http://www.mormonandcatholic.org/part-1-motivation/ Fri, 03 Feb 2012 05:57:39 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://www.mormonandcatholic.org/part-1-motivation/comment-page-1/#comment-362 Mormons and Catholics » Blog Archive » More Thoughts on Abortion Fri, 16 Jun 2006 15:30:52 +0000 http://www.mormonandcatholic.org/2006/05/18/part-1-motivation/#comment-362 [...] Dr. Bush recognizes that despite these opinions, the Church itself did not take an official stand. What he says correlates well with what I have written about in my Mormon Doctrine Style Guide entry. He writes: Notwithstanding its authoritarian image, Mormonism in fact has very few authoritative doctrines. Its canon, the standard works, rarely bears unequivocally on twentieth-century issues. Principles continue to be extracted and applied, but there is always a strong subjective or “inspired” interpretive element in these applications. Moreover, unless these interpretations are publicly issued by the First Presidency — which is rarely the case — they do not attain the status of formal doctrines of the Church. Even those so issued are subject to later revision, though an effort is made to avoid explicit rejection of a previously published view. The record on birth control illustrates both these points. What most often passes for “doctrine” within Mormon society is, in reality, a widely held consensus, perhaps espoused in sermon or print by Mormon General Authorities, but ultimately without formal sanction by the First Presidency. In theory, such a consensus is not binding on Church members. In practice, it is not unlikely to change. [...] [...] Dr. Bush recognizes that despite these opinions, the Church itself did not take an official stand. What he says correlates well with what I have written about in my Mormon Doctrine Style Guide entry. He writes: Notwithstanding its authoritarian image, Mormonism in fact has very few authoritative doctrines. Its canon, the standard works, rarely bears unequivocally on twentieth-century issues. Principles continue to be extracted and applied, but there is always a strong subjective or “inspired” interpretive element in these applications. Moreover, unless these interpretations are publicly issued by the First Presidency — which is rarely the case — they do not attain the status of formal doctrines of the Church. Even those so issued are subject to later revision, though an effort is made to avoid explicit rejection of a previously published view. The record on birth control illustrates both these points. What most often passes for “doctrine” within Mormon society is, in reality, a widely held consensus, perhaps espoused in sermon or print by Mormon General Authorities, but ultimately without formal sanction by the First Presidency. In theory, such a consensus is not binding on Church members. In practice, it is not unlikely to change. [...]

]]> http://www.mormonandcatholic.org/part-1-motivation/comment-page-1/#comment-40 Defensor Veritatis » Blog Archive » Well, I’m back Thu, 18 May 2006 20:14:11 +0000 http://www.mormonandcatholic.org/2006/05/18/part-1-motivation/#comment-40 [...] -  Times and Seasons has a post about the opportunity for Mormons right now to be an Augustine or Origen for Mormonism. - Dave is taking off without me on Mormon and Catholic (which got a mention at Bloggernacle Times, along with a curious comment).  Now that summer’s starting, I hope to actually contribute there. [...] [...] -  Times and Seasons has a post about the opportunity for Mormons right now to be an Augustine or Origen for Mormonism. – Dave is taking off without me on Mormon and Catholic (which got a mention at Bloggernacle Times, along with a curious comment).  Now that summer’s starting, I hope to actually contribute there. [...]

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