Chauncey R. Riddle
Preliminary draft
14 January 1983
Table of Contents
Part I Introduction
Part II Models of the Nature and Action of Gods and Man
Part III Religion
Part IV Education and Communication
Part V The Conversion Model
Part VI The Kingdom of God
Part VII Proselyting
Part VIII Obstacles to Conversion
Part IX Summary
Part I: Introduction
The purpose of this work is to construct a model of the religious conversion of human beings in a frame of thought which arises from the scriptures of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is intended that this model should be sufficiently detailed that it will provide many practical hypotheses which are susceptible of empirical validation or refutation. It is here assumed that conversion is a real process in a real world, and that intelligence applied to the process can make a significant difference in the efficacy and efficiency of any proselyting program.
Of necessity, such a model must be built within a context of an understanding of the reality of God, man, nature, and their dynamic interactions, which understanding must be at least as detailed as the model. That is a way of saying that this model must be true in-detail and be based on truth to be valuable. Since truth is primarily the domain of the gods and their prophets, a careful attempt is made here to interpret and construct only in accord with the mind and will of our God. Needless to say, the assertions made here will conflict with the received opinions of the world. But it is hoped that thoughtful Latter-day Saints, servants of Jesus Christ, will read it with interest and profit and perhaps add their own increments of light and truth where it is lacking, that all of us who pray day and night for Zion to come again upon the earth may be one step closer to seeing eye-to-eye.
A final reality important to note in this introduction is that you, the reader, are entering into a personal conversation with me, the writer. This writing is undertaken as a gift of my esteem for you, whoever you are. It is my hope to write truly, but I know that I can only express my heart and my mind. You will read this with your heart and mind and thus, in the process, will judge my heart and mind and my love for you. I have two regrets already. One, that I am sure my model is not final or definitive, for my heart and mind are not yet what they could be. I have learned so much in the last year, and especially in the last month, that while I exult in the goodness of our God, I have a sense of the greater treasures that lie yet beyond the veil. Secondly, I regret that I probably will not learn from you those things which you clearly see which I do not yet see, this because of the difficulties and proprieties of communication. But if you and I serve God so that His purposes prevail, all of our regrets are swallowed in His love.
(Because this is yet a preliminary draft, much of it is written in outline form to expedite (1) exposure of the ideas, and (2) your opportunity to skip over parts which might not interest you.)
Part II: Models of the Nature and Action of Gods and Men
A. A god is:
1. An independent being (self-existing).
2. An intelligent being (makes choices which are not externally controlled).
3. A righteous being (righteousness: acting only for the welfare of others).
4. A holy being (wholly dedicated to the work of righteousness).
5. A possessor of a body (having a personal material nature through which to work).
6. A gendered being (male and female).
7. A social being (dwells with and works with other gods and other intelligent beings).
8. An omniscient being (knows and understands everything, everywhere, past, present and future).
9. An omnipotent being (having power to do anything that can be done).
10. A united being (acts in perfect harmony with every other god).
11. A family being (has a father and a mother).
12. An obedient being (does only that which his father tells him to do).
13. A permanent being (not subject to dissolution, death or retrogression).
B. A God is:
1. A god who is a father to another being.
2. A group of gods who preside over other beings.
C. There are two kinds of gods:
1. Those who have only spirit bodies.
2. Those who have also bodies of flesh and bone (male and female), who beget children.
D. Man is:
1. An independent being (self-existing).
2. An intelligent being (able to make choices which are not externally controlled).
3. A spirit being (begotten in a spirit body by the gods).
4. A physical being (begotten in flesh and bone by the gods)
5. A temporary being (subject to change: death, progression, or retrogression).
6. A being presided over by a God (the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost).
E. The natural man (fallen man) is:
1. A man who knows not or who has rejected his God.
2. Subject to a pretended god (Satan) who:
a. Fills his mind with lies.
b. Entices him to do his or her own will if that choice opposes God’s will.
c. Brings distress and disease upon him.
d. Brings death upon him.
3. Touched by the light of Christ (which guides him to know the best of his options of choice).
F. The first man and woman, Adam and Eve:
1. Were created by God to populate this earth and to work out their own probation.
2. Were created spiritually alive (the sensory organs of their spirit bodies were fully functional to perceive spirit beings).
3. Were placed in a paradisiacal (terrestrial) environment which also contained Satan.
4. Were free agents in one thing: to partake, or not, of the forbidden fruit.
5. They partook of the forbidden fruit, which resulted in their becoming natural, involving:
a. Immediate spiritual death.
b. Change of their environment from a terrestrial to a telestial state.
c. Satan gaining power over them (See E 2, above).
6. Their becoming natural gave them the opportunity to have mortal children, who are all born innocent but also spiritually dead.
7. As God does (sooner or later) for all natural men, He gave Adam and Eve the Gospel of Jesus Christ that they might regain their spiritual life.
8. They accepted and lived the Gospel to the end and were restored to Eternal Life.
G. The essential parts of every man are:
1. His mind, which is part of his spiritual body and which allows him to:
a. Perceive his natural surroundings.
b. Conceive of possible understandings of himself and his surroundings.
c. Conceive of possible objects of desire and possible means by which to attain those desires.
d. Receive falsehoods and misunderstandings from Satan. Receive the light of Christ and the Holy Spirit.
e. Communicate with other men and other beings.
2. His heart, which is part of his spirit body and which allows him to:
a. Entertain the desires and emotions of his own flesh (intensified by Satan).
b. Entertain the directions and emotions of the light of Christ and/or the Holy Spirit (the influence of God).
c. Choose whether to seek the desires of his flesh, or to follow the influence of God.
d. Select a means by which to try to attain a particular choice.
3. His strength, which is the powers of his physical body, including:
a. His muscle power by which to transport and dispose himself and to alter his environment.
b. His brain, which enables him to learn physical skills.
c. His memory, which records all of his feelings, understandings, decisions, and actions.
d. His powers of procreation, by which to beget children.
e. His power of speech and other forms of communication.
4. His might, which includes all of his influence in the world which is past the surface of his physical body, including:
a. His influence on other people through communication.
b. The accumulation of his physical efforts in time and space, the fruit of his skills (wealth).
c. His influence on the physical world, especially including that impact he makes through tools, machines, devices.
d. His influence on the world through supernatural (priesthood) power, be it good or evil.
H. Every man acts in this world in the following pattern:
1. His mind perceives the physical (and sometimes spiritual) environment of his own body and the state and relationship of his body relative to that perceived environment.
2. His mind understands something of the potentials of what he perceives for satisfying his desires (positively and/or negatively).
3. His mind conceives of many courses of action, things he might choose to do in and to his environment.
4. The light of Christ (his conscience), if he still has it, shows him a best goal to seek and one or more good means to that goal for his given environment.
5. The power of Satan tells him to seek what he, the chooser, personally desires rather than to do what he feels is best, and may enlarge to his mind evil goals and means to these goals which he, the chooser, has not hitherto considered.
6. If the chooser chooses what is best (goal and means), he acts as a little child does, simply and delightedly choosing what is obviously good to do. So choosing, the implementation is direct and always a good learning experience even if the means fails to attain the goal.
7. If the chooser chooses to accede to his own personal desires (which choice is abetted and commended by Satan) in opposition to his feeling as to what is best, he will be bothered by going against his conscience. He then may consider the matter further, arguing with his conscience, rationalizing “good” reasons for acceding to his personal desires (the flesh). This continues until his mind is cloudy, cluttered with many reasons and options, so that which is best is no longer plain. At that point, what he personally desires has no real rival, so he proceeds to implement his plan to fulfill his own desire, thinking to himself that it remains the only reasonable thing to do.
