Truth

John 8:32.  Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free

John 18:38   What is Truth?

2 Timothy 3:7.  Ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth

Moroni 10:5.  And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth oof all things

D & C 93:24.  And truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as theye are to come.

D & C 93:28   He that keepeth his commandments receiveth truth and light, until he is glorified in truth and knoweth all things.

D & C 93:36.  The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth

Contemplating the world around us, leaves us with Philosophical concepts, ideas, and relationships, as well as Scientific principles. We arrive at philosophical concepts and relationships based on axioms assumed to be absolute and universal, connected by logical arguments. Scientific principles, in turn, are obtained through experiments involving measurements. If there is no possible way of measuring something, it is not science. To take concepts from the realm of the philosophical and introduce them into the world of science, measurements must be possible.

There are limitations to both approaches. The world of philosophy is inherently limited by the nature of the world around us, as well as the limitations of our mind. We are immersed in a world of space, time, and matter. While it is possible to describe a hyperdimensional space connected to time with unobservable mass and energy, to claim that such a world corresponds to an ultimate absolute reality is arrogant at best.

Science, on the other hand is limited by the processes of measurement as welk as the limitations of the tools of measurement.

The result in both, Philosophy and Science, is the abandoning of any attempt to deal with absolutes, or anything dealing with spiritual values. To attempt to discuss something infinite in finite terms is simply inadequate. We are attempting to describe a world of which we are an integral part. This is conceptually like the effort of describing a house, while locked inside. A better example might be an intelligent two-dimensional being, living on the surface of a sphere. Clearly, he could develop the mathematics of a three-dimensional world, but he would never be able to experience it.  The only way the sensation of three-dimensionality could be communicated would involve a three-dimensional being living in the third dimension.

Philosophical efforts to describe an omnipotent, omnipresent, infinite God have resulted in an incomprehensible human construct with no resemblance to the Eternal Father taught by Christ while He was on earth. Furthermore, the closed canon of scripture denies the possibility of a loving Father giving us additional insight into the nature and purpose of our life, 

As the scriptures quoted as an introduction to these musings indicate, truth is more than knowledge. Truth, in addition, is the awareness of its absolute reality. Such awareness can only be communicated from beyond the limitations inherent in the world in which we live. Such awareness is communicated by the Spirit, otherwise known as a Testimony. The certainty associated with such a Testimony gives peace, joy, and direction to our lives.

Pondering Scriptures on Peace

D&C 59:23:  But learn that he who doeth the works of righteousness shall receive his reward, even peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come. In D&C 14:7 the Lord states that eternal life is the greatest of all gifts of God. While a never-ending life of the quality lived by our Heavenly Father certainly excels above all other gifts, yet we live now, in the turmoil of this world, surrounded by selfishness, immorality, greed, envy, pain, corruption and war, and we think of rewards like financial security, health, friends, recognition and other worldly achievements. While we are grateful for these, the fact is, that all these may fail. The stock market may crash, our financial reserves may become worthless, we may suddenly discover that we have cancer, our friends may be offended by some misunderstanding and never talk to us again. No worldly rewards carry a guarantee of permanence. 

On the other hand, the Love of our Father in Heaven endures, and if our life- style is such that we can be aware of that love, the peace which results exceeds all understanding. Even when in the hospital, after an automobile crash with a drunken driver, the pain seems unbearable, His peace will assure you of His Love. In John 16:33 Christ states: “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” 

Elder Maxwell expressed gratitude for the atoning Sacrifice of the Savior as he responded to his call as an Assistant to the Twelve: “...gratitude, that included in the awesome arithmetic of that atonement are my sins...“. In addition to our sins that sacrifice extends far beyond that: “Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows” (Isaiah 53:4). In Him we shall have peace, because He has overcome the world, and if we trust in Him, through Him, so will we.

Two examples of very personal experiences. Around the turn of the Century, I had quadruple bypass surgery. During the surgery my lungs collapsed, and they had to be reinflated. In addition, much liquid had accumulated in my abdomen, and that had to be drained. As I came out of surgery, I had wires and tubes coming out of my body everywhere, and the only way I was able to be reasonably painless was not to move anything. The only thing moving was my brain. I began to think about members of my family and friends who had influenced my life. It was a wonderful trip through choice memories, and as I thought of those many people, on by one, and thanked my Heavenly Father for their influence on my life, I felt such a sweet, warm feeling in my heart.

