In a recent dialogue, one question came up about a passage in the Doctrine and Covenants that, at first blush, seems to require sinless perfection:
Keep my commandments continually, and a crown of
righteousness thou shalt receive. And except thou do this, where I am you
cannot come. (D&C 25:15; cf. D&C 46:33)
When
one looks at Webster's
1828 dictionary, which reflects the English of Joseph Smith, the first
definition is "without pause or cessation," but the second
definition, which references Scripture, is "very often; in repeated
succession; from time to time." The Old Testament text quoted to support
this definition is 2 Sam 9:7:
Thou
shalt eat bread at my table continually.
That this is the case can be seen in how the King James elsewhere
uses continual and continually. To quote from D. Charles Pyle:
Just what
did continually mean to the Eastern mind? How is the word used
in the Bible? There appears to be a wide range of meaning in the use of the
words translated continually in English. The meaning ranges
from a more literal meaning close to our own usage to a usage that clearly
could not be understood to literally mean continually as we
understand it. There are in fact several Hebrew words that are used but this is
not important at this time. We simply do not know which word was used in Lehi's
poetic father's-wish for his son, Laman. In the King James Bible version of the
Old Testament, the following verses of scripture use the word continually in
a limited sense in varying degrees not meaning permanent or continuous in
our common Western understanding of the term:
Genesis 6:5;
8:3; 8:5; Exodus 28:29; 28:30; 29:38; Leviticus 24:8; Joshua 6:13; 1 Samuel
18:29; 2 Samuel 9:7; 9:13; 15:12; 19:13; 1 Kings 10:8; 2 Kings 4:9; 25:29; 1
Chronicles 16:6; 16:37; 16:40; 23:31; 2 Chronicles 9:7; 12:15; 24:14; Job 1:5;
Psalms 34:1; 35:27; 38:17; 40:16; 42:3; 44:15; 50:8; 58:7; 69:23; 70:4; 71:3;
71:6; 71:14; 72:15; 74:23; 109:15; 109:19; 119:44; 119:109; 119:117; 140:2;
Proverbs 6:14; 6:21; Isaiah 21:8; 51:13; 65:3; Jeremiah 6:7; 33:18; 52:33;
Ezekiel 46:14; Daniel 6:16; 6:20; Hosea 4:18; 12:6; Obadiah 1:16; Habukkuk
1:17.
In the above
references, even the words that seem literally to mean perpetually indicate
what logically indicates a cessation of the activity in question for periods of
time such as night, sleep, cessation in favor of other of life's everyday
activities, or with intermittant periods where the action occurs repeatedly but not permanently except
in a relative sense. A few indicate a brief, temporary period of continuous
activity, and as such are excellent descriptions of what actually occurs in the
wadis in the desert lands of the Middle East. An excellent analogy might be
found in small children continually running in and out of the
house or continually leaving the faucet running in the
bathroom. There are other similar examples but these are not really of
tantamount importance to the point being made in this response to Paulson. (D.
Charles Pyle, "The
River Laman: Bad Analogy or Another Paulson Stumblingblock?” [1998])
As
we know, the KJV did influence the verbiage of both the Book of Mormon and
Joseph Smith’s revelations elsewhere. Furthermore, note the following instances
in the D&C that have this meaning for “continually”:
Behold, I speak unto you, Hyrum, a few
words; for thou also art under no condemnation, and thy heart is opened, and
thy tongue loosed; and thy calling is to exhortation, and to strengthen the
church continually. Wherefore thy duty is unto the church forever, and this
because of thy family. Amen. (D&C 23:3)
And, behold, it is your duty to unite
with the true church, and give your language to exhortation continually,
that you may receive the reward of the laborer. Amen. (D&C 23:7)
And again, I say unto you that it
shall be appointed unto him to keep the church record and history
continually; for Oliver Cowdery I have appointed to another office. (D&C
47:3)
The difference between this quorum and
the quorum of elders is that one is to travel continually, and the other
is to preside over the churches from time to time; the one has the
responsibility of presiding from time to time, and the other has no
responsibility of presiding, saith the Lord your God. (D&C 124:140)
The
idea of sinless perfection also flies in the face of texts that speak of the
necessity of ongoing repentance and Christ being our heavenly high priest who intercedes
for us (on this, see D&C 45:3-5, for e.g. [cf. Heb 2:17; 1 John 2:1-2]).
