Some of the most interesting information in this paper is in the footnotes. Since those can't be copied over into blog format, I'll add them manually under a demarcation line.
This was written with my friend Jeff Savage in preparation for the Colorado conference in Spring 2019, where we held breakout classes on the subject. I want to add that this is not theory, but an explanation of years of practice. When put into practice, this subject has knit more hearts and created more bonds than any other I am aware of.
Chapter 2
And There Were No Contentions and Disputations Among Them
“And that you may more fully keep yourself unspotted from the world, you shall go to the house of prayer and offer up your sacraments upon my holy day. For verily, this is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors, and to pay your devotions unto the Most High. Nevertheless, your vows shall be offered up in righteousness on all days and at all times, but remember that on this, the Lord’s day, you shall offer your oblations and your sacraments unto the Most High, confessing your sins unto your brethren and before the Lord. And on this day, you shall do none other thing…”1
Throughout the scriptures, confession appears in conjunction with repentance, baptism, and the Atonement, yet has not been explored sufficiently in recent times. We tend to approach this topic with a picture of a catholic priest and indulgences in our minds, but confession in the scriptures has a central role in both individual and communal worship. In this paper we lay out the need for confession, we attempt to define it using the scriptures, and propose that we as a people experiment on this word within our fellowship groups and conferences. Confession can humble us and, when received in charity, can help keep us unspotted from the world.
In the Answer to Prayer for Covenant, the Lord explains that He will labor with us as a people, not because of us, but for the sake of the covenants He made to the fathers.2 He explains that one of the weaknesses yet causing us to stumble is pride. What is the root of this pride? What can we do to eradicate it from among us?
As a people, we have received a lot of knowledge and wisdom from heaven in rapid succession. “We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but charity edifies. And if any man thinks that he knows anything, he doesn’t yet know as he ought to know. But if any man loves God, the same is known of him”.3 Rather than puff us up, “[Gospel knowledge] is meant to remake [us] into a humble servant, to change [our] heart.”4 The result of greater knowledge should be that our hearts are knit together in love, like David and Jonathan, who became bosom brothers despite strong political obstacles.5 However, in our limited experience, receiving greater light, without living in accordance with previous light, tends to make us more likely to condemn, compel and contend with others, destroying the peace that ought to rule among the people of God. We have to ask ourselves - has this heavenly information had its intended effect on our hearts?6 If not, why? What can we do now to both rid us of this pride and knit our hearts together?
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1. T&C 46:3; All citations are taken from the Restoration Edition of the scriptures found at scriptures.info.2. T&C 157:19: For the sake of the promises to the fathers will I labor with you as a people, and not because of you, for you have not yet become what you must be to live together in peace.” (See par. 64 for His discussion of pride.)
3. 1 Corinthians 1:31
4. The Second Comforter, (hereafter TSC) pg. 16
5. Those bound by a covenant always act in love: 1 Samuel 8:19; Mosiah 9:9; Colossians 1:6; T&C 157:51
6. “Being led by the Holy Spirit, becoming humble, submissive, meek, patient, full of love, all long-suffering [...] having the love of God always in your hearts (Alma 10:4)
We propose that the principle of confession is one key way for us to increase our humility and draw our hearts together. The scriptures inform us that undertaking to “cover our sins” only serves to gratify our pride and our vain ambition, and ‘seeking deep to hide our counsels’ from the Lord is related to our being “puffed up in our hearts”.7 If this is true, then the inverse will also be true. Done correctly, confessing--or acknowledging and uncovering--our sins can both humble and serve to knit hearts together in love. Confession is a very sensitive subject. It goes against our nature to display our weaknesses. Our hope is that by unfolding the subject of confession as it is laid out in scripture, we can make the concept something much easier to grapple with.
