THE MAKING OF SAINTS

Posted on December 2, 2024 by Admin

When we read from the Book of Mormon –

…there were no contentions and disputations among them, and every man did deal justly one with another. And they had all things common among them; therefore there were not rich and poor, bond and free, but they were all made free, and partakers of the heavenly gift. (4 Nephi 2-3)

–we might wonder: How did they accomplish that magnificent feat? Even more pertinent would be to ask: How can we attain in this dispensation what they did in theirs? It seems clear from the scriptures that we also are charged to establish Zion. This article is an hypothesis as to how we as individual members of the church might assist those who preside over us in the great work of becoming Zion.

It seems plain that our first obligation and opportunity is to support and work within the priesthood structure of the church. Those who preside over us are specifically charged with:

…the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. (Ephesians 4:12-13)

The indispensable key to the priesthood authority of the church bringing us to that state is the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. If we have kept that first commandment we received after we were baptized, to receive the Holy Ghost, then we have a testimony of the truthfulness of this great latter-day restoration and of the divine authority of those who preside in the church. We then can be on the path to becoming as the Savior. King Benjamin phrased it this way:

For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father. (Mosiah 3:19)

What a joy to have a testimony, to feel the sweet, quiet assurance of the Holy Spirit that President Spencer W. Kimball is truly a prophet who speaks to us for our Savior. How important to be founded upon that rock, that the winds and the waves of our contemporary world will not be able to sweep us away into the sufferings and hopelessness of those who have no testimony.

It is good to know that we must become perfect in our relationship to the Savior. But the gap between him and us seems great. Is it possible to find a specific set of steps, a bridge by which we might cross that gap step by step? Fortunately for us, such a bridge is plainly given in the scriptures by Peter:

And beside this, giving all diligence add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. (2 Peter 1:5-7)

A comment on each of these steps will help to show their strength.

  1. Faith.  We must always begin with faith in our Savior. Before we can correctly put our trust in him we mus receive the Holy Spirit which reveals his will to us, for faith comes by hearing the word of God. Having that precious seed or word, we must believe in it and act upon it, for faith without works is dead. So we begin to tread upon this bridge over the chasm by trusting in our Savior, being comforted and guided by his Holy Spirit.
  2. Virtue. Having begun to be faithful we must not falter or doubt. We must gather our strength and courage and do all that we know to do, to obey the commandments we have received. This is the meaning of virtue. The word derives from the Latin vir, meaning man, and by association virtue means strength. As muscle and mind grow in strength with proper use and decay through abuse or no use, so with faith. The focus of our mind and thought must be to move correctly—with faith; and surely—with strength.
  3. Knowledge. Faith supported by virtue brings the need for further knowledge of the ways of the Lord in order to be more faithful. “Blessed are all they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost.” (3 Nephi 12:6, emphasis added.) Though the Lord’s ways are not our ways, he nevertheless delights in revealing his mysteries to those who serve him in righteousness to the end. They learn of him line upon line, precept upon precept, until their understanding reaches unto heaven. And because they know of him, they become a great blessing to their fellow beings.
  4. Temperance. To be temperate is to be even, to be steady. A faithful, strong, understanding servant needs also to learn steadiness, to serve the Lord in season and out of season, in convenience and in inconvenience, in youth and in age. For to be faithful only when we so choose or at our convenience is not true faith; it is only playing with faith. To be faithful in difficulty is the only way we can show that the faith, strength, and understanding we have are our own heartfelt choices. To serve the Lord only when it is pleasant and convenient is to treat him as a convenience. But to serve him in sacrifice is our way of showing our selfless love for him, for his work, and for all for which he stands. This is temperance.
  5. Patience. With our personal stage now set to be much more effective in the work of righteousness (blessing others), we next learn to discern the needs of others. As we look to those around us, we see souls bound and afflicted with varying degrees of “natural man problems,” varying degrees of captivity to the adversary. We may be tempted to smite away their fetters and blindfolds. But knowledge and temperance tell us to be patient with our brothers and sisters, to know that only the self can unlock the self, and that through faith in the Savior. We must be patient, suffering with the ones whom we would bless until the key of faith is firmly in their own hands. Then they can begin to unfetter themselves.
  6. Godliness. But we will not just stand idly by, watching their suffering. We will share the burden with them, sacrificing our own strength to help them. Godliness follows upon patience because our heart, our concern for others, needs to grow until we cannot look upon any human being without feeling compassion for them. This compassion prepares us to serve and bless all persons around us, as would our Savior.
  7. Brotherly Kindness. To have godly concern for all human beings is but a frustration unless there is a solid means of helping them. As one looks for a way to help, one obvious structure for delivering help is the kingdom, the church. The essence of the church is its priesthood organization. The strength of the priesthood organization of the church is the men and women who preide,  who are its embodiment. To learn to love them and to fulfill in faith the stewardship under them is the greatest way to help this world that one can have; to be a missionary, a president, a teacher, –whatever. Is it not possible that the words we have as “brotherly kindness” really were intended to say “love of the brethren and sisters who preside over us?”
  8. Charity. The final stage of development comes when we possess the greatest spiritual gift, which is charity, or the pure love of Christ. Charity is two things: It is pure, unselfish love from the Savior; and it is that same love reflected back from us to the Savior and then manifest toward all other human beings. It is reflected through us in patience, godly concern, love for the brethren, then delivery of blessings in our stewardship with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength. Of one who possesses this love as the completion of the bridge of faith Peter says:

For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things ye shall never fall. (2 Peter 1:8-10)

Then shall we be even as our Savior is:

Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. (1 John 3:2-3)

The opportunity of patience, godliness, brotherly kindness and charity can be framed another way by asking the question: How shall I let my light so shine that others seeing it will be caused to glorify God? We might answer by positing three steps by which the light of the Savior can be full manifest. These steps are to help people feel the Savior’s love, to help them see his way in action, and to help them understand his way through words.

Step 1. Love. We can love purely. We can show the example of full, unselfish Christ-like love as the Holy Spirit radiates through us to others. Be we father, mother, sister, brother, president, or member, we can all give unqualified, Christ-like love to those around us. We will not be critical, but supportive; not condemning, but sympathetic; not condescending but honoring each person as a child of God. We can let each person around us be fully assured that someone knows they exist and cares about what happens to them, because we do. The purity of our love will be the purity of the Holy Spirit; the strength of our love will be the fulness of our Savior, who received a fulness of all things from our Heavenly Father.

As all spiritual people know, the world’s greatest need is more of this love. The Savior has it to give, but he needs translators. We have an opportunity to translate and transmit this love which the world does not because we have the fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Step 2. Example. We can show the example of a godly life. We can show how it is that a true servant of Jesus Christ eats and drinks, marries and gives in marriage, buys and sells, teaches and learns, governs and obeys, prays and worships. The example is important because the world needs hope, the hope that the commandments of Jesus can be lived. Many have the ideal, but do not believe that the Savior’s commandments can be lived because they do not understand how to do it. Only those who both know the truth and have the power of God  can show the full example:

Therefore, what manner of men ought ye to be? Verily, I say unto you, even as I am. (3 Nephi 27:27)

Step 3. Witness. We can teach the word of God in its simplicity and purity, as we receive it from the scriptures and the Holy Spirit. We bear testimony that the Savior lives, that his prophet is on earth, that this Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only true and living church. We teach the fundamental principles of faith and repentance, baptism and confirmation, of enduring to the end. Thus may others come to comprehend and understand the ways of the Lord.

These three constitute the pattern of perfect teaching: love and respect for the learner, personal demonstration of what is being taught, and correct explanation to build understanding.

Now a frank question: Would you like to have someone in your life who loves you purely; who is the example of all righteous action; who can teach you so that you understand the ways of our Savior? Could you better live the gospel if you felt, saw, and understood the truth of the gospel manifest in the flesh? Surely we would all appreciate that.

Now another frank question: Why don’t you and I who have testimonies and know something of the ways of the Lord go out and show his love, live his example, and teach his truth to the best of our ability? Truly, if we all lived in the physical presence of the Savior we would likely have a surer testimony. But we don’t. But instead of simply seeking that blessing for ourselves, would it not be better to take all the love, the example, the understanding that we have received and pass it on? Is not our opportunity thus to bless others even greater because the Savior is not here?

Let’s be about our Father’s business.

Posted in Faith | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Two Universes – Natural versus Gospel

Posted on December 2, 2024 by Admin

            One of the aspects of our social existence which makes life interesting and, at the same time, somewhat exasperating is the phenomenon of disagreement. As we compare ideas, objectives, goals, and plans with our fellow man, one of the things we are faced with immediately is the wide variety of attitudes, beliefs, and feelings which we and our fellow beings exhibit. One might go so far as to say that because of the nature of our mental existence and of the knowledge we have of the world, each human being acts as if he lives in his own private universe. We construct, as it were, a universe in our own minds. We people it with the things we know, with the people we know about. We furnish it with the things that we believe to exist. We cause it to function according to the pattern of existence we believe obtains. And, all in all, we structure it according to the experience, evidence, and desires of our own personal nature. There are among the many worlds that we see exhibited in other people’s lives and thoughts two principal worlds which are somewhat standard and of special interest to us who are Latter-day Saints. One is the world, or the universe, which is pictured to us by the teachings of the scriptures and the prophets. We might call this the “Universe of the Gospel.” The other is the world, or the universe, which is the standard world of our western civilization, the one which every one of us has encountered in our education and which is sufficiently stereotyped that we can describe it in general terms fairly accurately. It is our purpose this evening to examine these two special worlds and to contrast them and to note the very fundamental and important differences that exist between these two worlds. For purposes of analysis we shall break our discussion down into four main headings and under each of these main headings pursue special subtopics.

The four main headings we shall use will be: (1) the spiritual realm, (2) our understanding of history, (3) the nature of values, and (4) the source of salvation.

