Language, Communication, and Morality – Deseret Language and Linguistics Society Symposium – April 1983

Posted on November 30, 2024 by Admin

Chauncey C. Riddle
Brigham Young University

This paper is an attempt to clarify the spiritual functions of language, communication, and morality as seen in the framework of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. The hope is that you who receive this message will be able to say about it both “How correct” and “How obvious.” We shall proceed by stating a series of these ideas, demonstrating each as we go.

Thesis 1.   All human action is the expression of the desires of a spiritual self. Each human being is a self, a spirit body, which spirit body has a physical tabernacle. The heart and mind of each person are functions of his spirit body. The heart is the seat of desire and the decision-maker. The mind is the power to perceive, to understand, to plan. A person’s strength is the ability of the physical tabernacle to respond to the desires and plans of the heart and mind. Strength involves health, physical stamina, skills, and procreative power.

The paradigm for human action seems to follow this pattern:

            a. The mind perceives the self in some spiritual and physical relationship with the external universe.

            b. The heart desires a satisfaction, either of the flesh or of the spirit, which the mind has   envisioned in the relationship of the self to the universe.

            c. The desire of the heart triggers the mind to invent a course of action to attempt to satisfy the desire.                                                                                                                                                
            d. The mind creates a course of action and implements it, largely through its control of the physical tabernacle.

            e. The mind perceives the result of the action taken and reports satisfaction or non-satisfaction of the desire to the heart.

                        (Step e is the beginning of the second cycle, recapitulating step a.)

Thus all human action is the attempt of the spirit of the person to gain some satisfaction.

Thesis 2.   The actions of a person are his spiritual language. All human action is the attempt to change the perceived relationship between the spirit of the person, the self, and the external universe, which external universe includes his or her own physical body.

There are two basic ways of doing that. One is for the heart to ignore the perceptions of the universe which the mind presents to the heart and to instruct the mind to create a more desirable universe out of imagination. That is what we call insanity. The other way to change the relationship between the spiritual self and the universe is for the heart and mind to seek to change the external universe so that perception of the universe will later reveal the desired change. For example, if my stomach reports hunger and my heart chooses to satisfy that hunger, it instructs my brain to plan and execute an action through my physical body which will eventually cause perception of gustatory satisfaction as a replacement for the present perception of hunger.

We now stipulate that every human action, every attempt to change the perceived relationship between the self and the universe, is an example of the person’s language. Action is language as language is action. Part of that action may be verbal, but it need not be. Language is the expression of self, the revealing of the desires of the self as it struggles with the universe for satisfaction. Taken as a totality, the actions of a person become a total revelation of the nature and desires of the self. If we are not able to perceive the nature of a self directly, another way to form a correct idea of what a person is is to observe his or her total expression of desires as revealed in the totality of action, his or her language. All human action is communication of a self with the universe, the attempt to make the universe a more satisfying place for the self. Non-verbal action is classed as language along with verbal functions because both kinds of action have identical origin and goal, differing only partly in the form of the means to the goal.

Thesis 3.   Communication is to affect and/or to be affected by another being by interlocking with that being. All action is for the sake of effect. All action is language. One cannot correctly interpret the verbal expressions of another person apart from the totality of that person’s actions, which are the totality of his language. Language expression is the communication of the desire of the actor to affect the universe in the hope that the universe will change to in turn affect the actor in such a way as to fulfill his desire. A man plants a tree, which communicates his desire for shade and beauty, in the hope that later the tree will communicate back to him shade and beauty.

Communication between two beings is thus the totality of all the effects they have upon each other. Communication is not the transfer of ideas. It is simply affect. That affect may have many dimensions. What one person does may affect the feelings and desires of another, or the perceptions, understandings, plans, and concepts of another; or the pain, pleasure location or disposition of the physical body of another being. The first may affect something that in turn affects the body and/or spirit of the second being.

Communication must have an effect to exist. The effect need not be consciously intended or consciously received. If nothing is sent when there is an expectation of something being sent, that too is a communication, a message, for that lack can affect the non-recipient. One message may be intended and quite another received, but that is still communication as long as there is an effect. Communication is the creation of change and therefore must exist in time as well as space. If there is no space there is no being, but if there is no time, there can be no communication.

Communication is an interlock of one being with another being, a form and degree of union. That interlock may be physical, or spiritual, or both. The interlock increases with space shared, time spent, increase of number of avenues of affect, number of contacts and degree of change created by affect. Perhaps the ultimate communication is between husband and wife who share and affect each other in all things, physical and spiritual. But spiritual affect is always more important, more profound, than physical affect.

Thesis 4.   All communication is translation. For the sender, communication is the encoding or translation of desire into action which affects the universe. That desire has at least three dimensions in normal communication. First is the meaning or the intention of the sender; this may be seen as the result the sender desires to have on the universe. Second is the truth of the message, the correctness of its representation. Third is the rightness or morality of the message. For example, suppose I say to you, “Provo will experience a severe flood in the next twenty-four hours.” I say it because I desire to affect you; I speak either truly or falsely; and I speak either in righteousness or not. When I speak or act, I translate at least these three aspects of my spiritual self out into the universe.

You as the receiver of my message must translate whatever spiritual and physical impact my action of sending you a message has upon you. You must create a meaning for what I say, guessing at my intention; you must assign some degree of truth-value or credibility to that meaning, and you must decide whether I was right or wrong to say it. You translate whatever effect I have on you, inventing this three-fold impact on your own spirit.

Translation, sending and receiving, is a spiritual phenomenon. For one has intentions, relates to truth, and is moral or righteous or not according to the desires of his or her own spirit at the moment. It is not uncommon for a hearer to receive one meaning, truth and rightness translation for a message, then shortly afterward ascribe a quite contrary meaning, truth-value and rightness translation because his or her own spirit has changed during the interim and now ascribes other meaning-values to the affect of the sender.

Thesis 5.   There are two kinds of human spirits revealed in communication. One kind of spirit perceives the universe as being filled with other beings at least as important as himself, having desires of their own which are as important in his own eyes as are his own desires in his own eyes. Esteeming the desires of others to be as important as his own, he does not insist on the total satisfaction of all of his own desires, but hopes rather that all can be satisfied, others as well as himself. To that end he is willing to be only partly satisfied himself if such sacrifice will help others to gain some of their basic desires. He hopes to find a way to communicate with others and with the universe so that everything and everyone will be fully satisfied; or failing that, to achieve a situation wherein everything and everyone will have as much basic satisfaction as possible. This kind of being perceives himself as holy, as special, but also perceives other beings to be at least as holy and special in their own being as he perceives himself to be.

