ChaunceyRiddle

The Two Covenants

Posted on September 1, 2002 by Admin

The Two Covenants

Chauncey C. Riddle is an emeritus professor of philosophy at BYU.

Chauncey C. Riddle

The Grand Council by Robert E Barratt

The most important things for any human being to know are that there does exist a God of righteousness, that He is our Father, and that He is trying to help all of us inherit all that He is and has. He is righteous and acts only to maximize the happiness of every being He oversees. He is our Father because He begat us as His spirit children in our premortal existence. And He is trying to share with us His character of perfect righteousness, His omniscience, His omnipotence, and His dominion. His program to share with us is the joyous news, the gospel of Jesus Christ. To share with us, Heavenly Father provided two covenants whereby His children could demonstrate the ability to bear the weight of blessings He would like to share. Both covenants were planned from the beginning to suit the needs of His children. Each covenant allows the child of God to demonstrate an ability to perform in his or her own sphere, as evidence that the full weight of the Father’s blessings would bring happiness, not sorrow, to the individual. The full weight of the Father’s blessings is called “exaltation” and is a calling to join with God in His eternal work of righteousness to bring to pass the maximal happiness for each being in the universe.

The Two Covenants – Quoted from The Religious Educator Vol 3 No 3 2002

Obedience

The first covenant, as announced in the premortal existence, is the covenant of perfect obedience. His children would be brought into mortality and would be proved to see if they would do all things whatsoever the Lord their God would command them to do (see Abraham 3:22–25). This covenant is fulfilled only by our living a perfect mortal life, by not deviating from the path of perfect obedience one iota, no matter what the opposition or the consequences. This demonstration of perfect obedience is no idle or pointless exercise. It is a demonstration of the ability to do what exalted beings all do: to lead an absolutely disciplined existence of action in accordance with the principles of righteousness and order in the priesthood chain of command in the process of blessing others. This is the eternal path: blessing others here and now as preparation for an eternity of blessing them there and then, in a way that is selfless and holy. One deviation from the path, however minor, would show that that person cannot be trusted. And because he or she cannot be trusted, he or she cannot be given the blessings of exaltation. To be trusted is more important than to be loved. All of God’s children are loved by Him, but only a few can He trust completely.

Adam and Eve were participants in the first covenant in the Garden of Eden. Adam was determined to keep all the Father’s commandments. But before long, Adam and Eve broke the covenant of obedience and were thrust out of the garden and out of God’s presence. This fall was part of the Father’s plan so that they and their children would have an opportunity to generate the internal strength they did not already have and thus to become trustworthy. In this way, God could save and bless more than just those who were already of perfect character and therefore already trustworthy.

Repentance

The second covenant, companion to the covenant of perfect obedience, is the covenant of perfect repentance (see Moses 6:56–57). The word perfect means “complete.” Perfect obedience can be demonstrated only by persons of already perfect character. But all of God’s children, of any character, can choose to comply with the second covenant of perfect repentance by repenting until they have perfect character. Then, when they have perfect character, they can comply with the first covenant and demonstrate perfect obedience. This second covenant of perfect repentance is usually referred to as the new and everlasting covenant. It is “new” because it comes after the first covenant. It is “everlasting” because it is made possible only through the life, mission, and Atonement of Jesus Christ, one of His names being “Everlasting.”

When most people think of the work of Jesus Christ and His covenant, they think of forgiveness of sins. And forgiveness is important. But it is not the most important thing the second covenant does. The most important thing the new and everlasting covenant does is to bring about a change of character so the person can perform with perfect obedience under the first covenant. When we have attained perfect repentance through Jesus Christ, we then can prove that we can be perfectly obedient, and our Savior is pleased to be able to forgive us of our sins. And He is very forgiving. All who go to a kingdom of glory—celestial, terrestrial, or telestial—are forgiven of their sins either through Jesus Christ or through their own personal suffering. But only a few of those forgiven of their sins can be trusted completely. Only a few who can be given all knowledge, power, dominion, and freedom will then not exercise unrighteous dominion. Those few are precious. They become joint heirs with Christ in receiving all that He has, and He has received all His Father has. Those who cannot be trusted may receive glory but not a fulness. Therefore, their state in eternity is, in a sense, damnation. They receive all the blessings they have demonstrated they will use in righteousness. But where their character has not been changed so that they can be perfectly obedient, in that area they cannot receive a fulness of the blessings; this is damnation to some degree. Even the angels in the celestial kingdom are damned to a degree because they would not fully partake of the new and everlasting covenant (see D&C 131:1–4). Thus, the main point of the new and everlasting covenant is that it allows a person to change character until he or she is a new creature. The individual may become new to any degree desired. The power of Christ in the new and everlasting covenant is sufficient to help any person attain any degree of perfection desired. Total perfection, to come into the measure of the stature of Christ, is attained only by those persons who fully keep the new and everlasting covenant. As they work through to complete repentance, they are added upon, bit by bit, until they are as noble, as selfless, and as trustworthy as is Christ Himself. Through perfect repentance, they have come to be a perfect person, renewed unto the full measure of the stature of Christ Himself.

The Merits of Christ

How is this perfection achieved? The story of this process of repenting is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Perfection comes only in and through the merits of Christ. What are His merits? First, He has a perfect character. Second, He is exalted and has all the Father’s knowledge, power, and ability. Third, He performed the Atonement and thus is able to resurrect all men and women and to plead before the Father for the forgiveness of their sins. Fourth, He is the creator of heaven and earth and all things that in them are, the governor and manager of our universe. Because He was already perfect in character, our Savior came into mortality and kept fully the first covenant of perfect obedience. Subject to all the problems of mortality that every other human being suffers, He came into this world as a human being, denied each temptation of Satan, and fulfilled the Father’s will in every single instruction.

He was and is exalted, having all power in time and in eternity to do whatever work of godliness is required for the blessing of mankind. We do not yet comprehend the great blessings He has in store for the faithful. But the faithful are not primarily faithful so that they will get the blessings; they are faithful because faithfulness is the right thing to do, the thing that will enable them to bless others. The life and mission of Jesus Christ as a whole could be called His Atonement, or His at-one-ment, whereby He attempts to reconcile each of us with the Father. Father cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance, and our Savior tries to help each person to stop sinning and to be forgiven of the sins committed so that he or she can again stand in Father’s presence. He sends His gospel into the earth that all might be fully instructed as to how to enter into and complete the second covenant and be fully empowered through its ordinances to grow in character. Only those who complete the second covenant—who achieve perfect repentance—can be fully trustworthy and thus acceptable to our Father, to become one with Him, even as He and our Savior are one. The arms of mercy and repentance are extended to all mankind that everyone who wishes to partake may, without money and without price. But repent they must. Being the creator and governor of the universe, our Savior manages all things for the instruction and blessing of each human being. Every human experience is an opportunity to repent, to change our actions and through changing our actions to change our character. Through the gifts of the Spirit, which Christ bestows, the efforts of men and women are matched with the divine power each needs to repent until repentance is complete and each has endured to the end, which is to become as Christ.

There is no more intelligent thing to do in the universe than to rely on the merits of Jesus Christ. That is the only path to happiness. The degree to which any human being relies on the merits of Christ will be the measure of his or her happiness.

The Measure of Our Faith and Repentance

It is important now to say how the first principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ are to be applied in this quest for complete repentance. The first principles are faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and repentance.

To have faith in Jesus Christ means to accept His gospel message as attested to by the Holy Ghost and then to rely fully upon the merits of Christ. It means to rely on His name, to keep His commandments, and to strive for perfection of character in all things. If there is anything mean, cowardly, lascivious, untruthful, snobbish, lazy, careless, or lacking in character, our business as servants of Christ is to root out these things with all haste and effort. This is done not only that our own souls can be saved but because we cannot love anyone else purely or deeply until all of these ungodly things are rooted out of our souls through faith and repentance. To have faith in Christ means to trust in Him completely to the giving up of all our sins, bad habits, untrue ideas, evil thoughts, or untoward desires.

An essential part of trusting in Jesus Christ is knowing who His servants are and accepting them as His servants. For instance, no one alive today can fully come unto Christ and receive the fulness of His blessings in this life or in the world to come if that person cannot and does not accept Joseph Smith Jr. as the prophet of this dispensation. It is through him that the keys of the priesthood have come to this time to offer salvation to every soul on earth. Joseph Smith truly did represent Jesus Christ in full authority to bring souls to Christ. Likewise, no one can be saved today and receive all the blessings unless he or she accepts Gordon B. Hinckley as the living prophet. One thing that faithful people quickly learn is that they must also accept the leadership of their stake president and bishop—or their mission president if they are missionaries. No one who has true faith in Christ would think of making a serious life change, such as getting married or divorced, without consulting their bishop and staying close to him in the process. This phenomenon of accepting priesthood authority as part of faith in Jesus Christ is somewhat jokingly in the Church called being “priesthood broke,” the western term referring to a horse being broken to be manageable and ride-able. Those who have true faith in Christ wear the priesthood harness well; they do their assignments well; they support those in authority over them; they minister to those under their priesthood authority; and they strive to bring all humans to Christ both by precept and by example.

One very good measure of our faith and trust in Christ is our lack of fear. If we are His faithful servants, He has promised that all things would and will work together for our good, no matter what happens (see D&C 98:3). If we believe this, we can meet each day with joy and gladness, each crisis with equanimity, and each calamity with recognition of an opportunity to do good. If we are afraid of anything, that fear is the measure of our lack of trust in Christ. For if all things work together for our good, what is there to fear? If we will only do our part and obey Christ in all things, there is no need to fear anything except not having faith in Jesus Christ. The second principle of the gospel is repentance. Repentance is changing each act of our life that is not an act of faith in Christ to become an act of faith in Jesus Christ. To help us with this process, our Savior sends the Holy Spirit to be the constant companion of His covenant servants. With the help of the whisperings and promptings of the Holy Spirit, each of us is guided into the narrow path of obedience to Jesus Christ. Humble, willing obedience to Jesus Christ is faith in Him. Without the Holy Spirit, we cannot perfect our faith in Christ. And perfect faith in Christ is the end or goal of repentance. To repeat: repentance is changing our feelings, thinking, decisions, and actions until each thing we do is an act of faith in Jesus Christ. Then we are faith-full. What makes the second covenant so drastically different from the first covenant is that in the first covenant if we make one mistake, break one commandment of God, we are lost. In the second covenant, if we break a commandment and misstep on our way, that can be forgiven if we are truly sorry and get ourselves back onto the strait and narrow way of faith. That getting back is repentance. Should we sin many times, we still can be forgiven if we truly repent and get back onto the track of trust in Christ. Thus, the second covenant is the covenant of complete or perfect repentance.

All the other laws and principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ are examples of the application of faith in Jesus Christ and repentance in our lives and can be truly and fully understood only in that light. Faith, repentance, and all of the other laws and principles of the gospel have one end: to produce persons of perfect character whose only actions are those of the pure love of Christ. Pure means selfless. Those who are pure live outside of themselves in service to others. They have a pure love for Christ, looking to Him in every thought (see D&C 6:36). They see the face of Christ in every person they encounter. They minister to every person they encounter as Christ would, discerning their needs and blessing each person with whatever he or she needs to take the next step on the individual path to happiness. Filled with the Holy Ghost and the power of the holy priesthood, the child of Christ knows what to do and has the power to do whatever is necessary to manifest the pure love of Christ.

An Ongoing Work

If enough of the children of Christ who have pure love happen to be in one place, they together constitute a Zion, for they are pure in heart (see Moses 7:18). To establish Zion is to encourage and entice every person to enter the new and everlasting covenant and to endure to the end, which end is to be able to love with pure love, and which end is also eternal life. The work of establishing Zion is a work of power. It cannot be done by mortal means. Only as the powers of heaven come down and infuse the natural, mortal situation can we be saved, which salvation is to be changed from the natural, mortal condition to the stature of the character of Christ, full of pure love, as He is. A key power that makes this transformation possible is the holy priesthood. God bestows the holy priesthood upon men, and they use it in the service of Christ to bring about the personal transformations I have been discussing. They use it to teach and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. They use it to administer the ordinances of the new and everlasting covenant. They use it to establish and guide The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They use it to bless each other, to check evil, to control the elements of nature, and to do whatever God instructs them to do.

Special mention needs to be made of the ordinances of the new and everlasting covenant as administered by the holy priesthood. The two basic parts of that second covenant are baptism and the receiving of the holy Melchizedek Priesthood.

Baptism is the first part of the new and everlasting covenant. It allows individuals formally to renounce their old, natural way of living and to announce a determination to accept the power of God to change their nature into the character of Christ. The person who truly is reborn of water and of the Spirit is as a little child: meek, submissive, patient, humble, and willing to submit to whatever the Lord sees fit to inflict upon him or her (see Mosiah 3:19). Having been given the right to the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost, the person strives to treasure that influence and to obey God in all things, putting aside all worldliness and walking in the plain path of goodness, virtue, and service to others in the pure love of Christ.

When men and women are well rooted and established as reborn children of Christ, anxiously engaged each day in selflessly pursuing the services the Master would have them render to others, they are ready to receive and profit from the holy Melchizedek Priesthood. For men, there are three steps in receiving that priesthood power to be able to minister to others as a greatly enhanced being. The first step is to be ordained to the Melchizedek Priesthood. The second is to receive one’s endowment in the holy temple. The third is to be sealed to an eternal companion in the temple.

To be ordained to the Melchizedek Priesthood is to join the ranks of the empowered servants of God to give special service: missionary work, church work, family work, and temple work. All who receive that priesthood are assigned to a quorum, where they are to learn to serve with others and to learn to wear the priesthood harness well, pulling their load in coordination with others. As they are faithful and continue in repentance, the power of the priesthood wells up within them; they become full of the gifts and powers and knowledge of the Lord and gain the power to bless others with ordinances, miracles, direction, and insight.

In due time, the faithful servant of Christ is invited to go into the holy temple to receive the endowment. The endowment is a gift, as the name suggests. It is a gift of all the eternal powers and blessings the person needs to overcome the world and to accomplish his or her mortal mission. Without the endowment, the person has not the power to defeat Satan and to fulfill all the callings received as a servant in the kingdom of Christ. The blessings of the endowment, like that of the gift of the Holy Ghost at baptism, do not come automatically. The ordinances are the bestowing of a right to receive, and as the gifts are carefully sought for and treasured by explicit prayer and obedience, the gifts come in the sequence and degree the Lord sees is best for the development of the individual into the likeness of the character of Christ. When endowed persons are ready to marry and establish a new eternal family, those who preside over them send them to the temple to receive a fulness of the blessings of the gospel. In the temple sealing, they receive all the other powers and rights they need to act as husband and wife, father and mother, in their own eternal kingdom. Their own eternal kingdom is not solely their property. They are Christ’s, and Christ and all of His are the Father’s. The couple joins the eternal family and kingdom of the gods and through faithfulness enter into the order of the gods for an eternal career of blessing others with all that time and eternity afford.

A Path to Perfection

Now to sum up this discussion of the two covenants.