8. If enough choices against conscience are made by a person, his conscience becomes seared, and bothers him less. But it almost never gives up completely; its influence remains to remind the person that he is not doing the best he knows. Recognition of that contrariness brings a self-torment, divides the person, to cause him to struggle against himself, and may result in “neurosis”, “psychosis” or “psychosomatic” illness.
9. As a person chooses, repeated choices form habits. Habits make it possible for choice of goals, choice of means, and skills of implementation to be mastered so well that reactions to an environment can become almost instantaneous and without conscious thought. Every habit has been established in connection with choices. “Accountability” is to be old enough and mature enough to have an even opportunity to choose between conscience and the flesh (Satan) in a new area of choice and action.
10. Novel choices cannot be made by habit. Ordinary situations reveal a person’s habits. It is often the case that extraordinary situations allow a person little choice.
Part III: Religion
A. Personal religion. Personal religion is the habits a person has acquired for making and executing choices. A person’s personal religion and his character are identical. The more habits one has, the more even novel situations are reacted to by habitual choice patterns. The four basic areas of habit are:
- The habits of mind:
a. The concept patterns with which one perceives and conceives the world, especially one’s concepts of self, man, and God.
b. The understanding one has of the interactions and interrelationships of the things one perceives and conceives to exist.
c. The possible goals one conceives relative to given perceived environments.
d. The possible means to possible goals one conceives relative to given perceived environment.
e. The mental skills one uses in thinking.
2. The habits of heart:
a. The esteem or value and emotions one has relative to things he perceives and conceives.
b. The habit of preferring conscience over the flesh or vice versa in a typical choosing opportunity.
c. The habit pattern one employs to confuse choosing situation when one does not choose to follow conscience.
3. The habits of body:
a. Habits of hygiene, nourishment, posture, sleeping, etc.
b. Habits of speaking, communicating, manners.
c. Habits of pleasure seeking.
d. Work habits.
e. Physical skills mastered.
f. Habits of pain seeking/avoidance/suffering.
4. The patterns of might:
A person’s habits of mind, heart, and body are reflected in the patterns of his might, such as:
a. The happiness of his spouse and children and the order in their lives.
b. The range and character of his friends and cooperators.
c. The treasures which he does or does not lay up.
d. What he does with his surplus.
e. The order or disorder found in his home and personal property.
It is to be emphasized that every choosing, accountable human being has a religion. His own religion, his character is his primary stewardship (dominion) in this life.
B. Institutional Religion. Institutional religions are social organizations (groups of people) which act to influence the personal religion (personal habits) of themselves and/or other persons. There are always four basic elements or devices by which institutional religions attempt to influence individuals:
1. Leadership: Someone must direct the group functions and transmit that religion to the young.
2. Theology: A theology is an understanding of men, society, the universe: all things that exist. Central to every theology is a god. The god in every theology is the greatest good, the final decision-maker, the being most esteemed. A god is necessary in every theology so that there can be an ultimate arbiter of all decisions which must be made (practical decisions; many traditional theological issues are not related to practical decisions, which has tended to devalue theology in many people’s eyes). The name for theology in philosophy is “metaphysics;” in science it is “theory.”
3. Moral prescriptions: Moral directives are the do’s and don’ts for individual personal choice which the institution (the leader of the institution) enjoins upon its members. The moral directives are the “heart” of every religion. Theology is basically the rationale for the do’s and don’ts. If the moral directives change, the theology must change to properly rationalize that change. Institutional religions which fail to affect the conduct of individual members, which fail to gain obedience to the prescribed moral directives, are failures; they die.
4. Ritual: Rituals are the physical and social patterns of action which are constantly repeated to initiate and intensify habit patterns of thought, feeling, and action in the individual adherents of a religion. The staying power of a religion, which enables it to endure from one generation to the next, is in its rituals, not in its theology. The hoped for result of ritual is belief in the theology and conformance to the moral directives of the religion, though sometimes orthodoxy in theology is (unwisely) taken as a token of moral compliance.
C. Types of institutional religion. The three basic types of institutional religions are churches, cultures, and governments. (Every social organization has a religious purpose.) An example of each will be given:
1. Example of a church: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
a. Leadership: Our Church is an example of a social organization wherein the presiding authorities attempt to influence the choices of members and non-members by encouraging them to accept particular ritual observances and certain theological views ultimately to help them live godly lives. The older members try to influence the younger members in the same manner to the same end.
b. Theology: The LDS view of God and man (see Part II, above).
c. Moral prescriptions:
1) Of the heart: Love the Lord with all of one’s heart, might, mind, and strength and love one’s neighbor as oneself.
2) Of the mind: Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings and lean not to thine own understanding and He will lead thee in the paths of righteousness.
3) Of strength: Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord.
4) Of might: Thou shalt offer an acceptable offering unto the Lord: tithing, consecration, beneficence.
d. Rituals:
1) Private Rituals (worship):
a) Prayer: Speaking to our God very personally.
b) Scripture study: Seeking out an understanding of the Lord’s law and ways.
c) Meditation: Receiving the whisperings of the Holy Spirit and pondering upon them to achieve understanding and to discern the path of action before us.
d) Beneficence (alms): Searching out the poor (the hands that hang down, the feeble knees) and ministering to them according to the Lord’s instructions.
2) Public rituals (worship):
a) The ordinances of the priesthood.
b) Family prayer, family scripture reading, family home evening, family council.
c) Ward meetings, stake and general conferences.
d) Proselyting.
Note: It is plain that the strength of the LDS religion lies in the private rituals, for unless they are faithfully executed all else will be empty forms.
2. Example of a culture-type institutional religion: New York City Judaism.
(A culture is distinct from a church in that the culture has a widely dispersed, almost accidental leadership, whereas a church has a centralized hierarchy.)
a. Leadership: Basic leadership in cultural Judaism is provided by the mothers who instill in the young the fundamental values and habits of the religion. (The rule: a person is Jewish if his mother was Jewish.)
b. Theology:
1) No belief in the God of the Old Testament; human “intellect” has become god.
2) Veneration of Einstein, Freud and Marx.
3) Science as the key to knowledge.
4) Success in becoming intellectual, cultured and wealthy greatly valued.
5) Value placed in blood line.
c. Moral prescriptions:
1) Intellectual contribution to society is the greatest good.
2) Marry within the culture and blood.
3) Within the culture, share money, cooperate, but no usury.
4) Make lots of money, spend carefully.
5) Frankness, courage, persistence, aggressiveness, and problem solving are highly valued.
6) Lie if necessary.
7) Chastity less valued once a person leaves home, divorce looked down upon.
d. Ritual:
1) Private rituals:
a) Study (do well in school).
b) Think (figure out how to get what you want).
2) Public rituals:
a) Family discussion: setting of goals and values.
b) Bar Mitzvah (cash given by friends to a boy upon coming of age).
c) Weddings (very social occasions; expensive presents and cash given).
d) Hebrew school (special language training sets people apart).
3. Example of a Government institutional religion:
[Note: All governments tend to have an “established” religion because no government can endure which does not rest upon a common cultural tradition (religion). This is because not all matters can be legislated and there must be some cultural commonality for the success of matters which are legislated. The established religion in the United States of America originally was the Protestant cultural religion; that nation’s established religion today is the cultural religion of Humanism. This change was wrought in the main by gaining control of the school system (making it “public”) and then requiring compulsory attendance at the lower levels.]
Example of a government religion: Soviet Russia.
a. Leadership: The leadership in practical matters is provided by members of the Communist Party (which is a church within the government), who hold the principle offices in the government. Leadership in theoretical matters is provided by the university professors (the universities are another church within the government).
b. Theology (straight Humanism):
1) The leader of the government is the god. The intelligentsia are his priesthood.
2) There is no supernatural.
3) Science is the means to all knowledge; technology is the means to all accomplishment.
4) Man evolved from lower forms of life.
