Journals are Helpful

In 1836, just three years after his baptism, Wilford Woodruff was called as a seventy.  The next year he recorded the following prayer in his journal:

"O Lord I ask thee in the name of Jesus Christ thy Son, to look upon thy servant Willford, who now occupies a place in Kirtland, this first Stake of Zion, which thou has appointed in this last Dispensation, & fulness of times for the gathering of thy Saints.  O God of Israel, inspire the heart & pen of thy Servant at this time, & hear & answer the Petition which he will put up unto thee at this time, & remember the Covenant which they servant Willford will make with thee at this time, O mighty God of Jacob.  O Lord thou hast spared my life, to behold the commencem of 1837.  May my life, health, & strength be precious in thy Sight, through the year.  Wilt thou save me by thy grace from all sin, & the Powers of temptation, which try the souls of men.  Wilt thou give me favor during this year, with God & the Saints.  Wilt thou bless me while in school, & in meeting with the quorum of the Seventies, & while attending all other meetings in Kirtland for Divine worship.  O Lord if it be thy will, give me the privilege of recording in this years Journal great blessing, Pronounced upon my head from mine annointing & from under the hands of the Patriarch JOSEPH.  & an account of Great visions, & the opening of the heavens, & and the Revelation of JESUS CHRIST Unto me that I may be a special witness of Thee.  O Lord.  & may I also have the administering of Holy angels, that I may be taught of the Eternal things of the Priesthood.  If I am called to preach thy word this year, may I be bless with souls for my hire.   If I visit my kinsman, wilt thou make me an instrument, of bringing them into thy Celestial Kingdom.  & I Covenant with Thee, Heavenly FATHER, to go & come at thy bidding.  I ask the above blessing, through the Priesthood in the name of JESUS CHRIST AMEN" (Dean C. Jessee; BYU Studies Vol 12; 4:373, emphasis mine).

Is the gospel different today than it was then?  Why do members of the Church not share the same desire for spiritual things today as Wilford Woodruff did then?  What has changed?  Are members less spiritual?  What about our present culture discourages this kind of seeking?  I'm grateful when I read journals of the early Saints.  

The True, the False, and Mere Conjecture

A good friend a mine keeps a blog that very few folks know about.  He is a gifted gospel student.  After years of friendship, it's clear to me there is nothing that matters more to him than pursuing further light and knowledge in his attempt to come unto Christ.

He recently posted something that was touching to me because it is the complete opposite of what we find all around us.  As he points out, there are many "voices clamoring" to be heard.  Many claim to speak for Christ, but do not know him.  We are proud that we have the truth.  We know what nobody else knows.  

When you humble yourself, the Lord is able to teach you by revelation.  

Some time during the beginning of this repentance process, one of the first revelations that is given you is that the philosophies of men are getting you nowhere.  The traditions of your fathers are getting you nowhere.  Cultural trappings are blinding you.  Other men's unbelief has spread to you like a disease.  It is clothed in the language of the restoration, but marvelously incapable of conferring any power or revelatory understanding that will ever save you.  We must repent further, and seek Christ.

I've asked and received his permission to post what he wrote.  What follows is his:

