Teaching Young Children to Understand the Doctrine of Repentance

I will refer to three references in Scripture about teaching our children the doctrine of Christ. But before you continue, read Who Needs to Repent? 

Now that you understand the doctrine of repentance and that all must repent, you can begin teaching your children to understand!

The first of the three scriptures is found in D&C 68:25. It says that inasmuch as parents have children in Zion they should teach their children to

"understand 

1) the doctrine of repentance, 

2) faith in Christ the Son of the living God, and 

3) baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost, 

when eight years old" (emphasis added). 

Our failure to teach children to understand results in the "sin being upon the heads of the parents."

Obviously without us understanding the doctrine of Christ (3 Nephi 11), we cannot then teach our children to understand it when they are eight years old. And even if we do understand, how do we teach it to young children so that they will understand it? Keep in mind that it is not enough to teach them about the doctrine of Repentance and Baptism. 

Before answering this question let's look at the other two references. Both are in Moses 6, one in verse 57 and the other in verses 58-60, the latter being an emphasis on the first, but with the complete doctrine of Christ. 

"Wherefore teach it unto your children, 

that all men, everywhere must repent, 

or they can in no wise inherit the kingdom of God, for no unclean thing can dwell there..." (Moses 6:57).  

Keep in mind that this is the Lord speaking by His own voice to Adam. 

"Therefore, I give unto you a commandment, 

to teach these things (vs. 47-57 of Moses 6) freely unto your children, saying: 

That by reason of transgression cometh the fall, 

which fall bringeth death, and 

inasmuch as ye were born into the world by water, and blood, and the spirit, which I have made, and so become of dust a living soul, 

even so ye must be born again into the kingdom of heaven, 

of water, 

and of the Spirit, 

and be cleansed by blood, even the blood of mine only begotten; 

that ye might be sanctified from all sin, 

and enjoy the words of eternal life in this world, 

and eternal life in the world to come, even immortal glory. 

For by the water ye keep the commandment; 

by the Spirit ye are justified, 

and by the blood ye are sanctified" (Moses 6:58:60).

Note how specific this commandment to teach is--He even tells us what to say!

The key to teaching this to young children in found in Moses 6:55-56, wherein the Lord tells Adam that our children are conceived in sin and that as they grow up sin conceiveth in their hearts and "they taste the bitter, that they may know to prize the good.  And it is given unto them to know good from evil wherefore they are agents unto themselves..." (emphasis added).

Now remembering that good (as defined by God) represents the righteousness of God and evil is everything contrary to the righteousness of God, it becomes a matter of making a choice between one or the other. Repentance, then is choosing only the righteousness of God.

So we teach our children about the fall and the consequences of the fall, how it applies to them individually (death and hell), and what is necessary to overcome the effects of the fall, repentance! which is possible only because of Christ and His Atonement.  

We teach them that they must choose between Satan and Christ. We teach them about the good king and the evil king wannabe.

Repentance, we teach them, is turning to Christ and choosing His righteousness and goodness, being born again (baptized by water) and being changed (by Him) from our lost and fallen state to a state of righteousness (baptized by fire or Holy Ghost). (Mosiah 27:25).

Repentance comes from understanding our condition and turning to Christ to change it. It is a lifelong process for all of us. Young children can understand that they have only one of two choices: good or evil. As long as we are turning to Christ and trusting Him, relying on His merits alone, we are repenting. When we turn away and rely on any of our merits we are not repenting and we are in a state of wickedness. 

And you must teach the word of God concerning repentance and not the teachings of men.

Aid to help teach young children to understand the doctrine of repentance.

Once we have taught them the doctrine of the two ways, we then bring up our children in light and truth and not in the traditions of men (D&C 93:39-40). We teach them, using the word of God. We teach them to feast upon the words of Christ. We teach them to not put their trust in men, any men, not even the prophet. We teach them to look to God and live. 

We teach them that repentance is not about being good, but choosing good.

After we have taught them to understand, keep in mind that there is all the difference between understanding and actually repenting. Are you repenting? What will you tell your children when they ask? What is your experience? 

And If Ye Be Christ's

Letter to My Friends and Family

Hi all. This letter is inspired by Paul's letter to the Galations, but its message is as timely today as it was in Paul's time, perhaps even more so. Let me begin by saying Grace (with a capital G) be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, with the reminder that Christ gave himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world which is Babylon.  He did so because it was the will of God His Father.

I worry that ye may be far removed from Him that called you into the Grace of Christ unto another gospel, and that you may not be His. Even though you give lip service, you could have the cart before the horse and put religion and religious observances ahead of Jesus Christ. This is not really a falling away, but a perversion of His Gospel, as was prophesied to occur among us in these last days.

Can I remind you that though we, or an angel from heaven (clear that it is the message and not the messenger), preach any other gospel unto you than that which His servants have preached unto you, let him be accursed. Let me repeat: As I said before, if any man, or angel, or ecclesiastical authority preach any other gospel unto you than that you have received from Christ, let him be accursed. Nephi prophesied they (us) have all gone astray save it be a few, who are the humble followers of Christ; nevertheless, they are led, that in many instances they do err because they are taught by the precepts of men. And your test is--do you know the difference between the precepts of men and the word of God? 

