Trying to flesh out and refine a thought that came to me yesterday.

It has to do with the fluidity/hypocrisy of Mormon belief. Mormons are very big on declaring Eternal Truths. They go on and on about God's ways being unchanging etc. The book of Mormon is the most correct book blah blah blah. Then they turn around and offer a caveat "but it is superseded as needed by Modern revelation".

Modern Revelation is the most up to date word of God right? God sometimes needs to clarify and change things based on the current situation so a living prophet is indispensable and proof that the church is true. We need to hang on his every word to be safe. Why can't us apostates understand this simple truth?!

Here is the problem. Joseph Smith had lots of "modern" revelations. Polygamy and the Word of Wisdom are two great examples. If a member of the church follows either of those sections of the Doctrine and Covenants as written, that member would be excommunicated pretty damn fast.

If the doctrine of the restoration of the fullness of the gospel can't last for even 200 years, then why do we bother reading scriptures/doctrines that are purported to be 2000 years old? How could they possibly be relevant today?

Can anybody help me distill this idea down to a sentence or two? I need something meme sized that I can toss out the next time my TBM wife and I allow a religious discussion. I don't want to be mean with it, I just want to express the idea quickly and poignantly so that it will percolate in her brain. Our religion discussions are few and far between but they do happen. They also help. Again, I'm not looking to score debate points, I'm looking to trigger some thinking. In my case the delivery makes all the difference and a quick catchy phrase is all I might have time for.

How about "the word of God is unchanging, except when it's not".

The Eternal Gospel is unchanging until it gets labeled a policy.

God's ways are unchanging. Well, you know, except for the obvious changes.

This is what I posted yesterday (somewhat on this topic):

Just for a few minutes, let's suppose that we were somewhat believers in the CULT (one foot in and one foot out so to speak). There have been 16 profits including JS in 184 years. I know that this is not the way it is done, but this averages to a new profit every 11.5 years.

Now go back to our supposition; God speaks to these profits directly since they restored the correct CULT to the earth. Does anyone really believe that God would change his mind roughly every 11.5 years? Remember that a living profit trumps the dead one.
11.5 years is not that much time on earth. In God terms it is a fraction of a second (in our supposition). God would have to be seriously mentally ill to change his mind that often.

No CULT should have such drastic changes in such a short time. It just doesn't add up does it?

Even if everything else made sense (which of course it doesn't) this many changes would make me go WTF?

Since God was once a man, he is subject to the same illnesses men/humans get. He has had multiple personalities for the past 184 years!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/30/2014 01:24PM by verilyverily.

A way I saw something like this that usually get's a laugh is something like.....

"They mean eternal until they mean temporary"

"They mean doctrinal, until they mean policy"

"They mean prophet, until they mean man."

Or even more easily said

"They mean eternal, until they don't"

It should be referred to as "temporary eternity"

We have always been at war with Eastasia.

They are loaded and mean so much to me as an apostate. I'm just wondering which one to use with my wife. As a believer she might miss the impact.....

The only way for doctrine to remain immutable is to change the meaning of the word itself. That which has been disavowed was never doctrine, and that which is doctrine has yet to be denied. This way the faith appears unchanging at any given moment, though it has no more continuity than a snapshot.

Today's revelation is tomorrow's apostasy.

What she believes today will be looked back on as those idiotic 21st century beliefs. The principles that she would bleed and die for to defend, TSCC will disavow as soon as it becomes an embarrassment for them.

My sig. line over on PostMo says:

Truth Restored, unless it becomes embarrassing, then we'll change it.

In 1978, according to the Mormon prophet, God changed his mind about black people.

It's one thing to say, we got it wrong, and we are changing. It's quite another to say that God was an asshat but now is not.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/30/2014 08:03PM by summer.