The other kind of spirit revealed in communication is the being who sees himself and his own personal desires as being preeminently important above all else in the universe. He sees other people and other things as beings which exist for his own personal satisfaction only. He may acknowledge that they have their own personal desires as he does, but he will not accord the satisfaction of their desires as having any necessary value relative to his own satisfaction. Thus he sees the satisfaction of his own desires as the only really good thing in the universe. He takes account of others’ desires only as data which may affect as means or deterrents the fulfilling of his own desires. He uses other beings as means, to his own end, helping them to the satisfaction of their own desires only as means to achieving his own desires, sacrificing their satisfaction wherever expedient to the fulfilling of his own desires. This kind of being perceives only himself and his own desires to be holy or special.

The first kind of spirit communicates to make the universe a better place for everyone. In an LDS frme, this is to be moral. If this action is done in willing obedience to Jesus Christ, it is righteousness. The second kind of spirit communicates to make the universe a better place only for himself. In an LDS frame, this is selfishness, sin.

Thesis 6.   Communication with God assists those who esteem others. Our being, verbal and non-verbal, essential and unfolding, is fully perceived by our God and Father. We are interlocked nearly fully with him in that everything we are, feel, think, do, and say, is translated fully and immediately to him, directly through our actions as they affect his other sons and daughters and creatures. He, of course, perceives our being, directly, as well as our actions. The extent of that interlock is unbeknownst to most of us, however, for we do not perceive him to the same degree that he perceives us.. We are told that in him we live, move, and have our being, but the consciousness of what that means comes to few and is believed by yet fewer. If our eyes and understandings were opened, we would see that we are in his arms, enfolded in his love and being, already.

But generally we humans do not perceive that interlock because he, God, has left part of the interlock incomplete. He is in full communication with each of us, with our heart, might, mind, and strength. But he treats as holy, as special, our hearts and minds. He is the first kind of spirit. Though he perceives all, he does not attempt to control our hearts and minds. Rather, he lets us become aware of his heart and mind in our hearts and minds only at times, only by degrees, only on special topics. The fact that he does let us know his heart and mind somewhat makes us free to become as he is. The fact that we do not always have that influence with us unless we seek and cultivate it makes us free to become something unlike God. Because he loves and esteems us, holds us as being holy, he sets us free, to become as he is or not to become as he is.

If we esteem him as holy and respect his heart and mind when it comes to us, we learn a most remarkable thing: when we yield our hearts and minds to God, he affects us to be able to desire, to think, and to act in such a way that we are then able to assist all others around us to have more opportunity and power to fulfill the desires of their own hearts. We find further that the more we communicate with God and seek to interlock our heart and mind fully with his, the more we can help others. We soon realize that the ideal is a full, explicit conscious interlock of our being with his being. That full communication makes us one with him. Then we have all of his heart, might, mind, and strength at our disposal to assist us to help others to fulfill their desires, even as he has then all of our heart, might, mind, and strength of each of us at his disposal to help others. Through love, full communication has brought us to become one with him. Then as we communicate with others, it is the love of God which we communicate, which shines out of us to all others, inviting them also to share in the goodness of God.

Communication with God poses a problem for those who see only themselves as holy. He is an affront to them. He tells them that what they are doing is wrong, and that unless they change they will be very sorry about themselves in the long run. If they do not desire to change, they scrupulously avoid discussion or thinking of the long run and try to see how they can turn the influence of God—his words, his priesthood, his church—to the present satisfaction of their own personal desires, regardless of what happens to anyone else in the process, including God himself.

Thesis 7.   Communication with Satan assists in this life those who esteem only themselves. Satan is not in full communication with anyone, for he would need to cooperate fully with them to do that. But he has been given by God the freedom to communicate something of his mind and will to every accountable human being. His net message to them is to encourage them to be selfish, to esteem only themselves and to use all human beings and other creatures only as instruments to their own personal satisfactions. He treats all humans this same way, using them to achieve his own ends, then discarding them whenever they lose the power to further his own selfishness. Though not full, Satan’s communication is sufficient to entice every human being to evil, to selfishness. Those who accept that enticement are rewarded by heightened feelings of self-desire and the revelation of ingenious means of using and abusing others to fulfill that selfish desire. The more a person interlocks with Satan, the more such a person rejects communication with the Lord. He or she becomes more and more selfish until mortal probation is over. Then, having denied the Lord when he spoke to them, they are delivered to eternal torment to use and be used by the selfish dregs of the universe to all eternity.

Thesis 8.   Every accountable human being is influenced both by God and by Satan. The point of this thesis is that there is no middle ground. Every accountable person is in communication with God and Satan. The only question is: What is the person’s reaction? Some are strong in the Lord and do great good in the earth. Some are strong in Satan and do great evil in the earth. Many are swayed to and fro, do a little good and do a little bad, but do nothing outstanding.  At any given moment, any accountable person is in communication with Satan or the Lord and acts accordingly. All actions, words and deeds, are the acts of selfishness or of righteousness. The sum of actions may be a mixture, but each specific action is either of the Lord or of Satan.

Thesis 9.   To communicate with another human being is to interlock either with Satan or with the Lord. To be in the presence of another human being is to interlock, to communicate with him or her to some degree. We carry into that interlock the influence of God or the influence of Satan. The influence, good or bad, of one person is stronger than the influence of the other. The weaker person must reject the interlock and flee unless he or she wishes to be influenced by the stronger, for as time and contiguity increase, communication or the flow of influence increases, flowing from the stronger to the weaker. “Charisma” is the worldly term for the strength of strong people, which can be either good or bad. People like charisma, for they feel strength flow to them in its presence.

Thus, when we enter into an association, whatever spirit we take into the association retreats if the other person has an opposite and stronger influence. If both enter with the same spirit, that spirit is strengthened in both. The situation need not be another individual, of course. We can enter into communication with a group of people, a book, a TV program, a mountain, etc. The principle of spiritual flow remains constant in all of these situations. Spirit always flows from stronger to weaker whether it be a good or an evil spirit. Whatever spirit possesses us than determines what we do. We always represent and influence others either for the Lord or for Satan. When two people communicate, Satan and/or the Lord are always part of that interlock of being.

Thesis 10.   To be a moral person one must be strong as well as good. It follows then that to be moral, one must not only have the Spirit of the Lord but have it in sufficient strength that he will not be overwhelmed. Perhaps anyone can be righteous in the presence of the Lord. Who then can be righteous when he leaves the presence of the Lord and enters the presence of great evil? Only he who carries with him the presence and the power of the Lord when he goes into the presence of great evil. The basic ways in which this is done are:

            a. To have incorporated the Lord God into our feelings, thinking, strength, and might, so   that we are one with him. This we do by seeking his presence and his influence, letting that     strength flow into our self, stronger to weaker, until we have built up a great reservoir of his strength. The reservoir is the good deeds we have done and the good words we have said in obedience to him which have strengthened our fiber and changed our being.

            b. To be on his errand at all times. While on his errand we have his continuing presence with us and the promise that we will never be tempted above our ability to withstand. But if we ever depart from his errand and begin to seek our own selfish desires, we lose our protective shield. Should we then encounter an evil influence stronger than that residual good which we retain in our fiber and being, we would then lose our agency to resist Satan. He could then sift us as wheat.