The first covenant is the basic covenant. It is never replaced by the second covenant. The purpose of the second, or new and everlasting covenant, is to enable us to grow in stature and character until we can fulfill the first covenant of perfect obedience. Our Savior, Jesus Christ, kept the first covenant in His mortal life and through His Atonement made the second covenant possible for us. The key to remember is that neither covenant excuses sin. The first covenant requires sinlessness, always. The second covenant is a covenant of mercy, which allows a person to learn through experiment, and in experimenting and trying, perhaps to sin, but then to repent unto not sinning. The second covenant is an inclined plane that leads gently up to perfection, whereas the first covenant demands perfection from the beginning. Both demand perfection, and the reward of each is the powers, abilities, and life of a perfect person. One is direct; the other is roundabout.

The first covenant is pure and straight justice. The second covenant is a covenant of justice mixed with temporary mercy for those who do not as yet have the character of Christ to produce and to abide perfect justice. Both come to the same end, the first by direct obedience to the Father, the second by becoming first children of Christ and then, as His children, growing until we can give direct and total obedience to the Father.

The good news is that “the leopard can change its spots.” Whatever we are and have been, we can change. By submitting ourselves to Christ through His new and everlasting covenant, we can become new creatures with new habits, new desires, a new mind, a new heart, and a new body.

This is salvation indeed.

I rejoice in the goodness of our God in providing two covenants whereby mankind may join the ranks of the gods. The first is the eternal order of the gods. The second is the apprenticeship whereby we learn to abide the perfect and eternal order of the gods. I thank our Father and His Son for giving us these two great gifts to bless our lives.

Posted in The Religious Educator | Tagged robert e barratt, the grand council, the religious educator vol 3 no 3 2002, two covenants | Comments Off

The Point is to Know What You Know

Posted on June 6, 1998 by Admin

By Chauncey C. Riddle

This People – Summer 1998, p 11-24

It is good to know. But it is better to know that you know.

The Point is to Know what you Know - This People- Fall 1998 - by Chauncey Riddle

From This People Magazine – Fall 1998

WE HUMANS DELIGHT IN KNOWING. We love to look, see, hear, understand and imagine. But there is a downside: We sometimes think we know something when we don’t, confusing a feeling of certitude with real certitude. We shall examine the ways humans know to build a picture of what we can and cannot, do and do not know.

The technical name for studying human knowledge is “epistemology,” a Greek term formed from “episteme,” meaning to know, and “logy,” meaning words about. Our survey of human knowing will cover all of the important kinds.

We begin with authoritarianism. This kind of knowing focuses on ideas gained from others by communication. This is the easiest of all the forms of knowing to use, and the one most people depend on; If you want to know something, just ask someone you consider to be an authority on the subject. For instance, we commonly ask our parents about things which happened to us before we could remember: where and when we are born, who our grandparents are, etc.

While authoritarianism is very convenient, it has pitfalls. The first is knowing who is an authority on a subject. If you personally really know who is and is not an authority on a given subject, you art probably an authority yourself on the subject and don’t need to ask. If you are not an authority on the subject, then you are forced to ask someone else (an authority) as to who is an authority, and you may or may not get a good answer. Once you have located someone whom you consider to be an authority, it is necessary to communicate with them, and when you have an answer you must ask yourself, Did that authority understand my question?, and, Did I understand the answer of the authority correctly?

But assuming that you have located a genuine authority and have successfully communicated with them, you can get some very good answers in a very economical manner.

This is why we go to doctors, lawyers, agricultural experts, mechanics, plumbers, and others to get good answers when we have trouble.

We next look at rationalism as a way of knowing. Rationalism uses human reason to compare and relate ideas. It presupposes three things:

A system of reasoning in which you have confidence,
Premises or ideas which you wish to reason about, and
Premises which are sufficiently general to allow you to reason.

For example,

might be the system of arithmetic;
might be your knowledge of your beginning bank balance at the first of the month and all of the checks you have written during the month; and
might be the knowledge that only you have the power and authority to withdraw funds from the account.

With those three things in place, you can use the system of arithmetic to subtract the checks written from the initial balance and have confidence that since no other person can withdraw funds, you now know how much you have left in the bank account.

Rationalism is a very sure way of coming to knowledge when all three of those factors are in place. But reason itself cannot assure you that those three factors are actually all in place. So reason is an important way of knowing, but it can never stand alone. It needs other epistemologies to furnish the wherewith to reason. Other examples of good rational knowing are the theorems of plane geometry, syllogistic and other logical systems, and predicting the trajectories of heavenly bodies once we know their past history.

Empiricism is a wonderful way of knowing if you are driving on the right side of the road, what time the clock says it is, locating your favorite tie, and for finding your wife In a crowd. But It won’t work for many important things because we cannot perceive those important things with our physical senses.

Third in our survey is the epistemology of empiricism. Empiricism is gaining knowledge by using our human physical senses of touch, sight, hearing, smell, taste, etc. There are about twenty-five identifiable human senses, but we depend mainly on the five mentioned. For example, if you want to know if the tomatoes in your garden are ripe enough to pick, it would be a good idea to go look at them. Their color is typically a good index to their ripeness. If they are indeed dark red, that is a good indication that they are ready to pick. You might look at the calendar and think, today is the 10th of August, and the tomatoes should be ripe (rationalism), or you could send someone out to look for you and report back (authoritarianism). But you are likely to be best satisfied by your own visual and gustatory inspection.

Empiricism is a very good way of knowing about our immediate physical environment, but it does little for the past, the future, the distant, or the unobservable. And when you can directly inspect what you want to know about, one must be sure that one is looking at something which is very familiar (the first time we see something we do not see it very well), that we are not being fooled by some aberration (it pays to look two or three times, as in the carpenter’s adage: measure twice, saw once), and that we are not dreaming (fur this we usually rub our eyes). Empiricism is a wonderful way of knowing if you are driving on the right side of the road, what time the clock says it is, locating your favorite tie, and for finding your wife in a crowd. But it won’t work for many important things because we cannot perceive those important things with our physical senses.

Now we come to statistical empiricism, which is a mixture of empiricism and rationalism. It is empirical because one uses one’s senses to collect a lot of observations, called data. But then one must manipulate that data by means of statistical formulas. The manipulation is rationalism.

For instance, if you want to know what brand of tires wears the longest, you must gather a lot of data. You might try putting new tires of ten varieties on ten different automobiles, the ten being the same make and model. Then you drive these automobiles until the tires are worn out (preferably over the identical routes at the same time), then see how many miles are recorded for each brand of tires. But wait! Perhaps some of the brands of tires had unusual samples. That means you must try three or four sets of each brand. Then when you look at the average (statistical manipulation) for each brand, it will be easy to discern which brand wears the longest.

Statistical empiricism works well where one can be empirical, but the rational manipulation of the data tells us things which sheer observation cannot. I cannot tell which brand of toothpaste is best for preventing cavities by brushing just my own teeth: I must have many persons using many brands to gain a reliable statistical result.

So if you need to know which paint holds up the best on the highway, or which kind of cleanser is most cost effective, or which high school students are most likely to do well academically in college, statistical empiricism is your friend. It only works, of course, for large populations which are adequately sampled, and where the data is properly interpreted. But if those factors are in place, it is most useful.

Next in our survey we come to pragmatism. Pragmatism is knowing what works. When we know what works we do not always know why it works, but when someone is desperate, they will settle for what works without knowing why. Most pragmatic knowledge is gained by sheer coincidence, observing what works as compared with what does not.

When people have ill health, they often are willing to try most anything to get relief. When something works for them and they actually do get relief, they then swear by whatever worked and sometimes want to tell others how to cure the malady which formerly beset them. But what works for one person does not always work for another. And what seems to work sometimes has serious side-effects which are worse than the original malady. But pragmatism holds a prominent place in epistemology simply because we do not understand all things yet we can do many things we do not understand.

So if you find that eating lots of spinach seems to give you added strength, you might continue, because perhaps the spinach really is the cause. Or if when you choke your lawnmower only three-fourths of the way, it always starts, and won’t readily start when choked to any other point, you would do well to continue choking it at three-fourths. That makes good pragmatic sense.

Pragmatism rescues all of us from our frustration and impotence at times. It is valuable.

It is the attitude of being careful, of rejecting anything where the evidence is slight or inconclusive, to be sure of knowing only that which is fully manifest and apparent.

Next in our repertoire of ways of knowing is mysticism. This mysticism is said to be a way of knowing “immediately” instead of “mediately,” Rather than knowing something through reason or sensation, one knows because one is part of the thing known, is it, and thus knows its being directly. Mysticism is difficult to describe because it is admittedly ineffable, not amenable to verbal representation.

Proponents of mysticism say that it is the way of knowing because it is more satisfying than any other epistemology. In mysticism, one does not just be aware of something, but partakes directly in its being; this is said to be the superior kind of knowing.

Mysticism is often associated with religious knowing, and is sometimes identified as the basis for revelation. This association does not hold for most Latter-day Saints for reasons which will be discussed below. But many in the world find their religious fulfillment in what they denominate as the mystical experience.

Some limitations of mysticism seem apparent. If it is not rational or has no rational content, how can it be understood? If it is non-empirical, how can persons compare experience? If the sole criterion for epistemological success is satisfaction, how can one have any assurance that the mystical state is not just self-induced aestheticism? But these limitations do not bother the avowed mystic. He points out that these are the very advantages which make mysticism the preeminent epistemology.

Our next candidate for a way of knowing is scepticism (French spelling: you may prefer the Germanic skepticism). Scepticism is more an attitude than a full-blown epistemology of its own. It is the attitude of being careful, of rejecting anything where the evidence is slight or inconclusive, to be sure of knowing only that which IS fully manifest and apparent. Thus one might be rightly sceptical of many advertising claims, even though they be clothed in the garb of legitimate statistical empiricism: how large was the sample, how random was the sample, was there a double-blind control set of data? One is often sceptical about empirical observations unless they see for themselves (I am from Missouri, so “Show Me!”). It is good to be sceptical of reasoning that is sheer rationalization (inventing the premises necessary for a desired conclusion, but not being able to show that the premises are true). It is often good to be sceptical about pragmatic results, or claims of pragmatic results, for often they represent only coincidence.

One can be reasonably sceptical and careful using any of the epistemologies, and experience with mistakes shows us the necessity of a healthy dose of scepticism in most epistemological adventures. But one can also be too sceptical, “throwing the baby out with the bath” as the saying goes. One can see and know, and still not believe, as when Laman and Lemuel saw and heard an angel but rejected the experience. One can have good reasoning and reject it, as when many reject the organization of the Primitive Church as being a key to the true church of Jesus Christ in the latter days, denying the restoration of all things. One can reject authority when the person truly is a demonstrated authority, as when the contemporaries of Jesus rejected him as a legitimate holder of the priesthood even while he was exercising that priesthood in the exact same manner as the prophets of old whom they accepted.

Scepticism can be a wonderful balance to overweening desire, but it can also be used to defy knowing of something obviously true but contrary to overweening desire. It is like dynamite: a powerful way to clear obstacles but also a means of destroying everything else. In ancient times the sceptics rejected the claims of the rationalists and idealists in favor of that which was preeminently empirically demonstrable, a safe position in the midst of extravagant claims, but they lost some of the wonder of what imagination can do.

We come now to two specialized epistemologies invented by the world because no single epistemology satisfied the needs of knowing. These special variations are scholarship and science.

Scholarship is the search for accuracy and truth in historical matters by limiting one’s evidence to that which is publicly documented. Thus the scholar must become the master of all extant documentary evidence related to a topic of choice, and from the massed evidence construct a picture of the past which contains as little interpolation (filling in the blanks) as possible while explaining all of the documentary evidence available. One example of good scholarly enterprise for Latter-day Saints is genealogical research, where every conclusion should be backed up by actual documentary evidence.

Scholarship is a great advance on ordinary story-telling, but it has its limitations as well. The documentary evidence may itself have been created by very biased persons who were not interested in the truth. No matter what language the documents are written in, interpretation of the recorded evidence introduces many chances for error. Sometimes documents have been deliberately destroyed to hide the truth, thus leaving only conjecture possible. And sometimes supposed documents are actually clever forgeries, as in the case of the Salamander Papers in recent LDS church history.

But notwithstanding the problems, scholarship is a legitimate and valuable tool in the hands of any person who will learn to use it carefully.

Conscience and personal revelation — they are rejected by the world because the results from them have been so varied and different for different persons, and because they demand moral living, which the world wishes to avoid.

Science is the creation of rationally consistent explanations of publicly observable phenomena. Publicly observable phenomena are the results of physical experiments or direct observations which any skilled person can observe or reproduce. Rationally consistent explanations are accountings for a set of phenomenal data which are consistent with other accepted theoretical explanations in the particular scientific field.

For instance, it had been noted that moldy bread when eaten by some persons seemed to improve their health. Most people were rightly sceptical that there was any connection between the eating of the moldy bread and improved health. But then when penicillin was developed it turned out that the moldy bread was actually a natural form of penicillin and penicillin contains a substance which has the ability to inhibit the growth of bacteria in the human body. So after the scientific explanation was developed, the eating of moldy bread to improve health was no longer such a far-fetched idea.

Science depends upon the statistical manipulation (rational use) of arrays of empirical data, coupled with theoretical explanations as to what is happening. Science has proved to be a powerful and valuable way of knowing, though not infallible. When science fails it is because the evidence observed was not sufficient or representative (though unscrupulous persons have sometimes “fabricated” evidence), or because the wrong premises were used in interpreting the data (e.g., it was once assumed that heat was an actual substance), or because the proponents of science overstep their bounds and claim that conjectures are truth in things that cannot be known scientifically (like the origin of life on the earth).

Technology is the ability to do things physical. Science is often confused with technology in the minds of persons who do not think much about epistemology. Technology is the “how to do things” knowledge of the human race, the sum of the pragmatic knowledge available, whereas science is the creation of explanations for what can be and is done technically. In today’s world, science has better press than technology, so science gets a lot of credit for doing things which are simply technical abilities.

For a long time in history, technology and science were quite separate disciplines. The craftsmen were the technologists and made steel even though they could not explain why what they did worked. Scientists were busy inventing theories to explain things but paid no attention to mundane things like making steel. But as scientific experiments grew more technical and demanding, scientists had to call on the craftsmen to build and operate their equipment. And as technology advanced, scientific explanations began to aid the development of technology (instead of the old try this and try that method of pragmatism), as when the atomic bomb was invented through theoretical calculations. Today science and technology, scientists and engineers, work hand in hand to increase the power of human beings to build and destroy.

There yet remain two ways of knowing. These are as important as the rest, but are usually neglected in the study of epistemology. These are conscience and personal revelation. They are rejected by the world because the results from them have been so varied and different for different persons, and because they demand moral living, which the world wishes to avoid.

Conscience is the Light of Christ which comes to all persons of normal mentality on this earth. It has the specific function to give a witness of what is good. Satan is also abroad and spreads ideas and feelings of evil in the hearts and minds of men. Thus all men are immersed in a sea of spiritual enticement being enticed to hurt one another, to steal, to lie, to commit sexual sin, etc., by Satan; and at the same time they are enticed to be good to one another, to share, to tell the truth, to be sexually pure and faithful, by the light of Christ. It is the opposition of these two enticements in each human life which creates agency, the opportunity to choose for oneself one’s course of life.

