- This topic is empty.
-
Posts
-
So I have been asked to sub for Seminary for a few days. My topics will be the First Vision and the role of Personal Revelation (lesson 6 & 7) in the manual. https://www.lds.org/manual/doctrine-and-covenants-and-church-history-seminary-teacher-manual-2014/section-0/lesson-6?lang=eng ” class=”bbcode_url”> https://www.lds.org/manual/doctrine-and-covenants-and-church-history-seminary-teacher-manual-2014/section-0/lesson-6?lang=eng A couple thoughts – in looking through the manual it actually does talk about the multiple accounts. I definitely want to bring this up to the kids. I don’t feel I need to go into a lot of detail, but feel it would be valuable that they know about the different accounts.
The manual makes a big deal about sources other than “official” sources for church history. I don’t feel that I can advocate as strong a position as they would like.
So here’s what I am thinking about doing. Would love to get other people’s advice on this, let me know if I am pushing the boundaries or talking about something that might get me in trouble:
1) The manual talks about Joseph writing a history. I would like to talk to the kids about history writing in more general terms, what historians do, how they get information, how its always going to be biased based on historians biases, experiences, and context. The idea is get them to see that everything is written from a certain perspective and sort of give them the green light to have questions and wonder why something was asked about or talked about as they go through the D&C.
2) Provide more context: Where did Joseph’s family come from, how did they end up in Palmyra, what was going on at the time (give some additional details about revivals and so forth). The religious background of the Smith family.
3) Talk about the multiple accounts of the first vision, how many, who wrote them, and then talk about the history of why the version we have is the canonized version.
4) Ray, I am thinking about bringing in your blog post from about a month ago on the first vision. I really liked it and its a different and interesting view on what we study about it.
5) Would it be too much to talk about how the first vision was the first step in many of Joseph’s development of how he viewed God? (I think that might be pushing the boundaries but I think it would be super interesting, though I don’t really know much about this. Would have to study up a bit before the lesson).
Any thoughts, suggestions?
I don’t see any problems with any of what you posted here, other than the fact that you probably won’t have time to cover all that. With discussion, etc., you may run out of time. I would try to condense some of it, like Smith family history. Maybe you could give a handout on that part. Sounds good to me – can my son come? I think talking about how Joseph’s view of God developed over time is quite appropriate given the context. Like everyone else, he knew very little about God before the first vision, and what he knew mostly came from the Bible and whatever teachings he had received while attending the various churches or meetings. Just as it is now, most of the Christian world does not believe God literally looks like us – this must have been a bit of a shock to Joseph. It’s therefore not a stretch to consider that his view of God further developed over time as he had more interaction and as he further studied the subject. While I’m not sure teenagers can fully relate at this point in their lives, it is true that my views on many things, religious and non-religious, have evolved over time as I have gained experience and knowledge.
If I were to add anything to what you have said you would like to discuss, I would probably point out that the vision was a vision, and Joseph never said anything that indicates otherwise. That is, Joseph never claimed that Heavenly Father and Jesus were literally there in the grove. While I do believe God may have a body of flesh and bones, the first vision does not prove that. The caveat here is that I live close enough to the grove that I have been there many times and I am probably hyper sensitive to the falsities that are commonly believed about what happened there.
I like it – a lot. They are young adults and need to be taught as young adults. Feel free to use anything you want from my blog.
Here’s a post I did on what happens when we view the First Vision as an internal event (dream) rather than an external event (visitation). http://bycommonconsent.com/2014/05/13/a-jungian-interpretation-of-the-first-vision/ It doesn’t have to be either / or. This approach just provides another perspective, more food for thought.
Sounds good. My thought on sources other than church approved sources for church history falls within your thoughts on bias. We hear from church sources to be careful with critical materials, I’d say the main takeaway is to always consider the bias. Sometimes members get the wrong idea and think the church condemns reading anything from an outside source. To me it is as simple as talking with someone that I disagree with, is that condemned also? We are not afraid of competing voices, we simply caution young people to always consider the bias of the voice. I think with the first vision, it’s not the details which are important, it’s the sense of it and the event itself. I think this is an excellent way to get out of being asked to substitute in Seminary ever again. heh Fwiw, I have taught Seminary three times and used lessons similar to this. Of course, in some wards and stakes, I might have been released, but I was supported in all three areas where I did teach (in different states and regions). hawkgrrrl wrote:Here’s a post I did on what happens when we view the First Vision as an internal event (dream) rather than an external event (visitation).
http://bycommonconsent.com/2014/05/13/a-jungian-interpretation-of-the-first-vision/ It doesn’t have to be either / or. This approach just provides another perspective, more food for thought.
Wow! That was a great article…I feel like I could spend a whole week on just those ideas. Thank you for sharing.
Orson wrote:We are not afraid of competing voices, we simply caution young people to always consider the bias of the voice.
Exactly. Use good judgement and understand who is doing the speaking. Context means a lot.
Cnsl1 wrote:I think this is an excellent way to get out of being asked to substitute in Seminary ever again. heh
Could be, but I doubt it
🙂 . I think I personally would have a hard time teaching D&C the full year. It would be very difficult to walk the tightrope of teaching what the church wants taught but making sure the kids are prepared to face future issues related to church history that we all know they will encounter.Just remember that the most important objective is for the students to feel the spirit and for you to teach with the spirit. If you accomplish that, the rest doesn’t matter so much. SunbeltRed wrote:So I have been asked to sub for Seminary for a few days. My topics will be the First Vision and the role of Personal Revelation (lesson 6 & 7) in the manual.
When do you teach, or did you already deliver the lesson? If so, how did it go?I think youth today are way more aware of things then prior generations, and there is more diversity from some that are fed strict dogma from parents, and others that are able to think more nuanced than I would have expected.
I’m interested how the lesson goes.
Heber13 wrote:I think youth today are way more aware of things then prior generations, and there is more diversity from some that are fed strict dogma from parents, and others that are able to think more nuanced than I would have expected.
I’m interested how the lesson goes.
I teach on Tuesday. Will let you know how it goes.
The manual online has the following video available to show the class:
https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2013-06-002-origin?lang=eng ” class=”bbcode_url”> https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2013-06-002-origin?lang=eng It’s nicely shot. I like the general message, I find getting an answer much more difficult than shown in the video so hard for me to relate, but wondering what other people think? Good to show, not to show?
I do find it interesting that they flash Atheism a few times. It seems like it really is the new religion all the other religions are worried about.
-SBREd
I think it’s a great video to share. For me, the message of the first vision is that we can all commune with God personally. A timely message for the youth who have depended on the faith of their parents throughout childhood. Eventually, we must all decide for ourselves. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Taught the kids Lesson 6 this morning. I have no idea how it went, hard to get much dialogue at 6 in the morning. I asked the kids how many versions of the first vision they thought there were and most responded one so I think they were a bit surprised to learn about the other versions. I did not go into any details and told them if they wanted to learn more they can go to the topics section on LDS.org.
The Stake Presidency executive secretary’s kids are in the class, so wondering if that news will get back to him…although in my defense its in the manual
🙂 Ray, I used your parsing of JSH 1:19; didn’t get through all of it, but I think made the overall point that Joseph’s question was about which sect to join and that the creeds were the part that the Lord was not a big fan of.
-SBRed
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.