Does God Exist? Defining God.

As with everything I write, I do not intend this to be accepted as authoritative, only as a (hopefully) reasoned opinion.

Ground work first:

Doctrine & Covenants 93: 10 God was in the beginning, all things were made by God.

 -- vs. 23, 24 We were also in the beginning, our spirits, the core of truth that is the individual.

 -- v. 26 The Spirit of Truth is the Spirit of God

 -- v. 29 Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be.

 -- v. 30 All truth is independent in that sphere in which God has placed it, to act for itself, as all intelligence also; otherwise there is no existence.

If I understand this correctly, we are of the same stuff as God. But so are the animals, plants, and rocks, and so are the atoms and subatomic particles.

In fact, so are our engineering constructs, scientific theories, and mathematical automata, to the extent they are functional. So are our thoughts and ideas themselves, to the extent they are true.

Borrowing, for a moment, from computer science theory, I will use automata as the basis of a model of complexity. (Bear with me, there is reason to this.) Thus:

• Simple levers are an example of your simplest, context-free class of automata. A given input always results in a given output.
  
  Machines that implement such automata are usually fairly easy to design and test, although, if they contain enough levers (or the electronic equivalent, transistors), a thorough brute-force test might require a really long time.
  
  
• Push-on, push-off switches kind of sit at the boundary of the simplest class and the next class. Also, those one-button controls which, by pressing the same button, sequence through a series of selections (for example, bright/dim/night-light/off) are at this boundary.
  
  These can be harder to design and test. A current 64-bit CPU register, for example, cannot be sequenced through every possible combination before we expect our sun to shift out of the main phase. Perhaps I don't need to point this out, but the register itself will fail first.
  
  We generally use some testing strategy other than brute-force in such cases.
  
  
• The next level of complexity is where one or more inputs interact with the current state and the previous state to produce the new state. A laundromat washer controller which allows selection based on the number and kinds of coins and bills inserted to present a set of allowed selections would be an example.
  
  Again, the difficulty of design and testing increases. Even though some of the simpler examples, like the washing machine, can be fairly straightforward, it can be easy to discover failure modes in such machines that prevent further operation and even prevent further testing -- or even cause the machine to self-destruct.
  
  
• The third level of complexity is where you have an ordered memory (memory stack) that allows a machine to try to determine the correct response state by recording input, trying candidate states in some order, comparing them to the input up to a certain point, and backing up to try another if the current candidate state fails. Recursive descent parsers such as those used by computer languages are arch-typical of this class of automaton, although they usually cross over into the next class of complexity because of the complexity of language itself.
  
  For what it's worth, this is the class of automata where testing begins to be really difficult. Thorough testing of these automata generally requires more time than we have -- more than we have time-to-market, longer than we can expect the machine to remain functional, longer than known life of the universe.
  
  So we use test strategies in our designs, and we expect to find failure modes during operation.
  
  
• The fourth level requires multiple ordered memories and other features that can easily become impossible to design correctly, much less test well.
  
  All natural human language is in this class.
  
  If we analyze animals from the point of view of automata, animals are at this level or beyond.
  
  
• We do not know if there are levels beyond the fourth level.
  
  Our mathematicians seem to have proven that two memory stacks should be sufficient for anything we can describe beyond the third level, and we are confident of the math in the proof, but we are not fully confident in the assumptions.
  
  Anyway, we know that we, ourselves, are at the fourth level or beyond.
  
  The solar system, if analyzed from this point of view, is also at the fourth level or beyond. If it's meaningful to analyze the universe as an automaton, for us inside the universe, it is definitely at the fourth level or beyond. I'm leaving out even the high-level description of why we can think this is so, but I am confident of it.
  
  Any God that could exist and be really God must also be capable of behavior beyond our level of complexity, thus at or above the fourth level. Some mathematicians assert, probably in jest, that God must be at a fifth level.
   
• And (drum-roll): laws. The laws which we make to run our society, and the rules we make to live by, tend to start at the lowest level of complexity, and then quickly escalate into the fourth.
  

 

All of that kind of glosses over the differences between ideal automata and real machines, but I think it is enough for the present discussion. 

** Except. I must note here that computers are essentially very large first-level complexity devices into which structures which mimic third- and fourth-level behavior -- within certain limits -- have been constructed. Specifically, they contain memory which can be accessed in an orderly way, allowing stacks and other lists to be constructed. 

They have limits on the sizes of those stacks and lists, but as long as those limits are not exceeded, they can behave at the higher levels.

** Well, I should also note here, that our behavior, human behavior, occurs at all four levels of complexity. What we call deep, multi-dimensional personality is fourth-level complexity.

Put another way, fourth-level complexity tends to express itself as personality. There is a sort-of-equivalence, which I will offer but not prove here -- too much philosophy in one sitting.

** And one more point: Computer languages tend to cross over into fourth-level complexity for a very good reason. Mathematically speaking, there is nothing within the third level of complexity to assign meaning (semantics) to either symbols or language. This is why we can define, if we so choose, a constant called BLACK in a computer program which, when passed to a specific function, paints a white dot on a computer screen.

There is some disagreement about how symbols and semantics get attached, even in the fourth level. Or, rather, we can talk about etymologies, traditions, databases and all sorts of mechanical stuff, but we ultimately are not able, within science or mathematics, to explain why and how words communicate meaning.

In our current milieu, for instance, the word "love" is variously given meanings that range from "lust" to "preference" to  "desire" to specific "desire for another person's happiness". What it means in any specific case is pretty much subject to both the intent of the speaker and the intent of the listener.

** And ,now, there is a question I must ask here:

The first two commandments of Mosaic law forbid the making of any god before God. What is that?

I'm going to leave out a lot more philosophical stuff here, but what we hold as our "gods" are the things we set at top priority in our lives -- the concepts, ideals, physical objects, people, etc., that we use to determine the rules which we choose to operate our lives by.

Hold that thought, okay?

The Devil

No one really likes to associate with habitual liars. Sure, they may be interesting for a while, but eventually you get tired of it.

But we need to know there is such a spirit, because not all spiritual influences are beneficial.

There is an influence that tries to convince us that deceiving others for fun and personal gain is a good thing. Talking about the devil too much is not productive, but it is important to note that that influence is real.

Among the common lies that the deceiver tries to get us to believe is that the devil is red of body, has horns and a tail, carries a pitchfork, and has all the fun. 

Now, professional magicians do not all follow the devil, nor do all accountants, lawyers, and burlesque performers. Some apparently do, but not all. Maybe not even most.

In fact, many self-professed devil worshipers only think they are following the devil, while they are, in fact, not. 

How does this happen?

The devil also has a particular habit of claiming that he is God. Then he might claim that God is like himself in some particular way. Then he might say, "But such a being is [fill-in-the-blank-negation]! It's stupid to believe in such a being. God does not exist!" 

Why would he do this? He is a habitual liar. Apparently, he thinks to make some gain by deceiving us.

I bring this up here because many of the traditional descriptions of God are from the deceiver. I see no need to defend those. Nor to worry about them, once we have accepted that they are wrong.

Why does the devil exist?

The devil does play an important role. Without opposite charge poles, electricity does not flow. Without the gravity well, water does not flow down, nor does evaporated water rise. 

