General Authorities

Gratitude Precedes Zion

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Orderville Utah, circa 1890

Orderville Utah, circa 1890 (click to enlarge)

Note: My wife and I were asked to give talks today in our ward’s sacrament meeting on the topic of thanksgiving and gratitude. The following is the text of my talk.

One of the greatest blessings promised in the scriptures, and one which has always captivated me in its power and truth, is found in the last book of the Old Testament. In Malachi chapter 3 the Lord says through his prophet:

Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings…

Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. (Malachi 3:8, 10)

The commandment to live the law of tithing is perhaps unique in that it comes with an explicit test of its truth – “prove me now,” says our Heavenly Father. Do this and see. Prove me, if I will not open the windows of heaven, and pour out blessings so great that you won’t even have room enough to receive them into your life. What greater blessings could there be? My wife and I have been witnesses to these blessings in our lives.

I have always thought this promise was special in the extent and abundance of blessings promised by faithful obedience to a single law. But I recently came across another similar promise in the scriptures, based upon obedience to another single commandment. On March 1, 1832, while the Prophet Joseph was in Kirtland Ohio, this revelation was given: [Read more…]

LDS Women Hold and Exercise Priesthood Authority

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LDS woman being set apart for a calling in the Church.

LDS woman being set apart for a calling in the Church.

“We are not accustomed to speaking of women having the authority of the priesthood in their Church callings, but what other authority can it be?” —Elder Dallin H. Oaks, “The Keys and Authority of the Priesthood,” April 2014 General Conference. Emphasis added.

I’m a Sunday School teacher in my ward, and today I taught about women and the priesthood. I thought I’d share a few thoughts from that lesson, especially in light of current events.

“Simple” Questions

I started my lesson by asking a few “simple” questions about the priesthood:

  • Do women have responsibilities in their callings in the Church?
  • Do women have authority in their callings in the Church?
  • Do women have priesthood authority in their callings?
  • Do women exercise priesthood authority?
  • Do women hold priesthood authority?

The questions start out relatively easy, and most in the class knew the answers, and were ready and willing to respond. But I knew as I progressed through the questions that there was some confusion. Perhaps many of us are likewise stumped when it comes to these questions, or we may think we know the answers when we don’t. [Read more…]

President Monson Emphasizes Temple Work in Rare Online Message

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President Thomas S. Monson

President Thomas S. Monson (photo by Brian Tibbets)

A few days ago, on February 1, 2013, the Church News published a rare new online message from President Thomas S. Monson, marking the fifth anniversary of his calling as prophet and President of the Church, and his reflection back on fifty years of service since his calling to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. This type of message from the prophet is a rare occurrence, perhaps unprecedented, and we should take special note.

In the message he reemphasizes the importance of temple work:

Our temple-building efforts continue unabated. During the past five years, 31 new temples have been announced. During this same period, 16 temples have been dedicated, with five others having been rededicated after extensive renovations. When the Tegucigalpa Honduras Temple is dedicated in March of this year, we will have 141 temples in operation throughout the world. These numbers will continue to increase as we move forward in making temples accessible to all of our members, wherever they may live.

We continue to emphasize the need for our members to move forward in the work for our deceased family members. Our mandate is to seek out our dead and to provide them with the opportunity to accept the ordinances and blessings of the gospel. We accomplish this by making certain the ordinances are performed for them. President Joseph F. Smith, speaking of work for the dead, declared, “Through our efforts in their behalf their chains of bondage will fall from them, and the darkness surrounding them will clear away, that light may shine upon them and they shall hear in the spirit world of the work that has been done for them by their children here, and will rejoice with you in your performance of these duties” (Conference Report, October 1916, p. 6).

Concluding his message President Monson notes his declining health, but ensures us that the Church is in good hands.

Read the full message at the Church News website.

What of Art?

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Les Misérables

Les Misérables

The following was written in response to a comment by “nate” on a post at Millennial Star which discussed the merits of the new film Les Misérables. In summary, the commenter claimed that art is “just art,” and in the end is escapism, overrated, simple entertainment, will not change your life (no matter how great or inspiring it is), won’t have long term influence on your soul, is overblown, is an addiction, is short-lived, no matter how seemingly life-changing it is dangerous, an idol, a quick fix, a drug, not “real life” or a part of our “real world,” and a distraction. I thought such condemnation of art called for a reply.

Allow me to resuscitate art for a moment (as if it needs it).

Art is not simply entertainment. It’s not simply art. It’s not simply escapism. And it is certainly not simply a drug.

Art is found abundantly in most expressions of humanity, including the traditional forms of drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, and dance, but also in literature, industrial design, architecture, film, interior design, graphic design, puppetry, music, singing, drama/theatre, animation, poetry, woodworking, weaving, vocal performance, interactive media, calligraphy, printmaking, pottery, sound, and technology.

Without art, most of what we know in our world today would not exist. [Read more…]

The Doctrine of Exaltation, Godhood or Deification

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Some criticize the Church because of one doctrine we hold most dear, which is exaltation.  This has also been referred to at different times and places as godhood, deification, divinization, taking upon the divine nature, making divine, or theosis (also theiosis, theopoiesis, theōsis; from the Greek Θέωσις).  It is, in its most basic description, that man may become like God.  Many of our fellow Christians see this as the ultimate blasphemy and heresy.  How could man ever become like God?  Why would he want to do so?  Doesn’t this go against everything God has taught through his holy word?  The reality is that this concept has been a fundamental part of Christian thought since early Christianity, found throughout the Bible and in early Christian writings.  Unfortunately, this Christian teaching has been largely lost over the ages.

God restored the doctrine of exaltation through the Prophet Joseph Smith, as part of the restoration of the church of Jesus Christ.  Some have thought that Joseph’s teaching of this concept was a rather late invention of the prophet, near the end of his life.  However, the doctrine can be found even in the Book of Mormon, which was published before the church was formally organized.

I recently came across two great articles that were published that discuss this topic.

  • Daniel C. Peterson, “Defending the Faith: Exaltation isn’t a new doctrine,” Deseret News, 8 November 2012.  Peterson shows in this article how the doctrine of exaltation, or theosis, was not a late revelation in the restoration of the Church, but is found throughout the teachings of Joseph Smith.
  • Elder Tad R. Callister, Presidency of the Seventy, “Our Identity and Our Destiny,” BYU Devotional Address, Campus Education Week, 14 August 2012.  Elder Callister fantastically presents five witnesses of the truth of the doctrine of deification: the testimony of the scriptures, the witness of the early Christian writers, the wisdom of poets and authors, the power of logic, and the voice of history.

I highly recommend these two articles.  If you want even further in-depth study, then I also suggest William J. Hamblin’s excellent recent publication in the Interpreter journal, “‘I Have Revealed Your Name’: The Hidden Temple in John 17,” where Hamblin discusses the chapter of John 17 in fine detail, revealing the strong temple concepts embedded in the text, including theosis.  He also includes an appendix with a bibliography of twenty-three recent scholars’ books on the subject of deification, published just in the last decade, all of them Christian, that you may dive into to learn more about this very Christian teaching.