Adjure

Sometimes I wonder why these words were chosen to be included in this Guide. There are so many words in the scriptures and not all of them are included. I'm not asking the question to question whether or not this word or that word should have been added, but instead to figure out what I can learn and come away with.

According to the dictionary, Adjure means:

"urge or request (someone) solemnly or earnestly to do something."

It's origins literately mean "to swear" or to make an oath.

In today's day and age the concept of a promise or an oath does not have that much weight. We are focused a lot more on the physical world and its constraints. When I was in high school I was telling a guy friend of mine about these playing cards my brother had left behind when he went to college. He asked if he could have them and I rather jokingly said he could. Then he made me promise and I didn't think much of it. Later he showed up at my house to collect my brother's cards and I told him that I couldn't, they weren't actually mine to give. He became very angry and left feeling betrayed since I had promised them to him and did not deliver. The experience taught me that making a promise and giving my word to someone actually does hold weight and I should be careful in how I go about giving my word.

In Christ's day, the concept of giving your word and upholding your honor already was instilled in the culture. In Matthew 26:63 Christ is put on trial and is asked if he is the Son of God. It reads:

63 But Jesus held his peace. And the high priest answered and said unto him, I adjure thee by the living God, that thou tell us whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God.

Christ answer is in verse 64:

64 Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.

The word "adjure" is used here and I'm guessing it was to emphasis Christ repose. When Christ declared himself this time it was absolute and could not be taken back. Maybe if Christ denied himself before this point they would have left him alone as merely a misguided soul, but after this response I believe his death became sure.

Christ knew what they were asking of him, and he told them the truth. He had his life and the pain he knew was coming on the line and he did the right thing. Sometimes our ability to choose keeps us from doing as he did. The thought "we always have a choice" clouds our vision until we can't see the reality that for an honest person there isn't a choice.

Add

Topics without scriptures: Adam-ondi-Ahman, Adamic Language.

I am blessed to have a family with an income. My husband and I receive money from his work, and then we can spend that money on whatever we want. The bills get paid, we buy food, we put some away for savings, and then we buy things to help make our apartment feel more like a home. During the past few months while we've been moving in, we've been adding to the decor of our apartment. One week we'll buy a few curtains, the next week some bookcases. Though we may have made some large shopping trips to Target in the beginning, we're now just slowly yet steadily adding to our home.

I like to think that God does the same thing to us in our lives. In Matthew 6:33 it reads:

33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

We are in constant development. Maybe in the beginning when we first turned towards God we made some pretty big changes and improvements on ourselves, but God is still always looking to improve and add to what we are.

Just as a side note because it came up in this section. In Revelations 22:18 it says not to add to what was written in that book. Mormons get a lot of flack from this because people read it as saying that the heavens are closed and there are no more scriptures yet to come. We interpret it as "don't add to or change the book of Revelations" as there are plenty of scriptures that were lost by the other Apostles, the book of Revelations was put at the end of the Bible for arbitrary reasons, because God said himself that his words were without end, and because if this verse is taken literally then according to Deuteronomy 4:2 we need to throw out pretty much the entire Bible.

Adam

When it comes to the story of Adam and Eve, the majority of the Christian world has one interpretation of the story. That Adam and Eve (especially Eve) messed up and we are all pretty much damned because of it. While Latter-Day Saints believe in the same story, we have a different interpretation that isn't quite so doom and gloom.

Though we believe that they did in fact disobey God's law, we also believe that it was not a "sin" but rather it was a "transgression" and though we feel the effects of it just as a child growing up feels the effects of the decisions of their parents, we do not believe that it is something we need to be forgiven of. Hence we do not practice infant baptism for "original sin."

The second more positive interpretation of the Adam and Eve story has to do more with Agency. Agency is the name given to our ability to choose right and wrong. We use our agency to be righteous or wicked. One of my most favorite chapters of scripture is 2 Nephi 2, where it talks about the importances of this agency:

11 For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my first-born in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility.

It later explains in that same chapter how this plays into Adam and Eve's story:

22 And now, behold, if Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen, but he would have remained in the garden of Eden. And all things which were created must have remained in the same state in which they were after they were created; and they must have remained forever, and had no end.

23 And they would have had no children; wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin.

24 But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things.

25 Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.

Though Adam and Eve disobeyed God's law to them, they only had a partial understanding of what it meant to sin, as they did not have a knowledge of good and of evil until after they had partaken of the fruit. Their actions had consequences (the introduction of both physical and spiritual death into the world) but it was not something that condemned them. They committed the act in their state of innocence and hence were covered by the Atonement just as the wrongs of little children before they know better are covered by the Atonement.

As their children, we honor Adam and Eve for making the decision of beginning the human family and of beginning our Earthy experience. Maybe it was a combination of being tricked by Satan and choosing for themselves this necessary path to jump start the world, but in the end I am grateful for them and what happened in the garden of eden.

When LDS children are taught about Adam, they learn a song about the Old Testament Prophets called "Follow the Prophet". The first verse goes:

Adam was a prophet,

First one that we know.

