D&C Bits
Section 50
V. 2-3. False spirits and Satan listed as separate groups. Interesting. Is his kingdom uncontrolled?
V. 12. No universal logic? Logic, like math, has always seemed to me to be at the very heart of things. Here God seems to say that our logic is play logic.
V.31. If God does not help you know the spirit, it is not of God. Sounds simple, but what that actually means in practice is worth some thought.
V. 43. Compare with v. 22. Seems to be saying that the sort of mutual understanding we achieve when teaching under the influence of the spirit is the oneness that the Godhead has which they invite us to join.
V. 33. Also compare with v.22. Rejoicing is essentially a communal emotion that opens you up?
Section 51
v. 17. Act as if you were going to live here many years.
Bookslinger
July 1, 2021
50:12, Now, when a man reasoneth he is understood of man, because he reasoneth as a man; even so will I, the Lord, reason with you that you may understand.
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v 12 harkens to 1 Cor 2:14, But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
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Spiritual discernment implies a “spiritual logic.”
But not only is “man’s logic” lacking the spiritual aspects of reality, it generally ignores past and future. We almost always reason while focusing on the present, ignoring history as examples of, and a predictor of, cause-and-effect. And we also can’t take into account currently unknown long-term effects, which the Lord can easily see.
Mankind is mostly unaware of our telos, ie, purpose and destiny.
The Lord is capable of 3D chess, looking ahead to the end of the game, and we are limited to 2D, and looking only one move ahead.
Bookslinger
July 1, 2021
V. 33. Also compare with v.22. Rejoicing is essentially a communal emotion that opens you up?
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I think the key component of rejoicing is joy. In a teaching/discovery/revelatory situation, there is joy in learning and discovering, ie., receiving light.
“Re”-joicing is a joyful celebration of the initial joy.
Two missionaries teach an investigator family. They feel joy as the Spirit is shed forth on everyone confirming the teachings. One of the investigators says, with an awe-struck look on their face, “I know what you’re saying is true.” The missionaries REjoice upon hearing that, and seeing that look, and REjoice again every time they repeat, during and post-mission, what that investigator said.
I experience joy with Book of Mormon placements, especially the ones with serendipitous or miraculous encounters. My retelling of some of those is my invitation to “‘REjoice with me.’ Ain’t the Lord grand?”
So, yeah, rejoicing is communal, joy needs to be shared, and it’s repetition keeps it going, and can even multiply it among more people, in a “go and do likewise” fashion.
Sean G.
July 1, 2021
Our reasonings are usually abstract models of reality, like a child’s toy train vs a real one. And when we talk to our children, we do so that they may understand. Our heavenly father does the same for us.
E.C.
July 1, 2021
V. 2-3. False spirits and Satan listed as separate groups. Interesting. Is his kingdom uncontrolled?
Well, yes and no. Chaos is essentially Satanic, since order is Godly. But also, I think that, just as some spirits were less valiant in the testimony of Jesus and still decided to come here to earth, there are some who were less valiant in the testimony of Satan yet still fell. This is pure speculation on my part, but there does seem to be a spectrum between true good and evil, doesn’t there?
Zen
July 3, 2021
Regarding logic, my name comes from reading a book called Godel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid. It discusses the music of Bach, the art of Escher, and a mathematical theorem of Godel, the so called Incompleteness Theorem. In short, Mathematics can prove all true theorems. And anything that could, would be a very different kind of reasoning.