A Note on Comments:
After receiving some good counsel from a friend, I have decided to enable
comments on the “Questions” posts for the Gramarye blog (every other week). The structure of the blog (scripture block,
questions, answers) lends itself to a rich and inspired discussion on the gospel
of Jesus Christ as found in the scriptures, with the benefit of us all learning
much more than we would have if we just read the opinions or understanding of
one person. My concern with enabling
comments from the beginning was a result of reading the contentious comments on other LDS blogs and discussion
forum sites which seemed to chase away the Spirit instead of adding further
light and knowledge to those reading or commentating. I am very hopeful now that this will not be
the case here – but if it is, then I’ll just discontinue the comments and we
will proceed as before.
With regards
to “run-rules” for the comments, I propose the following:
- Please share your comments on the scriptures
and gospel implications of the block we’re discussing that week, not on other topics
(there are a lot of other great forums and blogs for those). A good way to do this might be to paste the
scripture and question you’re responding to into the top of your comment.
- Please treat each other with charity,
the pure love of Christ. Assume positive
intent and inherent competence (i.e. someone may understand something I don’t
or understand it differently and they might be right!). Seek first to understand, then be
understood.
I will not be actively moderating the comments if I can help it (I will have a filter for comments older than 14 days to try and reduce spam) and will not be replying to your comments, as my “comments” or replies will effectively be the next week’s post. If additional questions occur to you that didn’t occur to me, please add them to the comments and give us your thoughts regarding the answers and invite others to do the same. Blogger gives three options for comments: 1. anyone, 2. use a Google account, or 3. members only. I’m afraid that the first option will lead to a lot of spam and the third might be too restrictive, so I’ve selected the second option: to make comments you’ll just need to sign in with your Google account.
I am very much
looking forward to being taught through the Spirit by all of you. Thank you so much for contributing to the discussion!
A Voice of
Warning (D&C 1) QUESTIONS
The Lord authored Section 1 in November,
1831 to be the Preface to the Doctrine and Covenants. While it is not the first revelation
chronologically, the Lord intended it to be the revelation that gives context
to the others, which is why it was made the first revelation in the book
(originally following the seven lectures on faith in the D&C until 1921).
The
Church was barely eighteen months old at the point this revelation was
received, so why was this revelation addressed to the world and not the just to
the Saints?
Why does
the Lord use the metaphor of “escaping” His eye?
What do
you make of the fact that no one can escape being seen and that no one can
avoid seeing?
READ
D&C 1:3
Why does the
Lord say “rebellious” here instead of “wicked”?
How will
the voice of the Lord pierce the rebellious with much sorrow?
When does
hearing the voice of the Lord reveal our secret acts?
READ
D&C 1:4-5
Which
disciples has Christ chosen in these last days?
READ
D&C 1:6-10
What does
the word “this” refer to in the phrase “this is my authority”?
What is
this sealing power that the Lord has given His disciples (remember this is 1831
and a decade before sealing power was offered to the Saints in Nauvoo)?
READ
D&C 1:10-14
What is
the “voice of warning” that all chosen disciples are supposed to raise, and is
the purpose of this book of scripture?
What is
the Lord admonishing us to do to prepare for that which is to come?
What does
it mean that the Lord is “nigh”?
What is the standard the Lord will use to
judge us?
READ
D&C 1:15-16
What have the people done or not done to warrant
being cut off?
Who is
“they” that will be cut off?
How does
one “stray” from an ordinance?
What does
it mean to “seek the Lord”?
Why would
Church members and leaders “seek not the Lord”?
Who are
they seeking if it is not the Lord?
READ
D&C 1:17-18
So, knowing these calamities are about to come upon
us, the Lord calls Joseph Smith and others to do what?
READ D&C 1:19-23
Why are we not to counsel our fellows and how can
Joseph Smith (and others) speak in the name of the Lord without it being
counseling?
What are these commandments intended to do?
What is implied by the fact that it is the weak and
simple who proclaim the Fullness of the Gospel to the world?
READ D&C 1:25-28
Why were the commandments contained in
the Doctrine and Covenants given?
READ D&C 1:30
How do the commandments contained in the Doctrine
and Covenants give power to lay the foundation for the true and living Church?
