Lesson 23-Seek Learning, Even by Study and Also by Faith

Lesson 23-Seek Learning, Even by Study and Also by Faith

Headlines:

-Gaining knowledge is required for Salvation/We cannot be saved in Ignorance

-Knowledge and Relationships are the only things portable from this life to the next

-The Temple is the center of learning in this life for knowledge of eternal things

Context:

D&C 93:36-40 present a deep metaphysics (presentation of ultimate realities):

-The Glory of God is Intelligence.  Definitions of Glory include power or a state of happiness (either apply)

-Truth/Knowledge is something that is learned. We are progressing from a state of innocence (lack of knowledge) to higher states of progression, that is, we're gaining knowledge of all kinds

-Disobedience, encouraged by "the wicked one" is darkness that is, takes away the light (our knowledge)

-Light is the perfect metaphor for truth (when the lights come on we can see)

The lesson topic revolves around D&C 88: 118-141. 

Historical context of Section 88:

-Section 88 as a whole is called the Olive Leaf called this because it was the "Lord's message of peace to us" which may have referred to the fact that the prophecy re: the Civil War was given two days prior.

-Sec 88 combines two distinct segments given on Dec 27 1832 and Jan 3, 1833 respectively.  The second portion (v. 118 to 141) is the concern of this lesson, providing the direction to create the School of the Prophets and instructions on how it should be run.

The first paragraph from Revelations in Context "A House for our God" provides an overview of the purpose of the School of the Prophets:

On June 1, 1833, Joseph Smith received a revelation that contained a stern rebuke. “Ye have sinned against me a very grievous sin,” the Lord declared, “in that ye have not considered the great commandment in all things that I have given unto you concerning the building of mine house.” That “great commandment” had come five months earlier in a lengthy revelation Joseph called the “olive leaf” (now Doctrine and Covenants 88). It had directed the Saints to “organize [themselves]” and establish “an house of prayer, an house of fasting, an house of faith, an house of learning, an house of glory, an house of order, an house of God.”

Taken together with instructions to “teach one another” and “seek learning even by study and also by faith,” Joseph Smith and the elders in Kirtland understood this revelation to deliver a twofold mandate. They were to “build an house of God, & establish a school for the Prophets.” Joseph Smith and the Saints in Kirtland began acting on this instruction almost immediately, but, as the June 1 revelation indicated, they still had only a dim understanding of what it would ultimately mean or of the enormous sacrifices it would require.

Notes:

-School of the Prophets was a term used at the time to refer to any school of divinity which intended to prepare men for their calling to the ministry. Yale and Harvard both referred to their divinity schools as "Schools of the Prophets".

-Although the location changed over time, initial meetings were held in the upper room in N.K. Whitney's store in Kirtland. 

-Topics studied included all forms of religious and secular learning including language grammar (not just English)

-Joseph, aided primarily by Sidney Rigdon led the teaching of the spiritual training.  Evidence of the high quality of this training is that the Lectures on Faith, (the Doctrine in Doctrine and Covenants) was prepared for this school. Others took the lead in preparing and teaching other topics.

-The Lord's vision for the school was that the Brethren would be shaped into a brotherhood and made clean as preparation for their missions (v.138 "clean from the blood of this generation").  They were greeted by the teacher as Brothers (v.133) and ritual washings were performed (v. 122-125) including Joseph's washing the feet of all new members. One could also think of it as a Temple Prep class for these early brethren. They were enjoined to improve their characters and to "cease to be idle", to "clothe themselves in Charity".  Its appropriate that the Word of Wisdom was received in this setting.

-The multiple references to the House of Good e.g. v. 119 refer to the command to build a temple in Kirtland, which after much travail was dedicated in March of 1836. 

Question: Knowledge/learning is also presented in the scriptures as a bad thing (3Ne 9:29 & 2 Tim 3:1-7).  How can this be? Answers can include that facts alone don't represent knowledge.  Our learning must be built on the foundation of our faith in God ex. Seek ye first the Kingdom of God.  St. Anselm said "I believe so I can understand", meaning that his learning only yielded truth when done in the context of his belief in God.  Consider the analogy that climbing a ladder only gets to the right destination if its leaning against the right wall.

