Why does God employ "paradox" in our development? What is the role and purpose of "dissonance" in promoting growth?
Those who are familiar with the pre-1990 Endowment will recognize the significance of the "Blood Oath," as related to the following scripture:
In an apparent "contradiction" and in opposition to the foregoing information, the following scripture is provided:Moses 5:
29 And Satan said unto Cain: Swear unto me by thy throat, and if thou tell it thou shalt die; and swear thy brethren by their heads, and by the living God, that they tell it not; for if they tell it, they shall surely die; and this that thy father may not know it; and this day I will deliver thy brother Abel into thine hands.
Can ordinances be changed?Doctrine and Covenants 1:
14 And the arm of the Lord shall be revealed; and the day cometh that they who will not hear the voice of the Lord, neither the voice of his servants, neither give heed to the words of the prophets and apostles, shall be cut off from among the people;
15 For they have strayed from mine ordinances, and have broken mine everlasting covenant;
16 They seek not the Lord to establish his righteousness, but every man walketh in his own way, and after the image of his own god, whose image is in the likeness of the world, and whose substance is that of an idol, which waxeth old and shall perish in Babylon, even Babylon the great, which shall fall.
The dilemma resides in the characterization of the Endowment and the taking of an "oath" as an ordinance. Why would the "Restoration" of the Endowment require a "Reformation?"
What are your thoughts?