Multiplicity in Language
In the English language, we are often required to use many words to describe a single idea.8 Because the Lord speaks to us according to our language, we are commanded to “search the scriptures” to find out the deeper meaning and interconnectedness of the words used in scripture.9 Consider Teachings & Commandments 82:18:
And I now give unto you a commandment to beware concerning yourselves, to give diligent heed to the words of Eternal life, for you shall live by every word that proceeds forth from the mouth of God. For the word of the Lord is Truth, and whatever is Truth is Light, and whatever is Light is Spirit, even the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
We see here the Lord attempting to define what He means by the “words of Eternal life” or “word[s] that proceed forth from the mouth of God.” In order to more fully convey the idea to us, he gives us some synonyms - truth, light, spirit. We gain an even fuller treatment on the idea in T&C 93:11, which informs us that light and truth can also be understood as intelligence, or the glory of God.
Consider also the word “knowledge”. Often in the scriptures, in order to have an actual knowledge of something, we are required to both “hear” and “see” that thing. We often encounter the phrase “see, hear and know”. We also read that seeing and hearing are required to be able to “testify” or “bear record” of a thing, making “seeing and hearing,” “knowledge,” “bearing record,” and “testimony” potential synonyms.10
The catechism for the Lectures on Faith 2:56 is another good example, making the word “manifestation” synonymous with a face to face encounter with Christ.11 The nature of multiplicity of language is not to say that every instance of “manifest” or “manifestation” in the scriptures it is referring to a face to face visit with the Lord, but it opens up the idea for investigation.
Behold and hearken unto the voice of him who has all power, who is from everlasting to everlasting, even Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. Behold, thus says the Lord unto you, O you elders of my church who are assembled upon this spot, whose sins are now forgiven you. For I the Lord forgive sins and am merciful unto those who confess their sins with humble hearts.
And the last paragraph reads:
And now, verily I say unto you, and what I say unto one I say unto all, Be of good cheer little children, for I am in your midst and I have not forsaken you, and inasmuch as you have humbled yourselves before me, the blessings of the Kingdom are yours. Gird up your loins, and be watchful, and be sober, looking forth for the coming of the Son of Man, for he comes in an hour you think not. Pray always, that you enter not into temptation, that you may abide the day of his coming, whether in life or in death. Even so, Amen.
The role of confession in repentance is also clarified by the usage of multiplicity in the New Testament. Matthew explains of John the Baptist that “many were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.”13 And in Christ’s sermon in the next chapter, He explains “blessed are they who believe on your words and come down into the depth of humility and be baptized in my name, for they shall be visited with fire and the Holy Ghost, and shall receive a remission of their sins.”14 In our day the Lord further expounds the role of confession in the context of repentance. He says, “By this you may know if a man repents of his sins, behold, he will confess them and forsake them.”15
It is no surprise then, knowing what we now know, that the Greek word “tapeinoó” can mean “to make low”, “to humble” or “to confess and deplore one's spiritual littleness and unworthiness.”16 It appears that confessing our sins is a powerful mechanism by which we can repent and humble ourselves.
Be Humble or Be Humbled17
Very frequently in the scriptures, we come across the phrase “humble yourselves, lest” judgment come.18 Knowing the Lord is “merciful and gracious, slow to anger [and] abundant in goodness”, this admonition should be taken more as wise advice from a kind and experienced parent rather than a bully with a stick.19 We know that at some point, every knee shall bend and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ.20 We can choose to acknowledge our sins and come to God in humility, or we can wait for sad experiences to humble us. Either way will lead to our being humbled, but only One Way leads to joy.
Alma draws a fine distinction between those who were compelled to be humble and those who would choose humility. The account is so useful to the discussion here that it will be quoted at length:
Now as Alma was teaching and speaking unto the people upon the hill Onidah, there came a great multitude unto him, who were those of whom we have been speaking, who were poor in heart because of their poverty as to the things of the world. And they came unto Alma, and the one who was the most foremost among them said unto him, Behold, what shall these my brethren do? For they are despised of all men because of their poverty, yea, and more especially by our priests. For they have cast us out of our synagogues, which we have labored abundantly to build with our own hands; and they have cast us out because of this, our exceeding poverty, that we have no place to worship our God. And now behold, what shall we do?