5) The group is more important than the individual.
c. Moral prescriptions:
1) Loyalty to the government (the collective) is the greatest good.
2) Traditional religions, especially churches, are to be stamped out.
3) Traditional “church” morality has no meaning. Lying, stealing, fornication are legitimate means by which to achieve the government’s goals.
d. Ritual:
1) Private rituals
a) Study of Communist theory.
b) Hard work to achieve the government’s goals.
2) Public rituals
a) Mass indoctrination (all media, schools, cultural events).
b) Parades featuring military power, giant pictures of leaders.
c) Graduation from universities and schools as an ordination to the approved state priesthood.
Part IV: Education and Communication
A. Education
1. Education is the process of acquiring a religion.
a. Acquiring habits of heart: Values
b. Acquiring habits of mind: Beliefs, thinking
c. Acquiring habits of body: Strength, skills
2. There is no education which does not involve values, beliefs, thinking patterns, and skills.
3. In all education the educator is communicating his values, beliefs, and thinking patterns to the young.
4. Therefore, there is no such thing as secular education. All education is religious education.
B. Communication
1. Communication is the process whereby one person influences the feelings, beliefs, and thinking patterns of another person.
2. Every person has a religion. A person’s religion is always the basis and is usually the substance of any communication he sends or receives (interpretations he makes).
3. Therefore, all communication is religious communication. There are no such things as objectivity, unbiasedness, neutrality, or pure information.
4. All educational processes are communication.
5. Communication is the basic public ritual of every institutional religion.
C. Schools
1. All schools are forms of institutional religion wherein either a cultural religion or the personal religions of the instructors are communicated to and enjoined upon the students by the teachers.
2. Ordinarily, schools are the second most powerful form of institutional ritual (the family communications are first, peer communication and media vie for third/fourth).
3. To control the religion of a people, those in power find it most effective to:
a. Destroy family communication as much as possible.
b. Have mandatory attendance at controlled schools.
c. Control the media communications.
d. Disallow non-government meetings.
The factor hardest for governments or other institutions to control is peer communication.
D. Training
1. Training is education which maximizes teacher control and minimizes student initiative in the acquisition of habits of mind, heart, and body.
2. Emphasis on training in education tends to destroy creativity unless there is a studied rewarding of student initiative.
3. Repressive religions (persons, churches, cultures, and governments) tend to emphasize training in education and tend to reward creativity negatively.
4. Repressive religions survive only as long as they have physical power superior to all rivals, for only then can they control the training of the young.
5. The most enduring institutional religions in free situations are the ones which successfully foster private (personal) ritual. This fostering is achieved only through training (public ritual).
Examples of institutional religions which have endured in politically free or adverse situations are Buddhism and Judaism.
Part V: The Conversion Model
A. Definition of Conversion. Conversion is the process wherein an individual person breaches his own present habit patterns by choosing to believe, feel, say, and do things differently than he previously has done, repeating those new choices until they are firmly established as new habit patterns. Another way of saying this is that the person by deliberate effort has reformed his own character. This change can be an improvement (to become more like our God), a degradation (to become more like Satan) or simply an exchange (one good or bad habit replaced by another good or bad habit).
1. Strength of character is the number and strength of one’s habits. A person of strong habits is said to do what he does “very religiously.” A person of strong character tends to shape his own environment (for good or evil), whereas a person of weak character (few and weak habits) tends to be controlled by his environment.
2. The counterfeit of conversion is conformity. Conformity is the acquiring and manifesting of outward habits of strength and might (body and stewardship) which are not the result of changes of mind and of heart. Conformity is resistive response to strong environmental pressure and thus will endure only as long as the environmental pressure is maintained. Conversion and conformity are easily distinguished if one can observe a person in a situation where that person feels free to do anything he desires to do with no human penalty attached. The Savior has told us to judge men by their fruits.
3. Persons most susceptible to environmental pressures are little children. Children naturally and easily acquire the habits of their parents. As they learn language they also learn values (how their parents feel about things), a theology (what the parents believe about the universe), habits of body (how they walk, talk, sit, dress, etc.), and patterns of might (order, disorder, etc.). When evil parents fix falsehood, bad emotional patterns, bad body and might patterns on their children, these are the “chains of hell.” Though Satan cannot tempt little children directly, he can impose the shackles of evil character on them very efficiently through evil parents.
Example: Parents who say “I will not impose religion upon my children. When they are of age they may choose for themselves.” are actually imposing their own personal religion, their feelings, ideas, words, and action patterns on their own children. They are teaching their children to dislike churches and to like iconoclasm, among other things.
4. Training is a means of gaining conformity in adults. It is effective to the degree which rewards and punishments are great and swift. In little children, training usually is accepted in mind and heart as well as body, since there are no previous habits of mind and heart to cause resistance.
B. Causation in conversion. Since true conversion must always be self-conversion of mind and heart, what causes conversion? The cause can never, by definition, be a factor of the person’s external environment. Crucial to this model is the following understanding:
1. The cause of conversion is always the uncovering of a latent desire within the heart of an individual. The desire has been latent because the individual did not previously understand that a certain option even existed, or, because he previously did not think it possible or wise to choose that option even though it was known and desired.
2. The occasion of conversion is always a new understanding of the world wherein a person perceives (learns of) a new option for choice and a means to implement that choice or simply a new and possible means to implement a choice previously desired.
Example: It always troubled the heart of Person X when a little child of his group was exposed to the elements to die; but he could not resist because this was the long established practice of his culture and was supported by seemingly incontrovertible reasoning. But upon hearing the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, he found new strength for his feeling that exposing children was wrong because he now had a new source of ideas, comfort, and revelation from God through the Holy Ghost, to help him to know how to implement a change within his own stewardship.
Note: The net result of this aspect of the model is that converts are discovered, never made. The process of uncovering latent hope and desire is to bring to people new options for believing, feeling, speaking, and acting.
C. Stages of conversion. Assuming the natural man as the reference stage, we may postulate both positive and negative changes from that level. The levels are arbitrary, for the range of conversion in life is a continuum, the increments of which are discernible changes of habit in mind, heart and strength and might. Change of mind may lag while changes of heart and strength progress, for instance. But the positing of typical stages can be convenient guide posts just as mile markers note the accumulation of many increments of distance on a highway.
1. The natural man is taken to be a person who alternates almost randomly between doing what he knows is best and what he personally desires to do. He exhibits benevolence or malice alternately.
2. Stages of positive conversion. These are the result of choices to yield to the divine influence in one’s life which enable one to respond to become more like God. Each one of these stages is a measuring point of the divine spiritual continuum which begins with the light of Christ, develops into the gift of the Holy Ghost and culminates in the open vision of the seer.
a. Conversion to morality. Change of the mind to accept the witness of one’s own conscience and thus to recognize that there is a right and a wrong discernable in most situations. That change must be accompanied by a change of the heart to prize the right, therefore to desire it and choose it consistently. This is taken to be the most important of all conversion steps for it is the instrumentality by which each succeeding positive step is taken. The necessary requisite for this change is to be honest in heart.
b. Conversion to social responsibility. Change of the mind to recognize the existence of God and the importance of acting to honor God and other men. Change of the heart to choose responsible action consistently is the prerequisite for this new level, which is to keep the standards of the Ten Commandments.
c. Conversion to The Church of Jesus Christ (of Latter-day Saints, in this dispensation). Change of the mind to recognize the authority of God in the priesthood authority of the Church. Change of the heart to prize and identify with the Church. Change of the body to keep the word of wisdom and become a participant in Church meetings and functions. To keep the Ten Commandments is the prerequisite to change to this stage of conversion.
d. Conversion to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Change of the mind to understand the Gospel pattern of faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost and endurance to the end as the pattern for making every decision in life. Change of the heart to rely alone upon the merits of Christ. Change of the body to give strength only to those causes which are good. This stage is marked by the adoption and daily practice of the private rituals (prayer, scripture study, meditation, beneficence) of the Savior’s religion. Conversion to the Church is prerequisite to conversion to the Gospel.
e. Conversion to godliness. The mind has changed to a rather complete understanding of the ways of God and of one’s own stewardship before him. The heart has changed to become pure, to have no selfish prizing of any kind. The body has changed to reflect the countenance and actions of the Savior because it has been renewed. The might has changed to become a little celestial kingdom.
