[Editor: This is the third in a series of excerpts from Jeffrey M. Bradshaw’s new book, entitled “Temple Themes in the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood.” You can read the first and second installments here. The book is available on Amazon.com and at selected LDS Bookstores (including Eborn Books, BYU Bookstore, the FAIR LDS Bookstore). An iBooks version is can be purchased from the Apple iBookstore, and a pdf version is available at www.templethemes.net].

J. James Tissot, 1836-1902: Sermon of the Beatitudes, ca. 1886-1894 (1)

Knowledge As the Principle of Salvation

The means by which we make our “step-by-step ascent into the Eternal Presence”^[2] is not based directly on our actions. It is easy to see why this is so. Were it otherwise, the Final Judgment would require nothing more than a mechanical assessment at the end of our probation as to whether we had gone through the proper motions in every life situation. However, the terms of the New and Everlasting Covenant are much more demanding-as Jesus Himself taught when He contrasted lower and higher kinds of obedience in the Sermon on the Mount.[3] The scriptures teach that the purpose of this life is much more than outward compliance with divine law. Ultimately, it is to prepare us to be “spiritually… born of God,” having received a “mighty change in [our] hearts” and “his image” in our countenances.[4] Emphasizing this fact, Elder Dallin H. Oaks explained that the “the Final Judgment is not just an evaluation of a sum total of good and evil acts-what we have done. It is an acknowledgment of the final effect of our acts and thoughts-what we have become.”[5] The final effect of our choices can be seen both in what we want[6] and also in what we know.

One night at a reception, Edwin M. Stanton, Secretary of War in Abraham Lincoln’s administration, remarked to a friend that a certain man passing by was “a pretender, a humbug, and a fraud,” and said that he disliked his face. “But the poor man isn’t responsible for his face,” retorted the friend. “A man of fifty is responsible for his face!” countered Stanton.[7]

Though it is easy to find exceptions to Stanton’s generalization, there is eternal truth in the words of Proverbs 23:7: “As [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he.” President David O. McKay often quoted James Allen’s comment that: “A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts.”[8] In light of these things, we may certainly say that the powerful presence of a good man or woman is not acquired in an instant, but in the gradual transformation enabled by pure knowledge, righteous desires, Christlike deeds, and the sanctifying influence of the Holy Ghost.

Joseph Smith, Jr., 1805-1844, ca. 1842 (9)

With respect to the role of knowledge in the process of sanctification, the Prophet Joseph Smith explained that God’s purpose in instituting laws for mankind was “to instruct the weaker intelligences,” allowing fallen humanity to gradually “advance in knowledge” so that eventually they “may be exalted with [God] himself.”[10] The Prophet taught that the “principle of knowledge is the principle of salvation,”[11] therefore “anyone that cannot get knowledge to be saved will be damned.”[12]

Charles W. Carter, 1832-1918: Brigham Young, 1801-1877[13]

“God Requires… a Searching After His Purposes”

Consistent with the teachings of Joseph Smith about knowledge as the principle of salvation, President Brigham Young saw an understanding of the “why” of the Gospel not merely as a nice-to-have add-on, but rather as an absolute necessity:^[14]

Some have supposed that it would make but little difference with them whether they learn much or little, whether they attain to all the intelligence within their reach or not while they tarry in this world, believing that if they paid their tithing, went to meetings, said their prayers, and performed those things which are especially commanded, that it would be well with them and as soon as they laid off this mortal body, all would be well with them. This is a mistaken idea and that will cause every soul to mourn who embraces and practices upon it. When we arrive in the world of resurrected bodies, we will learn, to our sorrow [if we have not done what we should do] that God requires of us in this world not only obedience to His revealed will, but a searching after His purposes and plans.

Hugh B. Brown, 1883-1975[15]

President Hugh B. Brown expressed similar thoughts in memorable fashion:^[16]

[S]ometimes …some of us seem to indicate that having been baptized, [and] received the Holy Ghost, … and then having gone to church, and the men having received the priesthood, that we’ve done all that we ever need to do, that we’ve “arrived.” Then the older ones among us rest our hands comfortably on the shelf that nature gradually prepares for us, and we lean back and enjoy the ecstasy of thinking we’re going to be transported into heaven immediately.

