HiJolly

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Everything posted by HiJolly

  1. I'm going to take a whack at the guessing game and say it was this blue stuff that the disagreement was with. Yep, that's it. There's no question Joseph and company totally, literally believed it. HiJolly
  2. Welcome. My wife & I reach our 31-st anniversary this year. HiJolly
  3. I have received revelation on someone's life that was beyond the scope of my stewardship. I pondered long & hard on it. I saw what came to pass in that person's life. My current belief is that it was a divine teaching opportunity that could not have come in any other way. AMEN! HiJolly
  4. I have collected these quotes, I love them: “Faith does not automatically turn uncertainties into certainties. What it does is take us beyond the detached, speculative outlook which prevents the most significant sorts of experience; it enables us to live and act amid the uncertainties of life without pretensions of intellectual or moral infallibility.” -- Ian Barbour Myths, Models, and Paradigms: A Comparative Study of Science and Religion, 137 "The pillars of my faith are still intact, but the roof has blown blessedly off the structure to reveal a whole sky full of stars." -- Mormon author/poet Emma Lou Thayne, also wrote the hymn "Where Can I Turn for Peace" "The human soul, like a charioteer, must drive two horses as it progresses toward Heaven. The horses must work together or the chariot will just go round and round. …It would be unfortunate if either should outstretch the other. Over-emphasizing intellect to the neglect of spirituality, and over-emphasizing faith without the application of reason are both unworthy of practicing Latter-Day Saints. We cannot achieve spiritual excellence without intellectual rigor, and intellectual excellence is hollow without active spirituality. We need to have the spirit as we learn, and we need to have learning as we build faith. Working together, faith and intellect help us achieve the Latter-day Saint goal of eternal progression." (Reflections of a Mormon Historian p.229) -- Leonard J. Arrington "Faith is not so much something we believe; faith is something we live." -- Joseph B. Wirthlin Here is my belief: When we gain knowledge in that thing that we *used* to have faith in, then that new knowledge introduces us to new realms of possibility, in which we can now exercise new faith. So, rather than knowledge eliminating faith, what it does is spark or create whole new vistas in which faith for the first time becomes active. HiJolly
  5. I agree with everything except that last paragraph, and concede to Magus that Joseph, Brigham, and the rest of the Nauvoo-era folks certainly believed that, in a very literal way. And Freemasonry IS a great, beneficial organization. :)
  6. I wonder if the OP is just spam. <pffft> HJ
  7. I don't have many complaints with the Church, but I do think CES falls short in many ways. In the Mormon Corridor, it's the closest thing we have to a paid ministry, although I grant that the teachers don't function as priests (thank God!). OTOH, I really enjoyed my years in Seminary and Institute - I just think they are in a prime position to teach a more informed curricula. For example, I think they should explain the trinity (as opposed to modalism) and other theological concepts. I think they should help students understand the documentary hypothesis, the mystical foundation of the Bible, and much more.
  8. I agree with Ram, #5 is clearly false. But the rest are ok, fitting in well with my view of God as a pragmatist. On Mystery --- God knows what's goin' on. We don't, except for a few rules of thumb that only apply to mortality. Therefore, we have paradox and mystery whenever we try to deal with, or think about, God and/or eternity. Logic doesn't even begin to clear the fog. HiJolly
  9. I have a very hard time feeling sympathy for you, Eighty-Eight. Although I do agree the Church needs to do a better job of informing its membership of the gaps that currently exist. I think CES (Seminaries and Institutes) is where this should occur, and NOT at church. HiJolly
  10. My wife & I loved it. We'll probably see it again. HiJolly
  11. selek is a recent immigrant from this site: Mormon Dialogue and Discussion Board and though he always tries to be nice here on this discussion site, he sometimes slips into the persona that he was sure he left behind there. HiJolly
  12. Welcome to this web site, Jorge! I hope you enjoy the conversations here. HiJolly
  13. While Joseph Fielding Smith was undoubtedly influenced by his father, Joseph F. Smith, he was also influenced by one George McCready Price. Indeed, based on the evidence I think it would be fair to say JFS was a real fan of GMP's. Which is a sad thing, IMO. <sigh> HJ
  14. Yeah, take that, all you extropian faithless types! HJ.
  15. What do define to be 'truth', truther? Have you studied epistemology? HJ
  16. Maybe that's what gopecon meant. But abstaining from beer or wine is NOT a "specific implementation" of "eternal law", in and of itself. Other than perhaps respecting and obeying a priesthood leader's implementation of a 'good or inspired idea' as policy, for a potential myriad of reasons. But not eternal law. Why, Vort, do I always feel like I'm getting drawn into an argument when I comment on a post of yours? sheesh. HJ
  17. We are weird, and we know it. Welcome!
  18. ...and since we're His hands, the Brethren can implement it as they see the need arise. Just a regular policy change would do it. And I don't think it's a matter of what the Church "should do", but what the Church "could do".
  19. by "us", I meant the LDS church as a whole. Including prophets and apostles.