3. Stages of negative conversion. These steps lead one from the state of the natural man to become more like Satan.
a. Conversion to immorality (selfishness). Changes from the vacillating of the natural man to a studied rejection of one’s conscience and all that is good (hardening of one’s heart) in favor of consistent choosing of one’s own personal desires.
b. Conversion to depravity. Change of mind and heart to study out means to take deliberate advantage of other people to fulfill one’s own personal desires.
c. Conversion to secret combinations. Change of strength and might to make league with other depraved and immoral persons to form social organizations to increase one’s own might in satisfying personal desires.
d. Conversion to Satanic priesthood. Change of mind to foster direct contact with Satan. Change of heart to do whatever evil thing Satan suggests. Receiving of strength and might from Satan, both natural and supernatural, to build an evil dominion.
e. Conversion to perdition. This final stage can be taken only by one who has previously been converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and who then deliberately rejects all that is divine as to heart, might, mind and strength. Such an one delivers himself knowingly and totally to become like Satan.
D. Conversion of the mind. To convert one’s own mind is to change one’s beliefs and one’s thinking processes (skills and practices in imagining real and imaginary structures and events). The following items are the important parameters of conversion of the mind.
1. One’s concept of himself is critical: Who he is, where he came from, what his potentials are, what he can and cannot change about himself and his environment; these are the most important concepts of the mind.
2. One’s concepts of other people is the important context factor relative to one’s concept of self.
3. The most important “other” person is one’s god (one’s greatest good). Everyone has one: his god is the person he finally defers to in making crucial decisions. This may be himself, another living human being, the true and living God, or Satan (there are no other possibilities, for a person’s god must communicate with him, answer his questions, to function as his god).
4. The understanding one has of the status, nature, and functioning of plants, animals, the earth, and the cosmos, is important.
5. The thinking habits of conceptualizing, separating reality from fantasy, categorizing, predicting, planning, creating, etc., are each an integral part of each person’s character and the habits that control them are subject to his own will.
6. The care and deliberateness with which a person perceives, conceives, and establishes his arrays of options for action is a matter of chosen habit (the manner of use of his thinking skills).
The following table suggests possible changes in the mind of man as he passes through the different stages of conversion:
E. Conversion of the heart: To convert one’s heart is to change what one prizes (one’s treasure). That change will result in change of what one chooses both as to ends and the means to those ends. The following items are important parameters of prizing and choosing.
1. The basic prizing is how one feels about the relative worth of one’s own feelings as to what he wishes to do (the desires of his own flesh supported by Satan’s encouragement) as opposed to his feelings as to what is right to do, what he ought to do in that situation (the influence of the light of Christ/the Holy Ghost as manifest in his own conscience).
2. Next is the prizing one does of other persons around him, as to whether he feels they are holy or not (actually or potentially); beings whom he should respect or not; beings whom he could (should) use as means for his own ends, or not.
3. The prizing of material objects and functions, possessing and using plants, animals, the earth, and the artifacts of man.
4. As the correct prizings take their place, feelings of pure love (charity), can and will grow in the heart both for God and for all of His creatures.
The following table suggests possible changes in the heart of man as he passes through the different stages of conversion:
F. Conversion of the physical body (strength). The body can be converted only as the mind and the heart are converted and control it. Important parameters of conversion of the body are:.
1. Change of habits of hygiene (especially cleanliness); eating habits, dress and grooming habits, sleeping habits, etc.
2. Change of habits such as to the ability to focus attention, to do sustained mental and physical labor.
3. Change of skill development in physical skills (walking, talking, foreign languages, athletic skills, work skills).
4. Change of physical strength and endurance.
The following table suggests possible changes in the strength (body actions) of man as he passes through the different stages of conversion:
G. Conversion of might. If a person’s (stewardship) dominion includes other persons, animals, plants, etc., he is responsible to train them. As a righteous steward he will train them in the skills necessary to become servants of the Lord (good communication skills, reverence, obedience, industry, cleanliness, etc.) and will encourage them to present their own hearts and minds to the Lord as a living sacrifice, that the Lord might then write His law in their minds and in their hearts. As a brother and son, he will exemplify in these stewardships all he teaches and will attempt to emulate the Savior in every way.
The conversion and/or consecration of a person’s might testifies of the conversion of the steward.
The following table suggests possible changes in the might of man as he passes through the different stages of conversion:
H. Factors that influence conversion. Though all conversion is a matter of deliberate choice, there are factors outside the heart and mind of the person which affect the choice options of the person and are therefore important to the conversion process. These factors operate to open and close options of choice in both good and evil directions.
1. Factors for good in conversion. This sequence is intended to proceed from weakest to strongest. These are factors outside the body of the individual which provide a second witness in addition to that of the divine influence felt internally in one’s conscience. The internal divine influence consists of the light of Christ and the gift of the Holy Ghost.
a. Nature. The order, symmetry, and beauty of nature are revealed to men by the light of Christ, in their conscience. Nature is part of the might of God and bespeaks His hand, mind, and heart. To open one’s mind and heart to recognize the hand of God in all things is one step towards accepting the divine influence of Christ in one’s life.
b. The words and deeds of godly men and women. Men and women who act morally provide an occasion for the conscience of the observer to register approval both of the act and of the spiritual influence which such people radiate at that moment. Acceptance of that approval of one’s conscience strengthens the power of conscience and makes it easier for the observer to follow conscience, to be moral himself.
c. The Holy Scriptures. Reading the scriptures provides an opportunity for the conscience to witness to the individual of the existence and goodness of God and of His way, the way of righteousness. Thus the mind may be better furnished with essential truth about all things and about the options for righteous action. When the scriptures have been altered by man, these truths and options are clouded or confused, causing men to stumble; but even such altered scriptures contain enough good for the influence of God to become stronger in the life of any reader who is converted to morality.
d. The words and deeds of living prophets and prophetesses. These are persons truly representing the true God because they are commissioned by Him and act under His guidance. Their words and deeds provide an exceptional occasion for the conscience of the individual to learn of the nature and ways of God and to feel His spiritual influence.
e. Angelic messengers. These persons are sent by God when a work is to be done that cannot be done by living prophets. Usually angels are sent to bestow instruction or power; but these can be received only by persons who are already converted to following the Lord. In exceptional cases, they are sent to over whelm the mind and heart of a person because he or she has hardened his heart (rejected his conscience) and has not accepted the living prophets (such as did Saul and Alma the Younger).
f. The appearance of God. There is no stronger witness or evidence of the truth or rightness of conscience than a visitation from God Himself. He appears to a man or woman to provide a strong influence to stabilize the mind and heart of a prophet (Moses, Joseph Smith), or to give a condemning witness to the ungodly (the Second Coming).
