Author: Chauncey Riddle

Definitions of Philosophy, Science, Technology, Scholarship, History, and Religion

NOTE: I asked Dr. Riddle to define Philosophy, Science, Technology, Scholarship, History, and Religion. This is what he gave me back the next day. – Ken Krogue

Philosophy: The love of wisdom. Asking the right questions.

Epistemology: How can we know? What can we know.

Science: What is real in the world we can sense. What are the facts, laws. What are the theories that explain the facts and laws? What are the postulates which control the theories?

Legitimate science: What the majority of the scientists say. No necessary connection with truth.

Illegitimate science: What the majority of the scientists reject. No necessary connection with truth.

Scholarship: Controlling the documents to build a case for something out of what other persons have written.

History: What really happened in the past? (A branch of scholarship, a form of fiction.)

Prophecy: What will really happen in the future? ( More dangerous to do than history.)

Metaphysics: What is real beyond that which we can sense?

Ethics: What is right to do, and what is wrong to do, if anything?

Esthetics: What is beautiful? Is the beauty in the beholder or in the object?

Technology: The patterns of accomplishing specific goals. Art is one form of technology.

(Because our society is basically Greek in mentality, science is given much greater stature than is technology, and scientists are given greater acclaim than are engineers or artists.)

The Basic Cultural Mentalities:

Greek: Knowing (understanding) is the most important human activity. (Science)

Roman: Accomplishing physical tasks is the most important human activity. (Technology)

Trojan: Physical beauty is the most important human attainment. (Appearance)

Hebrew: Doing what is right (blessing others) is the most important human activity. (Righteousness, which is a dirty word to many of Greek and Roman mentality and to most of Trojan mentality.)

Religion: The pattern of thinking, believing and acting that make up a person’s character.

Every normal human being has one, and there are as many of them as there are people.

Church: A social organization which attempts to promulgate some religious pattern.

April 12, 2016
Sealer’s Message, Jan. 2016

13 January 2016

²¹ And he that will hear my voice shall be my sheep; and him shall ye receive into the church, and him will I also receive. ²² For behold, this is my church; whosoever is baptized shall be baptized unto repentance. And whomsoever ye receive shall believe in my name; and him will I freely forgive. ²³ For it is I that taketh upon me the sins of the world; for it is I that hath created them; and it is I that granteth unto him that believeth unto the end a place at my right hand. (Mosiah 26:21–23)

What we learn from this and other scriptures:

Jesus Christ was proxy for all of us in paying the debt of justice each of us owes for having transgressed His laws and thus causing our neighbors to suffer. The debt can be paid only by an equal amount of suffering. Christ can forgive us because He has done our suffering vicariously.

⁶ And after many days an angel of the Lord appeared unto Adam, saying: Why dost thou offer sacrifices unto the Lord? And Adam said unto him: I know not, save the Lord commanded me. ⁷ And then the angel spake, saying: This thing is a similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten of the Father, which is full of grace and truth. 8 Wherefore, thou shalt do all that thou doest in the name of the Son, and thou shalt repent and call upon God in the name of the Son forevermore. (Moses 5:6–8)

What we learn from this and other scriptures:

Father wants us to act as proxies for His Son, Jesus Christ, blessing all and everything around us in everything we do. Our task is to create a Heaven on Earth (Zion) using the power and authority of Jesus Christ, doing all things in His name. Doing this we become as Saviors on Mount Zion. We work vicariously for Christ, using His name because we have His mantle.

²⁵ Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.

²⁶ And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall. And because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon, save it be by the punishment of the law at the great and last day, according to the commandments which God hath given.

²⁷ Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.

²⁸ And now, my sons, I would that ye should look to the great Mediator, and hearken unto his great commandments, and be faithful unto his words, and choose eternal life, according to the will of his Holy Spirit.

²⁹ And not choose eternal death, according to the will of the flesh and the evil which is therein, which giveth the spirit of the devil power to captivate, to bring you down to hell, that he may reign over you in his own kingdom. (2 Nephi 2:25–29)

What we learn from this and other scriptures:

We each choose to be proxies for Christ or Satan in every thought, feeling and act. If we are not anxiously engaged in the cause of Christ we are aiding and abetting the cause of Satan. The cause of Christ is promoted by all as they live by the light of Christ or by the Holy Ghost. When we are not following the light of Christ or the Holy Ghost, we create hell on earth, the dominion of Satan.

January 13, 2016

The Ten Commandments: The Foundation of all Righteousness, 2015

7 December 2015
Key Scriptures: 2 Nephi 2:8–29, D&C 84:19–25

The Commandment		Celestial Counterpart
Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.	(Do not be guided by pleasure, money, sex, any other person, etc.)	Trust Jehovah (Jesus Christ) only.
Make no image to worship it.	(Do not need anything physical to bow down to.)	Worship Christ in spirit and truth; love Him with all heart, might, mind, strength
Don’t take God’s name in vain.	(Do not use God’s name casually nor receive His name casually.)	Take upon you God’s name and bear and use it with honor.
Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy.	(Do not seek your own pleasure on this day, but use it to remember God.)	Attend Church, take the sacrament, and reach out to bless others.
Honor thy Father and thy Mother .	(Don’t speak ill of or bring shame to your parents.)	Seek to bless all your ancestors with Gospel ordinances.
Thou shalt not kill.	(Don’t needlessly kill any plant or animal, and don’t kill humans.)	Give life; have a large family and bring them up in Christ.
Thou shalt not commit adultery.	(Control your sex drive.)	Marry in God’s temple and love your spouse with all of your heart.
Thou shalt not steal.	(Don’t want something for nothing.)	Share what you have with others who have less.
Thou shalt not bear false witness.	(Never lie or give false testimony.)	Celebrate truth, especially the great truth that Jesus is the Christ.
Thou shalt not covet.	(Don’t want anything you don’t need or cannot get honorably.)	Want every good thing for those around you.

To be righteous is to be the servant of all those around you, as was Christ, blessing them with all the good things they can stand to have, and doing this in His way and in His name.

Those who break any of the Ten Commandments and do not repent inherit Telestial Glory.

Those who keep all of the Ten Commandments are the honorable persons of the earth and will inherit Terrestrial Glory.

Those who keep the Celestial counterpart of the Ten Commandments inherit Celestial Glory.

Those who fulfill the New and Everlasting Covenant enter into exaltation in the Celestial Kingdom (they bear and bless their children forever).

Those who break the Ten Commandments reject the influence of Christ and have a hard time having or gaining a testimony of Christ and the Latter-day work.

But by prayer and sincere repentance, anyone can gain a testimony of Christ and His work.

December 7, 2015

Sealer’s Message, Oct. 2014
1 October 2014

The great High Priestly prayer of Christ in Gethsemane:

20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;

21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they may be one in us; that the world may believe that thou has sent me.

22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:

23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou has sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. (John 17:20–23)

Messages in this scripture:
- The Father and the Son are one. Thus, there is One God.
- We are all invited to become one with them, even as they are one.
- Christ gives glory to His servants, even the same glory (light and truth) which the Father gave to Him.
- Our personal goal should be to become perfect (complete) in one so that the world will see the truth.
- The proof that we are one with each other and with Christ will be that we have pure love one to another.
- Our Savior is already in us. We need to achieve oneness with Him.
I see some keys to becoming one in Him, even as He is One with Father. These keys are part of the glory He gives us.

Key No. 1: Always remember Him. He says: “Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not.” (D&C 6:36)

Key No. 2: Love God. He says: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all they might, mind and strength; and in the name of Jesus Christ thou shalt serve him.” (D&C 59:5)

The temple ordinances are the training for learning to love God with all of our heart, might, mind and strength. In the endowment we promise to love God so much that we will obey Him in every thing and make any sacrifice necessary to perform this obedience. This is to love God with all of our mind. We also promise to keep the law of the Gospel, which is to put our total love and trust in Jesus Christ. This is how we love God with all of our heart. We promise to be chaste and to multiply and replenish the earth. This is how we love God with all of our strength. We promise to give and use all that we have to the building up of the kingdom of God on the earth and to the establishment of Zion. This is how we love God with all of our might.

Key No. 3: Love our neighbor. He says: he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. (Matthew 23:11) We love our neighbors in the measure that we serve them.

Key No. 4: Seek the face of the Lord always. He says: “Therefore, care not for the body, neither the life of the body; but care for the soul, and for the life of the soul. And seek the face of the Lord always, that in patience ye may possess your souls, and ye shall have eternal life.” (D&C 101:37–38)

He tells us where to seek His face:
- 31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
- 32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
- 33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
- 34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
- 35 For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
- 36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
- 37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? Or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
- 38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
- 39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
- 40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say it unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. (Matthew 25:31–40)
We shall thus actually see our Savior after we have learned to see Him in all of His earthly children.

Key No. 5: Mighty prayer. And there is a final key to make the other four keys actually turn the lock. This final key is mighty prayer. And what is the main thing we should pray for? Mormon tells us: “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.” (Moroni 7:48)

To pray with all the energy of our heart is mighty prayer, through which we will learn to love purely as Christ does and thus become One with Him and with Father. This pure love is not just a feeling. It is strenuous love, service and sacrifice in the cause of Christ to minister to His children around us.

I we do all this with an eye single to the glory of God and with a firm mind in every form of godliness, we will prove what Peter says, that we have all things that pertain to life and godliness, and that through our diligence and the overflowing grace of Christ, the day star will arise in our hearts and our calling and election will be made sure. May it so be. Then we will be One with Father and our Savior, even as they are One with each other.
October 1, 2014
The Cause of Christ in the Earth, 2014

28 May 2014

The Cause of Christ

The cause of Christ in the earth is the cause of human happiness. Humans are not happy under all circumstances. There are immutable laws of happiness built in to the nature of social existence. If implemented, these laws bring to each human being the maximum possible satisfaction for living a human life on this earth.