Summary points of these scriptures:

D&C 6:7, 11:21-22, 19:23, 88:76-80, 118, 90:15, 93:36-37, 53, 130:18-20, 131:6, 136:32-33

-All Truth is Good

-Man needs to seek God first, truth of eternal things can only be understood/realized in the context of Faith in God

-Salvation requires knowledge, in a sense it is learned.

-Holy Spirit communicates all truth to the human soul

-The Temple is the Key location to learn of eternal things.  The drawn plat of Zion (Missouri) had the Temple at the exact center of the city.

President Mouritsen teaches that just as a stool with three legs is the most stable type of furniture, a firm faith must be based on the three legs of 1) our reason (it must feel reasonable), 2) a spiritual witness received through study and prayer and 3) right living and service.

These three forms of building faith reinforce that knowledge comes in many forms and through many ways, from study to providing service.

Link to revelations in context "A House for our God"

https://history.lds.org/article/a-house-for-our-god?lang=eng

Link to pdf of Lesson Manual w/ my messy notes

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B78D5btorZEeOFlEWnJIQ3BDRzQ

Lesson 22-The Word of Wisdom: A Principle with Promise

Lesson 22 The Word of Wisdom: A Principle with Promise

Headlines:

-An example of the Lord’s love for us, that he gives us commandments that will make us live better/happier

-Dietary laws help separate us from the World, create missionary opportunities

-We are what we eat, physical corollary to “you are what you eat”.

Historical Context:

Clip from Stephen Harpers “Making Sense of the Doctrine & Covenants

Joseph Smith's mother said he preferred his father's embrace over liquor to numb the pain of a leg operation when he was seven years old, but neither Joseph or his family were strangers to alcohol, which was common in the 1820s and 1830s.

Distillers in the Smiths' region of upstate New York made corn whiskey and sent 65,277 gallons of it and sixty-nine tons of beer to market on the Erie Canal the year after Joseph's first vision. Newspapers in the towns near Joseph's home advertised cheap alcohol, printed recipes for making beer, and sold the ingredients. One scholar described Joseph's America as "the alcoholic republic. Joseph's father confessed in 1834 that he had, in the past, been "out of the way through wine," but "Joseph Sr.'s drinking was not excessive for that time and place."

Regardless of social class, nearly all men drank alcohol, and many women and children did too. There were only a few outspoken opponents of alcohol consumption, and their warnings fell largely on deaf ears as consumption rates rose between 1790 and 1830. In the 1830s, America pulsed with evils and reformers determined to combat them. By the time Joseph Smith moved to Kirtland, Ohio, in 1831, more Americans were becoming concerned with social vices generally and alcohol abuse especially. "The thing has arrived to such a height," one widely quoted temperance advocate noted, "that we are actually threatened with becoming a nation of drunkards."

America's desire for alcohol and the rise of temperance, the moderate use of alcohol, generated diverse opinions that led Joseph Smith to ask questions. Some activists advocated temperate use, but between 1831 and 1836, the cry for abstinence gained momentum. In 1833, in the middle of this controversy, the Lord clarified in the Word of Wisdom where the Saints should stand relative to this controversy.

Christopher Columbus introduced tobacco to Europe after Native Americans introduced it to him. In Europe, tobacco gained a reputation as a miracle drug, and by the 1500s it was prescribed as a cure for cancer, gout, asthma, ulcers, arrow wounds, flatulence, toothaches, bad breath, warts, deafness, constipation, tonsillitis, nose bleeds, epilepsy, and a host of other afflictions.

Smoking quickly caught on among European elites, though by the seventeenth century, they were adopting a French practice of sniffing powdered tobacco—snuff—while the practice of smoking tobacco spread to working class people. A new method for delivering the powerfully addictive nicotine found in tobacco—the cigarette—was just about to spread across the globe when Joseph Smith received the Word of Wisdom in 1833. Outspoken temperance crusaders added tobacco to their list of noxious substances in the 1830s. Opponents of tobacco use regarded it as akin to liquor. One called tobacco poison. Was tobacco a powerful medicine capable of curing all kinds of afflictions or a noxious weed loathsome to the lungs? Was using tobacco a filthy habit or a socially acceptable pastime?

