stumblingblocks and the Bible

I wrote this like 2 months ago on a prompting and then felt like I shouldn't post it. Just now I felt like I should post it. So, world, here goes. Sorry it's long.

I.

23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;

-1 Cor. 1:23

To get the full effect, I recommend reading all of 1 Corinthians 1, with emphasis on v. 18-25.

Why was a Christ crucified a stumblingblock to the Jews? (A stumblingblock is something set in the way of a blind person to make them stumble.)

Because of Deuteronomy 21:22-23, which read (emphasis mine):

22 ¶And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree:

23 His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.

According to Mosaic law, anyone killed on a tree--such as the wood of a cross--was accursed of God. So clearly, Jesus couldn't have been the Christ, because since His death took place on a tree, He must have been accursed. Right?

Well... wrong. From the Christian perspective, anyway, that is incorrect.

But that is only one interpretation of my question--the question, Why was a Christ crucified a stumblingblock to the Jews? To read the question differently--why was it important that Jesus's death be a stumblingblock to the Jews? Why would God make it difficult for a practicing Jew, one of His covenant people, to believe that Jesus was the Christ? If it's God's will for everyone to be saved, then why make it hard for them to believe in Jesus? Or is it God's will for some people to go to hell because they found it too hard to believe, when God could easily have made Jesus's death something that didn't violate the law of Moses?





II.

28 ¶Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.

30 Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.

31 Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.


-Acts 20:28-31

Paul warned his fellow saints in the early Christian church "night and day with tears" that after he departed, "grievous wolves," "of [their] own selves" would arise, to pervert the Church of Jesus. In 2 Thessalonians 2:3 Paul went on to explain that the "day of Christ" "shall not come, except there come a falling away first." The term "falling away" is an English translation of the Greek "apostasia," or apostasy. Paul warned the early Christians all the time that an apostasy was inevitable--that men would deceive and use the gospel for gain and lead the church astray. The definition of the word apostasy is "a total desertion of or departure from one's religion, principles, party, cause, etc."

We know that the early Christian church had to apostatize at some point, because Paul specifically said so multiple times. Before Jesus comes again, according to the Bible, there will be a falling away, or an apostasy--a total desertion or departure from the truth (according to the definition of the word), first.

Why is this important?

Because if the Christian Church established by Jesus in the flesh had to fall away, or apostatize, or "desert or depart from" the fulness of Jesus's Gospel before Jesus could return, that means one of two things. Because apostasy was/is inevitable according to the Apostle Paul, it means that either A) the Church apostatized in the past, or B) the Church will apostatize in the future.

Me? I believe it's clear that the Church apostatized in the past, the far distant past. Today's Christian landscape is reminiscent of Isaiah's lament in Isaiah 53:6: "all we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way."

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of separate Christians sects today. They do not have a "unity of the faith" as Paul told the Ephesians in chapter 4, verse 13. Rather, as Paul states in the next verse, we are as "children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive."

"Carried about by every wind of doctrine" is a great phrase to describe most of Christianity today. I mean, is there anything all Christians agree on? There are churches that purport to be Christian that support abortion and gay marriage. Some Christians believe in the necessity of baptism; others don't. Some believe in the necessity of priesthood authority; others don't. I have friends that go to church all the time and couldn't begin to have a doctrinal discussion with you. How can you have a Christian church that doesn't teach doctrine? I don't know. But it happens, people!

Just based on the sheer amount of disagreement among Christians today, I think it's safe to say that there has been an apostasy. We no longer have that unity of the faith. Even in churches with established doctrine (such as the Catholic or Methodist church), the teachings will often change based on who your pastor is. The variation in Christian beliefs is huge. Yet only one set of Christian doctrine can be correct. If two doctrines are contradictory, only one is correct.

Why does this apostasy matter? Because at some point, God has to remember His people. Remember Acts 3:21, which promises a "restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began."

God told Isaiah in Isaiah 29:14 that He would "proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder." Examine Isaiah 29:14, 18, and 22-24 (I cut it down for brevity but you should read... well, all of Isaiah but also Isaiah 29:14-the end):

14 Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.

18 ¶And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness.

22 Therefore thus saith the Lord, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob, Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale.

23 But when he seeth his children, the work of mine hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel.

24 They also that erred in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that murmured shall learn doctrine.

Isaiah prophesies of a "marvellous work and a wonder" that God will commence, a "work and a wonder" that will confound the wise men and the prudent men. The "book" that will come forth will teach doctrine, teach God's children to fear Him and sanctify Him, and the book will be involved in the redemption of the house of Jacob.

But, to go back to verse 14, that book will be--what? Something to make the wisdom of their wise men perish, and the understanding of their prudent men to be hid. In other words, a stumblingblock. Or, as 1 Cor. 1:27 explains, "God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty."

To go back to Isaiah 29--what will that book be, mentioned in verse 18?

A stumblingblock.





III.

The Lord trieth the righteous.

- Psalm 11:5

25 And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them;

-Abraham 3:25

God puts trials--even what you might call "stumblingblocks"--in our way to test our faith.

I believe that the stumblingblock of a Christ crucified was necessary for the Jews at the time of Jesus because it was a trial of faith. To learn for yourself that Jesus was the Christ, despite His crucifixion, you would have to rely wholly on the witness of the Holy Spirit, and leave your doubts at the door.