2. Factors for evil in conversion. This sequence again is intended to proceed from weakest to strongest. These are factors outside the body of the individual which provide a second impetus to evil in addition to the internal selfish desires as aided and intensified by revelation from Satan (which are collectively called the “lusts of the flesh”).
a. The words and deeds of natural men and women. These persons exhibit a vacillation and double-mindedness which strengthens the selfish urge in the beholder as the beholder sees the deeds and feels the spiritual influence of such persons.
b. The words and deeds of depraved and conspiring men and women. The steady, strong evil aura of these persons and the audacity of their evil words and deeds appeal to the fleshly desires of the person, strengthen the impetus to selfishness, and abets the temptation of Satan within individuals who observe them.
c. The writings of natural and depraved men and women. The satanic “scriptures” portray and commend falsehood and evil in an authoritative and forceful manner, an impetus which further abets the inclinations to selfishness and satanic action in the flesh of the observer. (Classic example: pornography.)
d. The words and deeds of the representatives of Satan’s priesthoods. These who practice priestcraft, often feigning righteousness, perpetrate and amplify evil and incite observers to evil in a powerful, pervasive way, enjoining the chains of hell upon all who will listen to them. They act for power, praise, and gain and offer to share power, praise and gain with those who will make league with them.
e. Demonic messengers. Evil spirits who come at the invitation of the living to do the bidding of Satan to furnish gifts and power to perpetuate evil. These cause fear and awe, cowing the will of those who are not strongly committed to following the divine influence, strengthening the selfish in their carnal desires (encouraging them to lift up their heads in wickedness).
f. The appearance of Satan. Apparently a suave gentleman, the master of deceit, the eternal champion of selfishness, lies, and perversion, who comes to use, then to cast off his admirers who have converted themselves to some degree of immorality (e.g., as he did with Korihor).
I. The key to conversion. The simple key to conversion, the change of one’s habits, is what one chooses to do when one has the alternative of heeding one’s conscience (the divine influence), or of heeding one’s selfish desires (the lusts of the flesh as aided and strengthened by Satan). To choose conscience consistently is to build character towards becoming like God. To choose one’s own desires (selfishness) is to build character towards becoming like Satan. The great and powerful truth in this matter is that no one is tempted by Satan or his own flesh except in and through his own desires. Whatever a person allows his heart to prize, he can and will be tempted by it. Whatever we prize or treasure ultimately controls us. The only prizing which will save a person from evil is to prize only the will of God (to have an eye single to the glory of God), which is the only way to give up selfishness. The narrow path to that end is to listen to one’s own conscience. If followed faithfully, every man’s conscience will lead him unfailingly to accept the influence of God in his life, step by step, until he can finally make that final glorious step wherein he not only says but actually does nothing but the Father’s will. Then truly he has reshaped his own character in the image of Jesus Christ. Another name for that reshaping is “repentance.”
J. Apostasy. Apostasy means to stand away from the group. Whenever an individual changes his personal religion to be more and more different from some (any) institutional religion, he is apostatizing from that institution. An individual cannot apostatize from his own personal religion for whatever he does is his religion. An individual can convert himself from one personal religion to another by forming new habits by using his power to prize and choose differently. But no person can ever escape from himself (from his own character, from his own religion).
K. The eternal consequence of conversion to godliness. Our character which is all of our habits of mind (memory), heart (desires), strength (purity) and might (dedication) is all we take with us through the veil of death, for we are our own personal religion. If our character has become godly during our probation, then we may claim in eternity all those special family relationships which have been dear to us in our probation and wherein we have sought permission that they might become eternal. That is done by seeking and receiving the requisite godly ordinances and then sealing these ordinances with the pure love of Christ.
Part VI: The Kingdom of God
The kingdom of God is the earthly dominion of our God. It includes 1) all of nature, 2) all human beings who are either not accountable (his little ones), or who are accountable and have converted themselves at least to the level of morality, 3) the handiwork created by those who are converted to morality (and which is yet in the stewardship of those who are converted to that stage), and 4) The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
A. Nature. Nature is clean, orderly, powerful, fruitful, and an ideal habitat for man’s probation. Through it God sends His rain on the just and on the unjust, giving the unjust space for repentance. But there is a difference: Nature obeys those who obey God, but is the master of those who defy God.
B. Human beings.
1. Those not accountable. Over the unborn, the young, the ill, and the demented, those who are accountable as stewards hold a godly power, and for the use of that power they are accountable to God. Evil men use that godly dominion to further their own selfish purposes, either to let live or to kill, to help to heal or to leave alone, whichever furthers their selfish purposes. This is what the scriptures call “offending” God’s little ones; unless there is repentance, such evil men can only dwell with Satan, here and hereafter. Godly men and women take special care for those little ones, shielding, nurturing and protecting them under God’s direction until God makes those little ones accountable or takes them into eternity.
2. Those who are accountable and are converted to morality. Every soul on the earth who is accountable receives a probation. No man is left entirely to Satan except at his own insistence. The power of God (the light of Christ) is with every man to give each the opportunity to turn to the light from darkness, to morality from selfishness. Every soul on earth who honestly abides his own conscience is an ally to and servant of God, thus an ally to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
C. The handiwork of honorable men and women. The human artifacts of the world, on all levels, are neither good nor bad in and of themselves, but are instruments to be used for good or ill by good or evil persons. But there is a difference between the handiwork of a good man and that of an evil man.
1. A good man crafts under the influence of the light of Christ. He therefore produces objects and instruments intended for good purposes (to help mankind) and he works to do well in his art, that his artifact may serve well and serve long in the use for which it is intended. The light of Christ urges him to excellence in both function and structure, substance and appearance. If appropriated by an evil man, the handiwork of the good man usually will serve the evil man better for his evil purposes than will the handiwork of an evil man. (A piano made by a good man will serve an evil man longer and better than one made by an evil man.)
2. An evil man crafts under the influence of the spirit of Satan, which means that he produces things with as little effort as possible, more for appearance than for quality, more for immediacy than for future reliability, and seeks a maximum reward for his effort. (The piano made by an evil man shines but has a poor sounding board, will not stay in tune, nor hold together long, either in the hands of a good or an evil man.) Only when he crafts an instrument of evil does an evil man work with sacrifice, care, and diligence for quality.
3. Anyone who works diligently with heart and mind and body to produce high quality artifacts for the peaceful and honorable uses of mankind serves God and builds the kingdom of God. Such persons may not be moral in some ways, but being moral in any way, such as producing honorable work, is an important step in the right direction. The work of such persons can belong to the kingdom of God even if they themselves are sufficiently immoral in another part of their lives that they do not belong to the kingdom of God.
D. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Though there are good men and women in many other churches who are part of the kingdom of God because they are moral persons, there is but one church organization on the earth at the present time which is part of the kingdom of God. The Church of Jesus Christ is those people who are converted far enough that they can be called “saints” or holy ones because they have wholly dedicated themselves to the work of Christ in the earth. They may not be perfect yet, but they are trying, having entered in at the gate. The gateway to this part of the kingdom is baptism, and anyone who wills not to be baptized when the opportunity is available so wills not to pass an impenetrable barrier to further steps of conversion. The essential aspects of the Church are its priesthood structure, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the ordinances, and church meetings.
