What is doctrine?

[Anonymous]

A very interesting thread, thanks for asking, godlives, and sharing your thoughts and feelings.

In some ways, I think the doctrines or truths are more about a vision of our future and how we should aspire to live going forward, and less about what happened in the past and the rules we must live by. I don’t know if I can express it right, but that is how I think of it. It is a vision, not a set of quotes or rules. It is about faith and hope for a brighter tomorrow, regardless of the changing situations today.

Religion is to help us grow spiritually, become better, and become HAPPIER. That is the goal. I think there are many roads that can lead to achieving that goal.

I think the church doctrine is simple:

1) God is real, and He lives, and He is our Father (making us special)

2) God is the organizer and active manager of the plan for all of us to grow through experience, which requires a Savior to help us when we fail, which allows us to learn.

3) God established His church and gave authority to mortals to act for Him, to keep order … even though those servants will introduce errors and mistakes, those mistakes won’t remove our opportunity to grow and learn in spite of them. This includes prophets and scripture, and we have Book of Mormon scripture, and modern day scripture to add to the scriptures the rest of the world has. These are symbolic and convey meaning, not photographs that display accurate details and facts on reality, but a good allegorical representation of reality that can adapt to each of our perceptions and experiences as we try to use them.

4) We will all be accountable and judged for how we live. Some use this to teach FEAR, I avoid that and focus instead on responsibility for myself and to let go of judgment for what others do.

5) Happiness is most likely achieved when founded on the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ.

To me, these are the general doctrines I think the Church teaches. Or I guess we could just use the Articles of Faith, but I don’t find those are exclusive, so they are just as good as another.

The last (#5) is most important to me…it is about finding peace and happiness – otherwise I would have no use for the religion. Right now, I find more happiness by staying home from church one Sunday, and going to church the next…depending on my situation and how I feel right about living my life. I no longer care what others think of me or how I choose to raise my kids (Yes, I have let go of the FSOY issue from the past 😳 )…because happiness is found in love and hope for a better tomorrow, not fear of what I did yesterday or if someone thinks I am meeting the standard in what I do today.

The truth is, the doctrines are relevant to each of us, and I think that article Hawkgrrrl posted on the 10 things we all should know was well written, because doctrines get expounded the more the church continues to grow and people teach one another what they understand about the doctrines. But nothing anyone else tells me, including the prophet, removes my free agency to define the doctrine as I choose to accept it. And because I have arrived at that point…I can StayLDS and look in the mirror and be ok with myself and hope for happiness tomorrow through my actions today.

Thanks for letting me share my thoughts on doctrines.

[Anonymous]

All:

Amazing comments and insight. Thank you!!

[Author]

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