[Page 207]Abstract: This chapter argues that “the scriptural triad of faith, hope, and charity should be understood as something more than a general set of personal attributes that must be developed in order for disciples to become like Christ. Instead, as part of the ‘guarded tradition the Apostle’ [Paul] that is transmitted to readers in 1 Corinthians and elsewhere in scripture, these terms have been used to describe a distinct progression of ‘stages in a Christian’s earthly experience.’ The three stages that correlate to faith, hope, and charity were described by Joseph Smith as the ‘three principal rounds’ of a ladder of heavenly ascent. Each round marks a chief juncture in priesthood ordinances and on the pathway to eternal life.”

[Editor’s Note: Part of our book chapter reprint series, this article is reprinted here as a service to the LDS community. Original pagination and page numbers have necessarily changed, and movement of figures for pagination purposes may have altered some footnote numbering. Otherwise the reprint has the same content as the original.

See Jeffrey M. Bradshaw, “Faith, Hope, and Charity: The ‘Three Principal Rounds’ of the Ladder of Heavenly Ascent,” in “To Seek the Law of the Lord”: Essays in Honor of John W. Welch, ed. Paul Y. Hoskisson and Daniel C. Peterson (Orem, UT: The Interpreter Foundation, 2017), 59–112. Further information at https://interpreterfoundation.org/books/to-seek-the-law-of-the-lord-essays-in-honor-of-john-w-welch-2/.]

[Page 208]Within the prodigious scriptural writings of John W. Welch can be found delightful explorations of the wondrous ways in which Joseph Smith’s literary legacy serves as a bridge between the ancient and modern religious worlds. The prophetic recovery of key doctrines and ordinances, cherished in ancient times but unknown to most contemporary believers, remains one of the most stunning — and still underappreciated — facets of the latter-day “marvelous work and a wonder”² that unfolds with increasing momentum every hour since the beginning of the Restoration. Each of us who has been mentored by Jack — both directly and through his writings — has been awakened by the generosity of his spirit and the keenness of his intellect to see extraordinary reflections of the Restored Gospel in places that we “never had supposed.”³

In this chapter, I will argue, in the spirit of Jack’s example, that the scriptural triad of faith, hope, and charity should be understood as something more than a general set of personal attributes that must be developed in order for disciples to become like Christ.⁴ Instead, as part of the “guarded tradition of the Apostle”⁵ that is transmitted to readers in 1 Corinthians⁶ and elsewhere in scripture,⁷ these terms have been [Page 209]used to describe a distinct progression of “stages in a Christian’s earthly experience.”⁸ The three stages that correlate to faith, hope, and charity were described by Joseph Smith as the “three principal rounds”⁹ of a ladder of heavenly ascent. Each round marks a chief juncture in priesthood ordinances and on the pathway to eternal life.

The arguments in the present chapter are structured somewhat like a jigsaw puzzle: three group of pieces will be described separately before they are assembled into a whole. First, I will introduce the idea of the ladder of heavenly ascent as it appeared anciently in various religious traditions. Second, I will discuss descriptions of similar ladders in the revelations and teachings of Joseph Smith, including his characterization of faith, hope, and charity as rungs corresponding to the three kingdoms of glory. Third, I will survey scripture references that relate faith, hope, charity, and “the doctrine of Christ.” Finally, I will show how an understanding of faith, hope, and charity as stages in a disciple’s experience can illuminate the layout and ordinances of the temple. In the magnificent word pictures of faith, hope, and charity painted in the prophetic corpus of Joseph Smith, we recover the lost essence of potent doctrines and symbols once found at the heart of Judaism and early Christianity.¹⁰

[Page 210]The Ladder of Heavenly Ascent in Ancient Tradition

Already a religious symbol in Egypt¹¹ and Babylon,¹² the biblical ladder of heavenly ascent first appears in the story of Jacob, who beheld “a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.”¹³

The story is later referenced in the Gospel of John. Alluding to the multiple deceits practiced in the story of Jacob/Israel and Laban, Jesus praised the approaching Nathanael at their first meeting, saying, “Behold an Israelite [i.e., a descendant of Jacob]…in whom [unlike Jacob himself] is no guile!”¹⁴ Then, referring to the ladder in Jacob’s dream on which angels had ascended and descended, He solemnly asserted His preeminence over the revered patriarch, declaring that He was the ladder of heavenly ascent personified: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.”¹⁵

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Figure 1. Jacob’s Ladder, Bath Abbey, England, 1520.
Photograph by Stephen T. Whitlock (1951-), 9 October 2004.

Figure 2. The Ladder of the Cross. Notre Dame Cathedral, Strasbourg, France, 1276–1439.¹⁶

[Page 212]Later, John records a similar declaration: “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”¹⁷

Figure 3. The Ladder of Virtues of St. John Climacus, north façade, Sucevita Monastery, Romania, 1602–1604.¹⁸ Note the sequence of virtues that label each rung of the ladder.

In the tympanum above the central portal of the Strasbourg Cathedral, we see the “ladder” of the Savior’s cross, first as overcoming death and then as opening the way to life eternal. The composition shows three levels: 1. The body of Adam lying in hell with the crucified Christ poised on earth directly above him. The wooden cross, corresponding to a branch of the Tree of Knowledge that (in tradition) was planted in Adam’s grave and became an oil-bearing Tree of Mercy,¹⁹ is the axis that links the worlds of the dead and the living; 2. The cross fleury borne by the victorious Jesus, near a flourishing tree and Adam and Eve clasping [Page 213]hands, provides access to heaven; 3. Jesus ascended, the forerunner of those who are “lifted up” by His cross.²⁰

I will not take space here to trace the trajectory of Jacob’s ladder in Christian tradition,²¹ including the well-known elaborations on the subject by theologians such as John Climacus (i.e., John “of the ladder”), Saint Augustine, Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, and Saint Thomas Aquinas. Suffice it to say that faith, hope, and charity — the “three theological virtues” — became important symbols of the process of spiritual progression and were identified frequently with the three principal rungs on this ladder. As Christians made their climb, some, sadly, as in Lehi’s vision of the Tree of Life, “after they had tasted of the fruit…fell away into forbidden paths and were lost.”²²

The Ladder of Heavenly Ascent in Joseph Smith’s Teachings

In this section I will explore three instances of Joseph Smith’s teachings about the ladder of heavenly ascent. These instances demonstrate how his prophetic gifts allowed him to reach back beyond the religious speculations of the immediately preceding centuries to conceptions that are in harmony with more pristine religious traditions and the Bible. More specifically, Joseph Smith’s teachings, translations, and revelations about the ladder of exaltation are not close cousins of late elaborations that had replaced descriptions of literal and ritual heavenly ascent with abstruse metaphors and allegories. Instead, like the expression of supernal reality contained in the ten “building blocks”²³ of the sefirot in mystic Judaism, the Prophet’s explanations of the principles that govern the eternal worlds (and the temple ordinances that reflect them) embody truths that are “quite far from the world of divine ‘attributes’ of which the medieval philosophers wrote with such caution and precision, and with which later apologists sought to identify them.”²⁴ Indeed, it might be said that Joseph Smith’s teachings about the ladder of heavenly ascent, “gave his believing [followers] a sense of what was experientially real, not merely philosophically true.”²⁵

