Here's the column. It should be a catalyst for some interesting discussion. A couple of excerpts:
It's a good, candid read, and I think is a fine statement of the way many thoughtful believers look at Church history.
Without realizing it, I had been letting my testimony slip into a dangerous condition of contingency. That is, I had been letting the accusations of traitors and anti-Mormons raise doubts in my own heart about whether the actions of church leaders had always been wise or good — and then I had been letting those doubts reach into the deeper place where my faith in the gospel resided.
So, with Professor Allen's example before me, I leaned back and took a deep breath and thought about things.
From years of study before and during my mission, as well as personal experiences, I knew that God lived and this church was the chief organ of his work in the world.
Just because I was now finding out details about church history that had not been taught to me in Sunday School or in some of the official histories did not mean that the things I had been taught were not true.
In short, why should I let my own previous ignorance make me doubt things about the gospel that I had ample reason to be certain of?
I learned to approach church history, right up to the present, with this attitude: This happened … and the church is true.
Mistakes, misjudgments, speculations about doctrine and some indefensible actions were done by members of the church. But the imperfections of those called to the service of the Lord never imply that God's hand is not in the church.
Instead, they affirm the true principle that the Lord does not turn his followers into sock puppets or ventriloquists' dummies. People are always free to make their choices — even bad ones — and to hold on to their misunderstandings.
So, with Professor Allen's example before me, I leaned back and took a deep breath and thought about things.
From years of study before and during my mission, as well as personal experiences, I knew that God lived and this church was the chief organ of his work in the world.
Just because I was now finding out details about church history that had not been taught to me in Sunday School or in some of the official histories did not mean that the things I had been taught were not true.
In short, why should I let my own previous ignorance make me doubt things about the gospel that I had ample reason to be certain of?
I learned to approach church history, right up to the present, with this attitude: This happened … and the church is true.
Mistakes, misjudgments, speculations about doctrine and some indefensible actions were done by members of the church. But the imperfections of those called to the service of the Lord never imply that God's hand is not in the church.
Instead, they affirm the true principle that the Lord does not turn his followers into sock puppets or ventriloquists' dummies. People are always free to make their choices — even bad ones — and to hold on to their misunderstandings.
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