OBEDIENCE – THE SOURCE OF BLESSINGS

OBEDIENCE – THE SOURCE OF BLESSINGS

The topic of this post is Obedience – the source of blessings. Immediately, this raises the questions of: obedience to what? What are we talking about? Obedience to the laws of Man? Or to the laws of God? Or both?

Plainly, obedience to law does not mean submission to tyranny.  In April of 1843, Joseph Smith, Jr., among other things, gave the following instructions relating to obedience as the source of blessings in our respective lives:

There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated – And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.

And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his or her diligence and obedience than another, he or she will have so much the advantage in the world to come.

From these simple instructions are raised the following issues:

1. Whether knowledge and intelligence are obtained through diligence and obedience;

2. Whether we obtain blessings from God by obedience to a specific law upon which such blessings are predicated; and,

3. Whether reason and faith are related and necessary to understand irrevocably decreed laws.

The questions then become: how do we know which laws are true and should be obeyed, and which are untrue and should not be obeyed?

NATURAL LAWS

In my opinion, the first place to look to test the aforementioned instructions and to know which laws are true and which are false, which must be obeyed, and which may be ignored with impunity, is in our natural surroundings.

Gravity

For example, I believe we can safely argue that the law of gravity is one of those laws irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world. We exist on this planet in great part because of the irrevocable nature of gravity. What goes up must come down.

While Sir Isaac Newton took credit for this principle, I believe that this law was known from man’s earliest history: step off a cliff, and down you go – every time.  Through diligence and obedience to the law of gravity mankind has gained much knowledge and intelligence. Based on this knowledge and intelligence, societies have implemented laws regarding gravity to promote the general good and happiness of its communities. Hence, we have building codes to ensure that buildings will be safe structures, that bridges will be able to span vast expanses, and warning signs telling us to stay away from unstable areas or dangerous heights.

Inertia

Another example of a law irrevocably decreed is the law of inertia: bodies in motion tend to stay in motion; bodies at rest, tend to stay at rest. Mankind has learned to apply this law. To protect society, the laws of inertia have created the need to pass other related laws: such as speed limits, safe distances between moving cars, warning signs of impending curves, yellow lights to warn of an impending red light. Failure to obey the law of inertia often results in injury and death.

Manmade penalties for failure to obey the laws of physics.

Even though we have a very complete understanding of the laws of gravity and inertia, we have a tendency to disobey such. For example, speeding laws are understood. Everyone should know that if you drive too fast, you may be unable to stop before hitting a person or another vehicle, or you may lose control around a curve, or on a wet, oily surface. Unfortunately, many drivers either do not understand the laws of inertia, tend to ignore them, or believe that somehow they are not subject to such.

To protect us and others, governments post speeding laws and warning signs. Failure to obey a speeding law, however, does not always result in disaster. Many of us have exceeded the posted speed limit and nothing adverse has happened to us. It is possible to drive a Corvette or Porsche at speeds in excess of 160 miles per hour without incident. It is also possible to speed along curving highways ignoring the posted warning signs and speed limits. However, at the same time, we can read daily of disasters on our highways caused by failure to obey the posted speed limits. Statistically, the highways are exceedingly dangerous.

To protect society, therefore, law enforcement officers are vigilantly supposed to stop those who flagrantly violate these laws. Through the use of coercion by the imposition of traffic infraction penalties, most of society is willing to obey the posted speed limits and warning signs. And to ensure that those caught pay, society imposes a criminal penalty if you fail to pay the speeding fine. So the law is quite clear: you may speed and disobey traffic signals and signs if you are prepared to pay the imposed penalty when caught; however, society will only tolerate a fixed number of times you can be disobedient: after several infractions, your right to drive is revoked. And if you still choose to drive or fail to pay the tickets, then you will cross the line from an infraction to that of a criminal act.

With respect to the law of gravity, society imposes building codes that must be followed. Failure to obey building codes, however, does not necessarily result in disaster, but when disaster strikes it is so sudden and terrible that society must enforce these codes. It requires contractors, engineers, and architects to be licensed and to pass minimum competency examinations. Failure to obey building codes results in fines and liability for negligence or willful and wanton disregard for human life.

The sad fact is that society actually needs the imposition of penalties to coerce people to act responsibly vis-à-vis obeying the fundamental laws of nature.

SOCIAL AND POLITICAL LAWS

As mankind evolved, I think we can safely assume that people began to live in societies. Actions that were unharmful when a man lived alone in a state of nature became harmful when a man lived with others. Hence, man began to think in terms of moral behavior.

How should I live my life?

What is the right thing to do in this situation?

Should one always tell the truth?

Do I have a duty to report a coworker whom I have seen cheating our company?

Should I tell my friend that his spouse is having an affair?

Is premarital sex morally permissible?

Ought a woman ever to have an abortion?

The answers to such questions were addressed secularly and religiously by different societies – resulting in religious and secular laws.

As Socrates allegedly said in Plato’s Republic: “We are discussing no small matter, but how we ought to live.”

In some societies, moral behavior was motivated by, and grounded in, revelation and divine authority. In other societies, both ethics and moral philosophy were grounded in reason and human experience.

