Are Good Mormons Ever Sincerely Wrong?

[inquiringmind]

I remember reading passages in The Book of Mormon that speak of God's inspiration being available to everyone, and I'm not sure I understand something.

Assuming everyone's heart was in the right place, and we were all seeking God, would it be possible for any of us to be sincerely wrong about anything?

If Brigham Young really believed and taught the Adam/God thing, could he have been sincerely wrong?

If some of his contemporaries misunderstood and misrecorded his views, could they have been honestly mistaken?

I'm not judging their hearts, and I'm not asking anyone else to, I'm asking if it's theoretically possible for a good Mormon (who's heart is in the right place) to be honestly wrong about anything (book of Mormon geography, progression between kingdoms, evolution, their interpretation of a text, etc.)?

P.S. I used the word "good" in the OP because I'm talking about people whose hearts are right.

Can they be sincerely wrong, or is error always the result of an evil heart?

Edited April 22, 2012 by inquiringmind

[mercyngrace]

I refuse to be held responsible for anything I wrote more than three years ago. For heaven's sake, I hope we are moving forward here. After all, the implication that one mistake and it is all over with—how flattering to think in forty years I have not made one slip and I am still in business! I would say about four-fifths of everything I put down has changed, of course. That is the whole idea; this is an ongoing process. ~ Hugh Nibley, beloved LDS scholar

[inquiringmind]

I refuse to be held responsible for anything I wrote more than three years ago. For heaven's sake, I hope we are moving forward here. After all, the implication that one mistake and it is all over with—how flattering to think in forty years I have not made one slip and I am still in business! I would say about four-fifths of everything I put down has changed, of course. That is the whole idea; this is an ongoing process. ~ Hugh Nibley, beloved LDS scholar

So he's not necessarily more sincere now than he was three years ago?

And any mistakes he made then weren't necessarily mistakes of the heart?

Edited April 22, 2012 by inquiringmind

[Duncan]

So he's not necessarily more sincere now than he was three years ago?

Any mistakes he made then weren't necessarily mistakes of the heart?

mistakes of the heart? what does that mean?

[altersteve]

Being wrong about something does not mean you have an "evil heart."

[inquiringmind]

mistakes of the heart? what does that mean?

I'm not sure really.

I often think of a passage that says the heart is deceitful, and desperately wicked, who can know it.

I imagine a mistake of the heart could be any motive or intent that wasn't pure in God's sight (or even the absence of some pure motive you should have.)

[inquiringmind]

Being wrong about something does not mean you have an "evil heart."

Thank you.

[Pahoran]

And another Groundhog Day thread from Inquiringmind. How is this substantially different from your "A Question about David Whitmore" thread?

Is it actually possible for your questions to be ever answered, or do you prefer to be perpetually reiterating the same questions?

Regards,

Pahoran

[inquiringmind]

And another Groundhog Day thread from Inquiringmind. How is this substantially different from your "A Question about David Whitmore" thread?

Is it actually possible for your questions to be ever answered, or do you prefer to be perpetually reiterating the same questions?

Regards,

Pahoran

If I looked through the David Whitmore thread I might be able to find some comments, from some posters that were helpful--but I don't recall the question being definitively answered there.

I'm sorry you seem to find it offensive.

For someone who doesn't think my topics go anywhere, and prefers discussions that progress, you seem to have a lot to say to me today (and if you're in a bad mood, I hope you're feeling better soon.)

Edited April 22, 2012 by inquiringmind

[Bob Crockett]

Can they be sincerely wrong, or is error always the result of an evil heart?

I'm curious. With all the past threads you've started with questions, which is the last thread in which you feel you obtained an adequate answer and who answered it for you?

Your answer might help shape answers in the future.

[inquiringmind]

I'm curious. With all the past threads you've started with questions, which is the last thread in which you feel you obtained an adequate answer and who answered it for you?

Your answer might help shape answers in the future.

The one on the possibility of repentance for ex Mormons who die without returning to the Church, and post # 89 (by Maidservant.)

By the way, how would you answer the OP?

Whatever your views are on evolution, BOM geopgraphy, progression between kingdoms, the Adam/God thing, or any of the other topics discussed here, is it possible for you to be sincerely wrong (if your heart is right)?

Edited April 22, 2012 by inquiringmind

[mercyngrace]

So he's not necessarily more sincere now than he was three years ago?

And any mistakes he made then weren't necessarily mistakes of the heart?

Nope. He's just progressing. Maturing spiritually takes time and experiences - spiritual experiences and life experiences. I was completely sincere and honest in inquiries I made twenty years ago. Today I would receive much more thorough and probably vastly different answers because of who I am and what I am prepared to receive, accept, and act upon. Some questions, I wouldn't even need to ask today. I've already experienced the answers. Others I would ask differently, with a different focus or a broader understanding of what the question means. I don't doubt any answers I received or inferences I made would reflect the changes in me over time and through experience.

