Responding to Difficult Questions

With apologies to Bro. Mortensen, I'm going to start the September book discussion (on Nov. 3) before my ancient brain forgets any more.

I took a class from Robert Millet at BYU, and the one lecture I remember is when he played a radio clip of some pastor from another church. Millet thought this radio pastor had particularly insightful comments on the Mary and Martha story. I can still hear the pastor loudly proclaim, "The Master was in the house!!" My point is that Millet is sincere in his beliefs about outreach between our church and others (in case you doubted). I certainly agree that we (Mormons in general) do need to get out more.

I enjoyed the book, though I really had to force myself not to skim over large sections of the book where Millet discussed questions to which I felt I already had an answer. In fact, I read the book not seeking to see how I could answer other people's questions, but how I could answer some of my own questions. I don't think I've ever been asked truly difficult questions from non-Mormons, but I have been asked some tricky questions from Mormons and ex-Mormons.

There were a couple of questions that Millet raised that I wish he had explored further, and since he didn't I'm going to raise them here. I can't quote him exactly because I no longer have the book.

1. Why should we trust feelings/answers to prayers as a means for knowing the truth? Millet makes an excellent point about how he feels sorry for those that don't have that feeling. That knowledge without the spirit is empty. I agree. We need to feel what is right and be able to get answers. BUT, I think that's an incomplete answer.

For my job, I tell people every day about the dangers of the placebo effect. It's powerful, and people can clearly feel things because they think they're supposed to or because they want to, etc. We have many examples in early church history of false revelations. People thought they were following the spirit, but Joseph told them it was a false or evil spirit. Even today in the church I often see members feel impressed to do something they didn't want to do, and it turns out poorly.

Yes, we must have the feelings of the spirit to really know what is truth. However, our feelings can be, and often are, misinterpreted, so I guess it seems like a sandy foundation. Having had a good friend that came to church for years, had the discussions, prayed and didn't get an answer, I wish there was a good back-up plan.

2. What about the Book of Abraham and the scrolls found in a museum? Millet asserts that the scrolls found could not be the originals because they aren't long enough and don't fit the descriptions in church histories. This was the first time I heard this theory. I had been told in a BYU institute class that the scrolls found were the same scrolls that Joseph Smith had. The teacher (a BYU religion professor) said the scrolls found had some sketches of temple plans on the back. The institute teacher's theory was that the translation of the scrolls was much like Joseph Smith's translation of the Bible. It wasn't really a translation at all. The scrolls just served as something to trigger Joseph Smith to receive inspiration from the Lord. I must say that I like Millet's theory better. It certainly cleans up a lot of other questions. Any thoughts on this one way or the other?

3. How do you account for the church's changing positions and early church history? Now, I'm a bit hazy now on what Millet said on this, but I do want to bring it up as a point of discussion. Personally, I don't lose a lot of sleep over blacks and the priesthood, polygamy, and more recently, changes to the temple ceremony. All of the changes have been changes for the better. If I remember right, Millet said that none of these changes were doctrinal changes, defining doctrine as something in the standard works.

While this isn't an issue for me, it is an area where I start to get defensive. The 'Are Mormons Christians?' questions don't phase me at all, but when I get serious questions about our beliefs on polygamy, I get uncomfortable. Non-Mormons will usually drop the issue if you just explain we don't believe that any more, but my good friend that is semi-Mormon has more persistent questions about it. For example, why did Joseph Smith marry someone that was already married and why was he so secretive and why don't we teach the full truth about these things in Sunday school... Again, I don't lose sleep over these things, but I do think there are a lot of issues that don't have clean answers. I think this book can make you think there are good answers to every question, but if there are, I haven't heard them all yet.

Doug, my county didn't have your book, but fortunately, I also have a library card for the county next door and I'll be picking up the audio book on Thursday. I'm looking forward to it.