D&C 76

Section 76 from the Doctrine and Covenants is very likely my favorite section in the whole book. It begins with a proclamation that the Lord is God, stating essential truths simply and beautifully. I think this is a perfect introduction to what follows.

The truths introduced to the church through section 76 are some of the truths that distinguish us from other churches more than any others. For all other religions, the only important question is whether or not you are "saved". Mormons have trouble with this word. For most religions, this is a simple concept. If you go to heaven, you're saved, and if you go to hell, you're not. However, as Latter-day Saints have several definitions for the words "heaven" and "hell", this is slightly problematic. This non-Mormon view of the world is essentially what we believe happens initially. However, we believe that all of this happens before the judgment. What takes place after judgment, we believe is one of the "plain and precious truths" that were lost to the world until the restoration of God's church.

I would have a hard time believing in Christianity without this knowledge. To have only one line to separate good people from bad seems impossible to do fairly. Also, there are many problems that stem from this theology in my mind. Firstly, there seems to be no reason to be very good. As long as you believe in Jesus, there is no reason to improve, because in heaven, everyone is instantly perfectly good. There was a time in my life when I sort of had a similar attitude. I judged other people and thought: "well, they're good enough that it won't be fair if they don't go to the celestial kingdom, so I don't have to be more religious than them in any aspect." There's a lot wrong with that argument. Four years ago was a peripeteian time for me. My mindset completely changed. I realized that religion is not about memorizing enough facts or reaching a certain goal before you die. Religion is only about improving yourself.

The principal of different degrees of glory makes religion much clearer for me. It makes so much more sense to have universal salvation in the way Mormons believe it because we believe in a very merciful God. However, it is also evident that it is important to be good. Thus, in our religion, there are two meanings of being "saved". Everyone, except for sons of perdition, are saved in a kingdom of Heaven, but few are saved from damnation, or a halt in progression. However, our circumstances can not damn us. Everyone has an equal opportunity to progress to their potential. Only we can stop ourselves from progressing.

The Benefit and Use of Man

The Thanksgiving season is a good time to think about the great bounty that the Lord has given. It is also the optimal time to think about how we can best take care of this stewardship and show our gratitude for what we have been given, for D&C 59:21 states: "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".

As a vegetarian, I sometimes face mild persecution from those who believe that to not use animals for sustenance is to be ungrateful by refusing a gift that has been given. Latter-day Saints often will reference scriptures such as D&C 59 for proof of this:

16 ...inasmuch as ye do this, the fullness of the earth is yours, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and that which climbeth upon the trees and walketh upon the earth;

17 Yea, and the herb, and the good things which come of the earth, whether for food or for raiment, or for houses, or for barns, or for orchards, or for gardens, or for vineyards;

18 Yea, all things which come of the earth, in the season thereof, are made for the benefit and the use of man, both to please the eye and to gladden the heart;

19 Yea, for food and for raiment, for taste and for smell, to strengthen the body and to enliven the soul.

20 And it pleaseth God that he hath given all these things unto man; for unto this end were they made to be used, with judgment, not to excess, neither by extortion.

There are many important points in these verses for this argument. The most important verse though, in my opinion, is verse 20: "for unto this end were they made to be used, with judgment, not to excess, neither by extortion." This states that the reason for the existence of things on the earth is for our use, but there is a corollary attached, saying that we should use good judgment in the way we use the resources we have been given. It is clearly stated in the Doctrine and Covenants that one should not preach vegetarianism, but in an age when for most people, eating plenty of protein and vitamins without eating meat is easy to do, where foods don't really go out of season, do we eat meat "to excess"? It is a much more efficient use of both water and land to grow crops than to raise cows for food. While it is important to remember that the resources are put on the earth for our use, we must be careful to be wise in the way we use them.

The Prodigal Son

This Thursday our D&C class went to an art museum exhibit called “The Image Speaks: Intimations of Divinity”. As a great art aficionado, I really enjoyed this experience. One piece I especially enjoyed was called “The Prodigal Son” by Bruce H. Smith. Unlike any other painting I've seen of this biblical story, this painting was abstract and did not show a son or his father. In fact, the pigs were the only characters in the story accurately represented. The most defining feature of this piece of work is a blue cloth which covers the whole painting. The painting is organized in a triptych to represent three stages in the story: before the son left home, after the son left, and when the son returned. What was interesting to note was that if the first and third sections in the painting were placed together, the combined cloth forms the same shape as the cloth in the middle panel. The cloth represents the love of God, which is over us no matter what our actions are. Another very interesting feature in this piece is that the clarity with which the fruit portrayed under the cloth represents the clarity with which the son understood his situation and place in the world. At the beginning of the story, represented by the left section, the son was naïve, but stayed with and worked for his family. In the middle section, the son had lost all clarity. The painting had the blurriest forms in this section. At the end of the story, the son had his understanding restored and had even more clarity when he realized the error of his ways. Unsurprisingly, the third panel of the painting is clearer than any other parts of the painting. This was a beautiful painting that really touched me.

