SMPT 2010 Presentation

Here it is: http://www.scribd.com/doc/28959827/Which-Thing-I-Never-Had-Supposed

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“Which Thing I Never Had Supposed”

The Problem of Evil and the Problem of Man

Loyd Ericson

Claremont Graduate University

SMPT 2010

The problem of evil as a challenge to God's existence had led philosophers of religion to see the problem as a call to defend God and seek for arguments through which both God and evil could co-exist. This response, I will argue, is misplaced. The true challenge of evil is not in the question of God's existence in light of this evil but in the devaluation of the human individual who experiences and/or witnesses suffering. Attempts to defend evil's existence and analogize God as a chess-master maneuvering through evil only exacerbate the problem by turning individuals who suffer into valueless sacrificial pawns for God's ultimate win. A better response to the evil in the world is not a defense of God through the justification of evil but rather a justification of the individual through the confrontation of suffering. The Atonement, especially as understood by liberation theology, is the paradigm of God's own response to the problem of evil.

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The coward strikes again

It looks like my cowardice hater (or lover?) had more to say to me in an e-mail today.

Enjoy.

Loyd you are lying once again. It is NOT vile to say what I have said if it's the truth, that what you say is a lie and evil. It is VILE to say that a PROPHET of GOD is racist. Who do you think you are, and how much pride do you have to think that you can see the people of this earth as a PROPHET of GOD does. Because you know not and understand not the mind of GOD. Here is a scripture in 2 nephi the is 100% in context. 40 O, my beloved brethren, give ear to my words. Remember the greatness of the Holy One of Israel. Do not say that I have spoken hard things against you; for if ye do, ye will revile against the truth; for I have spoken the words of your Maker. I know that the words of truth are hard against all uncleanness; but the righteous fear them not, for they love the truth and are not shaken.

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Someone certainly hates me

Several years ago (as some of you know) I was asked by John Dehlin to record a short segment from his Mormon Stories podcasts:

Yesterday, I got an email from John with a comment that was recently added to the Mormon Stories blog:

Loyd is a liar. First example is I was in his ward when he went to uvsc and there was maybe one guy with a fohawk with hilights. Loyd is type of person that says he like to give another perspective and when he does and another person dares to have another perspective that is designed to cast doubt on his perspective as he did to the initial perspective he gets mad offended leaves and then declares to the world how he has been made an outcast. What he does can easily be summed up in the story of Cain and Abel. When God asked for  a sacrifice Cain gave him not what God wanted but what he thought God wanted. When it was clear his sacrifice was unexceptable he was upset and sin was at his door. Loyd makes his self the spokesman for those that do not give God what he wants and attacks those that do. This does no good for those that are in need of change and repentance. If Loyd recieves phone calls once a month from friends leaving the church it is because Loyd aligns himself with those that are weak and are struggling which is a warning. He calls his work project mayhem which no true disciple of Christ would do. He seeks contention but withers at the truth. the priesthood was restored to various people according to the will of God. Just because men wanted did not mean men got. Just as Gentiles did not have the priesthood at certain times so it was with black men which are for reasons to whom the priesthood belongs has. It is written that the first shall be last and the last shall be first as it is written this prophesy is fullfilled with the priesthood being given to worthy Black Men. Those that seek to confuse these choice and chosen men with accusations of racism are no friend to rightous Black Men that love their people and are in positions to be a chosen tool in bringing their brethren unto salvation. To put peoples salvation at risk to sow seeds of contention because without being an oxymoron there is nothing is wrechid. To call the prophet a racist. Know he not that Brother Brigham is with Brother Joseph planning for his brethren. Now that the fulness of gospel and the Priesthood of God is here for all worthy men to have and proclaim and do the will of our Father listen not to hypocrits that sow seeds of contention but bless and gather our fellow brethren. The people of the world do not need apologies but all need to apologize. All need the truth not hypocrits that sow disent that mix philosofy gotten from a brad Pitt movie and the word of God. Loyd may be permitted to walk his thin ice of disent and rebellion to the judgement bar but unless he repents his false teachings will condem him and those that give credence to his false teachings. Loyd fights the side of the adversary seeking to enslave rather then free and until he can learn to be humble and obedient to his true spiritual leaders and not socialist quacks at universities he will gain no true wisdom and no true knowledge into the mysteries and mind of God. His teaching are lies mixed with truth to fool the weak out of salvation. If you had problems with the church loyd would be your friend but if you had opinions otherwise he would say you have made him an outcast.

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Spiritual Investigations: Wittgenstein and the Mormon Concept of Feeling the Spirit

Ever feel like you just spent forever writing your worst paper ever? Well I just did. For some reason I could never get into this paper and basically felt like I was just rambling on and on and on about nothing. I hope my SMPT paper turns out to be something better.

Anyways, here is my recent paper for my Wittgenstein class. Ugh.

