The Second Comforter

Everybody has felt alone at some point in their lives. Whether it be from hurt feelings, geographical separation, or even death of a loved one, everybody is lonely sometimes. Thankfully, I have never lost anybody especially close to me. The two deaths that have most affected me were the death of my grandfather when I was 9 years old, and the death of a recent convert in the mission field 5 days after he got baptized. Both times, though, I had people I cared about around me to help me with the loss. Jesus was well aware of the feeling of loneliness. So, in his last discourse to his closest friends, the apostles, he spent a lot of time talking about comfort. Jesus knows his death is near and necessary, but doesn’t want his apostles to feel completely alone and abandoned.
Jesus promises to send the Holy Ghost to them to guide them and comfort them, but also promises “another Comforter,” or as Joseph Smith called it, the “Second Comforter.” The Second Comforter is Jesus Christ himself. If we are faithful in following the “First Comforter,” the Holy Ghost, then we will receive the “Second Comforter,” a visit from the Saviour.
I was especially moved when Dr. Holzapfel shared with us his experience of reading old pioneer journals. He shared with us how he read in many journals experiences of people who saw the Saviour. He said that almost all of them shared a common element. They followed the pattern of Joseph Smith’s experience in the grove. The Saviour appeared to people alone, and stood above the ground. He would say to these people something along the lines of, “My son, Cory, my son. Thy sins are forgiven thee.”
That would be a supernal experience. I would give anything to be able to have a personal experience with my Lord and Redeemer. I’m trying my best to sacrifice my will to God and try to purify myself little by little until I am worthy. Whether I receive the Second Comforter in this life or not, I will do my best to be the man I know I should be and have faith in God’s timing. I know that Christ will never leave me alone. Though I have my weaknesses and flaws, I should never feel alone. Because Jesus of Nazareth died for my sins and promised the Holy Ghost and the Second Comforter, I can have confidence that I will always have divine help.

Religion and Art

B.H. Roberts once said, “The best thing about a painting or piece of sculpture is that which cannot be described. And that elusive, mysterious quality we call its spirit may arise from something quite apart from its rhetoric, or logic or distinction. It may be even as the voice of God: not in the strong wind, that rends the mountains and breaks in pieces the rocks before the Lord…but in the still, small voice which follows the wind and earthquake and fire.” This week, we attended an art exhibit in the BYU Museum of Art about religious pieces. The majority of items in the exhibit were paintings, but there were also some sculptures and etchings. There was a wide variety of religious themes and the way they were depicted. There were works of the Saviour himself, other characters from the scriptures, well-known symbols of religious subjects, and more obscure ones. So, there were many ways in the display to convey feelings about religion.
I feel like I understand art a lot more now than I ever have before, thanks in large part to an Art History class I am enrolled in this semester. It was fun to be able to identify characteristics in the contemporary art that are borrowed from styles from the last 500 years. Through being in that class and conversations with other people, I believe that meaning in art is specific to the viewer. There are certainly themes and symbols which were intended to be noticed by the artist, but I believe that most of the “deep” meanings seen in art are manufactured by the individual to try to gain more from the viewing experience. For that reason, I really enjoyed browsing the gallery and evaluating a wide range of pieces rather than spend 15-20 minutes on the same one. I feel like I gained more from studying and appreciating the woodcuts of Rembrandt and Durer than trying to discuss all of the “hidden, deep” symbolism in a contemporary painting that seemed far inferior to me in subject, composition, and style. I really do appreciate the tour we were given and the work put into leading us through the exhibit, but I personally gained more from the introspection than the guided discussion.
One piece that I especially enjoyed was Rembrandt’s etching of Raising of Lazarus: The Large Plate. It was done all the way back in 1632, so almost 400 years ago. Yet, I could still see the care and detail given to this seen of the Messiah’s life by one of the great masters of Western art history. The figures are powerful and the moment dramatic. The dress and objects surrounding the bursting tomb are authentic and realistic. I was impressed by the wide-eyed look of the men surrounding Jesus as Lazarus’s head first starts to emerge. It made me think of what miracles God can work in my life if I let him, and that I need to be believing and not doubt.
I thoroughly enjoyed the exhibit, and hope I can continue to view more art in the future. I was able to spend a few hours in the Getty Museum in LA in August, but I would really like to go back and spend more time there so I can see more of the galleries. I plan on making an effort to do so when I go home for Christmas break in December. I hope I’ll be able to see more religious art so that my appreciation for it and ability to interpret it may continue to grow.