We have many Biblical promises that God's "marvellous work" in the latter days will confound the wise. I won't quote 'em because I already quoted a bunch of them above. But essentially: when God restores all things, as He has promised to do in both the Old and New Testaments, that restoration will involve some stumblingblocks that could potentially trip up even the faithful--just as Jesus's crucifixion originally tripped up faithful Jews. And why? Presumably to test our faith--to see if we will rely on the witness of the Holy Ghost more than we rely on our own wisdom.

Basically: to see if we can trust God more than we trust ourselves.





IV.

7 Know ye not that there are more nations than one? Know ye not that I, the Lord your God, have created all men, and that I remember those who are upon the isles of the sea; and that I rule in the heavens above and in the earth beneath; and I bring forth my word unto the children of men, yea, even upon all the nations of the earth?

8 Wherefore murmur ye, because that ye shall receive more of my word? Know ye not that the testimony of two nations is a witness unto you that I am God, that I remember one nation like unto another? Wherefore, I speak the same words unto one nation like unto another. And when the two nations shall run together the testimony of the two nations shall run together also.

9 And I do this that I may prove unto many that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever; and that I speak forth my words according to mine own pleasure. And because that I have spoken one word ye need not suppose that I cannot speak another; for my work is not yet finished; neither shall it be until the end of man, neither from that time henceforth and forever.

10 Wherefore, because that ye have a Bible ye need not suppose that it contains all my words; neither need ye suppose that I have not caused more to be written.

2 Nephi 29:7-10

In Ezekiel 37:15-19 God explains that he will have His prophets write on sticks--the Hebrew for that word could also be translated as 'writing tablets'--one writing tablet for Judah, or the Jews, and one tablet for Ephraim. Examine verse 19:

19 Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.

I believe the Bible to be the stick of Judah, and the Book of Mormon to be the stick of Ephraim. Now that we have both of them, they literally can be one in your hands--my copy of the Bible has the Book of Mormon attached to it. To me, this is a fulfillment of Ezekiel's prophecy. The "book" that is mentioned in Isaiah 29 does indeed confound the wise, acting as a stumblingblock to those who would prefer to trust their own wisdom to God's.

The only way to develop a testimony of the Book of Mormon as another testament of Jesus is to pray about it with an open heart and mind, and rely on trust in the Lord Jesus Christ that He will send His Holy Spirit down to you and testify to you. In the meantime, it's easy to qualm about things like the archaeological record or mentions of horses or whatever. I had a friend who said she could never believe the Book of Mormon was true because there was no archaeological record supporting it like there is for the Bible.

And I just thought--if your faith in Jesus is based on something so trivial as an archaeological dig or two, is that really faith?

Is it faith in God if what is really important to you is the arguments of man in favor of it?

To me, this is why the Book of Mormon exists. It is here to try our faith, so God can see if we are truly willing to follow Him in all things, even when it doesn't make sense.

But the most amazing part, to me, anyway, is that once you have a testimony of the Book of Mormon, everything does make sense. The Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ is incredibly internally consistent, in a way that no other Christian faith I have studied is. I urge you to give it a chance.


V.

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

- James 1:5

3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.

4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.


-Moroni 10:3-5

That is the promise that comes with the Book of Mormon: that if you read it, and ponder the words in your heart, and ask God in the name of Jesus if it is true or not, with faith that God will tell you the truth, the Holy Ghost will tell you the truth. You don't need to take my word or anyone's word for it. You just need to be open to the words of the Holy Ghost.

If you believe in the Bible, which clearly states that an apostasy is necessary and inevitable, and that there will be a restoration of all things according to the words of the holy prophets--when do you think that will happen?

What if it's happening now?

How would you recognize it? Are you searching for it?

I testify to you that I have read and studied the Book of Mormon and the Bible, and I know them both to contain the words of God. I know that as you study them, you will grow closer to God. I believe that both books, but particularly the Book of Mormon, contain truths that you are searching for.

Sometimes I wonder what kind of person I would have been if I had been alive at the time of Jesus. Would I have listened to the Spirit and believed? Or would I have been so caught up in the law of Moses that I would have called Jesus accursed because of His death on the cross and denied that he could possibly be the Christ? Would I have even given Him a chance?

I have been asked before if I am a convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And while I was raised LDS, I have to answer yes. Because I didn't inherit my faith in Jesus and the fulness of His gospel: I acted on the promise contained in the Book of Mormon and asked God for myself if it was true. Reading the book can take less than a week--it was hardly an investment of time. And I knew that, in reading it, worst case scenario: God told me it was a fake and I'd just spent a week learning about other people's beliefs. Best case scenario: the fulness of God's true gospel was restored, I could have access to even more of Jesus's words, and I could have a personal witness from the Holy Ghost of its truth.

I took the risk and read the book.

I got my answer.

You can get an answer, too.

7 Reasons Mormons Marry Young

Note: I wrote this post like a week ago and never posted it. BAM. Posted.

Mormons marry young.

Carl and I got married when I was 20 and he was 22. We had known each other for 16 months.