If there is anything that I have learned through an ongoing study of the gospel, it is that I know very little, possibly nothing.  I have facts and some theories and some trivia stored away in my brain, but not much that is abiding or saving.  That kind of knowledge comes in the way God has shown us in the temple.  I have written a lot of things over the past few years, some theories and ideas, that have come to describe my perception of religion and of the world around me.  I concede that these may each be false, even better, may probably be proven false if held up to a different definition of the gospel.  I don't really care, because the important thing to me is not that I am right on all counts, but that I am open and willing to accept my own folly, the incorrectness of my traditions, and even more difficult in some cases, the traditions of my fathers.  It is important to me not to stagnate upon one singular and narrow way of looking at a thing, but to keep the channels of my mind open in honest evaluation, not that I may be blown about by every wind of doctrinal uncertainty, but that I may be willing to accept truth when it finally makes its way into my field of view.  If we develop and stagnate in false views of Christ, we will not recognize Him when He attempts to approach us.  We will think Him a fraud.  It is very easy for Satan to subsequently give us the Christ we want, cheapened and watered down.  Therefore, with little exception, my mind remains open to change and reevaluation.  I don't want to be branded a believer of my false theories, because ten years from now I may not believe them myself.  I will consider anything the Spirit wishes, and I accept that the evolution of my knowledge may be a process that spans years and which may weave at times through some false ideas.  This does not bother me.  I have faith that the Lord will help me to sort out this confusing mess of voices clamoring throughout the world to be heard.  I live with the hope that the one that will prevail is that which is still and small.  I am happy to acknowledge that my ideas are nothing more than my own philosophies mingled with scripture.  I am not qualified to bring you saving news.  I only really write in order to record my stream of thought, and to remember those things which I consider to be potentially important.  If you benefit from sideline observance of my ideas, that is wonderful.  If not, that's fine too.  I don't accept you as my student because I am unqualified to be your teacher.  But I hope that through the scriptures, through revelation, and through humble prayer, our worship may be made perfect and we may gain that knowledge which will save us.

The Danger of Infallibility, Conclusion

But behold, a hundredth part of the proceedings of this people, yea, the account of the Lamanites and of the Nephites, and their wars, and contentions, and dissensions, and their preaching, and their prophecies, and their shipping and their building of ships, and their building of temples, and of synagogues and their sanctuaries, and their righteousness, and their wickedness, and their murders, and their robbings, and their plundering, and all manner of abominations and whoredoms, cannot be contained in this work" (Hel 3:14).


If a prophet-writer were presently writing scripture concerning our day - and there very well may be - a hundredth part could not be written concerning "the proceedings of this people."  A hundredth part cannot be written concerning all these things in our history.  Not a hundredth part of our building projects, our righteousness, our wickedness, etc.

Though the ideas and examples I put forth in the previous posts are not comprehensive, they should make a point if considered carefully.  The Adam-God teachings were used as an example because they make the point very well.  One church President believed it, taught it for over 20 years from the pulpit, and threatened another apostle with excommunication for his refusal to believe in it.  Another church President didn't believe it, and taught that it was false and should be avoided.  An apostle, contemporary with the latter, taught those who do believe in it are cultists, and will be damned.


There are not just a few, but many other examples that students of our history are required to confront.  The issue of Adam-God tends to be skirted aside by those unwilling to confront it.  It's of such a nature so as to enable us to do so for the time-being.  There will soon be other issues, ones that cannot be pushed aside or ignored.  You will be forced to confront them head on.  It will be a sore test.  Don't hang onto this idea of infallibility.  It will cause you more heartache than will be necessary.   


My purpose was to show that it is incompatible with reason, our spiritual foundation established by Joseph Smith, and the holy scriptures, to believe in the false notion of infallibility.  The foolish idea that a man will never lead you astray, is damnable.  It cannot be believed by those who claim to worship God and not men.  Leaders should point to Christ.  True messengers refuse inappropriate adoration, and are quick to acknowledge they are not the object of our worship (Rev. 19:10).


By getting a man to believe that he can place his trust in another man, and not in Christ, Satan will effectively destroy that man's testimony and faith in the very moment he can show him that the very men in whom his faith has been placed have failed him.  Our leaders have the capacity, and demonstrated disposition, to contradict one another, the scriptures, and the revelations of God to our dispensation head.  Inasmuch as their teachings invite men to repent and come unto Christ, and do not contradict God's word, their messages are sent forth by the Spirit of God.  When messages come that teach you to trust in men, or trust that you will never be led astray because of the "virtue of the priesthood" office they hold, it is by compulsion that their message is sent forth, and you should recognize that the source of such is not of God (D&C 121:41).


We should pray for our leaders (D&C 107:22).  Many are good men.  We are a benefit to them, and to the Church, when we discard false notions and unitedly seek Christ.