LeGrand L. Baker

Category: Encyclopedia of Mormonism

  • Philosophy

    Encyclopedia of Mormonism
    See this page in the original 1992 publication.
    http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Philosophy

    Author: Riddle, Chauncey C.

    Philosophy (the “love of wisdom”) originated in the Western world in ancient Greece. The attempt to find wisdom by ancient thinkers such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle led them also to investigate the world (nature), the unseen world (metaphysics), and how we know (epistemology). Wonder about nature through progressively refined epistemological procedures led through the centuries to modern scientific methods. As philosophers developed standards for accurate description and generalization, new sciences were born and detached themselves from philosophy: the first was physics, and the latest is linguistics. But the basic problems of epistemology, metaphysics, and ethics (including aesthetics and the philosophy of religion) dominate present philosophy as much as they did in ancient times. Although the solutions are more varied now, the basic issues remain the same.

    Latter-day scriptures do not present a philosophical system, but they do contain answers to many classic philosophical issues. These scriptures preclude ex nihilo creation, idealism (immaterialism), a chance theory of causation, and absolute determinism. They affirm the eternality and agency of the individual person, the necessary existence of evil apart from God, a nonrelativistic good (righteousness), and the doctrine that all mortals are the offspring and heirs of God. God is affirmed as a perfected physical being who governs all things in pure love and who continues to communicate with his children on earth by personal revelation.

    Observers of the LDS position have ascribed philosophical labels and tendencies to it, but that position usually will not fit neatly into the stock answers. It is empirical, yet rational; pragmatic, yet idealistic; oriented toward eternity, yet emphasizing the importance of the here and now. Affinities are found with the Cartesian certainty of personal existence, the positivist insistence on sensory evidence, the Enlightenment emphasis on elimination of paradox, and the postmodern respect for the “other.” The ultimate standard for all being, truth, and good is Christ himself.

    Contemporary analytic and existential movements in philosophy have had little impact on LDS thought, not because it is not aware of them, but because it has different answers to the questions they pose. The knowledge of God is established through careful experimentation with God’s promises, which results in tangible consequences, culminating in the possibility of seeing God face to face. Existential angst is recognized and met by personal guidance from God to establish a path to righteousness and fulfillment, the general features of which each person must follow, but with individual parameters. The relativism of situational ethics is answered in spiritual assurance and power to do those things that are eternally worthwhile. Mind-body dualism is answered by the material nature of spirit (more refined matter) (D&C 131:7).

    Answers to the questions How may I know? What is the seen world? What is the unseen world? and How shall I be wise? are all answered personally for every fully participating Latter-day Saint. The equivalent of epistemology in an LDS frame is the ordinances, focusing on the ordinance of prayer. Through the ordinances and in connection with other epistemologies come all of the light and knowledge sufficient to live a spiritually successful life. Questions about the natural world are answered by one’s culture as corrected by personal revelation. One must have some guidance on questions of metaphysics, and such is found in holy scripture and confirmed to each individual through personal revelation. The ultimate question as to how to be wise is answered both in general and in particular. The general answer is that to be wise is to love God with all of one’s heart, might, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbor as God loves us (D&C 59:5). The particular answer is to repent of sinning and to live by the whisperings of the Holy Spirit and the counsels of the living prophet (Isa. 50:10-11).

    While LDS culture does not encourage philosophizing directly, every LDS person is encouraged to become a profound theologian. Becoming such necessitates a heavy commitment to active study “in theory, in principle, in doctrine” to search out the weighty matters of time and eternity (D&C 97:14), which include the basic questions of the philosophers. The imperative “study it out in your mind” (D&C 9:7-8) is a standard for all LDS persons, not just for academics. “Time, and experience and careful and ponderous and solemn thought” (TPJS, p. 37) are not inimical to but are the preface to and foundation for personal revelation.

    Bibliography

    Faulconer, James E. Review of The Mormon Concept of God: A Philosophical Analysis, by Francis D. Beckwith and Stephen E. Parrish. BYU Studies 32 (Fall 1992):185-195.

    Kramer, Neal W. Review of Anxiety in Eden: A Kierkegaardian Reading of Paradise Lost, by John S. Tanner. BYU Studies 35:3 (1995):181-187.

