In the April 2014 General Conference of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints Elder D. Todd Christofferson said something very
interesting:
“Given the reality of the Resurrection of Christ, doubts
about the omnipotence, omniscience, and benevolence of God the Father—who gave
His Only Begotten Son for the redemption of the world—are groundless. Doubts
about the meaning and purpose of life are unfounded. Jesus Christ is in fact
the only name or way by which salvation can come to mankind. The grace of
Christ is real, affording both forgiveness and cleansing to the repentant
sinner. Faith truly is more than imagination or psychological invention. There
is ultimate and universal truth, and there are objective and unchanging moral
standards, as taught by Him."
"Given the reality of the Resurrection of Christ, repentance
of any violation of His law and commandments is both possible and urgent. The
Savior’s miracles were real, as is His promise to His disciples that they might
do the same and even greater works. His priesthood is necessarily a real power
that ‘administereth the gospel and holdeth the key of the mysteries of the
kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God. Therefore, in the ordinances
thereof, the power of godliness is manifest.’ Given the reality of the
Resurrection of Christ, death is not our end, and though ‘skin worms destroy
[our bodies], yet in [our] flesh shall [we] see God.’” [1]
This is a fascinating inversion of our usual way of thinking
and it could easily be seen as circular and begging the question. How are doubts
about the omnipotence, omniscience, and benevolence of God and doubts about the
meaning and purpose of life groundless and unfounded? Doesn’t the reality of
the Resurrection of Christ itself require grounding and foundation? Elder
Christofferson has done something very interesting here, something very bold.
By taking the reality of the Resurrection of Christ as “given” it seems that
Elder Christofferson is declaring that the reality of the Resurrection of
Christ is itself the grounding and foundation for other beliefs. Rather than a
proposition which must be derived from other foundations, the reality of the
Resurrection of Christ is the foundation from which all other truths are
established.
This is quite scripturally appropriate. The scriptures say
that it is on Christ that you must “build your foundation.” (Helaman 5:12) They
also speak of a unique epistemology founded in Christ Himself. Moroni wrote:
“For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good
from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which
inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the
power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is
of God. But whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do evil, and believe not in
Christ, and deny him, and serve not God, then ye may know with a perfect
knowledge it is of the devil; for after this manner doth the devil work, for he
persuadeth no man to do good, no, not one; neither do his angels; neither do
they who subject themselves unto him.” (Moroni 7:16-17, italics added) Moroni,
like Elder Christofferson, also grounded all knowledge in the person of Jesus
Christ. Indeed, he said we could have a “perfect knowledge” by referring to
Christ as the standard for all things - a very bold claim indeed.
At the risk of diluting the power of the prophets’ message,
a comparison with one historical philosophical theory of knowledge might be
interesting. The modern philosophical project known as foundationalism is the
effort to find some secure foundation for certainty, to establish perfect
knowledge. Foundationalism distinguishes between two kinds of beliefs: (a)
beliefs which we hold on the basis of other beliefs and (b) beliefs which we do
not hold on the basis of other beliefs. Beliefs which we do not hold on the
basis of other beliefs are called properly basic. All other beliefs rely on
properly basic beliefs. It seems that both Elder Christofferson and Moroni take
belief in Christ and His Resurrection to be properly basic beliefs, beliefs
that do not require support from other beliefs because they are themselves most
basic. [2]
Some more scriptures will help to illustrate and understand
this principle. The scriptures often speak of knowledge of God as something
that is universally accessible to all even though it is often not recognized
or is rejected. For example, Paul
in his letter to the Romans said: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of
Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth;
to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of
God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by
faith. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that
which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto
them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly
seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and
Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God,
they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their
imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.” (Romans 1:16-21) It seems
from Paul’s letter that there is a basic knowledge of God that is “revealed” to
all people both “from faith to faith” and is “understood by the things that are
made”. That is, knowledge of God is given both in the words of the prophets and
through the world that we perceive around us. This knowledge of God infuses all
things.
