$6 for every $1000 of Net Worth Is the Proper Tithe

The heading to section 119 of the Doctrine and Covenants says the following:

Revelation given through Joseph Smith the Prophet, at Far West, Missouri, July 8, 1838, in answer to his supplication:

“O Lord! Show unto thy servants how much thou requirest of the properties of thy people for a tithing.”

…The Prophet asked the Lord how much of their property He required for sacred purposes. The answer was this revelation.

Here is the text of the revelation:

^{D&C 119:1}Verily, thus saith the Lord,

I require all their surplus property to be put into the hands of the bishop of my church in Zion, ²for the building of mine house, and for the laying of the foundation of Zion and for the priesthood, and for the debts of the Presidency of my Church.  ³And this shall be the beginning of the tithing of my people.  ⁴And after that, those who have thus been tithed shall pay one-tenth of all their interest annually; and this shall be a standing law unto them forever, for my holy priesthood,

saith the Lord.

⁵Verily I say unto you,

it shall come to pass that all those who gather unto the land of Zion shall be tithed of their surplus properties, and shall observe this law, or they shall not be found worthy to abide among you.

⁶And I say unto you,

if my people observe not this law, to keep it holy, and by this law sanctify the land of Zion unto me, that my statutes and my judgments may be kept thereon, that it may be most holy, behold, verily I say unto you,

it shall not be a land of Zion unto you.

⁷And this shall be an ensample unto all the stakes of Zion. Even so. Amen.

The individual judges what is surplus property

An excerpt from “The Tithing of My People”:

Shortly after Joseph received the revelation in section 119, he assigned Brigham Young to go among the Saints “and find out what surplus property the people had, with which to forward the building of the Temple we were commencing at Far West.” Before setting out, Brigham asked Joseph, “‘Who shall be the judge of what is surplus property?’ Said he, ‘Let them be the judges themselves.’” (“Discourse,” Deseret News, June 20, 1855, 117; punctuation modernized. )

That covers “the beginning of the tithing of [the Lord’s] people,” now what about the standing law, which concerned the meaning of interest?

Interest = interest; (plain and precious knowledge lost)

Apparently, the revelation said what it meant and meant what it said.  In other words, the words were plain to the understanding of the men who lived in the day in which the revelation was given.  As Joseph had asked regarding “how much the Lord required of the properties of His people for a tithing,” he received an answer regarding their properties, and this is why we find Bishop Partridge explaining the plain and precious meaning of the words in terms of property in a letter written a few days after the revelation was received:

“Bishop Partridge understood ‘one tenth of all their interest’ annually to mean 10 percent of what Saints would earn in interest if they invested their net worth for a year,” Harper wrote. He cited an example from Partridge who was reportedly in the room when Smith received the revelation.

“If a man is worth a $1000, the interest on that would be $60, and one/10. of the interest will be of course $6. thus you see the plan,” Partridge wrote in a letter just days after the revelation was received.

According to Harper, six percent was a common interest rate at the time.  (New historical information reveals original meaning of LDS tithing – KUTV.com)

Unfortunately, the saints apparently did not obey the law of tithing, as evidenced by Lorenzo Snow’s much later administration, in which the church found itself in dire financial straits.  As a result of this disobedience on the part of the saints, a gospel principle was invoked:

^{Alma 12:9}And now Alma began to expound these things unto him, saying:

It is given unto many to know the mysteries of God; nevertheless they are laid under a strict command that they shall not impart only according to the portion of his word which he doth grant unto the children of men, according to the heed and diligence which they give unto him.  ¹⁰And therefore, he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word; and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full.  ¹¹And they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the word until they know nothing concerning his mysteries; and then they are taken captive by the devil, and led by his will down to destruction. Now this is what is meant by the chains of hell.

^{1 Ne.13:26}And after they go forth by the hand of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, from the Jews unto the Gentiles, thou seest the formation of that great and abominable church, which is most abominable above all other churches; for behold, they have taken away from the gospel of the Lamb many parts which are plain and most precious; and also many covenants of the Lord have they taken away.  ²⁷And 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.  ²⁸Wherefore, thou seest that after the book hath gone forth through the hands of the great and abominable church, that there are many plain and precious things taken away from the book, which is the book of the Lamb of God.  ²⁹And after these plain and precious things were taken away it goeth forth unto all the nations of the Gentiles; and after it goeth forth unto all the nations of the Gentiles, yea, even across the many waters which thou hast seen with the Gentiles which have gone forth out of captivity, thou seest—because of the many plain and precious things which have been taken out of the book, which were plain unto the understanding of the children of men, according to the plainness which is in the Lamb of God—because of these things which are taken away out of the gospel of the Lamb, an exceedingly great many do stumble, yea, insomuch that Satan hath great power over them….⁴⁰And the angel spake unto me, saying:

These last records, which thou hast seen among the Gentiles, shall establish the truth of the first, which are of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, and shall make known the plain and precious things which have been taken away from them; and shall make known to all kindreds, tongues, and people, that the Lamb of God is the Son of the Eternal Father, and the Savior of the world; and that all men must come unto him, or they cannot be saved.

^{2 Ne.28:30}For behold, thus saith the Lord God:

I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say,

We have enough,

from them shall be taken away even that which they have.

^{D&C 1:33}And he that repents not, from him shall be taken even the light which he has received; for my Spirit shall not always strive with man,

saith the Lord of Hosts.

^{D&C 43:8}And now, behold, I give unto you a commandment,

that when ye are assembled together ye shall instruct and edify each other, that ye may know how to act and direct my church, how to act upon the points of my law and commandments, which I have given.

⁹And thus ye shall become instructed in the law of my church, and be sanctified by that which ye have received, and ye shall bind yourselves to act in all holiness before me—¹⁰that inasmuch as ye do this, glory shall be added to the kingdom which ye have received.  Inasmuch as ye do it not, it shall be taken, even that which ye have received.

^{D&C 60:3}And it shall come to pass, if they are not more faithful unto me, it shall be taken away, even that which they have.

^{D&C 83:39}And that wicked one cometh and taketh away light and truth, through disobedience, from the children of men, and because of the tradition of their fathers.

So the Lord took away from His saints the plain and precious meaning of this scripture, removing this light from them, because their minds had become dark, through disobedience.

Interest = increase; (from Brigham Young onward)

After Joseph Smith’s death, we find this new meaning of the revelation’s use of the word interest among the saints.  This is the meaning that I used for my 4-part tithing series on this blog, it being the earliest meaning I could find to Joseph’s time.

Interest = income; (1970 First Presidency statement onward)

Here is the part of that First Presidency letter that deals with tithing:

What is a proper tithe?

For your guidance in this matter, please be advised that we have uniformly replied that the simplest statement we know of is that statement of the Lord himself that the members of the Church should pay one-tenth of all their interest annually, which is understood to mean income. No one is justified in making any other statement than this. We feel that every member of the Church should be entitled to make his own decision as to what he thinks he owes the Lord, and to make payment accordingly. (First Presidency Statement, 19 March 1970)

Interest = interest; (plain and precious knowledge restored*)

On 13 January, 2016, the scholars broke the news of their new historical research, which essentially restored the light we had at the first.  So, now we are posed with a question, even the same question that the First Presidency of 1970 asked in their letter: In the light of this newly restored knowledge, what is a proper tithe?

6% is the divinely approved rate for calculating tithing

I suppose it will be tempting for people to think that since interest rates fluctuate, that one can use whatever is the current interest rate to calculate tithing, whether it is smaller or greater than 6%, and still be in full compliance with this law.  But not necessarily.  We don’t know whether the Lord approved of any other interest rate for calculating tithing, other than the one which was had among the saints in the day the revelation was given.  So, using any other interest rate would be using an unknown variable.  In other words, you’d just be guessing.  It may be that the Lord would be okay with using fluctuating interest rates to calculate tithing, but it also may be that the Lord would not be okay with that.  So, why venture into unknown territory?

What we know is this: the revelation was given according to the circumstances of the people of the day it was given in.  During that day, 6% was the common interest rate, and this is the rate that had divine approval for calculating tithing.  Regardless of what the current fluctuating interest rates may be, six percent will always be a known, divinely approved rate for calculating tithing.  So, use it!

The individual judges what is net worth

Just like the surplus property, you, the individual, must be the judge as to what is your net worth.  This assessment must be made on a yearly basis, for all stewards must and will give an accounting of their stewardship, and assessing is one of the functions of stewards.  This, then, is the only part of the equation that may fluctuate from year to year.

Once you know your net worth, you just multiply that number by 0.006, and that is what you give to your bishop as tithing.  That will satisfy the law of heaven and you can then answer truthfully to your bishop, “I am a full tithe payer,” without either under-paying or over-paying.

What is a proper tithe?

To recap: you first assess what is your surplus property, and give that to the bishop.  Then you assess, on a yearly basis, your net worth, and for every $1000 of net worth, you give $6 to the bishop.

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*This same “light given, light removed, light restored” pattern and process can also be seen in regards to D&C 89, which is the revelation known as the Word of Wisdom.  When that revelation was given, it was understood to be, in its entirety, a revelation of God.  Later on light was removed and the first three verses were thought to be “originally written as an inspired introduction and description by the Prophet.”  Thus, when Brigham Young used the law of common consent to cause the church to make D&C 89 a commandment of God, the saints could (and did) conveniently ignore those first three verses.  But then light was restored, and we now know that those verses were and are part of the revelation, which verses (and knowledge) nullify the common consent commandment the saints made, reverting the revelation back to a word of wisdom, and not a word of commandment!

Methods of Scriptural Interpretation

Constitutional Interpretation:

Judicial interpretation explains how a judge/court should interpret specific statutes of law, particularly in constitutional documents and legislation.

There are two main camps with regard to how this legal interpretation should work:

• Originalism/strict constructionism – which would be characterized as “conservative” or “judicial restraint”.
• Functionalism – which would be characterized as “liberal” or “judicial activism”.

Simply speaking, the former emphasizes fidelity to the original meaning [or originally intended meaning] of the words in the constitution.  It seeks to be loyal to the authors’ original intent by looking at things like what the words used generally meant at the time they were written and looking at what reasons the authors had for using particular phrases, etc.

While the latter would argue that the constitution was deliberately written to be broad/vague and flexible to accommodate social or technological change over time.  It seeks to be loyal to the author’s original intent by looking at what the words have generally come to mean in applicable ways to people today, etc.

The Constitutional Example of “Cruel and Unusual Punishment”:

In the 8^th amendment of the US constitution, there is a clause that states:

nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

This seems cut-and-dry – however, there is controversy as to how to apply this clause/standard in specific judicial cases.  To look at it from the point-of-view of the two above schools of interpretation, we could interpret the clause in terms of:

• What were generally accepted as “cruel and unusual” punishments during the late 1700’s?  What were the specific conceptions the founders had in mind when barring “cruel and unusual punishments”?  Etc.
• Or what do we, as 21^st century Americans, understand to be “cruel and unusual” ways to punish criminals?  How did the founders want us to be guided by the general concept of “cruelty” or “unusualness” in assigning punishments?  Etc.

In this way, one group has ground to argue, based on the idea of original intent, that hanging is not a cruel and unusual form of capital punishment because it would have generally been accepted at the time the constitution was written.

While the other group, still based on the idea of original intent, can argue that hanging is cruel and unusual at a time when we have developed more humane technologies for capital punishments – or that we have come to view the taking of human life as a form punishment itself as being cruel and unusual.

Scriptural Interpretation:

Scriptural interpretation can be seen as very similar to this constitutional/judicial interpretation.  There are different ways to approach the “original intent” question of passages that may seem quite vague when one attempts to apply them to particular circumstances.  These mirror to two schools of thought on judicial interpretation:

• Strict textual/contextual interpretation – which would be characterized as “fundamentalist” or “conservative”.  Wherein this group focuses on the specific context of the scripture, what the author was addressing in that scripture, what did the words used mean at the time they were written, etc.
• Liken the scriptures to yourself interpretation – which would be characterized as being more “liberal” with interpreting passages.  Wherein this group focuses on personal circumstances and concerns, what general concepts did the author outline in that scripture, what do the words used in the translation mean to me or what can I conclude from them personally, etc.

The former approaching scriptural intent by focusing on original context – the latter approaching the same goal by focusing on application to modern issues.

The Scriptural Example of Adultery:

Many directives in the scriptures seem cut-and-dry at first glance.  Take:

thou shalt not commit adultery

as an example.  What seems straight-forward can be really quite vague as we start to look into applying this “statute” to specific cases.  For example:

Alice is in an “open relationship” with Barry.  Both she and Barry have agreed to allow the other to seek extra-marital sexual partners for one-time flings – given that consent is granted prior to any intercourse.  Alice has had sexual relations with men other than Barry [her only husband], but she has always sought and obtained his permission for each of the encounters.

Barry [from the above example; married to Alice] has had some sexual relations with women other than Alice [his only wife], but maintains that – based on the original meaning of the Hebrew word “na’aph” – a man is not able to commit adultery.

Connor is married to two women.  Both know about the polygynous arrangement and both consented to it and find joy in it.  Connor engages in sexual relations with both women separately.

Darren is Christian.  Though he is married to only one woman and has only had sexual relations with his wife, he has imagined lust in his right-brain-heart towards other women.  Jesus Christ said:

But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

Earl is Catholic.  Though he is married to only one woman and has not imagined lust in his right-brain-heart towards other women, he has imagined lust in his right-brain-heart towards his wife.  According to Pope John Paul II:

Adultery “in the heart” is committed not only because man “looks” in this way at a woman who is not his wife, but precisely because he looks at a woman in this way.  Even if he looked in this way at the woman who is his wife, he could likewise commit adultery “in his heart”.

Who in this group committed adultery – which did not?  For what reasons did that person commit or not commit adultery?  Answering these specific cases suddenly reveals how vague a simple command of “thou shalt not commit adultery” can really be.  Am I bound by what adultery would have meant to Moses when he wrote it – or by what the church currently interprets “adultery” to entail – or by what my wife and I have agreed would violate the terms of our marriage covenant?

The Scriptural Interpretation of Hot Drinks:

Another example is:

And again, hot drinks are not for the body or belly.

The current church method seems to be the “strict textual/contextual interpretation” method, wherein essentially all official exposition on the subject default to this quote from Brigham Young:

I have heard it argued that tea and coffee are not mentioned [in D&C 89]; that is very true; but what were the people in the habit of taking as hot drinks when that revelation was given?  Tea and coffee.  We were not in the habit of drinking water very hot, but tea and coffee — the beverages in common use.

However, Brigham Young is going thru some contextual reasoning.  He is answering the question in terms of what the saints were generally in the habit of drinking very hot.  He is not laying down a clear-cut definition of “hot drinks” so that “tea and coffee” simply can just be substituted in for the words “hot drinks” to make the revelation read:

And again, tea and coffee are not for the body or belly.

However, given Brigham’s line of reasoning, it could be argued that the Lord is counseling against habitually drinking things very hot — which for the early saints happened to be tea and coffee.  However, it doesn’t necessarily follow that those are the only two specific conceptions the Lord wanted the saints to be guided by.

Putting this into the perspective of the two schools of interpretive thought:

• Are we bound by the specific conceptions of “hot drinks” – meaning we, today, should just not drink the things that people in the 1830’s were in the habit of drinking very hot [As Brigham was arguing] — such that even though tea and coffee are now often consumed cold, we still must avoid them?
• Or are we bound to the general concept of “drinks that are hot” – meaning we, today, should not be in the habit of drinking anything very hot [regardless of what the early saints were habitually doing] — such that if the saints became in the habit of drinking apple cider or chocolate as “hot drinks”, then we must avoid those too?

Questions:

• How do you interpret scripture?
• Are you an “original meaning” kind of reader – or a “liken it to myself” kind of reader?
• Might one be appropriate at some times, while the other more appropriate for others?
• What are the implications of favoring one school of thought over the other?
• How might an “original meaning” person give extra insight to a “liken it to myself” person.  What about the other way around?

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Seeking the Good of Others

Meat Sacrificed to Idols:

One of the issues in the first-century church that was addressed in writing by Paul concerned meat that had been sacrificed to idols.  Debates over what to eat might seem strange within a church established by a man who said:

“Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him; Because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats?”

However, as formerly pagan/Roman converts began joining congregations of the church of Jesus Christ, an issue arose concerning the eating of meat.

