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To: CubicleGuy
Cubicle is Adam-God Mormon doctrine or was Brigham Young just out to lunch on this speculation?
407 posted on 08/18/2002 5:34:18 AM PDT by drstevej
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To: drstevej
... or was Brigham Young just out to lunch on this speculation?

Don't know yet. There's a difference, I suppose, between doctrine and "official" doctrine. I know that Orson Pratt and Brigham Young had some differences of opinion on the subject. I'm still looking at it; I think there are aspects of it that make a lot of sense; there are others either that don't or that I am confused about. Just because I don't understand it doesn't make it false, just as something isn't necessarily true because I do understand it. Here's Nibley talking about differences of opinion in the church regarding doctrinal matters:

As far as official interpretation of the scriptures is concerned, the Latter-day Saints scoff at the idea that one must study special courses and get a special degree—"training for the ministry"—and thus interpret the Bible for others. Joseph Smith noted many times that interpreters of the scriptures like William W. Phelps and Frederick G. Williams read the scriptures quite differently than he, but he didn't order them to stop or to change. He said we should try to use reason and testimony, but that's all we can do.

There really isn't much that one is absolutely "required" to believe to be a Latter-day Saint. You have to believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that the Book of Mormon is the word of God (otherwise, why on earth would you want to become a member of this church?), you have to believe in continuing revelation and that God hasn't yet said all He is going to say on any given topic, and you have to believe that we need to have faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ, that we need to repent of our sins, be baptized by the proper authority and obtain the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands. Once you've got that down, you're pretty much free to become a prophet and revelator unto yourself. But knowledge of doctrine doesn't get one into the Celestial Kingdom. What does is how well we listen to and heed the promptings of the Holy Ghost -- "For behold, again I say unto you that if ye will enter in by the way, and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what ye should do." (2 Nephi 32:5). We're encouraged to seek after light and truth, but we can't ignore the practical realities of life, either. We're all involved in a juggling act, trying to decide which balls need to stay in the air, which balls we can afford to drop and let go of for good, and at the last day, God will reward each one of us based on how good our juggling acts in this life were. Are we concerned more with selfish interests, or are we more concerned about trying to make mortality as much like heaven for others as we can? I can imagine "hell" as being a place of solitude, but "heaven" can only exist in the company of others.

I do get troubled by things in the church that I see as being inconsistent. But there's not much I can do about that. I'm just going to worry about tending to those things over which I can have a positive influence, and try not to let the inconsistencies of others shake my testimony in the fundamental things I know to be true.

417 posted on 08/18/2002 11:10:11 AM PDT by CubicleGuy
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