My mom got married when she was 20 and my dad was 22 or 23. My BFF Jacque got married at 20. Many, if not most, of my friends out in Utah got married before they turned 23, both guys and girls.

Early marriage is a normal thing among Mormons. Yet, among the rest of the world, marriage is being delayed longer and longer, if people even bother getting married at all.

I've been thinking about why this is, and came up with a bunch of reasons why we get married so young, and so consistently. See what you think.


1. LDS doctrine teaches that marriage can be not until death do you part, but for time and all eternity.

Many mainstream Christians take verse 25 of the riddle in Mark 12 to mean that marriage cannot exist in heaven. And I quote (v. 23-25, key scripture bolded):

23 In the resurrection therefore, when they shall rise, whose wife shall she be of them? for the seven had her to wife.

24 And Jesus answering said unto them, Do ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God?

25 For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in heaven.

This is the scripture that many use to defend the doctrinal argument that marriage cannot exist in the resurrection. However, the language of verse 25 is not referring to marriages so much as to weddings. Men marry; women are given in marriage. Carl married me and I was given in marriage to him at our wedding in 2008. Today, we will not marry. This month, we did not marry. I was not given in marriage to Carl this week. All of that happened on our wedding day.

What Jesus is literally, textually saying here is that weddings cannot happen in the resurrection. Whether or not marriages can exist in the resurrection is a whole other detail entirely. Carl and I were not married yesterday, and we will not get married today, but we are still married. Because he married me and I was given in marriage to him at an earlier date.

Thus, Latter-day Saints believe that this Biblical proclamation is true, but that it does not preclude the concept of eternal marriage. You can believe that that scripture DOES preclude marriage in the resurrection, and that is fine, but that is a belief based on inference and not textual accuracy.

These four short verses from the Doctrine and Covenants are a further explanation of this idea.

In Jesus the Christ James C. Talmage explains that what Jesus's response implies is that the woman's later 6 marriages were for mortal life only, and in the resurrection she is thus still married to the first.

Going along with this, there is the Biblical idea in Genesis 2:18 that it is not good for man to be alone. I personally don't understand why that would be true now, but not in the afterlife.


2. Latter-day Saints believe that eternal marriage is a sacrament that brings the participants closer to God, and additionally is necessary for ultimate happiness. I could wax eloquent about this one but instead I'll just recommend you read this verse in the Doctrine and Covenants. Suffice it to say that we believe that marriage is crucial to our eternal progression.

3. We believe that the commandments against fornication and adultery are still in force. In other words, if you want to enjoy any kind of sexual activity, and I mean any kind, you have to get married first. That is definitely what you might call a "motivator."

4. We believe that the Biblical commandment to "multiply and replenish the earth" is still in force. God never stated in the Bible or otherwise that this commandment has outlived itself. We believe that we are commanded to bring children into this world.

4. We believe that the commandment to multiply and replenish the earth has eternal significance. Going along with the point above, we have a clear understanding of why it's important to multiply and replenish the earth. Our Biblical understanding of the premortal existence of man leads to the conclusion that for God's purposes to be fulfilled, all of His children need bodies (see here for a list of Bible scriptures discussing the premortal existence of our spirits). Because of this understanding, we believe that having children is crucial to God's plan of happiness for us. Having a family is a blessing that allows us to serve God by serving each other.

5. There is a strong Mormon culture of dating. In LDS culture, dating is very different from what you're probably thinking. There is no sex, or anything like it--no petting, no necking. Those are not even on the table. By dating, we literally mean, going on dates. Like to the movies or out to dinner or on a picnic or on a walk. Dating is so important to us that we literally have our prophets making announcements about it. Read this prophetic counsel on dating: why we don't date, why we do date, how to date, and why it matters. Starting when I was 17 years old, I started dating regularly, by which I mean, an average of about once a week. I went on tons of dates with dozens of people--lots of first dates, some second dates, and a handful of third dates--and I ended up having 4 boyfriends, 3 of whom I dated seriously (as in, with marriage as the end-goal. The not-serious boyfriend I had when I was like 16 so marriage was not really my end-goal there, ha!). Anyway, dating is culturally expected: you're expected to go out and meet people and hang out with them one on one in safe situations so you can get to know them better and see if you might want to turn a casual relationship into something more than that.

Or, as Dallin H. Oaks says in that talk linked above in big bold letters, "It's marriage time!" ^.~

6. Latter-day Saints are taught that our first callings are as mothers and fathers. That kind of goes along with the rest of the stuff I already wrote about.