Pleasing the Romans gods thru animal sacrifice resulted in temples having more meat than their priests and priestesses could eat.  So, as a source of income, the temples would sell the extra meat to vendors — who would in turn sell that meat in the marketplace for general consumption.  Thus, it was common for meat sold in the marketplace to have been previously consecrated as a sacrifice to a Roman god.  The Jews stayed away from such meat because they were wary of the chances encountering the “unclean” food-handling practices and they believed that to partake of consecrated meat was to give second-hand approval of idol worship.  The Gentiles did not believe that meat could be tainted by a sacrifice they did not participate in.  Both parties brought these preconceived cultural views on the subject with them into the church of Jesus Christ — thereby making the matter a point of contention within the church.

The council recorded in Acts 15 urged Gentile converts to abstain from meat sacrificed to idols.  In essence, the council sought to assure that at the next church sacramental meal a formerly-Jewish believer could eat meat he was served with confidence — knowing it had never been part of a sacrificial cow, and a formerly-Roman believer could not be accused of participating in idol worship.

Applying the Matter to Ourselves:

Whenever I read Paul’s writings on the subject of members of the church of Jesus Christ eating meat that had was considered “unclean” by some — I can’t help but think of the current LDS views on things like meat, caffeinated drinks, beer, and wine.  So last week, I read thru 1 Corinthians 8-10, imagining that Paul was writing to church members today on the subject of the Word of Wisdom.

Paul’s Law of Offense = Seek the good of others instead of being concerned for your own good:

The following was taken from 1 Corinthians 8-10.

Some people might think that all things are lawful for them because of justification by faith or because of all the knowledge they have on the issue.  While the freedom in Christ or the knowledge you obtain may make you feel important, it is love that strengthens the church of God.  If you claim to know all the answers, then you don’t really know very much.  However, the person who loves God – the same is known by Him.

Whether or not everything is lawful for you – not everything is expedient or constructive.

You may be able to consume any food or drink without raising questions of moral conscience within yourself because you understand that everything from the earth comes from the Lord.  Why should your freedom be limited by what someone else thinks?  If you are capable of enjoying all things that come from God, then why should you be condemned for it?  We can’t win God’s approval by what we eat – you won’t lose anything if you abstain, and you won’t gain anything if you partake.  So whether you eat or drink – whatever you do – do it all to glorify God.

However, not all believers understand this.  Some are accustomed to thinking that words of wisdom concerning diet are commandments – and their weak consciences will be offended.

Should a non-member ask you over to his or her house, by all means go if you want to and eat whatever is offered to you, out of respect for their hospitality.  But then should a member there point out that the food or drink served ought to be considered morally objectionable to you because of your religion – don’t consume it out of consideration for the one who told you.  For you must be careful that your freedom doesn’t cause another of a weaker conscience to stumble.

If your superior knowledge on a subject were to encourage a believer to do something they believe is wrong, then you would be sinning against Christ because he died for that person too.

If my dietary choices would cause another believer to sin, then may I never break the “commandments” outlined in any words of wisdom concerning diet so long as I live.  I do not desire another believer to stumble.  Don’t give offense to Jews, Gentiles, or the church of God.  Try to please everyone in what you do.  Don’t just do what is best for yourself – do what is best for others, so that many may be saved.

When you are with those who are weak, you should share their weakness because you have a desire to bring the weak to Christ.  It is best to try and find common ground with people, doing everything you can that you might save some.

Even though you are a free person, with no earthly slave master, you must become a servant to all people to bring them to Christ.  When you are with Jews, live like a Jew to bring them to Christ.  When you are with members who strictly adhere to Church™ teachings, live under that law – even though you are not subject to that law, do so in order to bring Christ to them.  When you are with Gentiles who are without the law, then also live apart from that law for the purpose of bringing them to Christ.  But you must not ignore the law of God – always obey the law of Christ.

Questions:

• Is my characterization of Paul’s teaching on offense accurate?
• What lessons can be drawn from his teaching?
• Is my connection of his teaching on eating pagan meat with the Word of Wisdom™ fair?
• Is this teaching consistent with the rest of the Scriptures?
• How can we balance Paul’s law of offense with spicing up your church experience, rebelling against body modesty, or cheerfully doing all things?

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The seeds of the powers of godliness

We are here on Earth in a temporal (mortal) existence to develop our faith as a principle of power by walking by faith. As an aid in that endeavor, we are offered the gifts of the Spirit.

Walking by sight

In our pre-mortal life, we walked by sight.  As we saw, so we did, imitating the beings around us, learning by copying what we saw others do.

Upon entering mortality as children, we bring this capacity to imitate others with us.  We imitate or emulate our parents, our brothers and sisters, our friends and associates, the celebrities of the day, etc.  Eventually we assimilate into whatever society we are born into.  Like the chameleon, we become what is around us.  A baby born in France, raised by French parents with French customs and language will soon feel and act like all other Frenchmen.  It is the same with every other culture.

While we resided in the heavens, we copied our perfect, heavenly Parents and their angels.  Here, we copy imperfect mortals.  Mortality, then, does not limit our ability to walk by sight.

Two principles of faith

The Lectures on Faith divide faith into two principles: one of action and one of power.

Regardless of which principle you use, all things are done by faith, though most everything in mortality is done by using faith as a principle of action.

Moving mountains

There are two ways of moving a mountain.  You can move it stone by stone with your hands, or by using shovels, bulldozers or other technologies, to force the elements that make up the mountain to move to another spot.  This would be faith as a principle of action.  Or, conversely, you can command the mountain to remove and it can obey you.  This would be faith as a principle of power.  The former uses coercion or force, wrestling with the elements to model them however you want them to be.  The latter uses agency.  The elements must voluntarily move themselves at your command.

Power faith is celestial

When we lived in the heavens, as all things were given agency, nothing that surrounded us there could be forced to do anything.  We could not even pick up a handful of heavenly dirt without its say-so.  Everything in heaven was accomplished “without compulsory means,” meaning that coercion, force, was (and still is) non-existent there.  In other words, we exercised faith only as a principle of power.  The elements around us obeyed us only insofar as they respected us and they respected us only insofar as we followed (imitated) the “grown-ups.”  There we learned to use faith as a principle of power by observing our heavenly Parents and the angels, for that is the only way that they operate.  They commanded the elements and were obeyed and so did we.

Action faith is earthly

Mortality is different. It is designed to allow faith to function under both principles.

Action faith is given to us a temporary crutch, as well as a test.  The elements that surround us here are commanded by God to allow us to push them around, regardless of our righteousness or lack thereof.  They voluntarily submit to His divine command and thus we can manipulate all the various earthly materials here.  If we desire it, we may never need to develop faith as a principle of power.  Mankind can survive on this planet (for a limited time, at least) solely on action faith.

Once we come here from heaven, we find ourselves in a fallen world.  Sin is rampant, both around us and in us.  Were the elements here operating like they did in heaven, everyone would immediately die.  We wouldn’t be able to even force air into our lungs, for the air would not allow itself to be forced into the lungs of a being it did not respect (a sinful being).  This would frustrate the design of God to prepare a world in which we could be tried and tested and in which would could develop faith as a principle of power.  So, as explained above, God commanded the elements that make up our temporal (mortal) existence to allow themselves to be pushed around by us, according to a specific set of laws that we term physics.

Imperfect memory is necessary for our test of power faith

If we had arrived here with our memory of pre-mortal life intact, we would remember how to use faith as a principle of power and would never sin, keeping our heavenly powers intact, as all things would continue to respect us and obey us.  But by the design of God, our memories are wiped clean and we become, as a result, unable to use faith as a principle of power (because we have forgotten how to).  The situation is okay, though, because we now can use faith as a principle of action, forcing the elements to sustain us.

Our limited memories serve another divine purpose.  As we cannot remember our past life in the heavens and we cannot see the future, plus the memory we have of our mortal lives is patchy at best, nothing is remembered perfectly and only bits and pieces remain in our minds to access at moments of recollection.  All of this is done so that we become blinded, so as not to instinctively walk by sight as we did in the heavens (and use power faith).  By limiting our memory (which is primarily a visual organ), we can only really see the present clearly.  The future is pitch black and the past is foggy.

Blindness required to walk by faith

In this state of blindness, we can be put on probation (tested) to see if we truly desire to use faith as a principle of power.  Whereas in the heavens we all learned to use faith as a principle of power, by walking by sight (because there was no other way to operate), here on Earth we can go our entire lives without ever using power faith, for action faith is available to us.  Thus, only those who truly desire to (re-)learn to use the heavenly powers will do so.  And so mortality becomes a test.

Additionally, mortality allows us to more fully develop our faith as a principle of power by walking by faith*.  There is no one to look at (imitate) to learn how to use the heavenly powers, nor can we access our memories to remember examples of how it is done.  When we walk by sight here we only learn to use faith as a principle of action, for this is the principle under which everyone here operates.  So, to use power faith we must walk by faith, or walk blindly, trusting in only the word of God and not the sight of Him.

(*Note: Although all things in heaven walk by sight, God walks both by sight and by faith.  In order for us to become like Him, then, mortality is given to us to develop this capacity.  I may have already explained this concept in the Faith of God series, but if not, I will, that is if I ever get around to finishing it.)

To re-iterate:

In the heavens we walked by sight, imitating the celestial beings we saw around us, copying what they did, and learned to use faith as a principle of power, for that is the only way that we saw them operate. We had no capacity to walk by faith, only by sight.

In mortality, we also walk by sight, imitating the fallen beings we see around us, copying what they do, and we thus learn to use faith as a principle of action, for that is the only way that fallen beings operate.  We are unable to exercise the power faith we previously had because we cannot remember (see) how to do it.

Being essentially blind, once we are presented with the word of God we are enabled to walk by faith and re-learn to use power faith.  Mortality is a test to see if we will choose to drop the crutch of action faith and start using power faith by walking by faith.

We must walk by faith

Mortality is the brief moment that God has given us to learn to walk by faith.  We are to walk by sight and use faith as a principle of action only until we are enabled to walk by faith.  Once we are presented with the word of God, we must let go of the crutch of action faith and re-enter the world of power faith.  We must stop walking by sight and start walking by faith.

If we do not learn to walk by faith and re-learn to use faith as a principle of power, we will be in for a whole lot of disappointment in the afterlife.  This is because the orders given by God to the elements that surround us in mortality (in which they allow themselves to be pushed around by us) only apply to mortality.  In the afterlife, the former rules (agency) apply and once again it will be impossible to force the elements to do anything against their wills.  In other words, in the afterlife faith as a principle of action no longer works.  If we haven’t re-learned how to use faith as a principle of power here on Earth, we will be powerless in the afterlife.

The best gifts develop power faith

To that end, that we might re-learn how to use faith as a principle of power and that we might learn to walk by faith, God has given us the best gifts of the Spirit.

The best gifts of the Spirit are the seeds of the powers of godliness.  When all of them are possessed in their fullness, one becomes omnipotent, able to do all things.  Here on Earth we are not expected to achieve every gift in its fullness, but we are expected to seek for them continually.

The gifts given to the LDS Gentile church

The LDS Gentile church of God has been given 14 best gifts, with one gift given to presiding elders to be able to discern the other gifts and weed out imposters.  They are obtained by asking God to receive them.  Once one of the gifts are received, faith can be more fully developed, for the gifts only operate on the principle of power.  As faith increases, and petitions for additional gifts are sent up to God, He grants more of them to the individual.  Eventually, following this pattern, all gifts may be obtained.

Gifts are paired

There are seven pairs of gifts.

1^st Pair – The gift of knowing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that he was crucified for the sins of the world. The gift of believing on the words of those who have the gift of knowing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that he was crucified for the sins of the world.

2^nd Pair – The gift of knowing the differences of administration according to the conditions among the children of men. The gift of knowing whether the diversities of operations are of God.

3^rd Pair – The gift of the word of wisdom. The gift of the word of knowledge.

4^th Pair – The gift of faith to be healed. The gift of faith to heal.

5^th Pair – The gift of the working of miracles. The gift to prophesy.

6^th Pair – The gift of the discerning of spirits. The gift to discern all best gifts.

7^th Pair – The gift to speak with tongues. The gift of the interpretation of tongues.

Gifts are designed to be used in a church (group) setting, for the benefit of all

Only one gift is typically given to an individual.  For this reason, God has placed us into groups, or congregations, or churches.  If you have 13 individuals, each with a separate gift of the Spirit, each member of the group receives benefit from the 12 other people who have the lacking gifts.  If their individual gifts are fairly well developed, you can place this group of 13 people in any location, in any situation, and they will have power to do all things which are expedient to the Lord.

For example, place them among a foreign group or tribe who speaks an unknown language and the ones who have the gifts of tongues and interpretation would allow the other 11 members to communicate with the foreign tribe.  Or, place them among sick people and the one with the faith to heal would heal them all.  Or, have them deliver a message to an area of sickness and pestilence, of a highly contagious plague.  Who would be sent?  The one with the gift to be healed.  Place them among an ignorant people with no books or learning materials, whatsoever.  What would they do?  They would have the ones with the gifts of the word of wisdom and the word of knowledge start teaching the people.  And if the 13 themselves have no access to learning, these two individuals would immediately begin teaching the others of the group.  Or, just place the 13 alone, without any means of survival whatsoever, would they survive?  Of course, they would.  The one with the gift to work miracles would assure that.  Put them among a lying tribe and the one who discerned spirits would discover the lies.  Try to surprise them and it wouldn’t work, for the one with the gift to prophesy would have already seen that coming.  And so on and so forth.

Thus we see that by placing us in a congregation or church, the Lord has allowed all members to receive benefit from all the gifts which they may not have yet obtained.  If we were just baptized and told to go home and worship God on our own, we would not receive any benefit from the gifts we lack, until we ourselves finally reached the point where we obtained all the best gifts.  Also, being around others, who possess gifts we do not possess ourselves, makes it easier for us to obtain them.  The same principle of learning by sight, or imitating others, works with the gifts, too.

Perfection of the saints

In fact, the only reason we are commanded to meet together is to perfect ourselves and the rest of the saints assembled through the manifestation of the gifts.  Everything done at church can be done in a home (family) setting if the priesthood is found in the home.  But to obtain benefit from gifts we do not possess, we must assemble with others who possess gifts we lack.  Said Paul:

Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant.  Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led.  Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.

Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.  And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.  And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.  But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.

For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: but all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.  For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.  For the body is not one member, but many.  If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?  And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?  If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?  But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.  And if they were all one member, where were the body?  But now are they many members, yet but one body.  And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.  Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary: and those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness.  For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked: that there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.  And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.  Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.

And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.  Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles?  Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?  But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.  (1 Cor. 12)

Paul also said:

And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: from whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. (Ephesians 4: 11-16)

Order of the gifts in the church

The church in Paul’s day had an order to the best gifts:

And God hath set some in the church,

first apostles (gift of knowing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God),

secondarily prophets (gift to prophesy),

thirdly teachers (gift of the word of wisdom and gift of the word of knowledge),

after that miracles (gift of the working of miracles),

then gifts of healings (gift of faith to be healed and gift of faith to heal),

helps (gift of believing, gift of differences of administration, gift of diversities of operations, gift of discerning of spirits),

governments (gift of discerning of gifts),

diversities of tongues (gift of tongues, gift of interpretation). (1 Corinthians 12: 28)

Another of Paul’s lists can also be assigned gifts:

And he gave some, apostles (gift of knowing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God);

and some, prophets (gift to prophesy);

and some, evangelists (gift of tongues, gift of interpretation);

and some, pastors (gift of discerning of gifts)

and teachers (gift of the word of wisdom and gift of the word of knowledge);  (Ephesians 4: 11)

We see from these lists that church callings are to come according to the gifts a person has.  This is why the gift to discern the best gifts, which is given to the bishop and to the presiding elders, is so important.

Modern view of the best gifts

Modern LDS (the Gentile Mormons) typically avoid the best gifts.  It is unusual to find anyone prophesying or publishing revelations or performing miracles or speaking in tongues or raising the dead or instantly healing people, etc.

When LDS speak of the gifts that they have, they’ll perhaps mention piano playing as a gift from God, or being a good doctor or surgeon, or being a good athlete, or being a nice person, etc.  A certain percentage of Gentile Mormons believe that manifestations of the best gifts routinely happen, but are just never spoken of, since they are “too sacred.”  Stories of gift manifestations are usually hearsay.

“Someone once told me that when he was on his mission, he met a man whose companion had healed someone by…”, etc.