Ancient societies had legal codes. The codes that have the greatest number of similarities with the laws of Israel (the “Torah”) are the laws of the kingdoms of Eshnunna and of Babylon, both composed in Akkadian in the “Old Babylonian” period, the former by an unidentified king, the latter by the famous Hammurabi. Existing copies of ancient Near Eastern codes are the following (these dates are approximate and not fully agreed upon by all scholars):

Laws of Ur-Nammu, Sumerian, about 2100 B.C.

Laws of Lipit-Ishtar, Sumerian, about 1930 B.C.

Laws of Eshnunna, Akkadian, about 1900-1800 B.C.

Laws of Hammurabi, Akkadian, about 1750 B.C.

Laws of the Hittites, about 1400-1300 B.C.

Laws of the Assyrians, about 1100 B.C.

When one combines the laws of Exodus with those in Deuteronomy, a general similarity to the arrangement of the laws in the Code of Hammurabi may be observed. Israel, however, believed its Law, the Torah, to be at heart a religious document and thus essentially different from the legal systems of the age. The Law of Israel did not rest on custom but on divine authority. They were dogma and were based on revelation.

There are man-made laws and there are traditional habits and usages of community life which are hardened into law. Both are responsive to the changing needs of mankind, and, when they are just and long-established, they come to be regarded as divinely sanctioned. But the ideals and the ultimate moral standards are conceived as having been revealed to man. They are given to him by his Creator. They do not change. They do not ratify long-established tribal customs and time-honored practices. They proclaim that which should be done now and for all future time.

Our laws are based on Exodus (divine revelation) and the Justinian Code (moral philosophy). The impact of Exodus on Western Civilization has been incalculable and, in the history of law, without compare.

Which brings us back to faith (Exodus) and reason (Civil law).

RELIGIOUS LAWS

I would like to focus on the interplay of man’s reason and God’s revelation vis-à-vis obedience.

The real question therefore is what kind of place should reason have in our religion.

The Apostle Paul wrote: “See that no one makes a prey of you by philosophy and empty deceit.”

Paul’s warnings are directed at a certain kind of reasoning, namely, “worldly wisdom,” which is the product of a “human conceit that shuts itself up against the truth, ” not against the use of reason as such. A cursory reading of Paul’s letters shows that he frequently makes use of reasoning, analysis, and arguments in the course of his religious teaching.

The early Christian writer Tertullian asked, “What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?” By “Athens” he meant Greek philosophy; by “Jerusalem,” the Christian church. Tertullian, however, despite his diatribe against philosophy, was trained in philosophy and can be shown to have made use of it in his explanations of Christian doctrines.

In order to obey laws revealed in Scripture, several approaches have been raised vis-à-vis reason and faith:

1.  Strong rationalism takes the position that in order for Scripture to be properly and rationally accepted, it must be possible to prove that the Scripture is true. Here, rationalism in this sense implies a reliance on reason, or intelligence, in deciding our beliefs and actions. The word “prove” to be sure is somewhat ambiguous; but it means show that a belief is true in a way that should be convincing to any reasonable person. Here then obedience to any law must be predicated upon conviction.

2.  A second kind of view is commonly called fideism – faith-ism. Here, Scripture is not subject to rational evaluation. To say, for instance, that Scripture is the word of God does not depend on any evidence or reasoning and that we should refuse to have anything to do with trying to prove or disprove God’s Scripture.  For a sincere religious believer, the most fundamental assumptions are found in Scripture itself. Religious faith itself is the foundation of one’s life – one’s ultimate concern. Here then obedience to any law must be predicated on faith alone.

3.  A third kind of view is called critical rationalism, which is defined as the view that Scripture can and must be rationally criticized and evaluated although conclusive proof of such a system is impossible. Hence, obedience to any law must be predicated on the use of our rational capabilities, to the greatest extent possible. The critical rationalist is never in the position of being able to decide, finally and for good, that any discussion concerning the truth and validity of his or her religious beliefs has reached its ultimate conclusion.

As stated earlier, religious ethics are grounded in revelation or divine authority, though generally using reason to supplement or complement revelation. We therefore must use our own free will to determine the irrevocable laws that must be obeyed regardless of whether we think we must be able to prove such laws or accept them on faith alone.

In this regard, it is interesting that the Lord told Joseph Smith, Jr., in August of 1831, that:

[I]t is not [suitable, fitting, or proper] that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receives no reward. . . . [Men and women] should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness; For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves.  And inasmuch as men [and women] do good they shall in nowise lose their reward.

Arguably, this means that we have to use reason in choosing right and wrong rather than only commandments from God.

Most of us would agree I believe that we need to have faith in God, hope of immortality, and charity for all mankind if we are to live Christian lives. However, faith is lost in sight, hope in fruition, but charity remains forever. As the Apostle Paul wrote: “And now abides faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.”

Thus, we should exercise charity by regarding the whole human species as one family, the high and the low, the rich and the poor. We should relieve the distressed, soothe the unhappy, sympathize with their misfortunes, compassionate their miseries, and restore peace to their troubled minds, to the best of our abilities. We do not need to be commanded to do this.

