Quote:
Originally Posted by All-American
We ought not to bemoan the interaction of the spiritual and the intellectual, nor fear to expose truth to truth or panic if two truths seem incompatible at first glance. We ought then to recognize that our knowledge, whether it is gained through intellectual or spiritual pursuits, is both imperfect and incomplete, and make adjustments as necessary. I see no other appropriate course of action for any who believe that ultimately, all truth will be circumscribed into one great whole.
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D&C 93:36 The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth.
I believe this to be correct, and I agree with you AA.
As a missionary, I came to believe that there is a lot of 'truth' out there. Through scripture study, and through prayer for me I came to know God as a loving, merciful and just God. That is to say, a God who knows each of us better than we know ourselves and loves us more than we can imagine. I believe that he has laid out a plan, with steps that need to be taken to return to him. How he may get us to understand these points may be done in different forms.
I love the scripture above, because of the way that I feel light can illustrate a point. For example, the room below has some light to it. It's dark, but it is lit.
Obviously, the more light you add to the room, the more and better/easier you can see.
(sorry for the cheesy example, but I feel it makes a decent enough point)
The more light/knowledge we seek to obtain, the clearer the path becomes. The more we are able to understand truth. I like thinking of things as a scale, instead of as black and white. I also believe that no matter how much we learn here, we are in a pretty dark grey as much as the light is concerned. Taking some of the passages that AA cited above, I feel that where learning becomes a problem is when we feel we are reaching a point where we know enough that we stop learning or compare ourselves to others because we know more than they do and become prideful. I think there are things we can learn from every person. People who disagree probably haven't ever had kids.
I also believe that because our Father knows us so well, he may teach us in ways that we can understand. He might teach AA a different way than he teaches the same principle to me. AA can probably read and learn from others experiences instead of experiencing it like I have to to be able to grasp something. And while the methodology and/or terminology may be a bit different from person to person, the underlying lessons are similar enough that those who err, if they seek, will have enough light shed to their own understanding that the all encompassing TRUTH will be known. I do strongly feel that the process is one of both spiritual and intellectual process, where combined they allow a synergistic thought process and more complete enlightenment. However, there needs to be self-motivation and steps taken in order to fully achieve the enlightenment and reward, if you will.
At times, I like to think that I'm in a pretty light room. In reality, I, like most others here, are probably more in the dark than we would like to acknowledge. And there is nothing wrong with that.
Sorry for my ramblings. I'm sure many will disagree with me, and that's fine.