Latter Day Struggles 117: The Book of Mormon Was Never about LDS "Truth Claims" w/ Paul Toscano
Series Title: Real Talk about the Book of Mormon [Part III of IV]
Join Valerie and special guest Paul Toscano in this part three on a series focusing on untangling some of the complexities of the Book of Mormon. Paul had a lot of fascinating ideas about this topic including 3 ways to look at the Book of Mormon:
- As a historical record (the most immature, irrelevant, and unhelpful approach)
- For its literary value (perhaps interesting but often not transformative)
- As a mystical/visionary text (as a living, supernatural text intended to be interpreted by the reader with the objective to transform in ways only possible by suspending one’s demand for proof, evidence, certainty.)
According to Paul there are several reasons why very few people are able to approach the Book of Mormon as a mystical/visionary text:
- We currently live in a world steeped in scientific materialism. Our minds are socialized in understanding and valuing only the rational and literal; often struggling to interpret the spiritual, supernatural, or mystical.
- The LDS church itself has proven to be a huge stumbling block through its decades-long efforts to “prove” that the Book of Mormon is a historical text, hoping that by proving its historical truth, it might thereby “prove” to be the “only” true church.
- The LDS church leadership have provided additional stumbling blocks through their heavily correlated efforts to prescribe dogmatic meaning to the text rather than allow readers to find meaning for themselves in this and other mystical texts.
Toscano contends that The Book of Mormon was never intended to “prove” that the LDS church is true, but rather has one—and only one—prominent purpose.
Book References in this Episode:
- The Sanctity of Dissent, by Paul Toscano
- Mormonism in Crisis: A Critique and a Defense, by Paul Toscano
- Latter-Day Dissent, by Paul Toscano
- Strangers in Paradox: Explorations in Mormon Theology, by Margaret and Paul Toscano
Podcasts Referenced in this Episode:
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