Trusting the Arm of Flesh

In the Book of Mormon, Nephi states:

I know that cursed is he that putteth his trust in the arm of flesh. Yea, cursed is he that putteth his trust in man or maketh flesh his arm. (2 Nephi 4:34)

The university, like most human institutions, can be an arm of flesh. Those who put their trust in such things will, sooner or later, be disappointed. Such appears already to be the case in some quarters. In a recent article Harry R. Lewis of Harvard talks about how universities have operated on a system of trust but their actions have undermined that trust. He focuses on one aspect, the behavior of those ostensibly leading the university.

Many colleges and universities are losing it [trust] because their leaders seem more interested in fame and fortune than in education.

Lewis sees an example of this in the high salaries paid to university administrators:

This year the Brandeis campus was staggered by the news that its former president, having made drastic budget cuts while in office, was by prearrangement paid $600,000 a year in retirement, for doing little or no actual work.

The University of Chicago, Northeastern, Marist College, Columbia, Tufts, and Penn, all institutions with their own financial challenges, paid their presidents more than $2 million per annum. Students would be justified in doubting that these leaders can credibly preach to them about the nobility of self-sacrifice, the honor of public service, or the need to balance the pursuit of the almighty dollar against their civic and moral responsibility to improve the world.

The high level salaries and perks wear away the trust of administrators not just with their superiors but those they supervise as well.

The arrogance of power has brought down several high-profile presidents in recent years, presidents whose boldness was not backed up by the reserves of respect and trust they needed to be granted the benefit of the doubt. John Sexton of NYU, Graham Spanier of Penn State, Summers of Harvard, and serial president Gordon Gee come to mind as men whose abuses of power eventually caught up with them.

Lewis concludes with a sober warning:

The erosion of trust in higher education, arguably well-deserved given such excesses, is not a small matter, because the pursuit of the truth is not a small matter. As [former Harvard president Derek] Bok writes in his book [Higher Education in America] (pp.356-57), “A democratic society badly needs credible, unbiased information from highly knowledgeable people in order to enlighten decision-makers and inform public debate. Thus, the country has much to lose if the objectivity of academic researchers can no longer be taken for granted.”

He was referring to the need for faculty to disclose their financial conflicts of interest more routinely than is current practice in most fields, but his point has much larger relevance.

If the public comes to assume that colleges and universities are like any other businesses, to be suspected of ulterior motives in everything they and their members do, then support for their activities will collapse.

As someone deeply invested in higher education, if support collapses much good will go but those who abused the public's trust will have brought it upon themselves.

Today's Maxwell Quote

From All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience (1980), 17:

If God did not know our predilections and our choices even before we made them, and had not planned accordingly, we might well have ended up having Joseph Smith born in Manchuria and the Book of Mormon plates buried in Belgium! A less than omniscient god would be more like the earnest but fumbling Caesars who dot the landscape of history than a living, all-knowing God.

Though His plans are known to Him, there is no premature exposure of the Lord's plans. This could bring unnecessary persecution upon an unready Lord's people. Further, a premature showing of His power and strength in support of His Saints could cut short the trial of our faith.

Where God has immersed His people for His purposes in larger events, we do not, therefore, always see secular history that confirms spiritual happenings. (See D&C 121:12.) For instance, there appears to be no conclusive secular record of Moses and the Exodus in Egyptian history. There is even some disagreement among scholars about which pharaoh was the pharaoh of the Exodus.

Human history has its limitations, but obscurity its usefulness.

If You Have Not Seen the Bureaucrat

I thought this post was funny. It is just as funny in Arabic.

Today's Maxwell Quote

From Things As They Really Are (1978), chapter 5:

Just how effectively the devil can mount a two-front war against us is seen in the words of the Lord wherein he speaks of "the fear of persecution and the cares of the world." (D&C 40:2.) If our appetites can be directed in such a way that we are caught up in the cares of the world, and if we are then also afraid of persecution because of doing what is right, we have been acted upon and are doubly deterred from discipleship. Some who might not fear persecution by itself do not choose to cope with the double load of persecution plus the cares of the world. Some for whom the cares of the world would not be sufficient to draw them away finally yield because of the fear of persecution.

The Thin Veneer of Civilization

A thoughtful essay from Victor Davis Hanson on the thin veneer of civilization. Hanson appreciates, the way that many do not, how thin a veneer civilization is.  In the 1970s, the two bright spots of civilization in the Middle East and the Soviet block were Lebanon and Yugoslavia. They were comparative islands of peace and security among tumultuous neighbors. Within twenty years they were ripped apart by civil war. We assume that our civilization is stable, but we may only be looking at the veneer. Hanson's essay is worth the read.

Today's Maxwell Quote

From Things As They Really Are (1978), chapter 5:

Just how fashionable it can be in some seasons to persecute the saints of God is seen in the words of Nephi when he says some of the churches of the world and some of the gentile nations that "slayeth the saints of God" actually do it "for the praise of the world . . . and bring them down into captivity." (1 Nephi 13:9.) Even today, those who turn against the Church do so to play to their own private gallery, but when, one day, the applause has died down and the cheering has stopped, they will face a smaller audience, the judgment bar of God.

Where Your Treasure is

What we consider valuable might vary with the culture. Consider the following Old Babylonian letter coming from what is now Iraq (about 1800-1600 B.C.):

Speak to Belshunu: Thus says Shamash-hazir.

May Shamash keep you in good health! I write to you time and again and you do not pay attention to my words. They are wasting wood and dung, so that you (must) be very alert. With respect to the wood I will treat you like an enemy of Marduk! Let the door of the staircase be sealed. Do not give one single piece of wood, apart from the one . . . that you give each time as a funerary offering. Take care of the matter of the wine, and if there is barley in the hand of the gardener, receive it from him. If not, have him brought in and confine him to the house.

(M. Stol, Letters from Yale [Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1981], 15-17.)

For us, it is easy to envision wood as a valuable resource, over which careful stewardship was expected. It is harder to envision dung as a valuable resource to be watched and warded, but even it was not wasted in the ancient world. It had its uses: fertilizer, fuel, filler in pottery, and so on. Sometimes what ancient people valued is by us counted but dross and refuse.

Today's Maxwell Quote

From Things As They Really Are (1978), 14:

One could scarcely expect a proud world to understand, let alone approve of, those who refuse its ways. Hence the scorn and the shame that we must all come to "despise," or care so little for, that it does not deter us from doing that which is right.

The crunches are apt to come when, because of discipleship, men persecute us, revile us, or misunderstand us. According to the Savior, some may actually go so far as to separate us from their company, holding us in disregard because of our discipleship. On occasion, sadly, competent disciples will not be chosen for certain professional chores of the world because their peers will see them as being incapacitated to perform fully because they are disciples. The only Roman "club" to which early Christians obtained admittance was the Coliseum, and, unfortunately, other guests—four-legged and hungry—had been invited too.

Feeding the Hungry

The following is not an original insight to me, but I cannot remember where I first heard it.

The human baby is completely helpless. Unlike some mammals, which can walk within hours or days of birth, for almost the first year of its life it cannot walk. It is incapable of fending for itself for several years after birth. If it is to be fed, watered, or clothed, someone else must do it.

Considered in this light, the following scripture provides an interesting light on the work of parenting and how God views it:

31 ¶ When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. (Matthew 25:31–41)

Today's Maxwell Quote

From Things As They Really Are (1978), 13:

Paul describes the enemies of the cross of Christ as being those individuals whose God is "their belly" and who mind earthly things. (Romans 16:18.) Some people revel in the unrighteous life but still hold those who lead the righteous life in contempt and shame. President Joseph F. Smith said that a people so set apart are sometimes easy to set upon; "I do not believe there ever was a people who were guided by revelation, or acknowledged of the Lord as his people, who were not hated and persecuted by the wicked and the corrupt." (Gospel Doctrine, p. 46.)

Flashback from Twenty Years Ago

This recent article seems like it came from twenty years ago. At least it was true twenty years ago. It is more true today. Graduate programs have been expensive for years and even twenty years ago those in the humanities could easily accumulate more debt than they could repay with academic wages when they got out. Some graduate programs would insist that the students would have to take out the maximum about of student loans before they would consider providing any help to the student. Back then, a year of graduate school was at least as expensive as a year's salary for a graduate employed in the field. I wonder if it is in the news now because baby boomers, who had ceased paying attention to the situation in graduate school after they left, are realizing what it is like now that their own children are in it.

Today's Maxwell Quote

From this talk:

I stress that I come neither as an alarmist nor as a pessimist, but as one who seeks in his gentle way to remind us of this reality lest we be struck "with wonder and astonishment" and become dismayed and dislocated by difficulties that emerge when "all hell is moved," because the restored kingdom is really rolling now. We may never become accustomed to untrue and unjust criticism of us but we ought not to be immobilized by it. Neither should we be surprised at the proximity of such protagonists and the falsity and the fury of their pronouncements. President Joseph F. Smith said, "there are those—and they abound largely in our midst—who will shut their eyes to every virtue and to every good thing connected with this latter-day work, and will proud out floods of falsehood and misrepresentation against the people of God." President Smith, who endured so much of that proximate persecution, did what we must also do. He said of such detractors, "I forgive them for this. I leave them in the hands of the just Judge" (Gospel Doctrine, p. 337).

