Post 23 - The Rolling Forth Of God's Kingdom

To Access This Blog's Index, Please Scroll Down To the Fifth Paragraph From the End of This Post!

****

TODAY'S THEME

The Prophet Daniel Interprets King Nebuchadnezzar's Dream -by Grant Romney Clawson

"A Stone Cut Out of the Mountain Without Hands!"

The highlighted words above are a key part of the interpretation by Daniel, a prophet of ancient Israel, of the forgotten dream that troubled Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.

This painting shows Daniel as he interprets the kings' dream after having given him the details of his forgotten dream.

Daniel explained to the king that God had revealed the dream and its meaning to him, Daniel, in a night vision.

Daniel was one of the members of the House of Israel that had been brought forcibly to Babylon from Jerusalem not many years after Lehi and his family had been led by the Lord out of Jerusalem and were being led to their land of promise in ancient America. Please click on the scriptural link at the end of the next paragraph to read about Daniel's interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream.

Before doing so, please consider listening to this scripture while reading it. After clicking on the scriptural link, scroll up on the scripture and click on the word, Listen which is on the upper left hand side of the scripture. Listening while reading will make it more interesting.

Daniel 2:1-47

Let me emphasize verses 44 and 45 of that chapter by quoting them:

44. And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.

45. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made it known to the king what shall come to pass here-after: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.

You will now have the opportunity of reading the personal account of the individual who was chosen by God to begin the establishment of His latter-day kingdom that was foretold anciently in the prophet Daniel's interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream.

Please note the great care the Heavenly Messenger takes in preparing this young man, Joseph Smith who is almost 18 years of age for the huge task ahead of him. Please read all of the following.

 jstestimony

You have just learned about the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, which in Joseph Smith's later years, he said was the keystone of our Religion.

Here are three paintings and a photo that depict important events you have just read about and perhaps listened to.

Moroni Appears to Joseph Smith -by Tom Lovell

The Hill Cumorah

The Golden Plates

Joseph Smith is Given the Golden Plates -by Kenneth Riley

You may want to review later my Blog Post 20 in which the Presiding Bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, H. David Burton, reviewed the many humanitarian projects this church accomplished during the year, 2007, through the voluntary efforts from among the thirteen million members of the Church.

I now give you the opportunity of reading a quote from a member of the First Presidency of this church, President Henry B. Eyring. It is from his speech given at the same general priesthood session of the Church's April conference in April 2008 where Bishop Burton gave his speech reporting the Church's Humanitarian efforts during the year, 2007.

"I have seen the miracle of that growth in charity in the hearts of priesthood holders, So have many of you. And so have many outside the Church. I was in the office of President Gordon B. Hinckley when he was asked to take a phone call. He spoke briefly on the phone and then returned to our conversation. But he took a moment to explain. He said that the call was from the President of the United States, who was flying over Utah in Air Force One on his way to Washington D.C.. The president of the United States had called to thank President Hinckley for what priesthood holders had done in the aftermath of a hurricane. The president of the United States* had said that it was a miracle that we were able to get so many people, so quickly, working together so well. He praised our people by saying that we knew how to do things." (*Reference above was to President George W. Bush of the United States of America.)

Air Force One

In ending this blogpost, I take the liberty of saying that what was accomplished in humanitarian services in 2007 and for many years before that and into the future is what we should expect from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with its population growing from thirteen million members to a much larger number in years to come. Of course, this is the Lord's latter-day kingdom which is striving to do all of those things our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ would have us do in preparation for His Second Coming.

You can expect my next blogpost in about one week from the date of this one. I'll look forward to sharing things again with you at that time.


____________


DISCLAIMER
This website is not owned by or affiliated with the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes called the Mormon or LDS Church). The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the position of the Church.


__________


TO ACCESS NEIL BIRCH'S BLOG INDEX: To Either Read the Full Index Item Which Refers To This BlogPost, (Or To Search The Index For Any Other BlogPost You Desire To Access), After You Have Read All of This Paragraph, Please Scroll Back Up And Click on the Following: God's Kingdom To Roll Forth In The Last Days. -Post 23. When The Picture of Our Savior, Jesus Christ Sitting Next To a Little Boy Comes Onto Your Screen, Please Scroll Down In The Index To Your Target Item Or Use the Alphabetical Scrolling Device (When It Has Been Installed).


____________


"Have You Really Read the Book of Mormon" Legal /Statement. Thank you for visiting. The author retains intellectual property and creative licensing rights. Permission to use or reprint must be given in writing. © Est. 2008 Neil Birch

____________


I deeply appreciate your readership and hope you found very beneficial, that which was presented to you in this blog post.

If you have any questions about what you have read or viewed in this post or in any previous posts of mine, or if you even have a curiosity about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and or its teachings, please e-mail me. I'm Neil and my e-mail address is: jneilmelva@gmail.com. If you contact me I'll get back to you just as soon as possible.

I invite you to let your friends and relatives know about this blog if you think they would be interested in it. Please be advised that I also have an additional blog. It is in Spanish: Its content is translated from the English in this blog.

Neil Birch

Post 22 - Does Christ Require Works of Us?

To Access This Blog's Index, Please Scroll Down To the Fifth Paragraph From the End of This Post!

****

TODAY'S THEME

Christ in Gethsemane -by Harry Anderson

With the painting I have chosen to begin this post, it should be obvious that I am getting right to the very core of the Gospel - the atonement of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

In my second ever blogpost, entitled: "By Grace are We Saved After All We Can Do," One of my dear, close relatives said in a comment he inserted into that post:

"A couple of comments about 2 Nephi 25:23. If grace only applies after all you can do, how do you know when you have done enough? Have you truly done ALL you could do? If not then it would seem that grace would not apply. A Christian rejoices in grace as presented in the Holy Bible."

"Good works are a *result* of grace, not a way to achieve it. (Gal 5:22-23 and Eph. 2) You do not pay for a gift. Grace is not a license to sin, but if you truly love God, you will want to please Him."

The following is the full scripture he was referring to: (Book of Mormon)

In my blog post , Have You Really Read the Book of Mormon, Post 3, I made an effort to answer his question. However, a few days later, Richard K. Miller, a member of the LDS Church clarified this matter with this comment in the earlier blog.

II Nephi 25;23: For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do."

To me, the question of doing "all that we can" seems to be about our willingness to keep the commandments, even if we fall short. The blessing offered on the sacrament each week asks for the Spirit to be with those who are "willing". Willingness drives us to try and will produce good works, even if the works alone don't matter.

What's more, I believe there's room for our "willingness" to improve, like the man who asked Jesus to help his "unbelief." In the Book of Mormon, the prophet Alma says that those who don't have faith but have a "desire to believe" can let it work within them and grow into faith. (Alma 32) To me this implies that even a "willingness to be willing" is a step in the right direction and qualifies us for the grace of Christ.

