An Argument for the Intellect Part 2: Scripture

As I discussed in Part 1, my primary objective is to engender a new generation of seekers. In this part I want to unfold what the scriptures state about seeking and learning. Not surprising, they are quite adamant about the attainment of knowledge.

Francis Bacon, a 16th century philosopher, stated, "Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested: that is, some books are to be read only in parts, others to be read, but not curiously, and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention."¹ The scriptures are to be chewed and digested with great diligence and attention. It amazes me how you can read a passage of scripture a thousand times and still get new meaning out of it. For instance, on my mission I bought Lehi in the Desert and the World of the Jaredites by Hugh Nibley. All of a sudden 1 Nephi opened up to me a new and significant way. What seemed to be minor passages had such depth to them. I started to realize that learning about scripture was fundamental to learning from scripture. As scholar Ben Spackman put it, "you cannot fully learn from scripture unless you are also actively learning about scripture.The first is the act of a disciple and the second that of a scholar."²

The scriptures are the word of God given to prophets, both anciently and in modern times. We often refer to them as our standard works. And rightly so, they are the standard by which we measure the accuracy of many things. This is often how we determine what is doctrine and what is not. We also have modern-day prophets and the Holy Ghost for further revelation. Which we Latter-day Saints wholeheartedly accept. For we do not have a closed canon, but an open one. We joyfully accept this as a guiding principle, "We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God." (AoF 9) Since the Restoration of the Gospel we have added whole books of scripture to the canon, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine & Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. God has shed great light and continues to do so. 

So it is by this canon, this standard, that I want to start things out on. Turning to the Bible first, I will generally draw from the NRSV unless another version suits better. In Deu. 6:7 the Lord states, "Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home, and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise." Here the Lord is commanding Israel to remember his words, to recite them, to have them written in their hearts. He states earlier, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might." (Deu. 6:4-5) That verse should be recognizable as Jesus quotes it in answer to a question on which commandment is greatest. It reminds me of another in the Book of Mormon, "And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins." (2 Ne 25:26) I love these verses, they describe how we need to center our lives on the Lord. Everything needs to revolve around him, focus on him, including our conversations. 

Last weekend in the temple, one of the temple presidency instructed us in the proper mindset needed in the temple. As ordinance workers our calling is to serve the patrons. Requisite to that is a reminder of the sacred nature of the temple. Our thoughts and conversation should be centered on the sanctity of the temple work and the Lord, whose house it is. It was a good reminder. Likewise, these verses are teaching a similar thing which is a good place to start in regards to the intellect. Especially since I am arguing the need for developing the intellect from a gospel standard. The need for centering our lives on the Lord cannot be overstated in this pursuit. Further, the injunction to recite scripture can be applied broadly to all scripture and our duty to study it and feast upon it daily. But as we continue we will see it is not scripture alone that we are commanded to study. As all truth will be circumscribed into one great whole. As then President Uchtdorf stated, "I want to emphasize that the truth embraced by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...extends beyond time and space and encompasses all truth."³

Jesus quotes this next verse when confronted by Satan, he quotes, "one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God." (Deu. 8:3) This greatly expands the scope of what we need to adhere to. As already stated, the gospel encompasses all truth. This does not only include what is handed to us from the leaders of the Church but also every impression from God we ever receive. Not only that, it can be inferred that we need seek for the Spirit to guide us, to show us the way. "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" the Psalmist wrote. (Ps. 119:105) How often do the scriptures say "Ask and it shall be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you?" (Matt. 7:7) Many times! As Elder Maxwell has said, "To those who have eyes to see and ears to hear, it is clear that the Father and the Son are giving away the secrets of the universe!"⁴ How many of us ask? How many us search? How many of us knock? I don't know about you but I could do a bit more asking. 

What is stopping us? Why do we hold back? Are we waiting for the go ahead? "It is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant." (D&C 58:26) The next verse tells us precisely what we should be doing, "men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness." (D&C 58:27) "Behold, the scriptures are before you; if ye will wrest them it shall be to your own destruction." (Alm 13:20) What leg do we have to stand on? None, it is as plain as day. 