7. There is a huge emphasis on self-reliance in the Church. This relates to marriage because it is a fact that the greatest weapon against child poverty is marriage (see link for studies and graphs and charts and stuff). Marriage enables us to provide physically and temporally for our own families and for each other. If I were not married but still had my child, I would not be able to serve others very much at all. Instead, I would have to rely on others.


~~~

So, those are 7 reasons I thought of as to why Mormons marry so young.

Some people argue that it's dumb to marry young. They have a lot of reasons for that conviction, one of which is likelihood of divorce. I recommend this article on why it's good to wait to get married. The article does point out that only about 5% of Latter-day Saints who are married in the temple and remain active in the Church go through divorce. (The number is closer to 17% for Latter-day Saints who marry in the temple and do not remain active in the Church).

I, for one, am glad every day that I got married when I did, where I did, how I did, to the guy I did. Just about every day Carl and I remark how glad we are that we found each other and chose to be married. Marriage has blessed our lives so much.

One of my closest friends, a convert to the Church, told me that marriage was one of the reasons she first started investigating the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: she saw members of the Church with strong marriages and realized that that was what she wanted. She also realized that if she remained in her current, more mainstream Christian faith, the chances of her having a marriage like her Mormon friends' parents had were slim. She was motivated by her desire for marriage and a family to look into the teachings of the Church; obviously, she ended up believing them and eventually converting. She got married young, too, and now has a kid.

Speaking of kids, mine is waking up. Bye!

the Christian mysteries

I wrote this post a few days ago but only put it up now. Enjoy.

This post was ruminating in my head for a while, since I stumbled across this letter from Pliny the Younger in 112 AD asking Emperor Trajan about how to punish the Christians in his area.

Then, I found this article about Juan Williams complaining about the fact that not just anybody gets to enter Mormon temples.

And then I knew: I have to write this post.

So, here it is. A post on the Christian mysteries.

One problem some mainstream Christians have with Mormonism is the issue of temple worship: they see it as secret and, frankly, bizarre. Of course, as Stephen E. Robinson points out in his book Are Mormons Christian?,* to attack Mormons on the issue of temples is like attacking a monk under a vow of silence. Those who have entered the temple are bound by covenant not to reveal what happens there, and so they cannot fully explain things to critics and detractors.

However, Christianity has always been marked by esoteric teaching--teachings given only to some and not to others, reserved only for initiates and held back from the public--and this fact is present throughout the Bible.

Before we get any further into that, let's examine 1 Corinthians 2:6-7 (KJV):

6 Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:

7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:

Looking over other translations of the Bible, several other translations translate "perfect" as "mature in faith," which is indeed a valid way to interpret that word. However, the Greek word in the original text of this verse is "teleios," which means "perfect," "mature," and, importantly, "initiated."

The Greek word for "mystery" is "musterion," which also translates as "a secret," "a secret rite," or "a secret teaching."

In the original, unadulterated text of the Bible, what Paul is saying is that there are certain particular teachings that are reserved for those who have been initiated through secret rites into essentially the fullness of Christianity.

Do a topical search for "milk" and "meat" in the New Testament and you'll find it over and over again: Paul tells the early Christians in his letters that they are ready for milk--the simple, public teachings of Jesus--but not yet ready for the meat. This "meat" is something different than the milk, and Paul never discloses exactly what it is. Paul's frequent references to the "meat" of the Gospel imply that the Bible only scratches the surface of Christianity: there is much more that he was not allowed to share, hidden mysteries spoken of only among the initiated, or the "perfect," as it is translated in the KJV.

We know that the "hidden mysteries" here are not the Bible or the general idea of Christianity, because general Christianity is proclaimed "upon the housetops" to anyone who will hear. In 1 Corinthians 3:1-2, Paul tells the Corinthians, who are already Christians, that they can have the "milk" of the Gospel but not yet the "meat," which also implies that even believers of Christ who have the scriptures are not given the "hidden mysteries."

Basically: the Bible flat-out says that there is more to Christianity than there is contained in the Bible.

The early Christians were aware of the mysteries. Saint Clement of Alexandria wrote:

Thus the Lord did not hinder from doing good while keeping the Sabbath; but allowed us to communicate of those divine mysteries, and of that holy light, to those who are able to receive them. He did not certainly disclose to the many what did not belong to the many; but to the few to whom He knew that they belonged, who were capable of receiving and being moulded according to them. But secret things are entrusted to speech, not to writing, as is the case with God.

Saint Cyril of Jerusalem additionally wrote about the mysteries--this particular translation doesn't specifically mention the mysteries, but other translations do, with Cyril telling the Christian initiates that they are "standing on the frontier of mystery" and "to smuggle no word out" about it:

Thus is it with the Catechumen also if he should hear from the Believer: the Catechumen is made delirious, for not understanding what he has heard, he finds fault with it, and scoffs at it, and the Believer bears the blame of a betrayer. But now thou art standing on the frontiers ; see thou let out nothing ; not that the things spoken do not deserve telling, but the ear that hears does not deserve receiving. Thou thyself wast once a Catechumen, and then I told thee not what was coming. When thou hast by practice reached the height of what is taught thee, then wilt thou understand that the Catechumens are unworthy to hear them.

Cyril also describes an esoteric baptism in that letter, as well as things that sound very much like the LDS temple teachings.