The Spiritual Realm

            Let us first of all examine the nature of the spiritual area. We will take first the gospel picture and then contrast with it the standard world of western civilization. In the gospel frame of reference there is a definite spiritual realm of existence which is different from, though certainly related to, the physical realm with which we are all familiar, which we experience daily. The spiritual realm is important because it contains the things that are believed by Latter-day Saints to be the most important things in the universe. It contains, for instance, a personal God, a being who is our literal father, who is a kindly, good, exalted man and who has our personal interest at heart. He is a God of justice, but also a God of mercy, a God of power, but also a God of righteousness; and it is to him that we look for our understanding of the universe and for every good thing that we hope for in this universe. Now there is no existence without opposition we are told, and so correlative with the idea of a personal God necessarily goes the idea of a personal devil in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We believe that there is a person who is a devil. This is not to say that he is the only evil, or that he is necessary to evil, but he is a person who promotes evil in the same manner in which our Heavenly Father promotes good. This personal devil is a being like unto ourselves, and like unto God, but having a personality which differs in respect to the things that he desires. He desires to bring about the misery and the misfortune of mankind. A third aspect of the spiritual nature of existence relates to the personal spirit which is in each man. Each human being is composed not only of the physical body which we observe, but his real self is rather something quite different. We believe that this body is inhabited by a spirit and that spirit body by an intelligence’ so that there is a definite and complete distinction between the spirit of man and his body. In Latter-day Saint terminology the basic struggle of this life is the struggle between the spirit and the body. Our Heavenly Father, assists the spirit in its side of the struggle, and the devil works through the physical body, attempting to further its domination over the spirit. A fourth aspect of spiritual existence which is important to Latter-day Saints is simply the reality of spiritual experiences. Not only are God, the devil, and the spirit in man realities, but they are things which may be experienced. We, each of us, experience a stream of consciousness wherein we are aware of influences which cannot be traced to the physical environment. It is in this realm of consciousness that we experience the whisperings of God, the whisperings of Satan, and our own personal response to these things.

            Let us contrast with this spiritual understanding of the universe, now, the standard world of western civilization. In western civilization the existence of the spiritual realm as a whole is denied, except perhaps as a mental ideal. In this realm there is no God; there is no devil; there is no spirit in man; and man has no such thing as spiritual experience. This fundamental denial, of course, assumes a burden of proof which is much greater than the assertion of the existence of these things in the gospel light. To assert that there is no God and no devil in the universe necessitates a sufficient omniscience that one could survey the whole universe and in no part of the universe find any God or any devil. To say that there is no spirit in man is similarly a most difficult thing to prove. This might be likened to asserting that, because we cannot see any electricity in a wire, that therefore there is no such thing as electricity. But one can certainly feel electricity, especially when grounded, and one certainly can be aware of the existence of at least his own spirit, especially when he is grounded in the strength of independent thought and not short-circuited by the shame of the world. One of the most fundamental experiences a human being has is the inner struggle that goes on within himself, the struggle between right and wrong, the struggle between truth and error, the struggle between what is ennobling and what is degrading. To deny the existence and the importance of this realm is to deny what we are: independent spiritual human beings. To relegate ourselves to the realm of machine is to give up independence, individuality, and everything which has brought significance to human achievement.

Our Understanding of History

            Let us move next to the realm of history. Here again we see extremely divergent views separating the gospel picture of the universe from that proposed by western civilization. The gospel teaches us plainly of the divine origin of man, that men are the children of the Gods, and that at one time we were of the same basic nature as God is physically. That is to say, that in the Garden of Eden Adam and Eve had celestial bodies and never would have had to die. They, of course, were not like our Father in Heaven in every respect, but at least in that physical respect were like him. A second important teaching in the historical perspective relates to the Fall of man. In the gospel, when Adam partook of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil, he became fallen. This involves several important ramifications. In the first place, man became dead to that personal God who is his literal and real Father. That is to say, he was cut off from the presence of his Father and righteousness because of his disobedience, no longer able to see God with his physical senses. Being cut off from God and righteousness  made Adam completely subject to that personal devil who then had full access to tempt and to try him. Man, thus, comes under the burden of an overwhelming influence to do evil. Unless this overwhelming influence  is counteracted by the Spirit of the Lord, man is not a free agent, but must and will do greater or lesser amounts of evil, depending on the ability the individual has of his own desires to resist Satan or not to resist. Hd Adam been left in this state, he would have been doomed to remain estranged from God, his Father, forever. But Father sent the Holy Spirit and angels to minister to Adam of truth and righteousness. With these two influences in balance, that of Satan and of the Holy Spirit, man became an agent to choose between good and evil.

            Two aspects of the future history of man which are important in this connection are first, the literal reality of the resurrection of each human being. To know that we go on living forever and that death is not the end and that we will be reunited with the bodies which we have in this life and will go on living into eternity is, indeed, a most important aspect of our understanding. Secondly, coupled with the idea of resurrection is, of course, the necessity of our accounting for the acts of this life. We must stand before the bar of judgment and be held accountable for our acts, whether they be good or whether they be evil. The net result of this understanding of history is to place upon each individual the full weight of the responsibility for his actions and to teach him that his actions are important and that the ramifications of his mortal actions are of eternal significance.

            The world, on the other hand, teaches in connection with history a very contrary view. So far as the origin of man is concerned, the world teaches that man came about by a slow, chance evolutionary process, beginning with some non-living form of life, and over the course of millions and perhaps billions of years evolving into the present status of what we call man. This, of course, gives man an extremely low origin compared to the gospel account. Evolution is a scientific theory which, though valuable to scientific tinking, is not proven and for which there is very important and serious doubt as to the necessity of its truthfulness. It suffices to say that this along with all other scientific theories rests in a realm of speculation where nothing can really be proved. If an individual believes in the evolutionary origin of man, it is because he wants to. It is not because there is any evidence which necessitates such a belief. Indeed, if one wishes to gather all the evidence concerned, there is at least a piece of evidence contrary to the theory of evolution for every evidence which supports the theory of evolution. This is a rather safe generalization, or course, simply because evidence by itself is completely neutral as to its explanation. Explanations are provided by humans, and any piece of evidence which could be construed one way could also be construed another way by the person involved. Since the evidence itself is completely neutral, the individual makes up his own mind as to whether he believes in evolution or not. However, many people are browbeaten into believing in the theory of evolution. According to some this theory has the status of scientific fact. But there is much evidence against evolution and no necessity for any human being to believe it as a proven idea.

            In contrast to its account of the humble natural origin of man, the standard world of western civilization aggrandizes the present nature of man. We are taught that man is basically good, that men can be trusted, that the important thing is that we not degrade man by supposing him to have in any sense evil motives. If it is true that men are subject to Satan, it makes a great deal of difference in our understanding of the processes of this world. If every politician is subjected to the influence of and adversary who attempts to get him to do evil, thinking beings would rather not put into the hands of any one human being any great concentration of power. But, if on the other hand, as western civilization teaches, every man is inherently good, perhaps we need not fear. Each individual may be given the opportunity to account for himself and his own personal experience as to what the real nature of existence is. What is your sample of human nature? Are most human beings good, or do most human beings do evil in one degree or another? When human beings have a highly concentrated power in their hands, do most people use it to do good, or do most people use it to do evil? Single examples may be taken to prove either side. But the question, or course, is, what is the generalization which is true?

            Going on to the future history of man, again though the world recognizes that death is a necessity which comes upon every human being. The important thing is, what is the consequence of death? The world teaches that there is an oblivion, that when we die, we pass into a non-existence where we no longer exist as entities. Coupled with this is the idea that there is no judgment for the acts of man, that the only possible consequences of our acts in this life are the physical rewards and punishments which affect us up until the day of our death. This leads, of course, to the idea that  getting caught in doing anti-social things is the problem and that if we suffer social disapprobation, it is simply because we were not wise enough to elude the restrictions of our community.

The Nature of Values

            Going on to the third general area, let us contrast the values of the gospel and the world of western civilization in regard to the status of values themselves. The gospel plainly teaches that there is a right or wrong. There is a morality which is not simply the whim of God and which man can know. There is an eternal righteousness which leads to happiness both now and later. Accompanying this idea of the eternal nature of right and wrong is the concept of the worth of the individual. In the gospel frame of reference, the individual person is the most important thing in existence, and every human being is of virtually infinite worth compared with anything else in the universe, compared with any non-personal or non-individual existence in the universe. Whatever programs, governments of society, or actions of individuals which are proposed and executed, the church would teach us that the worth of the individual ought to be respected and kept in mind at all times. No human being should be treated simply as a means to an end, but every human being ought to be treated as an end and worthy in and of himself. Now, in contrast to this, the world teaches that all values are relative, that the thing that is important is simply the satisfaction of desire, that there is no right or no wrong. The world also teaches that the individual is of little worth. The individual may have some worth insomuch as he finds himself on the top of the social power structure, but the teaching of the world is that the important thing is the social group, the social group being the basis and source of all values for individual human beings. The important thing, therefore, for the human being is to accommodate himself to the nature of the group. Most education is carried on under this valuation, attempting to get the individual to subordinate himself to the nature of his social existence and group rather than attempting to bring out in him the important things which he feels are of worth and to enable him to be an independent individual.

The Source of Salvation

            The fourth category in which we might contrast these two worlds is in relation to salvation. In the gospel of Jesus Christ salvation is vertical; that is to say, man has to look upward to a supernatural source for his salvation both from the troubles of life and the perils of eternity. Man seeks to receive from his Father in Heaven first of all the Spirit, to be guided in truth and light; secondly the priesthood by which power he can control the elements of this earth, the power of Satan, and anything necessary which stands in the way of his salvation. Thirdly, he receives the blessings of a personal God, a Father who loves him and who is anxious to reunite with him.

            Salvation for the world, on the other hand, is lateral. This means to say, the teaching of the world is that salvation is to be obtained from our fellow beings. The teaching is that man is saved first of all through learning, so we must go to school and be taught by our fellow human beings what is truth, what is right, what we should know. Ultimately, the problems of our civilization and the struggle against nature are to be solved according to the world through physical force. To this end science is employed, but even more the power of government to pass laws and physically to force certain requirements upon society is looked upon as the great panacea. In the gospel of Jesus Christ, the ultimate salvation is looked for in righteousness; whereas in the world salvation is looked for in physical force. In this connection we quote President David O. McKay in his speech in the October, 1962 General Conference. President McKay says this:

            “Today many nations have lost their independence. Men defeated have been compelled to labor for their conquerors. Property has been seized without recompense, and millions of people have surrendered all guarantees of personal liberty. Force and compulsion will never establish the ideal society. This can come only by a transformation within the individual soul, a life redeemed from sin and brought in harmony with the Divine Will. Instead of selfishness, men must be willing to dedicate their fortunes, and their sacred honor for the alleviation of the ills of mankind. Hate must be supplanted by sympathy and forbearance. Peace and true prosperity can come only by conforming our lives to the law of love, the law of the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ. A mere appreciation of the social ethics of Jesus is not sufficient. Men’s hearts must be changed. In these days of uncertainty and unrest, liberty-loving people’s greatest responsibility and paramount duty is to preserve and proclaim the freedom of the individual, his relationship to Diety, and the necessity of obedience to the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Only thus will mankind find peace and happiness.”

