Merry Christmas and Thank You

[I accidentally published a rough draft of this post. Many apologies! Below is the real version.]

I started this blog a few years ago without any readership expectations or goals. As one who shuns the spotlight, I’ve never had any desire to be a Book of Mormon authority. I don’t want to be well-known, influential, important or controversial. I don’t want to present at Sunstone or be part of the Mormon Intelligentsia. I’m just a regular guy who loves reading and writing about the Book of Mormon as a religious, literary and cultural text.

My love affair with this book was renewed in after my “faith crisis” back in 2014. It’s become my life’s work. I won’t go so far as to say I have “calling” to do this, but I will say I believe there’s been a bit of divine intervention. Now hardly a day goes by without me reading, studying or researching something related to it. Whenever I start to feel I have a pretty good grasp on the Book of Mormon, I almost always learn something new. I can’t tell you how many times a random idea or question has popped into my head and led me down a new and interesting path of discovery. I love the challenge this book gives me. I’ve probably read it 50-60 times and it still surprises, dazzles, mystifies and befuddles me.

I decided to write about these discoveries with the hope that people would find them if and when they needed to because Mormonism is in kind of strange place right now. I’m fairly certain the corporate LDS church will always exist. It’s too large and too culturally entrenched to collapse or disappear completely. But it seems every day more and more people are waking up to the fact that our hand-me-down beliefs and traditions are becoming increasingly difficult to reconcile. Mormon history is, well, a nightmare, and its theology isn’t much better. How does one even begin to make sense of it? I wanted to provide an emotion-free examination of scripture that focused on the texts rather than tradition and testimony. What does the text say? That, for me, is the most important question. If the Book of Mormon is indeed “the most correct” book, then we should read it on its terms.  I didn’t get too much traction the first year or so, and that was fine.  I don’t think my early posts were any good anyway.

About a year ago I decided to start publicly posting to my Facebook page precisely because I saw so many people at a spiritual crossroad. As someone who walked through the valley of the shadow of death completely alone, I know what it’s like to have your world turned upside down. Worst experience of my life. If I can help someone through that, then I will. Again, I didn’t have any expectations, but this blog, while still modest by any measure, continues to grow. I hope these posts have been helpful in some small way. And let me just say for the record that absolutely none of this is about me. I often say that I’m just an idiot with an internet connection. It’s not a joke. I mean it. I’m just a dude with time on his hands.

I always plan on posting a least once a month. There’s so much to share! Ideally, I’d like to post every other Monday, or some sort of set schedule. I don’t usually meet that goal for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I take these posts very seriously. The search for capital-T Truth is a serious endeavor. I want to be fair, explore all sides, weigh all arguments and understand historical context in order to see the most complete picture possible. I also prefer to begin any study with a charitable view of the subject and individuals involved. A lot of people I’ve come across in Mormon Studies, particularly those who’ve separated from the institutional Church yet remain believers, begin with the cynical view by assuming nefarious or conspiratorial motives of anyone not named Joseph Smith. For example, whenever I present them with a contradiction between Joseph Smith’s doctrines and the Book of Mormon, 99% of the time their solution is “Brigham Young did it.” Indeed, Brigham Young has become a convenient scapegoat for those personally invested in Joseph Smith. I also want to avoid the loaded language and petty insults I see in Mormon discourse. That said, I don’t feel it’s appropriate to sugarcoat the abundant issues with the church, its theology and its history—especially when it comes to Joseph Smith. I don’t dislike Joseph Smith, which may surprise some people. To the contrary, I’m quite sympathetic to the man. But as the founder of the faith, He should be scrutinized and challenged. His revelations should be carefully examined and compared to the Book of Mormon. And if he was wrong about something, and he frequently was, we have the right and the responsibility to call him out and throw out the doctrine. I also no tolerance for the current wave of self-appointed prophets and teachers who prey on the spiritually vulnerable or use false visions and revelations as claims of authority. These individuals needed to be exposed and rooted out.

Secondly, I labor over these posts. They don’t come easily. I don’t so much write them as I do fight them. I write, fight, rewrite, refight, let them stew for weeks or months, and then rewrite and refight again. I worry they’re too long or too obtuse. I’m never happy with them. They’re never really finished, just released from captivity.  Most don’t even make it that far. I have posts that have been sitting in draft form for upwards of 18 months because I get stuck on something. (My post on Joseph Smith’s apocalyptic worldview has been particularly troublesome, for example.) It all makes perfect sense in my head but translating it into a coherent and interesting narrative is a big struggle for me. Sometimes I just throw my hands in the air and give up. Sometimes I accidentally hit the “publish” button before they’re finished, like I did with this one. And you’ve probably noticed I tend to leave entire words out of sentences. My fingers can’t keep up with my brain sometimes.

So, thank you for taking to the time to read and comment despite my many, many shortcomings and deficiencies. It means a lot to me. Thank you to those who have reached out via email. Thank you to the lurkers (you’re my kind of people!). Just know my door is always open. I will always tell you the truth. If I don’t know something, I’ll tell you I don’t know. If I’m offering an opinion, I’ll tell you it’s my opinion and that I reserve the right to be wrong. Often the best way to learn is to be wrong. It’s truly liberating.

Lastly, as I’ve been writing and fighting this post over the last week, I’ve been thinking a lot about the conditional promises made in the Book of Mormon to the Gentiles. That’s us. I don’t think it’s accident that the Book of Mormon writers were so concerned about the incorrect traditions of their fathers. While there is tremendous value in heritage and cultural tradition, it can also come with a lot of baggage. I think that if we are ever to enjoy the promises made to us, we’re going to have to shed that baggage. That’s a hard, lengthy and often painful process, but I believe we can get there. I can’t help but imagine ready and willing to fulfill all He’s promised if we just let Him. Thanks for being part of the journey.

Anyway, here’s a peek at the posts coming in 2024, hopefully:

The Second Comforter Heresy
The Futility of Proxy Baptism
A Brief History of Joseph Smith’s Financial Misdeeds
The Choice Seer (It’s Not Joseph Smith)
You Aren’t Paying Tithing
“Thousands and Tens of Thousands” – Reevaluating Book of Mormon Population Numbers
How Michael Became Adam (He’s Not and He Doesn’t Even Exist)
The Church of Joseph Smith
Joseph Smith vs. The Apocalypse (yes, this one’s the problem child)
The Holy Order of God
Was the Priesthood Taken from the Earth?
The Millennium Myth

They’re all in various stages of completion, so if any looking particularly interesting, comment below and I’ll prioritize them. I also plan to do more posts on the phrases and idioms of the Early Modern English that inexplicably made their way into the Book of Mormon text.  My list is nearing 200 and I’m only through Jacob. For the moment, this is where my heart is. I absolutely love the Book of Mormon as a literary work. I graduated college with a B.A. in British and American Literature, so it’s right up my ally.

If there are any other issues or questions you have, I can almost guarantee I have already looked into it. So, please feel free to ask.  I can be reached at the following:

matt_lohrke@yahoo.com (this website is linked to my Gmail, but I don’t check it very often.)
https://www.facebook.com/matt.lohrke

Again, I’m grateful to all of you who have found your way here. Merry Christmas!

[The artwork featured in this post is titled “The Anunciation” by Henry Ossawa Tanner. It might be my favorite painting ever.]