Another percentage of Gentile Mormons have downgraded the best gifts to fit into more acceptable administrations.  So, for example, the gift of tongues becomes going to the MTC for two months and learning the language.  Or, the gift of healing becomes going to medical school and becoming a doctor or surgeon.  Or, the gift to prophesy becomes gaining the title of President of the Church and being called “the prophet.”  In like manner, the word of wisdom and the word of knowledge are delegated to those who have enough money to study at a university.   And the working of miracles becomes the “happening of miracles” and every little unexpected thing becomes a “miracle.”  Etc.

None of the best gifts work this way.  You cannot use faith as a principle of action to activate a best gift.  They only work by faith as a principle of power.  To illustrate, let’s examine the gift of the word of knowledge.

The gift of the word of knowledge

And again, verily I say unto you, to some is given, by the Spirit of God, the word of wisdom.  To another is given the word of knowledge, that all may be taught to be wise and to have knowledge.  (D&C 46: 17-18; the gift of the word of knowledge is in bold type.)

Ammon possessed the word of knowledge

The Book of Mormon contains an example of the gift of the word of knowledge in action:

And it came to pass that when they had established a church in that land, that king Lamoni desired that Ammon should go with him to the land of Nephi, that he might show him unto his father.

And the voice of the Lord came to Ammon, saying:

Thou shalt not go up to the land of Nephi, for behold, the king will seek thy life; but thou shalt go to the land of Middoni; for behold, thy brother Aaron, and also Muloki and Ammah are in prison.

Now it came to pass that when Ammon had heard this, he said unto Lamoni:

Behold, my brother and brethren are in prison at Middoni, and I go that I may deliver them.

Now Lamoni said unto Ammon:

I know, in the strength of the Lord thou canst do all things. But behold, I will go with thee to the land of Middoni; for the king of the land of Middoni, whose name is Antiomno, is a friend unto me; therefore I go to the land of Middoni, that I may flatter the king of the land, and he will cast thy brethren out of prison.

Now Lamoni said unto him:

Who told thee that thy brethren were in prison?

And Ammon said unto him:

No one hath told me, save it be God; and he said unto me—

Go and deliver thy brethren, for they are in prison in the land of Middoni.  (Alma 20:1-5)

Ammon had knowledge that his brethren were, at that moment, in prison.  No one but God gave him this knowledge.  He then communicated the information to others, namely Lamoni.  This wasn’t knowledge of a spiritual thing, but of a physical fact that could be verified: Aaron, Muloki and Ammah were in prison at that very moment.  So, this was knowledge of something physically happening in the present.  It didn’t deal at all with anything pertaining to the future.  Nevertheless, no one but God told Ammon this fact, so, although it was knowledge of a physical thing that could be verified with one’s own two eyes, it was communicated via spiritual means.  This is, essentially, what the gift of the word of knowledge is all about.

The Savior mentioned the word of knowledge

Another example from the Book of Mormon comes from the Savior’s visit. Speaking to the Nephites, he said:

And I command you that ye shall write these sayings after I am gone, that if it so be that my people at Jerusalem, they who have seen me and been with me in my ministry, do not ask the Father in my name, that they may receive a knowledge of you by the Holy Ghost, and also of the other tribes whom they know not of, that these sayings which ye shall write shall be kept and shall be manifested unto the Gentiles, that through the fulness of the Gentiles, the remnant of their seed, who shall be scattered forth upon the face of the earth because of their unbelief, may be brought in, or may be brought to a knowledge of me, their Redeemer. (3 Ne. 16: 4; the gift of the word of knowledge is in bold type.)

Contrasted with the gift to prophesy

Notice how the gift of the word of knowledge contrasts with the gift to prophesy.  Again, an example from the Book of Mormon:

And it came to pass in the eleventh year of the reign of the judges over the people of Nephi, on the fifth day of the second month, there having been much peace in the land of Zarahemla, there having been no wars nor contentions for a certain number of years, even until the fifth day of the second month in the eleventh year, there was a cry of war heard throughout the land.  For behold, the armies of the Lamanites had come in upon the wilderness side, into the borders of the land, even into the city of Ammonihah, and began to slay the people and destroy the city.

And now it came to pass, before the Nephites could raise a sufficient army to drive them out of the land, they had destroyed the people who were in the city of Ammonihah, and also some around the borders of Noah, and taken others captive into the wilderness.

Now it came to pass that the Nephites were desirous to obtain those who had been carried away captive into the wilderness.  Therefore, he that had been appointed chief captain over the armies of the Nephites, (and his name was Zoram, and he had two sons, Lehi and Aha)—now Zoram and his two sons, knowing that Alma was high priest over the church, and having heard that he had the spirit of prophecy, therefore they went unto him and desired of him to know whither the Lord would that they should go into the wilderness in search of their brethren, who had been taken captive by the Lamanites.

And it came to pass that Alma inquired of the Lord concerning the matter. And Alma returned and said unto them:

Behold, the Lamanites will cross the river Sidon in the south wilderness, away up beyond the borders of the land of Manti. And behold there shall ye meet them, on the east of the river Sidon, and there the Lord will deliver unto thee thy brethren who have been taken captive by the Lamanites.  (Alma 16: 1-6)

In this case, Alma the younger had the spirit of prophecy, in other words, he had the gift to prophesy, and so he inquired of the Lord and received a prophecy of the future.  The “Lamanites will cross the river Sidon” (a prediction of the future), “there ye shall meet them” (another prediction of the future), “the Lord will deliver unto thee thy brethren” (a third prediction of the future).

Similar gifts

Prophecy does not deal with knowledge of things present and past, it deals with things pertaining to futurity: what will or shall happen.  On the other hand, the gift of the word of knowledge deals only with what has happened (the past) and what is happening (the present).  Both gifts, though, come through the manifestation of the Spirit.  Or as Ammon put it, “no one hath told me, save it be God.”

So, prophecy and the word of knowledge are almost the same gift, except for this one division: facts revealed of the present or past correspond to the word of knowledge, whereas words pertaining to the future correspond to prophecy.

All best gifts obtained by faith, not by study

All gifts of the Spirit are obtained by faith.  The healing gifts are called “faith to heal” and “faith to be healed” (see D&C 46: 19-20), but all the gifts could be worded the same way.  In other words, faith to speak the word of wisdom, faith to speak the word of knowledge, faith to prophesy, faith to work miracles, faith to speak in tongues, faith to interpret tonges, etc.  Without faith, none of these gifts are obtainable.

And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith.  (D&C 88: 118)

The above scripture speaks of wisdom and learning (knowledge).  Wisdom and knowledge are two gifts of the Spirit, but the only way to obtain them directly from the Spirit is by having faith.  However, because not everyone has faith to speak the word of wisdom and faith to speak the word of knowledge, we are instructed to seek words of wisdom and learning out of the best books and teachers by study.  Wisdom and knowledge obtained by studying the best books and teachers should not be confused with the gift of faith to speak the word of wisdom and the gift of faith to speak the word of knowledge.  These gifts come by faith, not by study.

Nevertheless, the Lord is saying in this verse that those who do not possess the gifts of wisdom and knowledge, can still obtain wisdom and knowledge through those who possess these gifts.  In other words, the two gifts of wisdom and knowledge are for the express purpose “that all may be taught to be wise and to have knowledge.”  Those who possess these two gifts of the Spirit are to be the teachers that “teach one another words of wisdom” and “learning.”  They are to be the ones who write “the best books” in which are found “words of wisdom” and “learning.”  Their wisdom and knowledge does not come to these teachers through study, but by faith, directly from the Spirit, for they are spiritual gifts.

Confusion of the gifts

Modern LDS often confuse the obtaining of knowledge or wisdom through study and life experience as gifts of the Spirit.  If we find a man who is possessed of great knowledge or wisdom, and who seems to be a God-fearing righteous man, we are apt to believe he possesses the gift of the word of wisdom or knowledge.  He may or may not possess those gifts.  It all depends how he obtained his wisdom and knowledge.  If it was through studying at a university and life experience, then he doesn’t possess the gifts.  If it is through the revelations of the Spirit, (“no one hath told me, save it be God”), then he possesses these gifts.

How the best gifts work

“No one hath told me, save it be God” is the standard to determine whether a best gift is operating or not.  Regardless of the gift, for it to be a legitimate operation it must be by faith as a principle of power, meaning that if you speak words of wisdom, you must have gotten those words from God and no one else; if you speak words of knowledge, you must not have learned it from anyone but God; if you heal the sick, the healing power must not have been learned at medical school but must have come solely from God; if you work miracles, it must be a work done by you (such as Jesus turning water into wine) and not mere happenstance; if you prophesy, it must not be an educated guess based upon others’ speculations or statistics, but must be a prophecy you received solely from God; if you speak in foreign or unknown tongues, it must not have been learned through study; etc.

Let’s say that I prophesy that during this month of September (2010) that there is going to be a massively destructive earthquake in California that will turn the financial markets upside down.  Let’s say that I am the only one saying this and that I am claiming that no one has told me this, save it be God.  Let’s say that others believe me and then they also go around saying that in September there will be a great quake in California, as if it were their own prophecy. Then, along comes some date in September and lo and behold, a moment magnitude 9.0 quake strikes, sinking California’s economy and plunging the nation’s finances into the worst mess ever seen.  In which of the individuals would the gift to prophesy have been manifested?  In me or in the others who parroted my words?

The answer is only in me. Since I received the prophecy from no one, save God, the gift was manifested in me only.  The others benefited and repeated the same message, as if it came to them directly, but they didn’t have the gift.  Just because you repeat a real prophecy doesn’t make you a prophet.

In the same manner, just because some obtain words of wisdom and knowledge (through study and schooling) or ability to heal people (through study and learning) or language learning ability (through study) doesn’t mean they are possessors of these best gifts.

Some personal experience

I have had some limited experience with the various gifts. In the vast majority of the manifestations, if not all of them, I have been left totally perplexed. To the rational mind, it all appears insane.

For example, I once received a prophecy whose fulfillment was a distinct possibility. Then conditions changed and it became totally impossible for its fulfillment. But, I was sure that as crazy as it sounded, it would come to pass. So I simply waited for the conditions to change. Eleven years later conditions miraculously did change and the prophecy was fulfilled every whit.

On another occasion, I was praying for guidance on what to do and a manifestation of the word of wisdom occurred (the only time that has ever happened to me). I was told what would be the wisest course of action to take but it was the absolute craziest thing I had ever heard. But I knew this was from the Spirit and so I did it. In hindsight, I see that it really was a word of wisdom.

On yet another occasion, I remember, I was at work when the Spirit came upon me and told me that a friend of mine was in great danger. Who gave me this knowledge? “No one, save God.” As soon as I was able to, I made the phone call to my friend and sure enough, the Spirit was right.

Each manifestation I’ve received over the years has caused my logical, rational mind to protest. Yet, I have continued to ignore it. In fact, as time goes on, the revelations, prophecies and manifestations seem to be getting even more illogical and bizarre, at least to my rational mind. So, based upon my own experience, I don’t believe that we should expect to rationally understand the manifestations that may come. After all, the natural man cannot comprehend the things of God. In other words, it doesn’t really matter what the manifestation is, the only really important thing is that the manifestation comes from God.

Gifts are unscientific

Recently I commented on a blog by posting a link to The Split-Brain Model of the Gospel post. The blog’s owner replied,

“I will allow the link, but please note that I do NOT accept the proposed model therein as either good science or good theology.

A significant problem with “split-brain” popularizations is one of going far beyond the data into the realm of wild speculation. Readers of such popularizations should beware.”

The reply is interesting because it beautifully shows the reaction of the logical, rational, intellectual left-brain-mind to something written from the right-brain-heart (my post). I especially enjoyed reading that the model was considered unscientific.

Gifts are intended to engender and develop faith

Taking the gift of the word of knowledge again as an example, we should understand that even this gift, which appears to be based upon science (after all, it is knowledge, right?), is primarily designed to develop faith, not impart knowledge. Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? Let me explain.

Knowledge communicated by the Spirit through this gift is fact, not fiction, nevertheless, it is information that may not be readily verifiable.

For example, when Lehi stated, “I know that Jerusalem is destroyed,” this was the gift of the word of knowledge working in him. It was a fact. Jerusalem was destroyed at that time. This could be verified with one’s own two eyes if one could visit Jerusalem and see it for oneself. However, the Nephites could not visit Jerusalem, so they could only take Lehi’s words on faith.

Ammon’s word to Lamoni also were verifiable fact, but Lamoni could not verify them at that moment, so they had to be taken on faith.

So, the word of knowledge is a gift that imparts knowledge of present and past things that cannot immediately be verified using secular means, to the end that the listeners can develop their faith. The knowledge imparted is not of eye-witness accounts, but is a revelation from the Spirit.  The only way to immediately verify it is by another witness of the Spirit.

To illustrate, let’s say a group of 200 people are congregated and a man stands up and says that there is an army of 50,000 men in Cuba making preparations to attack Florida. Who told him this? “No one,” says he, “save it be God.” The man is not an eye-witness. The knowledge is received through spiritual means. Can it be verified? Sure, if one could be transported to Cuba. But as one can’t, it must be taken on faith.

Now let’s say that 5 other people in the group stand up and say that the Spirit has just told them the same thing. Does this add to the credibility of the first man? Not really, as none of them are eye-witnesses. There is nothing scientific about this. Yet, this is how the gift of the word of knowledge functions. It is designed to engender faith, not mere knowledge. Is this good science? Nope. Is this good theology? Yep.

Now let’s say 6 other people stand up, having just come from Cuba and they state they are eye-witnesses and can corroborate that indeed, Cuba is getting ready to invade Florida. Is this good science? Perhaps, if the witnesses are reliable. Is this good theology? Not really.

Don’t avoid the best gifts

I’ll be the first to admit that the best gifts take some getting used to, like an acquired taste. But again, we shouldn’t have an expectation that the things of God are going to be like the things of men.

The current trend in the church is to mainstream our image. As a result, I largely see LDS avoiding the best gifts. But this is a dangerous mistake, one which will lead to widespread deception among the membership.

The gifts are to avoid deception

The Lord said, “that ye may not be deceived seek ye earnestly the best gifts” (D&C 46: 8). Any man or woman who possesses one of these gifts and actively uses them will be protected from the deceptions of the day, whether they be “doctrines of devils, or commandments of men; for some are of men, and others of devils” (D&C 46: 7).

Nephi prophesied that the Gentile churches “which are built up, and not unto the Lord” will “deny the power of God, the Holy One of Israel; and they say unto the people: Hearken unto us, and hear ye our precept; for behold there is no God today, for the Lord and the Redeemer hath done his work, and he hath given his power unto men; behold, hearken ye unto my precept; if they shall say there is a miracle wrought by the hand of the Lord, believe it not; for this day he is not a God of miracles; he hath done his work.”  (See 2 Nephi 28: 3, 5-6.)

Sound familiar? We are well on our way to fulfilling this prophecy, as LDS blindly follow their leaders, trusting that the leading brethren will not deceive them and relying upon their mortal guidance, without earnestly seeking and manifesting the gifts.

The gifts are no more

Among the majority membership, most of the best gifts are no longer manifested. The first two gifts are still among us: knowing Jesus Christ is the Son of God and believing that He is. But the rest of them are all but gone. At church, where the gifts are supposed to be manifested for the benefit of the congregation, no one prophesies, no one knows the diversities of operations, no one knows the differences of administration, no one teaches words of wisdom and words of knowledge, no one heals, no one is healed, no one works miracles, no one discerns spirits, no one speaks in tongues, no one interprets tongues, and none of the leadership discerns the gifts, for there are hardly any gifts manifesting which need discerning.

We have replaced a reliance upon the gifts with a reliance upon our leaders (the Brethren), setting up the fulfillment of Nephi’s prophecy. Instead of going to church and being spiritually uplifted and edified by participating in the manifestations of these gifts, we are lulled into a deep slumber and security. Our meetings are largely spiritually dead. The Holy Ghost has all but left the LDS Gentiles.

But two gifts left

The day that the last two remaining gifts are taken away from us will be the day when no one will join this church anymore. People currently join the church because the Holy Ghost manifests that the message is true. But the day fast approaches when the Holy Ghost will stop manifesting even that. When that occurs, the church (or churches, as it will be), will need to change their proselytizing methods. No more will it be, “ask God if these things are not true” but “come unto me, and for your money you shall be forgiven of your sins” and other wicked enticements to enter the church.