            So it is we see that we are faced with this fundamental choice. We can choose the universe the gospel commends to us, or we may choose the world of western civilization. Under the one, we will seek righteousness, which is to say, we will seek by the help of God to better the lives of our fellow men through kindness, through love, through any way that does not involve physical force, which is compatible with the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ. If, on the other hand, we seek the power of the world, if we seek to follow the pattern of the world, we will try to solve the problems of man through physical force. May I remind you that these two are essentially the two plans propounded in the council in heaven. The one is the plan of righteousness and agency and honoring of the individual propounded by our Father in Heaven and accepted by the Savior in the pre-existence. The other is the program of Satan which denies the agency and  worth of the individual man and tries to solve all problems and bring about salvation through physical force.

            Again may we note in this Christmas season that the life of our Savior Jesus Christ is a monument to his belief that righteousness is a much greater power than physical force. When the Savior came among men in his earthly existence, the Jews were expecting a Messiah who would come and blight the Roman armies and physically destroy all the enemies of Judaism. But the Savior recognized that there is something much greater, that righteousness is the greatest triumph of all. In his life he sought and succeeded never to succumb to the temptations of the adversary in any particular or in any degree. By this triumph Jesus Christ was able to gain the power of righteousness which is for him the power to resurrect all human beings, to bless those who have themselves sought righteousness with the blessings of eternity including exaltation, and to deliver to each man that happiness which he deserves and wants. He rejected explicitly the possible salvation he could have wrought even with the power of Godhood in destroying armies, in destroying disease, in destroying physical force. He recognized the worth of the individual and that the only salvation worth anything is getting human beings to choose righteousness of themselves, that he might honor them as persons. So in this Christmas season, may we remember the example of our Savior. May we seize upon a clear understanding of that world in which the Savior believed and in which he acted and which was the basis of his triumph. May we reject the sophistries of the adversary and the very unreal world which he and his proponents would have us believe in, the world which leads to destruction.

Posted in Essay | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The Problem of the Academician – POINTS TO PONDER

Posted on December 2, 2024 by Admin

COLLEGE OF RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION
CHAUNCEY C. RIDDLE
16 November, 1966

            It is patent to observe that academicians often make a poor showing in the work of the Church; frequently they are a destructive, negative influence. The paradox is that sometimes these persons of destructive impact have the best of intentions. It is not intentions or desires which count in the long run, however; rather, it is performance. But the good intention makes this paradox worthy of further examination. The problem of the academician can be traced in part to the frame of mind engendered in his professional atmosphere.

            One principal aspect of the academic atmosphere at its best is extreme negative criticism. It is critical because of the necessity of constant analysis of one’s own and other men’s ideas, actions, and creations. It must at times be negative because it is concerned with excellence of product.  The producer, it is assumed, is enough of a scholar to know the positive aspect of production, to have delight in excellence, and not to take negative criticism personally. The criticism is extreme because of the necessity of making fine discriminations, again in deference to the ideal of performing as perfectly, as expertly as is possible for a given time and circumstance. This is one operation of the academic atmosphere at its best because the world would be flooded even more than it is with specious knowledge, with shoddy performance, with chicanery were it not for the academic crucible which attempts to eliminate the dross. In some respects the academic atmosphere is a great benefit to mankind, and one might lament that its influence is not more widespread. If academicians were not also human beings, the academic atmosphere might well be given far greater influence in society.

            In sum then, the academic approach is to achieve excellence of product through intensive, withering criticism of all that men propose, propound or produce. This approach has been of great and demonstrable beneficence to science, particularly, rescuing it from its origins in aesthetic rationalism and making of it a formidable, pragmatic giant.

            Contrasted with the academic frame of mind is a gospel frame which is in approach antithetical to the academic in almost every respect. The gospel frame begins with the premise that we are engaged in the work of the Lord, which work has come by personal revelation from the Lord. If we have that testimony, then we know that we are not here concerned with criticism of the projects of men. The man or men who present ideas and projects to us are the Lord’s chosen stewards, the prophets and presiding authorities. The task is not to oppose and criticize what they say, but rather to strive mightily to comprehend and implement what they say. What they say may appear to our critical minds to be irrational, shortsighted. But if we have the personal testimony that the Lord had appointed them as His stewards, to criticize them is to set ourselves us as the judge of the Lord.

            The gospel frame of mind has its primary focus on people rather than products. It sees all men as the children of God, as eternal souls who may, if they wish, come to a restoration of their heritage, to know their Father again personally, and to receive of all that he has. Programs and products are seen as devices and opportunities for the building of God-like character in each individual. The most essential ingredient of that character is faith—humble submission as a little child to all that the Father seeth fit to inflict. This is indeed the antitheses of academic criticism. It is learning to be deliberately non-critical of anything that comes from the Lord in order to achieve a proper personal relationship with the Lord. It is to see ourselves as weak, ignorant, biased potential servants of an omnipotent, omniscient and perfect God.

            Within this gospel frame of mind one does not criticize. He will search for the will of the Lord through personal revelation if asked for his counsel, but will only bear humble  testimony to what he believes the Lord wants. He will never attack a brother or a leader for his ideas, but will examine his own conscience for the necessity of repentance if he finds himself at odds with someone with whom he ought to be in agreement, leaving critical judgment to those who preside. If he presides, he will pronounce the Lord’s judgment, not his own. All things will be done in pure love, in genuine respect for all persons concerned, be they in agreement or disagreement with himself.

            In sum, the gospel frame of mind is a positive, joyful acceptance of all that comes from the Lord, with an earnest and eager desire to implement it.

            It can readily be seen that the gospel frame of mind employed in an academic situation would wreak havoc. To accept uncritically what is of men is demonstrably disastrous. And to apply the academic frame of mind towards the work of the church or towards anything which is of the Lord is at least equally disastrous. It will serve to alienate us from all good things—from God, from the prophets, from personal revelation—and with considerable alacrity.

            Should we then reject one frame of mind—say the academic—and adhere to the gospel? Rejection of either could be as disastrous as mis-application of either. If we reject the critical frame of mind, we might reject the possibility of finding the Lord, for it is only by a careful discrimination that we find the voice of the Lord among the welter of human and spiritual influences which play upon us. To reject criticism would be to leave oneself defenseless against the wiles of the adversary and his minions. And of course if we reject the gospel frame we cut ourselves off from all righteousness, choosing to remain in spiritual darkness and death.

            The solution then lies in a thorough mastery of the nature and skillful use of each frame of mind with a corresponding careful attention to the situation of the moment to know which frame to apply. The overall pattern will likely be to emphasize the critical frame until we find the Lord, then to emphasize the gospel frame thereafter. For if we are servants of the Lord, even when we act as acute critics in a proper academic environment, we must above all be saints and be responsive to the person and his spiritual needs even as we dissect what he academically propounds.

            “Every scribe well instructed in the things of the kingdom of heaven, is like unto a householder; a man, therefore, which bringeth forth out of his treasure that which is new and old.” (Matthew 13:52)

Posted in Essay | Tagged , | Leave a comment

PREMISES OF LDS THOUGHT – Written about 1970 – (Thoughts about handicaps)

Posted on December 2, 2024 by Admin

by Chauncey C. Riddle

  1. God is a morally perfect, omniscient, omnipotent being, having a perfected body of flesh and bone. The work of God is to create men and to encourage them to become gods.
  2. Man is literally the child of God, but having a nonperfected body of flesh and bone.
  3. Both God and man are dual spiritual beings. The spirit is the person, the body is the tabernacle. Spirit and body, perfected and united, is a special condition known as “exaltation.” Exalted beings are gods; they have the distinctive capability of being able to do all possible good for other beings.
  4. Mortal existence is an occasion of trial andproving under a variety of physical, mental and social handicaps. These handicaps are essential to the eventual exaltation of men. They have come to exist for mankind in “the Fall.”
  5. Satan is a real spirit person who is assisted by many beings like himself. His work is to build a dominion for himself by enticing men to follow him, rather than God.
  6. Man is free to choose his own eternal destiny because he may choose either the way of righteousness by yielding to God, or the way of selfishness by yielding to Satan.
  7. Satan is given power over men to be a source of focus of their handicaps. Men cannot prove their love of righteousness except they consciously recognize and deliberately overcome these handicaps and reject Satan.
  8. God does not and will not lift handicaps from men until they have served their purposes. Some of their purposes are as follows:
    a. To acquaint men with their insufficiency and the need for help to be righteous.
    b. To give each person strength by teaching him to bear an inescapable burden.
    c. To give each person the opportunity to learn to be righteous by having compassion for the handicaps of other persons and sharing their burdens with them.
  9. Principal handicaps which make mortal existence meaningful:
    a. Disease
    b. Deformity
    c. False concepts
    d. Poverty and wealth
    e. Denial of the opportunity to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ in mortality.
    f. Denial of the opportunity to bear the Priesthood of Jesus Christ in mortality.
    g. Death
  10. Men have struggled in vain to rid themselves completely of each of these handicaps by natural means.
  11. God’s means of overcoming the need for these handicaps is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Through its laws and ordinances, the spirits and bodies of men can be cleansed and purified by turning from selfishness to righteousness.
  12. The most important thing any man can attain to is righteousness. Righteousness is to love others with a pure, unselfish love. The only means to righteousness is voluntarily to give oneself to God—to love, to serve, to obey him with all of one’s heart, might, mind and strength. Then God changes that man’s nature. He is born a new creature and can then grow to maturity by doing the works of righteousness.
  13. A fully righteous man needs no handicaps. He can be freed from each and all of them, even in mortality. But to remove his handicaps while he and his friends and family need them would be to curse all concerned.
  14. Handicaps are usually all lifted completely only after mortal death. Then, the remaining mortals are not overawed by perfected beings, being enticed to seek the rewards of righteousness rather than righteousness itself.
  15. Handicaps are sometimes lifted completely in mortality. This is called “translation.” Translated beings are usually taken from the presence of unrighteous men, lest the latter be enticed to seek the rewards of righteousness rather than righteousness itself.
  16. Righteousness is a matter of faith in a true and living god. Those who wait to know for sure before they sacrifice anything, cannot become righteous. Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness do not wait for sure knowledge; they are willing to try to live by the Holy Spirit of God when it comes to them, even though they cannot “prove” it. That Holy Spirit teaches them to be righteous. Obeying that  Holy Spirit is faith in Jesus Christ.
  17. Thus, handicaps are not usually lifted completely in this life in order that men might learn to have faith in Christ and through that faith to attain true righteousness. The assurance that handicaps are completely lifted in the next life is a matter of faith. But those who exercise enough faith to become righteous also have enough faith to accept the assurance that the handicaps will be lifted.
  18. The last and greatest handicap is death. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the triumph of God over death and is the token of triumph over death by all men and over all other handicaps. The Gospel of Jesus Christ has no meaning apart from the assurance that Jesus Christ is resurrected. Those who lack that assurance quite naturally doubt that the other handicaps will be lifted.
  19. Just as God could not now lift from all men the handicap of death and still bless them as he wishes, so he cannot remove from his children all disease, deformity, false concepts, poverty and wealth, denial of the opportunity to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ in mortality, denial of the opportunity to bear the Priesthood of Jesus Christ in mortality, and bless them as he wishes.
  20. God, in his love and mercy, visits his children with handicaps in order that they might learn to be faithful to him, that through that faith they might become righteous. When they become righteous, he can exalt them.
  21. Men should strive to help one another, to share their strength with the handicapped. They should strive to conquer and do away with each handicap. But they should also recognize that the most efficient way to remove any or all of the handicaps is to promote faith in Jesus Christ.
  22. God will remove each handicap from his children here as it is a blessing to do so. Otherwise he could and would not be God. Though men should strive to make the world a heaven, they should not fault God for not allowing it to be so yet.
  23. To remove the handicap of not receiving the priesthood before the time when that priesthood, would bless its recipients would be to curse them. God does not thus curse his children.
  24. God is not respecter of persons. He blesses each person according to that person’s capacity to receive. Every human being has an equal opportunity for each and every of God’s blessings. But those blessings are fully realized only in eternity. In mortality, some are diseased, some deformed, some believe the false teachings of their parents, some languish in poverty and others in wealth, some may not now hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ, some may not now bear the Priesthood of Jesus Christ, some have their bodies laid in earthly graves. All this in order that God might fully bless his children in eternity.
Posted in Righteousness | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Notes on Unity and Socialism