What to Buy for a Wedding Gift?

The custom of giving wedding gifts stretched back into antiquity. Here is an example from the Old Babylonian Period (about 1800-1600 BC) from Mesopotamia (modern Iraq):

Speak to Sin-eribam: Thus says Shamash-magir.

May Shamash keep you in good health for 3600 years for my sake! I will give my daughter to a husband, but I do not have anything that I can give. Now I have dispatched to you Shamash-hazir, Sin-malik and Bitum-rabi together with Puzur-Ishtar. On the day that you see their faces, take the silver (that is) on hand, and buy and send me two slaves (and) three slave-girls; please!

(M. Stol, Letters from Yale [Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1981], 7.)

It gives new meaning to the saying that if you don't know what to give someone, give of yourself. I guess in this case, if you don't know what to give someone, give someone else.

Today's Maxwell Quote

From Wherefore, Ye Must Press Forward (1977), 81:

Recall how a young Joseph Smith was puzzled as to why he, in his youth and obscurity and poverty, "should be thought a character of sufficient importance to attract the attention of the great ones of the most popular sects of the day, and in a manner to create in them a spirit of the most bitter persecution and reviling." (Joseph Smith 2:23.) Well, so it is (and will be) with us, collectively, especially as the Church is brought forth out of obscurity. If the Church were not true, our enemies would be bored rather than threatened, and acquiescent rather than anxious. Hell is moved only when things move heavenward.

I Have Your Back

Ancient correspondence is both fascinating and frustrating: Fascinating because it tell interesting parts of stories, and frustrating because the stories are fragments and the correspondence is often one sided. AbB 9:6 is one such case. It comes from the Old Babylonian period (about 2000-1600 BC) from Mesopotamia (modern Iraq):

Speak to Sin-iddinam: Thus says Marduk-mushallim. May Shamash and Marduk keep you in good health! As you know, Silli-Shamash, the head of the Sutians, (is a man) who acts in my interest. Whenever I write to him, he acts very much according to my wish. Let him file his complaint before you, and give him a fair trial according to the regulations of my lord.

(M. Stol, Letters from Yale [Leiden: Brill, 1981], 5.)

A couple of things are interesting in this letter. One is that Marduk-mushallim is not necessarily asking Sin-iddinam to decide the case in Silli-Shamash's favor, only that it be conducted justly or normally (išariš). Apparently juridical proceeding were not always so conducted. The other thing is the way that Marduk-mushallim expresses his trust in Silli-Shamash. He finds him trustworthy because he can ask him to do something and it will be done.

Because of the trust, Marduk-mushallim is willing to act for Silli-Shamash by asking that he be treated fairly.

Today's Maxwell Quote

From Wherefore Ye Must Press Foreward (1977), 53-54:

It is clear in the revelations that we are to cope with trial and tribulation. There are no special techniques given to us, no easy ways to cope with it. We are simply to cope. In the Book of Mormon the persecution upon members of the church "was a cause of much affliction to the church; yea, it was the cause of much trial with the church."

Significantly, in the midst of such pressures, "the hearts of many were hardened." The prophet further observes, "Now this was a great trial to those that did stand fast in the faith; nevertheless, they were steadfast and immovable in keeping the commandments of God, and they bore with patience the persecution which was heaped upon them." (Alma 1:23-25.) Suffering separates the hardy from the frail.

A Great Agraphon

The agrapha are sayings attributed to Jesus that were not recorded in the four gospels. This agraphon is clever and witty and Jesus probably never said it, but it is funny nonetheless. It is attributed to Jesus by the Muslim intellectual al-Ghazali:

Jesus (peace upon him) said: "Even though I managed to raise the dead, I have never been able to cure an idiot!"

(in Bradley J. Cook, Classical Foundations of Islamic Educational Thought [Provo, Utah: Brigham Young University Press, 2010], 103)

Parents and teachers can sometimes relate.

Today's Maxwell Quote

From Deposition of a Disciple (1976), 90-91:

The very book of the Acts of the Apostles is like a display window. It compresses two or three decades of history. In it we read of the glorious growth of the church and of major spiritual outpourings, heroism, and persecution of the faithful. But we also see individuals growing. All the confrontations were not with the Sanhedrin; some were like the impasse in the companionship of Paul and Barnabas. Some members failed to live the law of consecration. We see young Paul "cloakholding" at Stephen's stoning. We see initial and deep resistance by some members (and some leaders) to the taking of the gospel to the gentiles. Imperfect individuals were caught in the collision of cultures, etc. So much is there, showing the soul-stretching that went on. Learning, then as now, was sometimes painfully public. But notwithstanding such weaknesses, members overcame, grew, and developed, collectively and individually. That is an important message for us now.

Systematic thoughts

A couple of months ago, I noted an observation by Scott Adams that goals are for losers and what is really needed are systems. I ran across another quote that emphasizes the same thing, only this one is thirty years old:

Corporations don't need projects, they need systems. As he [Robert Block] eloquently points out, projects are a short-lived, artificial anomaly within the organization; they are tolerated only as long as the customer -- the person or group who ultimately pays for the whole things -- has faith that all of the strange people, and all of the strange jargon, and all of the computer equipment, and all of the money will eventually lead to something he wants. If he loses faith, the project dies. Period.

Ed Yourdon, "Foreword," in Robert Block, The Politics of Projects (New York: Yourdon Press, 1983), xiv.

Do all the strange people and strange jargon actually lead to something we want?

Today's Maxwell Quote

From Deposition of a Disciple (1976), 54-55:

Herman Wouk said of God's choosing of the house of Judah that they were "elected to special duties and disciplines." Incidentally, the act of being chosen in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints often means giving up 15 percent or so of one's gross income and a significant portion of what might be called one's "free" time. Being chosen also means being subject to derision and the amusement of others, and sometimes even persecution. Further, being chosen requires one to swim against the cultural stream as often as not. Being "chosen" is an unattractive designation for anybody but those who sincerely seek to do the will of our Father in heaven, since it often includes obscurity of sorts.

Psalm 3

Psalm 3 is supposed to have been written by David during his flight from the revolt of his son Absalom. (Harem conspiracies are not just an Egyptian thing.) What is interesting about the Septuagint version (which is the ancient Greek translation) of the Psalm is that salvation is equated with the destruction of his enemies (in this case his son). In Greek, salvation is a many faceted concept and the destruction of enemies is certainly one of the facets.

Today's Maxwell Quote

From That My Family Should Partake (1974), 82:

God gave to mankind through a young man, Joseph Smith, the ultimate and immense truths of the gospel in this, the last dispensation. This young man who had no social status to protect, no private theology already worked out for God to endorse, and who had loving and listening parents, could report that theophany honestly and cling tenaciously to the truth of that first vision in the midst of great persecution. A sophisticated man who had community status to protect and his own ideas about what kind of religion the world needed—even though a good man—would have been sorely tempted to have traded off truth for the praise of the world. Paul reminded us that "the friendship of the world is enmity with God. . . ." (James 4:4.) Could any but a humble non-linguist have gone to the Hill Cumorah and, under the direction of an angel, be shown ancient records and be told, so boldly, that he, personally, would be the unlettered instrument in translating these for the benefit of all mankind, and still have believed all that—and helped such a marvel come to pass without wanting somehow to possess the plates rather than share their wisdom or to add his own mortal touches and flourishes to the manuscript?

Hints of What We are Missing

Friedhelm Hoffmann and Joachim Quack in their invaluable collection, Anthologie der demotischen Literatur, spend some time reconstructing what we know of Egyptian narratives that appear only in scattered fragments but do not have enough material for contiguous translation. Among these collections they note a particular interest in narratives circulating in the Greco-Roman period (332 B.C.-A.D. 314) about events in the Middle Kingdom (2000-1800 B.C.) One of these narratives has Sesostris (which?) invading Arabia, "India, Libya, Ethiopia, Asia, and even Europe." (p. 177). We have no contemporary records of any of these conquests, but they seem to have been considered history in the Greco-Roman period. These fragments provides hints of the literature that circulated in Egypt and their own memories of their glorious past. It provides us with a sense of the immense amount of material about the past that we are missing.

Today's Maxwell Quote

From That My Family Should Partake (1974), 27-28:

There is a reason for developing not only commitment but also capacity to spread and to defend the faith. George Macdonald warned that "it is often incapacity for defending the faith they love which turns men into persecutors." Even those, said Lehi, who have "tasted of the fruit" (the love of God) can yet fall away into forbidden paths and be lost. Why? Lehi says that some believers become "ashamed because of those" who scoff at them. Apparently the inability to defend the faith while under peer pressure may not only cost the soul of the uncertain onlooker, but the hesitant, inarticulate believer as well. No wonder Peter was desirous that believers "be ready always" to give answers to those who ask us reasons for our faith and hope. Austin Farrer counseled, "Though argument does not create conviction, . . . the lack of it destroys belief . . . what no one shows the ability to defend is quickly abandoned. Rational argument does not create unbelief, but it maintains a climate in which belief may flourish."