Does that mean that we should pity the devil for taking that role and giving us necessary spiritual opposition? Not if it tempts us to follow the spirit of deception, at any rate.

With that background, here is my understanding of the identity of God:

The Progenitor: 

(Traditionally called The Father in English because of limits inherent in the language more than gender or any other reason I know of.)

This is the generative principle, the set of principles by which the natural universe around us operates -- the Grand Unifying Principles which many physicists and other scientists suspect is there, and some seek to discover. 

I don't know if there was a big bang, but, if there was, this set of principles would be the set of principles that formed the initial conditions at the moment of the big bang.

Does this set of principles have personality? Within the first few moments after the big bang, the universe developed enough structure to act as a collection of multi-stack automata, which puts the universe itself immediately right into that fourth level of complexity. 

So, yes, the universe itself must have a personality, of a sort.

Since we can say that the conditions at the time of the big bang are expressed in the current physical structure of the universe, we can suggest that the nature of the universe is an expression of the personality of God.

Our scientists now have evidence to assert that the universe is probably larger than even a very-long-lived human stuck on earth for as long as the earth exists could ever observe the limits of. And, in fact, if said near-immortal continued to live, but were confined to the remnants of our sun in that far future, tens and hundreds of billions of years forward, the speed limit of light prevents such a person from seeing beyond a certain limit.

If that is true, there is no way any human, nor any institution of man's making, will ever be able to fully comprehend the universe.

And, given the tendency we mortals have to die, and the tendencies of our societies to self-destruct, we must always expect our science to reveal things which we hadn't known before.

Therefore, God is far too great for us to comprehend, and, even if we can say that there is a God who exists as a personage, if we claim to own that God, we claim a false God.

This is very important in the argument about whether God exists, so I'll repeat it:

Any God that a particular mortal person or group of mortal people can claim is uniquely theirs alone is by definition false.

God must be far greater than anything we can imagine or even attempt to define, but that does not mean that God does not exist.

Now, if you are bothered that the idea that the great mean God that your preacher taught was breathing hell-fire at you every time you turned around might actually exist, remember, if your preacher claimed some unique ownership to that God, it was false. 

People get excited when they understand something new, and often forget that other things exists. That's part of the process of backing up on the memory stack and starting down another parse path. Preachers are no exception to this tendency, although some do try hard to remember that they are not yet perfect, as long as they are mortal.

We'll be kind to your preacher and assume it was your preacher's misunderstanding.

In mathematics, two functions which parse the same set of symbols and produce the same results can be considered identical within the context of the specified set of symbols. 

It does not follow in some logical causality, but it does help us understand that, if some immortal being were able to fully develop all of the personality and attributes of the Progenitor, that immortal being could stand in for the Progenitor in any interaction, and nothing would change.

That can't happen within a mortal lifetime, but the eternities are more than just a very long time.

Is there a specific Progenitor, with a personality and all? 

I know a couple of things: One, the universe itself has a personality. And, two, my understanding of the scriptures indicates that there is a specific being that fully has all the personality and attributes of the Progenitor, distinct from the pre-mortal Jesus, with oversight responsibilities for the creation of our solar system and life on this earth. Also, I think I have scriptural basis to identify Jehovah of the Old Testament with the pre-mortal Jesus. Thus, this other being would be, relative to our earth, the Father, the Progenitor.

(And I will point out that Greek and other myths seem to contain a perversion of these ideas. The Father and the Son would not fight each other, because they would be entirely unified in purpose. The Father is not the one in opposition to the Son when the Son is pleading for us before the Father.)

 

The Son:

If there is a progenitor, there is a child. Moreover, the child is able to grow to become like the progenitor, and, if the child does succeed in becoming like the progenitor, the child can fully represent the progenitor. 

Jesus asserted that He ascended to the Father after His death and resurrection. I won't get into the details of all of His teachings here, other than that I have scriptural reason to believe He did, and to believe He was therefore qualified and able to stand in for the set of principles by which this universe runs.

I will note this much of what He teaches -- repentance, or changing one's behavior to learn to be more like the Progenitor, falls rather neatly out of the understanding of the third and fourth levels of complexity. Part of the reason we have memory is so that we can back up and try other paths in our lives. Forgetting may be important, but so is remembering.

Oh, and I will refer you to the Beatitudes, Matthew 5, 6, and 7, or 3rd Nephi 11, 12, 13, and 14. These summarize much of His most important teachings, and are enough to give us confidence in the personality of God.

 

The Holy Spirit:

Remember that I mentioned that computer languages tend to cross over from the third level of complexity to the fourth, and that we still have trouble getting meaning into words.

In the Book of Mormon, 2nd Nephi 33: 1, we find this little morsel of wisdom:

... when a man speaketh by the power of the Holy Ghost the power of the Holy Ghost carrieth it unto the hearts of the children of men.

Since we have Ghostbusters and other jests which abuse the word "ghost", I'll use the word "spirit" instead, here.

This third member of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit, is that which is the medium of communication. Without some spiritual influence, it quickly becomes difficult to communicate. If a negative spirit pervades in a conversation, it can be very difficult to communicate anything positive. 

Turning our own heart towards a positive spirit, towards, for example, a desire for the happiness and well-being of the other person, tends to make it much easier to communicate with positive result.

I'm not going to get too mystical here, but this Holy Spirit also functions at the fourth level of complexity or above, and also fully expresses the personality of the Progenitor principles.

This is what I mean by God, or these three are the Godhead that I worship. These define my intended priorities, and, to the extent that I am successful at implementing my intentions, my actual priorities. To the extent that I understand them, they define my behavior.

I do not own them. If I could, they would not be worth my worship. 

I am trying to learn to be like them, but I am fully aware that I will only see, at best, modest, small successes at that in this life. 

I have faith that, if I learn in this life to keep repenting when I find myself not following God, to keep learning more about God through studying the teachings of the Son, listening to the Holy Spirit, and to keep changing my life, behavior, and heart to conform to the attributes of Godliness to the best of my understanding, I will be able to continue in that path and stand with confidence before them after I die, and join in their work in the world to come. 

If I fail to do that, what I will be able to do after I leave this mortal world will be limited.

I should provide scripture references to each point in the above, but my time is limited. More importantly, I don't want people to think I'm any sort of expert in this philosophy. Everyone needs to develop their own understanding of God, or, if they need to, of cosmology and the purpose of the universe and themselves without a God who has personality.

He that is not against us is on our part

Mark chapter 9 has a bit of scripture that seems appropriate, relative to the last year or so of politics in the US.

Verse 40: 

For he that is not against us is on our part.

We'll pick up the thread at v. 38, not because what comes before is less useful, but because I want to focus on what's in v. 40. (When you finish reading my opinions, go back and read the whole chapter. Get your own revelation.)

And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us.

But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me.

For he that is not against us is on our part.

Now, compare this to Peter's reaction to one Simon, who practiced sorcery and thought he could buy his way into the group, from Acts 8, starting around v. 18:

And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money

Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost.

But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.

Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God.

Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.

For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity.

Then answered Simon, and said, Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me.

On the one hand, Peter comes down pretty harsh, with "Take your money and die." 

On the other, Simon responds well. I think Peter was justified, even if he might have found a softer response. Or his response might have been precisely what Simon needed.

