FAIR - User contributions [en]

Source:Oliver Cowdery:Letter to Cornelius C. Blatchly 9 November 1829:Gospel Luminary:10 December 1829:We saw the record...brought and laid before us by an angel

2015-02-28T22:42:06Z

StephenClarke: /* Oliver Cowdery (1829): "We saw the record...brought and laid before us by an angel" */

{{FME-Source
|title=Oliver Cowdery (1829): "We saw the record...brought and laid before us by an angel"
|category=Oliver Cowdery/Witness to the Book of Mormon
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<onlyinclude>
==Oliver Cowdery (1829): "We saw the record...brought and laid before us by an angel"==
In November 1829, in response to an inquiry from New York physician Cornelius C. Blatchly, Oliver Cowdery related his experience of seeing the gold plates just a few months earlier:
<blockquote>
You also wished Mr. Harris to inform you respecting his seeing this book, whether there could not possibly have been some juggling at the bottom of it. A few words on that point may suffice.— It was a clear, open beautiful day, far from any inhabitants, in a remote field, at the time we saw the record, of which it has been spoken, brought and laid before us, by an angel, arrayed in glorious light, [descended] out of the midst of heaven. Now if this is human juggling—judge ye.<ref>Oliver Cowdery letter to Cornelius C. Blatchly, 9 November 1829, quoted in "The New Bible," Gospel Luminary 2, no. 49 (10 December 1829): 194.</ref>
</blockquote>
</onlyinclude>
{{endnotes sources}}
[[Category:Oliver Cowdery/Witness to the Book of Mormon]]

Source:Oliver Cowdery's character:Oliver Cowdery Letter to Phineas Young, 23 March 1846

2015-02-28T22:00:54Z

StephenClarke:

{{FME-Source
|title=Oliver Cowdery (1846): “I have cherished a hope...that I might leave such a character”
|category=Oliver Cowdery/Character
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}}
<onlyinclude>
==Oliver Cowdery (1846): “I have cherished a hope...that I might leave such a character”==
In 1846, Oliver Cowdery wrote to his brother-in-law Phineas H. Young:
<blockquote>
I have cherished a hope, and that one of my fondest, that I might leave such a character as those who might believe in my testimony, after I shall be called hence, might do so, not only for the sake of truth, but might not blush for the private character of the man who bore that testimony. I have been sensitive on this subject, I admit; but I ought to be so—you would be, under the circumstances, had you stood in the presence of John, with our departed brother Joseph, to receive the Lesser Priesthood—and in the presence of Peter, to receive the Greater, and look down through time, and witness the effects these two must produce.<ref>Oliver Cowdery letter to Phineas H. Young, 23 March 1846, Church History Library, MS 2646; see also, Ronald G. Watt, [https://www.lds.org/ensign/1977/02/discovery?lang=eng|"Had You Stood in the Presence of Peter,"]''Ensign'' (February 1977): 78–79.</ref>
</blockquote>
</onlyinclude>
{{endnotes sources}}
[[Category: Oliver Cowdery/Character]]

Source:Oliver Cowdery's character:Oliver Cowdery Letter to Phineas Young, 23 March 1846

2015-02-28T21:49:31Z

StephenClarke: /* Oliver Cowdery (1846): “I have cherished a hope...that I might leave such a character” */added introductory sentence

<onlyinclude>
==Oliver Cowdery (1846): “I have cherished a hope...that I might leave such a character”==
In 1846, Oliver Cowdery wrote to his brother-in-law Phineas H. Young:
<blockquote>
I have cherished a hope, and that one of my fondest, that I might leave such a character as those who might believe in my testimony, after I shall be called hence, might do so, not only for the sake of truth, but might not blush for the private character of the man who bore that testimony. I have been sensitive on this subject, I admit; but I ought to be so—you would be, under the circumstances, had you stood in the presence of John, with our departed brother Joseph, to receive the Lesser Priesthood—and in the presence of Peter, to receive the Greater, and look down through time, and witness the effects these two must produce.<ref>Oliver Cowdery letter to Phineas H. Young, 23 March 1846, Church History Library, MS 2646; see also, Ronald G. Watt, [https://www.lds.org/ensign/1977/02/discovery?lang=eng|"Had You Stood in the Presence of Peter,"]''Ensign'' (February 1977): 78–79.</ref>
</blockquote>
</onlyinclude>
{{endnotes sources}}
[[Category: Oliver Cowdery/Character]]

