- Jonathan Green on Mimicry or New Religious Hotspot: Jesus-Figures and Joseph Smith-Figures in 1st Century Palestine and 19th-Century New York: ““…and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.” I don’t know what to do with comments that people are sick of hearing about an ongoing Restoration, or about Joseph Smith. A few weeks back it was someone sick of hearing so much about kindness. It’s like wandering into a library and complaining about the relentless promotion of literacy.” Jun 11, 11:17
- on Mimicry or New Religious Hotspot: Jesus-Figures and Joseph Smith-Figures in 1st Century Palestine and 19th-Century New York: “LHL- IMO the “ongoing restoration” was just a Nelson thing. I am old and I dont remember any past leaders using that phrase but instead they said “the church has been restored.” I was not a fan of Nelson claiming he was restoring anything that hadn’t been. Of course the rank and file will quote Nelson until Oaks starts saying some new catchphrases. Stephen C – Nice Mauricio Berger mention! That story was fascinating to me.” Jun 11, 08:26
- on Mimicry or New Religious Hotspot: Jesus-Figures and Joseph Smith-Figures in 1st Century Palestine and 19th-Century New York: “Love the post and comments. What kind of philosophy of a theological could get traction in today’s world? And where. Could it withstand scrutiny over years, tens of years, or more? I’m thinking we’ll see AI Christianity, Judaism and really any tradition. AI LDS? Will the prophets of these new schisms reveal their source? Or will AI reveal itself to the world, requiring our devotion. I’ve been pondering Jacobs prophecy. “…for the Spirit speaketh the truth and lieth not. Wherefore, it speaketh of things as they really are, and of things as they really will be; wherefore, these things are manifested unto us plainly, for the salvation of our souls.”” Jun 10, 22:17
- on Mimicry or New Religious Hotspot: Jesus-Figures and Joseph Smith-Figures in 1st Century Palestine and 19th-Century New York: “I agree with all of the above re the reformation. The proximal cause of Martin Luther not losing his head was Frederick the Elector of Saxony willing to stick his neck out and protect him. But then that begs the question of why he was able to do that at that point, and then the Muslim invasions at the gates of Christendom forced the Christian world to not be super picky about your allies’ beliefs about priesthood, etc. A lot of things came together for ML that didn’t for his less fortunate predecessors.” Jun 10, 21:23
- on Mimicry or New Religious Hotspot: Jesus-Figures and Joseph Smith-Figures in 1st Century Palestine and 19th-Century New York: “I’m skeptical of technological determinism. Print had been around for 65 years by the time Martin Luther got around to posting his theses, and it’s a lot easier to censor a print workshop that relied on skilled labor and expensive equipment than it was to keep all the handwritten stuff from circulating. You also need a political environment where the powers that be are on your side, or at least don’t mind 250-5000 printed tracts getting exported from their town.” Jun 10, 16:33
- on Mimicry or New Religious Hotspot: Jesus-Figures and Joseph Smith-Figures in 1st Century Palestine and 19th-Century New York: “The Reformation took off not due to religious fervor, because there had always been periods of religious fervor in the European environment, but by the early 1500s there was a new technology that made new or revolutionary ideas go “viral” namely, the printing press. Mormonism took root and flourished because there were cultural, social, political and technological elements which aided its development.” Jun 10, 12:56
- on Mimicry or New Religious Hotspot: Jesus-Figures and Joseph Smith-Figures in 1st Century Palestine and 19th-Century New York: ““A thought experiment that kind of bugged me when I was younger was what would have happened if Joseph Smith was born in 2000s America, his brother knocked on my door telling me that his brother discovered Gold Plates and that God had restored the Church. Such a movement wouldn’t have made it very far, and I certainly wouldn’t have given them the time of day, so why would 1830s New York be any different? But it was, and that’s precisely the reason why it took off there.” THIS! For me…..the whole “Ongoing Restoration” narrative has become boring, worn out and quite useless.” Jun 10, 07:20
- on A Review: A New Translation of Isaiah: Based on Ancient Scrolls and Texts: “Click on the picture or either hyperlink. Or search on Amazon. Any of those will get you there!” Jun 10, 06:23
- on Mimicry or New Religious Hotspot: Jesus-Figures and Joseph Smith-Figures in 1st Century Palestine and 19th-Century New York: “And it suggests the people answering “Whom say ye that I am?” understood the difference between an itinerant rabble-rousing faith healer and the Son of God. The Reformation is another similar case – there were various reformists and critics as precursors who had minor impact and are nearly unknown today, and then Luther and dozens of other major Reformers appeared relatively suddenly all across Europe.” Jun 10, 04:27
- on A Review: A New Translation of Isaiah: Based on Ancient Scrolls and Texts: “How can I get a copy” Jun 9, 22:57
