Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/a> (i.e., \u201cChapel Mormonism\u201d).<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I saw such a claim again today.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I disagree, but I get it.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Modern-day \u201capologists\u201d tend to believe that the narrative of the Book of Mormon focuses on relatively small groups concentrated in relatively small areas in the Americas, rather than on the total population of the entire Pre-Columbian New World. \u00a0That\u2019s probably not what many Latter-day Saints have historically thought \u2014 although limited-geographical models of the Book of Mormon have been around for a very long time.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Most modern, college-educated Latter-day Saints probably accept some form or other of biological evolution, which surely wasn\u2019t the case in the very biblicist, pre-Darwinian days of the founding of the Restoration.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
And many modern-day scholars think that Noah\u2019s flood was likely local, at least in an important sense, rather than involving the submersion of the entire planet under hundreds if not thousands of feet of water.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
But are such questions really at the heart of Mormonism?<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
The claim that Church doctrine has been fundamentally transformed in modern times \u2014 or essentially rejected by modern \u201capologists\u201d \u2014 has always seemed to me a frivolous and, actually, a disingenuous claim.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I suppose that I qualify as well as anybody to represent the genus \u201capologist,\u201d so let me speak here for myself:<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve served in many capacities in the Church, including high councils, a bishopric, as a bishop, on the adult curriculum writing committee for the Sunday School, and as a perennial Gospel Doctrine teacher. \u00a0I\u2019m aware of no disharmony between me and my local ward nor \u2014 for that matter \u2014 of any between me and the General Authorities of the Church (with more than a few of whom I have excellent relationships).<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I believe in God the Father, and in his divine Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I believe that, for us and for our salvation, the Son Jesus Christ descended\u00a0from heaven and became a mortal man, much (but not entirely) like ourselves. \u00a0He suffered and was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and was buried. \u00a0On the third day he rose again \u2014 physically and literally, and not just metaphorically \u2014 as the Scriptures record. \u00a0He ascended to heaven\u00a0and is now seated at the right hand of the Father. \u00a0He will come again with glory\u00a0to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will never end.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I accept the Son as the Savior and Redeemer of all humankind, through his Atonement, and as the only way for us to return to the presence of God.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I believe the Father and the Son to have physical bodies, and the Holy Ghost to be a personage of spirit. \u00a0I believe that the Father and the Son appeared to Joseph Smith in a grove of trees in New York in the spring of 1820.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I believe in the restoration of the Gospel in the latter-days by means of the ministration of angels who, among other things, conferred unique priesthood authority upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery \u2014 from whom it has continued to flow down to the present day within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I \u00a0sustain the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints \u2014 currently Russell M. Nelson \u2014 as the Prophet, Seer, and Revelator and as the only person on the earth who possesses and is authorized to exercise all priesthood keys. \u00a0I sustain members of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles as prophets, seers, and revelators.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I believe the Book of Mormon to be the translation of an authentically ancient account of the interactions with God and each other of groups of Pre-Columbian peoples in the Americas. \u00a0I believe that it records a genuine visit of the resurrected Christ to the New World.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I believe that all human beings are spirit children of God the Father who lived with him in a pre-mortal world, and that all have the innate, ultimate capacity to become like him. \u00a0I believe that all of us will be physically resurrected.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I honor the early Saints of this dispensation. \u00a0Whether or not we\u2019re biologically related, these are my people. \u00a0Their story is my story. \u00a0Their beliefs, largely and fundamentally, are my beliefs. \u00a0The cause that they lived for, and for which some died, is my cause.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Those are a few thoughts. \u00a0There are many more points, obviously, on which I could write. \u00a0But this should be enough to make my point, which is that it seems to me silly and unserious to claim that someone who affirms what I\u2019ve affirmed above belongs to a \u201cdifferent church\u201d or belongs to a \u201cdifferent faith\u201d than historic Mormonism.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Posted from Canmore, Alberta, Canada<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 From the Church\u2019s official news site: \u00a0\u201cNew Monument Connects Past Pioneers with Today\u2019s Immigrants Looking for a Better Life:\u00a0Remembering more than 650 children who died during the 19th century emigration to Utah\u201d \u00a0 I\u2019m reminded of one of the greatest and most significant talks delivered at General Conference in my lifetime: \u00a0 \u201cRefuge […]<\/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-76371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
Connecting with the Past<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\" From the Church's official news site: \u00a0"New Monument Connects Past Pioneers with Today\u2019s Immigrants Looking for a Better Life:\u00a0Remembering\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/07\/connecting-with-the-past.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Connecting with the Past\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\" From the Church's official news site: \u00a0"New Monument Connects Past Pioneers with Today\u2019s Immigrants Looking for a Better Life:\u00a0Remembering\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2019\/07\/connecting-with-the-past.html\" \/>\n<meta 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![\"Death](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2017\/09\/death-on-trek-82840-gallery.jpg\")
<\/a>