A Funeral Sermon-part I

I remember the first time I was introduced to the King Follet Sermon. I was called to a mission and getting ready to leave. It was a time of personal doctrinal exploration. I was endowed around the same time so naturally I started asking questions about topics of the Temple. Naturally this sermon came up. It seems that most people are first brought to this discourse while on their mission or immediately prior. I say that because I have spoken to many girls who have never heard of it. I have spoken to many returned missionaries that were exposed to it on their mission while staying up late with other missionaries getting into the "deep" doctrine discussions. 

An example of a grove where the Prophet Joseph Smith instructed the saints. The King Follet Sermon would have been given in a grove such as this.

When I first heard the name of the sermon, I thought it was either given to a king or about a king or something to that nature. That is not the case. Well, at least not on the surface as I was thinking. In fact, quite the opposite. The title of the remarks were not the “official” title: it was simply a funeral talk. The talk was given at a General Conference of the Church but the aim of the talk served, at least in part, to comfort the family and friends of King Follet.* King Follet was a simpleton (not a King) who had died that week. I mention this as the history because there is something remarkable about the circumstances. We have similar talks in the Church today. The Bishops and Branch Presidents get up and talk about the Plan of Salvation at a church member’s memorial service. This is to offer comfort, hope, understanding, and perspective during a tough time. By happenstance King Follet's death occurred the week of a conference of the Church; however, the talk, by nature, should be very similar to talks we would give at a funeral.

 King Follet was not a king at all. But Joseph Smith was giving a discourse on how he could one day be a king. It is a landmark talk concerning the doctrine of the Church and I think the setting could not be any better. Joseph Smith was offering comfort to a family who had lost a loved one. And here Joseph Smith uses the opportunity to teach doctrine and comfort the family. I cannot think of a better place or circumstance to reveal such a doctrine.  

 The sermon taught numerous things about Deity that had previously been lost. These facts and principles are vital to our faith today. Most notable was the fact that Deity was more like us than we could originally conceive:

 “God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens! That is the great secret. If the veil were rent today, and you were to see him today, you would see him like a man in form--like yourselves in all the person, image, and the very form as a man.”

 He further taught that "You have got to learn to become Gods yourselves, the same as all Gods before you have done."

 What makes this more fascinating is the fact that the discourse came out just months before his death. It seemed that Hell’s foundation shook at the thought that this would be revealed to the World. When we realize our divine potential we immediately recognize that God loves us more than we imagine. We have purpose in life. We have meaning attached to our existence. We feel both happy and hopeful. 

 What most people do not realize is that there was a talk given after this known as The Sermon in the Grove. This sermon was given less than 2 weeks before his death. It points out similar doctrines. It can be found in the History of the Church volume 6, pages 473-479, or in Joseph Fielding Smith’s compilation, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith pages 369-376. 

 This discourse is great because it is after Joseph Smith gains a bit more confidence in his understanding of the Hebrew language. Among other things he points out that things are not created out of nothing and he used Hebrew to do so. Around the same time a similar scientific discovery was made to validate Joseph Smith’s teaching: we call it the Law of Conservation of Energy.

 If this is truly the case then it reveals much about the character and being of God the Father and His role in creation. Albeit the mainstream Christian community scoffs at the sermons, one cannot help but notice that similar discoveries have been made. 

 More than a scientific approach what I call the paternal approach. For so long in history Deity was seen as unknown and unknowable and incomprehensible. Joseph Smith however invites us to learn how close the Heavens really are. In fact, Joseph Smith spent his life attempting to show others the nature of God. 

 Although Joseph had seen the Father and the Son 24 years earlier, it seems to only dawn on him later that in fact, Deity was made of a body as we have. It was a body like our body, but without the carnal blood running through the veins making them subject to the Fall. It is almost exactly 1 year before the King Follet sermon that we first hear Joseph Smith make a bold declaration as to the nature of the Godhead (see D&C 130:22-23). It seems that around that same time, Joseph Smith also learns of many deep and important things pertaining to the Plan of Salvation. 

 To actually put down all of my thoughts on this would take dozens upon dozens of pages (maybe even hundreds); and I know that I have only skimmed the surface. I think that those who want to learn more about what we may call “the essence” of our religion would do well to study D&C 76 (note the placement of the verses within the vision and the particular details of our natures in the resurrection), The King Follet sermon, The Sermon in the Grove, Romans 8, and D&C 130 (again, emphasizing the idea of resurrection, sociality, and the nature of the Godhead and why it is placed where it is in the Doctrine and Covenants).

 I will relate this to the Temple if it is not making quite a lot of sense yet. 