To be a “good” person, that is, never having done great evil, is a good thing but not the best thing. Much better is the good person in whom the Spirit of the Lord has welled up until he or she is a tower of strength. To be a “good” but weak person and then deliberately to seek our evil influences to “find out what the world is all about” is to commit spiritual suicide. Wisdom would have us seek out the very best in all things and to hold fast to that which is good. Those who seek the Lord and become strong in him, increase thereby their ability to communicate with him, to receive strength from him. Strength thus begets strength. To be moral and righteous one must be good and strong in the Lord.

Thesis 11.   Communication among humans is good only for those who are in communication with God. We humans need to communicate with each other to solve our problems, to make a better world. What is it that we need to communicate?

First, we need to discern, to understand one another. To understand a person is to discern both the ideas and intentions of his heart and the kind of spirit which possesses him, either God or Satan. That discernment is a gift of the spirit, fully known to and used by only those who seek and find a full communication or interlock with the Lord.

We need to communicate about truth. We need to have a common and true understanding of the way things are and were and will be. Since we each can observe directly only a small portion of what is real and not at all what was or will be, we have no direct personal access to enough truth to achieve the common true understanding which we need. We are then thrust back to our spiritual resources. If it is our desire to be selfish, then Satan rules us and he distorts and falsifies the communications we give and receive as to what is, was, and will be. That is why the world of ideas is awash in a sea of falsehood and personal opinion. Only when we deliberately turn to the Lord and deliberately interlock with his being can we gain those true ideas of what is, what was, and what will be to be able to ground our labors in reality. But truth is a stranger, an unwanted interloper, in a world of selfish people. Only the righteous cherish truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

We need to communicate about what is best to do and how best to do it, that we might gain the advantage of working in concert in making this world a better place. No one of us knows enough about truth or about what is possible, let alone what is best, to become the guide. So the programs of the world must find spiritual resources. Those stimulated by selfish personal interest are abetted by Satan: their promise is false and their glory fades as time passes. Witness all of the political kingdoms of the earth in all of its history. Those leaders stimulated by righteous desires know that they of themselves are not wise, and must turn to God himself who is the fountain of all righteousness. In him, the strong in righteousness find wisdom and success in earthly ventures that build forever and increase in beauty into eternity. Witness the eternal families of those that know and love the Lord.

Should human beings strive to discern, to find truth and to find wisdom but do not do so in the Lord, then their communication is prospered only in Satan. They may indeed communicate and accomplish things, but their creations will represent degradation and will enthrone selfishness. Such was the situation at the time of the flood, when the thoughts of each heart were only to do evil continually. Such will be the state of the world in these last days. The sum of the matter is that the only intelligent thing to do in this world for any person who desires happiness for anyone other than himself is to seek first to find the true and living God. One must come into full communication with him, then in the strength which flows only from him, to seek to establish his righteousness wherever and whenever possible in this earth. Then the language of such an one will become pure and holy, perhaps even Adamic. Then his communication with all other righteous beings will be full and joyous. Then he will never be overcome nor thwarted by the strength of selfish beings. Then he will speak and do all that is true and right, and in that communication will find that joy which his Creator had in mind as the reason for his existence.

Posted in Deseret Language and Linguistics Society Symposium, Language | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Language, Communication, and Morality – Deseret Language and Linguistics Society Symposium – April 1983

Principles Regarding Testimony — CCR 10 August 2014

Posted on November 30, 2024 by Admin

Testimony: The witness that any human being gives.

  1. The words “I know” and “I believe” are essentially synonymous.
  2. Much human testimony and most testimonials have no face value.
  3. The spirit that accompanies a human testimony is the essence of any human testimony.
  4. The message the spirit gives when a human being bears a testimony is what is important.
  5. Two persons could give the exact same words and bear very different testimonies.
  6. Every word and every deed of a human being are expressions of testimony.
  7. Every scientific treatise is a testimony.
  8. Every historical narrative is a testimony.
  9. Every work of art is a testimony.
  10. No human testimony can save any other human being.
  11. The only means of a human being being saved is through revelation from God.
  12. Willing and immediate obedience to  revelation from God is Faith in Jesus Christ.
  13. Only through Faith in Jesus Christ is anyone saved from his or her sins. (There are two senses of being saved from our sins: 1) to be helped to stop sinning, and 2) to be forgiven of past sins. Both senses of being saved from sin are important, but the first is far more important.)
  14. The ultimate testimony bearing is deeds, not words. The best bearing of testimony is acts of faith in Christ.
  15. Gaining a real testimony is essentially receiving revelation from God. There is no other rock. Witnessing miracles, Book of Mormon internal and external evidences, having questions answered, etc., are all helps for receiving a testimony, but all are insufficient.
  16. It is impossible to bear a real testimony without having received a real testimony from God.
  17. Having a real testimony itself does not save anyone. Only faith in Christ saves anyone.
  18. The most important testimony you will ever hear: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”
  19. It is impossible to be saved without bearing our testimony if we are instructed by God to do so.
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The Bearing of Philosophy on Theorizing about Language – March 1985

Posted on November 29, 2024 by Admin
  1. Philosophy is the study of the questions and answers that pertain to the fundamental issues of human life. The three most basic questions to ask and answer for any human being in any problematic situation are: How do you know? (Epistemology); What is the reality of the situation (Metaphysics); and, What is good or right to do in the situation (Ethics). We shall explore each of these provinces of philosophy noting how each bears on thinking about language.
  2. Epistemology: The study of how human beings succeed and fail in attempting to come to knowledge about themselves and their universe. The main and standard means of knowing for any individual are as follows:
    a. Authoritarianism: Establishing belief on the basis of information obtained from other humans.
    b. Rationalism: Establishing belief on the basis of what is logically consistent with what we  already believe.
    c. Empiricism: Establishing belief on the basis of what I can sense here and now (in the frame of prior beliefs).
    d. Statistical Empiricism: Establishing: Establishing belief on the basis of arrayed masses of sensory evidence.
    e. Pragmatism: Establishing belief in those ideas which cannot otherwise be verified but which are functional in fulfilling present desire.
    f. Mysticism: Satisfaction of the hunger to know the truth by substitution of a feeling about things.
    g. Revelation: Personal communication from a person who is not a human being to establish belief about the universe.
  3. Scholarship: Construction of belief about things not present using documentary evidence available.
    Principle constraints: (Current rules of the community of scholars.)
    1) All extant relevant documents must be examined and accounted for.
    2) Primary sources are to be given precedence over secondary sources.
    3) All interpretation and construction must be done in a naturalistic frame. (No supernatural, no right or wrong, no secrets.)
    4) All extant relevant documents must be examined and accounted for.
    5) All theory construction must be rational (self-consistent).
  4. Science: Construction of beliefs (facts, laws, theories and principles) about the present state and the nature of the universe and its parts on the basis of statistical empiricism and adduction of   theory.
    Principle constraints: (Current rules of the community of scientists.)
    1) Every science must be based in empirical data. (No private or mystical evidence.
    2) Laws and theories must account for the facts in a consistent manner.
    3) All data must be accounted for in construction.
    4) All observations must be repeatable (at least in principle); all experiments must be reproducible.
    5) Construction must be done in a monistic, naturalistic frame.
    6) Construction must assume uniformity of space, time, causes and rates.

