He (Jesus) who must not be named

This is for encouragement, ideas, and support for people going through a faith transition no matter where you hope to end up. This is also the place to laugh, cry, and love together.
Post Reply
lostinmiddlemormonism
Posts: 862
Joined: Tue Oct 25, 2016 8:40 am

He (Jesus) who must not be named

Post by lostinmiddlemormonism » Sun Oct 02, 2022 2:59 pm

So I conducted a little experiment this conference. It is possible that I might have missed some references from time to time but I recorded each time a speaker used the following words:
Jesus Christ, Jesus, Christ, Lord, Savior, and Russel M Nelson.

As an added bonus I counted how many times Jesus was actually quoted as well. as how many times Joseph Smith and President Nelson were quoted. While not entirely scientific are you ready for the results?

Jesus Christ - 137 mentions
Savior - 91 mentions
Christ - 77 mentions
Lord - 70 mentions
Russel M Nelson - 54 mentions
Jesus* - 13 mentions

* Jesus was mentioned 22 additional times but all in one talk by Elder Mckonkie.

Which begs the question...why are the church and its leaders so scared of referring to Jesus as "Jesus"? This is part of the reason why mainstream Christians think we don't worship the same Jesus...

Joseph Smith was quoted 11 times
Jesus was quoted. 17 times
Russel M Nelson was quoted 23 times

This is my report.

-lost

User avatar
Just This Guy
Posts: 1514
Joined: Fri Oct 21, 2016 3:30 pm
Location: Almost Heaven

Re: He (Jesus) who must not be named

Post by Just This Guy » Sun Oct 02, 2022 4:28 pm

Does your numbers include mentions of Jesus in closing a prayer or talk?
"The story so far: In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move." -- Douglas Adams

lostinmiddlemormonism
Posts: 862
Joined: Tue Oct 25, 2016 8:40 am

Re: He (Jesus) who must not be named

Post by lostinmiddlemormonism » Mon Oct 03, 2022 3:08 am

No. I did not count closing “in the name of Jesus Christ, amen” kinds of things nor in references to the church. Only in conversational references to the Person.

User avatar
Hagoth
Posts: 7076
Joined: Fri Oct 14, 2016 1:13 pm

Re: He (Jesus) who must not be named

Post by Hagoth » Mon Oct 03, 2022 9:24 am

Valiant work, Lost!

Three more things that would be interesting to track:

1-How many of the times Jesus is mentioned when they are talking about things like what Jesus would have us do, our relationship with Jesus, obeying words of Jesus, etc. when they are using Jesus as a symbol for themselves and the church. These can be very subtle and make it sound like they're actually talking about Jesus when they are really using him as a puppet.

2-How many times they talk about the Devil, Satan, the Adversary, and other concepts of a personal Satan or literal, unseen dark forces.

3-The number of derogatory comments about The World, The Arm of Flesh, etc. This would include the veiled references to the increasing evil in the world used as a dogwhistle for LGTBQ rights, womens' rights, liberal political ideas, and activities to support the separation of church and state disguised as attacks on religious freedoms.
“The easy confidence with which I know another man's religion is folly teaches me to suspect that my own is also.” -Mark Twain

Jesus: "The Kingdom of God is within you." The Buddha: "Be your own light."

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Bing [Bot] and 57 guests