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EXCOMMUNICATION–JUST AND UNJUST, Part 2 of Chapter 9 of The Church and The Priesthood 

 

Pages 183 to 187

 

 Where much is given, much is required, and in those early days of the Church, God gave great manifestations and revelations and thus expected a great deal from the members in return. In 1864 George A. Smith gave an illustration of this principle:

 

It was at the same Council [June 1833] that Daniel Copley, a timid young man, who had been ordained a Priest, and required to go and preach the Gospel, was called to an account for not going on his mission. The young man said he was too weak to attempt to preach, and the Council cut him off the Church. I wonder what our missionaries now would think of so rigid a discipline as was given at that time thirty-one years ago, under the immediate supervision of the Prophet. (JD 11:8)

 

Members who commit heinous sins are already cut off from the Spirit of the Lord even before they are brought to a Church trial. They generally continue to go downhill and fall into darkness, while those who are unjustly excommunicated feel no effect of it.

 

Persons sometimes say that they have enjoyed the spirit of the work as much since they were cut off as while they were in the Church. Have they enjoyed the Spirit? Yes. Why? Simply because they were wrongfully cut off. They were cut off in such a way that it did not take the Spirit of God from them. And the reason why they were cut off was because they did not come up to the particular standard of perfection of those who dealt with them, or they did not come up to their feelings. (Francis M. Lyman, Mill. Star24:100)

EXCOMMUNICATION–JUST AND UNJUST, Part 1 of Chapter 9 of The Church and The Priesthood 

 

Pages 178 to 183

 

In simple terms, communication includes a connecting, sympathetic relationship, while excommunication involves a disconnection or exclusion. In a Latter-day Saint context, some have thought that excommunication results in some terrible curse or judgment that befalls those cut off from the Church. However, when someone is excommunicated for a gross sin, that person has already incurred a severe judgment, for he has already lost his Priesthood because of his actions, and his excommunication has nothing to do with that loss.

 

Most churches, notably Christian and Jewish, have a ceremonial program for the punishment of their members. The type of punishment depends on the seriousness of the sin. When greater offenses have been committed, individuals are removed from the general membership of the church. Thus, they are “excommunicated,” “cast out” or “cut off.” Just as a man might have an arm or leg cut off or separated from the body, so is a member separated from the body of the church.

 

Cutting off. In the Old Testament a penalty or form of punishment used primarily, though not exclusively, for various offenses against the ceremonial laws. The agent of the “cutting off” was either God or the community. (Wycliffe Bible Dictionary, p. 412)

TWENTY PRIESTHOOD LAWS AND EVIDENCES, part 6 of Chapter 8 of The Church and The Priesthood 

Pages 160 to 177

The Kingdom of God

Jesus said, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matt. 6:33)

 

If we are to seek for this Kingdom first above all else, we certainly need to know what it is. The Kingdom of God has been defined as many things: heaven, the Holy Spirit, the Gospel and more commonly the LDS Church.

 

The scriptures and Joseph Smith had a much different interpretation from these. In the Old Testament, Daniel interpreted King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of a great image of a man made of iron, brass, clay and gold. (See Dan. 4.) They represented various governments of men with leaders such as presidents, governors, princes, counselors, and captains. (See Dan. 6:7.) Daniel even described God’s government that would be set up in the latter days.

 

A government consists of four elements: (1) a king or leader, (2) a territory, (3) subjects, and (4) laws. This was a description of the Kingdom of God to be restored in the latter [162] days. In 1830 Joseph Smith restored the Church (religious), but in 1844 he organized the Kingdom of God (political).

Part 5.

 

TWENTY PRIESTHOOD LAWS AND EVIDENCES, part 5 of Chapter 8 of The Church and The Priesthood 

 

Pages 153 to 160

 

 

 

 

Deceptions and Delusions

 

As Jesus reached the end of His ministry, He took His disciples up on the mountain to foretell the dangers that would come to the Saints in the last days. When asked what would be the sign of His second coming, He answered:

 

Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. (Matt. 24:4-5; see also Mark 13:5-6)

 

For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. (Matt. 24:24)

TWENTY PRIESTHOOD LAWS AND EVIDENCES, part 4 of Chapter 8 of The Church and The Priesthood 

 

Pages 139 to 153

 

Celestial Plural Marriage

 

Early in the Bible it was recorded that some men had more than one wife, but it was first demonstrated in the life of Abraham. The scriptures have clearly pointed to Abraham as the “friend of God” and the “father of the faithful;” in other words, he was held up as an example for others to follow. Abraham’s wife, Sarah, was also an excellent example, as Martin Luther noted:

 

Therefore Sarah is deservedly held up by Peter (I Peter 3:5-6) as a pattern for the entire female sex. (Luther’s Works 3:44)

TWENTY PRIESTHOOD LAWS AND EVIDENCES, part 3 of Chapter 8 of The Church and The Priesthood 

Pages 128 to 139

Rebaptism

Nearly all Mormons are aware of the doctrine and necessity of baptism. Jesus said, “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” (John 3:5) However, few Church members today realize that rebaptism was an important doctrine taught and practiced from the commencement of the Church until the turn of the century.