Posted on December 1, 2024 by Admin

Chauncey C. Riddle

            One of the most profound generalizations ever uttered was father Lehi’s dictum that there must be opposition in all things. If it were not so, he points out, all things would be a compound in one and there would be no existence. To say that something exists is the same things as saying, “it differs.” Etymologically, the word existence may be traced to the Latin roots “ex + stare,” to stand out. Taking the visual field as the paradigm, that which “stands out” is that which contrasts with or differs from the remainder of the visual area. This contrast enables us to distinguish figure from ground, thus allowing the figure to “exist.” If we could not distinguish figure from ground, we would not only not see figure, but we would also not see the ground. In other words, we would not see. This general principle of opposition applies not only to vision but to all sensation, to considerations of value, to the possibility of the existence of classes in the mind (i.e., in the universe of discourse, one class cannot be created without the simultaneous creation of its negative class), and to the physical world (e.g. Newton’s “law” that to every action there must be an equal and opposite reaction). It would be difficult to find an idea of more universal application and importance than this principle of opposition.

            One important social application of the principle of opposition relates to the possibilities of unity and disunity in social groups. Applying this principle we might observe that every attempt to unify a group of people faces a fundamental dilemma.

            The unity of the group can be achieved on the one hand by destroying the personal differences that cause people to be individuals. The push for egalitarianism has as its goal the creation of a Parmenidean order of timeless, motionless, featureless unity, where each person contributes to the group as does each individual radius to a sphere. The individual is not a person, but a “slot;” he fills a potential in the whole which is individuated only mathematically; i.e., by his orientation in space. He is a good radius only as he is completely indistinguishable from his fellows. Any aberration on his part destroys the aesthetic symmetry of the whole and therefore cannot be tolerated. This Parmenidean sphere is the social model of the socialist movement. To be sure, it differentiates people as to their assigned task in society; one man will lay brick, another farm, another teach. But each in this scheme is a person of identical political persuasion, of the same metaphysical outlook, of the same valuational pattern. Each is the product of social planning, of careful education, of deliberate indoctrination. His mind and his heart are attuned to the glory of society, and as a well-formed radius he contributes to the beauty and perfection of the absolute sphere.

            The principle difficulty with the Parmenidean social model is that its proponents cannot escape hypocrisy. They teach that all men must come under a planned social order which will direct their minds and hearts through education, their physical inheritance through eugenics, and their physical welfare through manipulation of economic levers. But it is obvious that the creator of radii of the sphere cannot be himself a radius of the sphere. Someone outside the sphere must say how and what education must be, must say which persons will be out breeding stock, must say we should pull this economic lever. It is just that obvious then that the sphere with all its faceless radii must always remain the dictatorship of few men over the many. The few can never take the medicine they prescribe without relinquishing their power. History records that those in power who prescribe this ideal are singularly unwilling to give their power to others and become radii. Perhaps this is one reason they seek to control the writing of history as well as the society of men.

            But someone will say, “The leaders are radii. They simply are part of the great overriding rule of science which works out its inexorable destiny in perfecting mankind.” This is the familiar plea of both the communists, promoting the Marxist thesis of economic determination, and the socialist liberals who want world society run by “enlightened intellectuals.” History has shown that economic factors are powerful in shaping the course of human events. But history also reveals that economic determinism does not always hold.  People don’t always rebel because of the nature of the factors of economic production in their society, and Marxists find it necessary to force artificially the so-called “inexorable destiny.” In other words, these Marxists are not part of the sphere. They must deliberately be non-radii themselves in order to force other men to assume the posture of radii. History has also shown that scientists and social planners can improve upon social orders run by ruthless despots for their own pleasure and amusement. But an examination of the nature of science quickly reveals that any scientist who starts prescribing for society has thereby departed from science. Science itself has and prescribes no values; it is inherently incapable of doing so. The scientist who pretends to be prescribing in accordance with the dictates of nature, or reason, or science, is plainly either an outright prevaricator or so unaware of the limitations of science as to be unworthy of the name “scientist.”

            The sum of the matter is then that the egalitarian ideal of socialism is always a process of the few in power creating a unity and equality among their subjects but never including themselves. While they destroy the individuality of their captive fellow men in creating the sphere of equal radii, they rule triumphant over the creature they prescribe but will not and cannot be part of it. All their subjects have become a compound in one and for them there is no “existence.” They may be bodies, but as persons they do not exist. That state of affairs is, or course, consonant with the philosophy of materialism. But where do the non-conforming, non-deterministic, non-equal leaders fit into the philosophy of materialism? They don’t; materialism is simply the opium with which they quiet the masses to create conforming radii.

            What are the social consequences of this Parmenidean social order? Two examples will suffice, one from the realm of mind, the other from the realm of matter.

            In a social order where men are forced to think alike, where there is unity through sameness, without freedom, two consequences will follow of necessity. First, no one who is a good “radius” will ever do any real “thinking.” He will react, respond, and repeat; but since he lives in a world where all of his peers think as he does, he is never challenged and never makes any decisions of importance on his own. He either reacts as he has been trained in meeting familiar problems, or he will seek further training (sometimes called “education”) to meet new problems. In any event, his mind is the child of the planners. The second consequence is the product of the first:  there will be no progress generated by a good radii. He is simply a machine which has been programmed by the planners to do a particular job in a particular way. Because he has been made incapable of thinking (and therefore of rebelling), he can never see how to improve in the task he performs. As a teacher he repeats old saws; as a scientist he applies old principles; as an administrator he perpetuates old dicta. The stability and order of such a society would be admirable; these values overwhelm some who think that the Middle Ages (which closely approximated this Parmenidean ideal) were the golden age of Europe, and who long to reinstitute such an order. But thank goodness that the progress of suffering humanity was not stopped at the Middle Ages! Of course, it is the responsibility of the leaders and planners to institute necessary reforms in every aspect of the social order. But it is notorious that planners are usually far removed from problems; waste and chaos have been the ordinary consequence of absentee planning as anyone who has been a member of a large socialistic organization such as an army can testify.

            Let us turn now to a consequence of Parmenidean planning in the realm of the material world. One of the great so-called “curses” from which the purveyors of Parmenidean unity wish to free men is the “jungle warfare” of the free competition. Through enlargement of the size and influence of the “public sector” of the economy they intend to relieve society of the “waste” engendered by ruthless competition. But they miss the main point of free competition; that it is a competition to see who can serve the common man best. In free trade each unit vies with each other to see which can deliver the most goods to men at the lowest price. Ingenuity, thought, struggle and life-blood all go to increase the efficiency of the delivery of goods. Conversely, in a planned society there is no competition and the units of production tend to try to absorb more and more of the goods of society (this is known as “justifying and enlarging your budget” in a socialist scheme.) Efficiency is anathema because it would mean reduction of budget. The natural consequence is that waste is promoted and the common man receives the minimal shoddy product of the society’s self-improved “enlightened planners.” No, it isn’t always shoddy. Sometimes it is very beautiful and functional. But how much would the new congressional office building in Washington have cost under free enterprise?

            Enough for the Parmenidean ideal of unity. That ideal could not be fully meaningful unless under the principle of opposition a contrasting ideal of unity is presented.

Posted in Essay | Tagged , | Leave a comment

A Quorum of Precious Ideas – The Witness and Testimony of Chauncey Cazier Riddle

Posted on December 1, 2024 by Admin

There are gods who are perfect.

There are gods many and lords many. All are fully one with each other, being one God. Each individual god is perfect, being perfectly obedient to the person who presides over him or her in the patriarchal order.

Each is omniscient,

Each is omnipotent.

Each lives and acts only to bless others.

Jesus Christ is our God.

We have three gods who preside immediately over us on this earth. They are the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.

The Son has been sent to bless us.

He is the creator of heaven and earth and all things that in them are.

The good news is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The true church today is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint.

Authority in the church and kingdom is the Holy Priesthood after the Order of the Son of God.

The Father has given all things into Christ’s hand.

The Father testifies: “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye him.”

To him do we look for every good thing.

The Law of Christ governs all things.

His word is his law.

He has set the time and the seasons, the bounds and limitations, the order in his universe.

Everything in his universe obeys Christ out of love for him, except the devils and the children of men. But the devils do obey him when he commands them directly, and all the children of men will come to obey him willingly except the sons of perdition.

Faith in Christ is the key to every good thing.

Faith in Christ is made possible by the revelation of his word, which is his law.

Faith exists when men believe in Christ and obey his commandments.

Faith in Jesus Christ is that law upon which all blessings are predicated.

Without faith in Christ it is impossible to please God.

Through that faith in Christ one may lay hold of every good thing.

Every human being lives by faith in something or someone, but the only faith that saves   anyone from unrighteousness is faith in Jesus Christ.

Righteousness comes only through faith in Christ.

