Morality of Deuteronomy and Joshua

I read the Torah portions for the entire year, starting over yesterday on Genesis 1 again. Instead of just starting on Genesis 1, I decided to continue reading forward in addition to the portions this year, so I read the beginning of Joshua.

In my readings, I have come to the conclusion that the ethics presented in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers are superior to those presented in Deuteronomy and Joshua (thus far.)

Deuteronomy appears to be a much later book, attempting to convince the Israelites that they have fallen astray, and get them to abide by a much harsher law. I don't think Deuteronomy really contradicts Torah much if at all, it just extends it in a dark way.

Joshua, curiously, begins where Deuteronomy left off, and seems to be using its opening passages as an argument to persuade people to believe in Deuteronomy.  I see this as evidence that Deuteronomy and Joshua are nearly contemporary, Joshua following because Deuteronomy may not have picked up much traction at first.

The purpose of Deuteronomy seems to be to build up the kingdom, (or, if it is retrospective, to explain how it was built, in possible hopes that it can be built even larger) to give more authority and power to the Priests, to abolish formal worship outside of the official national sanctuary and to promote certain theological points.

I feel pretty good about Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers, but Deuteronomy remains unconvincing to me as a "good book." Although, it does have certain passages that could be considered cherished and are very good by their own merit, but as a complete work, it just doesn't add up.

It seems a shame to end the Torah reading each year with such a "forgery" to the good name of Moses, and such an ethically challenged book.

How to Pray

I have been having a difficult time with settings requiring formal vocal prayer. In the past, I had been taught to pray in a manner that ends "In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen." I no longer believe this to be required, and in some cases, feel it is an inappropriate way to end a prayer.

My beliefs about Jesus are vague right now. I wish I had a trustworthy account of his life and teachings so that I could see more clearly how he fits in.

The Godhead

Just contemplating...

Primordial Energy (Not an object of our worship)

Aur Ein Sof = Light Without End.

This light constitutes the "intelligences" that Joseph Smith mentioned. It forms everything, it is the source of the power of God and of all things. This is the energy that constitutes the Universe.

Grandparent Deities (Not objects of our worship)

Eloh-Yehvah v Khevah = God of Yehvah and Khevah, Grandfather.
Eloah-Yehvah v Khevah = Goddess of Yehvah and Khevah, Grandmother.

Celestial or Heavenly Parents (Proper objects of our worship)

El - Yehvah - Adam - Father
Asherah - Khevah (Eve) - Mother

Terrestrial Guide (Not an object of our worship)

Yeshua

Telestial Guide (Not an object of our worship)

Yophiel (Beauty of God)
(Or another Angel.)

And...

Yourself (Not an object of our worship)

My Curious View of Temple Square

I just got to explore Temple Square in Salt Lake again. I wanted to share some of my photos and observations.

I call this Photo "Herod's Tower." It shows the Salt Lake Temple (bottom left corner) and the Church Office Building (on the right) towering above it. This angle is a little bit deceptive because I'm actually closer to the COB than I am to the Temple, but in reality the COB is taller than the Temple, and its design makes it quite an eyesore, and this photo captures how I feel about that.

Near where I took that picture, we found a statue of Joseph and Emma Smith. It has a caption about giving to the poor, but we found it curious that Joseph is handing Emma a coin.


The coin appears to be modeled after some real coin, with a year and other symbols on it, but it is in an awkward position and my camera wasn't strong enough to pick it up with clarity, so I'm not sure what it is.


This is a picture of the northeast corner of the Salt Lake Temple with the Annex building clearly in view, and reflected in the pool. This Annex is not to be confused with the more beautiful building which once existed, and housed many additional sealing rooms to handle overflow from the Temple. The current annex, from my knowledge, serves mainly (if not only) as a reception area, recommend desk, and possibly clothing rental facility, from whence an underground passage leads to the main Temple. Some of this functionality takes place underground, however, and I lose my bearings on exactly whether it is under the annex or in the Temple "basement," or somewhere in between. Nevertheless, this current Annex is a complementary match to the architecture of the Temple itself.