Source:Oliver Cowdery's character:Oliver Cowdery Letter to Phineas Young, 23 March 1846

2015-02-28T21:33:30Z

StephenClarke: Undo revision 4849 by StephenClarke (talk)

<onlyinclude>
==Oliver Cowdery (1846): “I have cherished a hope...that I might leave such a character”==
<blockquote>
I have cherished a hope, and that one of my fondest, that I might leave such a character as those who might believe in my testimony, after I shall be called hence, might do so, not only for the sake of truth, but might not blush for the private character of the man who bore that testimony. I have been sensitive on this subject, I admit; but I ought to be so—you would be, under the circumstances, had you stood in the presence of John, with our departed brother Joseph, to receive the Lesser Priesthood—and in the presence of Peter, to receive the Greater, and look down through time, and witness the effects these two must produce.<ref>Oliver Cowdery letter to Phineas H. Young, 23 March 1846, Church History Library, MS 2646; see also, Ronald G. Watt, [https://www.lds.org/ensign/1977/02/discovery?lang=eng|"Had You Stood in the Presence of Peter,"]''Ensign'' (February 1977): 78–79.</ref>
</blockquote>
</onlyinclude>
{{endnotes sources}}
[[Category: Oliver Cowdery/Character]]

Source:Oliver Cowdery's character:Oliver Cowdery Letter to Phineas Young, 23 March 1846

2015-02-28T21:32:22Z

StephenClarke: /* Oliver Cowdery (1846): “I have cherished a hope...that I might leave such a character” */

<onlyinclude>
{{FME-Source
|title=Oliver Cowdery (1846): “I have cherished a hope...that I might leave such a character”
|category=Oliver Cowdery/Character
|catname=
}}
<onlyinclude>
==Oliver Cowdery (1846): “I have cherished a hope...that I might leave such a character”==
<blockquote>
I have cherished a hope, and that one of my fondest, that I might leave such a character as those who might believe in my testimony, after I shall be called hence, might do so, not only for the sake of truth, but might not blush for the private character of the man who bore that testimony. I have been sensitive on this subject, I admit; but I ought to be so—you would be, under the circumstances, had you stood in the presence of John, with our departed brother Joseph, to receive the Lesser Priesthood—and in the presence of Peter, to receive the Greater, and look down through time, and witness the effects these two must produce.<ref>Oliver Cowdery letter to Phineas H. Young, 23 March 1846, Church History Library, MS 2646; see also, Ronald G. Watt, [https://www.lds.org/ensign/1977/02/discovery?lang=eng|"Had You Stood in the Presence of Peter,"]''Ensign'' (February 1977): 78–79.</ref>
</blockquote>
</onlyinclude>
{{endnotes sources}}
[[Category: Oliver Cowdery/Character]]

Source:Oliver Cowdery:Letter to Cornelius C. Blatchly 9 November 1829:Gospel Luminary:10 December 1829:We saw the record...brought and laid before us by an angel

2015-02-28T21:29:07Z

StephenClarke: /* Oliver Cowdery (1829): "We saw the record...brought and laid before us by an angel" */removed quotation marks from block quote

{{FME-Source
|title=Oliver Cowdery (1829): "We saw the record...brought and laid before us by an angel"
|category=Oliver Cowdery/Witness to the Book of Mormon
|catname=
}}
<onlyinclude>
==Oliver Cowdery (1829): "We saw the record...brought and laid before us by an angel"==
<blockquote>
You also wished Mr. Harris to inform you respecting his seeing this book, whether there could not possibly have been some juggling at the bottom of it. A few words on that point may suffice.— It was a clear, open beautiful day, far from any inhabitants, in a remote field, at the time we saw the record, of which it has been spoken, brought and laid before us, by an angel, arrayed in glorious light, [descended] out of the midst of heaven. Now if this is human juggling—judge ye.<ref>Oliver Cowdery letter to Cornelius C. Blatchly, 9 November 1829, quoted in "The New Bible," Gospel Luminary 2, no. 49 (10 December 1829): 194.</ref>
</blockquote>
</onlyinclude>
{{endnotes sources}}
[[Category:Oliver Cowdery/Witness to the Book of Mormon]]

Source:Oliver Cowdery's character:Oliver Cowdery Letter to Phineas Young, 23 March 1846

2015-02-28T21:22:42Z

StephenClarke: /* Oliver Cowdery (1846): “I have cherished a hope...that I might leave such a character” */

