Posted by:
Taddlywog
(
)
Date: September 26, 2010 04:51PM
Thus the song "The Spirit of God" by William Phelps explained the furvor of the early saints.
"The visions and blessings of old are returning:
The angels are coming to visit the earth"
http://www.hymnwiki.org/The_Spirit_of_GodBut for quite a few generations since the founding of the church, the well has gone dry. There has been no new revelation. Only the most guillible or most fearful of offending cultural/familiar ties fail to accept the truth. That the visions and blessings of old have stopped,if they had ever begun in the first place. The Mormon church has no more direct connection to revelation from God than any other church in the world, christian or non. The whole thing reminds me of the story below by Joseph Smith contemporary.
The Emperor's New Clothes: by Hans Christian Anderson, 1837
THE PLOT:
An Emperor who cares for nothing but his wardrobe hires two weavers who promise him the finest suit of clothes from a fabric invisible to anyone who is unfit for his position or "just hopelessly stupid". The Emperor cannot see the cloth himself, but pretends that he can for fear of appearing unfit for his position or stupid; his ministers do the same. When the swindlers report that the suit is finished, they dress him in mime and the Emperor then marches in procession before his subjects. A child in the crowd calls out that the Emperor is wearing nothing at all and the cry is taken up by others. The Emperor cringes, suspecting the assertion is true, but holds himself up proudly and continues the procession.
Human nature can be exploited today just as easily as at the founding of the Mormon Church. This General Conference the message will be that those who fall away are "just hoplessly stupid to give up their eternal salvation." And die hard members will continue to march on proudly in support of their leaders who also fear appearing unfit or stupid.