As
stated before, I am writing this because
I think that we as Mormons are misinterpreting important parts of our doctrine.
As a result of our misinterpretations, and the perpetuation of them, we have
made life hard for younger Mormons and given false perceptions of Mormon
theology to people who are not of our faith.
I have decided to write a series of doctrinal treatises to offer
alternative ways that doctrines ought to inform our worldviews as Latter-day Saints.
In order to address these prominent
issues, I will first explain different core doctrines in LDS theology, and then
show how they should inform the Latter-day Saint Worldview. As I discuss
sensitive topics, I hope that we remember one important concept taught by
Joseph Smith, and reiterated in our present century by Elder Jeffery R.
Holland, member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, “Heavenly Father is more
liberal in His views, and boundless in his mercies and blessings, than we are
ready to believe or receive…God does not look on sin with [the least degree of]
allowance, but…the nearer we get to our Heavenly Father, the more we are
disposed to look with compassion on perishing souls; we feel that we want to
take them upon our shoulders, and cast their sins behind our backs.”[1] The present treatise will focus the nature of
sin.
The Relativity of Sin
One of the most radical ideas put
forth in the revelations from God to Joseph Smith is concerning the relativity
of sin. In the preface to Section 76 of the Doctrine and Covenants, Joseph Smith
states:
It appeared self-evident from what truths were left, that if
God rewarded every one according to the deeds done in the body, the term
‘Heaven,’ as intended for the Saints’ eternal home, must include more kingdoms
than one. Accordingly,...while translating St.John’s Gospel, myself and Elder
Rigdon saw the following vision.[2]
Smith goes
onto describe that God showed both he and Sidney Rigdon three different degrees
of glory in Heaven: Celestial, Terrestrial, and Telestial[3].
Each degree of glory represents a different role that children of God can play
within Heaven and the cosmos. Moreover, each degree of glory has a law attached
to it: Celestial law, Terrestrial law, and Telestial law[4].
The purpose of each law is to prepare each person for the role that they have
elected to play in continuing the work of God. A person desiring to play a
Celestial role in Heaven is prepared for that role by keeping a Celestial law,
a person desiring to play a Terrestrial role in Heaven is prepared for that
role by keeping a Terrestrial law, and a person desiring to play a Telestial
role in Heaven is prepared for that role by keeping a Telestial law. When a
person binds themselves to one of those three sets of law by covenant, and
keeps that covenant, then they are empowered to do the work related to the
law’s degree of glory in Heaven. For example, I have decided that I want to
have a Celestial degree of glory in Heaven. Therefore, through ritual, I have
covenanted to keep Celestial law. As a result, I am empowered to do the work of
a Celestial person here on earth, and through the Atonement of Jesus Christ I
will be able to continue to do the work of a Celestial person in Heaven.
A careful study of Celestial, Terrestrial, and
Telestial law (and simple reasoning) would show that each law is different.
Again, if the purpose of each law is to prepare the individual for a role they
have elected to play in Heaven[5],
and each role is unique from the others, then it would follow that each law has
differences from the other laws. There are certain acts which are unlawful
under Celestial law, but not unlawful under Terrestrial and Telestial law.
Furthermore, there are certain acts which are unlawful under both Celestial and
Terrestrial law which are not unlawful under Telestial law. Finally, there are
acts which are unlawful under each law. If sin is wilful disobedience of God’s
law[6],
and there are three different sets of law corresponding to three different
degrees of glory in Heaven, then it is clear that God has allowed for a degree
of relativity in what is considered sinful behavior for each individual.
Thus,
it ought to be recognized that God judges us against the law that we have
covenanted to keep. Furthermore, in judging us against the law we have
covenanted to keep, God considers circumstance:
In judgement with which we shall be judged, all the
conditions and circumstances of our lives will be considered. The inborn
tendencies due to heredity, the effect of environment whether conducive to good
or evil, the wholesome teachings of youth, or the absence of good instruction-
these and all other contributory elements must be taken into account in the
rendering of a just verdict as to the soul’s guilt or innocence.[7]
The
relativity that God has created with regards to the laws, and the roles, that
humans are held accountable to in Heaven ought to be remembered in our social
interactions with others, as well as in moments when we must discern between
good and evil.