    Madsen, Truman G. “Joseph Smith and the Ways of Knowing,” pp. 25-63. BYU Extension Publications, Seminar on the Prophet Joseph Smith, 1962.

    Oaks, Dallin H. “Ethics, Morality, and Professional Responsibility.” In Perspectives in Mormon Ethics, ed. Donald G. Hill, Jr., pp. 193-200. Salt Lake City, 1983.

    Yarn, David H., Jr. “Some Metaphysical Reflections on the Gospel of John.” BYU Studies 3 (Autumn 1960):3-10.

    CHAUNCEY C. RIDDLE

  • Devils

    Encyclopedia of Mormonism
    See this page in the original 1992 publication.
    http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Devils

    Author: Riddle, Chauncey C.

    In LDS discourse, the term “devil” denotes anyone who promotes the cause of evil, but it is especially applied to those unembodied spirits who rebelled against God in the premortal life and were cast down from heaven to this earth. The devil, who leads them, is also known by the personal names of Lucifer in the premortal existence and Satan since being cast down.

    The name Lucifer means “light bearer” in Latin and is a translation of the Hebrew Heylel ben Shakhar, which means “herald son of dawn” or “morning star.” In the premortal life, Lucifer was an angel having authority in the presence of God. He played a prominent role in the Council in Heaven. After the Father in Heaven offered the plan of righteousness to help his children become as he is, Lucifer countered with an alternative plan.

    The Father’s plan was to save and exalt all of his obedient children. To be obedient, they must keep his commandments and do good. In the Father’s plan, it was foreknown that many would reject exaltation and therefore would receive lesser glories.

    Lucifer’s plan proposed to “save” all of the Father’s children by forcing each to obey the Father’s law in all things. Lucifer desired that he be rewarded for this great feat of saving everyone by having the Father’s honor and glory given to him personally. Because mortals can be saved only in their own freely chosen repentance, Lucifer’s proposal was rejected. In the ensuing war in heaven, he gained the allegiance of a third of the Father’s spirit children. Lucifer and his followers were then cast out of heaven to earth, where he became Satan and they all became devils (Moses 4:1-3; D&C 29:36-37;76:25-38).

    The name Satan comes from a Hebrew root meaning “to oppose, be adverse,” hence “to attack or to accuse” (see Rev. 12:10). On this earth the role of Satan and his fellow devils is to attack the working of righteousness and to destroy it wherever possible (Moses 4:4; D&C 10:20-23;93:39).

    Righteousness is the condition or action of accomplishing the greatest possible happiness for all beings affected. The attainment of full righteousness is possible only with the help of an omniscient and omnipotent being. This full righteousness is the special order of the Celestial Kingdom where the Father dwells. When the Father’s will is done and his order is in place, every person and every thing attains, or is attaining, the potential he, she, or it has for development and happiness. This righteousness is the good of “good and evil.” It is to be contrasted with those human desires that are contrary to the Father’s order and will.

    A good (righteous) person is an agentive being who chooses and accomplishes only righteousness. No mortal is intrinsically and perfectly good, nor can a mortal alone rise to that standard (Matt. 19:17). But mortals can do righteous acts and become righteous through the salvation provided by Jesus Christ. Christ is the fountain of all righteousness (Ether 12:28). The children of God can achieve the Father’s order of righteousness through Christ if they choose that order in explicit rejection of evil.

    Evil is any order of existence that is not righteous. A state of affairs, an act, or a person not in the order of righteousness is thus evil. Letting one’s neighbor languish in abject poverty while one has plenty, or stealing, or desiring harm for another person are all evils. Satan promotes evil everywhere he can, to thwart the righteousness of God (see D&C 10:27). Thus, Satan tempts people to do evil instead of the Father’s will. Satan himself is not necessary to evil, but he hastens and abets evil wherever he can.

    Satan’s first targets on earth were Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Knowing that the Father had commanded Adam and Eve not to partake of the forbidden fruit on penalty of death, Satan sought to destroy the Father’s work by enticing Adam and Eve to partake of it anyway. Satan’s success marked the beginning of the world (as distinct from the creation of the earth), of Satan’s kingdom on this earth (see JST, Matt. 1:55).

