I used to wonder at things like a stake president committing adultery and not understand why an evil man would be put in a position of responsibility in the Church. Shouldn't the Lord have known what he was really like in his heart? Then I realized that a person can be righteous at one time and then lose his way later on. It doesn't mean that the former righteousness wasn't genuine. David had genuine faith at one time, so did Columbus. It's a good warning for us to never let our guard down.
However, with both Jonah and David there's sort of a moral to the story that we learn. With Columbus, it doesn't seem like that moral is very apparent. Also, with Columbus the one thing he is famous for and was inspired to do, turns out seemingly very bad. On the other hand, Columbus wasn't a prophet, we was just a dude. So, in that respect The stories of David and Jonah are worse.
Maybe God doesn't care about slavery that much.
Or could 1 Nephi 13 possibly refer to someone else, like Amerigo Vespucci?
Another example of this phenomenon from today's lesson, in part, about the translation of The Bible from Latin to English:
"[William Tyndale] sought the approval of church authorities to prepare a translation of the Bible in English so that all could read and apply the word of God. It was denied—the prevailing view being that direct access to the scriptures by any but the clergy threatened the authority of the church and was tantamount to casting “pearls before swine” (Matthew 7:6).
Tyndale nevertheless undertook the challenging work of translation.... [W]ithin three years of Tyndale’s death, God did indeed open King Henry VIII’s eyes, and with publication of what was called the “Great Bible,” the scriptures in English began to be publicly available."
I didn't know this about King Henry. Like most people, the only thing I knew about Henry the VIII was that he was frequently divorce and/or beheaded some of his wives. But aside from beheading people, he was also divinely inspired to allow the publication of the Bible.
Columbus and King Henry obviously weren't of the spiritual caliber of King David or Jonah, which brings up an interesting question. To what extent can/does God inspire secular/wicked men? Can a scientist who lives a self-indulgent life be inspired to make a discovery that would benefit mankind? I think it's obvious that secular men have been "moved upon by the spirit" throughout history, but what about patently wicked men?
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King David.
I used to wonder at things like a stake president committing adultery and not understand why an evil man would be put in a position of responsibility in the Church. Shouldn't the Lord have known what he was really like in his heart? Then I realized that a person can be righteous at one time and then lose his way later on. It doesn't mean that the former righteousness wasn't genuine. David had genuine faith at one time, so did Columbus. It's a good warning for us to never let our guard down.
Yeah, or Jonah.
However, with both Jonah and David there's sort of a moral to the story that we learn. With Columbus, it doesn't seem like that moral is very apparent. Also, with Columbus the one thing he is famous for and was inspired to do, turns out seemingly very bad. On the other hand, Columbus wasn't a prophet, we was just a dude. So, in that respect The stories of David and Jonah are worse.
Maybe God doesn't care about slavery that much.
Or could 1 Nephi 13 possibly refer to someone else, like Amerigo Vespucci?
Another example of this phenomenon from today's lesson, in part, about the translation of The Bible from Latin to English:
"[William Tyndale] sought the approval of church authorities to prepare a translation of the Bible in English so that all could read and apply the word of God. It was denied—the prevailing view being that direct access to the scriptures by any but the clergy threatened the authority of the church and was tantamount to casting “pearls before swine” (Matthew 7:6).
Tyndale nevertheless undertook the challenging work of translation.... [W]ithin three years of Tyndale’s death, God did indeed open King Henry VIII’s eyes, and with publication of what was called the “Great Bible,” the scriptures in English began to be publicly available."
I didn't know this about King Henry. Like most people, the only thing I knew about Henry the VIII was that he was frequently divorce and/or beheaded some of his wives. But aside from beheading people, he was also divinely inspired to allow the publication of the Bible.
Columbus and King Henry obviously weren't of the spiritual caliber of King David or Jonah, which brings up an interesting question. To what extent can/does God inspire secular/wicked men? Can a scientist who lives a self-indulgent life be inspired to make a discovery that would benefit mankind? I think it's obvious that secular men have been "moved upon by the spirit" throughout history, but what about patently wicked men?
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