There is no other way to know what is good other than the light of Christ. True, someone may tell you what they think is good, as parents and friends usually do, but to know for sure what is really good comes only from the light of Christ One may reason what might be good, but that only works if the premises are good, which simply pushes the problem back one step. We cannot observe empirically what is good and bad. Pragmatism does not help. We are left to the enticing of our own heart. We are free because the good that comes from Christ and recognize good from evil. This matter of conscience and telling what is good and what is evil puts human beings on unequal ground: each person must go by the witness of his own heart as to which is the good and which is the evil. Those whose hearts are more evil than good think that evil is good. Those whose hearts are more good than evil tend to think that good is good. Thus all mankind are free to choose for themselves.

Personal revelation is the direct communication of God to the heart, and mind, or body of a human being by God. It generally follows the light of Christ and comes only to those who choose to accept and live by the light of Christ. Personal revelation is given to direct and empower the servants of God. Because it always has a rational message and discernable content, it is not mysticism (though some persons call it that anyway). Personal revelation is the key to knowing all things, and to know them in the best way; but it is available only to those who live by the light of Christ and choose good over evil. So it is relatively unknown by the world, and where it is known, it is usually despised as an aberration on human intelligence.

There is a great danger in personal revelation, for Satan can and does give personal revelation abundantly. The safeguard is in paying attention to the light of Christ: one who has mastered the difference between good and evil will easily discern the good revelations from God as distinct from the evil revelations of Satan. All these revelations come through the voice of conscience. but must be discerned by the heart.

A wise Latter-day Saint will know and use all of the epistemologies, employing each where most needed and most valuable. But the most important epistemologies are those of conscience, the light of Christ and personal revelation. To make a living, to subdue natural forces, to work in political situations among men, all require special epistemological techniques which one shares with the world. But to be righteous, to build an eternal family, to establish the kingdom of God on the earth and to further the eternal welfare of the souls of men require the light of Christ and personal revelation from God. All these epistemologies are treasures, but two are most valuable above all the others.

It remains now to discuss how each of these epistemologies relates to and contributes to the building of a testimony of the truth of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A testimony is two things: a personal knowledge of the truth of something, and the bearing witness of that knowledge. The first is the more important, but the second is one of the great building blocks of the Kingdom of God on the earth. When enough people have solid testimonies, and those solid testimonies have been witnessed to every soul on the earth, the earth will be ready for the second coming of its true king, Jesus Christ.

Authoritarianism is important to a testimony because if we know people who are reliable and responsible human beings and they bear testimony to us about the gospel, we have good reason to investigate seriously the possibility that we could also find out the truth of this matter. But we can never settle for the testimony of someone else. We must have our own light, our own independent evidence, to be sure.

Rationalism helps us with a testimony because the single important criterion for rational certitude is consistency. If we find that the gospel is consistent with itself, that is good. That does not of itself mean that we have established the truth, but if we were to discover actual inconsistencies in the doctrines of the gospel, we would have good reason to reject the message. The restored gospel of Jesus Christ has been attacked by the enemies of the church for over a century and a half in the attempt to find some inconsistency. But the enemies fail, because there are none, and any person who thinks he or she has uncovered one is showing that they do not yet understand what they are talking about. One of the wonderful things about the restored gospel is that it is a logical redoubt, a fortress of good ideas which are totally consistent with each other.

Empiricism is important to a testimony because there needs to be something physical, something tangible, to help us come to knowledge. The outstanding piece of physical evidence for the truthfulness of the gospel is the existence of the Book of Mormon. That volume is a living miracle. To read and understand it is to see the hand of God moving to bless all the people of this earth with true concepts about Jesus Christ and how to come to him. The enemies of the Church have tried for this century and a half to find out who “really” wrote the book, because all of Joseph Smith’s contemporaries knew he did not have enough background to have invented it. The only hypothesis which fits the known historical facts is the simple claim of Joseph himself: he translated it from ancient records by the gift and power of God.

Statistical empiricism makes its contribution to the work of the Lord in practical matters such as missionary work (coming to know what kind of person is most likely to listen to the message), but its contribution to a testimony is largely subsumed under empiricism. The practical help of statistical empiricism must always be counterbalanced against the witness of the Holy Spirit, for sometimes the most unlikely persons are the most receptive to the gospel message.

Pragmatism makes a magnificent contribution to a testimony. The gospel is the message that if we will put our trust in Jesus Christ (faith), change our ways to become like him (repentance), We will know of the doctrine’s truth because we will be given the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. Everyone who has accepted baptism and the confirmational challenge to receive the Holy Ghost into their lives knows that the message really does have pragmatic value: the presence of the Holy Ghost in their lives is the manifest evidence that they are on the true path which leads to godliness.

Mysticism does not make a contribution to a real testimony of the truthfulness of the restored gospel, so far as I can ascertain. Mysticism seems to be a counterfeit of revelation. My advice is to be wary of its contribution to a testimony is largely it, and to seek divine revelation instead.

Scepticism does contribute to a testimony. It does so by getting us to check every piece of evidence we have and to discard that which is illusory or unreliable. False testimonies from other persons, false stories that sound like faith-promoting incidents, false interpretations of scripture and doctrine — all can tend to destroy the strength of an otherwise good set of evidence. So we need to be careful that we do not allow any “junk” into our treasury of evidences.

Science contributes to a testimony by discovering the grand order and design of the world in which we live. All physical things bear witness of their maker, our Father in Heaven and science can help us to understand and marvel at the goodness of our God in providing us with such a beautiful and intricately fashioned sphere of existence. Science of itself does not and cannot prove that there is a God or that he created this world. But if we know those things from other evidence, knowledge of science can strengthen our testimony.

Scholarship has its place in building testimony by showing us that in every culture and religion there are remnants of the true gospel and of the true ordinance. Adam and Eve knew the gospel and the ordinances, and their children have carried traces of those blessings unto the latest generation.

But the most important elements of a testimony come through our own personal spiritual experience. He who rejects the light of Christ will never have a testimony of the truth of spiritual things until it is too late, until he dies and discovers he is still alive or is resurrected and physically faces the Savior.

But those who do accept the light of Christ come to love good, and their love of good leads them to more good, which leads them to the witness of the Holy Ghost. That witness is the indispensable core and foundation of any real testimony. To know the truthfulness of the way of the restored gospel by the Holy Ghost after seeking good through the light of Christ is to grasp the iron rod which leads along the path to eternal life. (To seek revelation from the Holy Ghost without first clearly distinguishing good from evil by living by the light of Christ is to invite confusion and gives Satan power to give us false revelation which we cannot correctly identify.)

The person who is founded upon the rock of revelation from the Holy Ghost, and is surrounded by the additions of authority, reason, experience, pragmatism, science, and scholarship has built his own secure redoubt which can be the foundation of an eternal life and an eternal kingdom. It is a prize greatly to be desired, and one within the grasp of every child of God on this earth.

It is good to know. But it is better to know that we know.

Chauncey Riddle is a professor emeritus of Philosophy

Posted in Epistemology, Philosophy, This People Magazine | Tagged authoritarianism, conscience, empiricism, epistemology, mysticism, personal revelation, pragmatism, rationalism, scepticism, scholarship, science, skepticism, statistical empiricism, technology | 9 Comments

Working By Faith is Mental Exertion

Posted on July 15, 1994 by Admin

I had the pleasure of having Elder Riddle in my district and zone while serving in the Illinois Peoria mission. I have a two page work entitled “Working By Faith is Mental Exertion” written by Chauncey Riddle in response to a mission wide effort to obtain “an eye single to the Glory of God”. To my knowledge this work hasn’t been published anywhere, I am happy to forward you a copy if you would like.

As I understand, this was written around July or August of 1994 while Elder and Sister Riddle were serving full time in the Bloomington/Normal Illinois area.

– Jeff Driggs, A Missionary in the Illinois, Peoria Mission

Elder Chauncey Riddle

Faith is a believing, enthusiastic positive response to a message from God.

To work by faith consists of two parts:

Training the mind, in understanding and intentions.
Doing that which pleases God.

Training the mind.

The goal of mind training is to have an eye single to the Glory of God. The eye in question is the mind’s eye, the eye of our understanding and intentions. It is God’s purpose to teach us how to look upon our surroundings in this world and see things as they really are (as opposed to believing the lies of the adversary). To do this we must test every bit of information we receive by the Holy Spirit, to see if how we are seeing, hearing, sensing and believing is true. This is difficult at first, but as we practice doing this it can become almost automatic. We are training ourselves to look upon all things with the help of God, to see things as he sees them. By this means we come to understand truly what is going on around us in order to to diagnose the problems at hand correctly.

To train our intentions is to work with ourselves until we desire nothing but the glory of God. This is intense mental effort, for we must be ever scrutinizing our intent and motives, being guided by our conscience whether our motives are pure and selfless or not. When the work of God becomes the only thing we really care about, then we can begin to work for the glory of God with all of our heart, might, mind and strength.

In the process of attempting to make our eye single to the glory of God, we may find that our heart is not pure, and that we cannot go all the way to having an eye single because our heart will not tolerate that dedication. It is then our privilege to apply to God for a new heart. When we have done all that we can do with our present heart, have trained our mind to attend to the things of God and our body to be as faithful to God as we can, then, since we have then done all we can to have faith, the grace of God can come to us and make up the difference. As we receive instruction from God to do so, we can receive a new, pure heart which will enable us to have our eye completely single to the glory of God. A pure heart and an eye (mind) single make it possible for us to become faith-full, to have perfect faith.

Doing that which pleases God.

Faith not a one-time accomplishment, but is required every decision of our lives. One who has an eye single out of a pure heart yet has much mental work to do to be faithful. He or she must search out the mind and will of the Lord in every situation and then do what the Lord instructs him or her to do in order to act faithfully.

Searching out the mind and will of God is done by a conversation between the heart and the mind of a person. The mind searches the scriptures and the words of the prophets and the whisperings of the Spirit for clues as to what Cod would have done to solve a particular problem. As ideas and possible solutions come to mind these are referred to the heart. If the idea is good, the heart will register that good. If the idea is bad, the heart will register that reservation and the mind will have a stupor and confusion. The heart and mind must pass the matter back and forth until the person is assured by the Holy Spirit that they know the mind and will of the Lord.

This work is arduous at first, and may virtually paralyze the person. But as one works from one little decision to another, his or her ability to be faithful will increase, and ere long he or she will be able to be faithful at the full, ordinary pace of life. It is much like learning a new language. Halting and painful at first, we are tempted to revert to our mother tongue (the ways of the natural man). But as we persevere, faith becomes our new tongue, and we become fluent, and are able to speak with the tongue of angels.

Now, being assured that we are doing the right thing, we may act in perfect confidence, carrying out the mind and will of the Lord Jesus Christ in the acts of our flesh.

Our receiving true understanding through the Holy Spirit, our receiving instruction as to how to make our eye single, our receiving a new heart, our receiving instruction as to what to do are the gift aspects of faith. It will be seen that faith is largely a gift from God.

But those gift aspects of faith cannot remain alone. Without the willing and grateful receiving of the gifts and the faithful hearkening to the mind and will of God on the part of some agent human being to work out God’s designs in the earth, faith would not yet exist. Faith without works is dead, being alone.

The great enemy of faith is pride, the self-sufficiency that causes us to reject the messages that come to us from God. Evidences of pride are our willingness to believe in the traditions and wisdom of men which are not commended to us by God, or to place reliance on our own conjectures.

Thus the minds of men are the battleground in the war between faith in God and sin. Those who will have faith in God must exert themselves mightily, performing great mental exertion, to learn to be faithful to Jesus Christ.

Posted in Faith, Missionary Conference | Tagged drawing on the powers of heaven, faith, faithful, heart, mental exertion, might, mind, strength | 2 Comments

Language Transaction Differences Between Contract and the New and Everlasting Covenant

Posted on April 2, 1993 by Admin

Chauncey C. Riddle
April 1993

Contracts are always entered into on the basis of inexact human strength and might languages; redress always involves inexact interpretation of those same inexact transactions by a third party. New and Everlasting (N&E) Covenant transactions are always conducted in three languages simultaneously: heart, mind and strength. The first two provide for the possibility of exact understanding; the third is a witness in case of the default of the human participant. If a human being is not prepared in heart and mind for the covenant, they are apparently held responsible only for the weak strength aspects which their human powers enable them to partake of. But they cannot gain the benefits of the covenant on that basis.
The essence of contract transaction is consideration, enhancing the might of the parties. The essence of covenant transaction is heart, God sharing his pure heart with the human participant. Thus contract functions to change what a person controls, so that both parties fulfill their desires. Covenant functions first to enhance what a person is, then to enlarge what the person controls.
The transactions of contract leave the parties unequal, as they began. The transactions of the N&E Covenant bring men to the stature of a god, making men equal with God.
The transactions of contract are finite in time, space and material consideration, and have no meaning when men are dead. The transactions of the N&E Covenant are infinite in time, space and material consideration, and pertain both to this life and to eternity.
The transactions of contract make men of ill will enemies, because to the evil, their fair share is never enough. The transactions of the N&E covenant enable participating men and women to become brothers and sisters to all mankind, good and evil alike.
The remedy for improper transactions of contract is not only insistence on performance but also punitive penalty. Redress for improper transactions by men of the N&E Covenant is also punitive, but only to bring the person to attention; when the person remakes the covenant, the improper transactions are forgiven.
Contract needs to have all four kinds of language transaction. Heart language would assure bargaining in good faith. Mind language would assure perfect understanding, true meeting of the minds. Strength language would be technical and exact, forming a better record. Might language would result in perfect order and accomplishment for a better world. But contract only enjoys strength and might language functions. Covenant already has all of these four kinds of language transaction in place.
Contract is the human counterfeit of the covenant. Contract serves well in a fallen world to achieve worldly goals, but only when the participants abide in the light of Christ are contracts enforceable. Where men are wholly given to evil, only the law of the jungle prevails. In Zion and in heaven, covenant will replace contract. Contract is terrestrial, a shield to protect good men from unscrupulous men; covenant is celestial. Telestial and perdition-type persons use contract as a sword, not as a shield.
Thus the only sure and fully satisfying language transactions which bind men in cooperation are those of the new and everlasting covenant. All other modes of language transaction ultimately fail because the heart and mind language transactions are insufficient.

Language Transactions in Covenant and Contract

Premises:

Humans have four kinds of language ability: Heart language (love, hate); Mind language (ideas, concepts); Strength language (conventional colloquial and artificial languages); and Might language (dress, furnishings, landscaping, architecture, etc.)
All four language abilities are in constant use by each normal human being.

Primordial state: Individuals are their powers (each is what he or she does). Each person does what his or her powers enable to fill that person’s desires. Law of the jungle prevails.

Contract

Civil governments are created by men to ease the power struggle of the jungle. Individuals are defined by governments by their rights and residual powers not claimed by government.

