(Updated)

I had a long conversation tonight (May 19, 2017) with an editor at Book of Mormon Central. He argued that since Peter denied Christ three times, we should not consider prophets like Brigham Young disqualified over false teachings like Adam-God. “Nobody is perfect.” “Everything is human.” “God corrects prophets.”

Some conversation questions:

• Have your leaders ever confessed and repented of false teaching?
• How bad does a prophet have to be before you would consider him disqualified?
• You say Mormonism began with a new dispensation, succeeding the New Testament dispensation. Did it elevate or lower the standards for church leadership? Are LDS standards lower or higher than the New Testament for leadership?
• Did Joseph Smith and Brigham Young meet the qualifications in 1 Timothy and Titus to be a teacher of sound doctrine and a man of one wife?
• When Jesus said that we would know false prophets by their fruits, did he mean for us to limit fruit-inspection to only “official teaching”?
• [Added] Jesus asks, “Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.” (Matthew 7:16-17) What would it look like to treat someone like a thornbush, or as full of thistles?
• Can non-“official” false teaching conceivably disqualify a person from being a true prophet?
• Do you hold Prophets and Apostles to a higher standard than normal LDS members? If so, then what is that standard?
• You have excused Joseph Smith and Brigham Young over certain teachings; you say they are no longer taught, or that they are not official, or that God ended up “correcting” them. Which teachings specifically do you think were false? Were those teachings actually false teachings?

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In October 2011 I had a related interview with Stephen Smoot.

On growing in the grace and discipline of speaking well of others: other brothers, churches, neighbors, family members, even people we have serious issues with. This probably requires meditating on / listing out things we are grateful for in others. Having things ready in mind to say well of others.

Dear […],

Constant personal attacks/accusations, assuming the worst in people (i.e. he just wants to shift and steer and avoid!) is a flag for me that I am better off spending energy pursuing more genuine and good-natured dialog partners. There are plenty of them elsewhere, and they are my genuine friends. Ironically, you understand someone else’s sin better when you don’t demonize them.

I prioritize face-to-face dialog for joy. I like making friends. I like the more robust way one can be Christlike with the whole body (voice, body, eyes). It is more spiritually satisfying. I also enjoy the ability of a friend in dialog to sustain a topic for a long period of time.

When people have time to constantly do battle on Facebook all week, it signals to me that they are “busybodies” — this is bad for the soul. The New Testament associates this recipe with needless drama, quarreling, slander. Theology is better done when a person is doing due diligence in raising their family and working hard. One has less tolerance for unproductive dialog.

Facebook can be wonderful. I still do it. But I dedicate Thursday nights to evangelism and dialog. Most of the dialog I do is downtown then. That is why I especially invite anyone who wants to do recorded (or private) dialog then.

Grace and peace,

Aaron

“Once you conquer the world, John, you’ll be bored. You know that, right?” (Lydia, observing his playing of Civilization V)

Not just the end of life, but the loss of youth, the end of one’s prime, and regret.

Resurrection-life can never perish, spoil or fade (1 Peter 1:4). Forever in prime and pure. The best kind of life forever.

“And he called the twelve and began to send them out two by two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits.” (Mark 6:7)

If we had nothing but Mark 1-5, and in it nothing but examples of Jesus exercising his authority, how therefore should we assume that Jesus authorized his apostles to do their initial work around Galilee?

The same way he:

• Healed the man with an unclean spirit in the synagogue
• Cleansed the leper
• Healed the paralytic
• Called Peter the fisherman and Levi the tax collector to be disciples
• Healed the man with a withered hand
• Calmed a storm
• Demanded demons to shut up
• Cast demons out into pigs
• Healed Jairus’ daughter

What is the pattern of Jesus’ authority? What is the natural reading of “he gave them authority”?

By the authority of his word and the power of his name.

Interesting that in the few examples of touch, one (with the leper) is significant because it is unexpected (Jesus was contagious, not the leper!), or gentle and tender (with Jairus’ “sleeping” daughter). We have already learned by this point that Jesus doesn’t *need* to touch anyone.

If Jesus can cast a demon out by his words, he can can cleanse a leper by his words, and if Jesus can heal (and forgive!) the paralytic by his words, he didn’t need to touch Jairus’ daughter.

Jesus’ family “went to take charge of him” (Mark 3:20) when the crowds were pressing in — so much Jesus and his disciples were unable to enjoy a meal. Their charge: “He is out of his mind.” (3:21)

They attempted a family intervention — of a man over thirty years of age. This is the context of his comments on, “Who are my mother and my brothers?”

The Four Gospels: “Passion narratives with extended introductions.” (Craig Blomberg summarizing Martin Kähler)

“This disproportionate amount of attention to the last events of Jesus’ life reflects the centrality of the crucifixion in early Christian thought.”

Blomberg, Craig L. (2009-08-01). Jesus and the Gospels (p. 129). B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Jesus’ family: “He is out of his mind!” (Mark 3:21)

Jesus’ community of religious leaders: “He has an evil spirit!” (3:30)

Jesus’ friend: “I do not know this man of whom you speak!” (14:71)

Contrast:

“I am a special kind of Christian, the elite kind; not like *those* other Christians. I am defined by how I stand out among them, and I have no affection for their weak. I have nothing but embarrassment over them, and I am not eager to be one in mind with them, nor am I willing to be publicly shamed by association with them.”

vs.

“The least of Christians are my equal brothers, coheirs of the same inheritance, better men than I in blind spots of my own, especially to be loved when weak, all the more worth associating with when lowly, to be served with loving wisdom when ignorant, and not characterized by their worst. God distributed gifts to them that I do not have, and I am mutually encouraged by their faith. God chose the poor of the world to be rich in faith, and those are my people, since their savior is my savior, their God my God.”