An Argument for the Intellect Part 3: "We have received, and we need no more!”

This is the next in the series on An Argument for the Intellect. In the last part, I focused on what the scriptures had to tell us. In this segment, I will be starting to walk through what the Brethren have taught concerning this topic. It will be in two parts. In this article, I will rely more on what Joseph Smith taught concerning this topic as well as some from Brigham Young. Knowledge is an essential part of faith in Jesus Christ and goes hand in hand with His gospel. As we come to learn about Him and His role in our lives, we hunger and thirst for more. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." (Matt. 5:6 NRSV)

"We have received, and we need no more!" is in reference to 2 Nephi 29. It is also the title of a great BYU devotional by Dilworth B. Parkinson which I will talk about in a future article. Many a missionary knows 2 Nephi 29 rather well. Though I have to say that as missionaries we may be missing the mark a little bit with the scripture. No doubt it points to the fact of many that are unwilling to receive the Book of Mormon, they are satisfied with the Bible and need nothing else. However, I think this chapter may be admonishing many of us too. What are we willing to receive? Have we ever said, "we need no more?" Have we ever said, "we have arrived" and then sit back and relax? The Gospel of Jesus Christ encompasses all truth and our hunger and thirst for more is indicative of where we are at. Further, as we draw closer to Jesus Christ our desire to learn increases. 

President Uchtdorf wrote recently: 

The late novelist Michael Crichton is reported to have said, 'If you don't know history, then you don't know anything. You are a leaf that doesn't know it is part of a tree.' History teaches us not only about the leaves of existence; it also teaches about the twigs, branches, trunks, and roots of life. And these lessons are important. 

One of the weaknesses we have as mortals is to assume that our 'leaf' is all there is--that our truth is complete and universal. An old Yiddish expression [says], 'To a worm in horseradish, the world is horseradish.' I want to emphasize that the truth embraced by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints extends beyond leaves and certainly beyond horseradish. It extends beyond time and space and encompasses all truth.¹

Now we are not talking about some philosophical idea of truth that floats around and is never solidified, that one person's truth is not another's. The relativistic truth that is so common these days, is not the type of truth we are talking about here. This is truth eternal. "And truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come." (D&C 93:24)  

President Nelson stated in a recent BYU address, "Some things are simply true. The arbiter of truth is God—not your favorite social media news feed, not Google, and certainly not those who are disaffected from the Church. President Spencer W. Kimball taught that absolute truth cannot be 'altered by the opinions of men....If men are really humble, they will realize that they discover, but do not create truth.' 

"Many now claim that truth is relative and that there is no such thing as divine law or a divine plan. Such a claim is simply not true. There is a difference between right and wrong. Truth is based upon the laws God has established for the dependability, protection, and nurturing of His children. Eternal laws operate in and affect each of our lives, whether we believe them or not."²

Whether it is by revelation or by science, we discover truth, or rather truth is revealed to us, by the Great God of Heaven. That being said, we shouldn't think what has been revealed is static. We should all know better than that. As we discover more, as more is revealed, we have to adjust. Newton gave us certain principles concerning gravity and then Einstein discovered more, a deeper understanding. This happens all the time in science. Models are abandoned for new and better ones. Do not think that it doesn't happen with the Church. God reveals truth line upon line. I have written much about this already and I am sure I will continue to do so. The Restoration continues to unfold, policies change, new revelations are revealed. We have seen this quite frequently as of late as the work of the Lord hastens. There is much more yet to be revealed, there is much more yet to be discovered. So much yet to be received. It is exciting, isn't it? I love it! This is how I feel every time I get a new book, listen to a new podcast, discover a new article or a new documentary. This is hungering and thirsting after righteousness. As we draw near to Heaven this yearning only increases. 

Of course, there are absolute truths that have been revealed, the core doctrine of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The doctrine of the Good News, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, who suffered, died, and rose the third day, and now reigns in yonder Heaven. That is what I would consider an absolute doctrine or truth, but I know there is so much more to be understood even about this doctrine, the central teaching of the Church. The same goes in science. There are theories, principles, and laws that have been tried and tested. We are still discovering more, but because of the things that have been discovered we are able to fly in airplanes, operate on a heart, and provide electricity to billions. 

