Happy Birthday President Nelson!

[Limnor]

In other posts I have suggested to those that have an open mind towards finding and discerning truth to put Jesus Christ at the center in your/our studies. Why? Because it is Him to which we seek for light and knowledge/truth. Men are merely the conduits of that light and knowledge. President Nelson in this article that he wrote emphasizes Jesus Christ and why we ought to center our studies and our minds on Him and His life and teachings.

Regards,
MG

I’ve “investigated” enough to know that LDS teaching on Jesus’ “light and knowledge” is unique and differs from historic Christianity.

I’ve noticed the theology seems to have developed over time. In Christianity, Jesus is fully God and His Spirit indwells believers; in early LDS writings He is described in a similar way, but later teaching seems to frame “light” more as a cosmic influence tied to eternal progression. The words sound very similar, but the underlying ideas don’t match.

How does the LDS church understand these differences and explain the way their Christology has grown over time?

When and why did this shift in emphasis—from the Book of Mormon to the later Nauvoo sermons—occur, and how are such changes reconciled with the reliability of earlier statements? Are previous messages from God simply changed, as the stance on LGBTQ recently? How can you place any reliability on any direction with confidence?

[Tom]

Some numbers for President Nelson’s birthday:

16: age when Nelson was baptized.

20: age when Nelson was sealed to Dantzel White.

10: number of Russell and Dantzel’s children.

59: years that Russell and Dantzel Nelson were married.

0: school days missed by Nelson in junior high, high school, college, and medical school.

$15: monthly pay when Nelson was an intern at the University of Minnesota Hospitals.

7,000: approximate number of surgeries performed by Nelson.

118: longest string of consecutive open-heart operations without a death performed by Nelson.

$60,000: salary offered Nelson by the University of Chicago in 1965 to become professor of surgery and chairman of the division of cardiovascular and thoracic surgery. (The university also offered to cover four years of education at any college for the Nelsons’ nine children.) After counseling with David O. McKay, Nelson turned down the offer to stay in Salt Lake City.

5: times that Nelson has narrowly escaped death: evading sniper fire in Korea (1951), getting knocked into the water while floating down the Snake River (1961), getting knocked into the water while rafting the Colorado River with his family (1972), riding in a plummeting airplane with an exploded engine in Utah (1976), and getting robbed in a mission home in Mozambique (2009).

6,887: miles driven by the Nelson family during a summer vacation in 1965.

49: Nelson’s age when he and Dantzel received the second anointing.

81: Nelson’s age when he was sealed to Wendy Watson.

11: languages that Nelson is conversant in (LDS Newsroom).

12: minimum number of languages that Nelson has studied (French, Latin, Greek, Russian, Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Hebrew, Bulgarian, Czech, and Romanian) (LDS Living).

115: general conference talks given by Nelson.

200: new temples announced by Nelson since 2018.

28: temples that have been dedicated out of the 200 announced by Nelson since 2018.

49: temples dedicated during Nelson’s time as church president.

5: temples personally dedicated by Nelson (4 since 2018).

4: temples personally rededicated by Nelson (2 since 2018).

[Everybody Wang Chung]

Some numbers for President Nelson’s birthday:

16: age when Nelson was baptized.

20: age when Nelson was sealed to Dantzel White.

10: number of Russell and Dantzel’s children.

59: years that Russell and Dantzel Nelson were married.

0: school days missed by Nelson in junior high, high school, college, and medical school.

$15: monthly pay when Nelson was an intern at the University of Minnesota Hospitals.

7,000: approximate number of surgeries performed by Nelson.

118: longest string of consecutive open-heart operations without a death performed by Nelson.

$60,000: salary offered Nelson by the University of Chicago in 1965 to become professor of surgery and chairman of the division of cardiovascular and thoracic surgery. (The university also offered to cover four years of education at any college for the Nelsons’ nine children.) After counseling with David O. McKay, Nelson turned down the offer to stay in Salt Lake City.

5: times that Nelson has narrowly escaped death: evading sniper fire in Korea (1951), getting knocked into the water while floating down the Snake River (1961), getting knocked into the water while rafting the Colorado River with his family (1972), riding in a plummeting airplane with an exploded engine in Utah (1976), and getting robbed in a mission home in Mozambique (2009).

6,887: miles driven by the Nelson family during a summer vacation in 1965.

49: Nelson’s age when he and Dantzel received the second anointing.

81: Nelson’s age when he was sealed to Wendy Watson.

11: languages that Nelson is conversant in (LDS Newsroom).

12: minimum number of languages that Nelson has studied (French, Latin, Greek, Russian, Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Hebrew, Bulgarian, Czech, and Romanian) (LDS Living).

