Gordon B. Hinckley Quotes
Small aberrations in doctrinal teaching can lead to large and evil falsehoods.
Hinckley, Gordon B. "As We Gather Together." Ensign, Nov. 1995, p. 4.
Innovator in this sense refers to one who innovates within Islam—who tries to change or reform the religion departing from the original message of the Prophet. Unfortunately there are many Muslims who believe and argue that the everything that is important or necessary for life is in the Koran. Therefore any idea or statement that is innovative is at best useless and unnecessary and at worst blasphemous. Therefore all innovation is to be discouraged and this is the main reason for the Islamic stagnation since innovation was encouraged during the first 300 years of Islam and Islam far surpassed the Christian world which itself was suspicious of anything innovative them,
Michael Servetus, 1511-1553, a Spanish theologian, was tried and burned at the stake in Switzerland. John Calvin drew up the charges and pronounced the sentence. However his ill health prevented him from personally officially reading the charges. De la Fontaine did it in his stead. Most people are familiar with the charges of questioning the doctrine of the Trinity. However, before those there were a series of more civilly oriented charges of which sever are given herein. Note the emphasis on his book. It was found do offensive that it was burned along with Servetus. See related quote.
At the time Islam was quite conflicted about the role of innovation, science and reform. Innovators were to many theologians as dangerous to society as heretics and had to be refuted. Al-Ashari’s school of thought has prevailed in much of the Muslim world to this day.
From what is now Turkey. Once the Christians had become established, critics or reformers, were hard to understand as the Christians were a few hundred years earlier.
The King, a religious exremist fanatic, was a great supporter of the Inquisition whose excesses were horrible during his reign.
The Church exercised the law enforcement and censorship authority in all Catholic countries. Note the offense of saying anything which is “offensive to pious ears”. The particular example that “offended” the pious was that a heretic should not be executed. These were the cultural values of the day.
Whoever teaches differently from what I have taught, … condemns God and must remain a child of hell.
Humility and doubt were not characteristics of Martin Luther.
Chil y Marango had studied the Spanish controlled Canary Islands showing some of the primitive behavior of early man there which did injury to the Church’s view of Adam and Eve and denial of any evolution. Ironically, today the Catholic Church accepts evolution as valid science and religion while some other churches do not.
This edict gave great support to the Inquisitors of all Catholic countries. See {617572}
This statement in particular was extremely problematical. Sarbi is not just any old Mullah, but the Mufti of Jerusalem, on of the highest ranking Muslims in the World. This statement puts countries like Egypt and Jordan in a very difficult situation as the officials making treaties with the U. S. will be in effect excommunicated.
Gordon Bitner Hinckley was an American religious leader and author who served as the 15th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from March 1995 until his death in January 2008 at age 97. Considered a prophet, seer, and revelator by church members, Hinckley was the oldest person to preside over the church in its history.
