"I fear that many of us rush about from day to day taking for granted the holy scriptures. We scramble to honor appointments with physicians, lawyers and businessmen. Yet we think nothing of postponing interviews with Deity--postponing scripture study. Little wonder we develop anemic souls and lose our direction in living. How much better it would be if we planned and held sacred fifteen or twenty minutes a day for reading the scriptures. Such interviews with Deity would help us recognize His voice and enable us to receive guidance in all of our affairs. We must look to God through the scriptures."
--Carlos E. Asay, November 1978

September 30, 2010

2 Nephi 25-26; 28-33

Quotes of the Week:
Indeed, the safest road to Hell is the gradual one--the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.
--C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters, p. 54

We live in a day of slick, quiet and clever sins.
--Ezra Taft Benson, A Nation Asleep. p. 44


Further Reading Suggestions:
Numbers 21:4-9
Bible Dictionary--"Grace"
Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, 4/02
Jeffrey R. Holland, Ensign, 11/94
Henry B. Eyring, "In the Strength of the Lord," Ensign, 5/04
Neal A. Maxwell, "Endure it Well.," Ensign, 5/90

Handouts:
2 Ne 25:23--Grace
LeGrand Richards, A Marvelous Work and a Wonder, pp. 274-75
It is evident that none of our works or anything we can do can affect the Grace of God, which is a free gift.  But this does not alter the fact  . . .  that the 'righteous judgment of God . . .  will render to every man according to his deed.' (Romans 2:5-6)
Take the farmer as an illustration.  No matter how much land he owns, he cannot expect to reap unless he sows.  but when the farmer has prepared his land and sowed his seed, and cultivated and irrigated the land and harvested the crop, is he entitled to all the credit?  He did all the work and is entitled to reap as he has sowed, and the result of his effort will be his reward.  But no matter how hard the farmer may have worked, he could not have harvested the crop through his own effort since there are other factors to be considered:
1.  Who provided him the fertile soil?
2.  Who put the germ of life into the seeds he planted"
3.  Who caused the sun to warm the soil and cause the seed to germinate and grow?
4.  Who caused the rain to fall or the snows to fill the watershed to give drink to his growing crops?

None of these things could the farmer have done or supplied for himself.  The represent the free gift of grace, and yet the farmer will reap as he has sowed.

C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
"Regarding the debate about faith and works: It’s like asking which blade in a pair of scissors is most important."

2 Ne 25:13--Healing in His Wings
Richard G. Scott, Ensign, 5/94
[The Savior] has risen from the dead 'with healing in his wings.'  Oh, how we all need the healing the Redeemer can provide.  Mine is a message of hope for you who yearn for relief from heavy burdens that have come through no conscious act of your own while you have lived a worthy life.  It is based on principles embodied in the teachings of the Savior.  Your challenge may be a serious physical disability, a struggle with lingering illness, or a daily wrestle with a life-threatening disease.  It may have roots in the death of a loved one, the anguish caused by another bound by sin, or abuse in any of its evil forms.  Whatever the cause, I testify that lasting relief is available on conditions established by the Lord.

2 Ne 28:7--Eat, Drink and be Merry
Dallin H. Oaks, "Sin and Suffering,"  BYU 1989-90 Devotional and Fireside Speeches, 1990, 151
The idea that one is better off after one has sinned and repented is a devilish lie of the adversary.  Does anyone here think that it is better to learn firsthand that a certain blow will break a bone or a certain mixture of chemicals will explode and sear off our skin?  Are we better off after we have sustained and then healed such injuries?  I believe we all can see that it is better to heed the warnings of  wise persons who know the effects on our bodies.

2 Ne 31:13-14--Baptism of Fire
Lynn A. Mickelsen, Ensign, 11/03
Through the Atonement, the Savior, giving Himself as the ransom for our sins, authorizes the Holy Ghost to cleanse us in a baptism of fire.  As the Holy Ghost dwells in us, His purifying presence burns out the filthiness of sin.  As soon as the commitment is made, the cleansing process begins.


2 Nephi 29:11-12--Keeping a Journal
Spencer W. Kimball, “President Kimball Speaks Out on Personal Journals,” New Era, Dec 1980, 26
I promise you that if you will keep your journals and records, they will indeed be a source of great inspiration to your families, to your children, your grandchildren, and others, on through the generations. Each of us is important to those who are near and dear to us—and as our posterity read of our life’s experiences, they, too, will come to know and love us. And in that glorious day when our families are together in the eternities, we will already be acquainted. . . .
Your journal is your autobiography, so it should be kept carefully. You are unique, and there may be incidents in your experience that are more noble and praiseworthy in their way than those recorded in any other life.
What could you do better for your children and your children’s children than to record the story of your life, your triumphs over adversity, your recovery after a fall, your progress when all seemed black, your rejoicing when you had finally achieved? Some of what you write may be humdrum dates and places, but there will also be rich passages that will be quoted by your posterity.

2 Ne 31:20--Endure to the End
Henry B. Eyring, “In the Strength of the Lord,” Ensign, May 2004, 16
So many things beat upon us in a lifetime that simply enduring may seem almost beyond us. That’s what the words in the scripture “Ye must … endure to the end”   seemed to mean to me when I first read them. It sounded grim, like sitting still and holding on to the arms of the chair while someone pulled out my tooth. . . .
It can seem that way to a youth faced with resisting the rising flood of filth and temptation. It can seem that way to a young man struggling to get the training he needs for a job to support a wife and family. It can seem that way to a person who can’t find a job or who has lost job after job as businesses close their doors. It can seem that way to a person faced with the erosion of health and physical strength which may come early or late in life for them or for those they love.
But the test a loving God has set before us is not to see if we can endure difficulty. It is to see if we can endure it well. We pass the test by showing that we remembered Him and the commandments He gave us. And to endure well is to keep those commandments whatever the opposition, whatever the temptation, and whatever the tumult around us.

Thomas S. Monson, Ensign, 5/10
My counsel to all of us is to look to the lighthouse of the Lord.   There is no fog so dense, no night so dark, no gale so strong, no mariner so lost but what its beacon light can rescue.  It beckons through the storms of life.  The lighthouse of the Lord sends forth signals readily recognized and never failing.