1. The priesthood structure. The priesthood is the power and authority to represent God. It’s mission is to open succeeding and appropriate opportunities so that every human being may be able to choose to come unto God, to become as He is. The essential works of the priesthood are to teach, to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to judge the conversion of men, to administer the ordinances, and to organize the Church and conduct its affairs.
a. To teach. Teaching the Restored Gospel and all other truths important to the welfare of mankind is a priesthood function. Many outside the priesthood would pretend to this calling. Teaching is to be done only under the immediate direction of the Holy Spirit as to whom what is taught and when. This teaching takes place in the homes of the Saints, in the meetings of the Church, and in the missionary labors of every servant of God, and anywhere else that the work of God can be pursued.
b. To preach. To preach is to bind a witness, by divine commission, of the true and living God, of the Restored Gospel, and of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, upon those who will not willingly be taught about these things.
c. To judge. Judging is a priesthood function enjoined by God in order that ordinances and callings might be administered only to those persons for whom such could be a step forward. A person who is not converted to morality is not a proper candidate for baptism, though repentance can lift him successively to the stage of being converted to morality and then to social responsibility. After that if he can believe in Jesus Christ and receive a sufficient witness of the divinity of the priesthood authority of the Church, being baptized could take him a step forward. When he is truly converted to the Church, then receiving the offices of the priesthood could be a step forward. When he is truly converted to the Gospel, then receiving the temple ordinances could be a step forward. All these judgments must be made by men, holding the priesthood, but not as men. By the gifts of God they must render God’s judgment in each case.
d. To administer the ordinances. Ordinances are occasions of enlarging the mind, the strength, and the might of those who have godly hearts. As such persons thus gain understanding, health, and power, they may more fully and more ably serve the Lord. If the ordinances are properly administered by god-fearing men and women, and are properly received by the recipient, the recipient is always lifted to new options and opportunities.
e. To organize the Church and to conduct it’s affairs. Appointing officers in the Church organization and the conducting of the meetings and other public matters of the Church are essential in order to continue the instructing and motivating of those who have entered in at the gate. Only those who are already instructed and motivated can instruct and motivate others. If there are too many to be helped and too few helpers, the tree begins to produce strange fruit. If there are many to instruct and motivate but few to be instructed and motivated, those branches produce little fruit. The end of all Church organization activity is to help every person in this world to have increased options for becoming more like God, whatever he presently may be.
2. The Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the information one must believe and accept to be in a position to profit from accepting baptism into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. But to believe the Gospel and to live it are two quite different stages of conversion. Those who are converted to the Church are as newborn infants, spiritually, and must be loved, protected, and nourished. The members of the Church and the Holy Spirit provide the love of God, the Church organization and the priesthood provide the protection of God, and the words of God provide the nourishment.
To be converted to the Gospel one must learn to:
a. Feast upon the words of Christ (through the scriptures and the living prophets) until he can rely alone upon the merits of Christ. This is faith indeed.
b. Eliminate every violation or transgression of his conscience (repent of his sins).
c. Keep the promises of the baptismal covenant which means to:
1) Bear the Savior’s name, gratefully and honorably, always.
2) Always remember Him.
3) Keep all of the commandments which He gives them.
d. Accept and live by every word that cometh out of the mouth of God (to have received the Holy Ghost and be hearkening to its influence always).
e. To live fully all one knows, hoping for and praying for further instruction (enduring to the end).
3. The ordinances:
a. Baptism: To allow the recipient to affirm solemn promises to the Lord, thus to obey the commandment.
b. Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost: To confirm the person as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to entitle the recipient to the constant companionship of the Holy Spirit, and to enjoin initial instruction upon the newly-baptized member.
c. Partaking of the sacrament: To renew our covenants and to receive again the Holy Spirit by partaking of the emblems of the Savior’s flesh and blood.
d. Bestowal of the Aaronic priesthood: To empower the recipient to be an authorized teacher of truth, to be able to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and to work, judge, and to preside in temporal matters of the kingdom of God.
e. Bestowal of the Priesthood of Melchizedek: To empower the recipient to fill all of the functions of the Aaronic Priesthood; to be able to labor, judge, and preside in the spiritual affairs of the kingdom of God; to receive the mysteries.
f. Temple ordinances: To strengthen the mind and heart of the individual to enable him to succeed in enduring to the end.
g. Other ordinances: To strengthen mind, heart, and body and might and to be able to endure the opposition of this world in serving our God.
4. Church organizations and meetings. The Church is organized into wards, stakes, regions, areas and missions to facilitate administrative matters. The administrative matters focus upon converting the membership to live the Gospel (the perfecting of the Saints), making possible the ordinance work for the dead, and teaching the Gospel to all the world. The purpose of the meetings:
a. Sacrament meeting: To partake of the sacrament and to feast upon the words of Christ.
b. Sunday School/Primary: To provide opportunity for free discussion concerning understanding and living the Gospel.
c. Priesthood/Mutual/Relief Society: To teach the duties and opportunities of priesthood service and to organize the work of administering to the poor (poor in spirit, in knowledge, in health, in wealth, etc.).
d. Conferences: To check the spiritual harmony of family, ward, stake, and general authorities with each other.
The Church also fulfills many social needs for members. But the social aspect is incidental: the essential purpose is to prepare every member to go forth to do the works of righteousness (beneficence in particular).
5. Conclusion: The function of every aspect of the kingdom of God on the earth is to witness to every human being of the goodness of God and to invite each receiver of that witness to convert himself into the image of God.
Part VII: Proselyting
A. Our commission. We are instructed to preach the Gospel to the ends of the earth, to every nation, kindred, tongue and people. In our day all must hear the Gospel to be prepared for the great (for the righteous) and dreadful (for the wicked) day of the Second Coming of the Lord. As in the days of Noah, every soul who willnot hearken to His voice will be cut off. The world today ripens in iniquity, even as it did in the days of Noah, which process sharpens the contrast between the way of God and the way of Satan, making this a most exciting and fruitful time in which to live and to bear witness.
B. Our witness. We hope to bear witness in every honorable manner possible. The following are our principal opportunities:
1. Our individual personal witness opportunities:
a. To communicate only the truth with our mouths and our writing, in order to touch minds.
b. To radiate the warmth of the Holy Spirit, to touch hearts.
c. To dress, groom, and comport our bodies honorably to show the strength of the Lord.
d. To care for our property, beautify our homes, honor our contracts, and lift up the poor, to show the Lord’s might.
2. Our family witness opportunities:
a. To demonstrate love and fidelity between husband and wife.
b. To demonstrate that children are an heritage of the Lord by hoping for and raising, where possible, large families of loved and well-trained children.
c. To show responsibility as good neighbors, making people glad they live near us.
d. To promote the causes of morality, social responsibility, and righteousness wherever possible and as appropriate in community, business, cultural, educational and civic affairs.
3. Our institutional witness as a church:
a. We satisfy minds by having a “complete” theology which squares with the Bible and offers a greatly expanded horizon of understanding.
b. We offer a corrected version of the Bible, a second ancient witness of Christ, a testament of Father Abraham, and modern and current revelation, all of which is self-consistent, all of which bears witness of God and of his ways.
c. We offer living prophets who teach us the Restored Gospel and who offer specific guidance on many practical problems of our time. They give the general guidance which, if followed, would eventuate in the solution to every human problem.
d. We satisfy body needs by taking care of our own in disasters and extending such aid to many others.
e. We deploy our might to achieve a financially sound and strong base for the operations of the Church, one which practices principles of restraint, responsibility, and conservation. This witness serves as a model for every person, family and institution everywhere.
f. We beautify our buildings and grounds so that all who see or visit are uplifted.
4. Our cultural witness as a people (ideals as much as reality, as yet, for this is our weakest area of witness):
a. We prize education, hard work, and problem solving.
b. We prize art, creativity, and excellence in all skills.
c. We prize everything which is virtuous, lovely, of good report, or praiseworthy.
d. We prize freedom, representative government, individual responsibility, economic self-sufficiency.
e. We prize integrity, modesty, chastity, benevolence, and peace.
C. The essentials of accepting the witness. There are certain steps which must take place for anyone outside the Church to become a member of the Church, and have this change be a positive experience in his or her life. The following steps are taken to be essential in receiving the witness that God lives, that the Restored Gospel is true and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only true and living church upon the earth at the present time.
1. His or her attention must be attracted in some honorable way.
2. He or she must pay attention. A witness is always received in time and space. The space must be small enough and the time long enough that two things can happen. There must be:
a. Receiving enough information (the truth about Gospel religious matters) that the recipient can understand the message and out of that message conceive a significant experiment which he or she could perform in a short time with the resources which are available. This experiment will vary according to the present habits, standards, and beliefs of the recipient. Some principal initial possibilities are:
1) To pray about the truthfulness of the Restored Gospel (for one who already lives by prayer).
2) To read the Book of Mormon and pray about it (for one who already cherishes reading the Bible).