Rights granted by civil governments enable individuals to exchange rights they have for rights they desire to have.

Rights to exchange rights are the laws of contracts.

Rights necessary for contracts, granted by governments:

Rights to have and to exchange information.

Rights to perform and exchange services.

Rights to own and exchange goods.

Rights to redress (remedy) in wrongful exchange.

Contracts flourish in an atmosphere of free exchange of information about present rights and abilities and willingness to exchange. Result: Offers to contract.

Essentials of a good contract:

1. Meeting of the minds. Each party agrees to specific relinquishment of rights in order to gain desired rights. The promise of exchange must induce detriments (giving up of rights).

2. Performance. Each party uses its present powers and rights to fulfill the agreements of the contract.

New and Everlasting Covenant

God creates man in his own image and gives each varying degrees of powers with which to become individual human beings. He gives to each: heart, mind, language, knowledge, wisdom, health and physical strength. He puts each in a world where the individual’s strength results in might, or dominion. All men are free, subject to their own desires, except as they are impinged upon by the jungle or by civil government.

God speaks to man to empower them, offering to become again their father and to enable each to become as he is. (This is the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.) The Gospel is a flow of information which constitutes an offer to covenant.

Requirements to be able to covenant:

An understanding of the difference between good and evil, that God exists and is good, that Jesus Christ enables all men to do only good and to recompense for the past evil which they have done; and an understanding of the covenant. (Mind)

A desire to accept the covenant. (Heart)

The New and Everlasting covenant is an agreement to exchange powers and services (not rights). For there is no third party to create those rights nor to give redress. The N&E Covenant operates in the context of the law of the jungle, not needing any civil government. The persons party to the covenant are always unequal, God being all powerful, and manbeing only what God has given him to be, of himself nothing.

Posted in Deseret Language and Linguistics Society Symposium | Tagged contract, covenant, heart, language, might, mind, new and everlasting covenant, strength | Comments Off

Language Transactions in Covenant and Contract

Posted on April 1, 1993 by Admin

Chauncey Cazier Riddle

Proceedings
of the
Deseret Language
and Linguistics Society
1993 Symposium

Brigham Young University
1-2 April 1993

I. Introduction

Language Transactions in Covenant and Contract – by Chauncey Riddle – Printed in the Proceedings of the Deseret Language and Linguistics society 1993 symposium

Two fundamental ideas form the frame of this paper. First human beings have four kinds of language ability. They have language of heart, mind, strength and might. Language of heart is that of desire, for human beings do what they desire to do. Heart language is the fundamental expression of the human being, and all other human languages are but translations of the heart language. Could one read the heart language of a person, one would understand the person completely. Mind language is the ideas of the person, the concept/event sequences of the imagination. Mind language forms the context in which the person functions and desires: The beliefs of the person form a world in which the person lives, moves and has being, and which provides the alternatives among which the heart makes choices in desiring. Mind language is the first translation from heart once desires have been fanned, as the desires are given concrete expectation by the mind upon their being settled upon by the heart. Strength languages are the actions of the human body which express the desires (heart) and intentions (mind) of the person. These strength languages may be any kind of natural bodily action from crying, dancing, and woodcarving through instrumental languages such as painting and music, to sophisticated utterances in the human verbal languages such as English or computerese. Might languages are the resultant effect of the heart, mind and strength languages of the person, and range from the very personal, such as the effect of one’s accent on others, to the movements of an army or navy according to instructions from the commanding officer. All that human beings do or can do is exhausted in these four kinds of languages of heart, mind, strength and might.

The second fundamental framing idea of this paper is that human beings are what they do. Each is the sum total of the expressions each makes in the four kinds of language power which each possesses. Another way to say this is that the person is the sum of his or her linguistic powers which are used to result in effects upon the remainder of the universe. (In this stipulation, potential is not real; it is taken to be an imagination of what might be or might have been, but is not reality. Only the actual is real.)

The importance of these two framing ideas is that the most important thing about any human being is that person’s language transactions, and the fundamental language transactions are those of heart, mind, strength and might. These two framing ideas are the basis of human covenant and contract, alike. We shall now turn to an analysis of contract and covenant in these terms.

II. Contract

Civil governments are created by men to ease the power struggle of the jungle. What civil government does is to assume a monopoly on might language which involves the use of force, and grants civil rights in the place of the use of brute force, reserving brute force to itself. Individuals are created by civil government as that government grants a person individual rights and recognizes the residual powers of the individual to act apart from those rights. A driver’s license gives one the right to direct an automobile on the highways, and the right of free speech enables one to use his powers to communicate with others in verbal and other languages. Arrest and incarceration are denials of the right to come and go, and capital punishment is the denial of the right to exist. So if one citizen injures another using brute force, the injured party has no right to retaliate in kind, but has the right to plead with the government in a civil proceeding to get it to punish the offender. If the government decides chat the offender is indeed guilty, the government then proceeds to use its brute force to exact whatever penalty it deems appropriate from the offender. When other language transactions fail governments also relate to one another using brute force, which is war. Thus civil governments create individuals by granting them rights to act.

One of the special rights civil governments grant is the right to exchange rights between individuals. Rights to exchange rights are the laws of contracts. But the rights to contracts are complex rights which must be based on other rights previously granted to the individuals it recognizes. The rights granted by civil governments which are necessary to entering into contracts are; The right to have and to exchange information. The right to perform and exchange services. The right to own and to exchange goods. And rights to redress (remedy) in the case of wrongful exchange. Contractual arrangements flourish only among equals: Equals in the jungle can successfully barter) but only persons created equal before the law can successfully contract. Unequals cannot usually contract because one will dominate the other and there is no remedy for wrongful exchange.

The environment conducive to contract is one of free exchange of information where each party is aware of his or her own rights and the rights of all others. In such a situation, an individual may perceive a right that another person has and desire it. The individual with the desire contacts the person who has the right he or she desires and works out an agreement whereby each will give up a right to gain a right which each desires. Thus I may have a right to have my earnings saved in a bank I see another person who has a right to a certain piece of property. I desire that property and arrange to exchange my right to my money for the right to own that property if the other party is willing.

The essentials of a good contract are as follows:

There must be a meeting of the minds. Each party must understand its own and the other party’s rights and what is being agreed upon by way of exchange of rights. This is mind language. Human beings are not ordinarily mind readers, so a meeting of the minds is stipulated in careful legalese colloquial strength language. But the necessity of the part mind language plays in the contract is explicitly recognized by the law.
Performance. Each part must use its present powers upon terms the contract. This is strength language, both verbal and non-verbal. The role of strength language in the execution of a contract is explicitly recognized by the law.
Consideration. Each party must suffer a detriment, or loss of a right or rights, which is called “consideration.” The point of detriment is of course to gain desired rights. But it is detriment or consideration which makes a contract and separates a contract from the bestowal of a gift. Consideration is might language in contract transactions.

In theory, a contract is entered into by each party because it is pleased with the opportunity to gain a right that it does not now possess and to do so at a tolerable cost (detriment). Should either party not be pleased after the execution of the contract, then either party may seek redress or remedy before the civil government. The civil government will examine the transaction first to see if there was a valid contract involving a free exchange of information (no deception) and a meeting of the minds about rights actually possessed by each party. Should the contract be clearly sound, then the performance and execution will be examined to see if those transactions have been fulfilled according to the agreements of the contract, to see if the consideration or detriment suffered by each party was appropriate.

It is also part of the theory that government is the equivalent of omniscient and omnipotent, and that it is just in its rendering of judgments. Unscrupulous persons often try to seize the reins of government so that they can redress their favorites and punish their enemies using the government monopoly on force. Checks, balances and review procedures mitigate the abuse of power by government officials, bur only when the unscrupulous are in the minority. The failure of the government redress of aborted contractual relationships is a return to the law of the jungle.

Governments are set up by brute force and fall by brute force. Governments and contractual obligations are adequate only when a majority of the people who give power to the government are themselves just and recognize that there are principles of governance which do not derive from brute force but which must be upheld by brute force. These principles which brute force must uphold are the recognition that every human being must be equal before the law and must be protected in his or her rights.

Thus contract is civilized barter, and it affords complicated cooperation which the barter of the law of the jungle cannot enable.

III. The New and Everlasting Covenant.

The New and Everlasting Covenant of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ is taken here as the paradigm covenant because it was the original covenant, it preceded all civil government in the time of Adam and therefore preceded all contractual arrangements, and because it is the model upon which all other covenants and contracts are based.

Mankind exists because God created men in his own image, male and female. An individual is defined and created by God in the gifts and power given to that individual, spiritual and physical. What the individual does with those gifts and those is the self-defining acts of the person, making himself or herself something out of the opportunity which God has given each.

To every person God initially gives heart, mind strength and might, those vastly varying in quality and quantity. As the individual uses those gifts and powers in defining himself or herself, each prepares for an eternal reward of what each has chosen to become. It is God’s announced desire to share all that he has with each of his children, to make them equal with himself. God is limited in what he can do and share with each person by that person’s choices in mortality. Those who choose to be just and to develop all the gifts and powers from God can receive a fullness from God. Those who choose to be unjust and to use the evil gifts and powers of the adversary limit themselves to an eternity of damnation. The Gospel of Jesus Christ proclaims the mediation available for all who have sinned or erred, allowing them to change or repent through Christ to achieve the character, the use of the gifts and powers of God, which they truly desire.

Thus all men are free, subject to their own desires, except as they are limited by their ignorance. by the law of the jungle or by civil government. Each may make language transactions with heart, mind, strength and might unto the fulfillment of desire. With heart and mind man speaks to and receives from God. With strength and might man speaks to and receives from mankind and from nature. But the categories are not right. The languages of heart and mind affect men and nature as well as God, and the languages of strength and might speak to God even as do the heart and mind of the person.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is that men may learn to communicate with their heart, might, mind, and strength in a perfect way, even as Christ does. The change which enables such communication comes only by the bestowal of the power of God in me ordinances of the Restored Gospel. The actual bestowal of that godly power to surpass human ability comes only through covenant, the New and Everlasting Covenant.

There are certain requirements which must precede the making of the New and Everlasting Covenant. First, the person must understand the difference between good and evil. Good is the righteousness of God, and evil is anything which deviates from the righteousness of God. To every person who enters this world, the light of Christ is given that each might know the righteousness of God. Also to every person who enters the world, the power of Saran is manifest to give each ample opportunity to know evil firsthand. Secondly, the person must understand the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The essence of the Gospel is that each human being can be rescued both from doing evil and from the effects of having done evil by accepting Jesus Christ as their new father and learning to keep all of his instructions. Thirdly, the person must have a desire to accept the Gospel and become a new creature in Christ through the 1aws and ordinances of the Gospel.

The New and Everlasting Covenant is an agreement between God and an individual to exchange powers and services, not rights, as in the case of contract. The covenant is a relationship between unequals, and the law of me jungle obtains, for man is nothing when compared to God. But the mighty one in this case is benevolent. God desires only the welfare of the individual, and will never use or abuse him or her to his own ends. There is no third party to give remedy or redress. But there is a third party: Satan. He gives no redress but does offer a counterfeit covenant. Each human being is free to covenant either with God or with Satan, and some choose one, some, or the other, according to their own desires for men are free. Too late will each individual who covenants with Satan learn that Satan only covenants to use or to abuse the individual. giving each a momentary benefit in exchange for an eternity of misery. But no one is eternally trapped by the covenant of Satan except those who have known and deliberately rejected the New and Everlasting Covenant.

The language transactions necessary to the New and Everlasting Covenant are as follows:

Mind. Man is to give up pride (self-sufficiency, enmity toward God) and to acknowledge God as me only source of good. He must accept Jesus Christ as his Savior and keep every commandment which Christ gives to him. Only those who already know good from evil and desire to choose me good can accept the covenant with their minds and communicate this to God.
Heart. Man desires to give up evil (selfishness), and God begins to purify the heart of the individual, giving each pure desires (for righteousness only). If a person is wilting to desire only the pure desires from God, the person can receive a new heart which no longer desires any evil. The person can speak the language of the pure love of Christ, which me scriptures call “charity.”
Strength. Men desire to give up all actions to feather their own nests, rather desiring to work for the good of all as God directs. So far this is heart and mind language only. It becomes strength language when the person actually does me good works which God enjoins, wearing and wasting his or her human life away in the cause of godliness. God gives gifts and power to each person so that each can do the good that he directs and do it skillfully.
Might. Men give up possessiveness and the use of their power to take advantage of other persons. Rather they put all they command at the service of God, that good might be done for everyone around the person as God directs. Men and women who use their might language this way in the covenant become heirs of all that God possesses, which is to say that they, too, will eventually be almighty.

God fulfills his part of the covenant perfectly. He speaks to each participant in the covenant in languages of heart, might, mind and strength, enabling the human being to become conversant in the righteous use of the languages of heart. might, mind and strength unto the day of perfection, when every language transaction of the former human is now the perfect communication of a goodly, godly person, a saint, one who is a joint-heir with Christ of all that Famer has. No one who enters the covenant for the right reasons and pursues it according to instructions is ever disappointed. Only those who wish to retain a certain portion of evil as they serve God find fault with the communications of God.

Those who find fault with God may tum to civil government for redress, but in vain, for governments of men can only redress the rights which they create in the first place. No human government can remedy any unhappiness a human being has with God. The fault-finding human can turn to Satan, who will assure him that he is in the right, that God is unjust, and who will give the person some worldly advantage to ease his distress. But the easing comes with the price of eternal captivity for those who actually know and have tasted of the goodness of Christ.