Neal A. Maxwell, “‘Endure It Well’,” Ensign, May 1990, 33
When you and I are unduly impatient, we are suggesting that we like our timetable better than God’s.
. . . We gain knowledge through particular experiences, but only incrementally, “in that thing.” (Alma 32:34.) Hence the ongoingness of it all, and perhaps we can be forgiven for wondering, “Is there no other way?” Personal, spiritual symmetry emerges only from the shaping of prolonged obedience. Twigs are bent, not snapped, into shape.
Without patient and meek endurance we will learn less, see less, feel less, and hear less. We who are egocentric and impatient shut down so much of our receiving capacity.
In any case, brothers and sisters, how could there be refining fires without enduring some heat? Or greater patience without enduring some instructive waiting? Or more empathy without bearing one another’s burdens—not only that others’ burdens may be lightened, but that we may be enlightened through greater empathy? How can there be later magnification without enduring some present deprivation?
The enlarging of the soul requires not only some remodeling, but some excavating. Hypocrisy, guile, and other imbedded traits do not go gladly or easily, but if we “endure it well” (D&C 121:8), we will not grow testy while being tested.
Moreover, we find that sorrow can actually enlarge the mind and heart in order to “give place,” expanded space for later joy.
Thus, enduring is one of the cardinal attributes; it simply cannot be developed without the laboratory time in this second estate. Even the best lectures about the theory of enduring are not enough. All the other cardinal virtues—love, patience, humility, mercy, purity, submissiveness, justice—they all require endurance for their full development.

2 Ne 33:4,14--Book of Mormon Promises
Ezra Taft Benson, Ensign, 5/86
May I admonish you to participate in a  program of daily reading and pondering of the scriptures. . . . The Book of Mormon will change your life. It will fortify you against the evils of our day.  It will bring a spirituality into your life that no other book will.

Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, 8/05
[R]egardless of how many times you previously may have read the Book of Mormon, there will come into your lives and into your homes an added measure of the Spirit of the Lord, a strengthened resolution to walk in obedience to His commandments, and a stronger testimony of the living reality of the Son of God.

Blessings of General Conference
Neil L. Andersen, “Teaching Our Children to Love the Prophets,” Ensign, Apr 1996, 44
President Harold B. Lee said: “As the Latter-day Saints go home from this conference, it would be well if they consider seriously the importance of taking with them the report of this conference and let it be the guide to their walk and talk during the next six months. These are the important matters the Lord sees fit to reveal to this people in this day” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1946, p. 68).
What do we do to bring [the Brethren's] messages to our children? Do our children see in us the desire to follow the Brethren’s counsel? Do we, together as a family, find ways to act upon their counsel and receive the blessings they promise?

Thomas S. Monson, Ensign, 5/10
As we leave this conference, I invoke the blessings of heaven upon each of you.  As you return to your homes around the world, I pray our Heavenly Father will bless you and your families.  May the messages and spirit of this conference find expression in all that you do--in your homes, in your work, in your meetings, and in all your comings and goings.

September 23, 2010

2 Nephi 1-6; 9-10

Quotes of the Week:
Existence came from God; death came by Adam; and immortality and eternal life come through Christ.
--Bruce R. McConkie, “Christ and the Creation,” Ensign, 6/82, 9

The depth of our belief in the Resurrection and the Atonement of the Savior will, I believe, determine the measure of courage and purpose with which we meet life's challenges.
--James E. Faust, Ensign, 11/96

Further Reading:
JST Genesis 50:24-38
Alma 42
Doctrine and Covenants 76
Jeffrey R. Holland, Christ and the New Covenant, "Atonement"
Jeffrey R. Holland, "Enemy of My Soul,"  Ensign 5/10
"The Living Christ,"  April 2000
Richard G. Scott, "First Things First," Ensign 5/10
Russell M. Nelson, "The Atonement," Ensign 11/96
Bruce R. McConkie, "Christ and the Creation," Ensign 6/82
Bible Dictionary, "Devil"

Handouts:
2 Ne 1:9-12--Preserving the Promised Land
Mark E. Peterson, Conference Report, 4/68
We Americans must learn that [our nation] can continue to exist only as it aligns itself with the powers of heaven.  If we turn our back upon the Almighty, even by ignoring him, we jeopardize our national future.  If we deliberately oppose his purposes, we place ourselves in danger of destruction. . . . And it is possible that our greatness can be buried in profound obscurity if we refuse to turn to God . . . .

2 Ne 2:5--Law of Justice
Gerald N. Lund, Selected Writings of Gerald N. Lund, 195
To be "just" means to be right or be in order with God. Therefore to be justified (the process of justification) is defined as the "declaration of right, thus judicial acquittal, the opposite of condemnation."
Why was it, then, that Lehi said  that no flesh is justified by the law?  Because no one keeps the law perfectly!  If the law of justice were the only thing operating, no one could be justified (declared to be right or just) by virtue of the law alone, because as Paul said, "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."  Romans 3:23

2 Ne 2:6-10--How Did It All Work?
Jeffrey R. Holland, Christ and the New Covenant,  p. 229
It is a matter of surpassing wonder that the voluntary and merciful sacrifice of a single being could satisfy the infinite and eternal demands of justice, atone for every human transgression and misdeed ever committed in the history of the world, and provide for the sweeping of all mankind into the encompassing arms of God's compassionate embrace--but that is what happened.

2 Ne 2:10--The Law
Jeffrey R. Holland, Christ and the New Covenant, p. 225
Once guilty, none of us could personally do anything to overcome that fate.  We do not have in us the seeds of immortality allowing us to conquer death physically, and we have not been perfect in our behavior, thus forfeiting the purity that would let us return to the presence of God spiritually.  Furthermore, God cannot simply turn a blind eye to the breaking of divine law, because in so doing he would dishonor justice and would "cease to be God."  The absence of law or the lack of any penalty for breaking it would leave the world in amoral chaos.

 2 Ne 2:11-27--Opposition
Unlocking the Book of Mormon, p. 58
Notice the major points in Lehi's argument as to why there must be opposition before a man can be truly free and before he can experience real joy: 1 every law has both a punishment and a blessing attached to it.  2. disobedience to law requires a punishment which results in misery. 3.  Obedience to law provides a blessing which results in happiness 4.  Without law there can be neither punishment nor blessing, neither misery nor happiness--only innocence.  5.  Thus happiness or joy can exist only where the possibility of the opposite (unhappiness or misery) also exists.  6.  In order to exercise free agency a person must have the possibility and the freedom of choice; in a world without law--and thus without choice--there could be no freedom of choice and thus no true exercise of free agency.