I feel it is important at this point to share a caveat I have been thinking about lately. I read an article recently by then Elder Oaks, titled Our Strengths Can Become Our Downfall. He cautions about what has been termed as "gospel hobbies." In it he mentions taking an inordinate amount of time doing certain things and one of them is acquiring knowledge.³  Also, we must not take Elder Oaks out of context either, he has several talks on the importance of education and learning. That being said, I feel it is important to make this caveat lest anyone think I am advocating for something I am not. I do wholeheartedly believe we must seek knowledge but not at the negligence of more important duties such as your family or the core doctrines of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Two important quotes come to mind, one is from Joseph Smith and the other is an oral tradition that is attributed to the Prophet.

As I mentioned above concerning our central doctrine, Joseph Smith stated:

The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it.⁴ 

Here is the next quote, "Don't climb to the extreme branches of the tree, for there is danger of falling: cling close to the trunk."⁵ Even if the Prophet Joseph never said it, it is still a good maxim. Balance is necessary in our lives. We need to hold fast to the iron rod. We need to cling to the fundamental principles. That being said, this should not be used as an excuse to neglect our important duty in developing the Christlike trait of knowledge. We all have the time, it is just up to us if we are willing to make the time. 

Okay, back to it. 

Joseph Smith

I will start with the Prophet Joseph Smith. He spoke frequently on this subject. He states, “Knowledge is necessary to life and godliness. Woe unto you priests and divines who preach that knowledge is not necessary unto life and salvation. Take away Apostles, etc., take away knowledge, and you will find yourselves worthy of the damnation of hell. Knowledge is revelation. Hear, all ye brethren, this grand key: knowledge is the power of God unto salvation.”⁶ Sounds very similar to something we have been hearing today from President Nelson on the importance of hearing the Lord. He said,

In coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost.⁷ 

We must have our oil lamps trimmed and filled with the precious olive oil which represents the Holy Ghost so we are not found wanting when the Bridegroom comes. And what is the response of the Lord to the five who were found wanting? "Verily, I say unto you, I know you not." (Matt 25:12 KJV) They didn't belong with the wedding party. They were not invited to the great feast. Yet, we can look at this a bit differently. We know the Lord truly knows each one of us better than we know ourselves. So we can read this as saying, "Verily I say unto you, you know me not." The five failed to know the Lord whom they served, and make no mistake they were in His service. This parable is about members of His Church. We are required to know Him and we can know Him through the ministration of the Holy Ghost.

A conversation I had recently was on this very subject. How often we can fall into a pit of our own making. The scriptures warn about this and warn about those who think they are wise. Jacob states, "When they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not. And they shall perish." (2 Ne 9:28) Interestingly, one of the most important steps in this scenario is more knowledge. But when we hearken to our own understanding our progress is dammed, which so happens to be the meaning behind damned according to the Prophet Joseph Smith. The acquisition of higher knowledge stops and they fall into a pit of their own making. Only sincere repentance by turning to the Lord can help which requires humble submission to His precepts. Then the flow of knowledge continues. Joseph Smith stated, "If we get puffed up by thinking that we have much knowledge, we are apt to get a contentious spirit. Correct knowledge is necessary to cast out that spirit."⁸ And on another occasion he stated, "There are a great many wise men and women too in our midst who are too wise to be taught; therefore they must die in their ignorance."⁹ As I stated earlier, knowledge is acquired through discovery, whether scientific or revelatory, and all truth is disseminated from the One who holds all truth, typically through the Divine Messenger, the Spirit of Truth, even the Holy Ghost. So what I said concerning this conversation is that it is our duty to press on so more light and knowledge is revealed to us, as long as our hearts are broken and our spirits are contrite, of course. 

To this the Prophet states, "Knowledge does away with darkness, suspense and doubt; for these cannot exist where knowledge is. … In knowledge there is power. God has more power than all other beings, because He has greater knowledge; and hence He knows how to subject all other beings to Him. He has power over all."⁶ It is crucial to our salvation the Prophet writes, "A man is saved no faster than he gets knowledge, for if he does not get knowledge, he will be brought into captivity by some evil power in the other world, as evil spirits will have more knowledge, and consequently more power than many men who are on the earth. Hence it needs revelation to assist us, and give us knowledge of the things of God."⁶ But we have to be prepared to receive it. Joseph Smith taught, "I have tried for a number of years to get the minds of the Saints prepared to receive the things of God; but we frequently see some of them…[that] will fly to pieces like glass as soon as anything comes that is contrary to their traditions: they cannot stand the fire at all."¹⁰