Uncertainty about these questions may have contributed to Joseph Smith's reception of the Word of Wisdom. He organized classes for men of the Church in an upstairs room of Newel K. Whitney's store in Kirtland, Ohio. When the brethren gathered for class, according to Brigham Young, "the first thing they did was to light their pipes, and, while smoking, talk about the great things of the kingdom, and spit all over the room, and as soon as the pipe was out of their mouths a large chew of tobacco would then be taken. Often when the Prophet entered the room to give the school instructions he would find himself in a cloud of tobacco smoke. This, and the complaints of his wife at having to clean so filthy a floor, made the Prophet think upon the matter, and he inquired of the Lord relating to the conduct of the Elders in using tobacco, and the revelation known as the Word of Wisdom was the result."

There was no consensus of medical opinion in the nineteenth century. The prevailing medical theory held that diseases or disorders were caused by an imbalance in a person's inner energy source. Overstimulation, it was thought, resulted in fevers or infections. Treatments were aimed at releasing the excess energy through bleeding or purging or changing one's diet. Coffee and tea were often used as stimulants by those struggling with a lack of energy. Some herbs, spices, and fruits served the same purpose. Though medical professionals disagreed about how much of these substances could be safely consumed, all authorities agreed that excessive use of any stimulant, in which they included herbs, meats, coffee, and tea, could lead to overstimulation and therefore disease.

The world into which the Lord revealed the Word of Wisdom was quite different from our own. Advances in medical science have provided more certainty about the dangers of consuming many of the substances that were thought by many in Joseph Smith's world to have medicinal value. Moreover, his contemporaries were in the process of reconsidering their certainty about the value of alcohol, tobacco, coffee, tea, meats, fruits, and some herbs. There was no prevailing view to which everyone subscribed, even among Church members. There were more questions than answers.

Nearly two dozen men gathered for school in a second-story room of Newel and Ann Whitney's Kirtland, Ohio, store on February 27, 1833. With one of them acting as his scribe and perhaps one or two others present, Joseph Smith, in a nearby room, received the revelation known as the Word of Wisdom. Besides answering the immediate question of whether the brethren should smoke or chew tobacco, or "the filthy weed and their disgusting slobbering and spitting," as one colorful account put it, the revelation clarified several other issues that were being debated by Joseph's contemporaries.

See also “Word of Wisdom” in Revelations in Context on lds.org. Link below:

https://history.lds.org/article/doctrine-and-covenants-word-of-wisdom?lang=eng

Doctrinal Context:

The Lord has given health guidelines in previous dispensations.  See Leviticus 10: 9-11 and Leviticus 11.  Also note Paul's injunctions in 1 Cor 3:16-17 and 6:19-20.

Question: Why does the Lord give his children health laws?  Answers may include 1) health laws are another example of the Lord's love, that all commandments are given to help us live healther, happier lives; 2) as Paul notes, the body is a temple and the spirit will not dwell in unholy temples.  Note that the scriptures noted have a striking lack of focus on health, the primary purpose for the health laws are to make us holy; 3) to separate the Lord's people out from the world.  This is clearly the case for both the Jew's (ancient and modern) and the Latter Day Saints. Lastly, Sec 89 is another proof point of the Prophet Joseph's divine mission.  He was way ahead of his time.

Question: How should we treat those that don't live this law and those who suffer addiction.  Answer's include to avoid being judgmental particularly with those with addictions (there but for the Grace of God go I). In any case, we strongly encourage those not living this law to attend meetings.  Our Worship Services are a hospital where all attendees need attention.  As Neil Maxwell said, the Church is the only hospital where the patients are the doctors.  Recall that President Riches, a mentor of mine said that he had instructed his Bishop's that when sitting on the stand, if they couldn't smell tobacco from the front row they weren't doing their job.

