A while back someone who left the church in recent years made a comment on Facebook to this effect: "I don't buy the idea of 'hating the sin but loving the sinner' because you can't meaningfully separate the person from the things they do and how they live their life." She said this mostly in reference to the church's position on gay marriage, but with broader application, and it sat in the back of my mind for a while until I got thinking about it the other night and made a note to ponder and write some thoughts.
First I wanted to see if there was scriptural verification for the phrase. I went through the Topical Guide under the heading "hate," and here are a few pertinent passages:
Ye that love the Lord, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked. Psalm 97:10
I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me. Psalm 101:3
These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, an heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren. Proverbs 6:16-19
The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate. Proverbs 8:13
Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins. Proverbs 10:12
He that spareth the rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes. Proverbs 13:24
He that saith he is in the light and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. 1 John 2:9-10
If you keep not my commandments, the love of the Father shall not continue with you, therefore you shall walk in darkness. Doctrine and Covenants 95:12
Love worketh no ill to his neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law. Romans 13:10
A few things I noted as I studied:
There did indeed seem to be a distinction between "hating your brother," which was roundly decried, and "hating sin," which was wholly encouraged. This phrase seems to be borne of the ever-necessary attempt to do both.
I also got the feeling that the injunction to hate sin isn't so much a command to look for it in everyone else, but to hate it in ourselves, to cast it away from us so that it doesn't "cleave" to us, in the words of the Psalmist. This does require us to avoid society that would draw us in, but doesn't require us to seek to find it in everyone around us.
Love was spoken of as a cure-all, as we see in Proverbs 10:12 and 1 John 2:9-10, but that latter scripture was cross-referenced to Doctrine and Covenants 95:12, making clear that the kind of love that covers sins and keeps us in the light is charity, the pure love of Christ, and requires that we keep God's commandments if we want to possess it. It is more than just a happy feeling towards our neighbors, as Christ so poignantly showed in the parable of the Good Samaritan.
In that parable, we learn that love means helping and binding up the wounded and not walking by mute. Perhaps if the traveler didn't think that he was in need of help, he would have seen the Samaritan's actions as offensive or hateful, but the Samaritan saw a wound and strove to bind it, and his loving motivation wouldn't have been changed by the interpretation of it.
The thought that originally prompted me to study the topic was this: To me, hating the sin doesn't seem to mean only that I hate that a person does something wrong in my opinion. That is not what it is about. I hate sin because I love people. I hate that it separates them from the God that I know and love. I hate that it binds them and keeps the Spirit of truth and light at bay. I hate that it robs them of joy and of becoming the person God could make them into. I hate that it is a struggle that we have to go through. I hate that for some reasons, certain sins present especial trials for certain people. I hate that it breaks hearts and causes heartache. I hate it because I wish that all could see and feel the truth and light and joy that I've found, and sin stands as a barrier that must be overcome.
And finally, as we are all sinners, I think a simplification of the phrase clarifies my feeling towards it somewhat:
Hate sin; love everyone.
I think I will probably be studying more on this topic, since hate has become such a catchword these days.
Friday, April 11, 2014
Thursday, April 10, 2014
Praying with Real Intent
President Eyring's description is truly the kind of prayer I need to emulate more often.
In the evening you will get on your knees and thank God for the blessings of the day. You will thank Him for parents, for teachers, and for great examples to follow. You will describe in your prayers specifically who has blessed your life and how, during that day. That will take more than a few minutes and more than a little thought. It will surprise you and change you.
As you pray for forgiveness, you will find yourself forgiving others. As you thank God for His kindness, you will think of others, by name, who need your kindness. Again, that experience will surprise you every day, and over time it will change you.
One way you will be changed by such fervent prayer is, I promise you, that you will feel truly that you are a child of God. When you know that you are a child of God, you will also know that He expects much of you. Because you are His child, He will expect you to follow His teachings and the teachings of His dear Son, Jesus Christ. He will expect you to be generous and kind to others. He will be disappointed if you are proud and self-centered. He will bless you to have the desire to put the interests of others above your own.
