How do you think about repentance? Is it a way to become pure? A way to change direction? A way to accept responsibility for harm we’ve caused ourselves or others? And how do you feel about an organization that doesn’t apologize? Can we make amends without acknowledging harm or expressing remorse? Repentance is something we hear and talk a lot about at church, but we don’t all think about it the same way. In Episode 110, Cynthia and Susan share personal ideas about repentance, and discuss whether or not Latter-day Saints believe our own stuff when it comes to the second fundamental principle of the gospel.

Notes & Quotes:
No apology? Really? Mormons question leader Dallin H. Oaks’ stance, by Peggy Fletcher Stack, Salt Lake Tribune, 1/30/2015
Doctrine and Covenants, 1844, p. 209, The Joseph Smith Papers
Changing Our Minds, Center for Action and Contemplation, 3/29/2016
We Can Do Better and Be Better, Russell M. Nelson, 4/2019
Original Grace: An Experiment in Restoration Thinking, by Adam S. Miller
Scarlet, Crimson, Snow, and Wool, Church website
Always a Guest: Speaking of Faith Far From Home, by Barbara Brown Taylor


 “Wherefore let all men beware how they take my name in their lips: for behold verily I say, that many there be who are under this condemnation; who useth the name of the Lord, and useth it in vain, having not authority. Wherefore let the church repent of their sins, and I the Lord will own them, otherwise they shall be cut off.” — Doctrine and Covenants, 1844, The Joseph Smith Papers


“The Greek word metanoia, poorly translated as ‘repent’ in the Bible (Matthew 3:2, Mark 1:15), quite literally means ‘to change your mind.’ Until the mind changes the very way it processes the moment, nothing changes long term. ‘Be transformed by a renewal of your mind,’ Paul says (Romans 12:2), which hopefully will allow the heart to soon follow.” — Richard Rohr

“The word for repentance in the Greek New Testament is metanoeo. The prefix meta- means ‘change.’ The suffix -noeo is related to Greek words that mean ‘mind,’ ‘knowledge,’ ‘spirit,’ and ‘breath.‘

“Thus, when Jesus asks you and me to ‘repent,’ He is inviting us to change our mind, our knowledge, our spirit—even the way we breathe. He is asking us to change the way we love, think, serve, spend our time, treat our wives, teach our children, and even care for our bodies. […] Repentance is not an event; it is a process.” — Russell M. Nelson


“The Lord does not expect perfection from us at this point in our eternal progression. But He does expect us to become increasingly pure. Daily repentance is the pathway to purity, and purity brings power.” — Russell M. Nelson


“…….The aim of justice <under original sin> is to return whatever is deserved. The logic that executes that aim is a simple logic of quid pro quo–this for that, good for good, and evil for evil. The job of justice is to balance the scales and reinforce this status quo.

“The aim of justice under <original grace>, is to give whatever good is needed. The logic that executes this aim is always the same, regardless of what’s deserved: give what is good. Return good for good and good for evil. Rather than maintaining the status quo, the goal of justice <under original grace>  is to continually redeem the world from all evil, empowering everyone in it to be more just. Justice is accomplished when evil things become good, good things become better, and better things become best.” — Adam Miller (pp. 51-2)


“White represents purity. When Isaiah says that the Lord can change our sins from scarlet or crimson to snow or wool, he is saying that the Lord can do something that is impossible for us to do on our own. A cloth dyed red stays red. But regardless of the stain of our sins, the Atonement of Jesus Christ can make us pure again if we repent. “All are within the reach of pardoning mercy, who have not committed the unpardonable sin” — Scarlet, Crimson, Snow, and Wool


“I testify that the Savior is able and eager to forgive our sins. Except for the sins of those few who choose perdition after having known a fullness, there is no sin that cannot be forgiven. What a marvelous privilege for each of us to turn away from our sins and to come unto Christ. Divine forgiveness is one of the sweetest fruits of the gospel, removing guilt and pain from our hearts and replacing them with joy and peace of conscience.” — Neil L. Andersen


“It’s a completely human response to want someone who can save you from falling, which may be why Christians have always been more attracted to the rising part of the gospel than we are to the falling part.

[…]”When you wake from the dream of falling to find it’s not a dream, you can actually choose to open your hands, along with your battered heart, which is how you discover the front edge of the good news: not the life after falling, but the life in falling—all the life you’d have missed if you had clung to the one you had. If you can trust that, also trust this: God will know what to do with you next.” — Barbara Brown Taylor (pp. 217-8)


“Now you see how revolutionary God’s ‘new idea,’ revealed in Jesus, really is. Suddenly we have a God who is anything but a police officer. This God finds grace for those who break the law and finds life and freedom among the lepers and the sinners who do not have good manners. This is now an upside down universe (Acts 17:6). I am sad to say most Christians have yet to participate in this Divine Revolution.” — Richard Rohr