The Exodus of the Restoration

In the early days of the church, the saints were driven from place to place much like the ancient Israelites of the Old Testament. There are many parallels that can be drawn from these stories, and they are both types of the plan of salvation. In the 1830s, the church was headquartered in New York. To escape persecution, the saints moved to Kirtland. They were then driven from place to place until they eventually were left alone when they arrived in Utah. Similarly, the Israelites wandered for a long time before they reached the promised land. As I commented on in my last post, like the Israelites who received the 10 commandments on Mount Sinai, the saints received "the law" when they reached Kirtland. Many of the miracles that were performed for the Israelites in their exodus were repeated in the 1800's for the Latter-day Saints. For example, when the saints crossed the Mississippi river from Nauvoo, the river froze over, so like the Israelites who passed through the Red Sea on dry ground, the Saints were also allowed to pass over the Mississippi river without getting wet. Later, the Israelites were given food from heaven. The saints in the 1800's were also given quail from God. The saints, like the Israelites, reached their own promised land. Utah is the only other place in the world with the same geography as the Israelites' promised land. A source of freshwater flows into a saltwater lake, and the valley where the saints came to rest has mountains in the east, just like in the promised land. Moses was not blessed to see the promised land. Joshua led the Israelites into their promised land. Joseph was also not able to see the saints reach Utah. Brigham Young led them across the plains. Both of these stories are types of the great plan of happiness. We each have our wilderness of trials to cross. If we follow the prophet, we will reach our own promised land and live in peace with our Father in Heaven.

"The Law"

In section 38 of the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord promises the saints: "I will give unto you my law" in Ohio. (D&C 38:32) The fulfillment of this promise is seen in section 42. This revelation was originally headed by the words, "The Laws of the Church of Christ". Section 42 gives commandments in response to questions that Joseph Smith asked the Lord. For example, before our verse one was written in the original manuscript: "First shall the church come together into one place or continue in separate establishments?" However, the Lord did not only answer this question. In fact, the Lord did not very clearly answer this question at all. Instead, He gave them information that was more important. God had already told the saints that in the short run they were supposed to gather to Ohio, so God used Joseph's willingness to listen for an answer to his question as an opportunity to give revelation that would best help the kingdom move forward. As part of section 42, the Lord reiterates some of the ten commandments that were given to Moses at Mount Sinai in Exodus. He also gave guidelines for missionaries and about the law of consecration.

Interestingly, this bestowal of the "law" has interesting parallels to the time when the law was given to Moses at Sinai. Like the Israelites fleeing from their captors, the Egyptians, members of the Church were told to leave New York and come to Ohio "because of the enemy". Before reaching the promised land, the Israelites came to a mountain, where the presence of God was strong. Similarly, before going to a "promised land" where they were finally left alone, Latter-day Saints stopped in Ohio. There they built a temple where, like the mountains in the days of old, the presence of the Lord was strong. There, Joseph received the "Law" for the church. This correspondence between Joseph and Moses is illustrated in 2 Nephi 3. In verse 17, this similarity, especially in relation to the "Law" being given is evident: "I will raise up a Moses; and... I will write unto him my law". Like Moses, Joseph led the saints of the Church out of danger to a modern-day Mount Sinai, where the Lord could give them commandments for the increased happiness of the saints.

Crandall Museum

Thursday Evening I went with my Doctrine and Covenants class to the Crandall Printing museum. I enjoyed it more than I thought it would. I've been to the printing office at Nauvoo several times, so I didn't think I'd learn much. I must say I did enjoy whispering to a friend of mine several facts/comments right before the guides said them, but even more, I enjoyed the artifacts that they had there. Every room held something that cannot be found in any other museum in the world.

