Welcome

Location – Somewhere in the Kingdom

Setting – Sunday School

Subject – Have Miracles Ceased?

During a recent Sunday school class our instructor shared a list of the miracles of Jesus:

• Turning water into wine (John 2: 1-11)
• Casting out unclean spirits (Mark 1:23-28)
• Healing the leper (Mark 1:40-45) This was a more fun story when I was a kid and thought it was a leopard.  
• Raising the child from the dead (Luke 7:11-18)
• Curing the blind (Matt 9:27-31)
• Many others…

Now, as is the case in many LDS Sunday School classes, there really aren’t intended to be alternate answers to questions like these.  They are little more than rhetorical devices.  In the LDS context, of course miracles still happen.  They happen every day.  We just need to acknowledge the hand of the Lord in all things.  

35 And now, my beloved brethren, if this be the case that these things are true which I have spoken unto you, and God will show unto you, with power and great glory at the last day, that they are true, and if they are true has the day of miracles ceased?

36 Or have angels ceased to appear unto the children of men? Or has he withheld the power of the Holy Ghost from them? Or will he, so long as time shall last, or the earth shall stand, or there shall be one man upon the face thereof to be saved?

37 Behold I say unto you, Nay; for it is by faith that miracles are wrought; and it is by faith that angels appear and minister unto men; wherefore, if these things have ceased wo be unto the children of men, for it is because of unbelief, and all is vain.

(Moroni 7:35-37)

Like many things in Mormonism, this is of course a foregone conclusion.  Why we spend an hour “discussing” these things when there really is no discussion but rather an echo chamber is kind of beyond me.  Still, it works for many in the room so there is no need to create a discussion that will just create angst in the minds of these others, so I kept one ear on the conversation and one eye on my ESPN app. 

When we returned home, my spouse, who was on the other side of the room during the lesson, mentioned that I had been quiet, and asked my thoughts.  I shared them with her, and now I share them with you:

It would seem to a logical Mormon that before we can answer the question if miracles have ceased we would first have to determine what we mean by the concept of “miracle.”  In my time in the church it seems we label a number of things as miracles, and we would need to define the term before we can evaluate if they are still occurring or not.   

Miracles the first type:

These types of miracles are all around us.  Flip a switch to light up a dark room.  Use your cell phone to Skype a family member or friend 1000’s of miles away.  A machine that washes and dries your dishes for you is certainly a wonderful thing.   These are all things that meet the definition of miraculous – extraordinary or amazing.  There are things that have become so common place that we don’t really stop to consider how awesome they really are.  While a visitor from 100 years ago would struggle to explain such events without resorting to the divine or supernatural, a modern mind sees them as quite easily explained through scientific means.  While a modern mind would never try to explain the lights going on simply because some supreme being willing it to be so, it still in a wonderful occurrence and a blessing in our lives.  Each of these examples above, and thousands more like them, are everyday miracles when looked at for what they bring, thought they certainly are not directed by deity.  

Miracles the second type:

These miracles are less to do with conveniences of modern life and more the irregular, but not infrequent, experiences that happen in our daily life.  I recently watched a basketball game in which one team was down by more than 10 points with less than two minutes left to play.  The team had trailed the entire game, from the opening tip throughout the following 38 minutes.  Yet, with two minutes left in the game, a series of amazing events occurred. The trailing team blocked opponents’ shots, recovered loose balls, rebounded aggressively on both ends of the court, and hit shot after shot.  When the final buzzer sounded, the trailing team was trailing no longer and left the court victorious.  What a miraculous finish!  I heard it from more than one fan surrounding me, believer and non-believer alike.  Was it miraculous?  Certainly!  Did deity intervene on the behalf of the trailing team?  Unlikely.  Rabid fans from the likes of Liberty, Notre Dame, or BYU might believe that God has favorites and wills “His team” onto victory. Such a position must surely diminish the very nature of God. It turns the divine into a petty fan. One that can and does use his omniscience and omnipotence to influence a game of mere mortals.  

Perhaps even more dangerous are examples of this type of miracle expressed in fast and testimony or on social media.  These are the miracles of the lost car keys.  We have all heard the story.  I lost my keys and I prayed and was led to find them so that I could get to work on time. While this type of miracle and story probably boosts the faith of those who experience the event and they credit the outcome to divine intervention, what about others in the audience?  The mother who has been praying for help to feed her starving child, the child that has been praying for a cure for their sick mother.  These stories then turn God into a heartless being who cares more about helping a wealthy member of the congregation get to the gym than a poor member of the congregation pay the water bill.  Is this who we really believe God to be?  Are these things really miraculous, or wonderful happenstance?