-President Henry B. Eyring, General Conference, Priesthood Session, April 5, 2014
In the evening you will get on your knees and thank God for the blessings of the day. You will thank Him for parents, for teachers, and for great examples to follow. You will describe in your prayers specifically who has blessed your life and how, during that day. That will take more than a few minutes and more than a little thought. It will surprise you and change you.
As you pray for forgiveness, you will find yourself forgiving others. As you thank God for His kindness, you will think of others, by name, who need your kindness. Again, that experience will surprise you every day, and over time it will change you.
One way you will be changed by such fervent prayer is, I promise you, that you will feel truly that you are a child of God. When you know that you are a child of God, you will also know that He expects much of you. Because you are His child, He will expect you to follow His teachings and the teachings of His dear Son, Jesus Christ. He will expect you to be generous and kind to others. He will be disappointed if you are proud and self-centered. He will bless you to have the desire to put the interests of others above your own.
-President Henry B. Eyring, General Conference, Priesthood Session, April 5, 2014
Monday, April 7, 2014
A Portion of that Spirit
I love how new things can strike me each time I read the scriptures, no matter that I've lost track of how many times I've read this portion of the Book of Mormon. Today I was really struck by how Ammon describes the gift and power of the Holy Ghost that he had as a missionary:
I am called by his Holy Spirit to teach these things unto this people, that they may be brought to a knowledge of that which is just and true;
And a portion of that Spirit dwelleth in me, which giveth me knowledge, and also power according to my faith and desires which are in God.
-Alma 18:34-35
I do remember regularly that I have the Gift of the Holy Ghost and recognize it as it guides and teaches me, but it is so powerful to think that truly a portion of the Spirit of God dwells in me. I needn't be so sheepish about sharing what I know or acting on any good and uplifting thought that comes to me, because, as Ammon says, I have power according to those desires which are in God and according to my faith in Him. It is an amazing, amazing gift that I sadly take for granted more often than not.
I am called by his Holy Spirit to teach these things unto this people, that they may be brought to a knowledge of that which is just and true;
And a portion of that Spirit dwelleth in me, which giveth me knowledge, and also power according to my faith and desires which are in God.
-Alma 18:34-35
I do remember regularly that I have the Gift of the Holy Ghost and recognize it as it guides and teaches me, but it is so powerful to think that truly a portion of the Spirit of God dwells in me. I needn't be so sheepish about sharing what I know or acting on any good and uplifting thought that comes to me, because, as Ammon says, I have power according to those desires which are in God and according to my faith in Him. It is an amazing, amazing gift that I sadly take for granted more often than not.
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Meekness, Pride, and Taking Counsel
I am reading another Neal A. Maxwell Book, called Meek and Lowly. Heads up for a round of quotable Maxwell quotes.
In moments of truth, when meekness matters, other forces, including pride, flow into the chemistry of that moment. Take, for instance, the matter of receiving correct counsel, whether given by a spouse, a family member, a friend, or a church leader. Often the counsel, even when spoken in love, is resisted by the recipient who--chained by pride--focuses instead upon the imperfections of the person giving the counsel.
In another situation, the recipient may have much pride in the position he or she has already taken and refuse to deny himself or herself the continuation of that conduct, lifestyle, or attitude, which denial is at the heart of the solution. However, those who fear losing face cannot have His image in their countenances. (Alma 5:14.)
-Meek and Lowly, p. 57, emphasis added.
Oh my do I love this quote. Witty, poignant, classic.
In moments of truth, when meekness matters, other forces, including pride, flow into the chemistry of that moment. Take, for instance, the matter of receiving correct counsel, whether given by a spouse, a family member, a friend, or a church leader. Often the counsel, even when spoken in love, is resisted by the recipient who--chained by pride--focuses instead upon the imperfections of the person giving the counsel.
In another situation, the recipient may have much pride in the position he or she has already taken and refuse to deny himself or herself the continuation of that conduct, lifestyle, or attitude, which denial is at the heart of the solution. However, those who fear losing face cannot have His image in their countenances. (Alma 5:14.)
-Meek and Lowly, p. 57, emphasis added.
Oh my do I love this quote. Witty, poignant, classic.
