Fair Test

I was listening to an Ensign article on the way to work and the author noted that life is a fair test because our memories had been taken from us or something like that. I haven't yet gone back to reread it to find out what they entirely said, but it struck me as something that people not of our faith might not understand, so I pondered it a little. I captured the following thoughts and perhaps people could comment here and help me make them more coherent.

1. With our memories wiped our true character could come out. We would not be inhibited by something we remembered from before.
   
2. When your boss is in the room you might be more guarded and not show your true character whether it be good or bad.
3. Someone offers you money in another currency to perform some set of tasks over the course of a few years. Perhaps it is a job offer, I don't know. You have no idea how much the currency was worth. Would you be limited in what you were willing to do to get that money?
   What if someone came up to you and said that they had read something by a person who had been to that country and knew that what they were offering was a large sum of money? What if they gave you material that detailed how to do the tasks and they told you the tasks would take time, but you could do them in the time you had been given? Who is the author of what they read? Who is the person testifying that they know the author to be truthful? What if they told you there would be people who had experience with such tasks to help you?
   Perhaps you would have to do some research yourself and learn about that currency and maybe even that culture. Through the process you would learn and grow as a person and maybe earn even more money as you progressed in your research and in the end you would have the large sum of money as well?

Faith vs Science

There always seems to be a discussion of faith vs something. Whether it be faith vs works or faith vs science of whatever. I think I have discussed before in some places my thoughts on how faith and works are connected. Now I have a few thoughts that came to mind about faith and science.

I believe that faith is a branch of science. One that is learned by having experiences with God and recognizing them.

I can not give you my notes and necessarily have you understand them without you having gone through the same experience or something similar.

Teachers of Religion That Fail to Do Their Duty

I was listening to Insights into Isaiah (http://www.byub.org/isaiah/) yesterday morning on the way to work. They were discussing Isaiah 56:10-11.

10 His ^awatchmen are ^bblind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.

11 Yea, they are ^agreedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are ^bshepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their ^cown way, every one for his gain, from his quarter.

They proposed they could be talking about teachers of religion that do not do their duty. They fail to call out the sins of the people. They fail to train the people up in the correct ways they should go. Many churches has paid clergy. That can make for a hard conflict since they work for the congregation and the congregation can fire them if they don't like the way they preach or what they preach.

I think Abinidi also taught some of this in Mosiah 12:25-29

25 And now Abinadi said unto them: Are you ^apriests, and pretend to teach this people, and to understand the spirit of prophesying, and yet desire to know of me what these things mean?

26 I say unto you, wo be unto you for perverting the ways of the Lord! For if ye understand these things ye have not taught them; therefore, ye have perverted the ways of the Lord.

27 Ye have not applied your ^ahearts to ^bunderstanding; therefore, ye have not been wise. Therefore, what teach ye this people?

28 And they said: We teach the law of Moses.

29 And again he said unto them: If ye teach the ^alaw of Moses why do ye not keep it? Why do ye set your hearts upon ^briches? Why do ye commit whoredoms and ^cspend your strength with harlots, yea, and cause this people to commit sin, that the Lord has cause to send me to prophesy against this people, yea, even a great evil against this people?