We Know That There Is a God in Heaven

More Reflections on the Beginning of Doctrine and Covenants 20

Jeff Lindsay’s recent article in Meridian Magazine “What did Oliver Cowdery Look at When He Tried to Translate?” adds valuable insights to what we previously studied in the Doctrine and Covenants with regards to Book of Mormon translation and Oliver Cowdery’s attempt to translate.

The Smith and Sjodahl commentary on the beginning (verses 1-4) of D&C 20 is helpful for our study this week:

1. The Rise of the Church

The Church was organized on the 6th of April, 1830. This date was chosen in accordance with a divine command. In all probability the 6th of April is the anniversary of the birthday of our Lord. There is no authentic record of the date of the birth of Christ, but scholars (Griswell, among others) consider it probable that He was born on the tenth day of the Jewish month of Nisan, which in the year of the Nativity has been calculated to correspond to Saturday, April the 5th. But as He was born at night, and Saturday expired at sunset, the date would be more precisely, April the 6th, and that would be the beginning of Sunday, “our Lord’s day.” On this supposition the date was most appropriate.

Agreeable to the laws] The Church was organized under the laws of the State of New York, which required that a society should have no fewer than six members, to be recognized under the law. It was organized in accordance with a divine command, for God requires His children to conform to all just laws. From the first the Church was taught loyalty.

Joseph and Oliver had, by this time, conferred upon them the Melchizedek Priesthood. They had authority to organize the Church, receive commandments, and take charge of the affairs of the Kingdom of God, according to the grace of our Lord the Savior. (pp. 98-99)

Their commentary on verses 5-12 is also helpful:

5-12. A brief review of events preceding the establishment of the Church.

2. Events Preceding

5. Remission of his sins] Joseph had received a marvelous manifestation of divine favor, in the answer given to his first prayer, but afterwards he was “entangled again in the vanities of the world.” In his autobiography the Prophet ascribes this, in part, to the unkind treatment accorded him by the religious people. He was young and inexperienced; they ostracized and slandered him, and, consequently, he “was left to all kinds of temptations.” And this is placed on record for our instruction. Christians cannot be too careful in their conduct among their fellow men. It is a mark of integrity and veracity that this weakness of youth is made as prominent in the record as are the divine manifestations. In the sacred Scriptures the failings of Moses, or the difficulties between Paul and Peter, are recorded as well as their good qualities and victories over sin. A mere human history would conceal such imperfections, as far as possible. God places them on record for the instruction of others.

6. God ministered unto him] When he repented and sought God in prayer the angel Moroni was sent to him. This was another marvelous manifestation that his repentance hasd been accepted and his sins forgiven.

8. The means which were before prepared] The Urim and Thummim.

9. Fulness of the gospel] The Book of Mormon contains the “fulness of the gospel of Jesus christ to Gentiles and Jews.” The word “fulness” means “abundance,” “completeness.” In the epistles of Paul (Eph. 1:23; Col. 1:19) it means, as Lightfoot has shown, the completed condition, as when a rent is mended. Gnostics taught that between the Infinite and fine man there was a chasm which none could cross except over a bridge of divine “emanations,” or aeons. These were their pleroma, or “fulness.” Paul teaches us that Christ is the bridge, the fulness, between God and man. He is the Intermediary. In Him the cleft is mended, the ideal realized. In the same meaning of the word, the Book of Mormon contains the “fulness” of the gospel. It is the bridge between the Church of former ages and ours.

11. Proving to the world] The Book of Mormon proves the divine inspiration of such prophecies as Isaiah 29:1-14; Ezekiel 37:15-28; Revelation 9:18-21; 10:1-11; 14:6, and many others. It is, particularly, a witness for the Isaianic authorship of the latter part of the book of Isaiah, which some scholars have questioned.

12. He is the same] It proves that God is the same today as He was yesterday, that Christ is the same, and that His Priesthood is unchangeable. Comp. Heb. 13:8; 7:24. The unchangeableness of Christ and His Priesthood proves that the gospel is also the same as it has been. We must not follow “diverse and strange doctrines.” (pp. 99-100)

Their commentary on verses 13-16 pertains to the beginning of our study today:

3. Testimony of the Elders

13-16. In the Book of Mormon the reader will find the solemn testimony of Three Witnesses, and also of Eight, to the authenticity of that Volume. Here is added the solemn testimony of he Prophet Joseph and Oliver Cowdery.

13. So great witnesses] The Bible and the Book of Mormon (v. 11). The world shall be judged by them. those who receive the testimony in faith, will be crowned with eternal life; those who reject it, will be condemned.

16. The elders of the Church] Joseph and Oliver. They were the first and second Elders, respectively, and they testify that they heard the words of the glorious Majesty on high. Here again it is the unchangeableness of God that is kept in view (see also Psalm 145:12, 13). God’s Kingdom is everlasting, the same in all ages; hence His Majesty is glorious. It is everlasting.

Their commentary on verses 17-28 also pertains to our study today:

4. Book of Mormon Truths

17-28. These are some of the important truths set forth in the Book of Mormon.

17. By these things] By the Book of Mormon and the heavenly voice attesting its truth, as well as by the Bible.

    We know] Not “we believe,” but we know that God exists; that He is infinite and eternal; unchangeable; the Creator of the heavens and the Earth and all things that are in them. The world is not the work of chance; nor is it self-existent; it is “created.” The elements have been organized by an Infinite Intelligence. This the Saints know.

