Friday, December 4, 2009

D&C 76

Doctrine & Covenants Section 76 is an amazing revelation.  We had a great class discussion talking about this section as well, and I learned so much!

A little while ago, I was reading this section with my fiancee.  As we were reading, I was really impressed by verses 37-39, which are talking about those who are cast into outer darkness, but I was impressed by the fact that it says: "And the only ones on whom the second death shall have any power; Yea, verily, the only ones who shall not be redeemed in the due time of the Lord, after the sufferings of his wrath. For all the rest shall be brought forth by the resurrection of the dead, through the triumph and the glory of the Lamb, who was slain, who was in the bosom of the Father before the worlds were made."

I was amazed at the fact that all the rest shall be saved.  This is a truly profound doctrine unique to our religion. Most of the rest of Christianity believes that most of God's children will be damned, but according to this revelation, those few who are cast into outer darkness are the only ones who will not be saved, or in other words, will not receive an inheritance in one of the kingdoms of glory.

During our class discussion on this section, we talked about how the Atonement extends to all creation—from the beginning to the end.  Dr. H talked about how God was so confident in the ability of His Only Begotten to succeed with the atonement that He started applying it in days of old, long before Christ was even born!  This, to me, gave new meaning to the phrase "the meridian of time."  Before, this phrase was confusing to me, almost even a bit of a stumbling block.  Why would they say that Christ came in the meridian of time when His birth wasn't actually in the middle of the Earth's creation?  Well, if you count the Millennium as part of that period, then perhaps...  No, the earth was around for four or five thousand years before Christ was born, and it will only be around about 3000 years after, even including the Millennium.  So, yes, that was confusing to me.  It doesn't seem to be in the middle.  But, if you look at it from the view of all creation.  All of creation before this looked forward to the coming of the promised Messiah and the fulfillment of His atonement.  All of creation hereafter will look back to His mortal ministry and his redeeming sacrifice in the flesh.  In this sense, it is truly the meridian of time—the meridian of all time and all creation!  On a smaller scale, we could also apply this interpretation to our own earth...  So the term works either way!

I also found it very interesting to learn from Dr. H about the reception of this section by the early saints.  We think of all of this now as typical Latter-day Saint doctrine.  However, I can now understand why this would be ground-breaking new doctrine to the early saints.  This helps me remember that the important thing is that I have a testimony that the church is true, and if I have any questions along the way I can fall back on that testimony, and wait for my answer—whether it be in this life or the life to come.

Monday, November 23, 2009

For the Beauty of the Earth

This Sunday in Sacrament meeting our closing hymn was For the Beauty of the Earth.  This hymn talks all about the beauty of God's creations, and we express our thanks for them.  In Doctrine and Covenants section 59, the Lord expresses His will as to how we should treat all of these beautiful creations that He has blessed us with.
The Lord tells us in verses 16-17 that everything on the earth is for us.  The trees, the beasts, the flows, the herbs, and everything else.  In verses 18-19 the Lord tells us what we should use them for.  He says we should use them for clothing, for shelter, for food, and for our other needs.  Interestingly, He also tells us that they were created for their smells and tastes, to be pleasing to our eyes, and to enliven our bodies and souls.  So God expects us to enjoy His creation.  We should enjoy the flowers, their smells and their beauties.  We should enjoy the wonderful smells and tastes of the foods which He has blessed us with.  After all, men are that they might have joy!
In verse 20, the Lord counsels us that it pleases Him when we use these things, but that we must do so with judgement, and not by extortion.  I believe this means that we must have temperance in all things.  We know what is wasteful, and what is not.  And in verse 21 the Lord tells us: "And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments."  In the context of this section, I believe that the Lord is talking about the use of His creation.  We will not offend the Lord when we use His creation for food, clothing, shelter, beauty, etc. as long as we always express our thankfulness to Him for this wonderful world which He has so graciously blessed us with—for the beauty of the earth!

Sunday, November 15, 2009

BYU Museum of Art Experience

This past week we had the opportunity to have an in-class presentation by Rita Wrights from the BYU Museum of Art, and then a guided tour by her the following class period.  One of the most interesting paintings, I thought, that we talked about both in class and at the museum is entitled Exchange No. 8.  It is a painting of two chairs, one lying in front of another that's standing upright.  The one lying on the floor is covered by a red veil, which is draped over the top of it.  The upright one is covered by a white veil.  This simple painting of chairs was one of the most symbol-rich works that we saw, in my own opinion.  It didn't have a single person in the painting, but it was clear that it was about the atonement of our Savior.

First, the chairs are both of a simple design, made of wood.  This typifies the Savior for two reasons.  First, simple wooden chairs remind us as his role as a carpenter, the occupation for which he was trained by his adopted father Joseph.  Second, the simple, inelegant design of the chairs echo Isaiah's words: "For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him" (Isaiah 53:2).

Next is the cloth.  The scarlet cloth placed over the fallen chair can represent many things.  The red can represent the mortality of the savior while on earth.  It could represent the scarlet robe placed upon his back by the mocking soldiers, or the blood which he spilt in Gethsemane.  It could represent the ultimate sacrifice of His life on the cross at Golgotha—or it could mean all of these things.  The white cloth reminds us of the linens in which Jesus' body was wrapped for His burial, and which were found neatly folded in the tomb after His resurrection.  It reminds us of purity, and of new life—even life everlasting.  It all points to the atonement.