New Mission Presidents

The Church just announced the new mission presidents who will serve starting this year. I actually know two of these men. I would be happy for any of my children to serve under them. I would even be happy to serve under them myself (in one case I did). I assume the other mission presidents are of the same caliber. The missionaries are in good hands.

Today's Maxwell Quote

From That My Family Should Partake (1974), 2:

All parents should be grateful for those models about us of parents who, though they have other church, civic, and community roles that matter, show us by their words and actions that they know they have no more important assignment under heaven than as parents. Yet too much multiplication of other roles can divide our effectiveness at home.

We should be grateful not only for living models, but also for model families in the past, such as that of Joseph Smith, Sr., who, along with his wife, Lucy Mack Smith, gave a boy prophet love, leadership, example, and support. Suppose, after walking back from that theophany at Palmyra, young Joseph Smith had encountered task-oriented ("Get the chores done!"), nonlistening parents? Or a jealous older brother? With all else he had to meet in the way of ridicule and persecution, could that lad have done his special work without the love and courage of a family that quietly, uncomplainingly agreed to share in his work and in his fate?

Thoughts on the Outlaw Campus

Victor Davis Hanson has a thoughtful take on university life in his essay, The Outlaw Campus. He notes ten areas that need to be reformed. Some of his suggestions are intriguing. He suggests that administration should be outsourced the way that teaching is to adjunct faculty. He suggests employing adjunct administrators:

Why should those who dreamed up exploitative part-time teaching positions be exempt from their own logic? Private enterprise could supply all sorts of part-time administrative clerks to the university at a fraction of the present in-house costs.

Why indeed?

There are a number of wonderful administrators, but there are also cases where the exploits of the administrators are far worse than those of the faculty. At least poorly performing adjunct administrators would be easier to rid oneself of.

Hanson's ideas deserve careful consideration. I suggest reading the whole article.

Today's Maxwell Quote

From Wherefore, Ye Must Press Forward (1977), xi:

Whether one is newly baptized, reactivated, or already about his Father's business, he faces two challenges: remaining true to the decisions and covenants that have brought him thus far into serious discipleship, and then, both progressing and enduring in his discipleship.

Nibley on Korihor

This passage from Nibley created something of a stir for a short time when Nibley first uttered it but has since been largely forgotten:

Korihor, a contemporary of Alma, rallied the people of property to free themselves from the oppressive restraints of sacral government, "foolish performances," he said, by which "this people bind themselves . . . that they might not lift up their heads" (Alma 30:23). Thanks to the government, said he, people "durst not enjoy their rights and privileges." in particular, "they durst not make use of that which was their own lest they should offend their priests" (Alma 30:27-28); his appeal was for freedom from restraints "laid down by ancient priests" (Alma 30:23), freedom to follow the natural order in which "every man prospered according to his genius, and that every man conquered according to his strength; and whatsoever a man did was no crime" (Alma 30:17). The bottom line was the common-sense creed, "when a man was dead, that was the end thereof," all accounts settled, all charges dropped, all moral objections canceled. This was good news to beautiful people," causing them to lift up their heads in wickedness," enjoying unlimited criminal and sexual license, "leading away . . . women, and also men, to commit whoredoms" (Alma 30:18)--a plain but discreet way of hinting at rampant homosexuality. (CWHN 8:509-10.)

Today's Maxwell Quote

From this talk:

Alas, it may be true that those who do not believe in God, who is a loving parent and who is the Father of the human family, will also never be able to accept the eternal importance of the institution of the family, except as something that is socially useful—little wonder we arrive at different conclusions or that we have different priorities. How important, therefore, it is that we remain at our posts as sentries over doctrines and teachings like that concerning the family, even if the world in its mistaken, but sincere way, seems to be headed in entirely different directions. The Latter-day Saints ought to understand, for instance, that the wars of tomorrow are this day being forged in the overheated families of today. How many dictators or assassins do we need to study in order to understand the consequences of distortion in the home? How many more examples do we need, including the energy crisis, where a few control the resources needed by many, before realizing that food and fiber are not the real challenge? Rather, it is selfishness and our human delivery systems. And where, indeed, can one learn, first-hand, selflessness and sharing? In the home, where such skills and attitudes tend to be learned, if they are learned at all. 

The Interconnected Ancient World V: The Uses of Fish Gall

In his discussion of Norse magic, Stephen Mitchell brings up an example of Nordic "magic" from "medieval Nordic leechbooks":

One recommends that the gall of a black dog, or of a particular kind of fish, be burned in a wooden vessel and used as a remedy against witchcraft and diabolical influences. A Danish formula against wantonness calls for a potion made of the leaves of a plant mixed with liquid, although what makes it stand out is the instruction that the brew should be blended while the Pater noster is being "read." Modern readers naturally assume that recipes of this sort are a form of magic.

But how would medieval users have understood such practices? If a petitioner were to intone phrases invoking a pagan god or the Christian deity while burning the fish gall, for example, would we understand it as a religious practice? Or if the fumes of gall were believed to have a specific chemical or pharmacological purpose, should we then understand this practice as a kind of primitive science? And are the answers we give to these queries merely elusive matters of perspective, or are they in fact hard and fast conclusions, as true in the modern context as they would have been in pre-Christian Scandinavia?

(Stephen A. Mitchell, Witchcraft and Magic in the Nordic Middle Ages [Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2011], 25-26.)

Mitchell brings these examples of Nordic medicine up to raise the point of whether they constitute "magic." The question he does not raise is whether they are Nordic. I have my doubts about whether this is particularly pre-Christian Nordic because it appears elsewhere in a standard version that was known in Scandinavia among the Christians.

Burning the gall of a particular kind of fish to drive out demons is found in the book of Tobit. The book of Tobit is considered one of the apocryphal books because it is found in the Septuagint but not in the Hebrew Bible. It was, however, considered biblical in the Catholic church in medieval times. The modern Icelandic version of the passage in question (Tobit 6:7-9) is:

Og ungi maðurinn sagði við engilinn: “Bróðir Asaría, til hvers er hjartað, lifrin og gallið úr fiskinum?” Og hann svaraði: “Hjartað og lifrin eru til þess, að ef ári eða illur andi þjáir enhvern, þá á að brenna því sem reykelsi fyrir manninum eða konunni, þá verða þau ekki framar þjáð.”

(Those looking for a translation can see here.) Here the angel specifically says that if someone is suffering from a demon or evil spirit that burning the guts of a fish in front of the afflicted man or woman will drive away the demon. (It worked in Tobit's case.) Here we see a Hellenistic Near Eastern folk practice becoming a medieval Scandinavian one.

Today's Maxwell Quote

From this talk:

If you prefer a different analogy, we are witnesses to a rather bizarre game of human chess in which there is strange value placed on the various pieces on the chess game. The kings and queens, the parents, are thought of as being inconsequential; the castles, or homes, get traded off for pawns with great casualness; the bishops, which might represent religion, remain largely unused in responding to the challenge. Yet, in the midst of this strange pattern of play, the world wonders why it cannot checkmate human misery.

What is a Word?

Coptic (for those who do not know) is the ancient Egyptian language written in Greek characters. The earliest dated Coptic inscription dates to 200 B.C. It mostly died out by the ninth century but there was a revival and late flourishing in the thirteenth century A.D.

Those who read Coptic manuscripts (and Coptic is not the only language whose manuscripts have this characteristic) know that Coptic manuscripts do not put spaces between words. Published versions of Coptic manuscripts put spaces between the words, but those spaces are not usually found in the manuscript. So a non-trivial problem is how do we know that a space should go between letters. Different editors solve this problem differently. How would we know where an ancient Coptic speaker would divide the text into different word units? The ancient Coptic scribes actually left some clues but these clues are often either ignored or reinterpreted (and sometimes misinterpreted) by modern editors.

This is just one of the many problems that confronts an editor the minute he or she undertakes to edit a text. Modern writers tend to give it no thought whatsoever. For us, the problem has already been solved.

Today's Maxwell Quote

From this talk:

I am grateful for the faculty and students alike at this University, who understand the tandem relationship between theology and identity, between family and eternity. At this University there is coequal concern with that nutrition pertaining to the body and that nutrition pertaining to the spirit. We certainly share with the secular world concern over diets required for our physical health, but we also assert to a sick and undernourished world that a divine diet has been prescribed for the soul of man, and further, that the primary source of his succor should be the family.