Another thing I enjoyed about my experience is that it was made even more evident to me how much of a miracle the printing of the Book of Mormon was. It's amazing that the printing was able to be finished so quickly. In 7 months, they were able to print 5,000 copies of the book. That's an average of about 24 books worth of pages a day. It is another testament to me that it truly is a book of God. 5000 was a ridiculous amount of books to be printed at the time. A book binder who visited the museum did not at first believe that so many copies of the Book of Mormon could possibly have been printed in that first printing. He was confident that the guide must have been mistaken and accidentally said 5,000 instead of 500.

Another miracle to me was that the church was able to finance the book. If Joseph had not been positioned near Martin Harris, he would never have been able to come up with the money to ensure that the printer would be paid for his labor.

One thing that was stressed was how much of an influence Gutenburg had on the world. His invention remained for the most part unchanged for hundreds of years. With it, the Bible was printed, making it available for more than just the most wealthy people. The Book of Mormon was printed through the same invention.

In my stake a few years ago, we celebrated the ac175th anniversary of the first printing of the Book of Mormon and the organization of the church by giving away, as a stake, 5,000 copies of the book to represent the 5,000 books that were first printing. This was a really cool experience for me. I only gave away one or two copies, but this reenactment of sorts was a really good way for our stake to connect ourselves with our heritage.

At the Crandall Printing Museum, I was once again reminded of how much God is in control of the universe. In the 1400's, He was preparing for the printing of the Book of Mormon by inspiring Gutenberg to create a printing press with movable type. In 1825, only 5 years before the printing of the Book of Mormon, the Eerie Canal was opened, letting a printing press be more easily shipped to the town where Joseph was living. God knows what he's doing, and he prepares the way for His work to be accomplished.

Gather at the Ohio

"And again, a commandment I give unto the church, that it is expedient in me that they should assemble together at the Ohio, against the time that my servant Oliver Cowdery shall return unto them."

This revelation was given to Joseph in late 1830, and has had countless ramifications on my ancestors, and by extension, me. It is simply because of my ancestors' willingness to leave their homes behind and follow the Lord's command through the prophet to gather to Ohio, Nauvoo, and Utah that I have been blessed with the rich heritage that I have been given.

One example of this is Newel Knight and Lydia Goldthwaite. In November of 1835, they became the first couple ever to be married by the prophet Joseph Smith. Newel and Lydia had a daughter named Sally who became my 4th great grandmother. If Newel and Lydia had not moved to Kirtland to be with the saints, they would have never met.

About 50 of my ancestors were directly influenced by this call to gather. They left their homes and moved, many of them crossing great oceans, to join the body of the saints. Because of this, I was able to grow up in a home that was full of the gospel. Because of this call to gather, every one of my ancestors that were descended from those of my ancestors who heeded the call were able to have that same blessing. I will be forever grateful to these ancestors for the many blessings I've received for their righteous choices.

D&C 25, Women and the Church

I have often heard the sentiment that women in our church are oppressed. Someone once asked me why a woman would ever want to join the Mormon church. I then learned that she had been under the impression that polygamy was still practiced, but this is not the only time I've heard this expressed in some form or another. However, Women in our church have always had many rights that were denied most women in their time. This equality between women and men is apparent in D&C 25. This is the first section in the Doctrine and Covenants that is given to a woman. This section is given to Emma Smith in July of 1830. This equality between women and men is evident even from the first verse. The Lord calls Emma "my daughter", and then says,"all those who receive my gospel are sons and daughters in my kingdom." Verse 2 speaks of Emma receiving an "inheritance in zion", and suggests having it independently from her husband. In verse 6, Emma is seen as a replacement for Oliver, doing a man's work by being Joseph's scribe. Verse 7 says: "And thou shalt be ordained under his hand to expound scriptures, and to exhort the church, according as it shall be given thee by my Spirit." This is very radical for the time because Emma, a woman, was told she had authority to interpret the scriptures and preach, not only to the women, but the men also. In verse 5, God told Emma to support her husband, and in verse 9 the Lord mirrors this by telling Emma that Joseph to support Emma. This also shows the equality between Joseph and his wife. In verse 11, the Lord commands Emma to compile a selection of hymns. Many would argue that it would make more sense for W.W. Phelps to create the first hymn book, since he wrote many of the hymns in our hymnbook. However, the Lord asked Emma, a woman, to fulfill this task.