Jesus Christ, the Savior of mankind, has taught humans how to be happy from the beginning, from the time of Adam and Eve. He did this first as Jehovah, then as the mortal Joshua of Nazareth, now in the Greek form of His name, Jesus the Messiah or Jesus Christ. He teaches mankind how to avoid the lies and selfishness which lead to unhappiness and to find the true principles of the abundant life. He is the leader for happiness in this world and makes possible happiness in the next world for all who will receive that blessing.

Satan, a real and powerful person, is the unseen father of lies and selfishness in this world. His influence is felt by every human who is accountable. He opposes the work of Christ because he wants all of mankind to be miserable as he is. He rejected the plan of happiness for himself out of selfishness and now tries to get all humans to abandon their own personal happiness for selfishness as he did.

But Satan provides a service we all need. There must be opposition in all things, otherwise there is no existence. Satan provides the opposition to the plan of happiness promoted by Christ. Happiness must be chosen by each person for himself or herself. Happiness, to be real, cannot be imposed upon any person. Each person must knowingly and deliberately choose it for himself or herself. Thus Satan and his temptations are the necessary opposition which make human happiness possible. Choosing to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ in the face of pressure from Satan to do otherwise makes human happiness a crowning attainment.

Thus choosing Christ over Satan makes true human happiness an option and a wonderful reality available to every human being: male or female, old or young, educated or uneducated, poor or wealthy as to this world’s goods, sickly or healthy. To promote the cause of Christ in the earth is to live up to and then spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the New and Everlasting Covenant, which two things empower every person who embraces them to gain happiness in this world and eternal life in the world to come.

The Great Commandment

The centerpiece of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the saving commandment: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all of thy heart, might, mind and strength, and in the name of Jesus Christ shalt thou serve him.” (D&C 59:5) The details as to how to begin to do this are found in the principles of the Restored Gospel: 1. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Trust him and obey him. 2. Repentance: Change every act of one’s life which is not an act of faith in Christ to one of faith in Christ. 3. Baptism: Covenant with Christ by being baptized by one having authority to keep His commandments, to always remember Him, and to be willing to take His name upon us. 4. Laying on of hands for the Gift of the Holy Ghost: Being given the right to the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost and being commanded to receive that companionship, that we might then have the knowledge and power to keep all of the commandments of Christ. Then we must endure to the end, which is to stay in that covenant path until we have taken upon us the personal character, the characteristics, of Christ himself.

But the first principles are not the completion of the process of learning to love God with all of our heart, might, mind and strength. We also need the rest of the New and Everlasting Covenant to give us specific instruction, guidance and power to do the work of Christ in the earth. Baptism is the first of the ordinances of the New and Everlasting Covenant. The second is receiving the power to do the work of Christ in the earth by receiving the Priesthood of Melchizedek (the name Melchizedek being one of the names of Jesus Christ, for He is truly the king of righteousness). The third is to be given another most precious and eternal gift, the temple endowment. In the endowment, faithful servants of Christ are given the power and knowledge to be able to serve God with all of their heart, might, mind and strength. The fourth part of the New and Everlasting Covenant is to be sealed in the temple to the husband or wife of our choice, being given the opportunity to be servants of Christ as husband and wife and parents in this life, and to be parents again in eternity with the opportunity to share with those children all that Christ has given us in this life. There is no greater gift, in time or in eternity, than that offered to every human being in the New and Everlasting Covenant.

Heart, Might, Mind and Strength

To love God with all our heart means to be fully dedicated to righteousness. Righteousness is the antithesis of selfishness. Righteousness is giving and sacrificing what we ourselves already have to help others have more; to have more knowledge, more health, more of this world’s goods, more power, more faith in Jesus Christ. The word “righteous” means “upright”, fully square with the commandment of God to love our neighbor. It means to keep the commandments of Christ, for He is the God of Righteousness and only in Him can any human ever come to the fulness of righteousness. His commandments are each given to help us to love one another as He has loved us. To be righteous we must both fully obey Him and fully follow His example. In Him we live, and move and have our being, whether righteous or not. But when we add full faith in Christ to the magnificent opportunity to be an intelligent, powerful and free human being, we only then begin to fulfill our full opportunity to make this earthly existence a leap into an eternity of blessing others.

To love God with all of our might means to use all the power and influence we have to bless the children of God, all other human beings, and the earth which God has so graciously provided for our earthly probation. To be grateful for all other humans and for the plants, animals and earthly formations around us is the beginning of wisdom. To labor to enhance the existence of all other human beings and the plants, animals and earthly formations around us is the labor which fulfills and justifies our existence. To use all of our power and influence to promote the cause of Christ in the earth is the most noble and worthwhile way to love God with all of our might. And God makes more mighty those who use what might they have to begin with only for good.

To love God with all of our mind means to treasure truth, the knowledge of the way things really are, were, and will be. In a world where the opinions of men often supersede the real truth, it is most precious to have the gift of the Holy Ghost, which is the spirit of truth and by which we may know the truth of all things. But having the truth is the beginning, not the end of our labor. We must begin with truth because we must deal with situations the way they really are. But we are not in this world just to understand it: we are here to change it. Specifically we are here to turn a fallen world into a paradise, a heaven on earth. We have been given minds so that we can understand the present reality with all of its potentials, then plan and work to fulfill that potential which would be pleasing unto Jesus Christ. And, of course, whatever would please Christ will also please any true servant of Christ. As we love Christ with all of our mind, we plan, scheme, and execute to make Christ’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

To love God with all of our strength means first to recognize that our strength, our mortal tabernacle, is a loaner. We do not own it, but are guest in a magnificent organic machine built in the image of God Himself. He desires that we appreciate this great loan, and abide the rules he has laid down for the proper and effective use of this tabernacle. He wants us to eat for nourishment, not just for pleasure. He wants us to rest and sleep sufficiently and regularly, so that we may be effective in our labors. He wants us to be chaste, with pure minds that desire sexual fulfillment only in the manner in which He prescribes, the Holy Priesthood union of man and wife. He wants us to use our strength up, working mightily to bring to pass righteousness and blessing for all of His other children. He wants us to end this life fully spent, having given not only full strength, but also full heart, might and mind to the cause of Christ in the earth.

But We Are Free

But for the present, not everyone on earth is interested in the cause of Christ. Even some of those persons who know what the cause of Christ is want other ways of using up their mortality. This world offers a million different paths to fulfillment. Some prefer selfishness to unselfishness, letting others do their hard work instead of doing it themselves. Some prefer using their bodies for gluttony or drunkenness or other drug induced satisfactions. Some prefer profligacy to purity in their sexual lives. Many would much rather lord it over others than to be the servant of all. They may find pleasure in their misappropriations of their God-given gifts for a time. But they will never find happiness.

Happiness is that state of blessed satisfaction of knowing that we will never need to be sorry for what we do. It is the state where no one can rightfully accuse us of not having loved them. It is the state of knowing that we are right with and one with God and His purposes. It is that state where our trust in God is so complete that we fear nothing in this world except failing to love purely. It is the state that looks forward to an eternity of blessing others with great anticipation and satisfaction.

May 28, 2014
Metaphysics, Communication, Agency and Salvation

Metaphysics, Communication, Agency and Salvation

Version Metcom10, 8 March 2011, edited 29 Apr 2014

C. C. Riddle

The purpose of this paper is to present a framework of metaphysics for better understanding of the process of human communication. The application will be the impact those ideas have on the understanding of human agency and of salvation. This will be done in an LDS context of understanding. The attempt will be made to be as plain and as simple as possible.

1. Metaphysics

The definition of the word “metaphysics” varies from person to person, among philosophers especially. The following definition will be used in this discussion: Metaphysics is the unprovable assumptions about the universe which we use to think about the things which are provable. If what we are thinking about at a given moment is or has been seen, or is provable, then it belongs to the realm of physics, or nature. If what we think about is the unseen, unprovable aspects of the universe which make sense of what we do see, we are in the realm of metaphysics. Everyone has a metaphysics if they think, but few people are conscious of the metaphysics which they use and believe. For instance, no one can prove there will be a tomorrow. But most people believe there will be a tomorrow, and live their lives accordingly.

There are no human experts about metaphysics, and therefore there is no point in quoting anyone except to make explicit their opinions. Every thinking person either believes in an after-life, or does not, but no person is an expert on the matter who should be believed. If there were such an expert and if that person were expert because of physical evidence, then that subject would be part of nature and physics, no longer in the realm of metaphysics.

In saying that there are no human experts about metaphysics, we must take note of the role of prophets, seers and revelators. Prophets of God are people appointed by God to speak to the rest of us about the things which God wants us to know, which includes a lot of metaphysics. Seers from God are people to whom God shows things which are metaphysical to us, that they might tell us about the truth of metaphysics. Revelators from God are persons authorized by God to give us his messages. In an LDS frame, prophets, seers and revelators are sent to the rest of us by God so that each person may eventually become himself or herself a prophet, seer and revelator. Should all of us become such, the realm of metaphysics would largely become physics. If we believe the metaphysics taught to us by prophets, seers and revelators, it will be because we either have faith in them or faith in the ministrations of the Holy Spirit which testifies to us of the truth of what they say.

Meanwhile we all live by faith in someone or something. Every human being lives by faith because each of us must believe things about metaphysics to make sense of our physical world. There is no shortage of faith or of metaphysical belief in this world. The question is, how much of that faith and metaphysics is grounded in truth? It is the testimony of Latter-day Saints that the unique access to truth in metaphysics is the light of Christ, and to receive a fulness of correct metaphysics requires full faith in Jesus Christ.

We might suppose that our metaphysics should be internally consistent, but we cannot prove that that is necessary. Some people function very nicely with self-contradictory assumptions about metaphysics. For instance, many people are taught and believe in the Three-in-One God of the Nicene Creed and do not mind the inconsistencies associated with that belief.

We suppose that our metaphysics should be useful, helping us to make better sense of the seen world. But some people enjoy metaphysics which are not very useful in explaining the seen world. For instance, to suppose that our visible world is supported on the back of a great unseen turtle makes it possible to explain some things, like earthquakes, but little else.