2 Nephi 2:14-16--Another Creation Perspective
Timothy, Archbishop of Alexandria, "Discourse of Abbaton,"  cited by Russell M. Nelson, A Book of Mormon Treasury--Gospel Insights from General Authorities and Religious Educators, p. 27-28, 31
I found a rare book in London one day while searching through the library of the British Museum.  It was published as a 20th century English translation of an ancient Egyptian text.  it was written by Timothy, Archbishop of Alexandria, who died in AD 385.  This record refers to the creation of Adam.  The premortal Jesus is speaking of His Father:
"He . . . made Adam according to Our image and likeness, and He left him lying for forty days and forty nights without putting breath into him.  And He heaved sighs over him daily, saying, 'If I put breath into this [man], he must suffer many pains.'  And I said unto My Father,
" 'Put breath into him; I will be an advocate for him.' And My Father said unto Me, 'If I put breath into him, My Beloved Son, Thou wilt be obliged to go down into the world, and to suffer many pains for him before Thou shalt have redeemed him, and made him to come back to his primal state.' And I said unto My Father, 'Put breath into him; I will be his advocate, and I will go down into the world, and will fulfill Thy Command.' "


2:17-25--Sin and the Law 
Orson F. Whitney, Cowley and Whitney on Doctrine, p. 435-36
What is Sin?  Sin is the transgression of divine law.  A man sins when he violates his conscience, going contrary to light and knowledge--not the light and knowledge that comes from his neighbor, but that which has come to himself.  He sins when he does the opposite of what he know to be right.  Up to that point he only blunders.  One may suffer painful consequences for only blundering, but he cannot commit sin unless he knows better than to do the thing in which the sin consists.


2 Ne 2:25--The Fall of Adam and Eve
Jeffrey R. Holland, Christ and the New Covenant, p. 205
The privilege of mortality granted to the rest of us is the principal gift given by the fall of Adam and Eve.
Thus, and only with this knowledge, can a student of the gospel of Jesus Christ grasp the full import of the magnificent line already cited: "Adam fell that men might be." That doctrine, fully understood and thoroughly taught only in the restored gospel, is as important as any taught in the entire Book of Mormon. Without it the world would be ignorant of the true nature of the fall of Adam and Eve, ignorant of their life-giving decision, and ignorant of the unspeakable love they demonstrated for all of God's sons and daughters.


2 Ne 2:27--Agency
  Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 26
Agency requires four conditions:
1.  Laws ordained by an omnipotent power must exist, laws we can either obey or disobey.
2.  There must be opposites--good and evil, right and wrong.
3.  We must have knowledge of good and evil; we must know the difference between the opposites.
4.  We must possess an unfettered power of choice.

2 Ne 4:17-18,28--Enemies of Our Souls
 Dallin H. Oaks, "Free Agency and Freedom," in The Book of Mormon: Second Nephi, the Doctrinal Structure, p. 13-14
Regardless of a person's susceptibility or tendency, his will is unfettered.  His free agency is unqualified.  It is his freedom that is impaired. . . . We are all responsible for the exercise of our free agency. 
Most of us are born with thorns in the flesh, some more visible, some more serious than others.  We all seem to have susceptibilities to one disorder or another, but whatever our susceptibilities, we have the will and the power to control our thoughts and our actions.  This must be so.  God has said that he holds us accountable for what we do and what we think, so our thoughts and actions must be controllable by our agency.  Once we have reached the age or condition of accountability, the claim 'I was born that way' does not excuse actions or thoughts that fail to conform to the commandments of God.  We need to learn how to live so that a weakness that is mortal will not prevent us from achieving the goal that is eternal.
God has promised that he will consecrate our afflictions for our gain.  The efforts we expend in overcoming any inherited weakness build a spiritual strength that will serve us throughout eternity.

Meaning of Atonement
Russell M. Nelson, “The Atonement,” Ensign, Nov 1996, 33
In the English language, the components are at-one-ment, suggesting that a person is at one with another. Other languages  employ words that connote either expiation or reconciliation. Expiation means “to atone for.” Reconciliation comes from Latin roots re, meaning “again”; con, meaning “with”; and sella, meaning “seat.” Reconciliation, therefore, literally means “to sit again with.” . . . In Hebrew, the basic word for atonement is kaphar, a verb that means “to cover” or “to forgive.”  Closely related is the Aramaic and Arabic word kafat, meaning “a close embrace”—no doubt related to the Egyptian ritual embrace. 

2 Ne 9:5--Subjection to Christ
Jeffrey R. Holland, Christ and the New Covenant, p. 231
What that subjection means, what these people choosing redemption "owe" to Christ, their new master, is a life of discipleship, beginning with faith, repentance, and baptism and leading on to all the ordinances and covenants of the gospel and a life of living kindness. Clearly all of humankind is still in debt even after the full effect of the Atonement has transpired.  But fortunately he to whom we are indebted is Christ the Merciful rather than Lucifer the Miserable.  We still have obligations, but they are of a much higher and happier sort.  We are in debt, but we are not in bondage.


2 Ne 9:8--Price Required for Sin
Gerald Lund, Doctrines of the Book of Mormon, Sperry Symposium, 1992, p. 86
To help us begin to grasp with our finite, mortal minds the enormous price required, consider a few rough indicators of how much sin there is in our world.  If you look at the United States alone, there are now more than fifty murders committed every day (that's nearly 19,000 per year).  There are more than 21,000 thefts reported every day, and more than 5,500 reported cases of child abuse and neglect. . . . Think of how many times on a singe day adultery or some other violation of the law of chastity is committed somewhere in the world.  How many cases of incest, child abuse, pornography, burglary, robbery?  How many times in any one day is the name of God taken in vain?  How many times are sacred things profaned?  Then multiply these over the span of human history.  And that takes into consideration only our world.  We know that the Atonement extended to other worlds as well.

2 Ne 9:14-15, 20--Ultimate Judgment
Neal A. Maxwell, For the Power Is in Them, p 37 9:41
There is another dimension of reassurance, too: not only will the ultimate judgment not be delegated in order to serve the purposes of divine justice, but also divine mercy can best be applied by him who knows these things what only he can know--the quiet moments of courage in the lives of his flock, the un-noticed acts of Christian service, the unspoken thoughts which can be 'credited' in no other way, except through perfect judgment.

