Class 2 – Sections 137 &138

Clarifications about life after death.

Challenge from last time:Find scriptures in the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants that demonstrate that:

God the Father and Jesus Christ are separate beings.

God the Father and Jesus Christ have bodies of flesh and blood.

Section 76• Who received it?

• When was it given?

• Where was it given?

• Why was it given?

Section 76• Who received it? Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon

• When was it given? Early 1832

• Where was it given? John Johnson’s house (Hiram, Ohio)

• Why was it given? Translation/ What is heaven?

John Johnson’s Farm

•became the church headquarters

•16 sections of the D&C given there in 1831 - 1832

•The Prophet and Sidney Rigdon tarred and feathered

there.

Philo Dibble

…The vision which is recorded in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants was given at the house of ‘Father Johnson,’ in Hiram, Ohio, and during the time that Joseph and Sidney were in the spirit and saw the heavens open, there were other men in the room, perhaps twelve, among whom I was one during a part of the time—probably two-thirds of the time,—I saw the glory and felt the power, but did not see the vision.

“The events and conversation, while they were seeing what is written (and many things were seen and related that are not written,) I will relate as minutely as is necessary.

Philo Dibble

“Joseph would, at intervals, say: ‘What do I see?’ as one might say while looking out the window and beholding what all in the room could not see. Then he would relate what he had seen or what he was looking at. Then Sidney replied, ‘I see the same.’ Presently Sidney would say ‘what do I see?’ and would repeat what he had seen or was seeing, and Joseph would reply, ‘I see the same.’

“This manner of conversation was reported at short intervals to the end of the vision, and during the whole time not a word was spoken by any other person. Not a sound nor motion made by anyone but Joseph and Sidney, and it seemed to me that they never moved a joint or limb during the time I was there, which I think was over an hour, and to the end of the vision.

Philo Dibble

“Joseph sat firmly and calmly all the time in the midst of a magnificent glory, but Sidney sat limp and pale, apparently as limber as a rag, observing which, Joseph remarked, smilingly, ‘Sidney is not used to it as I am.’”

What is the “standard” Christian view of what happens to us after death?

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Cumulative Good Works

Start below zero – add all the good subtract all the bad…

Good Works heaven

hell

Good Works

So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the labourers, and give them [their] hire, beginning from the last unto the first. And when they came that [were hired] about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny. And when they had received [it], they murmured against the goodman of the house. -- Matt 20:8-11

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The Final Day

Wherever you are when you die is what’s important.

Good Works heaven

hell

We believe emphatically in what it says, "by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel." We have no faith in death-bed repentance. We have no faith that by making a confession just before death we can be saved.

-- Pres. Heber J. Grant, April 1935 Conference

So… How are we judged?

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Start out good, then we prove ourselves by what we think, say and do.

What we really are celestial

terrestrial

telestial

perdition

According to a 19th Century American, what would it take to get to heaven?

Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and [of] the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. – John 3:5

Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also [in the likeness] of [his] resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with [him], that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: --Romans 6:3-8

What do you with little children or people never have the opportunity for baptism?

Some solutions Christians have taken:

1. Baptism is not really necessary

2. God is just and He controls the destinies of men – but those who do not receive baptism are damned.

3. Limbo…

Limbo(Late Lat. limbus) a word of Teutonic derivation, meaning literally "hem" or "border," as of a garment, or anything joined on (cf. Italian lembo or English limb). In theological usage the name is applied to (a) the temporary place or state of the souls of the just who, although purified from sin, were excluded from the beatific vision until Christ’s triumphant ascension into heaven (the "limbus patrum"); or (b) to the permanent place or state of those unbaptized children and others who, dying without grievous personal sin, are excluded from the beatific vision on account of original sin alone (the "limbus infantium" or "puerorum"). -- Catholic Encyclopedia http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/index.html

Does Sect. 76 answer the question of salvation little children and people never have the opportunity for baptism?

Why would Joseph Smith have been concerned about such questions?

What were the circumstances surrounding Joseph Smith receiving

Sect. 137?

What were the circumstances surrounding Joseph Smith receiving

Sect. 137?• Washings in the Printing Office.

• Anointings in the uncompleted Temple.

• Ordination of Joseph Smith, Sr. as Patriarch

• See the course website: http://www.physics.byu.edu/faculty/rees/325

What is the message of Sect. 137?

What is the message of Sect. 137? • What the celestial kingdom is like.

• We can be with our families.

• Children who die before the age of accountability obtain celestial glory automatically.

• Those who did not hear the gospel can accept it.

Background to Section 138• How was Joseph F. Smith related to Joseph Smith?

• What was happening in 1918?

• Joseph F. Smith died about six weeks later.

Background to Section 138• What was Joseph F. Smith’s question?

Background to Section 138• What was Joseph F. Smith’s question?For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison. -- 1 Peter 3:18-19

What are the messages of Section 138?

Messages of Section 138• The importance of pondering scriptures

• Being separated from our body is a bondage.

• Christ organized missionary work among the dead

though he didn’t actually preach to the wicked himself.