The second experience relates to my time in the military. My father had served in the German Army. During basic training the officers had noticed innate leadership abilities, undoubtedly the result of leadership opportunities in Church service. They urged him to apply for officer training school. Shortly after their marriage in 1931, mother and dad had attended several Nazi Party rallies before Hitler came to power, and they had decided that the NSDAP program simply was not compatible with the Gospel. So, Dad, while willing to serve his country, did not want to serve in a leading capacity for a government opposed to gospel principles. He therefor declined the invitation and requested a transfer to the medical corps. 

Our family prayed consistently for his safety, but when he was with us on leave, I do not remember him praying for protection, rather, he prayed to be kept from having to kill.  With that background, it should be obvious that I was not comfortable in the atmosphere of learning to kill prevalent in my basic training.

While teaching us bayonet techniques, the drill sergeant would shout: “What’s the Spirit of the Bayonet?”, we were expected to answer: “to kill”, the sergeant would follow up with: “and what are you?” with our reply: “killers”. On one occasion, during a night firing demonstration, I was near the first on the firing line, and then moved far into the woods nearby. I took off my helmet and my back pack, and the , leaning on my rifle, I knelt and opened my heart to my Heavenly Father. I will never forget the sweet peace which filled my heart as my Father assured me of his love confirming that I was a son of Heavenly Parents. 

Continuation of Comments on Gospel Vocabulary

Obedience: To many of us, the word obedience, and more specifically, the concept of obedience, carries a connotation of a blind response to an arbitrarily imposed force. In many cases it also suggests fear of punishment for disobedience, or an expectation of rewards for compliance.

It seems incongruous that an omniscient and omnipotent God would need to exact obedience to discover our love for Him. With that reason removed from the understanding of the purpose of obedience, the scripture ranking obedience as higher than sacrifice takes on a new meaning (1 Samuel 15:22), so does the scripture in Abraham 3:25 (we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things . . . ).  My basic rule of teaching over the past 60 years has been that if my teaching has not helped my students to learn and understand, I have failed. Consequently, my tests have emphasized understanding and additional learning, and the tests were designed for the students’ benefit, not mine. Thus, I believe that the principle of obedience was not included in Gospel principles and priesthood covenants for the Lord’s benefit, but for ours.

It is clearly arrogant to compare my purposes with the Lord’s Eternal plan, yet, when I contemplate my Father’s love for me, and I relive some of the deeply spiritual experiences He has given me, which have strengthened my faith, and subsequently confront a commandment which I do not, as yet, fully comprehend, I can muster the faith to obey, because I have felt the love of my Heavenly Father.

Abraham is presented as a particularly strong example of obedience in the scriptures, and in many sacrament-meeting talks, and so he should be, but I believe Abraham’s actions go much deeper than that. Long before the Lord asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, Abraham had come to know God through deeply personal experiences. His obedience carried the signs of absolute trust, and I believe, that through the experience with Isaac, Abraham gained a deeper understanding of the Infinite atoning sacrifice of the Savior. Some-day, I hope to have the opportunity to talk to Abraham about that.

In my opinion, fear of punishment and hope for reward are very poor substitutes for love. Feeling the love of our Heavenly Father becomes a wonderful incentive to want to do what He expects of us. Our object in relation to the commandments should be to get to the point where we enjoy keeping them more than any alternative; so that we would live the commandments even if there were no commandments. The fact is, that we only sense the commandments as a deterrent from happiness, when we are not in harmony with the Gospel. The dog basking in the love of his master is not even aware that there is a leash on the collar around his neck. Not until he strains to get away does the leash restrict him. Once we have carved the commandments into our hearts we no longer need them on the wall to remind us. The Gospel is not so much about doing as it is about becoming.

However, not until we have arrived will a reminder of the commandments become irrelevant.

Comments on Gospel Vocabulary

Sacrifice: The word is used either as a noun, representing the object offered, or a verb as acting to make an offering. In the Old Testament the concept is given to teach principles associated with the atonement, looking forward to the coming of Christ. At the same time it was a symbolic representation of that infinite Sacrifice by the Father through the son to pay for all human sin and suffering. 

I find it particularly significant that the sacrifice of a broken heart and a contrite spirit is required, thus repentance is necessary for personal acceptance of the atonement for forgiveness. While repentance always was a requirement for forgiveness, after the accomplishment of the atonement, the sacrifice of a broken heart and a contrite spirit was given to replace the symbolic offering of a blood sacrifice.

The word “Sacrifice” itself in the Latin is much more than merely losing something for something better, which has become the colloquial meaning. Literally, the word translates into English from the two roots of the word.

Sacrum means sacred or holy, the ending of the word “. . .fice” being related to the verb facere to make or to do, thus Sacrifice translates into making holy, or that which has been made holy. In other words, it is not enough to feel sad about having given up something, unless someone is brought closer to the Lords, it is not a sacrifice.

