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I remember having a shift in perceptions. We always know that prophets are imperfect but then act as though those imperfections only apply to inconsequential things. JS was for me in a category all his own, a type of super-prophet, seer, and revelator. I imagined him as almost otherworldly dropping pieces of knowledge and wisdom from his regular interaction with the divine. In RSR I found a prophet that didn’t know what was going to happen. I have heard a saying about JS that some use to reconcile things. “God told JS what to do but not how to do it.” This would imply that any errors are with the implementation of the divine will only. In RSR I found that Joseph’s understanding of the divine will (what God wanted him to do) seemed to evolve over time. Also that this line over line understanding many times did not come from revelations but from things that Joseph seemed to have co-opted from his environment. So I would change this saying to, “JS did the best he could to interpret the divine will using the tools he had at his disposal (some of those tools might include mysticism and the ability to see inspiration in your environment), JS also did the best he could at implementing his understanding of the divine will into programs on the ground” I agree that his accomplishments are impressive but not “incomparable” (as they were referred to at our last conference).
It was later that year when tragedy struck in my life and I really had to confront head on my beliefs on life and death, eternal families and eternal worlds. By then the teachings of JS did not seem to be as incontrovertible as they once had. I was floundering around by myself on the internet when I found StayLDS.
Loved RSR. My biggest single takeaway is that you can strive to be intellectually honest about the church – simultaneously acknowledging a large number of flaws and still having faith (or at least hoping).
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