Mar
10
2010
Poor Wayfaring Man
As noted in a previous post, Church leaders often struggle to control how the lifeblood of the Church (i.e., personal reassurance that one is on the path to salvation in the Celestial Kingdom–a concept I’ve termed “Hope”) is distributed to, and apportioned among, the members of the Church. Below are two examples of such battles.
Example 1: Elder Poelman’s View of Divine Love:
About a month after McConkie’s speech excoriating George Pace for promoting the concept of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, Elder Ronald E. Poelman, a fairly new member of the First Quorum of the Seventy (one level below the apostles in the Church hierarchy) gave an address in General Conference which appears to have been carefully worded to imply the existence of a personal relationship with the Lord, without crossing any of the lines that McConkie had drawn. Elder Poelman’s talk included the following statement: Continue reading
no comments | tags: Apostasy, Bruce R. McConkie, BYU, censorship, Conformity, criticism, divine love, Ensign Magazine, general authorities, General Conference, George Orwell, George Pace, heresy, LDS legalism, LDS spirituality, lifeblood, Living Systems, Mormon History, Nineteen Eighty-Four, obedience, orthodoxy enforcement, priesthood authority, Ronald E. Poelman, Russell M. Nelson, Sunstone Magazine | posted in List Item 02, List Item 03, List Item 04, List Item 08, List Item 09, List Item 21, List Item 22, List Item 23, List Item 24, Mormon Culture, Mormon Doctrine, Mormon Stories
Oct
20
2009
Poor Wayfaring Man
In 1844, in the wake of the Prophet Joseph Smith’s murder at the hands of a mob in a Carthage, Illinois jail, he was eulogized by a very close friend, John Taylor, with the following statement:
“Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it.”
Now, that’s pretty high praise coming from a Christian. Maybe a little too high? Continue reading
no comments | tags: Apostasy, Brigham Young, Conformity, criticism, Dallin H. Oaks, doctrine & covenants, John Taylor, Joseph Smith, LDS Hymns, LDS morals and ethics, LDS Social Circles, Mormon Doctrine, prophets | posted in List Item 01, List Item 02, List Item 03, List Item 04, List Item 07, List Item 09, List Item 21, List Item 22, List Item 23, List Item 24, Mormon Culture, Mormon Doctrine
Oct
1
2009
Poor Wayfaring Man
The name of this blog is derived from an LDS hymn called A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief. It describes a series of encounters the narrator has with a wretched beggar, in which the narrator helps the beggar, and the beggar (or the act of rendering the service itself) somehow gives something valuable back to the narrator. In the end, the beggar turns out to be Jesus.
What lesson does this song teach? Continue reading
no comments | tags: Apostasy, LDS Hymns, LDS Social Circles, Mormon History, New Testament, skepticism | posted in List Item 01, List Item 02, List Item 03, List Item 04, List Item 05, List Item 07, List Item 08, List Item 09, Mormon Culture, Mormon Stories