Games of Chance within God's Kingdom

*Taken from a post on MADB.




Recently I was watching a National Geographic show on the Bible. It discussed the Atstronomy and other divining techniques used by Old and New Testament Priests and Apostles. This got me thinking.


Here are some relevant scriptures:

22Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection.

23And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias.

24And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen,

25That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.

26And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

Acts 1:22-26

I like this method. I wouldn't mind casting lots between Bishop Burton and Elder Groberg next time there is a vacancy in the Twelve and see who gets the short one. Moreover, from a more personal stand point, I really feel like I could I offer a sincere and faithful prayer between two choices and then spin a bottle. However, I must consider this in light of modern revelation. There is direction in the D&C but I find it is much more complicated and leaves too much wiggle room:

7 Behold, you have not understood; you have supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought save it was to ask me.
8 But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must cask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall eburn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right.
9 But if it be not right you shall have no such feelings, but you shall have a stupor of thought that shall cause you to forget the thing which is wrong; therefore, you cannot write that which is sacred save it be given you from me.

Much too complicated for most situations. I do understand that the D&C account can be understood as instruction to us/Oliver; and the Acts text is one is of example by the Apostles. Both seem to offer perfectly good alternatives should one not work to our satisfaction.

My solution...both should be tried on by each individual and see how they fit. This is a good example of personal preference. So break out the straws and bottles and any other tools of chance and get to praying.


Big UP!

Lamanite

Mormon Critics, Freemasonry and Mormonism

To Dark Sparks or other interested parties:

Let's presuppose that Joseph borrowed/took/stole elements of the Masonic ritual and used them in the Mormon Endowment.

How and why is that bad?


Big UP!


Lamanite

Government Pressure behind the 1978 Revelation

A friend I know said she has proof that the Government was pressuring the Church to change its policy regarding Blacks and the Priesthood or it would lose its tax exempt status. I asked for a source. None was provided, but I was assured it existed.

I would like anyone to produce a document or affidavit that a Government agency or employee exerted pressure, by way of threatening to remove the tax exempt status of the Church.

I didn't think such a thing existed. I've created this post so that there is a forum for her or others reply's.

Big UP!


Lamanite

P.S. The image above is of one of my heroes, Darius Gray. Google him if interested in an amazing story.

Richard L. Bushman-"My Belief"-Testimony and Conversion

Based on Bushman's essay "My Belief"
BYU Studies 25:2 (1985)
All quotes are from this essay unless otherwise noted.

Belief into action!

Perhaps most influential was a gradual merger of personality and belief. By 1976 I had been a branch president and a bishop and was then a stake president. Those offices required me to give blessings in the name of God and to seek solutions to difficult problems nearly every day. I usually felt entirely inadequate to the demands placed upon me and could not function at all without some measure of inspiration. What I did, the way I acted, my inner thoughts, were all intermingled with this effort to speak and act religiously for God. I could no longer entertain the possibility that God did not exist because I felt his power working through me.

There are a few words here that I want to key in on.

1. Seek- Verb. Seeking reminds me of this scripture.

John 1:38 (King James Version)
38Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou?

Like Bushman, the two disciples found a burgeoning faith that was developing as they "sought" the Lord.

2. Felt. Noun, verb. The workings of God deal with both intellect and feeling. Finding a balance is a trick. But I often find that when my intellect is worn out in the search, it's best to follow my heart and the feelings I have.

3. Inspiration. Noun. Simply put this is God revealing himself onto/into Man's soul.

I notice a pattern here, that is often reflected in my own life. Seek, feel, Inspired.

He knew the Book of Mormon was true. He knew the Gospel was true. He had a testimony. Now it was time to become converted. This reminds me of Peter:

Luke 22:32 (King James Version)
32But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.

Peter had already testified to the Lord himself, when he said, "Thou art the Christ", and yet he still lacked conversion. Elder Oaks further clarifies:

Jesus' challenge shows that the conversion He required for those who would enter the kingdom of heaven (see Matt. 18:3) was far more than just being converted to testify to the truthfulness of the gospel. To testify is to know and to declare. The gospel challenges us to be "converted," which requires us to do and to become."The Challenge to BecomeElder" Dallin H. Oaks

I think it is obvious that Brother Bushman was testifying in his ministry, but I think it is also evident that he was converted as displayed in his willingness "to do". I think Bushman's greatest achievement at this point is that he went into action. We can ponder and testify all day, but this is a Gospel of doing and becoming. Proclaim and become was and is the order of the day.