Epistemological considerations relevant to linguistics:
1) Can a theory of language be built without allowing introspection?
2) Is the real test of a theory of language peer acceptance or pragmatic power? (Science or technology?)
3) Is there an intellectual test for truth? (There are intellectual tests for error.)
4) What is the relationship between concepts and words? Message and code? Meaning and assertion?
5) Is there such a thing as knowing what someone thinks? Knowing that we know such?

4. Metaphysics: The search for the ultimate reality of things, asking questions which cannot be decided on the basis of reason or empirical facts. It is necessary to have a metaphysics to think, but one can never prove that his answers are correct. The metaphysical stance of most persons is usually determined socially. Standard answers to metaphysical questions usually take one side of a polarity.

Important questions and their standard polarities:
a. Is the universe one or many systems? Monism vs. dualism (or pluralism).
b. Is the universe Matter or idea? Materialism vs. idealism.
c. Is there a supernatual? Naturalism vs. supernaturalism.
d. Does law govern the universe? Determinism vs. tychism.
e. Does a God exist? Theism vs. atheism. If one does, what kind of being is he/she/it?
f. Is man natural or supernatural? (Evolution or divine creation).
g. Is man an agent? Agency vs. mechanism.
h. Limited or infinite variety in the universe? Types or individuals only.

Metaphysical considerations relevant to linguistics:
1) Is there a unique human neural linguistic facilitator? If so, what are its limits?
2) Does language have a natural or supernatural origin?
3) Are humans agentive or mechanical in using language?
4) Are the universe and language determined or indeterminate, nomothetic or idiosyncratic?
5) What is the status of universals and particulars? Do names always refer to universals or not?
6) Is there a spiritual component to some or all communication?

5. Ethics: Consideration of what men should, could or ought to do to be wise. What is good for man and how is it to be obtained? Is good the same as right, and if not, how is it discerned and obtained?
Standard answers:
a. Cyrenaicism: The good is maximal physical pleasure guided by desire.
b. Platonism: The good is to know the truth guided by reason.
c. Aristotelianism: The good is the mean between excess and defect in those things appropriate to the nature of man, to be found through reason.
d. Stoicism: The good is to be unperturbed by pleasure or pain, to be achieved through reason in seeing that all things are rigidly predetermined.
e. Epicureanism: The good is a proper balance between higher pleasures (intellectual and social) and lower pleasures (physical), to be discovered by reason and experimentation.
f. Moral sense: The good is to do the will of God as found by following one’s conscience.
g. Kantianism: The good is a good will, to be achieved by doing that which everyone should do if in your situation, as discovered through reason.
h. Utilitarianism: The greatest sum of physical pleasure for the greatest number as found by reason and science.
6. Restored Gospel: Good is what each person wants, right is the will of God learned through personal revelation.

Ethical Considerations relevant to linguistics:
1) Is there a connection between morality and linguistic ability?
2) What is the lesson of the Tower of Babel?
3) What does it mean to bear false witness?
4) Is goodness/badness rightness/wrongness part of all communication?
5) Should language be stable?
6) Should language be regular?
7) Should there be a universal language?
8) Is every person entitled to hear the Restored Gospel in his own tongue? What is a tongue?
9) Should linguistics be prescriptive as well as descriptive? (Is it science or technology?)
10) Is there a divine language? Is it the same as the Adamic language? Is it conceptual only?

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Bondage

Posted on November 29, 2024 by Admin

Human bondage: The condition wherein a given human being lacks the ability to choose and/or to act relative to a certain opportunity, as seen by an omniscient observer or as approximated by human understanding Bondage is the complement of agency.

1.   Physical bondage

Synonyms: Slavery, serfdom, imprisonment

  • Definition:
  • a.   The location, change of location, and physical activities of a normal adult human being are controlled by some agency other than his own will.
  • b.   A person is deprived of a physical body and thus cannot do those things which a physical body makes possible.

Ultimate: Death

  • Examples:
  • Russian peasant, 1784, 1984
  • U.S. Negro in Georgia, 1820
  • Feudal serf, England, 1100
  • Inmate in a penitentiary.
  • An unembodied spirit.
  • Drug addict.
  • Non-examples:
  • A small child being carried by his or her mother.
  • A patient in intensive care.

Controls: Food, freedoms, guns, chains, iron curtains, promises.

Opposite: Freedom to go anywhere and to do anything that can be done physically.

Release: Increase of strength and/or might.

2.   Intellectual bondage

Synonyms: Intellectual blindness, being brain-washed.

Definition: The knowledge, ideas, and thinking of a normal human being are controlled by other agent(s), possibly against his will and possibly unbeknownst to him.

Ultimate: Lobotomy

  • Examples:
  • Cuban subject for whom all media presentations and educational opportunities are carefully controlled.
  • A member of a church who is prevented from learning of other churches and religions.
  • Non-examples:
  • Students in a university class who are exposed to a variety of ideas and positions on the same subject.
  • A child who believes his father and mother, knowing other beliefs which other people have which differ from his parents’ beliefs.

Controls: Opportunities to learn, shame, rejection, grades.

Opposite: To have a thorough understanding of all options on an issue. To have a complete understanding of all existence, of all possibilities and of all issues.

Release: Increase of mind.

3.   Emotional bondage

Synonyms: Neurosis, psychosis, self-pity, self-justification.

Definition: The feelings of an adult human being are self-controlled to create misery, the condition of an unhappily divided self. This self-destruction is often performed unconsciously, unbeknownst to that person himself.

Ultimate: Insanity

  • Examples:
  • One who is enraged at the economic injustices of his society.
  • One who feels unloved.
  • One who is bitter about how his family treats him.
  • Non-examples:
  • Feeling temporary grief at the loss of a loved one.
  • Feeling sorrow for one’s sins.
  • Feeling sorrow for another person’s sins.

Controls: Authorities, culture, which teach a person that he is not responsible for his own feelings, that feelings are just things which “happen” to a person.

Opposite: A person who through correct ideas and habits has achieved the ability to feel any way he desires to feel, regardless of any influence his environment may have on him.

Release: Increase of mind to understand every person feels only that which he desires to feel (speaking of emotion, not of sensation), plus increase of self-discipline to feel only positive emotions (gratitude, love, forgiveness).

4.   Spiritual bondage

Synonyms: Spiritual death, spiritual impotence, the bondage of sin.