In Peter's great exhortation to press on and have your calling and election made sure he stated, "For this very reason, you must make every effort to support your faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance with godliness, and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love." (2 Pe 1:5-7) Knowledge is a key component of making one's calling and election sure. If you don't about that, then there is a wonderful little study session ahead for you. It is a beautiful doctrine. Peter also mentions endurance. Endurance is a needed trait. To uncover and push back horizons takes endurance. So much effort is needed, but it is worth it. Yes, the Gospel can be simplified enough to be taught to a 5 year old. "I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not read for solid food." (1 Cor 3:2) But after some time, solid food is needed, to extrapolate further Paul's analogy. Or as the write of Hebrews put it, "therefore let us go on toward perfection, leaving behind the basic teaching about Christ, and not laying again the foundation." (Heb 6:1) As Spackman often refers to in his blog posts, the gospel is simple, but learning about doctrine, history, and scripture is not. There is a good deal to study, learn, and think about. 

We know the Lord reveals things line upon line. It doesn't come out of the blue either. Rather as we continue to learn and grow. Nephi quotes the Lord saying, "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.” (2 Ne 28:30) That is how we naturally learn. Each line, each precept, each thread to the majestic tapestry of truth is slowly woven together. With each thread, new meaning, new understanding, new light is shed forth. As parts of the tapestry come together new conclusions can be drawn. It is a beautiful thing, but only to the eye of the weaver. Truth is given to those who hearken, to those who inquire. What was Laman and Lemuel's response to Nephi, "We have not; for the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us." (1 Ne 15:9) "Wherefore, now after I have spoken these words," states Nephi, "if ye cannot understand them it will be because ye ask not, neither do ye knock; wherefore, ye are not brought into the light, but must perish in the dark." (2 Ne 32:4) And where do we see his brothers in Lehi's dream? They would not listen to Lehi's beckoning and wandered away into darkness. What does this have to do with truth and knowledge? They are only gained by true seekers. Think of Lehi's dream, those who held fast to the rod of iron, the word of God, made it to the Tree of Life which represented Christ. Holding to the word of God is what brought them there. Lets take this out a little further.

"The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth." (D&C 93:36) In D&C 88, we read, "He that ascended up on high, as also he descended below all things, in that he comprehended all things, that he might be in all and through all things, the light of truth; Which truth shineth. This is the light of Christ." (D&C 88:6-7) As Satan is the father of all lies, Jesus is the Father of all truth, for in him resides all truth. And truth shines. God is a god of intelligence. A beautiful and richly rewarding set of scriptures to study. But I take it to mean that the Lord is the embodiment of truth and by holding fast to his word and seeking truth we are being filled with his light as we step closer into his presence.

There are some great scriptures that can teach us how to discern between truth and error. All of them rely on learning how to receive revelation. As Nephi taught, "Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do." (2 Ne 32:3) I always mention this scripture. We often think the Lord will just deliver revelation over to us without the needed effort. As I taught the young men a few weeks ago, the Holy Ghost cannot draw from a dry well. We have to put water in it. For that we turn to the words of Christ, to drink from the living water and fill our wells. Then we can be guided. But again not without the needed effort. This is not the path of least resistance. Like Wolff's law, we only grow under resistance. "Behold, you have not understood; you have supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought save it was to ask me." (D&C 9:7)

Now onto some of my favorite scriptures about seeking. In a revelation given to Hyrum Smith, the Lord stated, “Seek not to declare my word but first seek to obtain my word, and then shall your tongue be loosed; then, if you desire, you shall have my Spirit and my word, yea, the power of God unto the convincing of men.” (D&C 11:21) A great missionary scripture and it also hearkens back to putting water in the well. Here is another similar verse, "Neither take ye thought beforehand what ye shall say; but treasure up in your minds continually the words of life, and it shall be given you in the very hour that portion that shall be meted unto every man.” (D&C 84:85)  The opposite can also be said if we treasure up in our minds that which is of little worth. We really only have a limited time and despite what the popular opinion is, there is a hierarchy of quality. 