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Figure 4. Herrad of Hohenbourg: The Ladder of Virtues, late 12th century ce. The figure of Charity, representing those who have had their election “made sure,” is depicted as having reached the summit of the ladder. Her hand is extended toward the hand of the Lord, shown emerging from a cloud and holding the Crown of Life. Other personages below Charity fall short as they are attracted by one thing or another. The hermit is too busy cultivating his garden and neglects his prayers; the reclusive monk longs for sleep; the alms-seeking monk falls for a large basket filled with pieces of silver — what his heart treasures most; the priest’s attention is not occupied by his church but rather by friends, good food and drink, lusts of the flesh, and simony (i.e., the selling of ecclesiastical privileges for money); and the nun chatting with the priest is seduced by the pleasures of the world and by family wealth. Meanwhile, the lay woman (attracted to jewels and beautiful lodgings) and the soldier (tempted by horses, arms, and other soldiers to command) have hardly begun the climb. At the bottom of the ladder, the Devil, whose temptations have ensnared all except Charity herself, appears in the form of a dragon, while his minions take steady aim at their victims with bow and arrow. The caption on the ladder bears a message of encouragement, proclaiming that all those who have fallen will have the opportunity, through sincere penitence, to begin their climb anew. Elaboration of Rosalie Green, Michael Evans, Christine Bischoff, and Michael Curschmann, eds. The Hortus Deliciarum of Herrad of Hohenbourg (London: Warburg Institute, 1979), 2:352-353.

[Page 215]Step-By-Step Ascent on the Ladder of Exaltation

Within the King Follett discourse, arguably the greatest doctrinal sermon given by the Prophet, Joseph Smith used the general imagery of a ladder to describe the process of learning the principles of exaltation step by step:

Original Notes Recorded from a Sermon Delivered on 7 April 1844 in Thomas Bullock Report:²⁶ you thus learn the first prin of the Gospel when you climb a ladder you must begin at the bottom run[g] until you learn the last prin of the gospel for it is a great thing to learn Saln. Beyond the grave & it is not all to be com in this world.

Expanded Version from Joseph Smith’s History:²⁷ Here, then, is eternal life — to know the only wise and true God;²⁸ and you have got to learn how to be Gods yourselves, and to be kings and priests to God,²⁹ the same as all Gods have done before you, namely by going from one small degree³⁰ to another, and from a small capacity to a great one,³¹ from grace to grace,³² from exaltation to exaltation,³³ until you attain to the resurrection of the dead,³⁴ and are able to dwell in everlasting burnings,³⁵ and [Page 216]to sit in glory,³⁶ as do those who sit enthroned³⁷ in everlasting power.³⁸…

When you climb up a ladder, you must begin at the bottom, and ascend step by step, until you arrive at the top; and so it is with the principles of the Gospel — you must begin with the first, and go on until you learn all the principles of exaltation. But it will be a great while after you have passed through the veil³⁹ before you will have learned them. It is not all to be comprehended in this world; it will be a great work to learn our salvation and exaltation even beyond the grave.⁴⁰

As Joseph Smith linked ladder imagery with the principles of eternal life and exaltation, his words incorporated the terminology of temple ordinances and the model they provide for the life beyond.

Faith, Hope, and Charity Within Peter’s Verbal Ladder

In his 21 May 1843 discourse on the doctrine of election,⁴¹ Joseph Smith expounded on the first chapter of 2 Peter. In verses 5–7, faith, hope, and charity form the backbone of a verbal ladder that is consistent with the Prophet’s other teachings about the process of exaltation:

Original Notes from Joseph Smith’s Journal:⁴² like precious faith with us… — add to your faith virtue & c…another point after having all these qualifictins [qualifications] he lays this injutin [injunction]. — but rather make your calling & election sure — after adding all. this. virtue knowledge &. make your cal[l]ing &c Sure. — what is the secret, the starting point. according as his divine power which hath given unto all things that pertain to life & godliness. [p. [214]]

[Page 217]how did he obtain all things? — th[r]ough the knowledge of him who hath calld him. — there could not any be given pertain[in]g to life & knowledge & godliness without knowledge

wo wo wo to the Ch[r]istendom. — the divine & priests; &c — if this be true.

Original Notes in Martha Jane Knowlton Coray Notebook:⁴³ The Apostle says, unto them who have obtained like precious faith with us the apostles through the righteousness of God & our Savior Jesus Christ, through the knowledge of him that has called us to glory & virtue add faith virtue &c. &c. to godliness brotherly kindness — Charity — ye shall neither be barren or unfruitful in the Knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. He that lacketh these things is blind — wherefore the rather brethren after all this give diligence to make your calling & Election Sure Knowledge is necessary to life and Godliness. wo unto you priests & divines, who preach that knowledge is not necessary unto life & Salvation. Take away Apostles &c. take away knowledge and you will find yourselves worthy of the damnation of hell. Knowledge is Revelation hear all ye brethren, this grand Key; Knowledge is the power of God unto Salvation.

The list of personal qualities from 2 Peter 1:3–11 discussed by the Prophet have long been suspected by scholars such as Käsemenn to be a “clear example of Hellenistic, non-Christian thought insidiously working its way into the New Testament.”⁴⁴ Now, however, this passage of scripture is generally accepted as “fundamentally Pauline”⁴⁵ and, hence, thoroughly consonant with ideas found among the earliest Christians. The emphasis of these verses is on the finishing and refining process of sanctification, not the initiatory process of justification.⁴⁶

[Page 218]2 Peter 1:4 sounds the keynote of the biblical list of the personal qualities of the perfected disciple, reminding readers of the “exceeding great and precious promises” that allow them to become “partakers [= Greek koinonos, ‘sharer, partaker’] of the divine nature.” The New English Bible captures the literal sense of these words: that the Saints may “come to share in the very being of God.”⁴⁷ To those in whom the qualities of divine nature “abound,” there comes the fulfillment of a specific “promise”: namely, that “they shall not be unfruitful in the knowledge of the Lord.”⁴⁸ In other words, according to Joseph Smith’s exposition of the logic of Peter, the additional “knowledge of the Lord” disciples will receive once they have qualified themselves through the cultivation of all these virtues and enter into God’s presence will be sufficient to make their “calling and election sure” in order that they may “obtain all things.”

Importantly, these qualities, to which Christian disciples are exhorted to give “all diligence,”⁴⁹ are not presented in 2 Peter 1 as a randomly assembled laundry list but rather as part of an ordered progression leading to a culminating point.⁵⁰ In Hellenistic, Jewish, and Christian literature this rhetorical form is called sorites, climax, or gradatio.⁵¹ Harold Attridge explains the ladder-like property of the [Page 219]personal qualities given in such lists: “In this ‘ladder’ of virtues, each virtue is the means of producing the next (this sense of the Greek is lost in translation). All the virtues grow out of faith, and all culminate in love.”⁵²

Joseph Neyrey further observes that the Christian triad of faith, hope, and charity in 2 Peter 1:5–7 “forms the determining framework in which other virtues are inserted” in such lists.⁵³ The table below summarizes key words in scriptural passages from Romans 5, 2 Peter 1, and D&C 4 that illustrate this idea:

Romans 5:1–5	2 Peter 1:5–7	D&C 4:6
faith	faith	faith
	virtue	virtue
peace	knowledge	knowledge
	temperance	temperance
hope [patience/experience]54	patience	patience
	godliness
[Page 220]	brotherly kindness	brotherly kindness
		godliness
love	charity	charity
		humility
		diligence

