“We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly” – Articles of Faith 1:8

One Sunday a couple of weeks ago, I sat at home with baby Clara while Torrie attended Sacrament Meeting. I turned on the TV to see what shows are on Sunday around noon and found some preacher preaching. “Well, I need some religion in my life,” I thought, so I stayed for awhile. He was talking about humility and how we should follow the example of Christ. “That’s a good message”, I thought, as be began reading a scripture from the New International Version (NIV) of the Bible. Philippians 2:5-7:

5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

6 Who, being in very nature God,

did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,

7 but made himself nothing,

taking the very nature of a servant,

being made in human likeness.

Something just didn’t seem right with that scripture. So I opened my version of the Bible (King James Version, or KJV) and read the same verses:

5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:  

6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:  

7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

Do you see the difference? In the KJV, Christ thinks it not robbery to be equal with God. In the NIV, Christ does not consider equality with God something to be grasped. The two are practically opposites!

I've thought a lot about this over the past couple of weeks. I think this is a perfect example of how the LDS church and doctrine differs from other Christian churches:

The message in the NIV is not horrible – it emphasizes Christ’s humility and uses Him as an example for all of us. That’s a good lesson. If everyone in the world was humble like Christ, the world would be a better place.

However, the NIV limits the extent of the teaching. It teaches a damming(sp?) (as in limiting, like how a dam stops a river from flowing) doctrine, that we cannot become like our Heavenly Father. The KJV teaches us that Christ, having been made in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. And since all of us are made in the image of God, it’s not a huge leap – I would even say it’s logical – that we can become like God.

There’s a difference – an important one - in doctrine there. Also, it’s not that both can be true, since they contradict one another. Again the NIV version does not teach horrible things – following the example of Christ is a wonderful teaching - it’s just that the LDS church doctrine goes deeper and adds more truth and light.

I can understand how good people could be confused by a translation difference like this. How do you know which version to believe? I’m grateful that the Lord has given us, like He promised, more than just one witness (2 Cor 13:1) to establish His word. We have the Book of Mormon, we have the testimonies of modern prophets, and we have the right to ask God personally (James 1:5), and He will answer. I am sure of this.

Clara Blog.

Torrie and I have created a special blog for all of our Clara-related posts. Our plan is for that blog to be our principal means of sharing pictures and videos of Clara with our family and friends.

If you are interested in following along our journey with Clara, please send me an email (logan dot schultz at gmail dot com, if you don't have it), and I'll send you an invitation.

I will continue to post on this blog with the frequency and subject matter that I have heretofore done.

Seating Rules

A lot of my work time is spent around a large table with my coworkers. I have spent a year examining the social customs, and I have come up with some conclusions. The following are rules to live by if you are working on a bank exam:

1. No matter how big the table is, you could always use more room.

If I’m at a crowded table with not much room, I can get by. I can put papers on my lap, make sure to always close my computer, things like that. But if I have space…there is always something else I could spread out. There is a corollary to this rule:  

1a. If you have the chance to get some space, you have to take it.

Even if you don't need it. Because if you don't, someone else will take it, and you will be uncomfortable for no reason at all. That leads to the second rule....

2. No matter how many people there are, you will always fill up the entire table.

Just like a gas will always spread out to fill the container.

3. It is VERY frowned upon to sit closer to someone than needed.

One time I sat right next to my trainer. I was going to need to show her my work often, so it made sense to me that I sat near her.

We ended up leaving some open space at the end of the table.

Well, I consistently got weird looks and comments from the rest of my co-workers and even the bank employees. Why is there an open space at the end of the table? Why aren’t you sitting over there? What’s wrong with that side of the table? Holy Cow! I was just trying to make work easier! Plus, there was another guy who I knew would be on the exam later that week who I didn't want to sit next to. That leads to the fourth and final rule:

4. You cannot think of future seating requirements in advance.

The first day of an exam is probably the most important. You have to get there on-time/early, because you have to get a good seat.

In addition, as people grab seats, you cannot let the fact that other people are coming affect your decision at all. If there are five seats on the side of a table, and two people are finding seats, they will seat in chairs two and four. Like so:

X     O     X     O     X

X is empty chair, O is filled chair.

Now, both people know that there is a third person that is going to need to sit down. But is that mentioned? NO. It is not allowed. No, instead you have to wait for that awkward moment where the late-comer has to decide which chair he is going to sit in. Even if it makes perfect sense to spread out and anticipate where the third person is going to sit…it is forbidden. You cannot make any plans.

There are fun sorts of social customs like this at every job (or class, sporting event, etc.). A previous blog entry where I made a recycling joke at a staff meeting comes to mind.