On the other hand, "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." (Matt 7:21)

Let's now refer back to the Book of Mormon. I think that Lehi's third oldest son, Sam is a person to now focus on in this discussion. Sam clearly supported his brother, Nephi, (who was just younger than himself) regarding the issue of whether or not he and his three brothers, Laman, Lemuel, and Nephi should go back to Jerusalem for a third attempt to obtain the scriptural records contained in the "Brass Plates" which the Lord had commanded Lehi to have his four sons obtain from the keeper of those records, Laban, a man of some importance in Jerusalem.

Sam supported Nephi to the extent that he was beaten along with Nephi by their elder two brothers, Laman and Lemuel, in their effort to keep Nephi from talking them into getting them to go back into Jerusalem to do what they knew was a very dangerous task.

As you may recall from your reading of the Book of Mormon, an angel of God appeared to the four young men and commanded Laman and Lemuel to cease and desist! They did and Nephi was led by the Lord to successfully obtain the Brass Plates.

At various times as recorded in I and II Nephi , Father Lehi made statements about his sons and gave blessings to them. In the following verse (I Nephi 8:3 ) Father Lehi mentions Sam.

3. And behold, because of the thing which I have seen, I have reason to rejoice in the Lord because of Nephi and also of Sam ; for I have reason to suppose that they, and also many of their seed, will be saved. (emphasis added)

Along with his other brothers, Sam was given a father's blessing not long before Lehi died. This is the blessing given Sam.

II Nephi 4:11 "And after he had made an end of speaking unto them, he spake unto Sam, saying: Blessed art thou, and thy seed; for thou shalt inherit the land like unto thy brother Nephi. And thy seed shall be numbered with his seed; and thou shalt be even like unto thy brother, and thy seed like unto his seed; and thou shalt be blessed in all thy days." (emphasis  added)

Through the Spirit of Prophecy and Revelation Lehi was able to say that. There is no further information about Sam or his descendants in the Book of Mormon. However we can say that this can be attributed to these words from the blessing "And thy seed shall be numbered with his seed; and thou shalt be even like unto thy brother, and thy seed like unto his seed;"

My point here is in answer to my dear relative's question: "If grace only applies after all you can do, how do you know when you have done enough?"

There is no record given of what good things Sam did throughout his life. Neither was there any word about him or his children having fallen by the wayside spiritually. The amount of good works Sam did aren't the key things. His willingness is a key thing, however.

Again referring back to Richard K. Miller's comment made at the end of the same blog post to which my relative responded, it is willingness which is really required. I am sure the Savior's grace applies to Sam and many others in this world who have done all they were able to do to further the Lord's work. Because so little was said about Sam I have supposed that he just didn't possess many of the leadership attributes that his younger brother and leader, Nephi, possessed. Despite that, his inspired father, Lehi, still indicated that Sam along with Nephi would be saved!

It is obvious that Sam kept the commandments of the Lord in showing us that he, at great personal risk, supported his younger brother Nephi in his decision to make that third attempt at getting the sacred records from Laban who had armed men to help him keep these sons of Lehi from getting them. Sam obviouslyknew the Lord had commanded their father, Lehi to have his brothers and him, Sam, obtain those sacred records and bring them back to their father in the Arabian desert.

Now continuing in my efforts to support Richard K. Miller who said it is willingness that really counts, not a certain calculated amount of good works that brings salvation along with the Savior's grace, I am going to remind you of Alma the Younger, the son of Alma who baptized at the Waters of Mormon as explained in a number of previous blog posts.

He, as those of you who have read blog posts 7 and 17, know well, was obviously possessed with many talents which he wrongly used to tear down the Church of Jesus Christ, that his father, Alma had painstakingly struggled, (as you have read about in previous blogs) with much success, to bring that church into being.

Remember that after the Angel of the Lord had appeared to him and his four friends, Alma the Younger had felt damned and severely condemned himself until he remembered his hearing his father, Alma teach about the redemption and salvation (grace)provided by the Son of God, Jesus the Christ, who was to come into the world in the future.

At that very moment Alma the Younger called out to that Jesus to save him. It was instantly done. The Lord did not wait for him to begin performing all of the deeds of service he eventually did! He could have thereafter slacked off in his efforts to serve others, but had he done so he would have lost that salvation or grace he had been given.

Alma the Younger became one of the most successful of all of the Savior's missionaries told about in the Book of Mormon, He was comparable to the Apostle Paul in his righteous zeal to do the Lord's work until the end, when his life was taken by the Romans.

I want you to read these particular words this younger Alma spoke some time later during his life of service rendered to others because of his great faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. These words demonstrate his willingness to do all that he could do.

Alma 29:1-10

Now back to Sam. We have no record of great service on his part, yet his inspired father, Lehi, states in this sacred word of God, the Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ, that he supposes Nephi and Sam will be saved. It was Sam's willingness to serve that qualified him to be saved through the Grace of Christ. It was after "all Sam could do" that qualified him to possess the precious gift of salvation. Maybe Sam's all he could do wasn't as much Alma the Younger's all he could do, but our Savior's grace applied to him equally.

So it is with each of us, my dear relatives and all of your dear family members, too. This applies to the rest of you readers of this blog also. The Lord Jesus Christ loves all of us!

The Crucifixion of Jesus Christ -by Harry Anderson

____________

 

DISCLAIMER
This website is not owned by or affiliated with the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes called the Mormon or LDS Church). The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the position of the Church.


____________




TO ACCESS NEIL BIRCH'S BLOG INDEX: To Either Read the Full Index Item Which Refers To This BlogPost, (Or To Search The Index For Any Other BlogPost You Desire To Access), After You Have Read All of This Paragraph, Please Scroll Back Up And Click on the Following: Works are Required of Us As Well as Grace - Post 22. When The Picture of Our Savior, Jesus Christ Sitting Next To a Little Boy Comes Onto Your Screen, Please Scroll Down In The Index To Your Target Item Or Use the Alphabetical Scrolling Device (When It Has Been Installed).

_____________

"Have You Really Read the Book of Mormon" Legal /Statement. Thank you for visiting. The author retains intellectual property and creative licensing rights. Permission to use or reprint must be given in writing. © Est. 2008 Neil Birch

_______________

I deeply appreciate your readership and hope you found very beneficial, that which was presented to you in this blog post.

If you have any questions about what you have read or viewed in this post or in any previous posts of mine, or if you even have a curiosity about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and or its teaching, please e-mail me. I'm Neil and my e-mail address is: jneilmelva@gmail.com. If you contact me I'll get back to you just as soon as possible.

I invite you to let your friends and relatives know about this blog if you think they would be interested in it. Please be advised that I also have an additional blog. It is in Spanish:  Its content is translated from the English in this blog.

Neil Birch 

Post 21 - The Bible, The Complete Record of Christ's Words?

To Access This Blog's Index, Please Scroll Down To the Fifth Paragraph From the End of This Post!