My purpose is not to please you or to persuade you, because I do not seek to please men, because if that was my purpose, I would not be the servant of Christ. But I testify unto you that the gospel which I preach unto you is not of man. For neither did I receive it of man, and neither was I taught it except by direct revelation from Jesus Christ.

Through His revelation to me I know that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but only by faith in Jesus Christ, which faith we develop by feasting upon what Christ has caused to be written. It is by faith in Christ that we are justified, and not by the works of the law or by religious observances, or by 'living the gospel.' He has made it clear that by the works of the law no flesh is justified.

But if, while we seek to be justified by faith in Christ, we still find that we sin, is Christ the minister of sin? No. Because of the law we sin. Why? Because no one is capable of keeping the law. It is because we cannot keep the law that we are brought to faith in Christ, and through our faith, He saves us from our sins.

We do not live our way into His presence,  but we die in Him that we might live. We are crucified with Christ when baptized, nevertheless we live; yet not us, but Christ lives in us: and the life which we now live in the flesh we live by faith in Christ, who loves us, and gave Himself for us.

Do not frustrate the Grace of God. For if righteousness comes by the law, then Christ is dead in vain, but righteousness comes through Christ, and we show our faith in Him through repentance. We are baptized unto repentance and have faith unto repentance. We become Christ's through repentance, not by performance. Through Christ we become Abraham’s seed, and partakers of the promise.

Now some of you are foolish and have put your trust in men, who have deceived you. You therefore do not obey the truth in Christ. This only then would I ask of you:  do you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish as to not look and live?

Do you not remember, or have you not read the scripture that says just because Abraham believed God, it was accounted to him for righteousness? It was not what he did or did not do, but because of his faith in God that was counted as righteousness. 

Know this then, that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify us through faith, preached the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with Abraham.

Do you not know that all of you who try to be justified by the works of the law are under the curse? For it is written that cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, for only the just shall live by faith.

Remember that Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, by taking upon Himself the punishments prescribed for breaking the law. This is so the blessing of Abraham might come to us, the Gentiles, through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Even though I speak after the manner of men, the covenant made to Abraham was made by God and no man can take away or add anything to the promise.

Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made, but only to that seed which is in Christ. And the promise was not made to those who live the law, but to those who have faith in Christ. God gave it to Abraham by promise.

Why then do you continue to seek justification because of your works? You must recognize that such a course will only add to your transgressions? But with this knowledge put your faith in Christ who has paid for your transgressions, and who desires to make you His. Be perfected in Him! 

For if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law. But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe. But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. 

Wherefore the law is our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For we are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

For as many of you as have been baptized in Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for we are all one in Christ Jesus.

And if we be Christ’s, then are we Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

Like with us, Christ did not receive of the fulness at the first, but received Grace for Grace. And he continued from Grace to Grace, until he received a fulness. And thus He was called the Son of God, because he received not of the fulness at the first. And we receive not of the fulness at first but must continue from Grace to Grace until we receive of the fulness and become like Him. In others words we become like Him through Him, through His Grace.

To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Questions About Institutional Knowledge

Answers to the following questions need to be provided by the reader.

Institution is used instead of organization when referring to the learning process that takes place across the organization. While institutional knowledge is generally considered a benefit to organizations, is it beneficial to the individual members of the organizational church?

Is knowledge in the Church institutionalized?

 

What does institutionalized knowledge actually mean?

Does institutionalized knowledge limit the ability of the members of the institution to learn?

Does authority limit and/or control the ways and in what settings institutionalized knowledge is disseminated?

Is a member of the organization more likely to believe someone in authority in the organization over someone who is not in authority? 

 

Does institutional learning cause learners to rely more on the source than the substance?

 

Is an institution equipped to evaluate its own system which has contributed to knowledge becoming institutionalized?

 

Does institutionalized knowledge allow someone to objectively evaluate what is taught by the teacher or speaker?

Does the institution criticize someone who objectively evaluates what is taught by the institution? 

In an institution what is the basis for evaluating a teacher's or speaker's performance? 

If someone becomes institutionalized, do they gradually become less able to think and act independently?

If so, could this be because of having lived for so long under the rules of an institution?

Does the institution encourage learning outside of the classroom without the forced influence of the system?

With too much institutionalized learning, is individual creativity stifled?

Is forcing people to learn and discuss institutional leaders' material an efficient way to learn, especially while the 'instructor' solicits institutionalized responses?

Now let's summarize the learning process of the organizational Church.

Top down

Authority trumps knowledge

Teach very young several slogans and tenets.

Correlation sets down learning curriculum.

Curriculum developed by institution without regard to individual gifts of the Spirit of those in local congregations, so that gifts of the spirit are not even recognized or acknowledged.

Institutional idea that teacher must follow the manual and teach lessons and cover material rather than teach people the word of God.

Lesson curriculum trumps word of God.

Pulpit narrative is favored over the scripture narrative.  

Discussions based on opinions are encouraged.

We feed downstream rather than from the spring head (Word of God).

We are definition oriented rather than experience oriented. For example a teacher is more likely to ask what is unconditional love rather than to ask if you have ever loved or been loved unconditionally. 

No thought for the meaning of words, but all the same we are captured by the words we use.

We will not search knowledge. Search has been replaced with the term 'daily scripture study' or 'reading' the scriptures.

Ignorance is encouraged.

Lessons and talks are boring.

Prefer devotion over concept.

Talks and lessons are shallow and objectified.

Cliches and truism are our main diet.

