brittrossiter

Whether or not Luke was Jewish is a matter of some controversy, given Paul's apparent omission of Luke from a list of people "who are of the circumcision" (see Col. 4:11; Paul doesn't get around to conveying greetings from the seemingly-uncircumcised Luke until Col. 4:14).

The FAIR article on this precise question is very informative. According to the article, this particular portion of Daniel exists today only in Aramaic, whilst the balance of the Old Testament exists in Hebrew. The translators' use of the phrase "Ancient of Days" for the particular Aramaic phrase in Daniel 7 at issue is anomolous and cannot be justified without resort to extrinsic sources (the article specifically mentions "Canaanite myth and Baal imagery")

I can understand how someone who has never experienced same sex attractions would be a bit mystified by the struggle. Speaking from my own experience, the "gay experience" is indeed a tremendous struggle. and involves much suffering, especially for someone who truly wants to follow Christ. I don't know whether same sex attractions are innate or learned, or learned at such an early age so as to make it seem innate, but I don't think it really matters. Powerful incentives to sin come from everywhere, and in many contexts. There are many people who suffer from seemingly innate proclivities to substance abuse, compulsive theft, self-mutiliation, etc. Should they abandon all efforts at self-restraint and simply indulge themselves because it feels "natural"? Apparently, giving in to every base impulse is one of the Sacraments of the new world order. Hence the societal pressure to dip your toe in those waters, to "come out" and be you you "really are." For someone suffering from same sex attractions, it is that drumbeat, and not the Church's proclamations of truth, which is truly causing the sorts of horrible tragedies as the one at Rutgers. If you are someone who is truly experiencing same sex attractions, the societal pressure to give in to those temptations is absolutely overwhelming. The best hope for a young man (and it is usually young men) to resist this temptation in the face of these temptations - or to crawl out of the lifestyle if he's fallen into it - are a fine-tuned moral compass, a firm testimony, a supporting and understanding family, humble, approachable and caring local church leadership, and open lines of communication all around. I hardly had any of those things, which is why I fell into the trap, and stayed in that trap for more than 12 years. But I am also living proof of the miracle of which you speak, and of which Elder Packer spoke on Sunday morning. For those who have faith, and are willing to persevere and place their trust in the Lord, it is possible to put that lifestyle in the past, to unshackle the chains and get one's Agency back, so to speak. I've been out of if now for 16 months, and they have been among the 16 happiest months of my life. I am now living as who I "really" am - a child of my Heavenly Father.

I am currently in a state of flux. :) I was raised Catholic, nearly converted to the LDS Church, fell away from both, then re-considered the Catholic faith, and for the past couple of years have been attending an Eastern Orthodox church, though I am not a member there. I am again considering the LDS Church.

My most recent experience with mainstream Christianity is with the Eastern Orthodox. They would probably answer this question by analogizing the (Orthodox) Church to a map that can help guide you along a narrow path through a treacherous forest to safety (i.e., salvation) on the other side. The map may not be easy to follow and may involve fording dangerous rivers, crossing perilous ledges, but it will get you to safety if you stay along the narrow path. You can try to navigate the forest on your own (by acting righteously without any guidance from the Church), and you might very well get to safety that way, but it's far easier to stay on the correct path and avoid dangers by following the map. It's not a perfect analogy, of course. To my knowledge the Orthodox do not teach that one must be Orthodox to reach Heaven.

Elder Holland's discussion of how he discovered what his parents had done for him while he was on his mission brought me to tears.

Speaking (typing?) as someone who has successfully emerged from the gay lifestyle and put it behind me, I appreciate Elder Packer's words. This issue is a perfect, yet tragic, example of the importance of humility, of recognizing that one does not always know best for oneself and that the better rule is to place one's trust in the Lord, rather than in one's own imperfect earthly reasoning. Our world appears to have lost its ability to be humble. Is it any wonder that the rise in gay suicide seems to align perfectly with the rise of the "me" generation and the drumbeat of public encouragement to become enslaved by one's own passions? How much different would our world be if instead there were a drumbeat of humble submission to God? There are, sadly, many both in and out of the Church) who - with an equal lack of humility - exhibit anger, dislike, and indifference towards those who suffer from same sex attractions (and from my own experience it is indeed a "suffering"). Thankfully, in my case, there were enough people in my life who were able to show genuine love to me, while still preaching the consistent gospel of Jesus Christ, to reach me. It took time, but I eventually heard them, and the consistency of their witness and the evident peace in their lives from following the gospel was a key reason. I for one have never felt more truly free than since I broke away from that lifestyle. As I've told more than one person, it's as if I've emerged from a very long sleep.

Welcome!

I can resize the Address/One Bar. Try hovering the mouse over the space between the "stop" button and the left edge of the first tab. Te mouse arrow should change to a double-ended arrow. Just click and drag to make the Address Bar as short as you like. I was able to get it so short that the URL for this site merely read "http://www.ld..." -- and so long that it scrunched the tabs to just about a centimeter in width.

IE9 actually has some additional nifty features, such as reordering of tabs and support for Windows 7's Aero Snap feature (which is pretty useful, once you get the hang of it).

I was scared away from the Church back in the early 1990's by some anti literature, including The God Makers. It's only in the last couple of years, and through discovering resources like fairlds.org and the FARMS website, that I've had the courage to dip my toe back into the waters ever so slightly. :) Reading through these well-written LDS resources has help me tremendously in opening up to the Church. I'm still not quite there yet, but am far closer than I have ever been, and I think most of the damage done by my prior experiences is now (thankfully) in the past.

Hello! I very nearly was baptized back when I was high school, got cold feet at the last minute, and spent the last 20 years or so spiritually adrift as a result. Now that I'm nearly 40, I have finally been disabused of the notion that I know everything. :) I have several Mormon friends whom I treasure and whose faith in Jesus Christ I admire. I remain very open and interested in the Church, and am here to learn. My background is primarily Orthodox Christian with a smattering of Catholicism thrown in for good measure. Britt