A similar witness was given by Alma to the doubting Korihor:
“Will ye say, Show unto me a sign, when ye have the testimony of all these thy
brethren, and also all the holy prophets? The scriptures are laid before thee,
yea, and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things
that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the
planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme
Creator.” (Alma 30:44) Again, Alma refers to the witnesses within the faith,
“the testimony of all these thy brethren, and also all the holy prophets”, and
the witnesses surrounding us in the universe. Both Alma and Paul see knowledge
of God as something that is self-evident and incorrigible, the kind of
knowledge that is foundational. And significantly, this knowledge has important
moral implications.
Moroni, speaking of the “perfect knowledge” we may have in
reference to Christ speaks further of the mechanism behind this perfect
knowledge. This mechanism is the light of Christ: “And now, my brethren, seeing
that ye know the light by which ye may judge, which light is the light of
Christ, see that ye do not judge wrongfully; for with that same judgment which
ye judge ye shall also be judged. Wherefore, I beseech of you, brethren, that
ye should search diligently in the light of Christ that ye may know good from
evil; and if ye will lay hold upon every good thing, and condemn it not, ye
certainly will be a child of Christ.” (Moroni 7:18-19)
The light of Christ is further described in a revelation
given to the Joseph Smith: “He that ascended up on high, as also he descended
below all things, in that he comprehended all things, that he might be in all
and through all things, the light of truth; Which truth shineth. This is the
light of Christ. As also he is in the sun, and the light of the sun, and the
power thereof by which it was made. As also he is in the moon, and is the light
of the moon, and the power thereof by which it was made; As also the light of
the stars, and the power thereof by which they were made; And the earth also,
and the power thereof, even the earth upon which you stand. And the light which
shineth, which giveth you light, is through him who enlighteneth your eyes,
which is the same light that quickeneth your understandings; Which light
proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space.”
(Doctrine and Covenants 88:6-12, italics added)
From these passages we can see that Christ is the source of
all things and power by which all things are created and sustained. [3] He is
prior to all other things and all things proceed from Him. “By him, and through
him, and of him, the worlds are and were created.” (Doctrine and Covenants
76:24, see also John 1:1-3; Doctrine and Covenants 93:10) It is through Christ
that we are able to understand anything it all. It is Christ who enlightens are
eyes and quickens our understanding. As the Sun gives light to the Earth and is
the source of all life on Earth, so He is the light that is in all things and
governs all things. It is the light of Christ that enables us to see anything
at all. As the Earth orbits around the Sun, so all things are derived from
Christ and are sustained and governed by Him.
Elder Christofferson and the other prophets before him have
produced a kind of Copernican revolution. Rather than seek to establish the
truthfulness of Christ and His Resurrection upon other foundational truths,
they declare Christ Himself to be the foundation of all truth. Christ is the
very foundation, the reference to which all things are to be judged.
Given the fact of His Resurrection all doubts concerning Christ and His gospel
are groundless and unfounded precisely because Christ is Himself the ground and
foundation by which we know all things. The locus of all truth is Christ
Himself.
What proceeds from this foundation? Everything that is
important. “If Jesus was in fact literally resurrected, it necessarily follows
that He is a divine being. No mere mortal has the power in himself to come to
life again after dying. Because He was resurrected, Jesus cannot have been only
a carpenter, a teacher, a rabbi, or a prophet. Because He was resurrected,
Jesus had to have been a God, even the Only Begotten Son of the Father.
Therefore, what He taught is true; God cannot lie. Therefore, He was the
Creator of the earth, as He said. Therefore, heaven and hell are real, as He
taught. Therefore, there is a world of spirits, which He visited after His
death. Therefore, He will come again, as the angels said, and ‘reign personally
upon the earth.’ Therefore, there is a resurrection and a final judgment for
all.” [4] The gospel of Jesus Christ encompasses the most important truths that
we need to know, “all that follows from the fact of His Resurrection.” And
through Christ we can know these things with a “perfect knowledge”. Christ is
the sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.
(Helaman 5:12)
References
1. Elder D. Todd Christofferson. “The Resurrection of Jesus Christ”. April 2014 General Conference
2. Plantinga, Alvin and Wolterstorff, Nicholas. Faith and
Rationality: Reason and Belief in God. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame
Press, 1983.
3. Roberts, B.H. “The Seventy’s Course in Theology, Fifth Year: Divine Immanence and the Holy Ghost”. p. 7
4. Elder D. Todd Christofferson. “The Resurrection of Jesus Christ”. April 2014 General Conference