Spiritual gift of knowledge is ignored as are those with the gift of prophecy.

Regurgitate what others have said, often repeating false ideas and wrong interpretations.

Rote method of learning, repeating back parrot style what we have heard.

Institutional learning vs. direct revelation and results of institutional learning:

• people will not search knowledge
• prefer devotion to knowledge
• tools like manuals become an end instead of a means
• veil of stupidity--JS
• missing the mark
• buy into the mantras and tenets and will not go beyond them
• discount the value of knowledge (even though JS says knowledge is key to salvation)
• content with what they have (we need no more bible)

Cultural learning

"Culture is a way of working together toward common goals that have been followed so frequently and so successfully that people don't even think about tryng to do things another way. If a culture has formed, people will autonomously do what they need to do to be successful" (Clayton Christensen).

 

It also works the other way--culture is a way of working together toward common goals (even when the goals are not the proper goals) that have been followed so frequently (and without question) that people do not even think about trying to do things another way. If such a culture has formed, people will autonomously do what they think others (the institution) wants them to do to be successful.

As MLK said: "Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and concientious stupidity."

What is the priority of our learning culture in the Church? Problem is that we have accepted a culture that does not have as its priority--receiving direct revelation, from God and through the word of God, even though this is God's and Christ's priority as evidence by the Book of Mormon and other scriptures.

The key aspect of culture is not passed on biologically from parents to the offspring, but rather learned through experience and participation. The scriptures refer to this as the 'traditions of the fathers,' or as the Lord said 'the mainspring of all corruption' (D&C 123:7).

Traditional Learning

Traditionally, people have been learning by absorbing and soaking up information that is presented by people who are known (or just believed) to be more scholarly, educated or in authority, even though they may be without knowledge in the specific subject matter. 

Based on the writing of Paulo Freine in Pedagogy of the Oppressed, education has been limited to just narrating of materials on the part of the 'narrating subject' (the teacher) so that what is presented is lifeless or irrelevant to the 'listening objects' (students). Exactly as Isaiah describes the Ephraimite Gentiles. 

We prefer horizontal learning or conversing among ourselves rather than being taught vertically by our Heavenly Father, and as a result we have lost the ability to hear His voice.

Traditional learning is also referred to as the 'rote method of learning' or just parroting back what the teacher has said.  (Isaiah 28 refers to this rote method of learning as the primary method among Ephriamite Gentiles in the last days.)

Persons who feel compelled to subordinate their wills to the dictates of an institution or ecclesiastical leader can never know the empowerment that comes from answering solely to God.

As teachers in an institution do we make our students victims of our meager expectations?

What Do You Teach?

 

The Closing of the Mormon Mind

The Opening and The Closing of The Mormon Mind

"...and I am left to mourn because of the...ignorance...of men; for they will not search knowledge, nor understand great knowledge, when it is given unto them in plainness, even as plain as word can be" (2 Nephi 32:7)

To Joseph Smith this last dispensation was the opening of the heavens and an opportunity for those who accepted the gospel to "stretch their minds to the upmost heavens." As Joseph described "Our minds being now enlightened we began to have the scriptures laid open to our understanding, and the true meaning and intention of their more mysterious passages revealed unto us in a manner which we never could attain to previously, nor ever before had thought of" (JS History 74).

Ours is a mind stretching religion: "Thy mind, O man, if thou wilt lead a soul unto salvation, must stretch as high as the utmost heavens, and search into and contemplate the darkest abyss, and the broad expanse of eternity" (JS).

The description given by Oliver Cowdery has always moved me (it is why I quote it repeatedly) and reminded me of what awaits us as we immerse ourselves in the word of God. "On a sudden, as from the midst of eternity the voice of the Redeemer spake peace to us... While the world was racked and distracted--while millions were groping as the blind..., and while all men were resting upon uncertainty...our eyes beheld, our ears heard.... Man may deceive his fellow-men, deception may follow deception, and the children of the wicked one may have power to seduce the foolish and untaught, till naught but fiction feeds the many, and the fruit of falsehood carries in its current the giddy to the grave but one touch with the finger of his love, yes, one ray of glory from the upper world, or one word from the mouth of the Savior, from the bosom of eternity, strikes it all into insignificance, and blots it forever from the mind" (JS History Footnote).

But we must ask the question in our generation--have we 'stretched our minds' to the upmost heavens? Have we heard His voice and can exclaim as Oliver did that one word from the mouth of the Savior strikes everything else into insignificance? Or are we more like those whom Nephi describes, a people who will not search nor understand great knowledge, who have, rather than opened the heavens, closed them once again?

The saints were cautioned by Joseph Smith, even then, who said to them: "How vain and trifling have been our spirits, our conferences, our councils, our meetings, our private as well as public conversations--too low, too mean, too vulgar, too condescending for the dignified characters of the called and chosen of God." I think he would say the same now.

In other words we are not expanding our minds and reaching to the highest heavens. Brigham continued with this theme for his entire life. The treasures of the earth are merely to provide us with room and board while we are here at school, being "made for the comfort of the creature, and not for his adoration. They are made to sustain and preserve the body while procuring the knowledge and wisdom that pertains to God and his kingdom, in order that we may preserve ourselves, and live forever in his presence."

Learning is our proper calling: "We shall never cease to learn, unless we apostatize..." "God has given us mental and physical powers to be improved."

