Just Some Thoughts, Chapter 1: Believe, Repent, Baptism, Holy Ghost

I've gathered a bunch of notes and papers I've written over the last few years into a book. I think maybe I'll post a chapter here and there when I can. The book is called "Just Some Thoughts" because that's literally what it is: thoughts that I've had to try to make sense of the path back to God. My attempt to find peace, understanding, salvation, and community. It is still in rough form, so forgive me, reader. Maybe I'll smooth things out for later.

For now, enjoy.

Written sometime in 2019, edited for clarity in 2024.

Chapter 1: Believe, Repent, Baptism, Holy Ghost

And it came to pass that the thirty and fourth year passed away, and also the thirty and fifth, and behold, the disciples of Jesus had formed a church of Christ in all the lands round about. And as many as did come unto them and did truly repent of their sins were baptized in the name of Jesus, and they did also receive the holy ghost. And it came to pass in the thirty and sixth year, the people were all converted unto the Lord, upon all the face of the land, both Nephites and Lamanites; and there were no contentions and disputations among them, and every man did deal justly one with another. And they had all things common among them; therefore, there were not rich and poor, bond and free, but they were all made free and partakers of the Heavenly gift. (4 Nephi 1:1)

Believe

This topic is easily understood, but not commonly understood. To address it, I will quote from the Glossary of Gospel Terms in our scriptures. Regarding Belief, they say,

Understanding and accepting true doctrine (see 3 Nephi 7:4). Belief comes after mere hope (meaning “desire”) and is based upon the conviction a proposition is true. There is a difference between belief and faith and between faith and knowledge. It is a spectrum. At one end there is desire, and it is then followed by belief. By degrees this belief grows into faith, and faith can progress by degrees into knowledge. Knowledge is at the other end of the spectrum. Belief is a step toward faith. Belief can come from study and from trusting others. Belief can be very weak, or it can be a strongly held conviction. In the Book of Mormon, Jacob makes a startling promise for those who live when the destruction begins preliminary to the cleansing of the world before the Lord returns. He says, none will he destroy that believeth in him. And they that believe not in him shall be destroyed, both by fire, and by tempest, and by earthquakes, and by bloodsheds, and by pestilence, and by famine (2 Nephi 5:5). This amazing promise is predicated on “believing in Him.” This requires us to understand what the word “believe” means in the parlance of the Book of Mormon. Those who believe in Him know and accept correct doctrine — or the truth — about Him. Those who do not know and will not accept correct doctrine or the truth have dwindled in unbelief. They do not believe in Him. They may have religion, may belong to churches, may be active in all their observances, but they are not in possession of belief in Him. Instead they accept for doctrines the commandments of men and their hearts are far from Him. They teach false and vain things. As a result, they neither enter into the kingdom nor suffer those who are entering to go in. This includes those who, though they are humble followers of Christ, are nevertheless led that in many instances they do err in doctrine (see 2 Nephi 12:2). There will be many who are destroyed who will be quite surprised by it. They will complain that they have prophesied in Christ’s name, have cast out devils in His name, and done many wonderful works, but they do not know Christ, and therefore, never did believe in Him (see Matthew 3:47–48). “If you are one of those who believe in Him, and who will not dwindle in unbelief, will not accept the commandments of men as doctrine, but will take the spirit for your guide, then Jacob promises that Christ will not destroy you. The rest He will destroy.” To believe in Him is to accept, study, contemplate, and ponder His teachings. It is not to just go along with the group, but to rise up from one’s position and awaken from one’s slumber. It is to grow into knowledge about Him. Belief leads to faith and faith to knowledge. But the process is initiated by one’s belief and correct understanding of His teachings (see the Lectures on Faith).

It's probably also useful to understand the antithesis of belief - unbelief. Again, pulling from the glossary, we learn that unbelief means,

...one does not understand and has not accepted true doctrine. The word unbelief means to accept false doctrine or to have an incomplete and inaccurate understanding of correct doctrine. Unbelief is often used in conjunction with losing truth, forsaking doctrine, and “dwindling.” The phrase dwindling in unbelief is the Book of Mormon’s way to describe moving from a state of belief, with true and complete doctrine, to a state of unbelief, where the truth has been discarded. Miracles end because men dwindle in unbelief.

Repent

The covenant offered by the Lord in 2017 asks four questions. They are,

First: Do you believe all the words of the Lord which have been read to you this day, and know them to be true and from the Lord Jesus Christ, who has condescended to provide them to you, and do you covenant with Him to cease to do evil and to seek to continually do good?

Second: Do you have faith in these things and receive the scriptures approved by the Lord as a standard to govern you in your daily walk in life, to accept the obligations established by the Book of Mormon as a covenant, and to use the scriptures to correct yourselves and to guide your words, thoughts, and deeds?

