{"id":67329,"date":"2018-11-11T23:04:53","date_gmt":"2018-11-12T06:04:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=67329"},"modified":"2018-11-11T23:04:53","modified_gmt":"2018-11-12T06:04:53","slug":"elder-neal-a-maxwell-on-consecration-scholarship-and-the-defense-of-the-kingdom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/11\/elder-neal-a-maxwell-on-consecration-scholarship-and-the-defense-of-the-kingdom.html","title":{"rendered":"“Elder Neal A. Maxwell on Consecration, Scholarship, and the Defense of the Kingdom”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The S\u00e3o Paulo Brazil Temple (LDS Media Library)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

In view of the recent attention given to\u00a0\u201cThe Maxwell Legacy in the 21st Century,\u201d\u00a0I think that I\u2019ll share a transcription of some interesting remarks given by Elder Neal A. Maxwell way back on\u00a027 September 1991. \u00a0I was there that evening; I hadn\u2019t yet gotten to know Elder Maxwell at that point, but I\u2019ve never forgotten the event:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cElder Neal A. Maxwell on Consecration, Scholarship, and the Defense of the Kingdom\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

A couple of days ago, Russell Stevenson reminded me of a comment from Elder Maxwell that I really like:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSatan need not get everyone to be like Cain or Judas. . . . \u00a0He needs only to get able men . . . to see themselves as sophisticated neutrals.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

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

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s an inspiring story, and one that should motivate those of us who live near temples to take greater advantage of that considerable blessing:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cTo the Temple and Back: The Journey of Two Faithful Peruvians\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

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

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I think that this little blog entry from Robert Boylan<\/a> is quite important:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cJ. Reuben Clark vs. Naive\/Fundamentalist Views of Church Leaders and Their Knowledge of Doctrine\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Brother Boylan rightly sees President J. Reuben Clark\u2019s attitude as a cure for certain na\u00efve or fundamentalist tendencies among members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/a>. \u00a0I certainly agree with him. \u00a0But I also think that it\u2019s a good counterpoint to the exaggerated caricature that certain critics of the Church \u2014 not infrequently former fundamentalist-leaning believers themselves \u2014 use to set Church leaders up for a fall: \u00a0\u201cThey claim to be omniscient and infallible, but they\u2019re not!<\/em>\u201d \u00a0However, the leaders of the Church don\u2019t<\/em> claim either infallibility or omniscience, and they never have<\/em>. \u00a0When that claim isn\u2019t idolatry, it\u2019s a straw man.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

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

\u00a0<\/p>\n

In our sacrament meeting this morning, we sang the hymn \u201cOur Savior\u2019s Love,\u201d with lyrics by Edward L. Hart (1916-2008) and music by Crawford Gates (1921-2018):<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \n
    Our Savior\u2019s love<\/span><\/div>\n
    Shines like the sun with perfect light,<\/span><\/div>\n
    As from above<\/span><\/div>\n
    It breaks thru clouds of strife.<\/span><\/div>\n
    Lighting our way,<\/span><\/div>\n
    It leads us back into his sight,<\/span><\/div>\n
    Where we may stay<\/span><\/div>\n
    To share eternal life.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n
  2. \n
    The Spirit, voice<\/span><\/div>\n
    Of goodness, whispers to our hearts<\/span><\/div>\n
    A better choice<\/span><\/div>\n
    Than evil\u2019s anguished cries.<\/span><\/div>\n
    Loud may the sound<\/span><\/div>\n
    Of hope ring till all doubt departs,<\/span><\/div>\n
    And we are bound<\/span><\/div>\n
    To him by loving ties.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n
  3. \n
    Our Father, God<\/span><\/div>\n
    Of all creation, hear us pray<\/span><\/div>\n
    In rev\u2019rence, awed<\/span><\/div>\n
    By thy Son\u2019s sacrifice.<\/span><\/div>\n
    Praises we sing.<\/span><\/div>\n
    We love thy law; we will obey.<\/span><\/div>\n
    Our heav\u2019nly King,<\/span><\/div>\n
    In thee our hearts rejoice.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n

    I think that I met Edward Hart<\/a> only once, though I had long been aware of him. \u00a0He had retired before I joined the faculty at BYU, but I had always rather envied his Oxford D.Phil. \u00a0One of my dreams had always been to study at either Oxford or Cambridge, but somehow it just never happened. \u00a0(I\u2019ve delivered lectures at both, but that\u2019s not the same. \u00a0I\u2019m a serious Anglophile and would love to have spent more time in those quintessentially English places.)<\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n

    Anyway, we found ourselves sitting in an office at BYU, perhaps in the office of the dean of Humanities. \u00a0And we began to talk. \u00a0Somehow, \u201cOur Savior\u2019s Love\u201d came up. \u00a0And, somehow, I had never realized until then how careful Brother Hart had been to organize each of the three verses around a specific member of the Trinity or Godhead.<\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n

    It\u2019s a small thing, certainly, but I never fail to think of that conversation when we sing that hymn.<\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n

    Posted from Park City, Utah<\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/p>\n

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

    \u00a0 \u00a0 In view of the recent attention given to\u00a0\u201cThe Maxwell Legacy in the 21st Century,\u201d\u00a0I think that I\u2019ll share a transcription of some interesting remarks given by Elder Neal A. Maxwell way back on\u00a027 September 1991. \u00a0I was there that evening; I hadn\u2019t yet gotten to know Elder Maxwell at that point, but I\u2019ve […]<\/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-67329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n"Elder Neal A. 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