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Thanks to Ray for this one: Quote:“The very purpose for which the world was created, and man introduced to live upon it, requires that the laws of nature operate in cold disregard for human feelings. We must work out our salvation without expecting the laws of nature to be exempted for us. Natural law is, on rare occasions, suspended in a miracle. But mostly…like the lame man at the pool of Bethesda, (we) wait endlessly for the moving of the water.”
Elder Boyd K. Packer
General Conference, April 1991, “The Moving of the Water”
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1991/04/the-moving-of-the-water?lang=eng Sometimes, people are criticised for making suggestions about change – even described as “ark steadiers.” Here’s an example of a non-leader giving advice and the prophet acting on it:
Quote:
13 ¶And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses sat to judge the people: and the people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening.14 And when Moses’ father in law saw all that he did to the people, he said, What is this thing that thou doest to the people? why sittest thou thyself alone, and all the people stand by thee from morning unto even?
15 And Moses said unto his father in law, Because the people come unto me to enquire of God:
16 When they have a matter, they come unto me; and I judge between one and another, and I do make them know the statutes of God, and his laws.
17 And Moses’ father in law said unto him, The thing that thou doest is not good.
18 Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee: for this thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone.
19 Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee: Be thou for the people to God-ward, that thou mayest bring the causes unto God:
20 And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do.
21 Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens:
22 And let them judge the people at all seasons: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge: so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee.
23 If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee so, then thou shalt be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace.
24 So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father in law, and did all that he had said.
Old Testament, Exodus, Chapter 18
From a conversation on the Facebook “thoughtful faith” group about whether we can support marriage equality and not get in trouble with the church. During the Hawaii vote, church leaders sent out a letter that clearly asked people to get involved, but left which “side” up to them:
Quote:“Members are encouraged to study this legislation prayerfully and then as private citizens contact your elected representatives in the Hawaii Legislature to express your views about the legislation… You may also wish to consider donating your time or resources to one of the community organizations addressing this issue… Whether or not you favor the proposed change.”
Although the letter was officially issued by the joint stake leaders, the church was aware of it and supported it.
Quote:
“Ruth Todd, spokeswoman for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said LDS officials at the faith’s Salt Lake City headquarters “are aware of the letter recently read in local Relief Society and Priesthood meetings in Hawaii.”“The Church’s positions on these issues are well established,” she wrote in an email, “including our encouragement for members to be good citizens and to be involved in their communities. As the stake presidents’ letter says, members in Hawaii have been asked to study these issues and to consider becoming involved as private citizens.”
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/56890226-78/church-hawaii-lds-legislation.html.csp During prop-8:
Quote:“Latter-day Saints are free to disagree with their church on the issue without facing any sanction, said L. Whitney Clayton of the LDS Quorum of the Seventy. “We love them and bear them no ill will.”
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_10797630 At the news conference announcing Thomas S. Monson as the new president:
Quote:Regarding another question about whether church members could disagree with the faith’s opposition to legalizing same-sex unions and still remain in good standing, he said the answer “depends on what the disagreement is.”
“If it’s an apostasy situation, that would not be appropriate. If it’s something political, there is room for opinion here and there on either side.”
Speaking about prop-8 on the Mormon Channel, Elder Lance Wickman said:
Quote:“…that letter by the presidency in the encouragement to people to be involved was never meant to be a litmus test of faith in the church. There certainly are members and families who have had very difficult personal experiences that made involvement in the proposition 8 thing difficult for them. I hope that those people who didn’t feel comfortable about it would know that that’s okay, that that was alright with the presiding officers at the church.”
