Vol 1 Foreword

#Volume One FOREWORD

#Why Another Book on Doctrine?

Some students of the scriptures respond to the prospect of yet another book about our gospel doctrine with appropriate misgivings and questions: Why? Why do

we need another? The available list of credible publications on doctrine is impressive. Wouldn’t we be just as well served by concentrating our study on the scriptures and those excellent authoritative scriptural commentaries already available? Are those resources deficient in any correctable way? Are there doctrinal insights the Lord may grant us that have not already been pointed out? I obviously feel I can add to what is already available and therefore owe the reader a reasonable answer to these questions.

I have practiced medicine, with a specialty in cardiology, for over thirty years. I have learned that the study of medicine must not end with medical school or even with one’s specialty residency or fellowship. Cardiology has changed constantly, rapidly, and dramatically in the past thirty years. I have found it necessary to study continually in order to keep current. From my studies, I have learned much about my field. I have also developed a keen interest in the processes by which we learn most effectively and then make full use what we have learned. I have tried to apply these principles both to my secular (medical) studies and to my scriptural learning.

#The Watershed Moment

My exciting odyssey with the scriptures and the doctrines began almost thirty-five years ago during my fellowship in cardiology. I will relate the story in more detail later in

this volume. Briefly, in 1974 I was present in a sacrament meeting during which the speaker challenged the congregation to read the Book of Mormon. I decided to take him up on his challenge. When I began to read the next morning, all at once I had two important impressions. First, I realized I had an embarrassingly small fund of knowledge about the book. Here I was, a returned missionary, a mature adult, and a specialist in the field of internal medicine. Yet, my understanding and background in the Book of Mormon was more that of a primary child. Second, the technique I intended to use in studying the Book of Mormon had no resemblance whatever to the way in which I studied medicine and cardiology. I shall never forget the feelings of frustration, embarrassment, and shame I felt at that moment. How could I ever hope to teach a Sunday School class to other adults when I had such a poor grasp of the scriptures. And, in view of my casual, less-than-fully-committed approach to studying them, how could I ever hope to remedy the situation? I committed myself that morning to thereafter study the Book of Mormon (and eventually the other scriptures) in the same way I studied cardiology. I have tried to keep that commitment. Certainly, I might have done better. But, a regular study of the scriptures has been a constant avocation of mine since that Monday morning long ago.

I believe the application of “cardiology” study habits to my study of the scriptures and particularly to the doctrine, over a long period of time, has allowed me to acquire a logical, cohesive, and fully satisfying understanding of some of our fundamental doctrines. Let me explain how I believe that has occurred.

Medicine is not merely a study of diseases. One must first master normal anatomy, physiology, and biochemistry. Then, one may profitably study pathophysiology (disease processes), diagnostic techniques, and therapeutic approaches to disease. One cannot progress far in the study of medicine without first establishing a solid, thoroughly-understood body of knowledge. This foundation then functions as a framework or “sticky platform” upon which additional learning may be placed. This platform is “sticky” because it readily accepts additions, and the additions stick: they are permanently retained in memory. The end result is a highly practical, comprehensible, functional, and growing, personal library of information. The physician must be thoroughly comfortable and conversant with his body of knowledge. It must be an “old shoe” and “old hat” to him. He must know it up and down, side to side, front to back, and inside out. It is the tool by which he reasons and makes medical decisions. It allows him to function as a physician and an ongoing student of medicine.

This body of knowledge—this “sticky platform”—is not easy to acquire. In fact, it is downright painful. Non-medical observers may assume medical schools have the logical teaching of medicine down to a perfectly organized routine. They may think that each medical student is plugged into a well-tested, well-ordered teaching system. All the student has to do is sit and stay awake, and when he has completed his four years, voilà, out pops a doctor! Nothing could be further from the truth. Each student must assume the responsibility and take the initiative in building his own solid knowledge library. He must, with considerable pain and effort, create his own foundational knowledge over an extended period of time. Then he must assume the responsibility of continually adding incrementally to this knowledge. The result is an ever-expanding body of knowledge, all completely understandable and usable to him. His comprehension must be thorough, without lapses or gaps. In the field of medicine, the accepted standard for practical and thorough understanding is necessarily high. It can be most dangerous for the patient if the physician tries to cut corners in his studies.

So it is with our doctrines and our scriptures. In the scriptures, the Lord has afforded us a simple skeletal, or outline version of his doctrines. But these materials are not organized in a pedagogically perfect and orderly way. Elder Boyd K. Packer once noted: “Individual doctrines of the gospel are not fully explained in one place in the scriptures, nor presented in order or sequence. They must be assembled from pieces here and there. They are sometimes found in large segments, but mostly they are in small bits scattered through the chapters and verses” (“Great Plan of Happiness”).

