Bridge of Reason

The following are the remarks of one man to the changes in the fundamental Mormon Gospel Principles Manual. Aaron Shafovaloff of Mormonism Researched Ministry is doing a good job of cataloguing the changes and although it is no surprise to see these changes it is still shocking to realise how insidious and cynical they are. Aaron’s project is ongoing so readers may wish to keep going back to see what are the latest revelations (pardon the pun). “1st off, I was quite angry as I read this this morning; as I told my wife, the Bishop stood right here in this living room and told us we were forfeiting our blessings and rejecting precious truths. Truths that are now crossed out. These very things that won’t be taught anymore, were weapons to be held against us last year and this year. 2nd, after that I felt a profound sense of relief. If this is not going to be taught then the Bishop can go eat sand. If these vital teachings can no longer be held inviolate, then the brethren have no right t...

The Big Questions , 27 July 2009, BBC1. I must say, I hand it to this programme for coming up with a very stimulating variety of topics. Chimps and bonobos, apparently, share 98.4% of our DNA and their blood and organs can be harvested for human use. (I did a simple Google, however, and found the DNA similarity may be more like 95% .) The first expert questioned is Professor Colin Blakemore , whom presenter Nicky Campbell challenges concerning whether a creature than can articulate (via symbols) the phrase, "Can I have an ice cream on my birthday?" should not, in fact, be given rights. The professor replies that simian linguistics is a highly controversial field, and that the conferring of rights in theory is not the same as creating a fairer world (as can already be seen amongst us humans!). Campbell then brings out the crunch question: are we part of a 'continuum' along with apes, or do we have a special, divinely-conferred status? The former, says Professor Paula C...

A weekly Bible reading for Bridge Builders The Richmond Briefing has been a weekly feature of the Reachout web site for five years and is now available on the blog. To find out more and read earlier briefings go here Reading – Confessing Christ (Luke 9:1-22) People don’t believe in miracles, not because they haven’t witnessed a miracle but because their world view will not allow them to accept that miracles are possible. Even though someone they respect and venerate should relate an account of a miracle many will not believe it but will reconsider the esteem in which they hold their friend. Showing them a miracle will not guarantee their conversion because they may make every effort to explain it away and we have seen this. So it was with the people who saw the miracles of Jesus and his disciples who drove out demons, healed the sick and preached the kingdom message. They saw Jesus feed five thousand and ate of this bounty but this did not guarantee their becoming aware of whom Jesus ...

Now here is an interesting development. An “unofficial”  (aren’t they all) Mormon site aimed at helping church members struggling with doubt and disaffection. StayLDS.com is heavily moderated to cut out anti-Mormon stuff which is fair enough so don’t go there looking to put any cats among any pigeons. We are seeing an increasing number of Mormons who are settling for what they can get, trying to find that middle ground where the Mormon Church is neither “all true” nor “all false”. Its rather like finding out that there is no heaven, life after death, truth in the gospel story but still going to church because of the good bits. All the more reason to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with Mormons who don’t need to settle for what they can get because Christ died for sinners to bring us to God. “Among the strategies offered for finding middle ground: accepting imperfection from the church, it's members and leaders; staying focused on people not doctrine; supplementing spiritual ...

A weekly Bible reading for Bridge Builders The Richmond Briefing has been a weekly feature of the Reachout web site for five years and is now available on the blog. To find out more and read earlier briefings go here Reading – Consider How you Listen (Luke 8:4-56) We often in our witnessing talk about planting a seed of truth in a person’s heart, expressing our trust and hope that that person will respond and be saved. In the parable of the sower Jesus shows how planting seeds is no guarantee of a positive response but that the sower nevertheless continues to sow and pray for a good crop. It is our responsibility to sow but there is also a responsibility placed on the person in whose heart we sow to listen and respond and, as we have often said, it is possible to want it for them more than they want it for themselves. Jesus had spoken plainly enough in his ministry and had amply demonstrated his authority; seeds had been sown. However, there comes a time when a failure to resp...

The July 2009 issue of the official Mormon Ensign magazine carries an article by Elder Marlin K Jensen, Mormon Church Historian, writes about The Joseph Smith Papers , a collection of “all journals, diaries, correspondence, discourses, revelations, written histories, notices, and legal papers…generated or directed to be created [by Joseph Smith]” He writes: “The manuscript revelation books contain many of the earliest known copies of the revelations received by Joseph Smith and provide insights into the revelatory process” Hmmm! “The revelatory process?” What do you think that means? Jensen explains: “The editing and updating of revelation texts in the early years of the Church demonstrate the process of continuing revelation to Joseph Smith. The revelation manuscripts reveal how men grappled in trying to make certain that the ideas and doctrines Joseph received were transcribed and printed accurately—a process that for the publication of any work risks the introduction of erro...

A weekly Bible reading for Bridge Builders The Richmond Briefing has been a weekly feature of the Reachout web site for five years and is now available on the blog. To find out more and read earlier briefings go here Reading – When You Don’t Need Jesus (Luke 7:36-50) Have you ever heard someone say that “religion is a crutch”? When I hear this I look at the world and answer, “Perhaps, but look whose limping?” The implication of course is that only the weak and infirm in mind and spirit need a religious crutch. This further implies that the speaker suffers no such weakness and can stand on their merit. Perhaps the most tragic figure in the Bible is the Pharisee who takes such an attitude toward Jesus because, you see, the Pharisee is a very righteous person, careful in following the requirements of their religion, and here is the cause of their tragedy – self-righteousness. In this passage Jesus is visiting the home of a Pharisee, and a prostitute has entered unawares and begun...

