General Conference Sunday Afternoon Session April 6, 2008

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland - Apostle (Audio, Video)

“My Words . . . Never Cease”

Some Christians, because of their love for the Bible, state that there can be no more word from God than the Bible. He stated that we respectfully reject such a unscriptural mandate.

He commented on the statement in the Book of Revelation that states not to add to "this book". He stated that much of the Bible was written after that. He also stated that the Bible was not bound together as a complete collection until much after the Book of Revelation.

Moses 1:4

4 And, behold, thou art my son; wherefore ^alook, and I will show thee the ^bworkmanship of mine ^chands; but not all, for my ^dworks are without ^eend, and also my ^fwords, for they never cease.

The Old Testament does not lose value in our eyes when we are presented with the New Testament.

Joseph Smith—History 1:12

12 Never did any passage of ^ascripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time to mine. It seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of my heart. I reflected on it again and again, knowing that if any person needed ^bwisdom from God, I did; for how to act I did not know, and unless I could get more wisdom than I then had, I would never know; for the teachers of religion of the different sects ^cunderstood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible.
Thus one of the great purposes of continuing revelation through living prophets is to declare to the world through additional witnesses that the Bible is true. “This is written,” an ancient prophet said, speaking of the Book of Mormon, “for the intent that ye may believe that,” speaking of the Bible. (See Mormon 7:9)

D&C 10:52

52 And now, behold, according to their faith in their prayers will I bring this part of my gospel to the knowledge of my people. Behold, I do not bring it to ^adestroy that which they have received, but to build it up.

The scriptures are not our final authority. God is our final authority.

"In a sense Joseph Smith and his prophetic successors in this Church answer the challenge Ralph Waldo Emerson put to the students of the Harvard Divinity School 170 years ago this coming summer. To that group of the Protestant best and brightest, the great sage of Concord pled that they teach “that God is, not was; that He speaketh, not spake.”"
(“An Address,” The Complete Writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson (1929), 45.)

Elder David A. Bednar - Apostle(Audio, Video)

Ask in Faith

The principle of asking in faith.

We can all improve our consistency and efficacy of our person and family prayers.

Joseph did not go to the grove to ask which church was right, but which to join.

James 2:20

20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that afaith without bworks is dead?

Faith is a principle of action and power.

Prayer requires holy communication and consecrated work.

Prayer requires honesty, effort, and commitment

It is our responsibility to find people for the missionaries to teach. The missionaries are full time teachers. It is our job to find.

Ether 12: 6

6 And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that afaith is things which are bhoped for and cnot seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no dwitness until after the etrial of your faith.

Elder W. Craig Zwick - Seventy (Audio, Video) We Will Not Yield, We Cannot Yield

The scoffing of the world is loneliness trying to make itself feel better.

1 Nephi 8:33

33 And great was the multitude that did enter into that strange building. And after they did enter into that building they did point the finger of ascorn at me and those that were partaking of the fruit also; but we heeded them not.

Elder Robert R. Steuer - Seventy (Audio, Video)

The Power of Light and Truth
He talked about the things he noticed about light as a child using a flashlight. He compared that to the light of the Gospel.

He noted things about Gospel light that Alma found. "...the preaching of the word had a great tendency to lead the people to do that which was just—yea, it had . . . more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword, or anything else, which had happened unto them—therefore Alma thought it was expedient that they should try the virtue of the word of God.” (Alma 31:5)

Elder Dennis B. Neuenschwander - Seventy (Audio, Video)
One among the Crowd
He talked about various crowds. He talked of the crowds around the woman who had an issue of blood that pressed throught he crowds to touch the hem of Jesus' garment. He talked about the crowd of priests and the King Noah that Alma went contrary to in order to accept the truth that Abinidi taught from Christ. He talked of the crowd of people in the spacious building in Lehi's dream.

He noted that struggling against the crowd can be tough, but Jesus can reach us even in among the crowds.

Elder Lance B. Wickman - Seventy (Audio, Video)
Today

Alma 34:32–34

32 For behold, this ^alife is the time for men to ^bprepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of ^cthis life is the day for men to perform their ^dlabors.

33 And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many ^awitnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not ^bprocrastinate the day of your ^crepentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the ^dnight of ^edarkness wherein there can be no labor performed.

34 Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful ^acrisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which doth ^bpossess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world.

Jesus' decent below all things allows up to rise above all things.

Elder Craig C. Christensen - Seventy (Audio, Video)
A Book with a Promise

We have the benefit of living scriptures as well as canonized scriptures.

He presented a set of scriptures to a friend with that friend's name embosses on each volume. The friend asked, “Why do we need additional witnesses of Jesus Christ other than the Bible?” They asked him why he thought it might be important. "He suggested that since there appeared to be so many variations of the Bible and its teachings, we needed some kind of clarifying voice, something that would help us understand the Bible better."

Elder M. Russell Ballard - Apostle (Audio, Video)
Daughters of God

Mothers
"There is no role in life more essential and more eternal than that of motherhood."

Cut out extra commitments. Cut out time wasting activities like soap operas and surfing the internet.

“Behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass” (Alma 37:6).

