For Part One, Part Three, Part Four, or Part Five, click on that part to go there.
We continue with Elder Harold B. Lee's talk, "The Iron Rod". The title references a vision of the prophet Lehi in the beginning of the Book of Mormon, where those who were seeking the tree of life held onto a rod of iron to help them get there.
Conversion is part of that process, as the quote below says:
The Quote
"To become converted, according to the scriptures,
meant having a change of heart
and the moral character of a person turned from the controlled power of sin
into a righteous life.
It meant to “wait patiently on the Lord” until one’s prayers can be answered
and until his heart, as Cyprian, a defender of the faith in the Apostolic Period, testified,
and I quote,
“Into my heart, purified of all sin,
there entered a light which came from on high,
and then suddenly and in a marvelous manner,
I saw certainty succeed doubt.”
Who is Cyprian? WHICH is Cyprian??
It's a great conversion story, but it looks like there are two prominent men named Cyprian in Catholicism. Finding the source of this quote turned out to be tricky.
Was it from Cyprian the bishop of Carthage, or Cyprian the magician? Pretty sure it was Cyprian the magician, but I can't prove it.
The story goes that Cyprian of Antioch, formerly a sorcerer and servant of the devil, converted after witnessing the faith of the virgin Justina.
I searched Cyprian the magician's Confessions, where such a quote seemed most likely to be, but found nothing that matched the quote from the talk.
Man, but that was a crazy read! If you've ever wondered what a few thousand years can do to society, try reading that, and you'll see just how different the world is today.
The bishop's writings seem not to talk about his conversion at all, so the source of the quote remains a mystery for now...
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