How a Mormon scholar turned doubter, then believer

Here are some quotes from "How a Mormon scholar turned doubter, then believer"


"I’d thought the chance of a universe fitted for life was something like one in a billion," Bradley said in his speech. "The reality was more like one in 10 to the 200th power."
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"[Joseph Smith's] early prophetic narratives displayed a complexity, power and intricate relationship with the Bible beyond what I could grasp a teenage boy coming up with"

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"While looking for reasons to believe that Smith was an opportunist after money, sex and power, Bradley found a number. But when he sought examples of how the Mormon founder benefited others and served religious purposes, he found even more."
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"Not sure what to do, Bradley met with an unknown neighbor who would be his current bishop. The man was nonjudgmental and welcoming, telling him he would have to answer the questions he had asked in his resignation letter.

Oh, yes, and go through the lessons with 19-year-old missionaries — like Bradley used to be.

Though approaching the experience as a kind of anthropologist, Bradley said, "I experienced something my own investigators had described, that during the discussions and after, there was a light with me."

Five months after Bradley rejoined the faith, he was invited to work on the church’s "Joseph Smith Papers" project, he said. All his temple and priesthood blessings were restored."

Where Happiness Lies

"Whether we are feeling up or feeling down, the scriptures suggest that the path of rescue lies in the one direction our natural-man tendencies keep us from looking.  As absurd as it may sound, happiness apparently lies not in our trying to feel better about ourselves but rather through our allowing the Lord to help us see truths that at first might make us feel worse.  In these lowest moments - the moments when we give up resisting what we haven’t wanted to see- we are finally immersed in the joy we have always sought but have never found, a joy that comes not because we have lifted our hearts but because we have finally allowed them to break."
(James Ferrell, Falling to Heaven, p xi)

“His Grace Is Sufficient”

We watched this great talk by Brad Wilcox at the BYU Devotional Jul 12, 2011, "His Grace is Sufficient" (Ensign article Sep 2013)

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A great story:

A BYU student once came to me and asked if we could talk. I said, “Of course. How can I help you?”

She said, “I just don’t get grace.”

I responded, “What is it that you don’t understand?”

She said, “I know I need to do my best and then Jesus does the rest, but I can’t even do my best.”

She then went on to tell me all the things she should be doing because she’s a Mormon that she wasn't doing.

She continued, “I know that I have to do my part and then Jesus makes up the difference and fills the gap that stands between my part and perfection. But who fills the gap that stands between where I am now and my part?”

She then went on to tell me all the things that she shouldn't be doing because she’s a Mormon, but she was doing them anyway.

Finally I said, “Jesus doesn't make up the difference. Jesus makes all the difference. Grace is not about filling gaps. It is about filling us.”

Seeing that she was still confused, I took a piece of paper and drew two dots—one at the top representing God and one at the bottom representing us. I then said, “Go ahead. Draw the line. How much is our part? How much is Christ’s part?”

She went right to the center of the page and began to draw a line. Then, considering what we had been speaking about, she went to the bottom of the page and drew a line just above the bottom dot.

I said, “Wrong.”

She said, “I knew it was higher. I should have just drawn it, because I knew it.”

I said, “No. The truth is, there is no line. Jesus filled the whole space. He paid our debt in full. He didn't pay it all except for a few coins. He paid it all. It is finished.”

She said, “Right! Like I don’t have to do anything?”

“Oh no,” I said, “you have plenty to do, but it is not to fill that gap. We will all be resurrected. We will all go back to God’s presence. What is left to be determined by our obedience is what kind of body we plan on being resurrected with and how comfortable we plan to be in God’s presence and how long we plan to stay there.” (2:43 - 5:54)

I love the analogy of piano practice as learning heaven,

Christ’s arrangement with us is similar to a mom providing music lessons for her child. Mom pays the piano teacher. How many know what I am talking about? Because Mom pays the debt in full, she can turn to her child and ask for something. What is it? Practice! Does the child’s practice pay the piano teacher? No. Does the child’s practice repay Mom for paying the piano teacher? No. Practicing is how the child shows appreciation for Mom’s incredible gift. It is how he takes advantage of the amazing opportunity Mom is giving him to live his life at a higher level. Mom’s joy is found not in getting repaid but in seeing her gift used—seeing her child improve. And so she continues to call for practice, practice, practice.
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When learning the piano, are the only options performing at Carnegie Hall or quitting? No. Growth and development take time. Learning takes time. When we understand grace, we understand that God is long-suffering, that change is a process, and that repentance is a pattern in our lives. When we understand grace, we understand that the blessings of Christ’s Atonement are continuous and His strength is perfect in our weakness (see 2 Corinthians 12:9). When we understand grace, we can, as it says in the Doctrine and Covenants, “continue in patience until [we] are perfected” (D&C 67:13). (7:29 - )

Update 2015-03-12
See also
 - Book Review: Adam S Miller’s Grace is Not God’s Backup Plan
 - Softly and Tenderly
 - A FB thread where I discuss this post and others about grace.
- From "8 Things the Atonement Is Not" by Brad Wilcox
1. The Atonement is not just about immortality and eternal life but about not having one without the other.
2. The Atonement is not just about sins but also struggles.
3. The Atonement is not just about receiving but also giving.
4. The Atonement is not just about earning but also learning.
5. The Atonement is not just about immediate perfection but also eventual perfection.
6. The Atonement is not just a reward for the righteous but the source of righteousness.
7. The Atonement is not because we are good but because God and Christ are good.
8. The Atonement is not just the best way but the only way.