This is my favorite pipe organ on Temple Square. It is located in the Assembly Hall, just south of the Tabernacle. One of the Sister Missionaries graciously let me go up on the stage to take a close up picture of this organ even though they had a white video screen set up in front of it blocking its visibility from the hall itself. Notice the Alpha and Omega symbolism on the medallions. The other medallions also have interesting and unique symbolism. I will have to analyze other pictures of it to determine what all of them are. I love the "trumpet pipes" coming out the front of this organ. And, finally, a classic picture:


This is my photo of the Salt Lake Temple, Annex, Tabernacle, and Conference Center, taken from the 10th floor of the former Hotel Utah (Now the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.) I haven't edited it at all, so there is some minor reflection from the window. You can also see the Hotel Utah's 10th floor "fringe" in the bottom right corner of the photo. This is the first time I've taken a clear picture of the Temple from an angle that hasn't made it look skewed or distorted, as photos from the ground are apt to do, and I think it turned out pretty good.

I will post more pictures of Temple Square and the surrounding area soon.

Learning True Good - Ethics as a Tool of Spiritual Discernment

This is only a partially developed thought, but I wanted to share it.

Somewhere out there on a planet in Alpha Centauri there is a being so Superior to us that we call Him God. He is not alone. There are many Supreme Beings out there - the Elohim. Some are good, and some are evil. Well, what makes our God special? He, together with our Mother, seeded our world.

If any of these Elohim visited us on earth, we would be tempted to worship them as God. It has been revealed to us that our Deity is one of Goodness. If an Evil being came it would seek out this worship, and try to be recognized as God, but it is our duty to know the Good from the Evil so that we can detect such an impostor.

Any other Good being would not try to take that which is not rightfully theirs. No Good God would come to a planet not under his or her authority and usurp it.

While this example may not be correct in its technical details, it is illustrative of the principle: If we properly learn Ethics we can discern between God and all Impostors. Therefore, to know Ethics is to know God. To know Ethics will cause us to practice them. If we know God we will know ourselves. To show it another way, if we understand the Ethical teachings of Jesus, we will know the Father when we see Him.

Paul's Doctrine of Grace

I think that Paul's teachings of "Salvation by Grace" are used to create a sinister distortion of the true Grace of God, as well as a distortion of God's Justice.

A Distortion of Grace

According to Paul, God requires death and blood as a payment for sin. (Romans 6:23) The system of animal sacrifice in the Mosaic law is reinterpreted by followers of Paul as a system of death by proxy, and the inferior Mosaic sacrifice of animals is eventually replaced with the infinite and superior "New Testament" sacrifice of a Divine being: Jesus. The idea is that in order for Justice to be fulfilled, God requires the payment for each sin to be exacted, and Jesus has become the payment for the sins of all those who accept him.

The problem with this? YHVH is a god of Love, and He is more capable than any human being. The truth of the Mosaic system is this: God commanded us to Love him. We show our love for Him by obeying Torah, by following Mitzvot (Commandments.) When we make mistakes, he offers true forgiveness for us. Animal sacrifices were offered in order to give up our good things to God, as a token of our love. The forgiveness that he offers is true because it isn't about displacing punishment onto another, its about forgiving.

Have you ever been really angry at someone? Perhaps you've wanted to hit them? God asks us to forgive our fellow men. Does this mean we should take out our anger by hitting a stand-in so that the one who offended doesn't need to pay? No. That is just redirection of anger. No forgiveness happened, the wrath merely got redirected. We forgive our fellows by extending mercy towards them, by giving them a second chance. If we, being human, can muster up the strength to do this virtuous thing, certainly God can do it, too!

So the truth is that God can really forgive you! Just pray and ask him for it. The catch is, that you must really be sorry, and you must be serious about not repeating your sins. This expression of our sorrow and re-commitment to follow Torah is the repentance that Jesus, John the Baptist, and dozens of prophets of the Hebrew Scriptures called people unto.

