"My Words... Never Cease" by Elder Jeffery R. Holland
Elder Holland's talk addresses the criticism by some religions that we are not Christian because we have more scripture in our present canon than just the Bible. His key doctrinal point is that "...God continues to speak His word and reveal His truth, revelations which mandate an open canon of scripture." To discuss this, it helps to define revelation, canon and scripture.
"What is revelation? It is the inspiration of the Holy ghost to man. This is the key, the foundation stone of all revelation." (Wilford Woodruff Millenial Star 53:642 aug 10, 1891) Brigham young said,"No person receives knowledge only upon the principle of revelation, that is, by having something revealed to them...Who reveals? Everybody around us; we learn of each other. I have something which you have not; and you have something which I have not; I reveal what I have to you, and you reveal what you have to me. I believe that we are revelators to each other. Are the heavens open? Yes, to some at times, yet upon natural principles, upon the principle of natural philosophy." (Journal of Discourses 3:209 Feb 17, 1858)
What is scripture? "And whatsoever they shall speak when moved upon by the Holy Ghost shall be scripture, shall be the will of the Lord, shall be the mind of the Lord, shall be the word of the Lord, shall be the voice of the Lord and the power of God unto salvation." (D&C 68:4) By the Lord's definition of scripture: 1) Not all scripture is received by the presiding prophet. Many of the books in the New Testament were not written by Peter, the presiding prophet at the time. 2) Not all scripture is recorded. "Most scripture has been, is now, and will continue to be oral and unrecorded." [on earth, anyway.] (Doctrinal New Testament Commentary 1:55 Bruce R. McConkie as quoted in Keys to the Scriptures by George A. Horton) Lori Olsen brought up the scripture in D&C 62:3 where the Lord says that the elder's testimonies were recorded by the angels in heaven. 3) Not all scripture is canonized. For example, consider the abundance of the writings of Joseph Smith which are undoubtedly inspired, but have not been added to our canon, which we call 'the standard works.'
In general conference next week, we will hear talks that will be as holy and binding on us as our canon of scripture. "So how shall we know when the things someone has spoken were said as they were 'moved upon by the Holy Ghost' ?" We can know whether someone is moved upon by the Holy Ghost when we are moved upon by the Holy Ghost. "In a way, this completely shifts the responsibility from them to us to determine when they so speak." (J. Rueben Cark BYU address July 7, 1954) Elder Holland says, "The ultimate source of knowledge and authority for the Latter Day Saint is the living God. The communication of those gifts comes from God as living, vibrant, divine revelation." There is a footnote here in Elder Holland's talk which says, "For a full essay on this subject, see Dallin H. Oaks, "Scripture Reading and Revelation," Ensign, Jan 1995. In it, Elder Oaks says, "This is why the teaching of the Holy Ghost is a better guide to scriptural interpretation than even the best commentary. As Paul told Timothy, "all scripture is given by inspiration of God" (2 Tim. 3:16; also 2 Pet. 1:21). This means that to understand scripture, our minds need to be enlightened by the Spirit of the Lord. As we learn from the fiftieth section of the Doctrine and Covenants, "he that receiveth the word by the Spirit of truth recieveth it as it is preached by the Spirit of truth" (D&C 50:21). When this happens, the reader is edified by personal revelation." Elder Oaks makes a distinction between public revelations we receive from the church leaders and private revelations for our own personal use. This week we can prepare our hearts and minds to receive personal revelation from the public revelations talks that will be given. Especially in the crazy world we live in, we are so lucky to have counsel from the Lord to us!
I read from a manual I found in the lobby this morning that says that when we are reverent in the way we dress, listen to music, interact with others, talk about sacred things and study the scriptures, we are more upon to receive revelation from the Lord.
What does 'canon' mean? In the footnotes of Elder Holland's talk, it says, "Canon is defined as "an authoritative list of books accepted as Holy Scripture". The Bible dictionary says that canon is a word of Greek origin meaning "a rod for testing straightness". It reminds me of the rod of iron. Is canonization important? Absolutely! There must be a united and orderly way for the Church to function and teach the doctrines of the gospel. How does the church decide what to canonize? There is no formal procedure for canonization, but it appears that those revelations containing eternal principles which are applicable in all times and conditions are more likely to be added to the canon. When the prophets and apostles presiding over the Church are moved upon by the spirit to add scripture to the canon, they make a proposal to the Church members, who then have an opportunity to vote on the proposal. Who remembers voting to add a revelation to our canon of scripture in 1978? President Spencer W. Kimball received a revelation extending the priesthood and temple blessings to all worthy male members of the church.
