Last night I was joined by a fellow Irish Latter-day Saint, Cameron Redmond. He introduced himself and his new channel, "This is the Way," and then he asked me some questions on the topic of Mariology. Enjoy!
Discussing Mariology (and perhaps other topics, too) with Cameron Redmond
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Re.: Brigham Young, General Epistle from the Council of the Twelve Apostles, to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints abroad, dispersed throughout the Earth, greeting, December 23, 1847. Featured version published as a pamphlet in St. Louis, Missouri, January 1848, Church History Library:
It is the duty of all parents to train up their children
in the way they should go, instructing them in every correct principle, so fast
as they are capable of receiving, and settling an example worthy of imitation;
for the Lord holds parents responsible for the conduct of their children, until
they arrive at the years of accountability before him; and the parents will
have to answer for all misdemeanors arising through their neglect. Mothers should
teach their little ones to pray as soon as they are able to talk. Presiding Elders
should be particular to instruct parents concerning their duty, and Teachers
and Deacons should see that they do it.
It is very desirable that all the Saints should improve
every opportunity of securing, at least, a copy of every valuable treatise on
education—every book, map, chart, or diagram, that may contain interesting,
useful, and attractive matter, to gain the attention of children, and cause
them to love to learn to read; and, also, every historical, mathematical, philosophical,
geographical, geological, astronomical, scientific, practical, and all other
variety of useful and interesting writings, maps &c., to present to the
General Church Recorder, when they shall arrive at their destination; from
which important and interesting matter may be gleaned, to compile the most
valuable works, on every science and subject, for the benefit of the rising
generation. (“Appendix 1: General Epistle from the Council of the Twelve
Apostles, December 1847,” in Settling the Valley, Proclaiming the Gospel:
The General Epistles of the Mormon First Presidency, ed. Reid L. Neilson and
Nathan N. White [Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017], 285)
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The following images are taken from:
Peter Flint, “A Form of
Psalm 89 [4Q236 = 4QPs89],” in The Dead Sea Scrolls: Hebrew, Aramaic, and
Greek Texts with English Translations, ed. James H. Charlesworth and Henry
W. L. Rietz (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1997), 4A: 44-45
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A
FIRST CONNECTION BETWEEN SANCTIFICATION AND JUSTIFICATION
In 1 Cor. 6:11, Paul uses the justification formula in a
baptismal context and links it to the idea of sanctification. The discussion
concerns both social issues as well as sexual matters but not the problems of
circumcision or ethnic identity. Therefore, Paul reminds his addresses of
certain “unrighteous” (αδικοι)
men, i.e., offenders in religious, social, and sexual matters who “will not
inherit the Kingdom” (cf. 1 Cor. 6:10-11). The list in vv. 9-10 presupposes
that Paul understood baptism not only as a passage rite but also as a means of
forgiveness of sins and as a juncture of behaviorial change. Converts shall incorporate
another mode of life free from any injustice. The baptized are in a liminal
phrase. They have been justified and incorporated into Christ’s communal body
by their baptism, yet they are still at risk of returning to their previous
pre-baptismal status of unrighteous (αδικοι) who cannot inherit the Kingdom of God (cf. Gal. 5:21).
The apostle formulates his statement using a triadic
structure. He uses three verbs with a preceding αλλ’ (but) to stress their conversion and simultaneously
refers to God (the Father), Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. The triad of the
verbs απολουσθητε/ηγιασθητε/εδικαιωθητε partially corresponds to 1:30d: δικαοσυνη τε και αγιασμος και απολυτρωσις. However, a comparison of
6:11 with 1:30d reveals the following two points. First, the verb ἀπελούσθητε is not
represented by any noun in 1:30d and, therefore, does not have a passive sense
(i.e., “washed” by God). On the contrary, it is a medium that refers to the
volitional baptismal washing of the believer and is the requirement for
experiencing sanctification and justification. Second, the comparison between
1:30d and 6:11 demonstrates that Paul can freely alternate between the notions
of sanctification and justification, and he does not understand justification
as the forensic requirement of sanctification. Both verbs sanctified/ justified
describe the initial transformation the believer experiences by baptismal
incorporation into Christ. This transformation has a clear eschatological
horizon, for it leads to the inheritance of the Kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:9).
The concept of sanctification has not only the meaning of being purified and belonging to the divine sphere but of being possessed by the Spirit, becoming the eschatological temple of God. (The combination between the concepts of justification and sanctification similarly occurs in the baptismal context of Hermas, Vis. 3.9.1.) The human body also participates in this procedure. Paul emphasizes in this context that the bodies of the baptized are “members of Christ” (1 Cor. 6:15) and the eschatological temple of God (1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19). Therefore, converts shall glorify God in their (both physical and communal) body (1 Cor. 6:21). According to Scripture, God is the only one who can justify (Ps. 99:4LXX; Isa. 61:8– 11). As such, Paul uses the verb “justify” in a passive form and with a positive sense. In 1 Cor. 6:11, justification occurs during the believer’s baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of God. The baptized individual is incorporated into the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:12– 13) who “became righteousness, sanctification and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:30) for the believers.
