Scripture Idolatry

I was reading 2 Nephi 33 this morning and was struck by its relevance to our late discussion.

You have accused me of idolatry because of my approach to the Book of Mormon. What you call idolatry, I call esteem. I do not pray to the Book of Mormon. I don't call on the Book of Mormon to heal or bless me. I do esteem what Nephi and others have written to be of great worth.

2. But behold, there are many that harden their hearts against the Holy Spirit, that it hath no place in them; wherefore, they cast many things away which are written and esteem them as things of naught.

3. But I, Nephi, have written what I have written, and I esteem it as of great worth...

Why do I esteem the writings of great worth?

4. ....it persuadeth them to do good....and it speaketh of Jesus, and persuadeth them to believe in him, and to endure to the end, which is life eternal.

The Book of Mormon is a great test to find out if we really do believe in the true Christ or some "other Jesus".

10. And now, my beloved brethren, and also Jew, and all ye ends of the earth, hearken unto these words and believe in Christ; and if ye believe not in these words believe in Christ. And if ye shall believe in Christ ye will believe in these words, for they are the words of Christ...

So, if we believe in the "true Christ", we will believe the words and the doctrines put forth in the Book of Mormon. The doctrines are not obscure. The Book of Mormon is plain and precious.

Nephi puts forth the concept of "Moroni's promise" so familiar to LDSaints.

11. And if they are not the words of Christ, judge ye--for Christ will show unto you, with power and great glory, that they are his words...

It is a weighty thing to reject the Book of Mormon and the Bible. All will be accountable in regards to their attitude towards them. In the judgement, we will all stand face to face with Nephi and Moroni and then we will know for sure at that time that what they wrote was direct from God.

11. ....you and I shall stand face to face before his bar; and ye shall know that I have been commanded of him to write these things.

Moroni 10:27 And I exhort you to remember these things; for the time speedily cometh that ye shall know that I lie not, for ye shall see me at the bar of God; and the Lord God will say unto you: Did I not declare my words unto you, which were written by this man, like as one crying from the dead, yea, even as one speaking out of the dust?

How serious is rejecting the Book of Mormon and the Bible and the books that will come forth soon from the other tribes?

2 Nephi 33:14-5

And you that will not partake of the goodness of God, and respect the words of the Jews, and also my words, and the words which shall proceed forth out of the mouth of the Lamb of God, behold, I bid you an everlasting farewell, for these words shall condemn you at the last day. For what I seal on earth, shall be brought against you at the judgment bar; for thus hath the Lord commanded me, and I must obey. Amen.

Apparently, the words and doctrines are too narrow for many. They are not plain enough. They suffer from being incomplete or mistranslated. They don't contain doctrines that are more advanced and to be restored. They don't contain the advanced covenants. Those who believe thus will be face to face with Nephi and Moroni. They will present their weak position. They will be shown their folly. It will be too late. They will bid these hardhearted folks who rejected their words and the Spirit that testified about them an everlasting farewell.

"But", some may say, "There were so many covenants along the covenant path that you did not jot down in the Book of Mormon or Bible. We needed Living Oracles".

Nephi will say, "Didn't I tell you in 2 Nephi 3:12 'Wherefore, the fruit of thy loins shall write; and the fruit of the loins of Judah shall write; and that which shall be written by the fruit of thy loins, and also that which shall be written by the fruit of the loins of Judah, shall grow together, unto the confounding of false doctrines and laying down of contentions, and establishing peace among the fruit of thy loins, and bringing them to the knowledge of their fathers in the latter days, and also to THE KNOWLEDGE OF MY COVENANTS, saith the Lord'? What kind of covenants were you looking for that are not in the Book I helped write. Did you bother to read in order to esteem the book and learn the covenants therein presented?"

"Unfortunately, you never told us about salvation for the dead. Certainly there is hope for those who rebelled against God in this life. Why didn't you cover that? Your lack of care in this area made Living Oracles pleasing and necessary."

Nephi says, "Actually, we covered that extensively. In fact, Brother Alma starts out his teachings on this very subject by saying "Now, concerning the state of the soul between death and the resurrection...". He specifically said, 'there is a space between death and the resurrection of the body, and a state of the soul in happiness or in misery until the time which is appointed of God that the dead shall come forth, and be reunited, both soul and body'. You, however, chose to clung to the idea of some kind of school for the wicked when, if they graduate successfully, they can move over to paradise. Alma clearly said, however, that the wicked will remain in misery until the resurrection. No moving around. Is there no hope, therefore? Didn't I plainly say in 2 Nephi 33:7-9. 'I have charity for my people, and great faith in Christ that I shall meet many souls spotless at his judgment-seat. I also have charity for the Gentiles. But behold, for none of these can I hope except they shall be reconciled unto Christ, and enter into the narrow gate, and walk in the strait path which leads to life, and continue in the path until the end of the day of probation'.

The conversation continues only for a short time. It became obvious that the plain and precious parts were rejected in lieu of words preached by Living Oracles whose words often were “personal, though well considered, opinions”. It becomes clear that all should consult the Book of Mormon and Bible to see if those opinions accord with the word of God as found in the Book of Mormon and Bible.

Certainly, when people hang on every word of their chosen prophets, those prophets should indicate when they are stating their personal well considered opinions. Alma did.

Alma 40:20 ...behold, I give it as my opinion...

Paul did.

1 Corinthians 7:10-2. ...I command, yet not I, but the Lord...But to the rest speak I, not the Lord...

Hence, true prophets do not usually speak their personal opinions. When they do, they tell you. All else that they write down can be assumed that "Thus saith the Lord".

Now, we can ignore, wrest and transfigure the word of God to make it fit our religious philosophy. We should be aware that we are creating for ourselves a god that is not a god of the scriptures, but one we are comfortable with. We can create our god to be all mercy and love, a father to all. We can create a god to whom justice and righteousness is inconsiderable when considering of his universal love.

That is idolatry.

2 Nephi 9:37 Yea, wo unto those that worship idols, for the devil of all devils delighteth in them.