God's Many Voices - A Conversation with S. Michael Wilcox

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  • čas přidán 2. 08. 2024
  • This week, we were honored to bring back Michael Wilcox for one of the most interesting discussions we’ve ever had. We’ve discovered, as we’ve gotten to know him, just how well-versed he is in all world religions, not just in Latter-day Saint theology.
    We’re breaking this episode into two parts - in this first part, Brother Wilcox explains why it is that he’s spent so much time with the ideas and in the holy books of other religions. To give you a little preview, in his words: “God has been speaking to his children all the time. Every way he can, everywhere…I can hear (his voice in) the voice of a sage, or a philosopher or a poet or playwright. God's voice is like an orchestra. We believe in a God that is speaking all the time, everywhere, every way he can.”
    And in the second part, which we’ll air next week, we actually get into some of his favorite ideas and passages from books like the Quran, the Bhagavad Gita, and several others - it’s remarkable to see how some of the most beautiful ideas really echo so strongly in some of our own cherished beliefs.
    Many of you are already familiar with Brother Wilcox, but to just give a little background - he received his PhD from the University of Colorado and taught for many years at the LDS Institute of Religion adjacent to the University of Utah. He has spoken to packed crowds at BYU Education Week and has hosted tours to the Holy Land, China, Church history sites, and many others. He’s written several books and he and his late wife, Laurie, are the parents of five children.

Komentáře • 33

  • @vickymoorman3220
    @vickymoorman3220 Před 9 měsíci +4

    This resonates so deeply with me… thank you. 🙏🏻💕

  • @jeannedeshazer-ellsworth9995
    @jeannedeshazer-ellsworth9995 Před 11 měsíci +6

    15 years ago my husband was diagnosed with leukemia...AML with a 25% survival rate. He died 21 mos later. We'd almost raised (the last two were in high school) 8 children, been married almost 33 years and our life was almost (lots of almosts) at a much easier time. He had a great salary, we had all but two of our kids were married and we were ready for things to be a little easier. Then he died. I look back on those years as some the most blessed of my life and yet the hardest. Your comments about the hidden mountains and land that were still there even though they couldntt be seen---and all your struggles in the move tell me great blessings are ahead of you. You're a good man and I love your mission. Godspeed. I hope you love Utah...from an LDS friend.

  • @michelegmaui
    @michelegmaui Před rokem +4

    As a convert to the Church, this perspective is healing. It brings hope while fueling my appreciation for the many ways Heavenly Father communicates with all His children
    . You take complex concepts and give simple explanations that are easy to digest. Thank you!

  • @jameswebster5405
    @jameswebster5405 Před 2 lety +18

    How comforting and confirming of our faith to recognize that ALL truth may be circumscribed into one great whole. How restrictive and constraining it is to believe that our tiny understanding constitutes the whole of truth! Latter Day Saints, of all people, should be the most accepting and welcoming of anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy.

  • @Jessicaig
    @Jessicaig Před 2 lety +3

    Yes yes yes!!!!!!! Thank you for these words! The world is full of gods fingerprints! Gods presence is rich and diverse!

  • @angierasmussen4597
    @angierasmussen4597 Před 2 lety +10

    I feel the spirit testify so distinctly of truth whenever I listen to Brother Wilcox. Thank you for inviting him again! This interview resonated so deeply with feelings I’ve long held as a devout Latter-Day Saint but lover of all truth, no matter its source.

  • @Tipate78
    @Tipate78 Před 2 lety +8

    It has been a mind opening experience ! I paused several times and thought of what was just being said and I felt truths were spoken here. I needed to hear this. Thank you for this great interview !

  • @leem3299
    @leem3299 Před 2 lety +10

    Well done! This is where religion incorporates spirituality. There is no spirituality in, "My group/leader is superior to the rest of the world because we have the only authority that counts!" That's just narcissism. But seeing through to the core of the good things religions sprouted up around - compassion, mercy, "as you have done to the least, you have done to me", "love others as self". Now there's spirituality. Spirituality does not require religion, but oh how beautiful when religion incorporates spirituality! Spirituality is not visible like a building, it's the connection we share with even the ones who seem to be the least amoung us.

