1. On the Early Christian Creeds. In this article a number of interesting questions are raised:
a) Is there any truth in the Christian tradition that the
Apostles’ Creed was originally formulated by the Twelve Apostles when they met
in council prior to their departure on their several missions; and if so, what
was the original form of the creed as it was penned by the Twelve Apostles? If
that tradition is not correct, how did the creed originate—bearing in mind that it
appears to be a repository of divine truth?
b) How does the Lord view the controversies that led to
the councils of Nicaea and Constantinople, and how does the Lord judge the
decisions of those councils, and the creeds which they formulated? A lot
of ambiguity surrounds what took place in those councils because accurate
minutes of the proceedings of the councils have not survived, and a lot of what
scholars have written about them are based on speculation and conjecture, which
have sometimes been portrayed as statements of fact.
c) What should the attitude of Latter-day Saints be
towards the whole subject of the early Christian councils and creeds? Were they
all wrong and unrighteous, and should they all be unreservedly condemned; or
should they be treated with more empathy by Latter-day Saints?
d) What did the Lord mean when he condemned the “creeds”
of the churches in the First Vision to Joseph Smith? Was he referring to every
creed in Christendom, including the early Christian creeds; or was he just
referring to the Protestant creeds and confessions of the churches which Joseph
Smith had encountered in the religious revival that he speaks of (as the context seems to imply)?
2. The Christological Controversies of
the Fourth and Fifth Centuries Following the Council of Nicaea. This article discusses the burning issue of how to reconcile the paradoxical doctrines of the divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ, which arose during the fourth and fifth centuries, and which has remained a subject of debate among theologians to this day, and has resulted in many theories put forward by theologians, ancient and modern, none of which have been entirely satisfactory, and some quite unsatisfactory. A true resolution of this controversy I believe can only be obtained by revelation, as far as the Lord is willing to reveal it to us at the present time. But the article raises several other side issues which require to be clarified by revelation, to the extent that the Lord is willing to enlighten us further on these subjects at this time, the highlights of which are as follows:
e) How does the Lord view the Christological controversies
of the 4th and 5th centuries, and the
resolution of them by the council of Chalcedon, as formulated in the
Chalcedonian declaration?
f) Are the doctrines of the impassibility and immutability
of God true gospel principles; and if so, how would the Lord define them in
more accurate theological terms?
g) How does the Lord view the doctrine of the Apostasy,
especially in the light of the meanings usually associated with it by
Latter-day Saints? What was the nature of that Apostasy? What is the identity
of those who removed the “plain and precious parts” from the New
Testament, as recorded in the Book of Mormon (1 Nephi
13:26), and how did their actions affect the Church? How does the Lord view the
subsequent historical development of the Christian Church to the present day?
What should the attitude of Latter-day Saints be towards that historical
development?
h) What did the Apostle Paul have in mind by the “falling
away,” and who was he referring to by the “man of sin,” and what is the correct
interpretation of his prophecy (2 Thes. 2:3)? Is the interpretation that is
commonly given in the Church to this scripture correct? If not, what is the
correct interpretation?
i) Is it correct that the early Christian theologians and
Apologists came under the (undesirable) influence of Greek philosophy and
Hellenism, and what they wrote were all Hellenized and philosophized, and
therefore of no value to us as Latter-day Saints, or are there things that we
can learn from them?
j) What does the Lord think of the period in Christian
history sometimes referred to as the “Dark Ages”? Is that a justifiable
appellation, or does the Lord have different ideas about that?
3.
Martin Luther Versus the Catholic
Church. This article challenges the traditional perception among Latter-day Saints that the Protestant Reformation was necessarily a “good thing,” and
Catholicism a “bad thing,” and suggests a more even-handed approach to the
subject. Although it is reasonable to assume that Martin Luther was sincere in
his initial indignation which sparked off his revolt, the correctness and
righteousness of how he followed it through remains in doubt. How does the Lord
view the Protestant Reformation, and the events which followed from it? What
should the attitude of Latter-day Saints be towards that great controversy and schism? In particular, how does the Lord address the theological controversies that arose following the Reformation, which include (among others) the following:
k) Predestination.
l) Justification by faith alone without works (including “imputed righteousness” and “double imputation”).
m) Reconciling the sovereignty and foreknowledge of God with human freewill.
