The Worth of a Peso - Part 3

The summer after my mission I needed a summer job before I went back to BYU to resume school. I got a job as a car jockey at a dealership. I drove cars that people brought in for repairs from one lot to another and back. It was not hard work but I was out in the sweltering Arizona heat much of the day and it seemed like most of the cars needed air conditioning repairs. One car I got in was an older minivan with a mattress on its side in the back, which meant I could not see out the back on the passenger side of the car. As I backed up I heard and felt a crunch. "Oh no! What did I hit?" I thought, as I pulled forward back into the parking space and got out of the car. There was a new gray Corvette with a gash in its front driver's side wheel well. Corvettes (at least this 2001 one) have fiberglass bodies, which means the car body tore instead of denting. The minivan was not even scratched (not that it was really possible to tell anyway - it was old and a bit beat up). I thought of my options: I could go tell my boss or I could drive away and not tell anyone. The second choice was not an option so I went and found my boss. When I told him about the accident his first question was, "What color was [the Corvette]?" I said, "Gray, it wasn't the yellow one [a fancy Z06 in for a tune-up]." "Oh, that's good then. Thanks for letting me know." And that was it. I went back to work driving cars around. Later that same boss had me drive his wife's car (a BMW) that was in for repairs because he trusted me. I am always glad I told the truth. It is always better to tell the truth, regardless of consequences.

There is an interesting scripture in the book of Moses. It reads, "Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him, and also, that I should give unto him mine own power; by the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he should be cast down; And he became Satan, yea, even the devil, the father of all lies, to deceive and to blind men, and to lead them captive at his will, even as many as would not hearken unto my voice." (Moses 4: 3-4). The interesting thing is Satan is called "the father of all lies"; he could have been called many other things (and he can be called many things) but the Lord chose to call him the father of all lies. Satan's self-proclaimed work is to deceive and blind men and lead them down to captivity, pawns to his will and whims. All lies come from Satan; he is their creator. Those who lie preach the devil's gospel and spread his bad word. Those who are dishonest become Satan's children. Is not it better to become sons and daughters of God?

Continuing on in Moses 4 we read the following (I will add some commentary in brackets):

"6 And Satan put it into the heart of the serpent, (for he had drawn away many after him,) and he sought also to beguile Eve, for he knew not the mind of God, wherefore he sought to destroy the world. [Satan thought his lying to Eve would frustrate God's plan when in fact it furthered God's plan].
7 And he said unto the woman: Yea, hath God said—Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? (And he spake by the mouth of the serpent.)
8 And the woman said unto the serpent: We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden;
9 But of the fruit of the tree which thou beholdest in the midst of the garden, God hath said—Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
10 And the serpent said unto the woman: Ye shall not surely die; [a lie].
11 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. [This is true].
12 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it became pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make her wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and also gave unto her husband with her, and he did eat.
13 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they had been naked. And they sewed fig-leaves together and made themselves aprons.
14 And they heard the voice of the Lord God, as they were walking in the garden, in the cool of the day; and Adam and his wife went to hide themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.
15 And I, the Lord God, called unto Adam, and said unto him: Where goest thou?
16 And he said: I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I beheld that I was naked, and I hid myself.
17 And I, the Lord God, said unto Adam: Who told thee thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat, if so thou shouldst surely die?
18 And the man said: The woman thou gavest me, and commandest that she should remain with me, she gave me of the fruit of the tree and I did eat.
19 And I, the Lord God, said unto the woman: What is this thing which thou hast done? And the woman said: The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
20 And I, the Lord God, said unto the serpent: Because thou hast done this thou shalt be cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life;
21 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, between thy seed and her seed; and he shall [crush] thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." (Moses 4:6-21).

Satan tried to lie to Eve. He tried to destroy God's plan but he didn't know that he was actually furthering God's plan; what Satan did was without authority or permission but Adam and Eve partaking of the fruit was part of God's plan - whether they eventually partook of it by themselves, or someone else gave it to them. In any case, when Satan realized that he was cursed for what he had done (he already was cursed but in this case he was upset he had not actually frustrated God's plans but furthered them). Satan became very angry and has been ever since. He rages against God and all of us. He tries to cause the nations to rage furiously together, brother against brother, father against son, daughter against mother, neighbor against neighbor, and people against people. I do not believe that Satan is so angry that He cannot think properly - to the contrary, he thinks very clearly - but he is angry because of what he lost and angry at us mortals on earth who have opportunities for progression he will never have. And so Satan lies and deceives and encourages dishonesty in others. He knows that when we are dishonest we are not godlike or godly. He knows the pain and suffering lies cause and so he encourages them and laughs at the suffering of others. He rejoices in our failures and sins and sorrows. God does not.

The Witness of the Book of Mormon, Part 2

What is key to understand is that the Bible is a collection of individual books. These books were selected over the years, eventually comprising what we now know as the Bible. The two main divisions of the Bible - the Old and New Testaments - can be viewed as old and new covenants with the covenant people of the Lord (and with the broader world). This is not strictly true because the "new covenant" was largely the original "oldest covenant" (although there were some differences - animal sacrifice being one of them. Adam offered up sacrifices unto the Lord); when Moses was called to restore the covenant that had been lost during the years of the captivity of the Israelites in Egypt, he found that the people were slow to listen. They had grown stony hearts in Egypt, hearts that yearned too much for the deaf but permissive idols of the Egyptians. [Image source].