Saint Ambrose of Milan, Saint John Chrysostom in Constantinople, Theodore of Mopsuestia, and Saint Basil the Great all also wrote of the esoterica of Christianity reserved only for the initiated. Note also that all these Saints were located in different parts of the world: this wasn't some localized freak teaching. This was something that Christians practiced far and wide. Also notice that these writings are not from random Christians around at the time of early Christianity: these are writings from men who have been canonized by the Catholic Church, men widely considered to be, basically, "legit."

Anyway. To get back to the first link I posted. Important paragraph (with emphasis) from Pliny's letter:

Others, whose names were given to me by an informer, first admitted the charge and then denied it; they said that they had ceased to be Christians two or more years previously, and some of them even twenty years ago. They all did reverence to your statue and the images of the gods in the same way as the others, and reviled the name of Christ. They also declared that the sum total of their guilt or error amounted to no more than this: they had met regularly before dawn on a fixed day to chant verses alternately among themselves in honor of Christ as if to a god, and also to bind themselves by oath, not for any criminal purpose, but to abstain from theft, robbery and adultery, to commit no breach of trust and not to deny a deposit when called on to restore it. After this ceremony it had been their custom to disperse and reassemble later to take food of an ordinary, harmless kind; but they had in fact given up this practice since my edict, issued on your instructions, which banned all political societies. This made me decide that it was all the more necessary to extract the truth by torture from two slave-women, whom they call deaconesses. I found nothing but a degenerate sort of cult carried to extravagant lengths.

Just another evidence of the secret rites that early Christians practiced, which is vaguely reminiscent of LDS temple worship today.

And to go back to Juan Williams' fretting over the fact that non-Mormons aren't allowed in the temple--well, many Mormons aren't allowed to go in, either. And that's because the teachings you find in the temple are of the same nature as Paul's "hidden mysteries," the "meat" that he couldn't give to "milk" Christians. Many Mormons are "milk" Christians, too. To the extent that people like Juan Williams and other mainstream Christians are weirded out by LDS temple worship, I can only deduce that it's due to a lack of understanding of actual Bible text and early Christian teaching.

From what I have read of the Bible and the writings of early Christian saints, esoteric teachings were an important, crucial part of Jesus's original gospel, and I believe they still are today. But even if you don't believe the LDS faith is correct, to dismiss temple worship as somehow un-Christian is fundamentally incorrect.

As I have noted before, my religion holds that men are that they might have joy. As far as I am concerned, everyone was put on this earth to be happy. So find a set of beliefs that makes you happy.

In the meantime, belonging to a faith that is in keeping with the Christianity that was around when Christ was on the earth makes me happy. And I'm glad that the more I learn about the actual text of the Bible and the writings of the early saints, the more it fits with what I know of Jesus's Gospel from the Bible and the Book of Mormon. But we can all believe what we want. The end.


* This book is fantastic, a scholarly, non-proselytizing look at Mormon doctrine in the light of Biblical text and the writings of both Christian saints and scholars. It is definitely worth a read. Much of this post was essentially a summary of the section on esoteric teachings.

authority: or, why I could be Catholic

Over the past few weeks I've thought a lot about authority, and tonight, I couldn't sleep without writing about it.

So here goes.

In the Old Testament, specifically Exodus 40:15, the tribe of Levi is anointed, sanctified, and given the Aaronic, or Levitical Priesthood. This authority enabled the Levite priests to preside over burnt offerings and other temple rites. In Numbers 25:13, the Levitical Priesthood is described as "everlasting."

In the New Testament (John 15:16), Christ specifically mentions ordaining His disciples--ordination is how one receives the priesthood.

In ancient times, according to 1 Chronicles 23, Aaronic priests were in charge of offering burnt offerings, and were in charge of caring for the tabernacle, among other things.

Hebrews 7 is an incredible chapter of the New Testament, dealing entirely with the Aaronic Priesthood and the need for the Melchizedek Priesthood. If you are a practicing Christian and haven't read it, you should.

Paul explains in verse 11,

If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?

In other words, if the Aaronic Priesthood were enough to save the people, why would they also need the Melchizedek Priesthood? The implication is that not even just one, but two priesthoods are necessary for salvation. I would quote the entire rest of the chapter, but you should really just read it yourself.

Paul goes on to explain how Jesus took the oath of the Melchizedek Priesthood:

And inasmuch as not without an oath he was made priest:

21 (For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec:)

22 By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.

In Psalms 110:4, it is written:

The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.

Jesus held the Melchizedek Priesthood, and additionally conferred it upon his apostles (as mentioned in John 15:16). This is the key Jesus gave to Peter in Matthew 16:19: "the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

Peter had the power to bind and loose both on earth and in heaven by the power of the Holy Melchizedek Priesthood.

So where is this Priesthood today?

Well, before we even answer that question, it's important to remember that Paul taught in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 that Christ would not return again except there be a falling away first. In other words, part of His everlasting gospel would be taken away from the earth, and then restored at a later date.

To get back to the main question: where is the priesthood today?

Only two Christian sects claim to have access to priesthood power on the earth today. The Catholics claim that Peter, as the holder of the keys of the kingdom of heaven after Jesus's leaving the earth, conferred that power on the next leader of Jesus's church. Catholicism holds that the priesthood power has been passed down through the Popes since that time, and they trace their priesthood lineage through Peter and thereby Jesus Christ.

The other Christian sect that claims to have priesthood power is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The believers of this religion claim that the priesthood of the Lord was lost, as a part of the "falling away" promised in 2 Thessalonians 2:3. Latter-day Saints believe that the priesthood was restored to the earth on 15 May 1829, when John the Baptist conferred it on Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery on the banks of the Susquehanna River.