And now when Alma heard this, he turned him about, his face immediately towards him. And he beheld with great joy, for he beheld that their afflictions had truly humbled them and that they were in a preparation to hear the word. Therefore, he did say no more to the other multitude, but he stretched forth his hand and cried unto those whom he beheld, who were truly penitent, and said unto them, I behold that ye are lowly in heart, and if so, blessed are ye. Behold, thy brother has said, What shall we do? For we are
cast out of our synagogues, that we cannot worship our God. Behold, I say unto you, do ye suppose that ye cannot worship God, save it be in your synagogues only? And moreover, I would ask, do ye suppose that ye must not worship God only once in a week? I say unto you, it is well that ye are cast out of your synagogues, that ye may be humble and that ye may learn wisdom; for it is necessary that ye should learn wisdom. For it is because that ye are cast out — that ye are despised of your brethren because of your exceeding poverty — that ye are brought to a lowliness of heart; for ye are necessarily brought to be humble. And now, because ye are compelled to be humble, blessed are ye; for a man sometimes, if he is compelled to be humble, seeketh repentance. And now surely, whosoever repenteth shall find mercy, and he that findeth mercy and endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.
And now, as I said unto you that because ye were compelled to be humble, ye were blessed, do ye not suppose that they are more blessed who truly humble themselves because of the word? Yea, he that truly humbleth himself, and repenteth of his sins, and endureth to the end, the same shall be blessed, yea, much more blessed than they who art compelled to be humble because of their exceeding poverty. Therefore, blessed are they who humble themselves without being compelled to be humble; or rather, in other words, blessed is he that believeth in the word of God and is baptized without stubbornness of heart, yea, without being brought to know the word, or even compelled to know, before they will believe. Yea, there are many who do say, If thou will show unto us a sign from Heaven, then we shall know of a surety; then we shall believe. Now I ask, is this faith? (Alma 16:23-25)21
The importance of choosing humility is also made manifest in considering the actions of those who made it to the tree of life in Nephi's vision. While innumerable hosts are mentioned, Nephi only highlights three groups. First mentioned are those who commence in the path, but when the mists of darkness come are lost and fall away. Second are those who persevere through the darkness to the tree of life, partake but, because of the mocking of others, fall away into forbidden paths and are lost. It is the third group alone who came to the tree, “fell down” and partook.22 Which group humbled themselves? What caused the second group to fall away?
Alma’s discourse above transitions immediately from humility to planting a seed of faith in the soil of our hearts. Mixing our metaphors, partaking of the fruit can be likened to experimenting with seeds by planting them in our heart to see if they enlarge our soul, enlighten our understanding, and taste delicious.23 As with the fruit of the tree, the effect of good seeds (those grown in and by the Light) are instinctually
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shared with others.24 There are, however, many seeds that thrive in the darkness. It is in our nature to hide the fruit of these seeds, to cover them, both from God and from man, as did Adam using the allegorical fig leaf.25
The Lord ties covering our sins to pride and ambition.26 Job had the right idea when he asks “if [he] covered [his] transgressions as Adam, by hiding [his] iniquity in [his] bosom, did [he] fear a great multitude, or did the contempt of families terrify [him] that [he] kept silence and went not out of the door?”27 The desire to conceal our sins and weaknesses from our brethren comes from fear of other’s opinions. Well did the Psalmist say, “He that covers his sins shall not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them shall have mercy.”28 As naturally as covering our sins leads to pride, uncovering our sins sheds light on our heart, dispelling darkness. That which thrives in the darkness cannot abide the light.
