Homeric Mormons

I was reading through Classical Thought (Vol. 1 in OUP's History of Western Philosphy) this morning, and the thought struck me how similar the Mormon view of the world is to the Homeric world view presented by the author. Both mix frequent supernatural events and interventions in with natural laws and forces as part of a comprehensive explanation of what happens in the world. It extends to personal events and fortunes as well as the fates of nations. Here's an interesting quote:

Those who look at the world in a Homeric way will find it easy to reconcile their outlook with their experience and observation. If I get caught in a storm at sea, perhaps I have offended Poseidon and it will blow over if I make a sacrifice to him. If the storm does not blow over, my belief is not refuted, since I have other explanations ready. Perhaps Poseidon was too angry to be appeased, or my sacrifice was too small, or another god intervened, or this particular storm "just happened" with no particular divine cause. If I hold this sort of view, it will be difficult to refute me by observation; indeed, I may well claim that naturalist assumptions about general laws violate the evidence of observation.

(p. 32). In a similar way, everything that happens to a person — good, bad, or ugly — fits nicely within the Mormon "mixed world view." [Note: There were a couple of related Bloggernacle discussions about the role of naturalism/supernaturalism in LDS belief about six months ago ... links?]

Comments

[J. Stapley]

So that's where Adam-God came from...

[RoastedTomatoes]

Dave, nice analogy. A common critique that I hear from my friends who, as they say, have left but can't seem to leave us alone is this: Mormons think God has time to help them find their keys, but He doesn't have time to prevent tsunamis and genocides. In the end, this is really just another version of the dilemma of theodicy: how do we reconcile the goodness and power of God with the existence of lots of evil in the world?

For my part, I don't have any access to God's day-planner, so I try to avoid speculating about whether He was involved in particular events.

p.s. The obvious joke: D'oh!

[Bret]

I like the analogy. I think God-fearing people in general are this way, but we Mormons are definitely more prone to it. RT makes a good point, that's why I submit to the advice in D&C 59:21 where it says, "And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things."