IV. Conclusions: Language transaction differences between contract and the New and Everlasting Covenant.

Contracts are always entered into and executed on the basis of inexact human strength and might languages; remedy always involves inexact interpretation of those same inexact transactions by a third human party. New and Everlasting Covenant transactions are always conducted in all four kinds of language simultaneously and accurately: heart, mind, strength and might. The first two kinds of language transaction provide the opportunity for precise meeting of the hearts and minds, that desires and understandings might be exact and commensurate. A person does not gain a fullness of the covenant at first, but learns step by step, grace for grace, what is required. As a person takes each new step he or she is shown greater understanding is given to go one step beyond the present faithfulness. Strength Language is part of the New and Everlasting Covenant as a witness in case of the default of the human participant. No participant is held for anything he or she did not understand; but until there is understanding, there is no possibility of faith sufficient unto the great blessings for which the New and Everlasting Covenant is administered. The covenant is entered into and executed first and foremost in heart language, but only after the mind language has brought appreciation of what God requires.
The essence of contract is consideration, enhancing the might of the parties to the contract by goods and/or services. The essence of the covenant transaction is heart, God sharing his pure heart with the human participant. Contract functions to change what a person controls so that both parties may fulfill their desires. The covenant functions to change what the person desires so that enlargement of what the person controls will not increase the evil in the universe.
The Language transactions of contract leave the parties unequal, even though they might be considered by the law which governs the contract to be equal. The transactions of the New and Everlasting Covenant bring men to the stature of a god, making men first the children of God, then equal with Christ in every aspect of character.
The language transactions of contract are finite in time, space, and material consideration, and have no meaning when men are dead. The language transactions of the New and Everlasting Covenant are infinite in time, space and material consideration, pertaining both to this life and to eternity.
The transactions of contract make men of ill will into enemies, because, to the evil, their fair share is never enough. The transactions of the New and Everlasting Covenant enable the participants to become brothers and sisters to every human being, to love and serve every one through the name and power of God, the good and the evil among men alike.
The remedy for improper transactions of contract is not only insistence on performance but also punitive penalty. Redress for improper transactions by men in the New and Everlasting Covenant may be punitive, but only to gain the attention of the erring person. When the person repents and remakes the covenant, the improper transactions are swallowed up in Christ, through his atonement.
Contract needs to have all four kinds of language transactions, even though it does not have them. Heart language would assure bargaining in good faith. Mind language would assure perfect understanding of the circumstances and agreements of the contract, a true “meeting of the minds.” Strength language would be technical and exact, forming a proper record of the agreement and assuring accurate performance. Might language would be the resultant order and power in the world envisioned by the making of the contract. But contract actually only enjoys strength and might language functions. It is therefore very imperfect compared to the New and Everlasting Covenant.
Contract is the human counterfeit of the Covenant. Contract serves human beings fairly well in a fallen world to achieve worldly goals, but only when the participants are men of good will who abide the light of Christ are contracts mutually beneficial and enforceable. Where men are wholly given to evil, contract fails and only the law of the jungle prevails. But humans can enjoy the New and Everlasting Covenant either in the jungle or in a civilized nation of law and order. The covenant does not depend upon fortunate environment.
In Zion and in heaven, the covenant will wholly replace contract. For men and women will gain all they need from celestial sources, not needing anything from the non-celestial portion of their environment except the opportunity to administer the gifts and blessings of God, which opportunity he gives. Contract is at best terrestrial, a shield to protect good men from unscrupulous men. The covenant is celestial, when good men draw strength from God and minister to all the rest of mankind. Telestial and perdition-type persons use contract as a sword, to defraud their fellowmen, rather than as the shield for which it was intended.
Thus, the only sure and fully satisfying language transactions between men and men or between men and God are the transactions of the New and Everlasting Covenant. All other language transactions will ultimately fail because the heart and mind transactions are insufficient to the performance required for unending relationships. Marriage by contract is an endurance contest. Only marriage in the covenant has the hope of perfecting the participants so that they could stand to be with each other all of the time and cooperate in all matters unto eternal happiness.

Chauncey C. Riddle graduated from Brigham Young University in 1947 with a major in mathematics. He obtained an M.A. and a PhD in philosophy from Columbia University in 1951 and 1958 respectively. He taught at Brigham Young University from 1952 through 1992.

Posted in Deseret Language and Linguistics Society Symposium, Philosophy of Language | Tagged contract, covenant, dlls symposium 1993, heart, might, mind, new and everlasting covenant, strength | Comments Off

Creating Zion

Posted on March 9, 1993 by Admin

March 9th, 1993
Educators Conference, BYU
Third Annual Laying the Foundations Symposium

Chauncey C. Riddle

I see the place of BYU in Zion to be a bridge between the world and the kingdom of God

Seventeen years ago I produced a piece entitled `A BYU for Zion‘. In preparation for this conference I wrote another version of that talk. Both of them missed the point.

They missed because in each case I approached the problem by trying to specify the institutional results which would be seen in a BYU for Zion. All those questions could be interesting, what is more needed is an understanding of just how we (you and I) can go about creating this Zion for which we hope.

The creation of Zion is not accomplished by reorganizing institutions. It is done only by individual persons who reorganize themselves in and through our Savior. The personal self-reorganization requisite for the establishment of Zion is known either as education or repentance depending on how you look at it.

It cannot be done by training, that is to say, imposed by one person on another. But an individual can learn and bring himself or herself through the requisite changes. We call it education when we discuss the human changes from the secular point of view. We call it repentance when we remember that human power cannot create Zion; that it is yielding to and using the gifts and power of God that makes Zion a reality. In other words, human education is never complete without divine assistance.

The beginning of repentance is familiar to all who know the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. The prerequisite of such repentance is the hearing and understanding of the Gospel message. Repentance is the response which places hope and trust in Jesus Christ, which is faith; turns away from known sinning, the beginning of repentance; seeks the covenant of baptism, and actually receives the Holy Ghost after the laying on of hands.

That beginning, wonderful as it is, will not establish Zion. What yet remains is the fifth item of the Gospel message; enduring to the end. When an individual endures to the end, an individual is fit to be an inhabitant of Zion. When a group of individuals has endured to the end, they are Zion. And the place of Zion is wherever they are.

I do not know what the required critical mass of individuals who have endured to the end is. But I suspect that it is a relatively small number. What we described in the telling of the establishment of Zion is what it means to endure to the end.

There are several simple ways to denote the condition of having endured to the end: `Life eternal’, `attaining the measure of the stature of the fullness of christ’, `receiving the second comforter’, `having your calling and election made sure’, `having the day-star rise in your hearts’, are all ways in which the scriptures indicate you attain that condition. What we need for our purposes is a further breakdown of that condition into more understandable pieces.

We shall to attempt to break that state into four parts. Hopefully, better to understand. Then we will show how these four parts will affect a BYU in Zion, thus fulfilling the promise of this hour.

But first a caveat. In what follows we will be discussing human perfection. Many persons find such discussions discouraging, because they cannot see any possibility of attaining such ideal states for themselves. I understand such discouragement. This discussion has as it’s goal encouragement.

I deem the difference between the discouragement and the encouragement to hinge on the simple notion of how perfection is to be attained. Those who think they have to do it all immediately and by their own power will find these ideas discouraging. Those who see that what we are talking about is attained only gradually, that it is done only by the power of God, and that every human being who will be sufficiently humble before God can and will do it eventually should be encouraged.

It is encouraging to know what the Lord has in store for the faithful. But I admit there is a hopelessness that necessarily accrues when one has tried to obtain revelation and has failed or has been fooled by the adversary. It seems that only the stout-hearted, those who are willing to fall on their face and to try again, can profit.

But now to the four parts of enduring to the end. We shall describe one who has endured to the end, the perfected state. The requisite of the `end’, is to have a pure heart. Only then can one love with a pure love. And be able to fulfill the Lord’s injunction to love Him with all of our heart, might, mind and strength.

To love purely is to be wholly concerned about the welfare of those around us. And minimally concerned about our own welfare. It enables the person to trust in God completely, to have a fullness of faith. It enables the person to make any necessary sacrifice. It fulfills all of the wondrous attributes enumerated by Paul in First Corinthians Thirteen.

God is love. To have a heart that has been stripped of all pride and selfishness is to be able to love as God loves. This is the fundamental aspect of being as God is.

But how does one become pure in heart? That kind of a heart is a gift from God. He will give it to all who seek it according to his instructions. What we must first have is an honest heart. A heart that admits that it is not pure. An honest heart will acknowledge the whisperings of the Holy Spirit and will come down in the depths of humility when it encounters Christ and His Holy Spirit.

The honest heart will enter in at the Gate and follow the straight and narrow path to the end, as Jesus did. After the honest heart has done all that it can do, our Savior does the rest and gives the person a new heart. Then they can no longer look upon sin with the least degree of allowance. Their being has been changed, they are new creatures in Christ, heirs of all that he has and is. They will be exalted eventually. And meanwhile, they will learn enough, and be able to do enough, to live in Zion.

What if the person is not honest in heart? I don’t know the answer to this question. But I suppose that these are they that cannot inhabit Zion or the Celestial Kingdom. But then I don’t know who the Lord can save and who He cannot. I suppose we can find out about ourselves and our own possibility of salvation, and will find out by this mortal experience, and that’s all that is really necessary.

The mark of one who is pure in heart is that they are easy to be entreated and to be persuaded by our Savior or his servants. And they are without guile. Their conscience is strong, their ear is attuned to the whisperings of the Holy Spirit. Anything of Christ which they encounter is beautiful to them. Thus, every human being, is beautiful to them. As is every truth, every piece of true wisdom, every noble life striving. They are entreated by the Holy Spirit to lay hold of every good thing in and through Christ.

The second characteristic of one who has endured to the end is that they operate on the basis of pure knowledge. While they will be aware of the traditions and fabrications of men, the knowledge base on which they act and understand is wholly given of God. They have searched his ways and know his mysteries, the hidden things of the kingdom of God, the things of nature, and the history and future of the earth. Because each is a prophet and seer in his or her own right. Each has access to everything necessary for their stewardship pertaining this world. This pure knowledge is learned principally by vision, and in doing. Rather than going through language, the child of Christ sees the creation of the earth, and ancient doings of men, sees the future and it’s interaction of heaven and earth. The secret acts of men are known in every age on a need-to-know basis. Knowing how to do things is gained by instruction from mentors beyond the veil who are masters of the technique in question. Pure knowledge will go far beyond the present dreams of men, surpassing those horizons of science fiction, under the truer reality of things.

It is possible, I suppose, that the human being may approach omniscience concerning the things of this earth. The means to this pure knowledge is revelation. That can and will come only to those who have qualified for the pure heart. It is necessary to become good before one can become knowledgeable. And when one has become good and knowledgeable, only then can revelation make them truly wise. They will not only understand all things, but will be able to know and to do whatsoever is necessary to solve every problem they encounter, as God wills.

The mark of one who possesses pure knowledge is a complete unwillingness to contend about anything, and a reticence to speak except as moved upon by the Holy Ghost. Wise in counsel and penetrating in insight; the possessor of true knowledge is quite aware that the ordinary human being can and will receive little of what he has to say, being caught up in the traditions and fables of the cultures of mankind. But such an one is ever ready to bare humble witness of Christ, and of the goodness of God. And will explain the fundamentals of the Restored Gospel to anyone and everyone with delight. For they know that everyone must come unto Christ as a little child to get a solid grasp on how to solve human problems.

The solving of problems is the third aspect of having endured to the end. The standard involved here is that the person does all that they do in the name of Jesus Christ. I understand this to mean that anything and everything that a person does will be done under the direction and the permission of Jesus Christ and by his power in and through the holy Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthoods.

Things of a temporal order and matters relating to those who are not of the Kingdom of God will be conducted under the auspices of the Aaronic Priesthood. Matters of a spiritual nature, and especially those having ramifications into eternity will be conducted under the ordinance and orders of the Melchizedek Priesthood. Those who bear and act under this priesthood will act in no other way, or under no other power, having been drawn up into this holy order of God they will never step out of it to conduct any conversation, business, or interaction by any other power. They will always be servants of God, acting in His authority, and by His power, in every act of their daily life.

The fact that they are acting in the priesthood of God in all things may not always be known to those humans with whom they interact, that is, they will not always announce their authority and mission. But every act of their lives will be an act done by authority, and as part of their mission. Having relinquished their own heart and desires, it is now the fierce desire of their pure hearts and minds to serve the true and living God in every act unto the fulfilling of His divine purpose of the power of love in the earth. The priesthood of God is their only might, and they wield it mightily unto the fulfillment of all of Father’s plans for His children.

The ramifications of acting on this priesthood platform from which all things are done, are many. Now the person will pray, speak, and communicate only in the Lord. Everything they say to anyone will be given them by the Holy Spirit unto edification of all concerned. They will not take pleasure or nourishment or award or praise, except as it is good in Father’s eyes and can be done in holiness and as a bearer of the priesthood. They will not amuse themselves with the diversions of men, but will be wholly concerned to bring others to know Father and the goodness of His love. They will teach or preach only that portion of the truth which will help their hearers to come to God.

The scriptures bear succinct witness as to how the servant of God uses the Holy Priesthood:
”No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned. By kindness and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul, without hypocrisy and without guile.”

The mark of those who are in this mode is that their purposes fail not. Whatever they are sent by God to do, they do (unless the agency of others who are not disobedient to God is involved.) Abinadi was sent to witness to King Noah and to his priests. He could not be stopped from delivering his witness. But most of them did not accept, for there their agency was involved.

Satan is the foe of all righteousness, and especially of Zion. He is a worthy adversary, for he searches every personal and organizational weakness to destroy the work of God. As the saints of God attempt to purify their faith, so that Zion may be established, Satan assures that the effort does not go off half-cocked. When Zion is established, it is done by power; by priesthood power, by the united efforts of persons who are pure in heart, full of the pure knowledge of God and who use the power of the Savior’s priesthood without hypocrisy and without guile; Satan notwithstanding.

Satan then bears witness that the servants of Christ have finally escaped his power through their faithfulness.

The final and fourth aspect of enduring to the end is that each of those servants of Christ who thus endure is renewed in the flesh. No power of man nor prerogative of Satan can then be wielded against their person successfully, except as it fulfills Father’s purposes. Even as the Savior could not be stopped from fulfilling his mission, even so the faithful servants of Christ cannot be prevented from doing what they are sent to do. And even as Christ voluntarily gave His life on the cross, so each faithful servant will voluntarily give his or her life when the appropriate time comes. Thus the strength of the person becomes godly; wholly of the order of God, thus able to fulfill all of God’s commands on this earth.

This fourth aspect of enduring to the end seems almost incidental, because it follows from the other three without much attention needing to be paid to it.

The personal struggle of each of us is to gain a pure heart. To search out the pure knowledge, and to strive to do all things in the name of Christ. Then our Savior will strengthen our mortal tabernacles in the manner and to the degree which is requisite for our earthly mission without great effort on our part, or so it seems. Those who are faithful, are concerned about their physical tabernacles. They pay close attention to the commandments of God as in the Word of Wisdom. They strive to govern their own body and make it subject to the will of God. But this personal struggle for control of the flesh is not the great focus of their endeavor. It is there, but is unobtrusive. For the great emphasis is on struggling to love God, and neighbor, with all of one’s heart, might, mind, and strength.

The mark of one who is renewed in the flesh is their countenance shines with the image of Christ. They radiate the love of God unto all. Where some persons are of a dark countenance; they are of a shining countenance. Their whole body is full of light, and their eyes are especially radiant with this light. To be in their presence is to feel the power and majesty of God emanating from their person.

Now, having been perfected as a human being in heart, might, mind, and strength, the person can truly love God with all heart, might, mind, and strength. Thus the person will have fulfilled the law of God as pertains to mortality. They are not yet exalted, for they have only attained to the fullness of God as pertains to this earthly sphere. But having done this there is nothing which will or can bar them from progressing to the fullness of what Father is and has in eternity. Their exaltation is assured.

Now you say this may sound wonderful, but has anyone ever done it? Is not this so far beyond the possibilities for a human being that you are telling us fairy tales? I plead that this is only what the Spirit teaches me. Which spirit it is that I listen to you must judge for yourself. I understand that this is the state to which all the ancient Patriarchs and their wives came. As also everyone who has inhabited one of the many Zions. As also those who have been translated in any dispensation. It is the state to which John the Beloved, and the Three Nephites came. It is the blessed and happy state to which everyone who has become a saint may aspire.