Confession: A Two-Fold Event
Confession is a two-fold event that gives the confessor proper perspective, leaving no room for pride. As this differs greatly from the picture in our heads about confessing to a priest or bishop, we will allow the scriptures to better inform us. Careful study suggests the first part of confession occurs when a person or persons confess their weakness before God. For instance, Alma admonishes his son:
Do not pray as the Zoramites do, for ye have seen that they pray to be heard of men and to be praised for their wisdom. Do not say, O God, I thank thee that we are better than our
25. Genesis 2:16-17
26. T&C 139:5
27. Job 10:26
28. See Proverbs 4:82. Alma 9:4 also show this pattern: For our words will condemn us, yea, all our works will condemn us; we shall not be found spotless, and our thoughts will also condemn us, and in this awful state we shall not dare look up to our God. And we would fain be glad if we could command the rocks and the mountains to fall upon us, to hide us from his presence.
29. Matt. 2:2
30. Luke 13:19; T&C 160:3; Isaiah 9:7; Hosea 2:25
31. Atonement is one of several common renditions of כפרת kaphoreth, itself derived from כָּפַר kaphar, meaning to cover over, to make propitiation (Strong's). The Hebrew meaning of kaphar can mean to cover or recover, cover again, to repair a hole, cure a sickness, mend a rift, to make good a torn or broken covering. As a noun, what is translated atonement, expiation or purgation means integument [or covering layer] made good. [The opposite, incidentally, is defilement.] Atonement does not mean covering a sin so as to hide it from the sight of God; it means making good an outer layer--like that of fruit--which has rotted or been pierced.; Gen. 5:12; 1 John 1:3
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brethren, but rather say, O Lord, forgive my unworthiness and remember my brethren in mercy; yea, acknowledge your unworthiness before God at all times. (Alma 18:4)
The second part occurs when they confess the greatness, mercy, strength, etc. of God. The Psalmist writes:
But I am poor and sorrowful. Let your salvation, O God, set me up on high. I will praise the name of God with a song and will magnify him with thanksgiving. This also shall please the Lord better than an ox or bullock that has horns and hoofs. The humble shall see this and be glad and your heart shall live that seek God. For the Lord hears the poor and despises not his prisoners. Let the heaven and earth praise him, the seas, and everything that moves therein. For God will save Zion and will build the cities of Judah that they may dwell there and have it in possession. The seed also of his servants shall inherit it, and they that love his name shall dwell therein. (Psalm 69:5-7)
We also see this pattern in Nephi’s psalm and Isaiah’s heavenly ascent.32 Confession puts in stark contrast our lowly state with God’s exalted position, and often causes the confessors to fall to the ground, crying to the Lord for mercy.33 It is an outward sign of the realization that we are lower than the dust, unworthy before the God of all creation. Denver Snuffer’s first written work followed this same pattern: he began each chapter by confessing a personal failure, then explaining how to do things the correct way, showing the contrast between his own failures and the strength of the correct Way.
While confession is always done before God34, it is not always done before Him alone. Confession can also be appropriate between individuals and in a group setting. The most general and straight-forward guidance we have on the matter comes from T&C 27:6 which reads:
And if your brother offend you, you shall take him between him and you alone, and if he confess, you shall be reconciled. And if he confess not, you shall take another with you and then if he confess not, you shall deliver him up unto the church, not to the members, but to the elders. And it shall be done in a meeting and that not before the world. And if your brother offend many, he shall be chastened before many. And if anyone offend openly, he shall be rebuked openly that he may be ashamed. And if he confess not, he shall be delivered up unto the law. If any shall offend in secret, he shall be rebuked in secret that he may have opportunity to confess in secret to him whom he has offended and to God that the brethren may not speak reproachfully of him. And thus shall you conduct in all things.
33. Genesis 1:2 1 Nephi 2:12; Mosiah 2:1; Mosiah 11:26-7; Alma 12:17, 20; Alma 17:4, 5; 3 Nephi 5:4; Ether 1:12; Revelation of John 2:5; Revelation of John 9:5; The Master’s House Parable (they went to the high place, then ‘fell down’ to the ground to unearth the Lord’s prepared building materials).
