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Filet. With butter. Yum.

To those who believe in Christ and ask for understanding, he gives it (and often speaks plainly, as in the Book of Mormon and D&C, and as in the NT when the disciples would ask Him to explain a parable). But to those who harden their hearts, he speaks in parables (without the explanation). In this way, those who are willing to seek understanding can receive it through Him, and those who refuse to believe or ask are not condemned (or blessed) by understanding that they would reject anyway. And I think there's also an element of simply wanting the connection between dispensations and to show fulfillment of prophecy, so He quotes Isaiah to us and to the people in the Book of Mormon.

The diameter of the bullet.

This: Later in the section, the Lord uses more language like that in Isaiah 34:5. I believe the Lord wanted to point us there and then leave it to those who were willing to put forth the effort to gain understanding through revelation (see D&C 1:34).

And it's barely been used at all since the 1980s! I think it's time for a comeback!

Shhh! If it gets out, everyone will have to decry the cult instead of enjoying the music.

Well, I have no idea who they are.

Not to me.

What can I say, I like the look of grey better than I like the look of gray. (And I grew up reading a lot of British authors, so I was more used to seeing grey than gray...)

Why do you say "despite the dictionary"? Reckless is unfavorable. There isn't even any grey area. "Without thinking" - never a good thing. I don't believe God ever does anything "without thinking" (or, if you interpret it that way, "without thinking about the consequences"). "Without caring about the consequences" - this is only a good thing if what you are doing is the right thing. I think this is where @Carborendum went - "Do what is right, let the consequence follow..." But as we all know, despite the literal meaning of the dictionary definition, "reckless" is used after the fact to describe something that harmed or came very close to harming someone (often someone who wasn't involved in the reckless behavior - a bystander). NOTE: I'm aware that sometimes the meaning isn't quite so unfavorable when used in the phrase "reckless abandon" - but usually only when the phrase is used to describe something that's not actually going to cause harm (as opposed to when the phrase is used legally). So, like the song, explain away the use of the term, whatever - no skin in the game for me - but obviously, God is never reckless, and I personally don't see how anyone could even consider / imagine that He is / would be. Here's a freebie: If you want to explain it away, use the phrase "poetic license" - the fact is that poetry can successfully turn the meaning of words upside down - for good or ill. Here's an example, a haiku I made about Klaw, my void kitty - who is solid black: Gold eyes in a void Warmth and purring vibrations Blackness fills my heart ...Normally, "blackness" filling one's heart is a bad thing. Hopefully you see that here, I flipped it around. And just so Smoke (my grey tabby) doesn't feel left out, I made a haiku about him, too: Smoke-grey tiger stripes I must go up, Meowmy, up Books crash to the floor

Welcome to ThirdHour, @Flashman!

Seems to me the dictionary answers that question for us.

I'm not so sure it is - not if "bathed" means "quenched" (as in, hardened - one of the last steps of forging; not quenched the way anger is quenched). Agreed. And some of the possible Hebrew interpretations include those parts of sword-making that involve dipping (like quenching and sharpening). In other words, I think there are multiple meanings to the one phrase, and I suspect Isaiah's people would have understood all the meanings - and may well have understood the meaning described in that ByCommonConsent article (easier to just point people there than to summarize it - it's already pretty short).

Except this is the Lord's sword, so it was never used for evil purposes. I think some of the other translations more likely. The "bath" was part of the preparation process (they actually call the liquid into which metal is dipped for quenching a "bath").

OK, I'm back. "Sword" was never a problem - it's a common symbol for judgement, wrath of God, etc. It's the "bathed in heaven" part that seemed strange to me. Usually if you put sword and bathed in the same sentence, the sword is bathed in blood. If we keep the same structure in play, "heaven" isn't really a substance in which something can be bathed... Thus, the logical assumption is that "heaven" is the location of the bathing, but in that case, in what substance is the sword bathed? As soon as I googled it and found Isaiah, I knew we were dealing with ancient Hebrew customs / idioms / whatevers. From the wide variety of commentary on the Isaiah verses, we have the following, which all make sense to me (some more than others): The sword was prepared in heaven (indicates the judgement / punishment is coming from God / divinely sanctioned) The sword is "soaked" in the power of heaven (I rather like this one, regardless of whether it's what was intended) "bathed" in Hebrew suggests "saturated" or "filled", and in relation to a sword, it likely refers to being dipped into a liquid prior to sharpening; it might also refer to quenching (hardening) or another part of the forging process to brighten the metal or otherwise prepare it for use (this makes a lot of sense to me) One result suggested the sword was bathed in the blood of those killed by it, but that doesn't really match "bathed in heaven" - since any "blood" is going to come when the sword falls, not when it's prepared in heaven; one could try to argue "the blood of the saints" or even Christ's blood, I suppose; but this doesn't really seem like a good interpretation to me. There's this from bycommonconsent.com Alternate translations for "is bathed", like: "is drunken with fury" or "hath drunk to the full" (Hmm, "my light saber is now fully charged and you will all die" (I may have gotten carried away there).) Here's a link to blueletterbible.org with alternate translations of the Isaiah verse. But since D&C 1 could have said whatever the Lord wanted it to say, I'm quite certain He meant for this phrase to appear as is. I wonder if / how the early saints understood it. I feel like these give me enough understanding to be comfortable with the phrase (as opposed to just understanding the overall meaning of the verse).

Gotta run, but will return. Saw that and more. Might make for interesting discussion or at least a place to document the various interpretations... More later.

Hooray for lacking footnotes. The phrase is also used in Isaiah 34:5, which gives us a lot of thought from other sects - should have thought to look for that sooner - but I did check the footnotes first - like they couldn't link the one place that uses the exact phrase!?

Any thoughts on what this phrase "bathed in heaven" means? I can make up theories as well as the next person, but in truth, the phrase doesn't really make sense to me and I would like to hear everyone's thoughts. Thanks!

Yeah, well, that's Hamas.

You'll have to decide for yourself whether what you are doing is consistent with scripture or whether it is simply to save your pride (lest you be embarrassed and tortured), and whether your approach does or does not allow you to empathize with others (that is, mourn with those that mourn and comfort those that stand in need of comfort). In the meantime, the Vulcans would like to have a word with you.

The OP referred to herself as the "canary in the coalmine". Ten years ago I might not have been too concerned - might have thought, "Well, it's just an abnormality in one person. There's nothing wrong with the various products being used to clean and scent people and buildings." Today, I think "canary in the coalmine" is correct, and we all should have been paying more attention to the chemicals flooding our environment so corporations can make a larger profit. Maybe the canaries do indeed suffer from abnormal sensitivities for whatever reason (genetic, I suppose), but I think we should quit ignoring the warning signs. (Actually, I think we have finally begun to quit ignoring the warning signs. Heaven knows how long it'll take to do anything about it. Or whether anything even will be done about it.)

Welcome, @JAD! Sorry you and your daughter have to struggle with this. I don't have an physical reaction to scents, but I agree it would be nice if folks didn't use them at all.

Scandalous!

OK, it only took me four pages, but I have confirmed, the word usage doesn't appear in the Book of Mormon. Not even once. Hardly seems worth four pages...

Are you sure? ...are you still sure?