Category:Oliver Cowdery/Character

2015-02-28T21:19:34Z

StephenClarke:

{{FME
|title=Oliver Cowdery's Character
|category=Oliver Cowdery
}}
{{:Source:Oliver Cowdery's character:Oliver Cowdery Letter to Phineas Young, 23 March 1846}}
{{:Source:Oliver Cowdery's character:William Lang, ''History of Seneca County'' (Springfield, Ohio, 1880), 365}}
{{endnotes sources}}
[[Category:Oliver Cowdery/Character]]

Source:Oliver Cowdery's character:Oliver Cowdery Letter to Phineas Young, 23 March 1846

2015-02-28T21:16:14Z

StephenClarke:

<onlyinclude>
==Oliver Cowdery (1846): “I have cherished a hope...that I might leave such a character”==
<blockquote>
I have cherished a hope, and that one of my fondest, that I might leave such a character as those who might believe in my testimony, after I shall be called hence, might do so, not only for the sake of truth, but might not blush for the private character of the man who bore that testimony. I have been sensitive on this subject, I admit; but I ought to be so—you would be, under the circumstances, had you stood in the presence of John, with our departed brother Joseph, to receive the Lesser Priesthood—and in the presence of Peter, to receive the Greater, and look down through time, and witness the effects these two must produce.<ref>Oliver Cowdery letter to Phineas H. Young, 23 March 1846, Church History Library, MS 2646; see also, Ronald G. Watt, [https://www.lds.org/ensign/1977/02/discovery?lang=eng|"Had You Stood in the Presence of Peter,"]''Ensign'' (February 1977):78–79.</ref>
</blockquote>
</onlyinclude>
{{endnotes sources}}
[[Category: Oliver Cowdery/Character]]

Source:Oliver Cowdery's character:Oliver Cowdery Letter to Phineas Young, 23 March 1846

2015-02-28T21:09:51Z

StephenClarke: Created page with "<onlyinclude> ==Oliver Cowdery (1846): “I have cherished a hope...that I might leave such a character”== <blockquote> I have cherished a hope, and that one of my fondest,..."

<onlyinclude>
==Oliver Cowdery (1846): “I have cherished a hope...that I might leave such a character”==
<blockquote>
I have cherished a hope, and that one of my fondest, that I might leave such a character as those who might believe in my testimony, after I shall be called hence, might do so, not only for the sake of truth, but might not blush for the private character of the man who bore that testimony. I have been sensitive on this subject, I admit; but I ought to be so—you would be, under the circumstances, had you stood in the presence of John, with our departed brother Joseph, to receive the Lesser Priesthood—and in the presence of Peter, to receive the Greater, and look down through time, and witness the effects these two must produce.<ref>Oliver Cowdery letter to Phineas H. Young, 23 March 1846, Church History Library, MS 2646; see also, Ronald G. Watt, [https://www.lds.org/ensign/1977/02/discovery?lang=eng|"Had You Stood in the Presence of Peter,"]''Ensign'' (February 1977):78–79.</ref>
</onlyinclude>
</blockquote>
{{endnotes sources}}
[[Category: Oliver Cowdery/Character]]

Source:Echoes:Ch1:2:Oliver Cowdery witness

2015-02-28T20:25:07Z

StephenClarke: /* Oliver Cowdery's enduring witness */removed internal source note numbering

{{FME-Source
|title=Oliver Cowdery's enduring witness
|category=
|catname=
}}<onlyinclude>
==Oliver Cowdery's enduring witness==
<blockquote>
Oliver Cowdery, the most constant and involved witness to the miraculous translation, always affirmed the divinity of the process. Though later disaffected for a time from the Church, he nevertheless came humbly back. He spoke forthrightly about how he "wrote with my own pen the intire book of Mormon (save a few pages) as it fell from the Lips of the prophet." Oliver would not have humbly returned to the Church at all, especially seeking no station, had there been any kind of fraud!