Finally, there was a light circle around the whole painting.  This suggests that the atonement of Jesus Christ is the center of everything.  All of these symbols point to Jesus Christ—all worked into a painting which, at first glance, may not even appear religious.  This reminds me of an experience I posted about during a previous semester: Bible Culture.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Old Testament & Restoration Exodus

There are many parallels found between the Exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt in the Old Testament and the Exodus of the Saints to Utah in modern church history. The saints received "The Law" in Kirtland, which contained many laws similar to those found in the 10 commandments of Moses. This then suggests a very interesting parallel. The children of Israel left Egypt (the world, the land of their enemies and captivity) and were lead by Moses into the wilderness. Likewise, the Saints fled persecution in the East, especially New York, and gathered in Ohio. When Moses reached Sinai, the Lord met him on top of the mountain in a tempest of fire, and gave Moses the law. The Saints in Kirtland built a temple—a mountain of the Lord—and the Lord appeared therein, again with fire and whirlwind. The Lord then gave the law to his modern servants.
To continue further with this analogy, the Saints were able to go to Zion early on in Church history, but because of their wickedness they were driven out. Joseph Smith, their original leader, was eventually martyred, so he was no longer leading them and Brigham Young did instead. Likewise, Moses grew old and was eventually translated, so Joshua began to lead the Israelites. Brigham Young eventually lead the modern Saints through the wilderness into their promised land in the Great Basin, and likewise Joshua lead the Israelites into the promised land after their time of trial in the wilderness.
There is even a geographic corollary between these two lands. Utah and the Holy Land are the only two places on earth where there is a dead (salty) body of water which is fed by a living (fresh) body of water. The Great Salt Lake is then a parallel of the Dead Sea. The regions are even both mountainous! There are so many correlations between the Old Testament and modern church history, it's no wonder that the Saints looked upon themselves as the children of Israel!

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Significance of Section 42

The study of the Doctrine and Covenants Section 42 manuscript in the Joseph Smith Papers is very significant in that it gives us many unique insights not gained from the printed text as we have it today in our Doctrine and Covenants.  First, we see that the original manuscript contained a header: The Laws of the Church of Christ.  Sometimes revelations are referred to by their titles, but since our printed version doesn’t have these titles we don’t always know how to identify them.  This gives us an understanding of the general contents of this section as well—it probably contains some of the laws of the church.

The section has a sub-header partway through that reads “The Law”, so this is where the Law actually starts.  This section contains many laws similar to those found in the 10 commandments of Moses.  This then suggests a very interesting parallel.  The children of Israel left Egypt (the world, the land of their enemies and captivity) and were lead by Moses into the wilderness.  Likewise, the Saints fled persecution in the East, especially New York, and gathered in Ohio.  When Moses reached Sinai, the Lord met him on top of the mountain in a tempest of fire, and gave Moses the law.  The Saints in Kirtland built a temple—a mountain of the Lord—and the Lord appeared therein, again with fire and whirlwind.  The Lord then gave the law to his modern servants.

We also see in this section that the revelations were actually in response to questions asked by Joseph.  This gives us insight into how Joseph tended to receive revelation.  The Prophet asked questions of the Lord, and the revelations were in response to those questions.  (Obviously it wasn’t always that way, but it probably was a great deal of the time.)  It also tells us about the revelations were recorded, and then later how they were edited and published.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Crandall Printing Museum

This past week I visited the Crandall Printing Museum on Center Street in Provo, Utah as part of my Honors Doctrine and Covenants class.  I visited the museum once about four years ago (my freshman year in my Honors Book of Mormon class).  It hasn’t changed a whole lot since then, but it was definitely a worthwhile experience.  Once again, the type-writing letter-casting machine thing was broken.  What are the chances of that happening both times I go?  He made a reference to his favorite show, The Three Amigos again, but this time he didn’t have the Chinese wooden block prints of the character 林 which he was holding upside down…

This time visiting, I have a much deeper impression about how amazing Gutenberg was, and how many things he had to do to create the printing press.  It also amazes me that they were using almost the exact same technology in Joseph Smith’s day for printing as Gutenberg used several hundred years before.  That truly amazes me.  Gutenberg was a true renaissance man.  It was an interesting point that the first printed Bible and the first Book of Mormon were printed in almost an identical manner.

We spent a lot of time talking about Benjamin Franklin this time.  I definitely learned some interesting facts about the history of printing in America.  I really enjoyed Benjamin Franklin’s epitaph: “The body of Benjamin Franklin, Printer (like the cover of an old book, its contents torn out and stripped of its lettering and gilding), lies here, food for worms; but the work shall not be lost, for it will (as he believed) appear once more in a new and more elegant edition, revised and corrected by the Author.”

One thing that was definitely not there last time I visited (but that we curiously didn’t even talk about) was the replica Gold Plates.  They are made of a gold-silver alloy called electrum, and it was created based off Joseph Smiths and Oliver Cowdery’s accounts of the plates.  The top plate even had etching of the Reformed Egyptian characters based off the rubbing that Joseph made of the plates.  In most artists renditions of the plates, the sealed portion has a metal band of some sort around it.  Oliver Cowdery described it as looking like wood or something, so the replica plates actually use tree sap and beeswax as the seal, if I remember correctly.  That was pretty neat!

One thing that was really neat, and pertinent to our class, was when he talked about the printing of the Book of Mormon.  He had a famous binder come through several years back, and he asked him about how long it would take to bind 5000 copies of the Book of Mormon.  The man said, “You mean 500, right?”  He said no one printed 5000 of anything back in those days.  But, that’s why Martin Harris had to mortgage his farm to have them printed!  It’s also a miracle that the Smith family had moved right up to New York near the Eerie Canal, and that a printer had come right to their small township allowing the Book of Mormon to be printed there.

