J. Reuben Clark, Jr. on the Difficulty of interpreting Hebrews and ”works of the Law” as a reference to the Law of Moses, not all Works

  

I have also done some Bible reading today. I began trying to find out just what Paul is talking about in his Epistle to the Hebrews and it is not so easy. His discussion is evidently to meet questions raised by the Jews ad their doubts, and also to exhort them. I then did what I have threatened to do for a long time—arranged a chronological list of the Gospels and Epistles. I am inclined to think that a useful study might be made by taking up the New Testament books and studying them in the order in which they were written. But I have no time for that now, though I am going to make a list which I can paste in my Bible, so that I can refer to it conveniently on the matter of dates when any [illegible] passage was written. I am again impressed that Paul’s doctrine of grace—certainly as interpreted by Protestants—lies at the basis of a lot of their false doctrine. I should like to study it sometime. They seem to think that when Paul speaks of law, he means all law—whereas I feel sure that a careful examination will show he mans the Mosaic law. My, there are so many things about that one does not know where to start. So perhaps it is to be with me as others.—never start. (J. Reuben Clark, Jr., Journal, February 12, 1934, in The Diaries of J. Reuben Clark, 1933-1961 Abridged, comp. D. Michael Quinn [Digital Edition; Salt Lake City, 2015], spelling from original retained)

 

Blake Ostler Explains Why Christians Keep Misreading Paul

 

Blake Ostler Explains Why Christians Keep Misreading Paul

Samuel James (Reformed) on the Common Protestant Experience of Cognitive Dissonance When Confronted with New Testament Baptism Texts

Commenting on the appeals to 1 Pet 3:21; John 3:5; Acts 3:38 and Titus 3:5 by advocates of baptismal regeneration, including Trent Horn in his The Case for Catholicism, Reformed Protestant Samuel James made the following (and very telling) confession:

 

When Horn confronts the reader with verses that literally link baptism with salvation and the forgiveness of sins, the average Protestant experiences immediate cognitive dissonance. Horn makes it appear as though the Protestant position relies on ignoring the plain reading of Scripture to preserve a non-sacramental theology. (Samuel James, Debunking Trent Horn’s Catholicism: A Protestant Critique [2026], 89)

 

Text of "Epistola Prima" of Pope John IV (d. 642)

The following is taken from Pope John IV (d. 642), Epistola Prima, PL 80:601-2. In context, he is addressing the Pelagians:

 

EPISTOLA PRIMA.
JOANNIS PAPÆ IV ET CLERI ROMANI, AD EPISCOPOS ET PRESBYTEROS SCOTIÆ.

 

De Paschate more catholico celebrando, et reviviscente Pelagiana hæresi diligenter cavenda.

 

Dilectissimis et sanctissimis Thomiano, Columbano, Chromano, Dimano et Bathano episcopis, Chromano Hermannoque, Laustrano, Stellano et Segiano presbyteris, Sarano caeterisque doctoribus seu abbatibus Scotis, Hilarius archipresbyter, et servans locum sanctae sedis apostolicae, Joannes diaconus et in Dei nomine electus, item Joannes primicerius et servans locum sanctae sedis apostolicae, et Joannes servus Dei, consiliarius ejusdem apostolicae sedis.

 

Scripta quae perlatores ad sanctae memoriae Severinum papam adduxerunt, eo de hac luce migrante, reciproca responsa ad ea quae postulata fuerant siluerunt. Quibus reseratis, ne diu tantae quaestionis caligo indiscussa remaneret, reperimus quosdam provinciae vestrae contra orthodoxam fidem novam ex veteri haeresim renovare conantes, Pascha nostrum in quo immolatus est Christus nebulosa caligine refutantes, et quarta decima luna cum Hebraeis celebrare nitentes.

 

Quo epistolae principio manifeste declaratur, et nuperrime temporibus illis hanc apud eos haeresim exortam, et non totam eorum gentem, sed quosdam ex eis hac fuisse implicitos. Exposita autem ratione paschalis observantiae, ita de Pelagianis in eadem epistola subdunt; et hoc quoque cognovimus quod virus Pelagianae haereseos apud vos denuo reviviscit, quod omnino hortamur ut a vestris mentibus hujusmodi venenatum superstitionis facinus auferatur.

 

Nam qualiter ipsa quoque exsecranda haeresis damnata est, latere vos non debet: quia non solum per istos ducentos annos abolita est, sed et quotidie a nobis perpetuo anathemate sepulta damnatur: et hortamur ne quorum arma combusta sunt, apud vos eorum cineres suscitentur.

