Mormons cherish excellence, or whatever.

We often hear sort-of-doctrinal talks about how the Lord expects us to be the very best we can, that the Lord wants us to excel even in our non-spiritual endeavors. We look to Dale Murphy and J. Reuben Clark and a hundred other ultra-successful Mormons as examples, and believe that we, too, are called to great heights of worldly, but pure, success. For myself, I’m easily swept away by notions of the nobility of hard work and tedious sacrifice. I can’t help but admit that these men, who’ve risen to the tops of their fields and remained devout, are the ideal for me, as well as for the church as a whole. It’s a commonplace to note the great success of so many of our leaders in their earlier secular pursuits, and it’s a common assumption that we are capable of similar achievements.

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Two very interesting posts at T&S (as well as the ensuing discussions), have got me thinking about how we approach the bible in our church. This is not a new topic for me, despite my complete lack of familiarity with the scholarly knowledge-base surrounding it. And despite that ignorance, I thought it might be worthwhile to re-publish an old post of mind about my difficulties with the bible, to see what thoughts it might elicit from the very sophisticated audience here.

The Invisible Clauses of the Eighth Article of Faith

The Eighth Article of Faith reads as follows: We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.*

*and we mean “translated correctly” in the loosest sense, contemplating caveats for historical omissions, bad-faith additions, and all the weird stuff that’s just too strange to accept.

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Would you mind helping a friend of mine with a difficult situation?

Let us call her Erin. Erin is new to her ward. She spent the first five months without a calling, and this led to her wishing for more involvement. She hoped to build the kind of friendships she’d had in previous wards, and admired many people here from a distance, but never had occasion to get to know anyone. Despite some proactive attempts, acquaintances didn’t grow into friendships, and her relationships with those in her ward remained warm but distant. Erin’s world remained largely defined by her kids, with whom she spent all day, every day.

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Few urban legends have had as great an influence over a civilization as the story of Prester John held over the people of medieval Europe. Prester John’s origins are traced back to a lengthy letter originally addressed to the Kings of Constantinople and Rome, purportedly sent from Prester John himself (Prester is an archaic term for presbyter, or priest– meant to convey the piety of the person so entitled). In the letter, Prester John introduced himself as a powerful Christian king of far off lands near “the Three Indias.”

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Getting married usually means doubling one’s family. And depite one’s best intentions, after a few years, one finds that yes, the in-laws actually have become one’s family. So now I have two families, to whom I’m tied with bonds of equal strength and affection. It’s a great situation for drawing conclusions about the various ways that families can be their own kind of good.

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