The Deletion of the Lectures on Faith

On this day in Mormon History 95 years ago, a new edition of the LDS Doctrine and Covenants was accepted as the newest version of the scripture.  Perhaps most remarkable about this new 1921 version is not what it contained, but rather what it no longer contained. 

Since the first publication of the Doctrine and Covenants in 1835 (not including the 1833 Book of Commandments), the book contained both the doctrine and the covenants.  The “doctrine” section was the Lectures on Faith, which were a series of 7 lectures given to the School of the Prophets in Kirtland, and the “covenants” section contained the revelations given through Joseph Smith up to 1835.  In 1844, another edition of the Doctrine and Covenants was printed, which contained all the revelations received up to that point.  This edition also contained the “doctrine” portion, and though Joseph Smith approved a version prior to his death in June of 1844, this edition did not print until later that year.  Editions were produced over the next 50 years, and they all contained the doctrine portion of the book.  In 1921, a church committee edited and approved the first version where the Lectures on Faith were deleted.

In any case, I have found these lectures immensely valuable and I consider them a necessary part of my studies into the nature of God and the developing of faith.

You can purchase the lectures, but free versions can be found online as well.  If you want a copy, let me know and I can email a pdf version.

The Apparently Not-So-Obvious Audience of the Book of Mormon

This Sunday in church, we spent 45 minutes in gospel doctrine class studying Mormon chapter 8.  If your not familiar with the chapter, open up your Book of Mormon and take a look.  If you are prone to heartburn, might I suggest taking an antacid beforehand?  Anyway, 45 minutes and yet we managed to avoid even skimming the surface of one of the most damning set of verses in the entire book.

How we did that, I'm not sure.  Is there a fundamental misunderstanding of who the audience of the Book of Mormon is?  Is it written for some other group of people that received the fullness of the gospel in the latter-days?

I believe there is a multi-faceted assumption promoted within the LDS church that directs most of the belief system of active, believing LDS Mormons.

Assumption:  We, as a church, can never apostatize..  God's true church was established in the latter-days never to be removed.  It will roll forth and fill the earth.  We have prophets that can never lead us astray, so the idea of falling into apostasy is not possible.  Because we can't apostatize, all the scriptures in the Book of Mormon that refer to the latter-day Gentiles rejecting the gospel, must be referring to some other group, and we're in the clear.

How deep these assumptions go into LDS church membership is unknown to me, but if this gospel doctrine class is any indication, I would say they run quite deep.  When we ignore the fact that the Book of Mormon was written specifically for us, it becomes little more than a history book of a people we don't really have any historical evidence of.

A portion of this same assumption is found among King Noah's people in the Book of Mosiah.

Mosiah 12  
15 And behold, we are strong, we shall not come into bondage, or be taken captive by our enemies; yea, and thou hast prospered in the land, and thou shalt also prosper.

Unfortunately, this scripture in Mosiah is a quote by the wicked priests of King Noah.  They literally quote scripture to justify their presumed righteous position before God.  Because they prospered both in wealth and safety, they assumed themselves in God's favor and therefore Abinadi was a false prophet worthy of death.  The root of this assumption is pride.

I'm open to being wrong and to have completely misinterpreted these passages in Mormon 8.  Tell me there is some other church out there that focuses so much on how fine our clothing needs to be on Sunday, to the point where a young man cannot participate in the preparation and administering of the sacrament.  Help me understand what Moroni is saying, "and your churches, yea, even every one, have become polluted because of the pride of your hearts (emphasis mine)."   Is he speaking of everyone EXCEPT the 15 or so million Mormons and our 30,000 + congregations (or churches)?   Is there any other church out there that is building and adorning churches at the pace and price that we are?  Is it at the expense of the "poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted?"  Are there no poor among us?  What percentage of our children across our international church are malnourished?  20%? 30%? 40%?  Does our obligation to help the "least" of our society stop at the front doors of our churches?

Mormon 8
35 Behold, I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing.

36 And I know that ye do walk in the pride of your hearts; and there are none save a few only who do not lift themselves up in the pride of their hearts, unto the wearing of very fine apparel, unto envying, and strifes, and malice, and persecutions, and all manner of iniquities; and your churches, yea, even every one, have become polluted because of the pride of your hearts.