Definition: The spiritual experiences and powers of a person are limited to evil sources because of his sins.

Ultimate: To suffer the second death.

  • Examples:
  • One who prays and receives no answer from the Lord.
  • One who lays his hands on to heal, but nothing good happens.
  • One who wonders but cannot gain a testimony of the Restored Gospel.
  • Non-examples:
  • One who gives up a promising career to fulfill a church calling.
  • One who does everything which the scriptures suggest.

Controls: Pleasure taken for its own sake, social power and esteem, physical strength used selfishly, indulging in evil thoughts and feelings, not using one’s might to serve God.

Opposite: To have a fullness of spiritual gifts and spiritual power such that the powers of Satan and the powers of the earth can restrain that person no longer.

Release: Increase of heart, might, mind and strength through forgiveness of sins (thus not to have to carry the weight of those sins and to suffer the lack of spiritual opportunity which those sins make necessary). This forgiveness is made possible only through the atonement of Jesus Christ and is available to men only through accepting and living by the laws and ordinances of the Restored Gospel.

5.   The bondage of desire

Synonyms: Selfishness, perversion, self-indulgence.

Definition: The situation of a divided person, part of whom desires that which is good, the other part desires that which is evil. Desiring that which is evil is the bondage of desire.

  • Examples:
  • A medical doctor who smokes.
  • A poor man who desires to be righteous, but who lusts after is neighbor’s wealth.
  • A missionary who desires to help people understand the Restored Gospel but who thinks lascivious thoughts.
  • Non-examples:
  • A poor man who wishes he could help his equally poor neighbor.
  • An ill person who desires to have the strength to fill a mission.

Controls: Habit, past history.

Opposite: One who has first reduced his needs and desires to zero, and then has come to desire with all of his heart that which is good and right in the sight of the Lord.

Release: Increase of understanding until one understands that which is good and right, then increase of self-discipline until one desires only that which is good and right. This is the achieving of a pure heart.

6.   The ultimate (and independent variable) bondage is the bondage of desire. The bondage of desire is always the self-imposed bondage of desiring evil. As a Latter-day Saint disciplines himself to reduce his own personal needs (desires) to nothing, and at the same time learns fervently to desire those godly things which are shown to him by the Holy Ghost, he begins to be one person (to have integrity), to be a whole person (to be sanctified), and to be a new person, born again as a child and servant of Jesus Christ. That process is of course partly unavailable to a person who does not have the opportunity to accept the Restored Gospel. They may learn this unselfishness and implement it to a degree through the light of Christ, but one needs the gift of the Holy Ghost to find the fullness.

7.   But if a person hears and accepts the Restored Gospel and then is born again of the water and of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit then teachers him what is good and right that he may be able to desire what is good and right in all things eventually. He then has the opportunity to achieve a pure heart. A pure heart is a heart so trained to choose only that which is good and right that it never deviates from that choice. That training is done by each individual person as he allows himself only to desire that which is good and right. This is the agency of man: to choose what is good and right through the Savior, or to choose captivity and death through the flesh (and with the help of Satan). A pure heart is not the result of one such choice. It is the result of a long, unbroken series of such choices. Another way to describe such a long series is to say it is to learn to love the Lord with all of our heart, might, mind and strength.

8.   A person who has a pure heart is able to bring himself to do the very best he knows to do in any and every situation of choice in his life. The first thing which a pure heart enables him to do is to gain control of his feelings so that he never feels any emotions except gratitude, love and forgiveness. This sets him free emotionally. Being free emotionally, he can then of his own present power minimize the intellectual and physical bondage in his life. If the Restored Gospel is available to him, it is possible for him to achieve elimination of the spiritual bondage altogether. But what can a person do if he does not know the Restored Gospel? He can do the best that he knows to do. The best one knows is to respond to the light of Christ rather than to the adversary. As one responds to that light, desiring and choosing the best he knows to do, one begins to feel better about himself and to be able to see the truth of things about himself and the Savior more clearly. Eventually that spiritual discipline of doing the best that he knows to do will lead him to accept the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ when it is presented to him. Through the Restored Gospel and its ordinances (through the gifts and mercy of the Savior), he may obtain eventual release from every degree of each bondage. To know the truth is to become free, and to be free indeed.

9.   In the beginning man is not free. Each person suffers two versions of each kind of bondage except the bondage of desire, which is always totally self-imposed. The other bondages consist of bondage imposed upon him by others and also of bondage imposed upon himself by himself. The real freedom which this world affords it to desire and to choose what is right, this to be released from all self-imposed bondage. He who thus releases himself is then a candidate to be released from all other bondage by the Savior.

10. To reject the light of the Savior is to reject all of the good in one’s self, to reject righteousness, to reject freedom, and to reject increase. In other words, to reject that light is to be damned. Because our God is what and who he is, that damnation is always self-imposed. We conclude that though every human being is born to self-awareness, each being is fettered in the chains of multiple bondages, and ultimately each of these bondages is self-imposed.

11. He who avails himself of the freedom to increase through the Savior will be able to enjoy increase forever, even eternal increase. All of which begins with the freedom to desire what is good and right.

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Keys for Interpreting the Scriptures

Posted on November 29, 2024 by Admin

1. The fullness of the scriptures is the key to knowledge.

The scriptures do not bring knowledge of themselves, for they are only sets of inkblots on paper. But as those inkblots are examined carefully and prayerfully, they become an occasion for revelation from the Savior, Jesus Christ, through the Holy Ghost. Those revelations are the word of God, which is his law, Willing, heartfelt obedience to that revelation is faith in Jesus Christ. As a person lives by that faith, that person gains knowledge of the being and ways of God. The fullness of the scriptures provides what a person needs to ponder to begin the process of knowing God. Thus the fullness of the scriptures is the key to knowledge. (Luke 11:53, Inspired Version.)