    By obeying Satan, Adam and Eve opened the way for him to have partial dominion over them, over the earth, and over all of their children (see Fall of Adam). Examples of his partial dominion over the earth granted by the Father are his ability to possess the bodies of animals (Matt. 8:28-32) and to use water to destroy people (D&C 61:14-19). Satan gained the power to tempt those who are accountable to do evil (D&C 29:39), to communicate with individuals to teach them things (usually but not always lies), to possess their bodies, to foster illness and disease, and to cause mortal death. He promotes sin, the doing of evil, which brings spiritual death to the sinner and misery to all those affected. In each of these opportunities, Satan’s power is limited: He can do only what he has specific permission from God to do (D&C 121:4; Luke 8:30-33). His power may be taken away by individuals as they hearken to God and as they correctly use the holy priesthood to limit his operations (D&C 50:13-35).

    What Satan did not realize in Eden was that what he did in attempting to destroy the Father’s work was actually the very thing needed to fulfill the Father’s plan (Moses 4:6). People could not demonstrate their love of God and their willingness to do the work of righteousness sufficiently to qualify them for exaltation unless they were subject to, and able to overcome, evil and devil adversaries, such as Satan and his hosts (2 Ne. 2:11-22).

    On earth Satan is thus the father of deception, lies, and sin-of all evils-for he promotes them with vigor. He may appear as a counterfeit angel of light or as the prince of darkness, but his usual manifestations to mortals come as either evil revelation to one’s heart and mind or indirectly through other persons. His mission is to tempt everyone to choose evil so that each accountable human being’s choices can serve as an adequate basis for a final judgment.

    This earth life is a mortal probation for all those who have the opportunity to accept and live by the new and everlasting covenant while in the mortal flesh. Those who do not have a full opportunity in this earth life will have their probation extended through the spirit world existence that follows it. By the time of resurrection, each of the Father’s children will have made a final choice between good and evil, and each will be rewarded with the good or the evil chosen during the probation (Alma 41:10-15).

    When Satan tempts a person to do evil, there are limits to what Satan can accomplish. He can put before a person any kind of evil opportunity, but that evil is enticing only if the person tempted already desires that thing. When people are tempted, it is actually by their own lusts (James 1:12-15).

    Satan has power on earth only as individual persons give it to him by succumbing to his temptations (TPJS, p. 187). The agency of human beings is to choose righteousness through the Holy Spirit of God or to choose selfishness through the flesh by succumbing to Satan’s temptations (2 Ne. 2:26-29). (Human flesh is not evil, but Satan may tempt humans through their flesh.) Individuals who repent in this life are nevertheless tempted by Satan until their death; then Satan has no power over them ever again. Those who die unrepentant are still in Satan’s power in the spirit prison (Alma 34:34-35). All except the sons of perdition will eventually accept Christ and obey him, and thereby escape the dominion of Satan (D&C 76:110). Thus is the Father’s plan of agency fulfilled.

    Satan’s three temptations of the Savior may be seen as paradigmatic of all human temptation (see David O. McKay, Gospel Ideals, p. 154, Salt Lake City, 1953). The temptation to create bread and eat it when he should not represents the human temptation of the flesh, to sate the senses unrighteously. The temptation to cast himself down from the temple and to be saved by angels when he should not represents the human temptation of social acclaim. The temptation to receive the kingdoms of this world when he should not represents the temptation to have unrighteous dominion or power over others. The Savior did not yield to any of these temptations because his heart was pure and he knew that the way of righteousness lay only in doing the Father’s will in all things.

    All accountable mortals are tempted, even as our Savior was tempted. As mortals succumb, Satan gains power and earth life becomes a hell. Every person may resist temptation by choosing good over evil. But misinformation, evil cultural traditions (D&C 93:39), despair, and desperate human need all make the choosing of good difficult, even if the person does not particularly desire a given evil (cf. 2 Ne. 28 for an extensive description of the ploys of Satan).

    Through Jesus Christ and the partaking of his new and everlasting covenant, mortals have the opportunity to gain power to choose good over evil unerringly and always. As they do so, they are able to establish the righteousness of God and thus heaven on earth (Moses 7:18; D&C 50:34-35; see also Zion).