In a place called Eden,

He helped things to grow.

Adam served the Lord

by following his ways.

We are his descendants

in the Latter-Days.

Though trying to understand the intricacies of The Fall is something that I have been working on for years, I'm comforted by these scriptures insisting that it was not only a fall downward from where we could live with God, but also a fall forwards towards us returning to him again someday.

Actions

It says in the verse for this topic that the "LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed." Sometimes we can think that God has no right to tell us how to live our lives, what we are capable of or even how we should be feeling. After all, sometimes we don't even know ourselves what is going on inside of us so how could someone else. If this was any other person, we could feel somewhat justified in our feelings and assumptions, but doing so misses the point of having a Savior.

One of the main points of Christianity is that Christ, through the Atonement, has a knowledge of us that exceeds even the knowledge we have of ourselves. This knowledge He uses to comfort us when we need comfort and to help us heal when our hearts are broken, but it also means that He knows what is best. This includes every aspect of our lives from what standards we need to live by to His commandment to forgive everyone. As the one offering His love and mercy, we also choose Him as our Lord. Going back to the middle age's definition of Lord, He's the one who chooses how our lives will be. Everyone has to choose a Lord to control their life, even if in their own minds that Lord is themselves. I chose to become a Christian because I came to a knowledge that Christ is my Savior, that He knows everything, and I wanted someone like that to be the one telling me how to live my life.

That may sound like I've given up my ability to think for myself, but unlike other Lords who would force their will on those they are over, it is always a choice every single time to follow Him.

Act

How important is an act? A clear-cut response is that our actions reflect what is in our hearts and since we can't see into the heart it is the only way to tell the good from the bad. But we all know of someone, maybe even ourselves, when an act was committed that wasn't meant or was forced upon us by someone else. I believe that insight into this concept of acting is more complicated than my first explanation but is simple enough to show some beauty. Once again, this is just me sharing my ideas on details that are always in development.

Where this all begins is in the definition of the soul - that it is composed of the spirit and the body. Before and after this life we only had a spirit, but while we are here we have a body housing our spirit. I believe that it isn't just our spirits living inside of our bodies like we were incased in a shell, but that our bodies and spirits really do become connected to the point of being one entity. This connection makes it possible for us to commit actions. Our freewill is a part of our spirit, but there is something important about being able to express ourselves physically. If it wasn't so, then why are there commandments giving us guidelines for living in the physical world? Why would there be mandatory ceremonies like baptism? And most importantly, if bodies weren't important than why did Christ not reach his point of greatest glory until after he was resurrected?

Acquaint

There is a book called The Ten Virgins taken from the parable found in Matthew 25. For those not familiar with the parable, the condensed version is that there are ten virgins waiting for the groom to show up, when he does half of them are prepared with extra oil for their lamps while half of them aren't prepared and don't get to go to the wedding. This story is meant to be a parable for the last days with the followers of Christ represented by the virgins and Christ represented by the groom with the wedding representing the second coming.

What this has to do with being "acquainted" is that in this book, the spin the author takes is that the village's lamp maker is also the groom, asks each of the women he gives a lamp to that they would come up the hill to his shop and visit with him. While there, he would also give them more oil for their lamps. The idea is that those who used their lamps more often would have need of more oil, and would then become more familiar with the lamp maker. When his wedding came, those who knew him were the ones who were prepared.

Acknowledge

Topics without Scriptures: Achaia.

This time of year is a time for celebration in the academic world, as students from all levels celebrate graduating. I was among those students as I walked across the stage to receive my university diploma. However, this day was not like I imagined it when I left high school. I imagined that I would walk across that stage with a tidal wave of academic achievement to swell and sweep me forward to accept my achievement. A perfect GPA, a least two majors and maybe a few minors, incredible undergrad research and a study abroad thrown in for the fun of it. Instead, I walked across that stage just glad that I wasn't being carried on a figurative academic stretcher.

The week that has followed has been full of moving and the subsequent feeling of moving on, as I tried not let the disappointment of unrealized expectation get the better of me. On the whole, I did a very good job looking on the bright side and seeing my life as upbeat and shinny. Until yesterday.

It was probably a combination of being hungry, being tired, and being too weak emotionally to hold back. I spewed to my mother all my woes, and was pretty close to just taking my diploma and throwing it away. With all the patience of a saint, mother firmly reminded me that I HAD accomplished a degree, they hadn't just given it to me, and that it was a miracle I did not have to drop out of school from my health problems in order to get it.

A miracle.

In Proverbs 3:6 it reads:

"In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."

It is difficult to bring to remembrance all the impossibilities that God has given me when I'm the star of a self-pity party. I was not remembering him and disregarding the goals he and I were able to finish together. He with his power of all things, and I with my surrendered will. The fact that I could even walk across the stage without a cane is a manifestation of God's mercy. It is always amazing how quickly I can forget the good that happens in my life and how difficult it is to forget the negative.

The next question for my own personal study is: how can I follow this scripture and acknowledge God's hand in my life as a whole? I don't really have anything concrete right now other than try to be a good person, but I'll work on it.