Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Latter-day Saint
“What’s the Point of a Prophet Who Already Agrees with You?”

“What’s the Point of a Prophet Who Already Agrees with You?”

Last updated on: August 20, 2021 at 4:44 pm by Dan Peterson

“What’s the Point of a Prophet Who Already Agrees with You?” 2021-08-20T16:44:46-06:00 Dan Peterson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Brigham Young, in roughly 1850
(Public domain image by unknown photographer)

***

A friend called this afternoon from Orlando, Florida, to make me aware of this:

https://deseretbook.com/p/witnesses?variant_id=194869-dvd

I’m delighted to see the ad campaign beginning so soon. I still hope, of course, that you’ll be able to see the film on a big screen — whether again or for the very first time. But opportunities to do that are rapidly disappearing. So order your copy soon!

***

This was a real shocker to me (and, of course, to many others):

“LDS literary community marks a sad chapter with the death of beloved bookseller Curt Bench: He had dealings with bomber Mark Hofmann and a universe of authors. Navigating Mormon history and theology requires good tools, says a friend, and “his tools were books.””

“Independent bookseller who had dealings with Mark Hofmann dies at age 68: Bench was interviewed for Mark Hofmann true-crime docuseries ‘Murder Among the Mormons’”

I can’t claim to have been a close personal friend of Curt Bench and I didn’t actually run into him very often, but we’ve been friendly occasional acquaintances for years and years, and I last saw him at the very end of last month, as I reported here on this blog — see “On Nephite Genetics and Ancient Egypt” — on 30 July:

“After we had the Nibley volumes, we went to Benchmark Books, where, according to plan, we met with Jann Cahoon Campbell (who worked at the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies back in its golden age and who has been an Interpreter Foundation volunteer for a number of years), as well as her husband, Ryan, and Robert Boylan. (I was also pleased to run into Mark Johnson, who volunteers for Interpreter and regularly participates in the Interpreter Radio Show) and Curt Bench (the proprietor of Benchmark Books).”

“I had never actually met Robert Boylan before, although I’ve long been aware of his remarkable blog. I cannot spend more than three minutes in any bookstore of even minimal quality without finding something that I want. So, naturally, I bought something. (Benchmark Books far exceeds “minimum quality.”)”

Curt and I and the others had a good and relatively long chat, and I came away — with the blessing of my wife! — with a pricey two-volume boxed set of Brigham Young, Colonizer of the American West: Diaries and Office Journals, 1832–1871.

It’s very difficult to grasp the fact that Curt, who seemed as vigorous as ever when I last saw him, is gone. He’s been a Presence in Latter-day Saint intellectual circles for a long, long time.

***

“The First Presidency Urges Latter-day Saints to Wear Face Masks When Needed and Get Vaccinated Against COVID-19: “We can win this war if everyone will follow the wise and thoughtful recommendations of medical experts and government leaders””

“What’s the Point of a Prophet Who Already Agrees with You? A new letter from the First Presidency has opened up many conversations about the reasons and universality of following prophetic counsel. But prophetic counsel is meaningful because it can stretch us in new and unexpected ways.”

“9 Things I Consider When Prophets Disagree with My Politics”

““What’s Up With the Brethren?!””

From the invaluable Neville-Neville Land blog: “Pandemic falsehoods and “two lines of communication”

“As US bishops reject exemptions, Pope Francis dubs COVID-19 vaccine ‘act of love’: The declaration comes as U.S. Catholics debate religious exemptions to COVID-19 vaccine mandates.”

I recommend this 35-minute podcast from the Salt Lake Tribune’s “Mormon Land.” It features Sam Brown, a scholar, author, scientist, and physician. I think that some out there ought to hear what he has to say about the emotional, mental, physical, family, and social toll that the pandemic has taken on frontline health care workers and the sense of “betrayal” — his word — that many of them feel as we prolong a viral siege that should and easily could have been behind us quite a while ago:

“A Latter-day Saint ICU physician’s experience battling COVID-19 | Episode 195”

“How coronavirus vaccines still help people who already had COVID-19: Past coronavirus infections offer some protection, but vaccines give the immune system a boost”

And here’s a coronavirus-related item from the Christopher Hitchens Memorial “How Religion Poisons Everything” File©:

“Church Continues to Provide Humanitarian Aid to Paraguayans Impacted by COVID-19: Donations include relief to hospitals and vaccination centers throughout the country”

But now we return you back to your regularly scheduled programming:

“New studies hint that the coronavirus may be evolving to become more airborne: The virus appears to spread through the air, but masks reduce the amount of infectious virus”

“Texas GOP Official Mocked COVID Five Days Before He Died of Virus: H. Scott Apley’s Facebook page was filled with anti-mask, anti-vaccine content until he was suddenly hospitalized on Sunday.”

But then, of course, there’s this:

“Stop gloating over COVID-19 deniers falling ill. Focus on the miracles of kindness. Those of us who are vaccinated should not be so proud as to declare ourselves such.”

And, of course, I’ve already mentioned this piece, by Jeff Lindsay:

“How to Talk to Concerned Church Members Who Are “COVID Policy Doubters””

The interview with Sam Brown to which I link above also discusses how those who have received the anti-COVID vaccination ought to respond to those who, by their defiance, are pulling the rest of us back into the depths of pandemic. I need to hear such things, because, I confess, I’m finding this a challenge.

***

In other more or less science-related news:

“Rain fell at the normally snowy summit of Greenland for the first time on record”

“Researchers Find Physical Evidence of Earthquake Described in Old Testament: Excavations in Jerusalem revealed damage dating to the eighth century B.C.E., when the natural disaster reportedly took place”

***

On a quite unrelated topic, this book could potentially solve all of our society’s problems and all of your personal problems:

The Necronomicon

Of course, it would help if you’ve read a little bit of H P. Lovecraft beforehand. If you haven’t, though, help is still available:

H. P. Lovecraft Insurance

Uncategorized

Book of Mormon

Book of Mormon Witnesses

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Witnesses of the Book of Mormon

Previous Post

August 18, 2021

Anybody out there in or near Preston, Idaho, or Lethbridge, Alberta? Or, for that matter, anywhere else in the cosmos?

Next Post

August 20, 2021 "Better Kingdom-Building through Triage"

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 March 2014 August 2013 February 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does the name "Moses" mean?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Delivered Saved Drawn out (of water) Judge