Note: I have been working on some theological research and did not think to post on this blog again until it was finished, but in the meantime I wrote this out and found that these thoughts pleased me, so I figured that I would share them before the other stuff gets published.
Perversion is the name of the devilish game
An angel showed Nephi a body of Gentile worshipers that would exist in the latter days—which he called a great and abominable church, even the most abominable of all other bodies of worshipers (churches)—who would take away many plain and precious parts, and also many covenants of the Lord, from the gospel of the Lamb. (See 1 Ne. 13:26.) The angel then explained why these people would do this:
And all this have they done that they might pervert the right ways of the Lord, that they might blind the eyes and harden the hearts of the children of men. (1 Ne. 13:27)
The right ways of the Lord are that the mind see (not be blind) by always looking at the light of the world, which is Jesus Christ upon the cross, and that the heart be soft and broken (not be hard), by receiving the Holy Ghost. The two-fold process (three, really, when you count praying continually to the Father without fainting) is designed to transform men and women into Christs (Anointed Ones). We look to Jesus as the standard we are seeking to emulate and then we put up no resistance, whatsoever to the influence of the Holy Spirit, so that we become a completely malleable lump of clay in the Lord’s hands, one that can be easily manipulated by Him and made to exactly conform to the standard we are looking to. A broken heart, then, is a heart that has completely submitted itself to the transforming power of the Holy Ghost, putting up no resistance to becoming like Christ.
The word emulate means “to strive to equal or excel (another); to imitate, with a view to equal or outdo; to vie with; to rival; as, to emulate the good and the great.” Jesus taught,
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.” (John 14:12)
Thus, the gospel is that we “strive to equal or excel” Christ, doing even greater works they He did, which is one of the reasons why it is called the more excellent way of Christ. In other words, the doctrine of Christ really is a doctrine of emulation. Emulation, or the “ambition or endeavor to equal or excel; rivalry”, gives glory to God because through the atonement of His Son, God does the impossible, taking nothings (us) and making us somethings greater than even “the greatest of all” (D&C 19:18.) This miracle shows forth God’s matchless power and marvelous ways, causing all things to “shut their mouths” in dumbfounderment and give glory to Him. But the impossible can only be made possible through the right ways of the Lord. Otherwise, this transformation into a new creature remains an impossibility.
The word perverse comes from the French perver, which comes from the Latin perversus, which means “turned the wrong way, not right.” Thus, any deviation to the right or to the left from the straight course of the Lord is a perversion. However, the particular body of worshipers of which the angel spoke is considered the most abominable because their perversion consists of a 180 degree change in direction. So, if the Lord says to go right, they seek that men go left, or that they do the exact opposite of what He says and wills. In other words, they seek to change the polarity of the brains of men, from negative to positive and from positive to negative.
Through mass media
The prophesied modus operandi of the Gentile mother of harlots (the great and abominable church) would be the systematic perversion of media, meaning mass media. Mass media is the plural form of mass medium, which is “a medium of communication (as newspapers, radio or television) that is designed to reach the mass of the people.”
This criminal pattern of operation began by taking “a record of the Jews” that was intended and “designed [by God] to reach the mass of the people,” and then editing out many of the more plain and precious parts and covenants originally found therein. Afterward, this now perverted media was sent out to the mass of Gentile nations, causing “an exceedingly great many” of the Gentiles to stumble and become subject to Satan’s power.
But the wicked body of worshipers would not stop there. They would continue their work of destruction and captivity by taking control of every conceivable form of mass media, and doing the same thing they did to that ancient record of the Jews, taking all wholesome media and removing the spiritual value it may have once contained.
Media: wholesome, distraction or poison to the mind
Any form of media, be it a television show, a motion picture, a video game, a novel or other literature, a theatrical performance (a play), a speech, a radio talk show or even a song or music video, must fall into one of three categories in its effect on the mind:
1. things that point our minds to Christ (wholesome),
2. things that point our minds to the things of men (distracting), or
3. things that point our minds directly to the devil (poisonous.)
Mind-healing (wholesome) media
Wholesome media points men to Christ. This category follows the pattern given by Mormon:
But behold, that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually; wherefore, every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God.
For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God. (Moroni 7:13,16)
There are two questions, then, to ask oneself about any media to determine whether it is wholesome: 1) does it invite to do good and 2) does it persuade to believe in Christ? You must be able to answer, “yes,” to both questions for a media program to be wholesome. This category of media may still present sinful behavior to its audience, but it does so in the context of the gospel of Jesus Christ, always speaking of the sinful behavior as sinful and inviting the audience to do good and not evil and to believe in Christ.
A program that presents sinful behavior as wrong and abnormal (perversion) but that fails to invite the audience to do good and fails to persuade men to believe in Christ does not qualify as wholesome. Wholesome media heals the minds of men by pointing them to Christ. Everything else is either a distraction or a poison to man’s mind, the effect of which causes spiritual blindness.
Media strategies of distraction and darkness
Anything that falls into categories two and three, then, is unwholesome. All media that passes through the mother of harlots is either dimmed, darkened or left in the same category it was originally in, depending on how it started out, the readiness and circumstances of the people, and the design of the whore of all the earth. Her ultimate goal is to have only dark media, but she sometimes will settle for dimmed media. Dimmed media is anything that showcases the works of men, while leaving out the works of God and of the devil. This type of media can be useful to transition a population subtly into total darkness, which is the desire of these perverts. Essentially, the abominable church uses dimmed media as a strategy of distraction.