It is to me something like a man who learned of electricity, that is, [who] learned that there was such a thing, and he … had a conduit wire connected to his house. And he bought him a little ten-watt bulb and installed it in the back room of his house and then sat down, put on his slippers, and took his pipe, and sat in the rocking chair and said, “I’ve got electricity. I’m the happiest man in the world. Nobody else can boast of more than I, because they, too, have electricity. And I have electricity.” Not … realizing that what he had was a little ten-watt bulb and that he was in semi-darkness. Not realizing that if he would he could have had ten-thousand times that illumination. He could have had a bulb in every room, and one over the reading lamp, and on the piano, and all around … He could have done all his work with electricity. But there he sits, placidly rocking, “Thank God I’ve got electricity.”

Ten-Watt Light Bulb in a Darkened Room[17]

Sometimes Latter-day Saints say, “Thank God I’ve got the Gospel.

On another occasion President Brown wrote:^[19]

I am impressed with the testimony of a man who can stand and say he knows the Gospel is true. What I would like to ask is, “But, sir, do you know the Gospel?” I say it is one thing to know the Gospel is true, and it is another thing to know what the Gospel is. Mere testimony can be gained with but perfunctory knowledge of the Church and its teachings, as evidenced by the hundreds who are now coming into the Church with but bare acquaintanceship. But to retain a testimony, to be of service in building the Lord’s kingdom, requires a serious study of the Gospel and knowing what it is.

Speaking of the diligence required to gain knowledge of the Gospel, Elder John A. Widtsoe wrote:[20]

It is a paradox that men will gladly devote time every day for many years to learn a science or an art; yet will expect to win a knowledge of the Gospel, which comprehends all sciences and arts, through perfunctory glances at books or occasional listening to sermons. The Gospel should be studied more intensively than any school or college subject. They who pass opinion on the Gospel without having given it intimate and careful study are not lovers of truth, and their opinions are worthless.

Hugh W. Nibley, 1910-2005[21]

The Example of Hugh W. Nibley

One of the most interesting examples of dedication to temple-based learning is the life of Hugh W. Nibley, a former professor at BYU and an internationally-respected scholar of ancient cultures. Elder Marion D. Hanks once joked that, “as president of the Salt Lake Temple, he had been asked some questions so deep that only Hugh Nibley and the Almighty might know how to answer them.'”[22]Nibley’s knowledge of temples was the direct result of two things: 1. His regular participation in temple ordinances; and 2. The rich background he brought to his temple experiences through his knowledge of scripture and ancient cultures.

Speaking of his own endowment in 1927, he remembered: “I was very serious about it… And the words of the initiatory [part of the endowment]-I thought those were the most magnificent words I have ever heard spoken.”[23] Admitting that some of his earliest temple experiences had left him “in something of a daze,” his return to the temple after his mission was an overwhelming experience: “At that time I knew it was the real thing. Oh, boy, did I!”[24]

Seventy-five years later he was still studying the temple and attending it often. From the time of the Provo Temple’s completion in 1972 until his health declined, Nibley attended the temple weekly on Saturday mornings, “not so much as a manifestation of duty as prompted by a desire for further light and knowledge.”[25] About these experiences, he wrote:[26]

If I went to the temple five times and nothing happened, I would stop going. But I’ve gone hundreds of times, and the high hopes of new knowledge with which I go up the hill every week are never disappointed.

His secret for temple-based learning? According to his biographer Boyd Petersen, he “[got] out of his temple trips what he [put] into them. When he [attended] the temple, he actively [sought] new knowledge and insight rather than just hoping for it. And he [rejoiced] in whatever insight or knowledge he [gained].”[27]Nibley commented:

Last Saturday, I left the temple loaded with instructions, specific instructions… I found it all laid out for me, because I was looking for it. That is always the case when you are going to the temple.

