long ago ideas

“When we are tired, we are attacked by ideas we conquered long ago." - Friedrich Nietzsche. Long ago, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery conquered false claims that the Book of Mormon was fiction or that it came through a stone in a hat. But these old claims have resurfaced in recent years. To conquer them again, we have to return to what Joseph and Oliver taught.

Thursday, December 7, 2023

The Rational Restoration Table of Contents

[Note: I cross-posted this at https://nomorecontention.blogspot.com/2023/12/the-rational-restoration-table-of.html]

People are asking what's in the book and why I wrote it.

The subtitle explains that the book consists of "reframes in the pursuit of clarity, charity and understanding."

In my view, the Restoration is rational. It is simple. It all makes sense. 

But various complications have set in, primarily because of the theories of critics and intellectuals.

In the book, I explain the FAITH model of analysis and propose around 60 reframes of confusing interpretations created by critics and intellectuals. The reframes make sense of the historical, doctrinal, and organizational issues.

For example, in my opinion it is not rational to say that Joseph and Oliver told the truth about their experiences, but to reject what they said about the origin (SITH) and setting (M2C) of the Book of Mormon.

I emphasize in the book (and everywhere else) that I encourage people to make their own informed decisions. That's what clarity is all about. 

Secondly, I'm fine with people believing whatever they want, and I assume people act in good faith. That's the charity element.

Finally, I'm interested in understanding others and feel no need to persuade. The compulsion to seek conformity or conversion is a major, if not the sole, cause of contention. 

The work of so many LDS apologists and critics shows how desperate they are to fortify their own beliefs/conclusions by seeking conformity and approval from others because they are so insecure they can't tolerate clarity, charity or understanding.

Sad.

But the Rational Restoration is an antidote to contention, misunderstanding, and censorship.

_____

Interested readers can go to Amazon and download a Kindle preview that includes the Table of Contents.

https://www.amazon.com/Rational-Restoration-Reframes-pursuit-understanding-ebook/dp/B0CHXRY2ZJ

I also posted the Table of Contents to the MOBOM site, here:

https://www.mobom.org/rational-restoration



No comments:

Post a Comment