The Chosen TV series is framing many attributes of God in such a fantastic way. I especially enjoy Season 1 Episode 6 for how it depicts Christ’s interactions with those around him. The scene starts with Jesus sharing the parable of the importuning widow found in Luke 18 then it builds to the moment where two different characters make a petition of Jesus. The contrast of these three examples of petitioning God provides excellent insight into how we should petition Him.

Abraham J. Heschel is worth our reading time. He was a good friend of Martin Luther King, lost his family in the Holocaust, and taught for 27 years at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in Manhattan. I believe he is the one that coined the phrase most moved mover in describing God. His daughter explained that he and Martin Luther King used the phrase.1 I am reading Between God and Man which is a compilation of his writings.

What might it mean for a church to look at itself and discover that it has moved beyond Christ? I don’t think it is much different than a child of God looking at themselves and notice that they have strayed beyond Christ. In one of the more exciting dilemmas of Christianity, God invites us to move forward in a very tumultuous sea. We can’t just drop anchor and stay in the same spot.

We want leaders to be infallible or completely fallible. It is hard for us to realize the giant grey zone for every leader on the planet - prophets included. That grey zone is called agency or free will in a world full of others that wield the same power. The life of Mark Hoffman, Gordon B. Hinckley, and our prophetic narrative all seem to make people think that this story of the Murder among the Mormons is a faith crusher.

When did Christ atone for me? Indeed, it happened in Calvary. It must be his death on the cross that set us free. But didn’t he bleed from every pore On a hill where he suffered in agony? Surely, it happened in that dark time before. Can both be included in his atoning reach? Each moment seems part of his love for me. Yes, his sacrifice was more than one momentary breach.

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. … And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost Acts 2

If you look, the blessing of wind is scattered throughout the scriptures. However, wind is also used to identify cursings and the influence of Satan. I see the wind as a fascinating metaphor used by God to represent covenants.

I suppose that the wind was the source of cooling, movement, power, and destruction most often experienced by the ancients. They didn’t have jet engines, air conditioning, guns, or bombs that responded to their commands. They depended on and succumbed to the wind and gave it metaphorical powers.

In D&C 82:8-10 we learn that God wants to bind himself to His Zion people. He is kind enough to provide insight on how we can ‘act before him’ to become as He is. Maybe it is just my thinking when I hear this verse read; However, I often hear this verse imply a type of inverse slave/master relationship between God and us. In the second half of verse 10, I understood that God would throw us to the lions if we didn’t do what he said.

So, I think that the relativized version of this is relativized to a being who has perfected his way of being relative to other beings.

James Faulconer

Stop and read that quote a few times and make sure you can see what Jim is saying. Do you believe there is such a thing as perfected relativity?

Dr. James E. Faulconer, a philosopher, theologian, and research fellow at the Neal A. Maxwell Institute, was on the Maxwell Institute podcast to discuss his latest book - Thinking Otherwise: Theological Explorations of Joseph Smith’s Revelations. James Faulconer’s discussion covered many topics that we discuss on MostMovedMover. I enjoyed every minute and found joy in aligning his views with a few of our posts. The list below highlights the relationship between snippets of his quotes with posts from MostMovedMover.

taking positions so dogmatic as to stifle the honest and thoughtful inquiries

Henry Eyring

Science and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe in the ability of ‘honest and thoughtful inquiry’ to break through entrenched dogmas that define a community’s beliefs. However, both can succumb to respect for historical decisions to the point that ideas become dogmatic in that no other thinkers are allowed to question the status quo. If we all held to the status quo, we would still be on a flat earth, ignoring that Christ ever came. Sincere questioning and answering are needed to pull us out of our dogmatic beliefs.

In the October 1992 General Conference, then Elder Russel M. Nelson shared a message titled, Where is wisdom? that touched on pandemics and social liberties. His 1992 message with his #GiveThanks YouTube message helps us understand President Nelson’s views on pandemics, civil liberties, masks, and Wisdom.

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.

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.

Alma 13:7-9 includes multiple statements about God’s existence concerning beginnings and ends. The verses include references to his foreknowledge and Priesthood’s reality. In my previous post, I discussed Kathleen Flakes response to understanding no beginnings and no ends. This post looks at all of the verses with this reference and LDS commentary around this phrase.

In 2017 Kathleen Flake gave the Annual Neal A. Maxwell Lecture. The entire presentation is engaging and worth your time. I expect to share a few snippets from her presentation in future posts about Joseph Smith and Priesthood insights. This post focuses on a short answer she gave at the end of the discussion about timelessness. I want to imagine what she says is unimaginable. One eternal round means timelessness? The short clip below shows a gentleman asking a question about ‘one eternal round’ and how Kathleen would deal with beginnings and ends.

Each year the Seminary and Institute teachers of the Church Education System for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints hosts a night with a general authority. I remember attending these when I was trying to get hired as a seminary teacher. BYU-I faculty are invited to participate in a remote stream of these firesides. My wife and I attended with a few friends that also teach at BYU-I at the beginning of the year.

Does God live in Greek time? (Experiencing time as growth). Relational theology focuses on man’s relationship with God. However, in pondering a relationship with God, time is the first concept that throws Christians into a mental tailspin. We can pull out of this death spiral. However, to untangle God and time, we have to understand Eastern and Western (Greek) views of time. I am of the firm opinion that Western perceptions of time do not constrain God.

N.T. Wright is the C.S. Lewis of our day, according to Robert Millet and with that comparison, he has such clout that religious scholars respect his word and Time magazine publishes his articles. Last December, he wrote a short essay titled, ‘The New Testament Doesn’t Say What Most People Think It Does About Heaven’. He calls out Plato, of whom Aristotle was a student, for creating the conventional Christian view of humanity dying and leaving this world to go up to heaven.