Metaphysical assumptions are very powerful in controlling what we think about the seen world and what to do about it. For instance, if we think disease is caused by unseen metaphysical forces, we may treat disease by appealing to unseen metaphysical agents, such as appeasing unseen spirits. But if we think disease is caused by seen and known physical factors, we will try to deal with those physical factors to cure disease. It is interesting that the germ theory of disease accounts well for positive cases of given diseases but cannot account for negative cases, where the person is exposed but does not acquire the disease. The negative cases are disposed of by metaphysics: The person who does not acquire the disease is accused of having an “immunity” to the disease, which immunity is actually a metaphysical construct.

The line between physics and metaphysics is not the same for every person. A strict interpretation would make everything metaphysical which is not being sensed by me now. A loose interpretation would make everything in which I believe physics, metaphysics being the assumptions I make about existence when I think. This difference between persons as to what is metaphysical and what is not is the source of great confusion and the basis of much disagreement.

Metaphysics is powerful. Cultural control of populations is often undertaken by carefully controlling the metaphysics people are taught. For example, there is a concerted effort in the public schools of the United States to counter the concept of a God who controls the universe, and one of the chief instruments in that effort is the careful teaching of organic evolution. Usually in this teaching no distinction is being made between the scientific law of evolution, which is in the realm of physics and is very sure, and the theory of organic evolution, which is the metaphysics of evolution and is unprovable. The problem is that those who teach evolution often surreptitiously attach the surety of the law to the theory for all who do not understand what is going on, thereby convincing many that science is correct and that thus there is no God.

Metaphysical considerations are of controlling importance in all thinking. This because the frame of reference in which a person thinks sets the limits and possibilities for that thinking. To have a false metaphysics is to guarantee the creation of a false picture in the presentations of that person, which may, in turn, lead to acts which are not productive of good. If we do not promote good, we promote evil. Good and evil are, of course, metaphysical assumptions which some persons deny exist.

The main point about metaphysics: If you think, you have to have a metaphysics. Whatever metaphysical framework you use is a matter of faith, not knowledge, and that faith both empowers and restricts all of your thinking, choosing and acting.

2. Communication

The metaphysics of communication in one LDS frame of reference is to view the human being as an intelligence housed in a spirit body, and that spirit body housed in a temporary tabernacle of flesh and bone. The real person is the intelligence housed in the spirit body, not the body of flesh and bone. This human person of three parts exists in this world for a testing, a probation, to show the true nature of the intelligence by allowing the spirit to control the body.

The intelligence and spirit of each person receive information about the world around it’s physical body through the nerve mechanisms of that human body. These nerve mechanisms transmit nerve impulses to the brain which are differentiated only by the source in the sensory organs of the surface of the human body. Thus the nerve impulse from the retina of the eyes is exactly the kind of impulse as the impulses from the tympani in the ears. If the two nerve systems were crossed, we would “see” with our ears and “hear” with our eyes. This information is the physics of the functioning of the human physical body.

This picture of the human nervous system leads to the idea of epistemological solipsism. Metaphysical solipsism is the idea that I alone exist and that the universe and all of its inhabitants are but figments of my imagination. We are not here espousing or commending metaphysical solipsism. But I am propounding and endorsing epistemological solipsism. Epistemological solipsism is the idea that my consciousness exists in my brain and I know nothing directly about the outside physical universe. I invent ideas about the physical universe in response to the physical stimuli which my nervous systems send to my brain, but my universe is all a construct, an invention of my mind.

In my particular LDS frame of reference as added to that scientific account of human sensing, we also need to posit that the human spirit is also subject to two kinds of spiritual influence to which it may and must respond: First, the influence of God for good, either the light of Christ or the Holy Ghost, or both, which inform the spirit as to how to interpret physical and spiritual experiences for truth and for good. Second, the influence of Satan for error and for evil, interpreting physical and spiritual experience of the person in ways that encourage each person to do evil, to break the commandments of God. There is some scriptural evidence that the spiritual influence of Satan comes to the human being only through the flesh, the mortal tabernacle.¹

The sum of this metaphysical picture of the human being is that the human spirit is trapped with the human physical body and knows or is affected by only three things: 1)physical stimuli which come through the sensory mechanisms of the physical human body, 2)spiritual stimuli which come to it from God, and 3) spiritual stimuli which come from Satan.²

When one human being communicates with another human being, the communication consists of both physical and spiritual elements. For the instance of voice communication, the speaker creates noises which travel through the air as sound waves and which disturb the hearing mechanisms of the physical body of the recipient person. The recipient hears the noises in his or her own brain and invents a meaning for the noises. This meaning is constructed on the basis of the recipient’s prior experience with the language being used, and on the basis of the construct of the universe which the recipient has, which will include prior experience with the speaker, with other speakers of that language, previous thoughts of the recipient about the topic being discussed, etc. The point of this is that meaning is never transmitted directly from one person to another. It has no place in the stream of nervous impulses which arrive in the human brain. Meaning is always invented by the recipient. No sign, signal or symbol has any inherent meaning. Again, meaning is always invented by the recipient and is never transmitted physically when humans communicate.

But the recipient is never alone in constructing meanings in a communication situation. Always there is the additional influence of Satan in every communication. Satan supplies to the recipient possible interpretations for the noises heard, and may or may not indicate the true meaning intended by the speaker. The purpose of Satan’s communication to the human spirit is in all cases to lead the recipient to do evil. Satan will thus indicate to the human spirit whatever interpretation of the communication he desires to the end that the person break the commandments of God.

The third element of most human communication is the influence of God. When a person is spoken to by another person, God may also supply to the recipient an interpretation of the physical message of the sender. This influence of God will come either through the light of Christ, which all mankind receives at most times during mortality, or through the ministrations of the Holy Ghost. The influence of God in the communication situation is to give the recipient part or all of the true intention and message of the speaker. Having access to the true intention and message of the speaker arms the recipient to deal with reality, the way things really are. Should the speaker be describing some truth of the universe, the influence of God may give a correct interpretation of the intent of the speaker, and may also give the real truth of the matter under consideration, depending on the worthiness of the recipient. Along with the correct interpretation of the communication, instruction may be given as to how to respond to the sender in a way that is good, within the framework of the commandments of God, which good will be some form of blessing others by one’s actions.

The influence of God is not always present. It is always present for little children, and sometimes little children understand human communication better than their elders. But for those over eight years of age, if the person consistently chooses and uses only the interpretations given by Satan, the spirit of the Lord is grieved and leaves the person to be led solely by Satan.³ My metaphysics tells me that when any person rejects the influence of God, he or she is left with only his or her personal inventions as to the meaning of communications as influenced by Satan. For a covenant servant of Christ I see no middle ground: Either we accept the help of God in communication or reject it. But when we reject the influence of God we back ourselves into the arms of Satan and whatever interpretation we give to the communication in question will be tainted or controlled by the influence of Satan.

To say that human words and symbols have no inherent meaning must not be taken to say that they have no importance. Some human words and symbols have great importance in and of themselves, and the appropriate use of them gives the speaker great power. The prime example of this importance of a word or symbol is the name “Jesus Christ.” When a true and faithful covenant servant of Jesus Christ uses that name in prayer or in blessing or cursing someone or something, the use of the name has the power to change things in the natural world, such as healing the sick or causing the blind to see.⁴ When a person who knows who Jesus Christ is uses that name in vain by swearing or by attempting to give unauthorized blessings or cursings, damage comes to the speaker instead of to the person or thing he or she is trying to bless or curse.⁵ The use of magical words and incantations is the evil reverse practice of using the name of Christ to bless. Satan also has special words which his followers are taught and use to wield his Satanic power in the realm of natural things, and such formulae are much sought after by purveyors of evil.⁶ The power, of course, does not reside in the words themselves, but in the persons of Christ and Satan. The person who uses the words correctly, using the instructions given by the respective master, thus has power through using words. But the power is not in the words themselves. Meaning must be intended by the user as well as being invented by the hearer.

The meaning of any communication is thus supplied by three sources: The imagination of the hearer, the influence of Satan, and the influence of God. It may also come from any mixture of those three sources.

The main point about communication: Human beings as spirit persons have only indirect communication with each other through the physical sensory mechanisms of the human body, but have direct communication with both God and Satan.

3. Agency

Agency is the freedom of an individual to choose between alternatives and then to carry out the chosen action. Choosing provides a partial agency which is sufficient to show the nature of the person choosing, whether they themselves are good or evil. Action provides the fulness of agency. Where there is no power to act, there is no power to do actual good or evil, even if chosen.

The purpose of mortal probation is fulfilled simply by choosing.

Human beings exist in this world to give each an opportunity to choose between good and evil, thus to display the nature of their eternal intelligence. God provided this human experience for each person so that when he rewards each with eternal blessings, each human will know that God is just and is rewarding each person appropriately.

The agency of each human being thus consists in having the God-given opportunity to react to both the influence of Satan for evil and the influence of God for good. How a given person reacts to their experience with those two spiritual influences determines how much weight of glory that given person can stand in the eternal worlds. Those who learn to take interpretation and direction only from God, and who then do what God directs, are candidates for exaltation, to become as God is. Those who mix their interpretations and instruction to act, using some from Satan and some from God, are candidates for glory because of the degree to which they follow God, but are damned or stopped to the degree to which they hearkened to Satan.

No human being can determine the eternal salvation of any other human being. Because no human being can communicate directly with any other human being, no person can control the mind or choices of any other human being. It is true that human communication may engender good or evil, but each person will be given a full opportunity to choose between good and evil for himself or herself. A missionary may present a message about the Gospel of Jesus Christ to another person, but it is not receiving the missionary’s message that saves anyone, it is rather because the person listens to the Holy Spirit which may be present when the missionary teaches or bears testimony.⁷ The task of a missionary is to be so humble that he or she is accompanied by the Holy Spirit. Then the salvation of souls is made possible. Likewise, no human being can damn any other human being, no matter how they treat the other person or what communication they attempt to give them.

Part of the agency of each human being is the ability God has given each to interpret and use the communications of other human beings. Another part is the influence of Satan. A third part is God’s own influence. Thus each human being lives in a mental universe of his or her own choosing, and chooses actions to attempt to remodel or change that universe according to his or her own desires.

