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The Book of Mormon is not primarily a historical record that looks to the past. Rather, this volume of scripture looks to the future and contains important principles, warnings, and lessons intended for the circumstances and challenges of our day. Hence, the Book of Mormon is a book about our future and the times in which we do now and will yet live.

Ancient voices from the dust plead with us today to learn this everlasting lesson: prosperity, possessions, and ease constitute a potent mixture that can lead even the righteous to drink the spiritual poison of pride.

First, it seems Bednar is starting down the path toward a belief in a non-historical Book of Mormon, emphasizing lessons, warnings, and principles intended for the future.

Second, the irony of an LDS church leader preaching that prosperity leads to the poison of pride is rich. (Pun intended, as the hoard of money LDS leaders are no longer successful in hiding is obscene.)

Is this a bid to convince members they are better off being poor, and therefore they should let the institutional church have their assets?

As an outsider, it looks like reframing to make historicity irrelevant. Maybe some pushback on the concept of prosperity gospel. It’s hard to tell without having some inside perspective.

That's what the apologists at one time would call the fallacy of presentism, if they could be consistent. We can't look back a couple hundred years and judge Joseph Smith's actions by the standards of our day, but Nephi could look two thousand years into the future and tell us everything we need to know about ours based on the standards of his day.

Marcus wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 07, 2024 1:19 am

The Book of Mormon is not primarily a historical record that looks to the past. Rather, this volume of scripture looks to the future and contains important principles, warnings, and lessons intended for the circumstances and challenges of our day. Hence, the Book of Mormon is a book about our future and the times in which we do now and will yet live.

Ancient voices from the dust plead with us today to learn this everlasting lesson: prosperity, possessions, and ease constitute a potent mixture that can lead even the righteous to drink the spiritual poison of pride.

First, it seems Bednar is starting down the path toward a belief in a non-historical Book of Mormon, emphasizing lessons, warnings, and principles intended for the future.

Second, the irony of an LDS church leader preaching that prosperity leads to the poison of pride is rich. (Pun intended, as the hoard of money LDS leaders are no longer successful in hiding is obscene.)

Is this a bid to convince members they are better off being poor, and therefore they should let the institutional church have their assets?

It seems Bednar likes to recycle his talks…

“The Book of Mormon is not a book of history. The Book of Mormon is a book about the future. It describes episodes in the lives of people thousands of years ago, but the writers of the record and especially the compilers of the record were inspired by the Lord to include the things that we would need for the world in which we live today.”

— Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, devotional address in the Amman Branch in Jordan, October 2021

https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders/2 ... follow-me/

I guess Bednar knows the historicity of The Book of Mormon doesn’t hold up under scrutiny, and so is trying to draw members attention away from that aspect.

Bednar October 2024

We always must be on guard against a pride-induced and exaggerated sense of self-importance

https://www.deseret.com/faith/2024/10/0 ... -messages/

Bednar is the chap who proclaimed that what he says is modern scripture. Anecdotally, I know first hand that Bednar is the worst Apostle for insisting everyone stands before he enters a room. He insists on it. He has people check that everyone is standing before he enters.

I have a hard time keeping up with modern slang. I asked on the other forum what "xit" was. Surely you are not saying Bednar has acne.

Moksha wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 07, 2024 9:51 am

I have a hard time keeping up with modern slang. I asked on the other forum what "xit" was. Surely you are not saying Bednar has acne.

Twitter ——> Xitter
Tweet ——> Xit

You can supply your own pronunciation of the X.

I Have Questions wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 07, 2024 8:34 am

Bednar October 2024

We always must be on guard against a pride-induced and exaggerated sense of self-importance

https://www.deseret.com/faith/2024/10/0 ... -messages/

Bednar is the chap who proclaimed that what he says is modern scripture. Anecdotally, I know first hand that Bednar is the worst Apostle for insisting everyone stands before he enters a room. He insists on it. He has people check that everyone is standing before he enters.

Interesting.

So one can keep an apostle out by simply sitting down‽‽‽

malkie wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 07, 2024 2:36 pm

I Have Questions wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 07, 2024 8:34 am

Bednar October 2024

https://www.deseret.com/faith/2024/10/0 ... -messages/

Bednar is the chap who proclaimed that what he says is modern scripture. Anecdotally, I know first hand that Bednar is the worst Apostle for insisting everyone stands before he enters a room. He insists on it. He has people check that everyone is standing before he enters.

Interesting.

So one can keep an apostle out by simply sitting down‽‽‽

That’s probably more likely to get you removed from the meeting

You’ll recall that not too long ago Sister Bednar was about to mistakenly stand up before the Apostle in the room, her husband. He sharply slapped his folder to gain her attention and bring her back into line. The guy is a jerk.

I am not a fan of Elder Bednar, but I think he is on the right track in focusing on the moral messages of the Book of Mormon over the historical. The Bible is not history, and neither is the Book of Mormon. Anyone who reads the Bible to find out what happened in the past is going to be disappointed. Yes, it is a story about the past written by people who lived in the past, but it was not written as history. Joseph Smith wrote the Book of Mormon as though it were a book about the past written by people of the past, but he did so primarily to write in the Biblical genre, so to speak. The Book of Mormon's chief lingering value is its moral message, and I think Elder Bednar pointed out its most important lesson in that quotation.