The Reasonableness of Christianity Blog

When these extremists argued ‘either-or,’ the Western tradition answered ‘both!’ I have been re-reading Carroll Quigley’s forgotten masterpiece of historical and sociological analysis,  Evolution of Civilizations . As I was reading it struck me that Quigley’s description of Western ideology strongly agrees with the conclusion of Edwin Brown Firmage’s theological study of government which I wrote about in a recent post . In an Ensign article from 1976 Firmage described a political tension between individualism and communalism, also reflected in the philosophical debate between universalism and nominalism through the ages. Firmage’s conclusion is that LDS theology points not to one extreme or other, but to a synthesis of the two: “Man’s goal is seen as being the perfection of his individuality in the image of his Heavenly Father, until he is able to enjoy a celestial community.”  Carroll Quigley characterizes the essential Western ideology - the way of thinking that drove ...

I had a conversation with my mother about my time serving as bishop in my ward, and my father wrote up a post about one point from our conversation on his blog Arise from the Dust .  One of the responsibilities of a bishop or branch president is to seek inspiration for callings, invitations to ward members to serve in one of a number of vital roles. The bishop has a bishopric (two counselors, executive secretary, and ward clerk) with whom he can consult, and the ultimate responsibility for seeking inspiration falls on the shoulders of the bishop. I found it helpful in many cases to open up the scope of the council process to include the presidents of the primary (children’s organization), young women, and Relief Society (women's organization). Getting those three inspired leaders together in a room was extremely productive and brought new ideas, perspectives, and solutions I wouldn’t have thought of on my own. As President Nelson said, “ good inspiration is based upon good informat...

One fun thing I discovered recently is that the theological and philosophical musings of Enlightenment hero and devout but free-thinking Christian John Locke have striking parallels with the positions later taken by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In a previous essay I identified nine points in which Locke’s reasoning moved him away from mainstream protestant Christianity and in the direction of what would later become the LDS camp: rejection of original sin, rejection of salvation by faith alone, openness to modern revelation, the suggestion that the soul might be material, openness to polygamy in certain circumstances, rejection of the creeds, and most especially rejection of the Trinity (but belief in Father, Son, and Holy Ghost). Locke searched for truth through a diligent study of the Bible and through reasoning from that foundation. Some of his conclusions of course represent a very serious divergence from the creeds and contemporary Protestant doctrines, but rem...

… at the young age of three!  Family life gives abundant opportunities for service and growth, often in unplanned and unexpected ways. Miles’s younger sister Cecily is 11 months old and does not yet have his sophisticated understanding of physics or cause-and-effect. She has a few times scooted over to the top of the stairs to perch precariously at the edge. We have learned to respond quickly when we hear Miles call out his warning “Look, Cecily!” when he thinks she is in danger.  He has always had that protective nature, but today his man card status became official. My wife and I were getting ready for the day in the bathroom, when we heard Cecily making noises from what sounded like the top of the upstairs landing. Knowing her curiosity about the stairs we darted out of the bathroom to check on her, me with shaving cream still on my face. In fact, Cecily was trying to get to the stairs, about one foot away. But between Cecily and the stairs was Miles, lying sideways and mak...