We are grateful that in recent months, some level of ordinance work has resumed in every temple. Our desire is to keep temples open.
As cases of COVID-19 increase in many areas, we want to do everything possible to allow temples to remain open. Therefore, effective immediately, all temple patrons and workers are asked to wear face masks at all times while in the temple. These safety protocols are temporary, based on COVID-19 conditions, and will be rescinded as soon as circumstances permit.
Our urging Church members to be vaccinated and to protect themselves and others from the spread of disease has precedent. Prior First Presidencies shared similar messages in 1900 about smallpox and in 1957 regarding polio. Please do all you can to protect yourself and others so the work of the Lord on both sides of the veil can move forward.
The First Presidency Asks Latter-day Saints Worldwide to Wear Face Masks in Temples
First Presidency (Russell M. Nelson, Dallin H. Oaks, and Henry B. Eyring)
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/first-presidency-temple-masks-letter
Tag: Temple
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Asked to Wear Face Masks in Temple
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2021 BYU University Conference
3 August 2021, BYU University Conference 1
The Second Half of the Second Century
BYU Annual University Conference
August 23, 2021
By Elder Jeffrey R. HollandSomeone once told me that the young speak of the future because they have no past, while the elderly speak of the past because they have no future. Although it damages that little aphorism, I come to you as the veritable Ancient of Days to speak of the future of BYU, but a future anchored in our distinctive past. If I have worded that right, it means I can talk about anything I want.
I am grateful that the full university family is gathered today — faculty, staff, and administration. Regardless of your job description, I am going to speak to all of you as teachers because at BYU that is what all of us are. Thank you for being faithful role models in that regard.
I can’t be certain, but I think that it was in the summer of 1948 when I had my first BYU experience. I would have been 7 years old. We were driving back to St. George from one of our rare trips to Salt Lake City. As we came down old highway 91, I saw high on the side of one of the hills a huge block “Y” — white and bold and beautiful.
I don’t know how to explain that moment, but it was a true epiphany for a 7-year-old. If I had seen that “Y” on the drive up or any other time, I couldn’t remember it. But I saw it that day, and I believe it was a revelation from God. I somehow knew that bold letter meant something special and that it would one day play a significant role in my life. When I asked my mother what it meant, she said it was the emblem of a university. I thought about that for a moment then said quietly, “Well, it must be the greatest university in the world.”
My chance to actually get on campus came in June 1952, four years after that first sighting. That summer I accompanied my parents to one of those early “Leadership Weeks,” a precursor to what is now the immensely popular “Education Week” held on campus. That means I came here for my first BYU experience 69 years ago with a preview of that four years earlier. If anyone in this audience has been coming to this campus longer than that, please come forward and give this talk. Otherwise, sit still and be patient. As Elizabeth Taylor said to her eight husbands, “I won’t be keeping you long.”
My point, dear friends, is simply this: I have loved BYU for nearly three-fourths of a century. Only my service in and testimony of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, including my marriage and the beautiful children it has given us, have affected me as profoundly as has my decision to attend Brigham Young University. In so testifying, I represent literally hundreds of thousands of other students who say the same thing.
So, for legions of us over the years, I say: “Thank you for what you do. Thank you for classes taught and meals served and grounds so well kept. Thank you for office hours and lab experiments and testimonies shared — gifts given to little people like me so we could grow up to be big people like you. Thank you for choosing to be at BYU because your choice affected our choice and, like Mr. Frost’s poetic path, “that has made all the difference.”[1]
I asked President Worthen for a sample of the good things that have been happening of late, and I was delighted at the sheaf of items he gave me — small type, single-spaced lines — everything from academic recognitions and scholarly rankings to athletic success and the reach of BYUtv. Karl G. Maeser would be as proud as I was.
But Kevin and I both know those aren’t the real success stories of BYU. These are rather, as some say of ordinances in the Church, “outward signs of an inward grace.” The real successes at BYU are the personal experiences that thousands here have had, personal experiences difficult to document or categorize or list. Nevertheless, these are so powerful in their impact on the heart and mind that they have changed us forever.
I run a risk in citing any examples beyond my own but let me mention just one or two.
One of our colleagues seated here this morning speaks of his first semester, pre-mission enrollment in my friend Wilford Griggs’s History of Civilization class. But this was going to be civilization seen through a BYU lens. So as preambles to the course, Wilf had the students read President Spencer W. Kimball’s “Second Century Address”[2] and the first chapter of Hugh Nibley’s Approaching Zion.[3]
Taken together, our very literate friend says these two readings “forged an indestructible union in my mind and heart between two soaring ideals — that of a consecrated university with that of a holy city. Zion, I came to believe, would be a city with a school [and I would add, a temple, creating] something of a celestial college town, or perhaps a college kingdom.”
After his mission, our faculty friend returned to Provo where he fell under the soul-expanding spell of John Tanner, “the platonic ideal of a BYU professor — superbly qualified in every secular sense, totally committed to the kingdom, and absolutely effervescing with love for the Savior, His students, and His subject. He moved seamlessly from careful teacher analysis to powerful personal testimony. He knew scores of passages from Milton and other poets by heart, [yet] verses of scripture flowed, if anything, even more freely from the abundance of his consecrated heart: I was unfailingly edified by the passion of his teaching and the eloquence of his example.”[4]
Why would such an one come to teach at BYU after a truly distinguished post-graduate experience that might well have taken him to virtually any university in America? Because, our colleague says, “In a coming day the citizens of Zion ‘shall come forth with songs of everlasting joy’ [Moses 7:53]. I hope,” he writes, “to help my students hear that chorus in the distance and to lend their own voices, in time, to its swelling refrain.”[5]
Such are the experiences we hope to provide our students at BYU, though probably not always so poetically expressed. Then, imagine the pain that comes with a memo like this one I recently received. These are just a half-dozen lines from a two-page document:
“You should know,” the writer says, “that some people in the extended community are feeling abandoned and betrayed by BYU. It seems that some professors (at least the vocal ones in the media) are supporting ideas that many of us feel are contradictory to gospel principles, making it appear to be about like any other university our sons and daughters could have attended. Several parents have said they no longer want to send their children here or donate to the school.
“Please don’t think I’m opposed to people thinking differently about policies and ideas,” the writer continues. “I’m not. But I would hope that BYU professors would be bridging those gaps between faith and intellect and would be sending out students that are ready to do the same in loving, intelligent and articulate ways. Yet, I fear that some faculty are not supportive of the Church’s doctrines and policies and choose to criticize them publicly. There are consequences to this. After having served a full-time mission and marrying her husband in the temple, a friend of mine recently left the church. In her graduation statement on a social media post, she credited [such and such a BYU program and its faculty] with the radicalizing of her attitudes and the destruction of her faith.”[6]
Fortunately, we don’t get many of those letters, but this one isn’t unique. Several of my colleagues get the same kind, with most of them ultimately being forwarded to poor President Worthen. Now, most of what happens on this campus is wonderful. That is why I began as I did, with my own undying love of this place. But every so often we need a reminder of the challenge we constantly face here.
Here is what I said on this subject exactly 41 years ago almost to the day. I had been president for all of three weeks.
I said then and I say now that if we are an extension of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, taking a significant amount of sacred tithes and other precious human resources, all of which might well be expended in other worthy causes, surely our integrity demands that our lives be absolutely consistent with and characteristic of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. At a university there will always be healthy debate regarding a whole syllabus full of issues. But until “we all come [to] the unity of the faith, and . . . [have grown to] the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ,”[7] our next best achievement will be to stay in harmony with the Lord’s anointed, those whom He has designated to declare Church doctrine and to guide Brigham Young University as its trustees.[8]
In 2014, seven years ago, then-Elder Russell M. Nelson came to campus in this same setting. His remarks were relatively brief, but tellingly he said:
“With the Church growing more rapidly in the less prosperous countries, we . . . must conserve sacred funds more carefully than ever before.
“At BYU we must ally ourselves even more closely with the work of our Heavenly Father. . . .
“A college education for our people is a sacred responsibility, [but] it is not essential for eternal life.”[9]
A statement like that gets my attention, particularly because just a short time later President Nelson chairs our Board, holds our purse strings, and has the final “yea” or “nay” on every proposal we make from a new research lab, to more undergrad study space, to approving a new pickup for the physical facilities staff! Russell M. Nelson is very, very good at listening to us. We who sit with him every day have learned the value of listening carefully to him.
Three years later, 2017, Elder Dallin H. Oaks, not then but soon to be in the First Presidency where he would sit, only one chair — one heartbeat — away from the same position President Nelson now has, quoted our colleague Elder Neal A. Maxwell who had said:
“In a way[,] [Latter-day Saint] scholars at BYU and elsewhere are a little bit like the builders of the temple in Nauvoo, who worked with a trowel in one hand and a musket in the other. Today scholars building the temple of learning must also pause on occasion to defend the kingdom. I personally think,” Elder Maxwell went on to say, “this is one of the reasons the Lord established and maintains this university. The dual role of builder and defender is unique and ongoing. I am grateful we have scholars today who can handle, as it were, both trowels and muskets.”[10]
Then Elder Oaks said challengingly, “I would like to hear a little more musket fire from this temple of learning.”[11] He said this in a way that could have applied to a host of topics in various departments, but the one he specifically mentioned was the doctrine of the family and defending marriage as the union of a man and a woman. Little did he know that while many would hear his appeal, especially the School of Family Life who moved quickly and visibly to assist, some others fired their muskets all right, but unfortunately didn’t always aim at those hostile to the Church. A couple of stray rounds even went north of the point of the mountain!
My beloved brothers and sisters, “a house divided against itself . . . cannot stand,”[12] and I will go to my grave pleading that this institution not only stands but stands unquestionably committed to its unique academic mission and to the Church that sponsors it. We hope it isn’t a surprise to you that your Trustees are not deaf or blind to the feelings that swirl around marriage and the whole same-sex topic on campus. I and many of my Brethren have spent more time and shed more tears on this subject than we could ever adequately convey to you this morning, or any morning. We have spent hours discussing what the doctrine of the Church can and cannot provide the individuals and families struggling over this difficult issue. So, it is with scar tissue of our own that we are trying to avoid — and hope all will try to avoid — language, symbols, and situations that are more divisive than unifying at the very time we want to show love for all of God’s children.
If a student commandeers a graduation podium intended to represent everyone getting diplomas in order to announce his personal sexual orientation, what might another speaker feel free to announce the next year until eventually anything goes? What might commencement come to mean — or not mean — if we push individual license over institutional dignity for very long? Do we simply end up with more divisiveness in our culture than we already have — and we already have too much everywhere.
In that spirit, let me go no farther before declaring unequivocally my love and that of my Brethren for those who live with this same-sex challenge and so much complexity that goes with it. Too often the world has been unkind, in many instances crushingly cruel, to these our brothers and sisters. Like many of you, we have spent hours with them, and wept and prayed and wept again in an effort to offer love and hope while keeping the gospel strong and the obedience to commandments evident in every individual life.
But it will assist everyone in providing such help if things can be kept in some proportion and balance in the process. For example, we have to be careful that love and empathy do not get interpreted as condoning and advocacy, or that orthodoxy and loyalty to principle not be interpreted as unkindness or disloyalty to people. As near as I can tell, Christ never once withheld His love from anyone, but He also never once said to anyone, “Because I love you, you are exempt from keeping my commandments.” We are tasked with trying to strike that same sensitive, demanding balance in our lives.
Musket fire? Yes, we will always need defenders of the faith, but “friendly fire” is a tragedy — and from time to time the Church, its leaders and some of our colleagues within the university community have taken such fire on this campus. And sometimes it isn’t friendly — wounding students and the parents of students who are confused about what so much recent flag-waving and parade-holding on this issue means. Beloved friends, this kind of confusion and conflict ought not to be. There are better ways to move toward crucially important goals in these very difficult matters — ways that show empathy and understanding for everyone while maintaining loyalty to prophetic leadership and devotion to revealed doctrine. My Brethren have made the case for the metaphor of musket fire, which I have endorsed yet again today. There will continue to be those who oppose our teachings and with that will continue the need to define, document, and defend the faith. But we do all look forward to the day when we can “beat our swords into plowshares, and [our] spears into pruning hooks,” and at least on this subject, “learn war [no] more.”[13] And while I have focused on this same-sex topic this morning more than I would have liked, I pray you will see it as emblematic of a lot of issues our students and community face in this complex, contemporary world of ours.
But I digress! Back to the blessings of a school in Zion! Do you see the beautiful parallel between the unfolding of the Restoration and the prophetic development of BYU, notwithstanding that both will have critics along the way? Like the Church itself, BYU has grown in spiritual strength, in the number of people it reaches and serves, and in its unique place among other institutions of higher education. It has grown in national and international reputation. More and more of its faculty are distinguishing themselves and, even more importantly, so are more and more of its students.
Reinforcing the fact that so many do understand exactly what that unfolding dream of BYU is, not long ago one of your number wrote to me this marvelous description of what he thought was the “call” to those who serve at BYU:
“The Lord’s call [to those of us who serve at BYU] is a . . . call to create learning experiences of unprecedented depth, quality and impact. . . . As good as BYU is and has been, this is a call to do [better]. It is . . . a call to educate many more students, to more . . . effectively help them become true disciples of Jesus Christ, to prepare them to . . . lead in their families, in the Church, in their [professions, and] in a world filled with commotion. . . . But [answering this call] . . . cannot be [done successfully] without His . . . help . . . I believe,” the writer concludes,” that help will come according to the faith and obedience of the tremendously good people of BYU.”[14]
I agree enthusiastically with such a sense of calling here and with that reference to and confidence in “the tremendously good people of BYU.”[15] Let me underscore that idea of such a call by returning to President Kimball’s “Second Century Address.”
Our bright, budding new Commissioner of Education, Elder Clark Gilbert, is my traveling companion today. You may be certain that he loves this institution, his alma mater, deeply and brings to his assignment a reverence for its mission and message. As part of his introduction to you, I am asking Elder Gilbert to come on campus on any calendar he and President Worthen can work out, and whether those visits are formal or casual or both, I hope they can accomplish two things: First of all, I hope you will come to see quickly the remarkable strengths Elder Gilbert brings to his calling, even as he learns more about the flagship of his fleet and why our effort at a Church Educational System would be a failure without the health, success, and participation of BYU. Second, noting that we are just a few years short of halfway through those second hundred years of which President Kimball spoke, I think it would be fascinating to know if we are, in fact, making any headway on the challenges he laid before us and of which Elder David Bednar reminded the BYU Leadership team just a few weeks ago.
When you look at President Kimball’s talk again, a copy of which will be distributed following this conference, may I ask you to pay particular attention to that sweet prophet’s effort to ask that we be unique. In his discourse, President Kimball used the word “unique” eight times, and “special” eight times. It seems clear to me in my 73 years of loving it that BYU will become an “educational Mt. Everest” only to the degree it embraces its uniqueness, its singularity.[16] We could mimic every other university in the world until we got a bloody nose in the effort and the world would still say, “BYU who?” No, we must have the will to stand alone, if necessary, being a university second to none in its role primarily as an undergraduate teaching institution that is unequivocally true to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ in the process. If at a future time that mission means foregoing some professional affiliations and certifications, then so be it. There may come a day when the price we are asked to pay for such association is simply too high, too inconsistent with who we are. No one wants it to come to that, but, if it does, we will pursue our own destiny, a “destiny [that] is not a matter of chance; [but largely] a matter of choice; . . . not a thing to be waited for, [but] a thing to be [envisioned and] achieved.”[17]
“Mom, what is that big ‘Y’ on that mountain?”
“It stands for the university here in Provo: Brigham Young University.”
“Well, it must be the greatest university in the world.”
And so for Jeff Holland, it is. To help you pursue that destiny in the only real way I know how to help, I leave an apostolic blessing on every one of you as you start another school year. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and with gratitude for His holy priesthood, I bless you personally, bless the students who will come under your influence, and bless the university as a campus-wide endeavor. I bless you that profound personal faith will be your watchword and the unending blessings of personal rectitude will be your eternal reward. I bless your professional work that it will be admired by your peers, and I bless your devotion to gospel truths that it will be the saving grace in some student’s life. I bless your families that those you hope will be faithful in keeping their covenants will be saved at least in part because you have been faithful in keeping yours. Light conquers darkness. Truth triumphs against error. Goodness is victorious over evil in the end.
I bless each one of you with every righteous desire of your heart and thank you for giving your love and loyalty to BYU. Please. From one who owes so much to this school and has loved her so deeply for so long, keep her not only standing but standing for what she uniquely and prophetically was meant to be. May the rest of higher education “see your good works, and glorify [our] Father which is in heaven.”[18] I pray, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
[1] See Robert Frost, “The Road Not Taken,” Mountain Interval (New York: Henry Holt and Co., 1916), 9, Google Books, accessed Aug. 12, 2021.
[2] Spencer W. Kimball, “Second Century Address,” BYU Studies Quarterly vol. 16, no. 4 (Oct. 1976): 455–457, accessed Aug. 12, 2021, available at https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol16/iss4/2.
[3] Hugh Nibley, “Our Glory or Our Condemnation,” Approaching Zion, vol. 9 of The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley, ed. by Don E. Norton(Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1989), 1–24.
[4] Personal correspondence, August 1, 2021.
[5] Personal correspondence, August 1, 2021. Scripture quoted is Moses 7:53.
[6] Personal correspondence, June 10, 2021
[7] Ephesians 4:13.
[8] See Jeffrey R. Holland, “The Bond of Charity,” Annual University Conference, Aug. 26, 1980.
[9] Russell M. Nelson, “Controlled Growth,” BYU Leadership Meeting, Aug. 25, 2014.
[10] Neal A. Maxwell, “Blending Research and Revelation,” remarks at the BYU President’s Leadership Council meetings, 19 March 2004; quoted in Dallin H. Oaks, “Challenges to the Mission of Brigham Young University,” Commencement Address, Apr. 21, 2017.
[11] Dallin H. Oaks, “It Hasn’t Been Easy,” BYU commencement address, Aug. 14, 2014, quoted in Dallin H. Oaks, “Challenges to the Mission of Brigham Young University,” BYU commencement address, April 2017.
[12] Mark 3:25.
[13] Isaiah 2:4.
[14] Personal correspondence, June 21, 2021.
[15] Ibid.
[16] See Spencer W. Kimball, “Second Century Address,” BYU Studies Quarterly vol. 16, no. 4 (Oct. 1976): 455, accessed Aug. 12, 2021, available at https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol16/iss4/2.
[17] William Jennings Bryan, Speeches of William Jennings Bryan vol. 2 (New York: Funk and Wagnalls, Co., 1913), 11, Google Books, accessed Aug. 12, 2021.
[18] Matthew 5:16; see also 3 Nephi 12:16.
References
References 1 Elder Jeffrey R. Holland Urges BYU to Embrace Its Uniqueness, Stay True to the Savior – https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/elder-jeffrey-r-holland-2021-byu-university-conference#_edn11 -
Do Latter-day Saints believe that they will “get their own planet”?
Do Latter-day Saints believe that they will “get their own planet”?
No. This idea is not taught in Latter-day Saint scripture, nor is it a doctrine of the Church. This misunderstanding stems from speculative comments unreflective of scriptural doctrine. Latter-day Saints believe that we are all sons and daughters of God and that all of us have the potential to grow during and after this life to become like our Heavenly Father (see Romans 8:16-17). The Church does not and has never purported to fully understand the specifics of Christ’s statement that “in my Father’s house are many mansions” (John 14:2).
Frequently Asked Questions, Question 12: https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/frequently-asked-questions & https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/liahona/2010/10/commonly-asked-questions?lang=engTo live in the highest part of the celestial kingdom is called exaltation* or eternal life. To be able to live in this part of the celestial kingdom, people must have been married in the temple and must have kept the sacred promises they made in the temple. They will receive everything our Father in Heaven has and will become like Him. They will even be able to have spirit children and make new worlds for them to live on, and do all the things our Father in Heaven has done
Gospel Fundamentals, Chapter 36 “Eternal Life”, page 201: (see pdf version) https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/bc/content/shared/content/english/pdf/language-materials/31129_eng.pdf -
Knee High
Excerpt from a discourse by Orson Hyde, recorded in the diary of Luke W. Gallup, February 11, 1857: 1
“I find a great spirit in men for getting more wives, & I have heard that in this place, there is not a girl knee high to a toad (using a strong figure) that is not engaged. I “do not know, that you have outstript the mark. If you have gone into this, with the sanction of your bishop, or the First Presidency, all is right; but if not, it is not right. It is true I have labored to show up the principle, and tell the people where they were binding; but I did not give anyone the right to act. I could not give that which I did not possess. I only tried to remove the obstacles. I hear that they have gone in couples, triples, quadruples, & even sextuples, to Salt Lake; & the President may think I am raising the very devil here.
References
References 1 Luke W. Gallup Reminiscences and diary, pages 193-95, MS 8402, Church History Library, Salt Lake City – https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org/assets?id=4e4d3060-dc87-464e-9861-cb7f20054bda&crate=0&index=193 -
NAACP
Excerpt from a Salt Lake Tribune article from June 8 2020, ‘Despite joining President Nelson in call to end racism, NAACP would like to see the LDS Church do more.’: 1
In yet another symbolic gesture of racial unity, LDS Church President Russell M. Nelson joined with top NAACP leaders Monday in calling for an end to “prejudice of all kinds.”
High-level representatives of the two groups delivered much the same message opposing racism as they had two years ago but during a much different moment — coming amid nationwide protests in the wake of the George Floyd killing.
“Unitedly we declare that the answers to racism, prejudice, discrimination and hate will not come from government or law enforcement alone,” they wrote in an op-ed for Medium. “Solutions will come as we open our hearts to those whose lives are different than our own, as we work to build bonds of genuine friendship, and as we see each other as the brothers and sisters we are — for we are all children of a loving God.”
Theirs is an unexpected and unfolding collaboration.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ centurylong ban barring blacks from its all-male priesthood and from its temples kept the Utah-based faith at odds with the NAACP well after the ban ended in 1978.
Now, 42 years after that prohibition was lifted, the nation’s oldest civil rights organization and the church have become increasingly friendly, but their emerging partnership has not borne the fruits that some NAACP leaders had hoped.
While he supports the sentiments expressed in Monday’s article, Wil Colom, special counsel to the NAACP president, said the group “hasn’t seen very much” progress on joint projects.
The LDS Church has united with the historic black activists, the Medium piece said, to explore “ways to work together to improve self-reliance and upward mobility for inner-city and minority families.”
Indeed, the two organizations have collaborated on a handful of employment and education initiatives. But those were “minor efforts,” Colom said. They “do not befit the stature and magnitude of what the LDS Church can do and should do.”
The NAACP is “looking forward to the church doing more to undo the 150 years of damage they did by how they treated African Americans in the church,” Colom said, and by their “endorsement of how African Americans were treated throughout the country, including segregation and Jim Crow laws.”
Derrick Johnson — the NAACP president and CEO, who signed the op-ed with Nelson and who met in Salt Lake City with the Latter-day Saint leader in May 2018 — said Monday that Colom was authorized to speak for the organization.
“Since the relationship, formalized just two years ago, both organizations have learned much about one another,” church spokesman Doug Andersen said Monday. “Pilot projects involving money management and self-reliance have been completed in cities throughout the country with more to come. Senior leaders from both organizations continue to engage in determining how best to meet the practical needs of both organizations.”
Monday’s article, also signed by Leon Russell, NAACP board chairman, and the Rev. Amos C. Brown, chairman emeritus of religious affairs for the group, decried Floyd’s death while in Minneapolis police custody as a “heinous act of violence” and urged “government, business, and educational leaders at every level to review processes, laws, and organizational attitudes regarding racism and root them out once and for all.”
Saying that the “wheels of justice should move fairly for all,” the leaders lamented the “anger, hate, contempt and violence spilling onto America’s streets” and prodded parents, family members and educators to teach children to “love all, and find the good in others.”
Both groups “have learned lessons from the past,” the joint commentary piece stated. “Both of us have been willing to listen to and learn from each other.”
But there seems to be “no willingness on the part of the church,” Colom said, “to do anything material.”
He looks forward “to their deeds matching their words,” he said. “It’s time now for more than sweet talk.”
References
References 1 Salt Lake Tribune article from June 8 2020, ‘Despite joining President Nelson in call to end racism, NAACP would like to see the LDS Church do more.’ – https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2020/06/09/despite-joining-president/?fbclid=IwAR2nZ_cHBXw3mvFJEP7s8rwlBq3fEPqdtjuAEVBHEv6hm2hf4MTjZ9LZAao -
We hear him v2
April 2 2020 instagram Post, Church of Jesus Christ:1
When we hear His servants, we hear Him.
Listen to the words of the Savior at general conference.
Excerpt from an October 1947 General Conference Address by Apostle George F. Richards: 2
“PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED
We have many object lessons given us in the scriptures from which to profit. In the council in heaven, before the world was, two courses were placed before us; that proposed by the Firstborn, and the other by Lucifer; the one leading unto everlasting life, the other to everlasting disappointment. We had definitely decided before coming to earth which course to follow.
The Negro race have been forbidden the priesthood, and the higher temple blessings, presumably because of their not having been valiant while in the spirit. It does not pay to be anything but valiant.”
:::
References
References 1 April 2 2020 instagram Post, Church of Jesus Christ – https://www.instagram.com/p/B-ejqIxnKRj/ 2 ‘Obedience, the Way of Exaltation’, October 1947 General Conference – https://archive.org/details/conferencereport1947sa/page/n0 -
Can be together forever
Children’s Songbook, Families Can Be Together Forever: 1
Excerpt from April 2020 Ensign article by President Russell M. Nelson:2
Families are to be sealed together for all eternity (see Doctrine and Covenants 2:2–3; 49:17; 138:48; Joseph Smith—History 1:39). A welding link is to be forged between the fathers and the children. In our time, a whole, complete, and perfect union of all dispensations, keys, and powers are to be welded together (see Doctrine and Covenants 128:18). For these sacred purposes, holy temples now dot the earth. I emphasize again that construction of these temples may not change your life, but your service in the temple surely will.
The time is coming when those who do not obey the Lord will be separated from those who do (see Doctrine and Covenants 86:1–7). Our safest insurance is to continue to be worthy of admission to His holy house. The greatest gift you could give to the Lord is to keep yourself unspotted from the world, worthy to attend His holy house. His gift to you will be the peace and security of knowing that you are worthy to meet Him, whenever that time comes.
References
References 1 Children’s Songbook, Families Can Be Together Forever – https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/music/library/childrens-songbook/families-can-be-together-forever?lang=eng&_r=1 2 April 2020 Ensign article by President Russell M. Nelson – https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2020/04/the-future-of-the-church-preparing-the-world-for-the-saviors-second-coming?lang=eng -
Covid-19
Excerpt from a Mar 23, 2020 Deseret News article, “1st Utahn to die of COVID-19 attended Bountiful temple last week, church confirms”: 1
Utah Department of Health officials announced the Davis County man’s death on Sunday in a news conference. They said he was over the age of 60 and had tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday. He was treated for two days at Lakeview Hospital in Bountiful before he died.
Hours after the news conference, the church announced on Sunday evening that it had closed the temple. The Bountiful temple was the first of the church’s 17 Utah temples to close due to the pandemic.
Excerpt from an October 1950 General Conference address by Ezra Taft Benson: 2
“If we are living the gospel, we will feel in our hearts that the First Presidency of the Church not only have the right, but are also duty bound under heaven to give counsel on any subject which affects the temporal or spiritual welfare of the Latter-day Saints.”
References
References 1 Mar 23, 2020 Deseret News – https://www.deseret.com/faith/2020/3/23/21191722/mormon-temple-covid-19-coronavirus-utah-death-bountiful-lds-church 2 October 1950 General Conference address by Ezra Taft Benson – https://archive.org/details/conferencereport1950sa/mode/2up -
Vainest City
Fox 13 News, February 24, 2016:1
“Forbes Magazine ranked Salt Lake City as “America’s vainest city” in 2007. With nearly six plastic surgeons for every 100,000 people, that’s 2.5 times the national average.”
Excerpt from a 2007 Forbes article, America’s Vainest Cities: 2
As the number of cosmetic procedures nationwide continues to surge, we looked at which cities have most embraced market demand for taut faces, lush lips and flat abs. There were predictable entries like New York, Miami and Los Angeles, but also surprising ones like Louisville, Ky., and Nashville, Tenn. Most shocking of all was the town that ranked first: Salt Lake City.
True to the Faith, A Gospel Reference, pub. 2004:3
Tattooing
Latter-day prophets strongly discourage the tattooing of the body. Those who disregard this counsel show a lack of respect for themselves and for God. The Apostle Paul taught of the significance of our bodies and the danger of purposefully defiling them: “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are” (1 Corinthians 3:16–17).
If you have a tattoo, you wear a constant reminder of a mistake you have made. You might consider having it removed.
Body Piercing
Latter-day prophets strongly discourage the piercing of the body except for medical purposes. If girls or women desire to have their ears pierced, they are encouraged to wear only one pair of modest earrings.
Those who choose to disregard this counsel show a lack of respect for themselves and for God. They will someday regret their decision.
The Apostle Paul taught of the significance of our bodies and the danger of purposefully defiling them: “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are” (1 Corinthians 3:16–17).
References
References 1 Vain Utah: Cosmetic surgery more popular than ever in the Beehive State – https://fox13now.com/2016/02/24/vain-utah-cosmetic-surgery-more-popular-than-ever-in-the-beehive-state/ 2 America’s Vainest Cities – https://www.forbes.com/2007/11/29/plastic-health-surgery-forbeslife-cx_rr_1129health.html#41ee6fe64dec 3 True to the Faith – https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/true-to-the-faith?lang=eng -
Skin of Blackness
The Book of Mormon chapter summary, 2 Nephi 5, published 1981: 1
The Nephites separate themselves from the Lamanites, keep the law of Moses, and build a temple—Because of their unbelief, the Lamanites are cursed, receive a skin of blackness, and become a scourge unto the Nephites. About 588–559 B.C.
The Book of Mormon chapter summary, 2 Nephi 5, changed December 2010: 2
The Nephites separate themselves from the Lamanites, keep the law of Moses, and build a temple—Because of their unbelief, the Lamanites are cut off from the presence of the Lord, are cursed, and become a scourge unto the Nephites.
References
References 1 The Book of Mormon, published 1981 – https://archive.org/details/bookofmormonanot00salt 2 The Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 5 – https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/2-ne/5?lang=eng -
Conversation with Brigham
Brigham Young Interview by Horace Greeley (New York Tribune editor), ‘Two Hours With Brigham Young’, Salt Lake City, Utah, July 13, 1859: 1
My friend Dr. [John M.] Bernisel, M.C. [Mormon Church], took me this afternoon, by appointment, to meet Brigham Young, President of the Mormon Church, who had expressed a willingness to receive me at 2 P.M. We were very cordially welcomed at the door by the President, who led us into the second-story parlor of the largest of his houses (he has three), where I was introduced to Heber C. Kimball, Gen. [Daniel H.] Wells, Gen. [James] Ferguson, Albert Carrington, Elias Smith, and several other leading men in the Church, with two full-grown sons of the President. After some unimportant conversation on general topics, I had come in quest of fuller respecting the doctrines and polity [organization] of the Mormon Church, and would like to ask some questions bearing directly on these, if there were no objections. President Young avowed his willingness to respond to all pertinent inquiries, the conversation proceeded substantially as follows:
H.G. — Am I to regard Mormonism (so-called) as a new religion, or as simply a new development of Christianity?
B.Y. — We hold that there can be no true Christian Church without a priesthood directly commissioned by and in immediate communication with the Son of God and Savior of mankind. Such a church is that of the Latter-Day Saints, called by their enemies Mormons; we know no other that even pretends to have present and direct revelations of God’s will.
H.G. — Then I am to understand that you regard all other churches professing to be Christian as The Church of Rome regards all churches not in communion with itself — as schismatic, heretical, and out of the way of salvation?
B. Y. — Yes, substantially.
H.G. — Apart from this, in what respect do your doctrines differ from those of our Orthodox Protestant Churches — the Baptist or Methodist, for example?
B.Y. — We hold the doctrines of Christianity, as revealed in the Old and New Testaments — also in the Book of Mormon, which teaches the same cardinal truths, and those only.
H.G. — Do you believe in the doctrine of the Trinity?
B. Y. — We do; but not exactly as it is held by other churches. We believe in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, as equal, but not identical — not as one person [being]. We believe in all the Bible teaches on this subject.
H.G. — Do you believe in a personal devil — a distinct, conscious, spiritual being, whose nature and acts are essentially malignant and evil?
B.Y. — We do.
H.G. — Do you hold the doctrine of Eternal Punishment?
B.Y. — We do; though perhaps not exactly as other churches do. We believe it as the Bible teaches it.
H.G. — I understand that you regard Baptism by Immersion as essential.
B.Y. — We do.
H.G. — Do you practice Infant Baptism?
B.Y. — No.
H.G. — Do you make removal to these valleys obligatory on your converts?
B.Y. — They would consider themselves greatly aggrieved if they were not invited hither. We hold to such a gathering together of God’s People as the Bible foretells, and that this is the place and now is the time appointed for its consummation.
H.G. — The predictions to which you refer have, usually, I think, been understood to indicate Jerusalem (or Judea) as the place of such gathering.
B.Y. — Yes, for the Jews — not for others.
H.G. — What is the position of your Church with respect to Slavery?
B.Y. — We consider it of Divine institution, and not to be abolished until the curse pronounced on Ham shall have been removed from his descendants.
H.G. — Are there any slaves now held in this Territory?
