The genealogy of faith

Read the preceding post in this series here.

Having defined faith in the first lecture, in the second Lecture on Faith we turn to the subject of the "object on which it rests"--namely, God himself. When we get to the third and fourth lectures, we will discuss what kind of being God is and what his characteristics and attributes are, but I do want to share this little tidbit now: "In him the principle of faith dwells independently; and he is the object in whom the faith of all other rational and accountable beings centers, for life and salvation" (v. 2). I had to spend some time thinking about what it meant by faith dwelling independently in God. The conclusion that I came to was that in order for us to have productive faith, we must depend on God to be the object and validator of our faith. But in order for him to have productive faith--which means he has the power to do all things good and right for himself and for us--he doesn't have to have faith in anything outside of himself. Simply put, God exists independent of any of us, but we depend on him for our very being (Mosiah 2:20-25). The second thing I wanted to comment on here is the phrase "for life and salvation." "Life" can be understood to refer to existential things: to live, breathe, and have our being, which will continue in perpetuity. "Salvation" can be understood to refer to existence or life that is saved and purified--to continue on in eternity in God's presence. God alone really is the only thing, the only being we need to have faith in, in order to make our eternal existence a happy and glorious one.

Let's move on to the main point of the lecture, which is to "show the evidences which mankind have had, and the foundation on which these evidences are, or were based, since the creation, to believe in the existence of God.... [or] by which the first thoughts were suggested to the minds of men that there was a God who created all things."

Alma cel varstnic, p. 4: "Intariti chemarea si alegerea"

Citeste partea 1, 2 si 3

Inaintea de am vorbi despre Mosia 26, as dori sa intoarcem la mesajul original lui Abinadi, care era cauza convertirii lui Alma. Hai sa consideram Mosia 14:10 (citat din Isaia) si Mosia 15:11 care se refera la el, precum si Mosia 16:13-15, ultimele cuvinte lui Abinadi catre Noe si preoti lui. In momentul in care Abinadi vorbea, Alma auzea "cuvintele profetilor sfinti," si deja incepa sa asculta si sa asteapta "cu nerabdare" zuia in care va primi iertarea pacatelor lui si Dumnezeu "va mantui poporul sau."

Hai sa imaginam un pic, cum ar fi daca nu am sti nimic despre evanghelie. Avem o presimtire interna, un instinct, despre ce este drept. Cand auzim cuvintele lui Abinadi, vocea interna ne spune ca are dreptate, pentru ca stim deja (chiar daca nu ne place sa admitem) ca am facut multe nedreptati in viata. Este un dumnezeu care ne da o sansa noua. Nu vrem mai mult decat sa luam sansa aia, sa ne acceapta Dumnezeu, sa ne spala de la pacatele noastre, si sa ne duca acasa la el!

What is faith?

Read the previous post in this series here.

How many times have we heard Hebrews 11:1 recited as the definition of faith? "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." And how many times have our eyes glazed over as we heard it? No, it doesn't really make any sense to me either.

I highly recomment using Webster's 1828 Dictionary as a study help for the scriptures in English, and for anything from Joseph's time. It is a wonderful dictionary, and a valuable resource to figuring out language and phrasing that is now foreign to us. 

A Useful Definition of Faith

So when I started studying the Lectures on Faith earlier this year, I spent sometime looking up several of the words used in Hebrews 11:1, and came up with my own rendition of this idea: Faith is the conviction we have that things we hope for actually exist or will happen. It is the witness or testimony we can give about things we know or suspect, even though we don't currently see them.

"A Zeciui"

Am descoperit in ultimele zile o greseala in traducerea lui Doctrina si Legamintele cu privire la zeciuiala. Traducatori au presupus ca "a zeciui" este echivalent cu "a plati zeciuiala," dar au gresit. "A zeciui" inseamna numai a face zece parti, si a scoate o parte. Inseamna sa imparti, sau sa alegi numai o parte, sa alegi o "zeciuala." Nu neaparat este vorba de donatii la biserica. Sa fi "zeciuit" inseamna ca Dumnezeu actioneaza, nu tu, si El face ceva cu tine. Sa platesti zeciuiala este fix invers, de fapt, pentru cu tu actionezi, si platesti zeciuiala la biserica. In versetele care scriu mai jos, Dumnezeu explica ca El va alege o "zecime" de noi. De fapt, El alege zeciuiala din noi, si nu cred ca are legatura cu donatii financiare.

Lectures on Faith

I recently downloaded all the page images for the 1835 Doctrine and Covenants, and had them printed and spiral bound so I could study them. Why? First, because they contain the Lectures on Faith, and second, because I wanted to read the modern revelations in their original format, without all the formatting, footnotes, and distractions that have been added in recent editions. I would like to study the teachings and revelations of Joseph Smith in a format that is closer to how he received them and passed them on to us.

Alma cel varstnic, p. 3: Invataturi despre conducere si conducatori

Citeste aici partea 1, 2 si 4

Alma cel Varstnic a avut o viata foarte interesant si plina de invataturi pentru noi. A fost un om bogat si a avut o viata de succes, dar dupa ce s-a pocait, a pierdut tot. A fondat o biserica noua, si a condus poporul lui prin incercari foarte grave, si cand a ajuns inapoi in siguranta, a primit o chemare sa mai intareasca biserica si sa boteaza toti, care au dorit. Din cauza dreptatii si credintei lui, a primit cel mai mare binecuvantare, care exista pe pamant. (Mai vorbim despre asta mai tarziu.)

Prin experienta, a invatat mult despre conducere, pentru ca el a fost un conducator rau si pacatos, si a avut mult de spus despre conducere buna.

In primul rand, am zis mai devreme ca Alma nu a fost "profet", cum zicem noi de obicei--nu a fost "presedinte al bisericii" in ziua lui, in ciuda faptului ca el a fondat biserica. A fost ceva mai similar cu episcop sau presedinte a tarusului. De ce zic asta?

"We hid as it were our faces from him"

Translation: "Stop the exploitation! Don't give money to beggars!" Below, it lists a dedicated phone line at the local police department to report begging. This is a program started jointly with the police department and the civic government. It makes me very sad.

Romania has a lot of beggars, most of them gypsies. (I will refrain from commenting on other kinds and sources of "exploitation" that I'm aware of in Romania--I'll just say begging as a form of exploitation is the least of their concerns.)