Lecture Notes for Chapters 1 & 2
Divine Truth  &  Revelation: Avenue to Truth

Contents:

 

The Prophet Joseph Smith

 

 

Pres. Spencer W. Kimball

 

Elder Charles W. Penrose

Elder Dallin H. Oaks

Avenues of Revelation

Greater Enjoyments with Gradual Approach to Perfection

Incomplete Revelations

Revelations Come to Our Spirits

Spetacular Manifestations are Exceptions

Excerpts from "Absolute Truth"

The Spirit of the Lord Operates in all Nations

Three Tests of a True Revelation


Avenues of Revelation

Avenues of Revelation

Copyright (c) The Corporation of the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints


The Prophet Joseph Smith
Greater Enjoyments with Gradual Approach to Perfection
Teachings, p.51  January 22, 1834

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; and that the nearer man approaches perfection, the clearer are his views, and the greater his enjoyments, till he has overcome the evils of his life and lost every desire for sin; and like the ancients, arrives at that point of faith where he is wrapped in the power and glory of his Maker and is caught up to dwell with Him. But we consider that this is a station to which no man ever arrived in a moment: he must have been instructed in the government and laws of that kingdom by proper degrees, until his mind is capable in some measure of comprehending the propriety, justice, equality, and consistency of the same.

The Prophet Joseph Smith
Incomplete Revelations
Teachings, p.304

There are three grand secrets lying in this chapter, (2 Peter 1) which no man can dig out, unless by the light of revelation, and which unlock the whole chapter as the things that are written are only hints of things which existed in the prophet's mind, which are not written concerning eternal glory.


The Prophet Joseph Smith
Revelations Come to Our Spirits
Teachings, p.304

All things whatsoever God in his infinite wisdom has seen fit and proper to reveal to us, while we are dwelling in mortality, in regard to our mortal bodies, are revealed to us in the abstract, and independent of affinity of this mortal tabernacle, but are revealed to our spirits precisely as though we had no bodies at all; and those revelations which will save our spirits will save our bodies.


Pres. Spencer W. Kimball
Spetacular Manifestations are Exceptions
Conference Report, Munich Germany Area Conference 1973, p. 77

The burning bushes, the smoking mountains, the sheets of four-footed beasts, the Cumorahs, and the Kirtlands were realities; but they were the exceptions. The great volume of revelation came to Moses and to Joseph and comes to today's prophet in the less spectacular way-that of deep impressions, without spectacle or glamour or dramatic events. Always expecting the spectacular, many will miss entirely the constant flow of revealed communication.

President Spencer W. Kimball
Excerpts from "Absolute Truth"
The Ensign, September 1978, pp.3-8

                Some of the main Points:
                        There are two types of truth
                        Personal or societal opinions and beliefs don't matter in the pursuit of absolute truth
                        Truth can only be obtained over time and through the use of specific tools and procedures

 
"... There are absolute truths and relative truths. The rules of dietetics have changed many times in my lifetime. Many scientific findings have changed from year to year. ... There are many ideas advanced to the world that have been changed to meet the needs of the truth as it has been discovered. There are relative truths, and there are also absolute truths which are the same yesterday, today, and forever-never changing. These absolute truths are not altered by the opinions of men. As science has expanded our understanding of the physical world, certain accepted ideas of science have had to be abandoned in the interest of truth. ...

The earth is spherical. If all the four billion people in the world think it flat, they are in error. That is an absolute truth, and all the arguing in the world will not change it. ... The law of gravity is an absolute truth. It never varies. Greater laws can overcome lesser ones, but that does not change their undeniable truth.

We learn about these absolute truths by being taught by the Spirit. These truths are "independent" in their spiritual sphere and are to be discovered spiritually, though they may be confirmed by experience and intellect. (See D&C 93:30.) The great prophet Jacob said that "the Spirit speaketh the truth. Wherefore, it speaketh of things as they really are, and of things as they really will be." (Jacob 4:13.) We need to be taught in order to understand life and who we really are.

God, our Heavenly Father--Elohim--lives.  That is an absolute truth.  All four billion of the children of men on the earth might be ignorant of I him and his attributes and his powers, but he still lives. All the people on the earth might deny him and disbelieve, but he lives in spite of them.  They may have their own opinions, but he still lives, and his form, powers, and attributes do not change according to men's opinions. In short, opinion alone has no power in the matter of an absolute truth. ...

The Gods organized the earth of materials at hand, over which they had control and power. This truth is absolute. A million educated folk might speculate and determine in their minds that the earth came into being by chance. The truth remains. The earth was made by the Gods as was the watch by the watchmaker. Opinions do not change that.

The Gods organized and gave life to man and placed him on the earth. This is absolute. It cannot be disproved. A million brilliant minds might conjecture otherwise, but it is still true. ... Again, these vital truths are not matters of opinion. If they were, then your opinion would be just as good as mine, or better. But I give you these things, not as my opinion--I give them to you as divine truths which are absolute.  Some day you will see and feel and understand and perhaps even berate yourself for the long delay and waste of time. It is not a matter of if. It is a matter of when. ...

Experience in one field does not automatically create expertise in another field.  Expertise in religion comes from personal righteousness and from revelation. ... A geologist who has discovered truths about the structure of the earth may be oblivious to the truths God has given us about the eternal nature of the family.