Instead, at the approach of death, Oliver could not have been more dramatic about his testimony concerning the Book of Mormon. Oliver's half-sister, Lucy P. Young, reported: "Just before he breathed his last he asked to be raised up in bed so he could talk to the family and friends and he told them to live according to the teachings in the [B]ook of Mormon and they would meet him in Heaven then he said lay me down and let me fall asleep in the arms of Jesus, and he fell asleep without a struggle."<ref>{{Book:Parry Peterson Welch:Echoes and Evidences of the Book of Mormon|pages=[http://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1082&index=2 Chapter 1], {{sofr}}|author=Neal A. Maxwell|article=By The Gift and Power of God}}</ref></blockquote></onlyinclude>

{{Endnotes sources}}

[[Category:Echoes and Evidences]]
[[Category:Oliver Cowdery/Witness to the Book of Mormon]]

Source:Oliver Cowdery:Letter to Cornelius C. Blatchly 9 November 1829:Gospel Luminary:10 December 1829:We saw the record...brought and laid before us by an angel

2015-02-28T05:27:53Z

StephenClarke: /* Oliver Cowdery (1829): "We saw the record...brought and laid before us by an angel */

==Oliver Cowdery (1829): "We saw the record...brought and laid before us by an angel==
<blockquote>
"You also wished Mr. Harris to inform you respecting his seeing this book, whether there could not possibly have been some juggling at the bottom of it. A few words on that point may suffice.— It was a clear, open beautiful day, far from any inhabitants, in a remote field, at the time we saw the record, of which it has been spoken, brought and laid before us, by an angel, arrayed in glorious light, [descended] out of the midst of heaven. Now if this is human juggling—judge ye."<ref>Oliver Cowdery letter to Cornelius C. Blatchly, 9 November 1829, quoted in "The New Bible," Gospel Luminary 2, no. 49 (10 December 1829): 194.</ref>
</blockquote>
{{endnotes sources}}
[[Category:Oliver Cowdery/Witness to the Book of Mormon]]

Category:Oliver Cowdery/Witness to the Book of Mormon

2015-02-28T05:27:32Z

StephenClarke:

{{FME
|title=Oliver Cowdery as a Witness to the Book of Mormon
|category=Oliver Cowdery
}}
{{:Source:Oliver Cowdery:Letter to Cornelius C. Blatchly 9 November 1829:Gospel Luminary:10 December 1829:We saw the record...brought and laid before us by an angel}}
{{:Source:Echoes:Ch1:2:Oliver Cowdery witness}}
{{endnotes sources}}
[[Category:Book of Mormon/Witnesses/Three witnesses]]

Source:Oliver Cowdery:Letter to Cornelius C. Blatchly 9 November 1829:Gospel Luminary:10 December 1829:We saw the record...brought and laid before us by an angel

2015-02-28T05:25:45Z

StephenClarke: /* Oliver Cowdery (1829): "We saw the record...brought and laid before us by an angel */

==Oliver Cowdery (1829): "We saw the record...brought and laid before us by an angel==
<blockquote>
"You also wished Mr. Harris to inform you respecting his seeing this book, whether there could not possibly have been some juggling at the bottom of it. A few words on that point may suffice.— It was a clear, open beautiful day, far from any inhabitants, in a remote field, at the time we saw the record, of which it has been spoken, brought and laid before us, by an angel, arrayed in glorious light, [descended] out of the midst of heaven. Now if this is human juggling—judge ye."<ref>Oliver Cowdery letter to Cornelius C. Blatchly, 9 November 1829, quoted in "The New Bible," Gospel Luminary 2, no. 49 (10 December 1829): 194.</ref>
</blockquote>
</onlyinclude>
{{endnotes sources}}
[[Category:Oliver Cowdery/Witness to the Book of Mormon]]

Source:Oliver Cowdery:Letter to Cornelius C. Blatchly 9 November 1829:Gospel Luminary:10 December 1829:We saw the record...brought and laid before us by an angel

2015-02-28T05:24:38Z

StephenClarke: /* Oliver Cowdery (1829): "We saw the record...brought and laid before us by an angel */

==Oliver Cowdery (1829): "We saw the record...brought and laid before us by an angel==
<blockquote>
"You also wished Mr. Harris to inform you respecting his seeing this book, whether there could not possibly have been some juggling at the bottom of it. A few words on that point may suffice.— It was a clear, open beautiful day, far from any inhabitants, in a remote field, at the time we saw the record, of which it has been spoken, brought and laid before us, by an angel, arrayed in glorious light, [descended] out of the midst of heaven. Now if this is human juggling—judge ye."<ref>Oliver Cowdery letter to Cornelius C. Blatchly, 9 November 1829, quoted in "The New Bible," Gospel Luminary 2, no. 49 (10 December 1829): 194.</ref></blockquote>