This section also sets a precedent for a very musically-focused church. The state of Utah has more pianos per house than any other state. There is also no place that has as high of a percentage of people taking piano lessons. LDS homes place high emphasis on music. I think that this is at least in part because the Lord thought this was important enough to give a revelation on it. Verse 12 says: "For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads." From this verse we learn that the hymns are prayers when sang by the righteous. Emma was given authority to decide which prayers would be sung by the saints. This is an immense responsablility, and it was given to a woman, not the prophet Joseph, not the composer W.W. Phelps, not the previous minister Sydney Rigdon.

This chapter set the precedent for equality between women and men that began in Joseph's time and which we continue to enjoy today.

The Articles and Covenants of the Church of Christ

Most sections of the Doctrine and Covenants are just known by a number, but a few sections have been given specific titles. Among these is section 20, which has been given the name "The Articles and Covenants of the Church of Christ"(D&C 42). This revelation was very important to the developing church and acted as a handbook for its organization. It was also used as a tool for missionaries to spread the gospel.

This revelation begins with 12 verses containing a brief history of the church. It then continues by teaching of the gospel, briefly describing the creation, the fall, and the atonement. Reading this portion reminded me of the lessons that were taught to King Lamoni and also his father (Alma 18 and 22). I think it's interesting that these three subjects are emphasized as being the first things taught to those two men who were both so willing to believe. After this portion, starting with verse 37, instructions are given for things such as how different offices of the priesthood opperate, how baptism should be performed, and how the sacrament should be passed.

To go on a brief tangent, a few years ago, I attended a Community of Christ church. While in the service, I was very surprised at how similar they were to ours. I was slightly confused when they started to read the sacrament prayers and everyone knelt down. My dad showed me verse 76 of this section: "and after this manner shall he administer it—he shall kneel with the church and call upon the Father in solemn prayer, saying..." That cleared up my confusion.
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This revelation was read and copied more times than any other revelation in the early days of the church. It was very valuable because, as the official church handbook was not yet written, this served as a means to keep the church a house of order and a house of God.

Joseph Knight

I was turning to section 13 in the D&C when something in the section heading for 12 caught my eye. Joseph Knight Sr. is my 6th great grandfather, the oldest member in my line, so every time I see his name, I stop to see what it's saying to him. To my great surprise, it was a section I was studying last week. That just goes to show how well I look at the section headings. I really loved reading what it said about him there:

"Joseph Knight believed the declarations of Joseph Smith concerning his possession of the Book of Mormon plats and the work of translation then in progress, and several ties had given material assistance to Joseph Smith and his scribe, which enabled them to continue translating."

Later today I was looking at section 23, and yet again ran into a revelation to Joseph Knight:

"Behold, I manifest unto you, Joseph Knight, by these words, that you must take up your cross, in the which you must pray vocally before the world as well as in secret, and in your family, and among your friends, and in all places.

And, behold, it is your duty to unite with the true church, and give your language to exhortation continually, that you may receive the reward of the laborer. Amen"

I think it's likely just a complete coincidence that I was drawn to these two references to my ancestor so close together, but perhaps I need to emphasize more on learning about my ancestors. I know that our ancestors and descendants are of much more importance than I think even most Latter-day Saints realize. There's something very deep in the fact that Nephi, when he saw a vision of the destruction of his people, thought of his afflictions as "great above all" (1 Ne 15:5). This is something I don't completely understand.

On one hand, I know that God is no respecter of persons. On the other, I know I've been greatly blessed by my heritage. For instance, my family's strength in the church meant that I could be brought up in a home with parents strong in the gospel. Also, having something like 100 ancestors in the church has meant that much of my genealogy has been done already. Another way I've been blessed is through my heritage as a St. Louisan. The people of St. Louis have always been very kind to the saints. During the extermination order, St. Louisans were outraged at the cruel treatment of the saints by their uncivilized neighbors. As a direct blessing of this, we were told, the St. Louis temple was built, and there was, unlike any other temple I have heard of, virtually no protest or anti-mormon outburst against it. Because of this, I have had, since I was 7 years old, a temple only about 20 minutes away.

I think it's fascinating to read blessings and revelations to my ancestors because I've fount that much that I read of them directly applies to me as well. Warnings given to them are just as relevant to me today, and blessings promised to them and their posterity have truly been evident in my life. I am very grateful for that.

