I first became aware of Denver Snuffer's book Passing the Heavenly Gift in September when I read this blog post on LDS Alive in Christ. In it the blogger, Jared, attempts to counter Snuffer's claims that the current leadership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints lacks heaven's favor. Then in October I read Jeff Lindsay's blog post on Mormanity which also argues against Snuffer, and a two-part article by Gregory L. Smith at the always-excellent Mormon Interpreter detailing the shortcomings of Snuffer's book (part one here, part two here).
Reading two articles and two blog posts about a book and not actually reading the book doesn't qualify me to comment extensively on the book. I'm not going to address Snuffer's claims, but what interests me is why Snuffer's argument might resonate with church members, and what the appropriate response would be.
In short, Snuffer's arguments of a non-miraculous church resonate with members who have no miracles in their lives. Such a member reads the history and knows the scriptures that say spiritual gifts will follow those that believe, but then he looks at his own life and sees nothing at all that even remotely resembles these signs. He feels a little embarrassed of his shortcomings until someone says, "None of us have miracles!" This "emperor has no clothes" moment sets his mind at ease; it's not him who has done something wrong, it's a problem from 1844.
There's a problem with this view that both Jared and Jeff Lindsay seek to point out: accounts of miracles abound in this church. We can't say "it's Brigham Young's fault I don't have miracles in my life" when Thomas S. Monson's conference talks continually detail miracles he's experienced well after 1844. I don't argue for a moment that these critics are wrong about the lack of miracles in their lives, only that they err when they seek to excuse themselves by saying no one experiences miracles anymore.The Book of Mormon (which was translated during the brief window in which Snuffer agrees God's approval rested on the church) reminds us that "the reason why he ceaseth to do miracles among the children of men is because that they dwindle in unbelief, and depart from the right way, and know not the God in whom they should trust."
The fact that Snuffer's book is finding a sympathetic readership shows that one aspect of his argument is true: a large group of members don't experience the gifts of the spirit they expect and are distraught over it. But his argument that this is the result of the church leadership's loss of divine approval is baseless. Not only do I not need membership in a church with God-pleasing leaders to experience spiritual gifts (see the experiences of non-Christian Jews at the Day of Pentecost, non-Christian Lamanites in the prison of Shilom, and non-baptized Joseph Smith in the Sacred Grove), the leaders of the church continually demonstrate their own experience of spiritual gifts. The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves.
As a child I would often hear the saying, "When we point a finger at someone else, we point three fingers back at ourselves." I took this to mean that when I point out the fault in another, I invite retaliatory scrutiny of my life, or that I show I have the greater fault of criticizing. These could be considered macro readings. I've since come to learn this statement is true in the micro reading as well; when I accuse you of X, I show that my mind is disposed to thinking of X. Those who argue that the entire church is lacking the signs of the spirit are really just showing that they lack the signs of the spirit. Now, there's nothing wrong with that per se (a subject that needs addressed in a different post), but it's not grounds for condemning the church as a whole.
via oneofthebest
0 commentaires:
Enregistrer un commentaire