The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism... by Steven Pinker

[_DoubtingThomas]

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has the wrong name because we are likely not in the last days. All the prophecies of more evil, suffering, and death are failing. Thank goodness.

I am about to buy Steven Pinker's book. "Pinker shows that life, health, prosperity, safety, peace, knowledge, and happiness are on the rise, not just in the West, but worldwide. This progress is not the result of some cosmic force. It is a gift of the Enlightenment: the conviction that reason and science can enhance human flourishing"

Science and reason have done more for humanity than religion and the Holy Ghost ever will.

[_Philo Sofee]

Michael Shermer's most recent addition to this theme, "The Moral Arc" is a superb analysis of this also. It makes for a splendiferous one-two punch......

[_slskipper]

[quote="DoubtingThomas"]The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has the wrong name because we are likely not in the last days. All the prophecies of more evil, suffering, and death are failing. Thank goodness.

Just for the record, "Latter-day" does not mean "Last days". It means "modern". And that is how the term was understood when it was chosen by the church members, as a way of indicating that they considered themselves the heirs of the old saints, in the days of Jesus, out to change the world with the Good News of salvation. It wasn't long before a sizable faction decided that all this was a run-up to the End Times, and that is when the "meaning" changed.

[_Fence Sitter]

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has the wrong name because we are likely not in the last days. All the prophecies of more evil, suffering, and death are failing. Thank goodness.

Just for the record, "Latter-day" does not mean "Last days". It means "modern". And that is how the term was understood when it was chosen by the church members, as a way of indicating that they considered themselves the heirs of the old saints, in the days of Jesus, out to change the world with the Good News of salvation. It wasn't long before a sizable faction decided that all this was a run-up to the End Times, and that is when the "meaning" changed.

Interesting hypothesis, but do you have any evidence to back it up.

We have no formal rules here regarding CFR's so feel free to respond however you like, but I would be interested in why you think that is so.
Don't we have statements from Joseph Smith saying he believed the 2nd coming would be 80 years of so? So even if it changed after the name was chosen, Joseph Smith was part of the faction involved in deciding it meant something different, and we all know how much his theology changed during his own lifetime.

[_Gadianton]

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has the wrong name because we are likely not in the last days. All the prophecies of more evil, suffering, and death are failing. Thank goodness.

Just for the record, "Latter-day" does not mean "Last days". It means "modern". And that is how the term was understood when it was chosen by the church members, as a way of indicating that they considered themselves the heirs of the old saints, in the days of Jesus, out to change the world with the Good News of salvation. It wasn't long before a sizable faction decided that all this was a run-up to the End Times, and that is when the "meaning" changed.

That's interesting because I remember on my mission, that's what we said in order to downplay the obvious meaning of the name. We used to tell investigators that it distinguishes us from the Saints of earlier times.

Of course, we all know that ever since Joseph Smith, every generation of LDS have believed that they are in the last days, and they have the Patriarchal blessings to prove it. There's a good chance that your PB says something about being one of the most valiant spirits in the pre-existence, and thus being preserved for the end times when the power of Satan would be greatest. C'mon, admit it!

Ever hear of Heaven's Gate? Pretty much the same thing.