Though the secondary virtues within the three lists differ,⁵⁵ the reward for disciples who cultivate faith, hope, and charity is essentially the same. In 2 Peter 1:4, 8, 10, they are promised that they will become “partakers of the divine nature” and that ultimately they will be fruitful “in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” — thus, in Joseph Smith’s reading, making their “calling and election sure.” Likewise, in Romans 5:2 they are told that they will “rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” This means they can look forward with glad confidence, knowing they “will be able to share in the revelation of God — in other words, that [they] will come to know Him as He is.”⁵⁶ Finally, in D&C 4:7 the promise given to [Page 221]faithful Saints evokes the words of the Savior: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you”⁵⁷ — a threefold promise that Matthew L. Bowen correlates to faith, hope, and charity. He also notes that “‘ask’ and ‘seek’ correspond to the Hebrew verbs sh’l and bqsh, which were used to describe ‘asking for’ or ‘seeking’ a divine revelation, often in a temple setting.”⁵⁸ Jack Welch has argued [Page 222]likewise that the symbolism of knocking is best understood “in a ceremonial context.”⁵⁹ However, it should be remembered that the temple ordinances foreshadow actual events in the life of faithful disciples who endure to the end.⁶⁰

Figure 5. A new bishop knocks three times with a mallet on the door of the Cathedral as part of a Roman Catholic entrance ritual.

The expansion of 2 Peter’s list of virtues in D&C 4 warrants further discussion. In that revelation, the “three principal rounds” of faith, hope, and charity/love are specifically highlighted in verse 5 and then repeated as part of the longer list of virtues given in verse 6. Intriguingly, the list of eight qualities found in 2 Peter 1 is expanded in D&C 4 to ten in number.⁶¹ Jack Welch has shown how the number ten in Jewish tradition — which conveys the idea of perfection, especially divine completion — relates to human ascension into the holy of holies or highest degree of heaven:⁶²

[Page 223]“The rabbinic classification of the ten degrees of holiness, which begins with Palestine, the land holier than all other lands, and culminates in the most holy place, the Holy of Holies, was essentially known in the days of High Priest Simon the Just, that is, around 200 bce.”⁶³ Echoing these ten degrees on earth were ten degrees in heaven. In the book of 2 Enoch, Enoch has a vision in which he progresses from the first heaven into the tenth heaven, where God resides and Enoch sees the face of the Lord, is anointed, given clothes of glory, and is told “all the things of heaven and earth”⁶⁴…

Kabbalah, a late form of Jewish mysticism, teaches that the ten Sefirot were emanations and attributes of God, part of the unfolding of creation, and that one must pass through them to ascend to God’s presence.⁶⁵

Though the verbal ladders of Romans, 2 Peter, and D&C 4 make no explicit mention of rites inculcating the divine pathway of virtues, a lecture based on these teachings would be a fitting summary of the process of progression embodied in Latter-day Saint temple ordinances.⁶⁶

The Three Degrees of Glory as the Main Rungs of the Ladder

An additional reference to the ladder of heavenly ascent appears in the reconstructed version of Joseph Smith’s 21 May 1843 discourse on election that was published in the History of the Church. There the Prophet is remembered as saying that Paul “ascended into the third heavens, and he could understand the three principal rounds of Jacob’s ladder — the telestial, the terrestrial, and the celestial glories or kingdoms.”⁶⁷ The three kingdoms of glory, of course, naturally correlate [Page 224]to symbolic representations of these three differing glories within the temple.⁶⁸ Already in 1832, Joseph Smith had equated the “mysteries of godliness”⁶⁹ to Jacob’s ladder.

Assuming the gist of Joseph Smith’s statement correlating the “three principal rounds of Jacob’s ladder” to the three kingdoms of glory is reported accurately, it would be, along with the “rough stone rolling”⁷⁰ anecdote, a second wordplay in the discourse that might have been recognized by the Prophet’s fellow Freemasons. Significantly, within the first degree of Masonry, the ladder is said to have “three principal rounds, representing Faith, Hope, and Charity,” which “present us with the means of advancing from earth to heaven, from death to life — from the mortal to immortality.”⁷¹ Like the reconstructed statement of Joseph Smith, Masonic sources correlate these three “principal rounds” with three different worlds or states of existence, beginning with the physical world and ending with the Heavens. All these culminate in a fourth level, associated with “Divinity.”⁷² Putting this ancient imagery [Page 225]in Masonic terms already familiar to many of the Nauvoo Saints might have served a pragmatic purpose, favoring acceptance and understanding of the scriptural ladder of exaltation better than if a new and foreign vocabulary had been used.⁷³

Of course, it must be understood that Freemasonry is not a religion and, in contrast to Latter-day Saint temple ordinances, does not assert divine sanction for its rites.⁷⁴ Unlike the allegories of Masonic ritual, which include beautiful moral truths while eschewing salvific claims, LDS temple doctrines and ordinances purport a power in the priesthood that imparts sanctity to their simple forms, making earthly symbols holy by connecting them to the divinely delegated authority of the living God.⁷⁵ Thus, when Joseph Smith taught the Saints about charity, he was not merely speaking in general, philosophical terms about the desirability [Page 226]of renouncing sinful habits and acquiring a Christlike character. Rather, he believed that charity was a literal perfecting and protecting attribute of divine power that became fully operative only in connection with the sealing blessings of earthly and heavenly priesthood ordinances. In 1831, the Prophet taught:

Until we have perfect love we are liable to fall, and when we have a testimony that our names are sealed in the Lamb’s Book of Life we have perfect love, and then it is impossible for false Christs to deceive us.⁷⁶

A Survey of Scripture References to
Faith, Hope, Charity, and the Doctrine of Christ

With Joseph Smith’s teachings about the ladder of heavenly ascent as background, I will now survey scripture references to faith, hope, charity, and the general sequence of ordinances and blessings known as “the doctrine of Christ.”⁷⁷ Then I will examine four exemplary passages of scripture in more detail. Two of these passages weave faith, hope, and charity directly into discussions of the doctrine of Christ, thus joining two seemingly disparate terminologies into a single, rich description of the ladder of heavenly ascent.

Faith, Hope, and Charity

Although the biblical triad of faith, hope, and charity is, strictly speaking, a New Testament construct, David Calabro has suggested that in the context of ancient covenants, faith was understood “as faithfulness (an expression of loyalty), hope as expectation for deliverance by the protecting suzerain, and charity as the stipulation of love for the suzerain (like a son to a father) as required in ancient vassal treaties.”⁷⁸

[Page 227]Calabro⁷⁹ also compares Proverbs 8 — with its preexistent and coeval personification of Wisdom, by whose power God created the world — to the mention of the framing of the world by faith in Hebrews 11:3, to the reification of hope as a representation of the glorified Christ in Hebrews 6:18–20, and to the personified description of eternally enduring charity in 1 Corinthians 13:4–8 and Moroni 7:44–46.⁸⁰ The significance of this comparison with Proverbs 8 is enhanced in remembering that Wisdom — like faith, hope, and charity (as argued in the present chapter) — was associated anciently with knowledge of the mysteries received in the temple.⁸¹

In addition, Joseph Neyrey has observed that in the Hebrew Bible, “love” and “faith” were already linked “in terms of hesed and ‘emet, that is, ‘steadfast kindness’ in a covenant relationship.”⁸² One might also note in this connection the biblical symbolism of the three divine throne attributes of truth (‘emet), righteousness (tsedaqah), and uprightness (yashar) that enabled individuals to pass through veiled gates to stand in the Lord’s presence within His temple throne room.⁸³