4.
On the Mystery of the Holy Ghost.
This article gives an in depth treatment of the theological issues associated
with the doctrine of the Holy Ghost in the theology of Latter-day Saints. The doctrinal difficulties of
the Holy Ghost in the theology of Latter-day Saints, however, do not exist in isolation. They are a
part of the broader issues relating to the doctrine of the Godhead as a whole,
some of which have been discussed in other articles in this book. If those
questions were comprehensively answered, the questions relating to the Holy
Ghost would also be automatically answered. Nevertheless to be more specific,
the main questions raised in this article are summarized as follows:
n) Does such a being as a “personage of Spirit” (of the
kind that is generally understood in the Church) exist at all in the Godhead; and if so, how do
you prove it?
o) If such a being exists, why is it that these two
different entities (i.e. the “personage of Spirit,”
and the “Spirit” which emanates from the Deity) are called by the same names,
which causes all the confusion about them?
p) If such a being exists, why are the scriptures silent
about him?
5.
A Reappraisal of the Doctrine of the
Godhead Based on the Lectures on Faith. In this article an alternative
interpretation for the doctrine of the Godhead is proposed on the basis of what
is taught in the Lectures on Faith, and the scriptures
cited; and also a theological exposition of the doctrine according to my
understanding of the subject. Is this understanding of the doctrine correct as
far as it goes? Is there any additional light that the Lord is willing to shed
on the subject for us at the present time?
6.
The Father and the Son: A Personal
Note. This article is a critique of the official statement put forth by
the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1916, titled, “The
Father and the Son: A Doctrinal Exposition”. Assuming that the criticisms of
the Doctrinal Exposition are valid, it is to be expected that the Church will
acknowledge that, and make the necessary adjustments to the doctrine by
revelation to the extent that the Lord is willing to reveal it to us at the
present time.
7.
Causes of Theological Dislocation in
the Early History of the Church. How does the Lord view the many serious
doctrinal mistakes made by Church leaders in the early history of the Church
following the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith, and why did the Lord not attempt
to correct them? How does the Lord answer the theological questions raised by
the theory of Evolution, which they attempted to answer by the First Presidency
statement of 1909 titled, “The Origin of Man”—but unsuccessfully, without
seeking revelation?
8.
Reflections on Some Controversial Doctrines. This article reflects on the controversial doctrine of
the origin of God in the theology of Latter-day Saints, and doctrines associated with it. How much is
the Lord willing to enlighten us further at the present time concerning the
doctrine of the origin of God as taught by Joseph Smith, and the difficulties it raises in
the theology of the Church? Are there “parallel universes,” as the teachings of Joseph Smith on the subject would seem to imply?
9.
Emanuel Swedenborg: Prophet, Seer,
and Revelator. I am of the opinion that Emanuel Swedenborg was indeed a true
prophet, seer, and revelator; and his teachings are of great
significance for Latter-day Saints, and most deserving of a revelatory
clarification and confirmation from the Lord. The main questions raised in this
article for Latter-day Saints are as follows:
q) Was Swedenborg a true prophet? If so, how do we
reconcile the contradictions that exist between his teachings and the doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?
These contradictions, as discussed in the article, relate to the following
areas of doctrine:
r) The doctrine of the Godhead.
s) The doctrine of the resurrection.
t) The doctrine of the preexistence.
u) The doctrine of a personal devil.
v) The doctrine of creation, and of the eternity of
matter.
w) The doctrine of the spiritual sense of the Word.
The essays raise many other side issues and questions which cannot all be enumerated here. This appendix highlights in general terms the most important ones.