Let me start this post with a big caveat. Metaphors are useful for conveying ideas about specific points of reality and inadequate for conveying the entire complexity of our lived experience. The chess metaphor falls short in explaining the plan of salvation that God has for His kingdom. Still, it can be an excellent metaphor for understanding the relationship between God’s wisdom, power, knowledge and our agency. I want to frame parts of the chess game before we read the following quotes.

Introduction During the early ’90s (I think), my church ran some commercials under the catchphrase, ‘Family, it’s about time.’ One of them is below. I always thought the ads had a great play on the wording. The phrase could imply that it is about time that we focus on the family or that you can’t be family without investing time. It is from those commercials that I build the premise and title of this post.

In our Come Follow Me New Testament Reading for the last week of October, there is a section on Philemon 1:17-21. In these verses, Paul offers to cover Onesimus’ debts that might be owed to Philemon. In one section of this Come Follow Me topic, there are a series of questions that are asked to prod a conversation. You can see the questions in the screenshot below. I was visiting relatives while on a work trip, and one of their children was guiding the conversation.

Having responded to a few people that have posted on my blog, I got up the nerve to comment on another Latter-day Saint’s blog. Dennis Horne is the author of that blog, and he has even published a book on LDS doctrine. I think I was direct and clear without condemnation. Dennis was also relatively cordial to me, but not to Terryl Givens. It looks like Dennis and Terryl represent a significant fissure that exists in the LDS faithful.

James E. Faust shared a devotional at BYU in 1993 titled, The Voice of the Spirit. Mormon messages used this talk to create the following message. Elder Faust shares an impactful quote about light (or truth) being part of our very essence. Signaling that truth is much more than facts. You will not be able to travel through life on borrowed light. The light of life must be part of your very being.

According to John Sanders, the concept of truth has multiple meanings. There are three main theories of truth in Western thought. The correspondence theory: This theory holds that truth is that which corresponds to a state of affairs or fact of reality. The coherence theory: a statement is true if it fits (coheres) with a set of other statements accepted as true. The pragmatic theory: an idea is true if it is fruitful and workable in relation to our experience.

Our challenge: As we listen to oft-quoted phrases, many people take them as facts without finding a source. Once we find a source and validate the quote, then we get the chance to discern the signal from the noise. We could start to recognize the signal with the following questions; What does the quote mean in context? What words in the quote are taken as givens or facts that may not be as clear cut?

His and our attribute At times we discuss attributes that we must have to progress in the kingdom of God, but we limit the conversation to us and forget that God also holds the fullness of those attributes. I will review scripture and latter-day prophet’s words on meekness to see if we can understand God’s meekness. In a later post, we will examine what the perfected attribute of meekness implies about our relationship with him.

Previously, I referenced Alma 40:8 when I asked Does God live within time? In this post, we will keep our focus on Alma 40:8. It reads; Now whether there is more than one time appointed for men to rise it mattereth not; for all do not die at once, and this mattereth not; all is as one day with God, and time only is measured unto men. This verse can get quoted out of context.

Introduction In John 8:31-32 Jesus makes a bold statement about how we can be free. Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. To which the group of believers responded, ‘How sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?`. Jesus then states a central point of John 8 & 9 in verse 34.

The testimony of Christ comes from more than historical facts. It comes from more than the biblical witness. It is more significant than knowledge from the living prophets. It reaches farther than the witness in Latter-Day scripture. These witnesses with the testimonies of our forefathers establish a footing that stabilizes our view into His heavens. They provide stability for patient ponderings within our soul. The testimony of Christ lives through the grace of His covenants

Background: My nephew shared this amazing podcast from the Maxwell Institute at Brigham Young University of a conversation between Terryl Givens and Steven Peck. You can watch the video of the podcast below or read the full transcript. I have included a few impactful parts of their conversation that relate to our discussion here at mostmovedmover.com. As I was sharing ideas from this podcast with my daughter, she shared D&C 133:17 and D&C 65:1 where the Lord asks us to ‘make his paths straight.

Background: My last post about the omniscience of God motivated me to look at the LDS topical guide under God, foreknowledge of. I quickly realized that foreknowledge is a very complicated concept in protestant Christianity and in LDS teachings. Before we tackle the references under God, foreknowledge of, Election, Foreordination, and Predestination we need to work through what each word means, how they relate, and how they are different. One of the issues with each word is that their definitions are nuanced by the various beliefs of each Christian theology.

Background I have had a few discussions recently where I have been surprised by the answers given concerning God and how he relates to time. Once again, I think many of us are unwittingly letting Aristotle’s unmoved mover philosophy drive our beliefs in God. The scriptures are full of clear statements about God and his relation to time. The Old and New Testaments have a few verses that provide value to this discussion.

Background In “Does God have a Future?” John Sanders explains the open theist view of omniscience and foreknowledge. Here are a few key quotes; I prefer to think of “perfect” in dynamic terms: relational perfection. God is always in perfect relationship with us, and as the relationship changes so God changes. -Pg. 90 First, let me say that Jesus did not experience “powerlessness.” Rather, he exercised the power of love and chose not to use other types of power available to him.

In Elder Holland’s book titled, Christ and the New Covenant, I first encountered the fascinating idea that God could change his behavior based on our prayers and faith. This paragraph stretched my mind. A final explanation-and in terms of the brother of Jared’s faith the most persuasive one-is that Christ was saying to the brother of Jared, “Never have I showed myself unto man in this manner, without my volition, driven solely by the faith of the beholder.