    Human beings resist Satan and evil by controlling their desires-that is, (1) by not desiring the evil that Satan proffers; (2) by gaining more knowledge so that they will be able to see that Satan’s temptations are not what they really want; and (3) by having their hearts purified by Jesus Christ so that they will no longer desire any evil but desire instead to do the Father’s will in all things (Moro. 7:48; cf. the Savior’s answers in Matt. 4:1-10).

    The great help in resisting temptation is the Holy Spirit. It is Satan’s business to dwell in and with all individuals who do not have the Holy Spirit with them, sometimes even gaining total possession of a person’s body, so that he or she loses agency for a time. Partial possession may also occur, for whenever a human being becomes angry, he or she is at least partially possessed by Satan (James 1:20).

    In his role as the destroyer, Satan can cause illness and death, but only with permission from God. He cannot take people before their time unless they disobey God and thus forfeit their mission (Job 1:6-12).

    As the father of lies, Satan has a disinformation campaign. He spreads false notions about himself, about God, about people, about salvation-all for the purpose of defeating acts of faith in Jesus Christ. Mortals believe his lies because the lies are pleasing to the carnal mind and because they promote or support the selfish desires of the individual who believes them. About himself, Satan tells people that there is no devil, that such an idea is wild imagination (2 Ne. 28:22). About God, Satan desires human beings to believe either that he does not exist or that he is some distant, unknowable, or forbidding being. He tells people that they are to conquer in this world according to their strength and that whatever anyone does is no crime (Alma 30:17). Favorite lies about salvation are either that it comes to everyone in spite of anything one does (Alma 21:6) or that it is reserved only for a special few insiders (Alma 31:17). These erroneous creeds of the fathers, fastened upon their children in the form of false creeds, are called in the scriptures “the chains of hell” (Alma 12:11; D&C 123:7-8).

    Secret combinations are another devilish device for spreading misery and obstructing the cause of righteousness (Ether 8:16-26; Hel. 6:16-32). Satan tempts selfish individuals to use others to their own oppressive advantage. Secrecy is essential to prevent retaliation by the victims and just execution of the laws against such combinations. Secret combinations involve personal, economic, educational, political, or military power that controls or enslaves some persons for the pleasure and profit of others.

    Satan also has influence over the spirits of wicked persons who have passed from mortality by death and who inhabit the spirit prison (sometimes called Hades). The inhabitants of this prison do not yet suffer cleansing pain, which will later come, but continue to be subject to Satan’s lies and temptations (Alma 40–41). They also have the opportunity to hear the servants of Christ (D&C 138:28-37), and if they did not have the opportunity on earth, they now may repent unto exaltation. If they did have the opportunity on earth but did not use it, the spirit prison opportunity again allows them to reject Satan and his lies and temptations, but with the reward of a lesser glory (D&C 76:71-79).

    During the Millennium, Satan will be bound (Rev. 20:2). He will still be on earth, attempting to tempt every person, as he has since the Fall of Adam, but he will be bound because no one will hearken to his temptations (1 Ne. 22:26).

    Toward the end of the Millennium, Satan will be loosed (D&C 88:110-115) because people will again hearken to him. But he will be vanquished and sent from this earth to outer darkness, where he and his followers, both spirits and resurrected sons of perdition (Satan is Perdition, “the lost one”), will dwell in the misery and darkness of selfishness and isolation forever.

    Bibliography

    For a more complete treatment of the concept of the devil from an LDS point of view, see LaMar E. Garrard, “A Study of the Problem of a Personal Devil and Its Relationship to Latter-day Saint Beliefs” (Master’s thesis, Brigham Young University, 1955). EspThe Devil: Perceptions of Evil from Antiquity to Primitive Christianity (Ithaca, N.Y., 1977), Satan: The Early Christian Tradition (Ithaca, N.Y., 1981), Lucifer: The Devil in the Middle Ages (Ithaca, N.Y., 1984), and Mephistopheles: The Devil in the Modern World (Ithaca, N.Y., 1986) constitute a comprehensive history of the concept of the devil traced through literature, art, and philosophy from ancient times to the modern day. The presentation is a thorough and scholarly treatment but does not derive from an LD

    CHAUNCEY C. RIDDLE

  • Revelation

    Encyclopedia of Mormonism
    See this page in the original 1992 publication.
    http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Revelation

    Author: Riddle, Chauncey C.