Back to D&C 88, the Lord showcases everything we should study. And I am pretty sure nothing is left out:

Teach ye diligently and my grace shall attend you, that you may be instructed more perfectly in theory, in principle, in doctrine, in the law of the gospel, in all things that pertain unto the kingdom of God, that are expedient for you to understand; Of things both in heaven and in the earth, and under the earth; things which have been, things which are, things which must shortly come to pass; things which are at home, things which are abroad; the wards, and the perplexities of the nations, and the judgments which are on the land; and a knowledge also of countries and of kingdoms. (D&C 88:78-79)

As you can see pretty much any study topic imaginable can fit into the above verses, history, geology, physics, archaeology, paleontology, biology, current affairs, geography, astronomy, and the list goes on and on. A beautiful and exciting set of verses. Now let me make a statement, I do not believe we need to be studying all of this, that would be impossible. Any one of those fields will take a lifetime to study. We can definitely learn a little about each one and focus heavily in others. It is up to us, where our interests lie, and where the Lord leads us.

A hierarchy of quality does exist. There horrible, bad, good, better, and best books. There are grades of books. Same with music and many other things. "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) One of my favorite scriptures. There are so many books in this world. It is a difficult process to sift through them. I am doing it constantly. Some are worth tasting, others swallowing, and but few are worth chewing and digesting, as Bacon said. I have had this discussion with friends. What are the best books? I have heard many explanations. I think in any given field of interest there are best books most assuredly. Some books are just not worth your time. That is why it is good to find trusted teachers or authority figures to guide you, several of them so you can get different points of view. As the Ethiopian eunuch said in response to Philip's inquiry, "How can I, unless someone guides me?" (Acts 8:31)

However, I think overall there are a category of books that are the best above any field of secular interest. They are the scriptures and books about the scriptures, gospel-related books, books by the Brethren. I have had friends who disagree with me, mainly because they have read a few and see little value in them and off they go to pursue something I will discuss another time. Or they cannot stand required effort to learn. And indeed there is a required effort. I remember the first time really dug into Nibley and realized how little I knew. He brought up figures like Solon or the Lachish Letters and other things I have never heard of but he assumes the reader has heard of them. Either you trudge on through and hope that you will pick things up or you start looking things up. How often do we do that with the Isaiah chapters? I know I have. How often do we assume we know what the Bible is talking about without ever looking at a scholarly source? Take for instance grace and faith. We try to explain that away with James or some other falsifiable answer, when the truth is so much better. But that requires a lot effort, a lot perusal and study. 

With President Nelson's challenge to make our homes a sanctuary where the Spirit of the Lord can reside, I can't help but think of this scripture:

Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God. That your incomings may be in the name of the Lord; that your outgoings may be in the name of the Lord; that all your salutations may be in the name of the Lord, with uplifted hands unto the Most High. (D&C 88:119-120)

Anciently, temples were libraries. Our modern-day temples serve a specific function and they are the universities of the Lord (sorry not BYU).  But they do not house books and manuscripts like they did anciently. So let our homes be libraries of learning. Fill them will the best books. For, "whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection. And if a person gains more knowledge, and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come.” (D&C 130:18-19)

The last and possibly most important scripture in regards to all this is:

It is impossible for a man to be saved in ignorance. (D&C 131:6)

Let us therefore, "seek learning, even by study and also by faith."

Sources:

1. Francis Bacon, Essays (1625), "Of Studies." 

2. Spackman, Ben. “2020 Come Follow Me Resources: Book of Mormon (Updated).” Ben Spackman, November 23, 2019. https://benspackman.com/2019/11/21/2020-come-follow-me-resources-book-of-mormon/.

3. Uchtdorf, Dieter F. “The Gospel Encompasses All Truth.” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Accessed February 4, 2020. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2018/02/the-gospel-encompasses-all-truth?lang=eng.

4. Neal A. Maxwell, “Meek and Lowly” (Brigham Young University devotional, Oct. 21, 1986).