Item Detail
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18479
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1
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4
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English
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A Forty-Year View : Dialogue and the Sober Lessons of History
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Dialogue : A Journal of Mormon Thought
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Fall 2006
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39
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no.3
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88-97
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In looking back at the last forty years, Menlove states that the Church is not immune from "the sober lessons of history." In fact, no one is exempt from these lessons. What we think about the world and culture around us will change as our times and understanding change. We learn "sober lessons" when we look back and no longer see slavery as a divine institution or believe that the skin of Native Americans will become white once they convert to the Church. Some people are trapped by certitude which is the idea that all the God has already revealed all truth. This keeps churches and individuals from learning from history. The Church has avoided this "trap" due to its belief in continuous revelation. Dialogue has been a "gift" to the Church because it examines the Church from within, helps "the Church resist self-idolization" and certitude, and "foster[s] renewal."