Overall, it was a very worthwhile experience.  They are trying to raise funds to expand their museum right now, so if you have lots of money, you should donate some to them!

Sunday, October 18, 2009

The Gathering

How has the gathering of the Saints affected me in my life? I have ancestors on my mother's side of the family that were Mormon pioneers. Obviously, without their sacrifice I wouldn't necessarily be a member of the church today. It is also because of the gathering that we have the church. If the saints had not gathered, they would probably have suffered the same fate as the early church. The Apostles were unable to keep tabs on a church membership spread all over Europe and Asia, and eventually the branches all fell into apostasy. If we hadn't gathered in our day, I'm sure we would have suffered that same fate. Today, of course, we no longer gather to the Great Basin, but we are still gathered into Stakes of Zion wherever we may be to lift and strengthen one another.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Women, Hymns, and D&C 25

Doctrine and Covenants Section 25 is one of the first insights into the role of woman in the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.  In order to appreciate this fully, though, we have to understand a bit of background.  But, before that, I want to share a quotation that we read in Priesthood Quorum today.  This is from The Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith manual:

It is the duty of a husband to love, cherish, and nourish his wife, and cleave unto her and none else; he ought to regard her feelings with tenderness, for she is his flesh…  It is the place of the and, to stand at the head of his family, … not to rule over his wife as a tyrant, neither as one who is fearful or jealous that his wife will get out of her place, and prevent him from exercising his authority.  (Page 482)

To us today, this doesn’t seem like that big of a deal.  Of course a husband should treat his wife with respect, and he shouldn’t rule over his house as a tyrant.  However, if we understand the historical context of this revelation we see just how important it is.  In 1800’s America, the woman was to be subject to her husband in everything.  She was not to get out of her place, or prevent her husband from exercising authority over her and her house.  He did not need to treat her has his own flesh, but as something less.  Women would live in subjection their entire lives, first to their father, and then after they were married, to their husbands.  So, we see that this revelation was a radical teaching.   And this teaching first is alluded to in Section 25.

First, the Lord addresses Emma directly in the revelation as my daughter.  This puts her on equal ground with her husband Joseph, whom the Lord addresses as my son in many revelations and visions.  The Lord calls her an elect lady, and tells her that there is a work for her to do.  She is also told that she is appointed to expound scripture to the church. This was unheard of in that time.  There was no such thing as a lady pastor in Emma’s time.  Women only taught other women and children, never men.  Women were also never called upon to do anything of importance.  However, Emma was called upon to organize a hymnal for the church.

Again, today we might think “oh, a songbook, that’s a woman’s thing.”  However, in Emma’s day it was not.  The men were the ones writing all the hymns, like W. W. Phelps, so why wasn’t Brother Phelps called to organize the hymnal?  Also, we might look lightly upon Emma’s work, because it was “just the hymnal” instead of the Book of Mormon or some other scripture.  But isn’t the hymnal scripture?  Isn’t everything therein the official doctrine of the church?  Also, another interesting point that was brought up in our class…  There may be a week that we don’t read a single verse from the old testament in church.  We might not read a single verse from the new testament.  Or maybe it’s the Book of Mormon, or Doctrine and Covenants…  But do we ever have a single week go by that we don’t sing a hymn?  Never!  Every week we sing at least 3 hymns from the hymnal during sacrament meeting, and maybe more than that in other classes.  So can we really look so lightly upon this work?

Another interesting point on the subject of Hymns:  Today in sacrament meeting, one of the counselors in our bishopric, Brother Haglund, made a really interesting observation.  In sacrament meeting, we sing a hymn before each prayer.  He suggested that this might be to bring our hearts in unison before we pray unto the Lord.  I think that’s very true.  As taught in D&C 25:12, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto the Lord.

I know that was kind of all over the place, but here’s the point: women are elevated to the level of actors in the restoration, not just people to be acted upon.  Women have played an important role in the restored church since the early days in Nauvoo, and continue to do so today.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

The Articles and Covenants

Section 20 of the Doctrine and Covenants is also known as "The Articles and Covenants of the Church of Christ."  This is the most often references section in the Doctrine and Covenants by the Lord, as well as by the brethren at General Conference.  It was read in full at every General Conference of the church until the year 1835, which is when it was published, thus allowing the Saints to read it on their own on a regular basis.  Why was it so important that they would read the entire section—and it's not a short section either—at every General Conference?  And why is it referenced so often?  The answer is, of course, in what it contains.

On page 433 of the Joseph Smith Papers book (Volume 2: Revelations and Translations), there is a previously unpublished revelation given to a man named Lincoln who has been called on a mission.  He is commanded to bring the "Articles and Covenants" and "some of the commandments."  Interestingly, aside from the Book of Mormon and the Bible, this is really all he would need.  The Articles and Covenants as contained in Section 20 of the Doctrine and Covenants had all of the information that a missionary would need.

The first twelve verses of the section cover a brief history of the Restoration up through 1830, which is when the revelation was received.  This tells of Joseph Smith's call as a Prophet and a Seer, and as a Translator.  It also tells of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon.  This would be akin to our first lesson on the Restoration in Preach My Gospel, which is what the missionaries worldwide use today!

Verses 17 through 37 talk about the restored doctrines of the creation, fall, atonement, repentance and baptism.  These basic truths are necessary for any convert to understand, and can be found in the second and third lessons of Preach my Gospel.