I also take special note of his feelings of inadequacy. They are normal and to be expected, especially in callings like those that Brother Bushman held, but his reliance on the Lord is really what is admirable and worthy of emulation, in my opinion.

Sometimes I toyed with the notion that there could be other ways of describing what happened when I felt inspired, but the only language that actually worked, the only ideas that brought inspiration and did justice to the experience when it came were the words in the scriptures.

His use of the word "toyed" is kind of funny to me. I often "toy" with a lot of silly idea's. These ideas however, are but mere fleeting factoids in comparison with God's sacred scripture. There is no great power in factoids, but there is great power to be found within our canon of scripture. Thus my over inflated intellect benefit's me only in that it allows me to feast upon the everlasting words of life. From President Benson:

It is not just that the Book of Mormon teaches us truth, though it indeed does that. It is not just that the Book of Mormon bears testimony of Christ, though it indeed does that, too. But there is something more. There is a power in the book which will begin to flow into your lives the moment you begin a serious study of the book. You will find greater power to resist temptation. You will find the power to avoid deception. You will find the power to stay on the strait and narrow path. The scriptures are called "the words of life" (D&C 84:85), and nowhere is that more true than it is of the Book of Mormon. When you begin to hunger and thirst after those words, you will find life in greater and greater abundance. "The Keystone of our Religion" Ezra T. Benson

Here we are dealing with a great power connected to God's word. I have felt this power flow into my life. And like Brother Bushman often find myself only able to express the experience in the language of these sacred texts.

Only when i thought of God as a person interested in me and asked for help as a member of Christ's kingdom did the idea and reality fit properly. Only that language properly honored the experience I had day after day in my callings.

Church work more than anything else probably quieted my old question...it came to me in a flash that I did not want to prove the authenticity of Joseph Smith's calling to anyone. I recognized then that the pursuit of Christian evidences was not a Mormon tradition; it was a borrowing from Protestantism and not at a moment when Protestantism was at one of its high points. At any rate, it was not my tradition, and I did not want to participate in it. There was no proving religion to anyone; belief came by other means, by hearing testimonies or by individual pusuit or by the grace of God, but not by hammering.

At the present moment, the question of why I believe no longer has meaning for me. I do not ask it of myself or atempt to give my reasons to others. The fact is that I do believe. That is a given of my nature, and whatever reason I might give would be insufficient and inaccurate. More relevant to my current condition is a related question: how do others come to believe? I would like to know if there is anything I can do that will draw people to faith in Christ and in the prieshood. My answer to this question is, of course, related to my personal experiences. I no longer think that people can be compelled to believe by any form of reasoning, whether from the scripture or from historical evidence. They will believe if it is in their natures to believe. All I can do is to attempt to bring forward the believing nature, smothered as it is in most people by the other natures that culture forms in us. The first responsibility is to tell the story, to say very simply what happened, so that knowledge of those events can do its work. But that is the easy part, the part that could be done by books or television. The hard part is to create and atmosphere where the spiritual nature, the deep down goodness in the person, can react to the story honestly and directly. Some people can create that atmosphere quite easily by the very strength of their own spiritual personalities. It is hard for me. There are too many other natures in me: the vain aspirer formed in childhood, the intellectual fostered at Harvard, the would-be dominant male created by who knos what. But I do believe that when I am none of these and instead am a humble follower of Christ who tells the story without pretense to friends whom I love and respect, then they will believe if they want to, and conversion is possible. Questions may be answered and reasons given, but these are peripheral and essentially irrelevant. What is essential is for a person to listen carefully and openly in an attitude of trust. If belief is to be formed in the human mind, it will, I think, be formed that way.

Well, there it is. Doing equals conversion. Doing and inspiration melts away doubts. Humility and conversion points our hearts towards the happiness of others. Service cleanses the soul. And love for one another is truly evidence of a disciple of Christ.

Much Love and Respect Brother Bushman!

Lamanite

P.S. Thanks for the quasi-objective Biography(I'm glad you could not separate yourself from your Faith while trying to balance it with that of Historian). I came to know Joseph in a way I couldn't have without your efforts!

Joseph Smith, Lucy Walker and Polygamy

This was taken from a post I put on a Mormon Apologetics site. I put it here with minor corrections and additions. I truly love this story and the implications it has on my own theology and spirituality.