We don't know the rest of the story. We can hope that Simon learned to pray for himself, and to understand the difference between sorcery and priesthood. (A few important clues to the difference can be found in Mark 9, in the verses I skipped over. Start from the beginning of the chapter and pay special attention at v. 35.) 

I think we can be confident that Peter didn't just turn his back on Simon, since he didn't stop with "Take your money and die!" He explained, "Your motives and intentions are wrong, so you don't belong with us!"

We might use Peter's response to justify rebuffing people who don't fit our preconceptions.

I hope we do not. That does not fit in with what the Bible teaches.

If we are worried about letting the riff-raff in, we can be somewhat reassured by the example shown in Acts 19, of what happens to the riff-raff. (I personally think I have reason to hope that the sons of Sceva also eventually found repentance, but that is between them and the Lord.)

See also Doctrine and Covenants section 64 verse 8 (and the rest of the section):

My disciples, in days of old, sought occasion against one another and forgave not one another in their hearts; and for this evil they were afflicted and sorely chastened.

As Christians, it is not our business to create divisions. The divisions will, unfortunately, naturally occur. 

Our business is to reach out to try to find ways to heal the divisions as we can.

 

Gospel vs. Culture

Recently, someone I apparently follow on Twitter popped up with the following context-free quote attributed to a popular therapist in the Salt Lake Valley area:

Examples of the Gospel are faith, repentance, baptism, forgiveness...

Church culture examples are women wearing skirts to & men wearing white shirts and & ties to Church, discouraging tattoos & piercings, defining immodesty as showing knees, stomach & shoulders, encouraging women with children to stay at home, expecting men to provide & preside, primary songs, green jello, specific primary songs, certain instruments aren't allowed in sacrament meetings, the format of our Church meetings, the way we sing hymns, calling the congregation leader "bishop", the specific temple recommend questions, bishop's interviews, worthiness interviews, ages of serving missions...

Since I don't have the original to pin it to, I'm not going to pin it to the twitter feed, either. 

When you discuss a quote of a quote without reference, you can always know that whatever you contribute to the discussion will probably not help communicate. But it is a fashionable topic. And the quote, as is, serves as a springboard into inquiry.

That's how I intend to use it here.

Before I start, I want to point out that it's a false dichotomy, to try to discuss what comes under the domain of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and what comes under the domain of culture.

Why do I know this?

The Gospel of Jesus Christ encompasses all truth. 

See, for instance, Joseph Smith, here, or Brigham Young, here, on this. Or Dieter F. Uchtdorf, here. Or pretty much any of the prophets, modern or ancient. 

If we had the writings of Adam, I think we'd know that he never questioned it. We can even imagine Cain asking his father to teach him how to raise wheat, and, while they were out in the fields studying, Adam telling Cain something like, "You know, if you ask God, He'll teach you about this, too, much better than I can." (Which is ultimately the only truly useful advice I can give anyone reading this rant.)

Given this, what is really being debated in the question of the Gospel vs. Church culture?

In the general Christian context, "gospel" is understood to be the "good news". (Or, for some, "God's news".) (Check the etymology in almost any dictionary.) 

Specifically, it is considered to be the good news that Jesus died and was resurrected for us.

He suffered for our sins in the Garden of Gethsemane, and He laid His unblemished life on the alter for us on the cross. 

Had He not permitted it, there was no power on Earth that could kill Him. But He also had power in Himself from His Father to return to life after having died, and He did. 

(Technically, He was the only mortal who ever lived on this earth for whom the grammar "He resurrected." would be correct, but this rant is not about grammar riddles.)

We can say that He opened the way across the gulf of death for us, both for physical and spiritual death. The good news is that we need no longer fear physical death -- and if we will learn to turn our hearts toward His Father, who is also the Father of our spirits, we need no longer fear spiritual death.

And that means, if we will just learn to listen to and follow the Father's answers when we pray, we don't need to be afraid to live any more.

You should want me to back this up with scripture, so I will.

See, for instance, 3rd Nephi chapter 27, particularly verses 13 to 16. Also, the Fourth Article of Faith.

Now, how do I reconcile these two points of view on the Gospel? 

Doctrine and Covenants 6: 9 has an important clue: 

Say nothing but repentance unto this generation; keep my commandments, and assist to bring forth my work, according to my commandments, and you shall be blessed.

Yes, I know I'm cherry-picking, but, if you understand the background of the section, you know I'm not, really. This is an echo of Mosiah 18, verses 18 through 21:

... Alma, having authority from God, ordained priests; even one priest to every fifty of their number did he ordain to preach unto them, and to teach them concerning the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.

And he commanded them that they should teach nothing save it were the things which he had taught, and which had been spoken by the mouth of the holy prophets.

Yea, even he commanded them that they should preach nothing save it were repentance and faith on the Lord, who had redeemed his people.

And he commanded them that there should be no contention one with another, but that they should look forward with one eye, having one faith and one baptism, having their hearts knit together in unity and in love one towards another.

I want to bring Bible scriptures in, but that will look even more like cherry picking (to those who don't read the Bible in context of Jesus' teachings).

Okay. Let those who think it is cherry picking think so:

Matthew Ch. 3, Here we see John the Baptist, preaching the basics in preparation for Jesus: Faith in Jesus, repentance, baptism by water for remission of sins, and the gift of the Holy Ghost:

1 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judæa,

2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

...

5 Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judæa, and all the region round about Jordan,

6 And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.

7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:

...

11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:

...

13 Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.

...

16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:

17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

Then, in Matthew 4, Jesus also begins to preach repentance:

17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Continuing in chapters 5 through 7, we see the details of what repentance means. These are known as the beatitudes, and they consist of instruction in how to live a repentant life -- a Godly life. 

It is a good idea at this point to reconsider the meaning of "repent", because, after reading what Jesus preached, it appears not to be simply doing penance. 

In the Biblical Hebrew, according to some explanations, the word is a combination of feeling sorrow (nacham) with turning, or returning (shuv). (The Japanese translation of the word borrows from this: kuiru, to feel sorrow, and aratameru, to make a change or renew.) The Greek word in the earliest texts of the Bible is metanoia, which invokes the deep introspection required to change one's ways. In the Christian context, this infers turning one's heart towards God.

Which means, praying and listening and doing.

Thus, repentance is not just following some list of rules, it is an attitude of letting God change your heart, and letting those changes be reflected in changes in your thoughts and actions.

That should be sufficient for this little rant.

Returning to the quote of the quote above, what do we have?

Examples of the Gospel are faith, repentance, baptism, forgiveness...

So the idea is supported that there is a fundamental set of principles, and that the fundamental set of principles includes faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism by immersion for remission of sins, and the gift of the Holy Ghost. 

And the idea that we should be focusing on these principles in our preaching is also supported.

-- and the idea that we should avoid preaching so many other things to each other that we begin to be contentious is also supported, per Mosiah 18: 21, as noted above. 

Just for good measure, see Matthew chapter 23, verse 13 to the end:

But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. ....

There is a verse in Isaiah, that I think is important here, Isaiah 55: 6-9 in reference to our idealized understanding of the gospel:

Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:

Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

I don't see Him limiting verses 8 and 9 here to the wicked and unrighteous. Quite the opposite, He is talking to those who draw near to Him and seek Him in those verses. I mean, seriously, what need is there to tell the wicked and unrighteous that their ways and thoughts are not on God's level? Their conscious is already hard at work telling them that.