God has set up a flawless system to give each human being agency to affect others temporally, but never to control the eternal destiny of anyone but themselves. Every person will say at the day of judgment that they have been given the correct reward. No one will accuse God of being either harsh or indulgent towards any of his children, for each will see and know that each has chosen his or her own eternal destiny and rewards by the actions he or she chose in the mortal probation.

The main point about agency: The agency of human beings is the opportunity to choose either good by hearkening to God, or to choose evil by hearkening to Satan at a given moment. There is no third possibility.

4. Salvation

Salvation is to be saved from something. In the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, salvation is to be saved from ourselves and from the consequences of the evil things we have done.

To be saved from ourselves means to be helped to get rid of the evil within our own nature, our character, which causes and enables us to sin. To sin is to break the commandments of God, and all sinning involves injury to others in the process of breaking the commandments of God. To be saved from the things we have done is to be saved from the consequences of a just reward for each of the acts of disobedience to the commandments of God wherein we have caused injury to others.

Our Savior helps us to be saved from ourselves through the process of repentance. In repenting, we change our actions so that all of our acts become acts of faith in Jesus Christ. We can do this only by treasuring the influence of God in our lives and at the same time rejecting the influence of Satan in our lives. By such choosing we learn to keep all of the commandments of God. This change, or repentance, is a change of character, which change of character involves changing how we view the world and how we react to the world. This salvation is a reformation of our habits of thinking, feeling, speaking and acting. These changes do not come simply by desiring to change, but come only as our character is reformulated by our persistent actions in choosing to do good for our neighbors under the tutelage of the Holy Spirit, and then doing that good. The change has to be so complete and so firm that eventually we come to the point where forever after we never will give in to the temptations of Satan to break the commandments of God, thus to sin. The goal of faith in Jesus Christ and repentance is to come unto the stature of a perfect human being, our character being remade in the image of Christ himself through our own choices and by the enabling power of God.

Our Savior helps us to be saved from the consequences of our actions, from the just reward for the injury we have caused others through breaking the commandments of God, through his suffering in Gethsemane and on the cross. In that suffering he took upon himself the pain for each human sin, the just recompense for our having caused pain. He will forgive us the necessity of making that same suffering on the condition that we truly repent, that is, that we change our nature and habits so that we no longer sin. Then it is worthwhile for him to forgive us, since we no longer are preying upon our fellow beings.

The key to salvation is to receive instruction from God and follow it, specifically to serve under the tutelage of the Holy Ghost. One cannot receive the gift of the Holy Ghost unto this salvation until he or she makes the covenant of baptism. One of the promises of that covenant is that we will keep the commandments Christ gives us, in other words, we will seek and gain full faith in Jesus Christ.

One cannot receive the covenant of baptism meaningfully if one has not received the witness of the Holy Ghost. It profits a person to receive the witness of the Holy Ghost only when one can tell the good from the evil in this world, so that one knows which is the good or holy spirit, and which is the evil or satanic spirit. Every human being of normal intelligence becomes well acquainted with both the light of Christ, which witnesses of that which is good, and the influence of Satan, which witnesses of that which is evil. Then, knowing good from evil, each can discern the difference between the Holy Spirit and the evil spirit. It is then meaningful to the individual to receive the Holy Ghost.

The salvation of a given human soul is thus a joint enterprise between that soul and Christ. The individual puts his or her whole faith in Christ unto taking upon himself or herself the New and Everlasting Covenant and then living up to all of the promises made. As the individual person does the works of righteousness by loving God with all of his or her heart, might, mind and strength, Christ enables the person to have greater and greater will power, priesthood power, discernment, understanding, and knowledge of the truth of all things, but especially and most importantly the power to love others with a pure love, the pure love of Christ.

The main point about salvation: Our Savior saves each individual by teaching and enabling each to have full faith in him unto repentance from every transgression of the laws of God until the person arrives at the stature of the fulness of the character of Christ himself and does the full works of righteousness which the pure love of Christ makes possible.

Conclusion:

The agency of mankind is thus found in the simple paradigm of our communication situation as given by the correct metaphysical understanding of the human condition. This paradigm is that the human being is an intelligence tabernacled in a spirit body, that spirit body being tabernacled in a mortal, physical body. The spirit body has direct spiritual communication with both the good spirit and the evil spirit, but no direct connection or communication with any other human being. The agency of the person is simply to choose which of the two spirits to follow. Salvation depends upon deliberately following the Holy Spirit, upon deliberately rejecting the influence of the evil spirit, and not upon the intervention of any other human being except to receive all parts of the New and Everlasting Covenant as administered by some authorized representative of God.

1. 2 Nephi 2:29

2. 2 Nephi 2:28-29

3. D&C 121:37

4. D&C46:16-26

5. Exodus 20:7, D&C 63:61-62

6. Moroni: 10:30

7. D&C 50: 17-25

April 1, 2014
Principles II

Chauncey C. Riddle

We begin this hour with the principle of justice. Justice is the principle that righteousness demands regress for wrong. That is to say, if someone is injured, there must be a restoration or some other kind of satisfaction to restore them to the original condition. Justice is simply that every wronged must be righted.

Every time we sin, that is to say we break a commandment of God, somebody is hurt. Somebody’s blessings are shorted. And justice demands that the blessing be made up to that person. They are entitled to their heritage, their due. The heritage of every child of God is to be blessed and loved. Any child of God that is not blessed and loved, somebody is going to have to make up to it for. So, justice is a thing that we try to achieve. Being one of omission or commission it matters not. If one has not received his due then justice is not obtained, it has not been met.

But for God, righteousness must be maintained. Therefore God must be just. He himself is just, he showers love and goodness upon his children without exception. He does nothing except it be for the benefit of his children. He is absolutely just. He never sins, that is to say, he never shortens anyone’s blessings. You and I do sin and shorten other people’s blessings. And so then he insists that being just, that we must become just also. That we must do something to satisfy that shortening that we have made. So, if we come to him, then he will teach us of righteousness. So that in the future we can be just.

The word just means right, or doing what’s right, having one’s rights. A court of justice is where you go to get your rights. And if things go well, hopefully you’re better than before you started. So, real righteousness, or in other words, real justice is only of God. Because justice is a result of faith in Christ. It is a part of righteousness and righteousness only comes though Christ.

So, therefore a servant of Christ always pays his debts. Be they of time, money, covenant, or promise. He does not ask for release from debt but makes whatever sacrifices necessary to clear his promise or his obligation. Which also clears his own name, which also clears the name of his master, Jesus Christ.

If we’re covenant servants of Christ, we’re not just being unjust in our own right, we’re causing him to be unjust. Just as the father is responsible for the acts of his children, we cause the Savior to become unjust, in a sense. We cause his name to become ill spoken of, if we are unrighteous or unjust. So, if we love him, we will not wish to besmirch his name. We will wish to show, he is a God of justice and righteousness and love and truth. And do everything in our power, to make every sacrifice that is necessary to bring about justice. We will make whatever recompense or restitution is necessary if we have been unjust.

The terrestrial standard is, that if you have been unjust and wronged someone, you make it up to them by paying every last farthing for what we’ve owed them. The celestial standard, the gospel standard is, if you’ve wronged somebody and been unjust to them, you pay four-fold. You show your love for them and your sorrow for having wounded them, shortened them, by making up to them four times. I think that’s also a help not to be unjust in the future. So, to know exactly what is just is beyond human wisdom and the ability to satisfy past injustices is beyond human wisdom.

But in Christ all good things are possible. Thus, it is that the just live by faith. This was Martin Luther’s take off point in Romans, the just live by faith. And it’s true, the just do live by faith. Justice is of faith in Christ. There is a worldly justice, that worldly justice is the justice of man as judged by human reason, which is the counterfeit of divine justice. The counterfeit of Godly justice is the justice of man administered by human reason. This sometimes is an approximation of justice and sometimes is not justice at all. But until we’re willing to have God be our judge we must suffer counterfeit justice in our midst. Don’t mistake me, there are some people engaged in the justice business in our society and our civilization who our servants of Christ and they are prayerful and careful and faithful in their administration of justice. And their justice is real justice. But those who depend on their own human reason administer a counterfeit justice.

Mercy next. Mercy is the companion principle to justice in the gospel. Whereas the just man is always careful to pay his own debts, if he has been unjust. He stands ready to extend mercy to all. Mercy is to satisfy the debt of justice for someone else. Now, I can’t extend mercy to someone unless they have been unjust to me. So, someone has shortened me or has hurt me. Then they have been unjust to me. It’s then my privilege to forgive them. Which means to say, to pay the debt myself. To pay the debt of justice for someone else when they have incurred the debt to me, is mercy.

So, if someone runs into my car and dents it good. And they can’t pay for it. If they can pay for it, then I’m exacting justice, if I get them to. But if I say, I will pay for it, that is mercy. I’m paying the debt for them. Now, in the Father’s system the dent has to be fixed. Justice must be satisfied. But He’s content if I will fix it or the other person fixes it. He doesn’t mind, just that justice has to be satisfied. But he’s very pleased if I will satisfy it myself and not hold my neighbor to it.

Now if my neighbor is a servant of God, he will not accept that mercy. He will insist on paying it himself, if he can. That is to say, servants of God are grateful to have mercy but they try to be just nevertheless. Whereas, people of the world always want mercy. That is to say, they want to be forgiven of their debts. But that’s not the way of a man of God, a man of God wants to pay his debts. No matter how long it takes him or whatever costs, if he has a honest just debt, he wants to pay it.

So, justice must to be satisfied but mercy needs to be there, if one is a servant of God and can extend mercy. Help us to forgive those who trespass against us, the Savior taught us to pray. But we, despairingly need the mercy of God. There’s no way we can satisfy the debt of justice for our sins. And therefore, if we’re ever to be clean, ever to be just, ever to see the Celestial Kingdom, we have to get forgiveness through the Savior’s satisfaction of justice.

