Your Questions...Your Answers
https://www.theboardboard.org/
My best friend Jo, the comparative lit scholar, on 1 Thess. 5:22 wrote:eidos, eidous: form, which means both how something looks and what kind of thing it is. (semantic range strikes again!)
I definitely like your interpretation of the passage! I wrote a paper on it many years ago, and apparently all I could remember was the "weak conscience" thing.Emiliana wrote:A former idol-worshiper might feel like it wasn't okay to eat the idol-meat, because it would cause him/her to want to worship the idols. Paul's point isn't that you should worry about what other people think of YOU, it's that you should be concerned with helping others not commit idolatry.
(Can you tell I took an entire course in 1 Corinthians in Bible college...?)
I always enjoyed spending time with my mother-in-law. She is such a nice gracious lady. And so is my wife.Marduk wrote:Should you be worried?
Absolutely. For the boyfriend. (12 hours trapped with my girlfriend's mother? No thanks.)
Emiliana. First, taking a cue from what Concorde recently said let me assure you that I think you are beautiful and charming. I like the way you think, and I like the way you express yourself. I am grateful that you responded to Whistler’s comment on my comment with your learning, wisdom, and insight. It is wonderful and incredible to be able to converse with someone who has studied these things in Bible college. Thank you for the tactful and amazing way you handled the question.Emiliana wrote:Yes and no. 1 Thessalonians 5:22 is the verse often translated "avoid every appearance of evil," but other translations say "every form of evil," which is something quite different. And my Greek is too rusty to give you an explanation of why it could be translated either way.Whistler wrote:Yeah, wasn't this about not causing other members to freak out (basically)?vorpal blade wrote:In some cases Paul points out that there is wisdom in avoiding the appearance of evil, as in eating sacrifices given to idols.
Elaine S. Dalton, April 2013 wrote:Virtue is the golden key to the temple. So, third, be not moved in being worthy to make and keep sacred covenants. The covenant you make at baptism will tether you to the path of virtue and happiness as you renew that covenant each week by partaking of the sacrament. As you keep your baptismal covenant, you will look different, dress different, and act different from the world. Keeping this covenant will enable you to be guided by the Holy Ghost. Stand in holy places, and do not even go near those environments or music, media, or associations that might cause you to lose the companionship of the Holy Ghost.11 [See 1 Corinthians 6:9; 1 Thessalonians 5:22; 2 Timothy 2:22; Doctrine and Covenants 9:13.] And as you keep your covenants, you will remain worthy and prepared to enter the Lord’s holy temples.
Elaine S. Dalton, Oct 2008 wrote:What can each of us do to begin our return to virtue? The course and the training program will be unique to each of us. I have derived my personal training program from instructions found in the scriptures: “Let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly.”14 [D&C 121:45.] “Cleave unto [your] covenants.”15 [See D&C 25:13.] “Stand … in holy places.”16 [D&C 45:32.] “Lay aside the things of [the] world.”17 [D&C 25:10.] “Believe that ye must repent.”18 [Mosiah 4:10.] “Always remember him and keep his commandments.”19 [D&C 20:77.] And “if there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, … seek after these things.”20 [Articles of Faith 1:13; see also Romans 8:16; 1 Corinthians 3:16; 1 Thessalonians 5:22; Jacob 4:6; Alma 37:36; Moroni 10:32.] Now more than ever before, it is time to respond to Moroni’s call to “awake, and arise” and to “lay hold upon every good gift, and touch not the evil gift, nor the unclean thing.”21 [Moroni 10:30–31.]
Boyd K. Packer, Oct. 2000 wrote:Young men and women, keep yourselves worthy. Stay away from those environments, the music, the films, the videos, the clubs, and the associations that draw you into immoral conduct (see 1 Cor. 6:9; 1 Thes. 5:22; 2 Tim. 2:22; D&C 9:13).
Ezra Taft Benson, Apr 1989 wrote:Remember, Satan does not want you to be happy. He does not want you to dare to do right. He wants you to be miserable, as he is. He has captured the hearts of wicked men and women who would have you participate in bad things such as pornography, drugs, profanity, and immorality. Stay away from these evils. Avoid books, magazines, videos, movies, and television shows that are not good. As the scriptures tell us, avoid the very appearance of evil. (See 1 Thes. 5:22.)
James E. Faust, Oct. 1986 wrote:I cannot help wondering about parents who adopt the attitude with their children, “do as I say, not as I do” with respect to using harmful substances, going to inappropriate movies, and other questionable activities. Children often take license from their parents’ behavior and go beyond the values the parents wish to establish. There is one safe parental rule: do not just avoid evil, avoid the very appearance of evil (see 1 Thes. 5:22).
Delbert L. Stapley, Apr. 1967 wrote:Do some of us need to reevaluate what constitutes proper observance of the Word of Wisdom? Are we becoming too liberal in our personal interpretation and application of this law? The Apostle Paul counseled: "Abstain from all appearance of evil" (1 Thes. 5:22). Here again, we can unlearn and resolve to stay strictly on the Lord's side of this law and be safe and at peace with ourselves.
