Ryanware

I stayed up late reading again last night! I did manage to go to bed an hour earlier than the previous night though, and I woke up earlier to boot. Also, I finished The War of the Worlds. I sometimes struggle reading books like that, but not because they’re hard to read: I feel as though I should be reading educational books or something. Am I wasting my time reading books just for fun? As fun as it is to curl up on a couch, fire blazing, and read The Grand Unified Theory of Classical Quantum Mechanics I just can’t do that all the time. So I have to remind myself that it’s perfectly OK to read books just for fun.

Also, I don’t know a thing about quantum mechanics and I’m sure that book would blow my mind. I used that because it had the most complicated title I could find.

Subject change! So I received a few questions regarding my post a few days ago. The questions are about my beliefs in the Trinity (what I call the Godhead). I said I believe God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost to be 3 distinct individuals, whereas the Trinitarian belief is that they are 1 being. The questions and my answers are as follows.

Question #1: “What are the implications of one vs. three?”

One implication is that the LDS faith is often considered non-Christian because of this unorthodox belief.

The main implication, and the one that in my opinion really envelops all others, lies in one verse of scripture from the Bible.

John 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

Just as if you want to spend some real time with someone you have to get to know him or her first, the Christian belief is that to live with God in Heaven you have to get to know Him. Learning God’s nature lies at the core of getting to know Him. Are we literally his children or did he just create us? Is He a spirit, a man-like being, a mysterious presence in the universe? Is he three Gods in one, or just one God?

C.S. Lewis describes “The Three-Personal God” through different dimensions. He states that a creature living in a one-dimensional world could never understand two dimensions, and one living in a two-dimensional world could never understand three-dimensions. He compares the Trinity to a 3D cube and us, being in a two-dimensional state of mind, cannot comprehend this. Or maybe I’ll just let him say it.

“In God’s dimension, so to speak, you find a being who is three Persons while remaining one Being, just as a cube is six squares while remaining one cube. Of course we cannot fully conceive a Being like that: just as, if we were so made that we perceived only two dimensions in space we could never properly imagine a cube.”

In my other post I linked to an article that describes my feelings of this better than I can, so I’m including a quote from it:

All three members are separate persons, but they are a single being, the oft-noted “mystery of the trinity.” They are three distinct persons, yet not three Gods but one. All three persons are incomprehensible, yet it is one God who is incomprehensible.

We agree with our critics on at least that point—that such a formulation for divinity is truly incomprehensible. With such a confusing definition of God being imposed upon the church, little wonder that a fourth-century monk cried out, “Woe is me! They have taken my God away from me, … and I know not whom to adore or to address.” How are we to trust, love, worship, to say nothing of strive to be like, One who is incomprehensible and unknowable? What of Jesus’s prayer to His Father in Heaven that “this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent”?

In summary, the implications of one vs. three run deep. To gain eternal life one must know God, and at the very root of knowing Him lies his very nature. The LDS doctrine is that they are 3 distinct individuals. I’ll explain a bit more about that in answering the next question.

So I hope that answers the question. I am curious what others out there have to say on this. Have I misrepresented anything? Serious commenters only, I am not interested in arguing.

Question #2: “Also, doesn’t three cause a problem that you would be believing in multiple Gods?”

We believe in, and worship only one God. This worship is done in the name of Jesus Christ, which is often confused for polytheism. A typical prayer will go something like this:

1) Address God by saying something like “Dear Heavenly Father,” or “Our Father who art in Heaven”
2) Express gratitude for blessings
3) Ask for forgiveness, needs, answers to questions, etc.
4) End by saying “in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.”

We worship God the Father, in the name of Christ because Christ is the Savior of all mankind, and therefore our advocate with the Father. Redemption comes only in and through Christ so we recognize him as the link between us and God. The Holy Ghost is God’s messenger. The Holy Ghost guides, comforts, and teaches.

Also, I should probably add that we believe (again from that article I linked to) “They are one in every significant and eternal aspect imaginable except believing Them to be three persons combined in one substance.” For example, they are one in purpose (to bring Salvation to everyone), just as individuals in a country can be united in the purpose of protecting itself, or as a husband and wife can be united in raising their children. One might also consider on Christ’s intercessory prayer in John 17:11,20-23. Are Christians to believe that Christ intended for everyone to become part of some mysterious being? I think he meant that we should be united in purpose, in loving and caring for one another, just as They are.