Media that passes through the great and abominable church is never enlightened by her. Thus, this church will never take poisonous material and remove all of its poisonous elements, bringing it into a merely dim state. It may remove some of them, if it thinks the public will not consume it in its present state, but it will never edit dark media to make it dim, nor edit dim material to make it wholesome and enlightened by Christ. Instead, the trend is to take wholesome material and edit it so that it is transformed into either a dimmed distraction or poisonous darkness. Or, it will take material that is already a dimmed distraction and either leave it as it is or add some poison to it. For material that is already poisonous darkness, it will either leave it in its condition, add more poison to it, or remove some (but not all) of its poison, so that the public more easily and readily consumes it.
The great and abominable church, although employing strategies of distraction, are noted for their attempts to get everyone looking 180 degrees in the opposite direction of Christ, so that they view the works of the devil, which are works of darkness. By constantly viewing works of darkness, the human mind becomes conditioned to darkness. Eventually the human mind comes to accept the works of the devil as normal, human conditions, and not as devilish perversions.
A key to determine whether something is a work of man or a work of the devil is whether sinful behavior is present in what is viewed (or listened to.) For example, if you are watching a television show that is about fishing, a common pastime of humans, and there is no sinful behavior presented to the audience, meaning nobody lies, nobody cheats, steals, murders, fornicates, exhibits pride, boasts, etc., on the show, the fishing show can be said to be merely distractive: a showcase of the works of men. But, if the fishing show routinely presents sinful behavior in front of the eyes of the audience, and more especially if the behavior is presented as normal or “not that bad,” the show is a propaganda piece to point the minds of men to the devil, to condition them to his dark works.
Media can either soften or harden the heart
Unlike the mind, there are only two effects media has on the heart. On the one hand there is media that softens the heart. For example, this could be media that cause one to feel sorrow for sin, both for one’s own sins as well as the sins of the world.
And now, my son, I desire that ye should let these things trouble you no more, and only let your sins trouble you, with that trouble which shall bring you down unto repentance.
O my son, I desire that ye should deny the justice of God no more. Do not endeavor to excuse yourself in the least point because of your sins, by denying the justice of God; but do you let the justice of God, and his mercy, and his long-suffering have full sway in your heart; and let it bring you down to the dust in humility. (Alma 42:29-30)
Any media, therefore, that causes you to feel sorrow for sin, individually and generally speaking, has a heart-softening, humbling and heart-breaking effect. Such media is wholesome (heart-healing.) Another example would be media that causes one to rejoice in the marvelous works of the Lord, inspiring one towards emulation of the Son of God. Sometimes media can possess both such effects on the heart of man, such as what king Mosiah read to his people:
And now, when Mosiah had made an end of reading the records, his people who tarried in the land were struck with wonder and amazement. For they knew not what to think; for when they beheld those that had been delivered out of bondage they were filled with exceedingly great joy.
And again, when they thought of their brethren who had been slain by the Lamanites they were filled with sorrow, and even shed many tears of sorrow.
And again, when they thought of the immediate goodness of God, and his power in delivering Alma and his brethren out of the hands of the Lamanites and of bondage, they did raise their voices and give thanks to God.
And again, when they thought upon the Lamanites, who were their brethren, of their sinful and polluted state, they were filled with pain and anguish for the welfare of their souls. (Mosiah 25:7-11)
On the other hand, every other type of media hardens the heart by degrees, depending upon whether the media has a distractive or poisonous effect on the mind.
Desensitization equals hard-heartedness
Whenever we view media that presents sin to us as normal behavior, meaning without labeling and condemning it as perversion, there is a slight desensitization that occurs in our hearts. If we repeatedly are shown sinful behavior outside of the context of the gospel, which categorically condemns such sins as devilish perversions, the heart can quite quickly become completely desensitized so that it no longer can discern (feel) why such behavior is morally wrong.
Only in the context of the gospel can sinful behavior be viewed with soul-saving benefit, meaning that the viewing of sinful behavior in a gospel context actually causes us to sorrow for sin, which enables us to repent and come to Christ. Outside of this context, sinful behavior, even pretended sinful behavior, such as the acting done in movies and television shows, desensitizes our hearts, making them harder or more resistant to the power of the Holy Ghost and less disposed to sorrow over sin.
Devilish strategies
The great and abominable church uses media to flood the minds and hearts of men with specific images and sounds that cause spiritual blindness and hard hearts, all under the guise of entertainment or education. The strategy used, as far as the heart is concerned, is to continuously present all manner of sinful behavior to the public, in all forms of media, without ever inviting the audience to do good, nor ever persuading them to believe in Christ. This constant stream of perversion completely shuts down the sensitivity of the heart organ.
Once the heart is desensitized and the mind blinded, the man is in a condition ready to be controlled by demonic forces. The devil cannot perform his deeds in light (meaning minds that see, or that aren’t under spiritual blindness) nor with softened hearts. His are methods of control and he cannot take control of enlightened minds and soft, broken hearts. He needs, first, to darken the mind and harden the heart. Once that happens, the mind and heart of man becomes highly suggestible and he can then lead them where he will, down to their destruction.
The nature of man is to resist all control systems, but it only manifests insofar as the mind and heart of man are in their proper polarities. Once the polarities are switched, the opposite effect occurs, namely that man’s (now perverse) nature submits to the devil’s control systems, freely giving up its agency to him so that he can destroy it.
The great and abominable church, that body of perverse worshipers, has a two-fold purpose in seeking to reverse the polarities of the two brain hemispheres in man: first, to cause the man to give up agency to the devil through deceit, darkness, desensitization and ultimately the man’s own sins, and secondly, to create a very thick veil of unbelief so that the man becomes completely desensitized to the wonders and marvels of God.