The church received the Book of Mormon by unanimous vote in 1830. The Doctrine and Covenants appeared in 1835. The Pearl of Great Price was not presented to the church for a vote until 1880. When the church was organized, it was already accepted that the Bible was the word of God. We have borrowed the canon of the Bible from the early Jewish and Christian faiths. How did they canonize the books of the Old and New Testament? Many details of the canonization of the Bible are not available to us, especially of the Old Testament. (see Bible Dictionary Canon for a wonderful description of how the Old and new Testaments came to be in our present form.) There are books and prophesies that are referred to in the New Testament and in the Book of Mormon which are not in our Old Testament. (see Bible Dictionary Lost Books for a list)
The definition of Testament is fascinating! Testament is a middle English word from the late Latin word testamentum, which means covenant with God and from the Latin word testari which means to be a witness, and stare to stand and comes from the word testis which is akin to the word tres which means three. The MW dictionary says "a covenant between God and the human race" So according to the dictionary and the root words, Three stand as a witness and covenant between God and the human race.
Jesus said, "Learn of me, and listen to my words; walk in the meekness of my Spirit, and you shall have peace in me." (D&C 19:23) The scriptures are where we learn of Jesus so we can become more like Him. He promises us peace if we will learn of Him and walk in His footsteps.
Elder Holland's talk addresses the criticism by some religions that we are not Christian because we have more scripture in our present canon than just the Bible. Has anyone ever tried to argue with you, quoting the scripture in Revelations 22:18? "If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are in the book." Marilee Crockett shared with us how living in the Bible belt, she was bombarded with that scripture and all kinds of other arguments against the church. Reciting the three ways in which that scripture only refers to the book of Revelations itself, as the lesson teaches, wouldn't make a difference to the people she encountered. She could only bear her testimony and try to avoid the bashing and live in such a way that they would eventually see that she and or her church leaders are NOT demons like their churches taught them.
Our prophet, said in this last conference, "I would encourage members of the church wherever they may be to show kindness and respect for all people everywhere. the world in which we live is filled with diversity. We can and should demonstrate respect toward those whose beliefs differ from ours." (Ensign page 90)
MaryAnn Hurdman shared a story relating to how we can build upon the scriptures we have in common with other religions. They are vitally important to us! There was a group of chinese students at a church school that were required to take a Book of Mormon class. Two weeks into the class, they were lost and required tutoring. They asked, "Who is Noah? What is the Fall? Who is Abraham?" and many other questions. The Old Testament contains many doctrines essential to our faith.
I want to bear my testimony about the Book of Mormon and it's importance to us. There are 15 books in the Book of Mormon. Except for the relatively brief contributions of Enos, Jarom, Omni, Amaron, Chemish, Abinadom, and Amaleki, which comprise less than 8 pages of our present text, all of the records included inour present Book of Mormon were engraved by four persons: Nephi, Jacob, Mormon, and Moroni.
They had significant and remarkable characteristics and experiences in common:
Nephi Jacob Mormon Moroni
1. They were all personal witnesses of the Lord Jesus Christ during the time they lived on the earth. 2 Nephi 11:3; 2 Nephi 11:3 Mormon 1:15; Ether 12:22-23, 38-392.
2. They were visited by and tutored by angels or translated beings.
1 Nephi 11; 2 Nephi 10; 3 Nephi 28:26; Mormon 8:113.
3. They were guided by the Lord as to what they should write.
1 Nephi 6:5; Jacob 3:13, 3 Nephi 26:6-12, 3 Nephi 23:7-144.
4. They warned us that we will be held accountable for what we do with what they have written. 2 Nephi 33:10-15; Jacob 6:11-13; Mormon 3:20-22; Moroni 10:24-29
Three of the engravers tell us that they will meet us face to face at the judgement bar of God. Moroni tells us that when we see him at the bar of God, the Lord will ask us, "Did I not declare my words to you, which were written by this man?" (Moroni 10:24-29) (Selected writings of Daniel H. Ludlow p115-199)
Who will join me this week in reading in the scriptures everyday 10% more and pondering them 10% more? This will prepare our hearts and minds us to receive personal revelation as we hear the word of the Lord in conference. I say this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
