Joseph Smith taught "A religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation" (Lectures on Faith, 6th lecture, paragraph 7)
Would a loving God require a humble servant to perform human sacrifice? Ask Abraham.
Would a loving God require his people to commit genocide? Ask Joshua.
Would a loving God require a faithful son to brutally kill a defenseless person? Ask Nephi.
Would a loving God require saints, who had already sacrificed so much, to live the law of plural marriage, sometimes even keeping it secret from their first wives? Ask Joseph Smith.
We find those questions uncomfortable to think about.
What will my loving God ask of me to prove that I will unfailingly obey the Law of Sacrifice? Will I be worthy to stand with those whose final answer, after agonizing deliberation over the question "Why?", was simply, "I know not, save the Lord commanded me"?
__________________
The ability to qualify for, receive, and act on personal revelation is the single most important skill that can be acquired in this life. - Julie Beck
Good questions. Can you answer a question about Lectures of Faith? Our institute will be studying them this summer. Are these lectures in one book or is it a bunch of books? I am hoping to find someone from whom to borrow these items. Thanks.
I just checked and there is a copy in our local public library, so I would check at yours, also the college libraries. I wish I could send you my copy, but I lent it out months ago and never got it back... I need to buy a new actual print copy (I still have my PDA version, which is electronic and searchable, so it hasn't been a big priority). Personally, I think they are a very good resource when studying.
The first time I read them was in an Institute class too.
Thanks- that isn't bad. I will look for it. Somehow I thought it would be something that was in the neighborhood of dozens of dollars. I didn't want something that looked like an encyclopedia set of books, my dumb error!
It's good to know it is in paperback, I like to mark in books.
no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing... the truth of God will go forth till it has penetrated every website, sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the great Jehovah shall say the work is done
As to why God requires such things, there is an excellent article on Abrahamic tests by Truman Madsen. I HIGHLY recommend reading it for answers as to the why.
"Once I was in the valley known as Hebron, now beautifully fruitful and where tradition has it, there is a tomb to father Abraham. As I approached the place with Elder Hugh B. Brown, I asked, "What are the blessings of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?" Elder Brown thought a moment and answered in one word, "Posterity." Then I almost burst out, "Why, then was Abraham commanded to go to Mount Moriah and offer his only hope of posterity?" It was clear that this man, nearly ninety, had thought and prayed and wept over that question before. He finally said, "Abraham needed to learn something about Abraham.""
__________________
Lo, there I see my mother, my sisters, my brothers Lo, there I see the line of my people back to the beginning Lo, they call to me, they bid me take my place among them In the halls of Valhalla, where the brave may live...forever