The remainder of the chapter talks about the organization and regulation of the church.  These early missionaries, unlike most missionaries today, not only proselyted, but actually established wards of Zion in the places they went.  These verses are much like a Priesthood Handbook of Instruction, explaining how all of the basic ordinances of the restoration are performed, the duties and organization of the several priesthood offices, and other details of the restored church.

The Articles and Covenants were all the information necessary to learn of the restoration, receive the saving ordinances of baptism and the sacrament through proper priesthood authority, and organize Zion.  No wonder the Lord commanded Lincoln to bring a copy on his mission!  It was obviously one of the most important revelations to the early Saints, and still of great benefit to us today.

Sunday, September 27, 2009

A Marvelous Work and a Wonder

“Now behold, a marvelous work is about to come forth among the children of men” (Doctrine and Covenants 4:1).  Doctrine and Covenants section four, section six, section eleven, section twelve, and section fourteen all start with this or a similar phrase.  So what is this “marvelous work” that is so important that the Lord refers to it in the first verse of five different sections of the Doctrine and Covenants?  It refers to the coming forth of the Book of Mormon.  But why was this such a great and marvelous work?  Well, there are several reasons for that!

First, where did the book come from?  It was a record painstakingly engraven on metal plates by the ancient inhabitants of the Americas, preserved by the hand of the Lord for hundreds of years, and then delivered to the boy Joseph by the hand of an angel.  That’s not something that has ever happened before in any recorded history that I know of.  Sounds pretty marvelous to me!

Second, how was this ancient record (written in a dead, forgotten language called “reformed Egyptian” by Moroni) to be translated?  The young Joseph, who had received minimal formal education as a young child, knew nothing of foreign languages and could barely compose a coherent sentence was going to do it!  As Martin Harris was convinced when he witnessed the process for himself, it was only by the gift and power of God that such a feat could possibly be accomplished.  Again, pretty marvelous in my opinion!

Third, what was to be done with the record once it was translated?  The young, impoverished Joseph was to publish this record containing the word of God unto all the world.   Eventually, Martin Harris leased his farm to pay for the printing costs, but even after printing the book it still had to go unto all the world.  That’s a pretty daunting task!  A young farm boy from upstate New York had to get the book all over the world.  Although it only made it to a few countries during Josephs lifetime through missionaries to Europe, the Book of Mormon today has truly gone to all the world, translated into more languages than I even know names for and carried by an army of young men to the four corners of the earth.  Again, marvelous!

A little aside...  While serving my mission in Taiwan, I spent some time in our mission office.  One day the senior couple assigned to our mission invited us out to lunch.  While at lunch, the senior elder asked us, “Do you know why the church is true?”  Well, I obviously knew why the church is true—because it is!—but I didn’t know what his reason was...  So, he told us, “Because if it wasn’t, this army of nineteen-year-old boys would bring it to its knees in a day.”  I would say that’s another marvelous thing about the Book of Mormon: in spite of all the ... not-so-intelligent things that these young missionaries do, when people read the Book of Mormon and pray about it, they know that it is the word of God and they join the church!  That’s actually in fulfillment of another prophecy (that the weak will confound the wise), but I think it’s kind of related to Martin Harris and Joseph Smith too.  Like Martin, this brother was amazed that these inexperienced, unlearned young boys can find so much success!

Finally, what is the Book of Mormon?  It is another testament of Jesus Christ.  It is the voice of ancient prophets crying to us from the dust.  It is the keystone of our religion.  It is the book that will bring us closer to God than any other.  I know that the Book of Mormon is true, and it is truly a great and marvelous work.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

What I learned from the lost 116 manuscript pages

One of the most common promises in the scriptures is: "Ask, and it shall be given unto you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.  For every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened" (3 Ne 14:7–8).  I have learned from my personal study of the scriptures as well as my own personal experience that this promise is 100% true.

I used to believe that God would only answer some prayers (those that were in accordance with His will and would be in our best interest), but I have found that this is not exactly the case.  If we express enough faith and work by asking for long enough, He will answer our prayer.  This same lesson was taught by the Savior during his earthly ministry as the parable of the unrighteous judge (Luke 18:1–8).  We need to be careful what we ask for, because God will answer our prayers—but it may be unto our condemnation if that which we ask for is not right.  Martin Harris learned this lesson from both the positive and negative perspective.

When Martin wanted to show the 116 manuscript pages to his wife and other relatives to prove the truth of the work to them, he asked Joseph to inquire of the Lord.  The Lord said no, so he asked again.  After several times, the Lord finally granted them permission to do as they wished.  However, they paid for the consequences of their choice.  The manuscript pages were lost, and both Joseph and Martin’s salvation was at stake.  Fortunately, they both sought and obtained forgiveness for their sin, but they learned the lesson that you should not ask for that which is not the Lord’s will.  He will grant it, but it is unto your condemnation.

On a more positive note, Martin Harris also received his wish to be one of the three witnesses of the Book of Mormon.  Upon learning of the Lord’s plan to have three special witnesses of the Book of Mormon and the Gold Plates unto this generation, Martin Harris immediately desired to be one of them.  Joseph Smith, Martin Harris, and the other two witnesses proceeded into the forest—and what did they do?  They poured out the desires of their hearts unto the Lord until the blessing was fulfilled.  Martin Harris and two others beheld the Gold Plates and other sacred artifacts by the hand of an angel, and they heard the voice of the Lord bear witness of the truthfulness of the work.