The greatest good that any person can lay hold of is righteousness.

Righteousness is blessing all others as much as is possible.

Becoming righteous, to be a just person made perfect, is what salvation is about.

Jesus Christ is the sole fountain of righteousness in this world. Only through faith in Christ can any person do the work of righteousness at any time. The wisdom of men, individually or collectively, never is sufficient unto righteousness.

Men are free to become gods.

The good news of the gospel is that through faith in Christ, any and every human becomes free to lay hold of righteousness.

If a person believes the good news, repents of his sins, covenants in baptism to be faithful, and receives the gift of the Holy Ghost, he or she has entered upon the path of salvation.

The other end of the path to salvation is to have become like Christ, having received, through faith, a new mind, a new heart, a new countenance, and a renewed body. The laws, the ordinances, and the priesthood are all given to men that they might grow in power and knowledge until they are as Christ. All who enter upon the path and endure to the end are accepted into the society of the gods, to work the works of righteousness with their new father, Jesus Christ, and with all other gods, forever.

This is the best of all possible worlds.

Our Savior is righteous, omniscient and omnipotent.

He has designed this world and the probationary experience of every soul with such love and care, that each person has the full opportunity to become free to be fully righteous.

If there were any way to make this world better, the Savior would have done so or will do so.

This world is as good as it can possibly be for the blessing of the souls of men.

We can assist the Savior in making this world a better place if we are faithful to him. But faithful or not, as we choose to be, the world at any given moment is as good as it could be.

Evil is designed into this world.

Knowing that adversity would make possible the kind of faith that brings   salvation, evil was programmed into this world by the Father and the Son for the blessing of mankind.

Satan was sent into the earth and was given great power to destroy, to lie, to blind and captivate men and nations.

Sin, ignorance, disease, tyranny and death are challenges to faith, to sharpen and to prove it, and to give men freedom to choose.

Only in free choice is there strength unto salvation.

Evil is necessary that men might be saved.

Evil is programmed into the true Church of Jesus Christ for the same reason: to prove the faith of the saints. Judas Iscariot had his mission.

Evil is not accidental in this world.

In the gospel, the end never justifies the means.

(Nephi killing Laban is a special case where Christ commanded Nephi, and Nephi was faithful in obeying. It would be easy for men to claim they are commanded by Christ to kill, but only those who are actually being obedient to Christ in their deeds will be counted as being just.)

Satan tempts men to try to accomplish good by evil means. That is what he was proposing to do in the council of heaven.

Our Savior said he would do the Father’s will, knowing it to be the only means for truly blessing mankind.

Our role is to do the Savior’s will. The only sufficient means to any righteous goal is faith in Jesus Christ.

Whatsoever is not of faith, is sin.

Through Christ will come every good thing, every hoped for condition or righteousness. But it must needs be done in his own way, in his own time, according to his words and by his servants.

Efficiency is not the prime good.

Satan would exalt efficiency, the greatest production at the lowest cost. His complaint about the Father’s plan in the council in heaven was that it did not save everyone.

Righteousness is not necessarily efficient. To bless involves everyone’s agency.

Efficacy is the gospel good. The atonement of our Savior was wasteful, suffering for sins for many who would never repent. But it was efficacious unto the blessing of every human soul.

Mere efficiency is a sorry substitute for doing what is right, be it in the church, in civil government, in business, in families, or whenever. But efficiency makes a good companion if righteousness is placed first.

People are more important than institutions.

Because men are free, organizations in this world cannot be perfected. They will   always hurt the people who relate to them. Even the true church of Christ will thus suffer and sometimes hurt people who relate to it because some in the Church of Christ are not yet perfected servants of Christ.

People can be perfected. Some individuals will serve the Savior with all of their hearts.

Perfected people will not be hurt by any organization or evil person, even though they suffer.

Institutions are ostensibly organized to help people. But they tend to acquire a life of their own and to become indifferent to people.

Servants of Christ who participate in institutions would do well to serve people, through faith in Christ, rather than just serving the institution.

Our desires determine our actions.

Our knowledge may affect how we do something.

Our reasoning may affect what we say as to why we do something.

It is our hearts, our desires, that are the final determinant of what we do.

To become pure in heart should be our primary objective in this world. Then we may serve and bless in the power of pure faith.

Only Jesus Christ can purify our hearts and he can do so only as we yield our hearts unto him in faith.

Our conscience is the voice of the Holy Spirit, the voice of Christ in us. Yielding to our conscience—the best we know—is our key to faith and to purity of heart.

We will do what we wish to do.

Posted in Righteousness, Testimony | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Zion and Theology

Posted on December 1, 2024 by Admin
  1. Definition: Zion is a people who have become pure (celestial) by accepting and living the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

    a. They hear and accept the gospel message.
    b. They partake of the covenants.
    c. They organize themselves under the priesthood.
    d. They meet their own needs and relieve the suffering of others by living the celestial law.
    e. They implement the full law of consecration.
    f. They have become pure in heart, of one mind and heart.
    g. Having become like the Savior; they are privileged to see and to know him.

    Thesis: No amount of correct theology can make a Zion. It is true religion (implementation of correct theology) that makes Zion a reality.

    Thesis: The amount of correct theology needed to establish Zion is relatively small. A fullness of correct theology is possible and desirable only after Zion is an established order.

    Hypothesis: The following is the core of correct theology necessary to establish Zion:

    A. Our Gods are the Father, the Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost.

    1. They are one: the Son and Holy Ghost do only the Father’s will.
    2. They are righteous: their work is only to bless others. (They are love: unselfishness.)
    3. They know all: nothing in the universe surprises them.
    4. They control all: their hand is in everything.
    5. They do not change: their character, principles, and labor are the same, always.

    B. The Son, Jesus Christ, is sent by the Father to save us from unrighteousness.

    1. He teaches us how to act righteously (how to bless others.)
    2. He pays the debt for all unrighteous acts, thus being able to forgive us when we forsake sinning (the suffering and the atonement.)
    3. He makes it possible to continue to act righteously into eternity. (The resurrection, made possible by the sacrifice of the atonement.)He is the great example of righteous living set for all mankind: complete faith in his God, personal purity, witness of the truth, full discharge of priesthood calling, relief for suffering persons.

    C. We mortals are all the children of the Gods.

        1. We lived as immortal spirits before coming to this earth.
        2. We are fallen creatures, spiritually dead, sinners, and need a Savior.
        3. Even being fallen, we have received a partial divine inheritance: knowledge, agency, body.
        4. Every soul in mortality or in the spirit world has the gospel message carried fully into his or her heart by the divine power of the Holy Ghost.
        5. The Gospel of Jesus Christ gives us the knowledge to activate our agency and invites us to change to be as the Gods, one with them, to inherit all they are.
        6. If a person accepts and lives the Gospel of Jesus Christ, all else they need to know to receive a fullness if revealed to them through the Holy Ghost and through the priesthood structure of the Church of Jesus Christ.
        7. We humans will all stand before our Gods to be judged and rewarded for what we did when we heard the gospel.
        8. The judgment we receive shall be final: our status will not change (as far as the kingdom we are placed in) for the remainder of eternity.
        9. Whatever we receive, from a fullness of the glory of the Gods to less than we now have, depends solely upon our personal desires and actions.

        D. Contained in the gospel message is the formula for action which enables us to repent and to grow to become as the Savior is:

        1. We must exercise full faith in Jesus Christ, relying alone upon his merits to solve every and all problems we have by:

        a. Hearing his word: personal revelation of his will.
        b. Believing his word: personal, wholehearted acceptance of him and his will.
        c. Doing his will completely.

        2. We must repent of all sinning: turning from whatever we have been to do nothing but the Savior’s will.
        3. We must make the covenant of baptism: be buried  in a watery grave, promising to:

        a. take upon us the name of the Savior, to be known as his servant before all men,
        b. always remember him and the covenant we have made,
        c. keep fully every commandment which he gives us.

        4. We must receive the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, being quickened to a new spiritual life in hearkening to the voice of God in all things as he speaks to us in our conscience and through our priesthood leaders.
        5. We must endure to the end of becoming fully as the Savior is, joyfully striving to perfect ourselves, each moment, each day, in him.

        E. The gospel formula is not only for once-a-lifetime action, but it is the key to spiritually successful action in each problem of each day.

        1. Fame and fortune in this world do not measure spiritual success. Spiritual success is measured by:

        a. our exercise of complete trust in Jesus Christ,
        b. personal purity of mind, body and spirit,
        c. the witness we bear of the truth as directed by the Holy Spirit,
        d. the full, faithful discharge of our priesthood callings,
        e. the relief for suffering that we bring to our fellow creatures.

        2. Applying the gospel formula in every decision in life is the essence of faith. Faith in Christ involves repentance, obedience, sacrifice, consecration, chastity, and every other gospel principle. Entering into a formal stewardship arrangement to implement the full law of consecration is but a slight difference in format for the person who is already a wise steward and a faithful laborer.

        F. The greatest priesthood stewardship in this world is to be a faithful father or mother in the New and Everlasting Covenant.

        1. The family is the basic social unit for establishing Zion.

        Faithful parents will:

        a.Teach their children the gospel and all of the knowledge skills and values necessary to live it.
        b. See that the children gain adequate cultural and vocational education.
        c. Provide the basic unit for economic production, consumption and security.
        d. Provide the missionary force for the church.
        e. Provide the record-keeping and genealogical force for the church, though the Church itself will provide the record keeping structure for all ordinances.
        f. be the base for helping the poor, oppressed, the widowed and the fatherless.

        2. The ultimate seal of eternal family relationships is placed upon each family link by the exercise of the pure love of Christ in that relationship.

        G. The Church of Jesus Christ with its priesthood framework:

        1. Is the sole source of the ordinances that make personal righteousness and                                       eternal families possible.
        2. Gives guidance and strength to the whole world in every field of righteous endeavor and for every problem inasmuch as individuals are willing to receive it.
        3. Is the Savior’s instrument for blessing every people upon the earth as he brings in his millennial reign of peace and truth.

        H. The pattern for daily life for one who applies the gospel formula should include the following:

        1. Feasting upon the words of Christ: pondering the words of the living and dead prophets, searching the Holy Spirit;
        2. Praying mightily: praying with all energy of heart for others, and also praying for purity, for charity, for intelligence, for the commission of objectives for the day, and most especially, giving thanks.
        3. Enduring to the end of each assignment, striving to be perfect as the Savior is, in all things relying alone upon the merits of Christ.

          Thesis: There is a core theology such as the above which is necessary to the establishment of Zion.

          Thesis: Undue concern for ideas other than the core can destroy finding the core, being unified in it, and living it.