Third: Do you agree to assist all others — who covenant to likewise accept this standard to govern their lives — to keep the Lord’s will, to succor those who stand in need, to lighten the burdens of your brothers and sisters whenever you are able, and to help care for the poor among you?

Fourth: And do you covenant to seek to become of one heart with those who seek the Lord to establish His righteousness?

I find it interesting that, often, the first thing we are expected to do when we determine we will repent and turn to God is to search the scriptures. In Alma 10:5 we read,

And after Alma had made an end of speaking unto the people, many of them did believe on his words and began to repent and to search the scriptures. 

We have a nearly identical command in our day, 

And your minds in times past have been darkened because of unbelief, and because you have treated lightly the things you have received, which vanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under condemnation. And this condemnation rests upon the children of Zion, even all, and they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon, and the former commandments which I have given them, not only to say but to do according to that which I have written, that they may bring forth fruit meet for their Father’s kingdom. (T&C 82:20)

When God speaks to man and man records God’s word, the record is almost always edited by ambitious and conspiring men with agendas. (See Denver Snuffer podcast 60: Third Root. Here Denver lays out very clearly how scripture always becomes corrupt by ambitious men.)

Some examples include:

 
- The Deuteronomists (The Great High Priest, Margaret Barker pp. 9, 16, 18)

- Councils at Nicea in 325 A.D. (Bart Erman: Orthodox Corruption of Scripture)

- Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and Sydnes Rigdon (T&C 156:8; T&C 157:12-16)

- This was even a problem in Christ’s day. (RE Luke 8:17)

While translating the Bible, Joseph Smith stated that, "except the church receive the fulness of the Scriptures that they would yet fall.” The Lord explained that the fullness included, “the revelations which I have given unto you, and which I shall hereafter, from time to time, give unto you, for the purpose of building up my church and Kingdom on the earth, and to prepare my people for the time of my coming which is nigh at hand [...] the Books of Mormon [...] the Articles and Covenants, in which covenants all my commandments which it is my will should be printed shall be printed, as it shall be made known unto you, [...] the New Translation of the scriptures."

There are varying levels of accuracy when it comes to scripture. The Book of Mormon was translated by the gift and power of God. The interpretation of that book was given by heaven. We know it plainly and accurately conveys what the Lord intended to convey in that book in its current form. Many extra-canonical texts were found and translated by scholars. The interpretation was given to us according to their understanding of dead or nearly dead languages. We cannot be certain we understand properly what the original writers would have said in English without the gift and power of God. Despite this, the Qumran, Nag Hammadi, and other New Testament texts have not gone through a religiously or politically motivated edit by ambitious men. This makes them at least as useful as the pre-Joseph Smith translated bible, but less useful than the Book of Mormon and revelations given through Joseph.

Prayerful study alongside the “fullness of the scriptures” can help guide us to the true meaning and intention of the more mysterious passages. This is the beginning of repentance.

Baptism

The many symbols that flow from the experience of baptism should be discovered by each individual. For now, it is sufficient to state that baptism shows "ye are willing to repent of your sins, and enter into a covenant with him to keep his commandments, and witness it unto him this day by going into the waters of baptism."

Alma, father of Alma states,

And it came to pass that he said unto them, Behold, here are the waters of Mormon — for thus were they called — and now, as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light, yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn, yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times, and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life, now I say unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized in the name of the Lord, as a witness before him that ye have entered into a covenant with him that ye will serve him and keep his commandments, that he may pour out his spirit more abundantly upon you? (Mosiah 9:7)

It should be noted that this individual event is intended to turn a person into someone valuable to a community. We should ask ourselves why that is, let that thought guide the next "steps" in the progression of the person.

Holy Ghost

After being baptized, the Holy Ghost fell upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery. Of that experience Joseph wrote:

Immediately upon our coming up out of the water after we had been baptized, we experienced great and glorious blessings from our Heavenly Father. No sooner had I baptized Oliver Cowdery than the holy ghost fell upon him and he stood up and prophesied many things which should shortly come to pass. And again, so soon as I had been baptized by him, I also had the spirit of prophecy; when standing up I prophesied concerning the rise of this Church, and many other things connected with the Church and this generation of the children of men. We were filled with the holy ghost and rejoiced in the God of our salvation.

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.

So here we find ourselves back at the scriptures. Remember all those mysterious passages you glazed over when you began to repent? Now they can be understood! Not only that, but they can be implemented! Not only that, but you can recieve revelation regarding them. 