Why the heart must be sensitive
The Lord made the heart sensitive as a protection to us. A sensitive heart can very easily perceive the evilness that comes from the devil. It has a natural, moral compass that tells the man that the things of the devil are destructive and dark, whereas the things of God are good and marvelous. It is designed to spurn the works of the devil and to thrive on the works of the Father, even to delight in them, which in turn are designed to greatly affect the highly sensitive hearts of men. In this way, both parties are edified, both the man and his God. (See D&C 50.) When the brain polarities are switched, this natural process is highjacked. Now, when God shows forth His marvels, the desensitized heart of man feels nothing and his blind mind thinks nothing of them, “esteem[ing] them as things of naught” (2 Nephi 33:2). He no longer marvels and this, in turn, causes God’s anger to rise, for neither are edified:
And it came to pass that thus passed away the ninety and fifth year also, and the people began to forget those signs and wonders which they had heard, and began to be less and less astonished at a sign or a wonder from heaven, insomuch that they began to be hard in their hearts, and blind in their minds, and began to disbelieve all which they had heard and seen—imagining up some vain thing in their hearts, that it was wrought by men and by the power of the devil, to lead away and deceive the hearts of the people; and thus did Satan get possession of the hearts of the people again, insomuch that he did blind their eyes and lead them away to believe that the doctrine of Christ was a foolish and a vain thing. (3 Nephi 2:1-2)
…and thus were the people in a state of many afflictions; and the sword of destruction did hang over them, insomuch that they were about to be smitten down by it, and this because of their iniquity. (3 Nephi 2:19)
What sin and righteousness really are
Sin is anything, at all, that hardens the heart (reducing sorrow for sin, estimation or favorable opinion of God, desire to become like Christ and submissiveness to the Holy Spirit), and darkens the mind, of man, while righteousness is the exact opposite: anything, at all, that softens the heart (increasing sorrow for sin, estimation of God, etc.), and enlightens the mind, of man. This is why King Benjamin said:
And finally, I cannot tell you all the things whereby ye may commit sin; for there are divers ways and means, even so many that I cannot number them. (Mosiah 4:29)
There are innumerable ways and means that the devil uses to harden the heart. When we participate in, or observe, any activity which causes our hearts to become hardened, we sin, even if we are unaware that we are sinning. Luckily, the Savior atones for sins committed in ignorance:
For behold, and also his blood atoneth for the sins of those who have fallen by the transgression of Adam, who have died not knowing the will of God concerning them, or who have ignorantly sinned. (Mosiah 3:11)
However, once we have knowledge of the key, which is whether something hardens, or softens, the heart, then any activity or perception that we willfully engage in, either personally or through purposeful media exposure, that causes our hearts to harden, will condemn us before the Lord:
Now they did not sin ignorantly, for they knew the will of God concerning them, for it had been taught unto them; therefore they did wilfully rebel against God. (3 Nephi 6:18)
It is this will of God concerning man, even the right ways of the Lord (which are forever righteous), which has designed that man’s heart is to function in a heart-softening and heart-breaking environment. If we willfully rebel against that will and feed our hearts perversions that harden it, we run the risk of spiritual and temporal captivity and destruction.
Two ways to feel
Heart desensitization makes it harder to feel anything, both good and bad. A hard heart cannot feel the good words of God, because that requires heart sensitivity. Said Nephi to Laman and Lemuel:
Ye are swift to do iniquity but slow to remember the Lord your God. Ye have seen an angel, and he spake unto you; yea, ye have heard his voice from time to time; and he hath spoken unto you in a still small voice, but ye were past feeling, that ye could not feel his words; wherefore, he has spoken unto you like unto the voice of thunder, which did cause the earth to shake as if it were to divide asunder. (1 Nephi 17:45)
A hard heart also loses the ability to feel bad things, or things that come from the devil. In order for a hard-hearted man to feel something, he must do one of two things: either he must repent of his sins, gaining heart sensitivity once again, or he must engage in even greater sin excursions.
The latter choice will initially allow the man to feel something once again, but because sin has a heart-hardening effect, he will yet again be left numb and desensitized, requiring an even greater amount and darker type of sensory stimulation. This cycle must repeat until the man is left completely senseless, numb and cold-hearted, unfeeling towards everything, and filled with anger at all the universe because of his condition. Such men become “vessels of wrath” (D&C 76:33) and all “the heavens weep [over them], seeing these shall suffer” (Moses 7:37.)
Using a heart-hardness test
The angel prophesied that the most abominable church would have dominion over all the earth, among all nations, kindreds, tongues and people. It can be expected, therefore, that we are going to be absolutely swamped with propaganda coming from that quarter, and every last bit of media will become infected with their perversions. The desensitization that comes from this group’s media output is a real and present danger to the souls of men.
We routinely test our water for hardness and our pipes for scale, but surely the state of our hearts is even more important. Using the heart as a gauge, all things that are presented to us can be filtered, so that only heart-softening media surrounds us and heart-hardening media is removed. It may be wise to systematically go through all the media we routinely pay attention to, to determine whether it hardens or softens our heart.
People aren’t used to viewing sin in terms of its heart-hardening effect, so you may be questioned by your spouse, your children, your neighbors or even by other Mormons and Christians as to why you are removing this or that media from your life. The answer to such questions can be quite simple:
“Because it hardens the heart.”
Using a heart-hardening gauge allows a person to much more easily see (and explain to others) what is and is not sin-promoting material.
An example of perverse media: pornography
For example, if we filter pornography through a heart-hardening gauge, we can plainly see that pornography hardens the heart rather quickly and thoroughly. This is because of its extreme perversity. In Justin’s Connecting with Pixels post, he mentioned a web site that openly talks about the effects of pornography. That site says:
First of all, there is clear evidence that long-term pornography use sets people up for feeling more depressed and empty than those who do not use. One big reason for this is that the pleasure center in the brain gets so worn out by constant artificial stimulation that it simply stops being able to respond to more natural kinds of pleasure.
Basically, you slowly start to become numb or desensitized to everyday activities. (What are the effects of porn anyway?)