First and last, the gospel is learning unlimited. "When we have lived millions of years in the presence of God and angels...shall we then cease learning? No, or eternity ceases."

"...every minute of every day of our lives we should strive to improve our minds and increase in the faith of the holy Gospel."

"We are trying to teach this people to use their brains."

To use one's brain is to think for one's self. "Ladies and gentlemen, I exhort you to think for yourselves, and read your Bibles for yourselves, get the Holy Spirit for yourselves, and pray for yourselves." 

Joseph Smith said: "All have the privilege of thinking for themselves upon all matters of conscience...We are not disposed, had we the power, to deprive anyone of exercising that free independence of mind which heaven has so graciously bestowed upon the human family as one of its choicest gifts."

Over and against the expanding mind, Joseph and Brigham placed the contracted mind. Brigham told the well-heeled saints to "keep their riches, and with them I promise you leanness of soul, darkness of mind, narrow and contracted hearts, and the bowels of your compassion will be shut up."

It is the things of the world versus the things of the mind.

Let's examine, as just one example, how Nephi defined knowledge. As recorded Nephi had just finished one of the great discourses in the Book of Mormon on the doctrine of Christ.  He tells us he will speak plainly "for my soul delighteth in plainness; for after this manner doth the Lord God giveth light unto the understanding; for he speaketh unto men according to their language, unto their understanding" (2 Nephi 31:2-3 emphasis added). Let me comment here on the word "plainness" because this gives insight into what Nephi says later about not searching or not understanding great knowledge. Nephi teaches us that God speaks to us in plainness through His words according to our language and there is no question but that the phrase "even as plain as word can be" refers to God's word because it is "after this manner" that he gives light to our understanding.

Nephi then teaches us why Christ was baptized and how He did fulfil all righteousness in being baptized. The answer is plain. He submitted to being baptized to witness unto His Father and unto us that he would be obedient in keeping His Father's commandment to be baptized. And again, "it showeIth unto the children of men the straitness of the path, and the narrowness of the gate, by which they should enter, he having set the example before them. And he said unto the children of men: Follow thou me. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, can we follow Jesus save we shall be willing to keep the commandments of the Father?" (2 Nephi 31:9-10 emphasis added).

And what are the 'commandments of the Father' that Nephi is referring to? "And the Father said:  Repent ye, repent ye, and be baptized in the name of my Beloved Son" (2 Nephi 31:11). 

In order to receive the Holy Ghost we must repent (turn our heart, mind and strength to Christ) and be baptized in His name, and "to him that is baptized in my name, to him will the Father give the Holy Ghost, like unto me; wherefore, follow me, and do the things which ye have seen me do" (2 Nephi 31:12).  See also 3 Nephi 27:20 where the Lord says: "Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends of the earth and come unto me and be baptized." See also references in Alma 12 and Moses 6 to the "other or second law and commandments" which is to repent and be baptized.

After Nephi reminds us of the command to repent and be baptized, he tells us what it means to repent. "I know that if ye shall follow the Son, with full purpose of heart, acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God, but with real intent, repenting of your sins, witnessing unto the Father that ye are willing to take upon you the name of Christ, by baptism...then cometh the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost; and ye can speak with the tongue of angels..." (2 Nephi 31:13 emphasis added). 

Note that since God cannot be deceived, the deception and hypocrisy spoken of here refers to deceiving ourselves.

Nephi explains to us that he had been shown these things so that he could teach them to others. And why? So that "ye might know the gate by which ye should enter. For the gate by which ye should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost" (2 Nephi 31:17). If we have entered into this gate then we have done according to the commandments of the Father and the Son. 

The question that Nephi then asks is, "if all is done?" And answers "Nay; for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save" (2 Nephi 31:19 emphasis added).  

There is much to consider in this answer, much more than our traditional definition of what it means to endure to the end, which is most often given without regard to Nephi's definition, and others' in the Book of Mormon. Let's examine what Nephi says about enduring to the end. First he tells how we got in the way--by virtue of the word of God, with unshaken faith in Christ and relying alone upon the merits of Christ (not any of our own merits).

He then makes it clear that 

1) "ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, 

2) having a perfect brightness of hope and 

3) a love of God and of all men" (2 Nephi 31:20).  

But he adds a qualifier that the majority of us either ignore of just miss, and that is we press forward "feasting upon the word of Christ" (2 Nephi 31:20 emphasis added). He then tells us so as to be perfectly clear: "This is the way; and there is none other way nor name given...this is the doctrine of Christ" (2 Nephi 31:21).

Now comes the interesting part. After Nephi makes it so clear and reinforces it by teaching us the word of Christ, the people still "ponder somewhat in (their) hearts concerning that which (they) should do after (they) have entered in by the way" (2 Nephi 32:1). Nephi can't believe they are even asking! He answers with a question similar to the questions that Christ would ask: "Do ye not remember that I said unto you that after ye had received the Holy Ghost ye could speak with the tongue of angels? And now, how could ye speak with the tongue of angels save it were by the Holy Ghost?" (2 Nephi 32:2).

It is critical that we understand and experience what the Lord is telling us through Nephi. It is the difference between staying in the strait and narrow way, or wandering in some other path, while believing that we are on the right path. It is the only way to be baptized with fire by the Holy Ghost. Most of us, while having been baptized by water, are still waiting for the baptism by fire. This is the genius of Satan. He makes us believe we are on the right path, when we are not, and we can't see the difference. Why? Because we do not do what Nephi then tells us in the next verse!

"Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do" (2 Nephi 32:3 double emphasis added). And we do not have the tongue of angels because we have not feasted on the word of God.

And what a reinforcement and a condemnation when he says: "Wherefore, now after I have spoken these words, if ye cannot understand them it will be because ye ask not, neither do ye know; wherefore ye are not brought into the light, but must perish in the dark" (2 Nephi 32:4 emphasis added).  Again note the correlation between His words and the light.

In our dispensation the Lord revealed His definition of truth as being the "word of the Lord" (D&C 84:45). He tells us that the "whole world lieth in sin, and groaneth under darkness and under the bondage of sin." But we may know when someone in under the bondage of sin, "because they come not unto me." And again why do they not come unto Him? Because they "receiveth not my voice" because they are not acquainted with His voice. "And by this you may know the righteous from the wicked, and that the whole world groaneth under sin and darkness even now" (D&C 84:46-53 emphasis added). The righteous are those who are acquainted with His voice (His words), receive His voice (His words), and exercise faith because of His words and come unto Him. The wicked are those who are not acquainted with His voice, who receive not His words and who cometh not unto Him. 

It is not hard for us to feel what Nephi was feeling and why he mourned because of the unbelief (wickedness) of the people and the fact that they would not search for knowledge through His words which He had given unto them. Because we have His words we are left without excuse.

Now the heart of this article. Nephi having told the people, and make no mistake, he is talking about us also, he makes it so very clear what we are to do after we have entered into the way, and because so very few members do what he says, he is heart broken and says one of the most telling passages in all of scripture about us.  "...I am left to mourn because of the unbelief, and the wickedness, and the ignorance, and the stiffneckedness of men; for they will not search knowledge, nor understand great knowledge, when it is given unto them in plainness, even as plain as word can be" (2 Nephi 32:7 emphasis added). Note that Nephi equates the word search with feast. Reading is not searching or feasting.

In other words there is no excuse for us. We either are feasting upon the words of Christ or we are not. There is no middle ground.  Simply reading, nibbling and the occasional snack are not enough. Nephi certainly seems to know what we are doing. Note the words, unbelief, wickedness, ignorance and stiffneckedness. Nephi mourns because of our refusal to feast, even though God has spoken to us and had His words recorded.  His response is to mourn and to grieve (2 Nephi 32:8). But even in his mourning he tells us what we should be doing after entering in the way--you have the words, they are plain, so search them. Why? so you will understand great knowledge and know all things what you must do.

Talk about stretching our minds to the highest heaven. His words come from the highest heaven and it is so unbelievable that we treat them so lightly, do not search them, do not feast upon them. As a result we must "perish in the dark" (2 Nephi 32:4). We just cannot navigate our way through all the darkness around us and within us without His light--His words, but we imagine that we can. We substitute the the words of men for the words of God.

Any suggestion that we truly love truth, according to Nephi, must be taken at face value. 

We cling to the traditional or regurgitated gospel nibbling rather than feasting upon the word of God.  

Where is the hunger and thirsting after truth, the desire to gain knowledge and even greater knowledge?  

Where is the desire to search out His great treasures? 

Why do we refuse to "search knowledge, nor understand great knowledge?"  

Why is it that we do not know that the Melchizedek Priesthood holds the key to the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God? (D&C 84:19)  

Why are we content with a watered down version of His word that does not nourish?

Moreover, why has the Church been under condemnation from time to time, and remains so now, because of vanity and unbelief and treating lightly the words we have received?  

Christ has given us the Book of Mormon (but only a hundreth part of all that He taught) to test our faith and to see if we would receive it in our hearts, feast upon it, and if so then we would receive more.  (3 Nephi 26:9-11; D&C 84:54-55). Which begs the question: why have we not received more? And the little more that we did receive (Pearl of Great Price) is only worth a week or two in Gospel Doctrine class, and yet contains some of the greatest mysteries of God.

Nephi uses the word ignorance. Peter purportedly said that "all evil springs from ignorance; and ignorance herself, the mother of all evils, is sprung from carelessness and sloth (as Nephi said "they will not search knowledge'), and is nourished, and increased and rooted in the senses of men by negligence" (Clement of Rome). Ignorance can only be cut off by knowledge, especially in those who are preoccupied with erroneous opinions. Peter continues, "for nothing is worse than for one to believe that he knows what he is ignorant of, and to maintain that to be true which is false.  ...Thus, therefore, are those also who do not know what is true, yet hold some appearance of knowledge..." (Clement of Rome). Ignorance is nothing else than not knowing what is good for us. Therefore the knowledge of truth ought to be eagerly sought after; and no one can confer it except the Savior, who teaches the words of His father.  (John 12:49-50).

Abraham is an example of one who had received great knowledge, but desired even more knowledge. His hunger is recorded in Abraham 1:2: "...having been a follower of righteousness, desiring also to be one who possessed great knowledge, and to be a greater follower of righteousness, and to possess a greater knowledge."  Note the link between being a follower of righteousness and possessing great knowledge. Can we say the same of ourselves or are we content with traditional watered down inspirational talks?