Quote:“[Mormonism] call
for thoughtful disciples who will not be content with merely repeating some of the truths, but will develop its truths…[and] will yet take profounder and broader views of the great doctrines committed to the Church; and, departing from mere repetition, will cast them in new formulas; cooperating in the works of the Spirit, until they help to give to the truths received a more forceful expression….”B. H. Roberts, Improvement Era Volume 9.9 (July 1906)
Letter dated June 1, 1906, in “Book of Mormon Translation: Interesting Correspondence on the Subject of the Manual Theory,”
https://archive.org/details/improvementera0909unse https://archive.org/stream/improvementera0909unse/improvementera0909unse_djvu.txt Quoted by Robert A. Rees in “The Midrashic Imagination and the Book of Mormon,” Dialog 44, Fall 2011
Here’s the full quote in context:
Quote:These latter reflections bring to mind some observations I re- member to have read some time ago in the philosophical works of John Fiske respecting two classes of disciples or partisans in the world of religious and philosophical opinion, which I think with profit may be reproduced here. By the way, I see the passage occurs in the introduction to Fiske’s Work, written by Josiah Boyce, and is as follows:
Quote:“Disciples and partisans, in the world of religious and of philosophical opinion, are of two sorts. There are, first, the disciples pure and simple, — people who fall under the spell of a person or of a doctrine, and whose whole intellectual life thenceforth consists in their partisanship. They expound, and defend, and ward off foes, and live and die faithful to the one formula. Such disciples may be indispensable at first in helping a new teaching to get a popular hearing, but in the long run they rather hinder than help the wholesome growth of the very ideas that they defend : for great ideas live by growing, and a doctrine that has merely to be preached, over and over, in the same terms, cannot possibly be the whole truth. No man ought to be merely a faithful disciple of any other man. Yes, no man ought to be a mere disciple even of himself. We live spiritually by outliving our formulas , and by thus enriching our sense of their deeper meaning. Now the disciples of the first sort do not live in this larger and more spiritual sense. They repeat. And true life is never mere repetition.
On the other hand, there are disciples of a second sort. They are men who- have been attracted to a new doctrine by the fact that it. gave expression, in a novel way, to some large and deep interest which had already grown up in them- selves, and which had already come, more or less independently, to their own consciousness. They thus bring to the new teaching, from the first, their own personal contribution. The truth that they gain is changed as it enters their souls. The seed that the sower strews upon their fields springs up in their soil, and bears fruit, —thirty, sixty, an hundred fold. They return to their master his own with usury. Such men are the disciples that it is worthwhile for a master to have. Disciples of the first sort often become, as Schopenhauer said, mere magnifying mirrors wherein one sees enlarged, all the defects of a doctrine. Disciples of the second sort co-operate in the works of the Spirit; and even if they always remain rather disciples than originators, they help to lead the thought that they accept to a truer expression. They force it beyond its earlier and cruder stages of development.”
I believe “Mormonism” affords opportunity for disciples of the second sort; nay, that its crying need is for such disciples. It calls for thoughtful disciples who will not be content with merely repeating some of its truths, but will develop its truths; and en- large it by that development. Not half — not one- hundredth part — not a thousandth part of that which Joseph Smith revealed to the Church has yet been unfolded, either to the Church or to the world. The work of the expounder has scarcely begun. The Prophet planted by teaching the germ-truths of the great dispensation of the fulness of times. The watering and the weeding is going on, and God is giving the increase, and will give it more abundantly in the future as more intelligent discipleship shall obtain. The disciples of “Mormonism,” growing discontented with the necessarily primitive methods which have hitherto prevailed in sustaining the doctrine, will yet take profounder and broader views of the great doctrines committed to the Church; and, departing from mere repetition, will cast them in new formulas; co-operating in the works of the Spirit, until they help to give to the truths received a more forceful expression, and carry it beyond the earlier and cruder stages of its development.