At that point, the wo pronounced by Moroni to the Gentiles will come to pass:

And now I speak unto all the ends of the earth—that if the day cometh that the power and gifts of God shall be done away among you, it shall be because of unbelief. And wo be unto the children of men if this be the case; for there shall be none that doeth good among you, no not one. For if there be one among you that doeth good, he shall work by the power and gifts of God. And wo unto them who shall do these things away and die, for they die in their sins, and they cannot be saved in the kingdom of God; and I speak it according to the words of Christ; and I lie not. (Moroni 10: 24-26)

The return of the gifts

The good news is that although at some point the gifts will be lost to the Gentiles, He will send more messengers who will be manifesting these same gifts. Unless you, yourself, as an individual, have developed one or more of these best gifts, and have come to recognize the manifestation of the gifts that you do not have—by being around people who have them (a congregation)—you will, like the majority member, be deceived into rejecting the new messengers sent from heaven. You cannot recognize bona fide best gifts of the Spirit unless you have experience in them. We must all then become familiar with these gifts, lest we perish at their re-appearance.

The future use of the best gifts

There is a great work to be done in the future, using these seeds of power, before the advent of the Lord. Everything mentioned in the scriptures that was done by them will be done again, with additional, new uses. Everything done before is but a precursor to what lies ahead.

To give an example, we are told that the Nephites had power to move mountains, that the brother of Jared moved mount Zerin (sounds similar to Zion, doesn’t it?), that the Savior told his disciples that if they had faith as a grain of mustard seed, they could move mountains.

Why all this mentioning of moving mountains by power faith? What is so important about it? Why do we need to learn this power? The obvious answer is that at some point in the future, prior to the Second Coming, mountains will need to be moved to fulfill the prophecies. Previously on this continent, the Nephites (and the brother of Jared) moved mountains. It may be that those mountains will have to be removed (or moved back) to their original locations at a future time.

There will not be the time nor the means to accomplish this using action faith, so we must learn to plant and engender and develop these seeds of the powers of godliness that the Lord’s plans may be fulfilled through us. If we do not develop these gifts, someone else will and it will be he or she who fulfills the prophecies, while we are cut off from the privileges we might have had.

Complete List of Articles authored by LDS Anarchist

So John the Baptist Smoked Pot, What of It?

Recent evidence has surfaced which reveals that John the Baptist was high on pot—descending in a cloud of marijuana smoke—when he conferred the priesthood upon Joseph and Oliver.  Some may feel this is unbecoming of an angelic prophet, but I want to state for the record that I support John 100%.

To all the prudes and misinformed:

So John smoked pot.  So what?

A List of Evidences in Favor of Pot

Latest CBS News Polls Finds Majority Of Western Voters, Californians, Back Marijuana Legalization by Paul Armentano, April 27, 2010

End Insanity Of The War on Drugs—Start With Decriminalizing Marijuana at The Federal Level by Ron Paul, April 20, 2010

Marijuana: Recreational drug or natural health miracle? by Kevin Genovario, April 19, 2010

Anti-Pot Propaganda As Stupid As Ever – Yet Our Alarmist Media Continues to Hype It by Paul Armentano, March 10, 2010

The Feds Are Addicted to Pot – Even If You Aren’t by Paul Armentano, December 18, 2009

Marijuana Is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People To Drink? by Mark Thornton, December 1, 2009

Marijuana Is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink? by Paul Armentano, August 12, 2009

Why Condemn Phelps, When We Ought to Condemn the Laws That Brand Him a Criminal by Paul Armentano, February 4, 2009

Drug War’s Latest Tally: 872,721 Pot Arrests, an All-Time High by Paul Armentano, September 17, 2008

Pot Versus the ‘Superbug’ by Paul Armentano, September 2, 2008

So Where Did All The Ditchweed Go? by Paul Armentano, August 11, 2008

20 Years for Pot Possession? by Paul Armentano, July 29, 2008

The Death of Rachel Hoffman by Paul Armentano, July 28, 2008

When It Comes To Medical Pot, Rats Are Smarter Than Our Politicians by Paul Armentano, July 22, 2008

So What If Pot Can Cure Cancer; That’s No Reason For You To Use It by Paul Armentano, July 19, 2008

What the Government Knows About Cannabis and Cancer – and Isn’t Telling You by Paul Armentano, June 26, 2008

Is Senator Kennedy a Victim of Pot Prohibition? by Paul Armentano, May 22, 2008

It’s Official: Gordon Brown and Jacqui Smith Have Lost Their Minds by Paul Armentano, May 15, 2008

How to Tell If the Drug Czar Is Lying? His Lips Are Moving by Paul Armentano, May 14, 2008

Setting the Record Straight on Marijuana and Addiction by Paul Armentano, March 31, 2008

Pot Makes You Lose Your Mind! by Paul Armentano, March 21, 2008

Outrageous Anti-Pot Lies: Media Uses Disgraceful Cancer Scare Tactics by Paul Armentano, March 11, 2008

Ending America’s Domestic Quagmire by Paul Armentano, March 10, 2008

The Lies of the Drug War by Paul Armentano, March 1, 2008

Making Pot Legal: We Can Do It – Here’s How by Paul Armentano, February 13, 2008

What’s the Going Price for a Joint? by Paul Armentano, February 5, 2008

‘Pot 2.0’: Where Can I Get Some? by Paul Armentano, November 2, 2007

Could Cannabis Quell Americans Addiction to Pain Meds? by Paul Armentano and Chris Goldstein, September 20, 2007

Nothing’s Either Good or Bad – Unless the State Says So by William Norman Grigg, July 2, 2007

It’s Been an ‘All Out War’ on Pot Smokers for 35 Years by Paul Armentano, March 23, 2007

White House Requests Increased Funding for Failed Student Drug-Testing, Discredited Anti-Pot Ads by Paul Armentano, February 10, 2007

A Billion Dollars a Year for Pot? by Paul Armentano, October 19, 2006

Medical Marijuana and the Ninth and Tenth Amendments byAnthony Gregory, October 5, 2006

Another Marijuana Myth Goes Up In Smoke by Paul Armentano, June 9, 2006

Cannabis and the Brain: A User’s Guide by Paul Armentano, March 2, 2006

NFL’s Buzzkill: No Beer at Giants Stadium by Paul Armentano, January 14, 2006

Here’s Your Cup, Junior by Paul Armentano, October 12, 2005

Bad Trip by Paul Armentano, March 22, 2005

Crimes of the Other War by Paul Armentano, February 8, 2005

High Court Must Take Lead in Medical Marijuana Debate Because Politicians Will Not by Paul Armentano, November 30, 2004

Terror War Takes a Back Seat to War on Drugs by Paul Armentano, October 30, 2004

Exposing Potent Pot Myths by Paul Armentano, October 21, 2004

Federal Drug Use Surveys and Fuzzy Math by Paul Armentano, September 22, 2004

Unlocking a Cure for Cancer – With Pot by Paul Armentano, August 17, 2004

Complete List of Articles authored by LDS Anarchist

Spicing up your church experience

Combating Cultural Mormonism with a Little Anarchy

In my estimation, there seems to be a growing number of LDS that are starting to recognize the difference between doctrinal Mormonism and cultural Mormonism, with a discontent concerning the latter.

I, personally, worry that cultural Mormonism is killing too many of these good people with boredom.  So, if there are any out in Cyberspace who are tired of the Utah culture being exported to every part of the globe, here are some suggestions from your friendly, neighborhood LDS Anarchist to spice up your church experience and bring a little leavening to the doughy masses.

Feel free to run with any of them and to encourage your LDS and, depending on the suggestion, non-LDS friends to do the same.  With enough people doing the following small things, the church will quickly be de-culturalized, leaving only doctrinal Mormonism left.  But even if only a very few people do these things, it will still cause a tremendous shift of attitude among the saints and bring about significant cultural change.  Lastly, if it is only you working, and you are not having any effect, at all, upon the Cult of Conformity, at least you will have de-culturalized yourself and removed much of the boredom you might have been going through.

Bring back the visual cues of manhood

• Men and boys, grow your beards out.

This is a very easy thing to do, as there is nothing that needs to be done.  It is a passive act.  You simply allow the facial hair to grow out.  This will save you time, energy, electricity (for electric shavers), damage to the skin (no more nicks and cuts) and money (no more shaving equipment needed.)

Many men desire to grow a beard but use the excuse that it grows out in patches and ends up looking horrible, so they cut it.  The truth of the matter is that if you just let the hair grow, even the patches start to sprout hair and eventually everything looks even and full, but sometimes it may take six months for a very patchy man to have a full beard.  A little patience is all it takes.

Teenage boys of 15 and 16, when they start to notice that their peach fuzz is turning into terminal hairs, will immediately start shaving it off.  This is a mistake, as the facial hair is a visual cue that manhood is now upon them.

Young men, aren’t you tired of people treating you like a child?  Grow your facial hair out and watch how quickly people begin treating you as a more mature individual.  Watch the reaction of your parents, male peers, school teachers and the young women of your age.  A beard is a very strong visual cue of manhood and everyone will start to treat you as an adult, especially when your voice deepens.  Remember, things should match.  A deep voice goes with a full beard.  A high pitched voice goes with a clean-shaven (boyish) face.  These visual and audible cues were given to us by God on purpose.

Men, unless you are in a profession that requires you to be clean-shaven, let the hair grow out into a full, bushy beard.  Ditch the fads and trends of trimming into this or that beard style.  You don’t need a goatee, you need a full beard.  You were created in the image of God.  He’s got a full beard.  You’re supposed to have one, too.  Be like God in heart and look like God in image. Don’t trim his image.  If the mustache gives you trouble when you eat, or if you find that the beard becomes a “flavor saver” (because food gets stuck in it), just exercise the patience of the saints and let it grow until it is long enough to no longer get in the way.

Now, I say grow a full, bushy, untrimmed beard because that is the most manly of beards. Short beards, even when full, indicate young men, whose beards have not yet attained the length of a fully grown man.

Women, compliment your husbands and sons on the fine beards they are growing.  You are hard-wired to find beards attractive.  Why?  Because beards are manly, and women love manliness.  So, dump all the (beardless) Roman and (beardless) homosexual propaganda that has filled your head and embrace the real image of Christ. You don’t want a beardless Roman, now do you?  Remember, the beardless Romans killed the bearded Christ.  You want a Christ-like man, right?  So, encourage the growing of the beard, ladies.  Besides, you know that women constantly complain of how grown, adult men act like immature 12-year olds, right?  Well, have you ever considered that they act like 12-year olds because they still look like 12-year olds?  Can you really expect your men to grow up and be adults if they just look like bigger versions of beardless kids?

Men, women and children should consider the functions of the full beard and respect them.  Here are some examples:

• Beards come in quite handy during intimacy.  (I ain’t gonna elaborate on this one.)

• Beards help to develop the manual dexterity of infants and toddlers, who, as they are held by their fathers, grasp the beard, which fully develops the hand and fingers of the child.

• Beards help to distinguish the father from the mother in the eyes of the child, causing them to view the sexes as very, very different.  (“Viva la difference!” as the French say.)  This causes young girls to develop into very feminine women and young boys to develop into very masculine men.

• Bearded men (full, bushy beards, mind you, not the sissy trimmed beards) elicit an involuntary reaction upon all who see them.  Beards emit power and virility and evoke instant respect.  Big, clean-shaven men with tattoos all over the place, piercings, etc., who look for confrontations, involuntarily avoid bearded men because they don’t feel manly in the presence of bearded men.  In point of fact, bearded men look upon beardless men as less manly.

• When two bearded men enter an area and spot each other, they are naturally drawn to each other, involuntarily complimenting the other for their fine facial hair.  (This is significant, as men normally do not give compliments of appearance to one another.)  A bearded man talking to another bearded man feels like he is talking to a man. A bearded man talking to a beardless man feels like he is talking to a boy. All beardless men know this, or feel this inferiority of manliness when in the presence of fully bearded men.  There is no worse feeling to a man than to feel less than manly.

• Conversely, there is no greater feeling to a woman than to feel feminine, but femininity must be contrasted with masculinity to get its greatest effect.  A fully bearded man gives the highest contrast of manliness to a woman, which is why women who have experienced fully bearded men don’t want them to ever cut the beard off.  They feel supremely feminine in the presence of such a manly man.  (Of course, cultural conditioning can take away this natural affinity that women have towards manly beards.)

• Fully bearded men have an air of authority around them that children and women (and beardless men) respond to.  There is something in our psyche that still remembers Heavenly Father and that responds to His bearded image.

• There may be many other reasons to grow a beard, but I’ll end with this one: if the Lord ever wants to send you out among the people to prophesy like one of His prophets of old, shouldn’t you look the part?

Worldly trends to eliminate beards Can you imagine a homosexual male with a full beard?  Kind of hard to picture, isn’t it?  Ever wonder why adult, homosexual males are almost always clean shaven, or have a minimum of facial hair?  Every wonder why the “playboy” image, started by Hugh Hefner, is clean-shaven (kind of like the homosexuals?)  Homosexual males don’t have children because they don’t get into long-term, committed relationships with females (otherwise known as “marriage.”)  “Playboys” (or nowadays the term is “players”) don’t get into long term, committed relationships with females, either.  (No marriage.)  You think the parallels between homosexual males and players is mere coincidence?

How about the sex performers and industry?  The only hair on their bodies (male or female) is found on their heads (and sometimes not even that for the men.)  Ever wonder why all this shaving of armpit hair, pubic hair and facial hair?  All of the visual cues of adulthood (for men and women) are snipped off by this industry, by the homosexuals and often by the playboys.  But think about it, if you take away this hair, what does an adult look like?  Answer: A large child.

None of this is coincidence.  Just as the hair that develops during puberty is designed by God to be a visual cue that the body is becoming an adult and getting ready for its sexual function between ADULTS, the world would remove all this hair so that it looks like CHILDREN are performing these sacred acts.  Thoughts to consider.

(After writing the above, which is based upon my own, personal observations, I did some Internet surfing and came across the following web site that confirmed what I had perceived about beards.)

All About Beards (beards.org)

Pay your tithing in silver

Stop writing checks or paying in cash.  Take whatever cash amount you would spend on tithing and convert it into silver coins, specifically, this silver.  Package and mail the coins off to your bishop, along with a tithing slip inside.  Make sure the slip is filled out so that you are anonymous.

Leave boring sacrament meetings after partaking of the sacrament

If you are tired of banal, boring, lame sacrament meeting talks and seriously consider going inactive, don’t.  Just go to church, partake of the sacrament, and as soon as the priests and deacons are dismissed to sit with their families, walk out and go home. You can return later to attend the Gospel Doctrine class, Relief Society or Priesthood Meetings, if you want or need to.  If Gospel Doctrine is lame, skip that, too. (However, to remain in good standing, priesthood holders must attend their priesthood meetings, even if they are boring.)

Doing this will allow you to keep your sanity for a few more years.  Also, if enough people in your ward participate in collective ditching, the bishopric may get the message that boredom is not a generally accepted principle of the gospel and may make needed improvements to the sacrament meeting.  But don’t hold your breath on that one.

Ditch the necktie and white shirt

Last I checked, you can’t be ex’d for that, or even disfellowshipped.  But some anally retentive bishops may decide that you are no longer worthy to bless or pass the sacrament, give talks, teach classes or perform ordinances of church record, so, if you are looking for a breather from a heavy church load, conveniently make sure that every Sunday your white shirts and ties are too dirty to wear and dress in nice, comfortable, casual clothes, instead.  And if you are called to give a priesthood blessing to some sick person in the ward, don’t be anally retentive yourself and rush home to get dressed in a white shirt and tie.  Just go as you are and bless them.

Grow your hair long

Jesus did it.  Samson did it.  Who is more manly than those two?  Long hair and a full, bushy beard complement each other.  If you have the Roman hair (short cut) and the Israelite beard (full and bushy), it will almost look hypocritical, like having one foot in Babylon and one foot in Zion.  Put both feet in Zion and grow the hair out.  You’ll look a whole lot more handsome and manly if you do.  Plus, you’ll save on all the barber shop money you spend.  (Or, to appease a wife that is unaccustomed to long hair, tell her that you are going to the barber, but instead come back with chocolates and roses…and uncut hair.  She’ll soon look forward to your “barber shop” excursions and will end up being the one insisting you never cut your hair.)  If anyone asks you why you are not cutting the hair, say you are trying to be like Jesus, or that you have taken a Nazarene vow, or that you’ve noticed that your strength increases the longer your hair is, and you’ve decided to enter a strongman contest.

