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Abstract/Description
The state of the heart is frequently discussed by LDS members. Some consistent uses of “heart” occur in the phrases “hardening their hearts” and “softening their hearts.” Hardened and softened hearts are mentioned frequently in LDS culture, and we should explore the meanings according to the usage in the Book of Mormon. Softening and hardening hearts appear to be opposites according to the dictionary definitions. But softening the heart and hardening the heart do not seem to be opposites in the Book of Mormon because softening the heart does not appear to be voluntary while hardening does. The two terms are not used together and are used in different genres and grammatical forms. Not hardening one’s heart appears to be the opposite of hardening one’s heart because they are used in the same chapter, in antithetical parallelism, in the Bible, and in the same genre and form.
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Origin of Submission
as part of a class
Faculty Involvement
Kylie Turley
Harden Not Our Hearts: The Opposite of a Hard Heart Is Not Soft
The state of the heart is frequently discussed by LDS members. Some consistent uses of “heart” occur in the phrases “hardening their hearts” and “softening their hearts.” Hardened and softened hearts are mentioned frequently in LDS culture, and we should explore the meanings according to the usage in the Book of Mormon. Softening and hardening hearts appear to be opposites according to the dictionary definitions. But softening the heart and hardening the heart do not seem to be opposites in the Book of Mormon because softening the heart does not appear to be voluntary while hardening does. The two terms are not used together and are used in different genres and grammatical forms. Not hardening one’s heart appears to be the opposite of hardening one’s heart because they are used in the same chapter, in antithetical parallelism, in the Bible, and in the same genre and form.