As far as I know, no other Christian denomination even claims to have the keys of the priesthood. This is important. The priesthood is necessary, at least according to Hebrews 7. It is a key doctrine of the gospel of Christ.

That is why if I weren't LDS, I'd have to be Catholic. I don't understand how any Christian could be satisfied with attending a church that didn't even claim to have the "keys of the kingdom," or the authority to act in God's name. Obviously, over a billion Christians in the world actually don't care about that, and that is fine for them, but I'm just saying that I personally don't understand that. I feel that the Holy Bible makes it clear that there is a priesthood power necessary for the proper running of Christ's church on the earth. After all, right before Christ confers the priesthood upon Peter in Matthew 16:19, in 16:18 He says that this is the rock upon which He shall build His church. If your church doesn't claim access to the priesthood, then it is clearly not built on the rock that Christ says His church is built on. And therefore, wouldn't it not be Christ's church? Again, just my logic here. Take it for what it's worth. Your logic is more important than mine.

Priesthood authority is necessary today for the same reason it was necessary in the time of Moses and the time of Christ. It is necessary because it is "everlasting," and because it is the foundation, or rock, upon which Christ's church is built. Proper authority is necessary for everything--even driving. If you don't have a driver's license, you don't have the authority to drive, even if you know how.

As an analogy, to me, seeing a church led by someone who doesn't claim priesthood authority is like seeing a regular guy pulling people over on the highway and giving them speeding tickets. Even if the people really are speeding, you have to have the proper authority to pull people over and give out tickets. If you're not a police officer, you don't have that authority.

The priesthood is important because it is the authority that God gives to man to act in all things. If your spiritual leader doesn't claim to have the priesthood, then he is not really qualified to be your leader, in my opinion. Emphasized because I know that my opinion doesn't matter as much as your opinion, and also because I know that lots of people are just fine and even happy with following spiritual leaders who don't claim to have any authority from God. And that's fine.

But to me, I couldn't take that. I believe in the Holy Bible, and I believe that the inconvenient matter of the priesthood is just as important now as it was when the Bible was originally written. I believe that the priesthood is, as is written in both the Old and New Testaments, "everlasting." And I know for a fact, and so do you, because I told you, that two Christian sects claim access to it: Catholicism and Mormonism.

To me, those are the two options. That's why if I weren't Mormon, I'd be Catholic.

I guess the third option is that Paul's "falling away" described in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 is still in force, and still no church has the fulness of Christ's truth and priesthood. So there are three options. But we are promised in James 1:5-6 that "if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed."

You can decide for yourself which of the three options is correct. All you have to do is pray in faith and God will tell you the truth of it Himself. You will recognize it because God will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart. If you believe in the Bible too, and realize the importance and eternal need for priesthood authority on the earth, all you have to do is pray and ask God with an honest heart where that authority can be found. God cannot lie.

I am so grateful for the power of the priesthood in my life. I was fortunate enough to grow up in a home where my father held both the Aaronic and the Melchizedek Priesthoods. Now my brother does and my husband does. Just this week we had the opportunity to use the priesthood in a blessing on my baby, who was struggling with teething. Even though Nathaniel was screaming and upset, when Carl told him that he was giving him a message from Heavenly Father, he quieted and listened. Priesthood blessings through the laying on of hands are not prayers; as one of Christ's living apostles has stated,

In a priesthood blessing a servant of the Lord exercises the priesthood, as moved upon by the Holy Ghost, to call upon the powers of heaven for the benefit of the person being blessed. Such blessings are conferred by holders of the Melchizedek Priesthood, which has the keys of all the spiritual blessings of the Church (see D&C 107:18, 67).

A prayer is a request. Anyone can pray. Not everyone can give a priesthood blessing. Only men who are called of God, having authority, can give a priesthood blessing. A priesthood blessing is not a request; it is the exercise of the priesthood, with God-given authority, calling on the powers of heaven to specifically benefit the person being blessed. The two are different, very different. One requires authority and the other does not. Both can be very effective--priesthood power does not diminish the power of prayer. Prayer is vital, prayer is essential, prayer is important. However, prayers and priesthood blessings are not the same. They are not even that similar, in my opinion. In prayer, you're petitioning God and don't need any authority. With the use of the priesthood, you must have been ordained by someone else who has authority, and it is not a request: it is a message. At least, that's how I've always viewed it. Priesthood blessings are messages to a person from God, through the mouth of the person giving the blessing.

I have a testimony of the priesthood. I have had priesthood blessings when I have been sick and injured; I've received blessings when I needed guidance in my life. Every year my father would give me a blessing for school. I have received a patriarchal blessing, as did the twelve sons of Israel in Genesis 49:28. I have witnessed the power of the priesthood too many times to count. I do believe that the Holy Priesthood mentioned so reverently in the Holy Bible has been restored to the earth; I believe it is accessible; I believe that it is everlasting, and necessary, and beautiful, and here.

If you have never thought about the need for the priesthood before, I challenge you to take some time to think about it. Pray about it. Fast over it. This is an important doctrinal issue and if the Bible is true, then the issue of the priesthood has eternal consequences for you. At the very least, the Bible has stated that Jesus holds the Melchizedek Priesthood, and will forever. That means He holds it now. Maybe as a follower of Jesus, it would be worth it to learn for yourself what that means, why it is significant enough for the Bible to mention it in both the Old and New Testaments, and how it relates to you and your relationship with Jesus.

