An Open and Imperfect Canon

[_moksha]

I ran across this gem on another forum. It made me think about the truths it contained. Thought it might be worthy for a Celestial forum discussion.

Acknowledging an imperfect canon takes more humility than proclaiming a closed perfect one. I am always willing to admit that I don’t have all the answers, and am a little put off by people who claim for whatever reason that they do.

[_jon]

Your gem is indeed a gem...

In the History of the Church, the following entry is recorded as having been made by Joseph Smith on November 28, 1841.

Sunday, 28.--I spent the day in the council with the Twelve Apostles at the house of President Young, conversing with them upon a variety of subjects. Brother Joseph Fielding was present, having been absent four years on a mission to England. I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.

[_bcspace]

I spent the day in the council with the Twelve Apostles at the house of President Young, conversing with them upon a variety of subjects. Brother Joseph Fielding was present, having been absent four years on a mission to England. I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.

That being true, even the Book of Mormon teaches an imperfect canon in 1 Nephi 13.

[_jon]

I spent the day in the council with the Twelve Apostles at the house of President Young, conversing with them upon a variety of subjects. Brother Joseph Fielding was present, having been absent four years on a mission to England. I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.

That being true, even the Book of Mormon teaches an imperfect canon in 1 Nephi 13.

1 Nephi 13 is talking about the Bible being incomplete not imperfect.
(we may mean the same thing and I'm just being picky, if so I apologise)
That could be perceived as 1st Nephi's author justifying the necessity of either the Book of Mormon or a retranslation of the Bible.

[_1 Iron]

I ran across this gem on another forum. It made me think about the truths it contained. Thought it might be worthy for a Celestial forum discussion.

Acknowledging an imperfect canon takes more humility than proclaiming a closed perfect one. I am always willing to admit that I don’t have all the answers, and am a little put off by people who claim for whatever reason that they do.

I just found this thread and really appreciated this quote, Moksha. Can you share the source?

[_harmony]

I've always found a closed perfect canon to be one of the best examples of God insulting his children.

And I've found an open imperfect canon to be abused by the men who, if they possessed an ounce of personal integrity, were supposed to guard its purity.

Disappointed with both sides.

[Guest]

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[_ErikJohnson]

One of the best illustrations of the absurdity of this common liberal position was given by John Gerstner in his Handout Church History series. Once, when speaking to a group of liberal theologians about the Scripture, Gerstner wrote the following proposition on the blackboard:

The Bible is the Word of God, which errs

He asked the group if they agreed with this proposition, and all said that they did. He erased part of the sentence, leaving

the Word of God, which errs

and stated that this proposition was equivalent to the previous one. All in the group agreed. Gerstner then erased a little more of the sentence, leaving the following:

God, which errs

No one in the group was willing to admit that this proposition described their position, but Gerstner had demonstrated that this was indeed the logical consequence of their position. To claim that the Word of God errs, but that God does not err is to violate the law of non-contradiction, which is, as we've shown above, to spout nonsense.

Michael Holloway, "Necessary Consequence"

[_moksha]

I just found this thread and really appreciated this quote, Moksha. Can you share the source?

http://community.beliefnet.com/go/thread/view/34789/27672333/Benefits_of_an_open_imperfect_canon

[_Doctor CamNC4Me]

Hello,

I don't know why the Mormon church simply doesn't designate the Book of Mormon, D&C, and Book of Abraham inspired fiction. That would go a long way toward mainstreaming the church while still maintaining the prophethoodyness of Mr. Smith. Apologists and many members are already throwing prior prophets under the bus (or their scribes) when it suits them, why not make it official?

V/R
Dr. CameronWhatever