Artificial stimulation is the correct terminology, for pornography presents a perverse form of sexuality to the viewer as if it were normal, natural, human behavior. The list of pornographic perversions is exceedingly long.
According to the right ways of the Lord, sexual relations between an intact husband and his intact wife (no genital mutilations for either one) is ideal, right, proper and edifying. This is the pattern to which all other sexual relations must be compared. Everything outside of a husband and wife having sex is perversion of the pattern given by God. So, let’s see just how perverse pornography is.
Righteous, marital sex involves no money.
The pornographic perversion of sex, on the other hand, does involves money, the actors being paid to have sex, making them all prostitutes.
Righteous, marital sex is between two people who know and have a vested interest in each other.
The pornographic perversion of sex often involves complete strangers with no attachments, whatsoever.
Righteous, marital sex is between people who love each other.
In the pornographic perversion of sex, the performers feel and express no genuine love for one another.
Righteous, marital sex deepens the love that the matrimony has for one another, giving them greater intimacy with each other and softening their hearts one towards the other.
The pornographic perversion of sex treats sex as a mechanical process, a series of movements that they must act out in front of the camera and crew with no intimacy, love or requirement or need to feel anything, whatsoever, towards the other person they are working with. In fact, the way performers actually are able to get through their “work day” on the set is through detachment. This has a heart-hardening effect upon both the actors, crew and viewers, who are all aware, and accepting, of this perverse condition.
As adults are designed by God to have sex, the genitals of a man and his wife, in their natural state, are hairy, which are signs of adulthood.
The pornographic perversion of sex has performers shave their pubic hairs, so that they look like large children having sex.
Righteous, marital relations typically begin with foreplay.
The pornographic perversion of sex often completely skips it, diving right away into sexual intercourse.
Sweet talking and kissing, including declarations of love, typically accompany marital relations.
Such things are often either eliminated altogether or cut down to a bare minimum in pornography.
Strong, permanent connections are demonstrated in marital relationships, in which the man and his wife feel strongly attached and attracted to each other and this feeling is demonstrated both before, during and after sexual relations.
As noted above, in pornography, detachment is the norm, with actors showing their willingness to have multiple, temporary flings, with no apparent feeling of attachment, whatsoever, towards the sexual partner(s).
Sexual relations in a marriage are spontaneous and largely undirected. If there is any direction, it comes from the participants only, each one taking cues from his or her spouse.
Not so in the pornographic perversion. The performers are told what to do, and when to do it, by the director. They are given the location, the mode of dress, the positions, the actions, the timing, the angles, the words to say or not say, etc. The whole thing is externally directed. In fact, although it is “technically” sex, there is not much relating between the actors that goes on, as each one is following the director’s instructions, so it can hardly be called sexual relations. Although what the director and crew says is typically not recorded, every viewer watches with this understanding of external direction in mind, therefore, the atmosphere is one of direction, nonetheless.
Righteous, marital sex comes with the choice of sexual form and position, according to what they feel like doing in the moment.
The pornographic perversion of sex removes that choice. The performers must do what the director tells them to do, going through a set number of sexual forms and positions, whether they like it or not, or they risk not getting paid or getting blacklisted and not getting any more work.
Righteous, marital sex comes with enjoyment. In other words, they engage in sexual relations because they enjoy sexual relations with each other.
The pornographic perversion of sex cares little about enjoyment. Often the performers are obviously not having a good time (and this is desirable to many directors), yet they must perform nonetheless, because a contract or money is involved. Such feeling is communicated into the camera and this hardens the heart of the viewers and actors involved.
An intact man with his intact wife will penetrate deeply and stay deep, rocking back and forth. In such a position, you can’t see their genitals, because they are stuck to each other, as if they were literally one flesh.
Pornography perverts this natural position by making the performers assume an unnatural position (leaning back and away from the camera) and thrusting hard, so that the genitals can be clearly illuminated by lighting and filmed and so that the male member can be seen going in and out. The mechanical movements of this unnatural position is what pornography seeks to exploit as normal, everyday sex, which, of course, it isn’t.
Righteous, marital sex is designed so that the man ejaculates into the woman’s vagina. Even if she doesn’t get pregnant by this, the deposited semen seems to have some kind of healthful regulation upon her body.
This natural process is aborted in pornography and substituted with a perversion. The male performer must exit the female performer and masturbate until he ejaculates on her externally. This is called the “money shot.”
Righteous, marital sex is safe sex, in the sense of social security, each one feeling secure with each other. This grounds both the man and his wife, creating a feeling of social foundation, safety and security.
The pornographic perversion of sex takes insecure performers, and more especially insecure women, who have typically gone through some kind of sexual abuse at some point in their lives, who have left their families and other sources of security and who, being on their own, are looking for something secure, and then it incorporates them into the “family of X.” But instead of giving them a sense of social security, it plays upon their insecurities, giving them an insecure and predatory business environment, meaning that they are under the express understanding that they must perform as told and expected to under threat of being being fired and blacklisted. Some family, indeed.
Righteous, marital sex is physically safe sex, as it protects from STD’s transmitted from strange, temporary partners.
The pornographic perversion of sex is physically unsafe sex, as it promotes unprotected sex with multiple strangers. The illusion of routine medical testing it presents to the public is just that: an illusion, for many times these are just faked anyway to get the performers to feel better about doing dangerous work.
Righteous, marital sex does not require any drug preparations to “get in the mood.”
The pornographic perversion of sex routinely makes sure that copious amounts of alcohol and drugs are at hand for the performers, so that they are more apt to perform such strong perversions, with their minds already clouded and their hearts already desensitized by the effects of the narcotics and alcohol.
These and many other perversions essentially make pornography a sexual middle finger pointed directly at the Lord, as if the devil were looking up and saying, “Look at how I’ve confounded the sexuality of man!” All who participate in it, as performer, crew, distributor or consumer, whether they know it or not, are having their hearts turned rock hard, because of the enormous strength of its perversion.