The primary purposes of baptism are to “enter into the kingdom of God,” to bind a covenant and for the remission of sins. However, there were many other reasons why members wanted to be rebaptized:

TWENTY PRIESTHOOD LAWS AND EVIDENCES, part 2 of Chapter 8 of The Church and The Priesthood 

Pages 119 to 128

Garment of the Priesthood

Ancient Israel had “holy garments,” and Jesus and His Apostles also referred to them. It appears that the Gospel of the Priesthood should be accompanied by garments of the Priesthood. Although the Catholic Church has apostatized from many gospel principles, they still retain vestiges and imitations of the originals. For instance, the priests’ garments and robes are modified, colored and styled differently, but they still bear a significance symbolizing sacred Priesthood ties.

 

Protestant churches abandoned the idea of the Priesthood and a Priesthood garment, along with other principles and ordinances, when they rejected Catholicism. For nearly 2000 years there was no true Priesthood nor Priesthood garment. Early Christian prophets had foretold of this apostasy, but prophesied there would be a “restitution of all things.” The Prophet Joseph Smith, along with restoring the Gospel, the temples and Priesthood authority, also restored the holy Priesthood garment. Its style and symbolic markings were specifically given by revelation.

TWENTY PRIESTHOOD LAWS AND EVIDENCES, part 1 of Chapter 8 of The Church and The Priesthood 

Pages 109 to 119

Ordinances instituted in the heavens before the foundation of the world, in the priesthood, for the salvation of men, are not to be altered or changed. All must be saved on the same principles. (Joseph Smith, TPJS, p. 308)

 

Why was it that the Lord did not restore the Gospel and Priesthood to one of the many churches already in existence? The answer is probably because He knew the ministers and their congregations would not accept them. This is evidenced by the fact that after Joseph Smith established the Priesthood with its doctrines and ordinances, other churches combined to oppose him and the restored Gospel. However, preserving and maintaining these Priesthood laws and ordinances have proved to be just as difficult as restoring them.

 

When the U.S. Constitution was originally adopted, a lady asked Benjamin Franklin what they had given to the people. He responded, “A Republic–if you can keep it!” Undoubtedly the Prophet Joseph Smith felt the same–that he had given the Saints the fullness of the gospel and the authority of the Priesthood, but could they keep it?

THE PRIESTHOOD LAW OF PLURAL MARRIAGE, Chapter 7 of The Church and The Priesthood 

 

Pages 99 to 108

 

I am the Lord thy God, and will give unto thee the law of my Holy Priesthood, as was ordained by me and my Father before the world was. (D & C 132:28) [Then follows the law pertaining to plural marriage.]

 

Today there are approximately 30,000 Fundamentalist Mormons who believe in plural marriage. They have faith that by righteously obeying that law, they will receive corresponding blessings in the hereafter. Thus, they defend and obey the law of plural marriage even though they know it is against the laws of the LDS Church, the state and the nation. Many of these people were formerly active and loyal members of the Church, holding positions in their wards and stakes; yet they are willing to suffer excommunication, condemnation and alienation from church, family and friends because of their firm religious convictions. They believe plural marriage is a Priesthood law that can be lived outside of and separate from the corporate LDS Church.

 

Using the words of early general authorities and other prominent Saints, several (20) questions are briefly answered in this chapter showing that plural marriage is an eternal Priesthood law. It is just one of several doctrines and laws that the Church can vote to accept or reject, but that does not change their eternal nature.

MAN-MADE MANIFESTOS, Part 2 of Chapter 6 of The Church and The Priesthood 

Page 80 to 98

Was the Manifesto a Revelation?

 

There are certain criteria that can be used in determining whether or not something is a revelation from God. Probably the easiest one to recognize is when it contains the words, “Thus saith the Lord.”

 

In the Doctrine and Covenants there are 64 “thus saith the Lord” revelations. The rest may be revelations, but should more correctly be considered pronouncements or statements. The Bible has over 450 “thus saith the Lord” revelations immediately identifying the true Author of the statements. For over a century historians have looked, without success, for indications that the Manifesto could be considered a revelation from God.