Tag Archives: Chauncy C. Riddle

The Greatest Formula In The Book of Mormon

July 20, 2023SpiritualityChauncy C. Riddle, God The Father, Jesus Christ, Savior, The Book of Mormon, Think IndpendentlyKathy Griffiths

What is the Greatest Formula in the Book of Mormon? The greatest formula? Is it possible that the following is the greatest?

“Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.” (2 Nephi 31:20)

The Sequence of the Formula

1. Faith (to press forward with a steadfastness in Christ), hope (having a perfect brightness of hope), and charity (and a love of God and of all men).

One of the special keys to faith in Christ is: “If you shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ…” Faith in Christ takes effort, for it is a “doing.” “But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?” (James 2:20) The action involves feeling strongly about what we are doing, not a weak nibbling, but a strong, wholehearted pursuit of whatever goal the word of Christ has brought to us. And one must be constant in this pursuit of obedience, not blowing hot and cold. Enduring to the end is to be so faithful that we become like Christ himself, who sought not his own will but who carefully and exactly fulfilled his father’s will.

2. Become as our Savior.

There is no greater goal any human being could have than to become as our Savior, relishing eternal life and its work of blessing others with the powers of godhood unto all eternity. To apply this formula one must keep the great commandment: “Thou shalt love the Lord, thy God, with all thy heart, might, mind and strength, and in the name of Jesus Christ thou shalt serve him.” (D&C 59:5)

3. To love God, the Father, with all of our heart involves at least three strong feelings.

First, that we honor Him as the greatest person we know about because of his unfailing righteousness (always blessing others). Second, we should be overwhelmed with gratitude because of the multitude of blessings God has showered upon us. No matter how great our problems are, our blessings always way outweigh our problems. Thirdly, we should be grateful for his offer to share all that he is and has with us, if only we can stand that weight of glory. His commandments are the keys to qualifying to be able to accept and live with that glory.

Loving God with All our Heart, Might, Mind, and Strength

To love God with all our heart also means that our hearts are filled with His love for all of His children and all of His creations. Mormon counsels us to, “pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ;” (Moroni 7:48)

To love God with all of our might means to use all the power and influence we have in this world to do his work of blessing others. We implement this by scanning our horizon constantly to see who we can bless and how we can bless them, even as our Father does. Then we proceed to use all the power we possess to execute those blessings we have seen are needed.

To love God with all of our mind means to treasure his truth. Our access to his truth, the real truth, is to receive the Holy Ghost, for by the power of the Holy Ghost we can know the truth of all things. To comb through our mind and carefully separate out the lies and half-truths planted there by Satan is a necessary precursor to basking in the knowledge of truth offered by our Savior.

To love God with all of our strength means to use our physical body to do God’s work of blessing others. Lending a helping hand to giving blood to bless others fulfills this opportunity. The greatest opportunity our strength affords is to beget children and to nurture and bless them in Christ.

Thus if we “press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men” we will come to that greatest of all blessings given by God, the gift of eternal life and eternal lives.

Chauncy C. Riddle

What Is the Most Important Gift To Mankind?

May 28, 2023SpiritualityCharity, Chauncy C. Riddle, Faith, Jesus ChristKathy Griffiths

What is the most important gift of God to mankind mentioned in the Book of Mormon? The most important gift? What a value judgment. However, let us see if there are reasons it is so.

I believe the most important gift of God to man is mentioned in the Book of Mormon. It is the gift of charity. Another way to name that gift is to say it is the gift of a pure heart. Only a pure heart can love fully and purely. Charity is the pure love that Christ has for all others.

Moroni 7:43-48: “And again, behold I say unto you that he cannot have faith and hope, save he shall be meek, and lowly of heart. If so, his faith and hope are vain, for none is acceptable before God, save the meek and lowly in heart. If a man be meek and lowly in heart, and confesses by the power of the Holy Ghost that Jesus is the Christ, he must needs have charity; for if he have not charity he is nothing; wherefore he must needs have charity. And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.”

“Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail— But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.”

Why Charity?

There is an important reason why charity, pure love, is the greatest gift of God to man. Any human being can be saved from the penalty, due to his having sinned, only through his having faith in Jesus Christ.

The penalty due for sins includes suffering for those sins with the same amount of suffering the person caused in others through that person’s sinning. He must also make restitution for having wounded or deprived those whom he has sinned against.