 

Nam quis non exsecretur superbum eorum conamen et impium, dicentium posse sine peccato hominem existere ex propria voluntate, et non ex gratia Dei? Et primum quidem blasphemia et stultiloquium est dicere esse hominem sine peccato, quod omnino non potest, nisi unus mediator Dei et hominum homo Christus Jesus, qui sine peccato est conceptus et partus.

 

Nam caeteri homines cum peccato originali nascentes, testimonium praevaricationis Adae (etiam sine peccato actuali existentes) portare noscuntur, secundum prophetam dicentem: Ecce enim in iniquitatibus conceptus sum, et in peccatis concepit me mater mea (Psal. L.).

 

 

FIRST EPISTLE.
OF POPE JOHN IV AND THE ROMAN CLERGY, TO THE BISHOPS AND PRESBYTERS OF SCOTLAND.

 

On celebrating Easter according to Catholic custom, and diligently guarding against the resurgent Pelagian heresy.

 

To the most beloved and most holy Thomianus, Columbanus, Cromanus, Dima(n)us, and Baithanus, bishops; to Cromanus, Hermannus, Laustranus, Stellanus, and Segianus, presbyters; to Saranus and the other teachers or abbots of the Scots:

 

Hilarius, archpresbyter and holding the place of the Apostolic See; John, deacon and elected in the name of God; likewise John, primicerius and holding the place of the Apostolic See; and John, servant of God and counsellor of that same Apostolic See.

 

The writings which the bearers had brought to Pope Severinus, of holy memory, remained without a reciprocal reply to the things that had been requested, since he had departed from this life. When these matters had been disclosed, lest the darkness surrounding so great a question remain for a long time without investigation, we discovered that certain people in your province were attempting to revive, against the orthodox faith, a new heresy from an old one, rejecting our Pasch, in which Christ was sacrificed, under a cloud of darkness, and striving to celebrate with the Jews on the fourteenth day of the moon.

 

The opening of the letter clearly declares both that this heresy had arisen among them only recently in those times, and that not their entire people, but only some of them, had become involved in it. Having set forth the rationale of the observance of Easter, they then add the following concerning the Pelagians in that same letter: We have also learned this, that the poison of the Pelagian heresy is again reviving among you; and we earnestly urge that such a poisonous crime of superstition be removed from your minds.

 

For you ought not to be ignorant of how that accursed heresy also was condemned: for it has not merely been abolished for these two hundred years, but is also daily condemned and buried by us under a perpetual anathema. And we exhort you not to raise up among you the ashes of those whose weapons have been burned.

 

For who would not reject with abhorrence their proud and impious attempt, when they say that a human being can exist without sin by his own will, and not by the grace of God? Indeed, it is first of all blasphemy and foolish talk to say that a human being can be without sin—which is utterly impossible except for the one mediator of God and human beings, the man Christ Jesus, who was conceived and born without sin.

 

For all other human beings, being born with original sin, are understood to bear the testimony of Adam's transgression—even when they are without actual sin—according to the prophet who says: “For behold, I was conceived in iniquities, and in sins my mother conceived me.” (Psalm 50 [51]:5)

 

 

"De laudibus Mariae ex partu Salvatoris" (sometimes falsely attributed to Augustine or Fulgentius)

The following is taken from Migne, PL 65:898-90. While the sermon has traditionally been ascribed to Fulgentius of Ruspe (d. 533), it is part of the pseudo-Augustine sermons (sermon 123). For a fuller discussion of how (1) neither Augustine or Fulgentius wrote/gave this sermon and (2) how it post-dates both these theologians, see:

 

Pierre-Maurice Bogaert and Matthieu Pignot, “À propos du sermon De laudibus Mariae (PS-AU s 123 ; PS-FU s 36): sa tradition dans les imprimés de Fulgence,” in Latin Anonymous Sermons from Late Antiquity and The Early Middle Ages (AD 300-800): Classification, Transmission, Dating, ed. Matthieu Pignot (Instrumenta Patristica et Mediaevalia: Research on the Inheritance of Early and Medieval Christianity 86; Ministerium Sermonis 4; Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 2021), 193-206.

 

However, here is a transcription of the sermon and an English translation for those curious. I have seen one popular Roman Catholic apologist refer to this sermon and its interpretation of Luke 1:28 as evidence that Fulgentius held to the Immaculate Conception:

 

SERMO XXXVI.
De laudibus Mariae ex partu Salvatoris.

 

Nativitas Domini nostri Jesu Christi totum mundum nova adventus sui hodie luce perfudit.