Edited April 22, 2012 by mercyngrace

[inquiringmind]

Nope. He's just progressing. Maturing spiritually takes time and experiences - spiritual experiences and life experiences. I was completely sincere and honest in inquiries I made twenty years ago. Today I would receive much more thorough and probably vastly different answers because of who I am and what I am prepared to receive, accept, and act upon. Some questions, I wouldn't even need to ask today. I've already experienced the answers. Others I would ask differently, with a different focus or a broader understanding of what the question means. I don't doubt any answers I received or inferences I made would reflect the changes in me over time and through experience.

Thank you Cate.

[Skylla]

And another Groundhog Day thread from Inquiringmind. How is this substantially different from your "A Question about David Whitmore" thread?

Is it actually possible for your questions to be ever answered, or do you prefer to be perpetually reiterating the same questions?

Regards,

Pahoran

This remark isn't necessary.

Skylla

[Calm]

I love my kids, I loved them as they were growing up. I don't think I love them more "sincerely" now than then, though the experience has deepened as I've gotten to know them in different ways.

As a parent, I tried very hard not to burden them with doing things the wrong way, but as a more experienced individual looking back, I see that I made some significant mistakes...mostly because I was trying to avoid the mistakes my parents made (my mom tells me the same thing). I wish I could take those mistakes back, but that is not how it works. The Atonement thankfully applies to mistakes made in ignorance as well as intentionally.

Just as I made unwitting mistakes as a parent no matter how hard I was sincerely committed to doing the right thing for the right reason (out of love), so can every person make mistakes in understanding in any area no matter how sincere they are in trying to understand the truth. We grow in our ability to understand the Spirit through our experiences in seeking the Spirit out. Our sincerity and commitment to understanding do not always change, but the point of this life is to learn and grow and thus our understanding increases in accuracy and depth as we do.

Eternal progression continues even after we are perfected and presented to God in the time of Judgment. I consider one of the ways we will continue to progress is in knowledge, whether that is correction of error of understanding or filing in the gaps that exist, I don't know, but if we can grow in correct understanding after perfection where our hearts are truly made pure and sincere through the Atonement, than surely we can do so in this life when we sincerely seek the Lord's Will and to grow in knowledge and righteousness (as Abraham sought to in times long past) with less than perfect physical and mental and even emotional vehicles, all of which imperfections can cloud the reception of Truth no matter how sincere our seeking it is.

PS: certain forms of knowledge depend on other people being there to teach us the correct information and sometimes they are not there through no fault of ours. Not all knowledge is received purely through the Spirit. I suspect that those who believed that space was full of ether were any less sincere than those who now believe there is dark matter out there, but hopefully the latter are closer in understanding (though not likely totally correct, even they see their knowledge as very incomplete); the difference is that the latter have had more opportunity to build on others' knowledge and experience. Simply because there are things that the Spirit communicates directly to us, does not mean that framework which we receive it in is perfect enough to comprehend the perfection of the message; that framework is both informed by our internal state of mind and heart and what we learn from our experience of the external, including what others teach us through their example and sincere sharing of information (both correct and incorrect).

Edited April 23, 2012 by calmoriah

[inquiringmind]

I love my kids, I loved them as they were growing up. I don't think I love them more "sincerely" now than then, though the experience has deepened as I've gotten to know them in different ways.

As a parent, I tried very hard not to burden them with doing things the wrong way, but as a more experienced individual looking back, I see that I made some significant mistakes...mostly because I was trying to avoid the mistakes my parents made (my mom tells me the same thing). I wish I could take those mistakes back, but that is not how it works. The Atonement thankfully applies to mistakes made in ignorance as well as intentionally.

Just as I made unwitting mistakes as a parent no matter how hard I was sincerely committed to doing the right thing for the right reason (out of love), so can every person make mistakes in understanding in any area no matter how sincere they are in trying to understand the truth. We grow in our ability to understand the Spirit through our experiences in seeking the Spirit out. Our sincerity and commitment to understanding do not always change, but the point of this life is to learn and grow and thus our understanding increases in accuracy and depth as we do.

Eternal progression continues even after we are perfected and presented to God in the time of Judgment. I consider one of the ways we will continue to progress is in knowledge, whether that is correction of error of understanding or filing in the gaps that exist, I don't know, but if we can grow in correct understanding after perfection where our hearts are truly made pure and sincere through the Atonement, than surely we can do so in this life when we sincerely seek the Lord's Will and to grow in knowledge and righteousness (as Abraham sought to in times long past) with less than perfect physical and mental and even emotional vehicles, all of which imperfections can cloud the reception of Truth no matter how sincere our seeking it is.

PS: certain forms of knowledge depend on other people being there to teach us the correct information and sometimes they are not there through no fault of ours. Not all knowledge is received purely through the Spirit. I suspect that those who believed that space was full of ether were any less sincere than those who now believe there is dark matter out there, but hopefully the latter are closer in understanding (though not likely totally correct, even they see their knowledge as very incomplete); the difference is that the latter have had more opportunity to build on others' knowledge and experience. Simply because there are things that the Spirit communicates directly to us, does not mean that framework which we receive it in is perfect enough to comprehend the perfection of the message; that framework is both informed by our internal state of mind and heart and what we learn from our experience of the external, including what others teach us through their example and sincere sharing of information (both correct and incorrect).

Thank you.