First day using the Joseph Smith manual
Posted: Mon Jan 07, 2008 5:58 am
last week, I was asked by my HP group leader, to teach the first lesson... when he initially asked, I laughed, and asked him if he was serious. well it turns out he was, and he wished me to initiate the new year going through the first section, which is a highlight of the entire career of Joseph Smith, birth to death.. I guess I have made enough insightful, non-offensive comments lately to qualify to teach the group.
For those who care, in my privately held opinion, the manual is a collection of everything I have grown to hate about correlated "teachings of the prophets" manuals.. they are full of white-washed history, faith promoting rumors, and historic events invented post hoc, and inserted into the swiss cheese belief system Joseph and crew created when they invented Mormonism.
Yeah, I laughed at his face when he asked me to teach, because I thought he knew my position of respectful non-belief. I have told him many times, but I guess his paradigm did not allow him to translate what I have said, into what I actually said. I think he has a better understanding now..
I prepared what I thought was an completely innocuous lesson -- I stuck to the manual, and few things from the Era & Ensign, and one FARMS paper comparing multiple versions of the First Vision. It was hard to jam everything I wanted to review in the 40 or so minutes, but I tried my best.. I was a little astonished at what the group did not know. overall, it was a congenial discussion.
here is a partial list of things many HP's heard for the first time today..
1. Joseph Smith's birthday, and Moroni's visits are astrologically significant days - solstice & equinox
2. that there were more than one version of the first vision.
3. the plates and U&T were taken back by Moroni after the 116 pages were lost, and only the plates were returned..
4. Yes - we delved heavily into the seer-stones, where he found it, how he used it, the 1826 court record, what he was doing when he met emma, that it was used to receive the entire Book of Mormon. ie... the plates were never used ...etc cetera...
5. the exact date Peter James & John restored the higher priesthood is unknown, but first recorded in 1831
6. the original name the church used, the first change, and the second change...
7. failed attempt to sell the copyright of the Book of Mormon in Canada
8. that polygamy was not only taught by Joseph "since 1831" it was practiced by him -- often --
9. his death was primarily caused by the destruction of the Nauvoo expositor Press..
at first I was nervous, but it turns out someone on the High Council was there to happily confirm everything I taught... in retrospect it was kind of funny, every time I shared some paradigm stretching information with the group. a few of them would look back and see Bro. Man*** nodding his head, and saying yup -- that is the way it is recorded in the history...
I think I just sold 6 RSR's for Dr. Bushman.. he can thank me later --
For those who care, in my privately held opinion, the manual is a collection of everything I have grown to hate about correlated "teachings of the prophets" manuals.. they are full of white-washed history, faith promoting rumors, and historic events invented post hoc, and inserted into the swiss cheese belief system Joseph and crew created when they invented Mormonism.
Yeah, I laughed at his face when he asked me to teach, because I thought he knew my position of respectful non-belief. I have told him many times, but I guess his paradigm did not allow him to translate what I have said, into what I actually said. I think he has a better understanding now..
I prepared what I thought was an completely innocuous lesson -- I stuck to the manual, and few things from the Era & Ensign, and one FARMS paper comparing multiple versions of the First Vision. It was hard to jam everything I wanted to review in the 40 or so minutes, but I tried my best.. I was a little astonished at what the group did not know. overall, it was a congenial discussion.
here is a partial list of things many HP's heard for the first time today..
1. Joseph Smith's birthday, and Moroni's visits are astrologically significant days - solstice & equinox
2. that there were more than one version of the first vision.
3. the plates and U&T were taken back by Moroni after the 116 pages were lost, and only the plates were returned..
4. Yes - we delved heavily into the seer-stones, where he found it, how he used it, the 1826 court record, what he was doing when he met emma, that it was used to receive the entire Book of Mormon. ie... the plates were never used ...etc cetera...
5. the exact date Peter James & John restored the higher priesthood is unknown, but first recorded in 1831
6. the original name the church used, the first change, and the second change...
7. failed attempt to sell the copyright of the Book of Mormon in Canada
8. that polygamy was not only taught by Joseph "since 1831" it was practiced by him -- often --
9. his death was primarily caused by the destruction of the Nauvoo expositor Press..
at first I was nervous, but it turns out someone on the High Council was there to happily confirm everything I taught... in retrospect it was kind of funny, every time I shared some paradigm stretching information with the group. a few of them would look back and see Bro. Man*** nodding his head, and saying yup -- that is the way it is recorded in the history...
I think I just sold 6 RSR's for Dr. Bushman.. he can thank me later --