B.Y. — There are.
H.G. — Do your Territorial laws uphold Slavery?
B.Y. — Those laws are printed — you can read them for yourself. If slaves are brought here by those who owned them in the States, we do not favor their escape from the service of those owners.
H.G. — Am I to infer that Utah, if admitted as a member of the Federal Union, will be a Slave State?
B.Y. — No; she will be a Free State. Slavery here would prove useless and unprofitable. I regard it generally as a curse to the masters. I myself hire many laborers and pay them fair wages; I could not afford to own them. I can do better than subject myself to an obligation to feed and clothe their families, to provide and care for them, in sickness and health. Utah is not adapted to Slave Labor.
H.G. — Let me now be enlightened with regard more especially to your Church polity [government]; I understand that you require each member to pay over one-tenth of all he produces or earns to the Church.
B.Y. — That is a requirement of our faith. There is no compulsion as to the payment. Each member acts in the premises according to his pleasure, under the dictates of his own conscience.
H.G. — What is done with the proceeds of this tithing?
B.Y. — Part of it is devoted to building temples and other places of worship; part to helping the poor and needy converts on their way to this country; and the largest portion to the support of the poor among the Saints.
H.G. — Is none of it paid to Bishops and other dignitaries of the Church?
B.Y. — Not one penny. No Bishop, no Elder, no Deacon, or other church officer, receives any compensation for his official services. A Bishop is often required to put his hand in his own pocket and provide therefrom for the poor of his charge; but he never receives anything for his services.
H.G. — How then do your ministers live?
B.Y. — By the labor of their own hands, like the first Apostles. Every Bishop, every Elder, may be daily seen at work in the field or the shop, like his neighbors; every minister of the Church has his proper calling by which he earns the bread of his family; he who cannot or will not do the Church’s work for nothing is not wanted in her services; even our lawyers (pointing to Gen. Ferguson and another present, who are the regular lawyers of the Church) are paid nothing for their services; I am the only person in the Church who has not a regular calling apart from the Church’s service, and I never received one farthing from her treasury; if I obtain anything from the tithing-house, I am charged with and pay for it, just as anyone else would; the clerks in the tithing-store are paid like other clerks, but no one is ever paid for any service pertaining to the ministry. We think a man who cannot make his living aside from the Ministry of Christ unsuited to that office. I am called rich, and consider myself worth $250,000; but no dollar of it was ever paid me by the Church or for any service as a minister of the Everlasting Gospel. I lost nearly all I had when we were broken up in Missouri and driven from that State; I was nearly stripped again when Joseph Smith was murdered and we were driven from Illinois; but nothing was ever made up to me by the Church, nor by any one. I believe I know how to acquire property and how to take care of it.
H.G. — Can you give me any rational explanation of the aversion and hatred with which your people are generally regarded by those among whom they have lived and with whom they have been brought directly in contact?
B.Y. — No other explanation than is afforded by the crucifixion of Christ and the kindred treatment of God’s ministers, prophets, saints in all ages.
H.G. — I know that a new sect is always decried and traduced — that it is hardly ever deemed respectable to belong to one — that the Baptists, Quakers, Methodists, Universalists, &c., have each in their turn been regarded in the infancy of their sect as the off-scouring of the earth; yet I cannot remember that either of them were ever generally represented and regarded by the older sects of their early days as thieves, robbers and murderers.
B.Y. — If you will consult the contemporary Jewish accounts of the life and acts of Jesus Christ, you will find that he and his disciples were accused of every abominable deed and purpose — robbery and murder included. Such a work is still extant, and may be found by those who seek it.
H.G. — What do you say of the so-called Danites, or Destroying Angels, belonging to your Church?
B.Y. — What do you say? I know of no such band, no such persons or organization. I hear of them only in the slanders of our enemies.
H.G. — With regard, then, to the grave question on which your doctrine and practices are avowedly at war with those of the Christian world — that of a plurality of wives — is the system of your Church acceptable to the majority of its women?
B.Y. — They could not be more averse to it than I was when it was first revealed to us as the Divine Will. I think they generally accept it, as I do, as the will of God.
H.G. — How general is polygamy among you?
B.Y. — I could not say. Some of those present [heads of the Church] have each but one wife; others have more: each determines what is his individual duty.
H.G. — What is the largest number of wives belonging to any one man?
B.Y. — I have fifteen; I know no one who has more but some of those sealed to me are old ladies whom I regard rather as mothers than wives, but whom I have taken home to cherish and support.
H.G. — Does not the Apostle Paul say that a bishop should be “the husband of one wife”?
B.Y. — So we hold. We do not regard any but a married man as fitted for the office of bishop. But the Apostle Paul does not forbid a bishop from having more wives than one.
H.G. — Does not Christ say that he who puts away his wife, or marries one whom another has put away, commits adultery?
B.Y. — Yes; and I hold that no man should ever put away a wife except for adultery — not always even for that. Such is my individual view of the matter. I do not say that wives have never been put away in our Church, but that I do not approve of the practice.
H.G. — How do you regard what is commonly called the Christian Sabbath?
B.Y. — As a divinely appointed day of rest from secular labor on that day. We would have no man enslaved to the Sabbath, but we enjoin all to respect and enjoy it.
Such is, as nearly as I can recollect, the substance of nearly two hours’ conversation, wherein much was said incidentally that would not be worth reporting, even if I could remember and reproduce it, and wherein others bore a part; but as President Young is the first minister of the Mormon Church, and bore the principal part in the conversation, I have reported his answers alone to my questions and observations. The others appeared, uniformly to defer to his views, and to acquiesce fully in his response and explanations. He spoke readily, not always with grammatical accuracy, but with no appearance of hesitation or reserve, and with no apparent desire to conceal anything, nor did he repel any of my questions as impertinent. He was very plainly dressed in thin summer clothing, and with no air of sanctimony or fanaticism. In appearance he is a portly, frank, good-natured, rather thick-set man of fifty-five, seeming to enjoy life, and be in no particular hurry to get to heaven. His associates are plain men, evidently born and reared to a life of labor, a looking as little like crafty hypocrites or swindlers as any body of men I ever met. The absence of cant or shuffle from their manner was marked and general, yet, I think I may fairly say that their Mormonism has not impoverished them — that they were generally poor men when they embraced it, and are now in very comfortable circumstances — as men averaging three and four wives apiece certainly need to be.
If I hazard any criticisms on Mormonism generally, I reserve them for a separate letter, being determined to make this a fair and full expose of the doctrine and polity in the very words of its Prophet, so far as I can recall them. I do not believe President Young himself could present them in terms calculated to render them less obnoxious to the Gentile world than the above. But I have the right to add here, because I said it to the assembled chiefs at the close of the above colloquy, that the degradation (or, if you please, the restriction) of Woman to the single office of child-bearing and its accessories, is an inevitable consequence of the system here paramount. I have not observed a sign in the streets, an advertisement in the journals, of this Mormon metropolis, whereby a woman proposes to do anything whatever. No Mormon has ever cited to me his wife’s or any woman’s opinion on any subject; no Mormon woman has been introduced or has spoken to me; and, though I have been asked to visit Mormons in their houses, no one has spoken of his wife (or wives) desiring to see me, or his desiring me to make her (or their) acquaintance, or voluntarily indicated the existence of such a being or beings.
I will not attempt to report our talk on this subject, because, unlike what I have above given, it assumed somewhat the character of a disputation, and I could hardly give it impartially; but one remark made by President Young I think I can give accurately, and it may serve as a sample of all that was offered on that side.
It was in these words, I think exactly: “If I did not consider myself competent to transact a certain business without taking my wife’s or any woman’s counsel with regard to it, I think I ought to let that business alone.”
The spirit with regard to Woman, of the entire Mormon, as of all other polygamic systems, is fairly displayed in this avowal. Let any such system become established and prevalent, and Woman will soon be confined to the harem, and her appearance on the street with unveiled face will be accounted immodest. I joyfully trust that the genius of the Nineteenth Century tends to a solution of the problem of Women’s sphere and destiny radically different from this.
H.G.
References
References 1 ‘Two Hours With Brigham Young’, September 17, 1859, Millennial Star – https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/MStar/id/23441 -
Paul vs Moroni
King James Bible passages in the Book of Mormon: 1
When entire verses are verbatim or near verbatim copies (as is often the case), only the references to the corresponding scriptures are provided.
1 Nephi (600-570 BC) 1 Nephi 1:14
“…Great and marvelous are thy works, O Lord God Almighty!”Revelation 15:3
“Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty”1 Nephi 2:16 “…the mysteries of God…” 1 Cor. 4:1 “…the mysteries of God…” 1 Nephi 2:24 “…to stir them up in the ways of remembrance.” 2 Peter 1:13 “…to stir you up by putting you in remembrance…” 1 Nephi 3:2 “…Behold I have dreamed a dream…” Judges 7:13 “Behold, I dreamed a dream…” 1 Nephi 3:20 “…spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets… since the world began…” Acts 3:21 “…spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.” 1 Nephi 4:13 “…It is better that one man should perish than that a nation should dwindle and perish in unbelief.” John 11:50 “…it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.” 1 Nephi 5:8 “…Now I know of a surety that the Lord hath…” Acts 12:11 “…Now I know of a surety, that the LORD hath…” 1 Nephi 5:18, 11:36, 14:11, 19:17, 22:28 “…all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people…” Revelation 14:6 “…to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people…” 1 Nephi 6:5 “…those who are not of the world.” John 17:14 “…they are not of the world…” 1 Nephi 7:8, 15:4 “…being grieved for the hardness of their hearts…” Mark 3:5 “…being grieved for the hardness of their hearts…” 1 Nephi 10:8 “…go forth and cry in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, and make his paths straight…” John 1:23 “…I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord…” 1 Nephi 10:8 “…there standeth one among you whom ye know not; and he is mightier than I, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose.” John 1:26-27 “…there standeth one among you, whom ye know not…whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose.” 1 Nephi 10:9 “…in Bethabara, beyond Jordan…” John 1:28 “…in Bethabara beyond Jordan…” 1 Nephi 10:10 “…the Lamb of God, who should take away the sins of the world.” John 1:29 “…Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” 1 Nephi 10:18 “…he is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever…” Hebrews 13:8 “…Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” 1 Nephi 10:18 “…the way is prepared for all men from the foundation of the world…” Matthew 25:34 “…the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world…” 1 Nephi 11:7 “…bear record that it is the Son of God.” John 1:34 “…bare record that this is the Son of God.” 1 Nephi 11:22 “…it is the love of God, which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts…” Romans 5:5 “…the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts…” 1 Nephi 11:35, 12:9, 13:41, 14:20, 24, 25, 27 “…the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” Revelation 21:14 “…the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” 1 Nephi 12:2, 12:21, 14:15 “…wars, and rumors of wars…” Matthew 24:6 “…wars and rumours of wars…” 1 Nephi 12:10 “…their garments are made white in his blood.” Revelation 7:14 “…their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” 1 Nephi 13:27 “…pervert the right ways of the Lord…” Acts 13:10 “…pervert the right ways of the Lord?” 1 Nephi 13:42 “…the last shall be first, and the first shall be last.” Matthew 19:30 “…first shall be last; and the last shall be first.” 1 Nephi 14:10 “…the mother of abominations; and she is the whore of all the earth.” Revelation 17:5 “…THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” 1 Nephi 14:11 “…the whore of all the earth, and she sat upon many waters…” Revelation 17:1 “…the great whore that sitteth upon many waters…” 1 Nephi 15:15 “…the true vine…” John 15:1 “…I am the true vine…” 1 Nephi 15:24 “…the fiery darts of the adversary…” Ephesians 6:16 “…the fiery darts of the wicked.” 1 Nephi 15:30 “…ascendeth up unto God forever and ever…” Revelation 14:11 “…the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever…” 1 Nephi 16:2 “…lifted up at the last day…” John 6:40 “…I will raise him up at the last day.” 1 Nephi 17:39 “He ruleth high in the heavens, for it is his throne, and this earth is his footstool.” Isaiah 66:1 “Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool…” 1 Nephi 17:55 “…honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God shall give thee.” Exodus 20:12 “Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.” 1 Nephi 20:20, 21 Isaiah 48:20, 21 1 Nephi 22:15 “For behold…the day soon cometh that all the proud and they who do wickedly shall be as stubble; and the day cometh that they must be burned.” Malachi 4:1 “For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up…” 1 Nephi 22:17 “…they shall be saved, even if it so be as by fire.” 1 Corinthians 3:15 “…but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” 1 Nephi 22:18 “…blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke…” Acts 2:19 “…blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke…” 1 Nephi 22:20 “…A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass that all those who will not hear that prophet shall be cut off from among the people.” Acts 3:22-23 “…A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.” 1 Nephi 22:25 “…there shall be one fold and one shepherd…” John 10:16 “…there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.” 1 Nephi 22:31 “…endure to the end, ye shall be saved…” Matthew 24:13 “…endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” 2 Nephi (588-545 BC) 2 Nephi 2:4 “…the same, yesterday, today, and forever.” Hebrews 13:8 “…the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” 2 Nephi 2:6 “…full of grace and truth.” John 1:14 “…full of grace and truth.” 2 Nephi 2:9 “…the first-fruits unto God…” Revelation 14:4 “…the firstfruits unto God…” 2 Nephi 4:17 “…O wretched man that I am!” Romans 7:24 “O wretched man that I am!” 2 Nephi 4:18 “I am encompassed about, because of the temptations and the sins which do so easily beset me.” Hebrews 12:1 “…seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us…” 2 Nephi 5:25 “…to stir them up in remembrance of me…” 2 Peter 1:13 “…to stir you up by putting you in remembrance…” 2 Nephi 6:6, 16-18 Isaiah 49:22, 24-26 2 Nephi 6:9 “…manifest himself unto them in the flesh…” 1 Timothy 3:16 “…God was manifest in the flesh…” 2 Nephi 7 Isaiah 50 2 Nephi 8 Isaiah 51-52 2 Nephi 9:6 “…death hath passed upon all men…” Romans 5:12 “…death passed upon all men…” 2 Nephi 9:7 “…this corruption could not put on incorruption.” 1 Corinthians 15:53 “…this corruptible must put on incorruption…” 2 Nephi 9:12 “…death and hell must deliver up their dead…” Revelation 20:13“…death and hell delivered up the dead…” 2 Nephi 9:15 “…must appear before the judgment-seat of the Holy One of Israel…” 2 Corinthians 5:10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ…” 2 Nephi 9:16 “…they who are righteous shall be righteous still, and they who are filthy shall be filthy still…” Revelation 22:11 “…he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still…” 2 Nephi 9:18 “…endured the crosses of the world, and despised the shame…” Hebrews 12:2 “…endured the cross, despising the shame…” 2 Nephi 9:18 “…inherit the kingdom of God, which was prepared for them from the foundation of the world…” Matthew 25:34 “…inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world…” 2 Nephi 9:18 “…their joy shall be full…” John 15:11 “…that your joy might be full.” 2 Nephi 9:30 “But wo unto the rich…” Luke 6:24 “But woe unto you that are rich!” 2 Nephi 9:33 “Wo unto the uncircumcised of heart…” Acts 7:51 “…uncircumcised in heart…” 2 Nephi 9:34, 36 “…shall be thrust down to hell.” Luke 10:15 “…shalt be thrust down to hell.” 2 Nephi 9:39 “…to be carnally-minded is death, and to be spiritually-minded is life…” Romans 8:6 “…to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life…” 2 Nephi 9:42 “…whoso knocketh, to him will he open…” Matthew 7:8 “…to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” 2 Nephi 9:50, 51 Isaiah 55:1, 2 2 Nephi 10:9 Isaiah 49:23 2 Nephi 10:16 “…both Jew and Gentile, both bond and free, both male and female…” Galatians 3:28 “…neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female…” 2 Nephi 10:16 “…they who are not for me are against me…” Matthew 12:30 “He that is not with me is against me…” 2 Nephi 12 Isaiah 2 2 Nephi 13 Isaiah 3 2 Nephi 14 Isaiah 4 2 Nephi 15 Isaiah 5 2 Nephi 16 Isaiah 6 2 Nephi 17 Isaiah 7 2 Nephi 18 Isaiah 8 2 Nephi 19 Isaiah 9 2 Nephi 20 Isaiah 10 2 Nephi 21 Isaiah 11 2 Nephi 22 Isaiah 12 2 Nephi 23 Isaiah 13 2 Nephi 24 Isaiah 14 2 Nephi 25:12 “…wars, and rumors of wars…” Matthew 24:6 “…wars and rumours of wars…” 2 Nephi 25:12 “…the Only Begotten of the Father…” John 1:14 “…the only begotten of the Father…” 2 Nephi 25:13 “…rise from the dead, with healing in his wings…” Malachi 4:2 “…arise with healing in his wings…” 2 Nephi 25:20 “…there is none other name given under heaven…whereby man can be saved.” Acts 4:12 “…there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” 2 Nephi 25:29 “..shall in nowise be cast out.” John 6:37 “…I will in no wise cast out.” 2 Nephi 26:9 “…the Son of righteousness shall appear…” Malachi 4:2 “…shall the Sun of righteousness arise…” 2 Nephi 26:11 “…the Spirit of the Lord will not always strive with man.” Genesis 6:3 “…My spirit shall not always strive with man…” 2 Nephi 26:12 “…Jesus is the very Christ…” John 7:26 “…that this is the very Christ?” 2 Nephi 26:13, 30:8 “…every nation, kindred, tongue, and people…” Revelation 14:6 “…to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people…” 2 Nephi 26:16 “…shall speak unto them out of the ground, and their speech shall be low out of the dust, and their voice shall be as one that hath a familiar spirit…that he may whisper concerning them, even as it were out of the ground; and their speech shall whisper out of the dust.” Isaiah 29:4 “And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.” 2 Nephi 26:25 “…buy milk and honey, without money and without price.” Isaiah 55:1 “…buy wine and milk without money and without price.” 2 Nephi 26:30 “…except they should have charity they were nothing.” 1 Corinthians 13:2 “…and have not charity, I am nothing.” 2 Nephi 26:33 “…bond and free, male and female…both Jew and Gentile.” Galatians 3:28 “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female…” 2 Nephi 27:2 “…they shall be visited of the Lord of Hosts, with thunder and with earthquake, and with a great noise, and with storm, and with tempest, and with the flame of devouring fire.” Isaiah 29:6 “Thou shalt be visited of the LORD of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire.” 2 Nephi 27:4 “…stay yourselves and wonder, for ye shall cry out, and cry; yea, ye shall be drunken but not with wine, ye shall stagger but not with strong drink.” Isaiah 29:9 “Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.” 2 Nephi 27:5 “For behold, the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep. For behold, ye have closed your eyes, and ye have rejected the prophets; and your rulers, and the seers hath he covered…” Isaiah 29:10 “For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered.” 2 Nephi 27:15, 17 “…Read this, I pray thee…And the man shall say: I cannot bring the book, for it is sealed.” Isaiah 29:11 “…Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed…” 2 Nephi 27:19 “…deliver again the book and the words thereof to him that is not learned; and the man that is not learned shall say: I am not learned.” Isaiah 29:12 “And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.” 2 Nephi 27:23 “…the same yesterday, today, and forever…” Hebrews 13:8 “…the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” 2 Nephi 27:25-34 Isaiah 29:13-23 2 Nephi 28:15 “…pervert the right way of the Lord…” Acts 13:10 “…wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?” 2 Nephi 28:15 “…they shall be thrust down to hell!” Luke 10:15 “And thou…shalt be thrust down to hell.” 2 Nephi 28:23 “…even a lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment.” Revelation 20:10 “…into the lake of fire and brimstone…tormented day and night for ever and ever.” 2 Nephi 28:30 “…line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little…” Isaiah 28:10 “For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:” 2 Nephi 28:30 “…unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have.” Matthew 13:12 “For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.” 2 Nephi 29:9 “…the same yesterday, today, and forever…” Hebrews 13:8 “…the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” 2 Nephi 29:11 “…out of the books which shall be written I will judge the world, every man according to their works…” Revelation 20:12 “…the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.” 2 Nephi 30:9 Isaiah 11:4 2 Nephi 30:11-15 Isaiah 11:5-9 2 Nephi 31:4 “…the Lamb of God, which should take away the sins of the world.” John 1:29 “…the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” 2 Nephi 31:5 “…to fulfil all righteousness…” Matthew 3:15 “…to fulfil all righteousness…” 2 Nephi 31:9 “…the straightness of the path, and the narrowness of the gate…” Matthew 7:14 “…strait is the gate, and narrow is the way…” 2 Nephi 31:10 “…Follow thou me.” John 21:22 “…follow thou me.” 2 Nephi 31:11 “…repent ye, and be baptized in the name of my Beloved Son.” Acts 2:38 “…Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ…” 2 Nephi 31:13 “…speak with the tongue of angels…” 1 Corinthians 13:1 “…I speak with the tongues of men and of angels…” 2 Nephi 31:14 “…can speak with a new tongue…” Mark 16:17 “…they shall speak with new tongues…” 2 Nephi 31:15 “…He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.” Matthew 24:13 “…he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” 2 Nephi 31:18 “…strait and narrow path which leads to eternal life…” Matthew 7:14 “…strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life…” 2 Nephi 31:21 “…there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved…” Acts 4:12 “…for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” 2 Nephi 32:2 “…speak with the tongue of angels…” 1 Corinthians 13:1 “…speak with the tongues of men and of angels…” 2 Nephi 32:9 “…pray always, and not faint…” Luke 18:1 “…always to pray, and not to faint…” 2 Nephi 33:9 “…enter into the narrow gate, and walk in the strait path which leads to life…” Matthew 7:13, 14 “Enter ye in at the strait gate…Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life…” Jacob (544-421 BC) Jacob 3:11 “…that lake of fire and brimstone which is the second death.” Revelation 21:8 “…in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” Jacob 5:42 “…these which have once brought forth good fruit…are good for nothing save it be to be hewn down and cast into the fire.” Matthew 3:10 “…every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.” Jacob 5:47 “…what could I have done more in my vineyard?” Isaiah 5:4 “What could have been done more to my vineyard…” Jacob 5:47 “…I have digged about it… and I have dunged it…” Luke 13:8 “…I shall dig about it, and dung it:” Jacob 5:49 “…they shall not cumber the ground…” Luke 13:7 “…why cumbereth it the ground?” Jacob 5:63 “…the last that they may be first, and that the first may be last…” Matthew 19:30 “…first shall be last; and the last shall be first.” Jacob 6:4 “…he stretches forth his hands unto them all the day long; and they are a stiffnecked and a gainsaying people;” Romans 10:21 “…All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.” Jacob 6:6 “…today, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts…” Hebrews 3:7, 8 “…To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts…” Jacob 6:10 “…whose smoke ascendeth up forever and ever…endless torment.” Revelation 14:11 “And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever…” Jacob 6:11 “…enter in at the strait gate, and continue in the way which is narrow, until ye shall obtain eternal life.” Matthew 7:13, 14 “Enter ye in at the strait gate…narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life…” Enos (544-420 BC) Enos 1:1 “…in the nurture and admonition of the Lord…” Ephesians 6:4 “…in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” Enos 1:8 “…thy faith hath made thee whole.” Matthew 9:22 “…thy faith hath made thee whole.” Enos 1:15 “…Whatsoever thing ye shall ask in faith, believing that ye shall receive in the name of Christ, ye shall receive it.” Matthew 21:22 “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” Enos 1:27 “…my mortal shall put on immortality…” 1 Corinthians 15:53 “…this mortal must put on immortality.” Enos 1:27 “…Come unto me, ye blessed…of my Father.” Matthew 25:34 “…Come, ye blessed of my Father…” Enos 1:27 “…there is a place prepared for you in the mansions of my Father.” John 14:2 “In my Father’s house are many mansions…I go to prepare a place for you.” Omni (361-130 BC) Omni 1:26 “…endure to the end…ye will be saved.” Matthew 24:13 “…endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” Mosiah (130-91 BC) Mosiah 1:12 “…name that never shall be blotted out…” Revelation 3:5 “…I will not blot out his name out of the book of life…” Mosiah 1:17 “…to stir them up in remembrance…” 2 Peter 1:13 “…to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;” Mosiah 3:5 “…the Lord Omnipotent who reigneth…” Revelation 19:6 “…the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.” Mosiah 3:13 “…to every kindred, nation, and tongue…” Revelation 14:6 “…to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people…” Mosiah 3:17 “…there shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come…” Acts 4:12 “…salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Mosiah 3:18 “…become as little children…” Matthew 18:3 “…become as little children…” Mosiah 3:27 “…their torment is as a lake of fire and brimstone, whose flames are unquenchable, and whose smoke ascendeth up forever and ever.” Revelation 14:10, 11 “…he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels…And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever…” Mosiah 4:6 “…prepared from the foundation of the world…” Matthew 25:34 “…prepared for you from the foundation of the world…” Mosiah 4:9 “…believe that he is…” Hebrews 11:6 “…believe that he is…” Mosiah 5:8 “…There is no other name given whereby salvation cometh;” Acts 4:12 “…there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Mosiah 5:13 “…the thoughts and intents of his heart…” Hebrews 4:12 “…the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Mosiah 5:15 “…ye should be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in good works…” 1 Corinthians 15:58 “…be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord…” Mosiah 5:15 “…the Lord God Omnipotent…” Revelation 19:6 “…the Lord God omnipotent…” Mosiah 6:3 “…to stir them up in remembrance…” 2 Peter 1:13 “…to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;” Mosiah 7:30 “…they shall reap the chaff thereof in the whirlwind…” Hosea 8:7 “…they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind…” Mosiah 10:8 “…a leathern girdle about their loins.” Matthew 3:4 “…a leathern girdle about his loins…” Mosiah 12:21-24 Isaiah 52:7-10 Mosiah 12:34-36 Exodus 20:2-4 Mosiah 13:12-24 Exodus 20:4-17 Mosiah 14:1-12 Isaiah 53:1-12 Mosiah 15:14 “…who have brought good tidings of good, who have published salvation; and said unto Zion: Thy God reigneth!” Isaiah 52:7 “…him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!” Mosiah 15:29-31 Isaiah 52:8-10 Mosiah 16:2 “…the wicked be cast out…and weep, and wail, and gnash their teeth…” Matthew 22:13 “…cast him into outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Mosiah 16:3 “…that old serpent…” Revelation 20:2 “…that old serpent…” Mosiah 16:3 “…serpent that did beguile our first parents…” 2 Corinthians 11:3 “…the serpent beguiled Eve…” Mosiah 16:3 “…carnal, sensual, devilish…” James 3:15 “…earthly, sensual, devilish.” Mosiah 16:7 “…that death should have no sting…” 1 Corinthians 15:55 “O death, where is thy sting?” Mosiah 16:8 “…death is swallowed up in Christ.” 1 Corinthians 15:54 “…Death is swallowed up in victory.” Mosiah 16:9 “He is the light and the life of the world…” John 8:12 “…I am the light of the world…” Mosiah 16:10 “…this mortal shall put on immortality, and this corruption shall put on incorruption…” 1 Corinthians 15:53 “…this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” Mosiah 16:11 “If they be good, to the resurrection of endless life and happiness; and if they be evil, to the resurrection of endless damnation…” John 5:29 “And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” Mosiah 16:14 “…it is a shadow of those things which are to come…” Colossians 2:17 “Which are a shadow of things to come…” Mosiah 18:13 “…prepared from the foundation of the world.” Matthew 25:34 “…the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:” Mosiah 18:21 “…one faith and one baptism…” Ephesians 4:5 “…one faith, one baptism,” Mosiah 18:21 “…their hearts knit together in unity and in love…” Colossians 2:2 “That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love…” Mosiah 23:13 “…stand fast in this liberty wherewith ye have been made free…” Galatians 5:1 “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free…” Mosiah 26:27 “And then I will confess unto them that I never knew them…” Matthew 7:23 “And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you…” Mosiah 26:27 “…depart into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” Matthew 25:41 “…Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:” Mosiah 26:37 “…walking circumspectly…” Ephesians 5:15 “…walk circumspectly…” Mosiah 26:39 “…pray without ceasing, and to give thanks in all things.” 1 Thessalonians 5:17, 18 “Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks…” Mosiah 27:29 “…the gall of bitterness and bonds of iniquity.” Acts 8:23 “…in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.” Mosiah 27:31 “…every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess…” Philippians 2:10, 11 “…at the name of Jesus every knee should bow…And that every tongue should confess…” Alma (91-53 BC) Alma 1:25 “…stand fast in the faith…” 1 Corinthians 16:13 “…stand fast in the faith…” Alma 1:25 “…they were steadfast and immovable…” 1 Corinthians 15:58 “…be ye stedfast, unmoveable…” Alma 4:19 “…to stir them up in remembrance…” 2 Peter 1:13 “…to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;” Alma 5:15 “…this corruption raised in incorruption…” 1 Corinthians 15:42 “It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:” Alma 5:24 “…sit down in the kingdom of God, with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob…” Matthew 8:11 “…sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.” Alma 5:27 “…garments have been cleansed and made white through the blood of Christ…” Revelation 7:14 “…have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Alma 5:50 “…Repent…for the kingdom of heaven is soon at hand…” Matthew 3:2 “…Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Alma 5:35 “…hewn down and cast into the fire…” Matthew 3:10 “…hewn down, and cast into the fire.” Alma 5:48 “…the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace, and mercy, and truth.” John 1:14 “…the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” Alma 9:26 “…the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace, equity, and truth…” John 1:14 “…the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” Alma 5:48 “…it is he that cometh to take away the sins of the world…” John 1:29 “…the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” Alma 5:48 “…believeth on his name.” John 1:12 “…believe on his name:” Alma 5:54 “…bring forth works which are meet for repentance—“ Matthew 3:8 “Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:” Alma 12:15 “…bringeth forth fruit meet for repentance.” Matthew 3:8 “Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:” Alma 5:57 “…come ye out from the wicked, and be ye separate, and touch not their unclean things…” 2 Corinthians 6:17 “…come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.” Alma 7:9 “…Repent ye…the kingdom of heaven is at hand…” Matthew 3:2 “…Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Alma 7:14 “…if ye are not born again ye cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven…” John 3:3 “…Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Alma 7:14 “…the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world…” John 1:29 “…the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” Alma 7:14 “…to cleanse from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9 “…to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Alma 7:15 “…lay aside every sin, which easily doth beset you…” Hebrews 12:1 “…let us lay aside…the sin which doth so easily beset us…” Alma 7:20 “…neither doth he vary from that which he hath said; neither hath he a shadow of turning…” James 1:17 “…the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” Alma 7:21 “…he who is filthy shall remain in his filthiness.” Revelation 22:11 “…he which is filthy, let him be filthy still…” Alma 7:24 “…see that ye have faith, hope, and charity…” 1 Corinthians 13:13 “…now abideth faith, hope, charity…” Alma 7:24 “…ye will always abound in good works.” 2 Corinthians 9:8 “…ye… may abound to every good work:” Alma 7:25 “…sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob…in the kingdom of heaven…” Matthew 8:11 “…sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.” Alma 9:20 “…every other nation, kindred, tongue, or people…” Revelation 14:6 “…every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,” Alma 37:4 “…every nation, kindred, tongue, and people…” Revelation 14:6 “…every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,” Alma 9:25 “…Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is nigh at hand;” Matthew 4:17 “…Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Alma 10:20 “…repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 4:17 “…Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Alma 9:26 “…his glory; and his glory shall be the glory of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace, equity, and truth…” John 1:14 “…(and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” Alma 10:17 “…O ye wicked and perverse generation…” Matthew 17:17 “…O faithless and perverse generation…” Alma 11:39 “…he is the beginning and the end, the first and the last;” Revelation 22:13 “…the beginning and the end, the first and the last.” Alma 12:8 “…resurrection of the dead…both the just and the unjust…” Acts 24:15 “…resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.” Alma 12:16 “…a second death…” Revelation 20:14 “…the second death.” Alma 12:17 “…their torments shall be as a lake of fire and brimstone, whose flame ascendeth up forever and ever…” Revelation 14:10, 11 “…he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone…And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever…” Alma 12:27 “…it was appointed unto men that they must die; and after death, they must come to judgment…” Hebrews 9:27 “…it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:” Alma 12:35 “…I swear in my wrath that he shall not enter into my rest.” Hebrews 3:11 “So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)” Alma 13:9 “…priests forever, after the order of the Son…” Hebrews 5:6 “…Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.” Alma 13:9 “…full of grace, equity, and truth…” John 1:14 “…full of grace and truth.” Alma 13:13 “…bring forth fruit meet for repentance…” Matthew 3:8 “Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:” Alma 13:15 “…this same Melchizedek to whom Abraham paid tithes…” Hebrews 7:1, 2 “…this Melchisedec…To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all…” Alma 13:20 “…the scriptures are before you; if ye will wrest them it shall be to your own destruction.” 2 Peter 3:16 “…they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.” Alma 13:22 “…glad tidings of great joy…among all his people…” Luke 2:10 “…good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.” Alma 13:28 “…watch and pray continually, that ye may not be tempted…” Matthew 26:41 “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation…” Alma 13:28 “…tempted above that which ye can bear…” 1 Corinthians 10:13 “…tempted above that ye are able…to bear…” Alma 18:13 “…said unto him, Rabbanah, which is, being interpreted, powerful or great king…” John 1:38 “…said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master…” Alma 18:32 “…the thoughts and intents of the heart…” Hebrews 4:12 “…the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Alma 19:9 “…Believest thou this?