115: general conference talks given by Nelson.

200: new temples announced by Nelson since 2018.

28: temples that have been dedicated out of the 200 announced by Nelson since 2018.

49: temples dedicated during Nelson’s time as church president.

5: temples personally dedicated by Nelson (4 since 2018).

4: temples personally rededicated by Nelson (2 since 2018).

That's a great list, Tom! The only other thing I would have mentioned:

2: number of revelations received (2015 revelation and the stunning reversal revelation in 2019)

[I Have Questions]

5,000,000 the number of dollars he had to hand over to the SEC when he was caught in a nefarious shell company misreporting scam.

[MG 2.0]

If you're going to use this as an 'escape' from having to actually engage with content, you are not helping your cause to disrupt and cause distress and give limited information that supports your cause. * * *

Regards,
MG

Oh, you mean like someone that would just post something like "TTOC"?

No. Not like that. TTOC is used when I can see that there is no purpose in continuing the confrontation. If I can see that things will only escalate and the barbs will continue to fly...I back out. As I've said before, I'm the judge of when that occurs. I am NOT trying to put someone in their place or be mean. My intent is to hopefully get back to a sense of equilibrium.

Regards,
MG

[I Have Questions]

TTOC is used when I can see that there is no purpose in continuing the confrontation. If I can see that things will only escalate and the barbs will continue to fly...I back out.

That’s not true. You’ve jumped into the middle of other people’s conversations and posted TTOC. They weren’t interacting with you, yet you rudely barged in and just posted TTOC. So what was that? (You’ve done that several times so it isn’t done in error).

[MG 2.0]

TTOC is used when I can see that there is no purpose in continuing the confrontation. If I can see that things will only escalate and the barbs will continue to fly...I back out.

That’s not true. You’ve jumped into the middle of other people’s conversations and posted TTOC. They weren’t interacting with you, yet you rudely barged in and just posted TTOC. So what was that? (You’ve done that several times so it isn’t done in error).

TTOC

[I Have Questions]

That’s not true. You’ve jumped into the middle of other people’s conversations and posted TTOC. They weren’t interacting with you, yet you rudely barged in and just posted TTOC. So what was that? (You’ve done that several times so it isn’t done in error).

TTOC

You also use it when caught in a lie. Got it.

[malkie]

TTOC

You also use it when caught in a lie. Got it.

WWJD‽‽

[Tom]

Some numbers for President Nelson’s birthday:

16: age when Nelson was baptized.

20: age when Nelson was sealed to Dantzel White.

10: number of Russell and Dantzel’s children.

59: years that Russell and Dantzel Nelson were married.

0: school days missed by Nelson in junior high, high school, college, and medical school.

$15: monthly pay when Nelson was an intern at the University of Minnesota Hospitals.

7,000: approximate number of surgeries performed by Nelson.

118: longest string of consecutive open-heart operations without a death performed by Nelson.

$60,000: salary offered Nelson by the University of Chicago in 1965 to become professor of surgery and chairman of the division of cardiovascular and thoracic surgery. (The university also offered to cover four years of education at any college for the Nelsons’ nine children.) After counseling with David O. McKay, Nelson turned down the offer to stay in Salt Lake City.

5: times that Nelson has narrowly escaped death: evading sniper fire in Korea (1951), getting knocked into the water while floating down the Snake River (1961), getting knocked into the water while rafting the Colorado River with his family (1972), riding in a plummeting airplane with an exploded engine in Utah (1976), and getting robbed in a mission home in Mozambique (2009).

6,887: miles driven by the Nelson family during a summer vacation in 1965.

49: Nelson’s age when he and Dantzel received the second anointing.

81: Nelson’s age when he was sealed to Wendy Watson.

11: languages that Nelson is conversant in (LDS Newsroom).

12: minimum number of languages that Nelson has studied (French, Latin, Greek, Russian, Chinese, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Hebrew, Bulgarian, Czech, and Romanian) (LDS Living).

115: general conference talks given by Nelson.

200: new temples announced by Nelson since 2018.

28: temples that have been dedicated out of the 200 announced by Nelson since 2018.

49: temples dedicated during Nelson’s time as church president.

5: temples personally dedicated by Nelson (4 since 2018).

4: temples personally rededicated by Nelson (2 since 2018).

That's a great list, Tom! The only other thing I would have mentioned:

2: number of revelations received (2015 revelation and the stunning reversal revelation in 2019)

Valid point. Nelson wasn’t prophet when the policy was announced, but he claimed it was a revelation in 2016. So he gets credit for the revelation and the reversal revelation.