Messenger
Volume 4, Issue 3 – May 2010
Contents
Letter to an Independent Fundamentalist
Download a Printable Version
The Shack – A Review
Every few years a work of religious fiction catches the public’s attention. One such book that has become very popular of late is the fictional tale, The Shack. 1 It tells of a man named Mack, whose daughter had been abducted and was presumed brutally murdered by a serial killer in the shack of the book’s title. Four years following this event, Mack receives a note from God 2 inviting him to visit this shack, and there takes place a week long visit with the Godhead in the form of a black woman named Papa who represents the divine Father, along with Jesus taking the form of a Jewish man, and an Asian woman as the Holy Ghost.
Many people have been touched by the love and compassion the God of the book shows, and his accessibility, and say it has helped them to reconcile with their heavenly Father. Like the main character in the book, they take with them a powerful message of forgiveness, trust and redemption.
It may be tempting to look uncritically upon a book that seems to have been a positive experience for so many of its readers, and if it were purely seen by those readers as just an inspiring fantasy novel that might be true. However, because it deals with religious themes, and as some of its main characters claim to represent God, then there is a chance that its teachings might be considered true Gospel principles.
One of the reasons that the books “A Pilgrim’s Progress” and “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” have stood the test of time amongst Christian readers, is because the religious concepts they portray actually represent and align with the beliefs of their religion. Some may read such fiction simply for entertainment and still enjoy it, but their authors hoped to convey greater spiritual truths. As this seems to have been the intention of the author of The Shack too, this review will ask, “What faith does it represent, and what does it teach?”
Letter to an Independent
My dear friend …
I would like to begin by thanking you once again for sharing with me the news of your plans to marry. … I, like others, have been able to feel of your special spirit in the short times we have spent together, have enjoyed your love of life, and have been impressed with your desire to serve God, I have little doubt that it was recognizing these qualities in you that attracted your fiance to you. …
Many people will try to give you suggestions, and will share their wisdom or worries. I very rarely presume to give such advice to anyone. I still have a great deal of experience to gain in so many areas, and I know that any answer a person gains by themselves is far more convincing than one I could ever give them. Yet I know that as a fellow child of God, a brother in spirit, and a Priesthood holder, that I sometimes have an obligation to share what I know or feel if it might be of help.
I realize that over the next few months much of your time is going to be taken up in the process of courting and readying yourself for marriage. It can be an exciting time, and it may be a very busy one. Although I hope we can meet up sometime soon I am not certain we will have that opportunity, or that we will have the time necessary – if we do – for me to share so many of the questions I have hoped to ask you, and have wanted to hear your views and feelings on. So I would like to take this chance, if I can ask for some of your time and patience, to share with you some thoughts and questions that may be the most important ones for you to ask yourself at this point of your life.
We share so many views and ideals in common. We are both trying to serve our heavenly Father, we both have a love for the Gospel, and a commitment to try to live all of it. It is a rare thing in this world to have such an outlook, and to set our courses in such a direction. We are both trying to reach the same heavenly goals, and none of us wants an easier or lesser glory.
Although we share the same intent, we are, however, approaching this goal from slightly different angles. Some believe that all of us will eventually join up along the highway that leads to the fulfillment of our hopes and that although the road we take may be a little different that they will all end up in the same place. I am no cartographer, I cannot tell you whether all roads in the world lead to Rome or Salt Lake City or Independence, Missouri – although I doubt that all roads do. But I am a student of the Scriptures and I know that the directions they give to heaven are through a strait and narrow path that few find, and can only be entered into through the right gate.
The scriptures tell us that the gate through which we make it onto that path is Priesthood authority. You and I both believe in the need for Priesthood and in the power of the Priesthood. It was by Priesthood authority that the worlds were organized, that the Council in heaven was convened and God’s plan proposed, and by Priesthood that the plan has been carried out. Without Priesthood anything we do in this life will last only in this life, because only God’s authority lasts into the eternity, whilst earthly authority is only temporary.
“He that is ordained of me shall come in at the gate and be ordained”1
“Everything that is in the world, … that are not by me or by my word, saith the Lord, shall be thrown down, and shall not remain after men are dead,”2
James, the Brother of Jesus
The New Testament tells us that there were three Apostles named James. The first of these was James, the son of Zebedee; the second was James the Less, the son of Alphaeus; and the last – and most controversial of these – was James the Just, who the scriptures tell us was “the Lord’s brother.”
