Confusing Scripture with the Proverbial Hot Rock

I delivered the remarks below on March 12^th 2023 during our Ward Conference. I was trying to make two points, first, regular (that is daily or almost) study of scripture combined with prayer is required to understand it's function, that is how scripture works. I make this point by sharing an exchange I had with a friend that had lost his faith where it became clear that as he had lost his faith, he had also forgot what the purpose of scripture is and what it does, reverting to the secular idea that scripture is essentially a collection of wisdom sayings considered sacred by a specific group. In short, he wouldn’t know scripture from the proverbial “hot rock”.

The second point is the flip side of the first, that is, those who do study and pray regularly, find that their relationship with God deepens as they do so. In fact, the difference between being a cultural Christian and having personal faith in God is a direct function of this practice.

This is true of any scripture (writings accepted as divinely inspired by a community) whether we're talking about the Bible, The Book of Mormon, Quran or Bhagavad Gita for that matter. Something to think about next time you hear someone taking down the Bible based on conflicts or variations in the text, or a lack of any of the original manuscripts, or the fact that we don't have the Gold Plates for the Book of Mormon, etc.

What brought this topic to mind is the recent change from a three hour Sunday to two hours, giving back an hour each week to members for personal and family scripture study. This change was timely and directly addressing the almost total loss of appreciation for scripture in today’s culture.

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Russell H Conwell, founder of Temple University shared what he claimed was a true story and which went on to become one of the most famous speeches of the early 20th century, titled "Acres of Diamonds".  I first heard it when my Mission President used it in a Zone Conference address and then again when I studied it in a Great Speeches class back in my college days.

He starts his story this way: "In 1870 when we went down the Tigris River where we hired a guide at Bagdad to show us the ancient countries of Assyria. The guide we hired was one of those who loved to entertain their patrons; during our trip he shared many stories, but this one has stuck with me to this day.

Our guide said there once lived not far from the River Indus an ancient Persian by the name of Al Hafed who owned a very large and beautiful farm. He was a contented and wealthy man—contented because he was wealthy, and wealthy because he was contented.

One day this old farmer was visited by a traveling wise man, who sat down by Al Hafed's fire and told him how this world of ours was made, that it was once a bank of fog and that the Almighty had thrust his finger into the fog and slowly began to move his finger around until at last he whirled that bank of fog into a solid ball of fire and light like our Sun until it condensed the moisture thereby leaving a stone.  Said the wise man as he leaned in, "A diamond is a congealed drop of sunlight."

That night our previously contented Al Hafed went to his bed a poor man—not that he had lost anything, but poor because he was now discontented and discontented because he thought he was poor. Said he: "I want a mine of diamonds!" So, he lay awake all night, and early in the morning sought out the wise man asking him, "Will you tell me where I can find diamonds?" The wise man said, "Diamonds? What do you want with diamonds?" "I want to be immensely rich," said Al Hafed, "but I don't know where to go." "Well," said the wise man, "if you will find a river that runs over white sand between high mountains, in those sands you will always see diamonds."  "There are plenty such rivers; just find them and you will have all the diamonds you want." Al Hafed said, "I will go", sold his farm, left his family and away he went in search of diamonds.

Years later, the fellow who had bought Al Hafed's farm led his camel out into a garden to drink when he noticed a curious flash of light in the stream.  Reaching in he pulled out a black stone having an eye of light that reflected all colors of the rainbow.  He put it on his mantel and forgot all about it.

A few days after that, the same wise man returned to Al Hafed's farm where he saw a flash of light from the mantel. He rushed up to the farmer saying, "Here is a diamond—here is a diamond! Has Al Hafed returned?" "No, no; Al Hafed has not returned and that is not a diamond; that is nothing but a stone I found in my garden."  "But I know a diamond when I see it," said the wise man; "that is a diamond!"

Together they rushed to the garden and found other diamonds more beautiful, more valuable than the first, and thus were discovered the diamond mines of Golconda, the most magnificent diamond mines in all the history of mankind, exceeding the Kimberley mine in its value. The great Kohinoor diamond in England's crown jewels and the largest crown diamond on earth in Russia's crown jewels came from that mine.

Our guide shared the moral of the story, that had Al Hafed remained at home and dug in his own cellar or garden, instead of suffering wretchedness, starvation and finally death in a strange land, he would have had "acres of diamonds"—for every acre, yes, every shovelful of that old farm afterwards revealed the gems which since have decorated the crowns of monarchs.

I was reminded of Conwell's famous speech when I thought of the move to Home Centered, Church supported study. This not only came at an inspired time providing a bridge across the pandemic, but it was also likely driven by a comment President Ballard made, that this change came when the Quorum of the Twelve realized that their responsibility was to provide the tools to support members efforts to Come Unto Christ, it was not their job to convert them. Perhaps this is why, in our recent Stake Conference Elder Causse referred to the Church as an "atonement delivery machine". We, the proverbial horses, have been led to water but it is up to us to drink.