Psalm 15 lists ten qualifications — including, significantly, the three previously mentioned divine attributes of truth, righteousness, and uprightness — for those who would “abide in [the] tabernacle.”⁸⁴ Similar lists of commandments were displayed outside ancient temples.⁸⁵ Second temple Judaism, like later Christianity, produced long lists of [Page 228]virtues and vices that are related to a greater or lesser extent with temple themes and the idea of heavenly ascent.⁸⁶

Figure 6. Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones (1833-1898) and William Morris (I835-1896): Spes, Caritas, and Fides (Hope, Charity, and Faith), Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, England. These three martyred saints, whose common mother was named Sophia (Wisdom) in some accounts, were said to have lived during the reign of the Roman Emperor Hadrian (2nd century ce).⁸⁷

Within the New Testament, faith, hope/patience,⁸⁸ and charity/love⁸⁹ are mentioned together in fifteen passages, but appear only four times in [Page 229]that order.⁹⁰ Twelve of these instances are within writings traditionally attributed to Paul, two are found in 1 and 2 Peter, and one is within the book of Revelation. Within the Book of Mormon, faith, hope, and charity are mentioned together by Nephi, Alma, Mormon, and Moroni in eight places, and in the Doctrine and Covenants they are referenced six additional times.⁹¹ Significantly, within modern scripture the themes of faith, hope, and charity are discussed in the same specific order for every instance but one.⁹²

The Doctrine of Christ

The term “doctrine of Christ” is mentioned explicitly in two places in the New Testament: Hebrews 6:1 and 2 John 1:9. In the Book of Mormon, it is mentioned three times in 2 Nephi 31–32,⁹³ twice in Jacob 7,⁹⁴ and once in 3 Nephi 2:2.

So far as I have been able to determine, Joseph Smith’s sermons never directly addressed the relationship among faith, hope, and charity as they appear in the New Testament, the Book of Mormon, and the Doctrine and Covenants, except within the 21 May 1843 discourse on [Page 230]the first chapter of 2 Peter that was discussed previously.⁹⁵ Moreover, his only references to the “doctrine of Christ” occurred when he directly quoted Hebrews 6:1–2 without elaboration. The absence of commentary by Joseph Smith on relevant passages from the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants is consistent with his general propensity to draw almost exclusively from the Bible and biblical language in his teachings. In light of the Prophet’s silence on the teachings of modern scripture in this regard, it would seem difficult to sustain arguments that would require Book of Mormon passages that describe sophisticated relationships among faith, hope, charity, and the doctrine of Christ to have originated in the mind of Joseph Smith himself.

Connecting Faith, Hope, Charity, and the Doctrine of Christ

Scriptural teachings that relate faith, hope, and charity to the doctrine of Christ can be summarized in two paragraphs:

• All who are determined to become followers of Christ must first begin by repenting and exercising faith in Him, which brings about a justificatory⁹⁶ remission of their sins through baptism⁹⁷ — a preparatory ordinance of the Aaronic Priesthood. Baptism prepares disciples for the work of hope. The work of hope is to receive and keep all the additional ordinances of the Melchizedek Priesthood, beginning with the the bestowal of the right, through worthiness, to receive and enjoy the gift of the Holy Ghost.
• Keeping the covenants associated with ordinances endows disciples of Christ with the increased knowledge and strength [Page 231]they need to remain patient and steadfast through the testing process of sanctification.⁹⁸ As they continue to “press forward”⁹⁹ with “unshaken faith”¹⁰⁰ on this path, they develop “a perfect brightness of hope,¹⁰¹ and a love of God and of all men”¹⁰² that enables them to consecrate their all to the building up of the kingdom of God.¹⁰³ Then, if they continue to “endure to the end, in following the example of the Son of the living God,”¹⁰⁴ having been “chastened and tried, even as Abraham,”¹⁰⁵ and being “filled”¹⁰⁶ with charity, “the pure love of Christ,”¹⁰⁷ they will be prepared to hear the Father’s sure oath: “Ye shall have eternal life.”¹⁰⁸

Although most scripture references to faith, hope, and charity or the doctrine of Christ consist only of brief allusions to the wider picture just described, in a few instances these concepts are explained in greater detail. I will now examine four such instances more closely.

Four Exemplary Scriptural Passages on Faith, Hope, Charity, and the Doctrine of Christ

Of the four instances examined below, two center on faith, hope, and charity (Ether 12 and Moroni 7) and the other two explicitly describe the doctrine of Christ (Hebrews 6 and 2 Nephi 31–32). Notably, both of the chapters that contain detailed discussions of the doctrine of Christ (Hebrews 6, 2 Nephi 31–32) artfully and deliberately weave faith, hope, and charity into their instruction.

Significantly, the three exemplars chosen from the Book of Mormon are not random or obscure selections; each plays a prominent role in [Page 232]the overall teaching scheme of its author (Nephi, Mormon, Moroni). Likewise, Hebrews 5:11–6:20 is not a simple digression in the doctrinal arguments of its author but rather a key to the interpretation of the entire epistle.

Finally, in anticipation of the final section of this chapter, we note that these four passages might be seen as excerpts from larger “temple texts,” standing alongside other temple texts that have been brilliantly described by Margaret Barker, Jack Welch, and others.¹⁰⁹

• Hebrews 6. The chapter begins by distinguishing between “the [first] principles of the doctrine of Christ”¹¹⁰ and the higher way of “perfection”¹¹¹ that has been opened by Jesus Christ, the “sure and stedfast” object of our hope¹¹² and, in the role of “an high priest for ever after the order of Melchizedec,”¹¹³ our “forerunner”¹¹⁴ “within the veil.”¹¹⁵

  According to one Bible scholar, Hebrews 6:1–8 “may be the most difficult passage to interpret in the entire epistle.”¹¹⁶ Happily, Joseph Smith returned to these verses often in his teachings, relying on the summary of the first principles of the Gospel [Page 233]given in verses 1–2¹¹⁷ and on the description of specific aspects of the doctrine of election in verses 4–8.¹¹⁸

  Significantly, the transition between the first and last part of chapter 6 introduces faith, hope/patience, and charity into the discussion in reverse order. Elsewhere, such reversals portray these three qualities as the fruits of divine knowledge gained through experience:¹¹⁹ “For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love.…And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope [Page 234]unto the end: That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.”¹²⁰

  Chapter six concludes with a description of the sure promise of eternal life vouchsafed anciently by God to Abraham and the equally “sure and stedfast” “anchor to the soul”¹²¹ that is made available to all the Saints by the Savior, the object of their hope, who entered “within the veil” as a “forerunner…for us.”¹²² The Prophet Joseph Smith explicitly associated the imagery of these verses in Hebrews with the “more sure word of prophecy” described in 2 Peter 1:19.¹²³

• 2 Nephi 31–32. In these chapters, presumably authored near the end of his ministry, Nephi has chosen to write, “according to the plainness of [his] prophesying,” “a few words…concerning the doctrine of Christ”¹²⁴ “that he has selected out of a lifetime of vivid events and important theological concepts.”¹²⁵

  Nephi exhorts his readers to “follow the Son, with full purpose of heart”¹²⁶ and enter the gate of “repentance and baptism by water” [cf. the altar of sacrifice and the laver that sit in the courtyard, outside the temple door] in order to receive “a remission of…sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost.”¹²⁷

  Then, he weaves the one and only mention of faith, hope, and charity in chapters 31 and 32¹²⁸ into a beautiful description of the culminating sequence of the pathway to eternal life: “And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far [i.e., through the gate] [Page 235]save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save. Wherefore, ye must press forward [i.e., along the high priestly way of the temple] with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope [cf. the lamp in the Holy Place], and a love of God and of all men [cf. consecration at the altar of incense that stood just in front of the veil]. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ [cf. the temple shewbread¹²⁹], and endure to the end [cf. the veil that conceals the Holy of Holies], behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life”¹³⁰ [cf. the personal oath of the Father].