We who claim to be trying to be righteous must understand that even our thoughts, not to mention our ways, are not equal to God's.

I should, I suppose, leave that second paragraph from the 4th-person quote to the interested reader as an exercise. Maybe I will.

Before I decide, however, I will offer a couple more scriptures that I think are relevant: 

Remember, when you are tempted to give someone advice or counsel, Doctrine and Covenants chapter 1 verses 19-21:

... that man should not counsel his fellow man, neither trust in the arm of flesh—

But that every man might speak in the name of God the Lord, even the Savior of the world;

That faith also might increase in the earth; ....

This may help understand Matthew 7: 1-5, where Jesus said, Judge not, that ye be not judged. 

(You may have heard that He said, "Judge not unrighteous judgements ...." He said that, too. He said it both ways. While we are considering why, remember that righteous judgement is not stroking your own ego.)

And when someone offends you, the following is very useful:

From Doctrine and Covenants 42:

27 Thou shalt not speak evil of thy neighbor, nor do him any harm.

38 For inasmuch as ye do it unto the least of these, ye do it unto me.

88 And if thy brother or sister offend thee, thou shalt take him or her between him or her and thee alone; and if he or she confess thou shalt be reconciled.

89 And if he or she confess not thou shalt deliver him or her up unto the church, not to the members, but to the elders. And it shall be done in a meeting, and that not before the world.

Yes, I know that I am cherry picking here, as well. I've linked it. Read it for yourself.

Oh, just a little bit more, and, yes, I'm going to cherry-pick again. 

In Acts 15, we have Paul and Barnabas teaching at Antioch, and certain members from Judea coming and adding to the preaching, telling everyone they should be circumcised. This causes contentions, and Paul and Barnabas, after trying to resolve the issue locally, go to Jerusalem to get the official word.

At Jerusalem, again, we have certain whom we might suppose have converted from among the Pharisees (a sect of Jews who seem to love detailed laws) expounding the virtues of the Law of Moses (which we understand to include all the detailed rules that were added since Moses' time, which Jesus Himself had warned had become a roadblock to faith, see again Matthew 23: 13). 

And Peter stands up and says, "Since we started, by inspired direction from God, to preach to the Gentiles, they have received the Holy Spirit without needing obedience to our traditional Law of Moses. God makes no distinction between us and them. What place do we have, making a distinction?"

Verses ten and eleven:

Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?

But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.

Then Paul and Barnabas get a chance to testify of the gifts of the Spirit that the Gentiles were enjoying -- without the supposed advantage of the Pharisaical laws. And James finally stands up and lays out a minimal standard that would be acceptable within their cultural context. And this becomes Church policy for them.

Read it yourself for the details. I don't want to spoon-feed anyone on this.

Concerning the detailed 4th-person quote I mentioned above, I don't have a right to attempt to lay out doctrine and policy, so I should refrain.

The Church has a handbook on-line and they continue to edit it, to adapt it more to the needs of the members of the Church all over the world. If you haven't read it recently, check it for the current real policies. If you have, you might want to re-read it.

There is also a Gospel Topics manual on-line which contains a lot of relevant material, and it is is also periodically updated.

Now, I'll add my personal opinions and comments from my experiences concerning those details from the 4th-person quote. Remember, these are my personal opinions and observations. Go to God for the real answers,

• women wearing skirts to & men wearing white shirts and & ties to Church, 

This dress code, definitely cultural, is specific to the modern culture of certain parts of Utah, USA. 

In Texas and certain other states, a bolo tie was usually considered plenty formal for church when I was growing up, probably still is. In Tonga and many other islands in the tropics, men wear something like a lava-lava to church with their white shirts and tie. In certain South American countries, white shirts and ties are not appropriate for Christian men. And there are places where skirts are not appropriate for Christian women. 

My personal preference would be for everyone to wear robes to church, but that would not be conducive to worship for many people.

And that's the real issue. We want to wear clothes that, at minimum, won't interfere with our own or other people's focusing on learning about the Gospel and worshiping God at church. That is a cultural question. Without cultural context, there is no basis for specifics like shirt color, accessories, and whether the leg covering is a skirt or a pair of trousers.

If you want more detailed information, read the handbook and consult with members of your local bishopric. There is some general discussion of dressing appropriately in meetings in the handbook, and some slightly more detailed discussion in the Gospel Topics manual under modesty. Not a lot of specifics. Do your own research.

And remember to pray before you go talk with your local leaders. Keep your heart open to the Holy Spirit (watching out to not accept unholy spirits, which do try to distract you) while you talk with them. And pray again after you talk with them. 

Doesn't have to be formal prayer, but you must keep your heart open to God, who loves you and wants you to be happy.

• discouraging tattoos & piercings, 

The gospel topics manual has a section on tattooing and piercings. It's not hard to find. It doesn't offer reasons. It also does not offer any justification whatsoever to people who want to judge others' appearance, whether to tease, bully, or simply offer unasked-for advice and counsel. 

Reasons for discouraging "tattoos and excessive body piercings" that I can think of might include the problem of undoing tattoos safely, the problems of finding a tattoo artist that practices proper hygiene and uses safe dyes, the deeper problem of decorating what doesn't need to be decorated, and the meta-symbolic meanings of tattooing. 

These problems are similar to the problems with using makeup, hair coloring, and so forth.

We really ought to be satisfied with what God gave us and try to build upon those gifts instead of effacing them to meet the standards of the world. 

But. 

What building upon our own gifts from God would mean, and what effacing them would mean, will vary from individual to individual. That's why, in the modern cultural context, when makeup is much safer than it used to be, and its use no longer tends to be generally interpreted as following the immoral practices of those old caste systems we're supposed to have left behind and such, the Church no longer has much to say about makeup.

The technologies of tattoos and body piercings are not quite at the same level at this point in time. Nor have they lost the meta-semantics to the same degree.

If someone asks for approval for their tattoo or body piercing, and you feel a need to tell them you can't approve, perhaps you can admit that you just don't like tattoos and body piercings, and it's something you're not qualified to offer opinions on. But do remember to tell them you won't let that interfere with how you feel about them as individuals.

There is at least one paragraph in the manual about dress in meetings which specifically says members should not judge others by their appearance.

This is something that we really need to understand. When we go looking for answers in the handbooks and manuals, we should be looking for ourselves, not for others. Remember, Jesus said, Judge righteous judgements. Leave the details to them.

Love them -- which means wanting them to receive whatever happiness they are willing and able to receive. Think about how God loves us. He wants each of us to receive whatever happiness we are willing and able to receive. He knows that we can then receive more, and He is patient while we grow to be able to receive more. That's the love that we should feel for others. (This one, I will really leave to you for your own research. It's there in the scriptures, and looking for it yourself will be much more to your benefit than letting me point it out to you. You probably already have some ideas where to start.)

• defining immodesty as showing knees, stomach & shoulders, 

I have a friend, whom I have lost contact with, who is confined to a wheelchair. Her physical condition puts restrictions on what clothes she wears. Covering the calves, much less the knees, is not an option for her. 

Perhaps you will say, that's an extreme case.

It is not so extreme. We all have health issues. Some of those may require clothes that don't meet artificial standards. See my comments above about dress code. 

We should not be busy dividing the membership of the church into "us" and "them" groups.

