Workshopping the Three Lenses
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 8 май 2024
- How can we confidently determine what is and what is not reliable doctrine so we can decide what to believe? This is what Scott and Casey discussed in our last episode, where they introduced what they called the three doctrinal lenses or criteria by which we can assess the doctrinal reliability of a truth claim. In this episode of Church History Matters they practice putting these three lenses to work by actually using them to measure and evaluate various theological truth claims to determine the level of confidence we have in them. So welcome to Scott and Casey’s doctrinal workshop.
This is the third episode of our 10-part podcast series on Good Thinking. For a full transcript of this episode, as well as show notes and additional resources, visit our website at doctrineandcovenantscentral.o...
You can also subscribe to our podcast via Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and other platforms, and follow us on popular social media platforms. Visit linktr.ee/churchhistorymatters to connect with us.
Originally published November 14, 2023
DISCLAIMER: While we try very hard to be historically and doctrinally accurate in what we say on this podcast, please remember that all views expressed in this and every episode are our views alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Scripture Central or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Such a stimulating podcast. It had me thinking. Really enjoyed the topic and the presentation.
Great discussion! I am reminded of talk given by Ezra T. Benson in 1964:
Three Keys to Avoid Being Deceived
How to avoid the craftiness of men? From President Ezra T. Benson, October 1963, Conference Report:
May I suggest three short tests to avoid being deceived, both pertaining to this freedom struggle and all other matters.
First:
What do the standard works have to say about it? "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them," said Isaiah (Isa. 8:20). This is one of the great truths of Isaiah so important that it was included in the Book of Mormon scriptures. There it reads: "To the law and to the testimony; and if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them" (2 Ne. 18:20). And Hosea said, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge" (Hosea 4:6).
We must diligently study the scriptures. Of special importance to us are the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants. Joseph Smith said, ". . . that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book." (DHC 4:461.)
The Book of Mormon, Brigham Young said, was written on the tablets of his heart and no doubt helped save him from being deceived. The Book of Mormon has a lot to say about America, freedom, and secret combinations.
The Doctrine and Covenants is important because it contains the revelations which helped lay the foundation of this great latter-day work. It speaks of many things. Section 134, verse 2, states that government should hold inviolate the rights and control of property (D&C 134:2). This makes important reading in a day when government controls are increasing and people are losing the right to control their own property.
Second:
The second guide is: what do the latter-day Presidents of the Church have to say on the subject-particularly the living President? President Wilford Woodruff related an instance in church history when Brigham Young was addressing a congregation in the presence of the Prophet Joseph Smith:
"Brother Brigham took the stand, and he took the Bible and laid it down; he took the Book of Mormon, and laid it down: and he took the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and laid it down before him, and he said, 'There is the written word of God to us, concerning the work of God from the beginning of the world, almost, to our day.' 'And now,' said he, 'when compared with the living oracles, those books are nothing to me; those books do not convey the word of God direct to us now, as do the words of a Prophet or a man bearing the Holy Priesthood in our day and generation. I would rather have the living oracles than all the writing in the books.' That was the course he pursued. When he was through, Brother Joseph said to the congregation: 'Brother Brigham has told you the word of the Lord, and he has told you the truth'" (Conference Report,October 1897, pp. 18-19).
There is only one man on the earth today who speaks for the Church (see D&C 21:4; D&C 132:7). That man is President David O. McKay. Because he gives the word of the Lord for us today, his words have an even more immediate importance than those of the dead prophets. When speaking under the influence of the Holy Ghost his words are scripture (see D&C 68:4). I commend for your reading the masterful discourse of President J. Reuben Clark Jr., in the Church News of July 31, 1954, entitled: "When Are Church Leader's Words Entitled to Claim of Scripture?"
The President can speak on any subject he feels is needful for the Saints. As Brigham Young has stated: "I defy any man on earth to point out the path a prophet of God should walk in, or point out his duty, and just how far he must go, in dictating temporal or spiritual things. Temporal and spiritual things are inseparably connected, and ever will be" (JD 10:364). Other officers in the kingdom have fallen but never the Presidents. Keep your eye on the captain is still good counsel. The words of a living prophet must, and ever will take precedence.
President McKay has said a lot about our tragic trends towards socialism and communism and the responsibilities liberty-loving people have in defending and preserving our Constitution (see Conference Report,April 1953, pp. 112-113). Have we read these words from God's mouthpiece and pondered on them?
Third:
The third and final test is the Holy Ghost-the test of the Spirit. By that Spirit we ". . . may know the truth of all things" (Moro. 10:5). This test can only be fully effective if one's channels of communication with God are clean and virtuous and uncluttered with sin. Said Brigham Young:
"You may know whether you are led right or wrong, as well as you know the way home; for every principle God has revealed carries its own convictions of its truth to the human mind . . .
"What a pity it would be if we were led by one man to utter destruction! Are you afraid of this? I am more afraid that this people have so much confidence in their leaders that they will not inquire of themselves of God whether they are led by Him. I am fearful they settle down in a state of blind self-security, trusting their eternal destiny in the hands of their leaders with a reckless confidence that in itself would thwart the purposes of God in their salvation, and weaken that influence they could give to their leaders, did they know for themselves, by the revelations of Jesus, that they are led in the right way. Let every man and woman know, by the whispering of the Spirit of God to themselves, whether their leaders are walking in the path that the Lord dictates, or not. This has been my exhortation continually." (JD 9:149-150).
Elder Heber C. Kimball stated: "The time will come when no man or woman will be able to endure on borrowed light" (Orson F. Whitney, Life of Heber C. Kimball,1888 edition, p. 461).
How then can we know if a man is speaking by the spirit? The Bible, Book of Mormon, and Doctrine and Covenants give us the key (see 1 Cor. 2:10-11; 2 Ne. 33:1; D&C 50:17-23; D&C 100:5-8). President Clark summarized them well when he said:
"We can tell when the speakers are moved upon by the Holy Ghost only when we, ourselves, are moved upon by the Holy Ghost. In a way, this completely shifts the responsibility from them to us to determine when they so speak . . . the Church will know by the testimony of the Holy Ghost in the body of the members, whether the brethren in voicing their views are moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and in due time that knowledge will be made manifest." (Church News,July 31, 1954.)
☺
Great job guys!!
I think the right hand connection to taking the Sacrament might also be related to custom in parts of the Middle East where people share a common food bowl- eat with right hand only. Left hand for other personal tasks.
The current Handbook does not speak to which hand should be used to take the sacrament (at least none that I could find.) If I am mistaken, please provide a reference / section.
See Section 18.9.4 It’s actually included.
@@mikewood3557 Thank you very much!
I wonder on the Jesus Christ being married, if that is something that didn't have to have yet happened, & could still happen in the millennium.