  In 2 Nephi 33:9, having just expressed the charity he has for all people, Nephi reiterates that there is no other way besides the one he has just outlined: “But behold, for none of these can I hope except they shall be reconciled unto Christ, and enter into the narrow gate [through the faith that has led them to repent and be baptized], and walk in the strait path [of hope] which leads to life [i.e., eternal life, conferred at the veil], and continue in the path until the end of the day of probation [cf. the requirement to endure to the end].”

• Ether 12. Ether 12 is a significant excursus by Moroni that was inspired by Ether’s historical record.¹³¹ It provides much in the way of instruction and examples of faith,¹³² while also mentioning hope in five places¹³³ and enjoining charity six times.¹³⁴

  Following his initial focus on faith in the first part of the chapter, Moroni acknowledges his “weakness in writing”¹³⁵ and expresses his “fear lest the Gentiles shall mock at [his] words.”¹³⁶ (Note that Moroni expresses this concern immediately after describing the awe-inspiring experience of the brother of Jared at the veil — which took place on a mountain called Shelem [Page 236]“because of its exceeding height”¹³⁷ and perhaps also because the name relates to the Semitic root for “ladder.”¹³⁸) The Lord replied comfortingly to Moroni’s concern by making it clear that His “grace is sufficient for the meek”¹³⁹ and that in order for “weak things [to] become strong”¹⁴⁰ the Gentiles must be shown that it is “faith, hope and charity [that] bringeth unto me — the fountain of all righteousness.”¹⁴¹ “Bringeth unto me,” of course, may be interpreted both ritually and literally.

  In the verses that follow, Moroni expands upon the topics of faith,¹⁴² hope,¹⁴³ and charity,¹⁴⁴ in that specific order, before closing the chapter with moving words of farewell.¹⁴⁵

• Moroni 7. Following a summary of liturgical information in chapters 1–6, Moroni records his father Mormon’s sermon “concerning faith, hope, and charity”¹⁴⁶ as a prime example of the preaching and exhorting that took place in the Nephite Church at that time.¹⁴⁷

  Mormon begins by reminding his hearers that it is not merely their actions but also the sincerity of their hearts that matters to God¹⁴⁸ — in other words, unless they “do that which is good…with real intent it profiteth…nothing.”¹⁴⁹ Then he shows them how they can “know good from evil”¹⁵⁰ “with a perfect knowledge”¹⁵¹ through diligent search “in the light of Christ.”¹⁵² [Page 237]But knowing what is good is not enough — Mormon also asks: “how is it possible that [the members of the Church] can lay hold upon every good thing?”¹⁵³ The answer is: through faith,¹⁵⁴ hope,¹⁵⁵ and charity.¹⁵⁶ Mormon defines charity, “which is the greatest of all,”¹⁵⁷ as “the pure love of Christ.”¹⁵⁸ He further explains that this gift is the key to divine sonship, being “bestowed upon all who are true followers of [God’s] Son, Jesus Christ; that [we] may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him.”¹⁵⁹

  A beautiful instance of gradatio in Moroni 8:25–26 directly links faith, hope, and love/charity to the successive areas of the ancient temple that bring individuals step-by-step to the point where they can “dwell with God”:¹⁶⁰ “And the first fruits of repentance is baptism [cf. the altar of sacrifice and laver]; and baptism cometh by faith unto the fulfilling the commandments; and the fulfilling the commandments bringeth remission of sins; And the remission of sins bringeth meekness, and lowliness of heart; and because of meekness and lowliness of heart cometh the visitation of the Holy Ghost [cf. the lamp], which Comforter filleth with hope and perfect love, which love endureth by diligence unto prayer [cf. the altar of incense near the veil], until the end shall come [cf. the veil itself], when all the saints shall dwell with God [cf. the Holy of Holies].”

Significant passages that link instruction on faith, hope, and charity with the doctrine of Christ sometimes seem to have been directed specifically toward those who had already received the higher ordinances of the Melchizedek Priesthood. In Moroni 7, Mormon’s hearers are specifically said to be “the peaceable followers of Christ” who already had “obtained a sufficient hope by which [they could] enter into the rest of [Page 238]the Lord, from this time henceforth until [they would] rest with him in heaven.”¹⁶¹ Similarly, the disciples addressed by Paul¹⁶² in Hebrews were not novices in need of “milk” but such as had been prepared and should have been ready to feast on “strong meat.”¹⁶³ Moreover, just as Paul chided his readers because he had to teach them again about the “first principles of the oracles of God”¹⁶⁴ when he expected them to be qualified already as teachers themselves,¹⁶⁵ so Alma, prior to his brief exhortation about faith, hope, and charity,¹⁶⁶ sought to awaken his hearers to a sense of their “duty to God”¹⁶⁷ so they could “walk after the holy order of God, after which [they had already] been received.”¹⁶⁸

Faith, Hope, and Charity and the Journey
through the Temple and Its Ordinances

In this section, I relate faith, hope, and charity to a journey through the temple. The succession of three primary sacred spaces of increasing holiness found in Israelite temples is usually followed in the physical layout of modern LDS temples.

Preparing to Leave the Telestial World: Faith and the First Principles and Ordinances of the Gospel

The journey of the high priest through the Israelite temple began in the temple courtyard. This courtyard can be compared with the “World Room” in the Salt Lake Temple, a representation of humankind’s fallen state of existence in a place of telestial glory.¹⁶⁹ In the courtyard of the [Page 239]Israelite temple were located the altar of sacrifice¹⁷⁰ and the laver of water used by priests for purification before they entered the temple proper.¹⁷¹ David Calabro has compared the function of the temple altar of sacrifice to the description in Moses 5 of the obedience of Adam and Eve and their attentiveness to the ordinance of sacrifice after they were driven from the Garden of Eden. Likewise, he has linked the function of the laver to the account of Adam’s baptism that is given in Moses 6.¹⁷² John S. Thompson observes: “As one ascends to the Holy of Holies, there appears to be an expectation of participating in preparatory rites and laws of an Aaronic order associated with the courtyard that give one access to the temple, wherein further rites and laws of a higher order will be manifest, allowing one to enter into the presence of God in the Holy of Holies.¹⁷³

Consistent with such a picture, Hebrews 11, Ether 12, and Moroni 7 emphasize the undergirding quality of faith, not as mere belief in the truth or falsity of some proposition¹⁷⁴ but as “the moving cause of all action.”¹⁷⁵ As such, faith necessarily accompanies every righteous striving to follow the Savior, Jesus Christ. In Hebrews 6:1–2, Paul describes “the [first] principles of the doctrine of Christ,” which include “repentance from dead works,…faith toward God,…baptisms, and…laying on of hands.”¹⁷⁶ Throughout 2 Nephi 31, Nephi also emphasizes the specific [Page 240]ordinances that accompany faith. More pointedly, it might be said that “faith produces ordinances.”¹⁷⁷ Joseph Fielding McConkie notes that “in establishing these principles [of the doctrines of salvation] relative to baptism, Nephi established principles that apply with equal force to all ordinances of salvation. Salvation [in the celestial kingdom of God]…is Nephi’s subject — baptism is but the illustration.”¹⁷⁸

Figure 7. The Ladder of Heavenly Ascent Superposed on the Layout of Ordinance Rooms on the Second Floor of the Salt Lake Temple ¹⁷⁹

Visualizing a movement from the temple courtyard to the temple proper makes Nephi’s words about repentance and baptism (corresponding [Page 241]to the temple altar and laver) as “the gate”¹⁸⁰ (corresponding to the temple door) that is entered “with unshaken faith”¹⁸¹ in Christ more vivid and meaningful:¹⁸²

17 Wherefore, do the things which I have told you I have seen that your Lord and your Redeemer should do; for, for this cause have they been shown unto me, that ye might know the gate by which ye should enter. For the gate by which ye should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost [i.e., justification].