****

TODAY'S THEME

In recent blog posts I have emphasized the importance of prophecy and revelation in the functioning of Jesus Christ's Church in all times of this world's history when His Church was established in various parts of this earth. As I have shown in previous posts in this blog, there have been prophets who have spoken the words of Christ which were recorded in the Bible, in the Book of Mormon and by Joseph Smith, Jr., a latter-day prophet of God who has spoken the words of Jesus Christ in our day. Also recorded are the words of those prophets who have each, in their turn, taken the place of the living prophet who presided in the Church before them.


Unfortunately, all of those words which were brought forth except for those which appear in the Holy Bible, are rejected by most, if not all of the Christian churches in the world today, the exception being the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints whose headquarters are in Salt Lake City, Utah, in the United States of America.


As a young man of twenty years of age I was issued a call by the then prophet of the LDS Church, David O. McKay to serve a mission in Finland. I did not, at that time, speak Finnish, but was given a thirty month assignment to serve there which was an additional six months to what LDS missionaries were called to serve in English speaking missions of the Church, to give me adequate time to learn to read and speak Finnish, a quite difficult language to learn.

It was in November of 1952 that I, along with three other missionaries traveled by train from Salt Lake City, Utah to New York City, New York. We spent about three days there, in my case, my purpose there was to pick up the visa I needed to enter Finland and the visas the others each needed, to enter Sweden or Denmark.

One of the other two missionaries was a young man about twenty two or three years of age who was assigned to serve in Sweden. On our way to New York City he told me that he had converted to this church and that previously he had lived in the Bronx, New York and had been an active member of another Church.

This new member of this Church, we were both called to serve, asked me to be his companion on a visit he had planned with some members of his previous church. An appointment had been set by them for him to visit them at one of their apartments in the Bronx.

He and I went by Subway to the apartment where his former fellow church members were waiting for us.

Some degree of friendliness shown by them to him, but he was quite warm and open with them. I soon detected the others were angry that he had left their church and joined the Mormon Church. I was introduced to the other six or seven men of varying ages as his fellow Mormon missionary. He had told them beforehand of his call to serve in Sweden as a LDS missionary.

The meeting which lasted about an hour focused on how the LDS Church had to be a false church because it had a prophet who claimed to receive more of Christ's words and had the Book of Mormon which was alleged also to contain Christ's words.

One of them quoted Revelation 22:

18 For I (the Apostle, John) testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:

19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

Several of his former church member friends indicated that this was proof positive that the Book of Mormon or any other latter-day scriptures or the words of those who we called Latter-day prophets were not the true words of Christ. They told my companion that they were sorry for him that the plagues that were mentioned by the Apostle John would descend upon him if they hadn't already done so.

In our week-long training in Salt Lake City we been prepared with the right responses to what had been said there. My companion told them that the words they had just read to us pertained just to the Book of Revelation and that although it was the last book in the Holy Bible, other books of the Bible were written after the Book of Revelation.

My companion told his former church member friends that there is a scripture in one of the Books of Moses that says the same thing as John said about not adding to that book. Obviously, many books of scripture had been added afterwards.
We were not successful and both of us felt sorry for them that they had closed their minds to the many additional words of Christ which are now available to bless mankind.

Last Sunday (I'm writing this on a Saturday evening, August 30, 2008) I had been asked to give our Melchizedek Priesthood lesson. (That's what members of this church do, take assignments to either lead, teach or serve in other ways, without financial compensation.

The lesson I was assigned to teach was based upon the speech of one of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Elder Elder Jeffrey R. Holland had given in his Church General Conference in early April 2008.

I related to my male classmates the missionary experience I had in the Bronx, New York I just told you. I then had some of those in attendance , take turns reading from Elder Holland's talk, interspersing their reading with comments from me and other class members.
Photograph of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland - Ensign Magazine


After commenting on important events of that day in conference, Elder Holland began his talk by saying:

"We invite all to inquire into the wonder of what God has said since biblical times and is saying even now."

. . . In general conference last October, I said there were two principal reasons The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is accused, erroneously, of not being Christian. At that time I addressed one of those doctrinal issues—our scripturally based view of the Godhead. Today I would like to address the other major doctrine which characterizes our faith but which causes concern to some, namely the bold assertion that God continues to speak His word and reveal His truth, revelations which mandate an open canon of scripture."

"Some Christians, in large measure because of their genuine love for the Bible, have declared that there can be no more authorized scripture beyond the Bible. In thus pronouncing the canon of revelation closed, our friends in some other faiths shut the door on divine expression that we in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints hold dear: the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, the Pearl of Great Price, and the ongoing guidance received by God’s anointed prophets and apostles.

"Imputing no ill will to those who take such a position, nevertheless we respectfully but resolutely reject such an unscriptural characterization of true Christianity."

Elder Holland then read from the New Testament passage recorded in Revelation 22:18: (that my missionary companion and I had heard at the meeting in the Bronx referred to above):

". . . However, there is now overwhelming consensus among virtually all biblical scholars that this verse applies only to the book of Revelation, not the whole Bible. Those scholars of our day acknowledge a number of New Testament “books” that were almost certainly written after John’s revelation on the Isle of Patmos was received. Included in this category are at least the books of Jude, the three Epistles of John, and probably the entire Gospel of John itself. 1 Perhaps there are even more than these."

"But there is a simpler answer as to why that passage in the final book of the current New Testament cannot apply to the whole Bible. That is because the whole Bible as we know it—one collection of texts bound in a single volume—did not exist when that verse was written. For centuries after John produced his writing, the individual books of the New Testament were in circulation singly or perhaps in combinations with a few other texts but almost never as a complete collection. Of the entire corpus of 5,366 known Greek New Testament manuscripts, only 35 contain the whole New Testament as we now know it, and 34 of those were compiled after A.D. 1000." 2

"The fact of the matter is that virtually every prophet of the Old and New Testament has added scripture to that received by his predecessors. If the Old Testament words of Moses were sufficient, as some could have mistakenly thought them to be, then why, for example, the subsequent prophecies of Isaiah or of Jeremiah, who follows him? To say nothing of Ezekiel and Daniel, of Joel, Amos, and all the rest. If one revelation to one prophet in one moment of time is sufficient for all time, what justifies these many others? What justifies them was made clear by Jehovah Himself when He said to Moses, “My works are without end, and . . . my words . . . never cease.” 4

"One Protestant scholar has inquired tellingly into the erroneous doctrine of a closed canon. He writes: “On what biblical or historical grounds has the inspiration of God been limited to the written documents that the church now calls its Bible? . . . If the Spirit inspired only the written documents of the first century, does that mean that the same Spirit does not speak today in the church about matters that are of significant concern?”5 We humbly ask those same questions.