34. Alma 18:4
While not all the language here applies to a body without hierarchical rank, the ideas can be applied in our fellowships and conferences. The core idea appears to be that a confession is made to those who were affected by the sin. Confessed privately if committed privately, and confessed publicly if committed publicly.
However, confession goes beyond grievances among members of the body. The Lord commands us in T&C 46:3 that confession should be part of our group worship: “[R]emember that on this, the Lord’s day, you shall offer your oblations and your sacraments unto the Most High, confessing your sins unto your brethren and before the Lord. And on this day, you shall do none other thing…” Jacob confirms this, telling us to “confess [our] faults one to another, and pray one for another, that [we] may be healed.”35
Digging deeper into group confession, Nehemiah’s account is particularly relevant.36 Seventy years after being destroyed by Babylon, a remnant of scattered Israel chose to leave Babylon in order to rebuild Jerusalem and, in particular, the temple. After first rediscovering their scriptures, returning to the ways of their fathers, establishing correct priesthood lineages and taking care of the poor among them, we see an entire group of people coming together in fasting and prayer to read the scriptures and confess their sins and the sins of their fathers:
Now in the twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting and with sackcloth and earth upon them. And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers and stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers. And they stood up in their place, and read in the book of the law of the Lord their God one fourth part of the day, and another fourth part they confessed and worshipped the Lord their God. (Nehemiah 2:34)
This is similar to what we find with King Benjamin’s people in the second chapter of Mosiah:
"And now it came to pass that when king Benjamin had made an end of speaking the words which had been delivered unto him by the angel of the Lord, that he cast his eyes round about on the multitude, and behold, they had fallen to the earth, for the fear of the Lord had come upon them; and they had viewed themselves in their own carnal state, even less than the dust of the earth. And they all cried aloud with one voice, saying, O have mercy and apply the atoning blood of Christ, that we may receive forgiveness of our sins and our hearts may be purified! For we believe in Jesus Christ,
36. Mosiah 2:1; While it is beyond the scope of this paper, a third method of confession is a servant’s confession to the Lord on behalf of his people, as it appears in the Prayer for Covenant (T&C 156); see also Daniel’s cry to the Lord for his people in Dan. 9:1-4 and Ezra 2:15-16
the Son of God who created Heaven and Earth and all things, who shall come down among the children of men.” (Mosiah 2:1)37
However, the best illustration of this principle may be its antithesis--the example of the Zoramites. We are told that whoever desired to worship must go forth and stand up on the top of the holy stand and cry out:
We believe that thou has elected us to be thy holy children...And thou hast elected us that we shall be saved, whilst all around us are elected to be cast, by thy wrath, down to hell...And we also thank thee that thou has elected us, that we may not be led away after the foolish traditions of our brethren… And again we thank thee, O God, that we are a chosen and a holy people. Amen. (Alma 16:18)
In response, Alma cries out:
O how long, O Lord, wilt thou suffer that thy servants shall dwell here below in the flesh to behold such gross wickedness among the children of men? Behold, O God, they cry unto thee, and yet their hearts are swallowed up in their pride. Behold, O God, they cry unto thee with their mouths while they are puffed up, even to greatness. (Alma 16:20)
An excellent piece of advice on nearly all we have covered thus far comes from Joseph Smith on 2 July 1839:
We ought to be willing to repent of and confess all of our own sins and keep nothing back, and let the Twelve be humble and not be exalted and beware of pride and not seek to excel one above another, but act for each other’s good and honorably make mention of each other's name in our prayers before the Lord and before our fellow men, and not backbite and devour our brother. Why will not man learn Wisdom by precept and example at this late age of the world and not be obliged to learn everything we know by sad experience? Must the new ones that are chosen to fill the places of those that are fallen of the quorum of the Twelve begin to exalt themselves until they get so high that they will tumble over and have a great fall? And go wallowing through the mud, mire, and darkness Judas-like to the buffetings of Satan as several of the Twelve have done? Or will they learn wisdom and be wise? (O God give them wisdom, and keep them humble I pray)38
How Do We Respond to Others’ Confessions?