Onchsheshonqy 8/9-10

Do not follow a scribe who has been taken to prison, follow him after he has been taken to the tomb. (P. Onch. 8/9-10)

While the  general gist of the saying seems fairly certain, the exact idiom translated follow is unusual and is imperfectly understood. The idea is that while an intellectual (here a scribe) might have good things to say, those sayings can often get him in trouble. It is often not politically safe to follow someone who is in trouble and thus in the house of detention. Once he is dead, then he is no longer seen as a political problem.

The irony in this is that Onchsheshonqy is a scribe who is in prison. Perhaps Onchsheshonqy is simply warning his son not to follow in his footsteps until after he was dead.

Today's Maxwell Quote

From this talk:

Meanwhile, did not Jesus tell us what to expect by way of heat in the final summer? Did He not also say that He would prove our faith and patience by trial?

Did He not provide needed proportion when He spoke of the comparative few who will find the narrow way leading to the strait gate? (See Matt. 7:13–14.) Did He not also say that His Saints, scattered upon all the face of the earth, would, in the midst of wickedness, commotion, and persecution, be “armed with righteousness and with the power of God,” for He is determined to have “a pure people”? (1 Ne. 14:12–14; D&C 100:16.)

Feeding the Hungry

Sometimes in the midst of ephemeral arguments, a little gem of an argument shows up. Here is one such example, found in this other piece (which may or may not be worth reading):

Cooking is an act of love, an act of service to others.  It is an opportunity to care for others in a very fundamental way, to literally nourish them through the work of your own hands.

 This is another way of putting a scripture (and notice what comes first):

Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. (Matthew 25:34–40)

Today's Maxwell Quote

From this talk:

We may experience hunger, for instance, but if so, we can still respond as did the widow who used the last of her meal to feed Elijah (see 1 Kgs. 17:8–16). Such sharing amid real deprivation and poverty is always touching. Earlier in his life, a wonderful bishop of my youth, M. Thirl Marsh, repeatedly tried to be hired at the mines during the Depression. Being underage but large of stature, he persisted and was hired, but several friends were not. Apparently, on more than one occasion after his hard day’s work, generous young Thirl shared his earnings equally with these friends until they, too, were hired. No wonder he was such a caring shepherd of the flock later on.

AbB 9:1

Troubles that seem very modern are actually nothing new. This is an Old Babylonian letter written in Akkadian written in what is now Iraq about 1600 B.C. It is now in the Yale Babylonian collection (YBC 4519). It provides a window into the politics of petty tyrants three and a half millennia ago:

Speak to Sin-magir: Thus say Ipqu-Ishtar and Sin-ituram your colleagues.

May An and Inanna, Shamash, Iggalla, and Amurrum, your god, keep you in good health forever for our sake!

Concerning the report that was, in your words,

"Because Hadi-amer-Shamash has taken an oral promise to somebody else upon himself, he is keeping me waiting":

do not be slow always to stand firm against him. You tell him this, as follows:

"The fact that you speak in a decietful way is an insult to me. People will say

'Hadi-amer-Shamash has removed him from that office, even though he was trustworthy'.

What did you think that I was that you have given my office to somebody else in my absence?".

Thus speak to him and he shall answer you immediately.

And now Nabi-ilishu's intentions are prone to unseemly things in that he wants to oust the honourable . . . Apil-Sin from the temple of Enlil. If this is proper, tell him that he must not seek out complaints. But don't you know that Apil-Sin is ours? Do not be negligent about this!

May An and Inanna, Shamash, Iggalla, and Amurrum, your god, keep you in good health forever for our sake! (M. Stol, Altbabylonische Briefe 9: Letters from Yale [Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1981], 3, format altered).

The letter shows that the ambitious jockeying for position is nothing new. It is as despicable now as it ever was.

Today's Maxwell Quote

From this talk:

The philosophy of ritual prodigalism is “eat, drink, and be merry, … [and] God will beat us with a few stripes.” This is a cynical and shallow view of God, of self, and of life. God never can justify us “in committing a little sin.” (2 Ne. 28:8.) He is the God of the universe, not some night-court judge with whom we can haggle and plea bargain!

Moses 5 in the Mailbag

A query from an astute reader has been passed on to me. The query is whether in Moses 5:51 the verb knew should be understood carnally. Here is the relevant passage:

51 For, from the days of Cain, there was a secret combination, and their works were in the dark, and they knew every man his brother.
52 Wherefore the Lord cursed Lamech, and his house, and all them that had covenanted with Satan; for they kept not the commandments of God, and it displeased God, and he ministered not unto them, and their works were abominations, and began to spread among all the sons of men. And it was among the sons of men.
53 And among the daughters of men these things were not spoken, because that Lamech had spoken the secret unto his wives, and they rebelled against him, and declared these things abroad, and had not compassion;
54 Wherefore Lamech was despised, and cast out, and came not among the sons of men, lest he should die.
55 And thus the works of darkness began to prevail among all the sons of men. (Moses 5:51–56)

I had always understood the phrase "they knew every man his brother" to mean that every man in the secret combination recognized his brother and was cognizant that he was a confederate in iniquity. This alternate reading is certainly intriguing. There is a simple way to test it.

The book of Moses uses the verb to know in both carnal and intellectual senses. Bracketing the phrase in question, lets look at the other uses by category.

In the following instances, the verb to know is used in the intellectual rather than the carnal sense:

all things are present with me [God], for I know them all. (Moses 1:6)

I [Moses] know that man is nothing (Moses 1:10)

they are mine and I [God] know them. (Moses 1:35)

the name of which shall not be known among the children of men (Moses 1:42)

This I [Adam] know now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh (Moses 3:23)

he [Satan] knew not the mind of God (Moses 4:6)

God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. (Moses 4:11)

they [Adam and Eve] knew that they had been naked (Moses 4:13)

the man is become as one of us to know good and evil (Moses 4:28)

I [Adam] know not, save the Lord commanded me. (Moses 5:6)

Were it not for our transgression we [Eve and Adam] never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient. (Moses 5:11)

they [Adam and Eve] made all things known unto their sons and their daughters. (Moses 5:12)

Who is the Lord that I should know him? (Moses 5:16)

Now Satan knew this, and it pleased him. (Moses 5:21)

this that thy father may not know it (Moses 5:29)

I [Cain] know not. Am I my brother’s keeper? (Moses 5:34)

and Irad, the son of Enoch, having known their secret, began to reveal it unto the sons of Adam (Moses 5:49)

God hath made known unto our fathers that all men must repent. (Moses 6:50)

they taste the bitter, that they may know to prize the good. (Moses 6:55)

it is given unto them to know good from evil (Moses 6:56)

[the Comforter is] that which knoweth all things (Moses 6:61)

Enoch knew, and looked upon their wickedness (Moses 7:41)

thou art God, and I know thee (Moses 7:59)

he shall know that all flesh shall die (Moses 8:17)

The following are passages where the verb to know is used in the carnal sense:

And Adam knew his wife, and she bare unto him sons and daughters (Moses 5:2) 

And Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bare Cain (Moses 5:16) 

And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bare Enoch (Moses 5:42)

And Adam knew his wife again, and she bare a son (Moses 6:2)

This lengthy listing shows that in most cases when the object of the verb to know is used of a mortal person, it is used in a carnal sense; there are, however, two exceptions:

And death hath come upon our fathers; nevertheless we know them, and cannot deny, and even the first of all we know, even Adam. For a book of remembrance we have written among us (Moses 6:45–46)

In this passage, the two uses of to know are clearly of an intellectual nature not a carnal nature because they are known through a book.

This would argue that the suggested reading in Moses 5:51 of the verb to know in a carnal sense can be a valid reading of the text but it cannot rule out the other reading. There are some interesting implications of the new reading which I leave to the reader.

Today's Maxwell Quote

From this talk:

To compose a symphony, to win a battle, or to save a company—each can be a commendable and worthy entry in the book of life, but these do not fully compensate for breaking the seventh commandment. In the arithmetic of heaven, several commendables do not cancel out one inexcusable!

We're #7? Seriously?

BYU ranks seventh in happiness according to here, here and here (at least this week). The methodology used and the rationale for the ranking are never explained. I guess it has something to do with freshman retention rates and the rating of the health center. (I thought that health centers were best avoided. At one of the universities I graduated from I cannot remember if I even knew where it was.)

Today's Maxwell Quote

From Wherefore, Ye Must Press Forward (1977), 11:

Once the gospel grove sheltered by tall and stalwart redwoods has been abandoned, where will society seek shelter from the storms? In the sagebrush? In the reeds of rationalization? Hypocrisy at least is an attempt to hide shame, but today the very flaunting of certain behavior indicates that our deterioration is reaching some advanced stages. Boldness is not always courage, and when some things come out of the closet, they bring the darkness with them.