18 And then are ye in this strait and narrow path [of sanctification] which leads to eternal life [i.e., exaltation]; yea, ye have entered in by the gate; ye have done according to the commandments of the Father and the Son; and ye have received the Holy Ghost, which witnesses of the Father and the Son, unto the fulfilling of the promise which he hath made, that if ye entered in by the way ye should receive.

19 And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far [i.e., through the gate] save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save.

Moroni 7 provides an excellent summary of the way faith provides a basis for the entire process of salvation from beginning to end. Mormon opens by exhorting listeners to exercise the discerning power of the “light of Christ”¹⁸³ to judge “with a perfect knowledge”¹⁸⁴ “every thing which inviteth to do good”¹⁸⁵ and which “is of God”¹⁸⁶ from “whatsoever persuadeth men to do evil, and believe not in Christ, and deny him, and serve not God”¹⁸⁷ — which things are “of the devil.”¹⁸⁸ He emphasizes [Page 242]that it is through faith that the children of men are called to repentance¹⁸⁹ in “divers ways”¹⁹⁰ by God’s messengers — for example, both through “angels”¹⁹¹ and through “prophets.”¹⁹² By this means “men began to exercise faith in Christ”¹⁹³ and, by virtue of keys restored to the earth by divine messengers and exercised by mortal priesthood holders, they may be baptized.¹⁹⁴ Thus each disciple may be enabled to “lay hold upon every good thing”¹⁹⁵ up to and including the ability to “become the sons of God,”¹⁹⁶ being “saved by faith in his name.”¹⁹⁷

Transitioning through the Terrestrial World: Hope and the Ordinances of the Melchizedek Priesthood

The journey into the Israelite temple proper commenced as the high priest left the courtyard to “draw near” to God in the Holy Place with “full assurance of faith,” having been cleansed through both the outward ordinances of sacrifice and washing and the inner transformations of repentance and spiritual cleansing from sin.¹⁹⁸ The Holy Place can be compared to the “Terrestrial Room” in modern LDS temples,¹⁹⁹ a representation of the greater glory that Adam and Eve experienced as they began the process by which “all things were confirmed unto Adam, by an holy [i.e., Melchizedek Priesthood] ordinance.”²⁰⁰ It is a place where disciples are meant to “wax stronger and stronger in their humility, and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ, unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea, even to the purifying and the sanctification of their hearts.”²⁰¹ In that ritual and actual state of existence, they participate in further covenant-making and testing connected with the ordinances of the Melchizedek Priesthood to see whether they will “hold fast the profession of [their] faith [= Greek elpis, literally hope] without [Page 243]wavering.”²⁰² For those who continue to the end of the high priestly way, the Terrestrial Room provides a transition to the Celestial Room. This transition, symbolizing the resurrection, takes place through the Veil of the Temple,²⁰³ “that is to say, [the] flesh [of the Jesus Christ, the Redeemer].”²⁰⁴

The hope experienced in the Terrestrial state of existence is not a “natural hope” for “bodily and worldly matters — the hope that our job will be rewarding, that our children will do well in school, that we will get a raise. Christian hope is the hope for salvation.”²⁰⁵ Moreover, Christian hope is a palpable divine gift, not simply a vague and wistful longing. Those who have proven faithful are chosen or elected to inherit the kingdom “according to a preparatory redemption”²⁰⁶ and obtain an initial hope of attaining it when God grants them the “earnest of the Spirit in [their] hearts.”²⁰⁷ By receiving and keeping all the laws and ordinances of the Gospel, this first, dim hope will be replaced by a “perfect brightness of hope”²⁰⁸ (as described by Nephi), “a more excellent hope”²⁰⁹ (as described by Mormon), or “the full assurance of hope”²¹⁰ (as described by Paul). Thus, step by step, disciples are brought “unto the end,”²¹¹ at which point, according to Moroni, they “receive an inheritance in the place which [the Lord has] prepared.”²¹²

Moroni 7:41 explains that the ultimate hope of receiving an inheritance in the presence of God is manifested in the resurrection, as also it is symbolized in the temple endowment: “And what is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal.”²¹³ With startling specificity, Hebrews 6:18 20 associates sacred ordinances [Page 244]with the quality of hope in great detail. Paul addresses as his audience all those of us who “have claimed his protection by grasping the hope set before us.”²¹⁴ Continuing the description, he writes: “That hope we hold. It is like an anchor for our lives, an anchor safe and sure.²¹⁵ It enters in through the veil, whose Jesus has entered on our behalf as a forerunner, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”²¹⁶

Alluding to the blessings of the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood,²¹⁷ Paul wanted to assure the Saints of the firmness and unchangeableness of God’s promises symbolized in “grasp[ing] the hope set before [them].”²¹⁸ The “two irrevocable acts” that provide that firm assurance to disciples are “God’s promise and the oath by which He guarantees that promise.”²¹⁹ By these verses, we are meant to understand that so long as the we hold fast to the Redeemer, who has entered “through the veil on our behalf…as a forerunner,” we will remain firmly anchored to our heavenly home, and the eventual realization of the promise “that where I am, there ye may be also.”²²⁰

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Figures 8a, 8b, 8c. a: Greek Orthodox Icon Depicting the Ladder of Virtues, Thessaloniki, Macedonia;²²¹ b: The Woman at the Tomb and the Ascension, ca. ce 400;²²² c: Anastasis, Daphni Monastery, near Athens, Greece, ce 1080–1100.²²³ In many depictions of the ladder of virtues, Christ is positioned at the top of the ladder taking the ascending disciple by the wrist (a). A similar gesture is shown in b, where Christ Himself is welcomed to heaven after His ascension. In c, Nicoletta Isar brilliantly concludes that the gesture of the hand of Christ grasping the wrist of Adam, “an anchor…sure and stedfast”²²⁴ that binds them together in unbreakable fashion, represents not only the “meeting ground of both life and death,” but also serves as a “visual metaphor of the…nuptial bond,”²²⁵ an equally indissoluble union, “the conjugal harness by which both parts are yoked together.”²²⁶ This metaphor is visually highlighted by the stigma on the hand of the Savior that is carefully positioned at the exact center of the image to overlay precisely both the cross of Christ and the wrist of Adam.²²⁷