The person cannot be forgiven of having sinned until the suffering caused by the sinning has been met by an equal amount of suffering and until the person(s) he has sinned against is fully recompensed for the damage done to them by those sins. He or she remains as if he or she had never been sinned against.

A person who has sinned must do all he or she can to repair the damage done to others through his or her sinning. However, no one except Christ can fully make those who sinned against the whole as if they had never been sinned against. They must suffer an equal amount to the suffering they have caused others through sinning unless they repent and come unto Christ and keep covenants with him. Then the suffering of the Savior in the Atonement answers the law of justice by his suffering, and the Savior forgives the one who has come unto him in covenant, keeping the faith.

The Pure Love of Christ

The great thing about the gift of charity, which is the pure love of Christ, is that the person who receives this gift no longer sins. This person who has charity has become like the Savior. The greatest thing we know about the Savior is that because he does his Father’s will in all things, he never sins. The work of Christ is to help us to become as he is and sin no longer. It also helps us make payment for sins we have committed. Only after those two things are accomplished can anyone be exalted.

For both, we must come unto Jesus Christ and become his little child, “submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.” (Mosiah 3:19)

So, to gain this gift is to become everything. Not to attain it still to be nothing. Our Father and Savior do not want us to remain as nothing. They are trying to share with us the most important thing they have, charity, which is a pure heart.

And you may wonder why faith in Christ is not the greatest gift. Actually, faith is not a wrong answer. It is just that a little faith does not do the job. Charity is the fullness of faith. Only faith that serves God and neighbor with all one’s heart, might, mind and strength can be the greatest gift. The name for that fullness of faith in Christ is charity, the pure love of Christ from Christ.

Eternal Life

But what about D&C 14:7, which says: “And if you keep my commandments and endure to the end you shall have eternal life, which gift is the greatest of all of the gifts of God.” What is eternal life?

“God works to enable his children’s return to his presence so that they may both live with him and live as he does.” (Encyclopedia of Mormonism, article “Eternal Life.”) How does he live? He lives to bless, to minister to others. And how does he bless? He blesses with a pure love, divine charity, doing nothing but helping each person or thing he blesses to have as much joy as possible. So it turns out that “eternal life” is but another name for the fullness of love, which is charity, which is the fruit of a pure heart. So the greatest gift of God to man is eternal life, or charity, or a pure heart, or a fullness of faith in Jesus Christ, all four being different names for doing the same thing.

Chauncey C. Riddle – Guest Post

The Most Important Spiritual Warning in the Book of Mormon

April 4, 2023Spiritualitybook of mormon, Chauncy C. Riddle, PrideKathy Griffiths

Pride, the most important spiritual warning? What a value judgment. But there are reasons why it might be so. The spiritual warning in the Book of Mormon is as follows:

“They wear stiff necks and high heads; yea, and because of pride, and wickedness, and abominations, and whoredoms, they have all gone astray save it be a few, who are the humble followers of Christ; nevertheless, they are led, that in many instances they do err because they are taught by the precepts of men. Oh, the wise, and the learned, and the rich, that are puffed up in the pride of their hearts, and all those who preach false doctrines, and all those who commit whoredoms, and pervert the right way of the Lord, wo, wo, wo be unto them, saith the Lord God Almighty, for they shall be thrust down to hell.” (2 Nephi 28: 14-15.)”

“Behold, the pride of this nation, or the people of Nephi, hath proven their destruction except they should repent.” (Moroni 8:27)

Pride has Four Great faults

1. Pride does not acknowledge that the advantages one has (health, strength, intelligence, wealth) are all gifts from God. To acknowledge those gifts would be humility, the opposite of pride.
2. Pride keeps us from seeing ourselves as we truly are, in great need of being saved from ourselves.
3. Pride justifies us in trespassing against our neighbor, advancing ourselves at our neighbor’s expense.
4. Pride blocks us from receiving the Holy Spirit, that companionship that is essential to salvation.

Pride Does Not Acknowledge Gifts From God

1. Pride does not acknowledge that the advantages one has (health, strength, intelligence, wealth) are all gifts from God. To acknowledge those as gifts would be humility, the opposite of pride.

The “natural man,” a human being who has not been rescued from spiritual death through faith in Jesus Christ, usually thinks of himself or herself as a product of nature. Blind chance has brought him or her into this world and has given all that the person has, and therefore there is no gratitude due to anyone for any advantages one may have.