Once the heart is sexually hardened, it cannot feel what a normal, sensitive heart can feel, yet it has the same or greater desires to feel. Therefore, if repentance isn’t relied upon and resorted to, which will soften the heart so it can feel again, the viewer of pornography must viewer “harder core” pornography to be able to feel something. But as I said above, this just numbs the heart further, resulting in a need for even harder, hardcore pornography.
Other types of perverse media
I don’t want to make this post a book (too late, I know), so I will just briefly mention a few others that have a rapid, heart-hardening effect on mankind.
Violent media
The heart is supposed to feel sorrow when it witnesses violence (or any other sin.) If we watch a program on television or in the movies in which there is a violent act and it doesn’t cause our heart to sorrow for the sins of the world, it is an indication that our hearts have been hardened by what we are watching. Once a heart is hardened by violence, more explicit violence is needed to get the same sensory rush. There is a reason why all the crime shows nowadays are almost always about murder. The non-violent crimes of theft, etc. no longer give television’s desensitized audience a sufficient sensory rush to cause them to buy the products shown during the commercials. So, murder is now the top topic, even for news shows. After all, they have sponsors, too.
Prideful media
Listening to the prideful lyrics of a song or watching any prideful behavior or boasting in one’s own strength without immediately recognizing the sin and feeling sorrow for it hardens one’s heart rather quickly. Music has a powerful influence over the heart and if certain types of prideful, boasting music is listened to on a daily or consistent basis, the heart will harden and imitate the behavior. In fact, anything that hardens the heart will end up influencing the (now hardened) heart to imitate the bad behavior that caused it to harden. So, the sinful material serves a dual purpose in the hands of the devil. He first uses it to harden the heart, then he uses it to to control the people.
Lying media
How many times in soap operas and other types of television shows, movies, etc., do we see lies presented as “little?” Ah, but if the liars are pretty, then it’s okay, right? Isn’t it interesting that lies are works of darkness, yet are often described as “white?” All of this is conditioning propaganda to get the heart in a hardened state.
Witchcraft and sorcery media
Have you noticed the trend among the population concerning witchcraft and sorcery, how it is no longer considered an abomination, but is now fashionable and in vogue? Isn’t it interesting that sorcery was a widespread feature among the landscape of the Nephites at the end of their civilization?
And it came to pass that there were sorceries, and witchcrafts, and magics; and the power of the evil one was wrought upon all the face of the land, even unto the fulfilling of all the words of Abinadi, and also Samuel the Lamanite. (Mormon 1:19)
Satanic rituals are now routinely performed in front of our eyes during mass media events. The general populace may not know that they are witnessing rituals of sorcery, but they are becoming accustomed to it and eventually will be made to fully embrace it, for all sorcery and witchcraft hardens the heart, preparing the heart for demonic possession and control. Like all sin, that is its purpose.
A poisonous mix or concoction
We can expect the great and abominable church to combine the various perversions into a great, magical, heart-hardening and mind-blinding potion. This is what they currently feed to all those who pertain to the secret combinations of the world and this jet black media will, eventually, be fed undiluted to the general public. So, violence and pride and sexual perversion and lies and all manner of wickedness will be combined together into some form of horrific snuff media, which the masses will consume all day, all the time. We are not there, yet, but it will come, for that is the plan.
It may seem to you that such abominations in media surely will not be accepted by the public, or perhaps you think that you would never be one of those who will accept them, but remember the words of Nephi concerning the “flaxen cords” of the devil:
And there are also secret combinations, even as in times of old, according to the combinations of the devil, for he is the founder of all these things; yea, the founder of murder, and works of darkness; yea, and he leadeth them by the neck with a flaxen cord, until he bindeth them with his strong cords forever. (2 Nephi 26:22)
It all starts out with a flaxen cord of dimmed (distracting) media, until we are accustomed to it, then we are introduced ever so subtly to stronger cords of darkened (poisoned) media, until we are accustomed to that. Finally, he binds us down with very strong cords of murder (snuff) and works of darkness, which we will swallow whole without any ability to resist. Yes, it can happen to you and to me, if we do not cut the devil’s cords which he has upon us now, even if they are presently only “flaxen cords.”
Is your heart desensitized?
Heart desensitizing media is found everywhere, even in supposedly innocent places. The truly softened heart feels sorrow for the littlest sin and the enlightened mind perceives it immediately, whereas a hard heart can’t feel it, at all, nor can a dark mind see it.
For example, the other day I was watching a Wiggles show with my son and one of the characters asked a second character if he had done something. He denied it, even though everyone saw him do it. This happened three times. I didn’t catch it until the third time, after which I did a double take and said, “The guy lied three times!” The whole group was laughing about it the entire time and my mind just thought of it as a joke, as kidding around, but when it happened the third time, I finally saw that this was no joke, that this guy was outright lying, attempting to deceive the first character, but the other characters were just playing along like it was funny. I thought, “Teaching children that lying is funny is not a message they ought to get.” But I was more embarrassed by the realization that my mind was so much darkened and my heart so much hardened that I didn’t catch the lie until the third time!
Sin has become so commonplace in mass media, so normalized, that we often can’t perceive the “tiny” ones anymore. In reality, since the Lord said:
I, the Lord, cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance (D&C 1:31)
there is no such creature as a “tiny” sin. The idea of sin being classified as small or great comes from a hard heart, which considers “small sins” as not that bad. In truth, all sin is bad, but sin only varies in its heart-hardening effects. Some sins harden the heart faster and more completely than other sins. Nevertheless, all sins, even ones that only slightly harden the heart, and which do so slowly, cut us off from the Lord, and therefore, have death as their wages. Thus, it is vital that we be able to perceive what is and is not sin. Luckily, the Lord has given us the keys to discernment, even a mind that sees and a heart that feels. He has also given us the way to see and feel, if we have been blinded and desensitized by the great and abominable church: repentance.