Hymns of the Early Saints

The chronology of the 4 gospels in the New Testament has been a source of discussion and research for a long time. Although a common belief is that John was written in the 90s AD and was the last of the four records written, some scholars disagree. Some reasons that would seem to support John being a later record are his enormous amount of unique material and correlation with the commonly accepted date of his writing of the Book of Revelation. Another important idea among some scholars is that of “High Christology.”
“High Christology” is the idea that Jesus is more elevated in John’s record than the others. It says that Jesus is portrayed as more of a great teacher and man in the other three, but that Jesus is looked upon as more divine and all-powerful in the gospel of John. In these scholar’s eyes, this idea is one that developed over the decades since Christ’s death--or, in other words, Jesus’s reputation and importance had been inflated by second-generation Christians over the more mortal one held by the contemporary disciples of Christ. This idea of “High Christology” developing over the centuries, however, is one that I reject. As a practicing Latter-Day Saint, I believe that the earliest apostles and disciples of Jesus knew who he was, and that the church organized by Christ with Peter presiding had a pure knowledge of the gospel, in the same form we have it today.
This rejection is also supported by some of the texts of earlier writings. In a few places of the New Testament, early Christian hymns are quoted by the writers. Indeed, John opens the first chapter of his record quoting a song about how the Word was with God in the beginning, and that the world was created through the Word. This is obviously in keeping with the accepted view in John that Jesus was divine and important to God’s overall plan for his children. It even goes so far as to say that Jesus was a key figure in the creation of the Earth. This is not the only instance of quoting early Christian hymns, nor was it the earliest. In fact, Paul quoted some early Christian hymns in his writings well before John did such. These hymns are powerful evidence that first-generation Christians also believed in the High Christ.
One example of Paul quoting a hymn is in

Judas Iscariot and Barabbas

The final week of Jesus Christ’s mortal life was his most important. He spent all week teaching in the temple and making final points against the rulers of His day. He performed the Atonement and suffered in Gethsemane. He was convicted and crucified. Finally, He rose triumphantly from the tomb that held Him bound. This last week, which encompasses what we now call the Passion, is written about in more detail by the Gospel writers than any other in His life. Because we have four slightly different accounts of this most important of times, we can learn different things from each.
The Book of Matthew, for example, shows fulfillments of Old Testament prophecy in the Saviour’s actions during the Passion. One important thing that Matthew teaches us about the Passion is when Judas first went to the chief priests and a hint as to why. We read that he leaves right after Jesus is anointed with the alabaster box of ointment by the woman, and Jesus once again prophecies his coming death. Maybe Judas finally understood that Jesus was really going to die. Maybe he decided that Jesus wasn’t really the Messiah he was looking for that would thrust out the Roman occupiers and establish the political and spiritual Israel again. Maybe he doubted and thought that Jesus of Nazareth was just another false Messiah who was a danger to the spiritual well-being of his people. Regardless of what exactly was going through his head, something happened to Judas during this incident. He made a deal to betray his friend and Master for thirty pieces of silver, a deal which he would fulfill in the coming days.
Another insight I learned while studying the last few chapters of Matthew was the irony and symbolism of the release of prisoners. As was the custom of the Passover celebration, Pilate offered to release Christ or Barabbas to the people, to which the hand-picked group of Sadducean supporters chose Barabbas. There is a very symbolic comparison between these two men which I had never noticed before. Because certain names were so common during this time, people were often distinguished by a suffix of whom their father was or where they were from, hence Simon bar-Jonah, or Simon son of Jonah. Bar Abbas is one such suffix, and so was not the thief’s given first name. Early manuscripts of Matthew reveal to us that his name was in fact Jesus bar-Abbas. Early monks were likely too ashamed that the murdering seditionist should have the same name as Christ and deleted it from the text. But there is purpose in the comparison. Jesus of Nazareth sought to bring about the kingdom of God, so did Jesus bar-Abbas. Jesus of Nazareth sought to bring it about by faith and repentance, while Jesus bar-Abbas sought to bring it about by murder, violence, and force--the method most Jews of the day expected the Messiah to usher in his reign. Jesus bar-Abbas means “Jesus son of the Father” while Jesus Christ was literally the Son of Heavenly Father. These are just a few of the comparisons.
The narrative ends with Jesus proclaiming his absolute power and commanding the disciples to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. Through Matthew’s account, we see the triumph of Jesus over death and the steps it took to get him there.

The miracle of modern-day printing

Thomas Jefferson once said, “I cannot live without books.” Most of the ideas that fueled Jefferson’s outlook on life, and consequently those of our nation’s revolution, came out of books written by philosophers of the time like Rousseau and Locke. Joseph Smith’s First Vision and encounter with God came after he prayed at the behest of a book, in this case the Holy Bible.
The ability of the common layperson to read the scriptures on his own was one of the most important spiritual developments of the Christian era. For more than a thousand years, the Roman Catholic church dominated religious thought in Western Europe. The Vulgate from which they preached was written in Latin and kept mostly in the hands of ministers, who were also usually the only ones who could understand Latin. The translation of the Bible into vernacular languages and its mass-production allowed ideas to diversify. Martin Luther, the most famous of the so-called “Reformers,” questioned the sale of indulgences and other church practices upon his own inspection of the Bible. This eventually paved the way for the Restoration of the gospel through Joseph Smith.
Knowing this history and its relevance to Latter-Day Saints, I enjoyed attending the Crandall Printing Museum. I was fascinated by the process Guttenberg underwent to make his movable-type printing press functional. I was aware before that Guttenberg did not invent the press, as it came from China through the Mongols. I was unaware, however, of how many innovations and inventions Guttenberg really made. I was amazed by his technique of casting letters and ink making. He had to carve by hand each individual letter out of a solid metal block. He had to experiment by trial-and-error to find the right mixture of metals to make the type. He needed to find the right metal to make the type-mold out of. Then, after Guttenberg figured out how to make and assemble the new type, he was confronted with a paper problem. The paper used at the time was meant to be used with water-based inks, but water-based inks would not stick well or print clearly with the metal type. So, Guttenberg then had to experiment with oil-based mixtures until he found a suitable ink. These are a few of the examples of how much Guttenberg had to innovate to make the movable-type printing press work. I had no idea how much work he put into it to make it work.
I learned how important Guttenberg really was. I knew before that he was one of the most influential men in history, but I didn’t know how much he really innovated rather than just put together existing ideas.
I also had no idea how much of a miracle it was that 5000 copies of the Book of Mormon could be printed and bound so quickly. The printers worked at an unreal rate in order to print the requisite number of pages, and the binding was done in a miraculous amount of time. I know that God had a hand in the development and implementation of the printing press. The spread of the gospel worldwide needed such an invention. Through it, millions of copies of the Book of Mormon and the Holy Bible have been printed and enlightened millions of lives around the globe. I gained a greater appreciation of printing and its impact on history and my own life.

