Future Mormon

Thanks for a great review. Glad to know I’m not the only one who stumbles around in Adam-land.

Often, those who leave the church are derailed by either the unsavory past (or the white-washed presentation of it they received in seminary) or aspects of the present that are inhospitable. But what about the future? That’s the undiscovered country, and we can co-create it, or so these essays imply.

We talk a lot about being co-creators with God, and to Mormon ears it’s never blasphemy. But somehow talking about co-creating the church with our leaders is. The details matter, of course, but if there are going to be any future Mormons, I think we need to be able to acknowledge each other as co-creators.

truths are bigger than we can imagine. They cannot be confined to our own limited perspective. . . . A truth that is small enough to be thinkable only from my position and only in opposition to my enemy is no truth at all.

A great quote!

Thanks for the review.

Do you think he chose the title because he assumes that is where mormonism must head towards to stay relevant to the new generation? Moving away from literal histories?

Heber13 – yes, that’s roughly what he says in his intro:

Every generation must work out its own salvation. Every generation must live its own lives and think its own thoughts and receive its own revelations. And, if Mormonism continues to matter, it will be because they, rather than leaving, were willing to be Mormon all over again.

For me the question is what does it mean to be a Mormon. It’s not what it meant in Nauvoo or in the early days in the valley and it’s not what it meant at the time of the manifestos. I’m not even sure it means what it meant back in the 60’s when I was a missionary. You can define it for yourself and then, I guess, hope that it doesn’t differ too much from the way your ward/branch sees it. I remember a quote by Thomas Merton about how the gospel had to be made new for each person and in each generation. Maybe something like that.

Some of my favorite quotes:

We should begin, then with creation. In the beginning there was grace. God’s creative work is the most fundamental expression of his grace, of his willingness to freely give what cannot be earned or deserved.

The point of the law is love. And while obedience is generally better than disobedience, obedience in itself cannot fulfill the law. Only love can fulfill the law.

Obedience to the law, valorized on its own terms, becomes an obstacle to fulfilling the law’s purpose in love.