"Continuing revelation does not demean or discredit existing revelation. The Old Testament does not lose its value in our eyes when we are introduced to the New Testament, and the New Testament is only enhanced when we read the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ. In considering the additional scripture accepted by Latter-day Saints, we might ask: Were those early Christians who for decades had access only to the primitive Gospel of Mark (generally considered the first of the New Testament Gospels to be written)—were they offended to receive the more detailed accounts set forth later by Matthew and Luke, to say nothing of the unprecedented passages and revelatory emphasis offered later yet by John? Surely they must have rejoiced that ever more convincing evidence of the divinity of Christ kept coming. And so do we rejoice."

"Please do not misunderstand. We love and revere the Bible, as Elder M. Russell Ballard taught so clearly from this pulpit just one year ago. 6 The Bible is the word of God. It is always identified first in our canon, our “standard works.” Indeed, it was a divinely ordained encounter with the fifth verse of the first chapter of the book of James that led Joseph Smith to his vision of the Father and the Son, which gave birth to the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ in our time. But even then, Joseph knew the Bible alone could not be the answer to all the religious questions he and others like him had.

As he said in his own words, the ministers of his community were contending—sometimes angrily—over their doctrines. “Priest [was] contending against priest, and convert [was contending] against convert . . . in a strife of words and a contest about opinions,” he said. About the only thing these contending religions had in common was, ironically, a belief in the Bible, but, as Joseph wrote, “the teachers of religion of the different sects understood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question [regarding which church was true] by an appeal to the Bible.” 7 Clearly the Bible, so frequently described at that time as “common ground,” was nothing of the kind—unfortunately it was a battleground.

Thus one of the great purposes of continuing revelation through living prophets is to declare to the world through additional witnesses that the Bible is true. “This is written,” an ancient prophet said, speaking of the Book of Mormon, “for the intent that ye may believe that,” speaking of the Bible. 8 In one of the earliest revelations received by Joseph Smith, the Lord said, “Behold, I do not bring [the Book of Mormon forth] to destroy [the Bible] but to build it up.”9


One other point needs to be made. Since it is clear that there were Christians long before there was a New Testament or even an accumulation of the sayings of Jesus, it cannot therefore be maintained that the Bible is what makes one a Christian. In the words of esteemed New Testament scholar N. T. Wright, “The risen Jesus, at the end of Matthew’s Gospel, does not say, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth is given to the books you are all going to write,’ but [rather] ‘All authority in heaven and on earth is given to me.’ “10 In other words, “Scripture itself points . . . away from itself and to the fact that final and true authority belongs to God himself.” 11 So the scriptures are not the ultimate source of knowledge for Latter-day Saints. They are manifestations of the ultimate source. The ultimate source of knowledge and authority for a Latter-day Saint is the living God. The communication of those gifts comes from God as living, vibrant, divine revelation. 12

This doctrine lies at the very heart of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and of our message to the world. It dramatizes the significance of a solemn assembly yesterday, in which we sustained Thomas S. Monson as a prophet, a seer, and a revelator. We believe in a God who is engaged in our lives, who is not silent, not absent, nor, as Elijah said of the god of the priests of Baal, is He “[on] a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be [awakened].”13 In this Church, even our young Primary children recite, “We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.”14

In declaring new scripture and continuing revelation, we pray we will never be arrogant or insensitive. But after a sacred vision in a now sacred grove answered in the affirmative the question “Does God exist?” what Joseph Smith and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints force us to face is the next interrogative, which necessarily follows: “Does He speak?” We bring the good news that He does and that He has. With a love and affection born of our Christianity, we invite all to inquire into the wonder of what God has said since biblical times and is saying even now.

In a sense Joseph Smith and his prophetic successors in this Church answer the challenge Ralph Waldo Emerson put to the students of the Harvard Divinity School 170 years ago this coming summer. To that group of the Protestant best and brightest, the great sage of Concord pled that they teach “that God is, not was; that He speaketh, not spake.”15

I testify that the heavens are open. I testify that Joseph Smith was and is a prophet of God, that the Book of Mormon is truly another testament of Jesus Christ. I testify that Thomas S. Monson is God’s prophet, a modern apostle with the keys of the kingdom in his hands, a man upon whom I personally have seen the mantle fall. I testify that the presence of such authorized, prophetic voices and ongoing canonized revelations have been at the heart of the Christian message whenever the authorized ministry of Christ has been on the earth. I testify that such a ministry is on the earth again, and it is found in this, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

In our heartfelt devotion to Jesus of Nazareth as the very Son of God, the Savior of the world, we invite all to examine what we have received of Him, to join with us, drinking deeply at the “well of water springing up into everlasting life,”16 these constantly flowing reminders that God lives, that He loves us, and that He speaks. I express the deepest personal thanks that His works never end and His “words . . . never cease.” I bear witness of such divine loving attention and the recording of it, in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.

NOTES
1. See Stephen E. Robinson, Are Mormons Christians? (1991), 46. The issue of canon is discussed on pages 45-56, Canon is defined as "an authorittive list of books accepted as Holy Scripture" (Merriam Webster's Collegiate Distionary, 11th ed. (2003), "canon"),
2. See Bruce M. Metzger, Manuscripts of the Greek Bible; An introduction to Greek Paleography (1981), 54-55; see also Are Mormons Christians? 46.
3. See Deuteronomy 4:2, for example.
4. Moses 1:4
5. Lee M. McDonald, The Formation of the Christian Biblical Canon, rev. ed. (1995), 255-56,
6. See "The Miracle of the Holy bible,"
7. Joseph Smith--History 1:6, 12,
8. Mormon 7:9; emphasis added,
9. D&C 10:52; see also D&C 20:11,
10, N.T. Wright, The Last Word; Beyond the Bible Wars to a New Understanding of the Authority of Scripture (2005), xi.
11. Wright, The Last Word, 24,
12. For a full essay on this subject, see Dallin H. Oaks, "Scripture Reading and Revelation," Ensign, Jan. 1995, 6-9,
13. 1 Kings 18:27
14. Articles of Faith: 1:9
15. "An Adress," The Complete Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson (1929), 45,
16. John 4:14,


____________



DISCLAIMER__________
This website is not owned by or affiliated with the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes called the Mormon or LDS Church). The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the position of the Church.







TO ACCESS NEIL BIRCH'S BLOG INDEX: To Either Read the Full Index Item Which Refers To This BlogPost, (Or To Search The Index For Any Other BlogPost You Desire To Access), After You Have Read All of This Paragraph, Please Scroll Back Up And Click on the Following: (The) Bible The Complete Record of God's Words? - Post 21.When The Picture of Our Savior, Jesus Christ Sitting Next To a Little Boy Comes Onto Your Screen, Please Scroll Down In The Index To Your Target Item Or Use the Alphabetical Scrolling Device (When It Has Been Installed).
__________


"Have You Really Read the Book of Mormon" Legal /Statement. Thank you for visiting. The author retains intellectual property and creative licensing rights. Permission to use or reprint must be given in writing. © Est. 2008 Neil Birch

____________


I deeply appreciate your readership and hope you found very beneficial, that which was presented to you in this blog post.