I personally have also had an interesting experience with praying unceasingly.  My freshman year here at BYU I had my mission prep class right before physics, so I would bring my brand-new scriptures (which I had just purchased with plans to bring them on my mission with me) to class every day.  One day, however, I accidently left them in my classroom, and didn’t realize that I didn’t have them until after all the buildings on campus had closed for the evening.  It was a Friday, so first thing Monday morning I rushed back to my classroom, only to find my scriptures gone.  I asked the professor, and I went and looked in the lost and found, but to no avail…  I felt terrible that I had lost my brand-new scriptures, and I wanted desperately to find them.  For the space of three weeks I pleaded with the Lord every night that I would be able to find them again, and I continued my efforts.  Finally one day while I was walking with my physics professor (asking where the Geology department was because he suggested that they might be in a lost and found there), I had a very strange experience.  I stopped walking, and suddenly found myself looking in the opposite direction.  After I recovered from the initial confusion of “why am I stopped?” I realized that I was staring directly at my scriptures!  They had been tucked away in a corner of a strange room that I had never even walked by before!  I knew immediately that the Lord had answered my prayer, but it did take three weeks of praying.  I know that God hears our prayers, and He will answer them if we express enough faith.

Monday, April 13, 2009

At the end of John's account of the Savior's ministry, he explains his purpose in writing his gospel: "But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name" (John 20:31). John wanted to bear testimony that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. How did he know this? Because he was Jesus' beloved disciple. He knew Jesus, he saw His works, and knew firsthand of His divinity.

This past week we had the opportunity to listen to the Lord's modern special witnesses bear testimony of His divinity. Just as in times of old, Christ has called twelve Apostles lead by the First Presidency upon the earth. They, like John, have a special testimony of Jesus Christ and we can learn of Him by listening to their witness.

However, we do not have to simply take their word for it, or even John's. John wanted us to have life through Christ's name. All throughout the New Testament Jesus asks us to come unto Him. He is the Bread of Life, the Fountain of Living Water. If we believe on His name, do His works, and seek His will then we can come to know Him for ourselves. We can gain our own testimonies that Jesus is the Christ.

I personally know that Jesus is our Messiah. I know that He suffered for our sins in Gethsemane, and that He died on Calvary that we might live. As the prophet Isaiah said, "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5). I know that His Atonement is real, and that through Him we can find comfort, healing, and rest. In the spirit of the Easter holiday, I want to testify: I know that my Redeemer lives!

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Baptisms for the Dead

My ward has planned a trip down to the Salt Lake Temple this Friday. This temple isn’t special just because the Saints spent so much time and made so many sacrifices to complete it, being one of the first temples in this dispensation, but also because they administer the Endowment in a more traditional manner. However, since we’re not in the Salt Lake Temple’s district, they’ve asked us to provide our own names for the ordinances. So, last week I got in contact with my Aunt Susan, and she sent me 5 male names that hadn’t had any of the ordinances done yet.

Since we’re just doing an Endowment session when we go down to Salt Lake on Friday, I needed to do all the rest of the ordinances first this week before we go. I went over to the Provo Temple today and did the Baptism, Confirmation, and Initiatory ordinances in behalf of these five dead ancestors. This is my first time taking names all the way through the temple like this, so it’s been a really neat experience!

The doctrine of vicarious ordinances done by the living in behalf of the dead is one very unique to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. However, the doctrine is there. As Elder Holland has pointed out in the past, anyone who believes in the Atonement of Jesus Christ automatically believes in the concept of ordinances by proxy. Also, in Paul’s writings to the early saints in Corinth he asked, "Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?" (1 Cor 15:29). However, the full doctrine of vicarious ordinances for the dead was lost during the apostasy...

I am so grateful to live in the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times. I can't imagine living in a time covered by the darkness of apostasy. We are so lucky to know that our Father in Heaven loves all of His children, and that the Atonement of Jesus Christ has power to save every man, woman and child. Even if our ancestors didn't have the opportunity to hear the gospel during their lifetimes, they have the chance to hear it in the spirit world, and we can perform the saving ordinances in their behalf here. If they choose to accept the service we do for them, then they can enjoy all of the same blessings as we will for all of eternity!

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Abraham's Seed

In the Book of John, Jesus taught his disciples that if they believed on His word then they would know the truth, and the truth would make them free. In reply to this many said, "We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?" (John 8:33). The Jews believed that their lineage guaranteed them the blessings promised to Abraham and their seed. I wonder then what they thought of the northern tribes who had been scattered by the Assyrians long before. Where they still entitled to these blessings, even though their nation was destroyed because they refused to repent? How then would the Jews be exempt from the same fate? In response to this standpoint Jesus taught, "Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham" (Luke 3:8).

In Sunday school today we discussed some modern "fables" that exist within the church. I wonder how many of the Saints today, like the Jews of old, believe we are justified simply because we are members of the Church. Because we have been baptized and attend our meetings weekly we are saved. I remember one of my Sunday school teachers a long time ago saying to us something like, "I think there will be many Saints that will be surprised when they see how many people there are in the Celestial Kingdom who were not members of the church." Isn't that true? God will judge us based on our works and the desires of our hearts (D&C 137:9)—it says nothing there about baptism. Having the fullness of the everlasting gospel doesn't justify us, only our works and desires do. In fact, understanding the gospel gives us even more responsibility, so we need to be careful not to become like the Pharisees of old: "And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also? Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth" (John 9:40-41).