•  encouraging women with children to stay at home, 

Yes, in the ideal scenario, both men and women work close enough to home that one or both will always be available to their children.

If you, yourself, have a choice between more money and a job that keeps you closer to your kids, I'd recommend the latter. If you don't have a choice that keeps you available to the kids and while making you enough to pay rent and buy food, usually, paying rent and buying food takes precedence.

Usually. But not always. 

Our ideals are not God's. Again, using a person's or a family's situation to judge them is not good.

• expecting men to provide & preside, 

Concerning providing, see above about women working. 

About presiding, for your own sake, learn what it means to preside. 

Jesus is our presiding high priest. When James and John, the sons of thunder, asked to sit at his right and left, He said,

But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.

in Matthew 23: 8. In fact, start from the beginning of Matthew 23 and keep reading until you get the idea. Presiding in righteousness is not about telling people what you think they should and shouldn't do. Nor should the woman expect the man to do so in her home, especially not without her help. See also Doctrine and Covenants 121, towards the end.

• primary songs, 

I'm not sure what the reference is here, at all. We as a church are expanding our choices of sacred music, now that the physical hymnbook doesn't put limitations on how many we can print. This is not a bad thing.

• green jello,

Surely we can forgive green jello.

• specific primary songs, 

I suppose there are certain of the primary songs that are way over-simplified in their descriptions of certain gospel principles, but this is like ideals. (I can only assume this is what is being referred to.)

Ideals are things we need. None of them ever come even close to God. (See my mention of Isaiah 55, above.) But we still use them as stepping stones, to help us gain understanding. 

Hymns are usually closer to doctrine than primary songs, but they are also still too short to encompass the whole Gospel.

We have to forgive each other for our choices in primary songs, hymns, and ideals. 

Oh. We do have the right to forgive other members when they like songs we find not so likeable, or even disagreeable, and this includes primary songs and hymns.

• certain instruments aren't allowed in sacrament meetings, 

This is much like the above. 

Our music should help both us and others to focus on learning the Gospel and worshiping God. If there are members of the congregation who don't find electric guitars and drum machines (for example) conducive to their worship, we should sacrifice our preferences for them for an hour or two.

• the format of our Church meetings, 

Yes, it changes. It changed from all Sunday to three hours, then to two, and now to home services for the coronavirus fuss, and it will change again. Anyone who is fussing about the changes just wants something to fuss about.

Sort of.

I can understand feeling a little lost when church has been the one stable thing in our lives.

But real worship is a personal thing, not a social thing. 

We are supposed to gather together to strengthen each other, but if we then go home and somehow don't continue our study and worship, we can't bring anything to church to help others with next week.

We need to find places in our days to squeeze in reading a verse or two or ten each day, think about them, and pray for understanding of how to apply them -- instead of taking them at whatever the community opinion of face value is.

• the way we sing hymns, 

More of the problem of helping others when we get together to worship.

Paul works through the question of things offered to idols in 1st Corinthians chapter 8. 

He talks about how the saints of Corinth understood that idols are nothing, and the foods offered to them are not (assuming equal hygiene, and absence of poisons and drugs) fundamentally different from things not offered to idols.

Then he points out that we have a responsibility to strengthen others, and if our partaking of the thing sacrificed to idols offends someone else, to destroy their faith, we still should abstain. 

This principle applies all throughout this list -- and any similar list.

And I've run completely out of time to continue this rant.

You've probably run out of time to read more anyway, if you've gotten this far.

Not probably. Close your browser and go to the scriptures. Turn to God for your answers, not to me or to others of the children of God. Give others support and encouragement, not roadblocks. 

(If you aren't so busy blocking others, you'll have more time to get yourself into where God can help you be happy.)

Why I Believe

People ask me why I believe in God.

Well, it's usually more like, "How can you believe in a God that is/does this and that terrible thing, or whose existence contradicts that famous person's theory of everything.

All too often, I try to answer the complaint instead of the question.

It goes something like this (in the abbreviated version):

Me: "That's not the God I believe in."

Them: "You can't redefine God."

Well, I'm usually not rude enough to say, "Why not? People have been redefining God to give themselves excuses not to believe for, well, most of recorded history." So the conversation stalls.

By the way, I am not redefining God. I am simply taking the scriptures literally.

Recently, I thought, well, with all the getting stuck on what God is and what God isn't, maybe I should put up a post about what/who I believe God to be.

That hasn't been working. I keep getting stuck in esoteric stuff -- like what it means to call God our Father.

It occurs to me now, I should answer the first question, instead -- how I came to believe in God.

So I will.

When I was approaching eight, and the question of whether I would get baptized or not was looming, I told my parents that I thought I was smarter than God. I didn't like the program He had set up, I didn't like all the rules, I didn't like going to a church where I couldn't seem to get along with the kids my age, etc.

My dad told me, "You gotta fight from the inside."

My response was something, "Why do I have to fight this fight at all?"

Don't get me wrong, I figured out why pretty soon, but, at the time, it didn't seem reasonable. It was good advice, but for later.

My mom's response?

"Okay, you figure out a better plan. Work it up. Write it down. Then we'll talk about it."

But they did say the decision was mine, whether to get baptized or not.

I kid you not. My mom does not remember telling me this, but she did -- tell a seven-year-old kid to write up a plan to compare with God's plan.

I was not excited about the writing part, but I started thinking about this alternate plan thing. I started actively researching the scriptures instead of just taking what the Sunday School teachers told me at face value.

Don't get me wrong. I did not turn into a scripture scholar or a straight-shirt believer overnight at eight. But I learned how to use the indexes and the concordances, and started learning how to look for meaning.

I discovered two things.

One was that a lot of what the people at church were teaching was not scriptural. These were not evil people, but people are human. And it still happens. When we run out of time, we often fall back on tradition, and tradition is often wrong.

The other was that there were things I didn't like that were in fact scriptural, that, even in my naivety, I could not think of better alternatives to. And I started seeing that could be reasons for those things to be.

Yes, I'm being vague here. The details (the specific things) don't matter. 

Well, one does. This is not a perfect world, not in the way we humans think of perfection. Nor is it ideal. It was not meant to be so. In fact, the very purpose for which this world was made, to be a place where we could learn, would be completely undone if it were perfect or ideal. This was one of the things I learned sometime between the age of eight and nineteen.

This was my first experience with the Holy Spirit.

My second experience with the Holy Spirit was during my early teens. 

I had argued with my parents, apparently about going to something at church, I don't remember what. I ended up walking the two-to-three miles from home to church. The first mile or so was through the back allies, and I was in a rage -- crying and screaming. I'm sure more than one of our neighbors considered calling the police.

Much of my rage was directed at God for letting "this", whatever it was, happen to me.

I recalled one of the teachers at church talking about hearing the Spirit, and I wondered if God was going to reply to my complaints and accusations. And I felt an answer distinctly in my heart. I can't tell you what the answer was, it goes well beyond the power of human language. The general meaning was that my parents were doing what they could for me, and that I would survive, but that's just one prosaic interpretation.

I also heard an answer in my mind. I could tell you what that answer was, but I won't. I've since learned that it was the voice of evil spirits, attempting to hijack my experience with the Holy Spirit. It's a spirit of lying, and there's no need to give the adversary of our souls any further publicity.