2 Ne 9:21-24--Atonement
Jeffrey R. Holland, Ensign, May 1999
I cannot comprehend the burden it must have been for God in His heaven to witness the deep suffering and Crucifixion of His Beloved Son in such a manner.  His every impulse and instinct MUST have been to stop it, to send angels to intervene--but He did not intervene.  He endured what He saw because it was the only way that a saving, vicarious payment could be made for the sins of all His other children from Adam and Eve to the end of the world.
I am eternally grateful for a perfect Father and His perfect Son, neither of whom shrank from the bitter cup nor forsook the rest of us who are imperfect, who fall short and stumble, who too often miss the mark.

Jeffrey R. Holland, Ensign, May 1999
In that most burdensome moment of all human history, with blood appearing at every pore and an anguished cry upon His lips, Christ sought Him whom he had always sought--His Father.  'Abba," He cried, 'Papa,' or from the lips of  a younger child, 'Daddy.'  This is such a personal moment it almost seems a sacrilege to cite it.  A Son in unrelieved pain, a Father His only true source of strength, both of them staying the course, making through the night--together.

Richard G. Scott, Ensign, May 2010
Your personal witness of [the] reality [of the Resurrection and the Atonement] . . .  must be more than principles you memorize.  They must be woven into the very fiber of your being. . . . I realize that no mortal mind can adequately conceive, nor can human tongue appropriately express, the full significance of all that Jesus Christ has done for our Heavenly Father's children through His Atonement. Yet it is vital that we each learn what we can about it.
There is an imperative need for each of us to strengthen our understanding of the significance of the Atonement of Jesus Christ so that it will become an unshakable foundation upon which to build our lives.

Jeffrey R. Holland, “None Were with Him,” Ensign, May 2009, 86–88
That the supreme sacrifice of His Son might be as complete as it was voluntary and solitary, the Father briefly withdrew from Jesus the comfort of His Spirit, the support of His personal presence. It was required, indeed it was central to the significance of the Atonement, that this perfect Son who had never spoken ill nor done wrong nor touched an unclean thing had to know how the rest of humankind—us, all of us—would feel when we did commit such sins. For His Atonement to be infinite and eternal, He had to feel what it was like to die not only physically but spiritually, to sense what it was like to have the divine Spirit withdraw, leaving one feeling totally, abjectly, hopelessly alone.

But Jesus held on. He pressed on. The goodness in Him allowed faith to triumph even in a state of complete anguish. The trust He lived by told Him in spite of His feelings--divine compassion is never absent, that God is always faithful, that He never flees nor fails us. When the uttermost farthing had then been paid, when Christ’s determination to be faithful was as obvious as it was utterly invincible, finally and mercifully, it was “finished.” Against all odds and with none to help or uphold Him, Jesus of Nazareth, the living Son of the living God, restored physical life where death had held sway and brought joyful, spiritual redemption out of sin, hellish darkness, and despair. With faith in the God He knew was there, He could say in triumph, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.”

September 16, 2010

Isaiah in the Book of Mormon

Quote of the Week:
"If Jesus said, "Great are the words of Isaiah,' then they're great.  It's our job to find out why."
--John Bytheway, Isaiah for Airheads, p. 183
"He who reads it most, loves it best."
--Joseph Smith
Further Reading:
Bible Dictionary:  "Isaiah," "Immanuel," "Babylon," "Assyria."
John Bytheway, Isaiah for Airheads
Isaiah 12-24, especially the footnotes
Bruce R. McConkie, "Ten Keys to Understanding Isaiah," Ensign, 10/73
K. Douglas Bassett, Commentaries on Isaiah in the Book of Mormon
Jeffrey R. Holland, Christ and the New Covenant

Handouts:
These tools will be added to the Tools of Study section on the tool bar above.
Why Is Isaiah in the Book of Mormon?
1. The Book of Mormon is correct.
2. The Book of Mormon contains commentary from Book of Mormon prophets to help us understand.
3. It's an easy way to share Isaiah with investigators, especially non-Christians.
4. Isaiah testifies of Christ--391 of 425 Isaiah verses in the Book of Mormon mention Him. (Monte S. Nyman, Great Are the Words of Isaiah, p. 7)
5. 3 Nephi 23:1--Christ tells us that the words of Isaiah are great. If He says it, it's our job to find out why. (John Bytheway, Isaiah for Airheads)
6. 3 Nephi 23:3--All things he spake have been and shall be.
7. It's in the Book of Mormon so we'll read it more often.


What to Remember When Reading Isaiah
Pray for understanding.
What is the overall message of the chapter? Read chapter synopsis.
SLOW DOWN--it's muddy in here.
What's the principle/message he's trying to teach?
Does this apply to Isaiah's time?
  • To Christ's time?
  • To our time?
  • To a mixture of all three?
Is he addressing covenant Israel? Promises or punishments?
Read aloud and with others--share insights and understanding.
Appreciate the beautiful language and effective imagery he uses--even if you don't fully understand them.
Cross-reference Book of Mormon chapters with those in the Old Testament. Pay special attention to information in the footnotes.
Consult the Bible Dictionary to explain terms--Isaiah, Babylon, Assyria, Immanuel.
Reference the map section to keep locations straight.
Remember these dates:
  • 721 BC--Assyrians take kingdom of Israel, not Judah
  • 701 BC--Assyrians take kingdom of Judah, not Jerusalem
  • 587 BC--Babylonians have overtaken the Assyrians, and they take all the Jews out of Palestine
  • 537 BC--King Cyrus allows the Jews to return
It's not supposed to be easy--first the milk, then the meat.
Remember it may take a lifetime to understand even a tenth of his teachings. And that's okay.

1 Nephi 21:16--Graven Thee Upon the Palms of My Hands
Jeffrey R. Holland, “‘This Do in Remembrance of Me’,” Ensign, Nov 1995, 67
In a resurrected, otherwise perfected body, our Lord . . . has chosen to retain for the benefit of his disciples the wounds in his hands and his feet and his side—signs, if you will, that painful things happen even to the pure and perfect. Signs, if you will, that pain in this world is not evidence that God doesn’t love you. It is the wounded Christ who is the captain of our soul—he who yet bears the scars of sacrifice, the lesions of love and humility and forgiveness.
Those wounds are what he invites young and old, then and now, to step forward and see and feel (see 3 Ne. 11:15; 3 Ne. 18:25).

