As we wind down on the First Vision discussion, I want to take a moment to say again how important this topic is. This event truly was the foundation for everything that came afterward. As such, this is also a pillar that we need supporting the firm foundation of our personal testimonies. There’s been a lot of conversation online recently over Kevin Hamilton’s excellent BYU devotional, “Why a Church?” In that talk, Hamilton pointed out that you can’t separate Jesus Christ from His church or His chosen representatives. Christ Himself endorsed these men to lead His earthly church. That means that He also endorsed Joseph Smith. Therefore, when you stand in opposition to the Church or to the prophets, you are also standing in opposition to Christ. When you criticize the Church or the prophets, you are also criticizing Him for giving them His stamp of approval. And when you dismiss Joseph Smith as a fraud, you are also dismissing The One who called Him to help restore His Priesthood to the Earth. [Read more…] about Letter For My Wife Rebuttal, Part 4: The Early Church – The First Vision [C]
Faith Crisis
Letter For My Wife Rebuttal, Part 3: The Early Church – The First Vision [B]
There are different accounts of the First Vision. That surprises some people, which always surprises me in turn. Who tells a momentous, notable story only one time in their life? Additionally, some people are troubled that the different accounts don’t match up exactly, word for word, each time they’re told. But when someone tells the same stories and same jokes in exactly the same way every single time, what does that tell you? That they’re rehearsed. And that can often have a negative connotation. Even the Department of Justice website advises not to memorize your testimony for court because it sounds unconvincing and insincere. [Read more…] about Letter For My Wife Rebuttal, Part 3: The Early Church – The First Vision [B]
Letter For My Wife Rebuttal, Part 2: The Early Church – The First Vision [A]
Over the next few weeks, we’ll be talking about the First Vision. Faulk goes on about this issue for the next 9 pages of the LFMW, so we’re all going to get very familiar with the various accounts.
I have a deep fondness for the First Vision. When I was a young child in Primary, learning the words to “Joseph Smith’s First Prayer” was one of the very first times I can ever remember feeling the Spirit. I was so young at the time I didn’t understand what the feeling was or what it meant. I remembered it, though. It became one of the central pillars of my testimony from the day I was old enough to understand what the Spirit had been teaching me. My dad grew up inactive in the Church, and it was the account in the Pearl of Great Price that gave him his testimony. And when I was a teenager, it was the First Vision that I felt prompted to share with my good friend that led her to investigate the Church and eventually get baptized. So, when I say that the First Vision is important to me on a personal level, I do mean that.
This section begins with even more quotes. The first is from President Hinckley: [Read more…] about Letter For My Wife Rebuttal, Part 2: The Early Church – The First Vision [A]
Letter For My Wife Rebuttal, Part 1: Preface/Introduction
In the wake of the CES Letter, several other similar “letters” began making the rounds online. None of them have the reach and influence of the CES Letter, but the distant second-most popular letter appears to be the Letter For My Wife by Thomas Faulk. Because of its second-place status, there are virtually no rebuttals to it. The only one I’ve been able to find is the one at FAIR.
This particular letter is favored by two groups. The first is the group who were themselves turned off by the hostility of the CES Letter. They wanted something similar but much more neutral in tone to help explain their faith struggles with their loved ones. That’s a position I can fully respect. The second group, however, is the group who discovers that many believers are put off by the CES Letter’s tone. They prefer something more neutral in order to rope their loved ones into reading it so they start questioning their own testimonies. I don’t have any respect for this position. It’s manipulative, and that’s gross to do to someone you claim to love. [Read more…] about Letter For My Wife Rebuttal, Part 1: Preface/Introduction
Wind & Trees: Remaining Steadfast and Immovable in the Storms of Life
by Amber Johnson
When I returned from my mission in late 2015, all eight of my siblings, as well as the strong majority of my friends and co-workers, were active members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Over the past seven years, more than forty of my friends and family have left the Church – some very visibly, others more quietly, but nearly all without any intention to return. [Read more…] about Wind & Trees: Remaining Steadfast and Immovable in the Storms of Life
Book Review: Into the Headwinds: Why Belief Has Always Been Hard―and Still Is
Thank Goodness for Headwinds
by Meagan Kohler
Do you believe in God? How do you know?
