I heartily agree with your lists. I did not serve a mission nor did I do temple ordinances other than the dozens of proxy temple baptisms in which I participated. I was a youth and young adult during my years of Mormonism. I had a chaotic home life (mental illness, violence) and the LDS church was a wonderful refuge. I, received writing scholarships to BYU and was able on my own, with no parental help (well, my mom once sent me $200 when I was in college) to attend BYU where I was gloriously happy. It was the discovery of the at-that-time hidden history of the church (thank you, Jerald and Sandra Tanner), and confronted with the implacabiility of biblical doctrines, that left me soul-sick and bereft. Yet, I feel no bitterness whatsoever. People have noted that in numerous reviews of The Mormon Mirage. I still am in awe of the fact that I could have believed and loved something so fervently that... in its essence, did not exist. I'm Orthodox too, and one of my biggest struggles is giving myself over to priesthood authority and church history. But at my lowest point, I made a rock solid commitment to Jesus Christ, and Him alone: to follow wherever He would lead, no matter what, even to the brink of hell. Instead, He led me to Othodoxy which has all the best things you mentioned about Mormonism (though I agree with your assessments about church education) and has, as I often say, populated the unseen for my contemplation, peace, and real-world help.
in your opinion is there anything i have not written about that I should? given the variety of topics you’ve published books on. i’m curious to see if you feel I’ve left any major gaps unaddressed.
I heartily agree with your lists. I did not serve a mission nor did I do temple ordinances other than the dozens of proxy temple baptisms in which I participated. I was a youth and young adult during my years of Mormonism. I had a chaotic home life (mental illness, violence) and the LDS church was a wonderful refuge. I, received writing scholarships to BYU and was able on my own, with no parental help (well, my mom once sent me $200 when I was in college) to attend BYU where I was gloriously happy. It was the discovery of the at-that-time hidden history of the church (thank you, Jerald and Sandra Tanner), and confronted with the implacabiility of biblical doctrines, that left me soul-sick and bereft. Yet, I feel no bitterness whatsoever. People have noted that in numerous reviews of The Mormon Mirage. I still am in awe of the fact that I could have believed and loved something so fervently that... in its essence, did not exist. I'm Orthodox too, and one of my biggest struggles is giving myself over to priesthood authority and church history. But at my lowest point, I made a rock solid commitment to Jesus Christ, and Him alone: to follow wherever He would lead, no matter what, even to the brink of hell. Instead, He led me to Othodoxy which has all the best things you mentioned about Mormonism (though I agree with your assessments about church education) and has, as I often say, populated the unseen for my contemplation, peace, and real-world help.
i like to say that orthodoxy delivers on all the things mormonism promises but cannot deliver on.
Theosis, in particular.
in your opinion is there anything i have not written about that I should? given the variety of topics you’ve published books on. i’m curious to see if you feel I’ve left any major gaps unaddressed.
“one of my biggest struggles is giving myself over to priesthood authority and church history
residual lds trauma no doubt.