To become a saint is to have entered in through the gate of faith, repentance, baptism and receiving the Holy Ghost, and having received a forgiveness of sins. To endure to the end is to go on from the gate as a little child in Christ, submitting to Father’s will in all things, until the education (or repentance) is complete. Until one has come to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. I plead that what I have said is the burden of the scriptures, and the temple, for me.

I understand that to become exalted is to go beyond the state that we have described until one is knowledgeable about and has mastered all the kingdoms of the universe. What we have been describing as `enduring to the end’ is becoming perfect in the sphere of this earth. And that to become exalted is to become perfect in the sphere of the universe. It is plain that one who has not become perfect in the sphere of this earth can never become perfect in the sphere of the universe.

Now let us say how all of these things relate to a BYU in Zion. It seems plain to me that BYU will not be used by Father to assist people in enduring to the end. The specific institution established for doing that is His Holy Temple. And BYU cannot, nor will attempt to take the place of the temple. But, of course, BYU will have in it’s community, if it is in Zion, people who have endured to the end. Having thus repented, they can then encourage others to repent.

I see the place of BYU in Zion to be a bridge between the world and the kingdom of God. It will become a center of truth and ability which surpasses every other institution in the world which is not related to the Church. It will be a light from Christ to all the world to teach the world how to live in harmony, peace, prosperity, and technical benevolence. It will help those who will not accept the restored gospel of Christ to profit from the other blessings of Christ. Through this means, many will be brought to Christ, and will enter in at the narrow way.

The scriptures tell us that all nations will come to Zion, accept the Gospel, and find in the Holy Temples the knowledge and power to endure to the end. Some will come to Zion because they are spiritual, but there may be some who are of a more intellectual type who will be attracted to the work of the Lord through a BYU. They might be honest in heart enough to recognize the intellectual superiority of an institution filled with the servants of God. And be caused to turn to spirituality as they become curious as to the cause of this intellectual superiority.

It is noteworthy that God today has spread His intellectual gifts among all nations and peoples. The members of His church do not enjoy noteworthy superiority over peoples in contributing to art, technology, science, etcetera. But the members of this Church will and must enjoy such a superiority if they are Zion.

The purpose of my message today is the hope that by understanding how to be a worthy participant of Zion, we each individually may be moved to do what is necessary to come closer to that goal. Even now there are doubtless some in our midst who already qualify. What remains is for more of ourselves to humble ourselves until we have attained, as a group, the critical mass.

So, though the place of BYU in Zion, as I see it, is not ultimate. It will be of great service to all mankind. At this BYU, the good things given by Christ unto every kindred and nation, and people, will be sought out and treasured. Then, as people come from those nations to BYU, they will see and recognize that which was already familiar to them in their own culture. They will then see that Father has given good things to every culture. And as they desire more and more of the good things of God, they will eventually want to come in to the New and Everlasting Covenant, that they may receive all good things at the hand of Christ, through the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and through the Temples.

Thus, I see the place of BYU in Zion as a bridge by which all mankind will find it easier to come to the Kingdom of God and to His Christ. BYU will become a facilitator to those of academic bent who are willing to recognize the things of God. And that is a good place. That place is not to be the master of the Church, but rather the servant of the Church, even as the persons who administer and teach therein will be the humble servants of Christ.

Well now, we have few minutes for questions if you have any questions. We’ll even try answers.

Q- The question is, what about the servants of Christ not following the diversions of men.

Well, I could mention enough things to touch everyone’s pet diversion I guess, but I think of most of the movies and TV programs that we see are not particularly edifying. While it is necessary for a servant of God to be aware of the culture of the world, it is not necessary to drown in it. And so I think that the servant of God will find better things to do with his time than to sit comfortably before the TV taking it in every night, for instance.

The brethren have recently spoken about watching athletic events on Sunday. Now that is a terrestrial kind of injunction to a people who are not very apt in the things of God. It is too bad we had to be told that. But we did. And we might take a cue from that as to some other things that we might do that will lead us in a godly direction.

Q- Could you use the man Brigham Young as a case study of enduring to the end?

Could I use the man Brigham Young as a case study. I’m not sure what you are suggesting, but I suspect that if Brigham Young had enough Brigham Youngs around him he would have had Zion. He tried very hard. So far as I can tell he did very well. He was a man of great vision and great wisdom. He sought diligently to encourage the Saints to let go of their petty selfishness and become Zion.

But he couldn’t get them to do it. Even as Joseph hadn’t been able to. Even as Spencer was unable. Even as Ezra has been unable. We don’t have Zion yet. I’m not really as negative as that sounds. Now my suspicion is that these prophets of God have succeeded sufficiently that if you were to go all over the Church and take out all of the people who really live the Gospel and put them in one ward you would have Zion in that one ward. But then the rest of the Church would fall apart.

So I think in His wisdom, God does not worry so much about the establishment of Zion as He does about getting people everywhere to draw a little closer. The invitation of the Church is to come unto Christ. Some want to come one step, some want to come all the way. Anything people do in coming closer to Christ, is good. And the work of Christ in every ward and stake of the Church is to get people to take any step they will take.

However, we will not have Zion, and we will not have the power of Zion, until enough people take many steps and come together. There is a strength in unity in the priesthood, that cannot be broken by anything of this world. When we get groups of people gathering together, and praying for certain things, in the name of Jesus Christ, that is to say, in the power of His priesthood, great things happen.

My own personal suspicion is, that the reason we have seen interesting changes in the Church in the last thirty years, is because of that very fact. Righteous people have implored Father for certain things, and have been granted them. And as that process continues, more and more things will come. And the Kingdom will come closer and closer to what it should be.

Q- The question relates to Zion being the place where the pure in heart are.

May I tell you that my thinking shifts a little bit from the way you have stated the question. In my thinking, Zion is the people, and not the place. Zion is the people who are pure in heart. And wherever they happen to be, that is Zion. Zion can be plucked up and moved. You don’t create Zion by staking out a territory and doing something to that territory. You do it by having a people who will repent.

Now, I take it that every stake (the word stake means tent peg and Zion is a tent, it’s the pavilion of the Lord) when the stakes get strong enough, then you can pull the tent up. If you try to pull the tent up before the stakes are in firmly, all it does if flop this way and that. You have no tent capacity whatsoever. So, my understanding is that every stake of the Church, is a stake of Zion, and a strength to Zion. And when the stakes fulfill what they have been asked by the brethren to do. Specifically, when the Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthoods in each stake start functioning fully as they should, we will be getting very close to Zion. Then stakes of Zion will be scattered all over the earth.

Now maybe it will be gathered. I don’t know. That is the nice things about stakes, you can pull them up and pound them in somewhere else. You can move the whole thing. And so there may be a gathering yet. I don’t know. That will simply depend on what is good in the sight of God. And the brethren will direct us to do what we should do.

Meanwhile, we are going all over the earth and establishing Zion, trying to establish Zion all over the earth. Because this is what will leaven the whole lump. I hope I answered your question.

Q- Could you talk about what is the meaning of `the end’ in enduring to the end.

My understanding is that `the end’ is to become as Christ. And the purpose of everything in the Church and the Gospel, is to facilitate our coming unto Christ and becoming as He is. And we haven’t endured to the end as long as we’re still sinning, as long as we haven’t taken upon ourselves His heart, His mind, His countenance (His body as it were). And every ordinance in the Church is designed to help us in that process. Particularly, baptism, the sacrament, and the Temple ordinances. Those are the great keys. And if we will receive them for what they are, they bring us in marvelous and mysterious ways into his being.

Yes brother,

Q- President Benson has said that pride is the great stumbling block of Zion. Could you put that statement into the context of what you are talking about?

Oh I think he said even more than that. The question was is pride the stumbling block of Zion? YES! That is the stumbling block of Zion. Pride is the sin. There is no other sin but pride, as it were. Another way to say it is there no other sin but selfishness.

I rejoice in that marvelous talk that President Benson gave, which so far as I’m aware, is the greatest thing that has ever been said on pride in any dispensation that we have record of.

Now, Latter-Day Saints need to take that to heart. Because what stops us from becoming as Christ is our thought that we are already good, that we are already sufficient, that we already know enough, that we are already pure enough, we already have enough priesthood power. And as long as we think that what we are is good enough, that is pride. And the scriptures are very plain, the only stance appropriate to the servant of Christ, is to come down in the depths of humility and admit that we are nothing! The world has a hard time with that idea. To admit that you’re nothing goes against the grain of everything the psychologists (some psychologists) say. But that is the plan of God. And He says it very plainly in the scriptures.

The first thing that He said to the Nephites was that: come down in the depths of humility, or I can’t open to you. As long as you think you’re somebody, or something, I can’t help you. But if you’ll admit you’re nothing, I can give you everything. It is that simple.

So yes, pride is the great stumbling block of Zion. And until you and I stop being proud we just don’t progress. I find it curious, all I have to do is verbally state some good thing that I have done or attained to, and immediately it is taken from me and I fall flat on my face. I don’t know what happens to you, but the Lord takes great pains to show me that I am nothing. And I can’t claim anything of myself. He is inside me, He is the power in me that enables me to any and every good thing that I do. And anything else I do is evil. So, I just have to recognize that. As I do, then I have power to receive strength from Him.

Q- One thing you mentioned in reference to Zion, that great concept that it can be anywhere, can be moved anywhere. In the ninety-seventh section of the Doctrine and Covenants it indicates that Zion, I suppose referring to the center place, “Cannot be moved out of her place.” I guess because of the past experiences at that location.

The question is about Zion being moved out of her place as mentioned in section ninety-seven of the Doctrine and Covenants. I understand that to say the center place of the New Jerusalem will not be moved just because the Saints aren’t faithful enough to build the New Jerusalem yet. Eventually we will get faithful enough, and eventually we will return to that place, and will build the city of Zion. Now the city of Zion is called `Mount Zion’, as I understand it. That’s what will be on the sign posts of the city. But it’s easy to put it on the sign posts, what is tough is to make the city worthy of that appellation. So, hopefully, we can to that.

My understanding is that it was seen long ago, that the place Zion would actually be established, was in the tops of the mountains. And then it will be transported; pulled up and pounded in somewhere else. And my guess is that one of these days, there will be a motion, a movement.

The Savior says, “Where you see the eagles gather, there the carcass is.” So I think we ought to be watching the eagles. Who are the eagles? The brethren.

Yes?

Q- The question, or comment is that in some classes it is difficult to bring up the scriptures and the LDS point of view in things. What should students do about that?

Well, I sympathize with the problem, having faced it many times myself. I recommend to you that you pray for your instructor. Pray for your classmates. Pray that something will happen to change the situation. But I recommend to you that you in your own mind never settle for that. Always in your own mind insist on understanding how what’s being said in that class compares with the gospel. Insist that you see the total picture.

My own feeling is that you cannot see anything in it’s true perspective except by comparison. And you don’t see a true comparison unless you compare it with the best. And the best is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the truth that surrounds it. And therefore, in my own teaching, I admit that I cannot teach any other way than to teach in a gospel context. No matter what I’m teaching.

Now when BYU get’s a little closer to Zion, I think that will be more the rule than the exception. I don’t know what the average is now. I don’t know whether it’s the rule or the exception now. But I have found out, that if you want to help somebody, friend or enemy, the way to help them is to pray for them. And the Savior commends that. And if we will all pray for the coming of Zion, I think we can materially advance it’s cause. Because as we pray, Father through the Spirit, will tell us specific things we can, and should, and must do to advance the cause of Zion.

Q- In your bridge analogy, is it a drawbridge, what kind of bridge is it? A wide bridge, a two way bridge?

Well, I kind of think of it as a human chain. One strong person holding on to another strong person, reaching down to a weaker person to pull them to safety. I don’t think that any other analogy will suffice for me. And I think that to pretend to any but a human chain is to miss the point of Zion.

Yes brother.

Q- I understand how you said that BYU could work as a bridge of Zion to bring people unto Christ, people who are interested in more intellectual things. And that Zion in the future will have superiority in art and technology and this sort of thing. Will the role of BYU in that situation be more of a responsibility to teach the students or for the faculty to progress to be the superior people in the field?

My understanding is that there won’t be any more teachers in that day. Everybody will be a student, the teacher will be Christ. And He alone will be the master. Everyone else will be learning, scrambling, trying to come up to His standard. Trying to share all of the good that they have received from Him, recognizing that other people have good things from Him that they don’t have. And so, I think we’d find a quite different social situation, as regards to the relationship between Professor and Student. I don’t think there would be professors in that Zion.

Q- Well, what can we be doing now to progress more towards that state?

What can we be doing now to become that way? I think it’s happening already. I am grateful to say that I have had many wonderful students that taught me a great many things about the things I profess to tell them about. And it’s been a great delight for me to teach at BYU because of this. And I think it’s happening already. This is happening in many classes, in many situations. I think as teachers turn around and face the Savior, and become one with their students instead of looking down on their students, we get a very different situation and a much richer learning environment.

Sister?

Q- You were careful to use the word `person’ and `people’ including men and women in those descriptions that mention all this would be done by the power of the priesthood. Could you explain the role of women in having the power of the priesthood in bringing about Zion?

I am asked to explain the role of women in the priesthood in bringing about Zion. That’s kind of a shortening of what you said but I think carries of the essence of it. Uh, yes, I will stick my neck out. You see, my conception is that many sisters in the Church have the priesthood and wield it very effectively, and very beautifully.

My understanding is that those sisters in the Church who clamor for the priesthood do not know what they are talking about. They have not understood the gifts that they have been given. And therefore, probably, have not received the gift fully. But I think the same thing is true for the brethren. My image of most people I see going to the temple is that they have almost no notion of what is happened to them. Or, potentially could happen to them when they come out. It took me years to figure out the first beginnings of what’s going on. To realize that it is an `endowment’. And to understand what the endowment is and to receive it is a great undertaking. And I don’t conceive anybody enduring to the end who will not study the endowment until they know it backwards and forwards and understand every word in it.

The temple is the means to enduring to the end. It is the power of God which enables one to do so. And men and women are alike in that respect. I do not know this for sure, but I understand that the women in fact, even have an advantage in that respect.

Q- Will I elaborate further on the role of the temple? Well, I have already probably, maybe, said to much, I don’t know.

But, we’re out of time, so let me just conclude by saying; I hope I make it plain, I think that the hope of BYU to become part of Zion is for everybody at BYU to go to the temple and understand what is going on there. And to read the scriptures, and to understand what is going on there. And to listen to the brethren when they speak, and to understand what they are saying. Until we become more apt as pupils, we will not be the BYU that we should be. In other words, we need to become as little children, and be able to be instructed in all things in the way of godliness. And then we can triumph over the enemy, which is simply, ourselves. The enemy is our own pride and the weaknesses which so easily beset us which cause us to flinch before Satan and give in to the desires of the flesh and the honors of man. When we stop doing that I think we’ll be on a great track.

In closing, I’d like to bear you my testimony. I wish I were a better person and could bear you a stronger and better testimony. But the person that I am, I bear you with all my heart, I know that this is the work of Jesus Christ. And that He is good. He is a worthy master. And that you and I will make no sacrifice in His behalf that will not be well worth it. And we will sing His praises forever.