According to Margaret Barker, there is also undoubtedly the sense that “Jesus, the high priest, [stands] behind the veil in the Holy of Holies to assist those who [pass] through.”²²⁸ According to Harold Attridge: “The anchor would thus constitute the link that ‘extends’ or ‘reaches’ to the safe harbor of the divine realms…providing a means of access by [Page 246]its entry into God’s presence.”²²⁹ David Moffitt argues that just as Jesus was “exalted…above the entire created order — to the heavenly throne at God’s right hand,” so “humanity will be elevated to the pinnacle of the created order.”²³⁰ And just as the Son received “all the glory of Adam,”²³¹ so “His followers will also inherit this promise if they endure…testing.”²³²

In comments relating to these verses, the Prophet Joseph Smith equated the hope described in Hebrews 6:18–20 — a “sealing”²³³ that is promised and anticipated within the endowment — with the “more sure word of prophecy”²³⁴ as described by Peter and discussed earlier in this chapter.²³⁵ Significantly, the following passage from a letter that Joseph [Page 247]Smith wrote in his own hand to his uncle, Silas Smith, on 26 September 1833, demonstrates the Prophet’s comprehension of these matters long before the temple ordinances were given to the Saints in Nauvoo:²³⁶

Paul wrote to his Hebrew brethren that God being more abundantly willing to show unto the heirs of his promises the immutability of his council “confirmed it by an oath.”²³⁷ He also exhorts them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.²³⁸

“Notwithstanding we (said Paul) have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us, which hope we have as an anchor of the soul both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil.”²³⁹ Yet he was careful to press upon them the necessity of continuing on until they as well as those who inherited the promises might have the assurance of their salvation confirmed to them by an oath from the mouth of Him who could not lie, for that seemed to be the example anciently and Paul holds it out to his brethren as an object attainable in his day. And why not? I admit that, by reading the scriptures of truth, saints in the days of Paul could learn beyond the power of contradiction that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had the promise of eternal life confirmed to them by an oath of the Lord, but that promise or oath was no assurance to them of their salvation. But they could, by walking in the footsteps and continuing in the faith of their fathers, obtain for themselves an oath for confirmation that they were meet to be partakers of the inheritance with the saints in light.

Moroni provides a concise encapsulation of how the qualities of faith and hope associated with earthly temples prepare disciples to enter the presence of God in the heavenly temple: “Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, [Page 248]always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God.”²⁴⁰ It must be understood, of course, that priesthood ordinances received in earthly temples provide only an initial, anticipatory “hope for a better world,” and not a firm guarantee of entrance into it.²⁴¹

Words of Warning to the Elect

Before continuing with their descriptions of the culminating events by which one’s calling and election are made sure, both Hebrews 6:4–8 and 2 Nephi 31:14²⁴² deliver words of warning to the elect, reminding them of the peril they face if they break their covenants and deny what they will sooner or later come to know with absolute certainty.²⁴³ This is consistent with an idea reportedly expressed by Hyrum Smith that terrestrial glory is a transitory state culminating either in progress or regress:²⁴⁴

Hiram [Smith] said Aug 1st [18]43 Those of the Terrestrial Glory either advance to the Celestial or recede to the Telestial [or] else the moon could not be a type [i.e., a symbol of that kingdom]. [for] it [the moon] “waxes & wanes.”

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Figure 9. Facsimile of a Moonstone from the Nauvoo Temple. Each crescent featured a carved face in profile, perhaps meant to represent those of the Terrestrial glory²⁴⁵ who, according to a statement attributed to Hyrum Smith, must either wax or wane.

Of the “very elect”²⁴⁶ who suffer irreparable regression, the Prophet said: “awful is the consequence.”²⁴⁷ On two known occasions, he used language from Hebrews 6:6 to explain that such individuals “can’t [be] renew[ed] to repentance”²⁴⁸ and to describe why their sin (i.e., “crucifying the Son of God afresh & putting him to an open shame”²⁴⁹) could not be forgiven. The Prophet taught that no power in earth or heaven can protect an individual against committing the unpardonable sin.²⁵⁰ Indeed, he taught that to have the “heavens…opened” (i.e., to experience, in the words of Ehat and Cook, “a direct [Page 250]heavenly vision on the order of the blessings attending the visitation of the Second Comforter”²⁵¹) and then to “deny Jesus Christ”²⁵² is precisely what it means to become one of the “sons of perdition.”²⁵³

Figure 10. John Bunyan (1628-1688), The Pilgrim’s Progress: “There [is] a way to hell, even from the gate of heaven”²⁵⁴ Artist unknown.

Before proceeding to his final summation of the doctrine of Christ and his description of the end of the path of eternal life, Nephi writes the following by way of similar solemn warning:²⁵⁵

But, behold, my beloved brethren, thus came the voice of the Son unto me, saying: After ye have repented of your sins, and witnessed unto the Father that ye are willing to keep my commandments, by the baptism of water, and have received the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost, and can speak with a new tongue, yea, even with the tongue of angels, and after this should deny me, it would have been better for you that ye had not known me.

On the surface, Nephi’s reference to the “tongue of angels” looks like a parallel to the statement in 1 Corinthians 13:1 that mentions the [Page 251]“tongues of men and of angels.” The phrase as used in 1 Corinthians clearly alludes to the gift of tongues discussed in chapter 12 that was seen as “nothing” when compared with charity. However, there is a better interpretive possibility that suggests itself for the similar phrase in 2 Nephi.

In this connection, it should be noted first that the pointed warnings to the elect in Hebrews 6:4–8 and 2 Nephi 31:14 both precede by a few verses a description of the “more sure word of prophecy”²⁵⁶ experienced at the heavenly veil — the equivalent of the symbolic veil of temple ritual — an event described as “the end” by both authors.²⁵⁷

With this context in mind, Nephi’s reference to speaking “with the tongue of angels”²⁵⁸ evokes Jewish accounts of Abraham and Moses, who were portrayed as reciting angelic words (described as a “song,” recalling Alma’s “song of redeeming love”²⁵⁹) as they ascended and entered within the heavenly veil.²⁶⁰ The words of Abraham’s song were said to have been taught him by the angel who accompanied him during his heavenly ascent.²⁶¹ The text relates that while he “was still reciting the song,” he heard a voice “like the roaring of the sea”²⁶² and was brought through the veil into the presence of the fiery seraphim surrounding the heavenly throne.²⁶³ Similarly, an account by Philo describes the great and final song of thanksgiving²⁶⁴ that Moses sang “in the ears of both mankind [Page 252]and ministering angels”²⁶⁵ as part of his heavenly ascent.²⁶⁶As illustrated in a mural from Dura Europos, Moses is shown standing on the earth with the sun, moon, and seven stars (i.e., planets) above his head. Erwin Goodenough took special note of the striking representation of the sun with its depiction of laddered rays, recalling the ubiquitous symbolism of the “divine ladder that connects man to God.”²⁶⁷

Figure 11. Heavenly Ascent of Moses (detail), Showing Laddered Sun with Moon and Stars.²⁶⁸

Entering the Celestial World: Charity and Consecration

The Holy of Holies in the Israelite temple can be compared to the area associated with celestial glory in the Salt Lake Temple, including the apartments bordering the Celestial Room proper where additional ordinances are performed.²⁶⁹ It represents the highest kingdom of glory where those who, in likeness of their Savior, have “overcome all things”²⁷⁰ and are heirs of eternal life and exaltation may dwell forever and ever. All this, however, is dry recital without an understanding of the eternal, enduring²⁷¹ flame that provides light, life, warmth, and glory to this place of supernal joy: charity.