3) To have the opportunity to ask theological questions and to pray about the answers (for one who is troubled about death, evil in the world, etc., and who prizes clear and consistent answers to such questions).
4) To search the scriptures and pray about the First Vision of the Prophet Joseph (for one who is already religious but believes that the heavens are closed).
5) To associate with and test the spirit of those who say they have already received and accepted this witness.
Whatever is the crucial test of other important matters in life for that (unique) individual is the test which should be employed initially by that person. This because that is the methodology he or she already trusts. But whatever else is done, he or she must pray about the matter also, for there can be no conversion without prayer. Only personal revelation is rock foundation evidence, a sufficient test; all other tests leave one upon the sand, even though they may be helpful.
b. Receiving a manifestation of the warmth and love of God through the presence of the Holy Spirit. In the end, intellectual matters and tests do not convert; they serve the necessary and important service of getting a person to have enough time with and experience of feeling the Holy Spirit to decide to prize or to reject it. The essence of every conversion to righteousness is prizing of the Spirit of God. The purpose of insisting upon private personal prayer is that the recipient must discover that the Holy Spirit is not unique to the source where first encountered (the missionaries, the message, the meeting, the scriptures), but can be gained also on one’s knees in one’s own closet.
3. He or she must personally perform this experiment which has been conceived. No matter how well-conceived the theory of the experiment might be or how delightful the warmth of the Holy Spirit have been to the recipient, he or she cannot be profited if there is no investment and no further benefit. Each must go and do that thing which they conceive, including praying. If the experiment is performed as conceived, there will always be an immediate consequence.
4. They must evaluate the result of that personal experiment. The results of the experiment are either positive or negative.
The following table shows the basic possibilities:
Whatever the result, the recipient uses his or her agency to pursue light and truth or to reject light and truth.
5. He or she must conceive, execute, and evaluate a second experiment under the influence of the Holy Spirit, guided by the missionaries or not. The person must heed the guidance of the Lord to do the thing that is plainly best to do next. If they perform the second experiment faithfully and like the result, they are on track to conversion of themselves to be more like God.
6. At some point after a finite number of experiments, the recipient must acknowledge the influence of the Holy Spirit to be the voice of God to them. Then the weak faith of the experiment turns to strong faith as he or she hears further instruction, believes it is of God, and diligently obeys in the name of Jesus Christ. Now he or she is on the rock and can and will go as far in the conversion process as is desired, even unto becoming gods themselves.
D. The essentials of proselyting. The steps of proselyting are simply the complements of those which the investigator must take to convert himself. The work of the proselyter is to bring the freedom to change to the recipient by opening new options of thinking and feeling. It is almost never necessary or desirable for the missionary to destroy. The new avenues will give the recipient his own power to change his own thinking and feeling as is necessary.
1. The missionary must get the attention of the recipient. The space must be small enough (so that they are close enough) and the time must be long enough for the two essential messages to be communicated. Traditional devices for getting attention are:
a. Tracting
b. Street meetings
c. Tracts
d. Referrals
e. Hall meetings
f. Teaching English etc.
Ingenuity and propriety are the great guides to attention getting.
2. The message must be delivered. While the investigator is paying attention the missionaries must:
a. Communicate enough information that the recipient willbe instructed and can conceive of a meaningful first experiment about the truthfulness and/or efficacy of the Restored Gospel.
b. Communicate enough of the Holy Spirit that the recipient will have tasted the spirit and thereby be able to identify it when it returns during his or her experiment.
3. The recipient must be so convinced of the need to perform the experiment, including praying, that he/she actually does perform it. Nothing else can succeed if this step fails. For greatest success, the experiment must be performed by the investigator in private (not in front of the missionary nor in front of his family or friends).
4. The missionary must encourage a candid evaluation by the investigator of the results of the experiment as soon as possible after it is performed. The result is the cue to the missionary as to whether to continue his proselyting effort with this individual or not.
5. The missionary must assist the investigator to conceive, execute, and evaluate a second experiment if the investigator has not already done so. Usually this second experiment willarise naturally out of further discussion of Gospel principles.
6. When the experiments become faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the person is ready for baptism (previously committed to baptism or not). When faith has taken root in the scriptures, in prayer and in beneficence, the missionaries’ work is done. There are branch presidents, bishops, stake presidents and others in the Church to assist in the perfecting of that faith.
Part VIII: Obstacles to Conversion
A. The world. The world (the kingdom of Satan on the earth, which includes his devotees and their hearts, might, minds, and strength, his governments, his cultures, his church) is not of itself an obstacle to conversion, but rather creates the occasion and opportunity for conversion. That is why we must be in the world (to make converts) but not of it. If we are of (belong to, are converted to) the Lord, He will give us power that the gates of hell (the powers of the kingdom of Satan to take and keep prisoners) will not prevail against us: we will be able to bring the blessings of the Lord, through the priesthood, to Satan’s prisoners. The difficulty in conversion is not the world itself, but it is worldliness in us, as individuals, as we attempt to convert ourselves so that we might represent our God faithfully and well in honoring His priesthood.
B. The world in our minds. The Gospel was restored at the peak strength of the Protestant Worldview in America. The early embers of the Church were firmly based in that tradition and the Restoration in many ways simply built bigger and better things on that foundation. That Protestant World view, which was essentially the foundation used by the founding fathers in the framing of the U. S. Constitution, began its downhill slide from influence in the first half of the 19th Century and has steadily lost ground for 130 years. The LDS Church has emerged as the champion of most of the causes Protestantism once espoused such as the integrity of the U. S. Constitution, hard work, thrift, and self-sufficiency. The demise of Protestantism is being brought by incessant attacks on the two support pillars of Protestantism: the divinity of the Bible (especially the New Testament) and the divinity of the human conscience.
The engines which are battering these pillars down are scholarship and science in the hands of those of the Humanist worldview persuasion. Scholarship has been used (with considerable bias and skill) to destroy the claim that the Bible is an authentic historic document: the Humanist version is that the Bible is a collection of pleasant but sometimes gory myths. (For those founded upon the rock, the Bible still has its integrity and the attacks upon the Bible willeventually be seen to be but the opinions of ungodly men.) Science has been used (with considerable bias and skill) to assert the relativity of conscience to social context: the Humanist prescription is to get rid of conscience wherever and whenever possible, substituting collectivist and rationalist norms. (Again, those founded upon the rock are not swayed by this intellectual dissimulation.)
The rise of Humanism in the United States came as the university system of Europe was imported (the rise of Humanism in Europe was the Renaissance). Today the overwhelming majority of university professors, students and graduates are Humanist in outlook. The Protestant churches have become more and more Humanist, substituting political action as their cause to supplant the old emphasis on personal morality. The Catholic Church has abandoned its Medieval Worldview and now has an essentially Humanist face (the present Pope seems to be holding back the change somewhat). There is a remnant of Protestant strength among the Lutherans, the Methodists, and the Baptists (recently galvanized into the “Moral Majority”) but that waning power cannot last long. The average American youngster does not know who Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are (some Rock group?).
The rise of Humanism in the United States has seen a rise in Humanism within the LDS Church. Before World War II, a solid majority of the people of the Church who took advanced degrees in the Social Sciences and Humanities became at least partly Humanist in their outlook. A turning point came in 1938 with the talk given by President J. Reuben Clark entitled “The Charted Course of the Church in Education.” Since World War II Humanism has not been as powerful an influence on Church members studying for advanced degrees. Since the 1950s, Humanism in the Church has had to go on the defensive side as a resurgence of the Restored Gospel worldview has seen a cessation of the honoring of Humanism in the Church.
The basic problem that all of the above is pertinent to is that faith and intellect have never been fully and successfully yoked together in the Church in this dispensation in very many individuals. Sometimes the artists are more artist than Latter-day Saints; sometimes the educationists, historians, the philosophers, the social scientists, the biologists, and the other natural scientists are likewise afflicted; seemingly least afflicted are the engineers.
