Unbreakable

I was originally excommunicated for preaching “false doctrine”. My wife says “That’s not true! They excommunicated you because they don’t like you!” (She was just trying to make me feel good, I'm sure.) Maybe she's right. No leader of the Church has ever bothered to “spell out” the “false doctrine” I allegedly taught or show me “an increase of love” after I was “reproved”, so that tends to support her position.

No matter. I believed (and wrote on my blog) that the “fulness of the priesthood” spoken of in the scriptures was to have everything necessary to come back into the presence of God, even the Father, and live, and that this opportunity, as the scriptures declare, was “lost” or “taken away” from the Church (see Doctrine and Covenants 124:28). I have since been introduced to more information that supports that conclusion (somewhat).

Those acquainted with LDS temple ordinances are familiar with “washing and anointing”. A less familiar ordinance, however, is “the second anointing”. This ordinance is reserved only for those deemed to be the most faithful and, likewise, is administered in the temple. (Jesus instituted this ordinance on the eve of His death when He washed and dried His apostles’ feet, saying “He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit.” – John 13:10.) The prophet himself or a member of the Quorum of Twelve administers this ordinance today.

According to a modern participant, the recipient is first anointed bodily, as in the original instance, with oil while being blessed, then the administrator washes and dries the participant’s feet. In a separate, private ceremony, the anointed one’s wife (this ordinance is only administered to couples) later repeats this washing and drying of her husband’s feet, then lays her hands upon his head and blesses him. (Yes, the power of priesthood is fully conferred upon husband and wife at this point. They are "priest and priestess" and become as one.) You will recall that Jesus’ feet were so washed and dried by a woman prior to His martyrdom. This ordinance is said to make one’s “calling and election sure”, sealing the couple up to eternal life.

This, I imagine, is an ordinance by which all who will be gods are bound together in love. It’s the reason why “the anointed” in the Church are so loyal to each other and never "speak evil" of one another – but, if needful, say “let the Lord judge between me and thee” – for they are “one” in time and eternity. If there be any heaven at all, it will be a heaven of Christ’s creating and it will be populated by such as these. For if we condemn each other, we only condemn ourselves.

Those so anointed and washed are pronounced “kings and priests of the Most High God, to rule and reign in the House of Israel forever.” They become eligible for godhood and receive in this ordinance all of the rights and privileges pertaining thereto, including the sealing power, the right to bind and loose, to command the elements, to have the heavens opened, and so forth. Brigham Young taught that those receiving this ordinance “have received the fulness of the Priesthood, all that can be given on earth."

LDS scripture declares that, those so sealed cannot fall short of exaltation, unless they sin unto death, which is to commit the “unpardonable” sin and shed innocent blood (or commit murder) or deny the Holy Ghost, which is defined as utterly turning away from and denying the very existence of God, after having known Him, and His power, after having tasted of it (see Doctrine and Covenants 132:19; 76:30-39).

As it happens, one Thomas Phillips, a former stake president in the LDS Church, received this ordinance, fell away from the faith, and then wrote about it. His faith was broken for reasons I outlined earlier: questions asked but not answered, “deficiencies” found (or imagined) in LDS scriptures, history, or leadership, etc. While Bro. Phillips no doubt did many marvelous works in his ministry (and had much success and received many blessings and evidences of his faith), he apparently never came unto Christ. Otherwise, how could he ever deny his testimony? (I do not believe, therefore, that Doctrine and Covenants 76:30-39 applies in this case.)

Bro. Phillips had an exchange with Elder Jeffrey R. Holland (and this is where the true power of the devil is exposed). Elder Holland (surprisingly) responded to Bro. Phillips’ letter with empathy and compassion (while not at all addressing any of Bro. Phillips’ concerns…much like the brethren, in my case, who presided over my excommunication). Bro. Phillips took offense, got angry and voiced his frustration repeatedly in an acrimonious and insulting response to Elder Holland’s (non-)reply.

This is the “fruit” of concealing truth. We certainly don’t have all the answers. (I don’t, do you?) But I do have faith. And I believe in Christ. What good does it do to speculate – and add misinformation to the mountain of errors already erected by those who have misjudged and jumped to conclusions? I don’t know. It doesn’t seem reasonable (to me), however, to throw out everything just because one does not know something! The best we can do is strive to “sanctify the Lord God in [our] hearts: be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh [us] a reason of the hope that is in [us] with meekness and fear” (1 Peter 3:15).

In that spirit, I offer the following:

