The earliest religious texts in the West ascribe to humankind both a prehistory and a destiny among the gods. M. David Litwa presents a striking survey of the varieties the latter of these beliefs has had, both within and outside the Christian tradition. Becoming Divine reconstructs an accessible and fascinating mosaic of this too-long neglected idea, utilizing figures as disparate… — Terryl L. Givens Copy Share
Without constraint, without any form of mental compulsion, the act of belief becomes the freest possible projection of what resides in our… — Terryl L. Givens Copy Share Image
“God resides most strongly and evidently where science has not yet progressed to go... And if this is true then it follows… — Terryl L. Givens Copy Share Image
Relationships are the core of our existence because they are the core of God's and we are in His image. — Terryl L. Givens Copy Share Image
A supreme deity would no more gift us with intellect and expect us to forsake it in moments of bafflement, than He would fashion… — Terryl L. Givens Copy Share Image
The earliest religious texts in the West ascribe to humankind both a prehistory and a destiny among the gods. M. David Litwa presents a striking survey of the varieties the latter of these beliefs has had, both within and outside the Christian tradition. Becoming Divine reconstructs an accessible and fascinating mosaic of this too-long neglected idea, utilizing figures as disparate… — Terryl L. Givens Copy Share
“In the Garden story, good and evil are found on the same tree, not in separate orchards. Good and evil give meaning and definition to each other. If God, like us, is susceptible to immense pain, He is, like us, the greater in His capacity for happiness. The presence of such pain serves the larger purpose of God's master plan,… — Terryl L. Givens Copy Share
“...God is not exempt from emotional pain...One the contrary, God's pain is as infinite as His love.” — Terryl L. Givens Copy Share Image
“The secret of happiness is this: let your interests be as wide as possible,” he said. He then made his point with the simple example of a taste for strawberries. “There is no abstract and impersonal proof either that strawberries are good or that they are not good. To the man who likes them they are good, to the man… — Terryl L. Givens Copy Share
“The most terrifying specter that haunts the modern psyche is not death or disease or nuclear annihilation. It is loneliness.” — Terryl L. Givens Copy Share Image
“the biblical scholar Richard Elliott Friedman notes that “probably the most remarkable difference of all” in disparate passages “is their different ways of picturing God.” Some depict “a deity who can regret things that he has done ([Gen.] 6:6, 7), . . . a deity who can be ‘grieved to his heart’ (6:6). . . . This anthropomorphic quality . . . is virtually entirely lacking in other passages.” — Terryl L. Givens Copy Share
“If Joseph initially thought only Mormons had access to truth or goodness, he was abruptly corrected of his misperception a year into the Church's founding. In an 1831 revelation, the Lord told him that most of the world was under sin, "except those which I have reserved unto myself, holy men that ye know not of." The words were a… — Terryl L. Givens Copy Share
“His desires are set upon the whole human family, not upon a select few. He is not predisposed to just the fast learners, the… — Terryl L. Givens Copy Share Image
What is always at stake in any decision we make is what that choice turns us into. — Terryl L. Givens Copy Share Image
“In the vision of Enoch, we find ourselves drawn to a God who prevents all the pain He can, assumes all the suffering He… — Terryl L. Givens Copy Share Image
