The Gospel is not as big as it use to be.

[Calm]

3 hours ago, Monster said:

The church either works for  you or it doesn't. It is either all it claims to be or it is not... When people protest so much about a differing viewpoint, I ask who is the  one with the rigid mind.

This seems a rather black and white, rigid approach, though you are hardly the only to express this on any 'side' of the discussion.

Me, sometimes the Church works for me, sometimes it doesn't.  Tends to work more as I get older, I think that is likely because I am not as uptight over social interaction as I used to be.  Gospel always has come through for me up to this point in my life.

Edited April 18, 2017 by Calm

[The Nehor]

4 hours ago, Monster said:

The church either works for  you or it doesn't. It is either all it claims to be or it is not. I reserve the right to make that call for myself and allow others to decide for themselves also. When people protest so much about a differing viewpoint, I ask who is the  one with the rigid mind.

You are the main person insisting all those limited LDS folks have rigid minds. You put that sentiment in your OP. Now you are trying to suggest everyone else is doing it to you?

[thesometimesaint]

On 4/16/2017 at 8:58 PM, PeterPear said:

No. You'll lose. Science is based on the failings of men most of whom are hucksters, the same who have warped religion requiring the Restoration of the Gospel. A true religion is based on Revelation from God.

You keep harping on science as if it were the end all. Baloney! Is the world better off? No! Where's the Utopia promised long ago? No where. Only inventions, which came about through technological achievements. But conveniences are not Morals, which technology and science do not produce.

For example, science in 2014 proved Charles Darwin was a LIAR! He stole "his" theory from Patrick Matthew then lied about when asked. Darwin was a plagiarist and a fraud.

Patrick Matthew (1831) was the first to fully explain natural selection as new species branching from a common ancestor by way of nature selecting varieties that were best circumstance suited. He even uniquely called it: 'the natural process of selection'. A term Darwin (1859) would uniquely four word shuffle into 'process of natural selection'.

www.PatrickMatthew.com - evidence proves Darwin knew of Matthew's work and stole it as his own.

For you to rely on "science" requires you to rely on men and women who are fallible and frauds and will undercut each other for worldy glory, money and prestige. If these men and women are smarter than you - to quote you - and will do that to each other, then they would also deceive not-so-smart you, because they don't give a rat's rear about you or anyone else. You're just another animal to be tossed into an oven or down a garbage chute into an incerator with the refuse thrown out from an abortion clinic.

The ancient  Greeks had similar idea's concerning evolution. 

SEE https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_evolutionary_thought

The Bible recommends abortion.

SEE https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers+5%3A11-31

[Calm]

Recommends abortion?

Seriously, where are you getting that from that scripture? Only if she has been unfaithful will the holy water cause her stomach to swell and if she is pregnant,possibly a miscarriage if God chooses to curse her in that fashion.

In no way could the priest be giving her an abortifacient nor would they want a pure woman to abort just because the husband is jealous and suspects her.

[mfbukowski]

11 hours ago, sunstoned said:

Science expands the frontiers of knowledge.  Knowledge replaces superstition. It helps us make sense of the world around us. With knowledge we can make informed choices, which in my opinion greatly affect attitude towards life.  

Informed choices perhaps about what meds to take, but not about whom to marry or what to do with your life to fill the measure of your creation and have joy therein

 

[thesometimesaint]

7 hours ago, Calm said:

Recommends abortion?

Seriously, where are you getting that from that scripture? Only if she has been unfaithful will the holy water cause her stomach to swell and if she is pregnant,possibly a miscarriage if God chooses to curse her in that fashion.

In no way could the priest be giving her an abortifacient nor would they want a pure woman to abort just because the husband is jealous and suspects her.

Is there some magical liquid that only works on unfaithful wives?

Ps; That ranks right up there with magical sticks put in the ground that change the genetics of farm animals.

Edited April 18, 2017 by thesometimesaint

[JLHPROF]

12 hours ago, Hamba Tuhan said:

But just because something is true doesn't automatically make it desirable in all cases to all people. Even in those cases, we can still walk, or we can seek to have our hearts changed by the Saviour so that we actually love what we know we should. At least that's how it's been for me.

Me too.  And I can think of numerous cases where this should be happening.
Like pretty much every time something about the Church bothers a member.

Imagine, Ordain Women stops praying to be given the priesthood and instead prays over the roles and callings they currently receive.
Or those with a deep and abiding hatred of polygamy praying to love it as a principle revealed from God.

[Mormons Talk]

On 4/16/2017 at 7:06 PM, Monster said:

There was a time when the gospel seemed to have an answer for everything. When I was young with little life experience it seemed natural to believe what those around me instructed me to believe. Most of it was sage and good advice. Even those in the church were looking out for me to the best of their knowledge. Problem is I got older. I studied so many other things. I got in involved in reading about the nature of the universe. So many things explained through the experimentation of great thinkers over time.

Now the gospel as explained by Mormonism seems so small. Such a linear line of reasoning. No divergence into other realms of thinking. Mostly a progression through a list of checkmarks to obtain a vague promise of some future glory. But nothing really tangible beyond hope and faith. Those are not bad qualities by any means, just not sufficient to spend a life on for me.

When you live in a world that constanly reinforces your belief structure that belief seems all encompassing. When you venture out you realize how little you actually know.

At least that is what happened to me.

 

I see what you're saying.  I agree that answers aren't as clear cut as they might seem when we're young, but I disagree that the gospel is small - at least the gospel that Mormonism ought to encompass.  The study of the New Testament alone provides an endless source of fascination - learning about Second Temple Judaism, Greco-Roman culture, early Christianity, and all the different types of biblical criticism. There's enough there to last 1000 lifetimes.  And it's not just an intellectual game - knowing about these things deepens one's understanding of the message of Jesus Christ.  It's exhilarating that there's so much out there.  Then, of course, there's the Old Testament, with all the Near Eastern background to learn about.  Not to mention how to reconcile all of this with science.  There's a monumental amount of stuff to learn.  Let's get started.