          Thesis: Individuals are entitled to and encouraged to go beyond the core for their own personal development, but until a person accepts and lives the core, concern for the mysteries is a detrimental diversion.

          Thesis: The test as to whether any individual or society has mastered the core is: has the Savior manifested himself unto them in person?
        Posted in Conceptual Analysis | Tagged , | Leave a comment

        The Way Up is First to Go Down – (A Commentary of the Fall of Adam) – (Article rejected by editors of The Ensign)

        Posted on December 1, 2024 by Admin

        By Chauncey C. Riddle

                    Before mortality, we lived as spirit children of our Heavenly Father and Mother in another place. We learned much and had important work to do with them. But we knew we could not inherit the fullness of their glory unless we did two things. First, we needed to have a physical body; second, we needed to continue to develop a character which would help us control that fleshly tabernacle and use it only for good.

                    In a pre-mortal council our Heavenly Father proposed a plan wherein each of us would receive a body of flesh and bone which we could learn to control and use for good. We learned that there must be opposition to good as well as good, leaving us free to choose our own way. Each of us would be responsible to continue to build a noble character for ourselves while in our bodies.

                    Our brother Lucifer proposed that he personally could assure the shaping of everyone’s character and lead them all back to glory, for which action he wanted eternal leadership over us.

                    However, our oldest brother encouraged us to accept our Father’s plan, wherein every soul would be free to become like God if he or she so chose. No one of us would be forced to become anything we did not want to become. Most of us chose the plan to become free, responsible for our own eternal destiny. Those who did not accept the Father’s plan were denied further progress.

                    Our Father appointed our eldest brother, Jesus Christ, to be his executive officer, the model, the pattern in fulfilling the plan. Under his direction, the earth was created and other things made ready for our mortal probation.

                    Following God’s plan, Adam and Eve, our first earthly parents, were placed on the earth into a paradise, a terrestrial glory. Their fleshly tabernacles were immortal, and they spoke with God.

                    But in order to fulfill conditions for the earthly probation of all of us, Adam and Eve’s bodies had to be changed so that they and their offspring could suffer, die, and then be resurrected. It was also important that each of us be born into mortal tabernacles so that our time here would be temporary.

        The Fall

                    A significant part of our Father’s plan was for Adam and Eve to fall from their immortal condition to a mortal one better suited to probation. It would be better for them to fall voluntarily; then they could choose voluntarily to be redeemed from the fall or not. Had the Fall been involuntary, redemption from the Fall would need to be automatic for God to be just.

                    The plan for the Fall was carried out. Lucifer—Satan, was allowed into the paradise to tempt Adam and Eve with the knowledge of good and evil, so that they could choose for themselves to fall. Thinking that he was thwarting our Father’s plan, Lucifer tempted Adam and Eve, who disobeyed the Father and reaped the consequential Fall that was so necessary.

                    Adam and Eve had been promised that if they disobeyed Father they would die, and they did. Their spirit bodies became dead to the spirit world. They could no longer see with their spiritual eyes nor hear with their spiritual ears. Their immortal tabernacles became mortal.

                    When Adam fell, all nature fell with him. The earth was no longer a paradise. Animals and plants also fell, becoming subject to death. The earth fell from its place nigh unto Father’s throne and received appointment of its present times and seasons.

                    The contrast between before and after the Fall is clearer when we understand agency. Agency exists only when three things are together: 1) An intelligent being who can act and is not merely acted upon, 2) knowledge of alternatives, and 3) ability to carry out a choice. Agency is thus a matter of degree:  As knowledge and power increase, so does agency. When one has all knowledge and all power, then one has a fullness of agency.

                    Adam and Eve in the Garden were intelligent beings. They doubtless had considerable power since they were spiritually alive and all things were subject unto them. But they had little knowledge of alternatives. They only knew one wrong thing to do:  their agency consisted in choosing whether or not to partake of the forbidden fruit. They did disobey, died spiritually, and became subject to Satan. After the Fall, being subject to the temptations of Satan, they had much opportunity to choose evil. But being cut off from God, knew little about how to do good. Being spiritually dead they probably suffered a loss of power. They had little agency, but enough, in the Garden. They had little agency in the world after the Fall, until the voice of the Lord came to them.

                    The Lord told Adam and Eve how to do good. They obeyed these commandments because it was their desire and was within their power to do so. As they obeyed, they were given more knowledge. As they acted obediently, they were given more power to act. In this process they learned the Gospel of Jesus Christ which brings to men the full knowledge and ability to do good. This message taught them how to have the countenance, the heart, the mind, the character of the Savior. They received first the Holy Ghost and then the holy priesthood, which opened to them the power of God. By accepting the gospel and exercising the power of the priesthood in righteousness, Adam and Eve grew in knowledge and power until they personally were redeemed from the Fall. For them the plan was now nearly fulfilled. Having achieved the purpose of mortality, they needed only to die and be resurrected with an immortal, celestial body to inherit all things.

                    For Adam and Eve, then, the way up to exaltation began by first going down through the Fall. Far from decrying the Fall, we should be eternally grateful for our noble first parents who were willing to fulfill the plan. Though they were fallen, they humbled themselves yet further by putting their trust in the Savior. Thereby they rose again, and for them the Fall was overcome.

        The Atonement

                    But Adam and Eve could not have risen from the Fall without help. They needed and accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel is not a do-it-yourself formula. It requires a dependency called “faith in Jesus Christ.” Trusting in Jesus Christ, they were redeemed from the effects of the Fall.

                    The Savior teaches us how to live righteously and offers forgiveness for sins if we repent. Because of this, we can be resurrected to immortal glory after our mortal probation is over.

                    A person who loves righteousness comes to hate sinning, to tremble at the very thought of it. When he learns through the gospel that the Savior can lead him out of sin into doing only that which blesses others, he rejoices. As his understanding grows, he realizes that the Savior is the fountain of all righteousness; no other guidance can unerringly lead a person to do right. This guidance is delivered either through one who presides in priesthood authority in the Savior’s church, or through the Holy Spirit in personal revelation. However that instruction comes, it is confirmed to us by the Holy Spirit. When we are receptive, we know that the word of the Lord is good. When we are faithful, we experience the good fruits of faith in Christ and we know we are on the right path to return to Father.

                    A second gift of the Savior to mankind was his suffering for our sins. Every human sin causes a certain amount of suffering. The justice of our Father demands that when one person causes suffering in another person, the one who caused the suffering must himself suffer an equivalent amount. Therefore, each adult in the world who has sinned has a certain debt of suffering to do to pay for having caused others to suffer. If we could each just do our own quotient of suffering, that would help. But that would not enable anyone to become exalted as our Heavenly Father and Mother are. Becoming celestial involves learning to live without sinning, made possible by the Savior’s first gift—his influence and example. But then we must also have no former sin charged against us, for the Father cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance. Our Savior made our total forgiveness possible by suffering in Gethsemane and on the cross. The Savior will intercede at the bar of justice in our behalf if we are righteous because he suffered for us and our debt of sinning has been paid by him.

                    A third gift of our Savior is resurrection. Because of the heritage of immortality from God the Father, who was Christ’s literal and biological Father, the Savior did not have to die. Because of the heritage from his mortal mother, Mary, he could die. Thus he would die only if he so chose. He sacrificed his mortal life so that each of us might live again as resurrected beings.

                    The plan of salvation would not be complete without agency. Some of us use agency for good. All of us use it for evil sometime in our lives. Our evil affects others, causing distress. That distress is not our divine heritage as children of God, but that suffering is our mortal lot. Should another’s misuse of agency cause us to lose eternal blessings? A just God would not allow that.

                    Being just, being infinite in power, and knowing all things, our Savior sees that no one suffers eternally for anyone else’s misdeeds. He stops the chains for cause and effect that would condemn the children of apostates as well as the parents, and guarantees that those children will have a full chance to hear the gospel. He further turns all the suffering inflicted on a righteous person into an opportunity for blessings. Should we suffer calumny because of our faith, and should we bear it patiently and humbly, replacing the tendency for malice with the Savior’s pure love, we are rewarded an hundredfold.

                    How we ought to rejoice at these gifts from our Savior! Understanding them should make us anxious to serve and bless one another. That understanding should help us to love and serve Christ with all of our heart, might, mind and strength.

                    The Savior’s suffering and his sacrifice are usually spoken of as the Atonement. Surely his entire divine ministry was part of it. In the Creation he prepared the earth for man’s habitation and then made possible the Fall. He governed the earth and sent the sweet whispering of his Holy Spirit to guide the earth’s inhabitants away from sin. He lived a perfect mortal life so that he could suffer for us. He sacrificed the opportunity to minister in the flesh indefinitely and thus made possible our living again. He intercedes for us and bestows the blessings of the Father upon all of us.

                    The Savior submitted himself as a little child unto his Father, descending into depths of humility to do his Father’s will. He descended below all things on earth that he might rise above and become Lord and Savior of all. He descended to take upon himself the sins of mankind though he personally had no sin. He descended into death, that he might triumph in the resurrection of all. For Adam, the way up was first down. Even so for our Savior.

        Our Mortality

                    You and I are born into this world having forgotten everything. We struggle to activate and to control our new tabernacle of flesh and bone. As we begin to grow, the consequences of mortality begin to appear. Though he cannot tempt us as children, Satan can begin to exact his toll even before we are born. His power of disease can afflict us in our mother’s womb. Disease, accident, and death can track us relentlessly each day of our lives, taking what toll they can, until we reach the grave. Though we need to understand these powers which afflict us, we need not fear them. They may destroy our tabernacle of flesh, but the tabernacle is not “us.” It is expendable.

                    Our spirit is not expendable. Knowing this, the adversary pursues it vigorously. He uses accountable humans who are under his influence already to affect even the youngest of us. The proper heritage of a newborn child is to be enveloped in the protective strength  and warmth of parents’ arms and to feel the compassion of their Christlike love. Anything less than this fosters fearfulness and uncertainty to the degree which it departs from that proper heritage. Parents or other attendants who have not yet remade their own character in the image of the Savior cannot help but begin the process of emotional harm to the infant.

                    Harm is the heritage of most children. The effects of the Fall are with each one. As harmful influences accumulate with time, each of us learns about and finally commits sin. By sinning, we fully reap the spiritual death of the Fall and its consequences.

                    But our heritage also includes an opportunity to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ before we are judged. It tells us that we all are children of God, precious to God. We learn that we can become righteous by putting our trust in Jesus Christ. If we hunger to become righteous, put our trust in the Savior, replace sin with obedience, make the covenant of baptism, receive the Holy Ghost as our companion and guide, and endure to the end, we are promised that we shall live again spiritually with our Father and Mother.