He extended mercy to us through the atonement, through his Godship over the world, the universe. You and I, therefore, need that justice. But the only way we can qualify for that justice, is to forgive all men every trespass against us. Now that’s a tall order. That means we turn the other cheek every time. Some people say to me, you mean we’re supposed to lie down and be a door mat? And the answer is, yes. If you’re a servant of Christ you do not seek restitution. You may get it but it will because the other person wants to give it. You will not seek it, you will not demand it, you will not force it. Why? Because you have a God in heaven who can and will recompense to you a hundred fold. And he has promised you, if you lose anything for keeping his commandments that he will restore to you a hundred fold. Now you get your choice. Would you rather have the one fold restitution or would you have a hundred fold. If you’re smart I think you would take the hundred fold, which means you forgive all men their trespasses against you and depend on God for your blessings.

Now, if there were no God I guess this would be a different matter, wouldn’t it? But there is a God in heaven. I know that and I think you know that. And not to depend on him, not to trust him and suppose that we have to go out and feather our own nest by getting people to fix our fenders, so they won’t be dented, that’s not faith in Christ. Now there’s the one exception. In some situations the extending of Godly mercy by a just person is not automatic. For the Lord will council otherwise sometimes. In some situations he will instruct us to go to the person and request that they make the wrong right. Not force, not take them to a court of law. The scripture is very plain. To go to a court of law to exact justice of our neighbor is not God’s will. And my guess is that ninety-nine percent of the time we do that as Latter-day Saints, we’re sinning. I don’t know what the percentage is, don’t take that figure seriously.

But, he’s plain, he does not want us to settle our debts through the courts of law of the land. Now, he will have us go to the person and humbly request that they make it up if they have wronged us. If they’ve dented our fender, we go to them and request that they fix it. Now, if they say, fooey on you and won’t hear us. Then we go back and take a friend with us. And we ask them humbly again, won’t you please fix that fender? Now in the presence of ourselves and a witness he gets a chance to either accept it and fix it or refuse. If he refuses we have a witness and we and the witness go to the bishop of the church and lay the matter before the bishop.

Now, who would this be? This is only if this brother is a brother in Christ. If they are a covenant servant of Jesus Christ we take these three steps. Why? Not so we will get the fender fixed. We don’t care whether the fender gets fixed by them or not. What do we care about? We care about them as a brother and if they will not fix the fender they have abrogated their covenant with Christ. So the hope is, that we will be able to keep them as a brother in Christ. If they won’t fix it, even though we have talked to them and gone to them with a witness and the bishop has talked to them. What do we do then? The scripture says, that we no longer count them as a brother in Christ. They have broken their covenants, they have released themselves from his service. We have no obligation any more to treat them as a brother. The scripture says, we treat them as a heathen and a publican. In other words, we extend mercy to them and don’t ask them for justice anymore. We forgive them, we still don’t go to a court of law, and demand justice. We just forgive them. Because we didn’t care about the fender in the first place. What we cared about was their soul. So mercy must work hand in hand with justice, lest we find ourselves on the wrong side of the matter.

Godly mercy is to be willing to forgive all men all trespasses. And actually to forgive all those except where the Lord specifically commands otherwise. Thus, to be merciful as to be just must be an act of faith in Christ, to be Godly mercy. The counterfeit of Godly mercy is to forgive at our own pleasure. You might wish to read the passage in Matthew 18:15-17 where he instructs us in that matter.

Next consecration.

Consecration is the principle of using all that we have and are in the service of our master. In him we live and move and have our being. To him we our indebted for all that we have. He gives us our body, our strengths, our mortality, our health, our wealth, our time, our power to beget children, everything we have he gives to us. To use all of these correctly, to be righteous, just and merciful in just the right way with all of these things is beyond our ability. Therefore, we who are servants of Christ enter into a covenant with him. To use all these things according to his instruction, as he gives us instruction in our own personal revelation. That revelation can come in various forms. It can come as we are listening to our bishop, as we are listening to our father, as we are listening to our Stake President, as we are listening to one of the Prophets, to President Benson. As we are praying, as we are reading the scriptures. It can come in any of those situations. But the thing that is common to all of those is that it comes by our own personal revelation.

April 12, 2012
New Names and the New Covenant

Chauncey C. Riddle

I ask for an interest in your faith and prayers. I tremble a little bit because as I say things it’s impossible to say everything and I find I miss saying important things. For instance, in relation to forgiving: somebody just brought to my attention that I didn’t say they have to trespass against us personally before we can extend mercy to them. I can’t be merciful to somebody when they trespass against you. Oh I can help in a way. If they defraud you l can pay you, the defrauded and in a sense I can help you. But that isn’t really mercy. The Savior can do that because he is perfect, he has no sins of his own. So the important place we apply mercy is when people trespass against us, and then we forgive them.

Well, let’s reconstruct the total picture of what we’re trying to do here. I’m trying to talk about the great law, which is to love the Lord our God, who is Jesus Christ, with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength. I equate that with faith in Jesus Christ. Faith in Christ is simply to love him with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength. And everything in the gospel; all the principles, all the laws, all the ordinances are designed to focus into that point, to bring us to full faith in Jesus Christ.

Now there are two main stems or aspects that comprise faith in Jesus Christ, as I understand it. One is repentance. The other is service. Repentance is getting our lives in order. It is rebuilding our character and our nature. Through obedience, through sacrifice, through consecration so that we can then learn to be just and merciful. In other words to love purely. So that when we go to serve we will be serving in the pure love of Christ. We are not doing our will. We’re not shedding forth our light. We are showing forth his light and truth in all that we do. Then repentance makes us a conduit. A perfected conduit for the light of Christ. Then as we go forth to serve, that is to say to love our neighbor, as Christ loves us, then we are simply reflecting his light that he loves us with, through ourselves to our neighbor, that their life might be blessed by Jesus Christ even as we are blessed by Jesus Christ.

And we have talked about blessing others, which is service in the stewardship that we have, and how the priesthood is the thing that enables us to fulfill those stewardships, when they are stewardships over people. Today our discussion concerns the New and Everlasting Covenant. It is the New and Everlasting Covenant that puts all of repentance together. The things we have been talking about are not things we can do by our own will. What we do is choose to reflect the light and truth of Jesus Christ perfectly out into the world. To love our neighbor as Christ loves us. We can want to do that but we have no power to do that on our own even if we understand it and choose it. We have to be empowered and the empowering comes in the New and Everlasting Covenant. That empowering is part of salvation.

Salvation comes through power. To as many as believe in him, Jesus Christ gives the power to become his sons and daughters. And his sons and daughters are his jewels. His jewels are the ones that are perfected and polished and reflect his light. Without changing it, without loss, they simply reflect his light becoming selfless as he is. He reflects the Father’s light. And if we reflect his light then we will be passing on that which is perfect and godly and good.

And so today I would like to review the New and Everlasting Covenant as the vehicle by which we accomplish all of these things. Let’s review the old covenant first just by way of background. In the council in heaven the first covenant was announced.

“We will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them.” Abr. 3:25

Now that’s the first covenant. That’s the law of justice or the covenant of justice.

“They who keep their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate (be added upon.)” That is to say they will have the chance to go to the second estate. “They who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their second estate. And they who keep their second estate”, that is to say, who do everything they’re told without fail in their mortal probation, “shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever.” Abr. 3:26

But as we have pointed out, none of us keeps that first covenant . We all break it, except Jesus Christ. He claimed his blessings through that covenant. And of course, if no one had claimed blessing through that covenant there would be no one to be a Savior. And thus the New and Everlasting Covenant or the second covenant could not even exist. And so there is another covenant which comes in the mercy and grace of God. We read a little bit about this in Moses, Chapter 6. This is Enoch speaking to the people, he said that, “because Adam fell we are. By his fall came death,” spiritual death. “We are made partakers of misery and woe.” That partaking of misery and woe was necessary. And also necessary was that we understand the evil, the misery, and the woe. Because without understanding that we would not have the freedom to choose the good. The fall brought to us the knowledge of good and evil.

Under the first covenant, if we had chosen the good unerringly all during our lives we would satisfy the covenant. But we don’t do that so there has to be a way that we can still be saved after having chosen evil.

“Satan hath come among the children of men, and tempteth them to worship him; and men have become carnal, sensual, and devilish, they are shut out from the presence of God.”

Moses 6:49

And only by one of these covenants can we ever come back to the presence of God.

“But God hath made known unto our fathers that all men must repent. And he called upon our father Adam by his own voice saying: I am God; I made the world and men before they were in the flesh. And he said unto him: If thou wilt turn unto me, and hearken unto my voice, and believe and repent of all thy transgressions”, of having chosen evil, “and be baptized, even in water, in the name of my Only Begotten Son, who is full of grace and truth, which is Jesus Christ, the only name which shall be given under heaven, whereby salvation shall come unto the children of men, ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, ask in all things In his name, and whatsoever ye shall ask, it shall be given you.” Moses 6: 50-52

The main thing that we need to ask for is for the ability to stop choosing evil and start choosing only the good. Because the second law requires of us in the end to do what the first law requires. What the first covenant requires is to choose good without fail, without erring. But we get to err under the second law, that is to say it is possible for us to have sinned and then learn to obey God in all things and still be saved because of the Savior’s atonement.

“And our father Adam spoke unto the Lord, and said: , why is it that man must repent and be baptized in water? And the Lord said unto Adam: Behold I have forgiven thee thy transgression in the Garden of Eden. Hence came the saying abroad among the people. that the Son of God hath atoned for original guilt, wherein the sins of the parents cannot be answered upon the heads of the children … And the Lord spake unto Adam, saying: Inasmuch as thy children are conceived in sin”, that is to say they are conceived into a sinful situation, “even so when they begin to grow up, sin conceiveth in their hearts, and they taste the bitter that they may know to prize the good. And it is given unto them to know good from evil.” Moses 6: 53-55

No human being comes into this world and is of normal mentality except he has full command of good and evil. He may not know the gospel of Jesus Christ but he knows good and evil. He knows good by the light of Christ, and evil by the temptations of Satan. And thus each man is an agent unto himself …

“. . . and I have given you another law and commandment.” Moses 6: 56

And this other law is the New and Everlasting Covenant. This marvelous, wonderful gift of mercy from God whereby we may repent and learn to serve, that is to say, to choose good without sinning, without erring, and thus be established in an eternal path of righteousness.