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Spiritual Investigations:

Wittgenstein and the Mormon Concept of Feeling the Spirit

The belief that a person can know the truthfulness of certain propositional claims lies near the center of Mormon religious life. Latter-day Saints are encouraged to gain testimonies of things such as the reality of God, the saving atonement of Jesus, the prophetic calling of Joseph Smith and other Mormon leaders, and the scriptural authority of the Book of Mormon. These testimonies are usually gained through the “feelings” or promptings of the Holy Spirit, or what Mormons often refer to as “the still small voice.” As a believing Latter-day Saint and a professing Wittgensteinian, I am interested in the type of clarification and elucidation of this practice that might be brought on by a Wittgensteinian exploration. Thus, the intent of this paper is to explore the grammar of this aspect of Mormon religious practice using Wittgenstein’s writings in his Philosophical Investigations.[1]

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SMPT Conference. UVU. March 25-27

The schedule for this years conference for the Society for Mormon Philosophy and Theology is now up. You can read it here.

I will be speaking two weeks from today on Thursday at 2:30. Here is a quick abstract for my presentation that I wrote up yesterday.

The problem of evil has almost always been seen as a challenge for God's existence. Philosophers of religion, in turn, have taken the problem as a call to defend God's existence, and have sought to provide an argument by which both God and evil could co-exist. In this paper, I argue that the response to the problem of evil is misplaced. For both the believer and the unbeliever, the true challenge is not in the question of God's existence in light of this evil, but in the devaluation and of the human individual who experiences and/or witnesses evil. Attempts to philosophically challenge the problem of evil by defending evil's existence and analogizing God as the great chess-master who maneuvers through evil, exacerbate the problem by turning the individual who suffers into a valueless sacrificial pawn for God's ultimate win. Instead, I argue, the proper response to the problem of evil is not a defense of God through the justification of evil, but rather a justification of the individual through the confrontation of evil. The Atonement, especially as understood by liberation theology, is the paradigm of God's own response to the problem of evil.

If you are in the area, you should come check it out. It won't just knock off everyone's socks; it'll knock off their feet.

Glenn Beck now goes after me!

I guess he didn't like my last post.

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Glenn Beck urges Mormons to leave the Church

Last week on Glenn Beck's radio program, Beck said the following:

"I'm begging you, your right to religion and freedom to exercise religion and read all of the passages of the Bible as you want to read them and as your church wants to preach them . . . are going to come under the ropes in the next year. If it lasts that long it will be the next year. I beg you, look for the words 'social justice' or 'economic justice' on your church Web site. If you find it, run as fast as you can. Social justice and economic justice, they are code words. Now, am I advising people to leave their church? Yes!"

You can listen to the longer audio here.

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Re-reading Ammon’s Mission to the Lamanites

This is a paper for my approaches to Mormon scripture class. It's a bit different than anything I have ever written for school. What think ye?

(you can read a pdf version of the paper (here)

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Re-reading Ammon’s Mission to the Lamanites

The story of Ammon’s mission to the Lamanites is usually read and retold by Mormons as a simple and uncomplicated religious narrative. It is a story of one of the sons of the righteous Nephite king Mosiah, who after his miraculous conversion to Christianity by an angel, sets out to share the Christian gospel with the heathen and barbarous Lamanites. In the process, Ammon amazes the Lamanites with his god-given strength, converts a Lamanite king with his preaching, and with his brothers’ help, eventually assists in the conversion of thousands of the corrupt Lamanites to righteousness.

Upon closer reading, however, there appears to be much more going on in the narrative than only the story of one or more righteous missionaries’ success in converting thousands to the Christian gospel. In Mormon’s narrative, Ammon and his brothers were not just religious missionaries, but were also acting as state emissaries of the Nephites seeking to establish a working relationship with the Lamanite nations—a relationship that most thought was impossible due to a renewed surge of violence and suspicion at their borders, which was the results of the actions of some of their own. Furthermore, while abridging and retelling this story Mormon has carefully crafted the narrative to illustrate what he believes to be the preferred method of Christian conversion and peace-making between warring nations. The story of Ammon and his brothers, as told by Mormon, is ultimately the story of how, through good examples and service, they were able to break through the xenophobic and bigoted stereotypes that both the Nephites and the Lamanites held of the other, unite their kingdoms, and convert thousands of unbelieving Lamanites to Christianity.

The hermeneutical approach in this paper makes a few initial assumptions. First, it is taken for granted that the Book of Mormon is an account of real historical characters—acting as imperfect humans with their own biases, virtues, and faults. Second, most of the narratives within are not firsthand accounts, but are rather carefully constructed retellings of the events by the prophet-historian Mormon. Third, the accounts and sources which Mormon utilized to reconstruct his narratives were most likely not immediate dictations of the events, but were probably first or second hand recollections of those events. Because of this, there is only a very limited perspective remaining on the actual events as they occurred: Mormon’s retelling of one person or group’s own retelling of the story. Like a detective with only minimal witnesses and partial evidence, the reader is forced to look for clues that might point to neglected (or intentionally redacted) information, biases, misplaced assumptions, and reconstructed aspects of the narrative. It is with this methodology that the paper seeks to re-approach and uncover various aspects of Ammon’s mission. This is not intended to be an exhaustive account of Ammon’s story—perhaps no investigation could—but is rather intended to illustrate certain aspects of the narrative that are usually left buried and unseen.

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