                    This message is attested in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. We hear the testimony of men, but we have better evidence for its truthfulness through the Spirit. We are not condemned for needing assurance, but are encouraged to try this new way of thinking and acting. As we begin to exercise but a particle of faith, the blessings and evidences flood upon us. Building on them with righteousness, we soon find ourselves built upon a rock. We know that this is the way of God, for we feel the love of righteousness swell within us.

                    We cannot partake of this grand design, however, if we are proud. If we claim that we have no sin or that we need no instruction, we remain subject to this world. But if we become humble, pleading for help from our Heavenly Father, help will abound. We may need to renounce much that we once thought good. We will need to admit that we have sinned. As we reject the ways and ideas of the world, we are caught into a newness of life that brings us new ideas, hopes, sentiments, countenance, and strength of mind, body, and spirit. We begin to acquire that divine character which we were sent here to forge.

                    And forge we must. We must be tempered on the anvil. As the blows of temptation, persecution, ridicule, illness, deprivation, and sorrow rain upon us, and as we bear each patiently, we are tempered and molded in the divine pattern. We know that no blow or force can separate us from the love of God. The Holy Spirit quietly assures us that all things work to the good of those who love the Lord and our own experience proves that to be so.

                    And thus the pattern is complete. The way to ascend is first to descend into humility to do the Father’s will; then he can and will lift us up. Adam and Eve brought about the Fall from their comfortable paradise so that the Father’s plan could begin. They humbled themselves after the Fall to do God’s will, and thus were redeemed from the Fall. Our Savior subjected himself to our Father’s will from the beginning, and through humility he enabled the Father to exalt him and thus made possible our exaltation. It remains for each of us to also do the Savior’s will in humility. Then the Father’s plan to bless each of us will be fulfilled because we each went down to go up.

        Posted in Ensign, Fall of Adam | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

        Spiritual Factors and Human Learning

        Posted on December 1, 2024 by Admin

                    The purpose of this essay is to consider human learning in an LDS frame of reference. We begin with a review of the essential theology.

        I. Why we are here.

                    Every human being is born into this mortality because he or she was a faithful child of God in the pre-mortal existence. Each is born to receive a full opportunity to become as God is. To become as God is to learn to love our Father with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength, for that is what he does for us.

        II. How we must love.

        First we must learn to love our Father with our minds. To do so we must seek diligently to know and understand his mind and will. We find them in the holy scriptures, in the words of his holy prophets, in the promptings of our own conscience. Having found his mind and will we must begin to think, to believe, and to will, as God does. This obedience brings understanding of God’s mind and will and of the creations of his hand. Thus does man learn to have a firm mind in every form of godliness, which is to love the Lord with all of our minds.

        We must learn to love our Father with our hearts. To do this we must learn to love righteousness as he does. Righteousness is to relieve the sufferings of other persons in the way which will best help them to become as God is. That is what our God does. He is a god of righteousness. His heart reaches out in selfless concern to every other being in the universe. By accepting the Gospel of Jesus Christ and its ordinances, we too can learn to love purely, selflessly, fully. We learn how to do this from our Savior, who is for us the fountain of all righteousness. Through faith in him we may learn to feel pure love for all others and to know and to choose the path of righteousness. In this faithfulness, our esteem, our worship, our reverence for our God grows into a fullness of love. Thus may we learn to love the Lord with all of our hearts.

        We must learn to love our Father with our strength. Our physical body is our strength. As we discipline it to eat, to sleep, to cleanse, to dress, to work, to struggle, to endure as god does, our strength grows. He would have us develop our skills until we are excellent, as He is, in every thing we do. He would have us guard in purity and chastity that special strength we share from him, the power to beget children. We will live as faithful husbands and wives to conceive, to bear, and to nurture the precious souls sent to us by God. Thus may we learn to love the Lord with all of our strength.

                    We must learn to love our Father with all of our might. We will use our influence upon those around us to promote God’s order, decency, and happiness among men. We will use our time to bind up the hurt of the wounded. We will use our substance to create opportunity for our fellow beings to become as rich as we are. We will use our property to create beauty, productivity, orderliness and sanctuary. All of this we will do as the Lord guides our mind, our heart, and our strength. We do this to create celestial order in whatever environment we find ourselves, a heaven on earth to add to our God’s glory. Thus may we learn to love the Lord with all of our might.

        III. The way to love.

        The means by which we learn to love our God with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength, is the law and ordinances of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The law is to put our whole faith and trust in the merits of our Savior, looking to nothing and no one else to become as the Father is. He is mighty to save. He will teach us to love the Father, perfectly, as he does, if we can but learn to make our mind’s eye single to his glory. As we put our whole faith and trust in him, he teaches us how to repent, how to turn away from everything that is worldly and ungodly to the way of godliness.

                    The way of godliness is entered only by taking upon us the blood of his atonement. We do this in baptism, that he might take away those sins which encumber our heart, might, mind and strength, and keep us from loving purely. He bestows upon us the right to the constant companionship of his Holy Spirit, that this unseen messenger might teach us the way of godliness in all things. He commends to us that we endure to the end, until we are full of truth, purity, power, and love, even as he his. The path to that end leads through the temple. He is the way, the truth, and the life.

        IV. The way to learn.

        Armed with the law and with the saving ordinances of the Restored Gospel, we learn from the Savior all that pertains to purity and godliness of heart, might, mind and strength. Lest we be ensnared and diverted from our goal, we need to be fully aware that Satan, the adversary, has prepared a counterfeit for every good gift of God. The counterfeit in the area of learning should be fully understood by all who would love the Lord.

                    The Lord’s learning process has two dimensions, a horizontal one and a vertical one. The horizontal mode of learning is the opportunity to learn from our fellowmen. God sends good men and

        women to us to teach us language in order that we may think, communicate, and learn the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He sends us scriptures which are the recorded testimonies of godly persons who would share with us what they have learned from God. He sends us living prophets to warn us of the folly of unrighteousness and to invite us to follow in the way of Christ. He sends us priests to administer the ordinances of salvation. In the mouths of two or more human witnesses, the Lord teaches us of faith and power.

                    This horizontal mode is important and necessary, but it is preliminary to a greater mode of knowing, which is the vertical mode. Vertical learning is to learn directly, for ourselves, not through the witness of other human beings. It is to learn by personal revelation from the Holy Spirit, from angelic messengers, from God himself. It is to learn directly about nature as we observe it carefully and as the Holy Spirit reveals to us the handiwork of God. Vertical learning is spiritual learning. Without it, horizontal learning could never come to full fruition. By this vertical learning we come to know from God that the gospel, the church, the scriptures, the living prophets, the holy ordinances, and all of nature truly are from him. By it we learn to understand all of these things. Only through it can we exercise full faith in Jesus Christ and live by the law and the ordinances of the Gospel. As the spirit of man is the life of the physical tabernacle, so the spiritual, vertical learning from God is the life of the horizontal learning we receive from the good men and women around us. Both are necessary to a fullness of learning, just as both spirit and body are necessary to a fullness of life.

                    Satan’s counterfeit of the Lord’s horizontal learning is lies, half-truths, degraded values, and inferior skills as taught by men and women who do not know the Lord. Not knowing the Lord, they are shut up unto error and misery. Whether this is a deliberate rejection of God or not, the result is the same: damnation and unhappiness instead of progress and peace, pleasure as a paltry substitute for joy.

                    Men who know not God fill the world with words of opinion. Even with the best of intentions they distort history, create dubious science, prescribe dreadful remedies and reign with blood and terror. These lies inflicted upon mankind are called by the scriptures the chains of hell. As men believe these false ideas, their ability to love God and each other is fatally impaired, even should they desire to do what they think is good. That fatally impaired love is the central theme of the history and current events of human society from the beginning until the present moment. He who would escape from those chains can do so fully only by repentance and by taking upon himself the power of the law and the ordinances of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. Then godly vertical learning will enable him to separate truth from error, right from wrong, aptness from ineptness, and godly dominion from satanic dominion. Only thus can he serve God with all of his heart, might, mind, and strength.

                    Satan’s counterfeit has its spiritual dimension also. His form of vertical learning is to give personal revelation to every human who is accountable. He has permission to tempt each accountable person. His temptations take three main forms. The first is the temptation of the flesh, to take physical pleasure in a way and time and place that God does not authorize. The second is the temptation to power, to use one’s stewardship to force the obedience and service of other human beings for one’s own benefit. The third is the temptation to glory in man and self, to set oneself up as a light unto the world rather than to give the glory to God. In each of these temptations, Satan’s success rests on a single thread. We are tempted only as Satan touches what we already desire. The force of Satan’s revelations and temptations is to encourage each of us to fulfill our own desires rather than to seek the will of him who is righteous. The only cure for succumbing to our own lusts as encouraged by Satan is to repent through the law and ordinances of the Restored Gospel. We then will say: “Lord, not my will, but thine be done.” If we then do the Lord’s will, that is salvation.

                    These two necessary kinds of learning, horizontal and vertical, each with its Satanic counterfeit, create four possible kinds of human beings in the possible combinations. Those who use godly vertical learning to learn horizontally from godly men and women are the children of God, heirs to the celestial kingdom. Those who are responsive to God spiritually in the vertical dimension but who subscribe to the lies of evil men and women horizontally are the honorable men of the earth who are blinded by the craftiness of men and are terrestrial. Those whose vertical learning comes from Satan and whose horizontal learning comes from evil men and women are yet natural; they are carnal, sensual, and devilish, and are telestial. Those of a satanic vertical learning who profess the words and doctrines of good men and women on the horizontal level but do great evil are the hypocrites who have a form of godliness but deny the power thereof, and are perdition.

        V. Public Knowledge, Private Learning.

        Public knowledge is what is transmitted among humans by way of horizontal learning. It has three overlapping levels which correspond to the societal groupings of a culture. First is family learning. Here we learn language, religion, values, beliefs, skills, manners, culture, hygiene, discipline, etc. Second is societal learning. We learn in our public schools and through the media about history, politics, economics, science, etc. Third is the expert or occupational learning gained in universities or on-the-job training in which we learn to earn our living as professional persons, craftsmen, laborers, businessmen, etc. The public knowledge we learn in each of the social settings becomes the bases of all our communications and cooperation with others in that area, and thus the basis of the success we have in the social ventures of our life. In each level there are sanctions which reward the individual for conformity and punish him for non-conformity. A stress on public knowledge and horizontal learning is a stabilizing pressure. It tends to establish the status quo. Some public knowledge is good in that it enables civilization to be sustained from one generation to the next. But at the same time, that same public knowledge transmits falsehood, inefficiencies, and gross incivilities from generation to generation. The factor of prime importance in public knowledge is the goodness or evilness of the persons from whom one learns.