Pride Keeps Us From Seeing Ourselves

2. Pride keeps us from seeing ourselves as we truly are, in great need of being saved from ourselves. Our only real enemy is the character weaknesses that allow us to break the commandments of God. One part of Christ’s mission is to direct the Holy Spirit to labor with each of us to give up our weaknesses and gain the strength to become like Jesus Christ. Then we also will only do the will of the Father. Then the world will be at peace and we will have a heaven on earth. If we would each give up our pride in our sinning and become like little children, meek, submissive, and obedient to the Savior, then the millennium would come without the need to cleanse the earth of all pride and arrogance.

Pride Justifies Us Against Our Neighbor

Pride justifies us in trespassing against our neighbor, advancing ourselves at our neighbor’s expense. The proud person thinks to himself “I deserve what I want” and proceeds to take what he wants by any means. This proud person does not know God but does listen to the voice of Satan. Satan assures him that he does indeed deserve what he wants. And Satan always confirms him in his selfish desires, a most desirable companion to those who see themselves as the most important person on the scene.

Pride Blocks Us From Receiving the Holy Spirit

Pride blocks us from receiving the Holy Spirit, that companionship that is essential to salvation. The proud person cannot receive the ministrations of the Holy Spirit because he does not want to do so. He wants to see himself as more, not less, and the Holy Spirit always enjoins one to be humble, as a little child, and to sacrifice to bless others. But the proud person always wants to be more, not less, and to help someone else only if the deed will renown to his own glory.

Remember: The ultimate pride is to reject Jesus Christ and to pretend that we don’t need Him.

Chauncey C. Riddle
“Guest Post”

P.S. Chauncy C. Riddle’s understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ and his political awareness is unmatched. Chauncey C Riddle is a Professor Emeritus of Philosophy from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. He is a religious leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He has written many articles for the Ensign, Sunstone Magazine, and BYU Studies. He has also written countless articles and has published the milestone book entitled, “Think Independently,” which can be purchased at Amazon

You may be interested in additional “Guest Posts” by Chauncey C. Riddle.

“Two Hearts and Two Minds”
“The Most Important Verse in the Book of Mormon”
“The Great And Abominable Church”
“The Most Important Temporal Warning In The Book of Mormon”

His website, “Learning To Think”, has several fascinating articles: chaunceyriddle.org

The Most Important Temporal Warning

March 8, 2023Spiritualitybook of mormon, Chauncy C. Riddle, Conspiracy Theories, Temporal WarningKathy Griffiths

What is the most important temporal warning in the Book of Mormon? The most important temporal warning? What a value judgment! But there are reasons why it might be so.

“And now I, Moroni, do not write the manner of their oaths and combinations, for it hath been made known unto me that they are had among all people, and they are had among the Lamanites.

And they have caused the destruction of this people of whom I am now speaking, and also the destruction of the people of Nephi. And whatsoever nation shall uphold such secret combinations, to get power and gain, until they shall spread over the nation, behold they will be destroyed; for the Lord will not suffer that the blood of the saints, which shall be shed by them, shall always cry unto him from the ground for vengeance upon them and yet avenge them not.

Wherefore, O ye Gentiles, it is wisdom in God that these things should be shown unto you, that thereby you may repent of your sins, and suffer not that these murderous combinations shall get above you, which are built up to get power and gain—and the work of destruction come upon you, yea, even the sword of the justice of the Eternal God shall fall upon you, to your overthrow and destruction if ye shall suffer these things to be.

Wherefore, the Lord commandeth you, when ye shall see these things come among you that you shall awake to a sense of your awful situation, because of the secret combinations which shall be among you; or wo be unto it because of the blood of those who have been slain; for they cry from the dust for vengeance upon it, and also upon those who built it up.

For it cometh to pass that whoso buildeth it up seeketh to overthrow the freedom of all lands, nations, and countries; and it bringeth the destruction of all people, for it is built up by the devil, who is the father of all lies; even that same liar who beguiled our first parents, yea, even that same liar who hath caused man to commit murder from the beginning; who hath hardened the hearts of men that they have murdered the prophets, and stoned them, and cast them out from the beginning.” (Ether 8:20-25)

One of the Main Tactics

One of its main ploys is to ridicule conspiracy theories.

The Theosophical Society of America offers this comment on a book about conspiracy theories: “Conspiracy Theories, then, are far from harmless. Such wrongheaded thinking can be pernicious, and ultimately downright destructive. Cassam runs down a list: antivaxxers; anticredentialism in general; “the death of expertise”; Brexit; anti-Semitism on both the left and the right.

