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Are Mormon Iron Rod Mormon Liahona - Mormon Doctrine Studies - Posted: 27th Oct, 2005 - 3:20pm
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Are You A Mormon Iron Rod Or A Mormon Liahona?
Richard Poll is Professor of History at Western Illinois University. Formerly Vice-President of Administration there and Chairman of History at BYU. (I do not know if still holding such positions). He gave a talk some years ago called "What the Church means to people like me". It makes a difference between two type of members: The Iron Rod members and the Liahona members. It was a known discourse who brought a lot of controversy within the Church and even a reply from Harold B Lee in the talk called " The Iron Rod" (it is suspected that his talk was in fact a rebutal of Bro. Poll's speech).
QUOTE "The Iron Rod, as the hymn reminds us, was the Word of God. To the person with his hand on the rod, each step of the journey to the tree of life was plainly defined; he had only to hold on as he moved forward. In Lehi's dream the way was not easy, but it was clear.
The Liahona, in contrast, was a compass. It pointed to the destination but did not fully mark the path; indeed, the clarity of its directions varied with the circumstances of the user. For Lehi's family the sacred instrument was a reminder of their temporal and eternal goals, but it was no infallible delineator of their course.
Even as the Iron Rod and the Liahona were both approaches to the word of God and to the kingdom of God, so our two types of members seek the word and the kingdom. The fundamental difference between them lies in their concept of the relation of man to the "Word of God." Put another way, it is a difference in the meaning assigned to the concept "The fullness of the Gospel." Do the revelations of our Heavenly Father give us a handrail to the kingdom, or a compass only?
The Iron Rod Saint does not look for questions, but for answers, and in the Gospel--as he understands it--he finds or is confident that he can find the answer to every important question. The Liahona Saint, on the other hand, is preoccupied with questions and skeptical of answers; he finds in the Gospel--as he understands it--answers to enough important questions so that he can function purposefully without answers to the rest."
As I suggested at the outset, I find Iron Rods and Liahonas in almost every L.D.S. Congregation, discernible by the kinds of comments they make in Gospel Doctrine classes and the very language in which they phrase their testimonies. What gives them their original bent is difficult to identify. The Iron Rods may be somewhat more common among converts, but many nowadays are attracted to the Church by those reasons more appropriate to Liahonas which I will mention later on. Liahona testimonies may be more prevalent among born members who have not had an emotional conversion experience, but many such have developed Iron Rod commitments in the home, the Sunday School, the mission field, or some other conditioning environment. Social and economic status appear to have nothing to do with type, and the rather widely-held notion that education tends to produce Liahonas has so many exceptions that one may plausibly argue that education only makes Liahonas more articulate."
The Iron Rod is confident that, on any question, the mind and will of the Lord may be obtained. His sources are threefold: Scripture, Prophetic Authority, and the Holy Spirit.
In the Standard Works of the Church the Iron Rod member finds far more answers than does his Liahona brother, because he accepts them as God's word in a far more literal sense
In them he finds answers to questions as diverse as the age and origin of the earth, the justification for capital punishment, the proper diet, the proper role of government, the nature and functions of sex, and the nature of man. To the Liahona, he sometimes seems to be reading things into the printed words, but to himself the meaning is clear. " Source
The Liahona, in contrast, was a compass. It pointed to the destination but did not fully mark the path; indeed, the clarity of its directions varied with the circumstances of the user. For Lehi's family the sacred instrument was a reminder of their temporal and eternal goals, but it was no infallible delineator of their course.
Even as the Iron Rod and the Liahona were both approaches to the word of God and to the kingdom of God, so our two types of members seek the word and the kingdom. The fundamental difference between them lies in their concept of the relation of man to the "Word of God." Put another way, it is a difference in the meaning assigned to the concept "The fullness of the Gospel." Do the revelations of our Heavenly Father give us a handrail to the kingdom, or a compass only?
The Iron Rod Saint does not look for questions, but for answers, and in the Gospel--as he understands it--he finds or is confident that he can find the answer to every important question. The Liahona Saint, on the other hand, is preoccupied with questions and skeptical of answers; he finds in the Gospel--as he understands it--answers to enough important questions so that he can function purposefully without answers to the rest."
As I suggested at the outset, I find Iron Rods and Liahonas in almost every L.D.S. Congregation, discernible by the kinds of comments they make in Gospel Doctrine classes and the very language in which they phrase their testimonies. What gives them their original bent is difficult to identify. The Iron Rods may be somewhat more common among converts, but many nowadays are attracted to the Church by those reasons more appropriate to Liahonas which I will mention later on. Liahona testimonies may be more prevalent among born members who have not had an emotional conversion experience, but many such have developed Iron Rod commitments in the home, the Sunday School, the mission field, or some other conditioning environment. Social and economic status appear to have nothing to do with type, and the rather widely-held notion that education tends to produce Liahonas has so many exceptions that one may plausibly argue that education only makes Liahonas more articulate."
The Iron Rod is confident that, on any question, the mind and will of the Lord may be obtained. His sources are threefold: Scripture, Prophetic Authority, and the Holy Spirit.
In the Standard Works of the Church the Iron Rod member finds far more answers than does his Liahona brother, because he accepts them as God's word in a far more literal sense
In them he finds answers to questions as diverse as the age and origin of the earth, the justification for capital punishment, the proper diet, the proper role of government, the nature and functions of sex, and the nature of man. To the Liahona, he sometimes seems to be reading things into the printed words, but to himself the meaning is clear. " Source
To read Harold B Lee refutal to this speech, you can find it here: Source
Based on this speech, do you consider yourself an Iron Rod or a Liahona?.
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Liahona Mormon Or Rod Iron Mormon You Are
The two classifications are too starkly different. His thesis seems to paint the Liahona crowd as somehow above the law, or at least thinking they are, and the Iron Rod people as blindly faithful with little spiritual perceptiveness.
Lehi needed both the Iron Rod and the Liahona. The Brass Plates were so necessary that he was willing to send his three oldest sons to risk their lives for them. However, they did not tell him which way to go in the wilderness. He had to rely on the Lord, who provided guidance through the Liahona only when it was expedient.
Similarly, it is our obligation to seek out the words of life, and then to follow them in accordance with the spiritual guidance we can only receive in the moment of testing. Genesis will not tell us our career path, and the Spirit is not likely to teach us things we would learn ourselves if we only opened our scriptures once in a while.
Therefore, I can't say which I consider myself.
Post Date: 17th Oct, 2005 - 8:46pm / Post ID: #
Are You A Mormon Iron Rod Or A Mormon Liahona? Studies Doctrine Mormon
Based on the information above, I consider myself more of an Iron Rod member. Although I think most of us may be a little of both. I don't question the prophet, or the scriptures. I assume they are correct and if I don't always understand, it is a weakness of mine, not theirs.
To me, an Iron Rod member accepts the councel of the Prophet and follows it, even if he doesn't know why. A Liahona member may listen to the Prohet, then try and decide if this particular councel applies to him. He may follow the councel, or he may find a slightly different path based on both the councel of the prophet and his own understanding.
TOPIC: Are You A Mormon Iron Rod Or A Mormon Liahona?