I am so grateful that God is not a respecter of persons. He, in His infinite justice and mercy, will not condemn one man because he didn't have the opportunity to hear the gospel in this life, and exalt another because he was born into the church. I am grateful that we are required to work out our salvation (Philip. 2:12), giving us the chance to become more and more like our Savior. I know that the everlasting gospel has again been restored upon the earth in its fullness. So now that our eyes are opened, let us do the works of Abraham, that we may be counted as his seed.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

A Strange New Sect

After Paul was arrested and taken to Rome, he called together the chief Jewish leaders in Rome and they told him: "We neither received letters out of Judaea concerning thee, neither any of the brethren that came shewed or spake any harm of thee. But we desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest: for as concerning this sect, we know that every where it is spoken against" (Acts 28:21-22). The Jews and others at that time viewed Christians as simply a heretical new sect of Judaism, not as a restoration of the fullness of the everlasting gospel as it was given to Adam.

Interestingly, we had a reenactment of this scene in the 1800s with the Prophet Joseph Smith: "I soon found, however, that my telling the story had excited a great deal of prejudice against me among professors of religion, and was the cause of great persecution, which continued to increase; and though I was an obscure boy, only between fourteen and fifteen years of age, and my circumstances in life such as to make a boy of no consequence in the world, yet men of high standing would take notice sufficient to excite the public mind against me, and create a bitter persecution; and this was common among all the sects—all united to persecute me" (JS-H 1:22).

It's amazing how many parallels we can find between the stories of the persecutions of the early Saints in New Testament times and the early Saints at the beginning of this dispensation. Both groups were considered heretical by their peers, both added new (or restored) scripture and doctrines to their canon, and both groups were heavily persecuted. Jesus warned his disciples before his crucifixion of the persecutions they would face: "They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service" (John 16:2). Isn't this what happened to the early Saints? Isn't this exactly what happened in Missouri and Nauvoo?

As a new onslaught of persecutions assail us in the media, in the press, and on the internet, I think we can find comfort in knowing that the Lord knows the beginning from the end. He has restored His Gospel upon the earth in these last days, never to be taken again. He will uphold us through our persecutions so long as we keep preparing for His coming. He promises us: "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid" (John 14:27).

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Bible Culture

Today in New Testament class we had a member of the faculty at the BYU Art Museum come and talk to us about some of the art in our museum on campus that has to do with the New Testament. Art is a very important tool for teaching and learning, especially things like the Bible, because most of us work better with visuals. When we hear a story, we picture the events in our mind. If we see a picture of the story, that makes it all the easier for us to form the image in our imagination!

The lady that visited us shared an interesting experience. She was at a seminar at another school some time ago, and the presenter showed a painting involving symbolism from the story of Jonah and the Whale. When she asked the large group of students/faculty there what the meaning of symbols in the painting was, not one of them could answer. Why? Because they weren't familiar with Biblical stories! These people were probably raised in homes where their parents weren't practicing Christians, and our schools today not only don't think it's important to teach the Bible, but that it's wrong to do so! This is a great tragedy not just from a religious standpoint, but because our society is losing its connection with a large part of our historical culture.

I was in the car once with a friend of mine, and we were listening to Cake on his CD player. In the chorus of one of the songs it says repeats the words, "sheep go to heaven, goats go to hell." My friend, hearing the lyrics, commented on how random that statement seemed. I looked at him in confusion for a moment, and then I realized that he had probably never heard the words of Christ to his disciples as stated in Matthew: "And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left" (Matt 25:32-33).

I'm so grateful to have the Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life. Not only does it give us insight into the meaning of art and literature, but into the meaning of life itself. Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer, and only in Him can we fine Life Eternal!

Sunday, March 8, 2009

A New Commandment

We had Stake Conference today, and one of the members of the Stake Presidency made a comment that I thought was very interesting...

In the Gospels—and the rest of the New Testament for that matter—the commandment is often given that "thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself" (Mark 12:31). We often think of this as one of Christ's key teachings, but this commandment wasn't actually something new. Christ gives the Parable of the Good Samaritan when elaborating on the greatest commandments in the law: to love God with all our heart, might, mind and strength; and to love our neighbors as ourselves. As Jesus states, these are the greatest commandments in the law, and the latter is actually found in the book of Leviticus (Lev 19:18).

On the night of the Last Supper, Jesus gave a new commandment—like unto the one found in the old covenant—but elaborated and expounded upon it: "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another" (John 13:34). Isn't that interesting to think of this commandment as expounding the ancient commandment to love they neighbor as thyself?

In class a couple weeks ago we discussed the Sermon on the Mount, and the difference in the approaches that Jesus took in interpreting the law to those of the Pharisees. The Pharisees took the law given them through Moses and build restrictive structures around it, such as the many "traditions of the elders" concerning Sabbath day observance. Jesus, however, sought to attack the problem at the roots. He taught the people that they needed a change of heart, because as long as the desire to sin still existed in their hearts then the underlying problem was still there.

I think this principle is shown in its ultimate form in this new commandment. Rather than simply loving others because we would like to be loved, or not doing mean things to them because we wouldn't want to have them do mean things to us, Jesus commands us to love one another as He loves us. At our stake conference meeting last night, Elder Stone of the Seventy said, "For some of us there will only be one question at the day of judgment: Did you learn to love?" When we can see one another as the Savior does, and share that same unconditional love that He has for us, then we have truly experienced the change of heart that we need.