If a man should be overtaken in a fault, you who are spiritual restore such an one in the spirit of meekness — considering yourself, lest you also should be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if a man think himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
While this passage doesn’t overtly state this was a confession, it implies that one person knows the faults which have overtaken another. We are told to restore them in the spirit of meekness. We are not to think ourselves better than our sister or brother who has been overcome in their fight against sin, but to bear their burden with them, encouraging them on. "And above all things, clothe yourselves with the bond of charity, as with a mantle, which is the bond of perfectness and peace” (T&C 86:30). It appears that confession and charity allow the Lord to throw a cloak of charity on our sins as we do so to our brothers and sisters.
This passage is reminiscent of Christ’s sermon (3 Nephi 6:2; Matthew 3:40) where he states:
Judge not, that ye be not judged; for with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged, and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
We can not both think ourselves better than our brothers and sisters and restore them to faith. Rather, we are required to follow the example our master gave and forgive all people.41 This is not optional, for to be saved we must be like the Saved being. We should only meekly attempt to restore.
Conclusion
Seen clearly for what it is, confession intertwines with many other aspects of the Gospel like a reed in a woven basket. While it is offered here as one part of the solution, there are many other reeds that make up the whole. We concede that obedience to anything the Lord asks of us as individuals shows humility and should be thought of as the overarching way in which we humble ourselves before Him. But we also believe that the counsel and commands of the Lord include confessing our sins to Him, and to one another, that we may grow in meekness and humility, bear one another’s burdens, knit our hearts together in unity and love, and be healed from the weakness and burdens that afflict us.
This paper does not deliver a comprehensive look at the subject of confession. There are many other areas which can be expanded by careful study and prayer. For example, confession ultimately happens at the altar, indicating it may be part of temple worship.42 It also appears to be a part of the doctrine of Christ.43
It is important to point out here that this is not like the traditional Christian practice of confession. The act of admitting you’re wrong and doing thirty hail Marys will not bring healing or unity. The labor must be done thereafter to “watch and pray continually, that you may not be tempted above that which you can bear” (Alma 10:4). The practice can, however, give us a support group, and potentially a family, to help us heal through love and encouragement.
This practice requires all of us, as individuals, to examine our hearts and our lives to determine what things are not in alignment with the will of God. Recognizing and forsaking these things, confessing them to the Lord and, in the appropriate way, our brothers and sisters, and taking advantage of the atonement of Christ, can further sanctify this body of believers. We propose that, similar to the tithing experiment that occurred in the various fellowship groups after Denver’s 10th Lecture, we should also experiment with this principle individually, in our families, and in our fellowships.
Because of personal experience, we are able to bear testimony that implementing confession in our close relationships helps us forsake and leave behind our sins. While we don’t claim to be humble, the act of confessing has indeed humbled us.44 Furthermore, the responding outpouring of love from family and friends has strengthened, healed and uplifted us. We have learned by happy and sad experience that this is
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not a silver bullet, but it can be a powerful tool. Finally, the scriptures are not the only place we see this wisdom behind this practice. Scientists like Brene Brown have found that shining a light on shame and embracing vulnerability is healing relationships across the world.
As with any principle offered for instruction, it is important that any person only follow these principles as directed by the Spirit. If the Spirit does not testify of the truth of these things, they should not be accepted. Please prayerfully study the references and footnotes in this paper and see what the Lord can reveal to all who seek Him in humility.