Dual Nature of the Prophecies of Isaiah
Dallin H. Oaks, “Scripture Reading and Revelation,” Ensign, Jan 1995, 7
The book of Isaiah contains numerous prophecies that seem to have multiple fulfillments. One seems to involve the people of Isaiah’s day or the circumstances of the next generation. Another meaning, often symbolic, seems to refer to events in the meridian of time, when Jerusalem was destroyed and her people scattered after the crucifixion of the Son of God. Still another meaning or fulfillment of the same prophecy seems to relate to the events attending the Second Coming of the Savior. The fact that many of these prophecies can have multiple meanings underscores the importance of our seeking revelation from the Holy Ghost to help us interpret them. As Nephi says, the words of Isaiah “are plain unto all those that are filled with the spirit of prophecy” (2 Ne. 25:4).

2 Nephi 23--Ancient and Modern Babylon, a Dual Prophecy
David R. Stone, “Zion in the Midst of Babylon,” Ensign, May 2006, 90–93
Seduced by our culture, we often hardly recognize our idolatry, as our strings are pulled by that which is popular in the Babylonian world. . . .
We do not need to adopt the standards, the mores, and the morals of Babylon. We can create Zion in the midst of Babylon. We can have our own standards for music and literature and dance and film and language. We can have our own standards for dress and deportment, for politeness and respect. We can live in accordance with the Lord’s moral laws. We can limit how much of Babylon we allow into our homes by the media of communication.
We can live as a Zion people, if we wish to. Will it be hard? Of course it will, for the waves of Babylonian culture crash incessantly against our shores. Will it take courage? Of course it will.

September 9, 2010

1 Nephi 12-18

Quote of the Week:
Something extraordinary is happening.  Do you sense it?  Truly, as obedience and morality decline in the world, the Lord is sending more exceptional spirits to earth.  As a body they excel the average capacity of their forebears.  Their potential for personal growth and positive contribution is enormous.
-- Richard G. Scott, Ensign 11/03
Further Reading:
David A. Bednar, Ensign May 2006
"The Book of Mormon as a Personal Guide," Ensign September 2010, p. 4
"Ten Scripture Study Tools," Ensign September 2010, p. 31
Howard W. Hunter, "No Less Serviceable," Ensign, April 1992
Stephen Robinson, "Warring with the Saints of God," Ensign, January 1988

Handouts:
1 Nephi 12:17--Temptations of the Devil
Rulon G. Craven, “Temptation,” Ensign, May 1996, 76
Temptation is like a magnetic force which holds a metal object in its power. It loses its magnetic force and power when you turn away from it. So we must turn away from temptation; then it will lose its power.
Temptation can be a compassionate way of warning us of possible dangers. It acts like a caution sign. It warns us of possible danger ahead. Temptation can alert the mind to turn away from an improper thought or act.
As eternal beings living this earthly experience, we will not be free from temptation. Temptation implies an inner struggle to do that which is right.
We should expect temptation, for without temptations there would be little education and little character improvement.


1 Nephi 13:12--Christopher Columbus
Columbus, the Don Quioxote of the Seas, Jacob Wasserman, translated by Eric Sutton, p. 18, 46, 62
"Our Lord with provident hand unlocked my mind, sent me upon the seas, and gave me fire for the deed.  Those who heard of my enterprise called it foolish, mocked me and laughed.  But who can doubt but that the Holy Ghost inspired me?
To King Ferdinand:  "I came to your majesty as the emissary of the Holy Ghost."
"His achievement did not seem to him something unimportant and fortuitous.  It was in his eyes so tremendous, so inexpressibly great, that it could only be achieved by the direct assistance of God."

1 Nephi 16:9-10, 16, 26-29; 18:12, 21--Liahona
Spencer W. Kimball, Ensign 11/76
"If we will remember that everyone of us has the thing that will direct him aright, our ship will not get on the wrong course . . . if we listen to the dictates of our own Liahona, which we call the conscience."

Thomas S. Monson, Ensign, 11/86
The same Lord who provided a Liahona Lehi provides for you and for me today a rare and valuable gift to give direction to our lives, to mark the hazards to our safety, and to chart the way, even safe passage—not to a promised land, but to our heavenly home. The gift to which I refer is known as your patriarchal blessing. Every worthy member of the Church is entitled to receive such a precious and priceless personal treasure.

Robert e. Wells, Doctrines of the Book of Mormon, p. 13
As I read the Book of Mormon, something strange seems to happen to me.  Passages of scripture that I have read many times in one light seem to change--and suddenly there is a new meaning to that old and familiar scripture.  I like to think that the Book of Mormon is truly like the Liahona of old.  not only does it point us the way of the Lord and to the Lord according to the faith, diligence, and heed we give it, but if we are interested enough to read it again and again, from cover to cover, there are times when a "new writing"--plain to be read--seems to appear.

Sam, Nephi's Brother
Howard W. Hunter, “‘No Less Serviceable’,” Ensign, Apr 1992, 64Many who read the story of the great prophet Nephi almost completely miss another valiant son of Lehi whose name was Sam. Nephi is one of the most famous figures in the entire Book of Mormon. But Sam? Sam’s name is mentioned there only ten times. When Lehi counseled and blessed his posterity, he said to Sam:

Sam’s role was basically one of supporting and assisting his more acclaimed younger brother, and he ultimately received the same blessings promised to Nephi and his posterity. Nothing promised to Nephi was withheld from the faithful Sam, yet we know very little of the details of Sam’s service and contribution. He was an almost unknown person in life, but he is obviously a triumphant leader and victor in the annals of eternity.

1 Nephi 15-18--Adversity
Henry B. Eyring, “Adversity,” Ensign, May 2009, 23–27
With all the differences in our lives, we have at least one challenge in common. We all must deal with adversity. . . . My purpose today is to assure you that our Heavenly Father and the Savior live and that They love all humanity. The very opportunity for us to face adversity and affliction is part of the evidence of Their infinite love. God gave us the gift of living in mortality so that we could be prepared to receive the greatest of all the gifts of God, which is eternal life. Then our spirits will be changed. We will become able to want what God wants, to think as He thinks, and thus be prepared for the trust of an endless posterity to teach and to lead through tests to be raised up to qualify to live forever in eternal life.