I bear this witness in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Posted in BYU Devotional, Educators Conference | Tagged 1993, 93-94 Devotional and Fireside Speeches, BYU, byu educators conference, byu for zion | Comments Off

Commencement Address for the College of Humanities

Posted on August 14, 1992 by Admin

Chauncey C. Riddle
14 August 1992

We human beings live in four realms:

The first is the natural realm; our physical bodies and activities share this realm with the earth, plants and animals, and the events of the atmosphere.

The second realm is the artifactual; this is our tools and machines, and all that we humans do with them to create our own non-natural environment and to provide comforts for ourselves.

The third realm is the realm of imagination and ideas, the special province manipulated using symbols which records the hopes and fears, dreams and aspirations, the amusements and indulgences of the human race.

The fourth realm is the spiritual wherein each human being struggles with good and evil and makes the choices of his or her mortal existence.

The interactions of these four constitute the whole person, and the more developed each of us is in each of these areas, the more powerful a person we are. We in the humanities specialize in the third realm, that of ideas and imagination.

I now wish to make a number of points about the humanities and their place in the mortal scheme of realms.

Contrary to the oft asserted idea, the humanities cannot and will not save the world. It is popular to contrast the progress of science and technology, which seem to develop unfettered, with the humanities, which must catch up with and give a conscience to science and technology. This cannot and will not happen, because the humanities is the realm of possibility, and by itself encompasses all possibilities, good and evil. The humanities may feed science and technology with new ideas for creative achievement, but cannot harness or control.
Contrary to what many in the humanities believe, the humanities is not the most real of all the realms. Each realm is real, including the humanities. It is the natural realm which is the ground of our being. We do our work in the artifactual realm. We contemplate in the intellectual realm of the humanities, and we choose in the spiritual realm. The ultimate proof of our choosing and our imagining of ideas is found in what we do in the artifactual realm; in this latter come the fruits of all that we are, and by these fruits we shall be judged. The natural realm will claim us at the end of our mortal probation.
The special mission of the humanities and the realm of ideas is to explore what is possible. We loop out from the natural and the artifactual to see what could be. Our flight of fancy always returns to the natural and artifactual realms to achieve that of which we first dream and choose. It is this dreaming through the use of symbols which makes us specifically human. And if we choose good over evil in our dreaming, that means we have accepted the invitation to join the gods in their celebration of all is possible and good. Those who pursue the humanities see the humanities as an end in itself at their peril. One of the pernicious teachings of our world is the notion of art for art’s sake, treating the humanities as if they were autonomous and could indulge in anything without answering to anyone.
Those who pursue the humanities see the humanities as an end in itself at their peril. One of the pernicious teachings of our world is the notion of art for art’s sake, treating the humanities as if they were autonomous and could indulge in anything without answering to anyone.
Every human idea eventually has an impact in the artifactual world. If we celebrate evil in the intellectual world, we will do evil in the artifactual world. Satan is very real, and those who glorify evil are in concert with him. No one ever established a heaven by consorting with a devil. The freedom the humanities enjoy must be matched by responsibility in each person. Superb technique does not sanctify service to Satan. Rather it makes it more devilish.
Thus it is overwhelmingly important that those who pursue the humanities come to grips with the spiritual realm. To come to grips with the spiritual realm is to learn unerringly to discern good from evil and to identify correctly which is which. Only then can one choose the good. We humans were placed in this mortal probation with the possibility of doing both good and evil, but we are under strict command not to choose and do the evil. To pretend that there is no difference between good and evil, or that we must carefully give equal time to both in our creation and consumption in the humanities is to have capitulated to evil.
The most difficult and demanding intellectual task facing any Latter-day Saint is to discern unerringly between the whisperings of the Holy Spirit and the enticings of Satan. By careful attention and constant experimentation any of us can solve that problem. Only then can we depart from the ways of the world and join forces with all others who have chosen the good over evil.
The solution to what to do in the humanities is for each person who partakes of the humanities to become Christ-centered. Our Savior is the source of all that is good and true in this world. If good and truth are beautiful to you and to me, we will choose him as our master and celebrate and promote only his good and his truth. But we are agents unto ourselves. We are free for the time being to call evil beautiful if we so choose. But for that, we will answer.
There are many in the humanities who do not believe that we will need to answer for promoting evil. These are they who are not mature in the spiritual realm. They match power in the humanities against only wishful thinking is the spiritual realm, and some of them carefully lead their brothers and sisters down to hell. But no one leads or is led to hell who does not somewhat enjoy the process. Whatever we enjoy tells the state of our spiritual progress.
We latter-day Saints have a mission to establish Zion. Zion cannot and will not be established without the support of the humanities. To work for Zion is to be a revolutionary, rebelling against everything in this world which is degrading and degraded. No revolution can succeed unless it is carefully articulated in the symbols of language, and music and art add that much more. When our use of the humanities becomes wholly Christ-centered, we become fit participants in this most glorious of all revolutions.
Finally, we note that not to work for Zion is to fight against Zion. Those who are not for Christ are against him. Those who believe in equal time for good and for evil are promoting evil and are fighting against Zion. Hopefully each of us will seek after and celebrate all that is virtuous, lovely, of good report or praiseworthy.
In the fairly near future, all of us here today will meet at another commencement exercise as we commence our individual eternal existences. All that each of us has done in our probation will be publicly reviewed. If we sought good, good will be rewarded to us; if we sought evil, evil will be our prize. Let us hope that there will be no weeping and gnashing of teeth among us on that great occasion.
Thank you.

Posted in Commencement Address | Tagged BYU college of humanities, chauncey riddle, commencement address 1992, humanities, natural realm, zion | Comments Off

Revelation

Posted on May 1, 1992 by Admin

Encyclopedia of Mormonism
See this page in the original 1992 publication.
http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Revelation

Author: Riddle, Chauncey C.

Receiving personal revelation is a vital and distinctive part of the LDS religious experience. Response to personal revelation is seen as the basis for true faith in Christ, and the strength of the Church consists of that faithful response by members to their own personal revelations. The purpose of both revelation and the response of faith is to assist the children of men to come to Christ and learn to love one another with that same pure love with which Christ loves them.

TYPES OF REVELATION. A dispensation of the gospel of Jesus Christ is a series of personal revelations from God. These revelations may be direct manifestations from God, as in the following typical cases:

1. theophanies (seeing God face-to-face), as in the first vision of the Prophet Joseph Smith, which came at the beginning of the present dispensation (JS-H 1:15-20)

2. revealed knowledge from the Father that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:13-17; see also Spirit of Prophecy)

3. visitations of angelic persons, such as the appearance of the angel Moroni to Joseph Smith (JS-H 1:30-32)

4. revelations through the Urim and Thummim, by which means Joseph Smith translated the book of mormon

5. open visions, as when Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon were shown the kingdoms of the hereafter (see Doctrine and Covenants: Section 76)

6. physically hearing the voice of God, as is recorded in 3 Nephi 11

7. receiving the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit, as in the experience of Elijah (1 Kgs. 19);

8. receiving the gifts of the spirit (D&C 46)

9. having a burning in the bosom as an indication of the will of God, as in the explanation given to Oliver Cowdery (D&C 9:8)

10. dreams (1 Ne. 8:2-32)

11. manifestations of the Light of Christ, by which all men know good from evil (Alma 12:31-32; D&C 84:46-48).

Such direct manifestations of the mind and will of God are known as gifts and are contrasted with signs. Gifts always have a spiritual component, even when they have a physical aspect. Signs are physical manifestations of the power of God and are a form of revelation from God, though they may be counterfeited and misinterpreted. Signs may show that God is at work, but spiritual gifts are required to know how one should respond.

REVELATION TO THE CHURCH. In every dispensation, God appoints his prophet to guide his people. The prophet’s purpose is not to be an intermediary between God and others, though a prophet must often do so. His purpose is, rather, to assist others to receive from God the personal revelation that he, the prophet, has taught God’s truth, which will show the way to Christ.

The prophet as head of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and all other persons who preside in the Church, including General Authorities, stake presidents, bishops, general presidencies, and parents, may receive revelation for the benefit of those over whom they preside. These revelations can be passed on to the membership of the Church through conference and other talks and in personal counsel. But each individual is entitled to know by personal revelation that these messages given through presiding authorities are truly from the Savior himself. President Brigham Young expressed concern that the Latter-day Saints would “have so much confidence in their leaders” that they would “settle down in a state of blind self-security,” abandoning the responsibility to obtain their own revelation: “Let every man and woman know, by the whispering of the Spirit of God to themselves, whether their leaders are walking in the path the Lord dictates, or not” (JD 9:150).

Presiding quorums in the Church are entitled to revelation for the Church on matters of doctrine, policies, programs, callings, and disciplinary actions, as each might be appropriate to a given quorum. Decisions of these quorums are to be made only by the personal, individual revelation of God to each member of that quorum. “And every decision made by either of these quorums must be by the unanimous voice of the same; that is, every member in each quorum must be agreed to its decisions, in order to make their decisions of the same power or validity one with the other” (D&C 107:27).

The scriptures contain the inspired writings of God’s appointed prophets and are provided to others for their edification (D&C 68:2-4). By this means, people have received the inspired words recorded in the Old and New Testaments. Through revelation, the Prophet Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon (see Book of Mormon Translation By Joseph Smith) and received those things set forth in the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price. Latter-day Saints anticipate that more prophetic scripture will yet be revealed and that scripture written by past prophets but now lost to the world will be restored (2 Ne. 29:11-14; D&C 27:6; see also Scriptures: Forthcoming Scripture). The true meaning of all scripture is to be revealed by the power of the Holy Ghost to the individual reader or hearer (2 Pet. 1:20; D&C 50:17-24).

PERSONAL REVELATION. After baptism and confirmation, each member has the right, when worthy, to the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost (see Gift of the Holy Ghost). Through that companionship all the gifts of the Spirit are revealed to faithful individuals, who accomplish their mortal works in righteousness through the gifts and power of God revealed to and through them (Moro. 10:25). The challenges of living by personal revelation include (1) distinguishing revelation from God through his Holy Spirit from personal thoughts and desires, and from the influences of Satan (see Devils); (2) following the teachings and directions of the living prophet of God; and (3) living by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God (Matt. 4:4; John 3:5-8; D&C 50:13-24;98:11-13; Deut. 8:3).

In modern societies, the idea of divine revelation is widely discounted for many reasons, including the violent acts that some have perpetrated while claiming divine direction. But God has made it known through the restoration of the gospel that revelation is available to all who seek it and that failure to seek spiritual guidance and direction is itself a mistake and a form of wishful thinking. Humans have eternal spirits, and each person experiences the supernatural influences that work upon his or her own spirit. Better than to ignore the spiritual side of oneself is to study one’s personal spiritual experiences until they make sense. Those who acknowledge spiritual experiences are called the “honest in heart,” and they are candidates for the revealed riches of godliness (D&C 8:1;97:8).

The fundamental revelation from God is the knowledge of good through the Light of Christ (John 1:9). The prophet Lehi taught his children that because of the choices made by Adam and Eve, their descendants receive supernatural knowledge of both good and evil, making a choice between the two necessary in fulfillment of the purpose of earth life. After mortality God returns to each human being eternally the good or evil each chose in life (Alma 41:1-5; 2 Ne. 2:27).

But before any final judgment, each person will be taught the gospel of Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. This gospel is the good news that the Son of God will assist all persons to stop doing evil and will save them from the consequences of all the evil they have done if they will believe in him and repent. Acting to accept this revelation constitutes faith in Jesus Christ, which, if it continues, may bring additional revelation from God: more instruction; the gifts of the Spirit; the knowledge imparted through saving ordinances of the new and everlasting covenant; angelic visitations; visions; the revelation to know God himself face to face; and finally, the revelation to be given the fulness of godhood, to be made joint-heirs with Christ (D&C 121:29).

The LDS concept of individual revelation as fundamental to all human experience helps explain other distinctive LDS teachings. The key to making the proper distinction between supernatural revelation and its counterfeit is that fundamental knowledge of good and evil. Individuals must experiment, being as honest in heart and mind as they can, until they can see clearly what is good and what is evil. Those who learn to distinguish good from evil in this life can then distinguish the good spirit from the evil spirit. They then can distinguish the true gospel of Jesus Christ from its counterfeits, the true path of righteousness from the byways of covenant breaking and bending, and the true and living God from the image of God produced by their own wishful thinking (Moro. 7:5-19).

Joseph Smith taught the Saints how to recognize and receive revelation: A person may profit by noticing the first intimation of the spirit of revelation; for instance, when you feel pure intelligence flowing into you, it may give you sudden strokes of ideas, so that by noticing it, you may find it fulfilled the same day or soon; (i.e.) those things that were presented unto your minds by the Spirit of God, will come to pass; and thus by learning the Spirit of God and understanding it, you may grow into the principle of revelation, until you become perfect in Christ Jesus [TPJS, p. 151].

To learn to communicate with others by the gifts of that Holy Spirit makes it possible for one to be a prophet or prophetess of God. Latter-day Saints believe that through divine revelation every child of Christ may, and should, become a prophet or a prophetess to his or her own divinely appointed stewardship (Num. 11:29), holding fast to that which is good and rejecting that which is evil (1 Thes. 5:19-21).

Thus, the human problem is not to get revelation, but to understand the revelation one receives, to respond only to that which is good, and to minister only that which is good. The servants of Christ are counseled to look to him and to him only for light and truth. They are told not to take counsel from any human being or to hearken to any person unless he or she speaks by the power of the Holy Spirit. Truth, light, righteous power, and salvation come from above, from God himself, through divine revelation, and not from human beings or from below (2 Ne. 28:30-31).

Posted in Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Restored Gospel | Tagged Encyclopedia of Mormonism, revelation | Comments Off

Philosophy

Posted on May 1, 1992 by Admin

Encyclopedia of Mormonism
See this page in the original 1992 publication.
http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Philosophy

Author: Riddle, Chauncey C.

Philosophy (the “love of wisdom”) originated in the Western world in ancient Greece. The attempt to find wisdom by ancient thinkers such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle led them also to investigate the world (nature), the unseen world (metaphysics), and how we know (epistemology). Wonder about nature through progressively refined epistemological procedures led through the centuries to modern scientific methods. As philosophers developed standards for accurate description and generalization, new sciences were born and detached themselves from philosophy: the first was physics, and the latest is linguistics. But the basic problems of epistemology, metaphysics, and ethics (including aesthetics and the philosophy of religion) dominate present philosophy as much as they did in ancient times. Although the solutions are more varied now, the basic issues remain the same.

Latter-day scriptures do not present a philosophical system, but they do contain answers to many classic philosophical issues. These scriptures preclude ex nihilo creation, idealism (immaterialism), a chance theory of causation, and absolute determinism. They affirm the eternality and agency of the individual person, the necessary existence of evil apart from God, a nonrelativistic good (righteousness), and the doctrine that all mortals are the offspring and heirs of God. God is affirmed as a perfected physical being who governs all things in pure love and who continues to communicate with his children on earth by personal revelation.