…” John 11:26 “…Believest thou this?” Alma 19:10 “…there has not been such great faith among all the people of the Nephites.” Luke 7:9 “…I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.” Alma 21:6 “…except we repent we shall perish…” Luke 13:3 “…except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” Alma 25:6 “…to be stirred up in remembrance…” 2 Peter 1:13 “…to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;” Alma 26:5 “…thrust in the sickle, and did reap…” Revelation 14:15 “…Thrust in thy sickle, and reap…” Alma 26:7 “…he will raise them up at the last day.” John 6:40 “…I will raise him up at the last day.” Alma 30:46 “…grieved because of the hardness of your heart…” Mark 3:5 “…being grieved for the hardness of their hearts…” Alma 31:11 “…they did pervert the ways of the Lord…” Acts 13:10 “…cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?” Alma 31:17 “…the same yesterday, today, and forever…” Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” Alma 31:37 “…taking no thought for themselves what they should eat, or what they should drink, or what they should put on.” Matthew 6:25 “…Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on…” Alma 32:13 “…he that findeth mercy and endureth to the end the same shall be saved.” Matthew 24:13 “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” Alma 32:21 “…if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen…” Hebrews 11:1 “…faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Alma 32:38 “…and when the heat of the sun cometh and scorcheth it, because it hath no root it withers away…” Matthew 13:6 “And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.” Alma 32:41 “…springing up unto everlasting life.” John 4:14 “…springing up into everlasting life.” Alma 34:13 “…yea, it shall be all fulfilled, every jot and tittle…” Matthew 5:18 “…one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” Alma 34:29 “…cast out, (it being of no worth) and is trodden under foot of men.” Matthew 5:13 “…good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.” Alma 34:38 “…worship God…in spirit and in truth…” John 4:24 “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” Alma 36:18 “…who am in the gall of bitterness…” Acts 8:23 “…thou art in the gall of bitterness…” Alma 37:15 “…delivered up unto Satan, that he may sift you as chaff before the wind.” Luke 22:31 “…Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:” Alma 37:34 “…be meek and lowly in heart; for such shall find rest to their souls.” Matthew 11:29 “…I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” Alma 38:9 “…he is the life and the light of the world…” John 1:4 “In him was life; and the life was the light of men.” Alma 39:9 “…the lusts of your eyes…” 1 John 2:16 “…the lust of the eyes…” Alma 40:2 “…this mortal does not put on immortality, this corruption does not put on incorruption…” 1 Corinthians 15:53 “…this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” Alma 41:4 “…mortality raised to immortality, corruption to incorruption…” 1 Corinthians 15:53 “…this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” Alma 40:13 “…cast out into outer darkness; there shall be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth…” Matthew 22:13 “…cast him into outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Alma 40:14 “…fearful looking for the fiery indignation…” Hebrews 10:27 “…fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation…” Alma 40:25 “…then shall the righteous shine forth…” Matthew 13:43 “Then shall the righteous shine forth…” Alma 41:11 “…are in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity…” Acts 8:23 “…art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.” Alma 41:11 “…without God in the world…” Ephesians 2:12 “…without God in the world:” Alma 42:2 Genesis 3:23, 24 Alma 42:27 “…whosoever will come may come and partake of the waters of life freely…” Revelation 22:17 “…whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” Alma 43:10 “…worship God in spirit and in truth…” John 4:24 “…worship him in spirit and in truth.” Alma 58:40 “…stand fast in that liberty wherewith God has made them free…” Galatians 5:1 “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free…” Helaman (52-1 BC) Helaman 3:29 “…the word of God, which is quick and powerful, which shall divide asunder…” Hebrews 4:12 “…the word of God is quick, and powerful…even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit…” Helaman 3:30 “…at the right hand of God in the kingdom of heaven, to sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and with Jacob…” Matthew 8:11 “…shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.” Helaman 5:8 “…lay up for yourselves a treasure in heaven…” Matthew 6:20 “…lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven…” Helaman 5:32 “…Repent ye, repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand…” Matthew 3:2 “…Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Helaman 5:44 “…that joy which is unspeakable and full of glory.” 1 Peter 1:8 “…with joy unspeakable and full of glory:” Helaman 7:28 “…except ye repent ye shall perish…” Luke 13:3 “…except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” Helaman 8:14 “…as he lifted up the brazen serpent in the wilderness, even so shall he be lifted up who should come.” John 3:14 “…as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:” Helaman 8:25 “…laying up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where nothing doth corrupt…” Matthew 6:20 “…lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt…” Helaman 9:21 “…ye uncircumcised of heart, ye blind, and ye stiffnecked people…” Acts 7:51 “Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears…” Helaman 10:7 “…whatsoever ye shall seal on earth shall be sealed in heaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven…” Matthew 16:19 “…whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Helaman 10:8 “…say unto this temple it shall be rent in twain…” Matthew 27:51 “…the veil of the temple was rent in twain…” Helaman 10:9 “…ye shall say unto this mountain…” Matthew 17:20 “…ye shall say unto this mountain…” Helaman 11:4 “…to stir them up in remembrance…” 2 Peter 1:13 “…to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;” Helaman 12:26 “…They that have done good shall have everlasting life; and they that have done evil shall have everlasting damnation…” John 5:29 “…they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” Helaman 13:25 “…If our days had been in the days of our fathers of old, we would not have slain the prophets…” Matthew 23:30 “…If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.” Helaman 13:29 “O ye wicked and ye perverse generation…” Matthew 17:17 “…O faithless and perverse generation…” Helaman 13:29 “…foolish and blind guides…” Matthew 23:16 “…ye blind guides…” Helaman 13:29 “…ye choose darkness rather than light?” John 3:19 “…men loved darkness rather than light…” Helaman 14:25 “And many graves shall be opened, and shall yield up many of their dead; and many saints shall appear unto many.” Matthew 27:52, 53 “And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.” Helaman 15:1 “…your houses shall be left unto you desolate.” Matthew 23:38 “…your house is left unto you desolate.” Helaman 15:2 “…wo unto them which are with child…” Matthew 24:19 “…woe unto them that are with child…” Helaman 15:5 “…and they do walk circumspectly…” Ephesians 5:15 “See then that ye walk circumspectly…” Helaman 16:14 “And angels did appear unto men, wise men, and did declare unto them glad tidings of great joy…” Luke 2:10 “And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy…” 3 Nephi (1-35 AD) 3 Nephi 1:13 “…the time is at hand…” Revelation 22:10 “…the time is at hand.” 3 Nephi 1:25 “…that one jot or tittle should not pass away till it should all be fulfilled…” Matthew 5:18 “…one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” 3 Nephi 6:14 “…and steadfast, and immovable…” 1 Corinthians 15:58 “…be ye stedfast, unmoveable…” 3 Nephi 7:8 “…like the dog to his vomit, or like the sow to her wallowing in the mire.” 2 Peter 2:22 “…The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.” 3 Nephi 9:13 “…be converted, that I may heal you?” John 12:40 “…be converted, and I should heal them.” 3 Nephi 9:15 “…I am in the Father, and the Father in me…” John 14:11 “…I am in the Father, and the Father in me…” 3 Nephi 9:16 “I came unto my own, and my own received me not…” John 1:11 “He came unto his own, and his own received him not.” 3 Nephi 9:17 “And as many as have received me, to them have I given to become the sons of God; and even so will I to as many as shall believe on my name…” John 1:12 “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:” 3 Nephi 9:18 “I am the light and the life of the world…” John 8:12 “…I am the light of the world…” 3 Nephi 9:18 “…I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.” Revelation 22:13 “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.” 3 Nephi 10:4 “…how oft have I gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings…” Matthew 23:37 “…how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings…” 3 Nephi 10:5 “…how oft would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings…how oft would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens…” Matthew 23:37 “…how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings…” 3 Nephi 11:7 “Behold my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased…hear ye him.” Matthew 17:5 “…This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.” 3 Nephi 11:11 “…I am the light and the life of the world…” John 8:12 “…I am the light of the world…” 3 Nephi 11:25 “…baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost…” Matthew 28:19 “…baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:” 3 Nephi 11:27 “…the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost are one…” 1 John 5:7 “…the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.:” 3 Nephi 11:27 “…I am in the Father, and the Father in me…” John 14:11 “…I am in the Father, and the Father in me…” 3 Nephi 11:27 “…the Father and I are one.” John 10:30 “I and my Father are one.” 3 Nephi 11:32 “…the Father commandeth all men, everywhere, to repent…” Acts 17:30 “…God…commandeth all men every where to repent:” 3 Nephi 11:33 “…whoso believeth in me, and is baptized, the same shall be saved…” Mark 16:16 “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved…” 3 Nephi 11:34 “…whoso believeth not in me, and is not baptized, shall be damned.” Mark 16:16 “…but he that believeth not shall be damned.” 3 Nephi 11:36 “…the Father, and I, and the Holy Ghost are one.” 1 John 5:7 “…the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.:” 3 Nephi 11:39 “…whoso buildeth upon this buildeth upon my rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against them.” Matthew 16:18 “…upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” 3 Nephi 12:1 “…baptize you with water…baptize you with fire and with the Holy Ghost…” Matthew 3:11 “…baptize you with water…baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:” 3 Nephi 12:3-45 Matthew 5:3-45 3 Nephi 12:47 “Old things are done away, and all things have become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17 “…old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 3 Nephi 12:48 Matthew 5:48 3 Nephi 13:1-34 Matthew 6:1-34 3 Nephi 14:1-27 Matthew 7:1-27 3 Nephi 15:1 “…him will I raise up at the last day.” John 6:44 “…I will raise him up at the last day.” 3 Nephi 15:2 “…old things had passed away, and that all things had become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17 “…old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 3 Nephi 15:9 “…endure to the end, and ye shall live…” Matthew 24:13 “…endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” 3 Nephi 15:17 “That other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.” John 10:16 “And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.” 3 Nephi 16:15 “…salt that hath lost its savor, which is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot…” Matthew 5:13 “…the salt have lost his savour…it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.” 3 Nephi 16:18-20 Isaiah 52:8-10 3 Nephi 18:13 “…built upon a sandy foundation; and when the rain descends, and the floods come, and the winds blow, and beat upon them, they shall fall…” Matthew 7:27 “…built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell…” 3 Nephi 18:15 “…watch and pray always, lest ye be tempted…” Matthew 26:41 “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation…” 3 Nephi 18:18 “…watch and pray always lest ye enter into temptation…” Matthew 26:41 “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation…” 3 Nephi 18:18 “…Satan desireth to have you, that he may sift you as wheat.” Luke 22:31 “…Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:” 3 Nephi 18:29 “…whoso eateth and drinketh my flesh and blood unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation to his soul…” 1 Corinthians 11:29 “…he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself…” 3 Nephi 18:35 “…it is expedient that I should go…” John 16:7 “…It is expedient for you that I go…” 3 Nephi 19:23 “…I pray unto thee for them, and also for all those who shall believe on their words, that they may believe in me, that I may be in them as thou, Father, art in me, that we may be one.” John 17:20-21 “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us…” 3 Nephi 19:29 “…I pray not for the world, but for those whom thou hast given me…that I may be glorified in them.” John 17:9, 10 “…I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me…and I am glorified in them.” 3 Nephi 20:16, 17 Micah 5:8, 9 3 Nephi 20:18, 19 Micah 4:12 3 Nephi 20:23-26 Acts 3:22-26 3 Nephi 21:8 “…kings shall shut their mouths; for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.” Isaiah 52:15 “…kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.” 3 Nephi 21:9 “…the Father work a work, which shall be a great and a marvelous work among them…” Isaiah 29:14 “…I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder…” 3 Nephi 21:12-18 Micah 5:8-14 3 Nephi 21:29 “…they shall not go out in haste, nor go by flight, for I will go before them, saith the Father, and I will be their rearward.” Isaiah 52:12 “…ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the LORD will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rereward.” 3 Nephi 22:1-17 Isaiah 54:1-17 3 Nephi 24:1-18 Malachi 3:1-18 3 Nephi 25:1-6 Malachi 4:1-6 3 Nephi 26:3 “…the elements should melt with fervent heat…” 2 Peter 3:12 “…the elements shall melt with fervent heat?” 3 Nephi 26:3 “…and the earth should be wrapt together as a scroll…” Revelation 6:14 “…the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together…” 3 Nephi 26:3 “…the heavens and the earth should pass away;” Revelation 21:1 “…the first heaven and the first earth were passed away…” 3 Nephi 26:4 “…all people, and all kindreds, and all nations and tongues…” Revelation 11:9 “…the people and kindreds and tongues and nations…” 3 Nephi 26:4 “…stand before God, to be judged of their works…” Revelation 20:12 “…stand before God…judged…according to their works.” 3 Nephi 26:5 “If they be good, to the resurrection of everlasting life; and if they be evil, to the resurrection of damnation…” John 5:29 “…they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” 3 Nephi 26:18 “…and heard unspeakable things, which are not lawful to be written.” 2 Corinthians 12:4 “…and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.” 3 Nephi 26:19 “…they had all things common…” Acts 4:32 “…they had all things common.” 3 Nephi 27:6 “…whoso…endureth to the end, the same shall be saved…” Matthew 24:13 “…he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” 3 Nephi 27:14 “…I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me…” John 12:32 “…I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” 3 Nephi 27:29 “…ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you; for he that asketh, receiveth; and unto him that knocketh, it shall be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8 “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” 3 Nephi 27:33 “…Enter ye in at the strait gate; for strait is the gate, and narrow is the way that leads to life, and few there be that find it; but wide is the gate, and broad the way which leads to death, and many there be that travel therein…” Matthew 7:13, 14 “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” 3 Nephi 27:33 “…the night cometh, wherein no man can work.” John 9:4 “…the night cometh, when no man can work.” 3 Nephi 28:8 “…ye shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye from mortality to immortality…” 1 Corinthians 15:52-53 “…in the twinkling of an eye…we shall be changed…this mortal must put on immortality.” 3 Nephi 28:10 “…the Father and I are one;” John 10:30 “I and my Father are one.” 3 Nephi 28:13 “…caught up into heaven, and saw and heard unspeakable things.” 2 Corinthians 12:2,4 “…caught up to the third heaven…and heard unspeakable words…” 3 Nephi 28:15 “…whether they were in the body or out of the body, they could not tell…” 2 Corinthians 12:3 “…whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell…” 3 Nephi 28:29 “…all nations, kindreds, tongues and people…” Revelation 14:6 “…every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,” 3 Nephi 28:31 “…all people must surely stand before the judgment-seat of Christ;” 2 Corinthians 5:10 “…we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ;” 4 Nephi (36-321 AD) 4 Nephi 1:3 “…they had all things common…” Acts 2:44 “…and had all things common;” 4 Nephi 1:3 “…bond and free…” Galatians 3:28 “…neither bond nor free…” 4 Nephi 1:3 “…partakers of the heavenly gift.” Hebrews 6:4 “…tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers…” 4 Nephi 1:30 “…were rent in twain…” Matthew 27:51 “…was rent in twain…” Mormon (322-421 AD) Mormon 3:15 “Vengeance is mine, and I will repay…” Romans 12:19 “…Vengeance is mine; I will repay…” Mormon 3:20 “…ye must all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ…and ye must stand to be judged of your works, whether they be good or evil;” 2 Corinthians 5:10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” Mormon 6:21 “…mortal must put on immortality, and these bodies which are now moldering in corruption must soon become incorruptible…” 1 Corinthians 15:53 “…this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” Mormon 6:21 “…ye must stand before the judgment-seat of Christ…” 2 Corinthians 5:10 “…we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ…” Mormon 7:5 “…gained the victory over the grave; and also in him is the sting of death swallowed up.” 1 Corinthians 15:54, 55 “…Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting?” Mormon 7:8 “…repent, and be baptized in the name of Jesus…” Acts 2:38 “…Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ…” Mormon 7:9 “…this is written for the intent that ye may believe that…” John 20:31 “…these are written, that ye might believe…” Mormon 8:20 “…saith the Lord, and vengeance is mine also, and I will repay.” Romans 12:19 “…Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” Mormon 8:30 “And there shall also be heard of wars, rumors of wars, and earthquakes in divers places.” Matthew 24:6,7 “And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars… in divers places.” Mormon 8:31 “…in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity.” Acts 8:23 “…in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.” Mormon 9:2 “…the elements shall melt with fervent heat…” 2 Peter 3:10 “…the elements shall melt with fervent heat…” Mormon 9:9 “…God is the same yesterday, today, and forever…” Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” Mormon 9:9 “…in him there is no variableness neither shadow of changing?” James 1:17 “…with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” Mormon 9:14 “…he that is filthy shall be filthy still; and he that is righteous shall be righteous still…” Revelation 22:11 “…he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still…” Mormon 9:22-24 Mark 16:15-18 Mormon 9:27 “…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling…” Philippians 2:12 “…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” Mormon 9:29 “…endure to the end…” Matthew 24:13 “…endure unto the end…” Mormon 9:29 “…will in nowise be cast out.” John 6:37 “…will in no wise cast out. Ether (2200-600 BC) Ether 4:11 “…the manifestations of my Spirit…” 1 Corinthians 12:7 “…the manifestation of the Spirit…” Ether 4:18 “…he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned…” Mark 16:16 “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” Ether 4:18 “…and signs shall follow them that believe in my name.” Mark 16:17 “And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name…” Ether 4:19 “…the kingdom prepared for him from the foundation of the world.” Matthew 25:34 “…the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world…” Ether 12:4 “…an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast…” Hebrews 6:19 “…an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast…” Ether 12:6 “…faith is things which are hoped for and not seen…” Hebrews 11:1 “…faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Ether 12:8 “…partakers of the heavenly gift…” Hebrews 6:4 “…tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers…” Ether 12:11 “…God prepared a more excellent way…” 1 Corinthians 12:31 “…yet show I unto you a more excellent way.” Ether 12:35 “…and take away their talent…” Matthew 25:28 “Take therefore the talent from him…” Moroni (400-421 AD) Moroni 6:1 “…brought forth fruit meet that they were worthy…” Matthew 3:8 “Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance…” Moroni 6:2 “…a broken heart and a contrite spirit…” Psalms 51:17 “…a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart…” Moroni 6:4 “…Christ, who was the author and the finisher of their faith.” Hebrews 12:2 “…Jesus the author and finisher of our faith…” Moroni 6:7 “…their names were blotted out…” Revelation 3:5 “…I will not blot out his name…” Moroni 7:1 “…faith, hope, and charity…” 1 Corinthians 13:13 “…faith, hope, charity…” Moroni 7:6 “…it profiteth him nothing.” 1 Corinthians 13:3 “…it profiteth me nothing.” Moroni 7:7 “…it is not counted unto him for righteousness.” Romans 4:3 “…it was counted unto him for righteousness.” Moroni 7:16 “…the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil…” 1 Corinthians 12:7 “…the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.” Moroni 7:17 “…no man to do good, no, not one…” Romans 3:12 “…none that doeth good, no, not one.” Moroni 7:18 “…with that same judgment which ye judge ye shall also be judged.” Matthew 7:2 “For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged…” Moroni 7:26 “…Whatsoever thing ye shall ask the Father in my name…it shall be done unto you.” John 16:23 “…Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.” Moroni 7:26 “…Whatsoever thing ye shall ask…believing that ye shall receive…” Matthew 21:22 “…all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” Moroni 7:34 “…Repent…and be baptized in my name…” Acts 2:38 “…Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ…” Moroni 7:39 “…I judge better things of you…” Hebrews 6:9 “…we are persuaded better things of you…” Moroni 7:43 “…he shall be meek, and lowly of heart.” Matthew 11:29 “…I am meek and lowly in heart…” Moroni 7:44 “…if he have not charity he is nothing…” 1 Corinthians 13:2 “…and have not charity, I am nothing.” Moroni 7:45 “And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-6 “Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;” Moroni 7:46 “…if ye have not charity, ye are nothing…” 1 Corinthians 13:2 “…and have not charity, I am nothing.” Moroni 7:46 “…charity never faileth…” 1 Corinthians 13:8 “Charity never faileth…” Moroni 7:46 “…charity, which is the greatest of all…” 1 Corinthians 13:13 “…the greatest of these is charity.” Moroni 7:48 “…love, which he hath bestowed upon all… that ye may become the sons of God…”” 1 John 3:1 “…what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us… that we should be called the sons of God…” Moroni 7:48 “…when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is…” 1 John 3:2 “…when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” Moroni 7:48 “…that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure.” 1 John 3:3 “…every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.” Moroni 8:3 “…the name of his Holy Child, Jesus…” Acts 4:30 “…the name of thy holy child Jesus.” Moroni 8:8 “…the whole need no physician, but they that are sick…” Matthew 9:12 “…They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick…” Moroni 8:14 “…in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity…” Acts 8:23 “…in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.” Moroni 8:16 “…them that shall 1pervert the ways of the Lord…” Acts 13:10 “…wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?” Moroni 8:16 “…for they shall perish except they repent…” Luke 13:3 “…except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” Moroni 8:16 “…perfect love casteth out all fear.” 1 John 4:18 “…but perfect love casteth out fear…” Moroni 9:6 “…the enemy of all righteousness…” Acts 13:10 “…thou enemy of all righteousness…” Moroni 9:22 “…they must perish except they repent…” Luke 13:3 “…except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” Moroni 10:8 “…deny not the gifts of God, for they are many; and they come from the same God…” 1 Corinthians 12:4 “Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.” Moroni 10:8 “…And there are different ways that these gifts are administered; but it is the same God who worketh all in all; and they are given by the manifestations of the Spirit of God unto men, to profit them.” 1 Corinthians 12:5-7 “And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.” Moroni 10:9 “…to one is given by the Spirit of God, that he may teach the word of wisdom;” 1 Corinthians 12:8 “…to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom…” Moroni 10:10 “…to another, that he may teach the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;” 1 Corinthians 12:8 “…to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;” Moroni 10:11 “…to another, exceedingly great faith; and to another, the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;” 1 Corinthians 12:9 “To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;” Moroni 10:12 “…to another, that he may work mighty miracles;” 1 Corinthians 12:10 “To another the working of miracles…” Moroni 10:13 “…to another, that he may prophesy…” 1 Corinthians 12:10 “…to another prophecy…” Moroni 10:14 “…to another, the beholding of angels and ministering spirits;” 1 Corinthians 12:10 “…to another discerning of spirits…” Moroni 10:15 “…to another, all kinds of tongues;” 1 Corinthians 12:10 “…to another divers kinds of tongues…” Moroni 10:16 “…to another, the interpretation of languages and of divers kinds of tongues.” 1 Corinthians 12:10 “…to another the interpretation of tongues.” Moroni 10:17 “…all these gifts come by the Spirit of Christ; and they come unto every man severally, according as he will.” 1 Corinthians 12:11 “…all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.” Moroni 10:19 “…he is the same yesterday, today, and forever…” Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” Moroni 10:20 “…there must be faith; and if there must be faith there must also be hope; and if there must be hope there must also be charity.” 1 Corinthians 13:13 “And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three…” Moroni 10:25 “…there shall be none that doeth good among you, no not one…” Romans 3:12 “…there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” Moroni 10:31 “…awake, and arise from the dust, O Jerusalem; yea, and put on thy beautiful garments, O daughter of Zion…” Isaiah 52:1 “Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem…” Moroni 10:32 “…then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect…” 2 Corinthians 12:9 “…My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect…” Moroni 10:34 “…the Eternal Judge of both quick and dead…” Acts 10:42 “…the Judge of quick and dead.” Further Study
Book of Mormon Origins – https://www.bookofmormonorigins.com/
References
References 1 KJV in the Book of Mormon — Case closed – https://kmabom.wordpress.com/kjv-in-the-book-of-mormon-case-closed/ -
Editing
General Conference talk given by Hartman Rector Jr., ‘Turning the Hearts’, April 1981:1
Note: Bolded are the parts of the talk given in the original address, not appearing in written format on the official LDS church website.
I consider it a great honor and a privilege to greet you this afternoon in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am sure the Lord is much concerned about the families of the earth today.
The family is the basic unit of society, and more importantly it is the basic unit of exaltation. It seems that nothing is more important to the Lord than a family. He has designed the greatest blessings for His children to be received through families, and the temple, of course, is the means of creating these eternal, exalted families.
I believe that families are under a more serious attack today than at any time since the beginning of the world, with the possible exception of the days of Noah. It must have been bad then too. Maybe we today are not quite as bad as they were. Moses recorded in the Book of Genesis: “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Gen. 6:5.) I don’t believe I have ever known anyone quite that bad, whose “every thought was evil continually.”
The Lord further indicated that all flesh was corrupt in those days, and so he brought forth the flood and destroyed all flesh except Noah and his family. Therefore, we are all descendants of righteous Noah. But the family concept is under very serious attack today all over the world.
In many countries of the world today birth control is practiced. In some countries only one child per family is permitted. This is controlled through birth control, abortion and sterilization. If a second child is born the government takes it to rear. Since the real strength of a nation is in her families, I fear that such restrictions will literally destroy these nations. A documentary for TV was produced recently where it was shown that old people are dying for lack of love and attention. It seem s that children no longer care enough for their aged parents to visit them. Well, why should they anyway. The government takes care of them so why should the children bother with that chore. Today some governments pay full time employees to do nothing but visit their old people. It appears that this is one of the hidden evils which destroy families. Children no longer have to worry about their parents in their old age, so they completely neglect them.
The Lord said from Mt. Sinai, “Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” (Ex. 20:12.) There’s precious little honor shown as children not even visit their parents. Of course we’re not lily white in this area here in the United States either. In 1980 was the year of the family here in the US of A. There were White House conferences held on the family in Maryland, Minnesota, and California, with delegates chosen from each state. In most states there was an attempt to get a resolution passed by the state convention, defining the family as any group of people living together. Not the traditional father, mother, children relationship but any group of people living together. And whom do you supposed would sponsor such a resolution. Is those who represent the so-called alternate lifestyle. Birth control is rampant. Sterilization, vasectomies increase annually. The statistics on abortion in the United States are mind boggling. For example, abortions will kill over 2 million babies in the next 12 months. Which amounts to three abortions every 60 seconds. Abortions kill more Americans in one year than all the wars did from Valley Forge to Vietnam. 8 Million American babies have been slaughtered since January the 22nd 1973 when the Supreme Court legalized abortion. Over 3 million dollars of American tax payers money will be used to pay for government funded abortions this year. How frightening.
As I mentioned earlier we seem to have conditions today similar to those Noah faced; and the Lord speaks of smiting the earth with a curse, as happened at the time of the flood, and this will happen if there is not a turning of “the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers.” (Mal. 4:6.)
There are those who feel that this turning of the hearts is strictly Elijah’s job, but in Doctrine and Covenants 98:16 [D&C 98:16] the Lord seems to give us that assignment. He said, “Seek diligently to turn the hearts of the children to their fathers, and the hearts of the fathers to the children.”
Elijah came and delivered the keys, but the Lord looks to us to do the work. In a little plainer translation of the Malachi scripture, the Lord said:
“Behold, I will reveal unto you the Priesthood, by the hand of Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.
“And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers.
“If it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at his coming.” (D&C 2:1–3; see also JS—H 1:38–39.)We, then, are in the very serious business of attempting to save the earth or to keep it from being “wasted” when the Lord comes. I have often wondered how or why the earth would be wasted if Children’s hearts did not turn to their fathers. Today is very clear for all to see. When the Lord comes if he finds nothing but birth control, abortion, sterilization, homosexuals the earth is wasted. What was the purpose of his creation anyway. The Lord said “we would go down for there is space there, and we will take of these materials and make an earth, whereon theses” meaning all of us “may dwell.” This earth was created so God the Father would have a place to send His children to receive bodies of flesh and bones and prove themselves. If we will no longer permit the Lord to send his children to this earth, then the earth is wasted, and as in the days of the flood He will surely destroy it.
So what must we do? We must follow the living prophet, for herein is our only safety. He says, among other things:1. Complete four-generation family records and as far beyond as you can go.
2. Write a personal and family history.
3. Perform a reasonable number of temple ordinances by attending the temple as often as is practical.
I personally believe that the writing of personal and family histories will do more to turn the hearts of the children to the fathers and the fathers to children than almost anything we can do. I am sure you will never turn your own children’s hearts more to you than you will by keeping a journal and writing your personal history. They will ultimately love to find out about your successes and your failures and your peculiarities. It will tell them a lot about themselves, too. They will get a great desire to raise a family of their own when they see what a great blessing they were to you.
If children have a happy family experience they will not want to be homosexuals, which I am sure is an acquired addiction just as drugs, alcohol and pornography are. The promoters of homosexuality say they were born that way. But I do not believe this is true. There are no female spirits trapped in male bodies and vice versa. He who made them, made them male and female. Every form of homosexuality is sin said the living prophet Spencer W. Kimball.
Also, I seriously doubt that you will ever turn your own heart more to your own fathers than by writing your family history. You must know a lot about them before you can write it. This will lead you to much in-depth research. I promise you will love them when you become acquainted with them. They were noble people, and they sacrificed much to give you the heritage you have today. They deserve the best you can give them, which of course is membership in the Church and the kingdom of God and the sealing of their loved ones to them.
I am convinced that these records we are commanded to write are absolutely vital, not only to the salvation of our ancestors but also to ours, for are we not to be judged out of the books which John saw were to be opened, as recorded in Revelation 20:12 [Rev. 20:12]?
“And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.”
After quoting this verse from Revelation, the Prophet Joseph Smith said, as recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 128:7–8 [D&C 128:7–8]:
“You will discover in this quotation that the books were opened; and another book was opened, which was the book of life; but the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works; consequently, the books spoken of must be the books which contained the record of their works, and refer to the records which are kept on the earth. …“Now, the nature of this ordinance consists in the power of the priesthood, by the revelation of Jesus Christ, wherein it is granted that whatsoever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Or, in other words, taking a different view of the translation, whatsoever you record on earth shall be recorded in heaven, and whatsoever you do not record on earth shall not be recorded in heaven; for out of the books shall your dead be judged.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, comp. Joseph Fielding Smith, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book.)
Sometimes we feel we just don’t have time to write in our journals. I wonder. President Kimball stood before the World Conference on Records last August and said: “By now, in my own personal history, I have managed to fill seventy-eight large volumes, which are my personal journal. There have been times when I have been so tired at the end of a day that the effort could hardly be managed, but I am so grateful that I have not let slip away from me and my posterity those things which needed to be recorded.” (Ensign, Oct. 1980, p. 72.)I am convinced that it is not what we have done here upon the earth that will condemn us at the last day; it is what we have not done that will ultimately stand to judge us. Why? Well the bad things we have done we can repent of and because the Lord Jesus Christ paid for these sins they will be blotted out. So they obviously won’t hurt us. The good things we have done we should record in our journals and personal history and the good things surely won’t hurt us. But the things we have not done, how do we repent of them. It’s what we should have done, and didn’t do, that will constitute our judgment.
Is there any wonder the prophet Joseph said, “The greatest responsibility in this world that God has laid upon us is to seek after our dead. Those saints who neglect it in behalf of their deceased relatives, do it at the peril of their own salvation.” (Teachings of the Prophet, p. 193.)
To become a savior on Mount Zion, then, goes far beyond the performance of the temple ordinance. It encompasses the personal and family history as well as the four-generation-and-beyond research—plus participation in the extraction program.
Of course, none of this would mean very much if we did not have a holy house in which to perform this work. In this sense, temple building then becomes the most important work of this dispensation. How glorious to live upon the earth at this time and have part in the grand work of rearing the Lord’s house in nations around the world so the saving ordinances of the gospel and the ties that bind eternal families may be made available to all the children of the earth! Surely we are the most blessed people who have ever lived, to which I bear witness in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ, amen.
Gary Bergera wrote to Elder Rector inquiring about the difference between the published version of his talk and the version reported in the Deseret News, Church News, and Salt Lake Tribune. Elder Rector replied in a hand-written note: 2
“Sometimes it is not expedient to make people angry by telling them in too plain terms what their problems are. … Also the church [is] hoping to gain entrance into communist China so didn’t want to make waves,” according to an article in Dialogue A Journal of Mormon Thought. “I presume a combination of things made the First Presidency decide to eliminate certain portions of my remarks even tho’ they had received and cleared the talk before it was given. It is OK. They know best. However, what was said is still true.”
(Gary J. Bergera, Letter to Hartman Rector, 11 May 1981; undated response handwritten on the bottom of the letter by Hartman Rector.)
References
References 1 Turning the Hearts, Hartman Rector Jr, April 1981 General Conference – https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1981/04/turning-the-hearts?lang=eng 2 The LDS conference sermon you read online may not match the words spoken from the pulpit — a look at why speeches are sometimes ‘corrected’, The Salt Lake Tribune – https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2018/12/17/lds-conference-sermon/ -
Revelation
Excerpt from a Young Adult Devotional talk by Russell M. Nelson, January 10, 2016: 1
This prophetic process was followed in 2012 with the change in minimum age for missionaries and again with the recent additions to the Church’s handbook, consequent to the legalization of same-sex marriage in some countries. Filled with compassion for all, and especially for the children, we wrestled at length to understand the Lord’s will in this matter. Ever mindful of God’s plan of salvation and of His hope for eternal life for each of His children, we considered countless permutations and combinations of possible scenarios that could arise. We met repeatedly in the temple in fasting and prayer and sought further direction and inspiration. And then, when the Lord inspired His prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, to declare the mind of the Lord and the will of the Lord, each of us during that sacred moment felt a spiritual confirmation. It was our privilege as Apostles to sustain what had been revealed to President Monson. Revelation from the Lord to His servants is a sacred process, and so is your privilege of receiving personal revelation.