Call everyone brother and sister so-and-so

And I do mean everyone.  Bishops, presidents, missionaries, apostles, prophets and all General Authorities.  Everyone.  And make it part of every sentence, too, when you are called out on the practice.  So, for example: “Hello, Brother Brown.’  “Uh, I’m the bishop, Brother Green.”  “Yes, I know, Brother Brown.”  “Well, it is customary to call one’s bishop by the title bishop and not brother.”  “I was aware of that, Brother Brown.  But thanks for the information, anyway.”  You get my drift, right?  If anyone asks why you are doing this, just get all emotional and, if you are able to, shed a few tears while giving him (not her) a big hug and saying that you love him as your own brother.  Fairly quickly, no one will ask you again about it.

Print out your own set of scriptures

Include whatever canon you want.  Let it contain the four standard works (any version of the Bible you want, or multiple versions, or the red-letter version, etc.), the Apocrypha, the Inspired Version, etc.  Use a desk-top publishing program and a good printer and take it to a binding shop to get it professionally bound.  Remember, the saints set the canon.  You are a saint, so set your own canon.

Reverse the order of prayer

Instead of ending “in the name of Jesus Christ,” make it a habit of starting with “Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, …” and then end with a simple “Amen.”

Reverse the order of priesthood blessings

Instead of saying, “John Smith, by the authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood, we lay our hands on you…etc.” and then ending with, “…and we leave this blessing with you in the name of Jesus Christ, amen,” just begin with, “John Smith, in the name of Jesus Christ and by the authority of…” and end with, “amen.”  Sure, you”ll undoubtedly get elders telling you afterward that you screwed up the blessing and must do it again because the order was reversed, but stick to your guns and teach them a thing or two, namely, that stating the authority is what is required, not the order in which the authority is stated.

Drop all the archaic expressions of prayer

Don’t worry, you won’t tick God off by calling him “you” instead of “thee.”  Lol.  That is a Mormon cultural artifact, nothing more.  Use plain, modern English when talking to God and drop all the thees, thous, wilts, etc.  Do this in private and in public, after all, it’s going to take practice to get out of this habit.  But it’ll be well worth the effort both to witness the expressions of horror by the LDS around you after you’ve said your prayer, as well as seeing how more accepting Christians are of you when you’ve said a prayer without archaic, “holier-than-thou” expressions.

De-McConkie-ize the church: stop ending talks with “In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.”

This practice was started by Bruce R. McConkie.  The early saints just said, “Amen.” to end a talk, or just ended it however they wanted to end it and then sat down.  Surely you don’t think your entire talk speaks for Jesus, now do you?  So, leave off speaking in His name except for ORDINANCES which require speaking in His name and for those times when you are filled with the Spirit and are prophesying in the name of God.  (Now how many times has that happened, huh?)

Build an altar in your home

Purchase bottles of vodka and leave them out to be seen

Use the vodka to wash your bodies, as directed by the Word of Wisdom.  Make sure they are conspicuously displayed and then invite some church members over for dinner.  Have fun with the discussions that ensue.

Other ideas

Obviously, these are just ideas to get you started.  Cultural Mormons will probably call you a sinner for doing these things.  But then, they also see anarchy as evil, which it isn’t.  Just smile and do them anyway.  Eventually, the tide of Mormon cultural crap will turn.  If you have any other ideas to offer, or if you are already doing some of these or other things, feel free to leave a comment and inform us all of your experience.

Next Anarchism/Anarchy article: Anarchism

Previous Anarchism/Anarchy article: Let Us Unite Our Efforts to Establish Gift Societies Based Upon Tribal Anarchism

Complete List of Articles authored by LDS Anarchist

50,000 hits and LDS Anarchy stats

As this blog quickly approaches 50,000 hits, I thought I’d inform the dear readers of some of the current statistical numbers.

(Now, keep in mind that the following numbers are just page hits. WordPress doesn’t tell me how many unique visitors the blog gets.)

Top Ten Page Views of All Time

Joseph Smith’s Daguerreotype—An Appeal for Help (4,312 views)

How I get out of jury duty (1,591 views)

About (1,453 views)

The hollow earth theory, the plasma model and Mormon theology (1,329 views)

Why do LDS still circumcise their boys? (1,239 views)

Lakota independence—prophecy starting to be fulfilled (861 views)

Contributors (830 views)

What did Jesus Christ look like? (792 views)

Strong drinks, mild drinks, hot drinks, wine, etc. (698 views)

Book of Mormon Anarchy (569 views)

Busiest Day Ever

Thursday, March 27th, 2008 (914 views)

Busiest Week Ever

13th week of 2008 (2,559 views)

Busiest Month Ever

August 2008 (7,117 views and still growing)

Top Ten Search Engine Terms of All Time

anarchy (1,066)

how to get out of jury duty (476)

joseph smith (275)

getting out of jury duty (240)

lakota independence (226)

get out of jury duty (132)

joseph smith daguerreotype (117)

lds anarchy (114)

joseph smith iii (114)

strong drinks (87)

Top Blog Aggregator Referrer

MormonBlogs.org (232 referrals)

Top Link Clicked (away from the LDS Anarchy Blog)

Read and Post Patriarchal Blessings Anonymously (154 clicks)

Number of Incoming Blog Links ( blogs linking to the LDS Anarchy Blog)

16

The stats show that each month more and more people are viewing the LDS Anarchy blog.  The How I get out of jury duty post, in particular, is bringing a lot of new people here.  For example, in the last 30 days, that post got 1,070 views, whereas the second most viewed post in the same time period was The hollow earth theory, the plasma model and Mormon theology, with 234 views.

The audience still seems to be primarily LDS, which is the group I addresss my remarks to, but there appears to be a lot of lurkers and probably a good portion of them are non-LDS.  I may try a few posts directed at non-LDS to see if anyone outside of the LDS community is listening to this blog.

All-in-all, the numbers look encouraging and the feedback I’ve gotten from the comments sections is more than I anticipated.  The blog appears to be growing in a healthy manner.  It’s taken about 10 months to get to the 50,000 mark.  I expect the blog to reach the 100,000 mark in much less time.

Complete List of Articles authored by LDS Anarchist

Complete List of Articles authored by LDS Anarchist

The LDS Anarchy blog began on 7 October 2007.
This complete article list will be updated as new articles are published.

Explanatory Introduction

There are two (2) lists on this page: a Chronological List and a Topical List.

The Chronological List is numbered first to last and contains the date the article was first published on the LDS Anarchy blog  This list is useful if you want to follow the progression and evolution (and some might say, regression and degeneration) of my thoughts over time. I have not included the guest posts in this list. If you want those, look under the Guest Contributor section of the Topical List.

If you know the title of a particular essay, or any of the words in the title, most browsers have a “Find on this page…” function which allows you to locate any word on the page.  Usually, to access this function, you just need to press (Control + F) and then there should be a place appear in your browser that allows you to type out the word you are looking for.  This browser function makes an Alphabetical List of my posts obsolete, so I have opted not to include one on this page.

The Topical List is a work in progress.  Some posts cover more than one topic, therefore you can expect repeated listings of a post.

I have the habit of writing new ideas, concepts and understandings in the comment sections, which often enhance, elaborate on, expound upon, and sometimes even correct, the principles found in a post, so if anyone is confused by what I write, read the comments.  There may be an explanation in there that will clear up your confusion.  (Unfortunately, I also do this in the comment sections of the other blog contributors’ posts, so if you cannot find what you are looking for in my posts and comment sections, then you’ll have to review the comments of the other contributors’ posts, which means you’ll have to review the ENTIRE BLOG.  Happy surfing! 😉

For usage rights, please review the following article:

LDS Anarchist’s Posts Are “Open” Copyright

Chronological List

1. (7 October 2007) About

2. (7 October 2007) Biblical Anarchism

3. (7 October 2007) Scriptural Discussion #1: Priesthood Ordinations—By The Power Of The Holy Ghost

4. (8 October 2007) Scriptural Discussion #2: Scriptures—Men To Be Judged By

5. (8 October 2007) The Return of Polygamy

6. (9 October 2007) Scriptural Discussion #3: Sexual Sin—Among Members/Among Investigators

7. (10 October 2007) Scriptural Discussion #4: Sick—Faithless Members/Faithful Saints

8. (10 October 2007) Contributors

9. (10 October 2007) Is our procedure for sustaining a rubber stamp?

10. (11 October 2007) Book of Mormon Anarchy

11. (11 October 2007) Scriptural Discussion #5: Teachers—Must Be Sanctified

12. (12 October 2007) What does the phrase “only true and living church” mean?

13. (12 October 2007) Scriptural Discussion #6: Tribulation Upon Church

14. (13 October 2007) The Secrecy of Patriarchal Blessings

15. (13 October 2007) Scriptural Discussion #7: Afflictions—Can Be Swallowed Up In Joy Of Christ

16. (14 October 2007) Discharging Priesthood Duties

17. (14 October 2007) Scriptural Discussion #8: Anarchism—Approved And Prophesied

18. (15 October 2007) Joseph Smith’s Daguerreotype—An Appeal for Help

19. (15 October 2007) Scriptural Discussion #9: Equality

20. (16 October 2007) The interpolation of a footnote

21. (16 October 2007) Scriptural Discussion #10: Faith—Living By, Better Than Living By Knowledge

22. (17 October 2007) Why I started this blog

23. (17 October 2007) Scriptural Discussion #11: Gifts And Power Of The Spirit—Defined As Good Works

24. (18 October 2007) Charitable gifts: investment of earthly or heavenly benefit?

25. (18 October 2007) Why do LDS still circumcise their boys?

26. (19 October 2007) Romans 13: 1-7 and Joseph Smith

27. (19 October 2007) Stateless in Somalia: How Clannish Anarchy Works

28. (20 October 2007) Why voting is so important to the State

29. (20 October 2007) Scriptural Discussion #12: War—To Be Renounced

30. (20 October 2007) Free-church vs. state-church

31. (20 October 2007) Scriptural Discussion #13: Anger And Insults—Are Forbidden

32. (20 October 2007) The law of tithing (part one)

33. (20 October 2007) Scriptural Discussion #14: Sacramental Prayers—Church Should Be Kneeling During

34. (21 October 2007) The Mormon Worker and the LDS Anarchy Blog: the hand of the Lord or just a coincidence?

35. (22 October 2007) 1930’s Spanish Anarchy

36. (23 October 2007) What the Lord has said about the Constitution

37. (24 October 2007) Anarchy does not require perfect people

38. (25 October 2007) LDS make the best anarchists

39. (26 October 2007) The law of tithing (part two)

40. (26 October 2007) Are there Clergy Response Teams in the LDS Church?

41. (26 October 2007) Deep Waters: Disclaimer

42. (27 October 2007) Daily repentance

43. (28 October 2007) The law of tithing (part three)

44. (29 October 2007) The law of tithing (part four)

45. (30 October 2007) Deep Waters: How many wives? How many husbands?

46. (31 October 2007) Deep Waters: What would have happened if Lucifer had won the vote?

47. (1 November 2007) The oath and covenant of the priesthood

48. (2 November 2007) The LDS weep not for Zion

49. (3 November 2007) The gift of tongues (part one)

50. (4 November 2007) The gift of tongues (part two): a Book of Mormon account

51. (5 November 2007) The gift of tongues (part three): tongues and administrations

52. (6 November 2007) Is the topic of “secret combinations” taboo in the LDS church?

53. (7 November 2007) The real meaning of the promise in Moroni 10: 3-5

54. (8 November 2007) There is no conflict between science and religion

55. (9 November 2007) A small break

56. (11 November 2007) The sun “borrows” its light and the planets or stars were “fixed”

57. (12 November 2007) The Noachian Flood, Part One: The Role of Plasma

58. (13 November 2007) The plasma aspects of the First Vision and Moroni’s visits

59. (14 November 2007) Is anarchism compatible with D&C 134?

60. (15 November 2007) The Title of Insufferable, Self-Righteous Prigs

61. (16 November 2007) Strong drinks, mild drinks, hot drinks, wine, etc.

62. (17 November 2007) The faith of God, part one

63. (18 November 2007) Abraham Lincoln

64. (21 November 2007) The Anarchy of Alma

65. (22 November 2007) 300 + years of Nephite anarchy

66. (23 November 2007) The prophetic counsel against having kings (ruler)

67. (24 November 2007) Introducing another LDS plasma theologue

68. (26 November 2007) Deep Waters: Lehi’s model of the universe

69. (26 November 2007) Special Comet Holmes James M. McCanney Broadcast

70. (3 December 2007) The hollow earth theory, the plasma model and Mormon theology

71. (5 December 2007) Anonymity, encryption and privacy on the net

72. (7 December 2007) The faith of God, part two

73. (17 December 2007) Power of the Law of Common Consent

74. (18 December 2007) No, I haven’t abandoned the blog…

75. (19 December 2007) A basic right denied

76. (20 December 2007) The faith of God, part three

77. (21 December 2007) To LDS women: beware of kissing

78. (27 December 2007) Lakota independence—prophecy starting to be fulfilled?

79. (30 December 2007) How the scriptural “helps” brainwash you

80. (2 January 2008) The tribal nature of the gospel

81. (13 January 2008) The Compassionate Empathy Model of the Atonement

82. (16 January 2008) How the atonement of Jesus Christ solves the “victim” problem

83. (18 January 2008) Are we commanded to confess to ecclesiastical authorities without witnesses?

84. (23 January 2008) What did Jesus Christ look like?

85. (24 January 2008) The law governing confession

86. (30 January 2008) Poll: Who is the most prophetic?

87. (1 February 2008) Gordon B. Hinckley’s scripturally-based legacy

88. (3 February 2008) Confidential annotations on membership records

89. (5 February 2008) The faith of God, part four: the word of God

90. (14 February 2008) The faith of God, part five: belief

91. (16 February 2008) The faith of God, part six: the Holy Spirit

92. (19 February 2008) Is Molly right?

93. (21 February 2008) The faith of God, part seven: prayer and fasting

94. (25 February 2008) The faith of God, part eight: the Atonement is the word

95. (29 February 2008) What best gifts do you have?

96. (2 March 2008) The faith of God, part nine: the ingredients of faith

97. (16 March 2008) Thanks to Thailer

98. (16 March 2008) The role of agency in political systems

99. (26 March 2008) Breaking News: Joseph Smith’s Daguerrotype is scanned and uploaded

100. (30 March 2008) Extended fasting: a cure for all spiritual AND PHYSICAL ailments

101. (31 March 2008) The faith of God, part ten: the relationship of faith to agency (power)

102. (2 April 2008) The anarchic laws of D&C 98

103. (2 April 2008) LDS Anarchy blog listed as Best Radically Faithful Blog by SLWeekly.com

104. (4 April 2008) Intellectuals

105. (9 April 2008) Follow the leader: satanic in nature?

106. (10 April 2008) My extended fast journal

107. (11 April 2008) The faith of God, part eleven: Why knowledge doesn’t save

108. (14 April 2008) Other prophets and their scriptures

109. (15 April 2008) Why the long process

110. (22 April 2008) My take on the FLDS raid

111. (24 April 2008) The faith of God, part twelve: Truth

112. (28 April 2008) How the Lord will clean His church: a possible scenario

113. (2 May 2008) What the Word of Wisdom says and what it doesn’t say

114. (8 May 2008) Introducing a new contributor

115. (16 May 2008) Bringing Stan Tenen and The Meru Foundation to the Attention of all LDS [alternate title: Doing what4anarchy’s Job]

116. (19 May 2008) Scriptural Discussion #15: Abortion

117. (12 June 2008) Complete List of Articles authored by LDS Anarchist

118. (14 June 2008) “It has always been given to the elders of my church from the beginning, and always shall be, to conduct all meetings.”

119. (21 June 2008) what4anarchy’s in charge

120. (8 July 2008) The Noachian Flood, Part Two: Electrically manufacturing OH

121. (9 July 2008) Introducing yet another new contributor

122. (11 July 2008) How I get out of jury duty

123. (12 July 2008) CAP Reports

124. (20 July 2008) Deep Waters: Creatio ex nihilo, creatio ex materia and creatio ex deo are all true doctrines

125. (6 August 2008) The many definitions of adultery

126. (6 August 2008) Is the church under attack?

127. (8 August 2008) Is the King James Version still the best?