2. There is a parallel between things spiritual and things physical. All things physical have a spiritual counterpart.

Whenever the scriptures tell a story or mention a physical counterpart, whatever is being discussed physically has a spiritual counterpart which should be sought. For instance, the ark that Noah built to save animals and righteous souls from the great flood is a representation of the New and Everlasting Covenant which will save every righteous soul from the flood of evil which the scriptures call “the world.” Every so-called temporal commandment is a representation of the spiritual wisdom which will save human beings. For instance, the word of wisdom as given in D&C 89 is a representation of the wisdom of God which will save every person spiritually, even as physical commandments help a person physically. (D&C 29)

3. It is the spiritual side of existence which drives the physical, not vice-versa.

It is sometimes tempting to believe that physical things govern themselves, that the physical universe is a great clock which just clicks on with all of its gears meshing. A fundamental contrary truth of the universe is that everything physical is governed and controlled by the spiritual order of existence. For instance, most people believe that when a storm comes, it does so because it is simply the play of atmospheric forces at work. While indeed there are aspects of atmospheric physics at work, all is governed and controlled by the hand of God. Thus there never was a storm which did not accomplish that which God wanted it to do. To please God, we must recognize his hand in all things. (D&D 59)

4. We should liken the scriptures unto ourselves.

The real fruit of all scripture is to help each individual to receive and to be faithful to the present revelations of God as they are teceived by that person at a given moment. The value of reading the scriptures, is, then to inquire of the Lord constantly as to how what we are reading applies to our own present personal situation and predicaments. Knowing the scriptures does not of itself save us in any way. But making application of the scriptures to our daily lives as Christ gives us promptings is the very thing that will bring us to the Savior that he might save us. For that is Faith in Christ. (1 Nephi 19:43)

This principle is a species of a more general principle which would have us liken all things unto ourselves.  Whenever we see any person speaking or acting we should ask ourselves what we would and should do in that situation as covenant servants of the Savior. Whenever we see a problem to be solved, we should ask ourselves how that problem might be solved in the Savior’s way. Since the formation of a Christ-like character is our most important and precious accomplishment in this world, and since character is formed by making correct decisions and then carrying them out without procrastination, likening all things to ourselves and making these correct responses is the process of salvation. Likening all things to ourselves and responding as Christ would is the process of taking upon ourselves the divine nature

The scriptures are especially helpful in the process of likening all things to ourselves because we see there both the acts of good and godly men and those of evil men. And to be constantly in the presence of good and godly men is a great blessing to help us do as they do, we can live with them in our imagination and burn into our souls the values, beliefs and action patterns of those godly men.

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Why Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints do Temple Work

Posted on November 29, 2024 by Admin

If you desire to know why members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints do work for their ancestors in their temples, please consider the following basic information which explains why they do it.

  1. All human beings are children of a God who loves them. All humans are brothers and sisters to each other, begotten by a Father in Heaven who is good and great, who knows all things and controls all things in this universe. As a kind and wise Father, he wishes to share all that he has and is with each of his children. If those children are willing to become good and great, kind and wise as he is, then he can share all he is and does with each one. What our Father is and does makes him happy, and he desires that all of his children become as happy as he is. Our Father will see that each of his human children is as happy as he or she can stand to be for the rest of eternity.
  2. Our Father has a plan to help each human being become as good and great, as kind and wise as he is. That plan of happiness is known as the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Part of this plan was that Jesus Christ would be sent to teach each of Father’s children how to become good and great, kind and wise. The gospel plan is that we should each put our trust in Jesus Christ (have faith in him), change our ways of acting to act as Christ acts (repentance), make a covenant to gain the character of Jesus Christ (promise in baptism to become good and great, kind and wise as he is), receive his personal guidance as to how to transform our lives (by receiving the Holy Ghost, the personal messenger of the Father and the Son Jesus Christ), and follow the guidance until our character achieves the measure of the stature of the fullness of Jesus Christ (enduring to the end).
  3. Our Father knows that we cannot become as he is and like Jesus Christ, who is already like him, unless we have more knowledge and power than do ordinary human beings. That is why he offers his children the companionship of the Holy Ghost, so that the Holy Ghost can teach us all good things. Father offers his children the Holy Priesthood so that we can gain the power to do all the things that he, our Father, and our Savior, Jesus Christ, do. That power comes through accepting ordination to the Holy Priesthood after the order of Melchizedek and learning to use that power in pure love. The fullness of that priesthood is given only in the blessings of the Holy Temples of God, which temples have been dedicated and consecrated by the power of the Holy Melchizedek Priesthood possessed by the prophets of God on the earth who have been sent by Jesus Christ to represent him in these latter days.
  4. Those who accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ and live it, and who accept the fullness of the Holy Melchizedek Priesthood and magnify that priesthood, and who learn to bless others as Christ idid in his mortal ministry, have accepted the opportunity to rise to the full stature of Jesus Christ.
  5. They will have done this through faith in Jesus Christ, repenting of every sin, and enduring to the end. One of the things a person will do as they become like Jesus Christ is to want to share all of the good things they have with others of their human brothers and sisters. This is why they become missionaries, so they can share the good news about Jesus Christ and Father’s plan with other human beings. This is why they do temple work for their ancestors, so that they can share the fullness of the Melchizedek Priesthood and its power with other human beings. This is why they minister to their neighbors in love, kindness and power. This missionary work, temple work and ministering is the spreading blessings and the plan of happiness, for every child of God was born to become blessed and happy.
  6. Because our Father does love us so much, he sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to be a mortal on this earth and to teach all human beings by both precept and example what it means to be good and great, kind and wise. Christ did this and was great by being the servant of all  mankind. He showed us how to react to evil, how to bless others, how to teach the truth, how to live a holy life. But the greatest thing Jesus Christ did for each human being was to suffer for the sins of each person and to die for each person. This great unparalleled act of atoning love makes it possible for Father to forgive all men their sins (transgressions against their neighbors) which they have committed but have repented of doing, and to make it possible for every human to be resurrected after mortal death into a glorious and eternal body. Because Jesus Christ did this great thing to save all mankind from sinning and from the penalty of justice that follows sinning, and from never-ending death in an earthly grave, he is called our Savior. He, Jesus Christ, desires that all of his faithful disciples become like him, to love with a pure love as he does, and to become saviors also. This was prophesied by Obadiah when he spoke of the latter days: “And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the Lord’s.” (Obadiah 1:21)
  7. To become as our Savior and to do a work of pure love, even as Christ would and did, Latter-day Saints offer to their departed ancestors the full power to become like Christ, by helping them to receive in Holy Temples the blessings of the Holy Melchizedek Priesthood they did not gain while mortal. As those ancestors accept and live in the world of the departed spirits the gospel of Jesus Christ and also accept and live up to the opportunities afforded by the fullness of the Holy Priesthood, they also can be ready when the kingdoms of this world will become the Kingdom of Christ at his second coming. Which is near, even at the door.
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Temptation

Posted on November 29, 2024 by Admin

Temptation is an opportunity to sin to which we are strongly attracted. We have opportunity to commit many sins which we find not at all attractive. Why the difference? What tempts us is our own desires. If we have thought upon some act, some object, some experience, and have thought how delicious that would be, we have thus desired that thing. Having desired something, we have lowered the barriers of judgment and good sense which normally keep us out of trouble. When that trouble suddenly stares us in the face as we turn some corner, we embrace it because we have already embraced its idea. The only cure for sinning is to purify our desires, to search with honesty the depths of our souls, and to reject every evil thing whose idea we have ever embraced.

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I Give Thanks

Posted on November 29, 2020 by Admin

This is in response to the request by President Russell M. Nelson’s recent plea on November 20, 2020 to #GiveThanks with a daily post to social media for 7 days.