The Equality Among Sinners
We are all sinners[8].
However, it seems that in our need to puff ourselves above our fellowmen, we
have undertaken to rank sins in an effort to say, “ we are all sinners, but I
am not as sinful as you are.” The sad
news for such individuals is that there
is no inequality among sinners. The Epistle of James makes this fact clear:
For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in
one point, he is guilty of all.[9]
If it is
true that one is guilty of the whole law when one offends in any one point of
the law, then the murderer and the tithe-breaker are equally guilty of the whole law, and since they are both equally guilty of the whole law, then
they are both equally sinful. While
some sins, by their very nature, take longer to repent of than others sins, it
does not change the fact that all sinners are equally sinful. Some sins take
longer to abandon because they are highly addictive, and other sins are harder
to make restitution for because of the nature of the what was taken away by
victims of the sinful act. For this reason, Alma stated that sexual sin was
“most abominable above all sins save it be the shedding of innocent blood or
denying the Holy Ghost.”[10]
He was referring to the degree of difficulty in making restitution for certain
sinful acts. One definition of abominable is obnoxious, which is ideal in
expressing the difficulty of fully repenting of sexual sins. Understood in this
way, the scripture in James 2:10 and the scripture in Alma 39:5 fit together
perfectly.
Certain acts affect more people, and affect
each person in a bigger way. Compare, for example, the difficulty of making
restitution for theft with the difficulty of making restitution for murder. In
the situation of theft, restitution consists in returning the items taken, but
making restitution for mortal life lost is much more difficult. However, we
should not confuse greater difficulty in the repentance process with an
individual being more sinful than another. I have observed that such a mindset
can lead to the mistreatment of individuals who submit themselves to the Church’s
repentance process.
Judges in Israel are Not Executioners
Certain individuals within the
Church are appointed as Judges in Israel[11].
These are primarily Bishops, Stake Presidents, and Mission Presidents. The role
of these Judges is not necessarily to Judge whether an individual is guilty or
not, rather their role is to compassionately judge how best to guide this
person through the repentance process so that they find God’s forgiveness, and
be restored to a degree of glory in Heaven which they have elected. I do not
think that we mortals ought to have the hubris to believe that we have a full
knowledge of all of the contributory elements required to render a “just
verdict as to the soul’s guilt or innocence.”[12]
However, we do know the steps for repentance, and we do know that we have a
duty to help others to repent. Thus, we would do well to remember that callings
to be Judges in Israel are callings to discern how to help those who come to
you confessing their sins. Often times, this process includes discipline which
is intended to help the individual “improve or become stronger.”[13]
In these cases, we ought not confuse discipline with punishment for bad deeds.
Mortal life gives enough negative consequences without us adding to them.
Instead, discipline in these cases refers to self-mastery. In short, Judges in
Israel are authorized by God to take certain actions that help the sinner
discipline their lives so that they can abandon the sin that plagues them.
**In
my opinion**, I think that we as a people ought to ponder whether certain
institutionalized forms of church discipline really help repenting individuals
improve and become stronger. Shame is a powerful mechanism for pushing people
to keep a norm, but is it always ideal? And to what degree ought a person be
shamed? Should not our forms of Church discipline improve a person so that they
keep a commandment out of love and understanding? I have observed far too often
that some local Church leaders are a little too trigger happy when it comes to
executing the disciplinary action of excommunication, and some members are a
little too trigger happy in hoping that it is executed upon others. I think
that it ought to be remembered that “Church authorities excommunicate a person
from the Church only when he has chosen to live in opposition to the
Lord’s commandments and thus has disqualified himself for further membership.”[14]
I do not think that a person who willfully comes to a Judge in Israel to
confess a sin is choosing to live in opposition to the Lord’s commandments,
rather they are choosing to access the redemption of Christ so that they can
live in harmony with the laws of the Lord. Even in a case where somebody is
caught, but wants to repent so that they do live in harmony with a set of God’s
laws, ought not be considered an individual who has chosen to live in
opposition of the Lord’s commandments. The Book of Mormon is clear that only
those who repent not are excommunicated[15].