“Therefore Conspiracy theories promote symbols and beliefs that have consequences unforeseen by moderates. Furthermore, they “diminish the credibility of legitimate criticisms” and are also a “distraction from big-picture social issues.” Review of Conspiracy Theories by Quassim Cassam, Cambridge, U.K.: Polity Press, 2019.

In other words, public, just believe what you are told.

This Movement is a Religion

This movement is actually a religion, with all the trappings of a religion.

This religion has its temples (universities), priestly vestments (cap and gown), ordinances (graduation ceremonies), a theology (there is no God, all things are natural, there is no right and wrong).

This religion is behind getting rid of public displays of the Ten Commandments. It is behind the LGBT+ movement. It encourages “living together” instead of marriage. It promotes abortion and euthanasia. This movement is the great and abominable church mentioned in the scriptures.

This threat is organized from the Spirit world, inspired and guided by Satan. It will be a major player on the world scene until the Savior comes in his Second Coming. Those who cooperate and participate in this programmed evil are the tares of the earth who will be burned at the Second Coming of Christ.

Control Over All Culture

The humanist movement is the dominant force and idealogy in the world today.

It is the philosophy behind communism and socialism. It has quietly taken control of our education systems, threatens scientific objectivism, controls our media, and is behind the “woke” movement.

Politics in the United States mostly concerns how much socialism we shall allow, with socialism gradually increasing and taking over our politics. Socialism, the governing of the masses by those “most intelligent” human beings, is the antithesis of what the true disciples of Christ seek, which is Zion, a people so pure in heart that they all do only the will of Christ.
They spend their time blessing others in his name and through his power.

Zion is a people who do not take their instructions from any human being unless those instructions are confirmed by the Holy Spirit, which is the will of Christ. The will of Christ is that they become fully honest, true, chaste, and benevolent, having all things in common out of a pure heart.

These latter days are a showdown between the cause of Christ (Zion) and humanism. Humanism seeks to govern all mankind by a socialist world order. Moroni would have us be fully aware of this confrontation and make sure we promote the cause of Christ and do not give power to the cause of Satan.

Chauncey C. Riddle
“Guest Post”

P.S. Chauncy C. Riddle and I have been very good friends for a long time. His understanding of the gospel of Jesus Christ and his political awareness is unmatched. Chauncey C Riddle is a Professor Emeritus of Philosophy from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. He is a religious leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He has written many articles for the Ensign, Sunstone Magazine, and BYU Studies. He has also written countless articles and has published the milestone book entitled, “Think Independently,” which everyone should read.

You may be interested in additional “Guest Posts” by Chauncey C. Riddle.

“Two Hearts and Two Minds”
“The Most Important Verse in the Book of Mormon”
“The Great And Abominable Church”

His website has several fascinating articles: chaunceyriddle.org

The Most Important Verse In the Book of Mormon

January 10, 2023Spiritualitybook of mormon, Chauncy C. Riddle, Christ, EvilKathy Griffiths

Guest Post: Chauncy C. Riddle

This is the most important verse in the Book of Mormon. That is a strong value judgment. But there are some reasons why it might be so.

The verse is 2 Nephi 26:24:

“He (God) doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the world, even that he layeth down his own life that he may draw all men unto him. Wherefore he commandeth none that they shall not partake of his salvation.”

“Benefit” means doing good, blessing, and ministering to others. God does this because of his heartfelt love for each human. The totality of all human beings is “the world” in the scriptures. Christ has suffered for the sins and pains of each and every human being in order to be able to bless each one with forgiveness of sins, resurrection, and glory.

He hopes to bless each human will all, with exaltation in eternity. But he respects each person and will put upon each only that which each has shown he or she wants to receive and does follow the covenant path to become able to receive. Not everyone can stand to receive all that God tries to give them. The reasons why this verse is the most important verse come under three headings:

1. This verse gives us a most important feature of our knowledge about our God.

2. This verse solves the problem of evil in the world.

3. This verse sheds great light on the commandments God has given us

Knowledge About Our God

1. This verse gives us a most important feature of our knowledge about our God.
Usual discussions of the nature of God sometimes focus on how much he knows, what he can do, and where he is.