  • @renatep.7566
    @renatep.7566 Před 2 lety +9

    Mind-boggling interview speaking right to my soul! I didn’t think that I would hear this from a Latter-Day-Saint, so thank you for putting into words what I have been thinking all of my life!

  • @jeng020
    @jeng020 Před měsícem +2

    I appreciate that “Latter-day Saintism” allows room for other traditions and truths, and I also appreciate mind’s desire/need for a fixed or home truth by which to gauge everything else. For Latter-day Saints, this bright, shining central truth has a definite name and form, and like a sun, a great deal of gravity. It holds us in orbit and is difficult to see beyond or escape from. And is it not a luxury to want to?

  • @cecilecorlett9267
    @cecilecorlett9267 Před 2 lety +6

    I love Michael Wilcox and his insights and broad sense of goodness. It's a pleasure; always a spiritual experience to hear his talks and read his books. Thank you for inviting him to help us learn more of God's ways with His children.

  • @paulineharry
    @paulineharry Před 29 dny +1

    Gandhi was so good at this!

  • @scottbowden4931
    @scottbowden4931 Před 2 lety +6

    This is a worthwhile interview: a classical liberal point of view of circumscribed truth. Well done.

  • @Jan-ow6ok
    @Jan-ow6ok Před 2 lety +1

    Thank you, thank you Bro. Wilcox . You have addressed the answer to my life long dilemma of trying to understand the exclusivity of gospel teaching in scripture and knowing that God loves all his children and provides guidance to everyone everywhere. I had underlined the same scriptures in II Nephi 29 and Alma 29 that you quoted from my first reading of the B of M. You have provided the clarification I have searched for all of my life.

  • @vincemorgan6781
    @vincemorgan6781 Před 8 měsíci

    Wow ! What a wonderful and thoughtful conversation! Thanks much for sharing and inspiring and encouraging me. I’m a sometimes Catholic , Methodist , and all round seeker. Your discussion really resonates with me as God does it seem have many voices !!

  • @markchristiansen9611
    @markchristiansen9611 Před 3 měsíci

    This is one of the best episodes you have done. Thank You.

  • @RealTalk-RealFaith
    @RealTalk-RealFaith Před 2 lety +2

    I love this topic so much and reflects exactly what I've been pondering on the last few years!

  • @kuyalems
    @kuyalems Před 2 lety +3

    I click immediately because I saw bro wilcox name good tobsee him again here

  • @user-tz3zl1kr7r
    @user-tz3zl1kr7r Před 8 měsíci

    Church leaders do a good job of this, in their words and actions.

  • @dorothyjolley9739
    @dorothyjolley9739 Před 2 lety +1

    Thank you

  • @reneemaxwell35
    @reneemaxwell35 Před 2 lety

    This is excellent! Beautiful!

  • @derekhinckley
    @derekhinckley Před 2 měsíci

    Awesome

  • @marymabey9858
    @marymabey9858 Před 2 lety +2

    So good! I think there’s a second part coming? Hope so😊

  • @brettonlind
    @brettonlind Před 2 lety

    This is a really critical topic and It is true that God is in all things. Can you help us understand how Amos 3:7 - God reveals through prophets only is often quoted. Probably misinterpreted? 7 Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.

  • @rconger384
    @rconger384 Před rokem

    Regarding this "fixed foot",
    I want to be open-minded
    so as to encompass
    all that is right
    without
    my brain falling out .

