{"id":14442,"date":"2011-02-12T19:54:57","date_gmt":"2011-02-13T00:54:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/?p=14442"},"modified":"2011-02-12T19:54:57","modified_gmt":"2011-02-13T00:54:57","slug":"correlation-and-computers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/2011\/02\/correlation-and-computers\/","title":{"rendered":"Correlation and Computers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here are two lines of computer code:<\/p>\n

int myNumber;<\/code>
\nmyNumber = someOtherNumber + 3;<\/code><\/p>\n

If you’re not familiar with programming, the first line says, “Here is an integer (int) called ‘myNumber’.” The second line says, “Set the value of myNumber to someOtherNumber plus 3.”<\/p>\n

So what if I want to know the value of myNumber<\/code>? I’ve got two options. Either I can tell the program to display the value, like this:<\/p>\n

out.print(myNumber);<\/code><\/p>\n

or I can look back through the code to find the value of someOtherNumber<\/code> and mentally add 3 to it:<\/p>\n

int someOtherNumber = 8;<\/code><\/p>\n

So now I know that myNumber<\/code> is 11.<\/p>\n

—–<\/p>\n

My point is, how do we interpret unclear statements in scripture? BCC’s Friday Firestorm this week<\/a> gives a great example of why this matters. Is D&C 82:7 despair inducing, or is it motivating? It depends on what “unto that soul who sinneth shall the former sins return” means.<\/p>\n

out.print(untoThatSoulWhoSinnethShallTheFormerSinsReturn);<\/code><\/p>\n

That approach isn’t an option, unless the Lord stops by to explain for us. So instead we search through the scriptures, prophetic utterances, and whatever other materials we feel will help us understand how the value of untoThatSoulWhoSinnethShallTheFormerSinsReturn<\/code> was set. I think this is why books like Mormon Doctrine<\/i> gain so much traction — they purport to provide universal value definitions for complicated scriptural terms.<\/p>\n

As a missionary, I loved the Missionary Guide<\/i> for the same reason. I recall one line in it that stated, “Righteousness is obedience and worthiness.” This definition replaces an abstract concept with two (somewhat) more concrete concepts.<\/p>\n

righteousness = obedience + worthiness;<\/code><\/p>\n

Armed with that equation, I felt that anywhere I encountered the word “righteousness” — in the scriptures, General Conferences addresses, etc. — I could replace it with the words “obedience and worthiness”.<\/p>\n

To me, this is the idea at the heart of “correlation”, that there is a fundamental harmony between all authorized statements. That all such statements can be read with a single lens — the same lens, conveniently, that we happen to hold in the modern church today. This paradigm is compelling for its simplicity and accessibility, but it naively ignores “context”, or what we in computer programming call “scope”.<\/p>\n

class MissionaryGuide { righteousness = obedience + worthiness; }<\/code><\/p>\n

class BookOfMormon { righteousness = ... }<\/code><\/p>\n

A word’s value is assigned by its author. What “righteousness” means in the Missionary Guide<\/i> is not necessarily reflective of what “righteousness” means in The Book of Mormon. Of course, the use of the word isn’t necessarily consistent throughout the Book of Mormon:<\/p>\n

class BookOfMormon { <\/code>
\n class 1Nephi { righteousness = something; }<\/code>
\n class Alma { righteousness = somethingElse; }<\/code>
\n}<\/code><\/p>\n

So, turning back to D&C 82:7, what does it mean for “the former sins” to “return”? I’m not sure. The issues of context and interpretation don’t provide easy answers. But I feel confident that the answer won’t be conveniently found in a comprehensive user’s manual. The gospel is not a computer program. In the meantime, I’ll lean toward using the definitions that I find the most useful in my own life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here are two lines of computer code: int myNumber; myNumber = someOtherNumber + 3; If you’re not familiar with programming, the first line says, “Here is an integer (int) called ‘myNumber’.” The second line says, “Set the value of myNumber to someOtherNumber plus 3.” So what if I want to know the value of myNumber? I’ve got two options. Either I can tell the program to display the value, like this: out.print(myNumber); or I can look back through the code to find the value of someOtherNumber and mentally add 3 to it: int someOtherNumber = 8; So now I know that myNumber is 11. —– My point is, how do we interpret unclear statements in scripture? BCC’s Friday Firestorm this week gives a great example of why this matters. Is D&C 82:7 despair inducing, or is it motivating? It depends on what “unto that soul who sinneth shall the former sins return” means. out.print(untoThatSoulWhoSinnethShallTheFormerSinsReturn); That approach isn’t an option, unless the Lord stops by to explain for us. So instead we search through the scriptures, prophetic utterances, and whatever other materials we feel will help us understand how the value of untoThatSoulWhoSinnethShallTheFormerSinsReturn was set. I think this is why books […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":131,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-corn"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/131"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14442"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14442\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14452,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14442\/revisions\/14452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesandseasons.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}