To me there is a clear and positive link between this change and members who have a personal relationship with the Savior. By personal relationship I mean they not only believe in Christ as an idea, but they can and do speak of the Lord's direct impact in their own lives. They speak of specific tender mercies the Lord has given them. These members, those I consider the most rooted in the Gospel also have in common that they have made scripture study and prayer a regular part of their life.  They study and pray daily, and they enjoy and even relish it.  They've learned the truth of  that old Jewish proverb: "if you want to speak to God then pray, if you want God to speak to you then read the scriptures".  This just seems common sense. After all, how would one have a relationship with someone seldom spoken to?

Now this is not to say that making and keeping covenants is not an important component of our faith. When we live the commandments, our faith deepens in the truth of Gospel living because we live happier, more productive lives.  Service is also important because when we serve, we are bent into the shape of the Savior.  As is often said, "we see the face of the Savior in the faces of those we serve". 

Therefore, if we want to go beyond just being happy members of the tribe to being firmly rooted in the Gospel with the purpose, love and comfort of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ (the point of the whole enterprise), we must follow the prescription that has been there since our first parents, that is, we must study his word and pray daily.  One can think of the home centered; church supported gospel study program as the training wheels each of us need for this most important process.

I can illustrate this by sharing a recent experience with a very good friend who served a faithful mission, married in the Temple, raised a great family, and then proceeded to lose his faith, to me a genuine tragedy. We've had some great discussions over the last few years and during one of these I pointed to the Book of Mormon and said, “how do you explain that miracle”. He ran to his library and came back with “The Late War” by G.J Hunt, an impressive looking volume bound in leather with gilt paper.

He shared that it had been written a few years before the Book of Mormon, that the Book of Mormon had cribbed terms and ideas from it and therefore not only a comparable work but evidence that Joseph Smith had fabricated the Book of Mormon with this as at least one of his references. He then challenged me to read it which I agreed to do provided he would read a small book that I gave him. 

I proceeded to read The Late War and found it to be a history of the War of 1812 written in King James English, targeted to the day’s junior high school reader.  Other than King James English and a few obscure terms common to both books, I couldn't figure out what it had to do the Book of Mormon. I was also confused why someone would even write such a book, was it claiming to be scripture or something else?

Wikipedia informed me that there was a genre that had appeared in the early 1800's due to concern that the rising generation weren't reading their Bibles. The Late War was an example of such works.  The idea was that if a few textbooks could be written in Biblical style, young readers would become comfortable with biblical style writing thereby being more likely to pick up their Bibles. 

A clever idea that didn't catch on for reasons because it didn’t understand that there were much higher barriers to scripture ready than having patience with King James English. This even more left me scratching my head as to how my friend, who once had known and loved the Book of Mormon as scripture could now have it confused it with something like The Late War. Another old Jewish proverb came to mind: "If you forget the Torah (Bible) for one day, the Torah forgets you for two days. " That is, if we don’t study every day, we not only quickly forget what scriptures says, but we also (and maybe more so) forget what it does and how it works.   

Now to the book I gave my friend.  It was written by a member who happens to be a Philosophy Professor at Oxford, one of the top three Philosophy programs in the world and who also happens to be the Bishop of one of my Priests who is at Oxford doing study abroad.  This guy's ability to reason is many times greater than my friend and I put together.  His book presents thought provoking ideas about the atonement based on just a few chapters from the Book of Alma.  The title reads "A Brief Theological Overview..." implying that he had only scratched the surface of the theological heights Alma's teachings could take us to. 

True to his word, my friend had read the book admitting that it had been slow going and that it was an thoughtful piece of work. At this point I could make clear that what made the Book of Mormon scripture is not it's miraculous birth, rather, what makes the BoM scripture is that it does what scripture does. 

By that I mean, when I study and ponder scripture such as the Bible or the Book of Mormon, I feel the Lord speaking to me about how I can be more like the Savior. I’m encouraged to repent, that is to change for the better.  The Book of Mormon is also rich enough that, like the Bible, it can support the creation of thoughtful words of theology and multiple inspired readings based on the problems we bring to it at a point in time.  This is exactly why the famous promise in Moroni 10 challenges us to read thoughtfully (ponder) then pray about what we’ve read, that is, use the Book of Mormon the same way we would use the Bible and see if it yields the same fruit.  If it does the spirit will confirm it’s teachings to our souls just as it would when we study the Bible.

I’ll close by encouraging all of us not to be like our friend Ali Hafed who left all that was dear and wasted his life chasing “the bright shiny thing” he thought would make him happy when what he needed was right under his nose. 

If we make the Home Centered, Church supported study program a daily part of our lives, we’ll learn that the precious gems that can strengthen our relationship with Christ are right in our homes. This inspired program, when paired with prayer, service and covenant keeping will create the deep roots and foundation that will anchor us so firmly that our faith will weather any storm or trial, any suffering or doubt that comes our way. 

I’d also like to thank all of you for your service to your brothers and sisters in the Ward, for all of the service I witness which remains a great source of inspiration for me. I have an abiding faith in the reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and that the living Christ speaks to a living Prophet today.