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A Proof of God’s Existence?

July 16, 2012 by Bryce Haymond 15 Comments

A friend of mine noted today that in a very small sense he is an atheist, because he does not know 100% that God’s exists, nor can God be so proven.  On the other hand, he is also a strong believer because he believes God exists from all the evidences that he has experienced which he cannot deny.  He allows this belief and faith to direct his life.

I agreed with him.  God’s existence cannot be proven, just as we cannot prove Joseph Smith was a prophet or that the Book of Mormon is true.  It cannot be done.  Why is that?  Why all the hassle?  This is what I said:   [Read more…]

Posted in: Tidbits Tagged: agency, book of mormon, evidence, experience, faith, god, joseph smith, life, philosophy, proof, purpose

The Star-Spangled Banner

July 4, 2012 by Bryce Haymond 1 Comment

Francis Scott Key looks over Chesapeake Bay at the Star Spangled Banner

Francis Scott Key's original manuscript copy of his "Star-Spangled Banner" poem. It is now on display at the Maryland Historical Society.

Francis Scott Key's original manuscript copy of his "Star-Spangled Banner" poem. It is now on display at the Maryland Historical Society. (Click for larger view)

It was exactly 197 years, 9 months, and 20 days ago that one of the most revered poems in American history was written.  On the morning of September 14, 1814, a young 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet by the name of Francis Scott Key stood on the deck of a ship at dawn and looked out over the water of Chesapeake Bay, Maryland.  There he saw in the sky, waving proudly in the morning light, a large American flag flying triumphantly over Fort McHenry.  At that moment he knew that our country, the young United States of America, had been victorious in the intense and passionate battle with the British the night before.

Francis reached into his pocket, and pulled out a letter he had, and on the back hand side began to pen these inspired words:

O say can you see by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there;
O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave,
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

The 15-star, 15-stripe "Star Spangled Banner Flag" which inspired the poem.

The 15-star, 15-stripe "Star Spangled Banner Flag" which inspired the poem, now on display at the Smithsonian's National Museum of History and Technology. (Click for larger view)

On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
‘Tis the star-spangled banner, O! long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion,
A home and a country, should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave,
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war’s desolation.
Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the Heav’n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust.”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Posted in: Tidbits Tagged: art, country, historical, history, nation, patriotism, poem, poet, united states

Alethiology – How to Know the Truth?

June 29, 2012 by Bryce Haymond 8 Comments

I posted this originally as a comment on a blog post over at Times & Seasons, by David Earl Bohn.  I thought I’d share it here:

I understand David Bohn. Scholarship in general does not represent an unassailable uncontested platonic absolute truth, no matter the source from whence it comes. It may be trying to get at the truth, from many different angles, but it can’t quite reach the destination, ever. How close it gets is entirely subjective in each person absorbing it, depending on their experience and resulting perspective.

Truth is like an opaque cloth bag with an object inside, but no opening. You can poke, prod, twist, squeeze, kick, hike, spin, sit on, stretch, slam, or feel it through the bag for eternity, but you won’t know for certain what is inside that bag until you take it out, or ask who put it in there (which still involves some doubt, because now you must judge that individual). You may have an excellent idea, but no certainty. What is its color, for example? No one will ever know, while its still inside the bag.

In terms of religion, I would argue that God is inside the bag, and in Mormon-speak that bag’s the veil. He may also have been the one that put Himself there, or know who did. And this for a reason, perhaps only He knows (another bag). Some day the veil will drop, and we will Know Him.

Alethiology, or the study of the nature of truth (related to epistemology, the study of knowledge its acquisition), would be a good topic to bring up in these discussions. How do we come to a knowledge of truth, in whatever degree? Scholarship certainly helps, but is not an end all. It provides evidence, up for the taking in a never-ending discussion and debate to determine its truthfulness.

