"And your minds in times past have been darkened because of unbelief, and because you have treated lightly the things you have received—Which vanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under condemnation. And this condemnation resteth upon the children of Zion, even all. And they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon and the former commandments which I have given them, not only to say, but to do according to that which I have written—" -- D&C 84:54-57According to the quote above, the LDS church been functioning under a state of condemnation since 1832. This has been reaffirmed in recent years, at very least by President Benson in 1986, and Elder Oaks in 2010.
When it is acknowledged that we are under condemnation--which it is frequently not, sometimes to the point of outright denial--every effort is made to minimize what that means. God's condemnation here is treated as nothing more than wagging His finger at us, saying "tisk tisk, try and read your scriptures more." That is the extent of the suffering we acknowledge receiving of God through this condemnation.
When addressing the condemnation, our efforts are almost exclusively focused on reading The Book of Mormon. Very little is ever made of the highly specified indictment from God in verse 57, wherein He clarifies that He is more interested in our following its teachings, in addition to reading them.
So as a people, we stand condemned of God for failure to read and follow The Book of Mormon, to take it seriously. We respond by occasionally acknowledging we should read it more, and rarely noting we should be doing more to follow it. We think this is sufficient to discharge the condemnation, in the rare instances it is acknowledged as existing.
In this condition, the church claims to currently hold all the rights, keys, privileges, etc. necessary to provide us with a fulness of blessings in this life and salvation in the next. We claim to have full access to all that God has had to offer to any dispensation, and more (This Final, Glorious Gospel Dispensation; This, the Greatest of All Dispensations; etc.).
Which begs the question: If we are under condemnation, yet the church has access to all keys and blessings, then what power does a condemnation from God have? Does it have any? Is condemnation of God even a serious matter, or just a disappointed glance? Maybe we need to look into what "condemnation" means.
When addressing the condemnation, our efforts are almost exclusively focused on reading The Book of Mormon. Very little is ever made of the highly specified indictment from God in verse 57, wherein He clarifies that He is more interested in our following its teachings, in addition to reading them.
So as a people, we stand condemned of God for failure to read and follow The Book of Mormon, to take it seriously. We respond by occasionally acknowledging we should read it more, and rarely noting we should be doing more to follow it. We think this is sufficient to discharge the condemnation, in the rare instances it is acknowledged as existing.
In this condition, the church claims to currently hold all the rights, keys, privileges, etc. necessary to provide us with a fulness of blessings in this life and salvation in the next. We claim to have full access to all that God has had to offer to any dispensation, and more (This Final, Glorious Gospel Dispensation; This, the Greatest of All Dispensations; etc.).
Which begs the question: If we are under condemnation, yet the church has access to all keys and blessings, then what power does a condemnation from God have? Does it have any? Is condemnation of God even a serious matter, or just a disappointed glance? Maybe we need to look into what "condemnation" means.
What if we examine some of the topical context of "condemnation," of being "condemned" in the scriptures, what will we find? What will the scriptures paint "condemnation" to be? How will the scriptures speak of those who are under a state of condemnation, the condemned? Let's look at just a few examples:
"A good man obtaineth favour of the Lord: but a man of wicked devices will he condemn." -- Proverbs 12:2
"Now the Amlicites knew not that they were fulfilling the words of God when they began to mark themselves in their foreheads; nevertheless they had come out in open rebellion against God; therefore it was expedient that the curse should fall upon them. Now I would that ye should see that they brought upon themselves the curse; and even so doth every man that is cursed bring upon himself his own condemnation." -- Alma 3:18-19
"Then if our hearts have been hardened, yea, if we have hardened our hearts against the word, insomuch that it has not been found in us, then will our state be awful, for then we shall be condemned. For our words will condemn us, yea, all our works will condemn us; we shall not be found spotless; and our thoughts will also condemn us; and in this awful state we shall not dare to look up to our God; and we would fain be glad if we could command the rocks and the mountains to fall upon us to hide us from his presence." -- Alma 12:13-14
"But behold, the resurrection of Christ redeemeth mankind, yea, even all mankind, and bringeth them back into the presence of the Lord. Yea, and it bringeth to pass the condition of repentance, that whosoever repenteth the same is not hewn down and cast into the fire; but whosoever repenteth not is hewn down and cast into the fire; and there cometh upon them again a spiritual death, yea, a second death, for they are cut off again as to things pertaining to righteousness. Therefore repent ye, repent ye, lest by knowing these things and not doing them ye shall suffer yourselves to come under condemnation, and ye are brought down unto this second death." -- Helaman 14:17-19
'Therefore, keep these sayings which I have commanded you that ye come not under condemnation; for wo unto him whom the Father condemneth." -- 3 Nephi 18:33
"And all they who receive the oracles of God, let them beware how they hold them lest they are accounted as a light thing, and are brought under condemnation thereby, and stumble and fall when the storms descend, and the winds blow, and the rains descend, and beat upon their house." -- D&C 90:5If this truly is "the greatest dispensation," with more light and truth and blessings than ever before, should we be troubled by what this verse has to say about our current state of condemnation?:
"For of him unto whom much is given much is required; and he who sins against the greater light shall receive the greater condemnation." -- D&C 82:3Is there anywhere in scripture outside of D&C 84:54-57 that the term "condemnation" is not understood as a terrible thing? A thing to be taken seriously? Is not D&C 84:54-57 written and canonized within the same body as the rest of the scriptures which use the term so seriously? If we have the most light and truth in this dispensation, shouldn't we take our condemnation to be the most serious? What justification do we have for giving this instance of the term "condemnation" an exponentially more tame definition and understanding than its use throughout the remainder of scripture? Is this justified? Or is it a rationalization of man, unwilling to face our true state?
If God’s condemnations hold no more power than a Divine finger wagging, then we face the bigger question: What use have we for fearing God?
If we have all the keys, all the access, all the blessings while under condemnation, then what need is there for pleasing Him in anything? Why bother worrying about getting out of a state of condemnation? If we can be condemned of God, yet remain sufficiently approved of God to obtain everything from Him, then what power does God actually have to withhold from us? If His power of withholding is so lacking, why not go ahead and offend Him, shove Him aside and take what we need and apparently hold claim to, without regard or need for His approval?
Or, perhaps, has the condemnation exacted a cost? Could it still be exacting a cost today, one to which we have become blind, incapable or unwilling to see anymore? What could we be missing out on? Could we be missing out on available promises and gifts and have no idea, because we are too asleep to notice the scriptures declaring it? Or because we've been led by our fathers and their traditions to trust that there is nothing to find? If we are blind to our condemnation and its price, would that not allow us to think and pronounce that we are not suffering any condemnation or resultant loss? How could we discover whether we are blind? If we discover we suffer from blindness, how could we gain sight?
I bet we could start with the scriptures.
I bet we could start with the scriptures.
