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Now I realize we have a wide variety of believers/non-believers on this site, but Green Monstah's reply in the last thread I posted where he said "I remember GRAPPLING with that in high school" got me thinking. What was the first piece of information about the church that I ever "grappled" with. What was the first "weight on my shelf" that started me down the path that I'm on today?
For me, it was learning of the doctrinal rifts between Joseph Fielding Smith and James Talmage while on my mission.
The first one was very small. I was reading, I think, Doctrines of Salvation by Joseph Fielding Smith--a local member let me borrow his copy. And in it, JFS addressed what he considered to be a GROSS misconception (every misconception seemed to be a GROSS misconception to JFS) which was that Jesus didn't visit the Book of Mormon people until "several weeks" after his resurrection. He thought the verses made it abundantly clear that he appeared right after his resurrection, maybe even between the time he first appeared to Mary Magdalene, and before he appeared to all his Apostles. Or that he was kind of bouncing back and forth between the two groups.
I was stunned to read this, because I remember reading in Jesus the Christ, which was part of the missionary library that was sitting on my desk in front of me, that the account we read of in 3 Nephi happened about 6 weeks after his ressurection. This was in the missionary library. This was written by an Apostle, supposedly most of it in the Salt Lake Temple. This was actually published by the church. And very few things were.
But...JFS became the President of the Church. And I could not locate a redaction of that assertion anywhere. So who do I believe? Who was right on this issue? How could they possibly disagree on such a simple, tiny thing? Why didn't God set one of them straight? It seemed like SUCH a big deal to JFS, if it was, then why wouldn't God settle the matter between them?
Up until that point I had always taken anything any apostle said as "the gospel truth" but what was I to do if two of them disagreed? Weren't these men walking and talking with God? Couldn't they see into the Spirit world? Wasn't the past, present, and future available to them at all times? How could they continue to disagree with each other on...anything?
And I found out it went way beyond the timing of Jesus' visit to the Americas. I also discovered that Talmage was also a proponent of evolution, which according to JFS was quite literally "the doctrine of the devil. If death existed before Adam fell then there was no need for a Savior. No worthy member should believe such a lie." (or something close to that).
The DEVIL'S DOCTRINE??? How did Talmage make it to the end of his life in good standing if he believed in THE DEVIL'S DOCTRINE. A doctrine that denies the need for a savior at all? And if JFS was wrong, how did he become the Prophet? And once he was the Prophet, why didn't he excommunicate Talmage for apostasy--for touting the Devil's Doctrine???
Anyway. That was something I grappled with when I was on my mission. I locked it away. I "placed it on my shelf." And I left it there, and just assumed I'd know the answer when I died for about 6 more years.
What was your first "weight"? Any takers?
For me, it was learning of the doctrinal rifts between Joseph Fielding Smith and James Talmage while on my mission.
The first one was very small. I was reading, I think, Doctrines of Salvation by Joseph Fielding Smith--a local member let me borrow his copy. And in it, JFS addressed what he considered to be a GROSS misconception (every misconception seemed to be a GROSS misconception to JFS) which was that Jesus didn't visit the Book of Mormon people until "several weeks" after his resurrection. He thought the verses made it abundantly clear that he appeared right after his resurrection, maybe even between the time he first appeared to Mary Magdalene, and before he appeared to all his Apostles. Or that he was kind of bouncing back and forth between the two groups.
I was stunned to read this, because I remember reading in Jesus the Christ, which was part of the missionary library that was sitting on my desk in front of me, that the account we read of in 3 Nephi happened about 6 weeks after his ressurection. This was in the missionary library. This was written by an Apostle, supposedly most of it in the Salt Lake Temple. This was actually published by the church. And very few things were.
But...JFS became the President of the Church. And I could not locate a redaction of that assertion anywhere. So who do I believe? Who was right on this issue? How could they possibly disagree on such a simple, tiny thing? Why didn't God set one of them straight? It seemed like SUCH a big deal to JFS, if it was, then why wouldn't God settle the matter between them?
Up until that point I had always taken anything any apostle said as "the gospel truth" but what was I to do if two of them disagreed? Weren't these men walking and talking with God? Couldn't they see into the Spirit world? Wasn't the past, present, and future available to them at all times? How could they continue to disagree with each other on...anything?
And I found out it went way beyond the timing of Jesus' visit to the Americas. I also discovered that Talmage was also a proponent of evolution, which according to JFS was quite literally "the doctrine of the devil. If death existed before Adam fell then there was no need for a Savior. No worthy member should believe such a lie." (or something close to that).
The DEVIL'S DOCTRINE??? How did Talmage make it to the end of his life in good standing if he believed in THE DEVIL'S DOCTRINE. A doctrine that denies the need for a savior at all? And if JFS was wrong, how did he become the Prophet? And once he was the Prophet, why didn't he excommunicate Talmage for apostasy--for touting the Devil's Doctrine???
Anyway. That was something I grappled with when I was on my mission. I locked it away. I "placed it on my shelf." And I left it there, and just assumed I'd know the answer when I died for about 6 more years.
What was your first "weight"? Any takers?
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