Nonsense language

[BriansThoughtMirror]

I almost forgot how many Mormon phrases probably mean absolutely nothing to outsiders. How about this one:
"The measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ"

Are there others?

[Jeffret]

What is that supposed to mean? I don't think I've ever heard that one before.

[wtfluff]

Tender Mercies.

[FiveFingerMnemonic]

"The holy spirit of promise"

[Corsair]

Ponderizing got awkwardly inserted in the LDS lexicon a few years back.

[1smartdodog]

I can pick almost any section in the D and C and find some bizarre verbiage. Some people just have the ability to make up nonsensical verbage yet make it sound profound.

[BriansThoughtMirror]

What is that supposed to mean? I don't think I've ever heard that one before.

Honestly, I'm not sure either. I heard it in passing from GC. I'm pretty sure I've heard it before, though.

[RubinHighlander]

Making up words and phrases is a common element of a religion with outlandish truth claims or a pseudoscience movement. I think the scientologists top the list for this category, but the LDS church certainly has his fair share, though they typically use more subtle twists on already familiar christian ideas.

http://www.bible.ca/scientology-dictonary-terms.htm

[wtfluff]

"And it came to pass..."

[oliblish]

Some people can talk for hours about the difference between "having a testimony" and "being fully converted."

We are forbidden from talking about anything with real depth in the church so now we just make up new words and phrases and then analyze them to death even though they don't really mean anything to begin with.

[Hagoth]

Magnify your priesthood.

Calling and election made sure.

Abrahamic covenant.

True.

Every fiber of my being.

Even.

The gospel.

[Hermey]

Here is an excerpt from Lyndon Lamborn's book, Standing for Something More - The Excommunication of Lyndon Lamborn. In it, he talks about "loading the language" and why they do it.

[asa]

I almost forgot how many Mormon phrases probably mean absolutely nothing to outsiders. How about this one:
"The measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ"

Are there others?

Sorry Brian but while the general statement may be true your example is lousy That is a precise quote of Ephesians 4;13. It is translated exactly this way is many modern translations because it has such powerful significance to the larger Christian community. I don't know what your cultural background is but that phrase is very meaningful to a chunk of believing Christians , particularly among protestant evangelicals , and I bet hundreds of thousands of words have been written about the phrase. I use to hear it all the time in morning devotional in my heavily Baptist public high school. If you are interested in exploring it further ( which I bet your not ) try the Anchor bible commentary on Ephesians. Hogarth has perhaps some better examples but even most of them would be readily recognizable to educated Christians. I vote for "sweet spirit ' and " Nephi's courage " or best of all "follow the prophet.

[Hagoth]

Celestial marriage is a good one because it means completely different things at different times and to different kinds of Mormons.

"Marriage for time" is used in the essay as a euphemism for sex, something that even most Mormons don't realize, assuming that they dare actually read the thing.

[oliblish]

Celestial marriage is a good one because it means completely different things at different times and to different kinds of Mormons.

"Marriage for time" is used in the essay as a euphemism for sex, something that even most Mormons don't realize, assuming that they dare actually read the thing.

How about "Eternity only Marriage." As if there is something more than eternity...

[LSOF]

I almost forgot how many Mormon phrases probably mean absolutely nothing to outsiders. How about this one:
"The measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ"

Are there others?

Sorry Brian but while the general statement may be true your example is lousy That is a precise quote of Ephesians 4;13. It is translated exactly this way is many modern translations because it has such powerful significance to the larger Christian community. [snip]

It's no less nonsensical just because it's in the Bible.

I'm surprised no one has added "the new and everlasting covenant" or "the keys of the Priesthood".

[Corsair]

"Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood" is meaningless in Christendom at large.

[Jeffret]

Sorry Brian but while the general statement may be true your example is lousy That is a precise quote of Ephesians 4;13. It is translated exactly this way is many modern translations because it has such powerful significance to the larger Christian community. I don't know what your cultural background is but that phrase is very meaningful to a chunk of believing Christians , particularly among protestant evangelicals , and I bet hundreds of thousands of words have been written about the phrase. I use to hear it all the time in morning devotional in my heavily Baptist public high school. If you are interested in exploring it further ( which I bet your not ) try the Anchor bible commentary on Ephesians. Hogarth has perhaps some better examples but even most of them would be readily recognizable to educated Christians. I vote for "sweet spirit ' and " Nephi's courage " or best of all "follow the prophet.

Ah, so it's more Pauline than Mormon. Paul's writing can be a bit contorted at times. Kind of poetic in the KJV, but as with much poetry, it's meaning can be kind of opaque.

The standard KJV version:

Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

As with many things Pauline, I find the New Living Translation clearer:

This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God's Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.

As usual, the New International Version kind of splits the difference:

until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

The Weymouth New Testament has a nice, clear meaning:

till we all of us arrive at oneness in faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, and at mature manhood and the stature of full-grown men in Christ.

I think the God's Word Translation comes out the clearest:

This is to continue until all of us are united in our faith and in our knowledge about God's Son, until we become mature, until we measure up to Christ, who is the standard.

(This does seem to meet the goals stated for the God's Word translation:

GW's publishers believe that communicating the original meaning of the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts that comprise the Scriptures such that everyone can comprehend requires taking a completely new look at the original languages. Many modern translations, they argue, have chosen simply to follow the traditions of older accepted translations, though the traditional words and grammar may no longer mean what they once did, or are not understood.

Most of the other translations seem to just give deference to the phrasing in the KVJV.)

[Brent]

Court of love

[moksha]

"Experiencing the fullness of the gospels"
"Health in the navel"
"We beseech thee for thine moisture"