Look.  Here's an old Bible.  Here's Dante's Convivio.  Here's something on Petrarca, and Boccaccio.
 
Someday perhaps the "Secret Archives" will be available for all, not just the Holy See, to see as well.

Exchanging Gifts in the Vatican