If you have any questions about what you have read or viewed in this post or in any previous posts of mine, or if you even have a curiosity about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and or its teachings, please e-mail me. I'm Neil and my e-mail address is: jneilmelva@gmail.com. If you contact me I'll get back to you just as soon as possible.

I invite you to let your friends and relatives know about this blog if you think they would be interested in it. Please be advised that I have an additional blog. It is in Spanish:  Its content is translated from the English in this blog.

Neil Birch

Post 20 - Wouldn't Christ's True Church Help The Afflicted World-Wide?

To Access This Blog's Index, Please Scroll Down To the Fifth Paragraph From the End of This Post!

****

TODAY'S THEME

The First Alma Baptizing at the Waters of Mormon -by Arnold Friberg 

Now you will tell me that you have seen this Friberg painting before in this blog. Actually, you may have seen it four times before. The first time it was shown, was at the end of Post, 12 to prepare your minds and hearts for Post 13.

I'm showing it at the beginning of this blog post, (Post 20) in which you will have the opportunity of learning about the great ability The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has in our day in affecting the lives of people all over this world for good in times of adversity and tribulation.

I want you to know that the basic reason for this is that this present day church was also founded, under the direction of our Lord, Jesus Christ, upon the exact same principles as was the Church of Jesus Christ that began, under His direction, at the Waters of Mormon through the leadership of the newly converted prophet, the first Alma.

Actually both are the same church. Both had simple beginnings. Today's Church began in 1830 in the Western end of the State of New York with only six members, being led by a prophet, Joseph Smith, who also possesed the gifts of prophecy and revelation as did the prophet, Alma when he formed, under the Lord's direction, the Church of Jesus Christ at the Waters of Mormon in the ancient Americas.

These are only two of the good number of segments of the Church of Jesus Christ which were formed over many centuries by our Lord. There was the great segment of His Church which was formed by His apostles under His direction after His post-resurrection departure into Heaven. They lived by the same principles as did all others who followed and were directed by our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Let me remind you what Alma taught the new members of the church in his day. Please read: Mosiah 18:8-11

In my lifetime as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I have often heard Alma's words quoted, as recorded in the scripture you have just read, to prepare those who were to be baptized to become true Latter-day Saints of God. I have also, many times, heard that same scripture quoted to remind members of the Church of their promises at the time of baptism to love and serve others.

That which Presiding Bishop Burton reports below is good evidence that large numbers of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have been living in accordance with Alma's admonition . . .

(Mosiah 18:8-9). . . and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light; Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort. . . (emphasis added)

The following talk was given in the Priesthood Session of the General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in April 2008 presided over by its present Prophet, Seer and Revelator: Thomas S. Monson.

And Who Is My Neighbor? Bishop H. David Burton-Presiding Bishop

We express our deep appreciation to the many individuals . . . who are the good Samaritans of today.

Good evening. Tonight the scripture passages "As ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me" (Matthew 25:40) and "Remember in all things the poor and the needy" (D. and C. 52:40) take on special meaning as we review highlights of humanitarian endeavors during the past year.

A briefing on humanitarian assistance was recently given to the General Welfare Committee of the Church. The committee chair, then President Gordon B. Hinckley, expressed profound gratitude for the generosity of members and those not of our faith who have made this outreach possible. In behalf of the General Welfare Committee, we express our deep appreciation to the many individuals, families, quorums, and Relief Society and Young Women groups who are the good Samaritans of today.

In 2007 the Church responded to major earthquakes in 5 countries, massive fires in 6 countries, hunger and famine in 18 countries, and flooding and severe storms in 34 countries. In total the Church and its members responded to 170 major events---nearly one every two days for the entire year. It was a busy year with many opportunities to serve.

In addition to responding to natural disasters, we undertook thousands of public health initiatives during the year. Over 1 million people benefited from Church-sponsored clean water projects in 25 countries. More than 60,500 people received wheelchairs in 60 nations. Early this year Sister Burton and I, with the South America North Area Presidency, participated with the First Lady of Colombia in a wheelchair presentation. Tears came easily as receivers and their caregivers expressed their appreciation. In 11 countries, over 54,000 individuals now enjoy improved vision. Over 16,500 health-care professionals in 23 countries were trained in infant neonatal resuscitation; they, in turn, will train many others. In a quest to eliminate measles, 2.8 million children and youth in 10 countries received immunizations. The combined effects of these outreach endeavors directly touched nearly 4 million people in 85 countries.

In August a major 8.0 earthquake killed 520 people and destroyed more than 58,000 homes in southern Peru. In a marvelous display of love and concern, each of the 29 stakes in Lima, Peru, provided basic assistance to ward areas in the devastated region.

With the wonderful assistance of missionaries, a plan is under way to help individuals rebuild their homes and lives and replace several schools. As many as 400 homes may ultimately be built, with individuals, friends, and family doing much of the work. Supervision, coordination, and training are under the direction of Elder and Sister Alan Layton.

Late in the year a combination of dry weather and high winds fueled wildfires in southern California. These wildfires forced over one million people from their homes. At least 1,500 homes were destroyed. In response the Church provided cleaning kits, blankets, hygiene kits, and food. Over 5,000 Mormon Helping Hands along with missionaries cleaned, cooked, comforted, and cared for those affected.

One note of appreciation said: "Please forward a great big thank you to all the Latter-day Saints who have been working so hard in my neighborhood. The Mormons have been here constantly with meals, hugs, prayers, and helping to repair and clear property. They . . . uplift my community, heal hearts, and repair homes in the San Diego hills."

Reflecting on the experience, one stake president said: "One of our projects was to assist cleaning up around the local Baptist church. . . . We assigned 25 youth. . . . The Baptists said that they would have lots of donuts and coffee for us. We told them the coffee would go stale, but our youth could handle as many donuts as they could provide!"

Heavy rains triggered flooding across the Midwestern United States, Oregon, and Washington. Volunteers came with supplies from the bishops' storehouse to provide help to those in need.

When Church representatives in Findlay, Ohio, presented a donation to the local Red Cross chapter, a passerby spotted them in their yellow Mormon Helping Hands T-shirts. She walked in and held up her camera phone with a picture of four Helping Hands and exclaimed, "They just saved my home!" Then she hugged everyone in sight.

A shipment of food was delivered to a local food bank. When it arrived, the manager had a startled look on his face and said, "How did you know? I just gave out my last loaf of bread and planned to lock the doors. How did you know?"

Working with the World Health Organization to eliminate measles as a killer of almost a million children each year, over 54,000 Church members volunteered to help organize the effort. A Church member in Nigeria wrote: "I called our labor the 'rescue of the innocent.' We went house-to-house and village hall to village hall. A woman told us she had lost three children to measles. She told her story with such grace and passion that there was not a dry eye in the house, mine included." Our volunteer observed, "The things you do for yourself are gone when you are gone, but the things that you do for others remain as your legacy."

