{"id":66378,"date":"2018-10-17T11:41:43","date_gmt":"2018-10-17T17:41:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=66378"},"modified":"2018-10-17T11:41:43","modified_gmt":"2018-10-17T17:41:43","slug":"a-breathtaking-vision-for-humankind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/10\/a-breathtaking-vision-for-humankind.html","title":{"rendered":"A breathtaking vision for humankind"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Another<\/a>
The Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple is nearly ready for its open house and dedication. This is a great day for Africa and for the Congolese Saints.
(LDS Media Library)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I realize that my use of the term may jar some just a bit, but I\u2019ve always thought of the Restored Gospel as a form of religious humanism.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Please don\u2019t think of the common modern use of the word humanism<\/em> as shorthand for the more precise term secular humanism<\/em>. \u00a0That\u2019s not what I have in mind at all.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

What I do<\/em> have in mind is probably something more like the exuberant, newly confident Renaissance humanism of European history, when most humanists were still Christians. \u00a0(Erasmus of Rotterdam, for example, was a very serious<\/em> Christian.) \u00a0It had its own problems, of course, but it had also caught sight of something very important.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Why do I use the word humanism<\/em> with regard to my religious faith? \u00a0Because it seems to me so deeply opposed to many alternative forms of Christian and non-Christian religion that denigrate humanity. \u00a0Because it offers what to me seems, by many light years, the most spectacular vision of human destiny that can possibly be imagined. \u00a0Because \u2014 and, as I\u2019ve said before, I regard this as the central heresy of \u201cMormonism\u201d \u2014 it sees divinity and humanity as fundamentally akin, not opposed, and as points on a continuum rather than opposite sides of a dividing chasm. \u00a0Granted that we mortals are very far, in innumerable ways, from God, still, nevertheless, we have the innate potential to be like our Father \u2014 and that is precisely what he wants for us.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf within the short space of mortal life there are men who rise up out of infancy and become masters of the elements of fire and water and earth and air, so that they well-nigh rule them as Gods, what may it not be possible for them to do in a few hundreds or thousands of millions of years?\u201d (B. H. Roberts, The Mormon Doctrine<\/a> of Deity<\/em>, 35)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now available on the website of The Interpreter Foundation<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c\u201cCease to Sleep Longer Than Is Needful\u201d:\u00a0Stories of the Saints in the DR Congo, Part 7\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

This goes pretty much for us at The Interpreter Foundation, as well:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy Are We Still Called Mormon Newsroom?\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I really like this blog<\/a>, and I like this particular article:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cCan the teachings of the Church ever change? Absolutism vs. Ongoing Revelation\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

This little essay or column strikes me as very relevant here, even though it\u2019s mostly not about religion and certainly isn\u2019t \u201cLatter-day Saint.\u201d \u00a0And it starts off with one of the most unexpected similes that I\u2019ve encountered for quite some time. \u00a0Jonah Goldberg writes very, very well:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cA Free People Must Be Virtuous\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s another piece about the newly-released film Jane and Emma<\/em>, which I\u2019ve commended to your attention:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201c\u201cJane and Emma\u201d Film Examines Power of Unlikely Friendships\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cRising Generation Aiding Remarkable Growth of Church in Cambodia\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

There\u2019s soon to be a temple<\/em> there! \u00a0Who could have imagined such a thing even a generation ago?<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 I realize that my use of the term may jar some just a bit, but I\u2019ve always thought of the Restored Gospel as a form of religious humanism. \u00a0 Please don\u2019t think of the common modern use of the word humanism as shorthand for the more precise term secular humanism. \u00a0That\u2019s not what […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nA breathtaking vision for humankind<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    I realize that my use of the term may jar some just a bit, but I've always thought of the Restored Gospel as a form of religious\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" 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