As Isaiah says of us, that although Jehovah wants to give his people “instruction” and “revelation,” they are but babes and sucklings who haven’t developed far enough to digest more than milk: “Everyone who uses milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe” (Hebrews 5:13). Ephraim’s mode of learning is still “line upon line, line upon line, precept upon precept, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little” (saw lasaw saw lasaw qaw laqaw qaw laqaw ze‘ir sam ze‘ir sam). Assonance and alliteration parody their rote method of learning that consists of parroting back what their leaders teach (Isaiah 28:9-10). We have settled on line upon line, not realizing that line upon line leads to more!

Contrast reaching our minds to the highest heavens with our everyday diet of what Elder Holland calls Spiritual Twinkies.

We have adopted the world's view of illusion and image. This culture of illusion thrives by robbing us of the intellectual and linguistic tools to separate illusion from truth, the truth being the word of God. 

We repeat thought-terminating clichés and slogans. 

We regurgitate what we hear as if it is truth without searching the truth (the word of God) for ourselves. 

We are hostage to the constant jingle and manipulation of our world and religious culture. 

We seek refuge in familiar tenants, dogmas and labels. Our image-based culture communicates through narratives, pictures, and pseudo-events. Pseudo- events are judged on how effectively we have been manipulated by illusion. Truth becomes irrelevant. When the most valued skill is the ability to entertain, the world becomes a place where lies become true. Blind faith in illusions can becomes our culture’s version of being born again. Our ability to think for ourselves has been eroded, and we remain ignorant, but all the while claim we are enlightened, chosen.

We create an illusion of knowledge by referring to the books which contain the truth, not by searching the truth within the books. We claim that we know the books are true, without searching what is in the books,, and in Nephi's words we remain ignorant, but think we are not. 

We have adopted worldviews of ourselves as honest, hard-working, industrious, and good people. All virtues of the most wicked people in the Book of Mormon--the Zoramites. Satan has indeed cured our cold--we are virtuous and self-disciplined--but he has given us cancer--pride.

Could this observation by Hugh Nibley also be true of us? "I have known intimately a number of creative scientists and I have studied the behavior of a great many more as revealed by the record of history. I have never encountered one of any importance whatever who would welcome with joy and satisfaction the publication of a new theory, explanation, or conceptual scheme that would completely replace or render superfluous his own creation." Instead of embracing new truth at any price, "the scientist actually tries to fit each new discovery or set of discoveries into the traditional theories" as he "clings to the conceptions or preconceptions as long as it is humanly possible."

Any suggestion that scientists so dearly love the truth that they have not the slightest hesitation but to cling to their own conceptions or preconceptions is a mean perversion of the scientific process.

And with us who do the same we can ask 'why is this the case?' It is all explained in the Parable of the Sower.

Where does that leave us? Ignorant with closed and contracted minds, but believing that we are not!

What if God Actually Spoke?

Many people say they do not believe in God. But as I have written many times, belief has no bearing on whether there is or is not a God. The question is not what we believe or do not believe. The questions are:  Is there a God? Are there more than one God? Are Gods male or female, or both? Not, do you believe in God?

Man cannot prove either the existence or non-existence of a God or Gods. But if there really are Gods, they can certainly prove their own existence and much more about themselves. How? By communicating with man. In other words if God spoke to men or sent messengers to speak for Him, then His words can prove His existence.

What if God actually spoke to man? Would His words be important enough to record? And if so, how would they be recorded? If God had a plan for us, would He let man know of the existence of that plan, what specifically is the plan, and why the plan is necessary?

There are books that many claim contain the word of God, but just because some may claim it, their claim is no proof. Their insistence that these books contain God's word is also irrelevant to the issue of whether or not there is a God.

We as humans are ill equipped to know whether or not God has spoken to others. Our senses are limited to touch, sight, smell, hearing and feeling, and with these limited senses we cannot know of God's existence or whether some words were actually revealed by Him. 

But what if God not only has spoken, but what if He will speak to you? What if He said to you: "I am God. Hearken unto my voice." What if He has equipped us with other means (other than our senses) to know of His existence? What if we are equipped to receive instruction directly from God? Can light and knowledge be communicated directly to us, to our mind and intellect?  What if we do not need to depend on others to tell us whether God exists, and whether He speaks and has spoken to man, or what He has said? What if we are also spirits with intelligence co-equal with God's, can we come to know Him and Her?

Further, what if He has communicated to man some things about himself. For example, is He male? Are Gods plural, male and female? Does He have a body or not? Did He create the earth out of nothing or did He organize elements to form it? Is Jesus Christ His only begotten son in the flesh? If He did organize this earth, has He told us why He organized it and whether or not there is some purpose or plan for us being here?

But the concept of God has been so distorted it is little wonder that most do not know of the true God or whether they are equipped to know. It is easy to see why so many do not believe in God. ​When witnesses, according to written records, who knew God were persecuted to the point of extinction, their successors, who didn’t know God, decided what they thought God was like and formulated their ideas in official creeds, religious doctrines, and belief systems that persist to this day. It is remarkable that none of these definitions of God match up with the sum total of the written accounts but rather with parts and pieces, always taken out of context. As a consequence, what were intended as guideposts for the faithful ended up being false markers calculated to render ineffective whatever faith a believer could muster who wanted to know God personally as these witnesses knew him. 