It is clear that for us to have that gift and to be given that trust, we must be transformed through making righteous choices where that is hard to do. We are prepared for so great a trust by passing through trying and testing experiences in mortality. That education can come only as we are subject to trials while serving God and others for Him.

Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “Your Happily Ever After,” Ensign, May 2010, 124–27
In stories, as in life, adversity teaches us things we cannot learn otherwise. Adversity helps to develop a depth of character that comes in no other way. Our loving Heavenly Father has set us in a world filled with challenges and trials so that we, through opposition, can learn wisdom, become stronger, and experience joy.
It is your reaction to adversity, not the adversity itself, that determines how your life’s story will develop.
Enduring adversity is not the only thing you must do to experience a happy life. Let me repeat: how you react to adversity and temptation is a critical factor in whether or not you arrive at your own “happily ever after.”

James B. Martino, “All Things Work Together for Good,” Ensign, May 2010, 101–3
To some, our trials may not seem great, but to each of us who are passing through these experiences, the trials are real and require us to humble ourselves before God and learn from Him.

James E. Faust, "The Blessings of Adversity," Ensign May 1998
Adversity is the refiner’s fire that bends iron but tempers steel.


1 Nephi 17:45--Past Feeling and Sensitivity to the Spirit
Joseph B. Wirthlin, Ensign, 5/03
I fear that some members of the Lord's Church 'live far beneath our privileges' with regard to the gift of the Holy Ghost. Some are distracted by the things of the world that block out the influence of the Holy Ghost, preventing them from recognizing spiritual promptings.  This is a noisy and busy world that we live in.  Remember that being busy is not necessarily being spiritual.  If we are not careful, the things of this world can crowd out the things of the Spirit.
Some are spiritually deadened and past feeling because of their choices to commit sin.  Others simply hover in spiritual complacency with no desire to rise above themselves and commune with the Infinite.  If they would open their hearts to the refining influence of this unspeakable gift of the Holy Ghost, a glorious new spiritual dimension would come to light.  Their eyes would gaze upon a vista scarcely imaginable.  They could know for themselves things of the Spirit that are choice, precious, and capable of enlarging the soul, expanding the mind, and filling the heart with inexpressible joy.


1 Nephi 13--Great and Abominable Church
Stephen E. Robinson, “Warring against the Saints of God,” Ensign, Jan 1988, 34
In either the apocalyptic sense or the historical sense, individual orientation to the Church of the Lamb or to the great and abominable church is not by membership but by loyalty. Just as there Latter-day Saints who belong to the great and abominable church because of their loyalty to Satan and his life-style, so there are members of other churches who belong to the Lamb because of their loyalty to him and his life-style. Membership is based more on who has your heart than on who has your records.

Some Latter-day Saints have erred in believing that some specific denomination, to the exclusion of all others, has since the beginning of time been the great and abominable church. This is dangerous, for many will then want to know which it is, and an antagonistic relationship with that denomination will inevitably follow.
More often, some have suggested that the Roman Catholic church might be the great and abominable church of Nephi 13. This is also untenable, primarily because Roman Catholicism as we know it did not yet exist when the crimes described by Nephi were being committed. In fact, the term Roman Catholic only makes sense after a.d.  1054 when it is used to distinguish the Western, Latin-speaking Orthodox church that followed the bishop of Rome from the Eastern, Greek-speaking Orthodox church that followed the bishop of Constantinople.

In the period between Peter and the Roman emperor Constantine, there were many Christian churches besides the Orthodox church: Ebionites, Syrian and Egyptian churches, Donatists, Gnostics, Marcionites, and so on. Even if we use the term Catholic for the church Constantine made the state religion in a.d. 313, the New Testament as we know it was already widely circulating. That is, the plain and precious parts had already been removed. The notion of shifty-eyed medieval monks rewriting the scriptures is unfair and bigoted. We owe those monks a debt of gratitude that anything was saved at all.

By the time of Constantine, the Apostles had been dead for centuries. Furthermore, the early Orthodox church can hardly be accused of immorality. It had, in fact, gone to the extremes of asceticism. In some areas of the world Orthodoxy replaced an earlier, already corrupt form of Christianity. And during much of the period, members of the Orthodox Church were not in a position to persecute anyone, as they were being thrown to the lions themselves. The Catholic church of the fourth century was the result of the Apostasy—its end product—not the cause. To find the real culprits, we need to look at a much earlier period in church history than the fourth century after Christ. Satan had his ministers in the world long before then, and we must remember that Babylon was already there to oppose Zion in the days of Cain, Nimrod, Pharaoh, and Herod.

Actually, no single known historical church, denomination, or set of believers meets all the requirements for the great and abominable church: it must have formed among the Gentiles; it must have edited and controlled the distribution of the scriptures; it must have slain the Saints of God, including the Apostles and prophets; it must be in league with civil governments and use their police power to enforce its religious views; it must have dominion over all the earth; it must pursue great wealth and sexual immorality; and it must last until close to the end of the world. No single denomination or system of beliefs fits the entire description. Rather, the role of Babylon has been played by many different agencies, ideologies, and churches in many different times. It should be clear that the great and abominable church that Nephi described in chapter 13 is not the same historical entity that crucified the Savior or that martyred Joseph and Hyrum.

It would be an error to blame some modern denomination for the activities of an ancient great and abominable church. The other error is to go too far the other way, dehistoricizing the abominable church altogether. The term then becomes merely a vague symbol for all the disassociated evil in the world. We cannot, in the face of the scriptural evidence, accept this view. For if we do, we shall not be able to recognize the categories and know who is playing the role of Babylon in our own times or in times to come. Thus, we must, on the one hand, avoid the temptation to identify the role of the great and abominable church so completely with one particular entity that we do not recognize the part when it is played by some other entity. At the same time, we must remember that the role will be played by some entity or coalition, and we must be able to tell by their characteristic fruits which is Zion and which is Babylon.

Can we, then, identify the historical agency that acted as the great and abominable church in earliest Christianity? Such an agent would have had its origins in the second half of the first century and would have done much of its work by the middle of the second century.

This period might be called the blind spot in Christian history, for it is here that the fewest primary historical sources have been preserved. We have good sources for New Testament Christianity; then the lights go out, so to speak, and we hear the muffled sounds of a great struggle. When the lights come on again a hundred or so years later, we find that someone has rearranged all the furniture and Christianity has become something very different from what it was in the beginning. That different entity can accurately be described as hellenized Christianity.

