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I had friends in high school who were shocked that I had no idea who some moderately obscure characters from the Book of Mormon were. I had mission companions who criticized me for never reading the scriptures. My retort was that it didn't matter much I read the scriptures if I couldn't communicate in Russian, so I was going to spend my mission studying Russian.
I think the scriptures are remarkable because they are venerated, but I think they are overemphasized in our Church. I remember being shocked to see my roommates at BYU set their alarms for 6 AM every day to read the Book of Mormon. I didn't think it was necessarily a bad thing, but I never understood it. I may be less educated about Mormon theology than some of you scripture-reading folks, but I do enjoy talking about real issues instead of reading spam.
The reason I started the post on the virgin birth was to explore reasonable versus supernatural explanations for the events we observe.
Sometimes theology (what I like to call mytheology) seems like a never-ending loop of illogical explanations for the world around us.
For example, in reference to the virgin birth I envision this series of actual events:
1. Jesus was born out of wedlock
2. Jesus was denigrated for being born out of wedlock.
3. At some point, his followers contrived a story (perhaps unintentionally) that it must have been a virgin birth--by the spirit of God.
4. Since Jesus was the son of God, this explanation for Jesus's birth out of wedlock is even better.
5. Along comes Joseph Smith, and he develops a more enhanced explanation where Jesus was able to overcome mortality because his father had an immortal body. Being the son of a mortal woman made it possible for him to die.
6. Brigham Young improves on Joseph Smith's version by suggesting that God had intercourse with Mary. This version is later retracted by others.
Regarding the resurrection:
1. Jesus is crucified. His followers are in disbelief.
2. His body is put in a tomb.
3. His body is taken from the tomb by some followers who want to protect his body. (It also could have been stolen by someone else.)
4. Women think they see Jesus, when in fact it was someone who looked like Jesus. They may have even seen him in a dream and rumors begin to spread that they actually saw him in person.
5. More Jesus sightings continue, akin to Elvis sightings.
6. Jesus receives status of resurrected being in the minds of his followers.
I love the doctrine of the resurrection. I think it's great. I believe in it on a certain level, but I find it completely unreasonable and strange. Why should it matter that he was resurrected? Why should his resurrection affect whether I am resurrected? It defies all logic. I wish I could get up in Church and ask the crowd to explain it to me like I'm a 5 year old, because they obviously get something that I don't.
It all seems like a convoluted loop of fact mixed with mythology and rumors, and I fail to see the point. I guess it's just about our fear of death, but why can't God reveal enough detail to make things at least sound reasonable?
I think the scriptures are remarkable because they are venerated, but I think they are overemphasized in our Church. I remember being shocked to see my roommates at BYU set their alarms for 6 AM every day to read the Book of Mormon. I didn't think it was necessarily a bad thing, but I never understood it. I may be less educated about Mormon theology than some of you scripture-reading folks, but I do enjoy talking about real issues instead of reading spam.
The reason I started the post on the virgin birth was to explore reasonable versus supernatural explanations for the events we observe.
Sometimes theology (what I like to call mytheology) seems like a never-ending loop of illogical explanations for the world around us.
For example, in reference to the virgin birth I envision this series of actual events:
1. Jesus was born out of wedlock
2. Jesus was denigrated for being born out of wedlock.
3. At some point, his followers contrived a story (perhaps unintentionally) that it must have been a virgin birth--by the spirit of God.
4. Since Jesus was the son of God, this explanation for Jesus's birth out of wedlock is even better.
5. Along comes Joseph Smith, and he develops a more enhanced explanation where Jesus was able to overcome mortality because his father had an immortal body. Being the son of a mortal woman made it possible for him to die.
6. Brigham Young improves on Joseph Smith's version by suggesting that God had intercourse with Mary. This version is later retracted by others.
Regarding the resurrection:
1. Jesus is crucified. His followers are in disbelief.
2. His body is put in a tomb.
3. His body is taken from the tomb by some followers who want to protect his body. (It also could have been stolen by someone else.)
4. Women think they see Jesus, when in fact it was someone who looked like Jesus. They may have even seen him in a dream and rumors begin to spread that they actually saw him in person.
5. More Jesus sightings continue, akin to Elvis sightings.
6. Jesus receives status of resurrected being in the minds of his followers.
I love the doctrine of the resurrection. I think it's great. I believe in it on a certain level, but I find it completely unreasonable and strange. Why should it matter that he was resurrected? Why should his resurrection affect whether I am resurrected? It defies all logic. I wish I could get up in Church and ask the crowd to explain it to me like I'm a 5 year old, because they obviously get something that I don't.
It all seems like a convoluted loop of fact mixed with mythology and rumors, and I fail to see the point. I guess it's just about our fear of death, but why can't God reveal enough detail to make things at least sound reasonable?
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