... Man cannot discover God or his ways by mere mental processes. One must be governed by the laws which control the realm into which he is delving. To become a plumber, one must study the laws which govern plumbing. He must know stresses and strains, temperatures at which pipes will freeze, laws which govern steam, hot water, expansion, contraction, and so forth. One might know much about plumbing and be a complete failure in training children or getting along with men. One might be the best of bookkeepers and yet not know anything of electricity. One might know much about buying and selling groceries and be absolutely ignorant of bridge building.

One might be a great authority on the hydrogen bomb and yet know nothing of banking. One might a noted theologian and yet be wholly untrained in watchmaking. One might be the author of the law of relativity and yet know nothing of the Creator who originated every law. ...

Any intelligent man may learn what he wants to learn. He may acquire knowledge in any field, though it requires much thought and effort. It takes more than a decade to get a high school diploma; it takes an additional four years for most people to get a college degree; it takes nearly a quarter-century to become a great physician.  Why, oh, why do people think they can fathom the most complex spiritual depths without the necessary experimental and laboratory work accompanied by compliance with the laws that govern it?  Absurd it is, but you will frequently find popular personalities, who seem never to have lived a single law of God, discoursing in interviews on religion.  How ridiculous for such persons to attempt to outline for the world a way of life!

And yet many a financier, politician, college professor, or owner of a gambling club thinks that because he has risen above all his fellowmen in his particular field he knows everything in every field. One cannot know God nor understand his works or plans unless he follows the laws which govern. The spiritual realm, which is just as absolute as is the physical, cannot be understood by the laws of the physical.  You do not learn to make electric generators in a seminary.  Neither do you learn certain truths about spiritual things in a physics laboratory.  You must go to the spiritual laboratory, use the facilities available there, and comply with the governing rules. Then you may know of these truths just as surely, or more surely, than the scientist knows the metals, or the acids, or other elements. It matters little whether one is a plumber, or a banker, or a farmer, for these occupations are secondary; what is most important is what one knows and believes concerning his past and his future and what he does about it."


Elder Charles W. Penrose,
The Spirit of the Lord Operates in all Nations
Journal of Discourses 23:346-347,   January 14th, 1883

"At the beginning of our religion, if I may use that term--but really there is no beginning, for it is true, and truth is eternal without beginning and without end; every principle of truth always had an existence, and when, therefore, I say beginning of our religion, I mean the beginning of the revelation to the people in the day in which we live--when our religion was first revealed the world was in ignorance concerning God and his ways. It is true there was a glimmering of light concerning him which was obtained through reading the Bible, and other works containing the writings of men who in former times were to some extent inspired.

For the inspiration of God in olden times was not confined to the men who wrote the Jewish scriptures. The Jewish prophets revealed the word of God; the holy men of God who moved among the people in that nation were inspired from on high; but God has permitted His Spirit, which is the light of truth, and which manifests truth, to be poured out upon all the inhabitants of the earth to some extent; for in that they live and move and have their being, and all people of any age, race or country who seek unto God with an honest heart in fervent prayer, desiring truth and to be taught of God, will be enlightened by Him. There have been inspired bards and sages and poets, who have uttered words of truth, words of inspiration concerning things of which they had been enlightened of God. And many things that such men wrote have been recorded and handed down, and scraps of them may be found among all nations and peoples. ...

This spirit is not confined to one race of people, or to one country, or to one age or generation, but it is universal; it is of Him in whom we live and move and have our being. It is the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world. And if all men would be guided by that natural light, that natural inspiration which gives them understanding, and by which they exist, they would be guided directly to Him who is the fountain of all light; they would then be in a condition to be communicated with by Him who is their Maker and Creator. But the inhabitants of the earth have been from the beginning prone to walk in the ways of darkness rather than in the light, because, as Jesus explained it, "their deeds are evil." This is the reason why there is so much ignorance in the world concerning God and His ways."


Elder Dallin H. Oaks 
Three Tests of a True Revelation

The Lord's Way, pp.45-76

There are at least three tests that reason can apply as a threshold check on the authenticity of revelation. True revelation will pass all three of these tests, and spurious revelation (whose source is "of men" or "of devils") will fail at least one of them. 

1. True revelation will edify the recipient. It must therefore be in words that are coherent or in a feeling whose message can be understood by one who is spiritually receptive. ...

2. The content of a true revelation must be consistent with the position and responsibilities of the person who receives it. ... Those selected by the Lord to exercise this gift would "come in at the gate and be ordained as I have told you before" (D&C 43:7)-- thus excluding the possibility of secret callings or appointments to receive revelation. ... One of the surest evidences of false revelations (those based on mortal authorship or devilish intervention) is that their content, judged according to reason, is communicated through channels other than those the Lord has prescribed for that subject. 

3. True revelation must be consistent with the principles of the gospel as revealed in the scriptures and the teachings of the prophets. The Lord will not give revelations that will contradict the principles of the gospel. His house is a house of order.

Revelations may add to the body of existing gospel knowledge ("line upon line, precept upon precept" - D&C 98:12), guide leaders in the duties of their callings, or assist individual members in applying gospel principles to particular circumstances. ...

The test of edification as a way of screening out spurious and deceptive revelations from Satan was reaffirmed in a succeeding revelation to the Prophet Joseph Smith (D&C 52:14-18.)

This revelation also specifies the related tests of prayerfulness, contrite spirit, meek language, compliance with gospel ordinances, and refraining from being physically "overcome." ...


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