Addendum 1
_________________________________“The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? For we being many are one bread and one body, for we are all partakers of that one bread. Behold Israel after the flesh: are not they who eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar? What do I say then? That the idol is anything? Or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is anything? But I say that the things which the gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils and not to God. And I desire not that you should have fellowship with devils. You cannot drink the cup of the
45. See Chapter 12 in Come, Let Us Adore Him by Denver Snuffer; See also T&C 161
46. This can be simple for the forgiver if they determine to forgive all ahead of time.
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Lord and the cup of devils. You cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table and of the table of devils.” (RE 1 Corinthians 1:41)
“Godliness is to be near God, and the power of godliness is to know God. Therefore you do not know enough to be saved.The plan of salvation is the plan of education, the plan of knowing God and the principles of godliness. Despite disagreements, we ought to be able to love one
another and be one. Christ’s disciples included fishermen, a tax collector, zealots and a Pharisee. They found common ground through Christ. Much of what we think matters does not matter one whit to the Lord. When you are anxiously engaged in the right cause it will surprise you how much your present preoccupations become trivial. Your heart is what matters. The things capable of unifying us, in love toward one another, are infinitely greater than the issues now dividing us.God is so worthy a standard that, by comparison, we are unclean, unworthy, and are racked with regret. But that is exactly what Christ came to fix. We must come to Him to be repaired. As He fixes, He tells us, ‘Set it aside, be my child, accept love.’ His love forgives. He gives you the power, in turn, to love others even when they don’t love you. What “fixes” you is God’s love It is also what fixes others through you.” (Denver Snuffer, Jr., Preserving the Restoration pp. 16-17)
“I cannot make a comparison between the House of the Lord and anything now in existence. Great things are to grow out of this house. There is a great and mighty power to grow out of it. There is an endowment. Knowledge is power. We want knowledge. We have frequently difficulties with persons who profess to be Latter-day Saints. When the sacrament will be administered in the Lord’s House it will do away with a great deal of difficulty that is now in existence. If we can have a privilege and confess our faults unto God and one another every Sabbath day, it will do away with these.” (HC 6:299)
In the Answer to Prayer for Covenant, the Lord explained that,“There will yet be records restored from all the tribes, that will be gathered again into one, and also as I have said, there is some truth in the Apocrypha, including the Pseudepigrapha and scrolls recovered at Nag Hammadi, and other New Testament texts uncovered since the time of Joseph Smith, and findings at Qumran, and there are other records yet to be recovered, and whoso is enlightened by the Spirit shall obtain benefit by their careful study.”
More on Communal Confession
In the Answer to Prayer for Covenant, the Lord explained that,“There will yet be records restored from all the tribes, that will be gathered again into one, and also as I have said, there is some truth in the Apocrypha, including the Pseudepigrapha and scrolls recovered at Nag Hammadi, and other New Testament texts uncovered since the time of Joseph Smith, and findings at Qumran, and there are other records yet to be recovered, and whoso is enlightened by the Spirit shall obtain benefit by their careful study.”48
In the community of Christians who compiled the scrolls at Qumran around the time of Christ, a text appears called the “Confession Ritual”. The text describes a communal confession of the people. It reads in full:
49I ... in order that Thou be justified by Thy wor[ds] ... we were poured out through our iniquities ... they [stiff]ened the neck. Our God, hide Thy face from [our] si[ns and] blot out [al]l our iniquities and create in us a new spirit, O Lord.... [do not] withhold faithfulness and to rebels ... and bring back sinners to Thee. And [do not] reject from Thee the broken [spir]it, O God. According to Thy people in order to ... and always on ... nations and kingdoms ... their word[s] ... to Thy peoples in order to ... II ... the faithful God who keep [the] covenant and loving-kindness to those who love [Thee and who keep Thy commandments which Thou didst command] to Moses. Do not forsake Thy people [and] Thine [in]heritance. And let no man walk in the stubbornness of his [evil] heart. O God, in Thy goodwill ... Thy people and Thine inheritance shall not be forsa[k]en and let no man walk in the stubbornness of his evil heart.And where is Strength? And on whom shalt Thou cause Thy face to shine without his being purified? And they shall be sanctified and exalted above everything. It is Thou O Lord who hast chosen our fathers from of old. Thou hast caused us to stand for them as a remnant to give us (the covenant) which Thou hast established with Abraham for Israel that they_________________________________
48. The Book of Mormon was translated by the gift and power of God. The interpretation of that book was given by heaven. Many of these extra-canonical texts were found and translated by scholars. The interpretation 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 more useful than at least the pre-Joseph Smith translated bible, but less useful than the Book of Mormon. Prayerful study alongside the “fullness of the scriptures” can help guide us to the true meaning and intention of the more mysterious passages.
