In a previous entry, I explained why I believe the 1835 Doctrine and Covenants is Lost Scripture.
I accept this book as scripture for a couple of reasons.
First, Joseph Smith presented the revelations as the words
of God given to him directly from God.
The authenticity of a Revelation needs to begin with a claim that the words issued
are actually the words of God. Determining if a work is revelation begins with the speaker or author who is presenting the information. Does the presentor claim the information came from God? Or does the presentor claim to be the originator of the subject? We can't make claims that exceed the author's own claims. If the author does not claim the words are revelation from God, then we cannot jump to the conclusion that the revelation is from God.
Second, once that claim is laid out before the people then
it is up to the people to determine the validity of the claim. God will provide two or three witness to the
truth of all things.
It does not take a lengthy search to find additional witnesses to the authenticity of this book.
It does not take a lengthy search to find additional witnesses to the authenticity of this book.
In the case of this record there are more than three
witnesses. The General Assembly of
August 1835 gathered together and the following individuals gave an individual
testimony to the truthfulness of the book before the assembly: WW Phelps, John Whitmer, John Smith, Levi
Jackman, Leanord Rich, NK Whitney, John Corrill, John Gould, Ira Ames, Erastus
Babbit, Wm Burges, and Thomas Gates. The
assembly as whole then “accepted and acknowledged it as the doctrine and
covenants of their faith, by unanimous vote.” At the end of their testimonies, W.W. Phelps
arose once again and read to the assembly an article on Marriage which would
also be included in the printing of the book.
This was also accepted by unanimous vote.
Third, a personal acceptance of the revelation must be
determined by study, prayer and faith. (Recall
that Faith means to exercise a personal motivation to find the will of God in
all things.) For me that personal witness comes in the form of recognizing Truths
that are more clearly laid out in the 1835 Edition. One example of such Truth is the definition and
explanation of Faith found only in this edition. Another example of Truth found in this
edition that has been subsequently lost in later editions is the definition of
Marriage. It is the harmonization of
these truths coupled with the call to repentance found within this edition that
compels me to accept it as a reliable source of revelation.
Always recognizing that Truth is eternal and unchangeable
and what I may understand as truth today may in fact prove to be false
tomorrow. Therefore it is with humility
that I assert anything to be true, acknowledging my own failings and
weaknesses. To the best of my understanding
as I seek to know the will of God, what I read in the 1835 Edition of Doctrine
and Covenants is a record of valid revelations from God.
But you will have to make that determination for your own
self.
Please take a look at the original Section 101 published in
1835. This is the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints first official declaration on Marriage.
http://josephsmithpapers.org/paperSummary/doctrine-and-covenants-1835#!/paperSummary/doctrine-and-covenants-1835&p=259
Section 101 • Statement on Marriage, circa August 1835
SECTION CI.
MARRIAGE.
1 According to the custom of all
civilized nations, marriage is regulated by laws and ceremonies:
therefore we believe, that all marriages in this church of Christ of
Latter Day Saints, should be solemnized
in a public meeting, or feast, prepared for that purpose: and that
the solemnization should be perfor med by a presiding high priest, high
priest, bishop, elder, or priest, not
even prohibiting those persons who are desirous to get married, of being
married by other authority. We believe that it is not right to
prohibit members of this church from marrying out of the church, if it be
their determination so to do, but such persons will be considered weak in
the faith of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
2 Marriage should be celebrated with
prayer and thanksgiv ing; and at the solemnization, the persons to be
married, stand ing together, the man on the right, and the woman on the left,
shall be addressed, by the person officiating, as he shall be directed by
the holy Spirit; and if there be no legal objections, he shall say,
calling each by their names: “You both mutual ly agree to be each other’s
companion, husband and wife, ob serving the legal rights belonging to this
condition; that is, keeping yourselves wholly for each other, and from
all others, during your lives.” And when they have answered “Yes,” he
shall pronounce them “husband and wife” in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and by virtue of the laws of the coun try and authority vested in
him: “may God add his blessings and keep you to fulfill your covenants
from henceforth and forever. Amen.”