Marginalia from my scriptures:
v1-3-As noted in the heading to the section, these verses were added as an introduction by the Prophet.  I had a note that this came from a suggestion from Brigham Young

v. 3 "adapted to the capacity of the weak and weakest of all saint" can be read as meaning that what is given is the minimum, that all Saints can live up to implying that there is much more we can do to live a healthy life.

v 4. "conspiring men" obviously refers to tobacco, liquor and drug companies that market addictive substances aggressively.  The best ads on TV are the liquor ads and that's only because the tobacco companies can't advertise there anymore.  Then there is the OxyContin fiasco which is still working its way through the courts.

v. 9 hot drinks was a common term that included coffee and tea

v.11 wholesome herbs refers to vegetables and plants

v.10-14 In time that this revelation was given, meat was considered the staff of life.  v.10-14 changes that to plants

v.21 J Reuben Clark said of this verse that if we are faithful, our lives will not be cut short re: God's plan for us.  President Kimball said that the W of Wisdom would save us from spiritual death.

Link to pdf of my messy lesson notes:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B78D5btorZEeNjBkd0VRNF81RXc

Lesson 21-Looking Forth for the Great Day of the Lord to Come

Lesson 21-Looking Forth for the Great Day of the Lord to Come

Headlines:
-The Lord has a great purpose which will be fulfilled (the good guys will win)
-Our mortal probation is short, we need to repent now
-We should strive for "Early Onset Postmortality" (Adam Miller) by working to make our Calling and Election Sure and to build a Zion Society

Historical context:
Many Saints in the New Testament were Adventists, that is they were expecting/planning for the end of the world, not its conversion (See Mark 9:1).  Latter Day Saints, particularly until the Nauvoo period would be considered Adventists. Although still awaiting the 2nd coming, this position has softened as it became clear that Zion wouldn't be redeemed immediately.  The focus shifted to Temple and Missionary work, which, along with the end of polygamy transformed the Church into its modern form and focus.

Context for Sections 97,98 and 101-See Revelations in Context on lds.org-"Waiting for the Word of the Lord" and Stephen C. Harper's "Making Sense of the Doctrine and Covenants:

First mob action in Zion (Missouri) was in July 1833.  Concern over large influx of Saints combined with a W.W. Phelps article (Evening and Morning Star) re: free negros coming into the area lit the fuse. Brother Phelps published a clarification, but to no avail. Mob violence forced the Saints to agree to leave by the next Spring.

W.W. Phelps sent Joseph a letter asking for direction, indicating that "we will wait on the Word of the Lord" which letter was received by Joseph on August 9th.  As noted in the heading to Sec 98, both Sections 97-98 we're received as revelations prior to Aug 9th and that both of those revelations directly addressed the problems in Zion, Joseph could have only known of the problems by revelation.

Additional direction was provided by the Prophet in Sec 101 on December 16th of 1833.  Much like the ancient Israelites, the Lord made clear that their problems were fundamentally a function of broken covenants.  The revelation also contains significant detail around signs of the 2nd coming of the Savior to get them re-focused on their covenants and provide hope knowing that the Savior would return and that his promises would be fulfilled.

Key Questions to consider:
If our lives should be focused on living in the moment, why the focus on the 2nd Coming?  Answers included that studying the 2nd Coming gives us hope that the Lord's purposes will be fulfilled and should also spur us to repent as we're reminded on what is lost through our sinfulness.

If the Saviors coming isn't imminent (many signs not yet completely fulfilled), why does some revelation infer that the Savior will be here very soon (see Sec 33:18-I come quickly)? Amongst the possibilities, one reading would focus on the shortness of our lives (real and perceived) and that before we know it we will be standing in front of the judgement bar. 