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Brigham Young on Imperfect Scriptures
...I do not even believe that there is a single revelation, among the many God has given to the Church, that is perfect in its fulness. The revelations of God contain correct doctrine and principle, so far as they go; but it is impossible for the poor, weak, low, groveling, sinful inhabitants of the earth to receive a revelation from the Almighty in all its perfections. He has to speak to us in a manner to meet the extent of our capacities. . . .
If an angel should come into this congregation, or visit any individual of it, and use the language he uses in heaven, what would we be benefited? Not any, because we could not understand a word he said. When angels come to visit mortals, they have to condescend to and assume, more or less, the condition of mortals, they have to descend to our capacities in order to communicate with us. I make these remarks to show you that the kingdom of heaven is not yet complete upon the earth. Why? Because the people are not prepared to receive it in its completeness, for they are not complete or perfect themselves.
The laws that the Lord has given are not fully perfect, because the people could not receive them in their perfect fulness; but they can receive a little here and a little there, a little today and a little tomorrow, a little more next week, and a little more in advance of that next year, if they make a wise improvement upon every little they receive; if they do not, they are left in the shade, and the light which the Lord reveals will appear darkness to them, and the kingdom of heaven will travel on and leave them groping. Hence, if we wish to act upon the fulness of the knowledge that the Lord designs to reveal, little by little, to the inhabitants of the earth, we must improve upon every little as it is revealed.
-Journal of Discourses, 2:314
If an angel should come into this congregation, or visit any individual of it, and use the language he uses in heaven, what would we be benefited? Not any, because we could not understand a word he said. When angels come to visit mortals, they have to condescend to and assume, more or less, the condition of mortals, they have to descend to our capacities in order to communicate with us. I make these remarks to show you that the kingdom of heaven is not yet complete upon the earth. Why? Because the people are not prepared to receive it in its completeness, for they are not complete or perfect themselves.
The laws that the Lord has given are not fully perfect, because the people could not receive them in their perfect fulness; but they can receive a little here and a little there, a little today and a little tomorrow, a little more next week, and a little more in advance of that next year, if they make a wise improvement upon every little they receive; if they do not, they are left in the shade, and the light which the Lord reveals will appear darkness to them, and the kingdom of heaven will travel on and leave them groping. Hence, if we wish to act upon the fulness of the knowledge that the Lord designs to reveal, little by little, to the inhabitants of the earth, we must improve upon every little as it is revealed.
-Journal of Discourses, 2:314
More Scripture Study Quotes
And now... an old Sunday School handout! (I am really trying to purge things, and it's a good opportunity to review and record the ones I want to store in my brain and in my heart.) Beware, it is lengthy.
Russell M. Nelson:
Truth given by revelation can only be understood by revelation. (CR Oct 2000)
Ezra Taft Benson:
The scriptures are called 'the words of life' (D&C 84:85), and nowhere is that more true than it is of the Book of Mormon. When you begin to hunger and thirst after those words, you will find life in greater and greater abundance.
. . .
The Book of Mormon was written for us today. God is the author of the book... God, who knows the end from the beginning, told [Mormon] what to include in his abridgment that we would need for our day.
. . .
If they saw our day and chose those things which would be of greatest worth to us, is not that how we should study the Book of Mormon? We should constantly ask ourselves, 'Why did the Lord inspire Mormon (or Moroni or Alma) to include that in his record?' (CR Oct 1986)
Joseph Fielding Smith:
Our attitude..toward the scriptures should be in harmony with the purposes for which they were written. They are intended to enlarge man's spiritual endowments and to reveal and intensify the bond of relationship between him and his God. (Juvenile Instructor, April 1912, 204)
Bruce R. McConkie:
Each pronouncement in the holy scriptures...is so written as to reveal little or much, depending on the spiritual capacity of the student. (NWAF 1985, 71)
In the final analysis, there is no way--absolutely none (and this cannot be stated too strongly!)--to understand any Messianic prophecy, or any other scripture, except to have the same spirit of prophecy that rested upon the one who uttered the truth in its original form. Scripture comes from God by the power of the Holy ghost. It does not originate with man. It means what the Holy Ghost thinks it means. To interpret it, we must be enlightened by the power of the Holy Spirit. (The Promised Messiah, 44)
Cheryl C. Lant:
When we read the scriptures we are hearing the voice of the Savior. He is not absent from our lives. He is actively positioned in the verses of these holy books. (CR Oct 2005)
Dallin H. Oaks:
Our belief in an open canon also includes private revelations to individual seekers of the meaning of existing scriptures. (Ensign Jan 1995, 7)
...
