"No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. —John Donne

Almost everyone agrees that we need more tolerance, not only among nations, races, religions, and communities but also in our own homes. Not all agree, however, that we can do something about it. I began to develop that conviction, and discovered personal intolerance that needed uprooting many years ago.

My personal experience in this way may not be entirely different than your own. Tt an early age the unnatural but essential process of looking beyond appearance, broken language, and even crankiness to the real person became my intention. I learned that people deserve to be treated as brothers and sisters because they are all children of God. No matter what the circumstances, almost everyone deserves decent treatment and respect.

One of the tragedies of war is its tendency to build up in people attitudes of hatred against whole nationalities, races, and cultures. During such times, stereotyping spreads to epidemic proportions, and the rhetoric gets harsh and ugly.

Currently, we have such an ugly history with so many ethnicities that it could be said that we have reason to hate just about everyone beyond our American borders.

Jesus taught gospel principles that ,exemplified tolerance constantly. In the Sermon on the Mount, the spirit of which is beautifully summed up in the Beatitudes, Jesus insisted that the meek, the merciful, the peacemakers, and the pure in heart were blessed. His followers must expect and endure hatred, personal vilification, misunderstanding, and persecution. (See Matt. 5:3-12.)

While we have a Christian world that extolls intolerance as some peculiar sign of strength in character, it is actually reserved by those who are bound in fear and ignorance.

Suddenly, Adam and Eve are only allegory; a growing percent of Protestant Christians driven by unbelieving clergy are falling away from its truths. Is it an unfounded legend, the figment of someone's imagination?

We might well remember that it is the Bible that tells this story, and we believe the Bible to be the word of God. These particular Protestants are willing to stumble around this reality in order to suddenly see Genesis as allegory.

And with it Satan as no longer the Father of all Lies (Lucifer).
And with it the real nature of Evil being the voiod of not doing good.
And with the discard of the creation story, are we now descended from apes? Or Aliens. Perhaps not just aliens but truly majestic aliens. Or simply spores from space.

Folks, as has been the case endlessly, when you tear out the substance of truth, it is always filled with something

The Book of Mormon sustains the same story and adds thereto. We believe it to be the word of God too.

The Pearl of Great Price goes into great detail concerning Adam, his creation, the fall, his subsequent dealings with God, his baptism, and his covenants with God. It relates that Adam lived and taught his family the truth about the gospel. We also believe the Pearl of Great Price to be the word of God. It tells the truth.

The Doctrine and Covenants is filled with references to Adam, the fall, the redemption from that fall, the bestowing of the priesthood, and the manner in which that priesthood was handed down from one generation to another. It goes to great lengths in affirming the atonement of Christ, who did indeed redeem us from the fall of Adam. That is no myth!

We most sincerely declare the Doctrine and Covenants to be the word of God. It tells the very truth about Adam and is divinely given.

My wife has recently begun her blog "Are Mormons Christians" and has developed a following equal to Stealtharachnid as he began. She actually dislikes blogging but feels it necessary that the truth be told concerning the fact that we are Mormons.

She can tell it as well as anyone.

Curious that after 9 months of inactivity (no visitors) on this blog, The Genuine Article remains the second most active Religious blog on Blogstream.

After a full year of revealing and defending LDS gospel principles and defining their differences with other religious points of view, my virtual mission at blogstream has ended. My gospel-driven life leads me in other directions, finally returning to my patient wife and the manuscript of a book for which this blog has provided an impetus.

I have shared true gospel principles in the blogs of the worldly wise, the professional Protestant Clergy and in this blog as a simple man. I repeat the words of Paul concerning a gospel that as yet in his day had not been contaminated...

"[He] sent me ... to preach [teach] the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. For the preaching [and I insert teaching] of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? [I insert they are not here anymore] where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe." (1 Cor. 1:17-21.)

There is worldly teaching and there is gospel teaching. There is teaching by the power of the intellect alone, and there is teaching by the power of the intellect when quickened and enlightened by the power of the Holy Spirit.

"O that cunning plan of the evil one! [Jacob is speaking] O the vainness, and the frailties, and the foolishness of men! When they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not. And they shall perish. But to be learned is good if they hearken unto the counsels of God." (2 Ne. 9:28-29.)

This blog will not be deactivated. It will continue to serve for a time as a resource for topical searches for the serious and courageous Christian. Stealth will continue to update this blog periodically in order to keep it alive. He may return.