Though the relatively few specific recollections of temple experiences Nibley left on record show that the insights he received were sometimes of the ordinary sort that most Latter-day Saints have had in the temple, much of what he learned was “quite profound.”[28] According to Petersen, Nibley’s firm conviction was that:

… Joseph Smith, far from creating these rituals from his own imagination, restored the temple and its ordinances through divine revelation. He [believed] that God revealed these same rituals anciently to prophets in previous dispensations, but that they were lost as the world fell into apostasy. Since these ordinances were once on earth in their totality, it makes sense that fragments would survive in ancient texts and even in contemporary religions. As Hugh wrote to one inquirer: “In a book called An Egyptian Endowment,[29] I analyzed an Egyptian endowment at length and in an appendix supplied half-a-dozen parallels from the earliest Christian and Jewish writings. I think you will find there truly impressive resemblances to our own temple ordinances throughout, as well as an indisputable common pattern among them all.”

More Than Mere Mental Exercise

In affirming the essential role of knowledge as the principle of salvation, we must be equally wary of a possible misconception: Saving knowledge is acquired by more than mere mental exercise; indeed, the process requires three additional elements:

1. Personal revelation. This element is what Elder David A. Bednar calls “understanding,” which goes beyond ordinary knowledge to include thoughts and feelings that are given by the power of the Holy Ghost.[30] One of the greatest blessings of keeping the covenants associated with the sacrament is the promise that we “may always have his Spirit to be with [us].”[31] When the Spirit is with us, it will “enlighten [our] understanding.”[32] Following their baptism, Joseph Smith reported that he and Oliver Cowdery “were filled with the Holy Ghost… Our minds being now enlightened, we began to have the scriptures laid open to our understandings, and the true meaning and intention of their more mysterious passages revealed unto us in a manner which we never could attain to previously, nor ever before had thought of.”[33]
2. The experience of the wise exercise of moral agency in a fallen world. Elder Bednar calls this form of learning “intelligence,” meaning the application of knowledge and understanding to our actions and judgment.[34] Each individual “is independent in that sphere in which God has placed it, to act for itself.”[35] Acting in a manner consistent with what we know and understand opens the door to additional light and knowledge, and he “that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day.
   

   ---

   “[36]
3. Frequent and whole-hearted participation in priesthood ordinances. Only through the ordinances administered by the higher priesthood may we be prepared, in time, to receive “the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God.”[37] All other truths that can be made known to man are subordinate to this, the greatest kind of truth. As we gain understanding of the ultimate purpose of the ordinances, we begin to see what depth of meaning lies within the Savior’s words: “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”^[38] No wonder, then, that after Joseph Smith taught that the “principle of knowledge is the principle of salvation,”[39] he emphasized that this “principle can [only] be comprehended by the faithful and diligent,” and concluded by saying: “The principle of salvation is given us through the knowledge of Jesus Christ.”[40]

Links to all of the articles in this series-

Part 1 “Why Do We Participate in Temple Ordinances?”

Part 2 “A Christ-Centered View“

Part 3 “Knowledge as the Principle of Salvation“

Part 4 “How Are We Physically and Spiritually Reborn in the Temple?”

Part 5 “What is the Endowment?”

Part 6  “Passing the Angels Who Stand as Sentinels“

Part 7  “The Meaning of the Atonement“

Part 8 “Becoming the Seed of Abraham”‘: The Sealing and Healing Power of Elijah

Part 9: “The Church and Kingdom”: Becoming Priests and Kings

Part 10: “The Elect of God”: What Does It Mean to Have One’s “Calling and Election Made Sure?“

Part 11: “All That My Father Hath Shall Be Given Unto Him”: Receiving the Kingdom

Part 12: The Second Comforter: “The Father Teacheth Him”

Part 13: “Weary Him Until He Blesses You” 

Part 14: “What are the Three Degrees Within the Celestial Kingdom?”

To purchase Jeffrey M. Bradshaw’s new book Temple Themes in the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood click here.