P​hilosophical and religious ideas of an intangible God—a Greek or pagan god—were much closer to their own concept of him. For if they, the paragons of virtue and ecclesiastical authorities of the day, didn’t personally know God then surely no one could know him. The upshot of this was that their definitions of God became a standard for the common man to follow, for all practical purposes turning God into little more than an abstraction. This ensured that future seekers of God would likewise never know him, because exercising faith in a false concept of God contravenes divine law and could therefore never yield the desired result.​

​In truth, one can’t say enough about the disservice to humanity these modern Sadducees and Pharisees have perpetrated by “shutting up the kingdom” to those who would enter (Matthew 23:13). As they have ingratiated themselves in Eastern and Western society, immortalizing their false doctrines in its top schools and seminaries, the true character of God and the path to knowing him has been so lost sight of that few indeed there be who find it so long as the blind continue leading the blind.

Well spoke the prophet Isaiah of this state of affairs: that "darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people” (Isaiah 60:2).

So let's look at some of the written records. ​To begin at the beginning, and note that there are no written records of anyone before Adam and Eve, the Book of Genesis records that “God created man [adam] in his own image, in the image of God created he him: male and female created he them” (Genesis 1:27); “In the day God created man [adam], in the likeness of God made he him: male and female created he them. And he blessed them and called their name Adam in the day they were created” (Genesis 5:1–2). 

From these two passages we learn several things: (1) that God is a plural entity, as the word “God” (’elohim) is a plural term that literally means “Gods”; (2) that the term “God” denotes at least one male and one female, or the man and his mate could not have been created in his (and her) “image” and “likeness”; (3) that the singular pronoun “him,” referring to “man/Adam,” is interchangeable with the plural pronoun “them” when giving a more specific definition of “man,” as when referring to both Adam and Eve; and (4) that God’s “blessing” and “naming” of Adam attests to a covenant relationship with them.

​The interchangeable use of pronouns from singular to plural, and vice versa, applies to God himself (and herself), not just to the “man” Adam or to the “man” as Adam and Eve. While the idea of a lone or single God is inferred in part from the biblical use of singular pronouns and verb conjugations relating to God, there exist exceptions. Plural pronouns and verb conjugations appear alongside, and thus interchangeably with, singular ones: “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness” (Genesis 1:26; emphasis added); “The man has become as one of us, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:22; emphasis added); “Let us go down and there confound their language” (Genesis 11:7; emphasis added). As when the term “man” signifies both Adam and Eve, these plural terms nuance the idea of deity, defining God as a plural entity—“Gods” (’elohim).*

​The idea of monotheism is further inferred from such declarations as, “Hear, O Israel, Jehovah our God/Gods, Jehovah is/are one” (Deuteronomy 6:4); “I am Jehovah, there is/are none other; besides me there is/are no God/Gods” (Isaiah 45:5). The contexts of these passages, however, warn against idols, the false gods of Israel’s neighboring nations (Deuteronomy 4–8; Isaiah 44–46). 

The idea of God’s oneness, however, doesn’t imply singleness as in the sense of denoting just one divine being. Rather, biblical accounts commonly define oneness in the sense of two or more persons or things being or becoming “one.” Examples include Adam and Eve being “one flesh” and Jesus’ prayer that his disciples might become “one” in him as he is “one” in the Father (John 10:30; 17:21–23). 

​The concept of God as a plural entity appears in these primary sources, while the idea of divine oneness reflects the Gods’ acting in unity of purpose so that when one speaks he speaks for all. Jehovah, for example, is called a “God of Gods and Lord of Lords, a great God [’el]” among the Gods (Deuteronomy 10:17; cf. Joshua 22:22; Psalm 136:2–3). 

Jesus declares, “This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus the Messiah, whom you have sent” (John 17:3). ​The Judeo-Christian concept of monotheism thus paradoxically accommodates the implicit fact of a plurality of Gods who, by their very nature, act as one for the benefit of humanity under the auspices of the Father.

​This brings us to the divine concept of the “man” Adam being created in the image and likeness of the “Man” God, making God’s fatherhood of humanity an extremely rational idea—the opposite of God as a nebulous entity who exists everywhere at once and has no form or substance. 

Now suppose God is “a God of truth” (Exodus 34:6; Deuteronomy 32:4; Isaiah 65:16), then what he says of himself must be consistent, making God the ultimate Man and, at least for modern homo sapiens, the Missing Link. 

I​s it conceivable that there might be much more to the idea of God’s being a plural entity, so that in many respects he represents all the Gods with whom he is one? In other words, could the divine Father and divine Mother of the human race in actuality be one of many who are divine Fathers and divine Mothers of human races? 

We might surmise that a single glance at the Hubble and Webb Telescopes' views of deep space, with its billions of galaxies stretching into eternity, each with its billions of stars, ought to dispel people’s medieval idea about our local heavens and earth being the center of all creation. If that were the case, then this earth would constitute an anomaly of stupendous proportions, depreciating our idea of God’s omnipotence. But if even one star in a hundred galaxies had an earth like ours that was inhabited by the children of a divine Father and a divine Mother, there would still exist endless heavens and earths with endless inhabitants—literally as numberless “as the stars in the heavens and as the sands upon the seashore” (Genesis 15:5; 22:17).

Other records ​shed light on God and his creations. In one account God tells Moses, “Worlds without number have I created . . . . The heavens, they are many, and they cannot be numbered unto man; but they are numbered unto me, for they are mine. And as one earth shall pass away, and the heavens thereof, even so shall another come; and there is no end to my works, neither to my words. For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:33, 37–39). 