Our four-year effort to help those devastated by a tsunami in Indonesia and southern Asia also continued. Funding was provided to help build 902 homes, with 3 community centers, 24 village water systems, 15 schools, and 3 medical centers. A community leader said: "Community members feel happy and blessed to have the community center. . . . It is a place [where] we can pray . . . and teach the children. . . . Thank you to [the Church] for building this center for our people. . . . We will pray to God to give [the Church] blessings and success in the future. Thank you."

In Ethiopia, communities helped to access clean drinking water. The Church drilled wells and constructed storage tanks. Communities organized a water committee and dug the trenches needed to pipe the water from the storage tanks to each village. In some cases this was a distance of over 3 miles (5 km).

Some communities struggled to meet their commitments for trenching. The soil was hard, dry, and full of clay, making digging very difficult. In one community a school of 1,500 students suspended normal school activities for a period of time, and everyone participated in digging the remaining sections of the trench. As they worked, other members of the community joined in. At one point there was over a mile-long line of people digging.

Thank you for your compassion, your goodness, and your generosity. May we press forward to lighten the load of neighbors, encourage and assist the downtrodden, open our purses to assist the poor, and extend our helping hands. I bear witness of the divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ and His gospel and pray that we may continue to enjoy the blessings of true discipleship as we quietly reach out to others. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

____________


DISCLAIMER
This website is not owned by or affiliated with the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes called the Mormon or LDS Church). The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the position of the Church.



____________

TO ACCESS NEIL BIRCH'S BLOG INDEX: To Either Read the Full Index Item Which Refers To This Blog Post, (Or To Search The Index For Any Other Blog Post You Desire To Access), After You Have Read All of This Paragraph, Please Scroll Back Up And Click on the Following: Humanitarian (LDS) Services By Which Many Were Assisted in the World -Post 20. When The Picture of Our Savior, Jesus Christ Sitting Next To a Little Boy Comes Onto Your Screen, Please Scroll Down In The Index To Your Target Item Or Use the Alphabetical Scrolling Device (When It Has Been Installed)

____________

"Have You Really Read the Book of Mormon" Legal /Statement. Thank you for visiting. The author retains intellectual property and creative licensing rights. Permission to use or reprint must be given in writing. © Est. 2008 Neil Birch

____________

I deeply appreciate your readership and hope you found very beneficial, that which was presented to you in this blog post.

If you have any questions about what you have read or viewed in this post or in any previous posts of mine, or if you even have a curiosity about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and or its teachings, please e-mail me. I'm Neil and my e-mail address is: jneilmelva@gmail.com. If you contact me I'll get back to you just as soon as possible.

I invite you to let your friends and relatives know about this blog if you think they would be interested in it. Please be advised that I also have an additional blog. It is in Spanish:  Its content is translated from the English in this blog.

Neil Birch

Post 19 - The Spirit of Prophecy & Revelation a Vital Part of Christ's Church

To Access This Blog's Index, Please Scroll Down To the Fifth Paragraph From the End of This Post!

****

TODAY'S THEME



Brother Joseph -by David Lindsley

In this next painting, (by Grant Romney Clawson), 12 year old Jesus is shown being about His Actual Father's business, by teaching wise men in the Temple in Jerusalem. Please read of this here: Luke 2:48-49

Twelve Year Old Jesus Teaching in the Temple -by Grant Romney Clawson

It was to somewhere in this same sacred temple at age eight days, that Jesus had been brought by Joseph and Mary for the ordinances required of them by their Jewish religion. To their surprise, two aged saints, Simeon and Anna, came to them there. They evidently didn't come together, but arrived at the same time.

Simeon and Anna view Baby Jesus -by Greg K. Olsen

We read regarding Simeon:  

Luke 2:26: And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ.

27 And he came by the Spirit into the temple.

Simeon rejoiced in his having seen the long expected Messiah. Anna also expressed her gratitude for having seen him. Please read the full account: Luke 2:25-38.

Please take note that these were not prophets of ancient Israel, but relatively common folk. However, it is not surprising that they, by the Spirit of Prophecy and Revelation identified the long expected Messiah.

Doing things by the spirit of prophecy and revelation was something that occurred often in righteous Israel over the centuries. Please note that Luke termed Anna, a prophetess. Women too can possess the spirit of prophecy and revelation! Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, both men and women, of all ages, can possess this gift, but must live worthily to use it.

In Revelations 19:10 the Apostle John wrote: "... for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."Because the Book of Mormon is another Testament of Jesus Christ we must expect much evidence of there being many instances of prophecy and revelation throughout this sacred record as well as in the Bible, which is a Testament of Jesus Christ, both in the Old and in the New Testaments.

In one of my recent blog posts there was the example of the prophet, Abinadi, who was raised up by the Lord to call the people of a kingdom where he lived in the ancient Americas, to repentance. He did what the Lord wanted him to do by the spirit of prophecy and revelation (or the testimony of Jesus). He was valiant in following the guidance of that marvelous gift even though he knew, by that same spirit, that he would lose his life as a result.

Although King Noah, and his supporters did not accept the words of that prophet, one of his priests, the First Alma, and a good number of people whom he taught Abinadi's words (which he had carefully and privately recorded), became members of the Church of Jesus Christ. This was done under the Lord's guidance.

The membership went through much adversity over a period of time, and having been strengthened by having gone valiantly through that adversity, the church which was founded for them eventually became the foundation church for the large nation of Zarahemla.

Some of the critics of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have charged that its leaders have dictatorial powers and require members to blindly follow them.

In actuality, in all the times in the history of this world where there has been a true church of Jesus Christ like the one mentioned above in ancient America, guidance of the church has been by the power and spirit of prophecy and revelation or "the testimony of Jesus."

In actual fact in Jesus's true church, no matter when in the world's history it was found, free agency or the right to choose, of all the members is a very important principle.

Yesterday, August 17, 2008, throughout the entire world wherever a branch or ward of this Church has been established (among the over 13 million members of this church) the assigned lesson for the Melchizedek Priesthood (for adult men) and the Relief Society (for adult women) was something we were invited to study previously and then were taught by an assigned teacher the following lesson: Revelation and the Living Prophet.

From Lesson 16, pages 195-196 of the text book used throughout the church, world-wide (translated into a very large number of different languages and dialects) I quote the following: (This is a quote from an address given by the Prophet, Joseph Smith in an LDS Church Conference Held on April 21, 1834 (from minutes of the conference recorded by Oliver Cowdery.)

President Joseph Smith, Jun., read the second chapter of Joel's prophecy, prayed, and addressed the conference as follows: ... "We are differently situated from any other people that ever existed upon this earth; consequently those former revelations cannot be suited to our conditions; they were given to other people, who were before us; but in the last days, God was to call a remnant, in which was to be deliverance, as well as in Jerusalem and Zion [see Joel 2:32]. Now if God should give no more revelations, where will we find Zion and this remnant? . . .'