Therefore, I suggest that we all put our water hardness tests down and perform instead a heart hardness test. Go ahead and test yourself. If you find that you can’t see certain sins in mass media anymore, or that you don’t feel sorrow when you perceive sinful behavior, it may be an indication that there are perverse influences in your life which you have accepted as normal. Perhaps it is time to do a systematic house-cleaning of all such heart-hardening influences.
Complete List of Articles authored by LDS Anarchist
September 12, 2012
Categories: Agency, Atonement, Babylon, Chastity, Circumcision, Holy Ghost, Jesus Christ, Pornography, Power of the Holy Ghost, Pride, Prophecy, Relationships, Repentance, Secret Combinations . . Author: LDS Anarchist . Comments: 15 Comments
1 Nephi 13 & 14 commentary, using CTC’s view
On June 17th, 2008, Anthony E. Larson uploaded a post to this blog called, The Great and Abominable Church. A couple of weeks later a visitor called CTC claimed that 1 Nephi 13 & 14 spoke of a literal great and abominable church that had yet to make its appearance and that much of both of these chapters was yet to be fulfilled. He said he got this information from someone who he believed was a bona fide prophet of God. CTC did not use a chronological approach to Nephi’s prophecy. This made it easy for him to get around certain parts which posed problems to him as a future fulfillment. But I’m not going to take that approach. I’m going to read it chronologically and literally, and see where it takes me.
I’m doing this because it interests me, not because I subscribe to this view, so please don’t take this as my interpretation of this chapter. As I’ve said before, my understanding of prophecy is that it is plain and speaks of real things, and also that it often has shadows or types. When CTC first posted his comments, I did not respond, because I hadn’t taken the time to really look at 1 Nephi 13, to see if the fulfillment that we normally assign to it could be a mere shadow. So, I remained silent and let others respond to him. However, recently I have found myself mentioning time and time again about a coming future captivity of the saints, which brought to my mind what Nephi had stated in 1 Nephi 13, which then brought to my mind what CTC had written in his comments.
All of which leads me to this post, in which I look at these chapters and attempt to interpret them as if their literal fulfillment was still future. So, let’s begin.
Chapter Thirteen of First Nephi
I will quote a part of the chapter, then give what is commonly assumed as its fulfillment, but as a shadow, and then I will give its literal future fulfillment. I will try to convincingly show why the shadow fulfillment does not satisfy the prophecy, meaning why the prophecy is not fulfilled every whit by the shadow, necessitating a future, literal fulfillment. I am using this as my Book of Mormon text.
The times of the Gentiles
This is obviously talking about the times of the Gentiles. But which times? The times of the primitive church with the twelve apostles, the times right after the death of the apostles, the times of Joseph Smith, the current times, or a future time of the Gentiles? Nephi isn’t clear on this point, but I will interpret this as a future time.
The formation of a church
Shadow past fulfillment: Some have stated that this is the Roman Catholic Church, a literal church, which would put its formation after the death of the apostles. Others have stated that this is the “church” of science, a metaphorical church, which would put its formation after the Roman Catholic Church. Others believe this is speaking metaphorically about all churches that are not the true saints of God, per the later verse of 1 Ne. 14:10, giving it a metaphorical “formation” and a metaphorical “captivity.” These must all be shadows because they do not fulfill the prophecy every whit.
Literal future fulfillment: This a real church, not a figurative or metaphorical church. And it exists among other, real churches. It literally kills and tortures real saints—or sanctified people who have entered into a covenant with God, witnessed by baptism—and literally binds them, puts real iron yokes upon them and brings them down into literal (not metaphorical) captivity.
To literally fulfill this prophecy every whit, living saints of God must be present during, or after, the formation of this church, and they must be killed, tortured, bound, yoked with iron, and brought into captivity. Also, there must be other, real churches present, which do not pertain to the abominable church.
This has not occurred, yet, for although there were people tortured, killed, put into iron yokes and brought into captivity, by various religious organizations in the past, these tortured souls were not saints of God, for the church of God was already non-existent by then and the saints and apostles were already dead. Therefore, this prophecy must pertain to the future.
Devil, materialism, worldy praise
The previous commentary applies to this section, as well, for if the church of God is not present, in order for this abominable church to bring God’s saints down into captivity and destroy them, it cannot be fulfilled literally.
Many waters
Shadow past fulfillment: The Gentiles of Europe are divided (separated) from the American Indians (Lamanites) by the Atlantic Ocean.
Literal future fulfillment: The Gentiles of Asia are divided (separated) from the American Indians (Lamanites) by “many waters.” The term “many waters” refers to that body of water called by the Nephites, Irreantum, which is the Pacific Ocean.
The Spirit of God upon a man
Shadow past fulfillment: The European Gentile, Christopher Columbus, “believed himself chosen by God to find [a new] land and deliver the light of Christianity to the natives there.” He sailed upon the Atlantic Ocean to the New World, all the way to the Lamanite remnant.
Literal future fulfillment: A man among the Asian Gentiles (not necessarily a Gentile man, nor Asian) will have the Spirit of God come down and work upon him. This man will be a holy prophet of God and will travel from Asia to North America, upon the Irreantum or Pacific Ocean, until he reaches the Lamanite remnant.
The Spirit of God upon captive Gentiles
Shadow past fulfillment: European Gentiles (Puritans) leave Europe and their religious “captivity” for America to partake of religious freedom. (Never mind that Europe was one of the freest places on the planet at the time.) They travel over the Atlantic Ocean.