Sunday school, seminary, and institute classes all help us begin to effectively organize and learn this scriptural information. Each of these resources makes significant contributions to our understanding of the gospel. However, a truly solid, logical, practical, and well-understood library of gospel knowledge is up to each individual student.

The serious student of the scriptures must take charge of his own scripture study program. He must prayerfully and regularly seek the Lord’s help. He must be organized, committed, consistent, and persistent. He must readily admit his failures to understand. He must ask the right questions and doggedly seek for answers. He must sort out the metaphorical and come to literal understandings whenever possible. He must apply logic and seek plain and simple explanations. He must ponder and pray. The Spirit of the Lord must be invited to participate in the process. Only in these ways can the individual create for himself a cohesive and comprehensive personal body of doctrinal knowledge. He must pay the price in diligent and committed study. Only then can he become conversant and comfortable with his understanding of the doctrine. Only then can he realize his full potential as an effective perpetual student of the scriptures and of the doctrine.

The effective student will hunger for new insights. He will wrestle with questions always present in his mind. He will recognize the answers when he encounters them. He will frequently add new insights to his “sticky platform.” In this way he will build his ever-growing, permanent body of knowledge.

My goal in creating this book has been to assist and enable the reader in this process. It is not an easy one. We students of the gospel need all the help we can get. I have developed a passionate interest in our doctrine. Studying it has become one of the very loves of my life. I find this study to be exciting and deeply satisfying. I have learned, and continue to learn new insights that have served to “fill in” the skeletal version of the doctrines contained in the scriptures. I yearn to share these insights and see others experience the excitement I have felt.

#The Basics

I’ve never had an interest in the “fringe” or “deep” doctrines in which some people are inclined to dabble. I have confined my studies to those most essential, basic, and formative doctrines. In these, I have found much to be excited about. Even a study of the basics regularly yields new and exciting insights.

In this book, I have not attempted to create a comprehensive treatise on all our gospel doctrines. My goal instead has been to focus on the most fundamental. We will consider together those that lay a foundation for further learning and understanding.

These fundamentals, well learned, prepare the student for a lifetime of additional study, growth, and understanding.

I have come to know the Lord indeed rewards those who diligently seek (1 Nephi 10:19). He wants us to understand more completely, but he requires that we do our homework. The Spirit functions in our lives most effectively after we have diligently sought our own logical understandings of spiritual concepts. Especially then is he apt to whisper a corroborative witness. The level of understanding available to the committed student is deeply gratifying and edifying.

#Why Study the Doctrines?

Is it possible for us to benefit from our doctrines without having to spend a lot of time studying them? Wouldn’t a more casual, less time-consuming approach suffice?

The doctrines of the gospel of Jesus Christ will, in fact, operate in our lives whether or not we have made them an object of diligent study. For example, experience has shown that if we consistently strive to be obedient to the Lord’s commands, we will receive the consequent blessings or gifts of the Spirit. These are gifts we receive by virtue of the Lord’s atonement. We will receive these whether or not we have undertaken a serious study of the specific phenomena of spiritual gifts, his atonement, or the process whereby we receive the benefits of the Lord’s atonement. Why, then, should we invest the time and effort to study diligently? I may be guilty of seeking an ex post facto (after the fact) justification for my profound interest. Perhaps I have conjured up reasons just because I have such an interest. Nonetheless, I offer two reasons that have become important to me.

1. An oft-neglected characteristic of doctrines is their force and influence in our spiritual lives. I believe any individual may be more apt to maintain an abiding interest in, and a desire to participate in, the doctrines of salvation if he understands them. If he comes to truly understand, he will more clearly relate to and participate in the spiritual processes spelled out by those doctrines. As he enriches his understanding of the doctrines, the Spirit of God will bear witness to him. He will come to realize his fundamental connections to them and their relevance in his life. He will yearn for them to become an ever-more-integral part of his being.

2. I believe the doctrines, once understood, can become a unique and powerful source of testimony. One’s testimony of the gospel may be based on a spiritual witness of a variety of spiritual subjects. One may acquire a witness of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the scriptures (including the modern revelations peculiar to this final dispensation), the prophet Joseph Smith, other modern-day prophets, and the restored Church. It is clear that the doctrines themselves, especially when one studies them carefully and diligently, can become (quite independent of any other feature of the gospel) a powerful spiritual anchor and source of testimony.

A persistent, honest study of the doctrines, enabled and enriched by the Spirit of God, inevitably leads to a testimony of gospel truths. Elder Boyd K. Packer taught: “True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior. The study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior” (CR, October 1986, 20). In short, a study of true doctrine leads to conversion to the Lord Jesus Christ, to his gospel, and to his Church.

