28 O that cunning plan of the evil one! O the vainness, and the frailties, and the foolishness of men! When they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not. And they shall perish. (2 Nephi 9)
This is the third and final post in a series on the Old Testament concept of "chaneph." See part 1 here and part 2 here. We'll begin with Moroni's description of "great pollutions" in our day, summarized eloquently in two verses:
31 Yea, it shall come in a day when there shall be great pollutions upon the face of the earth; there shall be murders, and robbing, and lying, and deceivings, and whoredoms, and all manner of abominations; when there shall be many who will say, Do this, or do that, and it mattereth not, for the Lord will uphold such at the last day. But wo unto such, for they are in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity.
...
38 O ye pollutions, ye hypocrites, ye teachers, who sell yourselves for that which will canker, why have ye polluted the holy church of God? Why are ye ashamed to take upon you the name of Christ? Why do ye not think that greater is the value of an endless happiness than that misery which never dies—because of the praise of the world? (Mormon 8)
As a reminder, as discussed in parts 1 and 2, "chaneph" has the following meaning:
"Chaneph" (חָנֵף) -- corrupt, defile, pollute, profane
Moroni is condemning "chaneph" in several ways. Let's break this down into a short list. Here are the items in red above describing the pollution of our day:
- "There will be many who will say, Do this, or do that, and it mattereth not." Sadly, this is a perfect description of the dominant modern mindset.
- They "sell [them]selves for that which will canker." What an apt description of the materialism of our day. Modern conveniences and luxuries are a nice thing to experience and have easy access to, but the pursuit of them can easily become a pernicious form of idolatry.
- They "are ashamed to take upon [them] the name of Christ ... because of the praise of the world." There is significant social pressure to avoid publicly sharing one's deep convictions about Jesus Christ, the real purposes of life, and why it is good to humbly and regularly participate in the sacred ordinances of the priesthood.
In green above, I highlighted one of the key distinguishing features that defines and sustains faith in the heavenly order: Valuing the worth of an endless happiness over the vices which lead to misery which never dies. When we see the destination of wither path and realize one takes us back to the presence of the Father through the atonement of Jesus Christ, and the other leads to permanent separation from Him, there is simple no comparison. It reduces other worldviews to mere idolatry -- "worship[ping] the work of their own hands, that which their own fingers have made" (Isaiah 2:8).
The Modern Worldview as Idolatry
This essay by Christian theologian and ecclesiastical historian Carl Trueman offers an overview of how much of our modern world came to reject the ideal of a sacred, heavenly order in favor of the pursuit of personal happiness, which is now the central focus of modern life. Here are two quotes from that article.
If there is nothing beyond this world for which to strive, or by which we are held accountable, the gravitational pull toward personal happiness as the purpose of life becomes irresistibly strong, and the rationales for repression become increasingly weak.
Negotiating personal desire, and not objective moral judgments, has become the ethical order of the day.
Of course, there is a heavenly order and a specific covenantal purpose of the creation, which makes this rejection of God's word a form of idolatry of the highest order. The Book of Mormon speaks very harshly against abandoning these revealed principles, and even gives us several examples of what happens when a covenant people reject this worldview and replace it with one of their own making. The record is clear -- this is not a stable position and it does not end well.
What are the keys to sustaining the worldview which leads to eternal life?
This is a question I've been pondering for the past few weeks as I've thought about the concepts presented in this series. I have a few suggestions:
- We must be humble and maintain an overarching desire to learn truth directly from God. If God wants us to seek Him, and if He allows us to exercise our faith and agency in mortality, then we should place seeking Him at the very top of our "to do" list. This involves kneeling in prayer, asking to be taught. This involves searching the scriptures (not just reading) and regularly putting into action the ideas and impression that come to us as a result of our study.
- Though we are all sinners, we should never seek to justify our sins. I would suggest that attempting to justify sin might be a more serious sin than whatever sin we seek to justify, simply because of where that thinking leads us. If we commit a sin but maintain a humble, repentant attitude about it, it will not pose a serious threat to our continued walk along the covenant path. If, however, we commit a sin and seek to justify our choice, insisting that we
- Emulate the Savior. In all things, He marked the path. We should strive to follow Him. He sought to do His Father's will ore His own in all things, and we should strive for the same.
Hugh Nibley and others have written extensively about two fundamentally different worldviews, the "mantic" or prophetic worldview, and the "sophic" or intellectual worldview. Here is a brief summary of each:
The fundamental ambivalence of western civilization consists of a permanent conflict of spiritualities derived from the human condition itself. The assumptions underlying this conflict have created the mantic world view of vertical supernaturalism, a dualistic metaphysic that includes not only the natural order but also another world order which transcends it, and the sophic world view of horizontal naturalism, a monistic metaphysic that confines all realities to the natural order. (source)
Of course there is a wide spectrum within each of these broader classes, but this is a useful distinction to make -- between those who embrace the idea of a higher, sacred, heavenly order by which messages are communicated to our minds and hearts and for which we should strive, and those who believe the material world around us is all there is.
The scriptures very clearly indicate that we must strive for and maintain a mantic worldview. Substituting our own judgment is perilous even if our judgment is in accord with the best of worldly wisdom. I'm beginning to see this concept quite clearly throughout the scriptures, and I'll touch on this set of concepts in multiple future posts.
For now, I'll end with Mormon's description of the frailty of man:
4 O how foolish, and how vain, and how evil, and devilish, and how quick to do iniquity, and how slow to do good, are the children of men; yea, how quick to hearken unto the words of the evil one, and to set their hearts upon the vain things of the world!
5 Yea, how quick to be lifted up in pride; yea, how quick to boast, and do all manner of that which is iniquity; and how slow are they to remember the Lord their God, and to give ear unto his counsels, yea, how slow to walk in wisdom’s paths!
6 Behold, they do not desire that the Lord their God, who hath created them, should rule and reign over them; notwithstanding his great goodness and his mercy towards them, they do set at naught his counsels, and they will not that he should be their guide. (Helaman 12)