    We know that God created man, male and female, after His own “image” in His own “likeness.” Our parents were in the image of God, in the same sense that Seth was in the image of Adam (Gen. 5:1-3). “‘Image’ suggests reproduction in form and substance, physical or spiritual; ‘likeness’ gives the idea of resemblance and outward similarity” (The Cambridge Bible, Genesis, p. 20)* Woman, as well as man was made after the image, in the likeness, of God.

    We know that man fell (v. 19), and that God gave His Son, to atone for the sin of Adam and to open the way for all to life eternal, through faith and obedience. The disobedience of Adam brought upon him and his descendants, death - physical, moral, and legal. The atonement of Christ restored all that was lost through Adam. By justification men are freed from the legal condemnation; by sanctification their moral status is restored; and by glorification physical death, the last enemy, will be overcome.

    “Is justice dishonored? No, it is satisfied, the debt is paid. Is righteousness departed from? No, this is a righteous act. All requirements are met. Is judgment violated? No, its demands are fulfilled. Is mercy triumphant? No, she simply claims her own. Justice, judgment, mercy, and truth, all harmonze as the attributes of Deity” (John Taylor, Mediation and Atonement, p. 171).

    “A divine debt has been contracted by the children, and the Father demands recompense. He says to His children on this Earth, who are in sin and transgression, It is impossible for you to pay this debt; I have prepared a Sacrifice; I will send my Only Begotten Son to pay this debt. Was it necessary, then, that Jesus should die? Do we understand why He should sacrifice His life? The idea that the son of God, who never committed sin, should sacrifice His life, is unquestionably preposterous to the minds of many in the Christian world. But the fact exists that the Father *** provided this Sacrifice and sent His Son to die for us; and it is also a great fact that the Son came to do the will of the Father, and that He has paid the debt, in fulfilment of the Scripture which says, ‘He was the Lam slain from the foundation of the world. Is it so on any other earth? *** (Brigham Young, Jour. of Dis., Vol. XIV., p. 71; comp. Doc. and Cov. 88:51-61).

28. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are one God] They are one in essence, in purpose, in spirit, in attributes, in power, and glory, but they are, nevertheless, three personages.

    “The Scriptural facts are, (a) the Father says I; the Son says I; the Spirit says I. (b) The Father says Thou to the Son, and the Son says Thou to the Father; and in like manner the Father and the Son use the pronouns He and Him in reference to the Spirit. (c) The Father loves the Son; the Son loves the Father; the Spirit testifies of the Son. The Father, Son, and Spirit are severally subject and object. They act and are acted upon, or are the objects of action *** The Son is of the Father, and the Spirit is of the Father and the Son. The Father sense the Son, and the Father and the Son send the Spirit. The Father operates through the Son, and the Father and Son operate through the Spirit.” (Charles Hodge, D.D. Systematic Theology, Vol. 1., pp. 444-5).

    This is a correct statement of the leading Scripture facts relating to the distinct personalities of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, although the author of it holds the orthodox, not Scriptural, view that the three Persons are one Being.

    *The commentator quoted thinks it improbably, however, that the word “likeness” is used in Genesis to indicate an outward resemblance, though that is the idea it conveys. Is it probable that it means what it says?

Now, let’s measure this excellent Smith and Sjodahl commentary (which is what I hope that my readers will do with my own commentary) by the verses of the actual revelation as recorded in D&C 20:17-28:

By these things we know that there is a God in heaven, who is infinite and eternal, from everlasting to everlasting the same unchangeable God, the framer of heaven and earth, and all things which are in them;

And that he created man, male and female, after his own image and in his own likeness, created he them;

And gave unto them commandments that they should love and serve him, the only living and true God, and that he should be the only being whom they should worship.

But by the transgression of these holy laws man became sensual and devilish, and became fallen man.

Wherefore, the Almighty God gave his Only Begotten Son, as it is written in those scriptures which have been given of him.

He suffered temptations but gave no heed unto them.

He was crucified, died, and rose again the third day;

And ascended into heaven, to sit down on the right hand of the Father, to reign with almighty power according to the will of the Father;

That as many as would believe and be baptized in his holy name, and endure in faith to the end, should be saved—

Not only those who believed after he came in the meridian of time, in the flesh, but all those from the beginning, even as many as were before he came, who believed in the words of the holy prophets, who spake as they were inspired by the gift of the Holy Ghost, who truly testified of him in all things, should have eternal life,

As well as those who should come after, who should believe in the gifts and callings of God by the Holy Ghost, which beareth record of the Father and of the Son;

Which Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are one God, infinite and eternal, without end. Amen. (D&C 20:17-28)

It makes sense to me that the foundational Articles and Covenants of the Church of Jesus Christ contain the foundational doctrine of Christ embedded within a foundational revelation concerning the Plan of Salvation. These are the same foundational truths that the great missionary Ammon and his brothers taught the Lamanites, namely, that there is a God, that He is the Creator of all things, including mankind, that Adam and Eve fell, and that God prepared an Atonement through His Beloved Son Jesus Christ. It is only within this context of the Plan of Salvation that the commandments and the Gospel of Jesus Christ make sense. Faith unto repentance, baptism, the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end only make sense and are efficacious because of the creation, the fall, and the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

What do we learn of God, our Heavenly Father, and His Beloved Son Jesus Christ in these verses?

What do we learn of our own duties and blessings in these verses?

In the next post we will begin by examining verses 29–37 of Doctrine and Covenants 20.