Have you ever wondered how President Nelson, a Prophet of God, warns
you in essence that the proverbial defecation is about to hit the rotary oscillator
(the crap is about the hit the fan)? He says
it like this: "There's much more to
come…Wait until next year, eat your vitamin pills, get your rest”.
Change is a big deal especially in theology, where most religions
including ours, are known more for not changing then they are for any type of
change at all. Few things are more consistent
in the world than religion. But guess what, that is not how our religion was
setup. The theorem of our faith is very,
very different.
It sounds a little cold to describe part of one’s faith as a
theorem, but that’s really the way it is. Every faith in the world has a logic to
it. The fun part is that in the world of
religion, is each church gets to make up its own logic. Its very own cause and effect, its own axiom
set if you will. I am not just talking
about a logic that religions use to deduce rules that govern behavior. But a rule of logic (theorem) by which their
very beliefs are derived.
This is a lesson I learned in a theology class, we were required to
take in high school. As much as I love seminary, it is not in any stretch, a
serious class of theology! Take your imagination
into one of my memories. You show up to school
and the first lecture you get, is on how so many religions in the world don’t
get along. He tells us about the hate of
the Crusaders, the eternal battle between Islam and Judaism, Southern Baptist
and Mormons, and so on and so on… illustrating that fact that nothing in the history
of this world, is full of more animosity and war then religion.
The teacher then sits on top of his large desk, in the front of
the room and utters the following words “We expect you young people to be able
to bring the harmony of logic to every situation in this life and you will
start by bringing the most emotional subject in the history of this world into logic
and order. Because if you can do it
there, you can do it anywhere”. For the
next year I learned a lesson that has paid many dividends in my life, that the study
of theology is really the study of philosophy within the bounds (rules) of
logic a specific religion has chosen to be governed by. That even something as seemingly complex as
religion, has a simple straight forward core.
If you want to flatter the most adherent believers in a religion,
make them smile, have them look you in the eyes and say, “Yes that’s true!”… Tell
them that their religion is so solid it is based on logic. They will get all of the warm fuzzes they
desire and their minds eye will flash with images of their religion being the
one true religion that has found a way to bring together the world of science and
logic with the Universe of God in Heaven. Next, if you want to make most adherent
believes in a religion, any religion mad, really mad, make a point of
telling them that the logic their religion is based on is totally made up,
subjective and full of so many holes of varying size that it makes a sieve look
water tight.
Different religions have different logic. The fun part is that once you know a certain
religions foundational theorem, “logic”, they become easy to understand, easy
to argue with (the Greek meaning of the word argue, thank you very much). You also learn that in every religion there
is a fallacy in their logic, a belief that does not fit, a doctrine that it
does not explain. That is every religion except for a true one. If a religion is to be true, then the theorem by
which their beliefs are derived from must be perfect. Their theorem must bear
the weight of any test.
So why am I bringing this up?