As I have studied the word of God, and particularly the gospel doctrines, I have often been impressed to stop and marvel over their unfailing logic and seamless consistency. I literally have been moved to tears on many occasions when I have been allowed to glimpse the grandeur and coherent simplicity of this body of knowledge. The body of doctrinal knowledge we are allowed by the Lord is one great orderly whole. An analogous body of knowledge created by man’s intellectual resources would surely contain inconsistencies and fragmentations. These are not found in our gospel doctrines. The more one learns of the doctrines, the simpler and more common-sense they become, the better they fit together, and the more they testify of their own divine origins. One often may discover a unity in a group of gospel doctrines that at first seemed to be completely separate concepts. One may discover, for example, the intimate and vital relationships among such doctrines as spiritual growth, faith, our natural and spiritual selves, agency and freedom, pride, and the various important roles of the Spirit of God. Our gospel doctrines are true. They are given us of God. I testify of that with all my heart.

#The Importance of “Examining” Our Lives

About 400 years before the time of Christ, Socrates made a statement that alone represents the essence of Socrates. It is probably the statement for which he is most famous, though it is a peculiar one. He said: “The unexamined life is not worth living.” What do you think Socrates meant by this statement? He apparently meant that if a man fails to ask certain probing and basic questions about his own self and then also fails to seek the answers to them, he has failed in a vital life endeavor. In fact, he has failed so egregiously his life is not even worth living!

These probing questions include: Who am I? Where did I come from? Why am I here? Indeed, why are we all here? Is there a God? If there is, what does he expect of us? What is the purpose of this earth life? What is the ultimate happiness in life? How can we find it? How should we behave here in this life? How should we interact with one another? What comprises good, virtue, justice, and fairness? What is evil? Where does evil come from? What, if anything, lies beyond this life?

Do you think Socrates’ injunction should apply to each of us in the Church? Are these questions pertinent to each of us? Are these “deep” questions, or are they fundamental? Have we invested sufficient time and effort in attempting to answer these questions for ourselves? Or is it even necessary to do so? These questions and their answers are what we refer to in the Church as our “gospel doctrines.” Socrates considered the pursuit of these answers as the pursuit and love of wisdom. The word philosophy is from the Greek philo (love of) and sophy (wisdom). Our study of gospel doctrine is really our quest for spiritual wisdom.

It seems clear that most of us in the Church believe we already have the answers to these questions. After all, we have the blessings of modern revelation, modern prophets, and the fulness of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. There is an obvious danger in assuming we already know the answers. We may be inclined to settle for too little or a too superficial understanding. We may be happy with a simplistic mental understanding when a heart-felt commitment would serve us better. If our individual knowledge of the doctrines of the gospel is not truly thrilling to us—if we do not actually marvel over them regularly—they may fail to provide us sufficient motivation to press on to our ultimate spiritual goal. It is vital that each of us individually makes the effort to study, ponder, and pray about these issues. We must commit to finding the answers for ourselves. Only then may we qualify for the Spirit’s confirmation of the answers to these questions. Only then will we experience that renewable and growing motivation by which we can find our way back to our celestial home.

One of the most exciting of all endeavors in this life is the “examining” of one’s own life, as Socrates suggests. While each of us knows much about our own gospel doctrine, there is more we each can learn. I hope this book will be one of the most exciting and useful courses of study you’ve ever undertaken. While much of this material will be familiar to you, this work will offer to each of you the opportunity to refresh, renew, enrich, and solidify your knowledge of the doctrines. Each of you will learn applications and implications of our doctrines of which you were not previously aware.

#First Volume

This first volume will set before you a few selected topics I consider to be fundamental and formative. They are intended to establish a foundation for your further study. They are, however, only a beginning. Other volumes will follow containing additional topics of equally great importance.

#Our Sources

Our sources include the revealed scripture (the canon), the homily (sermons and writings) of the general leaders of the Church, past and present, and the guiding Spirit of the Holy Ghost.

Yet another important source is available to us. It is what we may call the “consensus doctrines.” We have pointed out that the scriptures do not generally contain comprehensive, thorough, and logically-ordered explanations of any doctrine. Rather, they teach the highlights, often scattered throughout the scriptures. But many respected, committed, and credible scholars in the Church have prayerfully, thoughtfully, and knowledgeably written commentaries on the scriptures. They have attempted to “put in order” and “fill in the blanks” of the skeletal scriptural account. Some of these scholars work for the Church in the Church Education System or are on the faculties of our church universities. Some have attained advanced degrees in ancient (and modern) scripture, religious history, or related theological areas. Some have organized their learning in theses, dissertations, and other well-documented scholarly works. They are deeply committed to the Savior and his earthly kingdom. They employ sound principles taught by the scriptures. They follow the example of the prophet Lehi who, after reading all of the available scripture, was left to “suppose” or fill in the spiritual truths (2 Nephi 2:17). These commentary writings have all been carefully reviewed by those authors’ scholar/peers. By this process they have “passed muster.” All of us who study the doctrines have benefited from these inspired commentaries.

