Of course, maybe the question is really why it hasn't been made part of our canon. I think a big part of that is that we do not have a transcript of the sermon itself. The version most of us are familiar with (part 1, part 2) is an amalgamation from notes taken by four men who were present.
So in this post, I'm just speaking of doctrine-- and by that I mean "what does the church currently teach?" To do so, I will outline sections of the King Follett sermon, see how Joseph Smith taught it, and then compare with recent general conference quotes.
For simplicity, in general I will use the quotes and section breaks from the amalgamation to highlight the different topics Joseph Smith covers.
The Character of God
"The scriptures inform us that 'this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.' (John 17:3.) ... My first object is to find out the character of the only wise and true God, and what kind of a being He is."Here, Joseph is introducing his topic. He wants us to know God better. This is certainly something the modern church teaches, that God is knowable.
"In contrast to the belief that God is an incomprehensible and unknowable mystery is the truth that the nature of God and our relationship to Him is knowable and is the key to everything else in our doctrine. The Bible records Jesus's great Intercessory Prayer, where He declared that 'this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent"-- Dallin H. Oaks, The Godhead and the Plan of Salvation, October 2017
The Privilege of Religious Freedom
"No man is authorized to take away life in consequence of difference of religion, which all laws and governments ought to tolerate and protect, right or wrong."Before Joseph delves in, he asserts his right to believe what he wishes. He also says that even if he is a false prophet, that is his right and should not be killed for it, and rightly points out that other teachers are in exactly the same position. Anyway, freedom of religion is certainly something we still teach.
"No one should be criticized, persecuted, or attacked by individuals, or governments either, for what he or she believes about God."-- Robert D. Hales, Preserving Agency, Protecting Religious Freedom, April 2015
God is an Exalted Man
"God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits in yonder Heavens! That is the great secret. If the veil were rent today, and the great God who holds all things by His power, was to make himself visible—I say, if you were to see him today, you would see him like a man in form—like yourselves in all the person, image, and very form as a man.
"... I am going to tell you how God came to be God. We have imagined and supposed that God was God from all eternity. I will refute that idea, and take away the veil, so that you may see."The modern church does continue to teach that God is an exalted man. However, what we do not teach is how God became God, or even the concept that God was not always God. You can see how we teach both these concepts in in this recent quote:
"One of the overarching truths of the Restoration is that God lives and dwells in His heavens, that He is an exalted man with 'a body of flesh and bones,' and that He is yesterday, today, and forever the same unchangeable God, the fountain of all virtue and truth."-- Keith B. McMullin, God Loves and Helps All of His Children, October 2008
Eternal Life
"Here, then, is eternal life—to know the only wise and true God; and you have got to learn how to be gods yourselves, and to be kings and priests to God, the same as all gods have done before you, namely, by going from one small degree to another, and from a small capacity to a great one; from grace to grace, from exaltation to exaltation, until you attain the resurrection of the dead, and are able to dwell in everlasting burnings, and to sit in glory, as do those who sit enthroned in everlasting power."Joseph here speaks of our potential to become like our Heavenly Father. This is certainly something we teach, even with similar words:
"Those who rely upon 'the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah' will receive glorified bodies like the Father and dwell with Him 'in a state of never-ending happiness.'
"... As spirit sons and daughters of God, each of us has the potential to become like the Father. To do so, we must worship the Father in the name of the Son. We do this by striving to be obedient to the will of the Father, as the Savior was, and by continually repenting. As we do these things, we 'receive grace for grace' until we receive of the Father's fulness and are endowed with 'his character, perfections, and attributes.'"-- Brian K. Ashton, The Father, October 2018
Note that the one thing that is left out is "same as all gods have done before you" but what is instead emphasized is that we must "rely upon the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah."
Heirs of God and Joint-Heirs with Christ
"Although the earthly tabernacle is laid down and dissolved, they shall rise again to dwell in everlasting burnings in immortal glory, not to sorrow, suffer, or die any more, but they shall be heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ."That we believe in the resurrection, should be clear and doesn't need a quote. "Everlasting burnings" is a reference to Isaiah 33:14, and is not something the modern church has used to describe the Celestial Kingdom in a long while. But we do teach that we are heirs of Heavenly Parents, and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ.
"From modern revelation, unique to the restored gospel, we know that the commandment to seek perfection is part of God the Father's plan for the salvation of His children. Under that plan we are all heirs of our heavenly parents. 'We are the children of God,' the Apostle Paul taught, 'and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ" (Romans 8:16–17). This means, as we are told in the New Testament, that we are "heirs … of eternal life" (Titus 3:7) and that if we come to the Father, we are to "inherit all things" (Revelation 21:7)—all that He has—a concept our mortal minds can hardly grasp."-- Dallin H. Oaks, Followers of Christ, April 2013
Grand Council
"In the beginning, the head of the Gods called a council of the Gods; and they came together and concocted [prepared] a plan to create the world and people it."In the modern church, we generally call this the "grand council" instead of a "council of the Gods" but the effect is similar-- Heavenly Father prepared a plan for us. Joseph doesn't say who these other Gods were, but this is using similar language as the Book of Abraham.
"Before we came to this earth, we participated as spirit sons and daughters of God in a grand council. ... In that council our Father in Heaven presented a plan. ... 'to bring to pass [our] immortality and eternal life.'"-- Allen D. Haynie, Remembering in Whom We Have Trusted, October 2015
Meaning of the Word Create
"Now, the word create came from the word baurau, which does not mean to create out of nothing; it means to organize; the same as a man would organize materials and build a ship. Hence we infer that God had materials to organize the world out of chaos—chaotic matter, which is element, and in which dwells all the glory."I imagine this to be a widespread belief among the Latter-day Saints. We believe creation is organizing matter from one form to another, and not creation out of nothing like in popular culture.