The Big Questions , BBC1, Sunday 5 July 2009, hosted by Nicky Campbell. In the light of the half million person Gay Pride march on Saturday, Bishop Michael Nazir Ali’s call to repentance and the massive outcry against him, homosexuality is very much the subject du jour . The inevitable Peter Tatchell was joined by Christina Rees , of the CoE Synod, on the main panel, all of whom joined in the condemnation of Nazir Ali . The usual homophobia = racism equation was spun out, with Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement assistant chief executive Sharon Ferguson comparing homosexuality to left-handedness. More interesting were the contributions made by Dr Mike Davidson and Phelim McIntyre, both of whom struggled with homosexual behaviours in the past. Davidson spoke warmly of his 29-year marriage, his children and the possibility of change, and questioned why a society so much in favour of free choice would not leave room for people with homosexual feelings to actually want to develop a ...

The Big Questions , BBC1, Sunday 28 June 2009, hosted by Nicky Campbell. Apparently, the hardest people to book for the programme are Catholic priests, because they have to find another priest to cover their parishes so they can appear on TV. Kind of commendable that they're at their posts. The Big Questions is one of those strange anomalies: a religious programme that is on air when anyone who is a truly committed Christian will probably be attending a church service. Well, watch it on iplayer, like I do: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007zpll . Father John Flynn, chaplain of Salford University, said that he "wouldn't be a priest if there was no celibacy". He held up Christ as his model for celibacy, argued winsomely for the superiority of the kingdom of God and pointed out Christ's comment that there is no marriage in heaven. As a counterpoint, a former Catholic priest Joe Fitzpatrick stated his opposition to compulsory celibacy. He maintained that 75% of Fr...

Revelations: How to find God , Channel 4, 28 June 2009, presented by Jon Ronson The first in an intriguing series on religion, but by no means the first Alpha documentary. Moreover, Jewish-born Ronson has trod this course before, almost a decade ago, both taking Alpha and publishing an interview with Gumbel in 2000 entitled 'The Saviour of Christianity?' (Unfortunately, I can't unearth this article, but I refer to it in a summary of Alpha I wrote that same year.) So why is Ronson still critiquing Alpha decade on? It doesn't seem to have worked for him. But it seems God is doing something with him. Pray for him! The links between Alpha's mushrooming growth and the Toronto Blessing of 1994 are perhaps fading, but Ronson included clips of that extraordinary time. He also gave full weight to the massive emphasis put on the Holy Spirit weekend, and the creation of the 'right environment' for people to break out in tongues. Charlie Cleverly , vicar of St Aldat...

A weekly Bible reading for Bridge Builders The Richmond Briefing has been a weekly feature of the Reachout web site for five years and is now available on the blog. To find out more and read earlier briefings go here Reading – As With the Priest (Luke 7:24-35) The Old Testament prophet Hosea ministered in the eighth century BC at a time when Israel was guilty of great sin and God, through the prophet, brought his charges against his rebellious people. They were guilty of spiritual adultery, of turning to idols and false gods, of using shrine prostitutes, of sacrificing to pagan deities, of rejecting the knowledge of God. The priests excused themselves by insisting that they were ministering Israel’s religion and the people justified themselves by insisting they were following the priests but God made clear that the priests were simply going through the motions while worshipping foreign gods and the people were not guiltless but would be held to account and their religion would...

The Mormon Pageant in Manti has thrown up some interesting encounters and conversations this year. Some of the most interesting involved Bill McKeever of Mormonism Research Ministry who explained the above picture thus: Our Manti outreach began last week. Once again I've been using my "gold plates" as an illustration. When a Mormon tells me they believe Joseph Smith had gold plates I challenge them to lift my plates (10, ten-pound barbell weights). Most can, but then I explain that my 100 pound plates are only half of what Smith carried if they were gold. The responses are priceless. So many insist that Joseph Smith was a "strong" farm boy and could have carried the plates. I find myself repeating the phrase " Arnold Schwarzenegger in his prime couldn't carry 200 pounds under his arm for a distance of three miles." I have yet to have any Mormon offer proof that God gave Smith supernatural strength (a popular argument), although many see how that ex...

The Big Questions , BBC1, Sunday 28 June 2009, hosted by Nicky Campbell. This fascinating discussion began with Campbell asking the one woman in the studio with a burka why she wears it. Throughout the programme, she consistently maintained that it was an expression of her own personal choice, and that she was not under duress in any way. Nevertheless, she did say that she wore it because certain scholars said so. Campbell's opening 'googly' bowled the poor woman for a duck. His question: If men and women are equal, why shouldn't men cover their faces too? No answer. Even more interesting was the tirade from the moderate Muslim preacher who insisted that the burka is a pre-Islamic cultural item of dress, which is a relatively new introduction in the UK. He was angry about the infiltration of Saudi Wahhabism and its non-Qur'anic dress codes. He asked several times where the words 'niqab' and 'burka' were in the Qur'an, and criticised the Hadith as...