Literal future fulfillment: Asian Gentiles are wrought upon by the Spirit of God, becoming saints of God, and leave Asian captivity, meaning that they leave the captivity of the tyrannical Chinese, North Korean and other communist regimes and dictatorships, which bind the people down in literal captivity. They travel over the Irreantum (Pacific Ocean.)
The scattering of the Lamanites
Shadow past fulfillment: Lots of European Gentiles are in America. The European Gentiles partially scatter the American Indians and gather them into reservations. The European Gentiles take possession of Indian and American land. Some prosper, some do not. The European Gentiles are white, fair and beautiful.
Literal future fulfillment: Lots of different Gentiles are in America. An unnamed group of (European?) Gentiles fully scatter the American Indians, off of the reservations, and smite them, so that the Lamanites are completely landless. The Spirit of the Lord comes upon a righteous group of (Asian?) Gentiles (saints) and they prosper and inherit the land. This righteous group of Gentiles is white, fair and beautiful.
Former captors wage war against former captives; God saves former captives
Shadow past fulfillment: Many European Gentiles (in the American British colonies) are either deists or believe in God, Christianity and the Bible. The American Revolutionary War ensues. Despite hardships, lack of supplies, training, etc., the American Continental Army defeats the British.
Literal future fulfillment: The Asian Gentiles (who are converted saints of God)—who left their Asian communist countries, who traveled over the Irreantum (Pacific Ocean), who are now living upon the land of America—humble themselves before the Lord and obtain the gifts and powers of the Holy Ghost. Their mother countries (China, Russia and the rest) send warships upon the waters to battle them and gather together upon the water and also gather together upon the land. Divine intervention (miracles of God) takes place and the armies of the mother Gentile nations, as well as the armies of all those nations who were gathered with them to battle the former Asian Gentile captives, are defeated by the power of God, and not by any power of man.
A book, the record of the Jews
Shadow past fulfillment: The European Gentiles (now called American citizens) have a Bible—written by multiple authors, not a single Jew—which has been corrupted by that great and abominable church, you know, the Roman Catholic Church, or the science non-church, or the vast assembly of non-saint churches “church.” That church. Anyway, that church/non-church takes some plain and precious parts away from the Bible and then sends it out to all the European Gentiles, which then makes its way to America, since the European Gentiles have traveled there over the Atlantic Ocean. And because of this faulty Bible, many of the European Gentiles stumble and sin. But hope is not lost, for the Lord has a plan.
Literal future fulfillment: The Asian Gentiles saints living in America have a book, written by a singular Jew, which contains a record of the Jews, the covenants of the Lord and many of the prophecies of the prophets. This book is like the plates of brass, except it doesn’t contain as much information as the plates of brass. It contains the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the testimony of all twelve apostles of the Lord.
When the book first appears, written by the singular Jew, it will go to the Gentiles, presumably to the Asian Gentiles who were in captivity, since they will be carrying the book. After it goes to the Gentiles, the great and abominable church will be formed. That church apparently will get a copy of the book and make drastic changes to it, taking out plain and precious parts. Then they will publish the book far and wide, so that it ends up in every Gentile nation, including in America.
There will be, then, two editions of the book. One which is pure, carried by the Asian Gentile saints living in America, and the other which is corrupted, carried by the other Gentiles (living in America and elsewhere). Because of the corrupted version, many Gentiles stumble and sin. But hope is not lost, for the Lord has a plan.
Another book, the record of the Nephites
Shadow past fulfillment: The Book of Mormon, an abridged record of the Nephites, was written, and came forth to the Gentiles that were stumbling, by the gift and power of God, and in it is God’s rock, salvation and gospel, and it contains the many plain and precious parts that have been taken out of the Bible, as well as an abridgment of the ministry of the Savior to the Nephites. Those during the time of Joseph Smith were blessed with the gift and power of the Holy Ghost as they sought to establish Zion.
Future literal fulfillment: An unabridged Nephite record (not the Book of Mormon) will be written, to come forth to the Gentiles that stumble, by the gift and power of God, and in it will be God’s rock, salvation and gospel, and it will contain the many plain and precious parts that have been taken out of the book that is carried by the Asian Gentile saints. In the Nephite record will be “many things” that the Savior personally ministered to the Nephites. In other words, it will be an unabridged account of that ministry. Those during the time of the appearance of this unabridged Nephite record will be blessed with the gift and power of the Holy Ghost as they seek to establish Zion.
Two records established in one
Shadow past fulfillment: The Bible written by multiple Jews went to the Lamanites. Later, the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price went to the Lamanites, and these last records established the truth of the Bible (as far as it is translated correctly), which is a record of the four apostles of the Lord, and made known the plain and precious parts missing in it. Both volumes of scripture were established in one, by being bound up as a quadruple combination.
Literal future fulfillment: The unchanged book carried by the Asian Gentile saints, written by a singular Jew, will go to the Lamanites. Later, the unabridged Nephite record (as well as other records) will go to the Lamanites and will establish the truth of the unadulterated book that is carried about by the Asian Gentile saints, which is a record of all twelve apostles of the Lord, and will make known the plain and precious parts that are missing in the perverted edition of that record. Both volumes of scripture will be established in one.
Chapter Fourteen of First Nephi
The whole of 1 Nephi 14 is still future, according to my understanding, but since I’m using CTC’s view to interpret the prophecy, I will try to bring up anything that may coincide with what I wrote about chapter thirteen.
Numbering
Shadow past/present fulfillment: I suppose latter-day saints could interpret numbering among the house of Israel as fulfilled by getting their patriarchal blessings, which tell them what tribe they have been assigned to.
Literal future fulfillment: Numbering is a tribal function. I’ve already gone over this on this blog before, so I’m not going to elaborate on this topic again. Let it suffice that my understanding is that this pertains to the future and has not yet been fulfilled in any part, whatsoever.