In a similar context, God showed Abraham greater and lesser stars etching into eternity, until “I could not see the end thereof” (Abraham 3:12). "So the Gods went down to organize man in their own image, in the image of the Gods to form they him, male and female to form they them" (Abraham 4:27).

Concerning this world, Isaiah depicts God’s sequentially forming the heavens, the earth, the nations, his people Israel, and—as his supreme goal—persons who “ascend” (Isaiah 40:12–31). ​A further thing Abraham saw were greater and lesser “intelligences” resembling in glory celestial bodies, God being the most intelligent of them all (Abraham 3:19). 

Persons who most increase in intelligence attain the greatest oneness with God. The more they acquire his divine attributes, the more powerful they become with God and with humanity. Jesus’ words, “I seek not my own will but the will of the Father who has sent me” (John 5:30), express his oneness with God as a God—the same oneness with God all may grow into (cf. Isaiah 56:3–5; Matthew 12:50; John 17:19–23; 3 Nephi 11:11). 

​When John bows down to worship the angels who are talking with him, he sees that they are not a species apart from God and men but “fellowservants” and “of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus” (Revelation 19:10; 22:8–9). Similarly, the angels who minister to Zechariah and Daniel are in each case described as a “man” (Zechariah 1:8–14; Daniel 9:21). Even Jehovah and two angels who visit Abraham and Sarah, who eat and drink with them, are called “men” (Genesis 18–19). This suggests that the difference between God, angels, and men isn’t so much in appearance as it is in divine power and intelligence. 

When Jacob wrestles with a “man” who names him Israel, he identifies him as “God” (Genesis 32:24–30). Moses, who, like Jacob, sees God “face to face,” describes him as possessing “hands” and “feet” (Exodus 24:10–11). The male aspect of God, however, can’t be considered exclusively, no more than the “man” Adam is exclusively man but includes also Eve (Genesis 5:1–2). 

​That God possesses a physical form in no way diminishes the fact that “God is a Spirit” (John 4:24). Perhaps a closer translation of this verse is that “God is spirit.” That sets him apart from the spiritless statues of wood that forms the context of Jesus’ words to the Samaritan woman: “You worship you know not what. We know what we worship,” namely “the Father, in spirit and in truth” (John 4:22–23). Thomas’ recognition of Jesus as “My Lord and my God”—after Jesus’ resurrection, when Thomas put his fingers into the prints of the nails (John 20:28)—shows that Jesus was a physical as well as spiritual God. Lastly, are God’s children also not “spirits”—spirits clothed in physical bodies—who resemble their Makers? If not, then who are the “spirits of just men made perfect” (Hebrews 12:23; Doctrine & Covenants 129:1–6)? ​If God in his male aspect, moreover, possesses a human form and exhibits physical characteristics as the Bible depicts, can we assume that he still lacks other essential male attributes? 

Or if Adam and Eve were physically as well as spiritually created in his image and likeness—male and female—shall God himself lack these physical traits, making the Creator less than the created? In other words, shall the “man” who is identified as “God” by those who met him as a physical person not be a full male but merely a quasi-male? Believers in God thus face a dilemma: either accept the scriptural account as the Word of God and believe in the God–Man of the Bible, or else fall back on the Greek philosophical idea of a disembodied and intangible God who is found nowhere in holy writ. 

Don’t those who subscribe to an unknowable God invariably never know him? Do they believe it more profitable to tailor their lives to such a flawed model—to “worship you know not what”—than to accept the truth? As men and women have testified down the ages, the act of believing in God as the scripture reveals him carries with it the promise of his manifesting himself to those who live by his word. Just as that applied to the past, so it does today. 

Were God to reveal all things to all men all at once—and not require them to exercise faith in him and in his word—many would refuse to believe from the outset, compounding their unbelief and bringing themselves under condemnation. Those who have come to know God personally, on the other hand—whether solely in his male aspect, or as male and female—have not done so all at once but rather through his manifesting himself to them by degrees according to their faith in God's righteousness. 

Their coming to know God as a divine Father and Mother ultimately transforms their faith into certain knowledge. ​If God is male and female, as the scripture says, could he/they rightly be considered male and female in any fundamental sense different than man is male and female? The testimony of reliable witnesses—that God possesses a human form and exhibits humanlike characteristics not unlike our own—may to some appear implausible but not to those who know. 

Without needing to resort to far-fetched, explanations of how we came into being, they acknowledge that we are indeed God’s “children” and that he is, in fact, our “Father” (in his male aspect), just as he informs us (cf. Job 38:7; Psalm 82:6; Isaiah 45:11; Hosea 1:10; Matthew 5:9; Luke 20:36; John 1:12; 11:52; Romans 8:14, 16, 19, 21; 9:26; Galatians 4:6; 1 John 3:1–2, 9–10; Mosiah 18:22; Alma 6:6; Doctrine & Covenants 46:26; Moses 6:8). 

Not a hint exists in God’s revealed word that the familial terms the writers use to describe our relationship to God aren’t literal. Nor is there anything preventing us from coming to know God, except perhaps a desire to know.

And there is a way to know. It starts with this experiment, which begins with the planting of a seed.

*Credit Gileadi's analysis of Genesis.