Excerpt from a ‘A Message from the First Presidency’, First Presidency Shares Messages from General Conference Leadership Session, 4 April 2019: 2
At the direction of the First Presidency, President Oaks shared that effective immediately, children of parents who identify themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender may be baptized without First Presidency approval if the custodial parents give permission for the baptism and understand both the doctrine that a baptized child will be taught and the covenants he or she will be expected to make.
A nonmember parent or parents (including LGBT parents) can request that their baby be blessed by a worthy Melchizedek Priesthood holder. These parents need to understand that congregation members will contact them periodically, and that when the child who has been blessed reaches 8 years of age, a Church member will contact them and propose that the child be baptized.
Previously, our handbook characterized same-gender marriage by a member as apostasy. While we still consider such a marriage to be a serious transgression, it will not be treated as apostasy for purposes of Church discipline. Instead, the immoral conduct in heterosexual or homosexual relationships will be treated in the same way.
The very positive policies announced this morning should help affected families. In addition, our members’ efforts to show more understanding, compassion and love should increase respect and understanding among all people of goodwill. We want to reduce the hate and contention so common today. We are optimistic that a majority of people — whatever their beliefs and orientations — long for better understanding and less contentious communications. That is surely our desire, and we seek the help of our members and others to attain it.
These new policies are being sent to priesthood leaders worldwide and will be included in online updates to our Church handbook for leaders. These changes do not represent a shift in Church doctrine related to marriage or the commandments of God in regard to chastity and morality. The doctrine of the plan of salvation and the importance of chastity will not change. These policy changes come after an extended period of counseling with our brethren in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and after fervent, united prayer to understand the will of the Lord on these matters.
References
References 1 Becoming True Millennials, Russell M. Nelson, January 10, 2016 – https://www.lds.org/broadcasts/article/worldwide-devotionals/2016/01/becoming-true-millennials?lang=eng 2 First Presidency Shares Messages from General Conference Leadership Session, 4 April 2019 – https://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/first-presidency-messages-general-conference-leadership-session-april-2019 -
Changed
‘First Presidency Statement on Temples’, 2 January 2019: 1
“Whenever the Lord has had a people on the earth who will obey His word, they have been commanded to build temples. Scriptures document patterns of temple worship from the times of Adam and Eve, Moses, Solomon, Nephi, and others.
With the restoration of the gospel in these latter days, temple worship has also been restored to bless the lives of people across the world and on the other side of the veil as well.
Over these many centuries, details associated with temple work have been adjusted periodically, including language, methods of construction, communication, and record-keeping. Prophets have taught that there will be no end to such adjustments as directed by the Lord to His servants.
A dedicated temple is the most holy of any place of worship on the earth. Its ordinances are sacred and are not discussed outside a holy temple.”
Excerpt from the October 1979 General Conference address by David B. Haight: 2
“The crowd was large and pressing toward us, the traffic rather noisy. We were on a close time schedule. It was not an ideal setting, not one I would have chosen to explain the difference between the Lord’s church and others. However, taking advantage of this opportunity, we explained briefly the Apostasy and the Restoration: that there is vast evidence and history of an apostasy from the doctrine taught by Jesus and his Apostles, that the organization of the original Church became corrupted, and sacred ordinances were changed to suit the convenience of men, and that today good people all over the world are confused with contending religions with differing doctrine and methods of worship.”
References
References 1 ‘First Presidency Statement on Temples’, 2 January 2019, Mormon Newsroom – https://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/temple-worship?fbclid=IwAR3L82cFeLcxpWCagtfrwv7oAOikRGA38UvzaVvCV40OGbVbYoswPV1hJFk 2 Joseph Smith the Prophet, October 1979 General Conference, David B. Haight – https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1979/10/joseph-smith-the-prophet?lang=eng -
I Challenge
Excerpt from an October 1977 General Conference address by David B. Haight: 1
My remarks this morning are directed to the young women of the Church, particularly those who are dating our young men. I desire to be appropriate and correct in what I say, but because of necessity and the urgency concerning this matter, I must be very direct and candid.
Some young men cannot go on missions because they are not worthy.
I challenge the young women of the Church who associate with and date our young priesthood bearers to become real guardians of their morality. You can. You must. Many of you are. Please do not underestimate your role. I am aware that the total responsibility is not yours. However, on a date you can set the proper atmosphere to encourage your companion to honor the commandments of God. In fact, you have the opportunity to emphasize the Mormon ideals of womanhood in all their honor and glory. I know the Lord expects it to be so.
You young ladies have a profound influence on young, masculine behavior. Young men wear clothes they think you like. Their hair will be cut to please you. You can control how fast they drive their cars if you want. They will dress as grubby as you like. You need not dress in the extreme fashions of the world. Are you aware that fashions and styles are promoted because someone has a product to sell? The rightness or appropriateness or effect on a youthful society does not matter as long as it sells. But the day will come when the world will follow the ways of the Church. Its influence will be as though flowing from the stars to affect the actions of men. Your influence with young men is important. You encourage Church standards and dress and conduct.
Interviews with some prospective missionaries regretfully indicate that some actions involving young women are most disappointing. Some are even ugly and are far, far different from what is expected of you. The Savior knew so well our weaknesses. He warned: “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit … is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matt. 26:41.)
Young women, lift the tenor of your association with our young men now preparing to be worthy so their bishops will be impressed to call them on missions. The young man you are with in a car or at home is needed in the Lord’s work. Hundreds, even thousands more like him are needed—prepared in the Lord’s way.
Young men—maturing, learning, and forming habits—have ideals and special persons they admire. You may be such a person. In a matter of months these young men will become missionaries and will be blessed so as to be able to teach investigators by the Spirit. The Lord said, “And the Spirit shall be given … by the prayer of faith; and if ye receive not the Spirit ye shall not teach.” (D&C 42:14.) Our missionaries teach and testify by the Spirit. But they must be in tune with the Lord. Hoping for the Spirit is not enough. Praying is not enough. Missionaries must do what the Lord requires: live the commandments, be clean, be wholesome in deed and thoughts. “The Lord hath said he dwelleth not in unholy temples.” (Alma 34:36.)
“Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place?
“He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart.” (Ps. 24:3–4.) The Psalmist is teaching the necessity of clean actions that comply with divine law—a pure heart, pure thoughts, a desire to live in harmony with the Lord and to love Him.References
References 1 Young Women—Real Guardians, October 1977 General Conference, David B. Haight – https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1977/10/young-women-real-guardians?lang=eng -
War in Heaven
Excerpt from an April 1939 General Conference Address by Apostle George F. Richards: 1
PUNISHMENT OF THOSE NOT VALIANT
The negro is an unfortunate man. He has been given a black skin. But that is as nothing compared with that greater handicap that he is not permitted to receive the Priesthood and the ordinances of the temple, necessary to prepare men and women to enter into and enjoy a fulness of glory in the celestial kingdom.What is the reason for this condition, we ask, and I find it to my satisfaction to think that as spirit children of our Eternal Father they were not valiant in the fight. We are told that Michael and his angels fought, and we understand that we stood with Christ our Lord, on the platform, “Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever.” I cannot conceive our Father consigning his children to a condition such as that of the negro race, if they had been valiant in the spirit world in that war in heaven. Neither could they have been a part of those who rebelled and were cast down, for the latter had not the privilege of tabernacling in the flesh. Somewhere along the line were these spirits, indifferent perhaps, and possibly neutral in the war. We have no definite knowledge concerning this. But I learn this lesson from it, brethren and sisters, and I believe we all should, that it does not pay in religious matters, matters that pertain to our eternal salvation, to be indifferent, neutral, or lukewarm.
References
References 1 Apostle George F. Richards, October 1939, General Conference – https://archive.org/details/conferencereport1939a/page/n59 -
It Does Not Pay
Excerpt from an October 1947 General Conference Address by Apostle George F. Richards: 1
“PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED
We have many object lessons given us in the scriptures from which to profit. In the council in heaven, before the world was, two courses were placed before us; that proposed by the Firstborn, and the other by Lucifer; the one leading unto everlasting life, the other to everlasting disappointment. We had definitely decided before coming to earth which course to follow.
The Negro race have been forbidden the priesthood, and the higher temple blessings, presumably because of their not having been valiant while in the spirit. It does not pay to be anything but valiant.”
References
References 1 ‘Obedience, the Way of Exaltation’, October 1947 General Conference – https://archive.org/details/conferencereport1947sa/page/n0 -
Not Wealthy
Excerpt from an April 2006 address by Thomas S. Monson, ’Our Sacred Priesthood Trust’: 1
“I have experienced many opportunities. One occurred 21 years ago, prior to the time when the German Democratic Republic—or East Germany, as it was more commonly known—was freed from Communist rule. I was visiting with the East German state secretary, Minister Gysi. At that time our temple at Freiberg, in East Germany, was under construction, along with two or three meetinghouses. Minister Gysi and I visited on a number of subjects, including our worldwide building program. He then asked, “Why is your church so wealthy that you can afford to build buildings in our country and throughout the world? How do you get your money?”
I answered that the Church is not wealthy but that we follow the ancient biblical principle of tithing, which principle is reemphasized in our modern scripture. I explained also that our Church has no paid ministry and indicated that these were two reasons why we were able to build the buildings then under way, including the beautiful temple at Freiberg.”
‘MormonLeaks: LDS Church connected to at least $32B in U.S. stock market’, KUTV News, May 30 2018: 2
“The church — officially titled The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — does not not publish the details of its finances, but the website MormonLeaks.io released information it says connects the church to 13 LLC companies that collectively owned the stocks at the end of 2017 and provides the collective value at $32,769,914,000. One of the financial reports was from 2015.
MormonLeaks wrote that each of the 13 companies have domains that are hosted by the LDS Church servers, that also hosts LDS.org and Mormon.org. “All of them were registered on July 21, 2016,” according to MormonLeaks, that also provided a more technical explanation. It claimed there is little doubt the LLC domains are owned the church.”
Further Study
MormonLeaks™ Compiles Information Connecting Mormon Church to $32 Billion of Investments – https://mormonleaks.io/newsroom/2018/05/30/mormonleaks-compiles-information-connecting-mormon-church-to-32-billion-of-investments/
References
References 1 Our Sacred Priesthood Trust – https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2006/04/our-sacred-priesthood-trust?lang=eng 2 MormonLeaks: LDS Church connected to at least $32B in U.S. stock market – http://kutv.com/news/local/mormonleaks-says-new-documents-link-lds-church-to-companies-worth-over-32-billion -
Young Wives
Excerpt from a September 30, 1973 BYU Devotional by Spencer W. Kimball: 1
DO NOT POSTPONE MARRIAGE AND CHILDREN
But, of course, marriage cannot wait for that. We shall marry, have our families, teach and train them, while we are learning these other things and building toward our creatorship. Marriage should come when we are reasonably young, to procreate and bear children, to have the patience to teach and train them and to grow up with them. Hence, marriage is a must, an early must. Of course, we would decry child marriages, but when young people are in their upper years of collegiate work surely it is time to plan this important life’s work. Missionaries should begin to think marriage—when they return from their missions, to begin to get acquainted with many young women so that they will have a better basis for selection of a life’s companion. And when the time comes they should marry in the holy temple and have their families, and complete their education, and establish themselves in a profitable and rewarding occupation, and give themselves to their families, the gospel, and the Church.Brothers and sisters, this is not a matter of jest. It isn’t anything to laugh about. This is the most serious thing in all the world that lies ahead of you unmarried young people.
The San Francisco Chronicle and Examiner had an article in it last year entitled “The Anti-Marriage Revolution.” The article came from a young woman, not a member, who wrote to me:
I wish it were possible for all these misguided, unfortunate young people to become receptive to your message. . . I am investigating the Mormon Church and one of the most favorable aspects of the wonderful teachings is the concern and rapport for and with the young people. That, as well as other reasons, keeps me diligently studying to become worthy for membership in the Mormon Church. [Letter from Miss Nagene Ellis]
In magazines we frequently see articles on this antimarriage revolution, although we don’t hear about it so much in our little communities here. Let me say again, marriage is honorable. It’s a plan of God. It is not a whim, a choice, a preference only; it’s a must.
We are talking to normal young people. Generally there are husbands for most young women. There might be an occasional young woman who does not find her companion, but there is little excuse for the normal young man. I tell young women who seem to have missed their chance for desirable marriage that they should do all in their power to make themselves attractive physically in dress and grooming, mentally in being knowledgeable on many subjects, spiritually in being responsive emotionally in being genuine and worthy. And if one fails to find a companion after having done everything possible, then there will be provision for her in eternity.
The first commandment recorded seems to have been “Multiply and replenish the earth.” Let no one ever think that the command came to have children without marriage. No such suggestion could ever have foundation. When God had created the woman, he brought her unto the man and gave her to him as his wife, and commanded, “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh” (Genesis 2:24).
There is enough in that one line to make a hundred sermons. Think it through very carefully, every word. This was not the evolution of Adam to human status. Adam was already an intelligent, trained, and knowledgeable man. He was a prophet in his first recorded days on earth (see Moses 5), and this prophet blessed God and prophesied concerning his posterity. He saw the future and proclaimed:
In this life I shall have joy, and again in the flesh I shall see God.
And Eve, his wife, heard all these things and was glad, saying: Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient.
And Adam and Eve . . . made all things known unto their sons and their daughters. . . .
. . . [They] ceased not to call upon God. [Moses 5: 10-12, 16]
In true order, Adam knew Eve, his wife, and she conceived and bore Adam’s children—many children. And a book of remembrance was kept, and recordings were made in the language of Adam. And angels came from God to teach them by the spirit of revelation. Their children—thirty-three sons and twenty-three daughters, according to Josephus—were taught to read and write in the language which was pure and undefiled. Adam and his righteous sons were baptized, received the Holy Ghost, and received the priesthood. They kept the genealogical records of their fast-expanding families. This would indicate, then, that Adam was a great man when we first are introduced to him. He didn’t come from the jungle.
I have told many groups of young people that they should not postpone their marriage until they have acquired all of their education ambitions. I have told tens of thousands of young folks that when they marry they should not wait for children until they have finished their schooling and financial desires. Marriage is basically for the family, and when people have found their proper companions there should be no long delay. They should live together normally and let the children come.
There seems to be a growing feeling that marriage is for legal sex, for sex’s sake. Marriage is basically for the family; that is why we marry—not for the satisfaction of the sex, as the world around us would have us believe. When people have found their companions, there should be no long delay. Young wives should be occupied in bearing and rearing their children. I know of no scriptures where an authorization is given to young wives to withhold their families and to go to work to put their husbands through school. There are thousands of husbands who have worked their own way through school and have reared families at the same time. Though it is more difficult, young people can make their way through their educational programs. On most campuses there are married student buildings for their living. It’s a good experience to learn to save and to scratch and to economize.
President J. Reuben Clark, Jr., gave us this:
There is some belief, too much I fear, that sex desire is planted in us solely for the pleasures of full gratification; that the begetting of children is only an unfortunate incident. The direct opposite is the fact. Sex desire was planted in us in order to be sure that bodies would be begotten to house the spirits; the pleasure of gratification of the desire is an incident, not the primary purpose of the desire.
He said further:
As to sex in marriage, the necessary treatise on that for Latter-day Saints can be written in two sentences: Remember the prime purpose of sex desires is to beget children. Sex gratifications must be had at that hazard. You husbands, be kind and considerate of your wives. They are not your property; they are not mere conveniences; they are your partners for time and eternity. [General Priesthood Conference, October 1949, pp. 194–95]
Billy Graham gave us this statement:
One thing the Bible does not teach is that sex in itself is sin. Far from being prudish, the Bible celebrates sex and its proper use, presenting it as God-created, God-ordained, God-blessed. It makes plain that God himself implanted the physical magnetism between the sexes for two reasons: for the propagation of the human race, and for the expression of that kind of love between man and wife that makes for true oneness. His command to the first man and woman to be “one flesh” was as important as his command to be “fruitful and multiply”.
The Bible makes plain that evil, when related to sex, means not the use of something inherently corrupt, but the misuse of something pure and good. It teaches that sex can be a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. It can be a creative force more powerful than any other in fostering of love, companionship, happiness, or can be the most destructive of all life’s forces. [Reader’s Digest, May 1970, p. 118]
Another thing. It is my opinion that young women often frustrate their own best interests. Generally they are as well off financially on the campus as are their young men counterparts, especially those who have spent their accumulated funds on missions, so that young women should not be demanding of expensive dinners and corsages and cars and other things which often are the basis for dates and courtship. Perhaps the high cost of courting may be one reason for the delayed courtships and marriages. Young people, then, should date and court in a serious mood, and when the right time and the right person come there should be marriage and family and real life.
Last week I tore out of a magazine a full-page advertisement with a picture of Albert Einstein, with his drooping eyes, his sleepy looks, and his tousled hair. This was the great Einstein, highly publicized, greatly admired. It was stated that Albert Einstein admitted that he had had only two ideas in his life. These had brought him fame and universal honor.
This is about all that you young people need, two ideas: (1) Where am I going? (2) How do I get there? Again: First, what is my goal, and, second, how do I reach it? Of course, that includes numerous lesser secondary goals. If we turn our eyes from our basic goal and get diverted along the way, we shall, like Little Red Riding Hood, lose our way and run into trouble with the wolf. Basic then to this goal is proper and lasting and loving marriage.
Great promises are made to every couple, and this by the Lord and his prophets, that as parents plan their lives and carry forward their marriage in selflessness and rear their children with care and love, they have rejoicing in their posterity throughout their lives. Their joy is full; their cup runneth over.
As we approach this vital subject, we are reminded of the scripture where the Lord says:
Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.
When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know not whence ye are: . . .
There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. [Luke 13:24–25, 28]
And again, we repeat for emphasis from Matthew: “Enter ye in at the strait gate.” That’s an s-t-r-a-i-t gate, not the shortest distance between two points. Strait means hard, difficult, exacting, that kind of a gate. And that’s the kind of a gate that marriage is. An eternal marriage is also strait and difficult, but it’s rewarding and beautiful. “Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:13–14).
Now, all Latter-day Saints are not going to be exalted. All people who have been through the holy temple are not going to be exalted. The Lord says, “Few there be that find it.” For there are the two elements: (1) the sealing of a marriage in the holy temple, and (2) righteous living through one’s life thereafter to make that sealing permanent. Only through proper marriage—and I repeat that—only through proper marriage can one find that strait way, the narrow path. No one can ever have life, real life, in any other way under any other program. Sexual life outside of marriage, whether it be heterosexual or homosexual, is as a dream of the night that fades when the sun comes up. It is as the froth that accumulates on pounding waters.
Today, to offset and neutralize the evil teachings in the media and on the cameras and in the show and on the street, we must teach marriage, proper marriage, eternal marriage. When we realize the great number of young people who do not marry in the temple, we wonder if we have been failing our responsibility.
What we are saying about eternal marriage is not my opinion nor the opinion of the leaders of the Church. This is the word of God, which supersedes all opinions.
References
References 1 Marriage is Honorable, Spencer W. Kimball – https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/spencer-w-kimball_marriage-honorable/ -
Reasonably Young
Excerpt from a September 30, 1973 BYU Devotional by Spencer W. Kimball: 1
DO NOT POSTPONE MARRIAGE AND CHILDREN
But, of course, marriage cannot wait for that. We shall marry, have our families, teach and train them, while we are learning these other things and building toward our creatorship. Marriage should come when we are reasonably young, to procreate and bear children, to have the patience to teach and train them and to grow up with them. Hence, marriage is a must, an early must. Of course, we would decry child marriages, but when young people are in their upper years of collegiate work surely it is time to plan this important life’s work. Missionaries should begin to think marriage—when they return from their missions, to begin to get acquainted with many young women so that they will have a better basis for selection of a life’s companion. And when the time comes they should marry in the holy temple and have their families, and complete their education, and establish themselves in a profitable and rewarding occupation, and give themselves to their families, the gospel, and the Church.Brothers and sisters, this is not a matter of jest. It isn’t anything to laugh about. This is the most serious thing in all the world that lies ahead of you unmarried young people.
The San Francisco Chronicle and Examiner had an article in it last year entitled “The Anti-Marriage Revolution.” The article came from a young woman, not a member, who wrote to me:
I wish it were possible for all these misguided, unfortunate young people to become receptive to your message. . . I am investigating the Mormon Church and one of the most favorable aspects of the wonderful teachings is the concern and rapport for and with the young people. That, as well as other reasons, keeps me diligently studying to become worthy for membership in the Mormon Church. [Letter from Miss Nagene Ellis]
In magazines we frequently see articles on this antimarriage revolution, although we don’t hear about it so much in our little communities here. Let me say again, marriage is honorable. It’s a plan of God. It is not a whim, a choice, a preference only; it’s a must.
We are talking to normal young people. Generally there are husbands for most young women. There might be an occasional young woman who does not find her companion, but there is little excuse for the normal young man. I tell young women who seem to have missed their chance for desirable marriage that they should do all in their power to make themselves attractive physically in dress and grooming, mentally in being knowledgeable on many subjects, spiritually in being responsive emotionally in being genuine and worthy. And if one fails to find a companion after having done everything possible, then there will be provision for her in eternity.
The first commandment recorded seems to have been “Multiply and replenish the earth.” Let no one ever think that the command came to have children without marriage. No such suggestion could ever have foundation. When God had created the woman, he brought her unto the man and gave her to him as his wife, and commanded, “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh” (Genesis 2:24).
There is enough in that one line to make a hundred sermons. Think it through very carefully, every word. This was not the evolution of Adam to human status. Adam was already an intelligent, trained, and knowledgeable man. He was a prophet in his first recorded days on earth (see Moses 5), and this prophet blessed God and prophesied concerning his posterity. He saw the future and proclaimed:
In this life I shall have joy, and again in the flesh I shall see God.
And Eve, his wife, heard all these things and was glad, saying: Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient.
And Adam and Eve . . . made all things known unto their sons and their daughters. . . .
. . . [They] ceased not to call upon God. [Moses 5: 10-12, 16]
In true order, Adam knew Eve, his wife, and she conceived and bore Adam’s children—many children. And a book of remembrance was kept, and recordings were made in the language of Adam. And angels came from God to teach them by the spirit of revelation. Their children—thirty-three sons and twenty-three daughters, according to Josephus—were taught to read and write in the language which was pure and undefiled. Adam and his righteous sons were baptized, received the Holy Ghost, and received the priesthood. They kept the genealogical records of their fast-expanding families. This would indicate, then, that Adam was a great man when we first are introduced to him. He didn’t come from the jungle.
I have told many groups of young people that they should not postpone their marriage until they have acquired all of their education ambitions. I have told tens of thousands of young folks that when they marry they should not wait for children until they have finished their schooling and financial desires. Marriage is basically for the family, and when people have found their proper companions there should be no long delay. They should live together normally and let the children come.
There seems to be a growing feeling that marriage is for legal sex, for sex’s sake. Marriage is basically for the family; that is why we marry—not for the satisfaction of the sex, as the world around us would have us believe. When people have found their companions, there should be no long delay. Young wives should be occupied in bearing and rearing their children. I know of no scriptures where an authorization is given to young wives to withhold their families and to go to work to put their husbands through school. There are thousands of husbands who have worked their own way through school and have reared families at the same time. Though it is more difficult, young people can make their way through their educational programs. On most campuses there are married student buildings for their living. It’s a good experience to learn to save and to scratch and to economize.
President J. Reuben Clark, Jr., gave us this:
There is some belief, too much I fear, that sex desire is planted in us solely for the pleasures of full gratification; that the begetting of children is only an unfortunate incident. The direct opposite is the fact. Sex desire was planted in us in order to be sure that bodies would be begotten to house the spirits; the pleasure of gratification of the desire is an incident, not the primary purpose of the desire.
He said further:
As to sex in marriage, the necessary treatise on that for Latter-day Saints can be written in two sentences: Remember the prime purpose of sex desires is to beget children. Sex gratifications must be had at that hazard. You husbands, be kind and considerate of your wives. They are not your property; they are not mere conveniences; they are your partners for time and eternity. [General Priesthood Conference, October 1949, pp. 194–95]
Billy Graham gave us this statement:
One thing the Bible does not teach is that sex in itself is sin. Far from being prudish, the Bible celebrates sex and its proper use, presenting it as God-created, God-ordained, God-blessed. It makes plain that God himself implanted the physical magnetism between the sexes for two reasons: for the propagation of the human race, and for the expression of that kind of love between man and wife that makes for true oneness. His command to the first man and woman to be “one flesh” was as important as his command to be “fruitful and multiply”.
The Bible makes plain that evil, when related to sex, means not the use of something inherently corrupt, but the misuse of something pure and good. It teaches that sex can be a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. It can be a creative force more powerful than any other in fostering of love, companionship, happiness, or can be the most destructive of all life’s forces. [Reader’s Digest, May 1970, p. 118]
Another thing. It is my opinion that young women often frustrate their own best interests. Generally they are as well off financially on the campus as are their young men counterparts, especially those who have spent their accumulated funds on missions, so that young women should not be demanding of expensive dinners and corsages and cars and other things which often are the basis for dates and courtship. Perhaps the high cost of courting may be one reason for the delayed courtships and marriages. Young people, then, should date and court in a serious mood, and when the right time and the right person come there should be marriage and family and real life.
Last week I tore out of a magazine a full-page advertisement with a picture of Albert Einstein, with his drooping eyes, his sleepy looks, and his tousled hair. This was the great Einstein, highly publicized, greatly admired. It was stated that Albert Einstein admitted that he had had only two ideas in his life. These had brought him fame and universal honor.
This is about all that you young people need, two ideas: (1) Where am I going? (2) How do I get there? Again: First, what is my goal, and, second, how do I reach it? Of course, that includes numerous lesser secondary goals. If we turn our eyes from our basic goal and get diverted along the way, we shall, like Little Red Riding Hood, lose our way and run into trouble with the wolf. Basic then to this goal is proper and lasting and loving marriage.
Great promises are made to every couple, and this by the Lord and his prophets, that as parents plan their lives and carry forward their marriage in selflessness and rear their children with care and love, they have rejoicing in their posterity throughout their lives. Their joy is full; their cup runneth over.
As we approach this vital subject, we are reminded of the scripture where the Lord says:
Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.
When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know not whence ye are: . . .
There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. [Luke 13:24–25, 28]
And again, we repeat for emphasis from Matthew: “Enter ye in at the strait gate.” That’s an s-t-r-a-i-t gate, not the shortest distance between two points. Strait means hard, difficult, exacting, that kind of a gate. And that’s the kind of a gate that marriage is. An eternal marriage is also strait and difficult, but it’s rewarding and beautiful. “Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:13–14).
Now, all Latter-day Saints are not going to be exalted. All people who have been through the holy temple are not going to be exalted. The Lord says, “Few there be that find it.” For there are the two elements: (1) the sealing of a marriage in the holy temple, and (2) righteous living through one’s life thereafter to make that sealing permanent. Only through proper marriage—and I repeat that—only through proper marriage can one find that strait way, the narrow path. No one can ever have life, real life, in any other way under any other program. Sexual life outside of marriage, whether it be heterosexual or homosexual, is as a dream of the night that fades when the sun comes up. It is as the froth that accumulates on pounding waters.
Today, to offset and neutralize the evil teachings in the media and on the cameras and in the show and on the street, we must teach marriage, proper marriage, eternal marriage. When we realize the great number of young people who do not marry in the temple, we wonder if we have been failing our responsibility.
What we are saying about eternal marriage is not my opinion nor the opinion of the leaders of the Church. This is the word of God, which supersedes all opinions.
References
References 1 Marriage is Honorable, Spencer W. Kimball – https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/spencer-w-kimball_marriage-honorable/ -
Oath of Vengeance
In Mormonism, the oath of vengeance (or law of vengeance) was an oath that was made by participants in the endowment ritual of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) between about 1845 and the early 1930s, in which participants vowed to pray that God would avenge the blood of the prophets Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith, who were assassinated in 1844 by a mob.
Incorporation into the Nauvoo Endowment
The oath of vengeance was an addition made to the Nauvoo endowment under the direction of Brigham Young by 1845 in the Nauvoo Temple, soon after the 1844 death of Joseph Smith. Participants agreed to be bound by the following oath:
You and each of you do covenant and promise that you will pray and never cease to pray to Almighty God to avenge the blood of the prophets upon this nation, and that you will teach the same to your children and to your children’s children unto the third and fourth generation.
“The prophets” referred to Joseph and Hyrum Smith, who were killed in 1844 by a mob while in jail in Carthage, Illinois. “This nation” referred to the United States.
The oath entered the endowment at a time when many Mormons hoped for retribution for the deaths of Joseph and Hyrum Smith. At least one member of the LDS First Presidency understood the oath to include a personal obligation that, “if he had ever met any of those who had taken a hand in that massacre he would undoubtedly have attempted to avenge the blood of the martyrs.”However, other Mormons understood the oath to require only prayer for God’s vengeance, and not any obligation to take vengeance personally.
The prayer to which endowed Mormons obligated themselves took place, in at least some cases, as part of the Mormon prayer circle ceremony, which was also part of the endowment, but was often performed separately. 1
References
References 1 Oath of Vengeance – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oath_of_vengeance -
Obedience
Excerpt from an address by Dallin H. Oaks in the ‘Be One’ celebration, June 1, 2018 : 1
“I observed the pain and frustration experienced by those who suffered these restrictions and those who criticized them and sought for reasons. I studied the reasons then being given and could not feel confirmation of the truth of any of them. As part of my prayerful study, I learned that, in general, the Lord rarely gives reasons for the commandments and directions He gives to His servants. I determined to be loyal to our prophetic leaders and to pray — as promised from the beginning of these restrictions — that the day would come when all would enjoy the blessings of priesthood and temple.”
Quote attributed to H.L. Mencken
“Morality is doing what is right regardless of what you are told. Obedience is doing what is told regardless of what is right.”
References
References 1 ‘President Oaks Remarks at Worldwide Priesthood Celebration’, Mormon Newsroom – https://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/president-oaks-remarks-worldwide-priesthood-celebration -
Seer Stone Not Used
Excerpt from Joseph Fielding Smith’s, Doctrines of Salvation, 3:225: 1
SEER STONE NOT USED IN BOOK OF MORMON TRANSLATION.
We have been taught since the days of the Prophet that the Urim and Thummim were returned with the plates to the angel. We have no record of the Prophet having the Urim and Thummim after the organization of the Church. Statements of translations by the Urim and Thummim after that date are evidently errors. The statement has been made that the Urim and Thummim was on the altar in the Manti Temple when that building was dedicated. The Urim and Thummim so spoken of, however, was the seer stone which was in the possession of the Prophet Joseph Smith in early days. This seer stone is now in the possession of the Church.While the statement has been made by some writers that the Prophet Joseph Smith used a seer stone part of the time in his translating of the record, and information points to the fact that he did have in his possession such a stone, yet there is no authentic statement in the history of the Church which states that the use of such a stone was made in that translation. The information is all hearsay, and personally, I do not believe that this stone was used for this purpose. The reason I give for this conclusion is found in the statement of the Lord to the Brother of Jared as recorded in Ether 3:22-24
These stones, the Urim and Thummim which were given to the Brother of Jared, were preserved for this very purpose of translating the record, both of the Jaredites and the Nephites. Then again the Prophet was impressed by Moroni with the fact that these stones were given for that very purpose. It hardly seems reasonable to suppose that the Prophet would substitute something evidently inferior under these circumstances. It may have been so, but it is so easy for a story of this kind to be circulated due to the fact that the Prophet did possess a seer stone, which he may have used for some other purposes.
Excerpt from the LDS Gospel Topic Essay, ‘Book of Mormon Translation’: 2
The other instrument, which Joseph Smith discovered in the ground years before he retrieved the gold plates, was a small oval stone, or “seer stone.” As a young man during the 1820s, Joseph Smith, like others in his day, used a seer stone to look for lost objects and buried treasure. As Joseph grew to understand his prophetic calling, he learned that he could use this stone for the higher purpose of translating scripture.
Apparently for convenience, Joseph often translated with the single seer stone rather than the two stones bound together to form the interpreters. These two instruments—the interpreters and the seer stone—were apparently interchangeable and worked in much the same way such that, in the course of time, Joseph Smith and his associates often used the term “Urim and Thummim” to refer to the single stone as well as the interpreters. In ancient times, Israelite priests used the Urim and Thummim to assist in receiving divine communications. Although commentators differ on the nature of the instrument, several ancient sources state that the instrument involved stones that lit up or were divinely illumined. Latter-day Saints later understood the term “Urim and Thummim” to refer exclusively to the interpreters. Joseph Smith and others, however, seem to have understood the term more as a descriptive category of instruments for obtaining divine revelations and less as the name of a specific instrument.
References
References 1 Doctrines of Salvation – https://archive.org/details/Doctrines-of-Salvation-volume-1-2-3-joseph-fielding-smith 2 Book of Mormon Translation – https://www.lds.org/topics/book-of-mormon-translation?lang=eng -
No God
On June 1, 1980 Apostle Bruce R. McConkie gave an address at BYU entitled ‘The Seven Deadly Heresies’. The text version of this talk was drastically altered from the original audio address. 1
Below is a comparison of the two versions.