I give thanks #6 – November 29, 2020

Consider the marvel of the planet on which we reside, earth. So delicately balanced for heat and cold, light and darkness, air and water, plants and animals, minerals and soil to provide a wonderful habitat for human probation. All bespeaks the hand of a careful creator, though some prefer to give the credit to blind chance. But thanks be to the gods who put all things in order for our wonderful habitat. Those persons of a spiritual inclination see that appreciation for nature is one form of worshiping that generous God who gave us all this.

What a miracle it is to drop a seed in the ground and have it reliably turn into a tomato plant or a melon vine. What a blessing that sun and rain bless the ground so plentifully in most places. What a blessing that this earth can sustain billions of God’s children and could support many times more people than there are now were it not for selfishness and greed.

Part of our human probation and training for godhood is the opportunity to deal with the delightful earthly environment with which we have been blessed. May we each prove appreciative of this great blessing and strive to leave our physical surroundings better, cleaner, more productive than we found them.

How grateful we should be!

I give thanks #5 – November 28, 2020

Because of the Fall of Adam all accountable humans are in the power of Satan and sin, breaking the commandments of God. Having sinned, we become unclean, and no unclean thing can come back to the presence of our Father in Heaven. Some sin much, some sin little. But we all sin and would be lost forever were it not for our Savior.

But Christ is of sin the double cure: He saves from wrath and makes us pure. He saves those who accept his atonement from the punishment justice demands for their having sinned. And he makes us pure by teaching us to repent, to replace each of our ways of disobedience with coming into the strait and narrow way of righteousness.”Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” (Isaiah 1: 18)

Could there be a blessing greater than having a Savior? Could there be a human action wiser than giving ourselves to follow our Savior, to become his humble imitators? There is hope for all of us, but only in true faith in Jesus Christ.

I give thanks #4 – November 27, 2020

One of the greatest blessings of being a human is to have a physical body. We are not that body. The real “us” is our eternal intelligence (person) clothed in a spirit body given to us by our Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother. Our physical body is a temporary “loaner” from our Heavenly Parents to see what we will do with it while it lasts. How we use it determines what kind of physical body we will be rewarded with for the rest of eternity: celestial, terrestrial, telestial, or perdition.

The basic options for use of our mortal human tabernacle are to use it to bless others or to use it strictly for our own imagined pleasures. The first option is called righteousness and the second is called selfishness. Almost all humans try both to see how they feel about each, then settle into a pattern favoring one or the other.

The greatest power our Heavenly parents have given us is to use this physical tabernacle to beget children, to bless other spirits with physical bodies. Satan hates this power because he will never have a physical body and tries to destroy as many human bodies as he can through wars, murders, drug use, celibacy, etc. But his favorite tactic is to entice humans to murder their own children. Anciently he did this by getting his followers to pass their children through fire as a sacrifice to some fictitious god. Today he prevails upon humans to kill their children in the womb, preferably at conception.

Blessed are those humans who choose righteousness and bless others, especially their own children.

I give thanks #3 – November 26, 2020

Father has given his human children two great gifts to guide them away from the grasp of his unfaithful son to be able to follow his faithful son. The first is conscience, the light of Christ which lightens every human being, and which brings to each of us feeling of what is right to do and what is wrong to do. The second is the Holy Ghost which brings to those who accept the light of Christ and try to do what is right a witness that Jesus Christ is the Savior of mankind. If any human accepts Jesus Christ as Savior and makes the covenant to remember and to serve Christ always, then the Holy Ghost will bring to each accepting soul a knowledge of the truth in any matter where the person needs it.

Thus accepting a feeling for righteousness is the first step to salvation from eternal servitude to the unfaithful son. The second step is to accept the witness that Jesus is the appointed Savior of mankind, then to accept Christ through the covenant of baptism, then to follow the Holy Ghost until we gain a new being in the image of Christ himself, full of righteousness and truth.

Oh the graciousness of our Father in giving us these two great gifts to guide our mortality!

I give thanks #2 – November 25, 2020

Because Father so loved his children, he sent his unfaithful son to cause his human children to fall in dying both spiritually and temporally to create a mortal situation. But this fallen condition made each child an agent, the perfect context for each of Father’s children to choose for himself or herself what each would be happiest doing in eternity. The context and agency were made complete when Father also sent his faithful son, the Son of Man (of Holiness), to atone for the sins of all mankind and to bring about the resurrection of each person. And messengers were sent to Adam and Eve and all of their children so that they could know how to be saved from the power of the unfaithful son by committing to and following the faithful son, Jesus Christ. Thus it is that all who love blessing others like the faithful son can become free from the power of the unfaithful son by binding themselves to the faithful son to become like him and by rejecting the messages from the unfaithful son.

That is why I am so grateful for the faithful son, Jesus Christ, and his precious gospel.

I give thanks #1 – November 24, 2020

I am thankful for my Heavenly Father. “Man of Holiness” is his name because he only does that which blesses others. In him there is no selfishness of any kind. His actions are one eternal round of creating and blessing. Because he does no evil and is dependable in doing all the good that can be done, he is trusted by everyone and everything in the universe that is not satanic. All the elements of the universe obey and worship him because of his goodness. This gives him great power to bless. He became a God by choosing righteousness over evil. And he blesses all of his children with that same opportunity.

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The Role of Canonized Scripture in our Lives – NEW

Posted on November 8, 2020 by Admin

Message for November 2020 – Nov 8, 2020
by Chauncey C Riddle

Keeping in mind the fact that every human being gives canonized scripture a personal role of their own choosing, I speak here of one possible role it could play for any individual who desires to let it play such a role. So here goes my opinion:

Canonized scripture is writing declared by living prophets to be the word of the Lord as voted upon and accepted by a constituent body of disciples of Christ. In more specific terms, it is a piece of writing which is proposed by the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be accepted by the members of that church as the word of the Lord Jesus Christ in a vote taken in general conference. An example of such canonizing in the life-time of many of us was the proposal that the revelation on the work of the Savior during the time between his death and his resurrection received in October 1918 by President Joseph F. Smith be accepted as scripture and be added to the Doctrine and Covenants. Those attending the conference where this proposal was made were considered a constituent body, and after their acceptance, that writing was added to the Doctrine and Covenants as Section 138.

The primary role of canonized scripture, I believe, is to provide training materials for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to help them receive the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. When persons are accepted as members of this church by baptism and confirmation, it is said to them in the confirmation: “Receive the Holy Ghost.” That phrase is not stating a fact. It is rather a command, telling the person that they are now charged with receiving the presence and guidance of the Holy Ghost in their lives. The ultimate fulfillment of that command is to gain the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. Whenever one has the presence of the Holy Ghost with them, they are forgiven of their sins.