What does it mean to say that a Church is “true”?
What does it mean to say that the Church is
“living”?
How do these writings bring the Church out of
darkness and obscurity?
Why does the Lord add “speaking unto the Church
collectively and not individually”?
Does the fact that this verse (as well as from verses
18-30) is written primarily in the “subjunctive mood” (as indicated by the
words “might”, “may”, “inasmuch”, “should”, and “that”) change the meaning?
READ D&C 1:31
Is there an absolute standard that God intends to
hold us to?
What does it mean that the Lord cannot look upon sin
with the least degree of allowance and what is implied?
Why can’t the Lord look upon sin with
the least degree of allowance?
READ D&C 1:32-33
How does forgiveness make our sinful state
acceptable to God and enable us to be in His presence without being perfect like
He is?
How do we repent?
How does failure to repent rob us of the light we
have?
If the Lord’s Spirit won’t always strive with us,
what does that imply?
READ D&C 1:34-36
What does it mean that the Lord is “no respecter of
persons”?
What does the fact that the Lord is no
respecter of persons have to do with the fact that peace will soon be taken
from the earth?
What is the devil’s dominion and why
would he not have power over it (implied is that the Lord is giving Satan
dominion in verse 35)?
READ D&C 1:24, 37-39
What is the Lord doing here in these
verses?
What is the Lord saying in His
testimony?
How do we
go about “searching” the commandments in the D&C?
How do commandments contain promises?
Why will
His words not pass away?
How can a
word be fulfilled and how can it be fulfilled by a person speaking?
Who are
His servants who have the power to proclaim words that shall not pass away in
time or eternity?
If
“abide” means “to live or dwell with”, as well as “to last”, what might the
word abide tell us about our relationship to truth?
Thanks for opening the comments on these posts. Your questions are thought-provoking. We appreciate the opportunity to think deeply about the scriptures and the phrases used in them. Here are a few thoughts that came to mind as I pondered "The eye of the Lord" found in the first few verses.
ReplyDeleteThe all-seeing eye is a symbol that should be recognized by those familiar with the scriptures. It brings to mind the omniscience of God. It is vain to suppose one can hide thoughts, desires, words, or actions from the Lord. There is no hiding of anything when one comes into His presence. He knows us intimately and perfectly. He knows and understands the cause and reason for all our actions.
He has a perfect knowledge of the chain of events that led to our decisions. He knows who influenced us and how their words and deeds affected us. He is the only being perfectly capable of understanding us, why we are the way we are and why we do the things we do. To entertain the idea that one can escape the eye of the Lord, or to hide from his presence is pointless. Why would we want to?
Only the rebellious would hope to escape the eye of the Lord. Those who seek His favor and desire His blessings upon them will do all within their power to have Him notice them. They want His eye and his heart to be turned toward them. Those who love the Lord seek to come into his presence. They know He is the source of light and life. His eye, his notice, his knowledge fills us each with hope.
Those who love the dark believe it will cover them so as to escape His eye. Their works are in darkness. They deceive themselves into believing He is not aware of their deeds. The rebellious know that God is fully aware of them but pretend by banding together in secret combinations they can overpower His strength, his knowledge. But He is more intelligent than they all. His light shines.
Because his light shines upon us, and as we accept it into our hearts and minds, we are filled with hope and a peace that surpasses all understanding. His light is love. He shares his light because of His love for us. He desires our happiness, our joy, our fulfillment. He wants to give us life and light and abundance. Why would anyone desire to escape His eye, his all-seeing, perfect eye of faith?
Only the rebellious want to escape his eye, but they know they cannot. To rebel is to go contrary to what one knows to be right. The light of Christ is upon all men in this world. All who are born into mortality have the opportunity to respond to that light. As we do so, we receive more light until that perfect day when we come into His presence and know as we are known.
Today we "know" imperfectly. We understand in part and see some things clearly, but not all. We do not always see "eye to eye" with others because they have not had our experiences nor we theirs. The Lord allows us to see others as He sees them. Likewise, others who seek the Lord will see us as He sees us. We will no longer misunderstand or judge harshly. His light helps others see as we are seen by Him.