Degrees of Glory and Tolerance

The Doctrine and Covenants is explicit that certain forms of conduct are not allowed in certain degrees of glory:

38 And unto every kingdom is given a law; and unto every law there are certain bounds also and conditions.
39 All beings who abide not in those conditions are not justified. (Doctrine and Covenants 88:38–39)

21 And they who are not sanctified through the law which I have given unto you, even the law of Christ, must inherit another kingdom, even that of a terrestrial kingdom, or that of a telestial kingdom.
22 For he who is not able to abide the law of a celestial kingdom cannot abide a celestial glory.
23 And he who cannot abide the law of a terrestrial kingdom cannot abide a terrestrial glory.
24 And he who cannot abide the law of a telestial kingdom cannot abide a telestial glory; therefore he is not meet for a kingdom of glory. Therefore he must abide a kingdom which is not a kingdom of glory. (Doctrine and Covenants 88:21–24)

In the degrees of glory, actions against the law of that kingdom are not tolerated. Those who commit them cannot remain in that kingdom. This means that in the three degrees of glory there is only limited tolerance. The more tolerance displayed, the lower the kingdom of glory. This argues that tolerance is not a celestial virtue but a telestial one.

For I the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance; (Doctrine and Covenants 1:31; cf. Alma 45:16)

The more like God we are, the less we will tolerate sin. He does not tolerate sin and so if we are like him, we will not either.

It is in the telestial kingdom that all manner of sins are permitted and tolerated. One reason we may have to tolerate sins in a telestial world is to give others what the Book of Mormon calls "space for repentance" (Alma 42:5; cf 12:24). If others give up their sins, we do not have to tolerate them anymore. We cannot, however, keep our sins and expect them to be tolerated in a celestial realm.

We might think that God is being exclusionary in not tolerating our sins in the celestial kingdom, but that is not the correct way to view the situation. As Moroni explains:

3 Do ye suppose that ye shall dwell with him under a consciousness of your guilt? Do ye suppose that ye could be happy to dwell with that holy Being, when your souls are racked with a consciousness of guilt that ye have ever abused his laws?
4 Behold, I say unto you that ye would be more miserable to dwell with a holy and just God, under a consciousness of your filthiness before him, than ye would to dwell with the damned souls in hell.
5 For behold, when ye shall be brought to see your nakedness before God, and also the glory of God, and the holiness of Jesus Christ, it will kindle a flame of unquenchable fire upon you. (Mormon 9:3–5)

God's exclusion of sinners is not intolerance, it is mercy.

Today's Maxwell Quote

From That My Family Should Partake (1974), 41:

Whether we make a resolution to improve in a family council or privately, sometimes sharing our resolve can give us the advantage of our pride in wanting to carry out that resolution successfully and the loving support of other members of the family. In one sense, their stake in our success is personal in that if we improve they will benefit. In another, larger sense, however, because the members of our family love us, they are sincerely anxious for us to succeed in a way that may not always be true of other associates. Even false starts and transitional failures are better understood by the members of the family. Neither will members of the family be as likely to be offended by, or scoff at, the seeming smallness of some resolution on one's part. This is so precisely because in the family life the little things are the big things.

Ranking the Law of Moses

Having discussed the laws associated with various kingdoms, one might wonder where the law of Moses fits into this scheme.

Using D&C 76:103 as a basis, we can examine the law of Moses for its treatment of liars, sorcerers, adulterers, and whoremongers.

Liars
The Law of Moses is actually fairly lenient to liars:

16 If a false witness rise up against any man to testify against him that which is wrong;
17 Then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before the Lord, before the priests and the judges, which shall be in those days;
18 And the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and, behold, if the witness be a false witness, and hath testified falsely against his brother;
19 Then shall ye do unto him, as he had thought to have done unto his brother: so shalt thou put the evil away from among you.
(Deuteronomy 19:16–19)

There are also ways to atone for falsehoods:

2 If a soul sin, and commit a trespass against the Lord, and lie unto his neighbour in that which was delivered him to keep, or in fellowship, or in a thing taken away by violence, or hath deceived his neighbour;
3 Or have found that which was lost, and lieth concerning it, and sweareth falsely; in any of all these that a man doeth, sinning therein:
4 Then it shall be, because he hath sinned, and is guilty, that he shall restore that which he took violently away, or the thing which he hath deceitfully gotten, or that which was delivered him to keep, or the lost thing which he found,
5 Or all that about which he hath sworn falsely; he shall even restore it in the principal, and shall add the fifth part more thereto, and give it unto him to whom it appertaineth, in the day of his trespass offering.
6 And he shall bring his trespass offering unto the Lord, a ram without blemish out of the flock, with thy estimation, for a trespass offering, unto the priest:
7 And the priest shall make an atonement for him before the Lord: and it shall be forgiven him for any thing of all that he hath done in trespassing therein. (Leviticus 6:2–7)

Socerers
For sorcerers and the like, the law was less forgiving:

Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. (Exodus 22:18)

And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people. (Leviticus 20:6)

A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death: they shall stone them with stones: their blood shall be upon them. (Leviticus 20:27)

So sorcery gets the death penalty.

Adulterers
For adulterers, the law was also not lenient:

And the man that committeth adultery with another man’s wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. (Leviticus 20:10)

If a man be found lying with a woman married to an husband, then they shall both of them die, both the man that lay with the woman, and the woman (Deuteronomy 22:22)

Adultery also gets the death penalty.

Whoremongers
Whoremongers fair no better than adulterers. One passage suffices to illustrate:

11 And the man that lieth with his father’s wife hath uncovered his father’s nakedness: both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
12 And if a man lie with his daughter in law, both of them shall surely be put to death: they have wrought confusion; their blood shall be upon them.
13 If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
14 And if a man take a wife and her mother, it is wickedness: they shall be burnt with fire, both he and they; that there be no wickedness among you.
15 And if a man lie with a beast, he shall surely be put to death: and ye shall slay the beast.
16 And if a woman approach unto any beast, and lie down thereto, thou shalt kill the woman, and the beast: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them. (Leviticus 20:11–16)

Whoremongers also get the death penalty.

So liars are allowed to make up for their lies, but sorcerers, adulterers and whoremongers--all candidates for the telestial kingdom--are not permitted to live. They are not permitted under the Law of Moses. This brings us back to the Doctrine and Covenants:

he who cannot abide the law of a terrestrial kingdom cannot abide a terrestrial glory. (Doctrine and Covenants 88:23)

If the Law of Moses is not a celestial law (D&C 84:19-27), it is at least terrestrial law.

Today's Maxwell Quote

From But for a Small Moment (1986), 48:

The Book of Mormon emphatically declares that the law of Moses was purposefully to point the Jewish people and the world to the birth and coming of the Messiah, Jesus. The Old Testament as we have received it is silent with regard to the specific name of the Savior to come; however, it lists many of his special and sacred titles and sets forth numerous prophecies pertaining to his birth, mortal ministry, crucifixion, and atonement. Moreover, despite the lack of this information in our Old Testament as we have received it, the Book of Mormon prophet Jacob, writing in the fifth or sixth century B.C., stated that "none of the [earlier] prophets have written, nor prophesied, save they have spoken concerning this Christ" (Jacob 7:11).

To Every Kingdom is Given a Law

Beyond Doctrine and Covenants 76, one of the fundamental scriptures for understanding the three degrees of glory is Doctrine and Covenants 88:

38 And unto every kingdom is given a law; and unto every law there are certain bounds also and conditions.

39 All beings who abide not in those conditions are not justified. (Doctrine and Covenants 88:38–39)

So, only those who abide by the conditions of the law of the kingdom can stay in that kingdom.

Each of the kingdoms of glory has its own law:

22 For he who is not able to abide the law of a celestial kingdom cannot abide a celestial glory.

23 And he who cannot abide the law of a terrestrial kingdom cannot abide a terrestrial glory.

24 And he who cannot abide the law of a telestial kingdom cannot abide a telestial glory; therefore he is not meet for a kingdom of glory. Therefore he must abide a kingdom which is not a kingdom of glory. (Doctrine and Covenants 88:22–24)

Doctrine and Covenants 76 details some of the laws because it lists those who will be in the telestial kingdom, that is those who do not abide by either a celestial or terrestrial law. Nothing specifically says that the list is limited to these, but these things are known to be included:

These are they who are liars, and sorcerers, and adulterers, and whoremongers, and whosoever loves and makes a lie. (Doctrine and Covenants 76:103)

A trip to the Webster's Dictionary from Joseph Smith's day shows that a whoremonger was "one who practices lewdness" which includes anything unchaste including adultery, fornication, prostitution, buggery, bawdiness, obscenity, concubines, debauchery, harlotry, immodesty, lechery, libertinism, lubricity, putanism, and sodomy.

Systems of law that permit such behavior are telestial systems. Terrestrial and celestial systems do not permit such behavior.

Today's Maxwell Quote

From We Will Prove Them Herewith (1982), 57-58 :

Moreover, with one group's exception, each of us will go to a kingdom of glory. (D&C 88:24.) Knowing as we do the beauties of this earth, which the Lord described as "good," can we not quiver just a bit in anticipation of those kingdoms that He calls not only good, but also places of "glory"? God is not given to hyperbole!

