Focus on the known of the restoration, Elder Hafen counsels

SALT LAKE CITY — There are many wondrous components of the gospel for Mormons to focus their study on rather than unsubstantiated details and rumors, said Elder Bruce C. Hafen at a fireside for young adults Sunday, Jan 24.

Elder Hafen, of the First Quorum of the Seventy, compared the theological gems uncovered through the restoration to awe-inspiring mountains in his address at the Salt Lake Institute of Religion which serves the University of Utah campus. He compared people who get hung up on murky specifics to golfers at the base of such mountains scouring the rough for golf balls rather than looking up and taking in the
splendor.

"Look at the restoration's content, don't get lost in the sometimes unclear details and footnotes," he said.

Elder Hafen related his remarks specifically to anti-Mormon literature found on the Internet, and stated that too many people of faith let initial curiosity give way to feelings of dismay and betrayal when they come across unfamiliar arguments against the church.

Faithful questioning is a hallmark of a searching soul, he said, but claims found in anti-Mormon literature are no reason to abandon one's testimony, especially because many of the issue-taking and arguments out there have already been addressed by Mormon scholars and leaders. That's one problem with the otherwise wonderful information tool that the Internet is.

"Readers have no way of knowing which critical claims have already been discredited, and the anti-Mormon sponsors are certainly not going to tell them right there on the site," he said.

The democratization of ideas sometimes confuses the reader as to what is true and what is not, as all ideas are presented horizontally and as fact, thus positioning the blogger's flippant opinion alongside the scholar's well-researched dissertation.

Elder Hafen said there is much discussion out there regarding the methods through which Joseph Smith translated ancient scripture such as the Book of Mormon, the Pearl of Great Price and the Bible. That's all fine and good so long as the questioner is mainly focused on the works themselves, the great mountains of eternal knowledge they contain, and what that knowledge means in the lives of God's children rather than on the specifics of the revelatory process.

"How (Joseph Smith) received it doesn't ultimately matter to us very much," he said.

Elder Hafen said the "mountain" that is of most importance is the fact that all people are children of a loving, concerned father in heaven.

So long as a person has that tenant down pat, they'll be able to explore more challenging ideas, and even deal with unanswered questions.

Sister Marie Hafen, Elder Hafen's wife, shared this sentiment in her short address.

"I don't know the meaning of all things," she said, "but I do know that God loveth his children."

Other "mountains" in the gospel are the doctrines of premortal life and eternal nature of the soul, the Mormon rejection of original sin and the hallowed, the nature of the Godhead, and the elevated way the church views Eve.

These are not "picky, theological details," he said, "they are life-giving differences."

When a person considers how unique the church's understanding of core doctrine differs drastically from the rest of Christianity, "It shouldn't come as a big surprise that other Christian churches don't know quite what to do with us."

Trusting in that loving God is central to keep from being swept away by what could be faith-degrading information.

"Don't take your faith on whether or not God is blessing you or giving you all the answers you expect or want. Just trust him."

What's more, members of the church could stand to give some of these "mountains" more thought and contemplation than they currently do, as they are far more revelutionary than Mormons sometimes think.

"You'll always gain more from what you discover than from what you're simply told," he said. "Don't just look at the mountain — the doctrine — go climb it. You might just meet the Lord at the summit."
E-mail: mfarmer@desnews.com