QUOTE

"Joseph told her, "I have a message for you. I have been commanded of God to take another wife, and you are the woman." Lucy was astounded..."What have you to say," Joseph asked her. "Nothing," she replied. Rather than exert more pressure, Joseph backed away. "if you will pray sincerely for light and understanding in relation thereto, you Shall receive a testimony"...Lucy felt tempted and tortured beyond endureance untill [sic] life was not desirable. For months Joseph said nothing more.

"Facing an ultimatum, Lucy bluntly refused, unless God Himself told her other wise..."

After a sleepless night in prayer, Lucy felt something in her room. "My room became filled with a heavenly influence. To me it was in commparison like the brilliant sunshine bursting through the darkest cloud...My Soul was filled with a calm sweet peace that I never knew. Supreme happiness took possession of my whole being." Going down the stairs o "go our into the morning air," she met Joseph, who took her by the hand...On May 1, 1843, William Clayton married Joseph to Lucy" Rough Stone Rolling pg. 491-492

From Josephs initial search for truth and the subsequent revelation(s), I believe one of the hallmarks of this Church is personal revelation. Just as it was for Peter in the NT:

And Jesus said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven." Matthew 16:17

Some may point to creeds, or interpretations of scriptures, or institutional degrees as proof of authority; but my Church simply says inquire for yourself if it is true, and let God reveal the truth of all things to you.

Not once have I been pressured, coerced, or manipulated in this Church. It has always been by free will and the encouragement to receive Personal Revelation for myself.

Big UP!

Lamanite

P.S. If you prayed about the truthfulness of the Church and the BoM and the answer was in the negative, then you better do what God revealed. We'll meet again, and hopefully we will all be better for our search for God.

Physics and the Gospel

Recently I have been studying quantum and Newtonian physics. In this post I have gleaned most of my information from Brian Greene-- author of "The Elegant Universe" and "The Fabric of the Cosmos". It should be noted though that his is not the only influence nor the only source of information for my studies.





I thought this interesting though from Greene.

QUOTE

"Surely,...progress in physics, such as understanding the number of space dimensions; or progress in neuropsychology...may fill in important details, but their impact on our evaluation of life and reality would be minimal. Surely, reality is what we think it is; reality is revealed to us by our experiences"

I think this idea is congruent with the idea that we as individuals needed to come to earth to "Experience" stuff. Taking for example the experience of Gethsemane, the Christ understood intellectually what must take place.Surely the Savior understood intellectually what the event might entail, as well as what it might be like; but when the Atonement began he was "sore amazed". It was the experience that brought true reality into existence.

However Greene goes on to say:

QUOTE

"...But the insights of modern physics have persuaded me that assessing life through the lens of everyday experience is like gazing at a van Gogh through an empty Coke bottle"

So how do/should we assess life?

QUOTE

"By deepening our understanding of the true nature of physical reality, we profoundly reconfigure our sense of ourselves and our experience of the universe"

So I guess as my understanding of both quantum mechanics and general relativity develop I begin to see the massive disconnect between the two; there is no unification.

Then comes the possibility of a unifying theory in "string theory" and it's extension "M-Theory". What fascinates me is that as we peer into our physical realities and begin to understand them better, we also peer into the power and order of God. We draw closer to Him through study and faith.

In quantum mechanics we can take particles that have a shared beginning, and see that one affects the other through time and space (even at great distances) at a speed that exceeds the speed of light. Can such an observation give us insight into our relationship to the Divine, and His ability to communicate and affect us.

Is space a human abstraction or a physical entity? How close is God? Is His perceived distance an abstraction? Or is His distance closer than we believe because of dimensional simplicities?

Interesting questions to me. Will it make much of a difference in my Human experience? I don't know. But it sure reminds me of Plato's cave and the burning fire with the participant only able to see the shadows of reality. I think at times I glimpse what I would call "reality", but this life seems only to be a shadow of things past. Occasionally I learn and hear things which feel like home, things that I feel I remember.

And so I act out my part, waiting for the veil to be withdrawn, when I can then see "things as they really are".

Big UP!

Lamanite

Bushman, Intellectualism and a little Nibley.