128. (15 August 2008) The Law of the Harvest: a reality check

129. (18 August 2008) Let the Aaronic Priesthood Do Hometeaching and Let the Elders Administer the Sacrament

130. (19 August 2008) The dissolution of the corporate LDS church via “gay marriage”

131. (20 August 2008) Anarchy in action: congregational nullification

132. (23 August 2008) Anarchy in Education

133. (25 August 2008) Scriptural Discussion #16: David and Solomon

134. (27 August 2008) If voting could change things, it would be illegal

135. (29 August 2008) 50,000 hits and LDS Anarchy stats

136. (29 August 2008) Monson and his constipated physics redux; or, how electric gravity makes hollow earthers happy

137. (30 August 2008) Apathy is not a problem; it’s a symptom and a solution

138. (2 September 2008) The voice of the people signifies a majority

139. (3 September 2008) We are not doing our business by the voice of the people

140. (4 September 2008) LDS Anarchy Blog Readership Poll

141. (8 September 2008) Two voices crying in the wilderness (on the Internet)

142. (9 September 2008) The Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th Edition (1910-1911)

143. (10 September 2008) Does legalized, same-sex “marriage” break the law of chastity?

144. (28 September 2008) The Root Cause of the Current Financial (Monetary) Crisis and Its Solution

145. (1 October 2008) Liberty Dollar Alert #29

146. (25 October 2008) The practice of hiding up treasures unto the Lord

147. (21 November 2008) Introducing a new bartering currency—the first coin: 1/2 Troy oz pure silver .999 fine

148. (15 December 2008) A Gospel Outline—Without Explanations

149. (21 December 2008) What if…the Lord brought the Prophet Joseph Smith back from the dead to lead the church?

150. (6 January 2009) “And Thus They Did Obtain the Sole Management of the Government”

151. (16 January 2009) The End of the State of Israel

152. (25 January 2009) 3 Nephi 21, expounded

153. (2 February 2009) Slim pickings is not the problem with the single adult program: FAT women are

154. (8 February 2009) TAV Pre-Genesis Revelation to Joseph Smith

155. (9 February 2009) TAV Matthew 1

156. (11 February 2009) D&C 87, expounded

157. (14 February 2009) Bartering Currency Pictures

158. (2 April 2009) If you could read only 3 chapters or sections…

159. (21 May 2009) Plasma Rods: A Theoretical Concept

160. (7 June 2009) A sign of the times?

161. (13 June 2009) Keep your eye on the planets!

162. (4 July 2009) (No Uncle) S.A.M.M.s

163. (10 July 2009) The Split-Brain Model of the Gospel

164. (30 July 2009) Establishing the tribes of Israel: the real reason for plural marriage

165. (9 August 2009) Let Us Unite Our Efforts to Establish Gift Societies Based Upon Tribal Anarchism

166. (18 August 2009) The Law of Chastity: What It Is and What It Isn’t

167. (30 August 2009) Why I Believe the Plates of Brass Are Next

168. (16 September 2009) “David and Solomon truly had many wives and concubines, which thing was abominable before me”

169. (25 September 2009) Damnation

170. (29 September 2009) There are no “higher” or “lower” laws; there are only expedient laws

171. (20 January 2010) “And they understood me not, for they supposed”

172. (28 January 2010) Manasseh’s future leadership role

173. (2 February 2010) Opening old wounds

174. (3 February 2010) Spicing up your church experience

175. (6 February 2010) The Anarchist Version (TAV) of the Scriptures

176. (10 February 2010) TAV Comments

177. (13 February 2010) Was John the Baptist on Dope?

178. (24 February 2010) The Priesthood

179. (26 March 2010) Apprising In Verse — A Short Poem

180. (27 March 2010) A note from Stan Tenen

181. (5 April 2010) LDS Anarchist’s Posts Are “Open” Copyright

182. (27 April 2010) An alternate view of the keys

183. (8 May 2010) Anarchism

184. (9 May 2010) “And thus, with the sword…”

185. (14 May 2010) Become a Contributor

186. (18 May 2010) So John the Baptist Smoked Pot, What of It?

187. (21 May 2010) The Hailstorm Soon Cometh, pre-post

188. (27 May 2010) Isaiah Explained: Isaiah Institute Translation with audio commentary by Avraham Gileadi

189. (2 June 2010) Mormonism as the coming state religion and other crazy thoughts

190. (7 June 2010) The Holy Ghost is a Woman

191. (16 June 2010) I am wary of the priestcraft among us

192. (22 June 2010) Every one of us had a perfect, wonderful and happy childhood

193. (28 July 2010) Anarchy in action: sending 2-cent letters and 1-cent postcards

194. (20 August 2010) Lehi’s Josephite Prophecy

195. (10 September 2010) Body modesty is not a principle of the gospel

196. (14 September 2010) The seeds of the powers of godliness

197. (22 September 2010) Tribal worship services

198. (7 October 2010) Happy 3rd Birthday, LDS Anarchy Blog!

199. (11 October 2010) Marriage without a marriage license is ordained of God

200. (29 October 2010) The Parable of the Redemption of Zion (D&C 101: 43-62): a Series of FUTURE (not Past) Events

201. (2 November 2010) The Parable of the Redemption of Zion (D&C 101: 43-62), Take Two: a Purely Planetary/Plasma Interpretation

202. (16 November 2010) Wives, follow your husbands! – Patriarchy, androcracy and the egalitarian tribe

203. (20 November 2010) Unlicensed marriages and what the Brethren can do about them

204. (26 November 2010) The faith of God, part thirteen: How charity fits in

205. (27 November 2010) Mormon.org profiles: enhanced membership tracking?

206. (28 November 2010) Priesthood Offices in a Tribal Setting

207. (3 December 2010) The nature of authority: the Lord’s stewardship law

208. (4 December 2010) New thoughts on prayer

209. (23 December 2010) All About Christmas

210. (22 January 2011) Teachings on hell and the spirit world

211. (6 March 2011) The role of angels in Nephite preaching

212. (11 March 2011) How to receive what you ask for

213. (9 May 2011) The doctrine of destruction

214. (30 May 2011) The Baptism of Fire

215. (14 June 2011) Blog Chronology

216. (17 June 2011) “Every elder, priest, teacher or deacon is to be ordained according to the gifts…of God unto him.”

217. (21 June 2011) GEMTAM Book Collaboration

218. (20 August 2011) Abrahamic Concubinage as an Inter-Tribal Function

219. (23 September 2011) The Book of Mormon Is a Litmus Test

220. (4 October 2011) The real Jonah: holy prophet and type of Christ

221. (27 October 2011) GEMTAM (Chapter 3) Multihusband-Multiwife

222. (18 November 2011) Selections from the Book of Laman

223. (22 November 2011) LDS Anarchy Chat Room

224. (3 December 2011) Lehi’s Trek to China and North America

225. (20 December 2011) “…and the labor which they had to perform was to look…”

226. (17 February 2012) “Why do you call me a Christian when you believe in a Restoration?”

227. (23 February 2012) The Real Missionary Discussions

228. (14 March 2012) Vigilant Citizen web site link added to the blog

229. (5 April 2012) The Two Authors of the Book of Abraham

230. (9 April 2012) The Strength of the Lord

231. (15 April 2012) Various recent insights

232. (4 May 2012) Sperm Sorting Function

233. (12 September 2012) “Because it hardens the heart.”

234. (6 October 2012) Happy 5th Birthday, LDS Anarchy Blog!

235. (9 October 2012) Who is supposed to take the lead of meetings?

236. (12 October 2012) Evil speaking of the Lord’s anointed

237. (21 October 2012) Do we really need a standing army?

238. (22 October 2012) WISTB, part two: because the By Common Consent blog banned the LDS Anarchist

239. (25 October 2012) More church anarchy: autonomous quorums

240. (28 October 2012) Let them grow together

241. (9 November 2012) Talking to myself

242. (14 November 2012) | they must suffer | even as i |

243. (13 December 2012) King Noah and the Redemption of Zion

244. (14 December 2012) America, let the results of this shooting be a rush to HOMESCHOOL, not GUN CONTROL!

245. (21 December 2012) It is a SIN to infringe on the people’s right to keep and bear arms

246. (28 December 2012) Ideas for fighting gun rights infringement

247. (29 December 2012) 1 Nephi 13 & 14 commentary, using CTC’s view

248. (31 December 2012) 2012 in review

249. (11 January 2013) How to Easily Repeal the Federal Income Tax

250. (22 January 2013) Join the Movement to Repeal the Federal Income Tax in 30 days

251. (14 February 2013) The divine pattern of citizen militias

252. (21 February 2013) Russian Chelyabinsk meteor-to-ground connections

253. (10 March 2013) The 2013 edition of the scriptures has unintentionally added new scripture to the canon

254. (26 March 2013) The daughters of Zion shall rule over the people of the Lord

255. (30 March 2013) The orders of the priesthood

256. (24 April 2013) The root and divine pattern of the damsel in distress

257. (28 May 2013) The faith of God, part fourteen: God is a miracle worker, not a scientist

258. (31 July 2013) Mormon as a restoration prophet

259. (13 August 2013) Why the Gospel Requires Embodied Proxies

260. (19 August 2013) The significance of captain Moroni

261. (22 August 2013) “Doubt not” is a commandment of God based on agency

262. (23 August 2013) What “Renounce War and Proclaim Peace” Means

263. (24 August 2013) Nephi slaying Laban in light of D&C 98

264. (25 August 2013) Denver Snuffer’s “Passing the Heavenly Gift”: Does its publication constitute an act of apostasy?

265. (30 August 2013) A Perfect Understanding

266. (4 September 2013) The doctrine against dissent

267. (23 March 2014) Should I produce a silver “tithing” coin?

268. (25 March 2014) A commandment to practice polygamy found in the New Testament

269. (29 March 2014) The Noachian Flood, Part Three: Oceans above, below and within

270. (2 April 2014) The scattering of Israel ain’t over, yet

271. (6 May 2014) A curious reading of Alma 12:8-18

272. (4 September 2014) The brides of Satan

273. (4 December 2014) Book of Mormon surnames: the meaning of the -ites and “people of”

274. (9 December 2014) 2 Nephi 3 expounded: the real Josephite restorer

275. (13 January 2015) The Second Seer

276. (5 February 2015) The Nephite Artifacts

277. (5 February 2015) They did it for prosperity, dominion, discovery, diversity, defense and memorial

278. (12 February 2015) No middle ground and no middle kingdoms

279. (11 May 2015) Sam was Nephi’s identical twin brother

280. (21 May 2015) The Right to Abolish, Revert and Replace Amendment

281. (24 June 2015) The New Articles of Confederation (NAC)

282. (8 July 2015) The U.S. Constitution (USC) Sucks, The New Articles of Confederation (NAC) is Better: Part 1 of an Open Debate—USC 2nd Amendment vs. NAC Article II, Section 2.1-2.3

283. (9 July 2015) The U.S. Constitution (USC) Sucks, The New Articles of Confederation (NAC) is Better: Part 2 of an Open Debate—USC 3rd & 1st Amendments vs. NAC Article II, Section 2.4-2.8

284. (14 July 2015) The U.S. Constitution (USC) Sucks, The New Articles of Confederation (NAC) is Better: Part 3 of an Open Debate—USC 4th-8th,13th Amendments vs. NAC Article II, Section 2.9-2.24

285. (15 July 2015) The U.S. Constitution (USC) Sucks, The New Articles of Confederation (NAC) is Better: Part 4 of an Open Debate—The NAC’s Marriage Sections

286. (20 July 2015) The U.S. Constitution (USC) Sucks, The New Articles of Confederation (NAC) is Better: Part 5 of an Open Debate—The NAC’s Family Sections

287. (23 July 2015) The U.S. Constitution (USC) Sucks, The New Articles of Confederation (NAC) is Better: Part 6 of an Open Debate—NAC’s Article IV Confederacy vs. USC’s National Government

288. (30 July 2015) The USC Sucks, etcetera: Part 7 of an Open Debate—The NAC’s Article VI & Conspiracies

289. (3 August 2015) The USC Sucks, etcetera: Part 8 of an Open Debate—The NAC’s Article V & other Money Sections

290. (6 August 2015) What would a Nephite-based youth program look like?

291. (25 August 2015) The USC Sucks, etcetera: Part 9 of an Open Debate—The NAC’s Articles VII-IX (Judiciary, Powers & War)

292. (31 August 2015) The USC Sucks, etcetera: Part 10 of an Open Debate—The NAC’s Article X

293. (3 September 2015) The USC Sucks, etcetera: Part 11 of an Open Debate—The NAC’s Article XI (The American Jubilee)

294. (8 September 2015) Confederalist Paper #1 – Introduction

295. (9 September 2015) The USC Sucks, etcetera: Part 12 of an Open Debate—The NAC’s Article XII (Citizenship & Immigration)

296. (10 September 2015) The USC Sucks, etcetera: Part 13 of an Open Debate—The NAC’s Article XIII (The Rules of the League)

297. (10 September 2015) Confederalist Paper #2 – One United Confederacy

298. (15 September 2015) Thoughts on the One Mighty and Strong

299. (16 September 2015) Confederalist Paper #3 – Peaceful Strength

300. (17 September 2015) A Comparison Between the AOC, NAC & USC

301. (18 September 2015) Whisper and Write

302. (23 September 2015) Surely the Lord God will do nothing, until he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.

303. (28 September 2015) “Keep your mouth shut and hold your tongue!” (Leave the leadership alone.)

304. (7 October 2015) Happy 8th Birthday, LDS Anarchy Blog! – Significant Posts Edition

305. (19 October 2015) Nehor’s and Amlici’s origin and plan

306. (26 October 2015) Re-assignment of Parentage

307. (9 November 2015) It’s okay to drink wine

308. (10 November 2015) My experiences with the discerning of spirits

309. (30 November 2015) Asthma is Officially Cured

310. (7 December 2015) Homosexuality, Sodomy, Rape, Rape Culture & Pedophilia

311. (21 December 2015) O Lord, give me strength that I may burst these bands with which I am bound

312. (30 December 2015) 2015 in review

313. (25 February 2016) Learning of the Real Meaning of Tithing Should Be like Finding the Book of the Law

314. (29 February 2016) $6 for every $1000 of Net Worth Is the Proper Tithe

315. (14 March 2016) The definition of eternal

316. (21 March 2016) Where We Are on the Prophetic Timeline: The Times of Types and Shadows

317. (7 April 2016) The “dispensational counting” thought

318. (14 April 2016) Word-for-word vs. functional translations

319. (26 April 2016) Thou shalt not “covet”

320. (28 April 2016) I’ve changed my mind

321. (9 May 2016) Shutting the mouths of false teachers

322. (20 May 2016) The Testimonies of Denver Snuffer and Louis Steiner Naegle

323. (15 June 2016) A First Resurrection Has Already Occurred

324. (12 July 2016) What It Means to Bind Up the Testimony and Seal Up the Law

325. (17 September 2016) Recent Thoughts on the Prophecies

326. (24 September 2016) The Proclamation: An Appeal for Prayer

327. (7 October 2016) The Meridian of Time

328. (26 July 2017) John the Revelator is not the Elias who restores all things

329. (29 August 2017) The Prophet who is like unto Moses

330. (28 November 2017) King Abaddon, the destroying angel: the Father’s royal executioner and emissary of justice

331. (16 January 2018) The five stages of the church

332. (5 April 2018) A new interpretation of Psalms 110

333. (16 August 2018) “The Davidic Servant” Error

334. (14 January 2019) Calculating the End Times

335. (15 January 2019) The desolating scourge

336. (25 February 2019) The ordinances must match the final state

337. (15 March 2019) Resurrection for one; translation for the other

338. (26 March 2019) What “if any provide not for his own” is really talking about

339. (3 May 2019) Vertical sealings of two kinds: salvation and exaltation

340. (30 May 2019) Spiritual necrosis

341. (21 October 2019) Reconciling Daniel with John

342. (28 October 2019) The seraphim and cherubim are plasmoids

343. (25 November 2019) The demonic duo: the beast and the false prophet

Topical List

Anarchism/Anarchy (38 Total)

Anarchism

Biblical Anarchism

Book of Mormon Anarchy

Stateless in Somalia: How Clannish Anarchy Works

Why voting is so important to the State

Free-church vs. state-church

The Mormon Worker and the LDS Anarchy Blog: The hand of the Lord or just a coincidence?

1930’s Spanish Anarchy

What the Lord has said about the Constitution

Anarchy does not require perfect people

LDS make the best anarchists

Is anarchism compatible with D&C 134?

