Blogging Through the Book of Mormon

If I could start this section of my study again, right where the Acts of the Apostles starts, I would have done it completely differently. I would have corresponded the rest of the books in the New Testament with the Acts of the Apostles and gone through it chronologically instead of sequentially. Paul’s first letter to Timothy was written sometime between 62-66 AD. Timothy was the son of a gentile, Greek father and a Jewish mother but the article on this chapter from gospeldoctrine.com notes, “The absence of any personal allusion to the father in the Acts of Epistles suggests the inference that (Timothy’s father) must have died or disappeared during his son’s infancy. The care of the boy thus devolved upon his mother Eunice and her mother Lois.” Timothy was raised by these two devote Jewish women to “know the Holy Scriptures daily.” Even though he was raised as a Jew, he remained uncircumcised. Scholars are unsure if the little family was from either Lystra or Derde, but when Paul a...

3:7-12 - Even though the saints in Thessalonica are supposed to excommunicate those who are “disorderly”, the counsel is that these people are still to be loved and treated with kindness. Paul cites himself and his companions as examples saying that when they were in Thessalonica “we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you; Neither did we eat any man’s bread for nought; but wrought with labor and travail night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you… For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.” Paul goes on to say that he’s heard that some of the saints there were acting “disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies.” These few verses prompt a whole litany of condemnations in the IM and in the article on this chapter from gospeldoctrine.com about the evils of being dependent on welfare and being lazy. And while I’m sure that they didn’t mean this specifically, I can’t help but only hear in Ronald Reag...

3:1 - Paul ends this epistle to the Thessalonians with some final words of counsel about how to run the church society. First, he asks for the saints to "pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified." I've heard this sentiment before, that we should be praying for church leadership and for the gospel to be able to go everywhere and I've never really done it because it's like "the gospel is going to go wherever it is going to go, I don't think that Jesus is waiting for me to ask him before he sends it to Antarctica" or whatever. So if the timeline doesn't depend on us asking, why would he want us to ask? Maybe it's so that we can remove any sense of entitlement from ourselves, like that we are special because we have the gospel and so many other people don't. It also might help us see the gospel as a need for all people and therefore we might be more inclined to share it ourselves. Maybe it allows us to see...

2:1-3 - As much as the Thessalonian saints were concerned about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, Paul tells them to they “be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled by letter, except ye receive it from us.” That last part is a JST and gives considerable context to what was troubling the people. This is an issue that arises often as people who are not in authorized positions teach doctrine that doesn’t align with prophetic counsel. The IM quotes Boyd K. Packer as teaching, “there are some among us now who have not been regularly ordained by the heads of the church who tell of impending political and economic chaos, the end of the world… They are misleading members… follow your leaders who have been duly ordained and have been publicly sustained, and you will not be led astray.” This ultimately comes down to “does it matter to my salvation?” There is so much speculation about when the Savior will come again, and it all ends in the same question, “if you’re right or wrong, does it impact...

This second epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians was written because “it is possible that his first letter did not resolve all the questions the Thessalonian Saints had about the Second Coming. In addition, it appears that the Thessalonians had received a fraudulent letter that claimed to be from Paul, and this letter had caused some to believe that the Second Coming had already occurred.” He also had learned in the time between the two letters that there had been an increase in persecution to the saints there and he wanted to strengthen them. The IM outlines the teachings in 2 Thessalonians saying, “Paul corrected the false idea that the Second Coming had already occurred. He taught that there would be an apostasy prior to the Lord’s return. He counseled Church members to work to provide for their temporal needs and not to be weary in well-doing.” 2:1-7 - Paul begins by introducing himself and those who are with him, “Silvanus (Silas) and Timotheus (Timothy),” gives them well wishes...

5:19 - Paul’s advice continues, “Quench not the Spirit.” The use of the word “quench” is interesting here because it implies the use of water. The definition for “quench” is “1. to satisfy one’s thirst by drinking 2. To extinguish a fire” which presumably means with water and the example sentence says “an act of quenching something very hot.” If we apply that to the Spirit, and we know that the Spirit is represented by fire because of it’s burning and purifying capabilities, then the act of “quenching” the Spirit seems more complicated. The IM says, “To quench the Spirit means to extinguish or stifle the influence of the Holy Ghost in one’s own life.” It continues by quoting Elder David A. Bednar as teaching, “If something we think, see, hear, or do distances us from the Holy Ghost, then we should stop thinking, seeing, hearing, or doing that thing… Because the Spirit cannot abide that which is vulgar, crude, or immodest, then clearly such things are not for us… As we become ever more ...

