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There is a thread that includes some info about the Teachings and Doctrine of the Book of Mormon institute class, and my son at BYU is currently enrolled in the BYU version of the class. I thought maybe it would be good for me to read some of the stuff and perhaps be able to have conversations with my son about what he is learning. I am a fan of the “new” classes because they don’t take the “read through the book of scripture beginning to end” approach that we’ve all experienced repeatedly -even our kids have in SS and seminary (the institute teacher’s manual does point this out). So I began with the teacher’s manual, read the introduction and headed on to lesson 1 where I encountered this quote by President Benson:
Quote:Much of the Christian world today rejects the divinity of the Savior. They question His miraculous birth, His perfect life, and the reality of His glorious resurrection. The Book of Mormon teaches in plain and unmistakable terms about the truth of all of those. It also provides the most complete explanation of the doctrine of the Atonement. Truly, this divinely inspired book is a keystone in bearing witness to the world that Jesus is the Christ.
(It actually took a bit of following links to get that the quote is from a Pres. Benson Oct. 1986 GC talk.)I agree that generally the BoM does bear witness of the divinity of Christ. What threw me was the first part. Do Christians today (or at least 30 years ago) reject Christ’s divinity? Honestly I question the story of the miraculous birth, His perfect life, and the resurrection but I take them on faith (or depending on your point of view I either choose to believe or put it on a shelf). Because I question these things, does that mean I reject the divinity of Christ? Is questioning these things part of the theology of other Christian churches? Do you know Christians that question these things? I have never heard any minister/priest/pastor publicly or privately question any of these things, nor have I heard any of my Christian friends ever question these things. That doesn’t mean they don’t – I have not admitted to any of them or in any meeting that I question them either and only do it here under relative anonymity. In all honesty, I don’t think the Christians I know question these things, and I only question them as a result of my faith crisis. Nor do I think “much of the Christian world” rejects the divinity of Christ. So why did Pres. Benson believe this? Or was he just trying to continue an “us vs. them” rhetoric?
(Disclaimer: You might be aware that I am not a fan of ETB, and that could jade my opinion. However, I think I would have the same concern had any other GA said this.)
One vote for an “us vs them” rhetoric. I think that kind of thing was ETB’s jam. Is it possible he is referring the the places in the world with Christian foundations…those societies built on judeo-christian roots? The Western civilization, in other words, not places like India or China that have different religious backgrounds. Not referencing Christian churches, but that societies are becoming more atheistic and more agnostic? That makes more sense to me than saying other churches that worship Christ don’t believe he is divine.
But in general…I second Weaselgirl’s vote…it is very much an “Us vs Them” rhetoric, and as often it is done, is not clear who is actually being talked about, which helps the listeners just draw these camps in their mind as I’m a part of the “us” group…even if I’m not sure who “them” is. It is more about what I do and don’t believe…not really an accurate statement on the world.
That could be possible Heber. I recall the conservative “uproar” when Pres. Obama declared the US was not a Christian nation. Whether or not we are does depend on one’s point of view, and if your gauge is butts in the pews any Sunday besides Easter or Mother’s Day it would appear we are not. Nevertheless, major Christian holidays are legal holidays here, with Christmas being especially “sacred” among them. So it could be argued that we are at least a nation of Christian tradition. I speak up against us vs. them any chance I get, and have a great ally in my HPGL who often beats me to it. But I do see a clear message in this particular quote of “we’re better than them because we have the BoM.”
I third the “we have to create an opposition boogie man even if it inflating how bad some things are.” He was correct IF he meant that historically Chriatian areas were moving away from the nearly unanimous belief in the literally of scripture – and/or that there has been a marked increase in Christian literature that doesn’t take core components literally. I think this site is a small case of proving the quote to be true to a degree. It also is Pres. Benson – one of the most conservative, hardline leaders the Church has ever had.
I think it would be very like ETB (and maybe all of us at times) to take the most extreme of a group as representative of the group. At the time this talk was given I was getting my first exposure to people who ate, breathed and slept religion … without a belief in God or Christ. You can find lots of people like that at Divinity schools, and I was shocked. But I think he should have known that it wasn’t fair to generalize outward to non-scholarly non-members.
Yeah, Ezra Taft Benson said lotsof things. 
I think most Christian FAITHS accept Christ’s divinity. I’m not sure the traditionally Christian WORLD (the geographical area and the people in it) does or even thinks much about it. The secularization of Western society has been going on for 100 years. I’ve seen a lot of discussion of the “Nones” (those who consider themselves spiritual but don’t affiliate with a specific religious tradition). I would imagine if pressed, most “Nones” would probably accept Christ’s divinity. Again, a religious faith’s official position and what people actually believe are often two different things. That said, however true President Benson’s statement may be, I imagine it was more a rhetorical device rather than a research-based statement of fact. Or perhaps he really was speaking as a prophet.
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