Ethics and Doctrine

I want to start this post by saying that I had a wonderful weekend once I got past that incident on Friday with the bird and the laughing guy. Me and Danielle cooked up a storm on Saturday, went to the Bellingham Farmer's Market, and walked home in the sunshine. Fast and Testimony meeting at church was really beautiful... everyone's messages really centered on Jesus Christ as a personal force in their lives, and how knowing that he loves us no matter what we do should help us to extend that same kind of unconditional love to others, and to be patient and trusting in times of difficulty. I felt the spirit really strongly. So, overall, I am feeling happy and at peace lately. I think that meeting also helped me to forgive the laughing guy. I understand that he is also a child of God--I can disapprove of his actions but still recognize his worth to God... or at least, I took a step toward that on Sunday, and it made me feel better, which is half the purpose of forgiving someone anyway xP in my opinion.

The sunday school lesson gave me some questions to think about though. The regular teacher of the class is the Bishop's wife... is very friendly and thoughtful, and has just the sort of personality where she is always direct and unapologetic in stating her opinion and understanding of things. This includes statements about the church. We were reading Hebrews chapter 5, verses 12-14.

Verse 12 says "For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat."

I'm just going to ignore the obvious vegan thoughts I inevitably have about the use of milk and meat as symbols of spiritual growth... xP Besides it being based on the culture of the time so that the people then could understand it, there is a reference later to those drinking milk as being babes, so it's obvious they were drinking breastmilk, which is completely natural, healthy, and ethical for babies to do. Meat is also often used in the scriptures as a catch-all term for any kind of solid food. So it doesn't bug me.

So the basic interpretation of this verse is that Paul is telling the Hebrews that they should be the ones teaching doctrine to all the other Christians, but right now they can't, they need to be taught again the bare basics of it all, the most important stuff. In my opinion this means the plain facts of Christ and his teachings and purpose on earth.

Verses 13-14: "For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."

This seems kind of weird to me... if the basics of the gospel (the milk) center on Christ and his teachings, then how does using that mean we're "unskilful in the word of righteousness"? I think those who focus most on Christ and his teachings are more likely to understand what true righteousness (right living) is, rather than those who get caught up in the appendages, the complicated details, the "strong meat". If strong meat is for those who "by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil", that suggests to me that it is those who have used the milky core of a focus on Christ and his loving nature to interpret the rest of the doctrine who are most likely to clearly discern good and evil. Therefore they are the ones who are skillful in the word of righteousness.

The teacher then spent a very large chunk of class time focusing on a Bruce R. McConkie quote. I will be honest and say that I have no great fondness for Elder McConkie, and I spent a very conflicted evening praying after an institute lesson in which he was cited as saying that the Catholic church is run by the devil and is the "great and abominable church" who is the "whore of all the earth" as mentioned in the Book of Mormon. (There is no way that I can believe this, after observing the Catholic church and its members firsthand. It also contradicts Moroni 7:13)

Nevertheless I listened to the quote since it is from a former Apostle and this is some of what it said:

"We are to teach the principles of the gospel. We are to teach the doctrines of salvation. We have some passing interest in ethical principles but not a great deal as far as emphasis in teaching is concerned. If we teach the doctrines of salvation, the ethical concepts automatically follow. We do not need to spend long periods of time or make elaborate presentations in teaching honesty or integrity or unselfishness or some other ethical principle. Any Presbyterian can do that. Any Methodist can do that. But if we teach the doctrines of salvation, which are basic and fundamental, the ethical concepts automatically follow. It is the testimony and knowledge of the truth that causes people to reach high ethical standards in any event....
"We should teach the gospel. We should teach the gospel only. We should teaching nothing but the gospel. Ethics are a part of the gospel, but they will take care of themselves if we preach the gospel. Teach doctrine. Teach sound doctrine. Teach the doctrines of the kingdom...."

Okay so... I am having difficulty with a few things in this passage. First is that we as Latter-day Saints should have only a passing interest in questions of ethics. I think that in our current state, many people are far more concerned with figuring out where Kolob is than trying to look into the unseen corners of their lives where they might be able to make some small change that will make their daily actions more ethical. There are many good LDS people who do use the doctrines of the church to enhance their consciences and explore the tough questions of life. But I guess what I'm saying is that we should all be careful what doctrines we focus on, and think about why those doctrines are important in the greater ethical scheme of things. Only then will ethical concepts immediately follow doctrinal learning as McConkie suggests.

In any case I do believe that people must experience a change of heart at some point in order to truly change their lives in a meaningful way, especially when it comes to veganism and a commitment to nonviolence. I know that was a spiritual experience for me, and I think part of that was that I connected it with my understanding of Christ, and yes... even allowed it to modify my understanding of his love and purpose for all that he has created. It has been and continues to be a strange and sometimes difficult road, but it is always rewarding. Things like this, concerns about statements like this spoken by General Authorities will still keep cropping up the further along I go, but I have to take them into what I know of Christ--I have to try to measure what they say against the God I have come to know. And continue to ask questions, and ponder.

Search, ponder, and pray, I guess xP