 

Hodie de coelo Deus descendit ad hominem, ut in coelo homini praepararet ascensum. Hodie accepimus natum Dei, Virginis filium, omnium credentium Salvatorem, Deum de Patre, hominem de matre, Deum occultum, hominem manifestum. Et quoniam diabolus per serpentem Evæ locutus, per Evæ aures mundo intulit mortem, Deus per angelum ad Mariam pertulit verbum, et cunctis sæculis vitam effudit. Angelus sermonem ejecit, et Christum virgo concepit. O conjunctio sine sordibus facta, ubi maritus sermo est, et uxor auricula! Hoc splendore concipitur Dei Filius, hac munditia generatur. Nulla fieri potuit gravedo concipienti, nulla tristitia parturienti. Qui enim venerat triste lætificare sæculum, ventris non contristavit hospitium.

 

De coelis medicus transiens per virginem, post transitum suum illæsam fecit virginem permanere. Qui enim disrupta corporum membra in aliis poterat redintegrare tangendo, quanto magis in sua matre, quod invenit integrum, potuit non violare nascendo? Crevit enim in ejus partu integritas corporis potius quam decrevit, et virginitas ampliata est potius quam fugata. In angusti corporis membri sustinent quidquid sustinent cœli. Plena sunt viscera, et nullum novit contagium Virginis conscientia. Cum esset gravida, salubri levitate plaudebat: lumen enim quod intra se habebat, pondus habere non poterat.

 

Facta est Maria fenestra cœli, quia per ipsam Deus verum fudit sæculis lumen; facta est Maria scala cœlestis, quia per ipsam Deus descendit ad terras, ut per ipsam homines ascendere mereantur ad cœlos: ipsis enim licebit ascendere illuc, qui Deum crediderint ad terras per Virginem Mariam descendisse. Facta est Maria restauratio feminarum, quia per ipsam a ruina primæ maledictionis probantur esse subtractæ. Tria denique mala Evæ a tribus bonis Mariæ probantur exclusa. Nam Evæ dictum est: In doloribus et in tristitia paries, et ad virum conversio tua, et ipse dominabitur tui (Gen. iii, 16). Tribus ergo his malis se subjiciant feminæ quæ Mariam non sequuntur, dolori, tristitiæ, servituti.

 

Maria autem e contrario quam præclarissimis tribus bonis sublimetur ausculta, salutationis angelicæ, benedictionis divinæ et plenitudinis gratiæ. Sic enim eam legitur angelus salutasse: Ave, Maria, gratia plena: benedicta tu inter mulieres (Luc. i, 28). Cum dixit: Ave, salutationem illi cœlestem exhibuit; cum dixit: Gratia plena, ostendit ex integro iram exclusam primæ sententiæ et plenam benedictionis gratiam restitutam; cum dixit: Benedicta tu inter mulieres, virginitatis ejus benedictum fructum expressit, ut ex eo benedicta dicatur inter mulieres quæcumque perseveraverit virgo. Benedicta tu inter mulieres: maledicta enim Eva fuerat, quam nunc credimus per Mariam ad benedictionem gloriæ remeasse.

 

Venite, virgines, ad Virginem, et lætamini; deponite maledictionem prævaricationis, et benedictionem restaurationis assumite. Projicite dolores quos Eva per serpentem accepit, et quos per angelum Maria suscepit, honores assumite. Pellite tristitiam concipientis, gemitus parturientis abjicite, ut solus vobis iste Virginis filius dominetur. Venite, virgines, ad Virginem; venite, concipientes, ad concipientem; venite, parientes, ad parientem; venite, matres, ad matrem; venite, lactantes, ad lactantem; venite, juvenculæ, ad juvenculam. Ideo omnes istos cursus naturæ virgo Maria in Domino nostro Jesu Christo suscepit, ut omnibus ad se confugientibus feminis subveniret, et sic restauraret omne genus feminarum ad se venientium nova Eva servando virginitatem, sicut omne genus virorum Adam novus recuperat Dominus noster Jesus Christus, qui cum Patre et Spiritu sancto vivit et regnat Deus, per omnia sæcula sæculorum. Amen.

 

 

SERMON XXXVI.
On the praises of Mary from the birth of the Savior.

 

The Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ has today illumined the whole world with the new light of his coming. Today God descended from heaven to man, so that he might prepare for man an ascent into heaven. Today we have received the one born of God, the Son of the Virgin, the Savior of all believers: God from the Father, man from his mother, God hidden, man manifest.

