Doctrine. It’s not exactly a word that catches most people’s attention. Its probably never been a viral topic on YouTube, Facebook, or any other social media outlet – it’s not likely ever to be so. That’s okay with me, most things that catch most people’s attention don’t appeal to me anyway. But it’s an important subject. It’s one thing that has true potential for bringing about real and lasting change in our lives. I can’t think of anything more deserving of the attention of all of God’s children, regardless of race or religion.
When I think of true doctrine, I can’t help but think of food analogies for its importance. There are all kinds of food, but only one kind of nutrition. We can eat garbage and call it food – and truthfully, garbage in the form of most of the things people eat can keep us alive, but that doesn’t mean it’s nutritious. When nutritionists get right down to the heart of nutrition they are talking about vitamins and minerals. Twinkies may have some of those things, but not as much as a freshly picked (Insert any word that might be found in a garden). Therefore, by analogy, true doctrine is not food, it is the fundamental nutrients that sustain spiritual life.
True doctrine is spiritual nutrition for the spirit. Without it, just as the physical body without food, it dies. Spiritual death, we are told from the scriptures is nothing more or less than a separation from God (see Alma 12:16, Alma 42:9, 2 Nephi 9:12, Helaman 14:16).
To understand true doctrine, we can benefit by first understanding a thing or two about false doctrine. My study of the doctrines of the gospel has revealed three sub-categories of false doctrine, each of which results in various degrees of apostasy, or spiritual death. The first is the absence of true doctrine; the second is incomplete doctrine; and the third is false doctrine in general.
Absence of Doctrine
In order to test a hypothesis in science, it is useful to have a control group, and then to use a test group where a variable is applied and compared to the control group. Then observations and analysis can be performed and conclusions drawn. In the case of the absence of doctrine, the Book of Mormon provides the perfect historical accounts to satisfy the experiment.
Early in the Book of Mormon, the Lord told Lehi to have his sons return to Jerusalem to acquire the Brass Plates, which represented the best source of true doctrine then available. Nephi learned and explained to us the reason for attaining this source of doctrine was that “[his people] could not keep the commandments of the Lord according to the law of Moses, save they should have the law” (see 1 Ne. 4: 14-17). Therefore in the absence of doctrine, Nephi knew his people would not keep the commandments and most likely anticipated their apostasy. To make a long story short, the people of Nephi had the doctrines, and had a full understanding of the gospel. Eventually they did apostatize, but not from the absence of doctrine.
The Nephites with true doctrine in hand represent the control group. The Lamanites on the other hand are the test group. They had no doctrine, since Nephi took it with him, and it became apparent hundreds of years later when the sons of Mosiah taught them the gospel that the Lamanites were living without the knowledge of truth in a state of apostasy.
But there is another test group – the people of Mulek. This group of people left Jerusalem much like Lehi’s family, only they did not have the benefit of having the brass plates to preserve true doctrine. As the account states, “and they had brought no records with them; and they denied the being of their Creator; and Mosiah, nor the people of Mosiah, could understand them” (See Omni 14:18). Simply put, the Mulekites’ absence of doctrine led to apostasy, and illiteracy was a side detriment.
Further, personal apostasy can occur to those who have scriptures scattered throughout their homes, but who fail to open and study from them. Those who fall in this category suffer from a diet absent of spiritual nutrition, are starving, and are on the road to apostasy.
Incomplete Doctrine
This category is the great plague of our dispensation. The Apostle Paul foresaw these days and the problems associated with incomplete doctrine: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; “And they shall turn away their ears from the truth” (2 Tim. 4:3–4).This is the category that facilitates the need for the restoration, including the need for scripture like the Book of Mormon, Pearl of Great Price, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the yet to be discovered and equally important third witness of scripture now generally known as the book of the Lost Tribes of Israel (See this article for more). Such books are the tender mercies the Lord has provided and will provide for the confounding of false doctrines (see JST Genesis 50:31) that he knew would be prevalent today.
I LOVE the Holy Bible! From its pages I have gained a deep and intimately personal witness that Jesus Christ is the Savior and redeemer of my soul, and all those who follow him. Unfortunately, the Bible was written in Hebrew and Greek, and we now have a copy of a copy, that has passed through righteous and unrighteous hands, by people of various levels of skill and qualifications in translation. Common knowledge suggests that many copies cannot be exactly the same as the original. But perhaps the greater limitation of the English Bible is not in its mistranslation, but what has been left out of the translations altogether.
Apparently this point was so important that it was shown to Nephi in a vision by the Lord. The complete doctrinal portion of Nephi’s vision is covered in 1 Ne 13:20-29; but verse 29 summarizes the point nicely: “because of the many plain and precious things which have been taken out of the book, which were plain unto the understanding of the children of men, according to the plainness which is in the Lamb of God—because of these things which are taken away out of the gospel of the Lamb, an exceedingly great many do stumble, yea, insomuch that Satan hath great power over them”. While not a complete apostasy like that of the Mulekites, the stumbling spoken of is at least an isolated form of doctrinal apostasy.