5:14 - After explaining that all the righteous dead would be able to partake in the second coming, Paul continues by teaching the Thessalonian saints how they should behave to remain righteous. It appears as though Paul is speaking to the church leadership in Thessalonica, because he tells them what they should be teaching others. They should "warn them that are unruly." The word "unruly" is cross referenced with 2 Thessalonians 3:11 which says, "For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busy bodies." This might mean that there were some among them that were calling attention to themselves in an annoying way. It might include being nosy, loud, or opinionated in a way that was uncalled for. No one wants to be around those types of people, even though we are almost all that way sometimes. It makes us look bad and the organizations that we associate with look undesirable. "Unruly" might also just be...

5:5 - Continuing with the “thief in the night” analogy, Paul speaks to the Thessalonian saints saying, “ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: We are not of the night, nor of darkness.” Those “home owners” in the analogy are the ones who will not only be surprised by Jesus’ second coming, but will also be very disturbed and disrupted in their lifestyles. Interestingly, the article on this chapter from gospeldoctrine.com quotes Neal A. Maxwell as teaching, “True, when He comes, Jesus will come ‘as a thief in the night.’ Those unaware will be as if sleeping, only to be interrupted suddenly by the unexpected. The ‘intruder,’ however, will be the Lord of the Manor come home! A secular society is the most likely cultural candidate to be especially surprised by a Jesus who comes ‘as a thief in the night.’ A society indifferent, even hostile, to things spiritual will be truly astonished. The boredom of self-serving secularism and the masking of materialism will cause t...

5:1-2 - Even though the Thessalonian saints should take comfort knowing that their loved ones will get to be a part of the second coming, they should also still know that the timeline for it is unknown. Paul tells them that “the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night,” which might seem pretty scary because no one wants someone in their house that isn’t welcome and taking their stuff. It kind of gives the whole second coming a negative connotation. But if we think about it, the people who own the house don’t know when the thief is coming and when he does show up he completely changes their world. And really, it might even be one of those things where the thief comes whether you want him to or not, just like the Savior, who will come again whether people want him to or not. I personally want him to come back so bad. And looking back on their timeline, we can say “of course he’s not coming any time soon for you,” but do we think he’s coming back soon for me? Who knows. I’m good...

4:14-15 - In verse 13, Paul told the Thessalonians to have hope concerning the dead, and continuing in verse 14, “for if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.” It’s a contrast between those who “sorrow” because of the death of loved ones and those who believe in the gospel of Jesus Christ. And not only should we have faith in Jesus’ resurrection, but also have faith in Jesus’ love and equality for those who died before us who believed. Referring to that equality, Paul teaches them “by the word of the Lord” that those who are alive “unto the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent them which are asleep.” Apparently, the Thessalonian saints were worried that those who died before the Lord’s second coming were somehow limited in their blessings or ability to progress or that they would miss out on some amazing upcoming event. I guess I just don’t really understand people’s obsession with the second coming, I’m really no...

4:13 - I was pretty confused when I first read verse 13 because Paul talks about "them which are asleep." Initially I thought that it was referring to those who haven't accepted the gospel yet, but all the analysis notes that this is referring to the the Thessalonians saints worry about church members who have died. They are concerned that the dead won't be able to participate in the second coming which indicates that they believed that Jesus would be returning in their lifetime because they did not consider that they themselves would be dead by the time he returned. It's almost too abstract for me to even think about people believing Christ would return in their lifetime almost 2,000 years ago. I think about how much the concept of the second coming has dominated my life because "He's coming back any second now!" And it's baffling to me to consider that this might have been the belief for the last 2,000 years. It's so difficult to comprehe...

4:7-8 - The people of Thessalonica, and by extention us, are asked to refrain from fornicaiton because "God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness." And it's interesting that Paul has just warned against "defrauding" and then goes on the say that "he therefore that despiseth, dispiseth not man, but God." That's an intriguing concept, when we hate others, we are really hating God. It's like saying that others are children of God and when we hate them we are actually hating God because what is the cause of our hate? Usually hate comes from our own insecurities. When we dispise someone, or ourselves which is usually the case, we are coming from a place of hurt and/or fear. They hurt us and we haven't gotten over it or we're afraid that they are going to hurt us again. When we have unresolved hurt, it's because we still need to work out our trauma with Jesus through the atonement. And when we are afraid that they'll ...