(verse 29)<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Latter-day Saints have no paid clergy. \u00a0A few who\u2019ve been called out of their ordinary lives in order to serve full-time in the Church receive stipends, but there aren\u2019t very many of these. \u00a0The bishops and stake presidents and the counselors to them who administer the day-to-day affairs of the Church in its local congregations are uncompensated, as are the army of teachers and choir directors and organists and youth leaders and Scoutmasters and others who carry out its mission.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
We have sometimes concluded from this, quite illegitimately, that clergymen and -women of other faiths are guilty of what Nephi calls \u201cpriestcraft\u201d because they\u2019re paid. \u00a0But surely his condemnation doesn\u2019t refer to those who sincerely try to serve, to counsel, and to comfort \u2014 often, yes, in salaried positions but, almost as often, on meager salaries that don\u2019t really match the amount of training and effort that have gone into their service.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nephi is quite clear about what, in his view, constitutes the sin of priestcraft: \u00a0\u201cpriestcrafts are that men preach and set\u00a0themselves\u00a0up for a light unto the world, that they may get\u00a0gain\u00a0and\u00a0praise\u00a0of the world; but they seek not the\u00a0welfare\u00a0of Zion.\u201d \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
In other words, the motivation is all-important. \u00a0Those guilty of priestcraft are self-aggrandizing. \u00a0They want either money or prestige. \u00a0Service to God, his kingdom, and his people is far down on their list of priorities, if it makes the list at all.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
It seems obvious to me that Latter-day Saints, too, can be guilty of priestcraft. \u00a0Not for money. \u00a0That\u2019s not available in our church. \u00a0But any fireside or sacrament meeting speaker, any Sunday school teacher, who cares most about being complimented and highly regarded rather than about perfecting the Saints and proclaiming the Gospel, about saying what the Lord would have him or her say, is flirting dangerously with the sin of priestcraft. \u00a0And, as somebody who does a lot of teaching and public speaking and who sometimes even receives compliments on it, I can promise that the temptation is always there at hand. \u00a0As Elder Maxwell once said, \u201cNever inhale.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
2.<\/strong><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
. . .\u00a0and he\u00a0inviteth\u00a0them\u00a0all\u00a0to\u00a0come\u00a0unto him and partake of his goodness; and he\u00a0denieth\u00a0none that come unto him, black and white,\u00a0bond\u00a0and free, male and female; and he remembereth the\u00a0heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0(verse 33b)<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
More and more, as the Church has emerged from its Great Basin refuge and gone around the world \u2014 and, most particularly, in the years since the great revelation on priesthood of 1978 \u2014 we\u2019re seeing how true this is. \u00a0I\u2019ve\u00a0been\u00a0delighted (for example, in Laie, Hawaii, and Hamilton, New Zealand) to be surrounded by Asian and Polynesian faces as I\u2019ve\u00a0participated in temple worship. \u00a0And ground was broken for a new temple in the Democratic Republic of the Congo just a day or two ago. \u00a0Ever increasingly, ever more visibly and obviously, the Kingdom is multiethnic and diverse.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
3.<\/strong><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hath he commanded any that they should not partake of his salvation? Behold I say unto you, Nay; but he hath\u00a0given\u00a0it free for all men; and he hath commanded his people that they should persuade all men to\u00a0repentance. \u00a0Behold, hath the Lord commanded any that they should not partake of his goodness? Behold I say unto you, Nay; but\u00a0all\u00a0men are privileged the one\u00a0like\u00a0unto the other, and none are forbidden.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0(verses 27-28)<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Calvinist doctrine of \u201climited atonement,\u201d in the sense that the atonement of Christ was never intended to apply to all, but only to those who were elected before the foundation of the world, is false.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Bible itself should already have shown this\u00a0beyond dispute\u00a0when Paul wrote, in 1 Timothy 2:4, that God \u201cwill have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
But, in such passages as 2 Nephi 26:27-28, the Lord makes it absolutely clear.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 Today\u2019s reading,\u00a02 Nephi 26, is a parade example of the clarity and plainness with which Nephi had promised to prophesy, for it is, indeed, very plain. \u00a0It outlines much of what will be unfolded, in terms of historical events, over the remainder of the Book of Mormon. \u00a0 Three passages stand out for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30932","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
BOM 2 Nephi 26<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\" Today's reading,\u00a02 Nephi 26, is a parade example of the clarity and plainness with which Nephi had promised to prophesy, for it is, indeed,\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/02\/bom-2-nephi-26.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BOM 2 Nephi 26\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\" Today's reading,\u00a02 Nephi 26, is a parade example of the clarity and plainness with which Nephi had promised to prophesy, for it is, indeed,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/02\/bom-2-nephi-26.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sic et Non\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-02-14T09:01:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-02-14T09:12:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/files\/2016\/02\/TheLifeOfNephi.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/02\/bom-2-nephi-26.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/02\/bom-2-nephi-26.html\",\"name\":\"BOM 2 Nephi 26\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-02-14T09:01:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-02-14T09:12:25+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\"},\"description\":\" Today's reading,\u00a02 Nephi 26, is a parade example of the clarity and plainness with which Nephi had promised to prophesy, for it is, indeed,\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/02\/bom-2-nephi-26.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/02\/bom-2-nephi-26.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/02\/bom-2-nephi-26.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"BOM 2 Nephi 26\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/\",\"name\":\"Sic et Non\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\",\"name\":\"Dan Peterson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dan Peterson\"},\"description\":\"\\\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\\\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"BOM 2 Nephi 26","description":" Today's reading,\u00a02 Nephi 26, is a parade example of the clarity and plainness with which Nephi had promised to prophesy, for it is, indeed,","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/02\/bom-2-nephi-26.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"BOM 2 Nephi 26","og_description":" Today's reading,\u00a02 Nephi 26, is a parade example of the clarity and plainness with which Nephi had promised to prophesy, for it is, indeed,","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/02\/bom-2-nephi-26.html","og_site_name":"Sic et Non","article_published_time":"2016-02-14T09:01:23+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-02-14T09:12:25+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/files\/2016\/02\/TheLifeOfNephi.jpg"}],"author":"Dan Peterson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dan Peterson","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/02\/bom-2-nephi-26.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/02\/bom-2-nephi-26.html","name":"BOM 2 Nephi 26","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-02-14T09:01:23+00:00","dateModified":"2016-02-14T09:12:25+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045"},"description":" Today's reading,\u00a02 Nephi 26, is a parade example of the clarity and plainness with which Nephi had promised to prophesy, for it is, indeed,","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/02\/bom-2-nephi-26.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/02\/bom-2-nephi-26.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/02\/bom-2-nephi-26.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"BOM 2 Nephi 26"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/","name":"Sic et Non","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045","name":"Dan Peterson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dan Peterson"},"description":"\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30932","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1019"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30932"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30932\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"101](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2016\/02\/TheLifeOfNephi.jpg\")
<\/a>