Abraham Lincoln

The Anarchy of Alma

300 + years of Nephite anarchy

The prophetic counsel against having kings (rulers)

A basic right denied

Lakota independence—prophecy starting to be fulfilled?

The tribal nature of the gospel

Is Molly right?

The role of agency in political systems

The anarchic laws of D&C 98

My take on the FLDS raid

How the Lord will clean his church: a possible scenario

How I get out of jury duty

The dissolution of the corporate LDS Church via “gay marriage”

Anarchy in action: congregational nullification

Anarchy in Education

If voting could change things, it would be illegal

The Root Cause of the Current Financial (Monetary) Crisis and Its Solution

Introducing a new bartering currency—the first coin: 1/2 Troy oz pure silver .999 fine

Bartering Currency Pictures

A sign of the times?

(No Uncle) S.A.M.M.s

Establishing the tribes of Israel: the real reason for plural marriage

Let Us Unite Our Efforts to Establish Gift Societies Based Upon Tribal Anarchism

Spicing up your church experience

Anarchy in action: sending 2-cent letters and 1-cent postcards

Apostasy (2 Total)

Denver Snuffer’s “Passing the Heavenly Gift”: Does its publication constitute an act of apostasy?

The doctrine against dissent

Arm of the Flesh (3 Total)

How the scriptural “helps” brainwash you

Follow the leader: satanic in nature?

The Strength of the Lord

Bartering Currency (4 Total)

The Root Cause of the Current Financial (Monetary) Crisis and Its Solution

Introducing a new bartering currency—the first coin: 1/2 Troy oz pure silver .999 fine

Bartering Currency Pictures

Should I produce a silver “tithing” coin?

Bill of Rights (4 Total)

What the Lord has said about the Constitution

Talking to myself

It is a SIN to infringe on the people’s right to keep and bear arms

Ideas for fighting gun rights infringement

Blog Notes (19 Total)

Why I started this blog

A small break

No, I haven’t abandoned the blog…

Thanks to Thailer

LDS Anarchy blog listed as Best Radically Faithful Blog by SLWeekly.com

Introducing a new contributor

Complete List of Articles authored by LDS Anarchist

what4anarchy’s in charge

Introducing yet another new contributor

50,000 hits and LDS Anarchy stats

LDS Anarchy Blog Readership Poll

Two voices crying in the wilderness (on the Internet)

The Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th Edition (1910-1911)

Happy 3rd Birthday, LDS Anarchy Blog!

LDS Anarchy Chat Room

Vigilant Citizen web site link added to the blog

Happy 5th Birthday, LDS Anarchy Blog!

WISTB, part two: because the By Common Consent blog banned the LDS Anarchist

2012 in review

Character Education (2 Total)

If you could read only 3 chapters or sections…

The Words of Jehovah-Saves Anointed-One, Spoken During His Nephite Ministry: DAY ONE — Private

Chastity (7 Total)

The Return of Polygamy

Why the long process?

The many definitions of adultery

Does legalized, same-sex “marriage” break the law of chastity?

The Law of Chastity: What It Is and What It Isn’t

“David and Solomon truly had many wives and concubines, which thing was abominable before me”

Marriage without a marriage license is ordained of God

Children (4 Total)

CAP Reports

Every one of us had a perfect, wonderful and happy childhood

Evil speaking of the Lord’s anointed

What would a Nephite-based youth program look like?

Circumcision (1 Total)

Why do LDS still circumcise their boys?

Common Consent (8 Total)

Is our procedure for sustaining a rubber stamp?

Power of the Law of Common Consent

Anarchy in action: congregational nullification

Apathy is not a problem, it’s a symptom and a solution

The voice of the people signifies a majority

We are not doing our business by the voice of the people

How to Easily Repeal the Federal Income Tax

Join the Movement to Repeal the Federal Income Tax in 30 days

Current Events (1 Total)

America, let the results of this shooting be a rush to HOMESCHOOL, not GUN CONTROL!

Deep Waters (5 Total)

Deep Waters: Disclaimer

Deep Waters: How many wives? How many husbands?

Deep Waters: What would have happened if Lucifer had won the vote?

Deep Waters: Lehi’s model of the universe

Deep Waters: Creatio ex nihilo, creatio ex materia and creatio ex deo are all true doctrines

The Faith of God (14 Total)

The faith of God, part one

The faith of God, part two

The faith of God, part three

The faith of God, part four: the word of God

The faith of God, part five: belief

The faith of God, part six: the Holy Spirit

The faith of God, part seven: prayer and fasting

The faith of God, part eight: the Atonement is the word

The faith of God, part nine: The ingredients of faith

The faith of God, part ten: The relationship of faith to agency (power)

The faith of God, part eleven: Why knowledge doesn’t save

The faith of God, part twelve: Truth

The faith of God, part thirteen: How charity fits in

The faith of God, part fourteen: God is a miracle worker, not a scientist

This series is not finished, yet.

Fasting (2 Total)

Extended fasting: a cure for all spiritual AND PHYSICAL ailments

My extended fast journal

Gifts of the Spirit (5 Total)

The gift of tongues (part one)

The gift of tongues (part two): a Book of Mormon account

The gift of tongues (part three): tongues and administrations

What best gifts do you have?

The seeds of the powers of godliness

The Gospel-based, Egalitarian, Multihusband-Multiwife, Tribal Anarchy Model (4 Total)

GEMTAM Book Collaboration

Abrahamic Concubinage as an Inter-Tribal Function

GEMTAM (Chapter 3) Multihusband-Multiwife

Sperm Sorting Function

Guest Contributor (5 Total)

The Apostasy of the LDS Church by Curtis R. Porritt

Why (Heavenly) Father is an Anarchist by Jahnihah Wrede

What The Priesthood Is by Jahnihah Wrede

Congruence vs. Obedience by Jahnihah Wrede

Agency: The Single Principle of a Continuous War by Jahnihah Wrede

Holy Ghost (1 Total)

The Holy Ghost is a Woman

Jesus Christ (5 Total)

The Compassionate Empathy Model of the Atonement

How the atonement of Jesus Christ solves the “victim” problem

What did Jesus Christ look like?

“…and the labor which they had to perform was to look…”

| they must suffer | even as i |

John the Baptist (2 Total)

Was John the Baptist on Dope?

So John the Baptist Smoked Pot, What of It?

Joseph Smith (4 Total)

Joseph Smith’s Daguerreotype—An Appeal for Help

Romans 13: 1-7 and Joseph Smith

Breaking News: Joseph Smith’s Daguerrotype is scanned and uploaded

What if…the Lord brought the Prophet Joseph Smith back from the dead to lead the church?

Josephite Restorer: Joseph-Nephi-Lehi (8 Total)

Lehi’s Josephite Prophecy

Book of Mormon surnames: the meaning of the -ites and “people of”

2 Nephi 3 expounded: the real Josephite restorer

The Second Seer

The Nephite Artifacts

They did it for prosperity, dominion, discovery, diversity, defense and memorial

Thoughts on the One Mighty and Strong

Whisper and Write

Modesty (1 Total)

Body modesty is not a principle of the gospel

New Articles of Confederation (NAC) (19 Total)

The New Articles of Confederation (NAC)

The Right to Abolish, Revert and Replace Amendment

A Comparison Between the AOC, NAC & USC

The U.S. Constitution (USC) Sucks, The New Articles of Confederation (NAC) is Better: Part 1 of an Open Debate—USC 2nd Amendment vs. NAC Article II, Section 2.1-2.3

The U.S. Constitution (USC) Sucks, The New Articles of Confederation (NAC) is Better: Part 2 of an Open Debate—USC 3rd & 1st Amendments vs. NAC Article II, Section 2.4-2.8

The U.S. Constitution (USC) Sucks, The New Articles of Confederation (NAC) is Better: Part 3 of an Open Debate—USC 4th-8th,13th Amendments vs. NAC Article II, Section 2.9-2.24

The U.S. Constitution (USC) Sucks, The New Articles of Confederation (NAC) is Better: Part 4 of an Open Debate—The NAC’s Marriage Sections

The U.S. Constitution (USC) Sucks, The New Articles of Confederation (NAC) is Better: Part 5 of an Open Debate—The NAC’s Family Sections

The U.S. Constitution (USC) Sucks, The New Articles of Confederation (NAC) is Better: Part 6 of an Open Debate—NAC’s Article IV Confederacy vs. USC’s National Government

The USC Sucks, etcetera: Part 7 of an Open Debate—The NAC’s Article VI & Conspiracies

The USC Sucks, etcetera: Part 8 of an Open Debate—The NAC’s Article V & other Money Sections

The USC Sucks, etcetera: Part 9 of an Open Debate—The NAC’s Articles VII-IX (Judiciary, Powers & War)

The USC Sucks, etcetera: Part 10 of an Open Debate—The NAC’s Article X

The USC Sucks, etcetera: Part 11 of an Open Debate—The NAC’s Article XI (The American Jubilee)

The USC Sucks, etcetera: Part 12 of an Open Debate—The NAC’s Article XII (Citizenship & Immigration)

The USC Sucks, etcetera: Part 13 of an Open Debate—The NAC’s Article XIII (The Rules of the League)

Confederalist Paper #1 – Introduction

Confederalist Paper #2 – One United Confederacy

Confederalist Paper #3 – Peaceful Strength

Patriarchal Blessings (1 Total)

The secrecy of patriarchal blessings

Plasma Cosmology (1 Total)

Russian Chelyabinsk meteor-to-ground connections

Plasma Theology (16 Total)

There is no conflict between science and religion

The sun “borrows” its light and the planets or stars were “fixed”

The Noachian Flood, Part One: The Role of Plasma

The Noachian Flood, Part Two: Electrically Manufacturing OH

The Noachian Flood, Part Three: Oceans above, below and within

The plasma aspects of the First Vision and Moroni’s visit

Introducing another LDS plasma theologue

Special Comet Holmes James M. McCanney Broadcast

The hollow earth theory, the plasma model and Mormon theology

Monson and his constipated physics redux; or, how electric gravity makes hollow earthers happy

Plasma Rods: A Theoretical Concept

Keep your eye on the planets!

The Parable of the Redemption of Zion (D&C 101: 43-62), Take Two: a Purely Planetary/Plasma Interpretation

Teachings on hell and the spirit world

The Baptism of Fire

Various recent insights

Prayer (2 Total)

New thoughts on prayer

Various recent insights

Preaching the Gospel (4 Total)

The real meaning of the promise in Moroni 10: 3-5

The Law of the Harvest: a reality check

The role of angels in Nephite preaching

The Real Missionary Discussions

Pride (4 Total)

The Title of Insufferable, Self-Righteous Prigs

Intellectuals

I am wary of the priestcraft among us

Selections from the Book of Lamans

“Because it hardens the heart.”

Priesthood (12 Total)

Discharging Priesthood Duties

The oath and covenant of the priesthood

Let the Aaronic Priesthood Do Home Teaching and Let the Elders Administer the Sacrament

“It has always been given to the elders of my church from the beginning, and always shall be, to conduct all meetings.”

The Priesthood

An alternate view of the keys

Tribal worship services

Priesthood Offices in a Tribal Setting

“Every elder, priest, teacher or deacon is to be ordained according to the gifts…of God unto him.”

Who is supposed to take the lead of meetings?

More church anarchy: autonomous quorums

The orders of the priesthood

Privacy (2 Total)

Anonymity, encryption and privacy on the net

Confidential annotations on membership records

Prophecy (6 Total)

Apprising In Verse — A Short Poem

Mormonism as the coming state religion and other crazy thoughts

The Parable of the Redemption of Zion (D&C 101: 43-62): a Series of FUTURE (not Past) Events

The Book of Mormon Is a Litmus Test

Do we really need a standing army?

The daughters of Zion shall rule over the people of the Lord

Prophets (5 Total)

Poll: Who is the most prophetic?

Gordon B. Hinckley’s scripturally-based legacy

Other prophets and their scriptures

Mormon as a restoration prophet

The significance of captain Moroni

Redemption of the Dead (1 Total)

Why the Gospel Requires Embodied Proxies

Relationships (5 Total)

To LDS women: beware of kissing

Slim pickings is not the problem with the single adult program: FAT women are

Unlicensed marriages and what the Brethren can do about them

The nature of authority: the Lord’s stewardship law

The root and divine pattern of the damsel in distress

Repentance (4 Total)

Daily repentance

Are we commanded to confess to ecclesiastical authorities without witnesses?

The law governing confession

How to receive what you ask for

Scriptural Discussions (16 Total)

Scriptural Discussion #1: Priesthood Ordinations—By The Power Of The Holy Ghost

Scriptural Discussion #2: Scriptures—Men To Be Judged By

Scriptural Discussion #3: Sexual Sin—Among Members/Among Investigators

Scriptural Discussion #4: Sick—Faithless Members/Faithful Saints

Scriptural Discussion #5: Teachers—Must Be Sanctified

Scriptural Discussion #6: Tribulation Upon Church

Scriptural Discussion #7: Afflictions—Can Be Swallowed Up In Joy Of Christ

Scriptural Discussion #8: Anarchism—Approved And Prophesied

Scriptural Discussion #9: Equality

Scriptural Discussion #10: Faith—Living By, Better Than Living By Knowledge

Scriptural Discussion #11: Gifts And Power Of The Spirit—Defined As Good Works

Scriptural Discussion #12: War—To Be Renounced

Scriptural Discussion #13: Anger And Insults—Are Forbidden

Scriptural Discussion #14: Sacramental Prayers—Church Should Be Kneeling During

Scriptural Discussion #15: Abortion

Scriptural Discussion #16: David and Solomon

Scriptural Expositions (33 Total)

What does the phrase “only true and living church” mean?

The practice of hiding up treasures unto the Lord

The End of the State of Israel

3 Nephi 21, expounded

D&C 87, expounded

Why I Believe the Plates of Brass Are Next

Damnation

There are no “higher” or “lower” laws; there are only expedient laws

“And they understood me not, for they supposed”

Manasseh’s future leadership role

“And thus, with the sword…”

Lehi’s Josephite Prophecy

The real Jonah: holy prophet and type of Christ

Lehi’s Trek to China and North America

The Two Authors of the Book of Abraham

Talking to myself

1 Nephi 13 & 14 commentary, using CTC’s view

“Doubt not” is a commandment of God based on agency

What “Renounce War and Proclaim Peace” Means

Nephi slaying Laban in light of D&C 98

A Perfect Understanding

The doctrine against dissent

A commandment to practice polygamy found in the New Testament

The scattering of Israel ain’t over, yet

A curious reading of Alma 12:8-18

The brides of Satan

Book of Mormon surnames: the meaning of the -ites and “people of”

2 Nephi 3 expounded: the real Josephite restorer

The Second Seer

The Nephite Artifacts

They did it for prosperity, dominion, discovery, diversity, defense and memorial

No middle ground and no middle kingdoms

Sam was Nephi’s identical twin brother

Scripture Translations (4 Total)

Is the King James Version still the best?

The Anarchist Version (TAV) of the Scriptures

TAV Comments

Isaiah Explained: Isaiah Institute Translation with audio commentary by Avraham Gileadi

Secret Combinations (5 Total)

Are there Clergy Response Teams in the LDS church?

Is the topic of “secret combinations” taboo in the LDS church?

“And Thus They Did Obtain the Sole Management of the Government”

Opening old wounds

Mormon.org profiles: enhanceed membership tracking?

Stan Tenen (2 Total)

Bringing Stan Tenen and The Meru Foundation to the Attention of all LDS [alternate title: Doing what4anarchy’s Job]

A note from Stan Tenen

Tithes and Offerings (7 Total)

Charitable gifts: investments of earthly or heavenly benefit?

The law of tithing (part one)

The law of tithing (part two)

The law of tithing (part three)

The law of tithing (part four)

Learning of the Real Meaning of Tithing Should Be like Finding the Book of the Law

$6 for every $1000 of Net Worth Is the Proper Tithe

Unity (4 Total)

The Split-Brain Model of the Gospel

Wives, follow your husbands! – Patriarchy, androcracy and the egalitarian tribe

Let them grow together

The root and divine pattern of the damsel in distress

War (2 Total)

The divine pattern of citizen militias

The significance of captain Moroni

Word of Wisdom (4 Total)

The interpolation of a footnote

Strong drinks, mild drinks, hot drinks, wine, etc.