Miracles the third type:

These miracles are a bit more difficult to explain, and open the possibility of the divine.  We have all heard of these types of miracles or perhaps even experienced them in our own lives or the lives of our families.  Consider the student who has struggled and struggled to understand a particular subject or topic.  Perhaps they ask for a priesthood blessing.  The day of the big test comes and miraculously our student performs outstandingly well.  Was this due to the intervention of Deity?  How can one conclusively say either for or against?  Or the case of the individual, diagnosed with terminal cancer, who against all odds survives and beats the disease.  Was it due to the skill of the doctors?  The efficacy of a new drug regimen?  The priesthood blessing they received?  The prayers and faith offered on their behalf? Luck?  Who’s to say for certain.  The atheist will surely ascribe it to the medical treatment the patient received.  The faithful, to the mercy of a loving god. While it is impossible to determine the actual cause of the wonderful there is no doubt that a wonderful and good thing has happened in these peoples’ lives.  

Miracles the fourth type:

These miracles are the ones that cannot be explained in any other way than divine intervention.  Unfortunately, they are not only exceptionally rare, they are also never (read that word again – NEVER) documented.  While we hear much about blessings of healing working in even very radical cases (terminal cancer etc.) we have absolutely no case of an amputee regrowing a limb.  We have many instances of individuals who have died and then been brought back through the use of CPR, but we have no instances of an individual who is dead, cold, embalmed, and in the casket, being recalled to life. These types of miracles would have no other explanation than divine intercession.  Yet, there is not a single documented case of these types of miracles.  Turning water into wine happens every day at vineyards around the world as irrigation systems feed grapes that are then crushed and fermented. Yet there are no instances of individuals who take a container of water and can magic it into wine outside of the scriptures and none that have verifiable evidence.  

Conclusion:  The day of miracles has not ceased for miracles of types 1-3 and it is quite likely that it will not cease.  That these types of miracles will continue for as long as there are people in the world to observe them is a near certainty.  Perhaps more importantly, it is important that we take the time to be grateful for these types of miracles and to reflect on how wonderful our lives are. 

If we are talking about miracles of the last type then I think we have to conclude that those types of miracles have also not ceased.  Rather, it is likely that they never began in the first place.  

What do you know about the Mormon Church?  Would you like to know more?  

Such was the topic of a recent sacrament meeting in our ward.  It must have been time.  We haven’t talked about missionary work in a while.  At least 6 or 7 weeks, so it must have been due on the rotation.  Sometimes sacrament meeting can be like a pop music station, where the same songs are on repeat every hour.  You know:

• Tithing
• Modesty
• Book of Mormon
• Restoration/Joseph Smith
• Missionary Work
• Recent General Conference talk by somebody with a middle initial
• The world is going to Hell; luckily, we have modern prophets to save us.  
• Rinse and Repeat

So, I wasn’t surprised. This particular Sunday included a couple of the missionaries (sisters in our case) and the ward mission leader (do those still exist in reality or is our ward an anachronism)?  I’m going to bet that you can guess the topic?  If you guessed, “We have a wonderful new program that will help you to introduce your friends to the church!” then you are a winner. 

Now having served a mission myself, I have great empathy for the young men and young women that are wearing name tags today.  If anything, their job is harder than ours was.  Back when I served, you could tell investigators about the restoration and Joseph Smith.  You could share all about the first vision and the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, and you didn’t need to worry about them coming back with questions about rocks in hats. If they did, you simply foisted those problems off on stories made up by anti-Mormons (Mormon wasn’t a bad word then), and drove on.  Sure, you lost some investigators, ok, a lot of investigators, but nothing like what these kids have to endure.  

As I sat and listened to the presentations and talks I found myself both listening and reflecting. Over the years in the church it seems like there is a never-ending supply of new missionary programs, each with a fancy name, a near guarantee of success, testimonies of how well it is working in other stakes and missions, and how the membership will be blessed for participating.  6 months later, the results are the same and the members feel more stressed than blessed. Give it another 6 months and the cycle repeats itself.  We’ve had missionary moments, set-a-dates, invite a friend, ask a Mormon, pass along cards, I’m a Mormon, and now Hastening the Work.  

In spite of all this, the number of convert baptisms are dropping, the activity rate is dropping, the growth in wards and branches in much of the western world is declining, the growth in the U.S. is flat.  Don’t take my word for it.  Here is some excellent data from fullerconsideration.comhttp://www.fullerconsideration.com/membership.php#convertbaptisms

How can this be a logical Mormon might ask?  So, I thought I would explore some of the possibilities.  