3 The clerk of every church should
keep a record of all mar riages, solemnized in his branch.
4 All legal contracts of marriage
made before a person is bap tized into this church, should be held sacred
and fulfilled. In asmuch as this church of Christ has been reproached with
the crime of fornication, and polygamy: we declare that we be lieve, that one man should have one wife;
and one woman, but one husband,
except in case of death, when either is at liberty to marry again. It is
not right to persuade a woman to be baptized contrary to the will of her
husband, neither is it lawful to
influence her to leave her husband. All children are bound by law to
obey their parents; and to influence them to embrace any religious faith,
or be baptized, or leave their pa rents without their consent, is unlawful and unjust. We be lieve
that husbands, parents, and masters who exercise control over their wives,
children and servants, and prevent them from embracing the truth, will have to
answer for that sin.” [p. 251]
Please recognize an important point in this document.
The official teaching of the church in 1835 was monogamy. A man should marry only one woman. A woman should marry only one
man. The only exception offered is if a
spouse should be lost in death, then the living man or woman is free to marry
again.
This declaration was made in response to charges of
fornication and polygamy.
Subsequent years would later find the church openly teaching
polygamy as an official doctrine. See
Section 132 of the most current edition of the Doctrine and Covenants. The open practice of polygamy would not occur
in Joseph Smith’s lifetime. It would
occur later under the leadership of Brigham Young.
Just one month prior to his death, Joseph made this public
declaration on May 26, 1844:
"...What a thing it is for a man to be
accused of committing adultery, and having seven wives, when I can only find one. I am the same man, and as innocent as I
was fourteen years ago; and I can prove them all perjurers." (History
of the Church
Volume 6, page 411)
Everything publicly taught by Joseph Smith was
that a man should marry only one woman. He
unmistakably denied polygamy again and again.
Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints are forced to make reconciliation about the teachings of our
church as well as the narration of our history.
It is forced upon us by the duplicitous nature of the doctrines that
have been presented to us over the course of the last 180 years. This is the challenge that has been placed
before us.
Acknowledging that challenge is not evil
speaking of others, nor is it an attempt to destroy Faith. We have no need to contend about the
doctrine, but rather we can lay out the facts as they are and examine the
history under the light of truth. Let us
be honest before God and honest before our neighbors about the history. In doing so, we may recognize errors in our
traditions and repent of those errors as we discover them.
The errors are mixed in with the truth. This is for the purpose of forcing each of us
to rely on God. We are unable to rely exclusively
upon any other source. If any other
source is used to the exclusion of other sources as the authority of God’s
Truth, that source becomes an idol. A
person becomes guilty of idolatry when they declare that some leader or a book
or a church organization or a program is the source of truth and can have no error. It is painfully obvious that leaders, books
and churches have corruption within them.
Acknowledging this and sorting through the truth from error is not
destructive of faith. It is faith
building. That is to say, building your
faith in Jesus Christ who is all your faith should ever be centered on
anyway. For this reason, Christ will
never give you a person or a book or a church that “can never lead you astray.” God wants you to rely on Christ. And so He gives
you truth through a servant, through written words and through good people you
meet at church, and He lets them mix in their own opinions and then He waits
upon you to see if you will discern His voice as it is delivered through the
imperfect source. Will you hold to the
truth and forgive the error? Or will you
reject the truth because of the error?
Or will you try to serve two masters and hold to the truth and the
error?
The following is from Boyd K Packer and
is included here to illustrate how we cannot rely on any single source for
truth. We must rely upon God. Boyd K Packer, speaking on changes in the
book of revelations:
“Some have alleged that these books of
revelation are false, and they place in evidence changes that have occurred in
the texts of these scriptures since their original publication. They cite these
changes, of which there are many examples, as though they themselves were
announcing revelation, as though they were the only ones that knew of them.