                    If the men and women we learn from are men and women who know and worship the true and living God, we are blessed indeed. For then we will learn rapidly and easily in their love many good things essential for us to know. The most essential thing which they will teach us is the reality and absolute necessity of vertical learning from God himself.

                    Should we be less fortunate and be born and raised among men and women who themselves have no vertical learning from God, we are in trouble indeed. We can then only stumble and grope in the darkness, hoping for light. But God is good. Before it is too late he sends to every human being messengers who horizontally teach him or her of light before the final judgment. They witness of the truth and reality of vertical learning from the true and living God. All who accept and live by this message partake of the law and the ordinances of the Restored Gospel, which empowers them to have a fullness of vertical learning from God. Having that vertical learning, they then can separate truth from error in all the horizontal learning and public knowledge of mankind, treasuring out all that is virtuous, lovely, of good report, or praiseworthy.

                    It is noteworthy that there is no such thing as public learning. All learning is private. Learning is change of one’s nature in response to experience; it is change of heart, might, mind and strength. All horizontal learning is done by individuals, each with his own way, rate, and result. All vertical learning is private learning from unique personal experiences. All learning is a personal, individual adaptation to the horizontal and vertical learning opportunities one has.

                    Private learning and private knowledge are the source of all creativity, of progress, of change. They are the revolutionary force in human learning. They flower in the task of problem solving. They are that precious part of human knowing which can never be taught horizontally but must be learned by everyone who will be successful in this world.

                     All public knowledge is but private learning which has gained social acceptance through being communicated. The great problem is to separate good from bad, which can be done only by people who can accurately separate godly vertical learning from satanic vertical learning. The progress or decline of a civilization is measured by its private learning, not by its public knowledge. That private learning is measured by the vertical learning pattern chosen by the people.

                    An example will help to clarify the relative value of public knowledge versus private knowledge, horizontal learning versus vertical learning. Let us use the topic of nutrition. Most persons acquire their basic eating patterns from their family. In school they are taught about the basic food groups and other ideas. If they are relatively healthy, the matter usually rests there. If they become ill, they probably will go to an expert who may attempt to teach them different eating habits. So far they are operating entirely in the realm of public knowledge, horizontally learned. Should they now turn to the Lord for guidance in all that they eat and should they become careful observers of how what they eat affects them, they may develop new eating habits through vertical learning. These new habits will solve their health problems much better than public knowledge ever did. That is because they have left the realm of averages and types which is the realm of the best human public knowledge. They have another source, the Lord Jesus Christ, who not only knows all about human body chemistry and physiology, but who also knows all of the particulars of the genetic and somatic peculiarities of each individual. He thus can give every person perfect advice for his own personal situation. All who follow that advice will have the health needed to fill their mission. Otherwise, they have no such guarantee. But they must be careful not to suppose that they can then impose their private learning about their own nutrition on anyone else. If they are to help anyone else with their nutrition, they will send them to the Savior to try to receive their own personal vertical instruction.

        VI. Conclusions for learning.

        Horizontal learning is the learning of continuity and steadiness in a civilization. In the hands of good people, it transmits all that is good to the next generation. In the hands of evil people, it becomes the means of enforcing oppression and slavery on a population. But no human tyrant can keep any man from some vertical learning from God, no matter how great his power. That vestige of truth and light, that light of Christ, will some day become the Holy Spirit as the Restored Gospel comes through good horizontal learning to the souls who cherish that vestige. Only in the law and ordinances of the Restored Gospel do men become free to learn the truth of all they need to know.

                    Vertical learning is the learning of progress, of creativity, of revolution. If it is of Satan, it creates revolution for tyranny, control, and degradation. If it is of the Lord, it creates revolution for freedom, beauty, holiness, and practicality. The work of the Lord Jesus Christ is to foment a revolution of vertical learning which will by peaceable and honorable means bring the light of truth and hope to every human being and establish a celestial kingdom here and now. That revolution is the revelation as to how one can love the Lord with all of one’s heart, might, mind, and strength. Repentance is the great revolution for human learning.

        Posted in Essay, Heart, HMMS, Mind | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

        The Socrates Principle

        Posted on November 30, 2024 by Admin

                    This paper is intended to be the elaboration of an idea which had a prominent place in ancient philosophy though it apparently has had few adherents. This idea we shall call the Socrates Principle. It is the hypothesis that no man is, of himself, wise.

                    The elaboration must begin with definitions. We take “man” to mean any human being. We define “wisdom” to be the ability to designate in advance the best course of action to pursue in any practical decision situation in which any human being finds himself or herself. We further stipulate:  1) that this wisdom must use only human resources, individual or collective;  2) that the designation must be a specific selection of an identifiable course of action which is readily differentiated from the alternatives available in the situation;  3) that “best course of action” means a decision which is rationally sure at the time the decision is made;  4) that there is a long-term vindication of the correctness of that decision in the experience of the decision maker, and 5) that a specific criterion of “best” is used, using a criterion other than that of “anything.”

                    Those definitions and stipulations give specific meaning to the principle that no man is wise. They also decrease the difficult of demonstrating the rational certitude of the principle. They are an attempt to lay out the conditions which must obtain for any person to take seriously a rational, ethical stance. If the Socrates principle holds, there can be no such thing as a defensible, rational, ethical system. Let us now examine the stipulations more closely.

                    Limiting human wisdom to human resources is simply to place the problem of being wise squarely in the lap of every responsible, thinking person. To act intelligently is to act with some result, some good in mind. To act wisely is to act to attain that goal. Every act either brings one measurably closer to that goal or not. Since for most persons the only resources they acknowledge are human resources, this stipulation is simply a means of highlighting the issue.

                    Stipulating that wisdom be the designation of a specific action among identifiable alternatives is the attempt to reduce ambiguity. It puts behavioral if not measurable limitations as to what may count as a choice. This facilitates description which facilitates the historicity of the before and after aspects of the choosing—acting–resulting sequence of events.

                    To insist that the action chosen be rationally justified is the need to make room for an ethical stance. If that stance does not guide specific action, it is not an ethical stance. If one’s choice derives from his ethical position and is justified on the basis of the ethical position, then we have the possibility of an empirical validation of the ethical position.

                    The requirement of long-term vindication of the decision is the requirement of empirical validation. The decision either brings one measurably closer to attaining one’s goal or it does not. The length of time which must pass for the results to be construed as long-term is arbitrary, but surely has the lower limit of allowing one to compare one choice with another as to their goal-gaining efficacy. What counts as empirical we will specify as observable and repeatable within the observer’s personal experience. The wider and more usual requirement of interpersonal agreement, which is usual in science, we shall exclude on the ground that ethics would then be reduced to science. There seems to be value in allowing an individual to judge the efficacy of his own decisions since he is the recipient of the consequences of all of his personal choices.

                    The final stipulation of a goal which is specific is the attempt to differentiate ethics from epistemology. Rather than bring a record of any and all experience, the ethical experience is thus by definition instrumental, the means or not, to some identifiable end or goal.

                    In the hope that the preceeding remarks have made the hypothesis we are scrutinizing sufficiently clear, we now proceed to the demonstration of the hypothesis.

                    The demonstration will focus on the requirement that a given decision must be rationally justified as the best decision to make in a given circumstance. It proceeds by pointing out that in good Heraclitan terms one can never encounter exactly the same decision situation twice. Because every human decision situation is unique, we cannot use induction to steady our decision making. To know that a given decision is best in advance we must see that: 

        1) it is rationally justified by the ethical system one uses as a guide to action; 
        2) it clearly will be efficacious in bringing one closer to attainment of the goal sought;  and
        3) it is clearly superior to every other choice which could be made as a means to that goal seen in the frame of the person’s ethical system or of any other ethical system.

        Let us now examine those three requirements in greater depth.

                    The requirement that the decision must be rationally justified in one’s ethical system is to note first that one must use some ethical system in the attempt to be wise, otherwise there is no meaning to the word wise. It is also to note that there must be a sequence of logical thought which makes the choice meet a criterion of permissibility or desirability within the ethical system. This will usually be of the nature of a general statement of what is good or desirable in the system as a universal under which the choice in question is subsumed either as an instance of the universal or an instrumentality by which to attain an instance of the universal.

                    To require that the choice will be efficacious in bringing one closer to one’s goal is the need to know what works and what doesn’t work in the world. It is almost the requirement of omniscience, but is saved from that need by the act that one can have good ground for expecting something to work, to be instrumental, without having to know everything that works.

                    In the third requirement, however, there is no escape from the necessity of omniscience. To know that a choice is best is to foresee that not only is the choice efficacious, but also that it is being compared with all other possible efficacious choices in longitudinal strategies as well as in immediate tactics. To use the analogy of chess, the choice is vindicated as best only if it is a possible move which maximizes one’s chance of winning among all possible move and sequence-of-move choices.

                    The proof of the hypothesis that no man is wise rests squarely upon the proposition that no man is omniscient, which omniscience is the precondition for being able to make the best choice of action, among all possible actions among all possible strategies of action in the known contingencies of a virtually infinite universe.

                    Assuming that the hypothesis that no man is wise is now proven, we now proceed to explicate some of the consequences which ensue from the truth of that proposition.

                    Corollary 1. A person may come closer to wisdom, as the following factors increasingly obtain, singly or in concert.

                    a. The more he knows about the universe, both its usual operations and the specific state variables at any given moment, the wiser he can become.

                    b. The more he understands his own potential courses of action, the wiser he can become.

                    c. The fewer are the variables with which he has to deal (the more controlled the situation is), the wiser he can become.

                    d. The more powerful his ethical system is in helping him to make practical decisions and correct instrumental decisions, the wiser he can become.

                    But to be wiser is not necessarily to be wise.

                    Corollary 2. If a man cannot be wise, that is also saying he cannot be moral. His ethical system may enable him to desire to be moral, but if his system cannot deliver sure justified moral decisions in advance, any adherent of the system can never in that system be a moral person. Moral in this sense is equivalent to being wise.

                    Corollary 3. Every imposition of one man’s will upon another against that second person’s will is an unjustified  ego-trip. If no man is wise or moral, what justification is there for forcing one’s will upon another? All such force is unwise and immoral. That puts nearly all human social systems into the shambles of self-serving hypocrisy.

        Posted in Essay, Philosophy | Tagged , , | Leave a comment