The Doctrine and Covenants also makes clear that excommunication is only levied
against sinners who do not repent[16].
In fact, the Doctrine and Covenants even goes so far as to make clear that
“Adulterers who do not repent shall
be cast out.”[17]
Consider further the example of Jesus Christ himself:
And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken
in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, they say unto him, Master
this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law
commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?
This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse
him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though
he heard them not.
So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and
said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at
her.
And they which heard it, being convicted by their own
conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest even unto the last:
and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the
woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? Hath no man
condemned thee?
She said, No man Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I
condemn thee: go, and sin no more.
[And Jesus said to the Pharisees] Ye judge after the flesh;
I judge no man.[18]
In this
case, the woman did not humbly come in confession, rather she was caught in the act of adultery. Despite
the lack of wilful confession, the Lord condemned not the accused sinner.
Instead, the Lord waited until they were alone, released her of her emotional
torment, and admonished her to abandon her sinful behavior. What’s more, the
Lord sent a clear message to the priestly class that they were not in a
position to render a verdict regarding the guilt or innocence of this woman’s
soul[19].
Clearly, what is important to the Lord is that a person wants to repent and
live in harmony with His statutes. Jesus’ actions in this moment reiterates
Joseph Smith’s point made at the beginning of this treatise [it is worth
repeating here]:
Heavenly Father is more liberal in His views, and boundless
in his mercies and blessings, than we are ready to believe or receive…God does
not look on sin with [the least degree of] allowance, but…the nearer we get to
our Heavenly Father, the more we are disposed to look with compassion on
perishing souls; we feel that we want to take them upon our shoulders, and cast
their sins behind our backs
Furthermore,
in saying, “he that is without sin, let him cast the first stone at her”, the
Lord was reiterating the point made earlier that there is no inequality among
sinners. Again, we are all sinners, and therefore we are all guilty of the
whole law. Knowledge of such equality ought to move us quicker to compassion,
quicker to take fellow sinners upon our own shoulders, and quicker to cast
their sins behind our backs- as opposed to searching for every opportunity to
condemn them.
The Lord also provided valuable
advice to those who attempt to help another person with abandoning sins that
beset them. In His famous sermon on the mount He taught, “cast out first the
beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to pull out the mote
that is in thy brother’s eye”[20].
The idea is that before I seek to discern how best to help another person with
their sins, I need to conduct a self-examination of my biases, assumptions, and
sinful behavior. The promise is that if I first discern how I need to change my
perspective and behaviors, and change them, then I will be empowered by God to help
my brother. This step is crucial if we are to be type of peacemakers that Jesus
Christ requires of His disciples.
Most of all, our discernment ought
not be clouded by appearances, rather we ought to follow God’s counsel to the
prophet Samuel, “for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord
looketh on the heart”[21].
I agree with Hugh Nibley in his assertion that nothing is worse than
self-righteous religious leaders who prefer to keep the beam in their eye, and
judge condemningly based on appearance:
The worst sinners, according to Jesus, are not the harlots
and publicans, but the religious leaders with their insistence on proper dress
and grooming, their careful observance of all the rules, their precious concern
for status-symbols, their strict legality, their pious patriotism. Long hairs,
beards, and necklaces, LSD and rock, Big Sur and Woodstock, come and go, but
Babylon is always there: rich, respectable, and immovable...We want to be
vindicated in our position and to know that the world is on our side as we all
join in a chorus of righteous denunciation; the haircut becomes the test of
virtue in a world where Satan deceives and rules by appearances.[22]
My hope is
that we have the courage to not join the chorus of righteous denunciation, not
make the haircut a test of virtue, and learn to more about what it means to
look upon the heart of a man or woman.
Again,
excommunication is for those who have chosen
to refuse to submit themselves to the repentance process, and excommunication
is not for those who have chosen to submit to it. If a person desires to live a
set of God’s commandments, why shame them by removing them from a community? Jesus never cast out a repenting sinner. He dined with them[23].