“. . . all men everywhere must repent, or they can in no wise inherit the kingdom of God, for no unclean thing can dwell there.” Moses 6:57

There has to be a way to get clean.

“For in the language of Adam, Man of Holiness is his name, and the name of his Only Begotten is the Son of Man, even Jesus Christ, a righteous Judge, who shall come in the meridian of time. . teach these things freely to your children saying: that by reason of transgression cometh the fall , which fall bringeth death, and inasmuch as ye were born Into the world by water, and blood and the spirit, which I have made, and so become of dust a living soul, even so ye must be born again”, spiritual “into the kingdom of heaven, of water and of the Spirit and be cleansed by blood. even the blood of mine Only Begotten; that ye might be sanctified from all sin, and enjoy the words of eternal life in this world, and eternal life In the world to come, even Immortal glory; For by the water ye keep the commandment”, the commandment to repent and be baptized, “by the Spirit ye are justified”, you are taught to be just and righteous. In other words to be both just and merciful. “And by the blood ye are sanctified.” Moses 6:57-60

The blood of Christ enables us to work out our salvation so that our sins are all made up for by Christ. The suffering and the sacrifice are taken care of so that our record can stand as if we had never sinned, though we have. But the Savior acts as our buffer, our advocate, our Savior in that he saves us from the eternal consequences of those sins.

Now, let’s review the parts of the new and everlasting covenant. First we are called upon to repent and be baptized. To repent is to turn our hearts to Jesus Christ, to declare ourselves against evil and for good, and to recognize in Christ the only hope we have for achieving good and relinquishing all evil. And so we choose to make the covenant with him. And the covenant of baptism is first of all that we will take upon ourselves his name. Secondly, that we will keep every commandment that he gives us. And thirdly, that we will always remember him. He tells us that always remembering him is the key to always having his spirit to be with us. And having his spirit to be with us brings us the knowledge and the power to choose only good, and thus to be worthy of our Father who himself has chosen only good, and is the epitome himself of all goodness.

If we make that covenant honestly and honorably, then hands are laid upon our head and we are given the right to the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. And that is the pearl of great price as I understand it. Because without that we cannot fulfill the righteousness of Christ. That is what teaches us and empowers us with righteousness or justice. By the spirit we are justified. The Holy Ghost becomes our personal tutor to lift our minds to the vision of what it means to be perfect in Christ, to be just, to be kindly, to love with perfect love and thus to serve in the manner in which Christ serves. And so we receive the Holy Ghost.

If we then obey the instruction (the commandments) we are given to receive the Holy Ghost, and we receive it into our lives and we treasure him as our constant companion by yielding to him constantly, yielding to those enticings of the Holy Spirit, which entice us constantly to righteousness. We can only do that by softening our hearts and letting ourselves be led as a little child in the way of Christ. After learning to follow the Holy Ghost, then comes the time where there is another new and everlasting covenant, another part of this whole covenant. Which is to receive the priesthood of God.

Now we are beginning to go into the service of others using thew power of God. The Aaronic priesthood, of course is a temporary priesthood, a temporal priesthood. It is receiving the Melchizedek Priesthood that is the really significant event. But both are important. As we receive the Melchizedek Priesthood, we enter into the oath and covenant of the priesthood. The oath and the covenant of the priesthood are part of this empowering. We make certain promises to the Lord. He makes the oath, we make the covenant. We are not to make oaths, because until we’re perfect we can’t guarantee that we will fulfill the oaths. But we can covenant, we can make promises to do the best we can to obey as we are told. So we covenant that we will use this priesthood to bless others as our Father directs us. He promises us if we will use this priesthood to bless and go on to receive the fullness of this priesthood then we will receive from him all that he has. We will share all that Christ has been given. Let’s read some of the words of Section 84 of the Doctrine and Covenants. The whole first part of this section is a description of the oath and covenant of the priesthood. Verse 20,

“Therefore in the ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ the power of godliness is manifest.”

This is the purpose of the ordinances which constitute the New and Everlasting Covenant is to deliver to us the power of godliness. Which is simply the power to be good. God is good, that’s what the word “God” means. And the power of godliness is the power to be good without error, fully good, wholly good.

“. . . without the ordinances thereof, and the authority of the priesthood, the power of godliness is not manifest unto men in the flesh; For without this no man can see the face of God, even the Father, and live.”

We can’t become good enough to stand in the presence of the Father and enjoy his eternal presence except through Jesus Christ who cleanses us from doing evil through repentance and from the consequences of having done evil through the Atonement.

“Now this Moses plainly taught to the children of Israel in the wilderness. and he sought diligently to sanctify his people that they might behold the face of God”

Sanctification has to do with our sins. Until our debts of justice, where we have sinned, are made up, he can’t stand us in is presence. He can’t stand anyone who has hurt someone else and doesn’t care. If we care there is a way to make up for it, to get the persons we have offended compensated and the record clean. That way is through Christ. But if we don’t care enough to make sure that everybody whom we’ve hurt is recompensed through Christ, then we don’t belong in his presence. The children of Israel in the wilderness hardened their hearts and they could not endure his presence. In other words they said, “The way is to straight for us. We still want to choose evil.There are some things that we desire to do that are not good.” The Lord in his wrath (for his anger was kindled against them) swore that they should not enter into his rest. Which is his presence:

“Therefore, the Lord in his wrath. for his anger was kindled against them, swore that they should no enter into his rest while in the wilderness, which rest is the fullness of his glory. Therefore, he took Moses out of their mist and the holy priesthood also;” D&C 84:24-25

That is to say, he took from them the Melchizedek Priesthood. “The lesser priesthood continued”, with them “which priesthood holdeth the keys of the ministering of angels and the preparatory gospel.” D&C 84:26 This that they never-the-less might have some portion of good and righteousness that would help them to be prepared to receive the fullness again when the time was right. So the lesser power continued with them until John the Baptist:

“Which gospel is the gospel of repentance and of baptism and the remission of sins, and the law of carnal commandments, which the Lord in his wrath caused to continue with the house of Aaron among the children of Israel until John, who God raised up being filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother’s womb. For he was baptized while he was yet In his childhood and was ordained by the angel of God at the time he was eight days old unto this power, to overthrow the kingdom of the Jews”. D&C 84:27

To do good by the power of the Aaronic Priesthood is a preparation for doing greater good through the power of the Melchizedek Priesthood. Having received the priesthood, it is then necessary for the recipients to make an acceptable offering unto the Lord through the powers of that priesthood:

“Therefore as I said concerning the sons of Moses, for the sons of Moses and also the sons of Aaron shall offer an acceptable offering unto that sacrifice in the house of the Lord, which house shall be built unto the Lord in this generation upon the consecrated spot as I have appointed. And the sons of Moses and of Aaron shall be filled with the glory of the Lord, upon mount Zion in the Lord’s house, whose sons are ye; and also many whom I have called and sent forth to build up my church. For whoso is faithful unto the obtaining of these two priesthoods of which I have spoken and the magnifying their calling are sanctified by the spirit unto the renewing of their bodies.”

D&C 84: 31-33

They are made holy by obedience to the Holy Spirit. And:

“They become the sons of Moses and of Aaron and the seed of Abraham, and the church and kingdom, and elect of God. And also all they who receive this priesthood receive me saith the Lord; For he that receiveth my servants receiveth me; And he that receiveth me receiveth my Father; And he that receiveth my Father receiveth my Father’s kingdom; Therefore all that my Father hath shall be given him. And this is according to the oath and covenant which belongeth to the priesthood. Therefore, all those who receive the priesthood, receive this oath and covenant of my Father, which he cannot break, neither can it be moved. But whoso breaketh this covenant after he hath received it, and altogether turneth therefrom shall not have forgiveness of sins in this world nor in the world to come.” D&C 84: 34-41

Those who turn away altogether are, of course, the sons of perdition.

And I now give you a commandment, to beware concerning yourselves, to give diligent heed to the words of eternal life. For ye shall live by every word that proceedeth forth out of the mouth of God. For the word of the Lord is truth, and whatsoever is truth is light, and whatsoever is light is Spirit, even the spirit of Jesus Christ. And the spirit giveth light to every man that cometh Into the world; and the spirit enlighteth every man through the world that hearkeneth to the voice of the spirit. And everyone that hearkeneth to the voice of the spirit cometh unto God. Even the Father. And the Father teacheth him of the covenant which he has renewed and confirmed upon you, which is confirmed upon you for your sakes, and not for your sakes only, but for the sake of the whole world.” D&C 84: 43-48

If all we needed to do was to be saved ourselves, of course we would just need to repent, in a sense. But repentance involves the service. We can’t fully repent and we can’t fully have faith in Christ without turning and helping the rest of the world be saved also.

“And the whole world lieth in sin and groaneth under darkness and under the bondage of sin.” D&C 84:49

And thus it is our mission, if we want to be saved, is to help save others, to love our neighbor and to share with them the opportunity of salvation, even as the Savior has loved us and has given us the opportunity to be saved.

Now we need to talk about names. Why these interesting names? The sons of Moses and of Aaron, the seed of Abraham, the house of Israel, the priesthood of Melchizedek. Now, we are given a key in the Doctrine and Covenants. We know the true name of the Melchizedek priesthood is not “the Melchizedek Priesthood.” We know the true name of the priesthood is “The Holy Priesthood after the order of the Son of God.” In other words, it is the priesthood of Jesus Christ. But it was given the name Melchizedek because Melchizedek was a great High priest in ancient times and used that priesthood so effectively (more effectively than anyone in the ancient world) to serve his fellow men and to bring them to Christ, that they too might be saved. That’s the purpose of the priesthood.