Printed version Audio version I have sought and do now seek that guidance and enlightenment which comes from the Holy Spirit of God. I desire to speak by the power Of the Holy Ghost so that my words will be true and wise and proper. When any of us speak by the power of the Spirit, we say what the Lord wants said, or, better, what he would say if he were here in person. I have sought very diligently to be given utterance and have the guidance of the spirit tonight in what I hope I will be able to say to you. I shall depart from my normal and usual pattern and read portions of my presentation because I want to state temperately and accurately the doctrinal principles involved and to say them in a way that will not leave room for doubt or question. I shall speak on some matters that some may consider to be controversial, though they ought not to be. They are things on which we ought to be united, and to the extent we are all guided and enlightened from on high we will be. If we are so united-and there will be no disagreement among those who believe and understand the revealed word-we will progress and advance and grow in the things of the Spirit; we will prepare ourselves for a life of peace and happiness and joy here and now, and for an eventual eternal reward in the kingdom of our Father. I am going to depart from a normal and usual pattern and read portions of what is involved because I want to state temperately and accurately the views that I have and say them in a way that will not leave room for doubt or for question. I intend to speak on some matters that some would consider to be controversial, they ought not to be. They are things upon which we ought to be united, and proportionately as we are, we’ll make progress and advance and grow in the things of the Spirit and prepare ourselves for a life of peace and happiness and joy here and for eventual eternal reward in the kingdom of our Father. There is a song or a saying or a proverb or a legend or a tradition or something that speaks of seven deadly sins. I know nothing whatever about these and hope you do not. My subject is one about which some few of you, unfortunately, do know a little. It is “‘The Seven Deadly Heresies”-not the great heresies of a lost and fallen Christendom, but some that have crept in among us. There is a song or a saying or a proverb or a legend or a tradition or something, that speaks of seven deadly sins. I know nothing whatever about these and hope you do not.
My subject is one about which some of you, unfortunately, do know a little. It is “The Seven Deadly Heresies” – not the great heresies of a lost and fallen Christendom, but some which have crept in among us.Now I take a text. These words were written by Paul to certain ancient Saints. In principle they apply to us: I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it. For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you. [1 Cor. 11:18-19] Now I take a text. These words were written by Paul to ancient Saints. In principle they apply to us: “I hear that there be divisions among you,” he said; “and I partly believe it. For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.” [1 Cor. 11:18-19] Now let me list some axioms (I guess in academic circles we call these caveats): Now let me list some axioms. I guess in academic circles we call these caveats: There is no salvation in believing a false doctrine. There is no salvation in believing a false doctrine. Truth, diamond truth, truth unmixed with error, truth alone leads to salvation. Truth, diamond truth, truth unmixed with error, truth alone leads to salvation. What we believe determines what we do. What we believe determines what we do. No man can be saved in ignorance of God and his laws. No man can be saved in ignorance of God and his laws. Man is saved no faster than he gains knowledge of Jesus Christ and the saving truths of his everlasting gospel. Man is saved no faster than he gains knowledge of Jesus Christ and the saving truths of his everlasting gospel. Gospel doctrines belong to the Lord, not to men. They are his. He ordained them, he reveals them, and he expects us to believe them. Gospel doctrines belong to the Lord, not to men. They are His. He ordained them, he reveals them, and he expects us to believe them. The doctrines of salvation are not discovered in the laboratory or on a geological field trip or by accompanying Darwin around the world. They come by revelation and in no other way. The doctrines of salvation are not discovered in the laboratory or on a geological field trip or by accompanying Darwin around the world. They come by revelation and in no other way. Our sole concern in seeking truth should be to learn and believe what the Lord knows and believes. Providentially he has set forth some of his views in the holy scriptures. Our goal as mortals is to gain the mind of Christ, to believe what he believes, to think what he thinks, to say what he says, to do what he does, and to be as he is. Our sole concern in seeking truth should be to learn and believe what the Lord knows and believes. Providentially he has set forth some of his views in the Holy Scriptures. Our goal as mortals is to gain the mind of Christ, to believe what he believes, to think what he thinks, to say what he says, to do what he does, and to be as he is. We are called upon to reject all heresies and cleave unto all truth. Only then can we progress according to the divine plan. As the Lord has said, We are called upon to reject all heresies and cleave unto all truth. Only then can we progress according to the divine plan. “Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection. And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come.” [D&C 130:18-19] “Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection. And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come.” [D7C 130:18-19] Please note that knowledge is gained by obedience. It comes by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel. In the ultimate and full sense it comes only by revelation from the Holy Ghost. There are some things a sinful man does not and cannot know. The Lord’s people are promised: “By the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things” (Moro. 10:5). But if they do not seek the Spirit, if they do not accept the revelations God has given, if they cannot distinguish between the revealed word and the theories of men, they have no promise of gaining a fulness of truth by the power of the Holy Ghost. Please note that knowledge is gained by obedience. There are some things a sinful man does not and cannot know. Now may I suggest the list of heresies. Now may I suggest the list of heresies? Heresy one
Printed version Audio version There are those who say that God is progressing in knowledge and is learning new truths. There are those who say that God is progressing in knowledge and is learning new truths. This is false-utterly, totally, and completely. There is not one sliver of truth in it. It grows out of a wholly twisted and incorrect view of the King Follett Sermon and of what is meant by eternal progression. This is false-utterly, totally, and completely. There is not one sliver of truth in it. It grows out of a wholly twisted and incorrect view of the King Follett Sermon and of what is meant by eternal progression. God progresses in the sense that his kingdoms increase and his dominions multiply-not in the sense that he learn new truths and discovers new laws. God is not a student. He is not a laboratory technician. He is not postulating new theories on the basis of past experiences. He has indeed graduated to that state of exaltation that consists of knowing all things and having all power. God progresses in the sense that his kingdoms increase and his dominions multiply – not in the sense that he learns new truths and discovers new laws. God is not a student. He is not a laboratory technician. He is not postulating new theories on the basis of past experiences. He has indeed graduated to that state of exaltation which consists of knowing all things and having all power. The life that God lives is named eternal life. His name, one of them, is “Eternal,” using that word as a noun and not as an adjective, and he uses that name to identify the type of life that he lives. God’s life is eternal life, and eternal life is God’s life. They are one and the same. Eternal life is the reward we shall obtain if we believe and obey and walk uprightly before him. And eternal life consists of two things. It consists of life in the family unit, and also, of inheriting, receiving, and possessing the fulness of the glory of the Father. Anyone who has each of these things is an inheritor and possessor of the greatest of all gifts of God, which is eternal life. Now, the life that God lives is named eternal life. His name, one of them, is “Eternal,” and He applies that name to identify the type of life that He lives. And eternal life is the goal that we are able to obtain if we believe and obey and walk uprightly before Him. And eternal life consists of two things; life in the family unit, and, also, of inheriting, receiving, and possessing the fullness of the glory of the Father. Anyone who has each of those things is an inheritor and possessor of the greatest of all the gifts of God, which is eternal life. Eternal progression consists of living the kind of life God lives and of increasing in kingdoms and dominions everlastingly. Why anyone should suppose that an infinite and eternal being who has presided in our universe for almost 2,555,000,000 years, who made the sidereal heavens, whose creations are more numerous than the particles of the earth, and who is aware of the fall of every sparrow-why anyone would suppose that such a being has more to learn and new truths to discover in the laboratories of eternity is totally beyond my- comprehension. And eternal progression consists in living the kind of life that God lives and of increasing in kingdoms and dominions everlastingly. Why anyone should suppose that an infinite and eternal being who has presided in our universe for almost 2,555,000,000 years, who made the sidereal heavens, whose creations are more numerous than the particles of the earth, and who is aware of the fall of every sparrow – why anyone would suppose that such a being has more to learn and new truths to discover in the laboratories of eternity is totally beyond comprehension. Will he one day learn something that will destroy the plan of salvation and turn man and the universe into an uncreated nothingness? Will he discover a better plan of salvation than the one he has already given to men in worlds without number? Will He one day learn something that will destroy the plan of salvation and turn man and the universe into an uncreated nothingness? Will He discover a better plan of salvation than the one he has already given to men in worlds without number? I have been sorely tempted to say at this point that any who so suppose have the intellect of an ant, and the understanding of a clod of miry clay in a primordial swamp. [laughter] But, of course, I would never say a thing like that! [laughter] I have been sorely tempted to say at this point that any who so suppose have the intellect of an ant and the understanding of a clod of miry clay in a primordial swamp [laughter], but of course I would never say a thing like that. [laughter] The saving truth, as revealed to and taught, formally and officially, by the Prophet Joseph Smith in the Lectures on Faith is that God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. He knows all things, he has all power, and he is everywhere present by the power of his Spirit. And unless we know and believe this doctrine we cannot gain faith unto life and salvation. The saving truth, as revealed to and taught, by the Prophet Joseph Smith is that God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. He knows all things, has all power, and is everywhere present by the power of his Spirit. And unless we know and believe this doctrine we cannot gain faith unto life and salvation. Joseph Smith also taught in the Lectures on Faith “that three things are necessary in order that any rational and intelligent being may exercise faith in God unto life and salvation.” These he named as- Joseph Smith taught that “three things are necessary in order that any rational and intelligent being may exercise faith in God unto life and salvation.” These he named as: 1. The idea that he actually exists; 1. The idea that He actually exists; 2. A correct idea of his character, perfections, and attributes; and 2. A correct idea of his character, perfections, and attributes; and 3. An actual knowledge that the course of life which he is pursuing is according to the divine will. 3. An actual knowledge that the course of life which he is pursuing is according to the divine will. The attributes of God are given as knowledge, faith or power, justice, judgment, mercy, and truth. The perfections of God are named as “the perfections which belong to all of the attributes of his nature,” which is to say that God possesses and has all knowledge, all faith or power, all justice, all judgment, all mercy, and all truth. He is indeed the very embodiment and personification and source of all these attributes. Does anyone suppose that God can be more honest than he already is? Neither need any suppose there are truths he does not know or knowledge he does not possess. The attributes of God are given as knowledge, faith or power, justice, judgment, mercy, and truth. The perfections of God are named as “the perfections which belong to all of the attributes of his nature,” which is to say that God possesses and has all knowledge, all faith or power, all justice, all judgment, all mercy, and all truth. He is indeed the very embodiment, personification and source of all these attributes. Does anyone suppose that God can be more honest than he already is? Neither need any suppose there are truths he does not know or knowledge he does not possess. Thus Joseph Smith taught, and these are his words: Without the knowledge of all things, God would not be able to save any portion of his creatures; for it is by reason of the knowledge which he has of all things, from the beginning to the end, that enables him to give that understanding to his creatures by which they are made partakers of eternal life; and if it were not for the idea existing in the minds of men that God had all knowledge it would-be impossible for them to exercise faith in him. [As quoted by Bruce R. McConkie in Mormon Doctrine (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft), p. 264] Thus Joseph Smith taught, “Without the knowledge of all things, God would not be able to save any portion of his creatures; for it is by reason of the knowledge which he has of all things, from the beginning to the end, that enables him to give that understanding to his creatures by which they are made partakers of eternal life; and if it were not for the idea existing in the minds of men that God had all knowledge it would be impossible for them to exercise faith in him.” [Citing Lecture Four of the Lectures on Faith] If God is just dabbling with a few truths he has already chanced to learn or experimenting with a few facts he has already discovered, we have no idea as to the real end and purpose of creation. If God is just dabbling with a few truths he has already chanced to learn, or experimenting with a few facts he has already discovered, we have no idea as to the real end and purpose of creation. Heresy two
Printed version Audio version concerns itself with the relationship between organic evolution and revealed religion and asks the question whether they can be harmonized. There are those who believe that the theory of organic evolution runs counter to the plain and explicit principles set forth in the holy scriptures as these have been interpreted and taught by Joseph Smith and his associates. There are others who think that evolution is the system used by the Lord to form plant and animal life and to place man on earth. There are those who say that revealed religion and organic evolution can be harmonized. This is both false and devilish. May I say that all truth is in agreement, that true religion and true science bear the same witness, and that in the true and full sense, true science is part of true religion. But may I also raise some questions of a serious nature. Is there any way to harmonize the false religions of the Dark Ages with the truths of science as they have now been discovered? Is there any way to harmonize the revealed religion that has come to us with the theoretical postulates of Darwinism and the diverse speculations descending therefrom? Yes, all truth is in agreement and true religion and true science bear the same witness, indeed in the true and full sense, true science is part of true religion. But there is no way to harmonize the false religions of the Dark Ages with the truths of science as they have now been discovered, and there is no way to harmonize the revealed religion which has come to us with the theoretical postulates of Darwinism and the diverse speculations descending therefrom Should we accept the famous document of the First Presidency issued in the days of President Joseph F. Smith and entitled “The Origin of Man” as meaning exactly what it says? Is it the doctrine of the gospel that Adam stood next to Christ in power and might and intelligence before the foundations of the world were laid; that Adam was placed on this earth as an immortal being; that there was no death in the world for him or for any form of life until after the Fall; that the fall of Adam brought temporal and spiritual death into the world; that this temporal death passed upon all forms of life, upon man and animal and fish and fowl and plant life; that Christ came to ransom man and all forms of life from the effects of the temporal death brought into the world through the Fall, and in the case of man from a spiritual death also; and that this ransom includes a resurrection for man and for all forms of life? Can you harmonize these things with the evolutionary postulate that death has always existed and that the various forms of life have evolved from preceding forms over astronomically long periods of time? Do not be deceived and led to believe that the famous document of the First Presidency issued in the days of President Joseph F. Smith and entitled The Origin of Man means anything except exactly what it says. The saving doctrine is that Adam stood next to Christ in power and mind and intelligence before the foundations of the world were laid; that Adam was placed on this earth as an immortal being; that there was no death in the world for him or for any form of life until after the Fall; that the fall of Adam brought temporal and spiritual death into the world; that this temporal death passed upon all forms of life, upon man and animal and fish and fowl and plant life; that Christ came to ransom man and all forms of life from the effects of the temporal death brought into the world through the Fall, and in the case of man from a spiritual death also; and that this ransom includes a resurrection for man and for all forms of life. Try as you may you cannot harmonize these things with the evolutionary postulate that death always existed and that the various forms of life have evolved from preceding forms over astronomically long periods of time. Can you harmonize the theories of men with the inspired words that say: 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. Try as you may you cannot harmonize the theories of men with the inspired word that says: And they [meaning Adam and Eve] 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. But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things. Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy. And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall. [2 Ne. 2:22-26] “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. And they [meaning Adam and Eve] 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. But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things. Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy. And the Messiah cometh in the fullness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall.” [2 Nephi 2:22-26] These are questions to which all of us should find answers. Every person must choose for himself what he will believe. I recommend that all of you study and ponder and pray and seek light and knowledge in these and in all fields. I believe that the atonement of Christ is the great and eternal foundation upon which revealed religion rests. I believe that no man can be saved unless he believes that our Lord’s atoning sacrifice brings immortality to all and eternal life to those who believe and obey, and no man can believe in the atonement unless he accepts both the divine sonship of Christ and the fall of Adam. The atonement of Christ is the great and eternal foundation upon which revealed religion rests. No man can be saved unless he believes that our Lord’s atoning sacrifice brings immortality to all and eternal life to those who believe and obey, and no man can believe in the atonement unless he accepts both the divine Sonship of Christ and the Fall of Adam. My reasoning causes me to conclude that if death has always prevailed in the world, then there was no fall of Adam that brought death to all forms of life; that if Adam did not fall, there is no need for an atonement; that if there was no atonement, there is no salvation, no resurrection, and no eternal life; and that if there was no atonement, there is nothing in all of the glorious promises that the Lord has given us. I believe that the Fall affects man, all forms of life, and the earth itself. If death has always prevailed in the world, there was no fall of Adam which brought death to all forms of life; if Adam did not fall, there is no need for an atonement; if there was no atonement, there is no salvation, no resurrection, no eternal life; nothing in all of the glorious promises that the Lord has given us. If there is no salvation, there is no God. The fall affects man, all forms of life and the earth itself. The Atonement affects man, all forms of life and the earth itself. Heresy three
Printed version Audio version There are those who say that temple marriage assures us of an eventual exaltation. Some have supposed that couples married in the temple who commit all manner of sin, and who then pay the penalty, will gain their exaltation eventually. There are those who say that temple marriage assures us of an eventual exaltation. Some have supposed that couples married in the temple who commit all manner of sin, and who then pay the penalty, will gain their exaltation eventually. This notion is contrary to the whole system and plan that the Lord has ordained, a system under which we are privileged to work out our salvation with fear and trembling before him. If we believe and obey, if we enter the waters of baptism and make solemn covenants with the Lord to keep his commandments, we thereby get on a strait and narrow path that leads from the gate of repentance and baptism to a reward that is called eternal life. And if we traverse the length of the path going upward and forward and onward, keeping the commandments, loving the Lord, and doing all that we ought to do, eventually we will be inheritors of that reward. This is contrary to the whole system and plan that the Lord has ordained, under which we are privileged to work out our salvation with fear and trembling before him. If we believe and obey, and enter the waters of baptism and make solemn covenants with the Lord to keep his commandments, we thereby get on a strait and narrow path which leads from the gate of repentance and baptism, a very great distance, to a reward that is called eternal life. And if we traverse the length of the path going upward and forward and onward, keeping the commandments, loving the Lord, and doing all that we ought to do, eventually we will be inheritors of that reward. And in exactly and precisely the same sense, celestial marriage is a gate that puts us on a path leading to exaltation in the highest heaven of the celestial world. It is in that highest realm of glory and dignity and honor hereafter that the family unit continues. Those who inherit a place in the highest heaven receive the reward that is named eternal life. Baptism is a gate; celestial marriage is a gate. When we get on the paths of which I speak, we are then obligated to keep the commandments. My suggestion in this field is that you go to the temple and listen to a ceremony of celestial marriage, paying particular and especial attention to the words, and learn what the promises are that are given. And you will learn that all of the promises given are conditioned upon subsequent compliance with all of the terms and conditions of that order of matrimony. And in exactly and precisely the same sense, celestial marriage is a gate that puts us on a path leading to exaltation in the highest heaven of the celestial world. And it is in that highest realm of glory and dignity and honor hereafter that the family unit continues, and that those who so inherit receive the reward that is named eternal life. Baptism is a gate; celestial marriage is a gate. When we get on the path we are obligated to keep the commandments. And my suggestion in this field is that you go to the temple and listen to a ceremony of celestial marriage, paying particular and especial attention to the words, and learn what the promises are that are given, particularly learning that all of the promises given are conditioned upon the subsequent compliance with all of the terms and conditions of that order of matrimony. Heresy four
Printed version Audio version There are those who believe that the doctrine of salvation for the dead offers men a second chance for salvation. There are those who believe that the doctrine of salvation for the dead offers men a second chance for salvation. This is false, false, false. I knew a man, now deceased, not a member of the Church, who was a degenerate old reprobate who found pleasure, as he supposed, in living after the manner of the world. A cigarette dangled from his lips, alcohol stretched his breath, mind profane and bawdy stories defiled his lips. His moral status left much to be desired. I know a man, now deceased, a non- member of the Church, who was a degenerate old reprobate who found pleasure, as he supposed, in living after the manner of the world. A cigarette dangled from his lips, alcohol stenched his breath, and profane and bawdy stories defiled his lips. His moral status left much to be desired. His wife was a member of the Church, as faithful as she could be under the circumstances. One day she said to him, “You know the Church is true; why won’t you be baptized?” He replied,
“Of course I know the Church is true, but I have no intention of changing my habits in order to join it. I prefer to live the way I do. But that doesn’t worry me in the slightest. I know that as soon as I die, you will have someone go to the temple and do the work for me and everything will come out all right in the end anyway.”His wife was a member of the Church, as faithful as she could be under the circumstances. One day she said to him, “You know the Church is true; why don’t you be baptized?” He replied, “Of course I know the Church is true, but I have no intention of changing my habits in order to join it. I prefer to live the way I do. But that doesn’t worry me in the slightest. I know that as soon as I die, you will have someone go to the temple and do the work for me and everything will come out all right in the end anyway.” He died and she had the work done in the temple. We do not sit in judgment and deny vicarious ordinances to people. But what will it profit him? He died and she did and it was a total and complete waste of time. There is no such thing as a second chance to gain salvation. This life is the time and the day of our probation. After this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed. For those who do not have an opportunity to believe and obey the holy word in this life, the first chance to gain salvation will come in the spirit world. If those who hear the word for the first time in the realms ahead are the kind of people who would have accepted the gospel here, had the opportunity been afforded them, they will accept it there. Salvation for the dead is for those whose first chance to gain salvation is in the spirit world. In the revelation recently added to our canon of holy writ these words are found: There is no such thing as a second chance to gain salvation. This life is the time and the day of our probation. “After this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed” [Citing Alma 34:33]. For those who do not have an opportunity to believe and obey the holy word in this life, the first chance to gain salvation will come in the spirit world. If those who hear the word for the first time in the realms ahead are the kind of people who would have accepted the gospel here, had the opportunity been afforded, they will accept it there. Salvation for the dead is for those whose first chance to gain salvation is in the spirit world. Now in the new revelation recently added to our canon of holy writ these words come: Thus came the voice of the Lord unto me, saying: All who have died without a knowledge of this gospel, who would have received it if they had been permitted to tarry, shall be heirs of the celestial kingdom of God; Also all that shall die henceforth without a knowledge of it, who would have received it with all their hearts, shall be heirs of that kingdom; For I, the Lord, will judge all men according to their works, according to the desire of their hearts. [D&C 137:7-9] “Thus came the voice of the Lord unto me, saying: All who have died without a knowledge of this gospel, who would have received it if they had been permitted to tarry, shall be heirs of the celestial kingdom of God; Also all that shall die henceforth without a knowledge of it, who would have received it with all their hearts, shall be heirs of that kingdom; For I, the Lord, will judge all men according to their works, according to the desire of their hearts.” [D&C 137:7-9] There is no other promise of salvation than the one recited in that revelation. Those who reject the gospel in this life and then receive it in the spirit world go not to the celestial, but to the terrestrial kingdom. There is no other promise of salvation than the one recited in that revelation. Those who reject the gospel in this life and then receive it in the spirit world, go not to the celestial, but to the terrestrial kingdom. Heresy five
Printed version Audio version There are those who say that there is progression from one kingdom to another in the eternal worlds or that lower kingdoms eventually progress to where higher kingdoms once were. This belief lulls men into a state of carnal security. It causes them to say,
“God is so merciful; surely he will save us all eventually; if we do not gain the celestial kingdom now, eventually we will; so why worry?” It lets people live a life of sin here and now with the hope that they will be saved eventually.
There are those who say that there is progression from one kingdom to another in the eternal worlds or if not that, lower kingdoms eventually progress to where higher kingdoms once were. This is worse than false. It is an evil and pernicious doctrine. It lulls men into a state of carnal security. It causes them to say, “God is so merciful; surely he will save us all eventually; if we do not gain the celestial kingdom now, eventually we will; so why worry?” It lets people live a life of sin here and now with the hope that they will be saved eventually. The true doctrine is that all men will be resurrected, but they will come forth in the resurrection with different kinds of bodies-some celestial, others terrestrial, others telestial, and some with bodies incapable of standing any degree of glory. The body we receive in the resurrection determines the glory we receive in the kingdoms that are prepared. The true doctrine is that all men will be resurrected, but they will come forth in the resurrection with different kinds of bodies-some celestial, others terrestrial, others telestial, and some with bodies incapable of standing any degree of glory. The body we receive in the resurrection determines the glory we receive in the kingdoms that are prepared. Of those in the telestial world it is written:
“And they shall be servants of the Most High, but where God and Christ dwell they cannot come, worlds without end” (D&C 76:112).Of those in the telestial world it is written: “And they shall be servants of the Most High, but where God and Christ dwell they cannot come, worlds without end” [D&C 76:112] Of those who had the opportunity to enter into the new and everlasting covenant of marriage in this life and who did not do it the revelation says:
Therefore, when they are out of the world they neither marry nor are given in marriage; but are appointed angels in heaven; which angels are ministering servants, to minister for those who are worthy of a far more, and an exceeding, and an eternal weight of glory.Of those who remain unmarried in eternity, the revelation says: “Therefore, when they are out of the world they neither marry nor are given in marriage; but are appointed angels in heaven; which angels are ministering servants, to minister for those who are worthy of a far more, and an exceeding, and an eternal weight of glory.” [D&C 1 40:16] For these angels did not abide my law; therefore, they cannot be enlarged, but remain separately and singly, without exaltation, in their saved condition, to all eternity; and from henceforth are not gods, but are angels of God forever and ever. [D&C 1 40:16-17] Let me amend that, amend what I said, that is referring to people who had opportunity to be married right in this life and who were not. Of them, the revelation continues: “For these angels did not abide my law; therefore, they cannot be enlarged, but remain separately and singly, without exaltation, in their saved condition, to all eternity; and from henceforth are not gods, but are angels of God forever and ever.” [D&C 1 40:17] They neither progress from one kingdom to another, nor does a lower kingdom ever get where a higher kingdom once was. Whatever eternal progression there is, it is within a sphere. They neither progress from one kingdom to another, nor does a lower kingdom ever get where a higher kingdom once was. Whatever eternal progression there is, is in a sphere. Heresy six
Printed version Audio version There are those who believe or say they believe that Adam is our father and our god, that he is the father of our spirits and our bodies, and that he is the one we worship. There are those who believe, or say they believe that Adam is our father and our god. That he is the father of our spirits and our bodies, and that he is the one we worship. The devil keeps this heresy alive as a means of obtaining converts to cultism. It is contrary to the whole plan of salvation set forth in the scriptures, and anyone who has read the Book of Moses, and anyone who has received the temple endowment, has no excuse whatever for being led astray by it. Those who are so ensnared reject the living prophet and close their ears to the apostles of their day. “We will follow those who went before,” they say. And having so determined, they soon are ready to enter polygamous relationships that destroy their souls. The devil keeps this heresy alive as a means of obtaining converts to cultism. It is contrary to the whole plan of salvation set forth in the scriptures. Anyone who has read the Book of Moses, and anyone who has received the temple endowment and who yet believes the Adam-God theory, does not deserve to be saved. Those ensnared by it reject the living prophet and close their ears to the apostles of their day. “We will follow those who went before,” they say. And having so determined they soon are ready to enter polygamous relationships that destroy their souls. We worship the Father, in the name of the Son, by the power of the Holy Ghost; and Adam is their foremost servant, by whom the peopling of our planet was commenced. We worship the Father, in the name of the Son, by the power of the Holy Ghost; and Adam is their foremost servant, by whom the peopling of our planet commenced. Heresy seven
Printed version Audio version There are those who believe we must be perfect to gain salvation. There are those who believe we must be perfect to gain salvation. This is not really a great heresy, only a doctrinal misunderstanding that I mention here in order to help round out our discussion and to turn our attention from negative to positive things. If we keep two principles in mind we will thereby know that good and faithful members of the Church will be saved even though they are far from perfect in this life. This is not really a great heresy, only a doctrinal misunderstanding which I mention here in order to help round out our discussion and to turn our attention from negative to positive things. If we keep two principles in mind we will thereby know that good and faithful members of the Church will be saved even though they are far from perfect in this life. These two principles are These two principles are: (1) that this life is the appointed time for men to prepare to meet God-this life is the day of our probation; and (1) That this life is the appointed time for men to prepare to meet God-this life is the day of our probation; and (2) that the same spirit which possesses our bodies at the time we go out of this mortal life shall have power to possess our bodies in that eternal world. (2) That same spirit which possesses our bodies at the time we go out of this mortal life shall have power to possess our bodies in that eternal world. What we are doing as members of the Church is charting a course leading to eternal life. There was only one perfect being, the Lord Jesus. If men had to be perfect and live all of the law -strictly, wholly, and completely, there would be only one saved person in eternity. The prophet taught that there are many things to be done, even beyond the grave, in working out our salvation. What we are doing as members of the Church is charting a course leading to eternal life. There was only one perfect being, the Lord Jesus. If men had to be perfect and live all of the law-strictly, wholly, and completely, there would be one saved person only in eternity. The prophet said that there are many things to be done, even beyond the grave, in working out our salvation. And so what we do in this life is chart a course leading to eternal life. That course begins here and now and continues in the realms ahead. We must determine in our hearts and in our souls, with all the power and ability we have, that from this time forward we will press on in righteousness; by so doing we can go where God and Christ are. If we make that firm determination, and are in the course of our duty when this life is over, we will continue in that course in eternity. That same spirit that possesses our bodies at the time we depart from this mortal life will have power to possess our bodies in the eternal world. If we go out of this life loving the Lord, desiring righteousness, and seeking to acquire the attributes of godliness, we will have that same spirit in the eternal world, and we will then continue to advance and progress until an ultimate, destined day when we will possess, receive, and inherit all things. And so what we do in this life is chart a course leading to eternal life. We determine in our heart and in our soul, with all the power and ability we have, that from this time forward we will press on in righteousness; so that we can go where God and Christ are. If we make that determination, and were in the course of our duty when this life is over, we will continue in that course in eternity. Because that same spirit that possesses our bodies at the time we depart from this mortal life will have power to possess our bodies in the eternal world. If we go out of this life loving the Lord, and desiring righteousness, and seeking to acquire the attributes of godliness, we will have that same spirit in the eternal world, and we will continue to advance and progress until an ultimate, destined day when we’ll possess, receive, and inherit all things. Now I do not say these are the only great heresies that prevail among us. There are others that might be mentioned. My suggestion, relative to all doctrines and all principles, is that we become students of holy writ, and that we conform our thinking and our beliefs to what is found in the standard works. We need to be less concerned about the views and opinions that others have expressed and drink directly from the fountain the Lord has given us. Then we shall come to a true understanding of the points of his doctrine. And if we pursue such a course, we will soon find that it proceeds in a different direction than the one that the world pursues. We will not be troubled with the intellectual views and expressions of uninspired people. We will soon obtain for ourselves the witness of the Spirit that we are pursuing a course that is pleasing to the Lord, and this knowledge will have a cleansing and sanctifying and edifying influence upon us. Now I do not say these are the greatest heresies that prevail among us. It seems to me that quite likely there are other things also that could be added. But my suggestion is that we become students of the holy writ, that we conform our thinking and our beliefs to what is found in the standard works. That we have less concern about the views and opinions that others have expressed and that we drink direct from the fountain that the Lord has given us, and that we come to an understanding on the points of his doctrine. And if we pursue such a course, we will find that it is in a different direction than the one that the world goes in. But we will not be concerned with the intellectual expressions of other people. We’ll soon obtain for ourselves the witness of the Spirit that we’re pursuing a course that is seeking righteousness, and this will have a cleansing and sanctifying and edifying influence upon us. Now, in order to have things in perspective, let me identify the three greatest heresies in all Christendom. They do not prevail among us, fortunately, but they are part of the gross and universal darkness that covers the earth and blots out from the minds of men those truths upon which salvation rests. Now, just to have things in perspective, let me mention the three greatest heresies that prevail in all Christendom. They do not prevail among us, fortunately. The greatest truth known to man is that there is a God in heaven who is infinite and eternal; that he is the creator, upholder, and preserver of all things; that he created us and the sidereal heavens and ordained and established a plan of salvation whereby we might advance and progress and become like him. The truth pertaining to him is that he is our Father in heaven, that he has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s, that he is a literal person, and that if we believe and obey his laws we can gain the exaltation that he possesses. Now that is the greatest truth and the most glorious concept known to the human mind, and the reverse of it is the greatest heresy in all Christendom. < Christendom. all in heresy greatest the is> The Christian heresy, where God is concerned, is that Deity is a spirit essence that fills the immensity of space; that he is three beings in one; that he is uncreated, incorporeal, and incomprehensible; that he is without body, parts, or passions; that he is a spirit nothingness that is everywhere and nowhere in particular present. These are concepts written in the creeds had in the churches of the world. The reverse is, that God is a spirit essence, three beings in one, a spirit nothingness that fills the immensity of space, the reverse of it is the heresy that is written in the creeds that are had in the churches of the world. The second greatest truth in all eternity pertains to the divine sonship of the Lord, Jesus Christ. It includes the eternal verity that he was foreordained in the councils of eternity to come to earth and be the redeemer of men, to come and ransom men from the temporal and spiritual death brought upon them by the fall of Adam. This second greatest truth is that Christ worked out the infinite and eternal atoning sacrifice because of which all men are raised in immortality and those who believe and obey are raised also unto eternal life. Now the second greatest truth in all eternity is that which pertains to the divine Sonship of the Lord, Jesus Christ. It is that he was foreordained in the councils of eternity to come to down here and be the redeemer of men, to come and ransom men from the indicated temporal and spiritual death brought upon them by the fall of Adam. This second greatest truth is that Christ worked out this infinite and eternal atoning sacrifice so that all men are raised in immortality and those who believe and obey are raised also unto eternal life. Now the second greatest heresy in all Christendom is designed to destroy the glories and wonders of the infinite and eternal atonement. It is that men are saved by some kind of lip service, by the grace of God, without work and without effort on their part. Now the opposite of that is the second greatest heresy in all Christendom, and the opposite is that men are saved by some kind of lip service, by the grace of God supposedly, without work and without effort on their part. The third greatest truth known to mankind is that the Holy Spirit of God is a revelator and a sanctifier, that he is a personage of spirit that his assigned ministry and work in the eternal Godhead is to bear record of the Father and of the Son, to reveal them and their truths to men. His work is to cleanse and perfect human souls, to burn dross and evil out of human souls as though by fire. We call that the baptism of fire. The third greatest truth known to mankind, the third greatest truth in all eternity is that the Holy Spirit of God is a revelator and a sanctifier, that he is a personage of spirit that his assigned ministry and work in the eternal Godhead is to bear record of the Father and of the Son, to reveal them and their truths to men. And that his work is to be a sanctifier to cleanse and perfect human souls, to burn dross and evil out of human souls as though by fire. We call that the baptism of fire. Now the opposite of that is the third greatest heresy in all Christendom. It is that revelation has ceased, that God’s mouth is closed, that the Holy Ghost no longer inspires men, that the gifts of the Spirit were done away with after the death of the ancient apostles, and that we no longer need to follow the course they charted. Now the opposite of that is the third greatest heresy in all Christendom, which is that revelation has ceased, that God’s mouth is closed, that the Holy Ghost no longer inspires men, that the gifts of the Spirit were done away with the ancient apostles, and that we no longer follow the course that they charted. I simply name these things; I think you will want to weigh and evaluate what is involved. I think you will want to ponder and wonder and search the scriptures. After Jesus had been teaching the Nephites as a resurrected person, giving them as much truth as in his wisdom he felt they could absorb at one time, he counseled them to go to their homes, and to ponder in their hearts the things he had said, and to pray to the Father in his name to find out if they were true, and then to come again on the morrow and he would teach them -more. Well, I have named these things; I think you will want to weigh and evaluate. I think you will want to ponder and wonder and search the scriptures. After Jesus had been teaching, as a resurrected person, the Nephites, giving them as much truth as in his wisdom they felt they could absorb at one time, he counseled them to go to their homes, and to ponder in their hearts the things he had said, and to pray to the Father in his name to find out if they were true, and then to come again on the morrow and he would teach them more. Now that gives us the pattern by which we should operate in the Church. We come together in congregations, seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit, studying the revelations, reading the scriptures, and hearing expressions of doctrine and counsel given by those who are appointed. These teachings ought to be delivered by the power of the Holy Spirit. They ought to be received by the same power. And if they are, then the speaker and the hearer will be mutually edified, and we will have true and proper worship. Then when the meeting is over, the “amen” should not end it. We should go to our homes and to our families and to our circles, and we should search out the revelations and find out what the Lord has said on the subjects involved. We should seek to get in tune with the Holy Spirit and to gain a witness, not solely of the truth and divinity of the work in which we are engaged but also of the doctrines that are taught by those who preach to us. We come into these congregations, and sometimes a speaker brings a jug of living water that has in it many gallons. And when he pours it out on the congregation, all the members have brought is a single cup and so that’s all they take away. Or maybe they have their hands over the cups, and they don’t get anything to speak of. Then when the meeting is over, the “amen” should not end it. We should go to our homes and to our families and in our circles, and we should search out the revelations and find what the Lord has said on the subjects involved. And we should seek to get in tune with the Holy Spirit and gain a witness, not alone of the truth and divinity of the work in which we are engaged, but of the doctrines that are taught by those who preach to us. We come into these congregations, and sometimes a speaker brings a jug of living water that has in it many gallons. And he pours it out on the congregation, and all that the members have brought is a single cup and that’s all that they took away. Or maybe they have their hands over the cups, and they don’t get anything to speak of. On other occasions we have meetings where the speaker comes and all he brings is a little cup of eternal truth, and the members of the congregation come with a large jug and all they get in their jugs is the little dribble that came from a man who should have known better and who should have prepared himself and talked from the revelations and spoken by the power of the Holy Spirit. We are obligated in the Church to speak by the power of the Spirit. We are commanded to treasure up the words of light and truth and then give forth the portion that is appropriate and needful on every occasion. Now in other instances, we have meetings where the speaker comes and all he brings is a little cup of eternal truth, and the members of the congregation come with a large jug and all they get in their jug is the little dribble that came from a man who should have known better and who should have prepared himself and talked from the revelations and spoken by the power of the Holy Spirit. We are obligated in the Church to speak by the power of the Spirit. We are commanded to treasure up the words of light and truth and then give forth the portion that is appropriate and needful on every occasion. Now I have deliberately read portions of my talk tonight because I wanted the words to be the way you heard them, so that I would be on record on the matters that are involved and so that as far as I am concerned the word would have been said in the plainness that I have given it. And those who hear would then be accountable themselves for their reaction to it. I do not think that the heresies I have named are common in the Church. I think that the great majority of the members of the Church believe and understand true doctrines and seek to apply true principles in their lives. Unfortunately, there are a few people who agitate and stir these matters up, who have some personal ax to grind, and who desire to spread philosophies of their own, philosophies that, as near as the judges in Israel can discern, are not in harmony with the mind and will and purpose of the Lord. It is incumbent upon us to believe the truth. We have the obligation to find out what is truth, and then we have the obligation to walk in the light and to apply the truths that we have learned to ourselves and to influence others to do likewise. I do not think that heresies as I have named them are common in the Church. I think that the great generality of the members of the Church believe and understand the doctrines and seek to apply the principles to their lives. Unfortunately, there are a few people who agitate and stir these matters up, and have some personal ax to grind, or desire to spread philosophies of their own, that as near as the judges in Israel can discern, are not in harmony with the mind and will and purpose of the Lord. It is incumbent upon us to believe the truth. We have the obligation to find out what is true, and then we have the obligation to walk in the light and to apply the truths that we have learned to ourselves and to influence others to do likewise. Now the glorious and wondrous thing about this whole system of revealed religion that the Lord, our God, has given us is the fact that it is true. There isn’t a grander, a more glorious, a more wondrous concept than the simple one that the work in which we are engaged is true. And because it is true it will triumph and prevail, and the knowledge of God and his truths will roll forth until it covers the whole earth as the waters cover the sea. We do not expect to have a perfect society among us until the millennial day dawns. But that is not far-distant. And when that day comes, we will all, as the scriptures say, see eye to eye and speak with one voice, and the Lord himself will dwell among us. He could not dwell among us now because we are divided and we are not living in that perfect harmony and unity and with that devotion that prevailed among the Saints in the city of Enoch. Now the glorious and wondrous thing about this whole system of revealed religion that the Lord, our God, has given us is the fact that it’s true. There isn’t a grander, a more glorious, a more wondrous concept than the simple one that the work in which we are engaged is true. And because it’s true it will triumph and prevail, and the knowledge of God and his truths will roll forth until they cover the whole earth as the waters cover the sea. We do not expect to have a perfect society among us until the millennial day dawns. But that is not far-distant. And when that day comes, we will all, as the scriptures say, see eye to eye and speak with one voice, and the Lord himself will dwell among us. He could not dwell among us now because we are divided and we are not living in that perfect harmony and unity and with that devotion that prevailed among the Saints in days of the city of Enoch. God grant that we may be wise in what we do, that we may seek truth, that we may live in harmony with the truth, that we may bear testimony of the truth, and that we may, as a consequence, have joy and peace and happiness here and now and be inheritors, in due course, of eternal reward in our Father’s kingdom. This is my prayer for myself and for all of you, and for all of the members of the Church, and for honest truthseekers everywhere, and I offer it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. God grant that we may be wise in what we do, that we may seek truth, that we may live truth, that we may bear testimony of the truth, that we may, as a consequence, have the joy and peace and happiness that comes to people who so do have it here and now and thus be inheritors, in due course, and eventually of eternal reward in our Father’s kingdom. This is my prayer for myself and for all of you, and for all of the members of the Church, and for honest truthseekers everywhere, and I offer it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. References
References 1 The Seven Deadly Heresies – https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/bruce-r-mcconkie_seven-deadly-heresies/ -
The Seven Deadly Heresies
On June 1, 1980 Apostle Bruce R. McConkie gave an address at BYU entitled ‘The Seven Deadly Heresies’. The text version of this talk was drastically altered from the original audio address. 1
Below is a comparison of the two versions.