Some of my friends and interlocutors will argue that this was all a figment of an overactive adolescent imagination.

Yes, the imagination can, indeed, masquerade as the Spirit. One of the four general sources we can get "spiritual" answers from is, in fact, ourselves. 

No, this was not the case here. It was not an answer I particularly wanted. It was not an answer I could have constructed for myself without help -- it included elements that I did not at the time have the experience necessary to make up for myself, and the conclusion completely exceeds the sort of conclusion I have been able to draw on my own.

(That answer contains, for instance, things that made it a lot easier for me to understand, among other things, calculus and abstract algebra when I encountered those in my academic career years later.)

You may argue that there is, within the human psyche, a function that can produce such epiphanies.

That assumes two things, one that what I experienced was no more than what current researchers describe as epiphany, and, two, that we do not have within us a gift from God that helps us understand truth.

Here, I will be point blank.

One: What current biomedical researchers call epiphany is the biochemical effect, not the cause, of spiritual experience, and what they generally record is from the other three sources I've mentioned above. God usually does not help us with our parlor games.

The other: the human conscience tends to get overlaid with all sorts of things, peer pressure, family expectations, social mores and ethics, tradition. But there is a core to the conscience that is nothing more nor less than a connection to God.

This is where it is easy to miss the forest for the trees. 

I'm not going to argue this point. Every human being has a connection to God within the self.

You can disagree for now if you need to. That's part of the point of being in this world, to experience what it is like to choose things.

Having chosen to recognize the workings of the Spirit, I have since had many experiences that I have recognized and can't deny. I have also had many ambiguous experiences. This does not bother me, because, as I just said, one of the things I learned was that God wants us to be learn how to handle freedom. That requires leaving us room to choose things for ourselves. It requires ambiguities.

This is not the only reason I believe, but it is a primary part of the foundation.

Theorizing the Existence of God

{No, this doesn't belong here. It belongs in my Random Eikaiwa blog. But I don't want to argue with people who will think it's "Mormon theology". 

It is not.

It's a very limited allegory, borrowing from themes and memes in the science fiction and speculative fiction genres, and from certain variations of the traditions in cultural Mormonism. 

Doing a full doctrinal treatment of the concepts touched on would consume quite a few more words than we have in extant scripture, and would invite the kind of argument that occurs when people jump to conclusions before properly reading and understanding even the first page of such a work.

It does contain some concepts that need to be discussed.

But it is not doctrinal.}

Ms. G: Honey, I'm bored.

Mr. G: Bored? What's to be bored of? We have this wonderful playground -- planets, comets, stars, black holes, galaxies, mmphff ...

Ms. G: Shush. I know we have an entire universe to play in. We've been playing in it how long?

Mr. G: Uhm, let's see. According to the time on the world in the universe where we grew up, what? Roughly a hundred million years?

Ms. G: More like two hundred million years.

Mr. G: And? It all runs perfectly, according to our blueprints and plans -- nothing out of sequence, nothing out of place, everything just as we set it up, and it will continue to do so forever.

Ms. G: Don't you think something's missing?

Mr. G: Let me look at the list. Uh-huh, yep, yep, uh-huh, it's all here, even the hyper-gamma white-bodies that the old scientists where we grew up wanted to call dark matter because they radiate too far above the spectra of gross thermodynamic reactions to be visible to the eye of the physical body. 

Ms. G: That last one is getting warm.

Mr G: Oh? Let me check the temperature. Yep. They are getting warm. Ouch. What was that for?

Ms. G: On the world where we grew up, when we had built a house, what was next?

Mr G: Move in? 

Ms G: (Clears her throat.)

Mr. G: That?

Ms. G: Yes, that.

Mr. G: But, sweetheart, if we do that, it will make a mess. Disorder. Chaos. Entropy and all that general thermodynamic stuff. And evil.

Ms. G: And Good. Can't have good without evil. You say so, yourself. What's the purpose of a house or a playground without children?

Mr. G: Children. Oh. Here it is, it's even in our plans.

Ms. G: Of course it is. You wrote it in.

Mr. G: With your hemphppffflp mmmm. Nice kiss. Help.

Ms. G: Uh, huh.

Mr. G: I remember our first baby in the world where we grew up. Quite a shock.

Ms. G: And you weren't even the one carrying her.

Mr. G: I did help raise her.

Ms. G: You did. You were wonderful.

Mr. G: You, too.

Ms. G: They should be coming for a visit sometime soon.

Mr. G: Sometime before the planets in this solar system begin to form.

Ms. G: One of those planets will be our first biologically habitable world.

Mr. G: I wonder if they'll stay.

Ms. G: We could use the help.

Mr. G: Are you sure you're ready for the changes?

Ms. G: The changes are already occurring. Do you think we should stop them?

Mr. G: That would not be good.

Ms. G: No, it wouldn't.

{Hmm. Somehow, that didn't go the direction it was supposed to. Maybe I'm writing too much romance. Let's try again.}

G1: I'm bored.

G2: Bored? What's to be bored of? We are the end product of millennia of biological evolution and we have for our toys the end products of millennia of technological evolution. We can do anything.

G3: Anything?

G2: What can't we do?

G4: I'd say we can do anything. We long ago learned to synthesize matter, including elements in the islands and continent of stability. We have intelligent robots that repair and improve themselves, we've defeated death for ourselves, what haven't we done?

G1: Made solar systems. Bootstrapped a civilized world in its habitable zone.

G2: We can't do that.

G3: Why not?

G4: They'd call us God or something. Yuck.

G3: I don't see that as a good reason.

G2: They wouldn't believe in us.

G1: So?

G4: They'd hate us, call us evil because life is hard and then you die.

G1: Hmm.

G3: Can't make an omelet without breaking eggs. I say we go for it.

G2: Why?

G3: What else have we got to do?

G1: Not much that I can think of. What've we got to lose? At worst, they could only eventually become our equals in intelligence.

G0: After all, how did you guys come into existence? Was it such a bad thing that I/We made your world?

G4: Good point.

G2: Mmm, okay, let's do it.

Kanji and the Hymnal and 以心伝心

There's something I want to see in the new Japanese Hymnal.

The current (and previous) Japanese Hymnal has what I consider a problem. When you're singing a song you are not very familiar with, it can sometimes be hard to tell what the words mean. It can often be difficult to tell what you are supposed to be singing. 

The Japanese printed with the musical parts is only written in 仮名 (かな/kana -- the pronunciation alphabets). No punctuation is included. 

The 漢字 (かんじ/kanji) lyrics, with punctuation, are shown below the parts for reference. In the physical Hymnal, that's often on a separate page, often on the page before or after. Sometimes you have to turn a page to read it.

It's difficult to focus on both the tune and the meaning when the Kanji are separate. Why?

Japanese has four primary scripts, or sets of letters/characters, used in writing the language:

• Kanji  (漢字 -- the logographic/ideographic symbols somewhat shared with Chinese), 
• hiragana (ひらがな -- the cursive phonetic script),  
• katakana (カタカナ -- the block phonetic script often used for foreign words or emphasis), 
• and Romaji (the phonetic script borrowed from Latin-based languages).
  

Three of those are phonetic scripts. They are useful for reading the (standard) pronunciation of Japanese words and phrases, but they aren't as useful for carrying the meaning.