Nonetheless, Paul refers to sanctification and
justification as ongoing and dynamic procedures which have been already
initiated but are not yet completed. He speaks of justification in various
past, present, and future tenses. This occurs because the justification language
interprets an ongoing “converting,” a transformation process that started at
the moment of turning to faith and baptism and is not yet accomplished. One
cannot strictly differentiate between the forensic and the effective meaning,
the present and the eschatological perspective of the concept of justification
because the Pauline texts support a dynamic understanding of justification and
they link it not only to Jesus’s redemptive work but also to the presence of
the Spirit (1 Cor. 6:11; Gal. 5:5f.). (Athanasios Despotis, “Deification,
Justification, and Sanctification: An Early Christian Philosophical Approach,”
in The Oxford Handbook of Deification, ed. Paul L. Gravrilyuk, Andrew
Hofer, and Matthew Levering; Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2024], 625-26)
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Re.: Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball, “Fourteenth General Epistle of the Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to the Saints in the Valleys of the Mountains, and those scattered abroad throughout the Earth, greeting,” December 10, 1856:
Remember, brethren, that they are the remnants of Israel
and, although they may apparently continue for a time to waste away and sink deeper
and deeper into the depths of sin, misery and woe, that unto them pertain the
promises made to faithful Abraham, and they will be fulfilled. Be diligent,
therefore, to do them good, and seek in all of your intercourse with them to
bring them back to a knowledge of the Lord God of their fathers. Preserve yourselves
from their savage ferocity; never condescend to their level, but always seek to
elevate them to a higher, purer, and consequently, a more useful and
intelligent existence. (“Fourteenth General Epistle, December 1856,” in Settling
the Valley, Proclaiming the Gospel: The General Epistles of the Mormon First Presidency,
ed. Reid L. Neilson and Nathan N. White [Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017],
268)
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Epistula Apostolorum (c. mid-2nd century)
1. (Chapts. 1-6 in Eth. only.) What Jesus Christ
revealed to his disciples as a letter, and how Jesus Christ revealed the letter
of the council of the apostles, the disciples of Jesus Christ, to the
Catholics; which was written because of the false apostles Simon and Cerinthus,
that no one should follow them - for in them is deceit with which they kill men
- that you may be established and not waver, not be shaken and not turn away
from the word of the Gospel that you have heard. As we have heard (it),
kept (it), and have written (it) for the whole world, so we entrust (it) to
you, our sons and daughters, in joy and in the name of God the Father, the
ruler of the world and in Jesus Christ. May Grace increase upon you.
2. (We,) John and Thomas and Peter and Andrew and James
and Philip and Bartholomew and Matthew and Nathanael and Judas Zelotes and
Cephas, we have written (or, write) to the churches of the East and
West, towards North and South, recounting and proclaiming to you concerning our
Lord Jesus Christ, as we have written; and we have heard and felt
him after he has risen from the dead; and how he has revealed to us things
great, astonishing, real. (C. Detlef G. Müller (trans), "Epistula
Apostolorum," in New Testament Apocrypha, ed. Wilhelm
Schneemelcher, 2 vols. [trans. R. McL. Wilson; Louisville, Ky.: Westminster
John Knox Press, 1991], 1:252)
The Apostolic Church Order,
or The Ecclesiastical Canons of the Holy Apostles (c. 4th century)
Greeting, sons and daughters, in the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ. John and Matthew and Peter (και Πετρος) and Andrew and Philip,
and Simon and James and Nathanael and Thomas and Cephas (και Κηφας) and
Bartholomew and Judas of James. (Philip Schaff, The Oldest Church Manual
Called the Teaching of the Twelve Apostles [New York: Charles Scribner's
Sons, 1885], 238)
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But Luke’s presentation [of the Temple in Acts] is not so
explicit or clear-cut as the way in which other NT writers use ‘temple’
language for the Christian community, even if it is accepted that James’s
quotation from Amos 9:11-12 in Acts 15:16-17 hints in this direction. (Steve
Walton, Reading Acts Theologically [Library of New Testament Studies
661; London: T&T Clark, 2022], 87)
Notice how Walton agrees that James interprets Amos 9:11-12 and the "Tabernacle of David" as a reference to a temple. On the importance of this for the Book of Mormon, see:
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