Another example of incomplete doctrine, though moving closer to the purely false category is illustrated in the experience of a man I know. He taught his gospel doctrine lesson each Sunday for a few years. When he was released, he put his scriptures on the shelf for three years. At that point he took an interest in false doctrines sometimes referred to as anti-Mormon literature. This title can be misleading. It gives the impression that its message is completely opposite from the truth of the gospel, and any false doctrine contained within it should be easily detectible. It’s not true. A more appropriate term might be something like “Rarely true, usually false, and most often distorted, out-of-context, or totally false half truths of the LDS church”. For obvious reasons it doesn’t go by this name. This type of literature is filled with half truths mingled with completely false doctrines. The incompleteness is what makes this type of literature a prime catalyst for apostasy.Since some of the historical aspects have traces of truth, the reader, if told to avoid this stuff because it is totally false could potentially pick it up, find some small measure of truth, and feel like they have been lied to by family, friends, and church leaders. Their focus on the 5% of truth it contains can overshadow the false 95% portion, and their heart becomes open to it. Their spiritual path from that point on is a downward cycle as their spiritual diet becomes filled with empty calories, and their spiritual cancer begins to develop ever slowly.
This example shows the effects of both the absence of true doctrine, and the presence of incomplete, and even false doctrine. When I first learned of his engagement in false doctrines, I asked him how long it had been since he feasted upon the true doctrines of the gospel contained in the scriptures. He proudly answered it had been three years, as if that was good enough- as though that should have been sufficient to carry him that long. I immediately realized that his spirit had literally starved during that time in his absence of the vital elements of spiritual life support – doctrine. Today he is an apostatized member of the church. I could be wrong, but there seems to be no trace of God, faith, or religion in his life. I’m not without hope for him though – I know his soul is precious in the eyes of God, and believe his spiritual blinders will fall off one day.
There is another incomplete potentially more dangerous form of doctrine among us, and is hardly detectable by those who do not engage in doctrine regularly. Joseph Fielding Smith spoke of this category in these words:
“Among the Latter-day Saints, the preaching of false doctrines disguised as truths of the gospel, may be expected from people of two classes, and practically from these only; they are:
First—The hopelessly ignorant, whose lack of intelligence is due to their indolence and sloth, who make but feeble effort, if indeed any at all, to better themselves by reading and study; those who are afflicted with a dread disease that may develop into an incurable malady—laziness.
Second—The proud and self-vaunting ones, who read by the lamp of their own conceit; who interpret by rules of their own contriving; who have become a law unto themselves, and so pose as the sole judges of their own doings. More dangerously ignorant than the first.
Beware of the lazy and the proud; their infection in each case is contagious; better for them and for all when they are compelled to display the yellow flag of warning, that the clean and uninfected may be protected.” – PRESIDENT JOSEPH F. SMITH, Excerpt from Gospel Doctrine,14th edition (1966), 373
The doctrinaly casual among us may be the best at embracing false doctrines.
In a recent popular children’s show, I detected this form of false doctrine after listening to an awesome song repeatedly. This story about a young woman finding herself and discovering her own limits is actually really powerful, but just missed the mark in its doctrine. Her words were “No right no wrong, no rules for me, I’m free.” Her doctrine in other words is this: If I simply abandon all the rules that have kept me bound throughout my life, I will be free and happy. This is not sound doctrine, and I refute it with Christ’s doctrine as follows. “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32), and, He continues, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6), and “Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice” (John 18:37).
There are those who would argue that it is just a simple harmless cartoon and to get over it. I love the show, I’ll continue to watch it and let my kids watch it. Actually, I’m grateful for the teaching opportunity which may not have come otherwise. The point is that false doctrines are all around us and an abundant intake of true doctrinal calories is the only way to see these half truths and outright spiritual fallacies for what they are.
False Doctrine
Unlike the kind of false doctrine that contains traces of truth though twisted and out of context, this third category of purely false doctrine is just plain wrong – even opposite to truth. It’s like the man who looks at the sun and says it is not shining. Isaiah prophetically saw our time and spoke of this condition calling good evil and evil good; or calling light darkness and darkness light; and sweet for bitter, and bitter for sweet (see Isaiah 5:20, 2 Nephi 15:20).
It is astonishing and troubling to think someone could actually in their right mind call lightness darkness or vice versa. I don’t think anyone in their right mind can do this. Alma experienced frustration along these lines when he noticed the anti-Christ, Korihor, continually denied truth while demanding a sign. Through the Holy Ghost’s inspiration, Alma knew what was going on inside of Korihor, when he said; “Behold, I know that thou believest, but thou art possessed with a lying spirit, and ye have put off the Spirit of God that it may have no place in you; but the devil has power over you, and he doth carry you about, working devices that he may destroy the children of God” (Alma 30:42). Of course each case involving this blatant opposition to truth is different, and only God knows our hearts, but could it be that the explanation for such delusion is because of the person’s possession of lying spirits?
Whatever the case, the Lord is very serious when it comes to the changing of his doctrines. Nephi explains: “O the wise, and the learned, and the rich, that are puffed up in the pride of their hearts, and all those who preach false doctrines, and all those who commit whoredoms, and pervert the right way of the Lord, wo, wo, wo be unto them, saith the Lord God Almighty, for they shall be thrust down to hell!” (2 Ne. 28:15).
The collective story told by these three sub-topics of false doctrine is that they each lead to apostasy and spiritual death. Our spirits are eternal in nature. In their very most natural state, our spirits belong in God’s presence; it is this earth life that is home away from home – not the other way around. Therefore the best doctrinal statement I can offer to prevent spiritual death is to avoid the cancerous half truths, activities totally devoid of true doctrine, and the outright false doctrines of the world, and feast upon the words (or doctrine) of Christ (2nd Ne. 32:3).
The power of false doctrine in leading God’s children away from truth is dwarfed by God’s true doctrine in comparison, which persuades them to come to him. Stay tuned for part 2, – True Doctrine.