Eternal:  Most nouns or adjectives carry a quantitative and a qualitative meaning. The quantitative answering to the question “how many or how much”, the qualitative property responding to the question “what kind.” Consequently, when you ask your six year old to measure the width of the table, and he comes back with 52, and you say “what, Hot Dogs?” And he chuckles and says “of course not, Inches”, you realize that the concept of measurement inherently includes both quantitative and qualitative elements.

So it is with the word Eternal. It includes the element of duration of time, and the quality of life experienced in that duration of time. We know very little about the time when our Heavenly Father began to be, except, whatever we can imagine, He was there before that. So it is with the End of Time. In our own experience, there is always a beginning and an end. Birthday celebrations, at best, only last a few hours. My wife had a grandfather who lived 104 years. With 89 years, I am extremely grateful for the richness of my life. One thing is clear to me: the meaning of time is vastly different for me than for my Eternal Heavenly Father. 

It is interesting that modern physics suggest that the concept of time in total independence of space is not tenable, and we describe the universe as a four-dimensional space-time continuum. At the same time, to claim that such a description of the universe corresponds to an absolute reality is at best an arrogant presumption.

The quality of life suggested in the term “Eternal” is indiscribeably creative and fulfilling and can only be imagined in the context of John 17:3 “and this is life Eternal, that they know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent,” To me, the term “Eternal” should only be used in the context of considering Divine Possibilities.

Repent: Verbs, that is, action words, are used in a transitive context when they take an object, such as I read the book. Read is used as a transitive verb, and the book is the object. On the other hand, when I say: “I read”, the word read is used intransitively without an object. The word “repent” is inherently intransitive, it cannot be used with an object. Try as you might, you cannot repent me.

Thoughts relating to events on the Cross of Calvary.

Many of our hymns suggest that Christ was killed on the Cross of Calvary, but that obscures one of the most significant elements of the Crucifixion.

As the son of the mortal mother, Mary, it was possible for him to die, but as the son of his Heavenly Father, he was not subject to death in the same way you and I will some day leave this mortal existence. 

Furthermore, all of us have earned the wages of sin as taught by Paul in his epistle to the Romans: “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23)

Not so Christ. As the only one without sin, he was not subject to death. He taught this very clearly. “Therefore. doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life that I may take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.” (John 10:17 – 18). Christ was not killed on Calvary, not until he chose to give up the ghost, did he die.

Not until he knew he had fulfilled his mission, was he ready to pass from this life. The King James version has him say: “It is finished” and he bowed his head and gave up the ghost. (John 19:30) and “Father into thy hands I command my spirit” and having said thus, he gave up the ghost. (Luke 23:46) 

I, personally prefer the Luther translation, “Es ist Vollbracht”.  (it is fully done – or “it is accomplished”), also included in the current German Unity Translation, published by order of several Catholic Bishop’s councils in European countries in cooperation with the “Evangelische Kirche” (Lutheran Church) in Germany.

It is important to recognize that agency is an essential element in our Heavenly Father’s plan for his children. Spiritual growth is simply not possible without truly free and independent choice. Thus, Satan’s plan of universal salvation without choice was not acceptable. On the other hand, Christ’s offer of the infinite atonement provides the ultimate answer in the form of opening the door to Eternal life with our Heavenly Parents.  Included in this voluntary offer is his unimaginable suffering and the sacrifice of his life to atone for mankind’s sins as well as for other human suffering. 

To fulfil his mission, he freely chose to let his spirit leave his body, and subsequently chose to subdue the power of death, and come forth in the resurrection. This gives us the gift of immortality through the universality of the resurrection. (For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 1 Corinthians 15:22). This also gives us the opportunity for Eternal Life provided we accept his infinite sacrifice, by offering the sacrifice of a broken heart and a contrite spirit. In addition, we also need to endure on the covenant path. All of this requires the gift of agency, the opportunity for free choice.

  

Thoughts on The Sermon on the Mount

Matthew 5:4, Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted.

I have heard many funeral sermons dealing with the atonement of Christ and the comfort given by contemplating the reality of the resurrection and the hope of a reunion with loved ones.   I have personally lost two grandmothers, a father and a mother, a father-in-law, a mother-in-law, a brother, several cousins, a very dear friend in Viet Nam, and two wonderful companions at my side. In each instance there was real sorrow and mourning,

Yet, on one occasion, as I was studying the New Testament and was pondering Matt 5:4, it occurred to me, that the anguish and sorrow I felt for my loved ones, did not compare in depth to the pain and sorrow I had felt on numerous occasions, when I realized I had offended my Heavenly Father. That scripture has become one of my favorite scriptures as the Lord gave me insight into the power of the Atonement of Christ through repentance. The joy experienced through receiving forgiveness as we approach our Heavenly Father with broken hearts and contrite spirits is one of the greatest blessings of the Gospel.