Reason the first

One that seemed to be a common theme on my mission was the concept that the missionaries were unworthy or somehow slacking.  We even had a general authority visit our mission and exclaim, “If this mission was a horse, I’d shoot it!”  Apparently, the fact that we were volunteering two years of our lives, funding our own way (or with the help of our families), sweating to death in the summer, freezing to death in the winter, living in sub-standard accommodation, all while pouring our hearts out to complete strangers wasn’t good enough…the missionaries in surrounding missions were baptizing more than we were and that must have been an indication that we were doing something wrong.  

So, it stands to reason that perhaps the missionaries today are even worse than we were.  They must just be addicted to porn on their iPad and can’t leave home without their Pokémon cards. This seems to be a common theme that some of the older generation buys into.  The outrage when these “snowflakes” were permitted to call home each weak seemed to reinforce this concept to the older members who walked all the way to Utah barefoot.  Surely it is the missionaries’ fault.  They aren’t willing to sacrifice, or put in the effort.  Yet, President Nelson said this as recently as 2016, “You are a chosen generation, foredetermined by God to do a remarkable work—to help prepare the people of this world for the Second Coming of the Lord.” He was talking to this exact group, so clearly this can’t be the reason.  

Reason the second

Perhaps it is simply the wrong program.  I was quickly forced to conclude that this couldn’t be the case.  We have tried reaching out individual with things like personal invitations, and pass along cards.  We have tried the humble, quiet approach of inviting others to worship with us, attend temple open houses, and visiting with them in their homes at their doors.  We have also tried to be unobtrusive.  We have set up booths were individuals can come to us to ask questions.  We have tried the high tech, with websites and chat rooms, and the low tech with shoe leather and golden questions.  We have tried spending little money with taking no purse or scrip and extravagant add buys such as this one.   

A logical Mormon was forced to conclude that it wasn’t the program.  

Reason the third

It’s the people.  If it isn’t the missionaries themselves and it isn’t the program, then it must be the people.  As anyone who has attended a Mormon ward knows.  We have a share of kooks.  Listen in to any fast and testimony meeting and you are bound to find them.  There are the people that are political zealots, some who remember the 1950’s like they were yesterday and can’t wait to take the rest of us back there.  There are those who think we are moving to Missouri as soon as the prophet tells us, and those who wax eloquent about their food storage (3 full years don’t ya know!).  As a missionary, I learned to dread fast and testimony meeting.  You just never know what someone might say, and how that might impact your chances of success with the current investigator. 

Then I got to thinking though.  Sure, we have our crazies, but so does everyone else.  Every church experiences this to some degree and that is part of what church is for after all. A place where we can all be welcome to help and edify and lift one another up…and that’s when it really hit me…

Reason the last

We can’t fix the missionary work problem, because we can’t admit what the real problem is.  It isn’t the people sharing the message or the people in the pews.  It isn’t the history or the program, or the location or any of those things.  The problem with the missionary work of the church is the product.  

There just aren’t very many members who want to share what the church is with their friends, because the honest fact is, the product isn’t very good.  If the church delivered what it promised, then there would be lines down the block for baptism.  But it doesn’t.  Let me briefly illustrate.

• Families can be together forever.  But not tonight, because little Johnny has YM, and Dad is off at a stake meeting, while Mom is supposed to be attending a Primary Presidency Meeting.  We could do Saturday, but that is reserved for a temple day…so that won’t work either.  
• The church brings one nearer to Christ. Pay attention at the next meeting…excluding the ending of prayers count how many times Christ is mentioned or quoted.  Compare that to how many quotes you will hear from the General Authorities
• This is the great plan of happiness.  How happy are you?  What makes you happy, is it anything to do with church….really?
• The Book of Mormon is great.  No one reads it.  Don’t believe me?  Check the battery utilization on their electronic device – Netflix, ESPN, Facebook…lots of utilization, the scripture app?  2 hours on Sunday…tops. 

The reality is we have a culture of lying to each other.  We tell each other how great the gospel and the church are, but the vast majority (by far) are simply going through the motions.  How devastated were you the last time church was canceled?  You weren’t.  You celebrated, your kids celebrated.  If your family didn’t, you are in the minority.  

That’s why the missionary work is tanking.  Most members wouldn’t wish this on their worst enemy, let alone their best friend. No one needs to advertise a smart phone and everyone has one in their pocket.  Why?  Because they work.  Because the generally deliver what they promise.  No sales gimmicks, no discounts, and no hyper marketing required. 