   "The President then gave a relation of obtaining and translating the Book of Mormon, the revelation of the Priesthood of Aaron, the organization of the Church in 1830, the revelation of the High Priesthood, and the gift of the Holy Ghost poured out upon the Church, and said: "Take away the Book of Mormon and the revelations, and where is our religion? We have none.'"

“We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the
Kingdom of God.” Articles of Faith:

“We never can comprehend the things of God and of heaven, but by revelation. We may spiritualize and express opinions to all eternity; but that is no authority.”

“The doctrine of revelation far transcends the doctrine of no revelation; for one truth revealed from heaven is worth all the sectarian notions in existence."

“Salvation cannot come without revelation; it is in vain for anyone to minister without it. … No man can be a minister of Jesus Christ except he has the testimony of Jesus; and this is the spirit of prophecy . Whenever salvation has been administered, it has been by testimony. (See Revelation 19:10) Whenever salvation has been administered, it is by testimony. Men of the present time testify of heaven and hell, and have never seen either; and I will say that no man knows these things without this.”

“Jesus in His teachings says, ‘Upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.’ What rock? Revelation.”

“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was founded upon direct revelation, as the true Church of God has ever been, according to the Scriptures (Please click on each of these, one at a time): Amos 3:7 Acts 1:2 and through the will and blessings of God, I have been an instrument in His hands, thus far, to move forward the cause of Zion.” Joseph Smith

____________

Now that you have read the Prophet Joseph Smith's words about the importance and place of revelation in the Restored Church of Jesus Christ, you can read from this same lesson material something he said about the role of prophecy and revelation in the work of leadership of the presidency of the Church and in the lives of all other worthy members.

. . .“The Presidents or [First] Presidency are over the Church; and revelations of the mind and will of God to the Church, are to come through the Presidency. This is the order of heaven, and the power and privilege of [the Melchizedek] Priesthood. It is also the privilege of any officer in this Church to obtain revelations, so far as relates to his particular calling and duty in the Church.”

“We do not consider ourselves bound to receive any revelation from any one man or woman without his being legally constituted and ordained to that authority, and giving sufficient proof of it."

". . . It is contrary to the economy of God for any member of the Church, or any one, to receive instructions for those in authority, higher than themselves; therefore you will see the impropriety of giving heed to them; but if any person have a vision or a visitation from a heavenly messenger, it must be for his own benefit and instruction; for the fundamental principles, government, and doctrine of the Church are vested in the keys of the kingdom.”


____________

DISCLAIMER
This website is not owned by or affiliated with the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes called the Mormon or LDS Church). The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the position of the Church.

____________


TO ACCESS NEIL BIRCH'S BLOG INDEX: To Either Read the Full Index Item Which Refers To This BlogPost, (Or To Search The Index For Any Other BlogPost You Desire To Access), After You Have Read All of This Paragraph, Please Scroll Back Up And Click on the Following: (The) Spirit of Prophecy and Revelation; -Post 19; When The Picture of Our Savior, Jesus Christ Sitting Next To a Little Boy Comes Onto Your Screen, Please Scroll Down In The Index To Your Target Item Or Use the Alphabetical Scrolling Device (When It Has Been Installed)


____________

"Have You Really Read the Book of Mormon" Legal /Statement. Thank you for visiting. The author retains intellectual property and creative licensing rights. Permission to use or reprint must be given in writing. © Est. 2008 Neil Birch

____________


I deeply appreciate your readership and hope you found very beneficial, that which was presented to you in this blog post.
If you have any questions about what you have read or viewed in this post or in any previous posts of mine, or if you even have a curiosity about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and or its teachings, please e-mail me. I'm Neil and my e-mail address is: jneilmelva@gmail.com. If you contact me I'll get back to you just as soon as possible.

I invite you to let your friends and relatives know about this blog if you think they would be interested in it. Please be advised that I have an additional blog. It is in Spanish:  Its content is translated from the English in this blog.

An Addendum:

"I, J. Neil Birch, have been a member of this church since I was baptized at age eight in 1940 in the Salt Lake Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, Utah.

I have always known and trusted that this church is led by our Savior Jesus Christ through the spirit of prophecy and revelation through a living prophet whom He has chosen. I believe that now, after all these years, with all my heart.

I have also been blessed in the church callings given to me with the spirit of prophecy and revelation and also in my personal life. I know by that spirit that the words of Joseph Smith are true and that the Lord guides His church through direct revelation on all levels of this organization and also in our personal lives.

Neil Birch

Post 18 - Chiasmus - Evidence of The Book of Mormon's Truthfulness

To Access This Blog's Index, Please Scroll Down To the Fifth Paragraph From the End of This Post!

****
TODAY'S THEME



An Angel Chastizes Alma and the Four Sons of Mosiah -by Gary L. Kapp

 This painting is of the unannounced appearance of the angel of the Lord, who after having totally startled and shocked all five of the young men shown here, he then called Alma, the son of the First Alma to repentance.

Later we find that what the other four witnessed and heard, brought them to total repentance and brought each of them to a total commitment to serve the Lord in bringing back His lost sheep instead of scattering His flock as they did before.

The Angel's message caused young Alma to see the evil of his ways and to feel strongly their impact on him. This caused him to go into a state of despair and then into a comatose state for several days.

With his father and others praying constantly for his welfare, young Alma eventually, through much agony of soul, appealed with all his heart and soul to the mercies of Jesus Christ, about about whom he remembered from hearing his father teach the people of the church founded at the Waters of Mormon.

The Lord immediately rewarded the young Alma's appeal for mercy with great peace and the sure knowledge that he was totally forgiven because he had in fact totally changed.

Alma, he who we have called the First Alma, the father of this younger Alma, realized that which had happened to his son was an answer to his constant prayers regarding him, who had been, along with the sons of the king, causing much havoc in the Church which the Lord had established through him and who were brought through great adversity to eventually be led by the Lord back to the kingdom of Zarahemla where Mosiah was king.

I promised in Post 17, that in Post 18 I would provide further evidence that the Book of Mormon was not thought up and authored by Joseph Smith as biased critics insist. I said I would instead show that the Book of Mormon is a record Joseph translated through the gifts and power of God.

I state now that the Book of Mormon was originally written by prophets of God on the ancient American Continent, including many direct writings by the young Alma who had become, through this traumatic yet blessed experience, a prophet like his father, Alma.

Abinadi, here is another set of rebels who became believers in Jesus Christ through your self-sacrificing facing up to the crooked King Noah which helped the First Alma to see the truth and support it valiantly. We will always love you!

Several Sundays ago in the Murray 3rd Ward of the Murray Utah Stake, our regular teacher was unable to be with us and a former member of our ward bishopric substituted for her.

He taught us about chiasmus, which is an ancient poetic form of writing that is very unique in its form. I'm going to show you what he showed us on the blackboard and on a piece of paper we each were given. I have seen presentations like this before under the auspices of the Neal A. Maxwell Institute at BYU, but this was a very effective presentation too.

