40 Answers from a Mormon

I saw a couple of facebook links from a sister of mine to some dude with a blog that had posted 40 questions for Christians.  This obviously meant something to her, so I wanted to respond at some level.  This particular list is not as impressive as it may sound.  There are really about 5 questions that are asked in different ways.  These questions seem to be more focused on main-stream Christianity.  And in my highly biased opinion, Mormonism provides better answers.

So, I know this is long (although my answers are very brief), but it is something that can be easily skimmed through.  I hope some of these simple answers are meaningful to someone. – especially the sister.

Dude. You Have the Scriptures on Your IPod?!

A paraphrased story from my #2 son:

We have recently moved to a small town in western Ohio.  My #2 son is one of only two young men in the local high school (as far as I know).  He is participating on the football team and just the other day the team had a meal together.  At the table where he sat, the conversation turned to the practices of Mormonism.  The report of the conversations went something like this:

“So you believe there should not be any sex before marriage.”

“Yes”, my boy said.

“Seriously?”

“Yes”

“What would you do if a pretty girl came up to you, unzipped your pants, and gave you a hand job?”

“I would probably slap her face.”

“No you wouldn’t”

“Yes I would”

“What about Adam and Eve, they weren’t married”

“Yes the were”

My son then pulls out his IPod and goes to Genesis 1 to show that Adam and Eve were husband and wife.

“Dude.  You have the scriptures on your IPod?!”

The boy seemed to handle it pretty well.  And seems to have no fear.

Essential Properties of God: Freedom, Goodness and Necessity

To wrap up notes on T. J. Mawson’s Philosophy of Religion lecutes, here are the final three essential properties of God.  On these three, I feel most Mormons will be in pretty good agreement.  So here is my take.

A Link to a Review of Connor Boyack’s ‘Latter Day Liberty’

My friend and former co-blogger at the Blogger of Jared has written a book on his political views called ‘Latter Day Liberty’.  I have not read the book yet, and I rarely talk politics, but I wanted to pass along this link and congratulate Connor.  His book sold out the 1200 copies of the first printing in two weeks.  If you are interested in Ron Paul type political thought mingled with scripture you will likely enjoy this book.  The review can be found here.

I Know the Church is True – Or – Epistemology of a Testimony

I know that the church is true.

This statement is repeated over, and over again on the first Sunday of every month in Fast and Testimony meetings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  Members, of course, are not forced to say this, but most of them do.  This certain statement bothers a few people when they hear it.  They will often say that the ‘know’ part is to strong, and ‘true’ is a pretty strong word as well.

Paid Ministry and Corruption

Many members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints take some pride in the claim that there is no paid ministry in the church.  This is true enough on the local level, where local leaders volunteer all of their time without financial compensation.  But I understand that it is also true that many (if not all) full time general leaders of the church do get paid – something along the lines of what a college professor might earn.  If this is not true please correct me, but it is my understanding, and I will proceed as if it were true.

Grace vs. Grace Alone

I served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Georgia.  While I was there, I came across many conservative, fundamentalist, Southern Baptists.  These folks appeared to be heavily influenced by Calvinist theology.  I learned to love the people, but I hated the theology.  Perhaps missionaries who serve in the southern U.S. should receive some type of therapy upon the completion of their mission, because I still get a little grouchy whenever I hear the term ‘grace’.

General Conference and Agency

One of the themes of conference that emerged for me was that of agency.  Elder Hales and President Monson (priesthood session) both spoke on this topic directly.  One idea from the scriptures, which both men shared, is that agency is God-given.  This might seem unambiguous and straight forward, but it brings to my mind questions about what is agency, and how is it given?

The Merits of Meritocracy

The subject of meritocracy was stated on the facebook status of one of my friends.  A hyper-intelligent and talented philosopher who is very knowledgeable about Mormonism confidently declared meritocracy a false doctrine to be refuted.  This is a subject I posted on once or twice and wanted to do it again and figured now may be as good a time as any.

Philosophies of Men, Mingled with Scripture

The phrase ‘the philosophies of men, mingled with scripture’ is sometimes used by Mormons to discredit some idea as a false doctrine, even if the idea has some scriptural support.  It almost always has a strong negative connotation associated with it. I imagine that people who have a background and interest in philosophy wish that this phrase, and the usual usage of it, would just go away.  I do not believe it is likely to go anywhere, and since one place this phrase is used is a narrative that is sacred to Mormons – it may be a warning to be taken seriously.