Sunday, March 1, 2009

Sacred Records

On Friday I had the opportunity to attend the Church History Symposium here at BYU. One of the talks given was entitled "And there shall be a record kept among you", as quoted from Doctrine & Covenants 21:1. The emphasis of his talk was on the record keeping, not just recording. What good is writing a record, after all, if no one takes care of it afterward and it is lost? The speaker talked a lot about the challenges that the early Saints faced in keeping the records of the Restoration. Persecution, Apostasy, and lack of a stability and resources in the early church led to a great many precious records being lost or destroyed. One example of this is the 116 manuscript pages from the Book of Lehi lost by Martin Harris.

In Between the Testaments, frequent mention is made to Apocryphal writings originating in the first century AD, such as the Book of Enoch and others. When I first read that the records originated so long after the time of the Prophets, I thought that meant that they were works of fiction invented by Jews and Christians of that time. The same is true of many early Christian writings, such as the Gospel of Thomas. However, the book suggests that, although these records were not penned by either Enoch or Thomas, they do have at least some truth to them because they were most likely based on an oral tradition.

There are so many records mentioned in the scriptures that we no longer have access to today (see "Lost Books" in the Bible Dictionary), and many of the records that have remained to our day are no longer in their pure and complete forms. It is really such a tragedy when the sacred words given by God to men are lost to us! I'm grateful that today, in our digital age, we have access to such a wealth of information. We can visit LDS.org and find the teachings of so many prophets and apostles in our day. We have the scriptures in our homes, and most of us are even privileged to have our own copies! These blessings were unheard of in days of old—we are truly blessed!

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Prophets and Scribes

We're reading Between the Testaments for New Testament class, and I came across something interesting in the chapter on Pharisees and Scribes. It says that after the prophets disappeared, there was no one representing God on earth to teach His word. The priests in the temple also became lax in their duty to teach the Law to the people, so there was a void to be filled. This void was filled by the scribes. They didn't actually have any priesthood authority, so they weren't able to officiate any ordinances, but anyone could study the Law and give his interpretation.

This new class of scribes ended up evolving into groups such as the Pharisees and Sadducees. This desire to come to know the Law and share that knowledge with others definitely wasn't a bad thing. If not for the scribes, perhaps Jerusalem would have been in an even worse state in Jesus day. They taught the people the Law of Moses, and taught them the importance of obedience. However, sometimes interpreting too much could cause spiritual blindness, as mentioned in the scriptures: "they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand" (Matt 13:13) This can be seen in the scribes' interactions with Jesus (John 9:41). Because of this spiritual blindness these scribes persecuted and killed many of God's chosen servants (John the Baptist, Simon, and even Christ).

Interestingly, we see a similar parallel in our day. After Christ and the apostles were killed the world entered a state of apostasy similar to that between the Old and New Testament periods. There were no prophets upon the earth to lead the people (because the people had rejected and killed them all), so man was once again left to his own devices. Eventually, when the time was right God again restored the fullness of His Gospel through one of his chosen servants: the Prophet Joseph Smith. However, when young Joseph shared his experiences with the people he met opposition from the scribes of our day:

Some few days after I had this vision, I happened to be in company with one of the Methodist preachers, who was very active in the before mentioned religious excitement; and, conversing with him on the subject of religion, I took occasion to give him an account of the vision which I had had. I was greatly surprised at his behavior; he treated my communication not only lightly, but with great contempt, saying it was all of the devil, that there were no such things as visions or revelations in these days; that all such things had ceased with the apostles, and that there would never be any more of them.
I soon found, however, that my telling the story had excited a great deal of prejudice against me among professors of religion, and was the cause of great persecution, which continued to increase; and though I was an obscure boy, only between fourteen and fifteen years of age, and my circumstances in life such as to make a boy of no consequence in the world, yet men of high standing would take notice sufficient to excite the public mind against me, and create a bitter persecution; and this was common among all the sects—all united to persecute me. (JS-H 1:21-22, emphasis added)

I'm grateful that we live in a day where living prophets again walk the earth. I'm grateful that we have the word of God, and that we are permitted to read it and interpret it for ourselves. However, I'm also grateful that the Lord has sent His servants to be guideposts in leading us back to Him. Otherwise it's just the blind leading the blind.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

He has Carried our Sorrows

The crowning event of the entire Plan of Salvation—our purpose for being here on earth—and the most important part of the Messiah's mission was his Atoning Sacrifice. Considering how monumental this event was in the history of the universe, it's interesting to see how little detail we have about it in the Gospels. In the Gospel of Mark, the most descriptive phrase of Christ's suffering is when he says, "My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch" (Mark 14:34). This makes me so grateful for the abundance of scripture that we have!

How could we ever comprehend the full meaning of the Atonement if all we had was the Gospel of Mark, and no other scripture? As I partake of the sacrament each week to renew my covenants to follow Him, I like to read one of Isaiah's descriptions of the mission of the Messiah: "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 54:4-5).

As we read the accounts given in the Gospels of Christ's suffering and death, we cannot help but think back on the many Messianic prophecies found all throughout the scriptures. These beautiful descriptions of our Saviors love for us and His willingness to suffer for our sins enhance our reading of the passion narrative so much!

I am so grateful to know that we have a loving Savior who suffered and died for us. I'm so glad to know that he has borne my afflictions and carried my sorrows. I know that He knows all of the pain and sorrow we feel through His own experience, so He knows how best to succor us. For this I am eternally grateful.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Sealing Power

This last week I had the opportunity go attend the Draper temple open house with my girlfriend. She's not endowed yet, so it was really neat to be with her the first time that she saw the interior of the temple (other than a baptistery). These houses of the Lord in our day, modeled after those in days of old, are truly holy sanctums, and I know the ordinances performed therein bring us closer to our Father in Heaven and help us return to His presence.