Who knows? Maybe you'll discover that priesthood authority matters to you. Maybe you'll decide that it doesn't. Either way, my religion holds that men are that they might have joy. As far as I am concerned, everyone was put on this earth to be happy. So find a set of beliefs that makes you happy.

In the meantime, understanding the need for the priesthood makes me happy. And believing that I belong to a church that has that priesthood authority makes me happy. And that's one reason I'm a Mormon--and why if I weren't, I'd be a Catholic. :o)

new scriptures!

For Christmas, what I REALLY REALLY wanted was new scriptures. Happy day, Carl's parents got me some!

I got my first real set of scriptures when I turned eight, for my baptism. When I was 15, that set disintegrated and I got a new set. I had that set until just now. I'm 23. So I figure it's safe to plan on needing a new set every 7-10 years.

Can you tell which one is old and which one is new?





Just kidding! It's pretty easy to tell. I'm so grateful for my new scriptures. My last set had really bad acid problems, from how I used to always take notes in there with acid pens. In this picture, the notes you see in hot pink were originally written in purple and blue, several pages away.



So grateful for new scriptures! In my new set, I am only using colored pencils and mechanical pencils to color in scriptures and take notes, respectively. I even made a whole color system to do it in (as in, orange relates to the Atonement. Pink is for inspirational scriptures. Red is for commandments. Et cetera). It involves like 10 colors and is pretty intense, because of how I have decided to sort scriptures I think are important. But so far so good. I've started slowly transferring my old notes into my new scriptures. It's hard because the acid has eaten away a lot of things I've written, but it's been good to revisit past meditations.

Yay new scriptures!

general conference thought: trials

I had a lot of thoughts from General Conference, but we might have to wait for most of them until the November Ensign comes out (with all the talks printed in it).

Baby D was sick all through Conference weekend. On Saturday night I had to suction out his nose like 5 times just so he could keep breathing, and then I did it all of Sunday, too. He hates getting his nose suctioned, a lot, but while he would wiggle until I got the piece in his nose, he would hold still for me to use it. At least, he would most of the time.

This year, one of the themes that stood out to me from Conference was the idea that trials are sent to make us better and stronger. They are for our good. This scripture in particular stood out to me over and over again (my emphasis in bold):

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

As I listened to one of the talks on this subject, I felt very clearly that sometimes, Heavenly Father just needs to suction out our proverbial noses. It's uncomfortable and gross to get out all the figurative goo from our lives, but it's worth it in the end. It makes everything easier.

That imagery is helping me understand my trials more clearly. I would never suction out Baby D's nose just for kicks; I only do it when he needs it, because I know he hates it. And even when he wiggles, I hold him still so I can get it done, because I know he will be happier once the discomfort is over with. He might cough and cry as I do it, even if he holds still, but once it's over, he can breathe freely and he's much happier.

It's the same with us. Heavenly Father doesn't send us trials that we don't need. And He would never send us any trial that were not ultimately for our greatest good. We might wiggle and cry and be uncomfortable or hurt, but in the end, once it's over with, it's made us better.

that they might have joy

On Monday, my visiting teacher came over and brought us lunch. She played with Nathaniel and told me, after looking into his perfect eyes, that that was the reason she left Catholicism to become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She couldn't believe in the idea of original sin--that every little baby was somehow still paying for a sin he didn't commit. In the Church, our second article of faith states that we believe men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression.

Carl and I studied the Fall this week as part of our scripture study--particularly 2 Nephi 2:22-25:

22 And now, behold, if Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen, but he would have remained in the garden of Eden. And all things which were created must have remained in the same state in which they were after they were created; and they must have remained forever, and had no end.

23 And they would have had no children; wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin.

24 But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things.

25 Adam bell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.

This is a pretty well known passage of scripture, especially verse 25, which is one of the ones seminary students memorize for scripture mastery. If you're looking for the purpose of life, that verse pretty much sums it up: men are that they might have joy. So find and do what makes you happy.

But Carl and I were particularly struck by verse 23 this time: "And they would have had no children; wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin."

We had never noticed how having children is so integral toward having joy and doing good. But that verse definitely implies that having children is of major importance to--even crucial to--understanding joy, misery, good and sin: the opposition in all things that we came here to understand.

I'm still pondering it, but I wanted to share that with you all.

patience

The past few days have been an exercise in patience.

[Still no baby.]

Two days ago, I felt that I should concentrate my scripture study on the book of Ecclesiastes, which I haven't read/studied in a while. Over the past two days, I've been looking at it, and I didn't really see why it was so important to study at first.

Today, I studied over breakfast. I'd been reading the book all the way through, and I finally was at Ecclesiastes 11. This is the text of Ecclesiastes 11:5:

As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.

I'm pretty sure that verse is why I needed to read Ecclesiastes again.

It kind of reminds me of this sentiment from 1 Nephi, which I have always loved:

And he said unto me: Knowest thou the condescension of God?

And I said unto him: I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things.

Two weeks ago today Carl gave me a priesthood blessing for the birth and it counseled me to be patient. Waiting has been pretty lame (obviously). But the experience is teaching me to turn more readily to the scriptures for answers--and to trust that even though I don't know the meaning of all things, I know that God loves His children, and He doesn't make mistakes. This silly baby will be born when he's ready. I know God's watching out for him, and for me. This is all for the best.