Figure 12. Relief Society Seal. In 1913, Relief Society President Emmeline B. Wells adopted a phrase from 1 Corinthians 13:8 and Moroni 7:46 as a motto for the organization. On 27 April 1842, Joseph Smith had read from 1 Corinthians 13 to the founding sisters.

[Page 253]The scriptures clearly assert the supremacy of charity over its two companion virtues. Although Moroni affirms that the joint effects of “faith, hope and charity bringeth unto”²⁷² Christ, charity alone is described as “the bond of perfectness”²⁷³ and therefore “the greatest of these”²⁷⁴ three. Indeed, Mormon calls charity “the greatest of all,”²⁷⁵ without which one is “nothing.”²⁷⁶ Specifically, he teaches that “except men shall have charity they cannot inherit that place which [Christ has] prepared in the mansions of [His] Father.”²⁷⁷

Further elaborating, Moroni affirms that “ye receive no witness” — meaning the sure witness that came when Christ personally “showed himself unto our fathers”²⁷⁸ — “until after the trial of your faith.”²⁷⁹ “And there were many whose faith was so exceedingly strong…who could not be kept from within the [heavenly] veil,²⁸⁰ but truly saw with their eyes the things which they had beheld [previously] with an eye of faith, and they were glad.”²⁸¹ It is in serving God and their fellow man “at all hazards,”²⁸² having obtained a “fulness of the priesthood of God…in the same way that Jesus Christ obtained it…by keeping all the commandments and obeying all the ordinances of the house of God,”²⁸³ and having reached [Page 254]the point where their “bowels [are] full of charity,”²⁸⁴ the “pure love²⁸⁵ of Christ,”²⁸⁶ that His disciples are prepared to have their calling and election made sure. Whether in this life or the next, they will be sealed up to eternal life and exaltation — if they remain faithful.²⁸⁷ According to Nephi, “a love of God and of all men” is the final requirement of all those who “endure to the end”²⁸⁸ and eventually qualify to receive “all that [the] Father hath.”²⁸⁹

According to Hugh Nibley, charity is the “essence of the law of consecration,…without which, as Paul and Moroni tell us, all the other laws and observances become null and void.”²⁹⁰ President Ezra Taft Benson described the law of consecration as being “that we consecrate our time, talents, strength, property, and money for the upbuilding of the kingdom of God on this earth and the establishment of Zion.”²⁹¹ He notes that all the covenants made up to this point are preparatory, explaining that: “Until one abides by the laws of obedience, sacrifice, the gospel, and chastity, he cannot abide the law of consecration, which is the law pertaining to the celestial kingdom.”²⁹² Nibley likewise affirmed that the [Page 255]law of consecration is “the consummation of the laws of obedience and sacrifice, is the threshold of the celestial kingdom, the last and hardest requirement made of men in this life”²⁹³ and “can only be faced against sore temptation.”²⁹⁴ Similarly, Jack Welch has argued that consecration is the step that precedes perfection.²⁹⁵

In compensation for the supreme effort in life to acquire the “pearl of great price,”²⁹⁶ President Harold B. Lee avers that to the “individual who thus is willing to consecrate himself, [will come] the greatest joy that can come to the human soul.”²⁹⁷ Indeed, it is through consecration that we come to know God.²⁹⁸ And knowing God and Jesus Christ is eternal life.²⁹⁹

In our strivings to be “filled with charity”³⁰⁰ to the point where we are able to fully live the law of consecration, Jesus Christ provides a peerless, perfect prototype. The law of consecration is not foremost an economic law, but one in which we first give ourselves, our time, and our toil³⁰¹ — our will, like the Savior’s, “being swallowed up in the will of the Father.”³⁰² “Wherefore, my beloved brethren,” Mormon concluded in his sermon on faith, hope, and charity, “pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him,³⁰³ for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure.”³⁰⁴

[Page 256]The supreme manifestation of charity and consecration was in the Savior’s offering of Himself for our sake: “And again, I remember that thou hast said that thou hast loved the world, even unto the laying down of thy life for the world.”³⁰⁵ In the agonies of His Atonement, Jesus Christ trod “the wine-press alone,…and none were with [Him].”³⁰⁶ Yet He was with us — fully with us in that moment — turning outward in charity to relieve us from our suffering in the midst of the unspeakable depths of His own distress.³⁰⁷ He pressed forward on our behalf in the torments that accompanied His exercise of complete compassion, not permitting Himself in the slightest degree to become “weary in well-doing”!³⁰⁸

For the Savior to accomplish His “infinite and eternal”³⁰⁹ sacrifice, His consecration of self had to be whole and complete. Had there been but one particle of selfishness in His soul, it would have been sufficient to undermine the purity of integrity and the totality of commitment needed to sustain the completion of His mission to save us through His suffering. Someday, if we are to follow the Son back to the presence of the Father, each of us must likewise extinguish the last crumb of selfishness from our souls, being willing to submit to the Father in all things He may require of us,³¹⁰ “yea, every sacrifice which…the Lord, shall command,”³¹¹ even if it be a sacrifice like that of Abraham.³¹²

[Page 257]Although Abraham previously had received the blessings of patriarchal marriage and then had been made a king and a priest under the hands of Melchizedek,³¹³ Abraham’s “election sure” came only afterward, when he demonstrated his willingness to sacrifice his son Isaac.³¹⁴ In Hebrews 11:19, the evidence of Abraham’s absolute consecration in the sacrifice of his son and the form of the blessing he received are described respectively using the language of death and resurrection. In trying to make sense of this idea, we might remember that in some Jewish³¹⁵ and early Christian³¹⁶ creedal formulations bearing on accounts of Abraham’s sacrifice, one finds the idea that Isaac actually died, ascended to heaven, and was resurrected — though it should be remembered that these eschatological ideas fit equally well in a ritual context.³¹⁷ Harold Attridge concluded that “Isaac’s rescue from virtual death³¹⁸ on the sacrificial pyre is symbolic of the deliverance that all the faithful can expect.”³¹⁹ Likewise, Abraham’s recovery of what he had once thought lost is emblematic of the reward of eternal life that comes through whole-souled consecration.

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Figure 13. Temple of Isis, Philae, Egypt, 380–362 bce. Photograph by Stephen T. Whitlock (1951-), 2015. Passage through an ascending sequence of spaces of increasing holiness by means of a series of narrow doors or gateways is a near-universal feature of ancient temples. The degree of sacredness and the difficulty of access increases as one approaches either the innermost or topmost space.

[Page 259]In his careful paraphrase of Paul’s description of faith, hope, and charity³²⁰ within the thirteenth Article of Faith,³²¹ Joseph Smith pointedly distinguished between the early Saints’ previous attainments with respect to the first ladder rungs of faith (“We believe all things”) and hope (“we hope all things”), and their unfulfilled aspirations as they climbed toward the last, hardest rung of charity:³²² “we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things.”³²³

In this regard, Jack Welch observed that the Nauvoo Saints’ yearning for perfection was expressed in “the highest ambitions of the building of the City Beautiful, with the construction of the splendid Nauvoo Temple already underway.”³²⁴ However, just as they had suffered a period of trial, apostasy, and eventual abandonment of Kirtland after the dedication of the earlier temple, so Joseph Smith “prophetically looked forward to yet further trials and trails of tears moving westward.” With happy anticipation, the last Article of Faith looks forward to the brighter day when the Saints will be able to endure all things — to complete the climb of the ladder of heavenly ascent “by the patience of hope and the labor of love.”³²⁴