The first mention of this James is in the book of Matthew, in which those in the synagogue, who were dismissive of Jesus’ divine origins and mission, asked:
“Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, are they not with us?”
Here we discover that Jesus had at least four brothers: James, which would be better translated Jacob;1 Joses (or Joseph), named after his father;2 Judas, also known as Jude or Judah;3 and Simon. He had sisters also, but sadly it does not mention their names.
From this simple passage has since arisen a great deal of speculation. Later Catholic scholars, who considered even married intimacy sinful and believed that Mary had always remained a virgin4, have argued that these brothers of Jesus must have been step-brothers from a previous marriage, cousins, or only brothers in the Gospel. This verse does not lend itself to such an interpretation though. They are spoken of as both the sons of Joseph the carpenter, and of Mary.5 The Greek word used for brothers here literally means “out of the same womb”,6 and is never applied to cousins.
The Spirit
The Spirit sometimes comes in a whisper
Sometimes it comes as a feeling of peace
at other times it comes like crashing thunder
Sometimes it comes like a wave of relief
We feel it through the burning of our heart
through the promptings for us to do right
It enters into our bodies – into every part
and it brightens our own internal light
Sometimes it tells us to cast our mind back
to the answer we already had before
It is there to help keep us on the right track
to open our minds, to reveal to us more
Sometimes it works within us silently
even when we are busy or in slumber rest
Its calm influence working on us slowly
bringing about in us all that is for our best
However it comes, in whatever form
whether by peace or joy, dreams or visions
Whether we seek it for emotional comfort
or to help us make difficult decisions …
It is a divine gift from a loving God
It is our companion and our close friend
It is there to help us hold to the rod
and it will be there beside us to the very end
Our Rights
“Human law, … is not binding upon any honest man”
All men should be entitled to two kinds of rights: – natural and artificial. Natural rights are embraced in life, liberty and the pursuits of happiness. Artificial rights consist of powers granted by legislative enactment; hence the machinery of government. …
Men do not enjoy all their rights in any government now existing. They waive the right by appointing men to make laws for the safety and convenience of the whole, allowing the majority to govern. But this is no criterion, or standard to suit the wants and capacities of the people. Every man is above the law, and can act as he pleases if he does not interfere with his neighbor’s right.
This is clearly taught in the great foundation of all law, the ten commandments. Human law, the artificial contrivance of the intellect, is not binding upon any honest man; nor should it be any more than the creeds and dogmas of bigots. Laws are for transgressors. …
Men have a right to petition and protest, and if either is unheeded by those entrusted with powers, they, the people, (oppressed) have what is denominated the reserved right of protecting themselves from insult.
Nor is it less legal for an insulted individual or community to resist oppression. For this reason, until the blood of Joseph and Hyrum Smith has been atoned for, by hanging, shooting, or staying in some manner, every person engaged in that cowardly, mean assassination, no Latter-day Saint should give himself up to the law: for the presumption is, that they will murder him in the same manner. The government has not redeemed the broken faith of the State; but upon the contrary, allowed an indicted murderer to sit in the legislative halls, whereby the whole state becomes accessory to the crime! The partaker is as bad as the thief.
Neither should civil process come in to Nauvoo, till the United States, by a rigorous effort, causes the state of Missouri and the state of Illinois to redress every man that has suffered the loss of lands, goods, or any thing else, by expulsion and the robbery from the one state and martyrdom and state plunder in the other. Commissioners can be appointed to regulate, where the clandestine forms of law might require the strange work of God to rebut it.
Let it be proclaimed to the ends of the earth that the lives of the Saints are their own property, and that they are bound to protect them, and that they will in the name of Israel’s God.
If any man is bound to maintain the law, it is for the benefit he may derive from it. No man can be compelled in a free country, to support a law that deprives him of his natural rights, when, enjoying them is no disadvantage to his neighbor. “Thus,” says Blackstone, “the statute of King Edward IV, which forbade the fine gentlemen of those times (under the degree of Lord) to wear pikes upon their boots and shoes of more than two inches in length, was a law that savored of oppression.”
Well, our charter is repealed; the murderers of the Smiths are running at large, and if the Mormons should wish to imitate their fore-fathers, and fulfil the scriptures making it “hard to kick against the pricks,” by wearing cast steel pikes about four or five inches long on their boots and shoes, to kick with, that’s the harm?
John Taylor, The Nauvoo Neighbor, 23rd April 1845.