Thus we shall be filled with everlasting gratitude for that which God in His mercy provides in each of the degrees of glory. We shall not question His justice, for He is perfect in His attribute of justice. Of course, in each of our cases we will perceive what might have been, but even so, we can only be content with our allotment given our "on-the-record" performance on this planet combined with the carryover from our first estate. We will have had our chance "according to the flesh" and "in process of time."

In the sobering events that are impending in the playing-out of human history, we can better understand why this must be so. Even the martyrdom of certain saints has been permitted so that the record can be clear. (D&C 88:94.) If the judgments of God were to come upon mankind in advance of wickedness, then God would not be a just God.

The Greek Term for Telestial

Latter-day Saint readers of the Bible are familiar with the passage in 1 Corinthians 15:40 that discusses two of the three degrees of glory:

There are also celestial (ἐπουράνια) bodies, and bodies terrestrial (ἐπίγεια): but the glory of the celestial (τῶν ἐπουρανίων) is one, and the glory of the terrestrial (τῶν ἐπιγείων) is another. (1 Corinthians 15:40)

From this passage we know the Greek terms for celestial and terrestrial. But what about telestial. We would need to have the two terms along with a third one. As it happens, there is a passage in the New Testament that provides it:

10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven (ἐπουρανίων), and things in earth (ἐπιγείων), and things under the earth (καταχθονίων);

11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:10–11)

This passage in Philippians provides us with the Greek term for telestial. The term καταχθονίος means under the earth. and provides the third counterpoint to the terms celestial (of the heavens) and terrestrial (of the earth). It also provides us with the etymology of telestial. The two companion terms come from Latin caelum "heaven" and terra "earth". With a knowledge of the Greek term, it should have some meaning of something under the earth. The best option is Latin tellus "soil, ground."

Lest this seem far-fetched, it should be remembered that the visions of the three degrees of glory ends with an allusion to the passage in Philippians:

109 But behold, and lo, we saw the glory and the inhabitants of the telestial world, that they were as innumerable as the stars in the firmament of heaven, or as the sand upon the seashore;

110 And heard the voice of the Lord saying: These all shall bow the knee, and every tongue shall confess to him who sits upon the throne forever and ever; (Doctrine and Covenants 76:109–111)

Today's Maxwell Quote

From A Wonderful Flood of Light (1990), 78:

Another stumbling block for some mortals is the seeming injustice of God. We naturally recoil from the jarring examples of the human condition with its many injustices, insensitivities, inequalities, and immense sufferings. Surely, however, we dare not assume that our anguish reflects a more highly developed sense of empathy for humanity than God Himself has! Yet the stone of stumbling is there. Says George MacDonald: "I suspect a great part of our irreligion springs from our disbelief in the humanity of God" (George MacDonald, The Miracles of Our Lord [London: Strahan and Co., 1870], p. 265).

The Reverse of Grade Inflation

Courtesy of the BBC, we know one country in the world that is not subject to grade inflation. Not a single one of over 25,000 students in Liberia was able to pass an entrance exam into the universities. Liberia is still recovering from a civil war but while it is discouraging that none of the students was able to pass, at least we know that the universities have not lowered their standards.

I sincerely hope both that the students have better success next year and that the universities maintain their standards.

Today's Maxwell Quote

From For the Power Is in Them (1972), 52-53:

Robert Brustein has brought to our attention a quotation of Plato which seems to appropriate for our time in terms of how the adult generation can unintentionally do the youth a disservice by "throwing in" with them too quickly, too totally, or too carelessly, abandoning the adults' authoritative insights or experience. It is a pattern of some professors in our time. Plato said:

‎"In such a state of society [a state of democratic anarchy], the master fears and flatters his scholars, and the scholars despise their masters and tutors; young and old alike; and the young man is on a level with the old, and is ready to compete with him in word and deed; and old men condescend to the young and are full of pleasantry and gaity; they are loth to be thought morose and authoritative, and therefore they adopt the manners of the youth."

A Phatom Parallel

Oddly enough, the first artifact in the British Museum catalog, The Bible in the British Museum has no real connection to the Bible. It depicts a scene with

a seated male figure, identified by his horned headress as a deity, facing a female worshipper. Both figures are fully clothed.

Its appearance in the catalog is because other have identified the scene as depicting a Babylonian version of the fall since there is a snake behind the female and a date palm between the two figures.

The date-palm between them and the snake may have had fertility significance and there is no reason to connect the scene with the Adam and Eve story. (T. C. Mitchell, The Bible in the British Museum [London: British Museum Press, 2004], 24)

You can see the seal here.

Today's Maxwell Quote

From  A More Excellent Way (1967), 5-6:

Two very significant influences are converging on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in our time when much of mankind seems trapped "between two ages." The first of these is the increasing uniqueness of Church doctrine. This is not because our doctrine has changed but because there is a kind of recessional underway through much (but not all) of Christianity in which some of the core teachings of Christ are being abandoned or revamped in such a way that we may reach a state of relative theological isolation. There are not too many today who would join us in affirming to the world that Jesus Christ is the literal, resurrected Son of God. Some have constructed a "consensus" Christ who is a revered teacher; but to us and others he is certainly much more than a great moral teacher.

Adoram

Sometimes government officials assume they have more power than they actually do and forget that their power derives from the consent of the governed. They should consider the case of Adoram. Adoram's case covers but half a verse of scripture but it is still informative:

Then king Rehoboam sent Adoram, who was over the tribute; and all Israel stoned him with stones, that he died. (1 Kings 12:18)

The children of Israel had already specified that they would not accept Rehoboam's policy decision, and even though Adoram had the full weight of the government behind him, it proved insufficient in the end when the people said that they would not accept a government decree that went further than they agreed to go.

Today's Maxwell Quote

From A Time to Choose (1972), 30:

The disciple is also in a position to avoid over-reacting to the fads of his time—intellectually, behaviorally and politically. The disregard of those in Noah's era is a classic example of insensitive preoccupation with things not spiritual. On a much smaller scale, the 1920s in America saw some Americans so busy "doing their own thing" that as a nation we ignored the warning signals which preceded the great depression; we were also unready to face the onrushing realities of Fascism and Communism—whereas today many are blind to the dangers of self-oppression, the chains we put on ourselves, which is the real tyranny of our time. The point is not to suggest that men can be sensitive to all the warning signals swirling about them, but that the disciple, by keeping himself attuned to the Source of information, will know which signals to respond to; inspiration frees him from the limitations of his own experience! In a secular analogy, research has shown that there were many warnings about an impending attack on Pearl Harbor, but the very volume of those indicators virtually insured their being ignored.

Merry Christmas

I hope on this Christmas day that you are spending time with your family and thinking about Jesus rather than surfing the internet.

Today's Maxwell Quote

From this talk:

Even as believers, however, when we are a part of encapsulating events, we can scarcely savor all that swirls about us. It is unlikely, for instance, on that night so long ago in Bethlehem, that Joseph and Mary looked at the newly born Christ child’s feet with the realization that those feet would, one day, walk the length and breadth of the Holy Land. And, further, that, later on, spikes would pierce those feet.

As a loving Mary grasped those tiny hands, and, as in the months ahead those tiny hands clasped her, did she know that those hands, when grown, would ordain the original Twelve or, still later, carry the rough-hewn cross?

As she heard her Baby cry, did she hear intimations of Jesus’ later weeping at the death of Lazarus or after blessing the Nephite children? (See John 11:35; 3 Ne. 17:21–22.) Did she foresee that those baby-soft knees would later be hardened by so much prayer, including those glorious but awful hours in Gethsemane? (See Matt. 26:36–56.)

As she bathed that Babe so many times to cleanse His pores, could she have been expected to foresee that one day, years later, drops of blood would come from His every pore? (See Mosiah 3:7.)

There is such a thing as cheerful, believing participation—even without full understanding—when you and I keep certain things in our hearts and are nourished as we ponder them! (See Luke 2:19.)

A Quick Thought

From A. Dennis Mead, Crisp Musk Hair Oils (Salt Lake City: Media World, 2009), 20:

Old ladle down huff-breath leak hem, house till whee seed Eli
A buff dye deepened ream lass leap thus isle ends tars cope eye.

Today's Maxwell Quote

From Even As I Am (1982), x:

As we examine "this Jesus Christ" (3 Ne. 11:2), most of our information about His life comes through the four Gospels of the New Testament. These priceless texts chronicle that portion of His existence wherein the Savior of all mankind was, so to speak, "in residence." Prior and later, He made important visitations elsewhere, giving corroborating testimony and making additional declarations, such as to His "other sheep," as in the Americas, and, subsequently, to the so-called lost tribes. (See 3 Ne. 15:17, 21.) In these and other visits, He repeated many of His basic teachings and sermons; He also provided additional vital instructions and certain amplifications.

However, there was only one birth at Bethlehem, one period when He was a carpenter's son, one Gethsemane, one Judas Iscariot, and one Calvary. Praise be to those who preserved those precious and singular episodes in our Holy Bible!