Also, to understand our duty and the laws which we should obey, we need to do more than study the Scriptures. Sometime on December 27th, 28th, 1832, or January 3rd, 1833, the Lord counseled us as follows:

And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; [yes], seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith.

On March 8th, 1833, the Lord told Joseph Smith, Jr. that he was to finish the translation of the Book of Mormon, and from time to time, as manifested by the Holy Ghost, receive revelations,

And, set in order the churches, and study and learn, and become acquainted with all good books, and with languages, tongues, and people.

At the dedication of the Kirtland Temple, the Prophet Joseph Smith, Jr. prayed as follows in pertinent part:

And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; [yes], seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom, seek learning even by study and also by faith. . . . And do thou grant, Holy Father, that all those who shall worship in this house may be taught words of wisdom out of the best books, and that they may seek learning even by study, and also by faith, as thou hast said.

The Lord is quite plain in admonishing us to seek wisdom from the best books of this world, and to seek learning by study, and also by faith. It is evident to me that we cannot be content to study just the scriptures, but he who desires to understand the harmonious and beautiful proportions of those irrevocable laws upon which all blessings are predicated must read, study, reflect, digest, and discriminate in his or her ardent search for knowledge. The best books of the world come down to us full-freighted with the intellectual riches of the past.

Hence, to learn, to attain knowledge, to be wise, is a necessity for every Latter-day Saint; to teach, to communicate that knowledge, to share that wisdom with others is a must. The Apostle Paul wrote in pertinent part to the Saints in Thessalonia: “Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.”  This is one of the important reasons we meet together on Sundays.

By being obedient to these admonitions, we will attain knowledge, become wise, strengthen our faith, and edify each other.

It is not enough, however, that the conscience be taught by nature; but it must be taught by God, conducted by reason, made operative by discourse, assisted by choice, instructed by laws and sober principles; and then it is right, and it may be sure.

In March of 1839, Joseph Smith, Jr. recorded his prayer and prophecies while a prisoner at Liberty, Missouri. In pertinent part, we find counsel to:

[L]et virtue garnish [our] thoughts unceasingly; then shall [our] confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon [our] soul as the dews from heaven. The Holy Ghost shall be [our] constant companion. . . .

Here, God reveals an idea that has been explained earlier by Plato and, especially, Aristotle, and that received support in the Epicureans, Stoics, and some sections of the Early Christian Church: “virtue ethics.” Virtue ethics centers in the heart of the person acting, in his or her character and disposition – being a certain type of person.

For traditional duty-based ethics the question is: What shall I do?

For virtue ethics the question is: What sort of person should I become?

Virtue ethics seeks to produce excellent persons, who both act well out of spontaneous goodness and serve as examples who inspire others. Here God reveals that we should inculcate virtue into our thoughts and lives unceasingly. We should be obedient to this law.

Some of these virtues are temperance, fortitude, prudence, and justice.

By allowing the virtue of Temperance to garnish our thoughts unceasingly, we will have that due restraint upon our affections and passions which renders the body tame and governable, and frees the mind from the allurements of vice. Hence, the virtue of Temperance should be our constant practice, as we are thereby taught to avoid excess or the contracting of any licentious or vicious habits.

By allowing the virtue of fortitude to garnish our thoughts unceasingly, we will have that noble and steady purpose of the mind whereby we are enabled to undergo any pain, peril, or danger, when prudentially deemed expedient. This virtue is equally distant from rashness and cowardice, and, like the virtue of Temperance, should be deeply impressed upon our minds.

By allowing the virtue of prudence to garnish our thoughts unceasingly, we will be taught to regulate our lives and actions agreeably to the dictates of reason, and have that faculty by which we wisely judge and prudentially determine on all things relative to our present, as well as our future happiness.

By allowing the virtue of justice to garnish our thoughts unceasingly, we will employ that standard or boundary of right which enables us to render unto every man his just due, without distinction. This virtue of Justice is not only consistent with divine and human laws, but is the very cement and support of civil society; and, as justice in a great measure constitutes the truly good man or woman, so should it be our invariable practice never to deviate from the minutest principles thereof.

Hence, by using reason and faith, and allowing virtue to garnish our thoughts unceasingly, we should be able to choose correctly those irrevocable laws upon which all blessings are predicated: whether physical, civil, or scriptural – and for selfish reasons we should be obedient to such.

I with one final “law” that has been revealed to us. Many people wonder why we have trials and tribulations in our lives if God loves us. In March of 1839, the Lord revealed the following principle to Joseph Smith, Jr. in pertinent part:

If you are called to pass through tribulation . . . know . . . that all these things shall give [you] experience, and shall be for [your] good.

Here, God tells us that even though we are obedient, we may still have to pass through trials and tribulations. Bad things may happen to us. We will experience anguish, abandonment, and despair at times. Accepting these tribulations and the vicissitudes of life as part of God’s love for us will bless our lives.

We have to remember that this journey on earth is but a moment in our eternal progression and that God wants us to have experiences: good and bad. We have to keep in perspective that every experience comes from God and is for our good, whether we comprehend the “good” rationally at the time or not. Obedience to law therefore is the source of our blessings.