Sorry, this is a long one, but Mom's Nibley post and a few other recent events made me think of this quote. It's the one I read at Grandma's funeral. Nibley did have a very intricate mind. This is good stuff. Read this quote (it may take two or three reads, with a dictionary,) and then consider how grateful you are for modern-day revelation. In contemplating the inherent questions of our earthly existence, art and philosopy are entertaining but are otherwise pretty much useless. Science is very helpful in that it provides limited proof to some elements of life, but since it works on hypothesizes it is often wrong and can never claim to offer absolute truth. Beyond scientific bounds, if we can muster enough faith to recognize it, our revelatory religion will give us firm answers, even allowing us to know the mysteries of God. It remains the only medium by which we can know the answers to our individual dilemmas and the essential truths of our existence, with confidence. Always remember that.
Dad
ESCATOLOGY
From the Collected Works of Hugh Nibley: Vol. 3, Ch. 31, pp 268-269
"Since World War II there has been a new look at religion, fundamental to which has been what one eminent scholar calls A the rediscovery of the importance of eschatology within the New Testament. And what is eschatology? A parable can best explain:
There was once a man who went to see a play at the theater. He arrived an hour and a half late, and had barely taken his seat when an emergency call obliged him to leave. The next day a friend asked him how he liked the play. What could the man answer except that he saw almost nothing of it? What he saw may have been gay or depressing, colorful or exciting, but it was no play at all; it was only a three-minute glimpse of what might or might not be a meaningful drama. Such is our position in the world. We come late to a play which has been in progress for ages, and we never stay long enough to find out what is really happening. We get a glimpse of the stage and the actors and hear a few lines of speech or music, and then we are hustled out of the house. From what we have seen, we may rack our brains to reconstruct some sort of plot, but our speculations can never be anything but the wildest guesses. Yet unless we know both how the play began (that is, protology) and how it ends (that is, escatology), the whole show remains utterly meaningless to us, a tale told by an idiot,... signifying nothing. And not to know what the play is about is an intolerable state of things; it is not to be borne. For not only do we find the drama strangely engrossing, but we are actually pushed out onto the stage and expected to participate intelligently in what is going on. We are much too involved in the thing to settle for a play without a meaning, but who can tell us what it is all about?
Literature and Art can help us enjoy or endure the play; they harp everlastingly on the tragic transience of our stay in the theater, help us to appreciate quickly passing beauty of the scene before us, and incite us to speculate and wonder whether there is any meaning to the thing at all and what it might be. But by their own confession (and the greater the artist the greater the frustration) the masters can only tell us that we are such stuff as dreams are made of and that as far as they can see, this world, the cloud-capped towers and gorgeous palaces, the solemn temples, the great globe itself, yea all which it inherits, shall dissolve, and, like an unsubstantial pageant faded, leave not a rack behind. What went before? What comes after? Don't ask the artist: he has seen as little of the play as you have. Philosophy would like to tell us what the play is about, but will not allow itself to run out of scientific bounds; it [philosophy] remains too often the pariah dog, snapping at the heels of religion and scavenging in the camp of science. It is to science and religion that we must turn for definite answers..."
HISTORY
A Little History:
Our story begins in Pocatello, Idaho, circa 1972, when the lovely Debby Christensen agreed to a first, though fateful date with admirer, David Croshaw. Long story-short, he bade her follow him, and they went arm-in-arm to the Logan, Utah temple for establishment of an eternal family unit, Generation 1, on May 23 1973.
From their first blissful summer in Salt Lake City, educational pursuits took them to Provo/Orem, Utah, birthplace of Leslie and Rebecca, and to San Francisco/Oakland California, birthplace of Colin and Matt. Then, for establishment of livelihood, expansion of the tribe with Abby and Dana, and for raising/unifying of Generation 2, it was back to the roots in Pocatello for a rewarding sojourn.
In time, driven by a raging, but commonly shared sense of adventure and independence, one-by-one, Generation 2 escaped the homeland to distant regions of the country and the world, each ultimately developing their own tribal expansions by pairing with worthy mates and initiating Generation 3.
Now sensing fulfillment of their purpose in Pocatello, Generation 1 has also left those roots and transplanted to Cascade Idaho, from which base, they anticipate more abundant contact with The Posterity, Generations 2 and 3, in the future. That contact however, awaits fulfillment of a call to LDS missionary service in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, wherein they hope to help the state of the world by sharing the love of Jesus Christ.