The Lord, understanding the hardness of His people's hearts, restored unto them through Moses, not the covenants originally made with Adam but a new covenant of strict ordinances and laws - a covenant that would command them in many things but ultimately prepare them to receive the higher and original covenant. It was not until the coming of the Savior upon the earth that the new covenant was made (or, more closely, re-introduced). However, this new covenant was quickly lost from the earth. The priesthood, which allowed the ordinances of the covenant to be performed with true authority, was lost. The people apostatized. The covenant would not be known in its fullness until the Lord started revealing it unto His prophet Joseph Smith in 1820. That restoration took a number of years before it was complete. Our living prophet continues to receive more light from the Lord. We live in a day when we have the fullness of the gospel, a thing that never occurred before on the earth, at least not in the general and widespread manner it is today.

As Latter-day Saints we have the Bible. We revere it and love it. We follow its teachings and place it first in our canon. Elder Ballard spoke these words about the Bible at General Conference in April 2007,

"It is a miracle that the Bible literally contains within its pages the converting, healing Spirit of Christ, which has turned men's hearts for centuries, leading them to pray, to choose right paths, and to search to find their Savior. The Holy Bible is well named. It is holy because it teaches truth, holy because it warms us with its spirit, holy because it teaches us to know God and understand His dealings with men, and holy because it testifies throughout its pages of the Lord Jesus Christ. Abraham Lincoln said of the Bible: 'This Great Book . . . is the best gift God has given to man. All the good the Saviour gave to the world was communicated through this book. But for it we could not know right from wrong' (Speeches and Writings, 1859–1865 [1989], 628)."

We do not, however, view the Bible as the breadth, width, and depth of God's words to His children. The Bible is a collection of the words of prophets. That is what makes it special! It is a record of the revelations given to prophets over thousands of years. Surely prophets received many other revelations that are not recorded in the books of the Bible! We know that the Savior taught many things are not contained within the Bible: "And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book" (John 20:30); "And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen" (John 21:25). While John was using hyperbole, the underlying meaning is true - there are many things that the Savior said and did that are neither contained in John's writings nor the writings of the other prophets.

There are many things Jesus said and did that we do not have in the Bible. This is true for all the prophets throughout history. Scrolls and tablets and other things to write on were relatively expensive and difficult to manage. Scrolls decomposed quickly, parchment was very expensive, and tablets or plates were awkward. In addition, not every one could write. Many prophets lived in circumstances where they traveled a lot or they had other things to deal with - wars and families and employment. The words and prophecies that were recorded were selected because they were the most important or they were selected because they survived time, or both. It is a miracle we have the Bible as it is!

Link to part 1 of this essay.

Do Good and Love God, Part 2

Those things that are best in our lives are the things that lead us to do good, love God, and serve Him. This does not mean that we have no time for things that might simply be good, but we do not have time to do every good thing; we need to prioritize and put the best first, as Elder Oaks said. There are many good works of art - books, music, paintings, sculptures, and so forth - that are worthwhile to read and listen to and view. There are many good activities but if they do not lead us to do good continually by serving God and loving Him, they are not directly inspired by God. Should we avoid doing and partaking of these things? No, but we should be wise consumers. "O be wise. What can I say more?" as the great teacher Jacob stated (Jacob 6:12).

Quoting Elder Oaks again: "Consider how we use our time in the choices we make in viewing television, playing video games, surfing the Internet, or reading books or magazines. Of course it is good to view wholesome entertainment or to obtain interesting information. But not everything of that sort is worth the portion of our life we give to obtain it. Some things are better, and others are best. When the Lord told us to seek learning, He said, 'Seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom' (D&C 88:118; emphasis added)" (Source).

One thing I think is important about goodness being somewhat independent of the direct inspiration of God (i.e., not all that is merely good is directly inspired by God), is that it supports the notion of the innate goodness of humankind. I believe that people are inherently good. Whenever I look at a baby, I see that goodness and innocence. There is no sin or depravity. God created man - Adam and Eve - and saw that they were good. Adam and Eve made a brave choice in choosing to enter the mortal and dark and dreary world; they transgressed but they repented of that transgression and the Savior's Atonement freed all humankind from the blame of that transgression. As Joseph Smith wrote in the Wentworth Letter, "We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression" (Articles of Faith 2).

Mankind is in a fallen state but we are not fallen creatures. We all have a spark of divinity within us. Further, all humans are given the light of Christ to provide guidance. We all know, even if it is only deep down, what is right and wrong, in part because we've been given this light to guide us. It isn't until we willfully rebel against the light and force it out of our lives through sin and other wrong choices, that we become evil and depraved - not before. We are not born blind because of any sins of our parents, we blind ourselves by our disobedience (see John 9:2-3).

Link to part 1 of this essay.