Redeeming (Most of) the Seven Deadly Heresies

* 1) “God is progressing in knowledge and is learning new truths.
* 2) “Organic evolution and revealed religion … can be harmonized.
* 4) “The doctrine of salvation for the dead offers men a second chance for salvation.
* 5) “There is progression from one kingdom to another in the eternal worlds.
* 7) “We must be perfect to gain salvation.
== 1) “God is progressing in knowledge and is learning new truths.” ==
McConkie claims that this idea is “utterly, totally, and completely” false. He attributes it to a “wholly twisted and incorrect view” of Joseph Smith’s last general conference sermon. I think he protests too much.
McConkie does acknowledge that God progresses through expanding creation. God creates new worlds. And God creates new children with divine potential. But, according to McConkie, God doesn’t learn any new truths in the process.
I disagree. To begin with, for reasons that require more elaboration than I’ll provide here, I think the concept of creation is incoherent without incorporating the concept of learning. And beyond that, other Church authorities have explicitly disagreed with McConkie. Notably, here’s what president Wilford Woodruff taught:
McConkie’s primary justification for his position is an appeal to his interpretation of the Lectures on Faith. Unfortunately for his position, however, the Lectures on Faith are no more authoritative than his own opinion, or the opinion of Woodruff. And the scriptures themselves don’t teach his position.
Similar to McConkie, some have argued that we can’t trust a God that learns. I disagree. We trust many people who learn, for good reason. And we trust some more than others, for good reason.
I trust that God is incomprehensibly more intelligent, creative, and compassionate than we are. I trust that “omniscient” is practically applicable to God, relative to us, even if it’s not strictly accurate in any final sense. And if that’s the case, that’s a sufficiently good reason for me to trust God far more than others that I already trust highly.
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Redeeming (Most of) the Seven Deadly Heresies. Apr 20, 2021. Lincoln Cannon
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Heresy; Redemption
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Category:Religion