A Marvelous Work

This week for my D&C class I was told to write on "the significance of the phrase 'a marvelous work is about to come forth among the children of men." So I've been thinking a lot the past few days about what I would write. Today, while listening to a devotional given by Kim B. Clark, President of BYU-I, I was listening specifically for comments on the importance of the coming forth of The Book of Mormon. One scripture that President Clark used particularly stuck out to me. The scripture was Mormon 8:35- "Behold, I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing." I wasn't quite sure why it stuck out to me or how I was going to use it, but I felt I should, so I looked it up when I got home. When I did so, I saw why the Spirit led me to this scripture. The verse before it says: "Behold, the Lord hath shown unto me great and marvelous things concerning that which must shortly come, at that day when these things shall come forth among you." Right there is another example of very similar wording to the phrase used four times in the D&C. I was curious to know how many times a phrase like this was used in the standard works, so I searched for "great", "marvelous", and "work". I ended up with seventeen results. One in the New Testament, eleven in the Book of Mormon, and 5 in the D&C. It was interesting to see that the different instances were used slightly differently.

#1 Some of the references were more general, such as the one in Revelations 15:3- "Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty". Six of the instances that I found fell into this category.

#2 One reference spoke of "great and marvelous work(s)" explicitly meaning missionary work. One of these was Ammon saying "we have been instruments in his hands of doing this great and marvelous work". In the context, it is pretty obvious that the "great and marvelous work" is missionary work. It really surprised me that so few were necessarily said in reference to missionary work.

#3 In Helaman 16:16, in reaction to Samuel the Lamanite's preaching, many of the people say "Some things they may have guessed right, among so many; but behold, we know that all these great and marvelous works cannot come to pass, of which has been spoken." In this case, "great and marvelous works" appears to refer to the atonement and coming of Christ.

#4 Four appear specifically to refer to the word of God, a two-edged sword that leads "either to the convincing of them unto peace and life eternal, or unto the deliverance of them to the hardness of their earts and the blindness of their minds unto their beig brought down intocaptivity, and also into destruction, both temporally and spiritually, according to the captivity of the devil, of which I have spoken" (1 Ne. 14:7).

So, the question is, which of these four answers is a correct interpretation of the phrase used four times in the Doctrine and Covenants of "A great and a marvelous work is about to come forth unto (or among) the children of men"? If you read farther in these chapters, you will see that this statement is followed by an admonition to heed God's word, and then a few verses about missionary work and gathering the house of Israel. To answer this, I think it would be most effective to turn to the scriptures that refer to our day. In 1 Ne 14:7, it says that this work can convince the children of men "unto peace and life eternal". 1 Ne 22:8 states that this work will "be of great worth to [the Lehites'] seed". In 3 Ne. 21:9, we learn it can be declared and disbelieved. From these descriptions, it seems most reasonable to assume that when this phrase is used in the D&C, it is refering to the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. This book, above all others, has the power to bring others to Christ and Eternal happiness. Conversely, if the Book of Mormon is fought against or disobeyed, it can lead to misery and captivity.

The 116 Pages

In reading chapters 3 and 5 of the Doctrine and Covenants, I was struck by the intricacy of God's preparations to counteract the errors of men. It's amazing how much God loves us. He respects our agency so much that He's willing to let us not do things the easy way. He uses our mistakes as a chance to let us learn and grow while still directing everything towards building the kingdom. I love the first verse of section 3: "The works, and the designs, and the purposes of God cannot be frustrated, neither can they come to naught". This reminded me ov D&C 121:33: "As well might man stretch forth his puny arm to stop the Missouri river in its decreed course, or to turn it up stream, as to hinder the Almighty from pouring down knowledge from heaven upon the heads of the Latter-day Saints." God allowed knowledge of the Nephites during the time period that was lost to still be shared with the saints through the extra set of records that Nephi made. Nobody, not Joseph, not Martin Harris or any of the men he showed the pages to could remove a record of Nephi from us. The analogy of the Missouri river especially speaks to me because I live in St. Louis, not far from this river. It would be futile for man to try to change the course of it with his bare strength, just as it would for anyone to stop the Lord.

Despite the immense importance of written records (Mosiah 1:5), God allowed them to be lost so that Joseph and Martin could both learn important lessons. They needed to learn not to "fear man more than God". Much of the persecution that Joseph faced was because of going against social norms by following God's commands. I believe that because God allowed the pages to be lost, Joseph understood better the importance of fearing God more than man, and was more prepared to face things like the introduction of polygamy. After chastizing Joseph Smith and Martin Harris about the severity of what they had done in losing the pages, He ends chapter 5 by saying: "And if thou art faithful in keeping my commandments, thou shalt be lifted up at the last day, Amen." He ends with a message of hope. There's always a way to return. He loves us and never wants us to feel like there's no way back.