A related idea is to remember that we can pull the 2nd Coming in by making our Calling and Election Sure. This is an individual perspective and as a Church we can make this happen by building a Zion society as did those in the City of Enoch. This is the kind of thing Adam Miller talked about in his essay "Early Onset Postmortality" in his recent collection of Essays which can be found at: 

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=future+mormon

Links:
PDF of Lesson from the manual with my notes:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B78D5btorZEeOFlEWnJIQ3BDRzQ

Good Sunstone article showing the arc of the Church transitioning from an aggressive Adventist stance to a focus on Temple and Missionary work:

https://www.sunstonemagazine.com/pdf/037-8-48-58.pdf

President Hinckley on fitting study of the 2nd Coming into our lives:
https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/gordon-b-hinckley_need-not-fear-coming/

Fun letter from Joseph Fielding Smith to his son serving in WW2
https://history.lds.org/chdaily/list-view?lang=eng&query=likening+the+scriptures

Lastly, Wilford Woodruff was asked how he lived knowing the Savior would soon come (and I paraphrase), I live my life as if I will be answering to the Savior tomorrow, but I still plan Cherry trees.

Lesson 19-The Plan of Salvation

Lesson 19-The Plan of Salvation

Headlines/Takeaways:

-We are all members of a divine family, literally

-Our divine parents set a plan of happiness in motion in motion for their children based on free agency and personal progress.

-Critical portions of this plan were lost over the centuries and restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith

Context-Plans on offer:

Mainstream Christian:

1) God is of a completely different substance (as the Greeks would say) or species (as biologists would say) than man, he is without form (whatever that means...)

2) given 1, God is the creator and we are his creatures, we are only in his likeness to the extent that we love and use our reason correctly

3) the Savior's atonement was Plan B, Adam/Eve were intended to stay in the Garden (there are differing views here)

The Protestant Minister Jonathon Edwards is famous for his sermon titled "Sinners in the hands of an angry God".  This is fire and brimstone preaching at its best.  He was a kind man and likely firing for effect, but the idea of Creator/Creature and fear of God being literal fear rather than respect comes through clearly.  The sermon can be found at:

http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1053&context=etas

A little taste of the sermon is below:

There is no Fortress that is any Defence from the Power of God. Tho’ Hand join in Hand, and vast Multitudes of God’s Enemies combine and associate themselves, they are easily broken in Pieces: They are as great Heaps of light Chaff before the Whirlwind; or large Quantities of dry Stubble before devouring Flames. We find it easy to tread on and crush a Worm that we see crawling on the Earth; so ‘tis easy for us to cut or singe a slender Thread that any Thing hangs by; thus easy is it for God when he pleases to cast his Enemies down to Hell.

Atheism:

1) All reality is physical/material (latter day saints wouldn't disagree here) and completely random/chaotic

2) given 1, we cannot have free agency (no more than any other billiard ball)

3) also given 1, the concept of a self is very problematic.  For example, how does dumb matter think? This is the most active area in philosophy/neurobiology today.  Theories range from the concept of the self is a complete illusion (Dennet) to not having the conceptual tools to provide an answer or even to understand the question (what is a thought?)

4) there is no ground for ethics, i.e. if we had evolved a society organized around rape as the reproductive model that would be as valid as monogamy (Richard Dawkins admitted this). In short, to be a thoughtful atheist, one has to leave a lot of common sense experience at the door.

Boiling all of this out, the motive power of the universe in a Christian context is Love and is Chaos in the atheistic worldview.

LDS View:

1) We are members of a divine family with divine parents. The model in heaven is the same as on earth

2) Man is of the same substance, or is the same kind of thing as God. We're literally his spirit children.

3) Our Heavenly Parents designed a plan from the beginning which would allow us to progress towards living the kind of life they live.  This was based on gaining experience/knowledge. Coming to earth is key part of that plan.  The Saviour's atonement is the critical piece of this plan and was in place and effective from the beginning. We opted into this plan, free agency is the bedrock principle of the Gospel.

Two excellent talks on this topic are at the links below:

Bruce R. McConkie: The Three Pillars of Eternity

https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/bruce-r-mcconkie_three-pillars-eternity/

Dallin Oaks: The Godhead and the Plan of Salvation

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2017/04/the-godhead-and-the-plan-of-salvation?lang=eng

Heavenly Fathers plan is referenced in many ways, as the Plan of Salvation, Restoration, Mercy, Redemption and Happiness.

Why is the plan referenced under different names? 