The Holy Ghost has the power to:

- open the heavens, showing you things past, present, and future (1 Nephi 3:5; T&C 69:29)

- bringing all things to remembrance (T&C 157:32; TSJ 9:9)

- with the power to give you knowledge of all things (Moroni 10:2)

- tell you all things which you should do (2 Nephi 14:1)

The Book of Mormon was “translated” by the gift and power of God. And what is the gift and power of God? Is it not the Holy Ghost, a gift from the Father, which is His power unto salvation?

Joseph used this gift when going through the bible, using his gift and power from God to see the past present and future to understand the true meaning and intention of the more mysterious passages in a way he could never attain to previously, and has never before thought of. This is how the book of Moses was received, as well as any other revisions of the text. He did not do this for all the bible, however. It is as if he showed us the example of what to do, and left the rest for us to discover.

It's important that we also have this gift when reading texts translated by men who did not act with the gift and power of God. Even the Book of Mormon would have been lesser had a scholar, without the gift and power of God, or the power of the Holy Ghost, attempted its direct and literal translation into English. In this sense, the Book of Mormon is much more a revelation than a translation.

It is very difficult sometimes to transmit through pen and paper what has been received of God. Even when the writers are inspired, their writing can be “weak” (1 Nephi 5:35; 2 Nephi 15:1-2; Ether 5:4, 8).

We read in 2 Nephi 2:6 that,

...the Lord said unto me also, I will raise up unto the fruit of thy loins, and I will make for him a spokesman. And I, behold, I will give unto him that he shall write the writing of the fruit of thy loins unto the fruit of thy loins; and the spokesman of thy loins shall declare it. And the words which he shall write shall be the words which are expedient in my wisdom should go forth unto the fruit of thy loins. And it shall be as if the fruit of thy loins had cried unto them from the dust, for I know their faith. And they shall cry from the dust, yea, even repentance unto their brethren, even that after many generations have gone by them. And it shall come to pass that their cry shall go, even according to the simpleness of their words, because of their faith. Their words shall proceed forth out of my mouth unto their brethren who are the fruit of thy loins; and the weakness of their words will I make strong in their faith unto the remembering of my covenant which I made unto thy fathers.

The Lord will make what was written in weakness, strong to the readers because He took their true meaning and intention and phrased it in a strong way. If the Book of Mormon had been translated by a scholar, we would have gotten what they wrote in weakness. But we didn’t. Gratefully, we received the Lord’s strength.

A simple case study, bringing all texts of scripture and lessons from the prophets that are available, can help guide one way to aid our reading, using the Holy Ghost to bring all things to our remembrance. One key and example to aid our reading of these texts is given with the newly revealed Testimony of John, given through Denver Snuffer. The original scholarly translators rejected the spiritual, the eternal, the mystical, in favor of the earthly, temporal, and finite. The original scholarly translation appears thus:

As soon then as they had come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread. Jesus says unto them, Bring of the fish which you have now caught. Simon Peter went up and drew the net to land, full of great fishes, a hundred fifty-three. And for all there were, so many, yet was not the net broken. (RE John 11:7l KJV John 21:9-10)

Denver’s newly revealed account reads this way:

As they ascended, they saw a fire burning at the offering place and the Flesh Offering was upon it, who is also the Bread of Life. Jesus said to them, Rise above the flesh you now occupy, and Simon Peter ascended, and drew the veil open, and there were ministering a hundred, and then fifty, and then three; and for these many who they beheld, yet the veil remained open. (RE T&C 171:12:16)

As we can see, the two take very different approaches to interpreting the text. One using only scholarly tools and earthly ideas, the other the gift and power of God.

We will use the Infancy Gospel of James for our case study. Speaking of Mary, the mother of the Lord, we read in chapter six first paragraph:

“And day by day, the child grew stronger. When she was six months old, her mother stood her on the ground to test whether she could stand. And walking seven steps, she came to her mother’s breast, and her mother caught her up.

If we take on Denver’s example, and take all we have been taught through the scriptures, and all the prophets have said, and allow all these things to be brought to our remembrance to inform us of the true meaning and intention of these mysterious passages, we might read the former text more like this:

And through the aeons, the female spirit progressed. When she had ascended six rungs of Jacob’s ladder, her Divine Mother sent her to the Earth to try whether she would do all things she was commanded. And, ascending seven rungs, she was taken up to her Mother’s bosom. 

It behooves us to exercise this same gift and power as we read the bible (even the JST, since he did not fix all of it), and other sacred texts which were translated by scholars.

The Lord says in T&C 157:45 that, 

I have given to you my doctrine, and have also revealed teachings, commandments, precepts, and principles to guide you, and it is not meet that I command you in all things — reason together and apply what I have given you, and it will be enough.

The scriptures play a central role in our development as a person of God. The new Restoration Edition of the scriptures will be essential in the establishment of New Jerusalem.