On translation theories: Quote:The more I think of the Lord’s revelation to Oliver Cowdery describing the manner in which he might have exercised the gift of translation by means of Urim and Thummim, had his faith not failed him (D&C 8:4), the more I am convinced that we have the Lord’s description of the manner in which translation by means of Urim and Thummim is accomplished. That is the word of the Lord, to which all theories must conform, whatever becomes of merely human testimonies…
…That theory cannot be successfully maintained; that is, the Urim and Thummim did the translating, the Prophet, nothing beyond repeating what he saw reflected in that instrument; that God directly or indirectly is responsible for the verbal and grammatical errors of translation. To advance such a theory before intelligent and educated people is to unnecessarily invite ridicule, and make of those who advocate it candidates for contempt.
B. H. Roberts, Improvement Era Volume 9.9 (July 1906)
Letter dated June 1, 1906, in “Book of Mormon Translation: Interesting Correspondence on the Subject of the Manual Theory,”
https://archive.org/details/improvementera0909unse https://archive.org/stream/improvementera0909unse/improvementera0909unse_djvu.txt Need to hunt down sources for them all, but wanted to save them for later: “Joseph Smith Translation items, the chapter headings, Topical Guide, Bible Dictionary, footnotes, the Gazeteer, and the maps. None of these are perfect; they do not of themselves determine doctrine; there have been and undoubtedly now are mistakes in them. Cross-references, for instance, do not establish and never were intended to prove that parallel passages so much as pertain to the same subject. They are aids and helps only.” – Elder McConkie
“I have found that over that last 20 years a number of changes have been made in the introduction to the Book of Mormon – and that it is not consider[ed] scripture” – A representative from Church Public Affairs
“Only the Standard Works and statements written under assignment of the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles are considered official declarations by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint” – Elder Boyd K Packer
“this doctrine resides in the four “standard works” of scripture (the Holy Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price), official declarations and proclamations, and the Articles of Faith” – Official Statement
“But there are many places where the scriptures are not too clear, and where different interpretations may be given to them; there are many doctrines, tenets as the Lord called them, that have not been officially defined and declare” – Elder J. Rueben Clark
Ensign articles do not establish official doctrine
The Flood and the Tower of Babel – Ensign Jan. 1998
Earth—A Gift of Gladness – Ensign July 1991
Some new ones on this page that I want to come back to (I don’t have time right now): Quote:24 Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion!
25 Wo be unto him that crieth: All is well!
26 Yea, wo be unto him that hearkeneth unto the precepts of men, and denieth the power of God, and the gift of the Holy Ghost!
27 Yea, wo be unto him that saith: We have received, and we need no more!
28 And in fine, wo unto all those who tremble, and are angry because of the truth of God! For behold, he that is built upon the rock receiveth it with gladness; and he that is built upon a sandy foundation trembleth lest he shall fall.
29 Wo be unto him that shall say: We have received the word of God, and we need no more of the word of God, for we have enough!
30 For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have.
Thanks to thalmar for this one Quote:“Why be so certain that you comprehend the things of God, when all things with you are so uncertain?”
Joseph Smith
History of the Church, 5:529–30;
From a discourse given by Joseph Smith on Aug. 13, 1843, in Nauvoo, Illinois; reported by Willard Richards.
https://www.lds.org/manual/teachings-joseph-smith/chapter-45?lang=eng Quote:What a miracle is the human mind. Think of its power to assimilate knowledge, to analyze and synthesize. What a remarkable thing is learning, the process whereby the accumulated knowledge of the centuries has been summarized and filtered so that in a brief period we can learn what was first learned only through long exercises of research and trial and error.
Education is the great conversion process under which abstract knowledge becomes useful and productive activity. It is something that need never stop. No matter how old we grow, we can acquire knowledge and use it. We can gather wisdom and profit from it. We can be entertained through the miracle of reading and exposure to the arts and add to the blessing and fulfillment of living.
The older I grow, the more I enjoy the words of thoughtful writers, ancient and modern, and the savoring of that which they have written.Under a divinely given mandate, we are to “seek learning, even by study and also by faith.” (D&C 88:118.) And “whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection.” (D&C 130:18.)