By far one of my favorite quotes from Joseph Smith is this one:

The things of God are of deep import; and time, and experience, and careful and ponderous and solemn thoughts can only find them out. Thy mind, O man! if thou wilt lead a soul unto salvation, must stretch as high as the utmost heavens, and search into and contemplate the darkest abyss, and the broad expanse of eternity—thou must commune with God.⁶ 

We must give the things of Heaven its due time. We cannot expect to reap a reward that we have not sown. The Lord means to stretch us. Our religion is not one for the faint of heart, it requires effort and there is beauty in that effort. In answer to a question about his Prophetic calling being hard, President Nelson recently said:

"Of course it’s hard. Everything to do with becoming more like the Savior is difficult. For example, when God wanted to give the Ten Commandments to Moses, where did He tell Moses to go? Up on top of a mountain, on the top of Mount Sinai. So Moses had to walk all the way up to the top of that mountain to get the Ten Commandments. Now, Heavenly Father could have said, ‘Moses, you start there, and I’ll start here, and I’ll meet you halfway.’ No, the Lord loves effort, because effort brings rewards that can’t come without it."¹¹

It is a beautiful and true doctrine and it is our natural tendency to escape it. To find someway to circumvent this responsibility. Much like electricity, we are always looking for the path of least resistance. That is the natural man and we know that the natural man is an enemy to God (Mosiah 3:19). It takes effort to put it off and become saintly through listening to the enticings of the Holy Spirit and coming unto Christ. But we are not alone. He is standing right beside us, he is running under us, sustaining us, encouraging us, this is the meaning of succor. Of course, it does not happen all at once and even though it takes effort the journey is wonderful and exciting. As Elder Uchtdorf brilliantly illustrated:

There are many bends in this road. There are hills, valleys, and detours. There may even be metaphorical spiders, trolls, and even a dragon or two. But if you stay on the path and trust in God, you will eventually find the way to your glorious destiny and back to your heavenly home.¹² 

Like Bilbo, we can answer this call to adventure and be blessed with treasures untold, only these treasures are real, treasures of knowledge, even the mysteries of godliness. God will hold nothing back to those are faithful.

The Prophet states:

"God hath not revealed anything to Joseph, but what He will make known unto the Twelve, and even the least Saint may know all things as fast as he is able to bear them, for the day must come when no man need say to his neighbor, Know ye the Lord; for all shall know Him.⁶

It just takes time and consistent effort. We are more than capable to the task. Joseph Smith taught, "We consider that God has created man with a mind capable of instruction, and a faculty which may be enlarged in proportion to the heed and diligence given to the light communicated from heaven to the intellect;...but...no man ever arrived in a moment: he must have been instructed...by proper degrees."¹³

What are we to study? Joseph Smith answers, "Study the Bible, and as many of our books as you can get; pray to the Father in the name of Jesus Christ, have faith in the promises made to the fathers, and your mind will be guided to the truth."⁶ I know this is true as I have been guided to many books that have enlightened my mind and my understanding. It will be a great long while before we arrive and there is so much to peruse, there is much more to receive. It is exciting! 

I relied quite a bit on Joseph Smith here and there are other quotes by him on this topic. I felt it important to do so because he is the prophet of the restoration and lays the groundwork for what is to come. He is not the only one to take on this topic by far. I will finish up with some words from President Brigham Young.

Brigham Young

I love reading Brigham Young. I just recently finished Saints Vol. 2 and loved every bit of it, though some things were quite heart rending to read. I remember reading Discourses of Brigham Young on my mission and thoroughly enjoying it and then after returning home reading Brigham Young Challenges the Saints by Hugh Nibley. The latter is one of my favorite books. He truly had a care for the Saints, the environment, and the work of God. And he had a mind! What he accomplished as President of the Church is truly remarkable. 