Of course, some “truth” is more “simple” than other truth. The fact that I drove a car to work today is pretty incontestable, you’d think. But was it really a “car”? Did I really “drive” it, or can my Utah driving even be considered by that term?  Was it even in the past tense, “drove” (to God it was likely the present)?  Can a rusted out 1993 Honda Civic with malfunctioning speedometer, odometer, A/C, radio, steering fuel leak, and tail lights still be considered an automobile? Is what I do at “work” really work, or is it unrelated blogging on an online Mormon forum?

This is part of the reason I’ve stopped blogging, as of recent. Too distracting from the truth in my work, but often worth it for the truth in the subject matter. Which is more true? Which should be true? Which would I like to be true?

Back to work…

I need a sabbatical all of the sudden.  I feel completely overcome (literally trembling right now) by the creative muse which seems to have engulfed me.  I don’t know where it is coming from, but this isn’t standard Bryce.  And I’m not talking only about what’s been happening in this Maxwell Institute debate.  It’s flowing like a fire hose into all areas of my every day life, from my work, to my home life, my children, my hobbies, my calling, my wife, my language.  Where is it coming from?  I feel incredibly sharp, and quick.  Words are coming to me that I haven’t ever before envisioned or had slip from my tongue.  It’s an amazingly transcendent feeling, which I can’t fully explain.  Maybe I can, but maybe not right now.

Another time when I felt so inspired was when I spouted a sonnet, “A Reply to Sonnet 18.”  I don’t write sonnets folks.  I leave that up to my wife!  See also my post on the hymn “Oh Say, What is Truth?”

Ok, now!

The Creative gift, where does it go?
From the mountains on down, through the rivers flow
Flow through my head, without end
Out of my fingers, without pen
I don’t know, and can’t explain
That which so engulfs me again
The Spirit bloweth where it listeth
To and fro, it  won’t ceaseth
Overcome with thought, I imagine
I’ve been here before, my King!

Posted in: Scholarship, Tidbits Tagged: alethiology, analogy, blogging, comment, discussion, eternity, experience, metaphor, online, origin, religion, scholar, scholars, source, true, truth, veil

TempleStudy.com is now on Twitter and Facebook

April 14, 2010 by Bryce Haymond Leave a Comment

I have posted links to TempleStudy.com articles on my personal Twitter and Facebook accounts for a long time, but I thought it was about time to make their own official accounts.  Now, if you just want updates about TempleStudy.com and not from me, or vice versa, or want to filter your social network notifications in some other way, you can do that.  Here are the official account links:

  • Twitter TempleStudy.com Profile – follow me here on Twitter to get the latest updates from the site in your Twitter stream.
  • Facebook TempleStudy.com Page – become a fan of the TempleStudy.com page on Facebook, and see updates from the site in your Facebook News Feed, and easily share them with friends from there.

Now you don’t need to be updated about my frequent 5K runs anymore, if you don’t want to (I’m training for a half marathon in June).  But if you are interested in my personal activities, you might like to know that I just finished version 1.0 of BryceHaymond.com, my design consultancy business I call Blackpool Design.  As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, I’m out of full-time work, and I’m looking for clients who need freelance design, whether product design, graphic design, or web design.  If you know of someone who is looking for design, I’d be very grateful for your referral.

Once I get my house in order a bit more, I’d really like to get back to studying the temple, and sharing with you what I learn.  This is truly an inexhaustible subject.

Posted in: Tidbits Tagged: design, facebook, templestudy.com, twitter, website

Store Owner Commands Robber to Leave in the Name of Jesus

January 27, 2010 by Bryce Haymond 4 Comments

I received an email today of this interesting video clip.  It is a news story from earlier this month of store owner Marian Chadwick from Frisco, Texas, who encountered a hooded robber that entered her store with a gun.  The gunman walked up to the store counter and demanded money.  The store owner pointed at him and commanded him, in the name of Jesus, to leave the store immediately.  The gunman took a step back and told a customer to drop to the floor.  The store owner repeated the commands.  The robber slowly backed up and fled the store.

In an interview the store owner said that when the robber was leaving he started cussing at them, “as if Satan was walking out the door.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2YEO-_-Yhw

Posted in: Practices, Tidbits Tagged: casting out, jesus christ, money, name, news, priesthood, satan, video, youtube
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