After seeing the baptismal font, the dressing rooms (the bride's dressing room is so nice!), and the various rooms representing the degrees of glory, we finally ended in a sealing room. We sat in front of one of the mirrors on the wall, and we could see our reflections going back and forth forever—into eternity. There was an older couple in the room, and after a couple of other people came in and sat down, the couple closed the door and started talking to us about the various things we had seen in the temple and what this very special room was for.

This good brother cited the words of Christ to Peter in the New Testament about the power to seal on earth as well as in heaven: "And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Matt 16:19). We believe that these same priesthood keys have been restored in this dispensation through the Prophet Joseph Smith, and that in the Holy Temple families can be sealed together not just for this life, but for all of eternity. This is such a beautiful idea to me—but my words can't express it. I'll just end with the words of Parly P. Pratt on this topic:

"It was Joseph Smith who taught me how to prize the endearing relationships of father and mother, husband and wife; of brother and sister, son and daughter. It was from him that I learned that the wife of my bosom might be secured to me for time and all eternity; and that the refined sympathies and affections which endeared us to each other emanated from the fountain of divine eternal love. It was from him that I learned that we might cultivate these affections, and grow and increase in the same to all eternity; while the result of our endless union would be an offspring as numerous as the stars of heaven, or the sands of the sea shore. … I had loved before, but I knew not why. But now I loved—with a pureness—an intensity of elevated, exalted feeling, which would lift my soul from the transitory things of this groveling sphere and expand it as the ocean. … In short, I could now love with the spirit and with the understanding also" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Ch. 42).

Sunday, February 1, 2009

The Christ We Need

In class this week we discussed the passion narrative as told by Mark, which of course includes the scandal of Judas betraying Jesus into the hands of His enemies. During the discussion one of my classmates posed a question which I have pondered myself many times: why? Judas Iscariot was one of the chosen Twelve. He had been with Jesus through much of his ministry, and had personally witnessed Jesus healing and working other miracles among the people. How could he not know that Jesus was the Christ? How could he possibly betray Him? To my surprise, our professor suggested a possible answer.

The Jews in Jesus' day were not awaiting a Messiah to suffer, die, and deliver them from sin, but rather a Warrior Messiah to lead, battle, and deliver them from their Roman captors. When the people saw Jesus working miracles they wanted to make Him their king (which would have been considered as rebellion to the Romans, as seen in Jesus' trail by Pilot). So, when Jesus would not conform to the expectations that his disciples had for Him, many abandoned Him. Rather than accepting the Good News, the people chose to reject it because it was not the news they wanted to hear.

What if Judas was subject to this same error? There is no doubt that Judas had witnessed Jesus' power and authority. He must have known that Jesus had the power to deliver Himself from the scheming priests and their Roman oppressors. What if Judas wanted to force Jesus' hand? If he were to force the Christ into a corner, then he would have to show forth His power and begin the conflict that would result in a Jewish rebellion. The force that came to arrest Jesus most likely contained a large number of Roman soldiers (the multitude with swords), so if the Christ were to use His power to resist capture then he would essentially start a military conflict with the Romans. However, Jesus did not resist arrest. He did not use His power to save Himself. He surrendered Himself, was tried and died for His people.

All throughout the scriptures we see examples of man trying to conform Christ to his wants. In 2 Nephi 28:7-8 we see a desire for a Savior who will save us in sin rather than from sin. In Mormon 8:26-28 we see a people who create a God who can't speak, and a God who cannot work miracles. Judas and many of the Jews wanted a warrior king. However, Jesus isn't always the Christ we want—but He is the Christ we need. After all, "what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Mark 8:36)

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Not Stuck on the Specifics

This week I went to Salt Lake and saw the movie Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration on Temple Square. As a young boy Joseph felt a lot of confusion as to which of the many Christian sects in his community he should join. They all preached Christ, but each said that their faith was right and the others were corrupt (Joseph Smith—History 1:9). At one point in the movie Joseph is listening to a sermon in which the preacher basically says, if you unite yourself with a corrupt church you can expect nothing but misery and unhappiness for eternity—so choose wisely. That would certainly make anyone feel a bit of pressure to find the truth!

Joseph decides to turn to an earnest study of the Bible in hopes of finding the answer to his question, that is, which church he should join. He soon finds, however, that he cannot simply turn to the Bible to decide which sect is most doctrinally sound because, "the different sects understood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible" (JS—H 1:12). However, Joseph does not abandon the Bible after this discovery, but keeps it has his most vital resource. In the end he finds his answer in James 1:5, which teaches us that if we have questions we can ask God, and since He loves us He will answer. Later in the movie he shows Emma this same verse and asks her to find out for herself whether the message of the Restoration is true.

Josephs experience with reading the New Testament reminded me of a discussion we had in class a couple weeks ago. As Latter-day Saints we believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly (Article of Faith 8). Over the centuries some of the details and specifics have been lost from the text of our New Testament, and various impurities have crept in. We can see this in the varying accounts of the authors of the four Gospels. However, the underlying message and the general principles are still true. We shouldn't get hung up on interpretations of specific scriptures, just as Joseph didn't stop reading just because the teachers of religion had such different ideas about the same verses of scripture. Rather, we should look for the underlying truths that we can apply in our lives. Knowing whether there were one or two angels at the tomb will not influence our eternal salvation, but loving our neighbors, serving our fellow men, and losing our lives in following Jesus' example will.