First, some background: An American LDS missionary serving in Germany back, I think, in the 1960s, by the name of John Welch, was invited along with his companion to attend a lecture given by a notable German authority on the scriptures. I believe he was a minister of perhaps a Lutheran Church.

The two Mormon missionaries attended the lecture in which this scriptural expert discussed the phenomenon of chiasmus a form of Hebrew poetic (or particularly clarifying) form of writing found often in the Bible.

After returning to their apartment Elder Welch found himself obsessed with what they had learned at that lecture. He knew that Book of Mormon prophets were from a Jewish background and that they had the plates of brass filled with scriptures, many of which are found in our Old Testament.

For this reason, while his companion had gone to bed, this intrigued missionary began reading through the Book of Mosiah (a sub-book of the Book of Mormon) searching for evidence of the use of chiasmus by King Benjamin.

His search had lasted for several hours and it was way past bedtime. He was, after all, looking for something he had first learned about just that evening. He almost gave up.

John Welch has written that instead of giving up his search, he knelt in prayer pleading for the Lord to help him find chiasmus in the Book of Mormon.

Not long after that prayer, his guidance by the Spirit in his searching, resulted in his finding chiasmus in the writings of King Benjamin. He was elated and grateful.

John Welch pursued this kind of research after having earned a law degree and becoming a law instructor at BYU. He helped found that which became the Maxwell Institute at BYU.

I have reproduced below an example of chiasmus in diagram form of Alma 36: 1-30 some of which we have delved into above, but first I'll give you the opportunity of reading (and listening if you so choose) again for yourself this striking scripture. Alma 36: 1-30

Now, please examine closely the structure of the chiasmus diagram below.

There is a comment about, each of the thirty verses of this chapter in this diagram. You'll notice at the end of each line a verse number, which is a verse of chapter 36, i.e. (2), (3), etc., up to 30. You will also notice that that each line is headed by a letter in the alphabet, from (a) to (q), then it repeats backwards, going down, from (q') to (a'). You will have noticed that the last half's letters have a ' indicating they are in the last half.

Now you will also have noticed that some instructions for his son and the impacts on Alma of his experience with the Angel are listed in the top half (a to q) and the positive outcomes of his conversion experience are listed in the second half (q' to a').

Each letter of the alphabet and it's message corresponds to the same letter of the alphabet in both half's.


A CHIASMUS DIAGRAM: Alma Chapter 36 of the Book of Mormon

(a)My son, give ear to my words (1)
(b) Keep the commandments of God
and ye shall prosper in the land (2)
(c) Do as I have done (2)
(d) in remembering the captivity of our fathers (2);
(e) for they were in bondage (2)
(f) he surely did deliver them (2)
(g) trust in God (3)
(h) supported in their trials, troubles, and afflictions (3)
(i) shall be lifted up at the last day (3)
(j) I know this not of myself but of God (4)
(k) born of God (5)
(l) I sought to destroy the church of God (6-9)
(m) my limbs were paralyzed (10)
(n) Fear of being in the presence of God (14-15)
(o) pains of a damned soul (16)
(p) harrowed up by the memory of sins (17)
(q) I remembered Jesus Christ, Son of God (17)
(q') I cried, Jesus, Son of God (18)
(p') Harrowed up by the memory of sins no more (19)
(o') Joy as exceeding as was the pain (20)
(n') Long to be in the presence of God (22)
(m') My limbs received their strength again (23)
(l') I labored to bring souls to repentance (24)
(k') Born of God (26)
(j') Therefore my knowledge is of God (26)
(i') and raise me up at the last day (28)
(h') supported under trials, troubles, and afflictions (27)
(g') Trust in him (27)
(f)') He will deliver me (27)
(e') As God brought our fathers out of bondage and captivity (28-29)
(d') Retain in remembrance their captivity (28-29)
(c') Know as I do know (30)
(b') Keep the commandments and ye shall prosper in the land (30)
(a') This is according to his word (30).

Now that you have been shown the technical aspects of this chiasmus, go through the diagram, reading all of Alma's comments, beginning with (a) then dropping down to (a') and then from b to b', etc. The message of each letter is related to its corresponding letter in the other half of the diagram. You will begin to feel the power of that which Alma had experienced and learned.

Alma, in chiasmus form has given his son (and eventually each of us) a very dynamic view of the impact of the Angel's appearance to him. Chiasmus appears to me to be a very effective way of telling such a dynamic experience. Don't you think so?

We are not familiar with this writing form. Again, chiasmus was a part of Alma's culture, being a basically Hebrew culture literary form.

It definitely is not a part of our literary culture today. It is my understanding that it wasn't even known by Americans or even the British in Joseph Smith's day.

Again, chiasmus is used extensively in the Bible as the minister of another church taught Elder John Welch and his companion, many years ago. It is very logical that it should be found in the Book of Mormon and it is found there in a good number of places.

Now you have come to an understanding of the chiasmus diagram our Sunday school teacher gave us. Please recognize that this was an exceedingly important account that young Alma (son of the First Alma) gave his son. I'm positive that is why Alma reverted to the use of chiasmus, something he had learned from his culture, an effective way of telling an extremely important event of his life that he felt his son needed to feel strong about too!

Now good readers, this is just one more remarkable piece of evidence that the Book of Mormon is a history of very complex matters that could never have been imagined by a young citizen of the State of New York in the 1820s. Not many in the world at that time were capable of figuring out chiasmus then. It is part of the very important writings contained in the Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ.

____________


DISCLAIMER
This website is not owned by or affiliated with the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes called the Mormon or LDS Church). The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the position of the Church.

____________

TO ACCESS NEIL BIRCH'S BLOG INDEX: To Either Read the Full Index Item Which Refers To This Blog Post, (Or To Search The Index For Any Other Blog Post You Desire To Open), When You Have Read All of This Paragraph, Please Click on the Following: An Evidence of the Truth of the Book of Mormon: Chiasmus - Post 18 .When The Picture of Our Savior, Jesus Christ Sitting Next to a Little Boy Comes Onto Your Screen, Please Scroll Down To Your Target Item Or Use the Alphabetical Scrolling Device (When It Has Been Installed).

____________



"Have You Really Read the Book of Mormon" Legal /Statement. Thank you for visiting. The author retains intellectual property and creative licensing rights. Permission to use or reprint must be given in writing. © Est. 2008 Neil Birch

_____________

I deeply appreciate your readership and hope you found very beneficial, that which was presented to you in this blog post.

If you have any questions about what you have read or viewed in this post or in any previous posts of mine, or if you even have a curiosity about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and or its teachings, please e-mail me. I'm Neil and my e-mail address is: jneilmelva@gmail.com. If you contact me I'll get back to you just as soon as possible.

I invite you to let your friends and relatives know about this blog if you think they would be interested in it. Please be advised that I have an additional blog. It is in Spanish:  Its content is translated from the English in this blog.

Neil Birch