The idea that scripture reading can lead to inspiration and revelation opens the door to the truth that a scripture is not limited to what it meant when it was written but may also include what that scripture means to the reader today. Even more, scripture reading may also lead to current revelation on whatever else the Lord wishes to communicate to the reader at that time. We do not overstate the point when we say that the scriptures can be a Urim and Thummim to assist each of us to receive personal revelation. (id., 8)
We need ot know that the Lord rarely speaks loudly. His messages almost always come in a whisper. (Ensign, March 1997, 12)
Russell M. Nelson:
Motivation for scriptural guidance comes when important choices must be made--even between options that are equally right. The Brethren are often faced with these kind of decisions. On such occasions, we turn to the scriptures. We may read all of the standard works afresh, looking for insights relative to a specific issue.
...
Time for scripture study requires a schedule that will be honored.
. . .
To feast means more than to taste. To feast means to savor. We savor the scriptures by studying them in a spirit of delightful discovery and faithful obedience. (CR Oct 2000)
Boyd K. Packer:
While we may invite this communication, it can never be forced! If we try to force it we may be deceived.
. . .
No one of us survive in the world today, much less in what it soon will become, without personal inspiration. The spirit of reverence can and should be evident in every organization in the Church and in the lives of every member. (CR Oct 1991)
There isn't a major problem we face that we can't be immunized against if we know the revelations. ("Teach the Scriptures," [address to religious educators], 14, Oct. 1977, 7)
For His own reasons, the Lord provides answers to some questions, with pieces placed here and there throughout the scriptures. We are to find them; we are to earn them. In that way sacred things are hidden from the insincere. (Cr Oct. 1983)
Henry B. Eyring:
Going to the scriptures to lkearn what to do makes all the difference... We will find answers in the scriptures. The Lord seemed to anticipate all of our problems and all of our needs, and He put help in the scriptures for us--if only we seek it. (Ensign, July 2005, 24)
David A. Bednar:
The scriptures, in essence, are a written 'recording' of the voice of the Lord--a voice we feel in our hearts more than we hear with our ears. and as we study the content and feel the spirit of the written word of God, we learn to hear His voice in the words we read and to understand the means whereby the words are given to us by the Holy Ghost. (New Era, April 2006, 5)
Sheri L. Dew:
Some of the clearest promptings I have ever received have come while being immersed in the scriptures. They are a conduit for revelation. They teach us the language of the Spirit. (CR Oct 1998)
D. Todd Christofferson:
I see you sometimes reading a few verses, stopping to ponder them, carefully reading the verses again, and as you think about what they mean, praying for understanding, asking questions in your mind, waiting for spiritual impressions, and writing down the impressions and insights that come so you can remember and learn more. Studying in this way, you may not read a lot of chapters or verses in a half hour, but you will be giving place in your heart for the word of God, and He will be speaking to you. (CR April 2004)
Richard G. Scott:
There is a power that can change lives in the specific words recorded in the standard works. That power is weakened when we paraphrase or alter the actual wording. I therefore suggest that you encourage students to cite scripture content with precision. ("Four Fundamentals for Those Who Teach and Inspire Youth," OT Synmposium Speeches, 1987, 5)
I suggest that you memorize scriptures that touch your heart and fill your soul with understanding. When scriptures are used as the Lord has caused them to be recorded, they have intrinsic power that is not communicated when paraphrased. (CR Oct 1999)
Brigham Young:
Stop! Wait! When you get up in the morning, before you suffer yourselves to eat one mouthful of food, . . . bow down before the Lord, ask him to forgive your sins, and protect you through the day, to preserve you from temptation and all evil, to guide your steps aright, that you may do something that day that shall be beneficial to the kingdom of God on the earth. Have you time to do this? . . . This is the counsel I have for the Latter-day Saints to-day. Stop, do not be in a hurry. . . You are in too much of a hurry; you do not go to meeting enough, you do not pray enough, you do not read the Scriptures enough, you do not meditate enough, you are all the time on the wing, and in such a hurry that yu do not know what to do first. . .l Let me reduce this to a simple saying--one of the most simple and homely that can be used--'Keep your dish right side up,' s that when the shower of porridge does come, you can catch your dish full. (Journal of Discourses, 15:37-38)
Russell M. Nelson:
Truth given by revelation can only be understood by revelation. (CR Oct 2000)
Ezra Taft Benson:
The scriptures are called 'the words of life' (D&C 84:85), and nowhere is that more true than it is of the Book of Mormon. When you begin to hunger and thirst after those words, you will find life in greater and greater abundance.