</onlyinclude>
{{endnotes sources}}
[[Category:Oliver Cowdery/Witness to the Book of Mormon]]

Source:Oliver Cowdery:Letter to Cornelius C. Blatchly 9 November 1829:Gospel Luminary:10 December 1829:We saw the record...brought and laid before us by an angel

2015-02-28T05:23:17Z

StephenClarke: /* Oliver Cowdery (1829): "We saw the record...brought and laid before us by an angel */

==Oliver Cowdery (1829): "We saw the record...brought and laid before us by an angel==
<blockquote>
"You also wished Mr. Harris to inform you respecting his seeing this book, whether there could not possibly have been some juggling at the bottom of it. A few words on that point may suffice.— It was a clear, open beautiful day, far from any inhabitants, in a remote field, at the time we saw the record, of which it has been spoken, brought and laid before us, by an angel, arrayed in glorious light, [descended] out of the midst of heaven. Now if this is human juggling—judge ye."<ref>Oliver Cowdery letter to Cornelius C. Blatchly, 9 November 1829, quoted in "The New Bible," Gospel Luminary 2, no. 49 (10 December 1829): 194.</ref></blockquote>

{{Endnotes sources}}
[[Category:Oliver Cowdery/Witness to the Book of Mormon]]

Category:Oliver Cowdery/Witness to the Book of Mormon

2015-02-28T05:16:26Z

StephenClarke:

{{FME
|title=Oliver Cowdery as a Witness to the Book of Mormon
|category=Oliver Cowdery
}}
{{:Source:Echoes:Ch1:2:Oliver Cowdery witness}}
{{:Source:Oliver Cowdery:Letter to Cornelius C. Blatchly 9 November 1829:Gospel Luminary:10 December 1829:We saw the record...brought and laid before us by an angel}}
{{endnotes sources}}
[[Category:Book of Mormon/Witnesses/Three witnesses]]

Source:Oliver Cowdery:Letter to Cornelius C. Blatchly 9 November 1829:Gospel Luminary:10 December 1829:We saw the record...brought and laid before us by an angel

2015-02-28T05:10:22Z

StephenClarke: Created page with "==Oliver Cowdery (1829): "We saw the record...brought and laid before us by an angel== <blockquote> "You also wished Mr. Harris to inform you respecting his seeing this book,..."

==Oliver Cowdery (1829): "We saw the record...brought and laid before us by an angel==
<blockquote>
"You also wished Mr. Harris to inform you respecting his seeing this book, whether there could not possibly have been some juggling at the bottom of it. A few words on that point may suffice.— It was a clear, open beautiful day, far from any inhabitants, in a remote field, at the time we saw the record, of which it has been spoken, brought and laid before us, by an angel, arrayed in glorious light, [descended] out of the midst of heaven. Now if this is human juggling—judge ye."<ref>Oliver Cowdery letter to Cornelius C. Blatchly, 9 November 1829, quoted in "The New Bible," Gospel Luminary 2, no. 49 (10 December 1829): 194.</ref></blockquote></onlyinclude>

{{Endnotes sources}}

[[Category:Oliver Cowdery/Witness to the Book of Mormon]]

Source:Echoes:Ch11:2:Secrecy in Sermon on the Mount

2015-02-27T05:06:10Z

StephenClarke: /* The Lord's requirement of secrecy in {{b||Matthew|7|}} and {{s|3|Nephi|14|}} */ italicized book titles

{{FME-Source
|title=The Lord's Requirement of Secrecy in {{b||Matthew|7|}} and {{s|3|Nephi|14|}}
|category=
|catname=
}}<onlyinclude>
==The Lord's requirement of secrecy in {{b||Matthew|7|}} and {{s|3|Nephi|14|}}==
<blockquote>
In the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord required his hearers to keep some holy things secret: "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you" (Matthew 7:6; 3 Nephi 14:6). For most readers "the original meaning [of this saying] is puzzling." One renowned scholar has concluded in frustration, "The logion [saying of Jesus] is a riddle." For virtually all interpreters of the Sermon on the Mount, this requirement of secrecy seems badly out of place in the narrative or is hard to explain.

