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I’ve been reading a book on how to cope with mean people. The book was written by a pastor who quoted a lot of scriptures to justify his position on how to condition oneself to cope with mean people. I found myself skipping over the biblical scriptures and their explanation. And then I realized how little stock I was putting in the scriptural ideas. Here is why:
1. I find people quote scriptures to shore up their arguments, rather than to mine truth from them. It’s like the speaker who says to his assistant [giving the assistant notes] “This is the gist of what I want to say, now get me the statistics to back it up.” Except in the case of religious people, they are looking for scriptures to back up what they want to say.
2. I find people will take phrases out of context, and then build advice from it. So much of the scriptures are couched in the history, practice, and culture of the day — to simply take phrases at random without understanding that context can mutate the scriptures’ meaning.
3. In years past, I have analyzed scriptures down to their nth degree, thinking the truth was hidden in them. Often I leave the exercise with nothing tangible to go on. I find that practical advice, written in the language of our day is much more helpful.
4. The same scripture is subject to multiple interpretations, and they can lead you to wildly different conclusions. JS acknowledged this, to justify the one true church concept. However, the ambiguity of scripture exists just as much in our church as in other churches on many issues.
I see scripture now as perhaps a trigger for personal inspiration and ideation. You might read a passage, and it might give you ideas, but I don’t see it as being much different than reading a good book on a subject. Your conclusion may, or may not be valid for other people, and so one must use judgment about whether to broadcast your “revelation” as truth for all.
5. Good books can also trigger personal inspiration and ideas. I think that is why Stephen Covey referred to “wisdom literature” in his writings on educating your conscience for the general population, rather than any one canon.
6. Years ago, I tried writing some “mock scripture” — complete with the chapter headings, chapter summary, verse numbers etcetera, using scriptural language. I emphasize that this was an experiment — I do not claim to have been inspired or to have ANY prophetic qualifications. In fact, I knew when I wrote it, it was fiction.
I let it sit for a few days, printed it, and read it. I felt the same spiritual feelings I did when I would read the Bible or LDS scriptures. The feel of the language (which I wrote in the style of the BoM) as well as the scripture-like printing of the page influenced how I felt.
7. this is not to say that scriptures are not of value — there are many short quotables, and stories of how people handled trying situations, but I guess I’m saying one can garner such spiritual knowledge from a variety of sources, not just our scriptures.
Anyway, what is your attitude toward scripture? How often to you read the scriptures? Do you find it more helpful than reading other, non-scriptural good books?
I believe the scriptures have great power and meaning – when viewed as different people’s attempts to record their views of God for future generations. Largely, those people were religious leaders and not common practitioners, so a large grain of salt is necessary right from the start – but I do value scriptures highly and believe they are valuable when not viewed as the immutable, inerrant word of God. I believe that about all scripture, from all faith traditions, including the Book of Mormon and the D&C.
I am getting over feeling like I had to literal interpretation to now realizing just how unclear they are (stuff like the 4 gospels were written decades later than Christ’s time). I am not dis’ing them, but just taking a bit of a break from really studying. I agree with you SD. Quote:I find people quote scriptures to shore up their arguments, rather than to mine truth from them. It’s like the speaker who says to his assistant [giving the assistant notes] “This is the gist of what I want to say, now get me the statistics to back it up.” Except in the case of religious people, they are looking for scriptures to back up what they want to say.
I admit I am as guilty of this as the next Mormon, and we’re not the only ones who do it. I also do it with GA (especially Q15) talks. I do try to avoid what Givens calls using the canon as a cannon, though.
SilentDawning wrote:Anyway, what is your attitude toward scripture? How often to you read the scriptures? Do you find it more helpful than reading other, non-scriptural good books?
To me the scriptures are a collection of writings that may or may not be inspired by God. Some is more uplifting and useful than others. I don’t understand the old testament and so I pay little attention to it. My favorite is still the Book of Mormon although I rarely read the scriptures with the purpose of studying them. I am reading the BoM from cover to cover which I haven’t done in a long time – and I find I’m enjoying it.
I enjoy quality non-fiction good books more than the scriptures. For example I just finished a book called the Moral Arc which builds a pretty compelling case that the scriptures are a terrible foundation for morality.
I have similar views to Roadrunner that the scriptures are a collection of spiritual writings that may or may not be from God. I also agree with that some are more valuable than others are.
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