How does canonized scripture fulfill this role? It can do its job best only if the person is reading that scripture for the right reason. The best reason is to be hungering and thirsting for righteousness. Righteousness is blessing others. So if a person reads or hears the scriptures to learn how to treat their neighbor better, their reading will be maximally profitable. They will have the best opportunity to feel the Holy Spirit as it moves upon them to do some specific act in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, and doing good to all men. “Blessed are they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they will be filled with the Holy Ghost.” (3 Nephi 12:6)

The person who is thus reading scripture for the right reason and is feeling the presence, promptings and guidance of the Holy Ghost, they need now to take a most important and essential additional step: They need to learn carefully, memorize, exactly how it feels to be prompted by the Holy Ghost. They need to fix that power to identify in their hearts and minds so that ever after they will never be confused as to which influence they are listening to. There are four potential sources for any idea or prompting. First, promptings generated by the self, the person. Second, promptings generated by communication with other human beings, be it conversation, writing, art, or just observing their actions. Third are promptings generated by Satan, through our human flesh. Third, promptings from the Holy Spirit, from God, to either or both our spiritual tabernacle or our physical tabernacle. One of the major tasks of the life of any human being is to learn, if possible, to be unerring in differentiating among these four source of ideas and impulses.

Satan tries to make sure that we never become clear as to which is which. But our Heavenly Father wants us to be accurate and expert in that differentiation. One cannot develop full faith in Jesus Christ without mastering that ability. But if we do not care about faith in Jesus Christ, then having that ability does not matter. The default position is to lapse into the power of Satan.

How does one learn to make those distinctions without error? By careful observation and practice. If a person pays close attention to his or her promptings and especially if one keeps a written record of impressions and urges and their consequential experiences in applying the promptings that come to them, one can begin to see patterns emerge. We are each given a conscience, which is the light of Christ within us. And that conscience is our guide to good thinking and choosing. And it is our best help in learning to distinguish between those four sources of ideas and impulses in our lives.

And this is where canonized scripture comes in. Reading or hearing canonized scripture is the best opportunity we humans have to feel what it is like to have revelation from God. With careful practice and memory, we can learn what if feels like to be receiving revelation as we read scripture with the right motive. And as we pay attention to those experiences, sometimes receiving help in interpreting scripture and sometimes not receiving such help, then comparing what happens when we act on the promptings we receive, we can begin to know and understand which of the four sources we are taking our promptings from. This process is little different from the challenge we face to learn to distinguish who different people are, or which kind of leaf is generic to which kind of plant, or which kind of mineral we are observing in the rocks we find, or which kind of cloud we are seeing in the sky.

Learning to make good classifications and then good identifications is one of the great keys to success in this world.

But back to spiritual identifications. As we begin to know the difference between revelation from God and revelation from Satan by studying the Holy Scriptures, that ability when gained then enables us to tell the differences in ideas in other writings as to whether they are true or not, lend themselves to godliness or not. By this ability we can read and profit from the Apocrypha of the Bible:

“Verily, I say unto you, that it is not needful that the Apocrypha should be translated. Therefore, whoso readeth it, let him understand, for the Spirit manifesteth truth; And whoso is enlightened by the Spirit shall obtain benefit therefrom; And whoso receiveth not by the Spirit cannot be benefited. Therefore it is not needful that it [the Apocrypha] should be translated.” (D&C 91:3-6)

This key to understanding applies not only the Apocrypha, but to all other writings and expressions by human beings. Those who have the Holy Ghost as their companion will weigh and evaluate all ideas and impulses that come to them, from any source, and will prove all things by the Holy Spirit and then hold fast to that which is good and true. “And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.” (Moroni 10:5)

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The Law of the Fast – NEW

Posted on August 1, 2020 by Admin

Message for August 2020
by Chauncey C Riddle

This message is designed to be read in connection with the 58th Chapter of Isaiah. Would you please turn to it? Your purpose in reading should be to answer the question: What is the law of the fast?

V 1-2: Note the reproach to Israel: They think they are trying to be righteous, yet they transgress.

V 3-5: Israel is puzzled: Why does their fasting produce no good results? The Lord answers that they fast to try to give themselves more pleasure, more success in this world, more power over their enemies. Those who fast for such reasons, even in sackcloth and ashes, fast in vain.

V 6-7: The Lord’s fast is to serve others. It is to relieve suffering, to liberate the captive, to rescue the oppressed. It is to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to be with one’s own kindred in the service of God.

V 8-9: To those who follow the Lord’s true fast comes the light and knowledge of God. Being filled with the spirit of God they enjoy physical and spiritual health according to their needs. The path of righteousness opens before them and the glory of the Lord accompanies their walk down that path.

V 10-11: For those who fast in the Lord’s way there are no unanswered prayers, because among the righteous there are no yokes or social or economic inequalities, there is no finger of scorn or vanity. As the servant of God ministers to the needy, the light of God floods in, driving away all sorrow, all darkness. Such an one who fasts in the Lord’s law shall redeem Zion, restore the ancient cities, heal the family bonds, make strait the way of righteousness to bless all who follow.

V 13-14: Our human problem is that we want what we want. The solution is to acknowledge that God is wiser than we are, and to seek his will in all things: not our pleasure, but his pleasure. Those who can muster that much intelligence will reap the blessings of God in their fulness, and this is the heritage of Israel.

What is the law of the fast? Is it not the Law of the Gospel applied to fasting?

To fast from food and water and physical pleasures is the beginning of true fasting, to learn self-control, selflessness and righteousness. To fast from every evil doing and to substitute the Lord’s way of righteousness for our own will and desires is the ultimate goal of the true fast. To go hungry is not true fasting. True fasting is to immerse oneself in prayer, uplifting our soul to God with all the being we can muster, then to go forth and minister to the needs of those who are less blessed than we are. We fast to show the Lord that we love Him and His ways more than we love our own satisfactions.

Just to eat nothing is not true fasting. True fasting is to abstain from our own pleasures and to work with all of our heart, might, mind and strength through prayer to relieve suffering and misery in those around us and to establish the Kingdom of God and his righteousness forever.

Practical aspects of fasting:

  1. We prepare our hearts and minds for fasting by mighty prayer, endeavoring to become fully subject to the Spirit of the Lord.
  2. We prepare our minds for fasting by turning our thoughts to the things of the Spirit, trying to see all things in eternal perspective.
  3. We prepare our bodies for fasting by drinking appropriate amounts of water.
  4. We prepare our might for fasting by having our affairs in order so that they will not intrude into our prayer and meditation.
  5. When we break our fast, the goal should be to eat and drink just enough that we are able to maintain the level of spirituality gained during the fast.
  6. We should show gratitude for the blessings Father gives us by paying a generous fast offering. (President Kimball said that if we could, we should pay in fast offerings ten times the amount we save by fasting. Some persons pay more than that.) Fast offerings should be paid monthly, for the needs of those who are assisted do not occur on an annual basis.
  7. We should fast every regular Fast Sunday (unless we are among those who should not fast) and at other times as prompted by the Lord through his Holy Spirit. Blessed is he or she who knows and walks in the way of the Lord. Fasting is part of that way.
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