Hugh W. Nibley




Richard L. Bushman

Two of the greatest minds in Mormonism

Bushman on Hugh W. Nibley

"...Hugh Nibley's writing played a large part in my thinking. Although I recognized the eccentricities of his style and was never completely confident of his scholarship, there seemed to me enough there to make a case. 1 Nephi could not be dismissed as fraudulent, and so far as I know no one has refuted the argument Nibley made in "Lehi in the Desert. He offered just the kind of evidence I was looking for in my pursuit of answer: evidence that was specific, empirical, historical." BYU Studies, My Belief pg 26

First, Bushman's statement that he was in pursuit of answers that included " evidence that was specific, empirical, historical." In my life I have found what I consider specific evidence; one example may be Jacob 5 and the allegory of the Olive tree. Although not a primary factor during my conversion the historical evidence of the three witnesses is compelling. As for empirical data, we know empirical data can be gathered simply through observation, or experienced through the senses. I have my own conversion that stands as a form of empirical data and can stand the test of the Scientific Method.

On to Nibley. For believing Mormons his reach is almost without boundaries. For those who are naturally inquisitive about the Mormon construct, he remains a constant resource. However it has been verified by a number of people that his footnotes and sources left much to be desired.

Nibley's son in law stated:

I have contacted many of the note checkers and editors of the Collected Works of Hugh Nibley...and they all confirm that, while Hugh has been sloppy—at times mistranslating a text or overstating his case—he does not make up his sources. (link)

Kent P. Jackson who is a well respected Scholar and Administrator wrote one of the most critical essays on Nibley in 1989:

"Among my critiques was that Nibley often generalized excessively, saw "things in the sources that simply don't seem to be there," let his "predetermined conclusions set the agenda for the evidence," and misinterpreted authors he cited. Others, including some of Nibley's greatest admirers, have found the same problems in his scholarship. But the academic transgressions committed by Nibley (hardly unique to him) were the products of carelessness and wishful thinking, not of fraud and deception. Nibley's greatest skill as a scholar was his ability to see the big picture, not his ability to finesse the fine details. Nowhere in my own examination of his research and writing did I find any hint of his making up sources for fictional references. I do not believe it happened." Link

But in the end John Gee has said:

"As one who has probably checked as many or more of Nibley's footnotes than anyone alive, I think that it is important to say up front that the vast majority of his footnotes are correct and that only a few are questioned, even fewer would be seen as questionable.

Second, before I did my statistical study I did an impressionistic estimate of the accuracy of the footnotes based on my personal experience. The estimate was 70% accuracy when in reality it was over 90%. Those of us checking footnotes spent more of our time dealing with problems (a correct footnote takes only a minute or so to check, while fixing a problem may take hours) and that makes us inclined to vastly overestimate the number of problems.

One also needs to compare Nibley's accuracy with other authors, although here I have been less systematic. Compared to other scholars whose footnotes I have checked, Nibley does very well.

[Furthermore] With the Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, the issue of footnote accuracy is essentially moot. All the footnotes were checked (at least since volume two). The issue of the footnotes is essentially only relevant in works before they were published in the Collected Works" Link

One of the things that Nibley was often guilty of was that of Presentism, (Presentism is a mode of historical analysis in which present-day ideas and perspectives are anachronistically introduced into depictions or interpretations of the past. Some modern historians seek to avoid presentism in their work because they believe it creates a distorted understanding of their subject matter.) Wikipedia, "presentism"



And here is where two divergent approaches can be contrasted; One of frequent Presentism, and the approach I prefer and to which Bushman took at this point in his life:

"I long ago learned that it is better to flow with the evidence than to compel compliance with one's preformed ideas." BYU Studies, My Belief pg 26

This approach allows for the full flowering of the truth despite personal agenda's. Now, to say that complete objectivity is possible may be a stretch, but it is possible to be self aware of one's own paradigms and try our best to consider the truth on its own merits.

In the end. We may ask "what is truth?" We could ask Tertullian and Clement. They had quite a bit to say about it. We may ask Origen and the Philosophers with their Hellenistic idea's what the truth is? Or we may ask the appropriate question "who is truth?". And we receive an answer from a Nazarene, "I am...the Truth." The Truth flows like water when sought. So taught the Master in John 4:14... but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

Asking the right questions and following the trail truth leaves behind sounds pretty good to me. Then just DO and BECOME!

Next wee see Bushman employ both Faith, Reason, and the exercise thereof.

Big UP!

Lamanite


An aside. Nibley's writings have colored my ideology and theology a great deal. I love and respect him and his scholarship. I feel like I came down on him pretty hard here, and I wish to state without equivocation that I owe a deep debt of gratitude to his startling intellect and dedication to he Gospel.