Precisely Wrong

Usually when we're wrong, we're not altogether wrong. Most wrong views include some right elements. In a lot of cases, it's more true to say that certain views are misguided or shortsighted or not entirely true.

But sometimes there comes an argument or a point of view that is precisely wrong. Such is the case with an article published in the Salt Lake Tribune last August, which I stumbled upon this morning. It was written by Salt Lake photographer and writer, Ed Firmage Jr. I'm posting it because I think sometimes the truth is seen most clearly in light of its opposite, and Mr. Firmage's argument in the article is a good example of the opposite.

It isn't long and is worth reading. Here's the link:

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/opinion/54658089-82/truth-mormons-faith-mormonism.html.csp

The main idea is that, "The ultimate truth of Mormonism or Catholicism or Judaism is not what you believe but what you do," largely because, "the abundance of competing creeds, and the vehemence with which each is defended against the others, suggests that we should take our truths with a grain of salt. Rock salt, perhaps."

This point may apply to Buddhism, because Buddhism is more a way of thinking than a belief about the ways God has revealed himself to people. But it is nonsense (though a comforting, community-building nonsense) to say that the questions of whether or not an angel from God really spoke to Mohammad in a cave, or whether God the Father and Jesus visited Joseph Smith in the grove, or whether or not Jesus really resurrected from the dead--that these questions ultimately don't matter.

Either these things happened or they didn't, and the question of whether they did or not is one of the most important questions we'll ever consider. If Mohammad and Joseph Smith weren't really visited by angels, or if the angels who visited them weren't from God, then millions of people are investing their hearts and minds in a lie. That matters.

For Christians, Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 15 are at the heart of it all: "And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men." Christ's resurrection is the engine providing the power that saves us from death. Good deeds without the physical, historical truth of his resurrection is a beautifully painted car with an empty space under the hood.

It's comforting to think otherwise, because if it doesn't matter what you believe is true about God, then none of us have much of a responsibility to seek and discern the truth. We don't have to wrestle with the truth. And, most appealing of all, we don't have to suffer damaged relationships and other hardships because of the truth.

And as for behavior, it is true that there are people who show good behavior while holding bad beliefs. But for the most part, what we believe is true about God, about who he is, the way he has revealed himself, and what he expects from us, directly determines what we do and why we do it. Because Muslims, Mormons, and Christians have fundamentally different concepts of God, our perspectives and motivations for doing good deeds in obedience to God are, generally speaking, fundamentally different as well.

MM