Brigham Young stated:

[we will] remain fixed with a very limited amount of knowledge, and, like a door upon its hinges, move to and fro from one year to another without any visible advancement or improvement, lusting after the grovelling things of this life which perish….Man is made in the image of God, but what do we know of him or of ourselves, when we suffer ourselves to love and worship the god of this world--riches?¹⁴ 

And in a related statement he said:

I desire to see everybody on the track of improvement,...but when you so love your property...as though all your affections were placed upon the changing, fading things of earth, it is impossible to increase in the knowledge of the truth.¹⁵ 

He was not one to mince words. This is something I have thought much about. How much time are we giving to Mammon? What are we sacrificing to this god? So often we spend so little time with things of deep import and enormous amounts of time with things that canker and perish. I think of the hours, days, and years spent on the business of this world. We are willing to receive as much as we can from Mammon. But that isn't our only distraction today is it? No, we have so much to amuse us and take our minds off of the important things. Endless hours of binge watching TV shows and movies, video games, sports, parties, and all sorts of recreation. We need no more of the word of God, but give me endless channels of entertainment. We work ourselves to death to get ahead in this world only to come home to mindless TV and then rinse and repeat. Now this is not a judgment on anyone who is struggling to make ends meet. Unfortunately that is the reality for many and I hope to lessen it for some in this life if I can.

One of the most beautiful segments of Saints Vol 2. was Brigham Young's implementation of the idea of cooperation.¹⁶ He pleaded for the Saints to cooperate with each other and buy locally, to not exploit one another. He, like every prophet before him and after him, was attempting to prepare us for Zion. But like he said many times including the quotations above, we had our hearts set on the rich things of this world and the treasures of heaven mean little to us. The ideas set forth in cooperation are based in the law of consecration, a beautiful law and also the most trying. Are we willing to give up what we want for what Heaven wants? I hope I am. I hope I am willing to receive as much as the Lord is willing to give.

And so the argument for the intellect continues, the plea from the Lord is for us to receive all that the Father hath, among these great gifts is the gift of knowledge. He has given us great revelations in these the latter days, including the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. But that is not all, he has opened the windows of Heaven and rained out knowledge upon us. New things are discovered all the time. Just within the Church we have years of Conference talks and books produced by leaders and scholars. Outside the Church we have grand discoveries and fantastic research going on all the time. Of course, most of us are familiar with the Dead Sea Scrolls but it has been years since then. Not only have we not read much on that discovery, but there has been countless important discoveries and research since then. There are literally mountains of revealed knowledge to receive. 

Sources:

1. “The Gospel Encompasses All Truth.” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2018/02/the-gospel-encompasses-all-truth?lang=eng.

2. Nelson, Russell M. “The Love and Laws of God.” BYU Speeches. https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/russell-m-nelson/love-laws-god/.

3.Oaks, Dallin H. “Our Strengths Can Become Our Downfall.” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1994/10/our-strengths-can-become-our-downfall?lang=eng.
4. Smith, Joseph. Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Edited by Joseph Fielding Smith. American Fork, UT: Covenant Communications, 2005. p. 121.

5. Madsen, Truman G. “Joseph Smith Lecture 7: Doctrinal Development and the Nauvoo Era.” BYU Speeches. https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/truman-g-madsen/joseph-smith-doctrinal-development-nauvoo-era/.

6. Smith, Joseph. “Gaining Knowledge of Eternal Truths.” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/teachings-joseph-smith/chapter-22?lang=eng.

7. Nelson, Russell M. “Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives.” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2018/04/revelation-for-the-church-revelation-for-our-lives?lang=eng.

8. Smith, Joseph. Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Edited by Joseph Fielding Smith. American Fork, UT: Covenant Communications, 2005. p. 287.

9. Smith, Joseph. History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Vol. 5. Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book Company, 1950. p. 424.

10.  Smith, Joseph. “Joseph Smith's Feelings about His Prophetic Mission.” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/teachings-joseph-smith/chapter-45?lang=eng.

11. Jones, Joy D. “An Especially Noble Calling.” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2020/04/14jones?lang=eng.

12.  Uchtdorf, Dieter F. “Your Great Adventure.” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2019/10/43uchtdorf?lang=eng.

13. Smith, Joseph. Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Edited by Joseph Fielding Smith. American Fork, UT: Covenant Communications, 2005. p. 51.

14. Young, Brigham. Journal of Discourses. Vol. 10. Liverpool: Daniel H. Wells, 1865. p. 266-267. https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/JournalOfDiscourses3/id/4110.

15. Young, Brigham. Journal of Discourses. Vol. 10. Liverpool: Daniel H. Wells, 1865. p. 337. https://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/digital/collection/JournalOfDiscourses3/id/2807/rec/7.
16. Saints: No Unhallowed Hand. Vol. 2. Salt Lake City, UT: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 2020.