In their new book, Into the Headwinds: Why Belief Has Always Been Hard―and Still Is (Eerdman’s Publishing), Terryl and Nathaniel Givens recount a story about a friend who was sincerely convinced the Second Coming would take place within twenty years. Yet, why was he actively contributing to a retirement fund that would not be accessible until some twenty years after he believed the world, as we know it, would end? The Givenses make a strong case for an unsettling possibility: many of us sincerely profess beliefs we don’t actually hold, and we can’t recognize the hollowness of those beliefs until they cost us something. [Read more…] about Book Review: Into the Headwinds: Why Belief Has Always Been Hard―and Still Is
The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 69
Part 69: CES Letter Conclusion [Section C]
by Sarah Allen
Well, here we are: the final post in this series. I’m sitting here right now with mixed feelings. This has been a very long time coming, requiring a tremendous amount of research and study, and a lot of blessings have come my way because of it. It’s gratifying to see the final result of all of the effort I put into it, though I have to admit, I’m also eager for a bit of a break.
I’ll go more into my thoughts toward the end of this post, but for now, there are still a few lines of Jeremy’s conclusion to get through.
Picking up where we left off: [Read more…] about The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 69
The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 68
Part 68: CES Letter Conclusion [Section B]
by Sarah Allen
This particular portion of Jeremy’s conclusion starts to get spicy. There will be a lot of questions being asked in a very hostile tone, some of them for the first time in this version of the Letter (he removed an entire section on the Scriptures that was pretty antagonistic, but still references it in his conclusion).
I realize that this relentless antagonism is considered by many to be a feature of the CES Letter, rather than a bug. However, to me, it’s just all very sad. Instead of realizing that just maybe he was wrong in his strident assumptions about the Gospel and allowing the Spirit to teach him something, he let bias and misinformation shatter his own his faith and turn him hostile and angry. Since then, it’s led him to actively destroy the faith of thousands of others while profiting off of their misery. He’s dug a pit for himself and now, the only way out is on his knees. So far, he hasn’t been willing to try that. I genuinely do hope and pray that changes someday, because Alma the Younger told us all exactly what happens when we go down that path without repenting.
Picking up here where we left off last week: [Read more…] about The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 68
The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 67
Part 67: CES Letter Conclusion [Section A]
by Sarah Allen
After almost a year and a half, this series is drawing to a close. All we have left here is Jeremy’s conclusion (which is 3 pages long) and then my own concluding thoughts. It’s been a long road, with a lot of reading, studying, and personal growth. I’ve personally learned a lot, and putting aside so much of my free time to study the history of the Church and its primary documents has strengthened my own testimony more than I ever anticipated.
It’s funny; one of the common claims you hear from people who have left the Church is that the more they studied, the more they became convinced it wasn’t true. For me, it’s been the opposite. The more I study the Gospel and its history, the more deep my belief becomes. I’ve said before that you can’t study this stuff on your own, you have to study with the Spirit.
Maybe that’s the difference, maybe not. I can’t read anyone else’s mind. All I can do is speak to my own life, and it tells me that what you get out of an experience mirrors what you put into it. If you’re hoping to find reasons to leave the Church, you’ll find them. If you’re hoping to find reasons to stay, you’ll find those, too. And if you’re looking to grow your testimony while learning more about the Church you belong to, researching all of these questions on your own is a great way to do it. [Read more…] about The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 67
The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 66
Part 66: CES Letter Other Concerns/Questions [Section H]
by Sarah Allen
Continuing the trend of things that are actually controversial, Jeremy kicks off this week’s post with the Strengthening the Church Members Committee (SCMC). This is a topic our critics love to run with, though as always, they distort the reality into something bizarre and twisted.
I’d like to go over some of the history and responsibilities of this committee, because, as I’ve said before, when you put the context back into these supposedly controversial things, they become a whole lot less controversial.
The SCMC was formed in approximately 1985 by President Benson, though it has much earlier roots. Its goals, as I’ll show in more detail with statements later, were to give assistance to bishops, branch presidents, and stake presidents who didn’t have the personal knowledge needed to help their members, and to monitor publications by members that taught false doctrine. This was apparently to protect the members from falling victim to those apostate sects who still practice unauthorized polygamy. [Read more…] about The CES Letter Rebuttal — Part 66