Still Impressive After All These Years

He was born 208 years ago today. He had about three months of formal schooling. He lived in poverty, away from most centers of civilization. He was shot to death in jail. The governor expected his death to put an end to him.

And yet . . .

He dashed off a work of five hundred pages in under three months that is still being read 180 years after its original publication.

He correctly claimed, while still a teenager, that his name would be known for good and evil all over the world.

He correctly noted that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion.

Even if you do not think Joseph Smith was a prophet, that is pretty impressive.

Today's Maxwell Quote

From One More Strain of Praise (1999), chapter 5:

One important way, therefore, in which the Church is to be "independent" involves distancing ourselves from the philosophies and persuasions of men, and from the encompassing and enveloping ways of secular societies (D&C 78:14). Secularism recruits so easily, because so many mortals "will not endure sound doctrine," but come to prefer the easier and more fashionable "commandments of men" (2 Tim. 4:3). But, of course, the fashions of the world will pass away. (See Matt. 15:9.) It will be interesting to see, for instance, how long America can sustain an inspired and constraining Constitution, if more of the people it governs become persistently permissive. Will what is now the "lesser part" reach a critical, negative mass? (See Mosiah 29.)

Hard to Say I'm Sorry

Ronald Alsop has an interesting report on the BBC on apologies by management and the effect that it has.

Honesty clearly is the cornerstone of trust, and that includes owning up to mistakes and apologising. Some respondents to the UK study said they would admire leaders if only they admitted their mistakes.

This is what is Alma calls "acknowledg[ing] your faults" (Alma 39:13). It is part of the repentance process. And interestingly, those who repent by acknowledging their faults receive and increase in trust, that is faith.

Beyond engendering trust, acknowledging an error and making amends can encourage greater openness throughout an organisation.

But this greater openness comes from not only acknowledging errors but making amends. It is what Alma called "repair[ing] that wrong which ye have done" (Alma 39:13) and is the other half of the repentance process.

And what happens when this is not done?

Failing to apologise can cause more damage than loss of trust.

What sort of damage can occur?

The refusal to ‘fess up to mistakes can poison the relationship between supervisors and their subordinates to such a degree that it may even contribute to depression. A study in Denmark found that it isn’t a burdensome workload, but rather feelings of injustice that lead to depression.

 “An important element of what we call relational justice is when supervisors treat employees with consideration and truthfulness,” said Matias Brodsgaard Grynderup, a researcher who works in the public health department at the University of Copenhagen. Consequently, he believes admitting mistakes and apologising would make the workplace seem more just.

This is in line with Moroni's observation that "despair cometh because of iniquity" (Moroni 10:22). Despair can come not just because of one's own iniquity, but also because of iniquity in general. And we should remember that the term iniquity originally came from a term for being unequal or unjust.

Failure to apologize not only destroys the trust of those directly affected:

“When a leader makes a mistake like lying or taking credit for another employee’s idea and doesn’t apologise immediately, it begins to chip away at the trust the employee feels towards them,” said Andrew Graham, CEO of Forum. “This is true even if the employee observes this behaviour in his or her boss and isn’t the direct victim of the incident.”  

On the other hand, apologies can help rebuild eroded trust.

Apologies can help restore a manager's credibility after a damaging error, and they also can inspire greater trust in management at a time when many workers are feeling disillusioned with employers.

So with all the positive benefits of apologizing, one would think it takes place frequently.

How common are apologies from bosses? It depends on whom you ask. Many employees believe managers don’t take responsibility for their screw-ups and don’t express regret. Only 19% of employees said their managers often or always apologise.

Even more managers think they apologize (87%) than employees think they don't (81%). This illustrates a disconnect between what managers think they are doing and what they are actually doing.

It’s also wise to apologise clearly and sincerely — but concisely.

Since when employees observe management making mistakes which are not apologized for immediately it erodes the employees' trust in the management, one wonders if it is possible for managers to reach a point where it is impossible to regain the trust of the employees.

Employers also shouldn’t expect apologies to work magic in every situation. They may not be very beneficial when office relationships were already badly strained before the mistake occurred.

Is it possible for efforts to be a little too little, a little too late?

Today's Maxwell Quote

From A More Excellent Way (1967), 128:

Inaccurate feedback (supportive or critical) is more apt to be accurately evaluated by a person whose home has given him experience in feedback which can prevent overreaction, relying on false assurances, and too much dependency on others for direction. Feedback, in the broad sense, will be an aid to achievement in life with employers, professors, and peers. Repentance can take on practical and rewarding connotations rather than the stereotyped "Elmer Gantry" view of repentance. Future bishops are most apt to have access to and impact on the individual who is concerned with his behavior.

Defining Apostasy

Via Markus Oehler comes this definition of apostasy from a work by B. J. Oropeza

The phenomenon that occurs when a religious follower or a group of followers turn away from or otherwise repudiate the central beliefs and practices they once embraced in a respective religious community.

The Greek term apostasia simply means rebellion, revolt, and it was not necessarily religious. There is much, however, to commend this definition.

Today's Maxwell Quote

From A Time to Choose (1972), 86:

We must search the scriptures regularly. Unstudied, unapplied, dormant doctrines will seem to shrink in importance and relevance, for this is the atrophy that precedes indifference or apostasy. According to Alma, keeping the tree of testimony alive requires "faith . . . diligence . . . patience, and long suffering."

Today's Maxwell Quote

From Things As They Really Are (1978), 41:

Concerning the power of the devil we read how inequalities among men come because of sin. (Alma 28:13.) Has the reader seen any marches and placards lately protesting the inequalities arising out of sin? Do not stay at your window waiting for that parade!

Will BYU Boycott Itself?

The American Studies Association has passed a resolution stating that "the American Studies Association (ASA) endorses and will honor the call of Palestinian civil society for a boycott of Israeli academic institutions." BYU is an institutional member of the ASA. It also runs the BYU Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies. Does the ASA require BYU to boycott itself? If so will BYU do so?

I generally think that academic organizations are prone to engage in this sort of stunt without bothering to think through the rationale for doing so or to spend the least bit of thought about what the consequences will be.

A Penetrating Glimpse into the Obvious

From an actual scientific study with a whopping one example:

The availability of unbridled power adversely affects the quality of life of those on the receiving end.

I think any historian or student of totalitarian regimes could have come up with that conclusion and been able to provide many more examples.

Today's Maxwell Quote

From If Thou Endure It Well (1996), chapter 4:

God loves all His spirit children. How could it be otherwise, since He is a perfect Father? In that sense His love is universal and everlasting for all of His children. But He does not and cannot love our wickedness: "For I the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance" (D&C 1:31). He does not and cannot approve of the things we do that are wrong, nor will He say on Judgment Day, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant" to those who have been wicked or who have been poor performers. His perfect integrity and His perfected attributes of truth and justice would not permit it. Nor can our Heavenly Father reward us evenly, because our deeds and our degrees of righteousness are so very uneven. Of necessity, therefore, we are told there are "many mansions" in His house, and only of the comparative few can it be said, "all that my Father hath shall be given" (John 14:2; D&C 84:38). It is especially of such faithful that Paul writes: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? . . . Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:35, 39.)

On Integrity

A number of years ago Cecil Samuelson, the president of Brigham Young University, gave a talk on integrity. He said a number of things that are worth rereading, and touched on only a few aspects of integrity, but a few of them are worth reviewing here:

It does seem to me that the issues of integrity are particularly important in the university setting and all the more so at BYU. We are here to seek knowledge and wisdom. We make clear statements to ourselves and to the world that we live in an environment that not only encourages but demands that what we do is in the context of our faith and best efforts to live gospel principles. Indeed, our final article of faith begins by stating, “We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men” (Article of Faith 1:13; see also HC 4:535–41). In other words, we believe in integrity and all of its meanings—particularly the three definitions I mentioned that include soundness, completeness, and adherence to a code of values. At BYU we believe in the Honor Code. We preach it, we teach it, and we must practice it with soundness and completeness.

President Samuelson went on to enumerate a number of integrity issues that apply at BYU:

Résumé Padding

Sadly, I believe résumé padding is a fairly recent term that is now widely understood. Some believe that it may be worth a calculated risk to suggest achievements not attained or other misrepresentations of a personal record. What is not always appreciated is that in doing so, a different record is being made that will follow the offender throughout life. Not only have people of prominence and others lost coveted jobs, they have been branded forever as people without integrity. That is a heavy but probably fair burden.

President Samuelson was talking about including items on a resume that the individual actually has not done. One wonders whether including items of dubious quality or planned projects that have not been completed count. Surely, after a decade in the field one's track record either shows that one can produce or that one cannot; there should be no reason to pad a curriculum vitae with unaccomplished accomplishments or purportedly forthcoming publications.