The hellenization of Christianity is a phenomenon that scholars of Christian history have long recognized. Hellenization refers to the imposition of Greek culture and philosophy upon the cultures of the East. The result was a synthesis of East and West, a melting pot of popular culture that was virtually worldwide. In the realm of religion, however, synthesis means compromise, and when we speak in terms of the gospel, compromise with popular beliefs means apostasy from the truth.

When Jewish Christianity and Greek culture met head-on in the gentile mission field in the middle of the first century, a great battle of beliefs and life-styles arose. The Greeks’ world-view eventually won, and Jewish Christianity was revised to make it more attractive and appealing to a Greek audience.

Primary prejudices of the Greek world were the absolute nature of God (i.e., he cannot be bound or limited by anything) and the impossibility of anything material or physical being eternal. In order to satisfy the Gentiles steeped in Greek philosophy, Christianity had to throw out the doctrines of an anthropomorphic God and the resurrection of the dead, or reinterpret them drastically. Denying or altering the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead is precisely what some Greek Christians at Corinth had done, and Paul responded against them forcefully in 1 Corinthians 15.

The historical abominable church of the devil is that apostate church that replaced true Christianity in the first and second centuries, teaching the philosophies of men mingled with scriptures. It dethroned God in the church and replaced him with man by denying the principle of revelation and turning instead to human intellect. As the product of human agency, its creeds were an abomination to the Lord, for they were idolatry: men worshipping the creations, not of their own hands, but of their own minds.

Babylon in the first and second centuries may even have been a collection of different movements. Some Jewish Christians couldn’t let go of the law of Moses and eventually gave up Christ instead. The Orthodox Christians adopted Greek philosophy. The Gnostics wallowed in the mysteries and in unspeakable practices on the one hand or in neurotic asceticism on the other. Second-century compilers like Tatian and Marcion rewrote the scriptures, the latter boldly chopping out anything he didn’t like. And all of them together forced the virtuous woman, the true church of Jesus Christ, into the wilderness.

Isaiah
Boyd K. Packer, Ensign, May 1986
Most [readers] readily understand the narrative of the Book of Mormon.
Then, just as you settle in to move comfortably along, you will meet a barrier. The style of the language changes to Old Testament prophecy style. For, interspersed in the narrative, are chapters reciting the prophecies of the Old Testament prophet Isaiah. They loom as a barrier, like a roadblock or a checkpoint beyond which the casual reader, one with idle curiosity, generally will not go.

You, too, may be tempted to stop there, but do not do it! Do not stop reading! Move forward through those difficult-to-understand chapters of Old Testament prophecy, even if you understand very little of it. Move on, if all you do is skim and merely glean an impression here and there. Move on, if all you do is look at the words.

September 2, 2010

1 Nephi 1-11

Quote of the Week:
“When God speaks and man obeys, that man will always be right.”
Thomas S. Monson, Ensign, May 05

Further reading:
Brent L. Top and Bruce A. Chadwick, “Helping Teens Stay Strong,” Ensign, Mar 1999, 27
David A. Bednar, “The Tender Mercies of the Lord,” Ensign, May 2005, 99–102
H. Ross Workman, “Beware of Murmuring,” Ensign, November 2001
Jeremiah 1-52
Lamentations 1-5
2 Kings 23-25
David A. Bednar, “A Reservoir of Living Water,” 2/4/07 (www.ldsces.org)
“The Tree of Life,” Ensign, 8/10

Handouts:
1 Nephi 1:1--Highly Favored of the Lord
Marjorie Pay Hinckley, Glimpses into the Life and Heart of Marjorie Pay Hinckley, p. 92
“We all have a small place in our hearts where we store our sorrows and disappointments.  But are there not days when you are simply overwhelmed with the blessings of the Lord?”

1 Nephi 1:2--Reformed Egyptian
Millet and McConkie, Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon 1:20; Book of Mormon Student Manual 121-122, p. 4
A typical English sentence of fifteen words will often translate into seven to ten Hebrew words.
Hebrew is a completely alphabetic language, whereas in Egyptian a symbol can represent an entire concept.

1 Nephi 1:20—Tender Mercies of the Lord
David A. Bednar, “The Tender Mercies of the Lord,” Ensign, May 2005, 99–102
I testify that the tender mercies of the Lord are real and that they do not occur randomly or merely by coincidence.
The Lord’s tender mercies are the very personal and individualized blessings, strength, protection, assurances, guidance, loving-kindnesses, consolation, support, and spiritual gifts which we receive from and because of and through the Lord Jesus Christ. . . .
The simpleness, the sweetness, and the constancy of the tender mercies of the Lord will do much to fortify and protect us in the troubled times in which we do now and will yet live. When words cannot provide the solace we need or express the joy we feel, when it is simply futile to attempt to explain that which is unexplainable, when logic and reason cannot yield adequate understanding about the injustices and inequities of life, when mortal experience and evaluation are insufficient to produce a desired outcome, and when it seems that perhaps we are so totally alone, truly we are blessed by the tender mercies of the Lord and made mighty even unto the power of deliverance (see 1 Ne. 1:20).

1 Nephi 2:16-17--Personal Revelation
Julie B. Beck, “‘And upon the Handmaids in Those Days Will I Pour Out My Spirit’ (Joel 2:29),” Ensign, May 2010, 10–12
“The ability to qualify for, receive, and act on personal revelation is the single most important skill that can be acquired in this life. Qualifying for the Lord’s Spirit begins with a desire for that Spirit and implies a certain degree of worthiness. Keeping the commandments, repenting, and renewing covenants made at baptism lead to the blessing of always having the Lord’s Spirit with us.  Making and keeping temple covenants also adds spiritual strength and power to a woman’s life. Many answers to difficult questions are found by reading the scriptures because the scriptures are an aid to revelation.  Insight found in scripture accumulates over time, so it is important to spend some time in the scriptures every day. Daily prayer is also essential to having the Lord’s Spirit with us.  Those who earnestly seek help through prayer and scripture study often have a paper and pencil nearby to write questions and record impressions and ideas.
Revelation can come hour by hour and moment by moment as we do the right things. When women nurture as Christ nurtured, a power and peace can descend to guide when help is needed. For instance, mothers can feel help from the Spirit even when tired, noisy children are clamoring for attention, but they can be distanced from the Spirit if they lose their temper with children. Being in the right places allows us to receive guidance. It requires a conscious effort to diminish distractions, but having the Spirit of revelation makes it possible to prevail over opposition and persist in faith through difficult days and essential routine tasks. Personal revelation gives us the understanding of what to do every day to increase faith and personal righteousness, strengthen families and homes, and seek those who need our help. Because personal revelation is a constantly renewable source of strength, it is possible to feel bathed in help even during turbulent times.
“We are told to put our trust in that Spirit which leads us “to do justly, to walk humbly, to judge righteously.” We are also told that this Spirit will enlighten our minds, fill our souls with joy, and help us know all things we should do. Promised personal revelation comes when we ask for it, prepare for it, and go forward in faith, trusting that it will be poured out upon us.