The great and marvelous work
Shadow past fulfillment: The times of Joseph Smith in which he restored many lost truths and layed the foundation of the kingdom is often thought as the great and marvelous work.
Literal future fulfillment: The great and marvel work takes places after the numbering of the Gentiles among the house of Israel, therefore, it is still a future event.
The covenants of the Father to the house of Israel
I don’t really need to comment on this.
Two churches only
Shadow past fulfillment: Some use this scripture retroactively, to apply to the thirteenth chapter of First Nephi. So, they define the great and abominable church as everything that isn’t the LDS church.
Literal future fulfillment: The great and marvelous work, which is still future, will cause a division among the people, so that there are no longer a multiplicity of churches on earth. Everything will either align itself with the great and abominable church, being absorbed by her, or join the saints of God in the now-called church of the Lamb of God. The church of the Lamb of God will be using, if you remember, the Book of the Lamb of God. In other words, that unchanged book written by a singular Jew, carried by the Asian Gentile saints, which contains the writings of the twelve (not four) apostles of the Lamb. Just as Mormons are called Mormons because of the book they carry and use and believe, so the Lamb of God church will be called by the name of their main book.
Headquarters in the midst of Irreantum
Shadow past fulfillment: Bad (non-LDS) churches are all over the planet.
Literal future fulfillment: The great and abominable church will be headquartered somewhere in the Pacific Ocean and will have global reach.
The church of the Lamb of God
Shadow past fulfillment: Good (LDS) churches are all over the planet.
Literal future fulfillment: The church of the Lamb of God will have global reach, but small membership, due to the other church’s wickedness.
Gathering of the whore to fight the Lamb
I ain’t gonna interpret this.
Power of God upon the saints and covenant people
Nor will I interpret this. But do notice that at this point in the prophetic timeline, the covenant people of the Lord are still in their scattered state.
Worldwide wars
Nor will I interpret this. But do notice that only now, after there are wars and rumors of war everywhere, after the numbering, after the unabridged Nephite record and the record of the twelve apostles of the Lamb come forth, etc., only after all these things happen does the work of the Father commence in preparing the way for the fulfilling of His covenants with Israel!
The apostle John
Shadow past fulfillment: John the apostle wrote the Book of Revelation, which contains some of the things that Nephi saw and the Book of Revelation is found in the Bible, which was written by multiple Jews.
Literal future fulfillment: John the apostle will appear in the future, with a mission to gather the tribes of Israel, as a Jewish Elias, meaning an Elias of the tribe of Judah, and he will come and restore all things pertaining to the Jews.
It was for this reason that John was translated, that he might perform this latter-day work.
John, then, is the Jew, out of whose mouth the book, which Nephi saw in vision, would proceed. He is the “hand of the twelve apostles of the Lamb” which will write this book. Through John will proceed the record and testimony of all twelve apostles of the Lamb, and all the things which Nephi saw will be written by John, “and also many things which have been,” meaning that John will write things which preceded Nephi. The writings of John in the Bible do not cover all the things that the angel told Nephi John would write, which would be written in the book that proceeded out of the mouth of the Jew, which is called “the Book of the Lamb of God.”
And this is the very reason why the angel prohibited Nephi from writing the rest of his vision. The Book of Revelation does not contain the vision that Nephi saw. If anything, it only contains a part of the vision, or an abridgement. Nephi could not write what he saw because it was not the proper time for that information to come forth. When John re-appears on the scene, he will dictate the book that Nephi saw the Asian Gentile saints carrying, which will contain the full vision of Nephi, as well as the covenants of the Lord, many of the prophecies of the prophets, the testimony of all twelve apostles, a record of the Jews and “many things which have been.” Yet, despite all that, it will still be less material than what the plates of brass contain.
John may, in fact, be the man who is wrought upon by the Spirit of God, who goes forth upon the many waters (Irreantum) to the promised land, who is followed by the Asian Gentile saints. John may be that man among the Asian Gentiles, who preaches to them and gives them the book that he will write, which they will carry with them to the promised land. John may be the very one who frees them from captivity, allowing them to leave their countries and come over the Irreantum to America.
Wrapping this up
Is any of this true? Could our standard interpretation of these two chapters be mere shadows? I will leave it up to the reader to figure that out for him or herself. One thing is for sure, if 1 Nephi 13 has yet to be literally fulfilled, we know what the very first thing mentioned is: the formation of a great and abominable church and the death, torture and captivity of the saints. Let us hope that none of the things I wrote above have any basis in prophetic reality.
Complete List of Articles authored by LDS Anarchist
December 29, 2012
Categories: Babylon, Gift of the Holy Ghost, Holy Ghost, Jesus Christ, LDS, Patriarchal Blessings, Power of the Holy Ghost, Preaching the Gospel, Prophecy, Prophets, Repentance, Sanctification, Scriptural Expositions, Secret Combinations, Symbolism, Tribalism, Zion . Tags: America, American Indians, Asia, Atlantic Ocean, Baptism, Book of Mormon, Book of the Lamb of God, captivity, Christopher Columbus, Church, Church of the Devil, Church of the Lamb of God, covenants, Death, destruction, devil, Elias, Europe, Gathering, Gentiles, Great and Abominable Church, Great and Marvelous Work, history, House of Israel, Irreantum, Jesus Christ, Jew, Jews, John, John the Apostle, John the Beloved, Lamanites, Land of Promise, Last Days, Latter-days, Nephi, Nephites, Pacific Ocean, Prophecy, Prophecy Interpretation, Remnant of Jacob, saints, Saints of God, Scattering, Scriptural Commentary, Scriptures, Spirit of God, Torture, Tribes of Israel, War, Warfare . Author: LDS Anarchist . Comments: 53 Comments