 

And since the devil, speaking through the serpent to Eve, brought death into the world through Eve's ears, God through the angel brought the word to Mary and poured forth life for all ages. The angel uttered the message, and the Virgin conceived Christ.

 

O union accomplished without defilement, where the husband is the Word and the wife is the little ear! Through this splendor the Son of God is conceived; through this purity he is generated. No heaviness could arise for her who conceived, no sorrow for her who gave birth. For the one who had come to make the sorrowful world joyful did not make the lodging of the womb sorrowful.

 

The Physician from heaven, passing through the Virgin, caused the Virgin to remain unharmed after his passage. For if, by touching them, he was able to restore broken members of the body in others, how much more, in his own mother, could he avoid violating what he found intact by being born? Indeed, through his birth the integrity of her body increased rather than diminished, and her virginity was enlarged rather than taken away.

 

Within the narrow member of the body he sustained whatever the heavens sustain. Her womb is full, and the conscience of the Virgin knows no contamination. While she was pregnant, she rejoiced with a health-giving lightness; for the light which she carried within herself could not have weight.

 

Mary became the window of heaven, because through her God poured forth true light upon the ages. Mary became the heavenly stairway, because through her God descended to earth, so that through her human beings might merit to ascend to heaven. For those will be permitted to ascend there who have believed that God descended to earth through the Virgin Mary.

Mary became the restoration of women, because through her women are shown to have been rescued from the ruin of the first curse. Finally, three evils of Eve are shown to have been excluded by the three good things of Mary. For it was said to Eve: “In pain and in sorrow you shall give birth, and your turning shall be toward your husband, and he shall rule over you” (Gen. 3:16).

Therefore women who do not follow Mary subject themselves to these three evils: pain, sorrow, and servitude.

But listen to how Mary, on the contrary, is exalted by three most glorious goods: the angelic salutation, divine blessing, and fullness of grace. For the angel is read to have greeted her in this way: “Hail, Mary, full of grace; blessed are you among women” (Luke 1:28).

 

When he said, “Hail,” he bestowed upon her a heavenly salutation. When he said, “Full of grace,” he showed that the wrath of the first sentence had been completely removed and the grace of full blessing restored. When he said, “Blessed are you among women,” he expressed the blessed fruit of her virginity, so that every woman who perseveres as a virgin might be called blessed among women.

 

“Blessed are you among women”: for Eve had been accursed, but now we believe that through Mary she has returned to the glory of blessing.

 

Come, virgins, to the Virgin, and rejoice. Lay aside the curse of transgression, and take up the blessing of restoration. Cast away the pains which Eve received through the serpent, and take up the honors which Mary received through the angel. Drive away the sadness of the woman who conceives; cast aside the groans of the woman giving birth, so that this Virgin's Son alone may rule over you.

 

Come, virgins, to the Virgin; come, you who conceive, to her who conceived; come, you who give birth, to her who gave birth; come, mothers, to the Mother; come, nursing women, to her who nurses; come, young women, to the young woman.

 

For this reason the Virgin Mary assumed in our Lord Jesus Christ all these stages of nature, so that she might come to the aid of all women who flee to her, and thus restore the whole race of women who come to her, as the new Eve, by preserving her virginity; just as the new Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ, recovers the whole race of men. He, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns as God forever and ever. Amen.

 

 

Wendy Hamilton Christian on Jacob 2 and David and Solomon's Wives and Concubines

  

David & Solomon’s Wives and Concubines

 

The Book of Mormon is clear regarding the practice of plural marriage and of having concubines. Jacob chastises his people who are committing such whoredoms (i.e., any form of sexual immorality), saying, "There shall not any man among you have save it be one wife; and concubines he shall have none" (Jacob 2:27). What follows is strong language in Jacob 2 against these practices coming from the mouth of the Lord in defense of his daughters:

 

I, the Lord, have seen the sorrow, and heard the mourning of the daughters of my people in the land of Jerusalem, yea, and in all the lands of my people, because of the wickedness and abominations of their husbands. And I will not suffer ... that the cries of the fair daughters of this people ... shall come up unto me against the men of my people, saith the Lord of Hosts. For they shall not lead away captive the daughters of my people because of their tenderness, save I shall visit them with a sore curse, even unto destruction; for they shall not commit whoredoms, like unto them of old, saith the Lord of Hosts. (Jacob 2:31-33)

 