Now let’s look at the name Melchizedek. `Melki‘ means “king of,” `Zedek‘ means righteousness. The name means “king of righteousness.” Now why was the name Melchizedek given to the priesthood of God? Let me give you my interpretation. Please do not believe this unless you have better evidence than my evidence. But may I give you this as a hypothesis. My understanding is that Melchizedek is another of the names of Christ. He is the king of righteousness, there is no other king of righteousness. He is the sole fountain of righteousness on this earth. And if any person seeks to have righteousness they must come unto Jesus Christ and make their personal peace with him. He is the keeper of the gate of righteousness. He employs no servant there. And if we wish to have it we must deal with him. How did it happen that Melchizedek the man got that name? Well my guess is, that what the Savior is pleased to do is to put his own names upon his faithful servants. And thus everybody who comes to Christ is likely to get a new name. And the new name will be one of Christ’s names. I believe that “Melchizedek” is one of the names of Christ.

For instance, there was a man named Abram and when he became faithful he received a new name. What’s his new name? Abraham. What does Abraham mean? The AB is pronounced av in Hebrew. Av means Father. Ra means many. Am means people. Father of many people, father of many children. Who is the real father of all these children. The real father is the Savior. He’s the one who’s the father. He’s the creator of every human being on earth. Not the spirit body but the physical tabernacle. And he’s the one that enables each one to be reborn to righteousness. I think Abraham is one of the Son’s names, one of the Savior’s names. What was the first thing we promised in taking the new and everlasting covenant? To take upon ourselves the name of Christ. How many names does he have? At least four hundred that we have in the scriptures. And I suspect that when we get it all figured out that there will be a lot more than that.

Now, what are we to do? Christ’s purpose is to share everything he has with us. And as we acquire the attributes and blessings that he has acquired for our selves, we progressively take upon ourselves his name. Or we might say, his names, as we become like Him.

About three years ago Elder Dallin Oaks gave a talk in conference. He talked about the sacrament and what we promise to do there. At first I couldn’t understand what he was saying. But as I studied this material out it finally dawned on me what he was saying. I commend that talk to you. Go back and read it. You’ll find it to be very instructive, very enlightening. It pointed me to this understanding of taking upon us the name of Christ. Let’s look at some of the other names. The name Enoch, means initiated or begun. What do we associate Enoch with? I associate him with law of consecration. When we get established or initiated or have begun in that law, we are taking upon ourselves the name Enoch. I understand the name Enoch to be a name of Jesus Christ which he gave to his faithful servant Enoch.

Consider the name David, and the throne of David. The throne of David is Christ’s throne. It speaks in the scriptures of David in the last days and my understanding that means our Savior. The word `David’ means “loving.” He is the God of love. And his throne is the throne of grace and love. If you and I ever hope to fulfill the full love of Jesus Christ we will perhaps want to enjoy the throne of David. The throne of David is a place of service to others, where the welfare of others is put ahead of our own. Now true, the man King David had some problems. But the word David is still a good name.

The word `Moses’. What does the word `Moses’ mean? Who are the `sons of Moses?’ The word `Moses’ in the Egyptian means simply “the son.” Son, who is the son? We know who the son is. The word Moses is simply one of the Savior’s designations. The Hebrew meaning for Mosha, which is the Hebrew equivalent for the Egyptian Moses, means “rescued”. And we can see why that would be. He was rescued from the bulrushes. But there’s a little twist to that in the Egyptian. The name `Isaiah,’ “God has saved.” The name `Israel,’ “he will rule as God.” If you know what the blessings of Israel are and you hope to share them, when you rule as God you will take upon yourself the name Israel. That means you will rule under Christ, who is, as I understand it, the real Israel. And a man named Jacob was given that name as his new name because it was the name of his father Jesus Christ. Think about it and pray about it. If you have a new name you might wonder what it means. You might want to find out. Because I think you will find out that somehow it represents the Savior to you. And it’s something he would like you either to become or to be which he has rewarded you with already, in your path to perfection.

Let us now turn to Section 132 and read a few words about the New and Everlasting Covenant. Verse 2:

“Behold, and lo, I am the Lord thy God, and will answer thee as touching this matter.”

The matter of course is many wives and concubines. But many of these comments apply to the whole of the new and everlasting covenant. Therefore are pertinent to us.

“Prepare thy heart to receive and obey the instructions which I am about to give unto you; for all those who have this law revealed to them must obey the same.” D&C 132:3

In other words. it’s better not have known the Lord than to know him and then defy him.

“For behold I reveal unto you a new and an everlasting covenant and if ye abide not that covenant, then ye are damned.” D&C 132:4

You’re stopped in your progress.

“For no one can reject this covenant and be permitted to enter into my glory.” D&C 132:4

There is no other way.

“For all who will have a blessing at my hands shall abide the law which was appointed for that blessing and the conditions thereof, as were instituted from, before the foundation of the world.” D&C 132:5

We need to quote another scripture here in this connection.

“There is a law upon which all blessings are predicated and when we receive any blessing it is by obedience to that law …” D&C 130:20

I understand this scripture to say that there is one law upon which all blessings are predicated. Not many laws, but only one law by which to receive blessing from God . When you talk about celestial things, it is the law of the gospel, not the laws of the gospel. Now, what’s that one law? The one law, as I understand it, is faith in Jesus Christ. Which translated in other words means to love Jesus Christ who is the Lord our God, with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength. Now, if we receive any blessing we get it only through that law by coming to full faith in Christ. Which means to partake of the fullness of the new and everlasting covenant. Because only in that covenant is there power to become fully just and merciful, to come to that fullness of love which is Christ, in which we are trying to emulate him. And these conditions were pointed and instituted from before the foundations of the world.

“And as pertaining to the new and everlasting covenant, it was instituted for the fullness of my glory; and he that receiveth a fullness thereof must and shall abide the law, or he shall be damned.”

Everyone who is not exalted is damned. We have our choice, no one is exalted except they want it and want it enough to give up all their sins and become a little child In the hands of Christ and do all things that he would have them do, to live by every word that proceeds forth out of his mouth.

“Verily I say unto you, the conditions of this law are these: all covenants, contracts, bonds, obligations, oaths, vows, performances, connections, associations, expectations …” D&C 132:7

Anything that is done in this world, that is not entered into and sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, which comes in connection with the new and everlasting covenant.

“… of him who is anointed, both as well for time and for all eternity and that too most holy, by revelation and commandment through the medium of mine anointed, whom I have appointed on earth to hold this power on the earth. And I have appointed my servant Joseph, to hold this power in the last days and there is never but one on the earth at a time on whom this power and the keys of this priesthood are conferred.” D&C 132:7

Who has it today? President Ezra Taft Benson.

“Are of no efficacy, virtue, or force in and alter the resurrection from the dead.” D&C 132:7

The new and everlasting covenant is the only power that goes through death and resurrection. In other words, it’s the only thing that makes anything everlasting or eternal, that’s why it’s called for one thing the new and everlasting covenant.

“All contracts that are not made unto this end have an end when men are dead. My house is a house of order saith the Lord and not a house of confusion. Will I accept of an offering, saith the Lord, that is not made in my name? Or will I receive at your hands that which I have not appointed? And will I appoint unto you accept by law? Even as I and my Father ordained you before the world was? I am the Lord thy God. I have given you this commandment, no man shall come unto the Father but by me or by my word, which is my law.” D&C 132: 7-10

To have faith in Christ is to fulfill the law.

“Everything that is in the world, whether it be ordained of man or thrones, or principalities, or powers of things that whatsoever that they may be, that are not by me or by my word, saith the Lord shall be thrown down and not remain after men are dead. Nor in nor after the resurrection, saith the Lord your God.” D&C 132:13

No marriage connection, no parent- child relationship, nothing of that will stand except it is confirmed, and hallowed, and made eternal, through the New and Everlasting Covenant.

“Whatsoever things are made are by me and whatsoever things are not by me shall be shaken and destroyed.” D&C 132:14

The thing that amazes me is how great a thing the Savior is trying to give to us. He’s trying to share with us all that he has, which is the power to govern and control and be a steward over the universe. And there’s nothing greater. But we must do it in his way, through covenant, through his power, under his Spirit, in his love and his mercy. So, we can’t say we haven’t been told.

Now, I rejoice with you in these things. This is marvelous, this is life. And to have an opportunity to know these things is the key to everything else. In heart, might, mind, and strength there is an order. The psychological order is mind, heart, strength, and might. That’s the order in which we must deal with things in the world. We first must understand them and then we must take them into our hearts and then we must reflect them in our bodies through our actions and that will then reflect any effect we have In the world. Now there are other orders given but that’s the order we have to do it. That’s the reason were talking about these things.

It’s important to remember that there are different kinds of minds. We’ll take just a little side trip here for just a minute and talk about the kinds of minds. There’s a mind or shall we say a person that corresponds to each of the four things: heart, might, mind, and strength. A person who’s center focus is the heart, I call a Hebrew. And Abraham Is the epitome of the Hebrew. He could not stand that anyone should suffer. He was willing to risk his own life to help others. The Savior, of course, is the same. He is the epitome of all good things. Abraham is a good example.He as a mortal human was born and raised out of the church. He found the gospel and so loved the Savior that he became known as “the friend of God.” Because he was all heart. He couldn’t stand that anyone should suffer and he wanted to help them whenever he could.

Now there is another kind of person, who is a mind person. The mind person glories in understanding and they want to figure everything out and know everything. Now that’s good except if you don’t have a heart. If you emphasis the mind and the figuring of it all out and you don’t have the heart to go and do it, the mind is relatively worthless. That’s what I call a Greek mind.

Now there’s the Trojan person. The Trojan person is one who thinks that the body is everything. They’re really interested in health. They really like the Word of Wisdom. They really emphasis that. They like the physical culture. They like things like Yoga, because it’s training the body, giving them power, strength. They like beauty, they like clothing, they glory in the trappings of the world. Considering a Trojan person, there’s nothing wrong with those things in their place. But if you don’t have a good heart heart and a good mind to go with it, you don’t have very much.

And then there’s the Roman person who glories in might. They want power in this world above all else. They want to rule and reign. They want to get people to do what they want them to do. Sometimes, of course, they say they are doing it for the benefit of the people they’re reigning over. They are their brother’s keeper. And they’re going to make sure their brother is kept just the way he wants them kept.

