Blainerb: These are great questions, Lance, I
don't usually bother, but I even took time to look up some of your words in my
dictionary to be sure I understood them. :>) See my comments in blue
below:
In a message dated 12/7/2005 5:16:02 A.M. Mountain Standard Time,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
Are we promised any more than 'enough'
understanding to facilitate salvation?
I think you may not expect more than you are willing
to receive, Lance. Joseph Smith was not allowed to open the sealed
portion of the golden plates, due to the pride and unbelief that was
projected among the Gentile population. Even the parts he did translate
are usually rejected by those who pretend to be teachers of the
gospel.
Does 'study' matter when it comes to
Scripture? What's entailed in this
'study'?
Study is productive, assuming the Holy Spirit is
taken as one's guide. Without it, study results in "ever
learning, but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth."
What is the role of the Holy Spirit
in apprehending the 'gospel', the act of exegesis, the act of
exposition (either spoken or written), office/sign
gifts?
I'd say it is critical. See the parable of the
Ten Virgins. Those who took the Holy Spirit for their guides were
prepared to enter into the covenant relationship as the "Bride" to the
Bridegroom. Those who were not prepared by the Spirit were not
spiritually prepared for the marriage.
Is there even the possibility of the
entire believing community, globally, coming to a unitary understanding of
the entire corpus of Scripture?
Ideally, there is no reason why not. But
practically speaking, I see little or no hope. Human pride is the reason
it will never happen. Every man does his own thing, becomes egoistically
married to his position, and that leads to strife, wherein the devil may then
play his games amongst us.
Do even the most mature (godly/holy/sanctified)
believers possess only a partial/limited understanding of the Holy
Scriptures?
If we put our foot
down against new truth when it is introduced, we can hardly claim to
be Godly/ Holy/Sanctified, despite your most carefully constructed facade
of being otherwise. We can, of course, always resort to being
sanctimonious, as did the Jews who prayed in public to be heard of men,
etc. :>)
Do all believers err, at some points, in their
understanding and therefore, teaching of the Holy Scriptures? Does this
necessarily represent sin? When as a believer something of your teaching is
errant relative to ontological truth and, you discover this to be so then,
what steps ought you to take to rectify the matter vis a vis those who
received this teaching?
I am not sure I understand what you are getting at, but I refer you
to 76th section of the Doctrine and Covenants, verses 5-10--I hope this
might be something of an answer for you:
5 "For thus saith the Lord--I the Lord am merciful and
gracious unto those who fear me, and delight to honor those who
serve me in righteousness and in truth unto the end.
6 "Great shall be their reward, and
eternal shall be their glory.
7 "And to them will I reveal all
mysteries of my kingdom from days of old, and for ages to come, will I make
known unto them the good pleasure of my will concerning all things pertaining
to my kingdom.
8 "Yea, and even the wonders
of eternity shall they know, and things to come will I show them, even the
things of many generations.
9 "And their wisdom shall be
great, and their understanding reach to heaven, and before them the wisdom of
the wise shall perish, and the understanding of the prudent shall come to
naught.
10 "For by my spirit will I
enlighten them, and by my power will I make known unto them the secrets of my
will--yea, even those things which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor yet
entered into the heart of man."
Just
musing..........