Why We Forgive

Praying Rests the Weary

Did You Think to Pray? Hymn 140


1. Ere you left your room this morning,
Did you think to pray?
In the name of Christ, our Savior,
Did you sue for loving favor,
As a shield today?

Refrain.
O how praying rests the weary!
Prayer will change the night to day;
So when life gets dark and dreary,
Don’t forget to pray.

2. When your heart was filled with anger,
Did you think to pray?
Did you plead for grace my brother,
That you might forgive another
Who had crossed your way?

3. When sore trials came upon you,
Did you think to pray?
When your soul was full of sorrow,
Balm of Gilead did you borrow
At the gates of day?

(From HymnWiki)

The phrase "O how praying rests the weary" has been meaningful to me lately. What is the rest of the Lord?

On a recent John Bytheway talk he said that we only get weary from not finishing what we started.  I have experienced that. There is energy in completing meaningful work.  Maybe that part of what the rest of the Lord is.

Bonds of Anguish, Bonds of Love

Years ago I read Bonds of Anguish, Bonds of Love. A 1995 Manuscript by C. Terry Warner.  I learned invaluable life lessons from it.

I have decided to read it again. Here is a quote that I really love from the beginning of chapter 1.

There are two different ways of being a person. One of these precedes the change of heart, and the other follows it. The first is fearful, anxious, resentful, and alienated from other people; the second, open resonant with others, buoyant, straightforward, and secure.

To the extent that we live the second way, we care about others. We do not see them merely in terms of our own interests, as helping or hindering us. They are real to us; we are as sensitive to their feelings and hopes and needs as we are to our own.

Here is the the published book that came from the manuscript, "Bonds that Make Us Free: Healing Our Relationships, Coming to Ourselves"

"Make us thy true under-shepherds"

To those who aspire to be true under-shepherds.




Dear to the Heart of the Shepherd, LDS Hymn 221

1. Dear to the heart of the Shepherd,
Dear are the sheep of his fold;
Dear is the love that he gives them,
Dearer than silver or gold.
Dear to the heart of the Shepherd,
Dear are his “other” lost sheep;
Over the mountains he follows,
Over the waters so deep.

[Chorus]
Out in the desert they wander,
Hungry and helpless and cold;
Off to the rescue he hastens, (4th verse) we’ll hasten,
Bringing them back to the fold.

2. Dear to the heart of the Shepherd,
Dear are the lambs of his fold;
Some from the pastures are straying,
Hungry and helpless and cold.
See, the Good Shepherd is seeking,
Seeking the lambs that are lost,
Bringing them in with rejoicing,
Saved at such infinite cost.

3. Dear to the heart of the Shepherd,
Dear are the “ninety and nine”;
Dear are the sheep that have wandered
Out in the desert to pine.
Hark! he is earnestly calling,
Tenderly pleading today:
“Will you not seek for my lost ones,
Off from my shelter astray?”

4. Green are the pastures inviting;
Sweet are the waters and still.
Lord, we will answer thee gladly,
“Yes, blessed Master, we will!
Make us thy true under-shepherds;
Give us a love that is deep.
Send us out into the desert,
Seeking thy wandering sheep.”

Learn, Act, Share

Learn, act and share are the three words that sum up the Duty to God program in my church.

1. I learn what God considers my duty to Him.
2. I humbly accept these duties and begin to act to fulfill them.
3. I share the challenges I have had when I have fallen short. I share the blessings I have received when I am successful.

Rinse and repeat +infinity.  What greater recipe is there?  It points to a fullness of joy and progress and Life Eternal.

"The proud are easily offended and hold grudges"

From Ezra Taft Benson, “Beware of Pride” Apr, 1989

Another face of pride is contention. Arguments, fights, unrighteous dominion, generation gaps, divorces, spouse abuse, riots, and disturbances all fall into this category of pride. 

Contention in our families drives the Spirit of the Lord away. It also drives many of our family members away. Contention ranges from a hostile spoken word to worldwide conflicts. The scriptures tell us that “only by pride cometh contention.” (Prov. 13:10; see also Prov. 28:25.) 

The scriptures testify that the proud are easily offended and hold grudges. (See 1 Ne. 16:1–3.) They withhold forgiveness to keep another in their debt and to justify their injured feelings.
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Pride is the universal sin, the great vice. Yes, pride is the universal sin, the great vice.

I am amazed at how universally applicable this principle is.  Pride, as defined in the scriptures, is the root of all sin.