President Thomas S. Monson - Prophet (Audio, Video)
Abundantly Blessed

President Monson stated, "We've had rapid-fire messages from a lot of speakers, but every one touched on a very important subject."

He also said a few words about his father.

Sunday March 18, 2007

Sacrament Meeting
The young women gave a musical program.

Sunday School
Parables
He taught in parables so that those who had the spirit would be able to understand and those who didn't would not. Those that understood would be accountable.

Seeds that fell by wayside - Birds came and ate them.
Seeds in Stony Places - No roots.
Seeds among thorns - Thorns choked them out.
Seeds in good soil - Bring forth fruit.

Seed = Word of God
Wayside = People that hear the Word and do not understand (lack of faith, sin, leaning on their own understanding)
Stony places = Hear and receive and don't allow it to take root (Accepted the gospel and then fell away)
Thorny places = Hear the word of God, but are distracted by the cares of the world (Accepted the gospel and then have worldly things pulls us away. Sin, temporal concerns, and such)

Priesthood
Ch 6 - Discovering the scriptures
Even after having read the scriptures 76 times President Kimball related to someone that they had explained a scripture in a way he had never considered. There is always more to learn. There is always something more to the scriptures that we have missed or a perspective that we have not looked at them from.

Robert L. Millet - BYU Sperry Symposium 10-28-2006

An address given at the BYU Sperry Symposium on How the New Testament Came to Be.

Robert L. Millet - Department of Ancient Scripture - BYU
The Closed Canon: Blessings, Challenges, and Prospects
He talked of a canon of scripture being authoritative and books are included because they are deemed authoritative. There was a lot of discussion about books to be included in the Bible. There was a lot of Christian writings at the time, but they tried to determine which were authoritative.

Luke 24: 44-45
44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be ^afulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.

45 Then opened he their ^aunderstanding, that they might understand the scriptures,

Jesus continued to teach His people from the Law of Moses, the words of the prophets, and other sacred writings. Those records testified of him to and it was of continued importance that the people learn and understand those scriptures too.

He described some of the history of how we got the Bible in the form we have it today. There was much debate of the the books to be included Old Testament and even the entire Old Testament itself. There were also disputes over what to include in the New Testament. There was also much that was removed and attempted to be removed that didn't match what some people wanted to believe. For example Martin Luther not like the Epistle of James because it talked so much about the need for works.

Some books were removed from the canon because they were not in narrative form. They didn't tell a story. They were trying to make Christianity more palatable to the rest of the world.

Professor N.T. Wright, a bishop in the Church of England stated, "The canonization of scripture, both Jewish and Christian, was no doubt complicated by all kinds of less than perfect human motivations."

Some writers in the early Church add titillation to their writings to make them more palatable to non Christians often taking liberties with the doctrines. The canonized books of the Bible helped keep some of that in check.

On the other hand too much reliance on the canon can shut off people to being open to further instruction from God. It can also lead to complacency if a point of doctrine is not dealt with directly in the Bible some may assume that God doesn't care how we deal with it. It can border on scripture worship.

Scripture points away from itself and toward God and delegated to Christ.

One Protestant scholar has inquired tellingly into the erroneous doctrine of a closed canon. He writes: “On what biblical or historical grounds has the inspiration of God been limited to the written documents that the church now calls its Bible? . . . If the Spirit inspired only the written documents of the first century, does that mean that the same Spirit does not speak today in the church about matters that are of significant concern?”(Lee M. McDonald, The Formation of the Christian Biblical Canon, rev. ed. (1995), 255–56.)

Who authorized the canon to be closed?

2 Nephi 28:26-31
26 Yea, wo be unto him that ^ahearkeneth unto the precepts of men, and denieth the power of God, and the gift of the Holy Ghost!

27 Yea, wo be unto him that saith: We have received, and we ^aneed no more!

28 And in fine, wo unto all those who tremble, and are ^aangry because of ^bthe truth of God! For behold, he that is built upon the ^crock ^dreceiveth it with gladness; and he that is built upon a sandy foundation trembleth lest he shall fall.

29 Wo be unto him that shall say: We have received the word of God, and we ^aneed ^bno more of the word of God, for we have enough!

30 For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon ^aprecept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn ^bwisdom; for unto him that ^creceiveth I will give ^dmore; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have.

31 Cursed is he that putteth his ^atrust in man, or maketh flesh his arm, or shall hearken unto the ^bprecepts of men, save their precepts shall be given by the power of the Holy Ghost.

Didn't the apostles in New Testament times declare that the canon was no more closed .

The Bible is a wonderful tool in the hand of God, but horrible when used as a weapon.

We do not believe in the inerrancy of the Bible, but we do believe that what we have today is what God intended for us to have.

Before we can write the Gospel in our own book of life we must learn the Gospel as it is in the books of scripture. - Bruce R. McKonkie 1982

We read the Bible through the lenses of restoration scriptures. Christians have been likewise taught to read the Old Testament through the lenses of the New Testament. They would probably rather read the book of John or other writings of the apostles than the book of Leviticus they nonetheless confess a love for the entire Bible. The same is true for Latter-day Saints. We would most like modern scripture, but we love all scripture.