Talk:Mormon neo-orthodoxy
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This article should encompass not only the Robinsonian neo-orthodox movement but also the vast difference of beliefs between laymen and apologists about basic issues. -Aaronshaf 02:48, 9 September 2006 (UTC)
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Title?
Is neo-orthodoxy really the best title? Neo-orthodoxy is a movement in Christianity, and I think this title simply confuses the two. Perhaps "Neo-Mormonism" or "Neo-Mormon theology" would be better. Jpb (talk) 00:19, 30 October 2006 (UTC)
Tidbits
New usage of rebirth language like "born again" and "saved" - Davies, 59
New emphasis on "passive acceptance of divine love" - Davies, 60
The "cultural dilemma of salvation":
- "Mormonism... has, in due course, produced its own cultural dilemma of salvation. One the one hand, orthodox Mormonism needs to retain the activist system of temple ritual that seeks to foster deity within individuals but which can lead either to a degree of nominal action or a sense of the impossibility of ever achieving the set standards. On the other, it needs the passive mode of reception of divine power that, itself, brings a sense of authenticity of the religion and furnishes the very spiritual energy to engage in the active life of endeavour." - Davies, 60
"The older forms of traditional LDS ethics, with its perfectionist tendency, can work against many sincere and devoted individuals who feel they never achieve the high goals set by Church leaders and by their own ideals. It is precisely in such contexts that the notion of grace becomes a powerful phenomenon and its grammar of discourse now seems to be appreciated once more as a dynamic resource with Mormonism. It is able to do this precisely because grace forms part of the text of the Book of Mormon, a text generated before Mormonism's major theological divergence from general Christian discourse." - Davies, 61
"'I cannot work myself into celestial glory, and I cannot guarantee myself a place among the sanctified through my own unaided efforts... It is not by my own merits that I will ever make it. Rather it is by and through the merits of Christ... [E]ven though my own merits are essential to salvation, it is not by my own merits that I will ever make it'." - Robert Millett, Christ-Centered Living, p. 116(?)
How Wide the Divide
Most lay Mormons were unaware of the neo-orthodoxy in the work, and among different academic Mormon circles reaction was mixed. Dennis Potter said that he was "unaware of any negative reception in the Mormon community." Yet Clark Globle remarked, "I'm not aware of a positive reaction to Robinson's work. Everyone I've talked to is highly positive about the attempt of dialog Robinson makes. Yet I think most feel that he's twisted Mormonism in an attempt to narrow the gap."[1]
- Clark complained that the book took far too close to verbal inerrancy for the LDS scripture - Multiple people in the LDS academic community complained that the book was too close to a Protestant view of the sufficiency of scripture, penal substitution, and divine sovereignty.
Notes
- ↑ LDS Philosophy List. January 18, 1999.