Many critical pieces of the Plan of Salvation have been lost over time and were restored in modern scripture.  For reference, the term Plan of Salvation (or Redemption, etc.) is referenced 32 times in the scriptures. Specifically never in the Bible or D&C, twice in the Pearl of Great Price and 30 times in the Book of Mormon, evidence that the Book of Mormon does contain the fullness of the Gospel.

Much of what was lost referred to the pre-existence, the nature of God and the nature of the Plan itself (known from the foundation).  An analogy would be seeing a three act play, but only arriving in the second act.  The play would be impossible to follow because the 1st act sets up the context, introduces the characters and explains the plot, setting it in motion. There would be no trajectory or way to understand what the action met.

Scriptures read:

Abraham 3:22-26, D&C 93:29, Alma 12:25-34, D&C 138:55-57

The class called out the following characteristics of the plan:

-We can know/comprehend Heavenly Father through revelation because we are literally his children

-the plan was known before the foundation of the world. Repentance was preached from the beginning

-Free agency is the foundation of the plan. The law of opposition is the spring that drives our ability (along with our agency) to progress

-The Fall was a necessary and positive part of the plan. A fall forward.

-The Savior's atonement was a part of the initial plan (the hub of the wheel) and has been in effect from the beginning

-the resurrection is real and a restoration/union of our physical and spiritual bodies

-death is an important part of the plan (not a tragedy) as it allows for judgement and further progression

-God will save all of his Children that want to be saved.  By saved I mean that all who elected to come to earth will progress significantly from where they were in the pre-existence and will receive a level of glory associated with that progress.

 Notes from my scriptures:
Abraham 3
v. 12 & 21-Note reference to creation "by his hands" rather than his word
v. 15 Egyptians big on astronomy.  Was Abraham sharing the Gospel in their terms?
v. 13 Shinehah-Egyptian word for "eternal round" or the Sun.  Kokob is Hebrew for "star", Kokaubeam is plural
v. 16-19-As some planets are greater, some spirits have become greater all the way to God
v.20-veris was inserted between verses showing order & regularity to the universe and that God does intervene
v. 22-23 Intelligences in v.22 same as "spirits" in v.23? What is chosen? a mutual covenant?
v.25-Go'd foreknowledge does not impinge on our agency
v.27-"lie unto" because he had not yet become the Savior?

D&C93
v.12-13-Savior received grace "for" grace (as he gave grace) and then grew grace "to" grace
v. 7-17-verses from record of John the Baptist. John used in his Gospel
v. 11- note that the word dwelt is used, that is lived rather than just visit
v.13-can this be read that the Father had a fullness from the beginning (didn't progress)?
v. 15 Joseph Smith said the Holy Ghost appeared "in the sign" of a dove, not a literal dove
v. 22-Church of the Firstborn is the name of the Church in the Celestial Kingdom
v.36-7-Light/Truth empowers us to forsake evil
v.38-we could/did sin in the pre-existence
v. 51 our prayers do bless others

Alma 12
v.6-9 Alma blames Satan, not Zeezrom, making it easier for him to save face?
v.9 mysteries are just what is hidden-specifi reference is to the spirit/body
v.10 we can't "know in full" until after the resurrection
v.14 our workds/thoughts advertise our character
v.17 we either do the will of the Father or Satan
v.26 If we lived forever we would be miserable
v.23 experiencing death is essential to the plan of salvation
v.17-18 Dee D&C 19-dying in sin is everlasting punishment
v.31 Adam and Eve "fell forward"
v.32 taught the gospel then given commandments

D&C 138
This section was given at a time of death in general (WW1 and the world wide flu epidemic) and specifically for JF Smith. He had lost his wife and 11 children and Father was martyred.
v.22-22 spirit prison-called a prision because sin and ignorance make a prison
v. 56 was probably us
v.57 JF Smith said that sisters will preach to sisters in the spirit world

Alma 12

As a summary, the class was asked to conceive a plan that would be more hopeful than the Plan of Salvation that operates within the constraints of earthly life, that learning is hard. I certainly can't think of one.

Link to PDF of my lesson notes:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B78D5btorZEealJjMkNvLXJpb3M