References

Allen, James. As a Man Thinketh. Salt Lake City, UT: Bookcraft, n.d.

Bednar, David A. Increase in Learning: Spiritual Patterns for Obtaining Your Own Answers. Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book, 2011.

Brown, Hugh B. 1956. Education is a Part of Salvation. In BYU Education Week, June 20, 1956, Brigham Young University. id=107. (accessed August 7, 2007).

Burton, Orville Vernon. E-mail message to Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, February 3, 2012.

Chittenden, Lucius Eugene. Recollections of President Lincoln and His Administration. New York City, NY: Haper Brothers, 1891.  (accessed December 29, 2011).

Dolkart, Judith F., ed. James Tissot, The Life of Christ: The Complete Set of 350 Watercolors. New York City, NY: Merrell Publishers and the Brooklyn Museum, 2009.

Douglas, Mack R. How to Make a Habit of Succeeding. Gretna, LA: Pelican Publishing, 1966.

Hauglid, Brian M. “Joseph Smith’s inspired commentary on the doctrine of calling and election.” In Shedding Light on the New Testament: Acts-Revelation, edited by Ray L. Huntington, Frank F. Judd, Jr. and David M. Whitchurch, 209-26. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2009.

Madsen, Truman G. The Presidents of the Church: Insights into their Lives and Teachings. Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book, 2004.

—. 1978. “House of glory.” In Five Classics by Truman G. Madsen, 273-85. Salt Lake City, UT: Eagle Gate, 2001. Reprint, Madsen, Truman G. 1978. “House of glory.” In The Temple: Where Heaven Meets Earth, 1-14. Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book, 2008.

Matthews, Robert J. “Using the scriptures.” In Brigham Young University Fireside and Devotional Speeches, 118-26. Provo, UT: University Publications Department, 1981.  (accessed September 24, 2011).

Nibley, Hugh W. “An intellectual autobiography.” In Nibley on the Timely and the Timeless: Classic Essays of Hugh W. Nibley, edited by Truman G. Madsen, ix-xxviii. Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Religious Studies Center, 1978.

—. Temple and Cosmos: Beyond This Ignorant Present. The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley12. Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book, 1992.

—. 1975. The Message of the Joseph Smith Papyri: An Egyptian Endowment. 2nd ed. Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book, 2005.

Oaks, Dallin H. “The challenge to become.” Ensign 30, November 2000, 32-34.

Petersen, Boyd Jay. Hugh Nibley: A Consecrated Life. Draper, UT: Greg Kofford Books, 2002.

Shutterstock Images.  (accessed December 30, 2011).

Smith, Joseph Fielding, Jr. 1931. The Way to Perfection: Short Discourses on Gospel Themes Dedicated to All Who Are Interested in the Redemption of the Living and the Dead. 5th ed. Salt Lake City, UT: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1945.

Smith, Joseph, Jr. The Words of Joseph Smith. Salt Lake City, UT: Bookcraft, 1980.

—. 1938. Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book, 1969.

Walker, Henry C. “Building up personality. In Getting ahead: A department of questions and answers.” The American Magazine 83, June 1917, 129-32.  (accessed December 29, 2011).

Welch, John W. The Sermon at the Temple and the Sermon on the Mount. Salt Lake City, UT: Deseret Book, 1990.

—. The Sermon on the Mount in the Light of the Temple. Farnham, England: Ashgate, 2009.

Widtsoe, John A. “2. How may a testimony of the truth of the Gospel be obtained?” In Evidences and Reconciliations, edited by John A. Widtsoe. Single Volume ed. 3 vols, 15-17. Salt Lake City, UT: Bookcraft, 1960.

Young, Brigham. 1853. “The privileges and blessings of the Gospel (A discourse delivered by President Brigham Young at the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, February 20, 1853).” In Journal of Discourses. 26 vols. Vol. 1, 309-16. Liverpool and London, England: Latter-day Saints Book Depot, 1853-1886. Reprint, Salt Lake City, UT: Bookcraft, 1966.

Endnotes