Episode 117: Stumbling Blocks and The Book of Mormon with Paul Toscano-Part III

Join Valerie and special guest Paul Toscano in this part three on a series focusing on untangling some of the complexities of the Book of Mormon.  Paul had a lot of fascinating ideas about this topic including 3 ways to look at the Book of Mormon:

As a historical record (the most immature, irrelevant, and unhelpful approach)

For its literary value (perhaps interesting but often not transformative)

As a mystical/visionary text (as a living, supernatural text intended to be interpreted by the reader with the objective to transform in ways only possible by suspending one’s demand for proof, evidence, certainty.)

According to Paul there are several reasons why very few people are able to approach the Book of Mormon as a mystical/visionary text:

We currently live in a world steeped in scientific materialism. Our minds are socialized in understanding and valuing only the rational and literal; often struggling to interpret the spiritual, supernatural, or mystical. 

The LDS church itself has proven to be a huge stumbling block through its decades-long efforts to “prove” that the Book of Mormon is a historical text, hoping that by proving its historical truth, it might thereby “prove” to be the “only” true church. 

The LDS church leadership have provided additional stumbling blocks through their heavily correlated efforts to prescribe dogmatic meaning to the text rather than allow readers to find meaning for themselves in this and other mystical texts.

Toscano contends that The Book of Mormon was never intended to “prove” that the LDS church is true, but rather has one—and only one—prominent purpose. In his opinion (and as claimed in the beginning) the Book was given to convince all people that Jesus is the Christ, and has manifested himself in many forms throughout time and throughout all spiritual traditions.

He sees this as one of many mystical “living texts” that have been given to through wounded humans [some Christian and some non-Christian faith traditions] that might bring us closer to God if we were able to look “through them” rather than “at them” to experience a transformative relationship with God for ourselves.

Book References in this Episode:

The Sanctity of Dissent, by Paul Toscano

Mormonism in Crisis: A Critique and a Defense, by Paul Toscano

Latter-Day Dissent, by Paul Toscano

Strangers in Paradox: Explorations in Mormon Theology, by Margaret and Paul Toscano

Podcasts Referenced in this Episode: 

Mormon Stories Episode

Gospel Tangents Episode

The Toscano Dialogues

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