37 For behold, ye do love money, and your substance, and your fine apparel, and the adorning of your churches, more than ye love the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted.

38 O ye pollutions, ye hypocrites, ye teachers, who sell yourselves for that which will canker, why have ye polluted the holy church of God? Why are ye ashamed to take upon you the name of Christ? Why do ye not think that greater is the value of an endless happiness than that misery which never dies—because of the praise of the world?

39 Why do ye adorn yourselves with that which hath no life, and yet suffer the hungry, and the needy, and the naked, and the sick and the afflicted to pass by you, and notice them not?

40 Yea, why do ye build up your secret abominations to get gain, and cause that widows should mourn before the Lord, and also orphans to mourn before the Lord, and also the blood of their fathers and their husbands to cry unto the Lord from the ground, for vengeance upon your heads?

41 Behold, the sword of vengeance hangeth over you; and the time soon cometh that he avengeth the blood of the saints upon you, for he will not suffer their cries any longer.

 A mighty fine sanctuary

Moroni seems to have nailed us?  The vision of the Gentiles was not his alone, however.  Nephi's was similar.  Let's look at 2 Nephi 28.  Identical themes as Moroni; pride, corruption, fine clothing, robbing the poor because of our fine sanctuaries.

2 Nephi 28
3 For it shall come to pass in that day that the churches which are built up, and not unto the Lord, when the one shall say unto the other: Behold, I, I am the Lord’s; and the others shall say: I, I am the Lord’s; and thus shall every one say that hath built up churches, and not unto the Lord—

4 And they shall contend one with another; and their priests shall contend one with another, and they shall teach with their learning, and deny the Holy Ghost, which giveth utterance.

5 And they deny the power of God, the Holy One of Israel; and they say unto the people: Hearken unto us, and hear ye our precept; for behold there is no God today, for the Lord and the Redeemer hath done his work, and he hath given his power unto men;

6 Behold, hearken ye unto my precept; if they shall say there is a miracle wrought by the hand of the Lord, believe it not; for this day he is not a God of miracles; he hath done his work.

7 Yea, and there shall be many which shall say: Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die; and it shall be well with us.

8 And there shall also be many which shall say: Eat, drink, and be merry; nevertheless, fear God—he will justify in committing a little sin; yea, lie a little, take the advantage of one because of his words, dig a pit for thy neighbor; there is no harm in this; and do all these things, for tomorrow we die; and if it so be that we are guilty, God will beat us with a few stripes, and at last we shall be saved in the kingdom of God.

9 Yea, and there shall be many which shall teach after this manner, false and vain and foolish doctrines, and shall be puffed up in their hearts, and shall seek deep to hide their counsels from the Lord; and their works shall be in the dark.

10 And the blood of the saints shall cry from the ground against them.

11 Yea, they have all gone out of the way; they have become corrupted.

12 Because of pride, and because of false teachers, and false doctrine, their churches have become corrupted, and their churches are lifted up; because of pride they are puffed up.

13 They rob the poor because of their fine sanctuaries; they rob the poor because of their fine clothing; and they persecute the meek and the poor in heart, because in their pride they are puffed up.

14 They wear stiff necks and high heads; yea, and because of pride, and wickedness, and abominations, and whoredoms, they have all gone astray save it be a few, who are the humble followers of Christ; nevertheless, they are led, that in many instances they do err because they are taught by the precepts of men.

What is it about these verses that is so difficult for us to understand?  What good is the word of God if it doesn't humble us and cause us to turn back to Him?  These verse ought to tear into our hearts.  Why don't they?

I sat silent in my ward Gospel Doctrine class, mostly because I didn't know what to say or how to say it.  I can't be the only one that reads these scriptures this way, can I?  It's entirely possible that I'm missing something.  But, at the very least, these scriptures cause me to shake and consider my awful state before God.  They make me want to wear jeans and a t-shirt to church.  What these scripture DON'T do is make me want to walk around after the pride of my heart and pat myself on the back because of my righteousness.  They cause me want to throw myself onto the ground, cry unto the Lord, throw off my pride, and humble myself before God that perhaps I may one day find myself as one of the few humble followers of Christ that Nephi mentions in verse 14.  Hopefully, that is the goal of every one of us who claim Jesus as our Savior.