Joseph F. Merrill, Apr 1943 wrote:Yet I want to make this point: you and I can help the cause of righteousness very materially, every one of us, if we will live as we teach, as we profess. Then our lives will be as lights upon a hill, and others seeing our good works (Matt. 5:14-16) will have their tongues of criticism throttled, if not tied. It is particularly important that we be careful of our personal conduct, avoiding insofar as possible the very appearance of evil (1 Thes. 5:22), for Satan, the liar and deceiver, is ever alert to use every excuse to inspire criticism among our Father's children.
What a strange way to respond to a joke.vorpal blade wrote:I always enjoyed spending time with my mother-in-law. She is such a nice gracious lady. And so is my wife.Marduk wrote:Should you be worried?
Absolutely. For the boyfriend. (12 hours trapped with my girlfriend's mother? No thanks.)
That's very interesting, Whistler! I hadn't thought of interpreting "appearance" as "occassion," or "instance."Whistler wrote:one might also argue that "appearance" doesn't mean "kinda looks like." "Appearance" can also mean something like instance, or say, every time evil appears. So I think the ambiguity of eidos is pretty well mirrored in "appearance."
Come to think of it, I think it strange the way you respond to my jokes.Marduk wrote:What a strange way to respond to a joke.
I mostly agree with you, wise and intelligent Emiliana. I may be nickpicking here, but in a way I think Paul IS saying that you should worry about what other people think of you, IF what they think of you leads them into sin. But even then we shouldn't refrain from doing good works regardless of what others think, although we should try to not give others an occassion to take offense.Emiliana wrote: The passage about meat sacrificed to idols specifically to avoiding causing others to violate their OWN consciences. So yes, you can eat idol-sacrificed meat all you want, just as long as it wouldn't cause someone else to sin in their own minds. A former idol-worshiper might feel like it wasn't okay to eat the idol-meat, because it would cause him/her to want to worship the idols. Paul's point isn't that you should worry about what other people think of YOU, it's that you should be concerned with helping others not commit idolatry.
Wilford Woodruff, October 1875 wrote:In process of time Brother Taylor came along and he and I crossed the ocean together, and arrived in England, and here I want to make a little statement of my experience in those days concerning circumstances that took place with me. When Brother Brigham left home he told (D&C 84:105, Acts 8:39) you that all his family had was one barrel of rotten flour. Two hundred cents would have bought every pound of provision I left with my family when I left home. But we left our wives, for we had the commandment of God upon us, (D&C 118:4) and we were either going to obey it, or die trying. That was the spirit of the Elders of Israel; and I blessed my wife and child and left them in the hands of God, (D&C 118:3) and to the tender mercies of our noble Bishops, and those who were acquainted with them know how it was in those days.
However, I went on my way, and I want to speak of one little circumstance. I had with me an old cloak which I got in Tennessee when traveling with Brother Smoot over forty years ago. It had once been a dandy cloak, and had on keg buttons, and when new had a good deal of trimming and fancy work about it; but it was then pretty well threadbare and worn out. I wore it in Kirtland and I carried it to England with me; and when I was called by revelation to go to John Benbow’s and preach the gospel I wore that cloak. I went there and found over six hundred people, called United Brethren, and among them were eighty-three preachers, and they, as a people, were prepared for the word of the Lord, and I wanted to catch them in the gospel net. (Matt. 13:47)
Before embracing the doctrine of the United Brethren, Sister Benbow had been what is called a “lady” in England, and she had worn her silks and satins; but after obeying the doctrine of this religious body she cut up and burned and destroyed her silks and satins and wore the plainest calicoes she could get, because she thought that was religion. When I went there to preach she looked at me with this old cloak with the keg buttons on, and the Spirit of the Lord bore testimony to me that religion, so far as she was concerned, had a good deal of tradition about it, and that her faith could be tried by the coat a man wore; and as Paul said, if eating meat offended his brethren, he would never eat any (1 Cor. 8:13) more, so I felt a good deal, and one morning I went out and cut off the buttons from my old cloak, and never had a button on it afterwards.
By doing this and some other things, which some perhaps would call foolish, I, through the blessing of God and with the assistance of Brother Young, George A. Smith and Willard Richards, caught the whole flock and baptized every soul except one solitary person into the church and kingdom of God. Many of them are here in this room today, and some of them have passed away. I mention this just to show our position. We traveled without purse and (Luke 22:35) scrip, and we preached without money and without (Isa. 55:1) price. Why? Because the God of heaven had called upon us to go forth and warn the world.
I have to confess that I hadn't read the 100 Hour Board question before I attempted to make a joke as a comment. To address the issue I would say that you are right, our reason for not riding in cars with just one member of the opposite sex ought not to be simply a fear of gossip. Yet I think part of our thinking should involve how our actions might cause others to have bad thoughts about us AND influence their behavior.Emiliana wrote:So as to whether we agree, I'm not sure. If you're saying that married people shouldn't ride in cars with others because it might look bad to others, I disagree. If you're saying that a married person shouldn't ride with others because it's a slippery slope ... well, I don't entirely disagree, but nor do a wholly agree. I think that married folks should maintain appropriate boundaries with members of the opposite sex, but that's going to look different for everyone and kind of needs to be worked out within the marriage itself. I think it's a little ridiculous for the boundary to be as far back as not giving someone the occasional ride...The fact that my married, male coworker and I occasionally go to the Taco Bell drive-through together does not in any way increase my desire to hop in the sack with him. And if it did, I think that would say more about the state of my marriage than about the general acceptability of mixed-gender car rides.