Our God is said to be omniscient, that he knows everything that can be known, past, present, and future. In the Book of Mormon, Jacob exclaims: “Oh how great the goodness of our God. For he knoweth all things and there is not anything, save he knows it.” (2 Nephi 9:20). This means God is never puzzled or in the dark about anything. He knows and understands all things. Therefore he knows how to bless each of his children.

Usual discussions also emphasize the power of God, that he has all power. This means that he can do anything that can be done. The Savior said: “All power is given unto me in heaven and in the earth.” (Matthew 28:18). Thus he is never frustrated by the inability to bless each human being.

Our God is also present everywhere in the universe. “Whither shall I go from thy spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.” (Psalms 139:7-10) This is to say that wherever any of his children are in the universe, God finds and blesses them.

And our God is also good, which is to say that he blesses or helps each of his children to enjoy as much blessing as each can stand to receive. And this is where our special verse from the Book of Mormon quoted above applies. It is well understood by mankind that God blesses his children. What is not as well known is what this verse explains: God only blesses his children. Some persons are wont to attribute curses to God, and the scriptures actually use that word.

But this verse in the Book of Mormon tells us that any so-called curse from God is actually a blessing and will result in some great benefit and opportunity for the recipient. Thus, God only blesses. Everything he does is to advance the happiness, power, and well-being of his children. But again, he will not put upon any child of his any blessing in eternity that a person cannot profit from. Thus some are damned to spare them blessings which would cause them to regress. And this damnation itself is a blessing.

The Problem of Evil in the World

2. This verse solves the problem of evil in the world. Anything is evil if it is not as good as it could or should be. Every human sin is evil, something which need not and should not be.

For every human sin shortens the blessings and welfare of the sinner’s fellow beings. God’s commandments are given so that we will have guidance and power not to do evil, but to bless only, even as God does. God holds each human being accountable for all evil each has done, and our Savior counts any evil we do to any person as if we had done it unto him. If we repent of doing evil, our Savior forgives us. But if we will not and do not repent, he must hold us accountable on the day of judgment.

But there is a lot of evil in this world that is not the doing of any human being. There are diseases, natural disasters such as storms and volcanic activity, opposition from wild animals, heat and cold that devastate, etc. The point of this special scripture from the Book of Mormon is that all so-called evil in this world is the hand of God delivering something to his human children which will eventuate blessings that they will eventually recognize and be grateful for.

For God’s hand is in all things. Nothing happens in this universe except with his permission. He lets what we call evil treatment by humans and by natural disasters in nature function as avenues for blessings greater than the evils humans suffer. Thus each human should be grateful for any suffering he or she undergoes, understanding that if he or she will turn to God as a little child and humbly submits to the so-called evils that come upon them, that paves the way for greater blessings from God.

“For the natural man (a man without Christ in this mortal world) is an enemy (does not love) to God, and has been since the fall of Adam (because of the influence and temptations of Satan) and will be forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit (accepts Jesus Christ as his father and guide), and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint (having the companionship of the Holy Spirit) through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love (for Christ and for all of God’s creation), willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him (to bless him), even as a child doth submit to his father (for that person who comes unto Christ counts Christ as his father)” (Mosiah 3:19)

This discussion of evil makes no sense to those who do not believe in the immortality of the human soul: no pre-mortal and no post-mortal human existence. For only in the post-mortal life do all the evils of mortality become known as blessings.

Thus everything God brings to pass happens because God is using it to bless his children, to help each enjoy all the blessings and powers of God himself if they can stand to receive such magnificence.

Shedding Great Light on God’s Commandments

3. This verse sheds great light on the commandments God has given to us, his mortal children. Salvation in Christ is to change our personal character from the way we were, as the natural man in this mortality, into the character and nature of Christ himself. This is done by the individual exercising faith in Christ unto repentance from everything we are and do that is not like him, to “come unto the measure of the fullness of the stature of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:13)

This explains why our Savior commands us to: “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that you may be the children of your Father which is in heaven, for he maketh his sun to shine upon the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and the unjust … Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in Heaven is perfect.” (Mathew 5: 44-48) This is what Christ himself does, and he bids us to follow his example.

This verse in the Book of Mormon is the most important verse because it clarifies for us the most important characteristic of our God: that his heart is filled only with unmixed, pure love for all of his children and for all creation. Knowing the most important thing about God our Father is the most important thing any human could know. And gaining and using that pure love from him in order to purely minister to others is the most important thing any human will ever do.

Guest Post: Chauncy C. Riddle

Author of “Think Independently”.

It’s About Time

Science Harmonized with Religion