The emphasis in these parallel passages is clearly on withholding and protecting certain things because of their sacred nature. Drawing on Logion 93 in the ''Gospel of Thomas'', which was first discovered in 1945 at Nag Hammadi, Egypt, Georg Strecker identifies the holy thing in Matthew 7:6 as "gnostic secret knowledge." If this is correct, the implication is that Jesus gave his hearers something that he required them to keep sacred and confidential—an implication consistent with some other interesting conclusions of Joachim Jeremias regarding the existence of sacred, secret teachings and practices in primitive Christianity. Similarly, Professor Hans Dieter Betz finds it most likely that Matthew 7:6 refers to

:an esoteric saying that the uninformed will never be able to figure out. Finding the explanation is not a matter of natural intelligence but of initiation into secrets. . . . In other words, we are dealing with some kind of secret (''arcanum''). Indeed, the language reminds us of arcane teaching (''Arkandisziplin'') as it was used in the Greek mystery religions and in philosophy. . . . Originally, then, the [Sermon on the Mount] was meant to be insiders' literature, not to be divulged to the uninitiated outsiders. . . . Remarkably, Elchasai used the same language: "Inasmuch as he considers that it would be an insult to reason that these great and ineffable mysteries should be trampled under foot or that they should be handed down to many, he advises that they should be preserved as valuable pearls saying this: Do not read this word to all men and guard carefully these precepts because all men are not faithful nor are all women straightforward."

Such a requirement of secrecy is a common feature of rituals and temple ordinances. Indeed, the first-century Christian ''Didache'', discovered in 1873, associates the saying in Matthew 7:6 with a requirement of exclusivity, specifically the prohibition not to let anyone "eat or drink of the Eucharist with you except for those baptized in the name of the Lord" (see ''Didache'' 9:5 and 14:1–2, which connect Matthew 5:23–25 and the observance of the sacrament). Accordingly, Betz concludes that "the 'holy' [mentioned in Matthew 7:6] could be a ritual." Whenever sacred knowledge is given to recipients, it becomes a string of precious pearls of great price, revelations for which one will sell all that one has in order to obtain, and one keeps this knowledge hidden to protect it (see Matthew 13:44–46). Indeed, the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible confirms that Matthew 7:6 is exactly concerned with the requirement of keeping certain sacred things secret. It adds: "The mysteries of the kingdom ye shall keep within yourselves. . . . For the world cannot receive that which ye, yourselves, are not able to bear" (Matthew 7:10–11 JST; on the plural, "holy things," compare the ''Gospel of Thomas'' 93).

It is significant that only in recent decades have biblical scholars begun to appreciate the likely setting of this cryptic saying in the Sermon on the Mount, seeing in it some reference to holy things imparted by Jesus to his faithful followers. Yet this is precisely the setting in which these words had already appeared in 1829 in 3 Nephi 14, namely, when the glorious Son of God appeared to a righteous body of saints, bestowed upon their leaders priesthood powers, taught the people exalting principles, gave them commandments, and put them under covenant to keep those commandments, all of which was conducted in a sacred temple precinct. A sense of awe and holy silence surrounds much of the account of the glorious events on these occasions (see, for example, 3 Nephi 28:14). Thus the new understanding of the ancient meaning of Matthew 7:6 makes its explicit appearance in a temple context in the Book of Mormon perfectly but unexpectedly appropriate.<ref>{{Book:Parry Peterson Welch:Echoes and Evidences of the Book of Mormon|pages=[http://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1082&index=11 Chapter 11], {{sofr}}|author=John W. Welch|article=A Steady Stream of Significant Recognitions}}</ref></blockquote></onlyinclude>

{{Endnotes sources}}

[[Category:Echoes and Evidences]]
[[Category:Book of Mormon/Bible/New Testament|New Testament and the Book of Mormon]]
[[Category:Book of Mormon/Elements/Jesus Christ/Sermon on the Mount|Sermon on the Mount]]
[[Category:Book of Mormon/Elements/Temple|Temple in Book of Mormon]]

Source:Echoes:Ch11:2:Secrecy in Sermon on the Mount

2015-02-27T02:32:36Z

StephenClarke: /* The Lord's Requirement of Secrecy in {{b||Matthew|7|}} and {{s|3|Nephi|14|}} */ changed title capitalization, removed internal footnotes

{{FME-Source
|title=The Lord's Requirement of Secrecy in {{b||Matthew|7|}} and {{s|3|Nephi|14|}}
|category=
|catname=
}}<onlyinclude>
==The Lord's requirement of secrecy in {{b||Matthew|7|}} and {{s|3|Nephi|14|}}==
<blockquote>
In the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord required his hearers to keep some holy things secret: "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you" (Matthew 7:6; 3 Nephi 14:6). For most readers "the original meaning [of this saying] is puzzling." One renowned scholar has concluded in frustration, "The logion [saying of Jesus] is a riddle." For virtually all interpreters of the Sermon on the Mount, this requirement of secrecy seems badly out of place in the narrative or is hard to explain.

