Monday, February 1, 2010

The Only Religious Constant in Scripture is Change

Although God is the same yesterday, today and forever, the structural and social and symbolic has changed multiple times throughout scripture. Baptism replaced circumcision; the Jewish dietary system was modified in the early Christian Church; women in one society were told to remain silent, but almost no Christian denomination still follows that prior constraint; Paul dictated comparative hair length (again, at least in one society), and that has been abandoned in our day; polygamy was practiced by many Old Testament prophets but not by later societies. Eternal principles might not change, but the practical lives believers have led throughout time have changed in nearly innumerable ways.

I understand the difficulty of many in accepting the changes that mark the history of Mormonism, but I am struck by the double standard this imposes on the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Every other Christian denomination that has been around for as long as our church has some aspect of its current practice and belief that is different than when it was founded - and different than what is described in the Bible. The fact that change occurred (even major change) is not the issue; whether or not that change was inspired is.

3 comments:

MORONIANGELOFLIGHT said...

You're very wise to question all that you are learning and digging deep to find out what the Truth really is!

Gwennaƫlle said...

What strikes me the most about those changes is that the more things seems to change the more they seem to remain the same.
Following this path I like to look at other cultures and belief and I am humbled by the deeds and influence of God in all those groups that most mormons consider "to be saved".
I call "mormons" all those dogmatic members of the church.

I talked about you in RS. Not really "you" but the fact that I find your blog inspiring.
The lesson was about developping more spirituality and I just could not believe the answers that came out, I was wondering why these women had left primary.
So I said that you don't always have to take two or three hours of meditation.
We all spend too much time on the net, Sometimes because we need to, but even then we can look for inspiring blogs and read them for five minutes just to get food for thoughts and maybe feel connected to something bigger than our little unit.
Someone asked me for my "inpiring" blogs in French, I must say that I don't have many.
and I just could not refrain from giving yours as well. You often have simple post that can be understood by the people I know.

Papa D said...

MAoL, I am very comfortable with my knowledge and belief in the LDS Church. I've been exposed to everything imaginable and have a testimony that is very strong. As to your description of giving yourself to Christ after leaving the LDS Church, I'm glad you feel connected to Christ - but it isn't necessary to leave the LDS Church to do so. The entire theological focus of Mormonism is to become more Christlike and godly - and that's the central theme of the Bible.

I wish you joy in your journey - truly and sincerely.

Gwen - thank you.