What the Word of Wisdom says and what it doesn’t say

The 2013 edition of the scriptures has unintentionally added new scripture to the canon

Zion (2 Total)

The LDS weep not for Zion

King Noah and the Redemption of Zion

The following are the rest of my published articles, 6 in total, listed chronologically.

Is the church under attack?

Liberty Dollar Alert #29

The Hailstorm Soon Cometh, pre-post

All About Christmas

The doctrine of destruction

“Why do you call me a Christian when you believe in a Restoration?”

What the Word of Wisdom says and what it doesn’t say

D&C 89, the revelation known as the Word of Wisdom, gives both very specific and very general instructions. Sometimes we have a tendency to read more into it than is there, or to take away what is actually written there. In the economy of heaven, supererogation is a sin. We are expected by the Lord to do what is required by him. No more, no less.

And whoso shall declare more or less than this, and establish it for my doctrine, the same cometh of evil, and is not built upon my rock; but he buildeth upon a sandy foundation, and the gates of hell stand open to receive such when the floods come and the winds beat upon them. (3 Ne. 11: 40)

But whoso among you shall do more or less than these are not built upon my rock, but are built upon a sandy foundation; and when the rain descends, and the floods come, and the winds blow, and beat upon them, they shall fall, and the gates of hell are ready open to receive them. (3 Ne. 18: 13)

Whosoever declareth more or less than this, the same is not of me, but is against me; therefore he is not of my church. (D&C 10: 68 )

And whatsoever is more or less than this is the spirit of that wicked one who was a liar from the beginning. (D&C 93: 25)

And as pertaining to law of man, whatsoever is more or less than this, cometh of evil. (D&C 98: 7)

For that which is more or less than this cometh of evil, and shall be attended with cursings and not blessings, saith the Lord your God. Even so. Amen. (D&C 124: 120)

So, in the spirit of doing no more and no less than what the Word of Wisdom says, let’s review just what it does say, and what it doesn’t say.

• Wine Drinking wine is prohibited by the revelation with but one exception: we can use wine for the sacrament if we ourselves make it, but it must be pure grape wine, not other types of wine.
• Strong Drink Drinking strong drink is strictly prohibited, however, it is given the use of washing our bodies.
• Tobacco Smoking, chewing and eating tobacco is strictly prohibited, however, it is given the use of a healing herb for bruises and sick cattle, with cautions on its use (as tobacco poisoning is a real danger.)
• Hot Drinks Hot drinks, defined by modern prophets as tea and coffee, are strictly prohibited to be used on the outside or inside of the body.
• Wholesome Herbs The Lord gives the thumbs up, but says to use them in the season thereof, with prudence and thanksgiving.
• Fruit Again the Lord gives his approval of their use, but says to use them in the season thereof, with prudence and thanksgiving.
• Flesh of Beasts and Fowls of the Air The Lord gives his approval for their use but emphasizes two times in the revelation that they are only to be used in times of winter, cold or famine, which is his definition of the word “sparingly” and also says that it is pleasing to him that they not be used, at all, except under the conditions he states. Also, these things are to be used with thanksgiving.
• Grain The Lord gives a thumbs up for all grain, both for man, beasts of the field, fowls of heaven and all wild animals on dry earth.
• Mild Grain Drinks The Lord gives a thumbs up for all mild grain drinks. Mild grain drinks at the time the Word of Wisdom was revealed was interpreted by the saints, including, apparently, the Prophet Joseph Smith himself, as being beer drinks, with alcoholic content between 1% and 5%, as opposed to strong drink, which was hard liquor with alcoholic content of 40% or more.
• Fruit-Bearing Plants The Lord gives a thumbs up to all fruit-bearing plants, whether that “fruit” is found above or below ground.

That, in a nutshell, is what the Lord says about what we can or cannot eat. Now, here is what the Lord doesn’t say:

• Cola drinks The Lord is silent on cola drinks.
• Chocolate The Lord is silent on chocolate, including hot chocolate drinks.
• Caffeine The Lord is silent on the consumption of caffeine.
• Seafood The Lord is silent on eating seafood, both sea creatures and sea plants. After all, the saints were in the middle of the country and had no access to seafood, so why talk about it?
• Insects, Arachnids, etc. The Lord is silent on the eating of insects, arachnids (scorpions, etc.)
• Drugs The Lord is silent on drugs, whether legal or illegal.
• Cooking The Lord is silent about cooking food. He doesn’t approve or disapprove of raw-foodism.
• Vegan Diets The Lord is silent about vegan diets.
• Vegetarian Diets The Lord is silent about vegetarianism, though the revelation seem to stress a mainly plant-based diet.
• Every other type of food consumed, not mentioned in the revelation. The Lord is silent.

Some modern LDS interpretations on the revelation that contradict how the saints who lived at the time of the revelation interpreted it:

• Wine Means Grape Juice The early saints did not understand the revelation to mean grape juice. It was wine, as in it had alcoholic content. It is lumped together with strong drink for this reason. After all, what’s wrong with drinking grape juice?
• Mild Barley Drink Is Barley Water The early saints did not use barley water. The mild barley drinks they made were beers, not barley water. The Lord in the revelation is referring to the practices of the time. Therefore, he is referring to, and approving of, beer.

Open interpretations:

• Wholesome Who decides what a wholesome herb is? You do.
• Tea Although the prophets have interpreted “hot drinks” to mean tea and coffee, just what constitutes the tea that is prohibited is interpreted by LDS in different ways. For example, there are four types of tea: black tea, oolong tea, white tea and green tea. Some choose to interpret tea as being only the type of tea that was in use by the saints at the time of the revelation, leaving the other three types open for use. Especially green tea, which many people feel has great healing properties. Others reject all teas, including herbal teas.
• Coffee Many saints think that it is the caffeine in coffee that makes it prohibitive and so drink decaffeinated coffee.

Sometimes as LDS we tend to be a little too judgmental of our fellow saints, based upon our preconceived notions of what the Word of Wisdom is and isn’t. Just because a saint has a bottle of vodka in his cupboard doesn’t mean he’s drinking it, it may mean he’s using it for washing purposes. Just because a saint has a winery and is bottling wine doesn’t mean he’s drinking it, it may mean he’s preparing for the day when we will again partake of the sacrament with wine. Just because a sister refuses to eat meat, it doesn’t mean she is breaking any commandment. Just because a saint is a raw-foodist or vegan or vegetarian, doesn’t mean they are weird or strange. Just because a saint drinks coca-cola or green tea or makes a meal of cake and ice cream doesn’t mean that they are sinners. And even if we ever see a saint drinking Guinness, at 5% alcohol, are they really breaking the Word of Wisdom? The earlier saints wouldn’t have thought so.

Remember, the Word of Wisdom was given for “the weakest of all saints, who are or can be called saints.” It may be less of a test to see if we can follow it and more of a test to see if we can stop judging our fellow saint.

Previous Word of Wisdom article: Strong drinks, mild drinks, hot drinks, wine, etc.

Complete List of Articles authored by LDS Anarchist

Strong drinks, mild drinks, hot drinks, wine, etc.

 

Noah Webster published the first edition of his dictionary in 1828. It was the very first American dictionary. Section 89 of the Doctrine and Covenants (the Word of Wisdom) was revealed in 1838, so Webster’s 1828 dictionary was the one in use when the Word of Wisdom was given. It may be useful to look at his 1828 definitions when deciding on the meaning of “strong drinks,” “mild drinks,” “hot drinks” and “wine.” (Yes, yes, I know that hot drinks have already been defined as tea and coffee by the First Presidency, but look this over anyway. You might find it interesting.)

HOT, a.

1. Having sensible heat; opposed to cold; as a hot stove or fire; a hot cloth; hot liquors. Hot expresses more than warm.

2. Ardent in temper; easily excited or exasperated; vehement. Achilles is impatient, hot and revengeful.

3. Violent; furious; as a hot engagement or assault.

4. Eager; animated; brisk; keen; as a hot pursuit, or a person hot in a pursuit.

5. Lustful; lewd.

6. Acrid; biting; stimulating; pungent; as hot as mustard or pepper.

(from http://1828.mshaffer.com/d/word/hot)

MILD, a. [The primary sense is soft or smooth, L. mollis, Eng. mellow.]

1. Soft; gently and pleasantly affecting the senses; not violent; as a mild air; a mild sun; a mild temperature; a mild light. The rosy morn resigns her light And milder glory to the noon. And with a milder gleam refreshed the sight.

2. Not acrid, pungent, corrosive or drastic; operating gently; not acrimonious; demulcent; mollifying; lenitive; assuasive; as a mild liquor; a mild cataplasm; a mild cathartic or emetic.

3. Tender and gentle in temper or disposition; kind; compassionate; merciful; clement; indulgent; not severe or cruel. It teaches us to adore him as a mild and merciful Being.

4. Not fierce, rough or angry; as mild words.

5. Placid; not fierce; not stern; not frowning; as a mild look or aspect.

6. Not sharp, tart, sour or bitter; moderately sweet or pleasant to the taste; as mild fruit.

7. Calm; tranquil. When passion subsides the temper becomes mild.

8. Moderate; not violent or intense; as a mild heat.

(from http://1828.mshaffer.com/d/word/mild)

STRONG, a. [G., L. The sense of the radical word is to stretch, strain, draw, and probably from the root of stretch and reach.]

1. Having physical active power, or great physical power; having the power of exerting great bodily force; vigorous. A patient is recovering from sickness, but is not yet strong enough to walk. A strong man will lift twice his own weight. That our oxen may be strong to labor. Psalm 144. Orses the strong to greater strength must yield.

2. Having physical passive power; having ability to bear or endure; firm; solid; as a constitution strong enough to bear the fatigues of a campaign.

3. Well fortified; able to sustain attacks; not easily subdued or taken; as a strong fortress or town.

4. Having great military or naval force; powerful; as a strong army or fleet; a strong nation; a nation strong at sea.

5. Having great wealth, means or resources; as a strong house or company of merchants.

6. Moving with rapidity; violent; forcible; impetuous; as a strong current of water or wind. The wind was strong from the northeast. We had a strong tide against us.

7. Hale; sound; robust; as a strong constitution.

8. Powerful; forcible; cogent; adapted to make a deep or effectual impression on the mind or imagination; as a strong argument; strong reasons; strong evidence; a strong example or instance. He used strong language.

9. Arden; eager; zealous; earnestly engaged; as a strong partisan; a strong whig or tory. Her mother, ever strong against that match–

10. Having virtues of great efficacy; or having a particular quality in a great degree; as a strong powder or tincture; a strong decoction; strong tea; strong coffee.

11. Full of spirit; intoxicating; as strong liquors.

12. Affecting the sight forcibly; as strong colors.

13. Affecting the taste forcibly; as the strong flavor of onions.

14. Affecting the smell powerfully; as a strong scent.

15. Not of easy digestion; solid; as strong meat. Hebrews 5.

16. Well established; firm; not easily overthrown or altered; as a custom grown strong by time.

17. Violent; vehement; earnest. Who in the day of his flesh, when he offered up prayers with strong crying and tears–Hebrews 5.

18. Able; furnished with abilities. I was stronger in prophecy than in criticism.

19. Having great force of mind, of intellect or of any faculty; as a man of strong powers of mind; a man of a strong mind or intellect; a man of strong memory, judgment or imagination.

20. Having great force; comprising much in few words. Like her sweet voice is thy harmonious song, as high, as sweet, as easy and as strong.

21. Bright; glaring; vivid; as a strong light.

22. Powerful to the extent of force named; as an army ten thousand strong.

(from http://1828.mshaffer.com/d/word/strong)

DRINK, n.

Liquor to be swallowed; any fluid to be taken into the stomach, for quenching thirst, or for medicinal purposes; as water, wine, beer, cider, decoctions, &c.

(from http://1828.mshaffer.com/d/word/drink)

LIQ’UOR, n. lik’or [L. liquor.]

A liquid or fluid substance. [See Liquid.] Liquor is a word of general signification, extending to water, milk, blood, say, juice, &c.; but its most common application is to spirituous fluids, whether distilled or fermented, to decoctions, solutions, tinctures.

(from http://1828.mshaffer.com/d/word/liquor)

WINE, n. [Gr.]

1. The fermented juice of grapes; as the wine of the Madeira grape; the wine of Burgundy or Oporto.

2. The juice of certain fruits, prepared with sugar, spirits, &c.; as currant wine; gooseberry wine.

3. Intoxication. Noah awoke from his wine. Genesis 9.

4. Drinking. They that tarry long at the wine. Proverbs 23. Corn and wine, in Scripture, are put for all kinds of necessaries for subsistence. Psalm Bread and wine, in the Lords supper, are symbols of the body and blood of Christ.

(from http://1828.mshaffer.com/d/word/wine)

FERMENTA’TION, n. [L. fermentatio.] The sensible internal motion of the constituent particles of animal and vegetable substances, occasioned by a certain degree of heat and moisture, and accompanied by an extrication of gas and heat. Fermentation is followed by a change of properties in the substances fermented, arising from new combinations of their principles. It may be defined, in its most general sense, any spontaneous change which takes place in animal or vegetable substances, after life has ceased. It is of three kinds, vinous, acetous, and putrefactive. The term is also applied to other processes, as the panary fermentation, or the raising of bread; but it is limited, by some authors, to the vinous and acetous fermentations, which terminate in the production of alcohol or vinegar. Fermentation differs from effervescence. The former is confined to animal and vegetable substances; the latter is applicable to mineral substances. The former is spontaneous; the latter produced by the mixture of bodies.

(taken from http://1828.mshaffer.com/d/word/fermentation)

Here are the verses in the Word of Wisdom that mention these words:

Behold, verily, thus saith the Lord unto you: In consequence of evils and designs which do and will exist in the hearts of conspiring men in the last days, I have warned you, and forewarn you, by giving unto you this word of wisdom by revelation—that inasmuch as any man drinketh wine or strong drink among you, behold it is not good, neither meet in the sight of your Father, only in assembling yourselves together to offer up your sacraments before him. And, behold, this should be wine, yea, pure wine of the grape of the vine, of your own make. And, again, strong drinks are not for the belly, but for the washing of your bodies…. And again, hot drinks are not for the body or belly. (D&C 89: 4-7, 9)

The verse summary for verses 1-9 states, “Use of wine, strong drinks, tobacco, and hot drinks proscribed.” This is not entirely true. The word proscribe means “to forbid or condemn as harmful or unlawful: to prohibit.” Only hot drinks are prohibited, whereas wine, strong drinks and tobacco are given lawful uses.

When I was a young teacher, I remember my teacher’s quorum adviser explaining to us one Sunday how “pure wine of the grape” meant grape juice. As nice a guy as he was, he was incorrect in that assumption. When the Lord uses the term wine in this section, he is referring to the fermented juice of grapes, and of grapes only, not other types of wines, which is why he clarifies his statement with “yea, pure wine of the grape.” So, we are permitted to use wine, meaning actual alcoholic wine, when partaking of the sacrament, but only if we make the wine ourselves. All other uses of it are prohibited.

The Lord states that strong drinks are for the washing of our bodies. Most people interpret that to mean that alcohol cleans and disinfects, thus is used in hospitals prior to injecting someone with a hypodermic needle, etc. The word alcohol existed at the time of this revelation, but the Lord didn’t use it, instead he used the words “strong drinks,” such as vodka, rum, etc.

Not all alcohols are the same. There is ethyl alcohol (drinking alcohol), methyl alcohol (wood alcohol) and isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol). Strong drinks contain ethanol (ethyl alcohol), whereas the alcohol used to clean skin in preparation for an injection is isopropanol (isopropyl alcohol).

The use of vodka or rum to wash the body gets the skin squeaky clean, removes dead skin and dirt and eliminates many odors. It leaves the skin feeling clean and looking shiny. It requires very little liquid to clean the entire body and saves a ton of water that would otherwise be needed to take a shower or bath. It is can be stored indefinitely and is not messy, requiring only a rag to rub onto the skin. I know from experience the wisdom of using strong drinks to wash our bodies.

If you still haven’t tried using strong drinks to wash your body, I encourage you to go out and buy a bottle of vodka and test the wisdom of the Lord. You may be pleasantly surprised. Plus, it’ll make for some interesting Word of Wisdom conversations when visitors open your cupboard and see the bottle there.

Next Word of Wisdom article: What the Word of Wisdom says and what it doesn’t say

Previous Word of Wisdom article: The interpolation of a footnote

Complete List of Articles authored by LDS Anarchist