I just finished teaching an intro to philosophy class with the University of Phoenix and the section on metaphysics spent a lot of time on the idea of proving God's existence. What struck me was that all of the European philosophy about God and spirit was based on the concepts outlined in the Nicene Creed.
In the King Follett lectures Joseph Smith makes the comment that you need to start right! If you don't start right you can never expect to find the truth. The main argument dealt with at Nicaea was the nature of God...which is a pretty good starting point. After many months of argument most of those attending agreed to the concept that God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are the "Trinity" which is this mystical mixture of spirit and material that isn't effected by passion. It is large enough to cover the whole earth and small enough to dwell in your heart. Part of the dignitaries had left the convention and went back to the Eastern church where they proposed that God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit were separate beings, laying the groundwork for the Orthodox Greek and Russian churches.
For over 1,000 years most Europeans were taught the ideas agreed to at Nicaea, therefore all the philosophers who were trying to prove the existence of God were trying to prove the existence of the Trinity. Joseph Smith at age 14 gained a greater insight into the nature of God than all those learned men in AD 325. He saw God and Jesus as two separate, physical beings. Now by having the truth to start from, the restoration of the gospel could begin. The first Article of Faith is an answer to the false beliefs perpetrated since the council of Nicaea, "We believe in God the Eternal Father, and in his Son Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost" Articles of Faith 1:1
Submitted by William G.
3 comments:
That's true. You have to start right if you want to find the truth--its just like mathematics. No matter how accurate your calculations may be, if you get off at any point, you won't come to the correct answer.
that is what was so frustrating for me about math.
Okay, here's the critic again: Where's your proof? I'm not saying Joe had any more or less proof than those who came up with the Nicene Creed. But proof is the key.
For example, I believe in an invisible pink unicorn. Prove to me that it doesn't exist and I'll prove to you that yours doesn't.
:)
Scientific proof is not the only way to know things that are true are true. It is just the most objective method.
Prove to me that you love your wife. Prove that the color of the sky just before dawn is beautiful. Prove that the birth of your child made you unbelievably proud.
Some things can only be learned with personal experience. Subjective, I know, but still true.
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