Item Detail
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28538
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2
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0
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English
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Mormonism and the Idea of Progress
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Dialogue : A Journal of Mormon Thought
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Winter 2000
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33
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4
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Stanford, CA
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Dialogue Foundation
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69-82
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Mormonism, from its founding, promoted a unique version of the progressive philosophy of Judeo-Christian thought. A central tenet of Mormonism is modern revelation, which affirms that progress in religious knowledge continues forward just as in the secular world. This is most clearly stated in the ninth Article of Faith: "We believe in all that God has revealed, all that he does now reveal, and we believe he will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God." This language is strikingly similar to the definition of the idea of progress as given by Nisbet: "Mankind has advanced in the past, ... is now advancing, and will continue to advance through the foreseeable future."16 Along this line, Joseph Smith taught that the Bible is not perfect and complete, as taught by some other denominations at the time, but contains translation errors, omissions, and other defects, and, most importantly, it is but a stepping stone to future revelation. The Book of Mormon, followed by the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price, was brought forth as evidence that the heavens are not closed. [From the text]