President Samuelson also mentioned another problem:

Giving False Information

All of us misspeak on occasion. In our case, I hope it is because of an honest mistake or a faulty memory. When unintentional, we hope for correction or the opportunity to set the record straight as soon as we recognize the error. Of much, much greater concern is the intentional communication of false information. Most of you are regularly interviewed by your bishops and less formally, but often more directly, by your parents. Although it is tempting to misrepresent the truth in some circumstances, a lie is a lie. More than 30 years ago, President Dallin H. Oaks told a BYU devotional audience, “A lie is not always told in so many words. It may be a creature of concealment or a misrepresentation by action or a half-truth” (30 January 1973, “Be Honest in All Behavior,” Speeches of the Year, 1972–73 [Provo: BYU, 1973], 89). He then went on to quote Elder Richard L. Evans, who said:

Truth or untruth is not always altogether a matter of literal language, but often of implication, of inflection, of innuendo, of subtle suggestion. A clever person intent on being untruthful can give a false impression, even when his literal words can little be called into question. [The Spoken Word, “Neither Lie One to Another,” Improvement Era, November 1961, 854]

A billboard currently on the road to Salt Lake says "Partial honesty is the worst policy."

In some ways, though, integrity is not all that hard to figure out.

Let's suppose that you are offered a job for the summer. You will be paid $1000 to feed a couple's cat for the summer. They will also leave $10,000 to pay for cat food. You can have integrity either accepting or declining the job. If you have integrity and do not think you can feed the cat, you decline the job. If you accept the job, you must feed the cat or forfeit your integrity.

Perhaps you are only taking the job because you are in dire circumstances and need the money to feed your family. Still, you must feed the cat or forfeit your integrity.

Maybe the cat is old and on its last legs. All the same, you must feed the cat or forfeit you integrity.

Perhaps the cat is mean and nasty. That may be true, but it is irrelevant. You must feed the cat or forfeit your integrity.

Surely, the cat does not need all $10,000 for cat food for a summer. That may be so, but you cannot spend the money on something else and keep your integrity.

Perhaps you have a dog that you love very much. If you feed the dog rather than the cat you forfeit your integrity.

Perhaps your dog is poorly fed. If you think so, feed him from your own money. If you use the couple's money to feed the dog you forfeit your integrity.

Perhaps you think your dog is more deserving of food than the cat. That may be true, but if you feed the dog rather than the cat you forfeit your integrity.

Perhaps, after a couple of months, you think that the couple trusts you. If you have integrity they should; if you do not they shouldn't.

Perhaps you think that they will never notice something missing. That may be so, but if you spend their money on something else, you forfeit your integrity.

President Samuelson closes with the following story:

Many years ago I was faced with what I considered to be at the time a serious professional dilemma. In reality it was more like the need to choose between two very attractive alternatives with respect to my future career. I thought and prayed about the matter a great deal and discussed it thoroughly with Sharon, my wife. I frankly wished that I could have had the steady counsel, experienced frequently over the years, from my father about this matter, but he had died the year before. Because the decision facing me potentially had some implications for my Church service, I sat with a senior, respected Church leader and sought his counsel. I weighed with him my alternatives and all of the potential considerations in detail. I waited for his direction or questions. After a moment he looked me in the eye and said, “Above all else, you need to protect your integrity.” That is all he said, and it didn’t initially seem to be responsive to my questions. As I thought about it, however, it almost immediately became clear what my best alternative was, and the test of time has proven it to be so. . . . Let my advice to you be that which I received from my trusted mentor: “Above all else, you need to protect your integrity.”

Today's Maxwell Quote

From A Time to Choose (1972), 83:

The disciple must always allow for the fact that this is a divine Church full of imperfect people. Indeed, "the net gathereth of every kind." Some among us have an exclusionary condescension; some display a passivity toward others; others, fortunately, have a quiet certitude which causes them to serve, for service is but one dimension of testimony in action. The Spirit has witnessed to the latter, and they witness to others in order to maintain their integrity, leveling by telling the truth about salvational things "as they are, as they were, and as they are to come."

Work and Happiness

The reliable Arthur Brooks has an article about what it takes to be happy: Faith, family, community, and work. Much of the article is devoted to the surprising presence of work on the list.

Brooks observed:

one survey recently made headlines by reporting that fewer than a third of American workers felt engaged; that is praised, encouraged, cared for and several other gauges seemingly aimed at measuring how transcendently fulfilled one is at work. 

His observation reminds me a recurrent theme in Elder Maxwell's writings, perhaps most fully explained in A More Excellent Way (1967), 91-92:

Superficial commendations generally leave the receiver flat, because he is not sure what is meant, if anything. A general or superficial compliment given in a ritualistic way not only may fail to help the receiver, but it also may hinder him or her, since general compliments may convey false reassurance as to the adequacy of the receiver's performance. General compliments may even be heard as a negative reaction to a performance—simply because they are not specific, leaving the receiver with the feeling that nothing specific was said, only because there was nothing worth specific praise. A performance or act sometimes deserves no praise, and the individual often knows in his heart that what he has said or done does not really deserve any praise. Phony or general praise can cause the receiver to lower his regard for the giver of such praise and perhaps lessen later receptivity when a deserved compliment is forthcoming. Most individuals—even though at first it is painful—would rather have honest relationships with other individuals. Most followers ultimately like a leader who makes reasonable demands of them, who expects performance and who praises and reproves accordingly. Of course, all of this must be done in the spirit of real love. Paul prescribed ours as the task of "speaking the truth in love." Jesus praised and reproved specifically as well as regularly.

Today's Maxwell Quote

From All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience (1980), 89-90:

Let us in our ministry be nondiscriminatory in the giving of commendation. True, he who is downspirited needs to be lifted up. True, those who are fledglings in the faith may need extra encouragement and deserved, specific praise. But meanwhile, let us not forget the often unnoticed, faithful veterans, lest, like the son who stayed loyally at home and saw the banquet and benefactions given to the prodigal son, the faithful wonder if they are truly appreciated. Let us not assume that another has no need of commendation. Let us give it even if the other does not seem to need it, for we need to give commendation in any event.

The giving of commendation keeps us alert and noticing of the good deeds and qualities of others. It permits us to be more concerned with them and less with ourselves. As long as we avoid artificiality and generality, commending is one of the great dimensions of brotherhood and sisterhood. Let us never unwittingly turn others in the direction of the praise of the world merely because they are so starved for the praise of the righteous!

More on Grade Inflation at Harvard

I thought this was funny.

Interesting Report of Scandal

Professor Paul Caron reports an interesting development in higher education. The report is about a wider field, non-profits, but a number of the mentioned institutions are universities, including:

• Columbia University
• Drake University
• Georgetown University
• New York University
• St. John's University
• University of Miami
• University of Pittsburgh
• Vassar College
• Wesleyan University
• Yeshiva University

What these institutions have in common is that they all report a "'significant diversion' of assets." Accountants and lawyers might recognize what that is immediately, but here is a translation for the rest of us from the Washington Post:

A Washington Post analysis of filings from 2008 to 2012 found that ... more than 1,000 nonprofit organizations that checked the box indicating that they had discovered a “significant diversion” of assets, disclosing losses attributed to theft, investment fraud, embezzlement and other unauthorized uses of funds. The diversions drained hundreds of millions of dollars from institutions that are underwritten by public donations and government funds. Just 10 of the largest disclosures identified by The Post cited combined losses to nonprofit groups and their affiliates that potentially totaled more than a half-billion dollars.

The Post contiunes:

The Post found that nonprofits routinely omitted important details from their public filings, leaving the public to guess what had happened — even though federal disclosure instructions direct nonprofit groups to explain the circumstances. About half the organizations did not disclose the total amount lost.

The findings are striking because organizations are required to report only diversions of more than $250,000 or those identified as having exceeded 5 percent of an organization’s annual gross receipts or total assets. Of those, filing instructions direct nonprofits to disclose “any unauthorized conversion or use of the organization’s assets other than for the organization’s authorized purposes, including but not limited to embezzlement or theft.”

John Koskinen, the man nominated to be the new IRS commissioner, vows to investigate diversion of assets by non-profits. The Washington Post's reports deals mainly with examples of theft and embezzlement but the significant diversion also includes the "use of the organization's assets other than for the organization's authorized purposes."

The Post quotes Reverend Raymond Moreland of the Maryland Bible Society, a victim of a diversion of assets:

You go out of your way to trust a nonprofit. People give their money and expect integrity. And when the integrity goes out the window, it just hurts everybody. It hurts the community, it hurts the organization, everything. It’s just tragic.

People who donate to a non-profit for a specific purpose expect their money to be used for that purpose. If you donate your money to an organization called Save the Skunks for the purpose of protecting Mephites mephites you might not appreciate the organization using the funds to breed and feed Bubo virginianus, no matter how noble that goal may be.

Because the Post's reporting was simply based on tax forms which often do not provide details about what the significant diversion was, it is hard to say what happened at the universities listed. My guess is that most of them are the unfortunate victims of theft, fraud, or embezzlement.