A discussion has come up on another list about what exactly it means to teach the gospel to all nations, kindreds, tongues, and peoples. Although this response that I'm about to quote was forwarded to that list, I thought people here might find it of interest, as well. Let me make clear this is not an "arrow" -- I am not aiming it at anyone, especially in light of our sometimes heated discussion on Iraq, which is why I gave it a totally new subject name. I just thought this was interesting and encouraging, to see how much progress the Church is making quietly and behind the scenes in the Islamic world. It reminds me of the patient decades of work it took to get the Gospel behind the Iron Curtain (even before the actual evil systems of government there fell). The terms in quotes are terms that several different people on that list used in the course of a particular thread that has paralleled out own "War in Iraq" thread in some ways.
=== "Granting, for purposes of discussion, the notion that Arabs are 'happy as clams' and 'uninterested' -- for which notion, by the way, I see precious little evidence (at least, no more than for most other ethnic groups) -- I don't understand how it would deliver us from the obligation of taking the gospel to them. The Swiss, the French, and the Swedes are, by and large, uninterested and seemingly content, as are, overwhelmingly, the majority of people everywhere, yet we send missionaries to them as part of our divine mandate to preach the gospel to all nations, kindreds, tongues, and peoples. (I don't recall the scriptures ordering us to take the gospel to 'all nations, kindreds, tongues, and peoples except for the complacent, the satisfied, and the uninterested.') "Besides, (a) a substantial minority of Arabs are, in fact, Christians, (b) more than a few Arabs and Muslims have joined the Church notwithstanding the current lack of formal proselytizing in predominantly Arab and Muslim areas and notwithstanding certain other very formidable obstacles, thus belying the notion that they are all 'uninterested' and 'happy as clams,' and (c) the Brethren clearly feel that the Arab/Islamic world is worth their time and attention. (My wife and I spent a couple of hours just last night, for instance, with a member of the Twelve, one of the presidents of the Seventy, the ambassador of Jordan to the United States, and their wives.) "You may quote me. "-dcp" === "dcp" is Prof. Daniel C. Peterson of FARMS, ISPART* and Prof. of Arabic at BYU. He is probably the Church's leading Arabicist (Arabist?). * Institute for the Study and Preservation of Ancient Religious Texts, an Institute at BYU, of which FARMS is a subsidiary, kind of like some "imprints" are subsidiaries of larger publishing houses. ISPART hasn't received as much publicity as FARMS but it was responsible for getting the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit to come to SLC during the Olympics, and they have been active in cultivating LDS-Islamic connections. Not long ago they translated a mediaeval Muslim commentary into English for the first time. P.S. We have an Egyptian Copt in our stake who has a fascinating story. Mind you, she joined the Church here in Edmonton, but her story was included in a book, "A Moment From Eternity: True Life Accounts of Present-day Pioneers," by Bob Layton, a well-known local radio and TV personality who's LDS. It was put out as our stake's sesquicentennial pioneer project. Since we're pretty far north of Mormon Country, it was decided not to look for your run-of-the-mill pioneer stories (no offence intended), but to look for something typical of *our* area, and Sis. Nazek Habib's story was one of them that was selected. She's a petroleum engineer, which is what brought her to "Oilberta." If anyone's interested in her story, I can scan the chapter and send it to them. -- Marc A. Schindler Spruce Grove, Alberta, Canada -- Gateway to the Boreal Parkland "The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark." --Michelangelo Buonarroti Note: This communication represents the informal personal views of the author solely; its contents do not necessarily reflect those of the author�s employer, nor those of any organization with which the author may be associated. ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// /// ZION LIST CHARTER: Please read it at /// /// http://www.zionsbest.com/charter.html /// ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ==^^=============================================================== This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?aaP9AU.bWix1n Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^^===============================================================