small and simple things

This morning my scripture study took me to 1 Samuel 7. I was originally just there to check a cross-reference from Joshua 24, but I forgot which verse I was looking for, so I read the whole thing and then just kept going.

I thought it was interesting how 1 Samuel 8 is like the same thing as this. But that's not the point of this entry. The point of this blog is in 1 Samuel 9.

Background: the people of Israel have just been bugging Samuel, a prophet, to give them a king. Samuel, like all prophets, realizes that this is a bad idea and tries to talk them out of it. They won't listen, though. So the Lord says, as He often does, to just give them what they want, since they want it so bad--even though they won't like it in the end.

So that brings us to 1 Samuel 9, which opens with a family from the tribe of Benjamin--Kish is the father's name, and he has a son named Saul (yes, THE Saul who, as we know, eventually becomes king).

That fateful morning that Samuel is looking for the new king of the Israelites, Kish loses his herd of donkeys. Examine:

1 Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a mighty man of power.

2 And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a choice young man, and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people.

3 And the asses of Kish Saul’s father were lost. And Kish said to Saul his son, Take now one of the servants with thee, and arise, go seek the asses.

4 And he passed through mount Ephraim, and passed through the land of Shalisha, but they found them not: then they passed through the land of Shalim, and there they were not: and he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they found them not.

So the asses are lost, and Saul can't find them anywhere. At this point, Saul decides that they've wandered close enough to the prophet that they could conceivably go visit him and ask him to ask God where the asses are, and find them that way. The big problem is that he has no present to give to the prophet of God (which, incidentally, I think is kind of cool that he thought that was a problem).

Anyway, so then they meet Samuel, and Samuel feeds them and it turns out that Saul is going to be the king of Israel, and the whole future of the nation of Israel--and the world--is changed.

And it's all because Kish lost his asses and couldn't find them.

Later, in 1 Samuel 9:20, Samuel tells Saul not to worry anymore, because the asses have been found. It's clear that they only were lost in the first place because Saul needed to go searching for them--so that he could find the prophet, and his destiny.

As Alma said, "by small and simple things are great things brought to pass." Or, in the words of Nephi in the story I read yesterday: "And thus we see that by small means the Lord can bring about great things."

So, something to think about. I'm sure Kish was pretty upset that his herd was lost. That's a life or death thing, when your livelihood gets lost. It's a big deal. When the herd first went missing, I bet Kish and Saul didn't think, "Aha! This is the make-it-or-break-it moment that will lead us to change the history of the world!" Rather, they were probably thinking something like, "Holy crap, how are we going to feed our families??"

Sometimes God lets us lose things so we can find Him. Sometimes bad things happen to us that seem like chance--but really, there's nothing haphazard about the situation at all. Sometimes the things that seem like they are obstacles are really just leading us to the blessings we need most.

UPDATE: I was going to upload a picture from here, but Samuel isn't in the list of Bible Heroes yet! So lame. One of these days.

Jacob wrestles an angel

I've been meaning to blog about this for a few days now.

My midwife practice (or whatever you call them) is located in a mall--yes, a legit shopping mall. And happily for me, it is right next to Borders. Sadly for me, Borders is going out of business. But happily for me, that meant that when I went to my latest appointment, Borders was having its closing sale and I got three exciting books for basically nothing!

One of them was that Fetal Origins book I mentioned in an earlier post. The second one was a book on microwave canning, since I should really get my canning on and microwaving seems like the easiest way for lazy me to get going on that. And the last book was The Life Magnet by Robert Collier.

I picked it up because it had a similar cover to my favorite book, except unlike that other book, every single page had a scripture reference. So I said to myself, I should probably invest in this book and see what it has to say.

I'm only maybe halfway through right now, but it has sure been enlightening. I have loved every second of it. It's one of those books that just seems to expand your mind. After I'm done reading it, I am going to reread it. Probably several times in a row. Yes, it's that good.

But anyway, one story the book referenced was the time where Jacob wrestles an angel, in Genesis 32:24-29:

24 And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.

25 And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.

26 And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.

27 And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.

28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.

29 And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there.

Painting by Alexander Louis Leloir

The book uses this story to illustrate an idea (italics his emphasis, big text my emphasis):

There is no lack, no handicap, nothing, that can defeat you. Obstacles are the greatest blessings God can give you. They bring out the soul in you. They bring the Holy Spirit to your help. And anything which acquaints you with the Spirit within you, anything that gives you an understanding of the infinite power within you, anything that brings the Holy Spirit into your daily affairs, is worthwhile no matter what its cost.

[snip]

Wrestle with every difficulty until you have learned something from it. Don't let go of any trouble until you have made it bless you. (page 108, 109)

This idea has really stuck with me. How can I make my current trials bless me? How can I turn around my situations, so that instead of letting my trials beat me up, I am the one wrestling them and demanding their blessing?

Thought question, I guess.

To think on this story a little further, I was really pleased when I first started studying this story earlier this week, and when I googled "Jacob wrestle" this was the first article to show up. I felt so enlightened. Every time I learn more about the Book of Mormon, the more I know it is divinely inspired. I will never read the Book of Enos the same way again.



You can get the poster of Enos praying here.