There are two primary reasons:

• Japanese contains a lot of homophones (words that sound the same), and it often isn't easy to tell which meaning is meant without more clues than pronunciation. 
• This is compounded by the fact that Japanese does not use space to delimit words. It is often hard to tell where one word ends and the next begins.

(I have been meaning to write about this for more than twenty-five years, but I keep getting home after church and forgetting, or something else takes priority. But I think it's important, and becoming more important the later it gets.)

I have no time now to dig the more problematic examples back up, so I'll just use one of the hymns we sang today, "'Tis Sweet to Sing the Matchless Love, #176 in the English Hymnal, 「たぐいなき愛を」 ("Tagui-naki Ai wo") #101 in the Japanese. (I sang it at home while attending via the Line chat/meeting app on my cell phone.)

The first phrase of the first verse goes like this in the kana:

ひとのためてんをくだりてしにたもう
 Hitonotameten'wo kudariteshinitamou

The Kanji looks like this:

人のため天を降りて、死にたもう
Hito no tame Ten wo kudarite, shini tamou

If you are familiar with the doctrine of Jesus descending (kudarite) from Heaven (Ten) to die (shini-tamou) for man (hito no tame), that's an easy read. 

If you are a new or young member of the Church (or a foreigner), the word "die" can get swallowed in the inflectional ambiguities (kudariteshi) in the unfamiliar archaic Japanese.

The next phrase includes the archaic word "kusushiki" (in archaic inflection). With the Kanji form, 「奇すしき」, I'm inclined to believe that people will still recognize it (from 「奇跡」、 "kiseki", or miracle). Without the Kanji, again, for new/young members and foreigners, not so much.

The first phrase of the second verse goes like this:

あんそくびにあいはてししゅのしるし
Ansokubiniaihateshishunoshirushi

With the Kanji:

安息日に会い、果てし主のしるし
Ansokubi ni ai, hateshi shu no shirushi

With the Kanji and the comma, 「果てし」 ("hateshi") (going to extremity, or completing) is clearly modifying 「主」  (shu) (Lord). Without, 「あいは」 (ai ha => ai wa) can easily be misread as "concerning love". 

(The hiragana "ha" in certain positions changes to read as the topical particle, "wa".)

In the first phrase of the third verse, the phrase 

こもしもともも
komoshimotomomo
子も師も友も
ko mo shi mo tomo mo

occurs. 「師」 (shi) means "teacher" here, but is not a vocabulary word in the ordinary vernacular. It could be considered an abbreviation of 「教師」, which is common, but young children and foreigners will be distracted by it. Without the Kanji they may confuse it for 「死」 (death, pronounced "shi" in the ordinary vernacular).

One more from this song, in the second phrase of the last verse, we have

しゅのみなにホザナ
shunominanihozana
主の御名にホザナ
Shu no Mi-na ni hozana

Here, "Mi-na" is 「御名」, or "revered name", thus "Hosanna to the name of the Lord". But "mina" in the ordinary vernacular is 「皆」, "all", or "everyone", so that can easily be read "Hosanna to all of the Lord's people!"

The sincere, mature member will not be distracted by any of this. In fact, it may become an excuse to study the words of the hymns. The principle of 以心伝心 (ishin denshin, mutual understanding) will motivate the necessary seeking.

But many new members, children, and investigators won't have that mutual understanding, and will never find the motivation to study the lyrics.

And they will lose an important source of meaning and strength.

(As near as I can tell, demanding mutual understanding is not the path the Lord took in His teaching.)

Well, I've run out of time to do this the right way, showing my suggested approach piece-by-piece, so I'm going to risk copyright offense and post here something that sort-of shows my suggested approach -- mixing the Kanji with the kana:

If I'd had more time, I could have pasted in punctuation.

It's not ideal. Perhaps the 漢字 should be enclosed in parenthesis or something. But I think we need something to help us find the connection to the meaning when we're singing.

English to Japanese Cross-index of Hymns of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

やっと、末日聖徒イエス・キリスト教会の英語賛美歌（1985年版）から日本語賛美歌への相対索引を組み合わせるほどの時間をとることができました。（反対方向はすでに賛美歌集に存在します。）
Finally was able to take the time to construct this cross-index of English to Japanese hymns of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (1985 version). (A cross-index of Japanese to English hymns is available in the Japanese Hymnbook.)

曲番が負の場合は、片方の賛美歌集のみにある歌です。Negative numbers mean the hymn is not in the other hymnbook.

