November 29, 2020

What was the first sin of Adam and Eve (Gen. 3)?

In our conversations of Adam and Eve, we often see the first sin as the partaking of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. However, if we believe in a fortunate fall, then partaking of the fruit was the progression that God desired, not something in opposition to Him. Also, it seems that they could not sin while in the Garden (see 2 Nephi 2:23; Moses 5:11) which implies that anything that happened before and up to the partaking of the fruit could not be a sin.

November 22, 2020

Is truth discovered in social networks?

We have coined the phrase ‘social networks’ as primarily a set of apps and websites connected to the internet. Our national and religious leaders use this phrase to imply how we talk to people through our phones. There was even a movie given that title to represent the rise of Facebook. However, social networks have been vital in humankind’s existence since the fall of Adam and Eve. As humans, we build truth beliefs based on the social connections that surround us¹. God and Satan both know that social networks are how we find and learn the truth and use it to their advantage. I connect the latest in social network science with examples from our scriptural history and current environment to see that we build truth and lies on the same foundation.

November 15, 2020

Did Jesus let a Greek Woman teach Him of His mission (Mark 7:24-30)?

A Greek woman had an ailing daughter who arrived at Jesus’ feet to beg for His miracles in her family. Jesus responded, ‘Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it unto the dogs.’ His response seems to say that His mission did not involve her or her people. He had a plan, and it did not involve miracles for her as a Greek woman. She then responds in humility, ‘Yes, Lord: yet the dogs under the table eat of the children’s crumbs.’ This response gives Jesus insight into His mission and His interaction with her. He responds, ‘For this saying go thy way; the devil is gone out of thy daughter.’ Did the Greek woman change Jesus’ mind?

November 8, 2020

Is faith knowledge of unlikely yet actual possible outcomes? Is faith probability? (Alma 32:21)

There are a few of us that would believe outlandish lies. People have differing beliefs on Big Foot’s reality, whether we landed on the moon, or if COVID-19 is a health pandemic. What makes the belief of those concepts different from believing in God the Father? The fascinating relationship between all of these beliefs is humanity’s inability to comprehend rare occurrences. What we often refer to as possible outcomes instead of probable outcomes is hard to imagine.

November 1, 2020

Can we know anything?

Our western society has been diverging quickly on the understanding of knowledge. Some feel that it is our personal liberty to know what we want to know and that our individual freedom allows us to ignore experts that have spent a lifetime building up knowledge in a domain. Others argue that all deference must be given to experts and that we are not justified in criticizing experts as our understanding is too limited.

October 25, 2020

Determinism isn't the answer.

Some Latter-day Saints (and many others) believe that the future is entirely predictable if one just knew the current state right now. This concept is called causal determinism and, if too intently followed, creates ideas like fixed-future omniscience, predestination, and antagonism towards free-will or Agency. Of course, many events can be predicted in a causal chain, which allows science to progress and humans to reason about the future. However, fanatical focus on causal determinism would argue that when the first living cell formed on earth that my lunch order on Wednesday was determined for my October 23, 2020 order.

October 18, 2020

Does God want us to stumble (Jacob 4:14)?

As you read all commentary in General Conference about Jacob 4:14, you will notice that they focus on our part of the relationship with God - our role and how we have ’looked beyond the mark’ in rejecting the Christ. Jacob 4:14 provides details on God’s part in the relationship that causes our ‘stumbling’, which offers insight about God’s work with each of us. It helps us understand ‘stumbling’ within the complexity of partners in a relationship.

Jacob 4:14 states;

But behold, the Jews were a stiffnecked people; and they despised the words of plainness, and killed the prophets, and sought for things that they could not understand. Wherefore, because of their blindness, which blindness came by looking beyond the mark, they must needs fall; for God hath taken away his plainness from them, and delivered unto them many things which they cannot understand, because they desired it. And because they desired it God hath done it, that they may stumble.

October 11, 2020

Defining the Omnis in LDS Theology

I am reading The Grace of God, The Will of Man: A Case for Arminianism, and I have found the authors to be articulate in their explanation of the difference between Arminianism and Calvinism. The two theologies are relatively consistent in their views of God’s Omnipresence. But, their opinions on Omnipotence and Omniscience are different, and the contributing authors highlight these differences. The theology of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints appears to be much more aligned with the Arminian view, but we have some Calvinistic strains. In this post, you will see how the LDS community caveats the Omnis and be able to compare our caveats to other theologies.

October 2, 2020

I am light (I am divinity defined)

This week my second father died of cancer and has allowed me to think about what it means to create one’s life in the image of God. He lived his life as if yesterday were done and that today could be done in such a way to bring joy to his and other’s future. He was the type of person that shined so bright that you couldn’t be in his presence without going through his personality.

September 25, 2020

What is contained in all of God's reality?

Gregory A. Boyd’s book God of the possible is where I found my tagline for the MostMovedMover website. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in openness and how the Bible testifies of God’s relation to man’s agency. It is thorough in its detail around the biblical references and theology related to God and a contingent future. I recently found a short YouTube video from Greg that provides an excellent six-minute summary of his book and what ‘God of the possible’ means.

September 20, 2020

The parable of the McDonald's visit

Once there were grandparents that had more money than could be counted by any grandchild. These grandparents announced that tonight’s dinner would be on them at McDonald’s and that everyone could pick whatever they wanted from the menu. This promise seemed almost unreachable by some of the grandchildren. How could they pay for so many people without knowing what they would even order?

September 13, 2020

Time and the cardinal attribute of enduring (Neal A. Maxwell)

Time and the cardinal attribute of enduring (Elder Neal A. Maxwell) In the April 1990 General Conference, Elder Neal A. Maxwell shared a touching message titled, ‘Endure it Well’. He has some great discussion about the benefits of time that is worth reviewing on MostMovedMover. This post should be read along with my two other posts about Elder Maxwell’s views on time (7/19 post and 3/20 post). As we work through his quotes, I highlight a couple of questions about progression, endurance, time, and mortality.