d. todd christofferson

Living The Law Of Consecration – Part 4: What is Tithing?

10 Comments

(Continued from Part 3)

This is a continuation of a series of posts that I started a few years ago.  Of course, it could easily fit within the series very recent posts on the same subject of the law of consecration, including Hugh Nibley quotes from Approaching Zion, “Are we required to live the law of consecration, now?“, and Mormon Channel Episodes On The Law Of Consecration And The United Order.

In this post we will examine this question – “What is tithing?”

This seems to be a pretty basic question, with a Primary answer.  We all know what tithing is, right?  I mean, even the etymology of the word tithe itself, coming from the Old English teoþa or even earlier to the Hebrew tithes in Malachi 3:8 (ma`aser or מַעֲשֵׂר, or an even earlier root `asar or עֶשֶׂר meaning “ten”), means a “tenth” part.  What could be more simple?  This seems to be a commandment that we could easily say we keep or do not keep.  We either give a tenth part of our income annually, or we don’t.  Is there any more to it?

The truth of the matter is that everything we think we know about tithing is most likely wrong.  This could come as a shock to some, but when you get right down to what tithing is, as revealed by the Lord through the prophet Joseph Smith in this dispensation, it is not what we commonly think it is.  Personally, I think this is unfortunate, because we do not know what the Lord revealed and commanded, and if we are thus ignorant, how do we expect to be able to follow His word?  What does the Lord say?  What do our scriptures teach? [Read more…]

Are We Required to Live the Law of Consecration, Now?

31 Comments

I hear this a lot from members of the Church.  In fact just two days ago, I had someone ask me this very question after reading some of the quotes from Nibley in Approaching Zion:

 “So then are we required to live the law of concecration now?“

To that question I would pose a counter question, that might help us arrive at an appropriate answer.  When God reveals a law to man, is it required of man to live it if he wishes to return to live with God?  When viewed from this perspective, I think the answer can be none other than an unequivocal “Yes!” [Read more…]

Elder Christofferson on the Sacred

Leave a Comment

Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve ApostlesI received this quote today in my inbox by Elder Christofferson, our newest apostle, in a talk he gave to the CES on November 7, 2004:

The importance of having a sense of the sacred is simply this–if one does not appreciate holy things, he will lose them. Absent a feeling of reverence, he will grow increasingly casual in attitude and lax in conduct. He will drift from the moorings that his covenants with God could provide. His feeling of accountability to God will diminish and then be forgotten. Thereafter, he will care only about his own comfort and satisfying his uncontrolled appetites. Finally, he will come to despise sacred things, even God, and then he will despise himself.

On the other hand, with a sense of the sacred, one grows in understanding and truth. The Holy Spirit becomes his frequent and then constant companion. More and more he will stand in holy places and be entrusted with holy things. Just the opposite of cynicism and despair, his end is eternal life. (((D. Todd Christofferson, “A Sense of the Sacred,” CES fireside for young adults, Nov. 7, 2004))

In fact, the entire talk is good.  In referencing the sanctity of the physical body he said:  [Read more…]