. . .
The Book of Mormon was written for us today. God is the author of the book... God, who knows the end from the beginning, told [Mormon] what to include in his abridgment that we would need for our day.
. . .
If they saw our day and chose those things which would be of greatest worth to us, is not that how we should study the Book of Mormon? We should constantly ask ourselves, 'Why did the Lord inspire Mormon (or Moroni or Alma) to include that in his record?' (CR Oct 1986)
Joseph Fielding Smith:
Our attitude..toward the scriptures should be in harmony with the purposes for which they were written. They are intended to enlarge man's spiritual endowments and to reveal and intensify the bond of relationship between him and his God. (Juvenile Instructor, April 1912, 204)
Bruce R. McConkie:
Each pronouncement in the holy scriptures...is so written as to reveal little or much, depending on the spiritual capacity of the student. (NWAF 1985, 71)
In the final analysis, there is no way--absolutely none (and this cannot be stated too strongly!)--to understand any Messianic prophecy, or any other scripture, except to have the same spirit of prophecy that rested upon the one who uttered the truth in its original form. Scripture comes from God by the power of the Holy ghost. It does not originate with man. It means what the Holy Ghost thinks it means. To interpret it, we must be enlightened by the power of the Holy Spirit. (The Promised Messiah, 44)
Cheryl C. Lant:
When we read the scriptures we are hearing the voice of the Savior. He is not absent from our lives. He is actively positioned in the verses of these holy books. (CR Oct 2005)
Dallin H. Oaks:
Our belief in an open canon also includes private revelations to individual seekers of the meaning of existing scriptures. (Ensign Jan 1995, 7)
...
The idea that scripture reading can lead to inspiration and revelation opens the door to the truth that a scripture is not limited to what it meant when it was written but may also include what that scripture means to the reader today. Even more, scripture reading may also lead to current revelation on whatever else the Lord wishes to communicate to the reader at that time. We do not overstate the point when we say that the scriptures can be a Urim and Thummim to assist each of us to receive personal revelation. (id., 8)
We need ot know that the Lord rarely speaks loudly. His messages almost always come in a whisper. (Ensign, March 1997, 12)
Russell M. Nelson:
Motivation for scriptural guidance comes when important choices must be made--even between options that are equally right. The Brethren are often faced with these kind of decisions. On such occasions, we turn to the scriptures. We may read all of the standard works afresh, looking for insights relative to a specific issue.
...
Time for scripture study requires a schedule that will be honored.
. . .
To feast means more than to taste. To feast means to savor. We savor the scriptures by studying them in a spirit of delightful discovery and faithful obedience. (CR Oct 2000)
Boyd K. Packer:
While we may invite this communication, it can never be forced! If we try to force it we may be deceived.
. . .