Just a few verses earlier the Lord alluded to "them of old" who perpetrated these crimes: "Behold, David and Solomon truly had many wives and concubines, which thing was abominable before me, saith the Lord" (Jacob 2:24). Further, Jacob himself states that during the second Nephite king's administration "the people of Nephi ... began to grow hard in their hearts, and indulge themselves somewhat in wicked practices, like unto David of old desiring many wives and concubines, and also Solomon, his son" (Jacob 1:15). One might wonder about the legitimacy of Abraham's and Jacob's wives and concubines in the Old Testament and why their practices were not abominable to God. The Book of Mormon professes that there is an exception to this law against multiple unions: "If I will, saith the Lord of Hosts, raise up seed unto me, I will command my people [to practice polygamy]; otherwise they shall hearken unto these things" (Jacob 2:30). Section 132 of the Doctrine and Covenants makes it clear that Abraham and Jacob were commanded by God to perform such unions for this purpose.

 

Because the Nephites had the brass plates which contained portions of the Old Testament -- they were familiar with these two Israelite kings who misused their authority at times to acquire women for their pleasure. We know from the Bible that some of David's wives included Michal, Abigail, Ahinoam, Eglah, Bathsheba, Maachah, Haggith, Abital, and Abishag (1 Samuel 18:27, 25:42; 2 Samuel 3:5, 11:27; 1 Chronicles 3:2-9). In addition to his lawful wives, David sought and obtained concubines as evidenced in 2 Samuel: "David took him more concubines and wives out of Jerusalem" (5:13). David's son Solomon "loved many strange [i.e., foreign] women, ... women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites .... And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines," one of whom was the daughter of the king/pharaoh of Egypt (1 Kings 11:1, 3; 3 Kings 3:1).

 

The plight of David and Solomon's wives and concubines is acknowledged and empathized with in the Book of Mormon in three ways. First, as cited above the Lord himself states that he has "seen the sorrow, and heard the mourning of the daughters of [his] people in the land of Jerusalem ... and in all the lands of [his] people, because of the wickedness and abominations of their husbands" (Jacob 2:31). In other words, he knows the predicaments of women who have been and who are victims of whoredoms everywhere-in Jacob's land and in Jerusalem where David and Solomon's wives and concubines lived. Second, and mentioned above, the Lord firmly voices that these things are "abominable before [him]" (Jacob 2:24). This recognizes the women's suffering and condemns those who cause it, for here God denounces the deplorable actions that held certain Nephite and Israelite women bound. A third recognition of these women's hardships follow the Lord's warning to the Nephite men that He will "visit them with a sore curse, even unto destruction" unless they stop committing whoredoms: God's prophets explicitly condemn these immoral practices. After the Lord's injunction, Jacob specifically chastises the men for understanding and then breaking the law concerning marriage and chastity given to the prophet Lehi. He even goes so far as to compare them to the Lamanites:

 

Ye have broken the hearts of your tender wives, and lost the confidence of your children, because of your bad examples before them; and the sobbings of their hearts ascend up to God against you .... Behold, the Lamanites your brethren, whom ye hate because of their filthiness ... are more righteous than you; for they have not forgotten the commandment of the Lord, which was given unto our father [Lehi]-that they should have save it were one wife, and concubines they should have none, and there should not be whoredoms committed among them. (Jacob 2:34-35; 3:5)

 

This passage details the tragic consequences of infidelity. The circumstances of these Nephite women parallel that of the wives and concubines of David and Solomon; both were victims of whoredoms. Thus, Jacob's condemnation of these abuses also serves as a denouncement of what occurred to the women in these two Israelite kings' lives. Although the Book of Mormon doesn't name or elaborate on the hundreds of individual women linked to David and Solomon, God, through a prophet, Jacob, includes them in the text by alluding twice to the kings' wives and concubines. Additionally, Book of Mormon readers can learn some of the women's stories from the Bible, which Latter-day Saints use as a companion to their modern-day scripture. (Wendy Hamilton Christian, “’And Well She Can Persuade’: The Power and Presence of Women in the Book of Mormon” [MA Thesis; Brigham Young University, August 2002], 38-40)

 

 

J. Reuben Clark, Jr. on the JST being more of a "recension through inspriation" than a Normal "Translation"

  

I said that seemed to me to be completely sound, because the Prophet’s so-called translation (I said, the Prophet, of course, did not translate because he had no manuscripts from which to translate, that he really made a recension through inspiration) in all cases that I found, followed the Authorized Version, thus giving his stamp of approval to the Authorized Version. (J. Reuben Clark, Jr., Journal, January 26, 1956, in The Diaries of J. Reuben Clark, 1933-1961 Abridged, comp. D. Michael Quinn [Digital Edition; Salt Lake City, 2015], emphasis in bold added)