Now I say this because as we talk about these things, there’s a danger. The danger is that we will slip into the Greek person, who is ever learning, understanding the principles, but never coming to the knowledge of the truth. And the knowledge of the truth is Jesus Christ. To know him is to be him, to be as he is. And if we learn all of these things and don’t do something it’ s a damnation to us. And I say it because I tend to be Greek and I know it. I’ve got to be transformed into a Hebrew, to be like Abraham, to be like my Savior. Otherwise all of this is a waste.

May I say again in conclusion. Please don’t believe a word I’ve said. I’ve shared with you the best that my heart and mind can produce. But I am a man and I`m still struggling with my own salvation. And I would commend to you the true and living God who does hear and answers prayers, who will enlighten every single one of us on these things if we will just go to him and pray about them and try to implement them the best we can in our lives. And if we will do that, he is gracious, he is good, he will answer us. Revelation is the life blood of this kingdom. It is the rock on which we must stand, each one of us personally and individually. And if we do, then we will have no regrets. That’s wisdom.

We have five minutes for questions, it. you would like to ask a question.

(question) Why does it require a sinless person to atone for someone else’s sins?

Because it if they weren’t sinless they would have to atone for their own sins. (follow-up unheard) My understanding is no, that when we have sinned — I don’t know what else I can say, in other words I can’t explain it fully. But that’s a good question we should both ask. So let’s ask it and get the answer, because there are answers.

(question) The meaning of the name of Noah?

Noah means quiet, rest. And of course where is there rest but in the Lord. He is the prince of peace. He is the author of all real rest. His rest is the glory of his presence.

(question) Adam?

The word Adam means man.

(question) I know a lot of us feel so overwhelmed and so impressed by the things you say but are limited in our ability to catch all your thoughts. And I can’t find any books, is there anything available? (Bro. Riddle hold up the scriptures) laughing she responds, I guess I was put in my place.

I didn’t mean to insult you but I simply hope you realize that anything written by an ordinary man is not scripture. That would be a strictly secondary source. These (the scriptures) are the only primary sources we have. I need to enlarge that just a little bit. What are primary sources? The primary sources of scripture that we have are: the words of the prophets, of which these are part. These written scriptures, these are the canonized scriptures. The un-canonized scriptures are the other words of the prophets. The most important single piece of written scripture that we have that I know anything about is the temple ceremony. And my guess is, that if we really want to understand the ways of the Lord, we will go to the temple and study that ceremony until we understand it backwards and forwards. It is the most complicated, most beautiful puzzle I have ever seen and the most worthwhile thing to figure out. And if you and I can figure out what every word means in that ceremony we will have the greatest treasure there is, I think. That is the jewel that we think of. The canonized scripture is preliminary to the temple in what it’s trying to deliver to us. And there are things beyond that of course. For eye hath not seen nor ear heard that has entered into heart of man the good things that God has to give those that love him. So, we are rich, we have so much already, that if we will just take that which we have and concentrate on it. We don’t need all the commentaries in the world. Sometimes the worst thing you can do is go read a commentary on the scripture and get your mind lost by a half-truth which keeps you from seeing what’s really in the scriptures. So that’s why I say, please don’t believe what I say, because I’ve talked to enough people who have heard me to know that some of them have been blocked by some of the things I’ve said and I’m sorry. But I share in the sense that maybe something I have said will cause you to get on your knees and pray about something. And in that situation, that is where the real good comes, that’s where the real pure stuff comes to us, and on this revelation from God we can base our lives and our salvation.

(question) Sariah?

Sariah was named Sarah, I think it means “princess.” And that’s fitting because if truly we serve under our Father, the king, we are truly princes and princess. In other words we are apprentice kings and queens.

April 11, 2012
Why is There Evil?

Chauncey C. Riddle

Can you tell what the problem of evil is?

Why it is a problem?

If it is true that God is all good and omnipotent how come the world is so evil?

It’s important to understand this problem. Why is this an important problem? But you see the question is, does it have to be this evil? Is it necessary that the world be this evil to accomplish its objective? For instance, during the millennium everyone will have just as much agency as they do now but the evil will be reduced on the order of 90%. So one wonders, we have to put the problem just right. It’s true that it’s related to agency and we must understand that.

Is God good?

Yes, he is. What do you mean by that? What does good mean? But if you say God is good and you don’t know what it means, what are you saying? What do you mean when you say God is good? OK, but what is evil? So God never promotes anything that hurts you? So God is mostly good. No he’s metaphysical to you. But you have an image of him in your mind. Is your image that he is all good or mostly good? All good. Then you have some explaining to do, don’t you?

Can he control the rocks?

Can he make a rock so big that he can’t lift it?

No. So there are some things that he can’t do. That’s an old catch question. You see that’s what you ask people when they say God is omnipotent, that he can do anything. Then you say can he make a rock so big that he can’t lift it? Which is what you see involving in something which he can’t do. Either he can’t make a rock so big that he can’t lift it. So there’s something he can’t do. So he’s not all powerful. How do you get out of that? You just point out that it’s a contradiction to start with. That’s just a bad question.

Don’t try to answer all questions. Only answer good questions, that’s a bad question. But anyway we have to come to some sense of how much power God has. So would you say that God could do everything or anything? Or is there something he can’t do? He can do everything but violate agency? It’s impossible for a human being to lose his agency? Is that what you’re saying? So you don’t want to say that. So the question comes back, are there any limitations on God’s power? Is there something he can’t do?

April 11, 2012
Ethics

Chauncey C. Riddle

There is a rational back bone, that is to say there is a rule. The weakness of the moral sense philosophy is that just about anything can come out of it. Historically speaking much good came out the moral sense philosophy but also a good deal of evil. Because people would claim things for their conscience which were not true, either they were lying or they were mistaken. And there’s a real weakness in following conscience in that respect.

So Kant was trying to remedy that weakness by putting in a rational rule that people would follow that would keep them more in the path of good common sense than conscience seemed to be doing. The weakness in Kant’s system? Kant down-played the moral sense so much that it went into oblivion. He over-played the role that reason could play by hooking it to duty it became cast into things such as Hitler using it to get the Beirmauchen to be very obedient, which it was. Kant, I think he was a man of goodwill basically. But when you try to substitute things for the will of God you’ve got into trouble, that was his trouble. He may have done the best he could, I don’t know. But it’s plain, you see you need something more than that.

Let’s talk about utilitarianism. What is utilitarianism? The greatest pleasure to the greatest number of people is the goal of utilitarianism. So what is the good in utilitarianism? Pleasure. What kind of pleasure? What does utility mean? Usefulness. Usefulness for what? But what is the good? Utility is the principle or the means to get good but what is the good? Pleasure. What kind of pleasure? Sheer physical pleasure. This is a collective Scerinaicism. So the statesman has the job of figuring out what will bring the greatest pleasure to the greatest number of people. As a matter of fact that’s what most politicians try to do. They try to please the greatest number of their constituents they can so they can get re-elected. So we have some great national disasters in the making out of our selfishness.

(comment)

From my reading it seems the goal of utilitarianism is for well-being not pleasure. You see well-being is a perfectly ambiguous term, it only means what you make it mean. And what utilitarian mean by that is the greatest pleasure. Well-being is simply pleasure. And isn’t that what the average American seems to want. What’s the great ideal for most Americans? A cruise in the Caribbean, with all kinds of Epicurean delights at the table and warm weather and sunshine and swimming. Not to mention other kinds of physical pleasures. What is the great weakness of this system? Human reason failed at this point. There is no way to determine what’s the greatest pleasure to the greatest number.

Even if pleasure is the good there’s no human epistemology that enables one to deliver the answer to that question. Why? What would you have to know to deliver the greatest amount of pleasure to the greatest number of people? You would have to know virtually everything. You would have to know all the possibilities for action and how much pleasure each of those possibilities would bring to one individual. What else would you have to know? You’d have to be able to sum up all possibilities and calculate what would be the greatest good for the greatest number. Obviously it’s impossible. Isn’t it obviously impossible? So when men think they’re doing that, what are they doing? They’re arrogating to themselves what? They’re arrogating to themselves godhood. They’re pretending they are God and that they can do what no mortal can do. That is sheer pride, you see. That’s what the Lord says is the great barrier, the great sin that keeps more people from their blessings than any other thing, it’s simply that, pride. When men think they are wise of themselves.

What are the strengths of utilitarianism? All these are attempts to make an ethical system.. The strength to utilitarianism that none of the other systems has, yes some of the others do, most of the other don’t. It has a social concern. It recognizes that the group is important. And that is important. And there are many sensitive people in the world who recognize that philosophies that only take care of the individual have something lacking. There has to be a social concern. Human beings are no individuals, that is to say I am not just me. Myself, me, doesn’t end at the surface of my body.

We live in a world that has fostered individualism for so long that the idea of individualism has run amuck. And again, a perfect example of that is the idea of abortion. That a woman need have no feeling of responsibility for her child at all.

In the gospel frame what is the circle of a social concern that we must have? Are you aware? When you repent do you repent of only your own sins? No. If you wish to be celestial your circle has to be wider than that. How wide? Many of you may never of heard this. This is one point of the gospel that’s almost never talked about. I don’t know why. We are responsible for repenting for the sins of our ancestors back to the fourth generation.

Now, what does that mean? The sin carries down. We all know the statement, that the sins of the fathers are visited upon the children unto the third and fourth generations. That’s the negative of this positive thing. When we repent for them we have to repent for those sins. Because we are the heirs for those sins. Let’s make a graphic illustration, supposing that my great grandfather stole some money. He stole one thousand dollars. And he passed on the money to his children. They invested the money and it grew and it was passed on to their children and finally it comes down to me. And I’m the beneficiary of the thousand dollars. Now, that’s tainted money.

What have I got to do? If I wish to be a celestial being, what do I have to do? Repent of that by changing the course that it has taken. Now the repentance needs to go two directions. What two directions does it need to go? It has to begin with me so that I don’t

[[Recording stopped]]

April 11, 2012