*I read a blog that argued "that this is a significant misinterpretation of Joseph Smith, but I also fail to see how that teaching would have been any comfort for a funeral sermon." I would however argue that the interpretation that God was once as we are is the most quintessential and comforting doctrine that Joseph Smith had to offer. 

The Latter-Day Ladder

I have received several questions as to what Mormons believe. Surprisingly most of these questions have come from members of the Church confused about little things they read here and there on the internet. I of course cannot declare doctrine: my comments may not necessarily reflect the official position of the Church, but I feel that I can offer some helpful insights. Questions that have arisen include "What is adoption? What if we are literal offspring from Abraham?" or "Why do we keep D&C 132 canonized when we shun polygamy [should really be called "plural marriage"]?"


Most questions revolve around the Temple. This becomes problematic because so often people attempt to answer these questions defensively or, even worse, they answer it with a limited understanding of Temple doctrine. Or worst of all: they answer it with an antagonistic mission. As I have explored the online "blogernacle choir", I have realized that the trend, when it comes to Temple, is to talk about either the wrong things or speculative doctrine. 


Too often, in my opinion, Church members grow confused as to the reason we teach and discuss certain doctrines. For example, I hear over and over again in Sunday School teachings concerning the scattering of Israel. Most of the facts are correct; however, the point is almost always lost. There is no honest evaluation in the class as to why the Lord scattered Israel and what it means to us today. This becomes problematic when we look at the whole picture because the scattering of Israel is, at least in large part, the reason we have the Restored Gospel. The scattering is thus seen as "an event" those many years ago that we have to clean-up in these the Latter-days. This is not right; or at least, it is not the way that we should be viewing it. It was "an event" that proved later to be a tender mercy of the Lord but we fail to see what purpose the scattering serves in the Plan of Salvation and thus we lose the doctrine altogether. The scattering is an integral part of the Plan of Salvation and we would not have the missionary effort today preaching to all the world if we did not first have the scattering of Israel.


What I think is most important is that we as members of the Church focus our attention on the Plan of Salvation. Everything revolves around it. The Temple doctrine, Scattering of Israel, Orders of the Priesthood, the doctrine of intelligence and light, the doctrines of becoming like the Father, the Kolob doctrine, ... would all be much more clear if you and I had a firm foundational understanding on the Plan of Salvation. I hope to keep people focused on that Plan. When we discuss doctrines and do not put it in the context of The Plan of Salvation, then we always run the risk of losing sight as to what the Lord wants for us to learn.


Jacob has an experience in which he learns about the great Plan of the Father and is Endowed. After fleeing from his brother Esau, he stops in a place he would later name Bethel (literally "House of God"). While there he has a dream in which he sees a ladder with the Lord at the top offering Jacob sacred promises and he is promised the great blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant. It was the place that he learned of his royal heritage (Genesis 28:10-16; 32: 24-30). The ladder dream was therefore a learning experience.


To Jacob the Lord promises him the land, as he did Abraham years earlier. To Jacob this is his first Temple experience and is also the point when the promises made to his father and grandfather was bestowed upon him. This sacred covenant becomes an integral part of the Plan of Salvation for us. In fact, exaltation in the highest sense depends upon this: we too must have this covenant offered to us. 


Jacob's experience is compelling to say the least because it is a very non-traditional Temple experience. But, as Elder Holland taught,  "You can have sacred, revelatory, profoundly instructive experiences with the Lord in any situation you are in. Indeed, you can have sacred, revelatory, profoundly instructive experiences with the Lord in the most miserable experiences of your life--in the worst settings, while enduring the most painful injustices, when facing the most insurmountable odds and opposition you have ever faced." 


Because Jacob's experience is a learning experience, and I hope to provide learning experiences, I have decided to call the website (as of March 15th) Latter-dayLadder. 


Finally, Above all I hope to be a missionary through this website. I loved my mission. I thoroughly enjoy being able to teach others about the purposes of our Father in Heaven. As I do this I am reminded of my zeal as a missionary. In the Wentworth Letter Joseph Smith wrote, "Our missionaries are going forth to different nations . . . the Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.” While serving a mission in southern Colorado and western Kansas, we would quote this at every district meeting and discuss it often in companionship study. I pondered it often and gained a firm testimony that I, as a member and as a missionary (at the time) was serving these purposes and was part of something much bigger than anyone could really recognize. And so it is, with or without me, the purposes of God will move forward. My hope is to keep adding what small momentum I can to those purposes.


I encourage and welcome everyone to comment on it. Please let me know your own insights as I realize that my understanding on these topics can be very limited and I feel that other people's insights are equally valuable. It makes the blogernacle worth it.