Further confusion? Encyclopedia of Mormonism on LDS.ORG

[_truth dancer]

No, it says where to find all of it; "consistently proclaimed in official publications".

BC...

Again, saying you can find doctrine in the published works of the church is like saying you can find my favorite words in the dictionary.


Does this help you know what my favorite words are? Nope.

Does it give you a clue on how to figure out which are or are not my favorite words? Nope.

Will you be able to discover what are my favorite words? Nope.

So what that the "doctrines" of the LDS church can be found in published word. This means pretty much nothing for someone trying to figure out what they are. There are thousands and thousands and thousands of pages of material... even if one read them all consistently, how in the world would they figure out what the truth is?

OTOH, if you are just going with the doctrine = teachings = maybe-or-maybe-not-true, then well, yeah pretty much everything is doctrine and it is completely meaningless; same as not having any worthwhile doctrine at all.

Rather than just reiterating your mantra that there is an official statement on the LDS website, could you address the issue of how one is supposed to discover what the doctrine is?

And, why if (as you seem to think), doctrine is so easy to figure out, most apologists disagree with you.

~dancer~

[_ludwigm]

No, it says where to find all of it; "consistently proclaimed in official publications".

BC...
Again, saying you can find doctrine in the published works of the church is like saying you can find my favorite words in the dictionary.
...even if one read them all consistently, how in the world would they figure out what the truth is?
...
And, why if (as you seem to think), doctrine is so easy to figure out, most apologists disagree with you.
~dancer~

"how in the world would they figure out what the truth is"
The answer is the Holy Ghost - be he/she/it anything.

My only problem is, that - as I have learned from charity (we miss her) - the HG always says YES (a loud one). He/she/it doesn't/'can't answer any negative.






What does "consistently" mean in saintspeak?
Is offical publication the "Journal of Discourses"? The "Book of Commandments"? The "Ensign"? The "LDS.org"?

I am lost without any answer.

[_truth dancer]

Hi Lugwigm,

"how in the world would they figure out what the truth is"
The answer is the Holy Ghost - be he/she/it anything.

And, we all know how reliable the HG is.

;-(

~dancer~

[_Jason Bourne]

LDS Inc announced the Encyclopedia of Mormonism on their website,

The Encyclopedia of Mormonism, now available online in searchable text format, can be an excellent source of information on a wide variety of subjects dealing with the beliefs, teachings, and practices of the Church.

BUT then they added a disclaimer:

(Note: This encyclopedia is a joint product of Brigham Young University and Macmillan Publishing Company and does not necessarily represent the official position of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.)

WTF? Ferchristsakes, they announce the Encyclopedia of Mormonism on their website, which in most ventures would indicate an official endorsement of support, but then they say it is not the Encyclopedia of Mormonism?

Well Boaz, mark this down in you book. I agree with you. There seems to be reluctance on the church to be pinned down to much on doctrine. Now this poses and odd dilemma for BC and maybe he will chime in. His claim is that anything published by the Church is doctrine. So now we have the official web site of the Church referencing something. Is that item official doctrine even though the item claims not to be?

[_Jason Bourne]

Only in your mind.

That website doesn't say a word about what is doctrine.
It says, where to found parts of it.

No, it says where to find all of it; "consistently proclaimed in official publications".

So an official publication-the LDS Web Site-refers to the EOM as a great source of doctrine but that source disclaims itself as official doctrine. So is it official doctrine or not?

See how confusing this is? I wonder if other religious writers have so many disclaimers.

[_ludwigm]

What does "consistently" mean in saintspeak?

Is offical publication the "Journal of Discourses"? The "Book of Commandments"? The "Ensign"? The "LDS.org"?

Any answer? (I think we have experts ...)

[_Sethbag]

I wonder if other religious writers have so many disclaimers.

I would bet that the quantity of disclaimers scales linearly with the certainty with which a given religion claims divine revelation and authority. The reason I suspect this is that only a church which claims to be lead directly by God through revelation has so much to worry about when the pronouncements of their leaders are demonstrated to be wrong. A group claiming direct leadership through revelation loses credibility when this happens, whereas a group that doesn't claim direct revelation to their leaders has a lot more room to be wrong and not suffer from it.

I personally think it's a credibility issue. The apologists can deny what they will, but it's clear and obvious that the LDS church has, since Joseph Smith, Jr., fostered the impression that its leaders proclaim what they do as the result of revelation directly from Jesus Christ and God.

What do you think the percentage of LDS would be that answered "Yes" to a poll question asking whether the LDS Prophets and Apostles have received, and continue to receive, actual visits and face to face instructions from Jesus H. Christ himself? I think it would be a staggering, overwhelming majority. And there's a reason for that - it's because that's the idea that's been fostered amongst the membership for the last 178 years. In that context, the LDS simply has to disclaim as much as they possibly can nowadays, since LDS prophets have spoken on so much in the past that has either been demonstrated to be false, or they've spoken on so much that is serious doubt based on the available evidence.

[_The Nehor]

Hi Lugwigm,

"how in the world would they figure out what the truth is"
The answer is the Holy Ghost - be he/she/it anything.

And, we all know how reliable the HG is.

;-(

~dancer~

Perfectly reliable, but then you have to be living the gospel for it to work.

[_Mad Viking]

...I don't think people consciously say, "Wow, I should be deluded." They make choices that lead them that way.

[_Mad Viking]

Perfectly reliable, but then you have to be living the gospel for it to work.

It is about as reliable as a magic 8 ball.