    Receiving personal revelation is a vital and distinctive part of the LDS religious experience. Response to personal revelation is seen as the basis for true faith in Christ, and the strength of the Church consists of that faithful response by members to their own personal revelations. The purpose of both revelation and the response of faith is to assist the children of men to come to Christ and learn to love one another with that same pure love with which Christ loves them.

    TYPES OF REVELATION. A dispensation of the gospel of Jesus Christ is a series of personal revelations from God. These revelations may be direct manifestations from God, as in the following typical cases:

    1. theophanies (seeing God face-to-face), as in the first vision of the Prophet Joseph Smith, which came at the beginning of the present dispensation (JS-H 1:15-20)

    2. revealed knowledge from the Father that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:13-17; see also Spirit of Prophecy)

    3. visitations of angelic persons, such as the appearance of the angel Moroni to Joseph Smith (JS-H 1:30-32)

    4. revelations through the Urim and Thummim, by which means Joseph Smith translated the book of mormon

    5. open visions, as when Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon were shown the kingdoms of the hereafter (see Doctrine and Covenants: Section 76)

    6. physically hearing the voice of God, as is recorded in 3 Nephi 11

    7. receiving the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit, as in the experience of Elijah (1 Kgs. 19);

    8. receiving the gifts of the spirit (D&C 46)

    9. having a burning in the bosom as an indication of the will of God, as in the explanation given to Oliver Cowdery (D&C 9:8)

    10. dreams (1 Ne. 8:2-32)

    11. manifestations of the Light of Christ, by which all men know good from evil (Alma 12:31-32; D&C 84:46-48).

    Such direct manifestations of the mind and will of God are known as gifts and are contrasted with signs. Gifts always have a spiritual component, even when they have a physical aspect. Signs are physical manifestations of the power of God and are a form of revelation from God, though they may be counterfeited and misinterpreted. Signs may show that God is at work, but spiritual gifts are required to know how one should respond.

    REVELATION TO THE CHURCH. In every dispensation, God appoints his prophet to guide his people. The prophet’s purpose is not to be an intermediary between God and others, though a prophet must often do so. His purpose is, rather, to assist others to receive from God the personal revelation that he, the prophet, has taught God’s truth, which will show the way to Christ.

    The prophet as head of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and all other persons who preside in the Church, including General Authorities, stake presidents, bishops, general presidencies, and parents, may receive revelation for the benefit of those over whom they preside. These revelations can be passed on to the membership of the Church through conference and other talks and in personal counsel. But each individual is entitled to know by personal revelation that these messages given through presiding authorities are truly from the Savior himself. President Brigham Young expressed concern that the Latter-day Saints would “have so much confidence in their leaders” that they would “settle down in a state of blind self-security,” abandoning the responsibility to obtain their own revelation: “Let every man and woman know, by the whispering of the Spirit of God to themselves, whether their leaders are walking in the path the Lord dictates, or not” (JD 9:150).

    Presiding quorums in the Church are entitled to revelation for the Church on matters of doctrine, policies, programs, callings, and disciplinary actions, as each might be appropriate to a given quorum. Decisions of these quorums are to be made only by the personal, individual revelation of God to each member of that quorum. “And every decision made by either of these quorums must be by the unanimous voice of the same; that is, every member in each quorum must be agreed to its decisions, in order to make their decisions of the same power or validity one with the other” (D&C 107:27).

    The scriptures contain the inspired writings of God’s appointed prophets and are provided to others for their edification (D&C 68:2-4). By this means, people have received the inspired words recorded in the Old and New Testaments. Through revelation, the Prophet Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon (see Book of Mormon Translation By Joseph Smith) and received those things set forth in the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price. Latter-day Saints anticipate that more prophetic scripture will yet be revealed and that scripture written by past prophets but now lost to the world will be restored (2 Ne. 29:11-14; D&C 27:6; see also Scriptures: Forthcoming Scripture). The true meaning of all scripture is to be revealed by the power of the Holy Ghost to the individual reader or hearer (2 Pet. 1:20; D&C 50:17-24).