My ability to reply to continued queries will diminish as meaningful comments dwindle. My email address will no longer be available through this blog because I do not want to imply by leaving it that I can continue to reply in a timely manner.

(If you haven't been with us through Myth # 14 with its comments please read it first)

The fanfare of previous graphics and its celebration ends here. The serious work of faithful self examimation begins for some of us. A genuine new birth will begin for some at the conclusion of this Myth. Are we like the wealthy man, who upon self examination turned his back to Christ. Or, are we able to accept what is logically possible and acknowledge the true God revealed in the Bible.

Myth #15 The Triune God Exists and is omnipotent

My premise is that the Triune God is a logically impossible idea and His power within His creation is that of a chiseled idol.

We have reached concurrence that the logically impossible is not truly a "thing". This represents a serious philosophical problem for triune believers who believe God to be three distinctive essences in one individual. This is clearly a paradox. Does this mean that the triune God is not truly a thing? If the Orthodox wish to use their vaunted logic consistently, if a logical impossibility is not a thing, if it is something that cannot exist at all, then it follows the triune God does not exist.

As I had alluded to at the conclusion of my comments in Myth #14, the entire Greek concept that Orthodoxy has depended upon for their definition of God was turned upside down in 1905 when the University of Zurich physicist Albert Einstein derived a simple equation that demonstrates conclusively the equivalence of matter and energy. What was philosophically important about this discovery was not its consistency with Stoic monism, but the ratio of that equivalence.

The formula is e=mc2 (Please excuse my inability in writing the exponent correctly; I do not have Microsoft Exponent installed). It states that if M units of mass could be made to disappear, the units of energy that would be liberated would be M times the speed of light squared! In actual numbers, using the speed of light in a vacuum [2.99793x10(10) centimeters per second], this means that it would require nearly 900 quintillion (9000,000,000,000,000,000,000) units of energy to be equivalent to just one unit of mass!

The theological implications of that ratio have NEVER been considered by triune believers. What it means is the ancient Greeks had their hierarchy of materials in the order exactly the opposite of what exists in the real universe. A being composed of Matter contains, by nature 900 quintillion times more energy(i.e., power) than would a being composed of pure energy.

Thus, the hierarchy of materials conceived by the ancient Greeks, when viewed from the perspective of energy or omnipotence, is exactly the opposite of that which exists in the universe created by God. In His universe, matter is at the high end of the scale. In fact, Einstein’s simple formula suggests that a corporeal God would represent, by nature, a concentration of energy of 900 quintillion times greater than an incorporeal God.

Triune believers might argue that concentration of energy in a corporeal God is irrelevant to any theological discussion of His omnipotence. But, if God is real, and the Bible treats Him as though He were, His omnipotence would require the ability to exercise real power, and real power requires energy.

They may also argue (at the exclusion of Thomisticguy) that, since their idea of an incorporeal God is one who fills the universe, there is no need for God to be corporeal – infinite size being more than an adequate compensation for lack of energy density. Rational consideration of that argument leads, however that an incorporeal entity who is attenuated throughout the universe would simply be weaker everywhere than a corporeal being who would instantaneously travel to any spot of the universe He chose. This would make for one peculiar God previously unimagined.

Under any logical scenario, the nature of matter, as demonstrated by Einstein, will always make corporeality a much superior medium in which to exercise omnipotence than any medium that is incorporeal. This is especially so in light of the fact that the ratio of corporeality to incorporeality could be as much as 900 quintillion to one. The point is that it is entirely logical and consistent to teach that the corporeal God described in the Bible is omnipotent. I have already demonstrated in Myth #14 that the incorporeal God is logically impossible.

Triune believers, with their cousins of eastern religions, scoff at the notion that a corporeal God is logically possible. Logic now dictates that if you don’t believe in a God that fills the immensity of space but is otherwise is in need of power, you need to believe in the corporeal God of the Bible.

So now, without fanfare or celebration, logic dictates that we briefly mourn the death of a bad idea that was not based upon truth.

Postscript on Comments before turning them off.
Comments here persist off topic and have as of this addendum mutated into a scientific discussion of density as meriting Godliness. For more discussion concerning the scientific and philosophical of a god created by man, please follow the link of Thomisticguy for a personal tour of the Tower under construction to reach God.