  • @GODISMYSTERIOUS
    @GODISMYSTERIOUS Před 6 dny

    I know LDS are more lenient and respectful for other religions. When I traveled with Fun For Less Tours to ANZ and Fiji in 2013, I didn’t know beforehand that I was traveling with LDS. I found out a week before the tour began. I wasn’t scared then. I recalled I had seen LDS missionaries on the street before. I got an impression that they were serving God and preaching God’s Words.
    When I was in Fiji, a number of LDS removed their shoes and entered a Buddhist temple. I didn’t go in. The tour director asked me why I stood alone outside the temple. I told him that I was a Christian and I was afraid that the temple might be viewed by God as a pagan temple, a disgusting place in His eyes. The tour director also stood outside the temple to guard the situation. He didn’t go in the Buddhist temple, too.
    In my mind, I wish those LDS didn’t bow their heads to the Buddhist statues.
    I don’t want to be critical. It is a personal choice for every individual’s action. I was then a Lutheran church member. Now what? The radical political views caused divisions and hatred inside the Church, so I left the church in 2018. I didn’t feel sad. I trust God reveals to me that Lutheran Church is not right to me. That female pastor left the church about 2020. The associate pastor who was a gay man and the deacon were also gone. Many members have already moved to other states. I believe that God has His way to take care of His church in due time.
    Jehovah’s Witnesses once told me that Jehovah God had to clean His house by removing a Kingdom Hall because the sins were too great. It happened that one Kingdom Hall in NY upstate was filled with racial discrimination remarks. So Jehovah God dispersed everyone from the Kingdom Hall and closed it down.
    I feel that I can trust God but not mankind. How is it possible the believers have stayed in Kingdom Hall to learn God’s words for decades and they didn’t learn about love for humanity? When one has love for humanity, he or she doesn’t discriminate fellow members, friends and other human beings. Is it hypocrisy in human nature? A Kingdom Hall should not be viewed as a place for socializing and establishing clouts within a community. The goal is to worship God and support His works. If I cannot do this, I would rather stay home and not to become a troublemaker to ruin a place of worship. No one can fool God’s eyes.
    Recently, a lot of videos pop up in front of my eyes since I searched the words, Nephi and Lehi on CZcams after I returned home in March. I told myself that I have no way to prove that whether the Book of Mormon is true or false. I also heard that the church leader is a very uneducated farm boy. How is it possible for an uneducated person to interpret those gold plates to become The Book of Mormon? I then think that there were some divine interventions during the interpretation process. I just feel God did His way in a mysterious way. His Way is not a way that a human logical mind can explain. I can ask God why He showed Jesus to the world as an infant in a manger. Why was Christ born in a carpenter’s home and not a prestigious High Priest’s home? Why did Jesus wait till 30 years old to start His ministry? We may ask God many things. However, I won’t ask God all the above questions and His plan. We just need to have faith and trust God’s plan.
    I tell myself that if the Book of Mormon is a novel but the stories are all pointing towards Christ, then it is a good novel. I can tell that the Book of Mormon is at least 1,000 times better than the novel of Harry Potter. Many people in the world are so obsessed with all the stories of Harry Potter but some of them are anti the Book of Mormon. Maybe, those people deep in their minds are mainly anti the LDS church and that may be another thing. How the governing body of the LDS church runs the administration is a completely different matter from the Book of Mormon. I leave it. I don’t want to talk about the LDS church.

  • @DJ-rl3nk
    @DJ-rl3nk Před 21 dnem

    Can you please slow down when you introduce people as people with hearing difficulties find it hard to understand you

  • @joetaylor8687
    @joetaylor8687 Před 10 měsíci

    But according to the most popular and published version of "the First Vision," Joseph Smith was reportedly told that the other sects were an abomination, and all talk with no substance. How does this square with the message here?

    • @user-vv7er6qu3p
      @user-vv7er6qu3p Před 7 měsíci +1

      You misquoted this the Lord said their creeds were an abomination! God loves all of His children!

  • @joetaylor8687
    @joetaylor8687 Před 10 měsíci

    Looks like we're doing a lot of mincing around here, and concluding that "everything is beautiful, in it's own way" type of message. Here's the way I see it: To say that "the brethren" (general authorities) receive constant revelation and direction from deity, is to say that God is essentially confused, undecided, wishy-washy, and even flaky. It's easy to say this, because it's all about non-stop flip-flop in "the Church" . . . regarding publications, proclamations, pronouncements, policies, procedures, programs, priorities, and even theology and doctrine. How can someone claim to be speaking for God if he just completely contradicts what some other supposedly inspired voice of God said?

  • @sandysheritageartwork2387

    Another truth-sayer is G.K. Chesterton.