Printed version Audio version I have sought and do now seek that guidance and enlightenment which comes from the Holy Spirit of God. I desire to speak by the power Of the Holy Ghost so that my words will be true and wise and proper. When any of us speak by the power of the Spirit, we say what the Lord wants said, or, better, what he would say if he were here in person. I have sought very diligently to be given utterance and have the guidance of the spirit tonight in what I hope I will be able to say to you. I shall depart from my normal and usual pattern and read portions of my presentation because I want to state temperately and accurately the doctrinal principles involved and to say them in a way that will not leave room for doubt or question. I shall speak on some matters that some may consider to be controversial, though they ought not to be. They are things on which we ought to be united, and to the extent we are all guided and enlightened from on high we will be. If we are so united-and there will be no disagreement among those who believe and understand the revealed word-we will progress and advance and grow in the things of the Spirit; we will prepare ourselves for a life of peace and happiness and joy here and now, and for an eventual eternal reward in the kingdom of our Father. I am going to depart from a normal and usual pattern and read portions of what is involved because I want to state temperately and accurately the views that I have and say them in a way that will not leave room for doubt or for question. I intend to speak on some matters that some would consider to be controversial, they ought not to be. They are things upon which we ought to be united, and proportionately as we are, we’ll make progress and advance and grow in the things of the Spirit and prepare ourselves for a life of peace and happiness and joy here and for eventual eternal reward in the kingdom of our Father. There is a song or a saying or a proverb or a legend or a tradition or something that speaks of seven deadly sins. I know nothing whatever about these and hope you do not. My subject is one about which some few of you, unfortunately, do know a little. It is “‘The Seven Deadly Heresies”-not the great heresies of a lost and fallen Christendom, but some that have crept in among us. There is a song or a saying or a proverb or a legend or a tradition or something, that speaks of seven deadly sins. I know nothing whatever about these and hope you do not.
My subject is one about which some of you, unfortunately, do know a little. It is “The Seven Deadly Heresies” – not the great heresies of a lost and fallen Christendom, but some which have crept in among us.Now I take a text. These words were written by Paul to certain ancient Saints. In principle they apply to us: I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it. For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you. [1 Cor. 11:18-19] Now I take a text. These words were written by Paul to ancient Saints. In principle they apply to us: “I hear that there be divisions among you,” he said; “and I partly believe it. For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.” [1 Cor. 11:18-19] Now let me list some axioms (I guess in academic circles we call these caveats): Now let me list some axioms. I guess in academic circles we call these caveats: There is no salvation in believing a false doctrine. There is no salvation in believing a false doctrine. Truth, diamond truth, truth unmixed with error, truth alone leads to salvation. Truth, diamond truth, truth unmixed with error, truth alone leads to salvation. What we believe determines what we do. What we believe determines what we do. No man can be saved in ignorance of God and his laws. No man can be saved in ignorance of God and his laws. Man is saved no faster than he gains knowledge of Jesus Christ and the saving truths of his everlasting gospel. Man is saved no faster than he gains knowledge of Jesus Christ and the saving truths of his everlasting gospel. Gospel doctrines belong to the Lord, not to men. They are his. He ordained them, he reveals them, and he expects us to believe them. Gospel doctrines belong to the Lord, not to men. They are His. He ordained them, he reveals them, and he expects us to believe them. The doctrines of salvation are not discovered in the laboratory or on a geological field trip or by accompanying Darwin around the world. They come by revelation and in no other way. The doctrines of salvation are not discovered in the laboratory or on a geological field trip or by accompanying Darwin around the world. They come by revelation and in no other way. Our sole concern in seeking truth should be to learn and believe what the Lord knows and believes. Providentially he has set forth some of his views in the holy scriptures. Our goal as mortals is to gain the mind of Christ, to believe what he believes, to think what he thinks, to say what he says, to do what he does, and to be as he is. Our sole concern in seeking truth should be to learn and believe what the Lord knows and believes. Providentially he has set forth some of his views in the Holy Scriptures. Our goal as mortals is to gain the mind of Christ, to believe what he believes, to think what he thinks, to say what he says, to do what he does, and to be as he is. We are called upon to reject all heresies and cleave unto all truth. Only then can we progress according to the divine plan. As the Lord has said, We are called upon to reject all heresies and cleave unto all truth. Only then can we progress according to the divine plan. “Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection. And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come.” [D&C 130:18-19] “Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection. And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come.” [D7C 130:18-19] Please note that knowledge is gained by obedience. It comes by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel. In the ultimate and full sense it comes only by revelation from the Holy Ghost. There are some things a sinful man does not and cannot know. The Lord’s people are promised: “By the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things” (Moro. 10:5). But if they do not seek the Spirit, if they do not accept the revelations God has given, if they cannot distinguish between the revealed word and the theories of men, they have no promise of gaining a fulness of truth by the power of the Holy Ghost. Please note that knowledge is gained by obedience. There are some things a sinful man does not and cannot know. Now may I suggest the list of heresies. Now may I suggest the list of heresies? Heresy one
Printed version Audio version There are those who say that God is progressing in knowledge and is learning new truths. There are those who say that God is progressing in knowledge and is learning new truths. This is false-utterly, totally, and completely. There is not one sliver of truth in it. It grows out of a wholly twisted and incorrect view of the King Follett Sermon and of what is meant by eternal progression. This is false-utterly, totally, and completely. There is not one sliver of truth in it. It grows out of a wholly twisted and incorrect view of the King Follett Sermon and of what is meant by eternal progression. God progresses in the sense that his kingdoms increase and his dominions multiply-not in the sense that he learn new truths and discovers new laws. God is not a student. He is not a laboratory technician. He is not postulating new theories on the basis of past experiences. He has indeed graduated to that state of exaltation that consists of knowing all things and having all power. God progresses in the sense that his kingdoms increase and his dominions multiply – not in the sense that he learns new truths and discovers new laws. God is not a student. He is not a laboratory technician. He is not postulating new theories on the basis of past experiences. He has indeed graduated to that state of exaltation which consists of knowing all things and having all power. The life that God lives is named eternal life. His name, one of them, is “Eternal,” using that word as a noun and not as an adjective, and he uses that name to identify the type of life that he lives. God’s life is eternal life, and eternal life is God’s life. They are one and the same. Eternal life is the reward we shall obtain if we believe and obey and walk uprightly before him. And eternal life consists of two things. It consists of life in the family unit, and also, of inheriting, receiving, and possessing the fulness of the glory of the Father. Anyone who has each of these things is an inheritor and possessor of the greatest of all gifts of God, which is eternal life. Now, the life that God lives is named eternal life. His name, one of them, is “Eternal,” and He applies that name to identify the type of life that He lives. And eternal life is the goal that we are able to obtain if we believe and obey and walk uprightly before Him. And eternal life consists of two things; life in the family unit, and, also, of inheriting, receiving, and possessing the fullness of the glory of the Father. Anyone who has each of those things is an inheritor and possessor of the greatest of all the gifts of God, which is eternal life. Eternal progression consists of living the kind of life God lives and of increasing in kingdoms and dominions everlastingly. Why anyone should suppose that an infinite and eternal being who has presided in our universe for almost 2,555,000,000 years, who made the sidereal heavens, whose creations are more numerous than the particles of the earth, and who is aware of the fall of every sparrow-why anyone would suppose that such a being has more to learn and new truths to discover in the laboratories of eternity is totally beyond my- comprehension. And eternal progression consists in living the kind of life that God lives and of increasing in kingdoms and dominions everlastingly. Why anyone should suppose that an infinite and eternal being who has presided in our universe for almost 2,555,000,000 years, who made the sidereal heavens, whose creations are more numerous than the particles of the earth, and who is aware of the fall of every sparrow – why anyone would suppose that such a being has more to learn and new truths to discover in the laboratories of eternity is totally beyond comprehension. Will he one day learn something that will destroy the plan of salvation and turn man and the universe into an uncreated nothingness? Will he discover a better plan of salvation than the one he has already given to men in worlds without number? Will He one day learn something that will destroy the plan of salvation and turn man and the universe into an uncreated nothingness? Will He discover a better plan of salvation than the one he has already given to men in worlds without number? I have been sorely tempted to say at this point that any who so suppose have the intellect of an ant, and the understanding of a clod of miry clay in a primordial swamp. [laughter] But, of course, I would never say a thing like that! [laughter] I have been sorely tempted to say at this point that any who so suppose have the intellect of an ant and the understanding of a clod of miry clay in a primordial swamp [laughter], but of course I would never say a thing like that. [laughter] The saving truth, as revealed to and taught, formally and officially, by the Prophet Joseph Smith in the Lectures on Faith is that God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. He knows all things, he has all power, and he is everywhere present by the power of his Spirit. And unless we know and believe this doctrine we cannot gain faith unto life and salvation. The saving truth, as revealed to and taught, by the Prophet Joseph Smith is that God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent. He knows all things, has all power, and is everywhere present by the power of his Spirit. And unless we know and believe this doctrine we cannot gain faith unto life and salvation. Joseph Smith also taught in the Lectures on Faith “that three things are necessary in order that any rational and intelligent being may exercise faith in God unto life and salvation.” These he named as- Joseph Smith taught that “three things are necessary in order that any rational and intelligent being may exercise faith in God unto life and salvation.” These he named as: 1. The idea that he actually exists; 1. The idea that He actually exists; 2. A correct idea of his character, perfections, and attributes; and 2. A correct idea of his character, perfections, and attributes; and 3. An actual knowledge that the course of life which he is pursuing is according to the divine will. 3. An actual knowledge that the course of life which he is pursuing is according to the divine will. The attributes of God are given as knowledge, faith or power, justice, judgment, mercy, and truth. The perfections of God are named as “the perfections which belong to all of the attributes of his nature,” which is to say that God possesses and has all knowledge, all faith or power, all justice, all judgment, all mercy, and all truth. He is indeed the very embodiment and personification and source of all these attributes. Does anyone suppose that God can be more honest than he already is? Neither need any suppose there are truths he does not know or knowledge he does not possess. The attributes of God are given as knowledge, faith or power, justice, judgment, mercy, and truth. The perfections of God are named as “the perfections which belong to all of the attributes of his nature,” which is to say that God possesses and has all knowledge, all faith or power, all justice, all judgment, all mercy, and all truth. He is indeed the very embodiment, personification and source of all these attributes. Does anyone suppose that God can be more honest than he already is? Neither need any suppose there are truths he does not know or knowledge he does not possess. Thus Joseph Smith taught, and these are his words: Without the knowledge of all things, God would not be able to save any portion of his creatures; for it is by reason of the knowledge which he has of all things, from the beginning to the end, that enables him to give that understanding to his creatures by which they are made partakers of eternal life; and if it were not for the idea existing in the minds of men that God had all knowledge it would-be impossible for them to exercise faith in him. [As quoted by Bruce R. McConkie in Mormon Doctrine (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft), p. 264] Thus Joseph Smith taught, “Without the knowledge of all things, God would not be able to save any portion of his creatures; for it is by reason of the knowledge which he has of all things, from the beginning to the end, that enables him to give that understanding to his creatures by which they are made partakers of eternal life; and if it were not for the idea existing in the minds of men that God had all knowledge it would be impossible for them to exercise faith in him.” [Citing Lecture Four of the Lectures on Faith] If God is just dabbling with a few truths he has already chanced to learn or experimenting with a few facts he has already discovered, we have no idea as to the real end and purpose of creation. If God is just dabbling with a few truths he has already chanced to learn, or experimenting with a few facts he has already discovered, we have no idea as to the real end and purpose of creation. Heresy two
Printed version Audio version concerns itself with the relationship between organic evolution and revealed religion and asks the question whether they can be harmonized. There are those who believe that the theory of organic evolution runs counter to the plain and explicit principles set forth in the holy scriptures as these have been interpreted and taught by Joseph Smith and his associates. There are others who think that evolution is the system used by the Lord to form plant and animal life and to place man on earth. There are those who say that revealed religion and organic evolution can be harmonized. This is both false and devilish. May I say that all truth is in agreement, that true religion and true science bear the same witness, and that in the true and full sense, true science is part of true religion. But may I also raise some questions of a serious nature. Is there any way to harmonize the false religions of the Dark Ages with the truths of science as they have now been discovered? Is there any way to harmonize the revealed religion that has come to us with the theoretical postulates of Darwinism and the diverse speculations descending therefrom? Yes, all truth is in agreement and true religion and true science bear the same witness, indeed in the true and full sense, true science is part of true religion. But there is no way to harmonize the false religions of the Dark Ages with the truths of science as they have now been discovered, and there is no way to harmonize the revealed religion which has come to us with the theoretical postulates of Darwinism and the diverse speculations descending therefrom Should we accept the famous document of the First Presidency issued in the days of President Joseph F. Smith and entitled “The Origin of Man” as meaning exactly what it says? Is it the doctrine of the gospel that Adam stood next to Christ in power and might and intelligence before the foundations of the world were laid; that Adam was placed on this earth as an immortal being; that there was no death in the world for him or for any form of life until after the Fall; that the fall of Adam brought temporal and spiritual death into the world; that this temporal death passed upon all forms of life, upon man and animal and fish and fowl and plant life; that Christ came to ransom man and all forms of life from the effects of the temporal death brought into the world through the Fall, and in the case of man from a spiritual death also; and that this ransom includes a resurrection for man and for all forms of life? Can you harmonize these things with the evolutionary postulate that death has always existed and that the various forms of life have evolved from preceding forms over astronomically long periods of time? Do not be deceived and led to believe that the famous document of the First Presidency issued in the days of President Joseph F. Smith and entitled The Origin of Man means anything except exactly what it says. The saving doctrine is that Adam stood next to Christ in power and mind and intelligence before the foundations of the world were laid; that Adam was placed on this earth as an immortal being; that there was no death in the world for him or for any form of life until after the Fall; that the fall of Adam brought temporal and spiritual death into the world; that this temporal death passed upon all forms of life, upon man and animal and fish and fowl and plant life; that Christ came to ransom man and all forms of life from the effects of the temporal death brought into the world through the Fall, and in the case of man from a spiritual death also; and that this ransom includes a resurrection for man and for all forms of life. Try as you may you cannot harmonize these things with the evolutionary postulate that death always existed and that the various forms of life have evolved from preceding forms over astronomically long periods of time. Can you harmonize the theories of men with the inspired words that say: 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. Try as you may you cannot harmonize the theories of men with the inspired word that says: And they [meaning Adam and Eve] 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. But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things. Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy. And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall. [2 Ne. 2:22-26] “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. And they [meaning Adam and Eve] 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. But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things. Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy. And the Messiah cometh in the fullness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall.” [2 Nephi 2:22-26] These are questions to which all of us should find answers. Every person must choose for himself what he will believe. I recommend that all of you study and ponder and pray and seek light and knowledge in these and in all fields. I believe that the atonement of Christ is the great and eternal foundation upon which revealed religion rests. I believe that no man can be saved unless he believes that our Lord’s atoning sacrifice brings immortality to all and eternal life to those who believe and obey, and no man can believe in the atonement unless he accepts both the divine sonship of Christ and the fall of Adam. The atonement of Christ is the great and eternal foundation upon which revealed religion rests. No man can be saved unless he believes that our Lord’s atoning sacrifice brings immortality to all and eternal life to those who believe and obey, and no man can believe in the atonement unless he accepts both the divine Sonship of Christ and the Fall of Adam. My reasoning causes me to conclude that if death has always prevailed in the world, then there was no fall of Adam that brought death to all forms of life; that if Adam did not fall, there is no need for an atonement; that if there was no atonement, there is no salvation, no resurrection, and no eternal life; and that if there was no atonement, there is nothing in all of the glorious promises that the Lord has given us. I believe that the Fall affects man, all forms of life, and the earth itself. If death has always prevailed in the world, there was no fall of Adam which brought death to all forms of life; if Adam did not fall, there is no need for an atonement; if there was no atonement, there is no salvation, no resurrection, no eternal life; nothing in all of the glorious promises that the Lord has given us. If there is no salvation, there is no God. The fall affects man, all forms of life and the earth itself. The Atonement affects man, all forms of life and the earth itself. Heresy three
Printed version Audio version There are those who say that temple marriage assures us of an eventual exaltation. Some have supposed that couples married in the temple who commit all manner of sin, and who then pay the penalty, will gain their exaltation eventually. There are those who say that temple marriage assures us of an eventual exaltation. Some have supposed that couples married in the temple who commit all manner of sin, and who then pay the penalty, will gain their exaltation eventually. This notion is contrary to the whole system and plan that the Lord has ordained, a system under which we are privileged to work out our salvation with fear and trembling before him. If we believe and obey, if we enter the waters of baptism and make solemn covenants with the Lord to keep his commandments, we thereby get on a strait and narrow path that leads from the gate of repentance and baptism to a reward that is called eternal life. And if we traverse the length of the path going upward and forward and onward, keeping the commandments, loving the Lord, and doing all that we ought to do, eventually we will be inheritors of that reward. This is contrary to the whole system and plan that the Lord has ordained, under which we are privileged to work out our salvation with fear and trembling before him. If we believe and obey, and enter the waters of baptism and make solemn covenants with the Lord to keep his commandments, we thereby get on a strait and narrow path which leads from the gate of repentance and baptism, a very great distance, to a reward that is called eternal life. And if we traverse the length of the path going upward and forward and onward, keeping the commandments, loving the Lord, and doing all that we ought to do, eventually we will be inheritors of that reward. And in exactly and precisely the same sense, celestial marriage is a gate that puts us on a path leading to exaltation in the highest heaven of the celestial world. It is in that highest realm of glory and dignity and honor hereafter that the family unit continues. Those who inherit a place in the highest heaven receive the reward that is named eternal life. Baptism is a gate; celestial marriage is a gate. When we get on the paths of which I speak, we are then obligated to keep the commandments. My suggestion in this field is that you go to the temple and listen to a ceremony of celestial marriage, paying particular and especial attention to the words, and learn what the promises are that are given. And you will learn that all of the promises given are conditioned upon subsequent compliance with all of the terms and conditions of that order of matrimony. And in exactly and precisely the same sense, celestial marriage is a gate that puts us on a path leading to exaltation in the highest heaven of the celestial world. And it is in that highest realm of glory and dignity and honor hereafter that the family unit continues, and that those who so inherit receive the reward that is named eternal life. Baptism is a gate; celestial marriage is a gate. When we get on the path we are obligated to keep the commandments. And my suggestion in this field is that you go to the temple and listen to a ceremony of celestial marriage, paying particular and especial attention to the words, and learn what the promises are that are given, particularly learning that all of the promises given are conditioned upon the subsequent compliance with all of the terms and conditions of that order of matrimony. Heresy four
Printed version Audio version There are those who believe that the doctrine of salvation for the dead offers men a second chance for salvation. There are those who believe that the doctrine of salvation for the dead offers men a second chance for salvation. This is false, false, false. I knew a man, now deceased, not a member of the Church, who was a degenerate old reprobate who found pleasure, as he supposed, in living after the manner of the world. A cigarette dangled from his lips, alcohol stretched his breath, mind profane and bawdy stories defiled his lips. His moral status left much to be desired. I know a man, now deceased, a non- member of the Church, who was a degenerate old reprobate who found pleasure, as he supposed, in living after the manner of the world. A cigarette dangled from his lips, alcohol stenched his breath, and profane and bawdy stories defiled his lips. His moral status left much to be desired. His wife was a member of the Church, as faithful as she could be under the circumstances. One day she said to him, “You know the Church is true; why won’t you be baptized?” He replied,
“Of course I know the Church is true, but I have no intention of changing my habits in order to join it. I prefer to live the way I do. But that doesn’t worry me in the slightest. I know that as soon as I die, you will have someone go to the temple and do the work for me and everything will come out all right in the end anyway.”His wife was a member of the Church, as faithful as she could be under the circumstances. One day she said to him, “You know the Church is true; why don’t you be baptized?” He replied, “Of course I know the Church is true, but I have no intention of changing my habits in order to join it. I prefer to live the way I do. But that doesn’t worry me in the slightest. I know that as soon as I die, you will have someone go to the temple and do the work for me and everything will come out all right in the end anyway.” He died and she had the work done in the temple. We do not sit in judgment and deny vicarious ordinances to people. But what will it profit him? He died and she did and it was a total and complete waste of time. There is no such thing as a second chance to gain salvation. This life is the time and the day of our probation. After this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed. For those who do not have an opportunity to believe and obey the holy word in this life, the first chance to gain salvation will come in the spirit world. If those who hear the word for the first time in the realms ahead are the kind of people who would have accepted the gospel here, had the opportunity been afforded them, they will accept it there. Salvation for the dead is for those whose first chance to gain salvation is in the spirit world. In the revelation recently added to our canon of holy writ these words are found: There is no such thing as a second chance to gain salvation. This life is the time and the day of our probation. “After this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed” [Citing Alma 34:33]. For those who do not have an opportunity to believe and obey the holy word in this life, the first chance to gain salvation will come in the spirit world. If those who hear the word for the first time in the realms ahead are the kind of people who would have accepted the gospel here, had the opportunity been afforded, they will accept it there. Salvation for the dead is for those whose first chance to gain salvation is in the spirit world. Now in the new revelation recently added to our canon of holy writ these words come: Thus came the voice of the Lord unto me, saying: All who have died without a knowledge of this gospel, who would have received it if they had been permitted to tarry, shall be heirs of the celestial kingdom of God; Also all that shall die henceforth without a knowledge of it, who would have received it with all their hearts, shall be heirs of that kingdom; For I, the Lord, will judge all men according to their works, according to the desire of their hearts. [D&C 137:7-9] “Thus came the voice of the Lord unto me, saying: All who have died without a knowledge of this gospel, who would have received it if they had been permitted to tarry, shall be heirs of the celestial kingdom of God; Also all that shall die henceforth without a knowledge of it, who would have received it with all their hearts, shall be heirs of that kingdom; For I, the Lord, will judge all men according to their works, according to the desire of their hearts.” [D&C 137:7-9] There is no other promise of salvation than the one recited in that revelation. Those who reject the gospel in this life and then receive it in the spirit world go not to the celestial, but to the terrestrial kingdom. There is no other promise of salvation than the one recited in that revelation. Those who reject the gospel in this life and then receive it in the spirit world, go not to the celestial, but to the terrestrial kingdom. Heresy five
Printed version Audio version There are those who say that there is progression from one kingdom to another in the eternal worlds or that lower kingdoms eventually progress to where higher kingdoms once were. This belief lulls men into a state of carnal security. It causes them to say,
“God is so merciful; surely he will save us all eventually; if we do not gain the celestial kingdom now, eventually we will; so why worry?” It lets people live a life of sin here and now with the hope that they will be saved eventually.