might possess the proud ... mighty men, the hosts of those who are powerful, giving us houses filled with ... water, vineyards and olive trees [and] an inheritance of the people …”
50These same people created what we might identify as a guide and standard or statement of principles. It has been named the “Community Rule”. In it we read:
“On entering the Covenant, the Priests and Levites shall bless the God of salvation and all His faithfulness, and all those entering the Covenant shall say after them, ‘Amen, Amen!’ Then the Priests shall recite the favours of God manifested in His mighty deeds and shall declare all His merciful grace to Israel, and the Levites shall recite the iniquities of the children of Israel, all their guilty rebellions and sins during the dominion of Belial. And after them, all those entering the Covenant shall confess and say: ‘We have strayed! We have [disobeyed!] We and our fathers before us have sinned and acted wickedly in walking [counter to the precepts] of truth and righteousness. [And God has] judged us and our fathers also; II but He has bestowed His bountiful mercy on us from everlasting to everlasting.’ And the Priests shall bless all the men of the lot of God who walk perfectly in all His ways, saying: ‘May He bless you with all good and preserve you from all evil! May He lighten your heart with lifegiving wisdom and grant you eternal knowledge! May He raise His merciful face towards you for everlasting bliss!”
In the first chapter of the book of Jubilees, the Lord complains to Moses about the wickedness of his people who have gone astray. Moses make intercessions for his people, and the Lord responds by prophesying about the people who will work with Him to bring Zion:
“I know their contrariness and their thoughts and their stiffneckedness, and they will not be obedient till they confess their own sin and the sin of their fathers. And after this they will turn to Me in all uprightness and with all (their) heart and with all (their) soul, and I will
circumcise the foreskin of their heart and the foreskin of the heart of their seed, and I will create in them a holy spirit, and I will cleanse them so that they shall not turn away from Me from that day unto eternity.
And their souls will cleave to Me and to all My commandments,51 and they will fulfil My commandments, and I will be their Father and they shall be My children. And they all shall be called children of the living God, and every angel and every spirit shall know,52 yea, they shall know that these are My children, and that I am their Father in uprightness and righteousness, and that I love them -
(And do thou write down for thyself all these words which I declare unto thee on this mountain, the first and the last, which shall come to pass in all the divisions of the days in the law and in the testimony and in the weeks and the jubilees unto eternity, until I descend and dwell with them throughout eternity. And He said to the angel of the presence: Write for Moses from the beginning of creation till My sanctuary has been built among them for all eternity.)
- And the Lord will appear to the eyes of all,53 and all shall know that I am the God of Israel and the Father of all the children of Jacob, and King on Mount Zion for all eternity. And Zion and Jerusalem shall be holy.
And the angel of the presence who went before the camp of Israel took the tables of the divisions of the years -from the time of the creation- of the law and of the testimony of the weeks of the jubilees, according to the individual years, according to all the number of the jubilees [according, to the individual years], from the day of the [new] creation when the heavens and the earth shall be renewed and all their creation according to the powers of theheaven, and according to all the creation of the earth, until the sanctuary of the Lord shall be made in Jerusalem on Mount Zion54 and all the luminaries be renewed for healing and for peace and for blessing for all the elect of Israel, and that thus it may be from that day and unto all the days of the earth.” (Jubilees 1:21-28, punctuation edited)
_________________________________It appears here that confession is the hinge point for the people who would be the Lord’s children. The Lord explains that after this, He will circumcise their heart (singular), create in them a holy spirit (singular), causing them to be clean, to cleave to the Lord, fulfill all His commandments, know Him, and build His temple.
Fig. 1
