© 2024 The Interpreter Foundation. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
All content by The Interpreter Foundation, unless otherwise specified, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available here.
Interpreter Foundation is not owned, controlled by or affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. All research and opinions provided on this site are the sole responsibility of their respective authors, and should not be interpreted as the opinions of the Board, nor as official statements of LDS doctrine, belief or practice.
Thank you for this excellent piece. Among my friends, I’ve always been known as the “gospel scholar” (which isn’t saying much), and thus I’m often put in a position of being a source for answers to gospel questions. This is difficult, and the initial task of ascertaining where any given seeker of truth is located on the ladder of knowledge makes it difficult to provide satisfactory replies. One thing is for certain; those who seem ignorantly eager to jump into the deep end frighten me. And when they lose faith after jumping in, I feel like a swim coach finding out one of my players has drowned because he got into a torrent I would’ve never advised him to enter.
So, this idea of transition through the zone of disorder and uncertainty to arrive at a deeper understanding is informative, and provides a new framework for me to use in explaining why I’m not so eager to discuss deeper issues with some people.
Thank you for a very kind and very clever comment!
I truly would like to say something worthwhile about “Reflecting on Gospel Scholarship with Abu al-Walid and Abu Hamid” Lamentably, my credentials earned supervising the construction of two Pinewood Derby entries do not qualify me to discuss what is under the hood of a BMW.
But step by step, I am learning to appreciate the difference, and this awesome article was an exciting introduction. Abu al-Walid and Abu Hamid were the two salesmen who greeted me when I entered the luxury car showroom. With provincial chutpzh, (all that I have to offer) I acknowledged the familiarity that endeared them to me from the start: “Walid! That was the name of our guide in Egypt!” And Hamid! “ Hamid Tabrizi was the name of a student from Tehran that I knew at then Utah State Agricultural College 63 years ago! He spent his summers in Yellowstone washing dishes to subsidize his education.” “Is there a story behind your name? A history?” No matter. I am totally happy to hear these names again and I will pretend that I am reading something that somebody like you could have written. Real people. Admirable people. Unforgettable individuals.
Thank you Dan Peterson. If this is a glorified blog, then “Three cheers for glorified blogs!” I am on my way back to read the article again.
Florence Butler