There are those who say that there is progression from one kingdom to another in the eternal worlds or if not that, lower kingdoms eventually progress to where higher kingdoms once were. This is worse than false. It is an evil and pernicious doctrine. It lulls men into a state of carnal security. It causes them to say, “God is so merciful; surely he will save us all eventually; if we do not gain the celestial kingdom now, eventually we will; so why worry?” It lets people live a life of sin here and now with the hope that they will be saved eventually. The true doctrine is that all men will be resurrected, but they will come forth in the resurrection with different kinds of bodies-some celestial, others terrestrial, others telestial, and some with bodies incapable of standing any degree of glory. The body we receive in the resurrection determines the glory we receive in the kingdoms that are prepared. The true doctrine is that all men will be resurrected, but they will come forth in the resurrection with different kinds of bodies-some celestial, others terrestrial, others telestial, and some with bodies incapable of standing any degree of glory. The body we receive in the resurrection determines the glory we receive in the kingdoms that are prepared. Of those in the telestial world it is written:
“And they shall be servants of the Most High, but where God and Christ dwell they cannot come, worlds without end” (D&C 76:112).Of those in the telestial world it is written: “And they shall be servants of the Most High, but where God and Christ dwell they cannot come, worlds without end” [D&C 76:112] Of those who had the opportunity to enter into the new and everlasting covenant of marriage in this life and who did not do it the revelation says:
Therefore, when they are out of the world they neither marry nor are given in marriage; but are appointed angels in heaven; which angels are ministering servants, to minister for those who are worthy of a far more, and an exceeding, and an eternal weight of glory.Of those who remain unmarried in eternity, the revelation says: “Therefore, when they are out of the world they neither marry nor are given in marriage; but are appointed angels in heaven; which angels are ministering servants, to minister for those who are worthy of a far more, and an exceeding, and an eternal weight of glory.” [D&C 1 40:16] For these angels did not abide my law; therefore, they cannot be enlarged, but remain separately and singly, without exaltation, in their saved condition, to all eternity; and from henceforth are not gods, but are angels of God forever and ever. [D&C 1 40:16-17] Let me amend that, amend what I said, that is referring to people who had opportunity to be married right in this life and who were not. Of them, the revelation continues: “For these angels did not abide my law; therefore, they cannot be enlarged, but remain separately and singly, without exaltation, in their saved condition, to all eternity; and from henceforth are not gods, but are angels of God forever and ever.” [D&C 1 40:17] They neither progress from one kingdom to another, nor does a lower kingdom ever get where a higher kingdom once was. Whatever eternal progression there is, it is within a sphere. They neither progress from one kingdom to another, nor does a lower kingdom ever get where a higher kingdom once was. Whatever eternal progression there is, is in a sphere. Heresy six
Printed version Audio version There are those who believe or say they believe that Adam is our father and our god, that he is the father of our spirits and our bodies, and that he is the one we worship. There are those who believe, or say they believe that Adam is our father and our god. That he is the father of our spirits and our bodies, and that he is the one we worship. The devil keeps this heresy alive as a means of obtaining converts to cultism. It is contrary to the whole plan of salvation set forth in the scriptures, and anyone who has read the Book of Moses, and anyone who has received the temple endowment, has no excuse whatever for being led astray by it. Those who are so ensnared reject the living prophet and close their ears to the apostles of their day. “We will follow those who went before,” they say. And having so determined, they soon are ready to enter polygamous relationships that destroy their souls. The devil keeps this heresy alive as a means of obtaining converts to cultism. It is contrary to the whole plan of salvation set forth in the scriptures. Anyone who has read the Book of Moses, and anyone who has received the temple endowment and who yet believes the Adam-God theory, does not deserve to be saved. Those ensnared by it reject the living prophet and close their ears to the apostles of their day. “We will follow those who went before,” they say. And having so determined they soon are ready to enter polygamous relationships that destroy their souls. We worship the Father, in the name of the Son, by the power of the Holy Ghost; and Adam is their foremost servant, by whom the peopling of our planet was commenced. We worship the Father, in the name of the Son, by the power of the Holy Ghost; and Adam is their foremost servant, by whom the peopling of our planet commenced. Heresy seven
Printed version Audio version There are those who believe we must be perfect to gain salvation. There are those who believe we must be perfect to gain salvation. This is not really a great heresy, only a doctrinal misunderstanding that I mention here in order to help round out our discussion and to turn our attention from negative to positive things. If we keep two principles in mind we will thereby know that good and faithful members of the Church will be saved even though they are far from perfect in this life. This is not really a great heresy, only a doctrinal misunderstanding which I mention here in order to help round out our discussion and to turn our attention from negative to positive things. If we keep two principles in mind we will thereby know that good and faithful members of the Church will be saved even though they are far from perfect in this life. These two principles are These two principles are: (1) that this life is the appointed time for men to prepare to meet God-this life is the day of our probation; and (1) That this life is the appointed time for men to prepare to meet God-this life is the day of our probation; and (2) that the same spirit which possesses our bodies at the time we go out of this mortal life shall have power to possess our bodies in that eternal world. (2) That same spirit which possesses our bodies at the time we go out of this mortal life shall have power to possess our bodies in that eternal world. What we are doing as members of the Church is charting a course leading to eternal life. There was only one perfect being, the Lord Jesus. If men had to be perfect and live all of the law -strictly, wholly, and completely, there would be only one saved person in eternity. The prophet taught that there are many things to be done, even beyond the grave, in working out our salvation. What we are doing as members of the Church is charting a course leading to eternal life. There was only one perfect being, the Lord Jesus. If men had to be perfect and live all of the law-strictly, wholly, and completely, there would be one saved person only in eternity. The prophet said that there are many things to be done, even beyond the grave, in working out our salvation. And so what we do in this life is chart a course leading to eternal life. That course begins here and now and continues in the realms ahead. We must determine in our hearts and in our souls, with all the power and ability we have, that from this time forward we will press on in righteousness; by so doing we can go where God and Christ are. If we make that firm determination, and are in the course of our duty when this life is over, we will continue in that course in eternity. That same spirit that possesses our bodies at the time we depart from this mortal life will have power to possess our bodies in the eternal world. If we go out of this life loving the Lord, desiring righteousness, and seeking to acquire the attributes of godliness, we will have that same spirit in the eternal world, and we will then continue to advance and progress until an ultimate, destined day when we will possess, receive, and inherit all things. And so what we do in this life is chart a course leading to eternal life. We determine in our heart and in our soul, with all the power and ability we have, that from this time forward we will press on in righteousness; so that we can go where God and Christ are. If we make that determination, and were in the course of our duty when this life is over, we will continue in that course in eternity. Because that same spirit that possesses our bodies at the time we depart from this mortal life will have power to possess our bodies in the eternal world. If we go out of this life loving the Lord, and desiring righteousness, and seeking to acquire the attributes of godliness, we will have that same spirit in the eternal world, and we will continue to advance and progress until an ultimate, destined day when we’ll possess, receive, and inherit all things. Now I do not say these are the only great heresies that prevail among us. There are others that might be mentioned. My suggestion, relative to all doctrines and all principles, is that we become students of holy writ, and that we conform our thinking and our beliefs to what is found in the standard works. We need to be less concerned about the views and opinions that others have expressed and drink directly from the fountain the Lord has given us. Then we shall come to a true understanding of the points of his doctrine. And if we pursue such a course, we will soon find that it proceeds in a different direction than the one that the world pursues. We will not be troubled with the intellectual views and expressions of uninspired people. We will soon obtain for ourselves the witness of the Spirit that we are pursuing a course that is pleasing to the Lord, and this knowledge will have a cleansing and sanctifying and edifying influence upon us. Now I do not say these are the greatest heresies that prevail among us. It seems to me that quite likely there are other things also that could be added. But my suggestion is that we become students of the holy writ, that we conform our thinking and our beliefs to what is found in the standard works. That we have less concern about the views and opinions that others have expressed and that we drink direct from the fountain that the Lord has given us, and that we come to an understanding on the points of his doctrine. And if we pursue such a course, we will find that it is in a different direction than the one that the world goes in. But we will not be concerned with the intellectual expressions of other people. We’ll soon obtain for ourselves the witness of the Spirit that we’re pursuing a course that is seeking righteousness, and this will have a cleansing and sanctifying and edifying influence upon us. Now, in order to have things in perspective, let me identify the three greatest heresies in all Christendom. They do not prevail among us, fortunately, but they are part of the gross and universal darkness that covers the earth and blots out from the minds of men those truths upon which salvation rests. Now, just to have things in perspective, let me mention the three greatest heresies that prevail in all Christendom. They do not prevail among us, fortunately. The greatest truth known to man is that there is a God in heaven who is infinite and eternal; that he is the creator, upholder, and preserver of all things; that he created us and the sidereal heavens and ordained and established a plan of salvation whereby we might advance and progress and become like him. The truth pertaining to him is that he is our Father in heaven, that he has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s, that he is a literal person, and that if we believe and obey his laws we can gain the exaltation that he possesses. Now that is the greatest truth and the most glorious concept known to the human mind, and the reverse of it is the greatest heresy in all Christendom. < Christendom. all in heresy greatest the is> The Christian heresy, where God is concerned, is that Deity is a spirit essence that fills the immensity of space; that he is three beings in one; that he is uncreated, incorporeal, and incomprehensible; that he is without body, parts, or passions; that he is a spirit nothingness that is everywhere and nowhere in particular present. These are concepts written in the creeds had in the churches of the world. The reverse is, that God is a spirit essence, three beings in one, a spirit nothingness that fills the immensity of space, the reverse of it is the heresy that is written in the creeds that are had in the churches of the world. The second greatest truth in all eternity pertains to the divine sonship of the Lord, Jesus Christ. It includes the eternal verity that he was foreordained in the councils of eternity to come to earth and be the redeemer of men, to come and ransom men from the temporal and spiritual death brought upon them by the fall of Adam. This second greatest truth is that Christ worked out the infinite and eternal atoning sacrifice because of which all men are raised in immortality and those who believe and obey are raised also unto eternal life. Now the second greatest truth in all eternity is that which pertains to the divine Sonship of the Lord, Jesus Christ. It is that he was foreordained in the councils of eternity to come to down here and be the redeemer of men, to come and ransom men from the indicated temporal and spiritual death brought upon them by the fall of Adam. This second greatest truth is that Christ worked out this infinite and eternal atoning sacrifice so that all men are raised in immortality and those who believe and obey are raised also unto eternal life. Now the second greatest heresy in all Christendom is designed to destroy the glories and wonders of the infinite and eternal atonement. It is that men are saved by some kind of lip service, by the grace of God, without work and without effort on their part. Now the opposite of that is the second greatest heresy in all Christendom, and the opposite is that men are saved by some kind of lip service, by the grace of God supposedly, without work and without effort on their part. The third greatest truth known to mankind is that the Holy Spirit of God is a revelator and a sanctifier, that he is a personage of spirit that his assigned ministry and work in the eternal Godhead is to bear record of the Father and of the Son, to reveal them and their truths to men. His work is to cleanse and perfect human souls, to burn dross and evil out of human souls as though by fire. We call that the baptism of fire. The third greatest truth known to mankind, the third greatest truth in all eternity is that the Holy Spirit of God is a revelator and a sanctifier, that he is a personage of spirit that his assigned ministry and work in the eternal Godhead is to bear record of the Father and of the Son, to reveal them and their truths to men. And that his work is to be a sanctifier to cleanse and perfect human souls, to burn dross and evil out of human souls as though by fire. We call that the baptism of fire. Now the opposite of that is the third greatest heresy in all Christendom. It is that revelation has ceased, that God’s mouth is closed, that the Holy Ghost no longer inspires men, that the gifts of the Spirit were done away with after the death of the ancient apostles, and that we no longer need to follow the course they charted. Now the opposite of that is the third greatest heresy in all Christendom, which is that revelation has ceased, that God’s mouth is closed, that the Holy Ghost no longer inspires men, that the gifts of the Spirit were done away with the ancient apostles, and that we no longer follow the course that they charted. I simply name these things; I think you will want to weigh and evaluate what is involved. I think you will want to ponder and wonder and search the scriptures. After Jesus had been teaching the Nephites as a resurrected person, giving them as much truth as in his wisdom he felt they could absorb at one time, he counseled them to go to their homes, and to ponder in their hearts the things he had said, and to pray to the Father in his name to find out if they were true, and then to come again on the morrow and he would teach them -more. Well, I have named these things; I think you will want to weigh and evaluate. I think you will want to ponder and wonder and search the scriptures. After Jesus had been teaching, as a resurrected person, the Nephites, giving them as much truth as in his wisdom they felt they could absorb at one time, he counseled them to go to their homes, and to ponder in their hearts the things he had said, and to pray to the Father in his name to find out if they were true, and then to come again on the morrow and he would teach them more. Now that gives us the pattern by which we should operate in the Church. We come together in congregations, seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit, studying the revelations, reading the scriptures, and hearing expressions of doctrine and counsel given by those who are appointed. These teachings ought to be delivered by the power of the Holy Spirit. They ought to be received by the same power. And if they are, then the speaker and the hearer will be mutually edified, and we will have true and proper worship. Then when the meeting is over, the “amen” should not end it. We should go to our homes and to our families and to our circles, and we should search out the revelations and find out what the Lord has said on the subjects involved. We should seek to get in tune with the Holy Spirit and to gain a witness, not solely of the truth and divinity of the work in which we are engaged but also of the doctrines that are taught by those who preach to us. We come into these congregations, and sometimes a speaker brings a jug of living water that has in it many gallons. And when he pours it out on the congregation, all the members have brought is a single cup and so that’s all they take away. Or maybe they have their hands over the cups, and they don’t get anything to speak of. Then when the meeting is over, the “amen” should not end it. We should go to our homes and to our families and in our circles, and we should search out the revelations and find what the Lord has said on the subjects involved. And we should seek to get in tune with the Holy Spirit and gain a witness, not alone of the truth and divinity of the work in which we are engaged, but of the doctrines that are taught by those who preach to us. We come into these congregations, and sometimes a speaker brings a jug of living water that has in it many gallons. And he pours it out on the congregation, and all that the members have brought is a single cup and that’s all that they took away. Or maybe they have their hands over the cups, and they don’t get anything to speak of. On other occasions we have meetings where the speaker comes and all he brings is a little cup of eternal truth, and the members of the congregation come with a large jug and all they get in their jugs is the little dribble that came from a man who should have known better and who should have prepared himself and talked from the revelations and spoken by the power of the Holy Spirit. We are obligated in the Church to speak by the power of the Spirit. We are commanded to treasure up the words of light and truth and then give forth the portion that is appropriate and needful on every occasion. Now in other instances, we have meetings where the speaker comes and all he brings is a little cup of eternal truth, and the members of the congregation come with a large jug and all they get in their jug is the little dribble that came from a man who should have known better and who should have prepared himself and talked from the revelations and spoken by the power of the Holy Spirit. We are obligated in the Church to speak by the power of the Spirit. We are commanded to treasure up the words of light and truth and then give forth the portion that is appropriate and needful on every occasion. Now I have deliberately read portions of my talk tonight because I wanted the words to be the way you heard them, so that I would be on record on the matters that are involved and so that as far as I am concerned the word would have been said in the plainness that I have given it. And those who hear would then be accountable themselves for their reaction to it. I do not think that the heresies I have named are common in the Church. I think that the great majority of the members of the Church believe and understand true doctrines and seek to apply true principles in their lives. Unfortunately, there are a few people who agitate and stir these matters up, who have some personal ax to grind, and who desire to spread philosophies of their own, philosophies that, as near as the judges in Israel can discern, are not in harmony with the mind and will and purpose of the Lord. It is incumbent upon us to believe the truth. We have the obligation to find out what is truth, and then we have the obligation to walk in the light and to apply the truths that we have learned to ourselves and to influence others to do likewise. I do not think that heresies as I have named them are common in the Church. I think that the great generality of the members of the Church believe and understand the doctrines and seek to apply the principles to their lives. Unfortunately, there are a few people who agitate and stir these matters up, and have some personal ax to grind, or desire to spread philosophies of their own, that as near as the judges in Israel can discern, are not in harmony with the mind and will and purpose of the Lord. It is incumbent upon us to believe the truth. We have the obligation to find out what is true, and then we have the obligation to walk in the light and to apply the truths that we have learned to ourselves and to influence others to do likewise. Now the glorious and wondrous thing about this whole system of revealed religion that the Lord, our God, has given us is the fact that it is true. There isn’t a grander, a more glorious, a more wondrous concept than the simple one that the work in which we are engaged is true. And because it is true it will triumph and prevail, and the knowledge of God and his truths will roll forth until it covers the whole earth as the waters cover the sea. We do not expect to have a perfect society among us until the millennial day dawns. But that is not far-distant. And when that day comes, we will all, as the scriptures say, see eye to eye and speak with one voice, and the Lord himself will dwell among us. He could not dwell among us now because we are divided and we are not living in that perfect harmony and unity and with that devotion that prevailed among the Saints in the city of Enoch. Now the glorious and wondrous thing about this whole system of revealed religion that the Lord, our God, has given us is the fact that it’s true. There isn’t a grander, a more glorious, a more wondrous concept than the simple one that the work in which we are engaged is true. And because it’s true it will triumph and prevail, and the knowledge of God and his truths will roll forth until they cover the whole earth as the waters cover the sea. We do not expect to have a perfect society among us until the millennial day dawns. But that is not far-distant. And when that day comes, we will all, as the scriptures say, see eye to eye and speak with one voice, and the Lord himself will dwell among us. He could not dwell among us now because we are divided and we are not living in that perfect harmony and unity and with that devotion that prevailed among the Saints in days of the city of Enoch. God grant that we may be wise in what we do, that we may seek truth, that we may live in harmony with the truth, that we may bear testimony of the truth, and that we may, as a consequence, have joy and peace and happiness here and now and be inheritors, in due course, of eternal reward in our Father’s kingdom. This is my prayer for myself and for all of you, and for all of the members of the Church, and for honest truthseekers everywhere, and I offer it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. God grant that we may be wise in what we do, that we may seek truth, that we may live truth, that we may bear testimony of the truth, that we may, as a consequence, have the joy and peace and happiness that comes to people who so do have it here and now and thus be inheritors, in due course, and eventually of eternal reward in our Father’s kingdom. This is my prayer for myself and for all of you, and for all of the members of the Church, and for honest truthseekers everywhere, and I offer it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. References
References 1 The Seven Deadly Heresies – https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/bruce-r-mcconkie_seven-deadly-heresies/ -
King James Bible
King James Bible passages in the Book of Mormon: 1
Note: Isaiah chapters 40+2, Malachi, and the verses from the New Testament were written after Lehi left Jerusalem in the Book of Mormon narrative.
When entire verses are verbatim or near verbatim copies (as is often the case), only the references to the corresponding scriptures are provided.
1 Nephi (600-570 BC) 1 Nephi 1:14
“…Great and marvelous are thy works, O Lord God Almighty!”Revelation 15:3
“Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty”1 Nephi 2:16 “…the mysteries of God…” 1 Cor. 4:1 “…the mysteries of God…” 1 Nephi 2:24 “…to stir them up in the ways of remembrance.” 2 Peter 1:13 “…to stir you up by putting you in remembrance…” 1 Nephi 3:2 “…Behold I have dreamed a dream…” Judges 7:13 “Behold, I dreamed a dream…” 1 Nephi 3:20 “…spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets… since the world began…” Acts 3:21 “…spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.” 1 Nephi 4:13 “…It is better that one man should perish than that a nation should dwindle and perish in unbelief.” John 11:50 “…it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.” 1 Nephi 5:8 “…Now I know of a surety that the Lord hath…” Acts 12:11 “…Now I know of a surety, that the LORD hath…” 1 Nephi 5:18, 11:36, 14:11, 19:17, 22:28 “…all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people…” Revelation 14:6 “…to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people…” 1 Nephi 6:5 “…those who are not of the world.” John 17:14 “…they are not of the world…” 1 Nephi 7:8, 15:4 “…being grieved for the hardness of their hearts…” Mark 3:5 “…being grieved for the hardness of their hearts…” 1 Nephi 10:8 “…go forth and cry in the wilderness: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, and make his paths straight…” John 1:23 “…I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord…” 1 Nephi 10:8 “…there standeth one among you whom ye know not; and he is mightier than I, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose.” John 1:26-27 “…there standeth one among you, whom ye know not…whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose.” 1 Nephi 10:9 “…in Bethabara, beyond Jordan…” John 1:28 “…in Bethabara beyond Jordan…” 1 Nephi 10:10 “…the Lamb of God, who should take away the sins of the world.” John 1:29 “…Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” 1 Nephi 10:18 “…he is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever…” Hebrews 13:8 “…Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” 1 Nephi 10:18 “…the way is prepared for all men from the foundation of the world…” Matthew 25:34 “…the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world…” 1 Nephi 11:7 “…bear record that it is the Son of God.” John 1:34 “…bare record that this is the Son of God.” 1 Nephi 11:22 “…it is the love of God, which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts…” Romans 5:5 “…the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts…” 1 Nephi 11:35, 12:9, 13:41, 14:20, 24, 25, 27 “…the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” Revelation 21:14 “…the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” 1 Nephi 12:2, 12:21, 14:15 “…wars, and rumors of wars…” Matthew 24:6 “…wars and rumours of wars…” 1 Nephi 12:10 “…their garments are made white in his blood.” Revelation 7:14 “…their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” 1 Nephi 13:27 “…pervert the right ways of the Lord…” Acts 13:10 “…pervert the right ways of the Lord?” 1 Nephi 13:42 “…the last shall be first, and the first shall be last.” Matthew 19:30 “…first shall be last; and the last shall be first.” 1 Nephi 14:10 “…the mother of abominations; and she is the whore of all the earth.” Revelation 17:5 “…THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” 1 Nephi 14:11 “…the whore of all the earth, and she sat upon many waters…” Revelation 17:1 “…the great whore that sitteth upon many waters…” 1 Nephi 15:15 “…the true vine…” John 15:1 “…I am the true vine…” 1 Nephi 15:24 “…the fiery darts of the adversary…” Ephesians 6:16 “…the fiery darts of the wicked.” 1 Nephi 15:30 “…ascendeth up unto God forever and ever…” Revelation 14:11 “…the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever…” 1 Nephi 16:2 “…lifted up at the last day…” John 6:40 “…I will raise him up at the last day.” 1 Nephi 17:39 “He ruleth high in the heavens, for it is his throne, and this earth is his footstool.” Isaiah 66:1 “Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool…” 1 Nephi 17:55 “…honor thy father and thy mother, that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God shall give thee.” Exodus 20:12 “Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.” 1 Nephi 20:20, 21 Isaiah 48:20, 21 1 Nephi 22:15 “For behold…the day soon cometh that all the proud and they who do wickedly shall be as stubble; and the day cometh that they must be burned.” Malachi 4:1 “For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up…” 1 Nephi 22:17 “…they shall be saved, even if it so be as by fire.” 1 Corinthians 3:15 “…but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” 1 Nephi 22:18 “…blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke…” Acts 2:19 “…blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke…” 1 Nephi 22:20 “…A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass that all those who will not hear that prophet shall be cut off from among the people.” Acts 3:22-23 “…A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.” 1 Nephi 22:25 “…there shall be one fold and one shepherd…” John 10:16 “…there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.” 1 Nephi 22:31 “…endure to the end, ye shall be saved…” Matthew 24:13 “…endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” 2 Nephi (588-545 BC) 2 Nephi 2:4 “…the same, yesterday, today, and forever.” Hebrews 13:8 “…the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” 2 Nephi 2:6 “…full of grace and truth.” John 1:14 “…full of grace and truth.” 2 Nephi 2:9 “…the first-fruits unto God…” Revelation 14:4 “…the firstfruits unto God…” 2 Nephi 4:17 “…O wretched man that I am!” Romans 7:24 “O wretched man that I am!” 2 Nephi 4:18 “I am encompassed about, because of the temptations and the sins which do so easily beset me.” Hebrews 12:1 “…seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us…” 2 Nephi 5:25 “…to stir them up in remembrance of me…” 2 Peter 1:13 “…to stir you up by putting you in remembrance…” 2 Nephi 6:6, 16-18 Isaiah 49:22, 24-26 2 Nephi 6:9 “…manifest himself unto them in the flesh…” 1 Timothy 3:16 “…God was manifest in the flesh…” 2 Nephi 7 Isaiah 50 2 Nephi 8 Isaiah 51-52 2 Nephi 9:6 “…death hath passed upon all men…” Romans 5:12 “…death passed upon all men…” 2 Nephi 9:7 “…this corruption could not put on incorruption.” 1 Corinthians 15:53 “…this corruptible must put on incorruption…” 2 Nephi 9:12 “…death and hell must deliver up their dead…” Revelation 20:13“…death and hell delivered up the dead…” 2 Nephi 9:15 “…must appear before the judgment-seat of the Holy One of Israel…” 2 Corinthians 5:10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ…” 2 Nephi 9:16 “…they who are righteous shall be righteous still, and they who are filthy shall be filthy still…” Revelation 22:11 “…he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still…” 2 Nephi 9:18 “…endured the crosses of the world, and despised the shame…” Hebrews 12:2 “…endured the cross, despising the shame…” 2 Nephi 9:18 “…inherit the kingdom of God, which was prepared for them from the foundation of the world…” Matthew 25:34 “…inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world…” 2 Nephi 9:18 “…their joy shall be full…” John 15:11 “…that your joy might be full.” 2 Nephi 9:30 “But wo unto the rich…” Luke 6:24 “But woe unto you that are rich!” 2 Nephi 9:33 “Wo unto the uncircumcised of heart…” Acts 7:51 “…uncircumcised in heart…” 2 Nephi 9:34, 36 “…shall be thrust down to hell.” Luke 10:15 “…shalt be thrust down to hell.” 2 Nephi 9:39 “…to be carnally-minded is death, and to be spiritually-minded is life…” Romans 8:6 “…to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life…” 2 Nephi 9:42 “…whoso knocketh, to him will he open…” Matthew 7:8 “…to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” 2 Nephi 9:50, 51 Isaiah 55:1, 2 2 Nephi 10:9 Isaiah 49:23 2 Nephi 10:16 “…both Jew and Gentile, both bond and free, both male and female…” Galatians 3:28 “…neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female…” 2 Nephi 10:16 “…they who are not for me are against me…” Matthew 12:30 “He that is not with me is against me…” 2 Nephi 12 Isaiah 2 2 Nephi 13 Isaiah 3 2 Nephi 14 Isaiah 4 2 Nephi 15 Isaiah 5 2 Nephi 16 Isaiah 6 2 Nephi 17 Isaiah 7 2 Nephi 18 Isaiah 8 2 Nephi 19 Isaiah 9 2 Nephi 20 Isaiah 10 2 Nephi 21 Isaiah 11 2 Nephi 22 Isaiah 12 2 Nephi 23 Isaiah 13 2 Nephi 24 Isaiah 14 2 Nephi 25:12 “…wars, and rumors of wars…” Matthew 24:6 “…wars and rumours of wars…” 2 Nephi 25:12 “…the Only Begotten of the Father…” John 1:14 “…the only begotten of the Father…” 2 Nephi 25:13 “…rise from the dead, with healing in his wings…” Malachi 4:2 “…arise with healing in his wings…” 2 Nephi 25:20 “…there is none other name given under heaven…whereby man can be saved.” Acts 4:12 “…there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” 2 Nephi 25:29 “..shall in nowise be cast out.” John 6:37 “…I will in no wise cast out.” 2 Nephi 26:9 “…the Son of righteousness shall appear…” Malachi 4:2 “…shall the Sun of righteousness arise…” 2 Nephi 26:11 “…the Spirit of the Lord will not always strive with man.” Genesis 6:3 “…My spirit shall not always strive with man…” 2 Nephi 26:12 “…Jesus is the very Christ…” John 7:26 “…that this is the very Christ?” 2 Nephi 26:13, 30:8 “…every nation, kindred, tongue, and people…” Revelation 14:6 “…to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people…” 2 Nephi 26:16 “…shall speak unto them out of the ground, and their speech shall be low out of the dust, and their voice shall be as one that hath a familiar spirit…that he may whisper concerning them, even as it were out of the ground; and their speech shall whisper out of the dust.” Isaiah 29:4 “And thou shalt be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as of one that hath a familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of the dust.” 2 Nephi 26:25 “…buy milk and honey, without money and without price.” Isaiah 55:1 “…buy wine and milk without money and without price.” 2 Nephi 26:30 “…except they should have charity they were nothing.” 1 Corinthians 13:2 “…and have not charity, I am nothing.” 2 Nephi 26:33 “…bond and free, male and female…both Jew and Gentile.” Galatians 3:28 “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female…” 2 Nephi 27:2 “…they shall be visited of the Lord of Hosts, with thunder and with earthquake, and with a great noise, and with storm, and with tempest, and with the flame of devouring fire.” Isaiah 29:6 “Thou shalt be visited of the LORD of hosts with thunder, and with earthquake, and great noise, with storm and tempest, and the flame of devouring fire.” 2 Nephi 27:4 “…stay yourselves and wonder, for ye shall cry out, and cry; yea, ye shall be drunken but not with wine, ye shall stagger but not with strong drink.” Isaiah 29:9 “Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink.” 2 Nephi 27:5 “For behold, the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep. For behold, ye have closed your eyes, and ye have rejected the prophets; and your rulers, and the seers hath he covered…” Isaiah 29:10 “For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered.” 2 Nephi 27:15, 17 “…Read this, I pray thee…And the man shall say: I cannot bring the book, for it is sealed.” Isaiah 29:11 “…Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed…” 2 Nephi 27:19 “…deliver again the book and the words thereof to him that is not learned; and the man that is not learned shall say: I am not learned.” Isaiah 29:12 “And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.” 2 Nephi 27:23 “…the same yesterday, today, and forever…” Hebrews 13:8 “…the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” 2 Nephi 27:25-34 Isaiah 29:13-23 2 Nephi 28:15 “…pervert the right way of the Lord…” Acts 13:10 “…wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?” 2 Nephi 28:15 “…they shall be thrust down to hell!” Luke 10:15 “And thou…shalt be thrust down to hell.” 2 Nephi 28:23 “…even a lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment.” Revelation 20:10 “…into the lake of fire and brimstone…tormented day and night for ever and ever.” 2 Nephi 28:30 “…line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little…” Isaiah 28:10 “For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:” 2 Nephi 28:30 “…unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have.” Matthew 13:12 “For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.” 2 Nephi 29:9 “…the same yesterday, today, and forever…” Hebrews 13:8 “…the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” 2 Nephi 29:11 “…out of the books which shall be written I will judge the world, every man according to their works…” Revelation 20:12 “…the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.” 2 Nephi 30:9 Isaiah 11:4 2 Nephi 30:11-15 Isaiah 11:5-9 2 Nephi 31:4 “…the Lamb of God, which should take away the sins of the world.” John 1:29 “…the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” 2 Nephi 31:5 “…to fulfil all righteousness…” Matthew 3:15 “…to fulfil all righteousness…” 2 Nephi 31:9 “…the straightness of the path, and the narrowness of the gate…” Matthew 7:14 “…strait is the gate, and narrow is the way…” 2 Nephi 31:10 “…Follow thou me.” John 21:22 “…follow thou me.” 2 Nephi 31:11 “…repent ye, and be baptized in the name of my Beloved Son.” Acts 2:38 “…Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ…” 2 Nephi 31:13 “…speak with the tongue of angels…” 1 Corinthians 13:1 “…I speak with the tongues of men and of angels…” 2 Nephi 31:14 “…can speak with a new tongue…” Mark 16:17 “…they shall speak with new tongues…” 2 Nephi 31:15 “…He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.” Matthew 24:13 “…he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” 2 Nephi 31:18 “…strait and narrow path which leads to eternal life…” Matthew 7:14 “…strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life…” 2 Nephi 31:21 “…there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved…” Acts 4:12 “…for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” 2 Nephi 32:2 “…speak with the tongue of angels…” 1 Corinthians 13:1 “…speak with the tongues of men and of angels…” 2 Nephi 32:9 “…pray always, and not faint…” Luke 18:1 “…always to pray, and not to faint…” 2 Nephi 33:9 “…enter into the narrow gate, and walk in the strait path which leads to life…” Matthew 7:13, 14 “Enter ye in at the strait gate…Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life…” Jacob (544-421 BC) Jacob 3:11 “…that lake of fire and brimstone which is the second death.” Revelation 21:8 “…in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.” Jacob 5:42 “…these which have once brought forth good fruit…are good for nothing save it be to be hewn down and cast into the fire.” Matthew 3:10 “…every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.” Jacob 5:47 “…what could I have done more in my vineyard?” Isaiah 5:4 “What could have been done more to my vineyard…” Jacob 5:47 “…I have digged about it… and I have dunged it…” Luke 13:8 “…I shall dig about it, and dung it:” Jacob 5:49 “…they shall not cumber the ground…” Luke 13:7 “…why cumbereth it the ground?” Jacob 5:63 “…the last that they may be first, and that the first may be last…” Matthew 19:30 “…first shall be last; and the last shall be first.” Jacob 6:4 “…he stretches forth his hands unto them all the day long; and they are a stiffnecked and a gainsaying people;” Romans 10:21 “…All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.” Jacob 6:6 “…today, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts…” Hebrews 3:7, 8 “…To day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your hearts…” Jacob 6:10 “…whose smoke ascendeth up forever and ever…endless torment.” Revelation 14:11 “And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever…” Jacob 6:11 “…enter in at the strait gate, and continue in the way which is narrow, until ye shall obtain eternal life.” Matthew 7:13, 14 “Enter ye in at the strait gate…narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life…” Enos (544-420 BC) Enos 1:1 “…in the nurture and admonition of the Lord…” Ephesians 6:4 “…in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” Enos 1:8 “…thy faith hath made thee whole.” Matthew 9:22 “…thy faith hath made thee whole.” Enos 1:15 “…Whatsoever thing ye shall ask in faith, believing that ye shall receive in the name of Christ, ye shall receive it.” Matthew 21:22 “And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” Enos 1:27 “…my mortal shall put on immortality…” 1 Corinthians 15:53 “…this mortal must put on immortality.” Enos 1:27 “…Come unto me, ye blessed…of my Father.” Matthew 25:34 “…Come, ye blessed of my Father…” Enos 1:27 “…there is a place prepared for you in the mansions of my Father.” John 14:2 “In my Father’s house are many mansions…I go to prepare a place for you.” Omni (361-130 BC) Omni 1:26 “…endure to the end…ye will be saved.” Matthew 24:13 “…endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” Mosiah (130-91 BC) Mosiah 1:12 “…name that never shall be blotted out…” Revelation 3:5 “…I will not blot out his name out of the book of life…” Mosiah 1:17 “…to stir them up in remembrance…” 2 Peter 1:13 “…to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;” Mosiah 3:5 “…the Lord Omnipotent who reigneth…” Revelation 19:6 “…the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.” Mosiah 3:13 “…to every kindred, nation, and tongue…” Revelation 14:6 “…to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people…” Mosiah 3:17 “…there shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come…” Acts 4:12 “…salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Mosiah 3:18 “…become as little children…” Matthew 18:3 “…become as little children…” Mosiah 3:27 “…their torment is as a lake of fire and brimstone, whose flames are unquenchable, and whose smoke ascendeth up forever and ever.” Revelation 14:10, 11 “…he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels…And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever…” Mosiah 4:6 “…prepared from the foundation of the world…” Matthew 25:34 “…prepared for you from the foundation of the world…” Mosiah 4:9 “…believe that he is…” Hebrews 11:6 “…believe that he is…” Mosiah 5:8 “…There is no other name given whereby salvation cometh;” Acts 4:12 “…there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Mosiah 5:13 “…the thoughts and intents of his heart…” Hebrews 4:12 “…the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Mosiah 5:15 “…ye should be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in good works…” 1 Corinthians 15:58 “…be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord…” Mosiah 5:15 “…the Lord God Omnipotent…” Revelation 19:6 “…the Lord God omnipotent…” Mosiah 6:3 “…to stir them up in remembrance…” 2 Peter 1:13 “…to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;” Mosiah 7:30 “…they shall reap the chaff thereof in the whirlwind…” Hosea 8:7 “…they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind…” Mosiah 10:8 “…a leathern girdle about their loins.” Matthew 3:4 “…a leathern girdle about his loins…” Mosiah 12:21-24 Isaiah 52:7-10 Mosiah 12:34-36 Exodus 20:2-4 Mosiah 13:12-24 Exodus 20:4-17 Mosiah 14:1-12 Isaiah 53:1-12 Mosiah 15:14 “…who have brought good tidings of good, who have published salvation; and said unto Zion: Thy God reigneth!” Isaiah 52:7 “…him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!” Mosiah 15:29-31 Isaiah 52:8-10 Mosiah 16:2 “…the wicked be cast out…and weep, and wail, and gnash their teeth…” Matthew 22:13 “…cast him into outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Mosiah 16:3 “…that old serpent…” Revelation 20:2 “…that old serpent…” Mosiah 16:3 “…serpent that did beguile our first parents…” 2 Corinthians 11:3 “…the serpent beguiled Eve…” Mosiah 16:3 “…carnal, sensual, devilish…” James 3:15 “…earthly, sensual, devilish.” Mosiah 16:7 “…that death should have no sting…” 1 Corinthians 15:55 “O death, where is thy sting?” Mosiah 16:8 “…death is swallowed up in Christ.” 