#A Housekeeping Note

In vetting the materials in this book, I have noticed there is much of repetition. This is partly because the doctrines discussed often are related to one another and share common concepts or principles. In the last analysis, repetition can be a useful teaching and learning tool. I would invite the reader to be tolerant as he or she encounters it.

I began this project with a determination that each reader will understand clearly each topic we discuss. It is just not acceptable that some readers end up being edified and others confused. A study of the doctrine is not rocket science. It is ultimately simple and logical. I have strived earnestly to present it just that way.

Finally, I, of course, speak only for myself. I make no pretense of speaking the official position of the Church. There are doctrinal issues that remain unsettled, and often there exist honest and well-meaning advocates for both sides of the issue. Usually, I have merely pointed out the controversy that remains. On occasion, I have decided there exists compelling evidence, and I have spoken for one particular side of the issue.

In order of publication: “General Charge to the Twelve,” Oliver Cowdery (1835); A Voice of Warning, Parley P. Pratt (1837); An Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions and of the Late Discovery of Ancient American Records, Orson Pratt (1840); Quorum of the Twelve, “A Proclamation to the World” (1845); Spencer’s Letters, Orson Spencer (1852); Journal of Discourses, a collection of major discourses by LDS authorities between 1851 and 1886, 26 volumes (1853-1886); Key to Theology, Parley P. Pratt (1856); Mediation and Atonement, John Taylor (1882); A Compendium of the Doctrines of the Gospel, Franklin D. Richards and James Little (1882); The Government of God, John Taylor (1884); The Gospel, B. H. Roberts (1888); Articles of Faith, James E. Talmage (1899); “Law of Tithing,” Lorenzo Snow (1899); Mormon

Doctrine of Deity and Jesus Christ: The Revelation of God, B. H. Roberts (1903); The Seventy’s Course in Theology, B. H. Roberts, 5 volumes (1907-1912); Gospel Themes, Orson F. Whitney (1914); “The Honor and Dignity of the Priesthood,” James E. Talmage (1914); Jesus the Christ, James E. Talmage (1915); Saturday Night Thoughts, Orson F. Whitney (1921); Discourses of Brigham Young, ed. John A. Widtsoe (1926); Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, comp. Joseph Fielding Smith (1938); “The Charted Course of the Church in Education,” J. Reuben Clark, Jr. (1938); Gospel Doctrine, Joseph F. Smith (1919, 1939); Priesthood and Church Government, John A. Widtsoe (1939); Gospel Standards, Heber J. Grant (1941); A Rational Theology. John A. Widtsoe (1945); Orson Pratt’s Works, ed. Parker P. Robison (1945); The Gospel Through the Ages, Milton R. Hunter (1945); Masterful Discourses of Orson Pratt, ed. N. B. Lundwall (1946); Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, ed. G. Homer Durham (1946); Sharing the Gospel with Others, George Albert Smith (1948); Latter-day Prophets Speak, ed. Daniel H. Ludlow (1948); On the Way to Immortality, J. Reuben Clark, Jr. (1949); Eternal Life, J. Reuben Clark, Jr. (1949); Writings of Parley P. Pratt, ed. Parker P. Robison (1952); Gospel Ideals, David O. McKay (1953); Discourses of Brigham Young, ed. John A. Widtsoe (1954); “When Are the Writings or Sermons of Church Leaders Entitled to the Claim of Scripture?” J. Reuben Clark, Jr. (1954); Doctrines of Salvation, Joseph Fielding Smith, comp. Bruce R. McConkie, 3 volumes (1954-1956); Evidences and Reconciliations, John A. Widtsoe, 3 volumes. (1960); “Priesthood . . . Core of All Activity,” Harold B. Lee (1961); “Priesthood Correlation,” Harold B. Lee (1961); Mormon Doctrine, Bruce R. McConkie (1958, revised 1966); The Miracle of Forgiveness, Spencer W. Kimball (1969); Gospel Truth, George Q. Cannon, ed. Jerreld Newquist, 2 volumes. (1972, 1974); Stand Ye in Holy Places and Ye Are the Light of the World, Harold B. Lee (1974); “When the World Will Be Converted,” Spencer W. Kimball (1974); “Lengthening Our Stride,” Spencer W. Kimball (1974); Messages of the First Presidency, ed. James R. Clark, 6 vols. (1965-1975); “Becoming Pure in Heart,” Spencer W. Kimball (1978); “Church Administration,” N. Eldon Tanner (1979); Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, ed. Edward L. Kimball (1982); Teachings of Lorenzo Snow, comp. Clyde J. Williams (1984); The Gospel Kingdom, John Taylor, ed. G. Homer Durham (1987); Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson (1988).

2 See Appendix A, An Approach to Studying the Scriptures.