The emphasis in these parallel passages is clearly on withholding and protecting certain things because of their sacred nature. Drawing on Logion 93 in the Gospel of Thomas, which was first discovered in 1945 at Nag Hammadi, Egypt, Georg Strecker identifies the holy thing in Matthew 7:6 as "gnostic secret knowledge." If this is correct, the implication is that Jesus gave his hearers something that he required them to keep sacred and confidential—an implication consistent with some other interesting conclusions of Joachim Jeremias regarding the existence of sacred, secret teachings and practices in primitive Christianity. Similarly, Professor Hans Dieter Betz finds it most likely that Matthew 7:6 refers to

:an esoteric saying that the uninformed will never be able to figure out. Finding the explanation is not a matter of natural intelligence but of initiation into secrets. . . . In other words, we are dealing with some kind of secret (arcanum). Indeed, the language reminds us of arcane teaching (Arkandisziplin) as it was used in the Greek mystery religions and in philosophy. . . . Originally, then, the [Sermon on the Mount] was meant to be insiders' literature, not to be divulged to the uninitiated outsiders. . . . Remarkably, Elchasai used the same language: "Inasmuch as he considers that it would be an insult to reason that these great and ineffable mysteries should be trampled under foot or that they should be handed down to many, he advises that they should be preserved as valuable pearls saying this: Do not read this word to all men and guard carefully these precepts because all men are not faithful nor are all women straightforward."

Such a requirement of secrecy is a common feature of rituals and temple ordinances. Indeed, the first-century Christian Didache, discovered in 1873, associates the saying in Matthew 7:6 with a requirement of exclusivity, specifically the prohibition not to let anyone "eat or drink of the Eucharist with you except for those baptized in the name of the Lord" (see Didache 9:5 and 14:1–2, which connect Matthew 5:23–25 and the observance of the sacrament). Accordingly, Betz concludes that "the 'holy' [mentioned in Matthew 7:6] could be a ritual." Whenever sacred knowledge is given to recipients, it becomes a string of precious pearls of great price, revelations for which one will sell all that one has in order to obtain, and one keeps this knowledge hidden to protect it (see Matthew 13:44–46). Indeed, the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible confirms that Matthew 7:6 is exactly concerned with the requirement of keeping certain sacred things secret. It adds: "The mysteries of the kingdom ye shall keep within yourselves. . . . For the world cannot receive that which ye, yourselves, are not able to bear" (Matthew 7:10–11 JST; on the plural, "holy things," compare the Gospel of Thomas 93).

It is significant that only in recent decades have biblical scholars begun to appreciate the likely setting of this cryptic saying in the Sermon on the Mount, seeing in it some reference to holy things imparted by Jesus to his faithful followers. Yet this is precisely the setting in which these words had already appeared in 1829 in 3 Nephi 14, namely, when the glorious Son of God appeared to a righteous body of saints, bestowed upon their leaders priesthood powers, taught the people exalting principles, gave them commandments, and put them under covenant to keep those commandments, all of which was conducted in a sacred temple precinct. A sense of awe and holy silence surrounds much of the account of the glorious events on these occasions (see, for example, 3 Nephi 28:14). Thus the new understanding of the ancient meaning of Matthew 7:6 makes its explicit appearance in a temple context in the Book of Mormon perfectly but unexpectedly appropriate.<ref>{{Book:Parry Peterson Welch:Echoes and Evidences of the Book of Mormon|pages=[http://publications.maxwellinstitute.byu.edu/fullscreen/?pub=1082&index=11 Chapter 11], {{sofr}}|author=John W. Welch|article=A Steady Stream of Significant Recognitions}}</ref></blockquote></onlyinclude>

{{Endnotes sources}}

[[Category:Echoes and Evidences]]
[[Category:Book of Mormon/Bible/New Testament|New Testament and the Book of Mormon]]
[[Category:Book of Mormon/Elements/Jesus Christ/Sermon on the Mount|Sermon on the Mount]]
[[Category:Book of Mormon/Elements/Temple|Temple in Book of Mormon]]