If you want to fix the convert baptism and retention issue, don’t look at the missionaries, they are doing their best.  So are the members.  Fix the product.  That is where the problem seems to be. Or so it appears to a logicalmormon.   

Several years ago a series of events led me to ask a couple of questions that significantly impacted my life and the way in which I live it.  Those questions were:

• How do I know what I know?
• Why do I believe what I say I believe?  

There were likely several catalyst to those questions.  

First from a personal standpoint, I had nearly completed a doctorate program and was beginning to recognize that throughout my life what I had considered to be “research” was actually not research at all.  What I had considered “research” up to that time was really a process where I had a preconceived idea or concept and then I set about to find information, opinions, and data that supported my forgone conclusion.  The doctoral program taught the value of formulating a question and then seeking to enlarge the available pool of knowledge, to seek out a wide avenue of opinions, data points, and facts from as wide a range as possible. To sift and weigh these pieces of information, and then to reach a conclusion based on the evidence provided.  I recognized that up to that point in my life, I really hadn’t approached my quest for knowledge in that manner.  

Second, my eldest daughter was progressing through her teen years.  As part of this process she was struggling in her interactions at church. She was the type of girl that really didn’t fit the mold established for her by the young women’s curriculum and leadership.  She had no desire to get married, to have kids, or to focus on the life of a homemaker. Her interests and goals were academic and professional in nature and felt as though she as being forced to conform to a box that really didn’t fit her.  Moreover, she began to ask questions around doctrines, principles, and practices of the church that were extremely difficult to answer if those answers were to be factually based and logically supported.  

Third, I was serving in leadership calling at the ward and then the stake level at the time and much of what I was encountering in the planning and administration meetings surrounding those callings were antithetical to what I had always believed the church and its leadership were about.  While these were clearly the actions and decisions of individuals and not the church as an organization, they also played a role in leading to the fundamental questions above.  

Those questions led to what many in the LDS community have termed a ‘faith crisis.’  I went down the rabbit hole and discovered a plethora of things about the church that I had never known or even thought to ask.  This led to feelings of frustration, distrust, disillusionment, and even anger.  It led to my perusal or websites from the highly faithful like lds.net (now thirdhour.org) to newordermormon.net and exmormon.org.  I read commentary and blogs or listened to webcasts from individuals like John Dehlin, Daniel Petterson, Philip Barlow, and Bill Reel. I read everything related to the church from the scriptures, the Joseph Smith Paper Project, the essays and the CES letter.  I spent time with non-LDS specific frameworks like Fowlers stages of faith and other philosophies of faith transition. 

It wasn’t a process of weeks or months, but rather one of years.  Friends and family seemed to be curious or even concerned about the process. So many times, I felt a bit like this:

It was difficult to explain the process to someone who had not been through it.  At the same time I began to recognize that it was also very easy to give in to feelings of superiority or judgement.  It was surprisingly easy to leap to the conclusion that of course I understood where these family and friends were, since I had been there myself, but that they could not, or would not understand my perspective because they had not been where I was.  It took some time but I recognized that I didn’t want to become “that” person either.  

In the end, I’ve realized that this is an ongoing process.  It is not about a place of arrival, but rather about the journey and the knowledge and insight gained therein.  I have found a place in the church for some of the good things that it brings, but I am perfectly able and willing to ignore the aspects that do not bring value or betterment to my life.  Ten years ago I would have been petrified by the idea of standing before a judgement bar for fear of all the things that I had perhaps done wrong. For the times that I didn’t follow the guidance of the prophet, or even my bishop. Today, I have a deeper appreciation of the concept of agency.  I mess up, make mistakes, and learn every single day.  But I have no fear at all of standing before any judgement bar, made up of any kind of membership from the vulgar to the divine. I can happily report why I have made the decisions that I have made and taken the actions I have taken. Because they are my own.  Based on the best evidence and data I can find.  I am happy to change in the face of new evidence or new knowledge.  I know that I can….I have done so before.  

This blog will explore various ideas, concepts, and topics as it relates to the LDS experience and as viewed through the eyes of this author.  If you think that I am off base, please comment.  Share your thoughts, insights, and your own experience.  I am eager to learn from you.  While I welcome debate and even disagreement a few words of caution are in order.  Please be respectful.  If you cannot be respectful your comments will be deleted and you will be blocked. If you would like to make a counter argument to any of the content on this blog please do so with logic, reason, and evidence.  Emotional appeals or logical fallacies will not be permitted. They will also be deleted. If you are unsure of what these are, please educate yourself regarding them, before you click the respond button.