As a footnote to the above, two scriptures come to mind:  D&C 59:23 But learn that he who doeth the works of righteousness shall receive his reward, even peace in this world and eternal life in the world to come; and John 16:33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

My 89 years of living teach me that life is wonderful.

Pondering the Scriptures

Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father, is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. James 1:27

This verse makes it very clear, that to James, religion is more than a philosophical endeavor. Furthermore, he suggests, that, to be pure and undefiled, religion must be inseparably connected to God. In addition, his reference to God and the Father implies an understanding of the mature of God significantly distinct from nearly universal Christian doctrine. James also insists that anyone attempting to follow such true and undefiled religious practices must rise above the world. 

Considering the concept of a pure and undefiled religion first.

Spiritually based behavior patterns are inseparably connected to the fundamental nature of God, and, that the understanding of that nature needs to be undefiled, which among other things could mean undiluted by the sophistries of human philosophy; and by way of comment, philosophy literally translated means the love of knowledge, and it was precisely that love and preoccupation with human wisdom which led the early theologians to substitute human intellectual achievements for the simple truths of the Gospel. 

The second is the nature of God

That dual phrase: “God and the Father” by Christianity generally interpreted as explanatory meaning God, who also is the Father, is understood as truly conjunctive in the context of latter-day revelation. Thus, when the God of the Old Testament introduces himself to Moses as Jehovah, and Christ subsequently in John states that “long before Abraham, was I, Jehovah”, it becomes clear that, when Christ says that I and the Father are one, he is speaking of a union in purpose and intent, not of the unity of a single person.

In turn, a deep understanding of the nature of God and the fundamental nature of man as His offspring becomes a wonderfully motivating force to help us want to do, what He intends us to do, namely prepare ourselves to return to our Heavenly home and be divinely creative in His presence. 

The third, of course, is the outgrowth of that understanding, namely a deep, truly selfless Love for all our brothers and sisters.

James speaks of visiting the widows in their affliction. One such was the widow of Zarephath who was preparing the last handful of meal and oil for herself and her son, and then to die. Instead. she obediently gave to Elijah, and her barrel of meal did not waste, neither did the cruse of oil fail until the Lord sent rain upon the earth (1Kings 17:8-16). So. it is our opportunity to fill the spiritual barrels of all in need, to make sure their barrel does not waste. nor their cruse fail until the Lord sends rain upon the earth. At the same time. we need to relieve all affliction, spiritual and material. We can only do this once we truly learn to love one another. 

In Matthew 10:39 Christ says: “He that loseth his life for my sake shall find it”. I particularly like one phrase in the great sermon on Charity by Paul in 1st Corinthians 13:5: “Charity seeketh not her own”. It is difficult for us not to insist on that to which we think we are entitled, but rather step back and open opportunities to someone, in quotes, “less deserving”, and I use the quotes deliberately, lest anyone deem himself deserving.

The fourth, in essence, represents our response to all we have discussed: to keep unspotted from the world.

What constitutes the stain of the world?  Love of wealth, love of praise and glory, love of influence and power, and willingness to discard moral values for gratification. All four of these are rooted in selfishness. In a welfare session of General Conference in April 1978, President Kimball suggested three fundamental things essential to becoming the Pure in Heart. The first was: “We must eliminate the individual tendency to selfishness that snares the soul, shrinks the heart and darkens the mind”. The word snares. carries a sense of entrapment, the word shrink suggests something small, and to be darkened implies the absence of the light of Christ. 

May I suggest that when King Benjamin in Mosiah 3:19 talks of the “Natural man” as an enemy to God, he talks among other things, of this tendency, and until we “yield to the enticing of the Holy Spirit and put off the natural man”, we will not catch the vision of James and practice pure religion. This is not something that just comes to us, to which we can passively respond. We must act consciously, and deliberately to serve the needs of our brothers and sisters. 

This includes making sacrifices, which is President Kimball’s third point, the second being: we must be united.  Sacrifice is more than doing without. Sacrifice includes three elements. Quoting Pres. Kimball: “We must begin by offering a broken heart and a contrite spirit”. Repentance is an essential element of personal sacrifice. Secondly it involves commitment beyond that which is comfortable, and the third element lies in the word “sacrifice” itself. Literally translated from the Latin it means to make holy. Thus, when sacrifice is placed in the context of the Good News of forgetting ourselves in the service of our brothers and sisters it becomes the crowning characteristic of the life of a Disciple.