“Of
course there have been changes and corrections. Anyone who has done even
limited research knows that. When properly reviewed, such corrections
become a testimony for, not against, the truth of the books.
“The Prophet Joseph Smith was an
unschooled farm boy. To read some of his early letters in the original shows
him to be somewhat unpolished in spelling and grammar and in expression.
“That the revelations came through him in any form of literary
refinement is nothing short of a miracle. That some perfecting should
continue strengthens my respect for them.
“Now, I add with emphasis that such
changes have been basically minor refinements in grammar, expression,
punctuation, clarification. Nothing
fundamental has been altered.
“Why are they not spoken of over the
pulpit? Simply because by comparison they are so insignificant, and unimportant
as literally to be not worth talking
about. After all, they have absolutely nothing
to do with whether the books are true.” (Conference Report, April
1974, page 137).
Another reason I include the talk by Boyd K Packer is
because it provides a nice counterpoint to what I am stating in this discussion
about the 1835 Doctrine and Covenants. I
am providing the best case argument I could find against my own understanding
for you to consider and decide for yourself.
I accept the declaration that a man should marry only one
wife. I believe this is consistent with
the Book of Mormon’s teachings. I believe this is consistent with the hearts
and desires of the many good women I have met in my life. I believe this is consistent with the current
teachings of the LDS Church Inc. I
believe this is consistent with the will of God.
However, some might say to me that it would be wrong to
accept the 1835 edition now that the church has discontinued that edition in
favor of the current one.
Brigham Young replaced Section 101 Marriage with what is now
called Section 132 in the 1870s. This Section
132 declares that a man must be sealed to more than one woman. It teaches that polygamy is the order of God
and the Celestial Kingdom consists of those who are sealed in polygamous unions. In 1921, the edition of Doctrine and
Covenants that we are most familiar with today was introduced. However, this edition retained Section
132. It removed the Lectures on Faith because
of inconsistencies about the Lecture’s teachings on the nature of God in
comparison to the current teachings of the church officials. However, it retained the section regarding
plural marriage despite the fact that the church had discontinued the practice
and no longer taught it as doctrine.
Undeniably, the church now teaches monogamy. So the church today is actually in harmony
with the doctrines of the 1835 edition.
Boyd K Packer has said that such a change is “insignificant”,
“unimportant”, “not worth talking about”, and has “absolutely nothing to do
with whether the books are true.” Boyd K Packer is one of my heroes since
childhood. And I agree with him that it
is a miracle that Joseph could have written something so profound as the
revelations. And I agree that things which are “basically minor
refinements in grammar, expression, punctuation, clarification” are not
something that detracts from the truthfulness of a volume writing. There is nothing wrong in correcting such
things. I see nothing wrong with even
adding more revelations. I welcome more
revelations and hope to receive more revelations in the future; from whatever
source these may come.
Yet, I must admit that the topic of marriage
is more than a minor correction. It is
an entirely new revelation that must be examined on its own to see if it will
hold up to the light. The nature of
marriage is important. Particularly in
regards to a marriage covenant to be true and faithful to my one dear wife. This is a doctrinal issue that is
significant, is important, is worth talking about and is worth consideration
for review of the truthfulness of any book.
From everything I can discern, the 1835 Doctrine and Covenant’s
declaration on marriage is correct and truthful. I will accept that explanation of marriage
over section 132. Section 101 of the
1835 D&C is also in harmony with the teachings of the LDS Church now, in
2015. The church has placed me in a
position to choose one over the other.
Which position is in accordance to the way God tests us to learn if we
love truth or if we can be persuaded by the falsehoods of men. So I accept 1835 D&C 101 which states “we
declare that we be lieve, that one man should have one wife; and one woman, but one husband”
What do you think?
No comments:
Post a Comment