Observers of the LDS position have ascribed philosophical labels and tendencies to it, but that position usually will not fit neatly into the stock answers. It is empirical, yet rational; pragmatic, yet idealistic; oriented toward eternity, yet emphasizing the importance of the here and now. Affinities are found with the Cartesian certainty of personal existence, the positivist insistence on sensory evidence, the Enlightenment emphasis on elimination of paradox, and the postmodern respect for the “other.” The ultimate standard for all being, truth, and good is Christ himself.

Contemporary analytic and existential movements in philosophy have had little impact on LDS thought, not because it is not aware of them, but because it has different answers to the questions they pose. The knowledge of God is established through careful experimentation with God’s promises, which results in tangible consequences, culminating in the possibility of seeing God face to face. Existential angst is recognized and met by personal guidance from God to establish a path to righteousness and fulfillment, the general features of which each person must follow, but with individual parameters. The relativism of situational ethics is answered in spiritual assurance and power to do those things that are eternally worthwhile. Mind-body dualism is answered by the material nature of spirit (more refined matter) (D&C 131:7).

Answers to the questions How may I know? What is the seen world? What is the unseen world? and How shall I be wise? are all answered personally for every fully participating Latter-day Saint. The equivalent of epistemology in an LDS frame is the ordinances, focusing on the ordinance of prayer. Through the ordinances and in connection with other epistemologies come all of the light and knowledge sufficient to live a spiritually successful life. Questions about the natural world are answered by one’s culture as corrected by personal revelation. One must have some guidance on questions of metaphysics, and such is found in holy scripture and confirmed to each individual through personal revelation. The ultimate question as to how to be wise is answered both in general and in particular. The general answer is that to be wise is to love God with all of one’s heart, might, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbor as God loves us (D&C 59:5). The particular answer is to repent of sinning and to live by the whisperings of the Holy Spirit and the counsels of the living prophet (Isa. 50:10-11).

While LDS culture does not encourage philosophizing directly, every LDS person is encouraged to become a profound theologian. Becoming such necessitates a heavy commitment to active study “in theory, in principle, in doctrine” to search out the weighty matters of time and eternity (D&C 97:14), which include the basic questions of the philosophers. The imperative “study it out in your mind” (D&C 9:7-8) is a standard for all LDS persons, not just for academics. “Time, and experience and careful and ponderous and solemn thought” (TPJS, p. 37) are not inimical to but are the preface to and foundation for personal revelation.

Bibliography

Faulconer, James E. Review of The Mormon Concept of God: A Philosophical Analysis, by Francis D. Beckwith and Stephen E. Parrish. BYU Studies 32 (Fall 1992):185-195.

Kramer, Neal W. Review of Anxiety in Eden: A Kierkegaardian Reading of Paradise Lost, by John S. Tanner. BYU Studies 35:3 (1995):181-187.

Madsen, Truman G. “Joseph Smith and the Ways of Knowing,” pp. 25-63. BYU Extension Publications, Seminar on the Prophet Joseph Smith, 1962.

Oaks, Dallin H. “Ethics, Morality, and Professional Responsibility.” In Perspectives in Mormon Ethics, ed. Donald G. Hill, Jr., pp. 193-200. Salt Lake City, 1983.

Yarn, David H., Jr. “Some Metaphysical Reflections on the Gospel of John.” BYU Studies 3 (Autumn 1960):3-10.

CHAUNCEY C. RIDDLE

Posted in Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Philosophy | Tagged philosophy | Comments Off

Devils

Posted on May 1, 1992 by Admin

Encyclopedia of Mormonism
See this page in the original 1992 publication.
http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Devils

Author: Riddle, Chauncey C.

In LDS discourse, the term “devil” denotes anyone who promotes the cause of evil, but it is especially applied to those unembodied spirits who rebelled against God in the premortal life and were cast down from heaven to this earth. The devil, who leads them, is also known by the personal names of Lucifer in the premortal existence and Satan since being cast down.

The name Lucifer means “light bearer” in Latin and is a translation of the Hebrew Heylel ben Shakhar, which means “herald son of dawn” or “morning star.” In the premortal life, Lucifer was an angel having authority in the presence of God. He played a prominent role in the Council in Heaven. After the Father in Heaven offered the plan of righteousness to help his children become as he is, Lucifer countered with an alternative plan.

The Father’s plan was to save and exalt all of his obedient children. To be obedient, they must keep his commandments and do good. In the Father’s plan, it was foreknown that many would reject exaltation and therefore would receive lesser glories.

Lucifer’s plan proposed to “save” all of the Father’s children by forcing each to obey the Father’s law in all things. Lucifer desired that he be rewarded for this great feat of saving everyone by having the Father’s honor and glory given to him personally. Because mortals can be saved only in their own freely chosen repentance, Lucifer’s proposal was rejected. In the ensuing war in heaven, he gained the allegiance of a third of the Father’s spirit children. Lucifer and his followers were then cast out of heaven to earth, where he became Satan and they all became devils (Moses 4:1-3; D&C 29:36-37;76:25-38).

The name Satan comes from a Hebrew root meaning “to oppose, be adverse,” hence “to attack or to accuse” (see Rev. 12:10). On this earth the role of Satan and his fellow devils is to attack the working of righteousness and to destroy it wherever possible (Moses 4:4; D&C 10:20-23;93:39).

Righteousness is the condition or action of accomplishing the greatest possible happiness for all beings affected. The attainment of full righteousness is possible only with the help of an omniscient and omnipotent being. This full righteousness is the special order of the Celestial Kingdom where the Father dwells. When the Father’s will is done and his order is in place, every person and every thing attains, or is attaining, the potential he, she, or it has for development and happiness. This righteousness is the good of “good and evil.” It is to be contrasted with those human desires that are contrary to the Father’s order and will.

A good (righteous) person is an agentive being who chooses and accomplishes only righteousness. No mortal is intrinsically and perfectly good, nor can a mortal alone rise to that standard (Matt. 19:17). But mortals can do righteous acts and become righteous through the salvation provided by Jesus Christ. Christ is the fountain of all righteousness (Ether 12:28). The children of God can achieve the Father’s order of righteousness through Christ if they choose that order in explicit rejection of evil.

Evil is any order of existence that is not righteous. A state of affairs, an act, or a person not in the order of righteousness is thus evil. Letting one’s neighbor languish in abject poverty while one has plenty, or stealing, or desiring harm for another person are all evils. Satan promotes evil everywhere he can, to thwart the righteousness of God (see D&C 10:27). Thus, Satan tempts people to do evil instead of the Father’s will. Satan himself is not necessary to evil, but he hastens and abets evil wherever he can.

Satan’s first targets on earth were Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Knowing that the Father had commanded Adam and Eve not to partake of the forbidden fruit on penalty of death, Satan sought to destroy the Father’s work by enticing Adam and Eve to partake of it anyway. Satan’s success marked the beginning of the world (as distinct from the creation of the earth), of Satan’s kingdom on this earth (see JST, Matt. 1:55).

By obeying Satan, Adam and Eve opened the way for him to have partial dominion over them, over the earth, and over all of their children (see Fall of Adam). Examples of his partial dominion over the earth granted by the Father are his ability to possess the bodies of animals (Matt. 8:28-32) and to use water to destroy people (D&C 61:14-19). Satan gained the power to tempt those who are accountable to do evil (D&C 29:39), to communicate with individuals to teach them things (usually but not always lies), to possess their bodies, to foster illness and disease, and to cause mortal death. He promotes sin, the doing of evil, which brings spiritual death to the sinner and misery to all those affected. In each of these opportunities, Satan’s power is limited: He can do only what he has specific permission from God to do (D&C 121:4; Luke 8:30-33). His power may be taken away by individuals as they hearken to God and as they correctly use the holy priesthood to limit his operations (D&C 50:13-35).

What Satan did not realize in Eden was that what he did in attempting to destroy the Father’s work was actually the very thing needed to fulfill the Father’s plan (Moses 4:6). People could not demonstrate their love of God and their willingness to do the work of righteousness sufficiently to qualify them for exaltation unless they were subject to, and able to overcome, evil and devil adversaries, such as Satan and his hosts (2 Ne. 2:11-22).

On earth Satan is thus the father of deception, lies, and sin-of all evils-for he promotes them with vigor. He may appear as a counterfeit angel of light or as the prince of darkness, but his usual manifestations to mortals come as either evil revelation to one’s heart and mind or indirectly through other persons. His mission is to tempt everyone to choose evil so that each accountable human being’s choices can serve as an adequate basis for a final judgment.

This earth life is a mortal probation for all those who have the opportunity to accept and live by the new and everlasting covenant while in the mortal flesh. Those who do not have a full opportunity in this earth life will have their probation extended through the spirit world existence that follows it. By the time of resurrection, each of the Father’s children will have made a final choice between good and evil, and each will be rewarded with the good or the evil chosen during the probation (Alma 41:10-15).

When Satan tempts a person to do evil, there are limits to what Satan can accomplish. He can put before a person any kind of evil opportunity, but that evil is enticing only if the person tempted already desires that thing. When people are tempted, it is actually by their own lusts (James 1:12-15).

Satan has power on earth only as individual persons give it to him by succumbing to his temptations (TPJS, p. 187). The agency of human beings is to choose righteousness through the Holy Spirit of God or to choose selfishness through the flesh by succumbing to Satan’s temptations (2 Ne. 2:26-29). (Human flesh is not evil, but Satan may tempt humans through their flesh.) Individuals who repent in this life are nevertheless tempted by Satan until their death; then Satan has no power over them ever again. Those who die unrepentant are still in Satan’s power in the spirit prison (Alma 34:34-35). All except the sons of perdition will eventually accept Christ and obey him, and thereby escape the dominion of Satan (D&C 76:110). Thus is the Father’s plan of agency fulfilled.

Satan’s three temptations of the Savior may be seen as paradigmatic of all human temptation (see David O. McKay, Gospel Ideals, p. 154, Salt Lake City, 1953). The temptation to create bread and eat it when he should not represents the human temptation of the flesh, to sate the senses unrighteously. The temptation to cast himself down from the temple and to be saved by angels when he should not represents the human temptation of social acclaim. The temptation to receive the kingdoms of this world when he should not represents the temptation to have unrighteous dominion or power over others. The Savior did not yield to any of these temptations because his heart was pure and he knew that the way of righteousness lay only in doing the Father’s will in all things.

All accountable mortals are tempted, even as our Savior was tempted. As mortals succumb, Satan gains power and earth life becomes a hell. Every person may resist temptation by choosing good over evil. But misinformation, evil cultural traditions (D&C 93:39), despair, and desperate human need all make the choosing of good difficult, even if the person does not particularly desire a given evil (cf. 2 Ne. 28 for an extensive description of the ploys of Satan).

Through Jesus Christ and the partaking of his new and everlasting covenant, mortals have the opportunity to gain power to choose good over evil unerringly and always. As they do so, they are able to establish the righteousness of God and thus heaven on earth (Moses 7:18; D&C 50:34-35; see also Zion).

Human beings resist Satan and evil by controlling their desires-that is, (1) by not desiring the evil that Satan proffers; (2) by gaining more knowledge so that they will be able to see that Satan’s temptations are not what they really want; and (3) by having their hearts purified by Jesus Christ so that they will no longer desire any evil but desire instead to do the Father’s will in all things (Moro. 7:48; cf. the Savior’s answers in Matt. 4:1-10).

The great help in resisting temptation is the Holy Spirit. It is Satan’s business to dwell in and with all individuals who do not have the Holy Spirit with them, sometimes even gaining total possession of a person’s body, so that he or she loses agency for a time. Partial possession may also occur, for whenever a human being becomes angry, he or she is at least partially possessed by Satan (James 1:20).

In his role as the destroyer, Satan can cause illness and death, but only with permission from God. He cannot take people before their time unless they disobey God and thus forfeit their mission (Job 1:6-12).

As the father of lies, Satan has a disinformation campaign. He spreads false notions about himself, about God, about people, about salvation-all for the purpose of defeating acts of faith in Jesus Christ. Mortals believe his lies because the lies are pleasing to the carnal mind and because they promote or support the selfish desires of the individual who believes them. About himself, Satan tells people that there is no devil, that such an idea is wild imagination (2 Ne. 28:22). About God, Satan desires human beings to believe either that he does not exist or that he is some distant, unknowable, or forbidding being. He tells people that they are to conquer in this world according to their strength and that whatever anyone does is no crime (Alma 30:17). Favorite lies about salvation are either that it comes to everyone in spite of anything one does (Alma 21:6) or that it is reserved only for a special few insiders (Alma 31:17). These erroneous creeds of the fathers, fastened upon their children in the form of false creeds, are called in the scriptures “the chains of hell” (Alma 12:11; D&C 123:7-8).

Secret combinations are another devilish device for spreading misery and obstructing the cause of righteousness (Ether 8:16-26; Hel. 6:16-32). Satan tempts selfish individuals to use others to their own oppressive advantage. Secrecy is essential to prevent retaliation by the victims and just execution of the laws against such combinations. Secret combinations involve personal, economic, educational, political, or military power that controls or enslaves some persons for the pleasure and profit of others.

Satan also has influence over the spirits of wicked persons who have passed from mortality by death and who inhabit the spirit prison (sometimes called Hades). The inhabitants of this prison do not yet suffer cleansing pain, which will later come, but continue to be subject to Satan’s lies and temptations (Alma 40–41). They also have the opportunity to hear the servants of Christ (D&C 138:28-37), and if they did not have the opportunity on earth, they now may repent unto exaltation. If they did have the opportunity on earth but did not use it, the spirit prison opportunity again allows them to reject Satan and his lies and temptations, but with the reward of a lesser glory (D&C 76:71-79).

During the Millennium, Satan will be bound (Rev. 20:2). He will still be on earth, attempting to tempt every person, as he has since the Fall of Adam, but he will be bound because no one will hearken to his temptations (1 Ne. 22:26).

Toward the end of the Millennium, Satan will be loosed (D&C 88:110-115) because people will again hearken to him. But he will be vanquished and sent from this earth to outer darkness, where he and his followers, both spirits and resurrected sons of perdition (Satan is Perdition, “the lost one”), will dwell in the misery and darkness of selfishness and isolation forever.

Bibliography

For a more complete treatment of the concept of the devil from an LDS point of view, see LaMar E. Garrard, “A Study of the Problem of a Personal Devil and Its Relationship to Latter-day Saint Beliefs” (Master’s thesis, Brigham Young University, 1955). EspThe Devil: Perceptions of Evil from Antiquity to Primitive Christianity (Ithaca, N.Y., 1977), Satan: The Early Christian Tradition (Ithaca, N.Y., 1981), Lucifer: The Devil in the Middle Ages (Ithaca, N.Y., 1984), and Mephistopheles: The Devil in the Modern World (Ithaca, N.Y., 1986) constitute a comprehensive history of the concept of the devil traced through literature, art, and philosophy from ancient times to the modern day. The presentation is a thorough and scholarly treatment but does not derive from an LD

CHAUNCEY C. RIDDLE

Posted in Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Evil | Tagged council in heaven, devils, lucifer, satan | Comments Off

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