Sons of Perdition
Our revealed theology is clear that
redemption of any person from hell is contingent on repentance[24].
What many fail to realize, however, is that a very small number of people are
cast out of God’s community after resurrection (ie cast into hell). In fact,
God has revealed to Joseph Smith that close to 100% (probably well of 99.999%)
of God’s Children will be redeemed from hell and welcomed to heaven following
their resurrection. According to section 76 of the Doctrine and Covenants, sons
of Perdition are the only souls upon whom the “second death shall have any
power”[25].
In Mormon theology, there are two deaths. The first death refers to separation
of the physical and spiritual bodies, and the second death refers to separation
from God[26].
Thus, we learn from section 76 that the only individuals who suffer separation
from God are sons of Perdition. Said the Lord Jesus Christ to Joseph Smith:
Wherefore, he
saves all except them [referring to sons of Perdition]- they shall go
away into everlasting punishment, which is endless punishment, which is eternal
punishment[27]
Again, this deserves to be
reiterated: Jesus Christ saves everybody from physical death, and everybody
except sons of Perdition from the second death. Sons of Perdition are those who
know the power of the Lord, have been made partakers thereof, received the
promise of Eternal Life through the Holy Ghost and denied it, as well as denied
the “Only Begotten Son of the Father, having crucified him unto themselves and
put him to open shame”[28].
In other words, the process to become a son of Perdition is:
1. Be baptized
in the LDS Church
2. Live worthy
to receive a full endowment in the temple (including the Eternal Marriage
Ordinance)
3. Be faithful
to such a degree that God passes final judgement upon you (seals your
exaltation as a Celestial being) while still in this mortal life through
revelation and priesthood ordinance[29]
4. Then you
have to decide to rebel against God, seek to destroy His kingdom, and develop a
pride so strong that you will never repent of your sins.
Thus, it is
easier to have your eternal calling and election to Celestial glory made sure
in mortality than it is to become a son of Perdition- you might as well stop at
that, and not continue on to rebellion. Think about it: we know that straight
is the way that leads to Eternal Life (Celestial Glory), and that there will be
few people who commit to that role[30]. Among those few, even fewer (much fewer) have
that eternal calling and election made sure to them in mortality, and even
fewer (much fewer) of those people end up rebelling against God and refusing to
repent forever. Therefore, you can bet that almost 100% of God’s children will
be redeemed from the second death and enter heaven. This view stands in stark
contrast to other Abrahamic religions whose theologies preach that everyone
different from them will be excluded from heaven. Furthermore, I think that we
Mormons ought to realize that the ones most liable to go to hell forever are
us, not the smokers, drinkers, and fornicators you see on the way to work[31]. Preaching the gospel is not so much a matter
of Heaven or Hell as it is a matter of helping people understand what roles are
available to them in Heaven, and helping them live a law that will help them
play the role that they want to play in Heaven and on earth. Therefore, we
ought to cast off any hubris, and get to work fulfilling our Celestial roles of
creating life, ensuring the sustainability of life, ensuring the harmony of the
social and natural worlds, and making sure there are no poor among all human
society. Finally, we ought to take pride in the liberality of God which has
been revealed to us by Joseph Smith in these Latter-days.
[1] Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph
Fielding Smith (1976), 257, 240-241 [as quoted in “The Grandeur of God” by
Jeffery R. Holland in 2003]
[6] See the LDS Church’s Guide to the Scriptures under
the “Sin” heading. The link is here:
https://www.lds.org/scriptures/gs/sin?lang=eng&letter=s
[13] see the LDS Church’s Guide to the Scriptures under
“Chasten” here:
https://www.lds.org/scriptures/gs/chasten-chastening.p2?lang=eng&letter=c
[14] see the LDS Church’s Guide to the Scriptures under
“Excommunication” here:
https://www.lds.org/scriptures/gs/excommunication?lang=eng#
[19] “So when they continued asking him, he
lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let
him first cast a stone at her.”
[22] Nibley. “What is Zion?” in What is Zion? Joseph Smith
Lecture Series, 1972-73. Brigham Young University Press: Provo UT.
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