Convictions or Preferences
When filling in forms, such as those you are given when staying in an American Hospital, one question, amongst the myriad that ask for such information as your Ethnic origin, preferred title and diet requirements, is that of Religious ‘preference.’ A friend found herself filling in one of these forms recently, and it caused her to pause and think, “Is my religion just a preference. Do I prefer to be LDS today, maybe Baptist tomorrow? Or do I have Religious convictions?”
The United States Supreme Court classifies all religious beliefs as either preferences or convictions. According to the court, only convictions are given the full protection of the First Amendment.
When is a Belief a Preference?
A belief is a preference when, under certain circumstances, that belief can be changed. A belief may be strong and intense and may still be a preference. The five circumstances noted by the court that most often cause one to change his beliefs are: peer pressure, family pressure, litigation pressure, jail pressure, and death pressure.
Peer Pressure – When the disapproval of others causes one to bend their beliefs, their beliefs are simply preferences.
Family Pressure – It is often pressure from within a family – from a spouse, parent, or child – that will cause one to lessen their beliefs. The court held that if family pressure causes one to change ones beliefs, then those beliefs are merely a preference.
Litigation Pressure – When one faces an intimidating legal battle, he often re-evaluates his beliefs. If a lawsuit changes your beliefs, they are preferences.
Jail Pressure – Would you be willing to suffer a jail sentence for your belief? If not, your belief is just a preference.
Death Pressure – The ultimate test of a belief is whether you would be willing to die for it – like many Christian martyrs have done throughout history. Would you be willing to die for your belief? If not, your belief is not a conviction.
When is a Belief a Conviction?
Convictions are self-determined – The court held that if you need other people to stand with you, your belief is not a conviction. A conviction must be self-determined, not influenced by what others do or by what others ask of you.
Convictions are nonnegotiable – If you are willing to even discuss the option of dishonouring your belief, your belief is not a conviction but only a preference.
Convictions are victorious – Victory is standing for what you believe is right, regardless of the cost. The court held that if you need earthly victory to remain true to what you believe, you do not have a conviction.
Convictions are lifestyles – The court held that if a man holds true to his beliefs, those beliefs will evidence themselves in a life which is consistent with those beliefs.
Convictions must control a person’s life.
If religious liberty is to be passed on to the next generation, it is critical that we study the Gospel so that we can understand what it teaches, live consistent lives according to those teachings, and stand firmly for Gospel principles. Only then will the world recognise God’s people to be people of conviction and only then will we find our faith is sufficient to pass the test of conviction versus preference.
This story was previously printed in
the British edition of Messenger magazine (2:1).
It was written by a previous editor.
Out of Myself
No more I trust myself in life’s dim maze;
Sufficient to myself in all its ways,
I trust no more, but humbly at Thy throne
Pray, “Lead me, for I cannot go alone.”
Out of myself, dear Lord, O lift me up!
I faint, the road winds upward all the way
Each night but ends another weary day.
Give me Thy strength, and may I be so blest
As on “the heights” to find the longed for rest?
Out of my weary self, O lift me up!
Though other hearts with love are running o’er;
Though dear ones fill my lonely home no more;
Though every day I miss the fine caress;
Help me to join in other’s happiness.
Out of my lonely self, O lift me up!
Help me to feel that Thou are always near;
E’en though ‘tis night and all around seems drear,
Help me to know that, though I cannot see,
It is my Father’s hand that leadeth me!
Out of my doubting self, O lift me up!
Joseph F. Smith
The Tree of Life & Plan of Salvation
The Setting for Lehi’s Vision
Lehi’s dream of the Tree of Life is one of the most memorable visions in all of Mormonism. Beginning in chapter eight of the first book of Nephi, the vision sets the stage for everything that follows in the Book of Mormon. It is a testament to us that God’s plan for His children is for us to withstand the test of mortality, to be able to once again return to His presence; this is the Plan of Salvation.
The literal interpretation of the vision is that if we hold to the rod we will be given the opportunity to partake of the love of God. Through Nephi’s prophetic interpretation of the vision, we are able to gain an in-depth understanding of its meaning, as well as a glimpse at the grace of God. However, the vision and its meaning are so significant that if we dig a little deeper, we can find greater meaning and clues that shed light on some of the steps we must take in order to be worthy of the promises God has made to us.
Lehi’s dream isn’t just about the Nephites or any other particular group of people. It is about each and every one of us.