A Distortion of Justice

Even though God extends mercy to us for our honest mistakes, he is a fair and righteous judge. Paul's teachings are used to distort justice by people who teach that it is not by works (following mitzvot) that we are saved but by "grace alone" through faith on Jesus Christ.

A Pauline Christian can imagine someone who robs, steals, cheats, bears false witness, covets, and also accepts Jesus Christ as their savior to be "covered" by the grace of Jesus.

They also see someone who follows all the mitzvot, loves God and their neighbor, feeds the hungry and clothes the naked going to Hell because they did not accept Jesus Christ as their savior, justifying this by the statement that "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

Jesus taught ethics. He promised people that they were near to the Kingdom of God when they lived according to the Torah and demonstrated love to their fellows. Jesus actively forgave sins during his life, telling people to go and sin no more! He never spoke about suffering to take on all sins by proxy at his death. That doctrine didn't exist until Paul taught it. He did, however, die because of (from) people's sins. Sin was the cause of his death.

By teaching grace alone (and contradicting James even on the subject of Abraham's justification), Paul opens the door for the permissibility of sinfulness, corruption, selfishness, etc. It is true that a grace-alone believer can truly repent, and live by God's law, and become sanctified, but without works there is no attempt to fulfill mitzvot, and the person living in faith without works is therefore failing in the first commandment, to love the LORD thy God.

If you serve God with a sincere heart, he will become your deliverance, and you need not fear. He is the most Just of all judges, because he can weigh your heart in the balance together with the evidence of your actions.

In Defense of Babylon

There is one point I would like to explain on behalf of the so-called Christians. I am not sure if they even understand this, because I never did until recently, but three of their doctrines add up to eliminate some of the ill logic described above. Protestants typically believe that the believers constitute the "Body of Christ" and because of this, Christ isn't a Proxy (in your behalf), but rather is a reinforced part of your own self, thus God is punishing "you" (the Body of Christ) for your own sin. (Does this mean that the Body of Christ is a sinful being?) And, on the other side, the Trinity equates Jesus with the Father, which means instead of punishing you, he's taking the punishment upon an aspect of himself. This is supposed to reconcile the problems with true forgiveness and proxy punishment that I mentioned above. It is a clever attempt made by the philosophies of men, but it fails to measure up adequately to the simplicity and beauty of a true system of repentance and forgiveness.

To Sum Up

It turns out that the God of Israel is a God of Love, offering genuine mercy and forgiveness, and perfect justice, while the Christ-God of Pauline Christianity is a bloodthirsty, vengeful being, that doesn't have a heart big enough to forgive but instead must kill his own innocent son in order to let the wicked run free.

Please, tell me if I've gotten this wrong!

Lighted Way Ministries

I just wanted to do a quick shout-out about Lighted Way Ministries. They're an interesting group that as far as I can tell, is on a very good path. I've had the privilege lately of going to a few of their lectures. Mark and Shauna Manfredine seem to be the principal speakers on theological issues (leaving other subjects such as healthy eating, medicine, and basic ethics to others,) and their presentations are highly compelling and show a real dedication to God.

Right now, I particularly want to draw attention to their answer to a question about Biblical inspiration. The distinction between "Word Inspired" and "Thought Inspired" is excellent. I've read an Ellen G. White quote that stated essentially the same thing, so I will share that here:

"The Bible is written by inspired men, but it is not God's mode of thought and expression. It is that of humanity. God, as a writer, is not represented. Men will often say that such an expression is not like God. But God has not put Himself in words, in logic, in rhetoric, on trial in the Bible. The writers of the Bible were God's penmen, not His pen. Look at the different writers. It is not the words of the Bible that are inspired, but the men that were inspired. Inspiration acts not on the man's words or his expressions, but on the man himself, who, under the influence of the Holy Ghost, is imbued with thoughts. But the words receive the impress of the individual mind. The divine mind is diffused. The divine mind and will is combined with the human mind and will; thus the utterances of the man are the word of God." (Ellen G. White ms. 24, 1886, Selected Messages, 1:21)