This book contains nine articles, or theological essays,
written at various times during the past forty years, three of which were
previously published in the journal of Latter Day Saint
History (LDSH), and all but two of the
remainder were published on my websites at various times.
The fifth article in this book, “A
Reappraisal of the Doctrine of the Godhead Based on the Lectures on Faith,” is
the oldest, and was originally written more than forty years ago but with a
different title, and circulated among a number of prominent Latter-day Saints. Since
then it has been considerably revised and improved, and reduced in size until
it has reached its present form. It was published for the first time in the yr.
1999 issue of the journal of Latter Day Saint History,
vol. 11 (LDSH 11).
The first article, “On the Early
Christian Creeds,” began its life as a letter to the editor of
The Ensign in December 1991. The editor of The Ensign, though unwilling to publish it, submitted it to
two BYU academics who made rather stiff criticisms of it. Subsequently it was
revised, converted into an article, and submitted to BYU
Studies for publication. It remained under the editorship of BYU Studies for a long time, underwent numerous reviews and
revisions, received many criticisms, and in the process many of its rough edges
were smoothed, but in the end agreement could not be reached with the editor
for its publication. It was published for the first time in the yr. 2000 issue
of the Journal of Latter Day Saint History, vol. 12 (LDSH 12). The second article, “The
Christological Controversies of the Fourth and Fifth Centuries Following the Council of Nicaea,” was written between October 1999 and January 2000, and was
published for the first time in LDSH 13.
Of the remaining articles two of them, “Causes of Theological Dislocation in the Early History of the Church” and “Reflections on Some Controversial Doctrines” are recent, and were published for the first time in 2016. The remainder, including the first three mentioned above, were all published at various times on my websites at various locations on the Internet. At first they were published on Yahoo’s Geocities free webhosting service until the service was closed down in April 2009. Then they were published on Microsoft’s free web hosting service for a few years until that service was discontinued. They were also published briefly on Lycos web hosting service.
The article, “On the Mystery of the Holy Ghost” has a lengthy appendix attached to it which is published here as Appendix I. The article titled, “Emanuel Swedenborg: Prophet, Seer, and Revelator” was first written in March 2000, and edited and enlarged before being published on my website in January 2002. This article was also published on the Swedenborg Church’s website for several years. The article titled, “The Father and the Son: A Personal Note” was written during February/March of 2001, and published on my websites. The article, “Martin Luther Versus the Catholic Church” was also written many years ago, and had previously been published on my websites.
The article on Emanuel Swedenborg may arouse the curiosity of some Latter-day Saints who may not be familiar with his writings. I have included it because I consider him to have been a true prophet, and whose writings are inspired and revelatory, and can shed light on some theological difficulties that have arisen among Latter-day Saints in the past.
Appendix II is a reprint of Lecture V from the Lectures on Faith by the Prophet Joseph Smith, with an introductory note, and is reproduced here for ease of reference. Appendix III contains the complete text of the article on the Godhead published in the March 16, 1898 issue of The Saints’ Herald, the official journal of what was then known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. This is also included for ease of reference. Appendix IV contains a brief summary of the main doctrinal issues or questions pertaining to the theology of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints raised in the articles published in this book. The articles are intended to be thought provoking and touch on controversial issues. Appendix V quotes from past Church leaders, justifying a critical approach to the study of Church doctrine.
The contents of this book were previously published under the title of Essays on Doctrine, which went through three editions. Eventually I decided to publish the latest revision under a different title. In this publication the Contents, as well as some chapter or article headings have been revised and edited in order to bring them more in line with the Church’s latest Style Guide concerning the name of the Church.
Bijhan Nasser-faili
December 2021