I hope that explains it. Also, I should say that although I’ve tried my best to accurately explain LDS doctrine, I certainly could be wrong somewhere. If any other Mormons are out there reading, please correct me if I’ve made a mistake. Thanks!

I’m not going to expound much on my thoughts in this post, only provide a few things to think about.

First, a quote about Mr. Charles Darnay from the book A Tale of Two Cities.

In London, he had expected neither to walk on pavements of gold, nor to lie on beds of roses; if he had had any such exalted expectation, he would not have prospered. He had expected labour, and he found it, and did it and made the best of it. In this, his prosperity consisted.
- Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities, Two Promises

This got me thinking about prosperity and about my own expectations. In discussing this with a friend this scripture came up.

Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

And finally, I thought about this talk by Joseph B. Wirthlin, Apostle in the LDS Church: The Abundant Life. Here’s a quote from the talk.

Those who devote their lives in pursuit of their own selfish desires at the exclusion of others will discover that, in the end, their joy is shallow and their lives have little meaning.

On a tombstone of one such person was carved the following epitaph:

Here lies a miser who lived for himself,
And cared for nothing but gathering pelf,
Now, where he is, or how he fares,
Nobody knows and nobody cares. 9

We are happiest when our lives are connected to others through unselfish love and service.

Let us all reflect upon our own expectations and priorities and make changes where necessary.

I’ve been home for one year today!! For those of you who don’t know…

• No, I wasn’t in prison.
• No, I wasn’t in the armed forces.
• No, I was not camped near NASA Headquarters to try to catch a ride on a shuttle flight.
• No, I hadn’t run away from home.
• Si, era misionero de mi iglesia por dos anos!

“What? Translation please!”

I left on an LDS Church mission on August 1, 2001 and got home October 4th, 2004 after touring the mission a bit with my parents who came to pick me up. As LDS missionaries you can call home twice a year (Mother’s day and Christmas), write letters and e-mail (on public library computers) once a week, work a minimum of 63 hours a week (we’d usually work much more than that), cannot date, have another missionary as your “companion” every day all day, and a number of other things. All without getting paid! It’s completely voluntary. Each missionary has to pay his or her own way. Families and other people can and most often do help pay, especially for those without the ability to pay for it on their own. No one in the church HAS to go. It is strongly recommended for young men, and lightly suggested for young women. No matter how much I don’t like to admit it, girls are born with most everything guys learn on missions. Which is why I think it’s not as strong of a recommendation for them.

Some think 2 years sounds like a long time to leave home and not get paid a single penny, but it really hardly seemed like 2 years to me. I served in the Cincinnati, Ohio mission. Which covers northern Ohio, a small part of Indiana, and a lot of Eastern Kentucky. I was one of the 20+ Spanish speaking missionaries in the mission. I spent about 1 year in Ohio and the other year in Kentucky. These are the cities I lived in:

• Cincinnati, OH
• West Chester, OH
• Hamilton, OH
• Newport, KY
• Winchester, KY

No, I did not know Spanish before August 1st, 2001. Well, I did know agua, casa, and yo quiero taco bell, but that was it. I learned Spanish starting in the Provo, Utah MTC for the first 2 months, and then in Cincinnati from people and books! Studying for an hour each morning, reading the Book of Mormon and Bible in Spanish, and talking with people all day long really does a lot! No he tenido muchas oportunidades para hablar Espanol aqui en Utah durante el ano pasado, pero todavia leo el Libro de Mormon y la Biblia en Espanol… lo cual me ha ayudado recordar casi todo lo que habia aprendido en la mision. Tambien llamo por telefono o escribo correos electronicos a los que conoci en Ohio y Kentucky. Voy a tratar de escribir en este blog en Espanol de vez en cuando. A ver como me va.

Anyway, I can’t believe I’ve been home for a whole year! Time flies so fast! I used to think old people were weird to say it feels like their marriage of 40+ years has felt like nothing. After all, 3 months of summer seemed like an eternity with endless possibilities for fun! I’m only beginning to understand, but at least I’m understanding, right? Right.