1 Nephi 3:7--Obedience
Ezra Taft Benson, Ensign, 5/98
When obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes our quest, in that moment God will endow us with power.

Thomas S. Monson, Ensign, 5/02
Each of us has the responsibility to choose.  You may ask, ‘Are decisions really that important?’ I say to you, decisions determine destiny.  You can’t make eternal decisions without eternal consequences.


Gordon B. Hinckley, “Keep the Faith,” Ensign, Sep 1985, 3
I approached a large farm gate one day. I lifted the latch and opened the gate. The movement at the hinges was so slight as to be scarcely discernible. But the other end of the gate cut a great arc sixteen feet in radius. Looking at the movement of the hinges alone, one would never dream of the magnified action that came as a result of that tiny movement.
So it is with the decisions in our lives. Some small thought, some small word, some small action can lead to tremendous consequences.

1 Nephi 3:28-31--Seeing Angels
Heber J. Grant, cited in Unlocking the Book of Mormon, p. 7
Laban stole their wealth and tried to destroy them. Nephi’s brethren commenced to murmur again, and they took a rod and beat him with it.  As they did so an angel of the Lord stood before them, and he commanded them to go up again, promising that God should deliver Laban into their hands.
. . . . [I have heard many] say, ‘Oh, if I could only see an angel, I would believe and forever be faithful.’ The seeing of an angel amounts to nothing, unless you are keeping the commandments of God.

1 Nephi 4:6-18--Death of Laban
Hugh Nibley, Lehi in the Desert and the World of the Jaredites, p. 114-15
If the Book of Mormon were a work of fiction, nothing would be easier than to have Laban already dead when Nephi found him or simply to omit an episode which obviously distressed the writer quite as much as it does the reader, though the slaying of Laban is no more reprehensible than was the beheading of the unconscious Goliath.

1 Nephi 4:32--Oaths in Ancient Times
Hugh Nibley An Approach to the Book of Mormon, 1964, p. 104-05
When Zoram saw the brethren and heard Nephi’s real voice he got the shock of his life and in a panic made a break for the city.  In such a situation there was only one thing Nephi could possibly have done, both to spare Zoram and to avoid giving alarm—and no westerner could have guessed what it was.  Nephi, a powerful fellow, held the terrified Zoram in a vise-like grip long enough to swear a solemn oath in his ear, ‘as the Lord liveth, and as I live,’ that he would not harm him if he would listen.  Zoram immediately relaxed, and Nephi swore another oath to him that he would be a free man if he would join the party:  ‘Therefore if thou wilt go down into the wilderness to my father thou shalt have place with us . . . .
But not every oath will do.  To be most binding and solemn an oath should be by the life of something, even if it be but a blade of grass.  The only oath more awful than that ‘by my life’ or (less commonly) ‘by the life of my head,’ is the wa hayat Allah ‘by the life of God,’ or ‘as the Lord liveth,’ the exact Arabic equivalent of the ancient Hebrew. . . .So we see that the only way that Nephi could possibly have pacified the struggling Zoram in an instant was to utter the one oath that no man would dream of breaking, the most solemn of all oaths to the Semite: ‘As the Lord liveth, and as I live!’ 

1 Nephi 8--Dreams
Harold B. Lee, BYU Devotional, 10/15/52
I fear that in this age of sophistication there are those of us who are prone to rule out all dreams as of no purpose, and of no moment. . . . If our spiritual eyes could be open, we could see others visiting with us, directing us.  And if we will learn not to be so sophisticated that we rule out that possibility of impressions from those who are beyond sight, then we too may have a dream that may direct us as a revelation.

1 Nephi 8:35-38--Wayward Children
Robert D. Hales, Ensign, May 2004
Father Lehi . . . loved his family and rejoiced that some of his children kept the Lord’s commandments.  But he must have been heartbroken when his sons “Laman and Lemuel partook not of the fruit” representing the love of God. . . .
We too must have the faith to reach our children and bid them to keep the commandments. . . . Our worthiness will not be measured according to their righteousness.  Lehi did not lose the blessing of feasting at the tree of life because Laman and Lemuel refused to partake of its fruit.  Sometimes as parents we feel we have failed when our children make mistakes or stray.  Parents are never failures when they do their best to love, teach, pray, and care for their children.

1 Nephi 11:1--Pondering
Millet and McConkie, Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 1:74
Pondering and meditation are forms of sacred devotion, quiet and effective moments of prayer by which man draws near to the infinite and is made a partaker of the things of God. . . . Some of the greatest revelations of all time have come as a direct result of pondering.

1 Nephi 11:1--Spirit of the Lord
Sidney B. Sperry, Answers to Book of Mormon Questions, 27-30
It may be pointed out that the phrase “Spirit of the Lord” occurs forty times in the Book of Mormon, and in not a single passage where it occurs can there be shown a clear-cut example favoring the interpretation that it represents the pre-existent Christ instead of the Holy Ghost.  On the other hand there are many occurrences of the phrase that can refer only to the Holy Ghost. . . .
It is worthy of notice that in Ether 3 where the momentous meeting of the brother of Jared with our pre-existent Lord is related at length, no mention of Him is made as the “Spirit of the Lord.”
We may conclude that inasmuch as there is no single instance in the Book of Mormon where the phrase “Spirit of the Lord” can be clearly and unequivocally equated with the pre-existent Christ, it is far more reasonable in view of the evidence here presented to believe that the phrase refers to the Holy Ghost.”