I created a new thread in the celestial forum asking the apologist to delineate "official" doctrine in regards to a few of the creation story points.
If you feel you know the official doctrine, please elucidate.
Feel free to quote and reference anything published by the Church. But don't think the matter is settled until you're sure you've considered all statements on the subject as well as what they do and do not say. I might join you later.
I created a new thread in the celestial forum asking the apologist to delineate "official" doctrine in regards to a few of the creation story points.
If you feel you know the official doctrine, please elucidate.
Feel free to quote and reference anything published by the Church. But don't think the matter is settled until you're sure you've considered all statements on the subject as well as what they do and do not say. I might join you later.
I am not quoting nor referencing anything, rather asking you apologists who claim to know the official doctrine to delineate it for us whose comprehension is limited.
It is better to be a warrior in a garden, than a gardener at war.
Some of us, on the other hand, actually prefer a religion that includes some type of correlation with reality. ~Bill Hamblin
I'm tried to discover what is "official" Church doctrine since 1979. Does anybody know?
Yes. You could have studied Teaching, No Greater Call and a few other manuals or you could have served a mission or attended a teacher preparation class etc. etc. All the statements gleaned from those sources and put together shows that what the Church publishes is official doctrine. I and everyone else (active and believing) in the Church maintained that for years before this affirming and summary statement came out:
Not every statement made by a Church leader, past or present, necessarily constitutes doctrine. A single statement made by a single leader on a single occasion often represents a personal, though well-considered, opinion, but is not meant to be officially binding for the whole Church. With divine inspiration, the First Presidency (the prophet and his two counselors) and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (the second-highest governing body of the Church) counsel together to establish doctrine that is consistently proclaimed in official Church publications. This doctrine resides in the four “standard works” of scripture (the Holy Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price), official declarations and proclamations, and the Articles of Faith. Isolated statements are often taken out of context, leaving their original meaning distorted. Approaching Mormon Doctrine
Many of your fellow critics, as well as apologists, with axes to grind or pet theories to protect, despite their grumbling, are finally accepting this principle that the Church itself accepted 30-40+ years ago. The foundational doctrine behind this has been around since 1835 (D&C 107) in which we see that the FP and Qo12 are equal in authority and hence all of them must agree before something becomes doctrine.
Any critic who does not accept this always finds himself talking around LDS members instead of to them.
Liz: Idea; you should pin this post (not this thread) at the top because this question keeps coming up. Feel free to allow other comments to be made.
I'm tried to discover what is "official" Church doctrine since 1979. Does anybody know?
Yes. You could have studied Teaching, No Greater Call and a few other manuals or you could have served a mission or attended a teacher preparation class etc. etc. All the statements gleaned from those sources and put together shows that what the Church publishes is official doctrine. I and everyone else (active and believing) in the Church maintained that for years before this affirming and summary statement came out:
Not every statement made by a Church leader, past or present, necessarily constitutes doctrine. A single statement made by a single leader on a single occasion often represents a personal, though well-considered, opinion, but is not meant to be officially binding for the whole Church. With divine inspiration, the First Presidency (the prophet and his two counselors) and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (the second-highest governing body of the Church) counsel together to establish doctrine that is consistently proclaimed in official Church publications. This doctrine resides in the four “standard works” of scripture (the Holy Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price), official declarations and proclamations, and the Articles of Faith. Isolated statements are often taken out of context, leaving their original meaning distorted. Approaching Mormon Doctrine
Many of your fellow critics, as well as apologists, with axes to grind or pet theories to protect, despite their grumbling, are finally accepting this principle that the Church itself accepted 30-40+ years ago. The foundational doctrine behind this has been around since 1835 (D&C 107) in which we see that the FP and Qo12 are equal in authority and hence all of them must agree before something becomes doctrine.
Any critic who does not accept this always finds himself talking around LDS members instead of to them.
Liz: Idea; you should pin this post (not this thread) at the top because this question keeps coming up. Feel free to allow other comments to be made.