Description

We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression.

—Article of Faith II

This presentation will analyze four words in the second Article of Faith: “own sins,” “transgression,” and “punished” to see if they can stand up to Mormon theology.

“Own sins”

Prevailing theologies in Joseph Smith’s day spoke of inherited guilt, making all people as filthy rags before God. LDS theology starts with the truth of God’s (speaking of both heavenly parents) value placed on all their children, and specifically their unbounded love and mercy extended toward us. Let’s say so.

“Transgression”

Gospel Doctrine classes love to parse the meaning of the misdemeanor “transgression” versus the more felonious “sin”, because implicit in this distinction lies the foundation of our traditional view of the Fall: that it was duplicitously intended by God in spite of what he had commanded; that God was unable (technical difficulties) to provide for our parents’ fertility while in the Garden; and that the words of Satan in the Garden provide us with all the guiding truth we need to understand salvation: “There is no other way.”

“Punished”

Medieval concepts of punishment extend beyond disciplinary into corporal, thence into torture and even capital punishment. LDS assume a perhaps fair, metaphorically corporal-like punishment proportional to our own transgressions.

Why do we still use the word “punishment” in this day and age? Certainly, D&C 19:16-19 describes not only the physical and emotional torture that Jesus endured, but that he promises will also be our own (if unrepentant) lot.

This presentation will focus on the inadequacy of bloodless, traditional LDS atonement metaphors—all fallaciously based on the assumption of a fair “punishment” proportional to our “own” transgressions—and describe why there is a miserable reality associated with unsaved hell, who it is that administers such a vastly disproportionate and unfair penalty, and why Jesus offers his unearned grace in ransom for that undeserved punishment.

Speaker

• Ian R. Harvey