The Nativity

Matthew and Luke were both written with Mark as a guide and other information added. One part of the story of Jesus of Nazareth Mark does not record is about His miraculous conception and birth. Luke and Matthew both tell elements of this story, but the different emphases of each writer is indicative of their respective focuses and target audiences.
Matthew’s gospel is full of fulfillment passages, as his focus and audience was both Jews and Jewish Christians. Matthew begins by citing the genealogy of Christ directly back to King David, who Jews knew was to be a progenitor of the Messiah. Another example of a fulfillment passage in Matthew’s narrative of the Saviour’s birth is in Matthew 1:23 in which he shows that the angel speaking to Joseph in a dream fulfills a prophecy in Isaiah about the name of Christ: “Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.” Matthew merely mentions where Jesus was born, and moves on to the story of Herod and the wise men when Jesus would have already been a little child.
Luke, on the other hand, is a Greek, gentile convert whose audience is other gentiles. He doesn’t start with a genealogical line since he doesn’t need to establish to his audience that Jesus meets the qualifications set forth by the prophets for the Messiah. Luke takes a very linear approach by going into great detail about Zacharias and Elizabeth’s conception of John. As noted previously, Luke’s linear style of writing is a result of his being a physician and natural historian. He details the pregnancy and birth of John as the forerunner of Christ, then gives a detailed account of the night of Jesus’s birth. He details how the common shepherds were told of the birth and how they worshipped the new baby.
Luke also writes about and details the character of Mary. He shows how pivotal of a role Mary played and how amazing of a woman she was by showing her pure faith and humility compared to Zechariah’s disbelief at angelic tidings. Luke is interested in gender relationships throughout his narrative and shows a strong woman in the birth story.

The four “gospels” of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John provide us with an accurate, precious view of the life of the Saviour. These books are the primary source of our knowledge of Jesus of Nazareth’s life and teachings. As posted before, Mark was a prominent member of the early church. The Last Supper may have been held at his family’s house, he served multiple missions with Paul and Barnabus, and was with Peter in Rome. His sources in writing were primarily Peter and other eyewitnesses of Jesus’s teachings and works. Matthew, to whom the first book in our present compilation of the New Testament is credited, and John were apostles of Christ. Who is Luke?
Luke is never mentioned by name in the New Testament. However, by examining his text and analyzing his words, we can know more about this man. Luke begins his narrative by writing his reasons and qualifications for writing about Jesus. He writes that the records already had (likely the gospel of Mark amongst other things) are true and accurate, but that he is qualified to write additional material because he has done his research. We assume that Luke was a doctor. Doctors then and now could be considered historians of sorts since they think cause-and-effect. When a patient comes into their office with an illness, the doctor asks them their history in the last few days or weeks to try to determine the cause of the ailment. Luke would therefore be a good historian in researching and piecing together the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth.
From the early passages of Luke and parts of the Acts of the Apostles, we can piece together where and how long Luke would be doing his research. In Luke 1:3, he basically dedicates the book to his patron, or the one who funded and financially supported him as he wrote. When compared with Acts 1:1, it can be argued that Luke was also the primary author of the this book as well. If this is the case, then Luke is implicitly mentioned in Acts 16:10. When describing the activities and journeys of the people therein, the pronoun changes from “he” and “they” to “we.” So, we can roughly pinpoint the time that Luke rejoins Paul in the ministry. We know, therefore, that Luke was in Judaea and Galilee for two entire years. It is probable that Luke was researching and interviewing people during this span. He likely went to Capernaum and other sites of Jesus’s ministry to get first-hand accounts of what happened. He too wanted to construct his narrative of the Saviour’s life from those who witnessed it for themselves.
Due to his careful research and methodical, linear writing style, we have a different view of Jesus’s life than that presented to us by Mark. We get an account of His birth in Bethlehem, for example. We have a clearer, better picture of Jesus the Christ thanks to a man who never even met him, a physician named Luke.