bruce r. mcconkie

Will The “Heathen” Most Likely All Be Exalted?

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I had a conversation a few months ago about this question.  Those that I were discussing this with made the argument that the “heathen,” the term my correspondent used for those who’ve never heard a part or portion of the gospel in mortality, are without the gospel law in mortality, and therefore they will be judged very much like little children, and will most likely all be exalted.  Here is a followup that one of them recently emailed me:

I finally found the scripture I was thinking of when I wrote that “the heathen” who “died without law”, (that is, without having heard any form or portion whatsoever of the gospel) are still likely to be saved (and most likely even exalted) in the Celestial Kingdom.

In his discourse to his son about infant baptism, Mormon throws in those who “without the law” and puts them in the same category as those who die as infants, Moroni 8:22:

“For behold that all little children are alive in Christ, and also all they that are without the law.  For the power of redemption cometh on all them that have no law; wherefore, he that is not condemned, or he that is under no condemnation, cannot repent; and unto such baptism availeth nothing— ”

I’ll admit that there is still room for interpretation in light of Section 76, and of course Christ is the final judge of every individual.

I disagree with this interpretation of Moroni 8:22 (a similar scripture can be found in 2 Nephi 9:25-26).  I believe this is a fundamental misunderstanding of the gospel, which has serious repercussions to our understanding of God’s plan of redemption, and the work we do in the temple.  [Read more…]

The Egyptian Ankh, “Life! Health! Strength!” – Part 4

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Front Wall, Right Part, Tutankhamun's Burial Chamber - god Anubis, on left, leads Tutankhamun before goddess Hathor, on right, who gives the breath of life to King Tut through the nostrils with the ankh. The symbols of life, prosperity, time and eternity are directly over Tut's head.

(Continued from Part 3)

In the last parts of our series on the Egyptian hieroglyph of the ankh, and other related symbols, I’d like to look at where these symbols are found on the extant portions of the Joseph Smith Papyri, related documents, and the facsimiles of the Book of Abraham, to see if Joseph Smith was correct in any of his interpretations, or even on the right track.  I’ve written a brief into to these documents here.

As we’ve noted before, the themes that show up in the rituals of the Egyptians have unique parallels to our modern temple practices and ordinances.  This is not to be interpreted as an adoption of pagan rites, plagiarism of ancient rituals, or a belief in Egyptian polytheism, for the Egyptians had a corrupt imitation of the true order of God, and Joseph knew it.  Indeed, such attacks leveled at Joseph might actually be counterintuitive to our critics’ position, for such would mean that Joseph understood what he was looking at in the papyri, yet such inspired translation is precisely what our critics claim he could not do.  Note that the field of Egyptology had just recently been born in the 1820s, and the reading of hieroglyphics was only barely in its infancy in Europe at the time Joseph was translating the papyri in the 1830s, ruling out any scholarly approach to reading the papyri.  The critics have yet to explain, therefore, if Joseph did not receive the temple ordinances by revelation from God, and he could not read the papyri, then how did he teach temple rites that have remarkable parallels to the Egyptians which were written on the papyri?  Could he read the papyri or couldn’t he?  Either way our critics find themselves in a quandary.

Instead of being detrimental to Joseph, such a connection between the papyri and the temple actually serves as evidence of his divine calling, and that he was inspired to translate the papyri.  As in many instances of the early experiences of the prophet, Joseph had a question about something that he experienced in his life, and inquired of the Lord about it ((See the history behind the restoration of the Aaronic priesthood and baptism)).  What followed was a restoration, through revelation, of the true and perfect ordinance or teaching of that particular thing.  The papyri quite possibly were such a springboard for the restoration of the temple endowment, as H. Donl Peterson has noted:  [Read more…]

Washing of Feet

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Jesus Washing Peter's Feet by Ford Madox Brown. 1852-56, retouched several times up to 1892. Oil on canvas 46 x 52 1/4 in Tate Gallery, London.

Jesus Washing Peter's Feet by Ford Madox Brown. 1852-56, retouched several times up to 1892. Oil on canvas 46 x 52 1/4 in Tate Gallery, London.

A reader has asked, “Do you have any insight into what happened to the washing of feet? Could the washing of feet have been preparatory to the full ordinance of washing as we now have it in the initiatories?”

The ordinance of washing of feet is still performed in the temple, for it is a restored ordinance, but it is part of the culminating sealing ordinances which are reserved for those who make their calling and election sure through faith. Temple scholar Matthew Brown has offered this:

The Lord mentioned in a revelation on 1 November 1831 that he had granted unto his disciples the authority to “seal both on earth and in heaven” (D&C 1:8). During the same month he indicated that God the Father would reveal to his servants who should be sealed up “unto eternal life” by this power (D&C 68:12). The ordinance of the washing of feet was then introduced by the Lord as the means whereby someone could be rendered “clean from the blood of this generation” (D&C 88:138-141), and when Joseph Smith administered this ordinance, he stated that those who received it were not only “clean” in a ritual sense but were also “sealed up unto eternal life” (HC, 1:323-24; see also MD, 829-32). ((Matthew B. Brown, The Gate of Heaven, 235.))

[Read more…]

Temple as a Scale-Model of the Universe

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Several scholars, both LDS and members of other faiths, have noted that the temple is a model of the universe:

  • The temple is a scale model of the universe… ((Hugh Nibley, Temple and Cosmos, 14-15))
  • …the temple represents the principle of ordering the universe. ((ibid.))
  • [The temple is] for the purpose of taking our bearings on the universe… ((ibid.))
  • …the temple reflects things as they exist in heaven-things as they really are. ((Andrew Skinner, Temple Worship, 2))
  • The temple embodies “the structure of the universe, so that ascent through the heavenly levels [is] also a journey ‘inward’ through the temple’s concentric areas of increasing holiness to the Holy of Holies at the center.” ((Qtd. in Matthew Brown, The Gate of Heaven, 7))
  • …the temple (whether earthly or heavenly) is a miniature imitation of the structure of the universe. ((ibid.))

God’s perception of time and space are incomprehensible to our mortal and finite minds (Isa. 55:8-9).  However, if the temple is an accurate model of the universe, then it should be possible to reproduce an approximate visual representation of the universe from what we learn from the temple, which is what I’ve attempted above. [Read more…]