1 Corinthians 15:54 “…Death is swallowed up in victory.” Mosiah 16:9 “He is the light and the life of the world…” John 8:12 “…I am the light of the world…” Mosiah 16:10 “…this mortal shall put on immortality, and this corruption shall put on incorruption…” 1 Corinthians 15:53 “…this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” Mosiah 16:11 “If they be good, to the resurrection of endless life and happiness; and if they be evil, to the resurrection of endless damnation…” John 5:29 “And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” Mosiah 16:14 “…it is a shadow of those things which are to come…” Colossians 2:17 “Which are a shadow of things to come…” Mosiah 18:13 “…prepared from the foundation of the world.” Matthew 25:34 “…the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:” Mosiah 18:21 “…one faith and one baptism…” Ephesians 4:5 “…one faith, one baptism,” Mosiah 18:21 “…their hearts knit together in unity and in love…” Colossians 2:2 “That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love…” Mosiah 23:13 “…stand fast in this liberty wherewith ye have been made free…” Galatians 5:1 “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free…” Mosiah 26:27 “And then I will confess unto them that I never knew them…” Matthew 7:23 “And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you…” Mosiah 26:27 “…depart into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” Matthew 25:41 “…Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:” Mosiah 26:37 “…walking circumspectly…” Ephesians 5:15 “…walk circumspectly…” Mosiah 26:39 “…pray without ceasing, and to give thanks in all things.” 1 Thessalonians 5:17, 18 “Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks…” Mosiah 27:29 “…the gall of bitterness and bonds of iniquity.” Acts 8:23 “…in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.” Mosiah 27:31 “…every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess…” Philippians 2:10, 11 “…at the name of Jesus every knee should bow…And that every tongue should confess…” Alma (91-53 BC) Alma 1:25 “…stand fast in the faith…” 1 Corinthians 16:13 “…stand fast in the faith…” Alma 1:25 “…they were steadfast and immovable…” 1 Corinthians 15:58 “…be ye stedfast, unmoveable…” Alma 4:19 “…to stir them up in remembrance…” 2 Peter 1:13 “…to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;” Alma 5:15 “…this corruption raised in incorruption…” 1 Corinthians 15:42 “It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:” Alma 5:24 “…sit down in the kingdom of God, with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob…” Matthew 8:11 “…sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.” Alma 5:27 “…garments have been cleansed and made white through the blood of Christ…” Revelation 7:14 “…have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Alma 5:50 “…Repent…for the kingdom of heaven is soon at hand…” Matthew 3:2 “…Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Alma 5:35 “…hewn down and cast into the fire…” Matthew 3:10 “…hewn down, and cast into the fire.” Alma 5:48 “…the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace, and mercy, and truth.” John 1:14 “…the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” Alma 9:26 “…the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace, equity, and truth…” John 1:14 “…the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” Alma 5:48 “…it is he that cometh to take away the sins of the world…” John 1:29 “…the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” Alma 5:48 “…believeth on his name.” John 1:12 “…believe on his name:” Alma 5:54 “…bring forth works which are meet for repentance—“ Matthew 3:8 “Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:” Alma 12:15 “…bringeth forth fruit meet for repentance.” Matthew 3:8 “Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:” Alma 5:57 “…come ye out from the wicked, and be ye separate, and touch not their unclean things…” 2 Corinthians 6:17 “…come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.” Alma 7:9 “…Repent ye…the kingdom of heaven is at hand…” Matthew 3:2 “…Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Alma 7:14 “…if ye are not born again ye cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven…” John 3:3 “…Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Alma 7:14 “…the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world…” John 1:29 “…the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” Alma 7:14 “…to cleanse from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9 “…to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Alma 7:15 “…lay aside every sin, which easily doth beset you…” Hebrews 12:1 “…let us lay aside…the sin which doth so easily beset us…” Alma 7:20 “…neither doth he vary from that which he hath said; neither hath he a shadow of turning…” James 1:17 “…the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” Alma 7:21 “…he who is filthy shall remain in his filthiness.” Revelation 22:11 “…he which is filthy, let him be filthy still…” Alma 7:24 “…see that ye have faith, hope, and charity…” 1 Corinthians 13:13 “…now abideth faith, hope, charity…” Alma 7:24 “…ye will always abound in good works.” 2 Corinthians 9:8 “…ye… may abound to every good work:” Alma 7:25 “…sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob…in the kingdom of heaven…” Matthew 8:11 “…sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.” Alma 9:20 “…every other nation, kindred, tongue, or people…” Revelation 14:6 “…every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,” Alma 37:4 “…every nation, kindred, tongue, and people…” Revelation 14:6 “…every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,” Alma 9:25 “…Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is nigh at hand;” Matthew 4:17 “…Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Alma 10:20 “…repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 4:17 “…Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Alma 9:26 “…his glory; and his glory shall be the glory of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace, equity, and truth…” John 1:14 “…(and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” Alma 10:17 “…O ye wicked and perverse generation…” Matthew 17:17 “…O faithless and perverse generation…” Alma 11:39 “…he is the beginning and the end, the first and the last;” Revelation 22:13 “…the beginning and the end, the first and the last.” Alma 12:8 “…resurrection of the dead…both the just and the unjust…” Acts 24:15 “…resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.” Alma 12:16 “…a second death…” Revelation 20:14 “…the second death.” Alma 12:17 “…their torments shall be as a lake of fire and brimstone, whose flame ascendeth up forever and ever…” Revelation 14:10, 11 “…he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone…And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever…” Alma 12:27 “…it was appointed unto men that they must die; and after death, they must come to judgment…” Hebrews 9:27 “…it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:” Alma 12:35 “…I swear in my wrath that he shall not enter into my rest.” Hebrews 3:11 “So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.)” Alma 13:9 “…priests forever, after the order of the Son…” Hebrews 5:6 “…Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.” Alma 13:9 “…full of grace, equity, and truth…” John 1:14 “…full of grace and truth.” Alma 13:13 “…bring forth fruit meet for repentance…” Matthew 3:8 “Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:” Alma 13:15 “…this same Melchizedek to whom Abraham paid tithes…” Hebrews 7:1, 2 “…this Melchisedec…To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all…” Alma 13:20 “…the scriptures are before you; if ye will wrest them it shall be to your own destruction.” 2 Peter 3:16 “…they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.” Alma 13:22 “…glad tidings of great joy…among all his people…” Luke 2:10 “…good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.” Alma 13:28 “…watch and pray continually, that ye may not be tempted…” Matthew 26:41 “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation…” Alma 13:28 “…tempted above that which ye can bear…” 1 Corinthians 10:13 “…tempted above that ye are able…to bear…” Alma 18:13 “…said unto him, Rabbanah, which is, being interpreted, powerful or great king…” John 1:38 “…said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master…” Alma 18:32 “…the thoughts and intents of the heart…” Hebrews 4:12 “…the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Alma 19:9 “…Believest thou this?…” John 11:26 “…Believest thou this?” Alma 19:10 “…there has not been such great faith among all the people of the Nephites.” Luke 7:9 “…I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.” Alma 21:6 “…except we repent we shall perish…” Luke 13:3 “…except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” Alma 25:6 “…to be stirred up in remembrance…” 2 Peter 1:13 “…to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;” Alma 26:5 “…thrust in the sickle, and did reap…” Revelation 14:15 “…Thrust in thy sickle, and reap…” Alma 26:7 “…he will raise them up at the last day.” John 6:40 “…I will raise him up at the last day.” Alma 30:46 “…grieved because of the hardness of your heart…” Mark 3:5 “…being grieved for the hardness of their hearts…” Alma 31:11 “…they did pervert the ways of the Lord…” Acts 13:10 “…cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?” Alma 31:17 “…the same yesterday, today, and forever…” Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” Alma 31:37 “…taking no thought for themselves what they should eat, or what they should drink, or what they should put on.” Matthew 6:25 “…Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on…” Alma 32:13 “…he that findeth mercy and endureth to the end the same shall be saved.” Matthew 24:13 “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” Alma 32:21 “…if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen…” Hebrews 11:1 “…faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Alma 32:38 “…and when the heat of the sun cometh and scorcheth it, because it hath no root it withers away…” Matthew 13:6 “And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.” Alma 32:41 “…springing up unto everlasting life.” John 4:14 “…springing up into everlasting life.” Alma 34:13 “…yea, it shall be all fulfilled, every jot and tittle…” Matthew 5:18 “…one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” Alma 34:29 “…cast out, (it being of no worth) and is trodden under foot of men.” Matthew 5:13 “…good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.” Alma 34:38 “…worship God…in spirit and in truth…” John 4:24 “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” Alma 36:18 “…who am in the gall of bitterness…” Acts 8:23 “…thou art in the gall of bitterness…” Alma 37:15 “…delivered up unto Satan, that he may sift you as chaff before the wind.” Luke 22:31 “…Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:” Alma 37:34 “…be meek and lowly in heart; for such shall find rest to their souls.” Matthew 11:29 “…I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” Alma 38:9 “…he is the life and the light of the world…” John 1:4 “In him was life; and the life was the light of men.” Alma 39:9 “…the lusts of your eyes…” 1 John 2:16 “…the lust of the eyes…” Alma 40:2 “…this mortal does not put on immortality, this corruption does not put on incorruption…” 1 Corinthians 15:53 “…this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” Alma 41:4 “…mortality raised to immortality, corruption to incorruption…” 1 Corinthians 15:53 “…this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” Alma 40:13 “…cast out into outer darkness; there shall be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth…” Matthew 22:13 “…cast him into outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Alma 40:14 “…fearful looking for the fiery indignation…” Hebrews 10:27 “…fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation…” Alma 40:25 “…then shall the righteous shine forth…” Matthew 13:43 “Then shall the righteous shine forth…” Alma 41:11 “…are in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity…” Acts 8:23 “…art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.” Alma 41:11 “…without God in the world…” Ephesians 2:12 “…without God in the world:” Alma 42:2 Genesis 3:23, 24 Alma 42:27 “…whosoever will come may come and partake of the waters of life freely…” Revelation 22:17 “…whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” Alma 43:10 “…worship God in spirit and in truth…” John 4:24 “…worship him in spirit and in truth.” Alma 58:40 “…stand fast in that liberty wherewith God has made them free…” Galatians 5:1 “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free…” Helaman (52-1 BC) Helaman 3:29 “…the word of God, which is quick and powerful, which shall divide asunder…” Hebrews 4:12 “…the word of God is quick, and powerful…even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit…” Helaman 3:30 “…at the right hand of God in the kingdom of heaven, to sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and with Jacob…” Matthew 8:11 “…shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.” Helaman 5:8 “…lay up for yourselves a treasure in heaven…” Matthew 6:20 “…lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven…” Helaman 5:32 “…Repent ye, repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand…” Matthew 3:2 “…Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Helaman 5:44 “…that joy which is unspeakable and full of glory.” 1 Peter 1:8 “…with joy unspeakable and full of glory:” Helaman 7:28 “…except ye repent ye shall perish…” Luke 13:3 “…except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” Helaman 8:14 “…as he lifted up the brazen serpent in the wilderness, even so shall he be lifted up who should come.” John 3:14 “…as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:” Helaman 8:25 “…laying up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where nothing doth corrupt…” Matthew 6:20 “…lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt…” Helaman 9:21 “…ye uncircumcised of heart, ye blind, and ye stiffnecked people…” Acts 7:51 “Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears…” Helaman 10:7 “…whatsoever ye shall seal on earth shall be sealed in heaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven…” Matthew 16:19 “…whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Helaman 10:8 “…say unto this temple it shall be rent in twain…” Matthew 27:51 “…the veil of the temple was rent in twain…” Helaman 10:9 “…ye shall say unto this mountain…” Matthew 17:20 “…ye shall say unto this mountain…” Helaman 11:4 “…to stir them up in remembrance…” 2 Peter 1:13 “…to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;” Helaman 12:26 “…They that have done good shall have everlasting life; and they that have done evil shall have everlasting damnation…” John 5:29 “…they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” Helaman 13:25 “…If our days had been in the days of our fathers of old, we would not have slain the prophets…” Matthew 23:30 “…If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.” Helaman 13:29 “O ye wicked and ye perverse generation…” Matthew 17:17 “…O faithless and perverse generation…” Helaman 13:29 “…foolish and blind guides…” Matthew 23:16 “…ye blind guides…” Helaman 13:29 “…ye choose darkness rather than light?” John 3:19 “…men loved darkness rather than light…” Helaman 14:25 “And many graves shall be opened, and shall yield up many of their dead; and many saints shall appear unto many.” Matthew 27:52, 53 “And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.” Helaman 15:1 “…your houses shall be left unto you desolate.” Matthew 23:38 “…your house is left unto you desolate.” Helaman 15:2 “…wo unto them which are with child…” Matthew 24:19 “…woe unto them that are with child…” Helaman 15:5 “…and they do walk circumspectly…” Ephesians 5:15 “See then that ye walk circumspectly…” Helaman 16:14 “And angels did appear unto men, wise men, and did declare unto them glad tidings of great joy…” Luke 2:10 “And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy…” 3 Nephi (1-35 AD) 3 Nephi 1:13 “…the time is at hand…” Revelation 22:10 “…the time is at hand.” 3 Nephi 1:25 “…that one jot or tittle should not pass away till it should all be fulfilled…” Matthew 5:18 “…one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.” 3 Nephi 6:14 “…and steadfast, and immovable…” 1 Corinthians 15:58 “…be ye stedfast, unmoveable…” 3 Nephi 7:8 “…like the dog to his vomit, or like the sow to her wallowing in the mire.” 2 Peter 2:22 “…The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.” 3 Nephi 9:13 “…be converted, that I may heal you?” John 12:40 “…be converted, and I should heal them.” 3 Nephi 9:15 “…I am in the Father, and the Father in me…” John 14:11 “…I am in the Father, and the Father in me…” 3 Nephi 9:16 “I came unto my own, and my own received me not…” John 1:11 “He came unto his own, and his own received him not.” 3 Nephi 9:17 “And as many as have received me, to them have I given to become the sons of God; and even so will I to as many as shall believe on my name…” John 1:12 “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:” 3 Nephi 9:18 “I am the light and the life of the world…” John 8:12 “…I am the light of the world…” 3 Nephi 9:18 “…I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.” Revelation 22:13 “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.” 3 Nephi 10:4 “…how oft have I gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings…” Matthew 23:37 “…how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings…” 3 Nephi 10:5 “…how oft would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings…how oft would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens…” Matthew 23:37 “…how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings…” 3 Nephi 11:7 “Behold my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased…hear ye him.” Matthew 17:5 “…This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.” 3 Nephi 11:11 “…I am the light and the life of the world…” John 8:12 “…I am the light of the world…” 3 Nephi 11:25 “…baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost…” Matthew 28:19 “…baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:” 3 Nephi 11:27 “…the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost are one…” 1 John 5:7 “…the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.:” 3 Nephi 11:27 “…I am in the Father, and the Father in me…” John 14:11 “…I am in the Father, and the Father in me…” 3 Nephi 11:27 “…the Father and I are one.” John 10:30 “I and my Father are one.” 3 Nephi 11:32 “…the Father commandeth all men, everywhere, to repent…” Acts 17:30 “…God…commandeth all men every where to repent:” 3 Nephi 11:33 “…whoso believeth in me, and is baptized, the same shall be saved…” Mark 16:16 “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved…” 3 Nephi 11:34 “…whoso believeth not in me, and is not baptized, shall be damned.” Mark 16:16 “…but he that believeth not shall be damned.” 3 Nephi 11:36 “…the Father, and I, and the Holy Ghost are one.” 1 John 5:7 “…the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.:” 3 Nephi 11:39 “…whoso buildeth upon this buildeth upon my rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against them.” Matthew 16:18 “…upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” 3 Nephi 12:1 “…baptize you with water…baptize you with fire and with the Holy Ghost…” Matthew 3:11 “…baptize you with water…baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:” 3 Nephi 12:3-45 Matthew 5:3-45 3 Nephi 12:47 “Old things are done away, and all things have become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17 “…old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 3 Nephi 12:48 Matthew 5:48 3 Nephi 13:1-34 Matthew 6:1-34 3 Nephi 14:1-27 Matthew 7:1-27 3 Nephi 15:1 “…him will I raise up at the last day.” John 6:44 “…I will raise him up at the last day.” 3 Nephi 15:2 “…old things had passed away, and that all things had become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17 “…old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” 3 Nephi 15:9 “…endure to the end, and ye shall live…” Matthew 24:13 “…endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” 3 Nephi 15:17 “That other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.” John 10:16 “And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.” 3 Nephi 16:15 “…salt that hath lost its savor, which is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot…” Matthew 5:13 “…the salt have lost his savour…it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.” 3 Nephi 16:18-20 Isaiah 52:8-10 3 Nephi 18:13 “…built upon a sandy foundation; and when the rain descends, and the floods come, and the winds blow, and beat upon them, they shall fall…” Matthew 7:27 “…built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell…” 3 Nephi 18:15 “…watch and pray always, lest ye be tempted…” Matthew 26:41 “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation…” 3 Nephi 18:18 “…watch and pray always lest ye enter into temptation…” Matthew 26:41 “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation…” 3 Nephi 18:18 “…Satan desireth to have you, that he may sift you as wheat.” Luke 22:31 “…Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:” 3 Nephi 18:29 “…whoso eateth and drinketh my flesh and blood unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation to his soul…” 1 Corinthians 11:29 “…he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself…” 3 Nephi 18:35 “…it is expedient that I should go…” John 16:7 “…It is expedient for you that I go…” 3 Nephi 19:23 “…I pray unto thee for them, and also for all those who shall believe on their words, that they may believe in me, that I may be in them as thou, Father, art in me, that we may be one.” John 17:20-21 “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us…” 3 Nephi 19:29 “…I pray not for the world, but for those whom thou hast given me…that I may be glorified in them.” John 17:9, 10 “…I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me…and I am glorified in them.” 3 Nephi 20:16, 17 Micah 5:8, 9 3 Nephi 20:18, 19 Micah 4:12 3 Nephi 20:23-26 Acts 3:22-26 3 Nephi 21:8 “…kings shall shut their mouths; for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.” Isaiah 52:15 “…kings shall shut their mouths at him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.” 3 Nephi 21:9 “…the Father work a work, which shall be a great and a marvelous work among them…” Isaiah 29:14 “…I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder…” 3 Nephi 21:12-18 Micah 5:8-14 3 Nephi 21:29 “…they shall not go out in haste, nor go by flight, for I will go before them, saith the Father, and I will be their rearward.” Isaiah 52:12 “…ye shall not go out with haste, nor go by flight: for the LORD will go before you; and the God of Israel will be your rereward.” 3 Nephi 22:1-17 Isaiah 54:1-17 3 Nephi 24:1-18 Malachi 3:1-18 3 Nephi 25:1-6 Malachi 4:1-6 3 Nephi 26:3 “…the elements should melt with fervent heat…” 2 Peter 3:12 “…the elements shall melt with fervent heat?” 3 Nephi 26:3 “…and the earth should be wrapt together as a scroll…” Revelation 6:14 “…the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together…” 3 Nephi 26:3 “…the heavens and the earth should pass away;” Revelation 21:1 “…the first heaven and the first earth were passed away…” 3 Nephi 26:4 “…all people, and all kindreds, and all nations and tongues…” Revelation 11:9 “…the people and kindreds and tongues and nations…” 3 Nephi 26:4 “…stand before God, to be judged of their works…” Revelation 20:12 “…stand before God…judged…according to their works.” 3 Nephi 26:5 “If they be good, to the resurrection of everlasting life; and if they be evil, to the resurrection of damnation…” John 5:29 “…they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.” 3 Nephi 26:18 “…and heard unspeakable things, which are not lawful to be written.” 2 Corinthians 12:4 “…and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.” 3 Nephi 26:19 “…they had all things common…” Acts 4:32 “…they had all things common.” 3 Nephi 27:6 “…whoso…endureth to the end, the same shall be saved…” Matthew 24:13 “…he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” 3 Nephi 27:14 “…I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me…” John 12:32 “…I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” 3 Nephi 27:29 “…ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you; for he that asketh, receiveth; and unto him that knocketh, it shall be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8 “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” 3 Nephi 27:33 “…Enter ye in at the strait gate; for strait is the gate, and narrow is the way that leads to life, and few there be that find it; but wide is the gate, and broad the way which leads to death, and many there be that travel therein…” Matthew 7:13, 14 “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” 3 Nephi 27:33 “…the night cometh, wherein no man can work.” John 9:4 “…the night cometh, when no man can work.” 3 Nephi 28:8 “…ye shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye from mortality to immortality…” 1 Corinthians 15:52-53 “…in the twinkling of an eye…we shall be changed…this mortal must put on immortality.” 3 Nephi 28:10 “…the Father and I are one;” John 10:30 “I and my Father are one.” 3 Nephi 28:13 “…caught up into heaven, and saw and heard unspeakable things.” 2 Corinthians 12:2,4 “…caught up to the third heaven…and heard unspeakable words…” 3 Nephi 28:15 “…whether they were in the body or out of the body, they could not tell…” 2 Corinthians 12:3 “…whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell…” 3 Nephi 28:29 “…all nations, kindreds, tongues and people…” Revelation 14:6 “…every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,” 3 Nephi 28:31 “…all people must surely stand before the judgment-seat of Christ;” 2 Corinthians 5:10 “…we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ;” 4 Nephi (36-321 AD) 4 Nephi 1:3 “…they had all things common…” Acts 2:44 “…and had all things common;” 4 Nephi 1:3 “…bond and free…” Galatians 3:28 “…neither bond nor free…” 4 Nephi 1:3 “…partakers of the heavenly gift.” Hebrews 6:4 “…tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers…” 4 Nephi 1:30 “…were rent in twain…” Matthew 27:51 “…was rent in twain…” Mormon (322-421 AD) Mormon 3:15 “Vengeance is mine, and I will repay…” Romans 12:19 “…Vengeance is mine; I will repay…” Mormon 3:20 “…ye must all stand before the judgment-seat of Christ…and ye must stand to be judged of your works, whether they be good or evil;” 2 Corinthians 5:10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” Mormon 6:21 “…mortal must put on immortality, and these bodies which are now moldering in corruption must soon become incorruptible…” 1 Corinthians 15:53 “…this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” Mormon 6:21 “…ye must stand before the judgment-seat of Christ…” 2 Corinthians 5:10 “…we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ…” Mormon 7:5 “…gained the victory over the grave; and also in him is the sting of death swallowed up.” 1 Corinthians 15:54, 55 “…Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting?” Mormon 7:8 “…repent, and be baptized in the name of Jesus…” Acts 2:38 “…Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ…” Mormon 7:9 “…this is written for the intent that ye may believe that…” John 20:31 “…these are written, that ye might believe…” Mormon 8:20 “…saith the Lord, and vengeance is mine also, and I will repay.” Romans 12:19 “…Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.” Mormon 8:30 “And there shall also be heard of wars, rumors of wars, and earthquakes in divers places.” Matthew 24:6,7 “And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars… in divers places.” Mormon 8:31 “…in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity.” Acts 8:23 “…in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.” Mormon 9:2 “…the elements shall melt with fervent heat…” 2 Peter 3:10 “…the elements shall melt with fervent heat…” Mormon 9:9 “…God is the same yesterday, today, and forever…” Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” Mormon 9:9 “…in him there is no variableness neither shadow of changing?” James 1:17 “…with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” Mormon 9:14 “…he that is filthy shall be filthy still; and he that is righteous shall be righteous still…” Revelation 22:11 “…he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still…” Mormon 9:22-24 Mark 16:15-18 Mormon 9:27 “…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling…” Philippians 2:12 “…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” Mormon 9:29 “…endure to the end…” Matthew 24:13 “…endure unto the end…” Mormon 9:29 “…will in nowise be cast out.” John 6:37 “…will in no wise cast out. Ether (2200-600 BC) Ether 4:11 “…the manifestations of my Spirit…” 1 Corinthians 12:7 “…the manifestation of the Spirit…” Ether 4:18 “…he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned…” Mark 16:16 “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” Ether 4:18 “…and signs shall follow them that believe in my name.” Mark 16:17 “And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name…” Ether 4:19 “…the kingdom prepared for him from the foundation of the world.” Matthew 25:34 “…the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world…” Ether 12:4 “…an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast…” Hebrews 6:19 “…an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast…” Ether 12:6 “…faith is things which are hoped for and not seen…” Hebrews 11:1 “…faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Ether 12:8 “…partakers of the heavenly gift…” Hebrews 6:4 “…tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers…” Ether 12:11 “…God prepared a more excellent way…” 1 Corinthians 12:31 “…yet show I unto you a more excellent way.” Ether 12:35 “…and take away their talent…” Matthew 25:28 “Take therefore the talent from him…” Moroni (400-421 AD) Moroni 6:1 “…brought forth fruit meet that they were worthy…” Matthew 3:8 “Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance…” Moroni 6:2 “…a broken heart and a contrite spirit…” Psalms 51:17 “…a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart…” Moroni 6:4 “…Christ, who was the author and the finisher of their faith.” Hebrews 12:2 “…Jesus the author and finisher of our faith…” Moroni 6:7 “…their names were blotted out…” Revelation 3:5 “…I will not blot out his name…” Moroni 7:1 “…faith, hope, and charity…” 1 Corinthians 13:13 “…faith, hope, charity…” Moroni 7:6 “…it profiteth him nothing.” 1 Corinthians 13:3 “…it profiteth me nothing.” Moroni 7:7 “…it is not counted unto him for righteousness.” Romans 4:3 “…it was counted unto him for righteousness.” Moroni 7:16 “…the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil…” 1 Corinthians 12:7 “…the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.” Moroni 7:17 “…no man to do good, no, not one…” Romans 3:12 “…none that doeth good, no, not one.” Moroni 7:18 “…with that same judgment which ye judge ye shall also be judged.” Matthew 7:2 “For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged…” Moroni 7:26 “…Whatsoever thing ye shall ask the Father in my name…it shall be done unto you.” John 16:23 “…Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.” Moroni 7:26 “…Whatsoever thing ye shall ask…believing that ye shall receive…” Matthew 21:22 “…all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” Moroni 7:34 “…Repent…and be baptized in my name…” Acts 2:38 “…Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ…” Moroni 7:39 “…I judge better things of you…” Hebrews 6:9 “…we are persuaded better things of you…” Moroni 7:43 “…he shall be meek, and lowly of heart.” Matthew 11:29 “…I am meek and lowly in heart…” Moroni 7:44 “…if he have not charity he is nothing…” 1 Corinthians 13:2 “…and have not charity, I am nothing.” Moroni 7:45 “And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-6 “Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;” Moroni 7:46 “…if ye have not charity, ye are nothing…” 1 Corinthians 13:2 “…and have not charity, I am nothing.” Moroni 7:46 “…charity never faileth…” 1 Corinthians 13:8 “Charity never faileth…” Moroni 7:46 “…charity, which is the greatest of all…” 1 Corinthians 13:13 “…the greatest of these is charity.” Moroni 7:48 “…love, which he hath bestowed upon all… that ye may become the sons of God…”” 1 John 3:1 “…what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us… that we should be called the sons of God…” Moroni 7:48 “…when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is…” 1 John 3:2 “…when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” Moroni 7:48 “…that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure.” 1 John 3:3 “…every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.” Moroni 8:3 “…the name of his Holy Child, Jesus…” Acts 4:30 “…the name of thy holy child Jesus.” Moroni 8:8 “…the whole need no physician, but they that are sick…” Matthew 9:12 “…They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick…” Moroni 8:14 “…in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity…” Acts 8:23 “…in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.” Moroni 8:16 “…them that shall 1pervert the ways of the Lord…” Acts 13:10 “…wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?” Moroni 8:16 “…for they shall perish except they repent…” Luke 13:3 “…except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” Moroni 8:16 “…perfect love casteth out all fear.” 1 John 4:18 “…but perfect love casteth out fear…” Moroni 9:6 “…the enemy of all righteousness…” Acts 13:10 “…thou enemy of all righteousness…” Moroni 9:22 “…they must perish except they repent…” Luke 13:3 “…except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” Moroni 10:8 “…deny not the gifts of God, for they are many; and they come from the same God…” 1 Corinthians 12:4 “Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.” Moroni 10:8 “…And there are different ways that these gifts are administered; but it is the same God who worketh all in all; and they are given by the manifestations of the Spirit of God unto men, to profit them.” 1 Corinthians 12:5-7 “And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.” Moroni 10:9 “…to one is given by the Spirit of God, that he may teach the word of wisdom;” 1 Corinthians 12:8 “…to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom…” Moroni 10:10 “…to another, that he may teach the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;” 1 Corinthians 12:8 “…to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;” Moroni 10:11 “…to another, exceedingly great faith; and to another, the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;” 1 Corinthians 12:9 “To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;” Moroni 10:12 “…to another, that he may work mighty miracles;” 1 Corinthians 12:10 “To another the working of miracles…” Moroni 10:13 “…to another, that he may prophesy…” 1 Corinthians 12:10 “…to another prophecy…” Moroni 10:14 “…to another, the beholding of angels and ministering spirits;” 1 Corinthians 12:10 “…to another discerning of spirits…” Moroni 10:15 “…to another, all kinds of tongues;” 1 Corinthians 12:10 “…to another divers kinds of tongues…” Moroni 10:16 “…to another, the interpretation of languages and of divers kinds of tongues.” 1 Corinthians 12:10 “…to another the interpretation of tongues.” Moroni 10:17 “…all these gifts come by the Spirit of Christ; and they come unto every man severally, according as he will.” 1 Corinthians 12:11 “…all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.” Moroni 10:19 “…he is the same yesterday, today, and forever…” Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” Moroni 10:20 “…there must be faith; and if there must be faith there must also be hope; and if there must be hope there must also be charity.” 1 Corinthians 13:13 “And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three…” Moroni 10:25 “…there shall be none that doeth good among you, no not one…” Romans 3:12 “…there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” Moroni 10:31 “…awake, and arise from the dust, O Jerusalem; yea, and put on thy beautiful garments, O daughter of Zion…” Isaiah 52:1 “Awake, awake; put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem…” Moroni 10:32 “…then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect…” 2 Corinthians 12:9 “…My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect…” Moroni 10:34 “…the Eternal Judge of both quick and dead…” Acts 10:42 “…the Judge of quick and dead.” Further Study
Book of Mormon Origins – https://www.bookofmormonorigins.com/
References
References 1 KJV in the Book of Mormon — Case closed – https://kmabom.wordpress.com/kjv-in-the-book-of-mormon-case-closed/ 2 Book of Isaiah – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Isaiah -
We Preach Tithing
From an article published in the Deseret News, April 16, 2018: 1
“They received a message tailored for eastern Africa, where many tribes continue to insist that grooms or their families provide a dowry or pay a price for a bride.
“That’s not the Lord’s way,” President Russell M. Nelson told about 2,000 Kenyans and other Africans Monday night inside a large, oval, wooden event center styled after traditional huts in Nairobi, Kenya. “The Lord’s way is to be married in the temple, for time and all eternity, with your children sealed to you.”
He added that if he’d had to pay for his wife, “I would have missed five children, because only with my last five was I out of debt.”
They received a message tailored for eastern Africa, where many tribes continue to insist that grooms or their families provide a dowry or pay a price for a bride.
“That’s not the Lord’s way,” President Russell M. Nelson told about 2,000 Kenyans and other Africans Monday night inside a large, oval, wooden event center styled after traditional huts in Nairobi, Kenya. “The Lord’s way is to be married in the temple, for time and all eternity, with your children sealed to you.”
He added that if he’d had to pay for his wife, “I would have missed five children, because only with my last five was I out of debt.”
President Nelson also said tithing can break cycles of poverty in poor nations and families.“We preach tithing to the poor people of the world because the poor people of the world have had cycles of poverty, generation after generation,” he said. “That same poverty continues from one generation to another, until people pay their tithing.”
The law of the tithe was followed by ancient peoples as taught by Old Testament prophets. LDS faithful believe God restored the law and its blessings for those who follow it by giving one-tenth of their income to the church.”
From a 2012 article published in Bloomberg, ‘How The Mormons Make Money’: 2
“According to U.S. law, religions have no obligation to open their books to the public, and the LDS Church officially stopped reporting any finances in the early 1960s. In 1997 an investigation by Time used cross-religious comparisons and internal information to estimate the church’s total value at $30 billion. The magazine also produced an estimate that $5 billion worth of tithing flows into the church annually, and that it owned at least $6 billion in stocks and bonds. The Mormon Church at the time said the estimates were grossly exaggerated, but a recent investigation by Reuters in collaboration with sociology professor Cragun estimates that the LDS Church is likely worth $40 billion today and collects up to $8 billion in tithing each year.”
References
References 1 ‘Dowry is not the Lord’s way’ In Kenya, LDS President Nelson says tithing breaks poverty cycle’, Deseret News – https://www.deseretnews.com/article/900016023/dowry-is-not-the-lords-way-in-kenya-lds-president-nelson-says-tithing-breaks-poverty-cycle.html 2 ‘How The Mormons Make Money’, Bloomberg – https://archive.org/details/HowTheMormonsMakeMoney and https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-07-18/how-the-mormons-make-money