Gordon B. Hinckley
https://www.lds.org/ensign/1992/08/i-believe?lang=spa&clang=eng Prepare for a theme emerging… Quote:“I realize that I will be, when my life’s labor is complete, the product of my thoughts.”
George Albert Smith
https://www.lds.org/manual/teachings-george-albert-smith/life-and-ministry?lang=eng Quote:“The thought in your mind at this moment is contributing, however infinitesimally, almost imperceptibly to the shaping of your soul”
President Ezra Taft Bensonhttps://www.lds.org/ensign/print/1984/04/think-on-christ?lang=eng&clang=eng Quote:“If I am not happy with me, other people suffer.”
Neal A. Maxwell
Improvement Era, July 1968
http://archive.org/stream/improvementera7107unse/improvementera7107unse_djvu.txt https://archive.org/stream/improvementera7107unse?ui=embed#page/n63/mode/2up Quote:Yes, who we are is the sum of all the choices we make. We should always remember that our choices do not begin with the act, but in the mind with the idea. As a poet stated, “Sow a thought, and you reap an act; sow an act, and you reap a habit; sow a habit, and you reap a character; sow a character, and you reap a destiny.”
Richard B. Wirthlin, October 1997Quote:If thoughts make us what we are, and we are to be like Christ, then we must think Christlike thoughts.
Ezra Taft Bensonhttps://www.lds.org/liahona/1989/06/think-on-christ?lang=eng Quote:“Thought is action in rehearsal.”
Freud
Quote:“The life of self-control is not grievous but joyous when we become accustomed to it. It clears the mind; it strengthens the judgement; it elevates the character. It is the true freedom.”
Benjamin Jowett
Quote:“We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world.”
Buddha
(OK, last 3 are cheating… I could miss the chance to include them)
Quote:The scriptures are conclusive as to the fact that, from Adam to John the Revelator, God directed the affairs of His people by personal communication through chosen servants. As the written word—the record of revelation previously given—grew with time, that became a law unto the people; but in no period was that deemed sufficient.
While the revelations of the past have ever been indispensable as guides to the people, showing forth, as they do, the plan and purpose of God’s dealings under particular conditions, they may not be universally and directly applicable to the circumstances of succeeding times.James E. Talmage, page 314
Text version:
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/42238/42238-h/42238-h.htm Scanned version:
https://archive.org/stream/articlesfaithas00talmgoog#page/n328/mode/2up Too lazy to see if this already is here: Quote:Do not, brethren, put your trust in man though he be a Bishop, an Apostle or a President; if you do, they will fail you at some time or place; they will do wrong or seem to, and your support be gone; but if we lean on God, He never will fail us. When men and women depend on God alone and trust in Him alone, their faith will not be shaken if the highest in the Church should step aside. … Perhaps it is His own design that faults and weaknesses should appear in high places in order that His Saints may learn to trust in Him and not in any man or woman.
– President George Q. Cannon, Millennial Star 53:658-659, 673-675.
Thanks Ray – I’ve not seen it before. I like it. We have to remember this goes both ways: Quote:“Now, the priesthood is structured so that ordinary men and women and youth are called to work in the Church.
Surely we must appear at times to be very amateurish when compared to the highly schooled clergy of other churches.
The very nature of the priesthood allows for a great variety in the gospel knowledge of members struggling to learn as they serve.
A member, at any given time, may not understand one point of doctrine or another, may have a misconception, or even believe something is true that in fact is false.
There is not much danger in that. That is an inevitable part of learning the gospel. No member of the Church should be embarrassed at the need to repent of a false notion he might have believed. Such ideas are corrected as one grows in light and knowledge.
It is not the belief in a false notion that is the problem; it is the teaching of it to others.
In the Church we have the agency to believe whatever we want to believe about whatever we want to believe.But we are not authorized to teach it to others as truth.” Boyd K. Packer
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1985/04/from-such-turn-away?lang=eng&country=gb
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