So now, including Generation 0 (Grandma and Grandpa Christensen) home base includes Yuma, Arizona, Pocatello, Idaho, Cascade, Idaho, Vancouver, BC, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Spokane, Washington, Boise, Idaho, Los Angeles, California, back to Boise, Idaho, and on and on (Generation 3+) to infinity.
Our Mission Statement:
This is the blog of our eternal family unit. Initiated years ago, it served well as a journal, but even more so, as an archive of our personal interaction. It was a gathering place, a confabulation instrument, a unifying force for four generations of widely dispersed and progressively prolific posterity, and their valued associates. Though it served these purposes well for many years, it eventually took a back seat to new-kids-on-the-block, Facebook, and Instagram, and was sadly forgotten.
We now move to resurrect this blog with an added functional purpose of archiving the missionary experiences of Generation 1, of their movements and activities as they participate with The Gathering of Israel in the land northward. In so doing, we hope that via their own comments and posts, this blog will again serve to gather and unify the posterity and their friends.
As in the past, that the young and vibrant may know the old and tired, that enduring bonds may be fostered and maintained, that experience and encouragement may be openly shared, that posterity may embrace truth, and that hearts may be knit together, we must resist detachment despite our geographic divergence. We shall do so here.
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2 comments:
I want to comment on something Dad. I would have to disagree with what you said about science. It is true that a lot of science is theory and hypothesis, but the scientific laws have been "proven" and will never change. The last sentence of the quote says "it is to science and religion that we must turn for definite answers."
I think science and literature and art all contribute equally to religion. Just like science, if someone does not have any curiosity about religion, none of these things will make him believe. I think they build on beliefs that someone already has.
If anyone has a strong knowledge of science, I don't see how they could deny there is a God. It is so complicated and intricate that the more you learn about science the more perfect it gets. You should read some of the stuff Henry Eyring (the father, not the Apostle) has written about science. He is known worldwide for his work in chemistry, and he actually is credited for Energy of Activation, which is one of those scientific laws.
But then again it's just like anything else. If you want to believe you can see it, but if you don't want to believe you will be blind to the evidences out there.
Colin
Yeah Colin, I see what you mean. Science has and progressively continues to prove certain elements of our earthly existence, and the amount of proven data is substantial. When proof is determined, it can be established as truth, but there is so much that is yet unknown.
What I meant was that scientific hypotheses (theories about the future or the unknown) are often proven wrong in time. The hypotheses are changed and research repeated. Through this process of elimination, truth ultimately gets shaken out, but the future and the unknown are infinite. Therefore, science cannot and will never claim to provide absolute truth about such things. The unknown will always remain the mysteries of God.
I agree that for people like you and I who have faith, the glut of scientific proof we do have, constitutes adequate circumstantial evidence of there being a supreme creator, and it is hard for us to understand why others cannot see it. However, they refuse to accept faith as a premise, an so to them, the evidence is not sufficient to "prove" the hypothesis. And it never will be.
Art and philosophy are interesting, but they do not provide proof of anything. Scientific method is dependable in that regard, and I think that is why Nibley said that "it is to science and religion that we must turn for definite answers." Over eons, science will continue to build on the evidence (elements of truth,) but it will never be absolute. Religion and spirituality will always remain the only medium by which we can know absolute truth with confidence. Our modern-day prophets have given us some of that truth. For the rest of it (the mysteries of God,) we must depend on personal spiritual guidance.
The limitation is that if one is not seeking the pure knowledge the Spirit has to deliver, he will not recognize or comprehend it. Check out 1st Corinthians 2:7-14. This is a scripture that jumped out at me the other day, I think because I have had some experiences with it in recent past. At the time, I wrote a note and attached it to that page of my Bible: "If you attend the temple, but are not sure you are recieving this spiritual knowledge, keep going and praying for it until you receive it. It will ultimately come, and you will know it when it does. You may not yet percieve what you are looking for, but you will recognize it when it comes." I hope all of you, my family will take that seriously. Maybe you have already reached that point. If not, no one can describe to you what you are looking for. You have to experience it, and when you do, you will know it.
Sorry, that ended up being a longer comment than the post. That's the way it goes sometimes.
Dad
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