A few years ago I was convinced that the thing that went wrong with Christianity in the First Century was when the Christian theologians took the neo-Platonic conception of God, then, in an effort to do the philosophers one better, they came up the idea of creatio ex nihlo. Because of this people are able to ask this this series of predicates.
1) God is Good.
2) God created the world the way it is by fiat (creatio ex nihlo).
3) There is suffering in the world.
4) Therefore God must want suffering and is not worthy of worship.
5) God cannot stop suffering and is not worthy of worship.
The supposed fact that God made everything by an act of will has some logical paradoxes that many people are unwilling to live with. If I were not LDS I'm afraid that I would agree with this line of thinking. Luckily I'm not.
The LDS do not have arrive at this conclusion because we say that God did not create everything, in the idea that God did not create matter or intelligences. Also, we believe that God in a moral being and is capable of making choices, including wrong choices.
Of course when there are problems when the LDS say that there are co-eternal intelligences that Heavenly Father did not create. They think that is blasphemous and when we then say that he didn't create matter but simply organized it their heads seem to explode. I understand their concerns, but it make much more sense to me to worship a logical God than an irrational one. I wonder what the philosophers would make of the LDS God. So far as I know only the LDS think about our conception of God and we, or the LDS, philosophers don't seem to have a problem with it, but I guess that I don't really know what's been said or written about it. However, some of the thoughts that philosophers have talked about sound very familiar. I'm starting to think that I'd like to study this stuff more in depth instead of just listening to the lectures, although listening to the lectures is fun.
Sunday, May 27, 2012
I Had to Know
I've
been reading the testimonies of LDS Scholars and they're very
interesting. Many of them talk about having an experience where they
had an experience that told them the truth of the Book of Mormon. I
honestly can't remember when I didn't believe the scriptures. I feel
like an idiot when I ask that question in prayer.
I remembered an event that was similar I think though. On my mission I one time felt that I had to find a street where we would find someone to teach. I went and felt that I was not going to get off my knees until I had a street to go to. After a while I absolutely knew which street we would find a "golden contact". I went in to my companion, very excited, and told him we needed to plan the next day. I told him I wanted to go to a new area to teach. He said OK. I picked the area that had my street. We prayed for confirmation and I felt the spirit again, but I could tell my companion hadn't, not like me.
In the morning the zone leaders called. They wanted to go on splits and they wanted me to leave the area. I told companion not to go to "my" street. I got back after splits in the afternoon. We did find a golden family. The wife was especially excited. We set up an appointment to come back and when we showed they weren't there. We finally found the father at home after a couple of days, and his wife had passed away! I was shocked. We asked if we could do anything for his family and him. He said his congregation was helping them. As I thought about this I probably should have offered to teach about the plan of salvation. I wasn't inspired to, so I don't feel that bad about it.
I find this story ironic. I'm glad that I was able to find the family I always think that we were there to help the wife and that maybe on the other side us showing up when we did will help her accept the gospel on the other side. All I know is that when I absolutely had to have an answer one came.
I've always thought to myself could I walk away from the Church? The thought literally terrifies me. I couldn't in good conscious say in prayer to the Lord you have to tell me this book is true or I'm leaving, the Lord would have to know that that's not true and never will be.
I remembered an event that was similar I think though. On my mission I one time felt that I had to find a street where we would find someone to teach. I went and felt that I was not going to get off my knees until I had a street to go to. After a while I absolutely knew which street we would find a "golden contact". I went in to my companion, very excited, and told him we needed to plan the next day. I told him I wanted to go to a new area to teach. He said OK. I picked the area that had my street. We prayed for confirmation and I felt the spirit again, but I could tell my companion hadn't, not like me.
In the morning the zone leaders called. They wanted to go on splits and they wanted me to leave the area. I told companion not to go to "my" street. I got back after splits in the afternoon. We did find a golden family. The wife was especially excited. We set up an appointment to come back and when we showed they weren't there. We finally found the father at home after a couple of days, and his wife had passed away! I was shocked. We asked if we could do anything for his family and him. He said his congregation was helping them. As I thought about this I probably should have offered to teach about the plan of salvation. I wasn't inspired to, so I don't feel that bad about it.
I find this story ironic. I'm glad that I was able to find the family I always think that we were there to help the wife and that maybe on the other side us showing up when we did will help her accept the gospel on the other side. All I know is that when I absolutely had to have an answer one came.
I've always thought to myself could I walk away from the Church? The thought literally terrifies me. I couldn't in good conscious say in prayer to the Lord you have to tell me this book is true or I'm leaving, the Lord would have to know that that's not true and never will be.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)