    PERSONAL REVELATION. After baptism and confirmation, each member has the right, when worthy, to the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost (see Gift of the Holy Ghost). Through that companionship all the gifts of the Spirit are revealed to faithful individuals, who accomplish their mortal works in righteousness through the gifts and power of God revealed to and through them (Moro. 10:25). The challenges of living by personal revelation include (1) distinguishing revelation from God through his Holy Spirit from personal thoughts and desires, and from the influences of Satan (see Devils); (2) following the teachings and directions of the living prophet of God; and (3) living by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God (Matt. 4:4; John 3:5-8; D&C 50:13-24;98:11-13; Deut. 8:3).

    In modern societies, the idea of divine revelation is widely discounted for many reasons, including the violent acts that some have perpetrated while claiming divine direction. But God has made it known through the restoration of the gospel that revelation is available to all who seek it and that failure to seek spiritual guidance and direction is itself a mistake and a form of wishful thinking. Humans have eternal spirits, and each person experiences the supernatural influences that work upon his or her own spirit. Better than to ignore the spiritual side of oneself is to study one’s personal spiritual experiences until they make sense. Those who acknowledge spiritual experiences are called the “honest in heart,” and they are candidates for the revealed riches of godliness (D&C 8:1;97:8).

    The fundamental revelation from God is the knowledge of good through the Light of Christ (John 1:9). The prophet Lehi taught his children that because of the choices made by Adam and Eve, their descendants receive supernatural knowledge of both good and evil, making a choice between the two necessary in fulfillment of the purpose of earth life. After mortality God returns to each human being eternally the good or evil each chose in life (Alma 41:1-5; 2 Ne. 2:27).

    But before any final judgment, each person will be taught the gospel of Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. This gospel is the good news that the Son of God will assist all persons to stop doing evil and will save them from the consequences of all the evil they have done if they will believe in him and repent. Acting to accept this revelation constitutes faith in Jesus Christ, which, if it continues, may bring additional revelation from God: more instruction; the gifts of the Spirit; the knowledge imparted through saving ordinances of the new and everlasting covenant; angelic visitations; visions; the revelation to know God himself face to face; and finally, the revelation to be given the fulness of godhood, to be made joint-heirs with Christ (D&C 121:29).

    The LDS concept of individual revelation as fundamental to all human experience helps explain other distinctive LDS teachings. The key to making the proper distinction between supernatural revelation and its counterfeit is that fundamental knowledge of good and evil. Individuals must experiment, being as honest in heart and mind as they can, until they can see clearly what is good and what is evil. Those who learn to distinguish good from evil in this life can then distinguish the good spirit from the evil spirit. They then can distinguish the true gospel of Jesus Christ from its counterfeits, the true path of righteousness from the byways of covenant breaking and bending, and the true and living God from the image of God produced by their own wishful thinking (Moro. 7:5-19).

    Joseph Smith taught the Saints how to recognize and receive revelation: A person may profit by noticing the first intimation of the spirit of revelation; for instance, when you feel pure intelligence flowing into you, it may give you sudden strokes of ideas, so that by noticing it, you may find it fulfilled the same day or soon; (i.e.) those things that were presented unto your minds by the Spirit of God, will come to pass; and thus by learning the Spirit of God and understanding it, you may grow into the principle of revelation, until you become perfect in Christ Jesus [TPJS, p. 151].

    To learn to communicate with others by the gifts of that Holy Spirit makes it possible for one to be a prophet or prophetess of God. Latter-day Saints believe that through divine revelation every child of Christ may, and should, become a prophet or a prophetess to his or her own divinely appointed stewardship (Num. 11:29), holding fast to that which is good and rejecting that which is evil (1 Thes. 5:19-21).

    Thus, the human problem is not to get revelation, but to understand the revelation one receives, to respond only to that which is good, and to minister only that which is good. The servants of Christ are counseled to look to him and to him only for light and truth. They are told not to take counsel from any human being or to hearken to any person unless he or she speaks by the power of the Holy Spirit. Truth, light, righteous power, and salvation come from above, from God himself, through divine revelation, and not from human beings or from below (2 Ne. 28:30-31).