"I testify that the earth and all life upon it are of divine origin. The Creation did not happen by chance. It did not come ex nihilo (out of nothing). And human minds and hands able to build buildings or create computers are not accidental. It is God who made us and not we ourselves."-- Russell M. Nelson, The Creation, April 2000
The Immortal Intelligence
"The mind or the intelligence which man possesses is co-equal [co-eternal] with God himself. ... The intelligence of spirits had no beginning, neither will it have an end."I saw one comment on the King Follett sermon that said it says we are eternal, while the modern church instead says we are children of God. I would respond by saying that this isn't an either/or thing, and indeed, we teach both:
"Brothers and sisters, we are eternal beings, without beginning and without end. We have always existed. We are the literal spirit children of divine, immortal, and omnipotent Heavenly Parents!"-- Dieter F. Uchtdorf, How Great the Plan of Our God!, October 2016
Revelation to Man from God
"All things whatsoever God in his infinite wisdom has seen fit and proper to reveal to us, while we are dwelling in mortality, in regard to our mortal bodies, are revealed to us in the abstract, and independent of affinity of this mortal tabernacle, but are revealed to our spirits precisely as though we had no bodies at all; and those revelations which will save our spirits will save our bodies."In describing our relationship to the Father, Joseph speaks about how revelation works-- not through our bodies, but through our spirit. This is also the sort of thing currently taught in the church:
"Faith will not come from the study of ancient texts as a purely academic pursuit. It will not come from archaeological digs and discoveries. It will not come from scientific experiments. It will not even come from witnessing miracles. These things may serve to confirm faith, or at times to challenge it, but they do not create faith. Faith comes by the witness of the Holy Spirit to our souls, Spirit to spirit, as we hear or read the word of God. And faith matures as we continue to feast upon the word."-- D. Todd Christofferson, The Blessing of Scripture, April 2010
Our Greatest Responsibility
"The greatest responsibility in this world that God has laid upon us is to seek after our dead. The apostle says, 'They without us cannot be made perfect'; for it is necessary that the sealing power should be in our hands to seal our children and our dead for the fulness of the dispensation of times"Joseph says that our greatest responsibility is to seek after our dead. Performing work for the dead is also emphasized in the modern church:
"The leadership of the Church has issued a clarion call to the rising generation to lead the way in the use of technology to experience the spirit of Elijah, to search out their ancestors, and to perform temple ordinances for them."-- Quentin L. Cook, Roots and Branches, April 2014
The Forgiveness of Sins, the Unpardonable Sin, and the Second Death
"If a man has knowledge, he can be saved; although, if he has been guilty of great sins, he will be punished for them. But when he consents to obey the gospel, whether here or in the world of spirits, he is saved.
"... After a man has sinned against the Holy Ghost, there is no repentance for him. He has got to say that the sun does not shine while he sees it; he has got to deny Jesus Christ when the heavens have been opened unto him, and to deny the plan of salvation with his eyes open to the truth of it; and from that time he begins to be an enemy."
"... There have been remarks made concerning all men being redeemed from hell; but I say that those who sin against the Holy Ghost cannot be forgiven in this world or in the world to come; they shall die the second death."We are fairly universalist in our beliefs-- we believe that everyone will be resurrected and receive a degree of glory. Even the wicked, although they must suffer for their own sins are eventually redeemed by Jesus Christ and enter the Telestial Kingdom. The only exception are those cast into Outer Darkness, which are only those who deny the Holy Ghost, which as described by Joseph here, isn't something you do on accident. These are all principles taught by the modern church.
The unrighteous spirits dwell in spirit prison, sometimes referred to as hell. It is described as an awful place, a dark place where those fearful of the “indignation of the wrath of God” shall remain until the resurrection. However, because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, all spirits blessed by birth will ultimately be resurrected, spirit and body reunited, and inherit kingdoms of glory that are superior to our existence here on earth. The exceptions are confined to those who, like Satan and his angels, willfully rebel against God.--Quentin L. Cook, Our Father’s Plan—Big Enough for All His Children, April 2009
"God’s love is so great that, except for the few who deliberately become sons of perdition, He has provided a destiny of glory for all of His children. 'All of His children' includes all who are dead."-- Dallin H. Oaks, Truth and the Plan, October 2018
Salvation of Children
"Mothers, you shall have your children; for they shall have eternal life, for their debt is paid. There is no damnation awaiting them for they are in the spirit. But as the child dies, so shall it rise from the dead, and be for ever living in the learning of God. It will never grow [in the grave]; it will still be the child, in the same precise form [when it rises] as it appeared before it died out of its mother’s arms, but possessing all the intelligence of a God."While the children rising as children part might not be emphasized, that Jesus saves children is no secret. Here's a story shared in General Conference on that principle:
"Sister Ramirez advanced rapidly through the lessons. ... One evening as we were discussing infant baptism, we taught that little children are innocent and have no need for baptism. ... After reading this scripture, Sister Ramirez began sobbing. ... 'Six years ago I had a baby boy. He died before we could have him baptized. Our priest told us that because he had not been baptized, he would be in limbo for all eternity. For six years I have carried that pain and guilt. After reading this scripture, I know by the power of the Holy Ghost that it is true. I have felt a great weight taken off of me, and these are tears of joy.'"-- Shayne M. Bowen, Because I Live, Ye Shall Live Also, October 2012
Conclusion
It appears to me that nearly all the things in the King Follett sermon continue to be taught today in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The only part left out is the idea that God was not always God, although we do still teach that He is an exalted man.
Personally, I feel that this particular idea was not fully fleshed out, and had Joseph not been murdered, we might have actually had a fuller revelation that fits better with what we already know about God.
No comments:
Post a Comment