I do not know but I imagine that most “anomalies” in the Book of Mormon are misinterpretations (mostly on our part, some by the authors, and a few by the translator); that the Hill Cumorah (where the great battles were fought and the golden plates were not buried) is in Chiapas, Mexico, not upper state New York; that most “swords” used were really clubs sporting razor-sharp obsidian slivers; that “horses” were lamas, beasts of burden, or remnants of the ancient Equus ferus (now extinct), which succumbed to hunting, warfare, famine or disease long before the Spaniards arrived with their own “elk-dogs” to sit upon; that “chariots” were litters, a class of wheelless vehicle, a type of human-powered transport, used to carry people; that “barley” was something similar to what we know now (but too difficult to pronounce in English); that eight boats built like barges sailed across an ocean, with brilliant rocks ensconced in either end, and an air shaft, from top to bottom, constructed at each midsection, allowing hatches to be opened inward, for air to be exchanged, and for waste to be evacuated; that a globalized storm and localized flood befell a central American plain, lifting a very large boat filled with many animals and eight people upward and down river to an ocean never before seen, convincing every survivor that the entire earth was flooded, when only a millimeter or more of  moisture (in some places) fell upon the planet; that spiritual death did not enter this world (for the umpteenth time) until Adam and Eve partook of a fruit or a seed or a substance or an activity that changed their bodies forever, making them mortal and thus susceptible to physical death (as well as procreation); that only those who were accountable were killed (or saved) in the flood, as the record shows, while all others (including aquatic, avian and terrestrial animals, including human "innocents") were spared and “ignored” both in the record and as far as God’s judgment was concerned. I can believe that life – even human life -- has been introduced to and extinguished from this planet many times over its long history; that each time the Gods have reintroduced “man”, They have ministered to him; that this earth is Deity’s “playground” and “nursery” and that we, as its occupants now, are here that we might have joy; that the mixture of man’s seed upon this earth is but a combination of all those divine “races” who have come before; that the Bible is but the latest anthology of a fallen race of humans. There have been others. (And there will be more.)

My faith is not challenged or shaken by the Kinderhook plates. I know that Joseph translated one of them – relying upon a single character resembling a mark he saw in the Egyptian Grammar and Alphabet created (by “reverse engineering”) from his translation of ancient Egyptian papyri (which he presumed would work here, too), demonstrating both Joseph’s sincerity and his naïveté, that he believed he was translating an ancient record using “keys” given to him. He did not claim to translate them by divine means.

I can believe that what we have today of the Egyptian record is not all there was, as described in Joseph’s day; that Abraham did not write these documents, as claimed, but that he wrote a document, of which these records were, perhaps, but illustrative; that Abraham took these (or others like them) with him “home” to show his family of his sojourn and experiences in Egypt, of lecturing Pharaoh while sitting upon his throne, etc., receiving these parchments as gifts. I can believe that these writings of Egypt meant to Abraham something very different than what they mean to us, or even to the Egyptians; that they were nonetheless useful to him – and Joseph translated that.

I can believe that Joseph Smith saw God the Father and Jesus Christ in a grove of trees and didn’t know what he was seeing; that the “vision” unfolded to his mind over many years; that when Moroni appeared to him, Joseph was “caught away” into a different dimension, even as Nephi was as he sat and pondered the words of his father (but I do not know). I can believe that the same spirit that fell upon Lehi and Nephi fell upon Joseph Smith, Sr., and Joseph Smith, Jr., by which they all dreamed the same dream and saw the same vision of the Tree of Life. (I have actually known a young boy who had this vision, too…and described his experience with vivid details not included in our current record.)

I can believe that modern polygamy was ordained of God…or not; that God does not preoccupy Himself excessively with such things; that those who choose to be polygamous deserve it; that God prefers monogamy but that, sometimes, situations and circumstances require otherwise; that Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff and others until today have been alternately inspired and deceived, right and wrong, righteous and wicked, authorized and profane; and I praise God that I have been able to learn from their mistakes, discern light from darkness and choose the better part (for me and my family).

I believe that almost all true prophets in every age have been subjected to rejection for delivering their message, for their imperfections, their impertinence, their arrogance and brashness, their meekness and mildness, their mistakes, and their failure to comply with the edicts of men…because they serve God and Him alone. Prophets do not always speak that which is pleasing to men, but they do speak that which is pleasing to God. And -- except when they are lying or slacking or are deceived themselves – they speak the truth. (A prophet, after all, is but a man unless he is acting as a prophet.) By their fruits ye shall know them…not by their calling, their status, standing, or station, not by their hereditary right, etc. This privilege is given without father or mother, beginning of days or end of years. It does not come by man, or by the will of men, but by God. The truthfulness of a prophet’s words is discerned by the witness of the Holy Ghost and by the fulfillment of his (or her) prophecies in the flesh. Many a prophet went to his grave “esteemed as naught” because his words were not yet fulfilled. Others “fell”. Still more were rejected. Even Christ was imagined to have occupied each of these categories before He was killed.

I can believe that the current leaders of the LDS Church all have nominal authority, if not power, to administer the rites and perform the duties of the modern church, as outlined in scripture. I can respect, support and sustain them, despite their failures and limitations (which I prefer not to focus on). I have met several of them and know of many of them. I have respected all of them and have been inspired by most of them (even the “least” of them) and pray for their welfare and success. That being said, they can still all go to hell, as far as I’m concerned, if they fail to come unto Christ or if they foolishly presume to prevent others from doing so. Even apostles, both ancient and modern, have fallen away and have gone astray. Do not trust in the arm of flesh!

That being said, I can have faith in the ordinances of the LDS Church. Their power is what we make of them. The righteous live by every word of God, by faith, in a world of signs and symbols. Men and women work, repent and believe because they have faith. What they do is a reflection of that faith. Ordinances are but expressions of faith. I believe that “saving ordinances”, legally instituted and lawfully and faithfully administered, have power to transform lives. When Bro. Phillip’s wife knelt and washed his feet in love, tears streaming down their faces, I’m sure that that ordinance had power to grant eternal life, by the power of Christ, if they persevered in faith. Like any marriage vow, a covenant with God is only valid if it is kept.

And if it is kept, it is truly unbreakable.