Bearded Bishops, Rated-R Movies, & the Honor Code | An Interview with John Hilton III

This is a rebroadcast. The episode originally ran in April 2020.
John Hilton III was born in San Francisco and grew up in Seattle.
He served a mission in Denver and earned a bachelor’s degree from
Brigham Young University, where he met his wife, Lani. They have
lived in Boise, Boston, Miami, Mexico, Jerusalem, and China.
Currently they live in Utah, and have six children. John has a
master's degree from Harvard and a PhD from Brigham Young
University, both in Education. John is a professor of Religious
Education at BYU. John has published several books with Deseret
Book, including Considering the Cross and his latest book, Voices
in the Book of Mormon. He is also the author of the podcast and
video series, “The Book of Mormon: A Master Class.” John loves
being with his family, doing humanitarian work, learning Chinese,
and performing magic. BYU PHOTO 2011 All Rights Reserved Links The
Founder of Our Peace: Christ-Centered Patterns for Easing Worry,
Stress, and Fear John's article discussing this topic: A Fence
Around the Law – Safety Net or Beam in Our Eye John Hilton III
books John's education research There is already a discussion
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Library Highlights 7:04 John quotes President Uchtdorf addressing
the many “shoulds” and “should nots” that become a challenge in our
lives. We can lose peace in our lives when we focus on admittedly
good ideas, but aren’t grounded in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 8:50
What are “Fence Laws”? Imagine an unfillable hole in your backyard,
which poses a threat to children who may fall in. You therefore put
a fence around this hole, which represents sin. The fence
represents the protective effort against anybody falling into the
sin. 9:45 We are already protected from sins by commandments, which
John refers to as “core laws”. Yet some still feel the need to add
additional “fence laws”. E.g.: Core Law: The law of chastity, i.e.,
no sexual relations outside of marriage Fence Law: No kissing until
the fourth date, and kiss will last no longer than five seconds
Fence Law: No going into the bedroom of a member of the opposite
sex 10:47 Some fence laws have prophetic sources, like those found
in the For the Strength of Youth, etc. There is a goodness to fence
laws as guided by the Spirit or other divine sources, like
prophets. 13:57 Examples of positive fence laws 15:22 Dangers of
focusing on the fence laws while forgetting the commandments: “I
didn’t go into the bedroom of a member of the opposite sex, but I
still broke the law of chastity.” Children need fences, but the
choices should shift away from extrinsic fences to self-imposed
fences. 16:50 Too many good fences can become a burden. 22:58 “Take
my yoke upon you” meaning 25:49 Ward traditions that become fences
28:56 Allowing the Spirit to fill in the details around prophetic
direction 30:14 Anecdotes where a personal fence laws caused harm:
Unrighteous judgment Offending others Teaching others incorrectly
43:20 Fences should help us feel the Holy Ghost 45:50 Leading
Saints’ contribution to fence laws: learning by seeking to
understand the purpose behind a fence 48:14 How to step back from
the rush to judgment 51:48 When to correct and when to ignore as
leaders 53:10 Did we become members of Christ’s church in order to
argue with others what true discipleship looks like? Paul, when
using dietary habits as an example of arguing over something
inconsequential, said “For meat, destroy not the work of God.”
(Romans 14:20) 55:14 “The work of God” and your role, the bishop’s
role, and our common goal. 58:01 Trusting prophets as “seers”, even
if we can’t “see” the point of their counsel 1:00:08 Review of four
key points: It’s good to have spirit-driven fence laws Some fence
laws can be burdensome Know the mark: loving God and loving our
neighbors Judging others over fence laws,