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THREAD This is my first time using #deznat, not sure why it took awhile. I wanted to share some thoughts about recent developments with Church-related books that have been distressing me for the last week or two, and especially today. Feels like the Spirit won’t leave me alone
until I get this down,hopefully it helps one person.I want to talk about the recent revelation to us that a Progressive Professor tweeted praise about recently, that being that a new @BYUMaxwell book, “Jacob,”went out of its way to not use gendered language when referring to God.
The Professor praised it for its efforts, and to be clear I have not read the book myself, so forgive me for attributing motive where perhaps there was none.
However, it is hard to believe it was NOT a conscious choice on the author’s part to avoid all gendered language
However, it is hard to believe it was NOT a conscious choice on the author’s part to avoid all gendered language
regarding God, since we constantly refer to Him correctly as Heavenly Father, or the Father of our Spirits, and many other titles regarding his Divine Parentage of the human family. A cursory search shows immense praise for the author for other works from Progressive members.
This incredibly powerful doctrine of God’s Fatherhood was one of the first things restored in these Latter-days, namely in The First Vision. The Prophet Joseph saw God the Father and on His right hand, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. D&C 93:19 comes to mind: “...that you may
understand and know how to worship, and know what you worship, that you may come unto the Father in my name, and in due time receive of his fulness.” The nature of God and His relationship to us is paramount to our understanding of the Plan of Salvation. I cannot perceive of one
possible good by avoiding to teach things we know to be true regarding the nature of God. What is to be gained, by anyone, by not reinforcing the loving and approachable loving Father in Heaven, one who has a vested interest in every aspect of our lives? There is no good that
will come from changing, modifying, sugarcoating or leaving out Doctrine some may find offensive due to the eternal nature of the family unit. How can someone draw closer to Him and His Son without knowing who they are? Why they give all they have to help us every moment of every
day? It may spare someone’s feelings in the short term but will not help them draw closer to God and His love and power. Nothing seems to be gained from leaving out one of our central doctrines to all the Gospel, except the praise of the world or men in the name of progress,
inclusion, etc. because there are those that consider inspired documents like The Family Proclamation hurtful in some way. Tolerance of sin is NOT compassion. This is one of the great lies and deceptions, especially in modern times, plaguing the world. People generally, and our
members especially, want to be kind and loving, and perceived as so, and I fear countless souls have been deceived, that if they don’t accept any and all sin and say it is ok, they aren’t being loving. I commend President Oaks in his tireless, and extremely loving, defenses of
the Gospel and Family. We must love our fellow man, and love them regardless of their situation. This does not mean that we condone or allow them to think their sins are ok, for The Lord Himself said “ I cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance.” President Monson
often quoted Alexander Pope “Vice is a monster of so frightful mien as to be hated needs but to be seen; Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face, We first endure, then pity, then embrace.”I fear the world itself has fully embraced vice, and more and more members seem to as well.
If we truly loved our fellow man, wouldn’t we boldly proclaim Gospel truths and teach what is appropriate on this earth? This may cause temporary discomfort for some, but hopefully they would turn to God, not man, for their approval. The Gospel will never be “popular” with the
world. It does not need to be. Its eternal purpose is to bring us salvation, not the praise of man. I myself have been rebuked countless times in leadership positions, in an appropriate and positive way. Some from The Lord and Spirit, others from other inspired leaders.
I am so grateful for it. I know I have countless more to come and I welcome it. We are here to learn, grow, and progress, and eventually become the perfected versions of ourselves. This requires chastening, and we know “...that whom The Lord loveth, He chasteneth.”
(Amazing Conference Talk by Elder Christofferson with that title also) That doesn’t mean chastening is easy or pleasant, but a necessary part of life, and allows us, if we let it through humility, move forward in a way that would be pleasing unto The Lord. I greatly appreciated
the podcast a couple days ago from @tannerguzy and @jaebberts, and trying to be bold (but not overbearing) in the Gospel as we strive to live it. I appreciate countless of those who will read this, for their social media examples, and hope to contribute more in the future. /end