No one of us survive in the world today, much less in what it soon will become, without personal inspiration. The spirit of reverence can and should be evident in every organization in the Church and in the lives of every member. (CR Oct 1991)
There isn't a major problem we face that we can't be immunized against if we know the revelations. ("Teach the Scriptures," [address to religious educators], 14, Oct. 1977, 7)
For His own reasons, the Lord provides answers to some questions, with pieces placed here and there throughout the scriptures. We are to find them; we are to earn them. In that way sacred things are hidden from the insincere. (Cr Oct. 1983)
Henry B. Eyring:
Going to the scriptures to lkearn what to do makes all the difference... We will find answers in the scriptures. The Lord seemed to anticipate all of our problems and all of our needs, and He put help in the scriptures for us--if only we seek it. (Ensign, July 2005, 24)
David A. Bednar:
The scriptures, in essence, are a written 'recording' of the voice of the Lord--a voice we feel in our hearts more than we hear with our ears. and as we study the content and feel the spirit of the written word of God, we learn to hear His voice in the words we read and to understand the means whereby the words are given to us by the Holy Ghost. (New Era, April 2006, 5)
Sheri L. Dew:
Some of the clearest promptings I have ever received have come while being immersed in the scriptures. They are a conduit for revelation. They teach us the language of the Spirit. (CR Oct 1998)
D. Todd Christofferson:
I see you sometimes reading a few verses, stopping to ponder them, carefully reading the verses again, and as you think about what they mean, praying for understanding, asking questions in your mind, waiting for spiritual impressions, and writing down the impressions and insights that come so you can remember and learn more. Studying in this way, you may not read a lot of chapters or verses in a half hour, but you will be giving place in your heart for the word of God, and He will be speaking to you. (CR April 2004)
Richard G. Scott:
There is a power that can change lives in the specific words recorded in the standard works. That power is weakened when we paraphrase or alter the actual wording. I therefore suggest that you encourage students to cite scripture content with precision. ("Four Fundamentals for Those Who Teach and Inspire Youth," OT Synmposium Speeches, 1987, 5)
I suggest that you memorize scriptures that touch your heart and fill your soul with understanding. When scriptures are used as the Lord has caused them to be recorded, they have intrinsic power that is not communicated when paraphrased. (CR Oct 1999)
Brigham Young:
Stop! Wait! When you get up in the morning, before you suffer yourselves to eat one mouthful of food, . . . bow down before the Lord, ask him to forgive your sins, and protect you through the day, to preserve you from temptation and all evil, to guide your steps aright, that you may do something that day that shall be beneficial to the kingdom of God on the earth. Have you time to do this? . . . This is the counsel I have for the Latter-day Saints to-day. Stop, do not be in a hurry. . . You are in too much of a hurry; you do not go to meeting enough, you do not pray enough, you do not read the Scriptures enough, you do not meditate enough, you are all the time on the wing, and in such a hurry that yu do not know what to do first. . .l Let me reduce this to a simple saying--one of the most simple and homely that can be used--'Keep your dish right side up,' s that when the shower of porridge does come, you can catch your dish full. (Journal of Discourses, 15:37-38)
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Knowledge and Spiritual Death
I had noticed this verse before, but it struck me again this time what a unique clarification of the meaning of spiritual death Alma gives to the people of Ammonihah:
And therefore, he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word; and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full.
And they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the word until they know nothing concerning his mysteries; and then they are taken captive by the devil, and led by his will down to destruction. Now this is what is meant by the chains of hell.
. . .
And now behold, I say unto you then cometh a death, even a second death, which is a spiritual death, then is a time that whosoever dieth in his sins, as to a temporal death, shall also die a spiritual death; yea, he shall die as to things pertaining unto righteousness.
-Alma 12:10-11, 16
Joseph Smith taught, "A man is saved no faster than he gets knowledge." I find it really interesting that the process Alma describes captivity as losing knowledge of God. It makes sense that if knowing Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ constitutes life eternal, that losing knowledge of them would constitute spiritual death, or hardening the heart such that there is no room for righteousness. More than the quantity of our studies, the condition of our hearts will determine the portion of eternal knowledge that we will have the capacity to receive, and that in turn will determine our eternal destiny.
And therefore, he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word; and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full.
And they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the word until they know nothing concerning his mysteries; and then they are taken captive by the devil, and led by his will down to destruction. Now this is what is meant by the chains of hell.
. . .
And now behold, I say unto you then cometh a death, even a second death, which is a spiritual death, then is a time that whosoever dieth in his sins, as to a temporal death, shall also die a spiritual death; yea, he shall die as to things pertaining unto righteousness.
-Alma 12:10-11, 16
Joseph Smith taught, "A man is saved no faster than he gets knowledge." I find it really interesting that the process Alma describes captivity as losing knowledge of God. It makes sense that if knowing Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ constitutes life eternal, that losing knowledge of them would constitute spiritual death, or hardening the heart such that there is no room for righteousness. More than the quantity of our studies, the condition of our hearts will determine the portion of eternal knowledge that we will have the capacity to receive, and that in turn will determine our eternal destiny.
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