A special false idea which plagues our people, educated and uneducated alike, is the “romantic” frame of mind. The romantic notion is that great things can be accomplished with little causes, that one can get something for nothing, or that an insufficient means can bring about a desired result. The fairy tales and cultural traditions of western civilization are shot through with romantic notions which lead to such things as the belief that the public treasury is inexhaustible, that well-being is due to luck, that romantic infatuation without repentance will bring marital bliss etc. Humanism and socialism are both species of the romantic fallacy. One glaring example in the Church is people who think that the temple ordinances will “save” them, make them perfect in the next life, without the necessity of their own painstaking and deliberate repentance to rid their own minds, hearts and flesh of every ungodly habit in this life.
When these problems are solved and the “educated” people of the Church begin to serve the Lord with all of their hearts and minds, then the witness the Church bears to the world will greatly increase. Then we will be as far ahead in science as we are in theology. Then it will be much easier to get the attention of the educated people of the world to show them a better way.
C. The world in our hearts. For the first eight years of this dispensation the Lord sought diligently to get the members of His Church to love Him enough that they would trust in His instruction as to how to gain their temporal well-being. With some notable exceptions the members could not convert themselves that far and that fast; most preferred to gain temporal security by relying on their old stand-by; every-man-for-himself. So the Lord withdrew the active implementation of the law of consecration. A later notable attempt in the West to begin active implementation of consecration had some remarkable and hopeful successes, but each experiment ended in failure and we returned to every-man-for-himself. Hearts and minds failed as the influence of the world welled up among us.
The Depression of the 1930s saw another attempt to get the members to love the Lord with the beginning of the Church Welfare Plan. Augmented by later increased emphasis on fast offering, there is now more caring than there previously appeared to be. The Church has become a model for the world not of real caring for the poor but of a-step-in-the-right-direction of caring for the poor. It is still mostly every-man-for-himself in the Church.
The rival way, the way of the world to care for the poor, is socialism, which is the political and economic arm of Humanism. Socialism is winning hands down in the world because the moral base which made the every-man-for-himself system have a great deal of brotherly kindness has eroded and virtually disappeared with the demise of the Protestant worldview and its (Humanist despised) work ethic.
The step-in-the-right-direction of the Church is good, but it does not bear full witness to the world of the pure love of Christ. In fact, it does not solve the whole problem even in the Church. But should the faithful members of this Church ever unitedly implore the Lord that His full kingdom truly be implemented, because of their love for Him, the full implementation of the law of consecration would bear a witness that would set the world on its ear. That would plainly show socialism for what it is: feeble human theory captured in every practical example for another species of tyranny. But the world will never see a full alternative to tyranny until Latter-day Saints so love the Lord that they implement His full plan. Then the world will have witness indeed, for that would put us as far ahead of the world in economics and politics (and thus, in heart) as we are in theology. Then, too, we would enjoy the abundance of the gifts of the spirit, which would further increase our dissimilarity from the world.
Another malaise of heart which affects our people is worldly feelings about feelings. The world would have everyone believe that we humans are not responsible for what we feel, but are passive objects worked upon by environmental forces that control our moods, values, etc. They tell us that human beings are not free agents and that either God or one’s psychiatrist will have to step in to save one. The LDS perversity along this line is to feel put-upon by Church authorities, to justify anger in “righteous” causes, to justify lust for another and adultery when one’s spouse is not perfect, to be envious of the wealthy, to despise the poor to be forever unsatisfied with one’s lot. All of these sins are manifestations of yielding one’s heart to Satan, even though one may be an active member of the Church. The Lord would have us forgive all men, that the sin of any other person would never become either a mental self-justification for sin nor an emotional occasion for feeling sorry for oneself. The mark of love for God is gratitude, for everything, and fear of nothing. But because we do not forgive and do not love God as we should, the world has great purchase upon us.
D. The world in our strength and in our might. While the leadership of the Church has directed us to be distinctive in our dress and grooming it has never directed us to be drastically different. The missionary look is our standard, but adherence to the standard suffers. Not every member believes in “every member a missionary.”
As a Church we are somewhat distinctive as to our standard of the Word of Wisdom. Adherence to the standard seems to improve with each added generation in families in the Church. The standard is minimal (for the weakest of the Saints), but higher standards fall on hard times because some members want to become the voice of the Lord in announcing higher standards (their own version for everyone). Withal, there remains a serious Word of Wisdom problem among Church members which dilutes our witness of the Lord to the world.
For all of our problems with the Word of Wisdom area, the Church appears to have greater distinctive difference from the world in that area than it does in the most important area of strength, that of chastity. One of the sorrowful burdens of being a judge in Israel is to come to know the enormity of this problem. Our witness falters when our statistics on divorce, abortion, non-temple marriage, and childbirth out of wedlock are reviewed by the world. To be better than most is not really good enough to bear a valid witness of love of the true and living God.
These matters of our strength—dress and grooming, Word of Wisdom, chastity—are parallel to our problems of might. Our problems of might are avarice (we are the swindle capital), slovenliness (some of these barns and fences Brigham Young wanted painted still are not), ostentation (mansions now, not when heaven comes), mediocrity (it’s the thought that counts), procrastination (who needs a garden?), etc. These problems of strength and might which dilute and defeat our witness are symptoms, not causes. When our hearts and minds become pure, these symptoms will disappear. Apparently the Lord expects that half of the Church will become pure. Then that half will bear an unimpeachable witness; to the world that will touch every nation, kindred, tongue, and people.
E. Conclusion. Not only can we have too many chiefs and not enough Indians, we can also have too many Indians and not enough chiefs. It is possible that the success of the missionary program of the Church could actually set the Church back in the future because we might not have enough leadership in the Church which is converted to more than the Church to draw the new converts up to the higher stages of conversion by their love. Attention to every stage of conversion simultaneously might help. At any rate, the Church will do better if the worldliness among us is reduced by further self-conversion through following the authorities of the Church as they lead us step-by-step toward our goal. Heaven is our home, and we must create that heaven here, and (hopefully) now, through the opportunity of self-conversion using the power of God which is among us.
Part IX: Summary
Conversion is a change of habits. It begins in an honest heart which admits that the Spirit of God has prompted it to change, to repent. The mind must begin to understand the way of the Lord. The heart must choose the way of the Lord. The body must act in the way of the Lord. These changes of heart, mind and strength will result in visible changes in the stewardship (dominion, might) of every converted person.
But conversion is not a one-time thing. It is an uphill battle, proceeding in small daily steps each of which must be taken by the deliberate choice of a free agent. There is no “great help” upward. To change from the natural man to become like God is to repent (to change, to convert each step) as the Lord shows us how, line upon line, grace upon grace, until we receive a fulness. There is as much conversion that needs to take place within the Church as there is outside the Church as each person goes to his God and implores Him for permission and direction to take one more step each day. Anyone can begin to repent (to educate, to improve himself) anywhere, at any time, simply by beginning to be fully faithful to what he himself knows is right (by hearkening to his own conscience).
Potential additions to this study.
1. An explanation of the Medieval, Protestant, Humanist, and Restored Gospel worldviews as referred to in Part VIII.
2. A description of the social class structure of the Church and how it helps and impedes the work of conversion in and to the Church.
3. A description of LDS culture, differentiating which parts are Gospel-oriented and which are not.
4. Pattern of institutional religions in addition to the ones given.
5. A section on practical suggestions for proselyting work to reach special populations such as:
Humanists
Artists
Intellectuals
Lower class
Etc.
6. A description of empirical studies which could be conducted to verify and clarify aspects of the conversion process.
7. a. Footnotes
b. Sources
c. More examples