Spencer Fluhman is in Portland, Oregon tonight talking to young members of the LDS Church about "the peaks and valleys" people encounter on the journey of faith. He's joined by Fiona and Terryl Givens.
SF: The information age we live in has had a profound impact on the ways many of us experience faith. Exhilarating for some, troubling or disorienting for others.
SF: First, Latter-day Saints today aren't just dealing with misrepresentations. We're dealing with real things about our history. Second, when encountering new info, they may experience crisis of trust. Third, they may wonder about more basic things like how we know what we know.
SF: We have not been left alone to fend for ourselves today. The revelations of the Restoration give us keys to use. Like D&C 88:118, which says to seek wisdom from best books, to learn by study and also by faith. That some members don't have "faith" in the typical sense.
SF: Instead, questions--the peaks and valleys of religious life, are all part of the journey for so many of us. The Restoration itself grew out of questions. "Teach one another," section 88 says. We are the solution to dealing with doubt.
SF: We can listen better, walk with people with more compassion, and make church and our homes safe spaces for those with questions. And the revelation says "study." It doesn't say just ignore your questions. It invites active engagement.
Quoting Elder Ballard: "Gone are the days when a student asked an honest question and a teacher responded, “Don’t worry about it!” Gone are the days when a student raised a sincere concern and a teacher bore his or her testimony as a response intended to avoid the issue."
Ballard cont.: "You will need to study from the'best books,' as the Lord has directed (D&C 88:118). The'best books' include the scriptures, the teachings of modern prophets and apostles, and the best LDS scholarship available." Full talk at lds.org/ensign/2016/12…
SF: Those who navigate questions successfully come to appreciate change, to see flaws in leaders and others as a reminder that we're all in this together. They come to see themselves a seekers engaged in a lifelong endeavor.
SF: Those who are working through and with questions can become more confident, more candid, and more curious, plus more faithful, hopeful, and charitable.
SF: As a historian, "I do not fear our history...I am a witness to what careful study can do for our discipleship and faith."
SF: "I am not a Latter-day Saint in spite of my research and careful study of the LDS past. I am a better Latter-day Saint because of it." /end
Fiona Givens, co-author of "The God Who Weeps," now speaking. Will focus on five points of LDS belief.
First, We are eternal beings who lived with Heavenly Parents prior to mortality.
First, We are eternal beings who lived with Heavenly Parents prior to mortality.
Second, mortal life is not a terrible fall but part of a glorious ascent. In this view Eve's decision was a step forward.
Third, we worship a God whose heart beats in sympathy with human hearts.
Fourth, God and Jesus collaborate in our salvation, immortality, and eternal life. And we join them in that work by lifting each other.
Fifth, God has the capacity to save all his children. /end
Terryl Givens now speaking. Three main points. First, all paradigms begin with faith. Ultimately, whether one believes in God or not, one must have faith in something like human reason, or some other presupposition.
TG loves Galatians 5:12, that the fruits of the spirit are love, joy, and peace. That's Givens's chief presupposition.
TG: 2nd point of advice: actively feed your faith by nourishing the positive. In my scholarship I've found many wonderful points of the Restoration to appreciate that resonate with forgotten pieces of Christian history. Heavenly Mother, premortality, a council in heaven, etc.
TG: 3rd point. Let's make doubt a catalyst for further and deeper faith. This includes challenging your own presuppositions.