The Morning Breaks	1		夜明けだ，夜明けだ	1
The Spirit of God	2		主のみたまは火のごと燃え	3
Now Let Us Rejoice	3		いざ救いの日を楽しまん	5
Truth Eternal	4			-159
High on the Mountain Top	5		山の上に	2
Redeemer of Israel	6		イスラエルの救い主	4
Israel, Israel, God Is Calling	7		悩めるイスラエル	6
Awake and Arise	8		目覚めよ，起て	7
Come, Rejoice	9		来たれ，喜べや	8
Come, Sing to the Lord	10			-158
What Was Witnessed in the Heavens?	11		何を天に見しか	9
’Twas Witnessed in the Morning Sky	12			-157
An Angel from on High	13		長き沈黙破りて出づ	10
Sweet Is the Peace the Gospel Brings	14			-156
I Saw a Mighty Angel Fly	15			-155
What Glorious Scenes Mine Eyes Behold	16			-154
Awake, Ye Saints of God, Awake!	17			-153
The Voice of God Again Is Heard	18			-152
We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet	19		感謝を神に捧げん	11
God of Power, God of Right	20		力の神よ	12
Come, Listen to a Prophet’s Voice	21		来たれ，予言者より	13
We Listen to a Prophet’s Voice	22			-151
We Ever Pray for Thee	23			-150
God Bless Our Prophet Dear	24		わが予言者に祝福あれ	14
Now We’ll Sing with One Accord	25			-149
Joseph Smith’s First Prayer	26		麗しき朝よ	18
Praise to the Man	27		たたえよ，主の召したまいし	16
Saints, Behold How Great Jehovah	28			-148
A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief	29		悩める旅人	15
Come, Come, Ye Saints	30		恐れず来たれ，聖徒	17
O God, Our Help in Ages Past	31		ああ，神いつでも	19
The Happy Day at Last Has Come	32		楽しき日は来て	20
Our Mountain Home So Dear	33		山の家	21
O Ye Mountains High	34		高き山よ	22
For the Strength of the Hills	35		山の強さのため	23
They, the Builders of the Nation	36		国を造りたる	24
The Wintry Day, Descending to Its Close	37			-147
Come, All Ye Saints of Zion	38			-146
O Saints of Zion	39			-145
Arise, O Glorious Zion	40			-144
Let Zion in Her Beauty Rise	41			-143
Hail to the Brightness of Zion’s Glad Morning!	42		シオンの朝は輝き	25
Zion Stands with Hills Surrounded	43		山に囲まれて	26
Beautiful Zion, Built Above	44		み空に麗し	27
Lead Me into Life Eternal	45			-142
Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken	46			-141
We Will Sing of Zion	47			-140
Glorious Things Are Sung of Zion	48			-139
Adam-ondi-Ahman	49			-138
Come, Thou Glorious Day of Promise	50			-137
Sons of Michael, He Approaches	51			-136
The Day Dawn Is Breaking	52		明けゆく空	28
Let Earth’s Inhabitants Rejoice	53			-135
Behold, the Mountain of the Lord	54			-134
Lo, the Mighty God Appearing!	55			-133
Softly Beams the Sacred Dawning	56			-132
We’re Not Ashamed to Own Our Lord	57			-131
Come, Ye Children of the Lord	58		来たれ，主の子ら	31
Come, O Thou King of Kings	59		来ませ，王の王	29
Battle Hymn of the Republic	60		リパブリック賛歌	30
Raise Your Voices to the Lord	61			-130
All Creatures of Our God and King	62		神は造り主	34
Great King of Heaven	63			-129
On This Day of Joy and Gladness	64			-128
Come, All Ye Saints Who Dwell on Earth	65			-127
Rejoice, the Lord Is King!	66		喜べ，主を	32
Glory to God on High	67		神に栄え	33
A Mighty Fortress Is Our God	68		神はわが砦	36
All Glory, Laud, and Honor	69			-126
Sing Praise to Him	70			-125
With Songs of Praise	71			-124
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty	72		造り主の主	37
Praise the Lord with Heart and Voice	73		たたえよ神を	38
Praise Ye the Lord	74			-123
In Hymns of Praise	75			-122
God of Our Fathers, We Come unto Thee	76		父なる神のもとに	43
Great Is the Lord	77			-121
God of Our Fathers, Whose Almighty Hand	78		全能の父なる神よ	40
With All the Power of Heart and Tongue	79			-120
God of Our Fathers, Known of Old	80			-119
Press Forward, Saints	81			-118
For All the Saints	82			-117
Guide Us, O Thou Great Jehovah	83		導きたまえよ	41
Faith of Our Fathers	84		いにしえの聖徒の	42
How Firm a Foundation	85		主のみ言葉	46
How Great Thou Art	86		わが主よ、わが神	44
God Is Love	87		神は愛なり	45
Great God, Attend While Zion Sings	88			-116
The Lord Is My Light	89		主は光	47
From All That Dwell below the Skies	90			-115
Father, Thy Children to Thee Now Raise	91		父よ、子らはうたう	48
For the Beauty of the Earth	92		地は麗しく	50
Prayer of Thanksgiving	93		感謝の祈り	49
Come, Ye Thankful People	94		来たりてうたえ	51
Now Thank We All Our God	95			-114
Dearest Children, God Is Near You	96			-113
Lead, Kindly Light	97		取り巻く闇の中を	52
I Need Thee Every Hour	98		絶えず頼り主求む	53
Nearer, Dear Savior, to Thee	99		主に近づかん	54
Nearer, My God, to Thee	100		神よ，汝れに近寄らん	55
Guide Me to Thee	101		主よ，導きたまえ	56
Jesus, Lover of My Soul	102		主イエスよ，愛もて	57
Precious Savior, Dear Redeemer	103		尊き救い主	58
Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me	104		主よ，荒海を導きたまえ	61
Master, the Tempest Is Raging	105		主よ，嵐すさび	59
God Speed the Right	106		正義を守れと主に祈る	60
Lord, Accept Our True Devotion	107		主よ，祈り受けて	62
The Lord Is My Shepherd	108		主はわが飼い手	63
The Lord My Pasture Will Prepare	109		飼い主はわれを	65
Cast Thy Burden upon the Lord	110			-112
Rock of Ages	111		主よ，汝がみ手に	64
Savior, Redeemer of My Soul	112			-111
Our Savior’s Love	113			-110
Come unto Him	114			-109
Come, Ye Disconsolate	115			-108
Come, Follow Me	116		われに来よ	66
Come unto Jesus	117		主に来たれ	67
Ye Simple Souls Who Stray	118			-107
Come, We That Love the Lord	119		来たれ，友よ	68
Lean on My Ample Arm	120			-106
I’m a Pilgrim, I’m a Stranger	121			-105
Though Deepening Trials	122		試しは多くも	69
Oh, May My Soul Commune with Thee	123			-104
Be Still, My Soul	124			-103
How Gentle God’s Commands	125		いともやさし	70
How Long, O Lord Most Holy and True	126			-102
Does the Journey Seem Long?	127			-101
When Faith Endures	128			-100
Where Can I Turn for Peace?	129			-99
Be Thou Humble	130		高ぶり慎み	71
More Holiness Give Me	131		さらに聖くなお努めん	74
God Is in His Holy Temple	132			-98
Father in Heaven	133		天の御父	76
I Believe in Christ	134		救い主，われ信ず	72
My Redeemer Lives	135		贖いの主	73
I Know That My Redeemer Lives	136		主は生けにりと知る	75
Testimony	137		証	77
Bless Our Fast, We Pray	138			-97
In Fasting We Approach Thee	139			-96
Did You Think to Pray?	140		部屋を出る前に	78
Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee	141		主イエスよ，わが胸	80
Sweet Hour of Prayer	142		祈りは楽しき	81
Let the Holy Spirit Guide	143		みたまはわれに	82
Secret Prayer	144		ひそかな祈り	79
Prayer Is the Soul’s Sincere Desire	145		祈りは魂の	83
Gently Raise the Sacred Strain	146		賛歌を捧げん	84
Sweet Is the Work	147		わが神，わが王	87
Sabbath Day	148			-95
As the Dew from Heaven Distilling	149		草の露は，主の	86
O Thou Kind and Gracious Father	150			-94
We Meet, Dear Lord	151			-93
God Be with You Till We Meet Again	152		神よ，また逢うまで	85
Lord, We Ask Thee Ere We Part	153		わかれに願う	93
Father, This Hour Has Been One of Joy	154			-92
We Have Partaken of Thy Love	155			-91
Sing We Now at Parting	156		わかれまた	88
Thy Spirit, Lord, Has Stirred Our Souls	157			-90
Before Thee, Lord, I Bow My Head	158		み前にぬかずき	89
Now the Day Is Over	159		日は暮れゆき	95
Softly Now the Light of Day	160		陽は暮れゆきて	90
The Lord Be with Us	161			-89
Lord, We Come before Thee Now	162			-88
Lord, Dismiss Us with Thy Blessing	163		心に平和と	91
Great God, to Thee My Evening Song	164			-87
Abide with Me; ’Tis Eventide	165		主よ，われと共に	94
Abide with Me!	166		日は暮れ	92
Come, Let Us Sing an Evening Hymn	167			-86
As the Shadows Fall	168			-85
As Now We Take the Sacrament	169			-84
God, Our Father, Hear Us Pray	170		父なる神よ	96
With Humble Heart	171			-83
In Humility, Our Savior	172		われら祈りまつる	97
While of These Emblems We Partake (SAUL)	173			-82
While of These Emblems We Partake (AEOLIAN)	174		聖餐受くとき	98
O God, the Eternal Father	175		天にまします永遠なる父	99
’Tis Sweet to Sing the Matchless Love (MEREDITH)	176		たぐいなき愛	101
’Tis Sweet to Sing the Matchless Love (HANCOCK)	177			-81
O Lord of Hosts	178		主よ裂きしパンと	102
Again, Our Dear Redeeming Lord	179			-80
Father in Heaven, We Do Believe	180			-79
Jesus of Nazareth, Savior and King	181		ナザレ出しわが主よ	100
We’ll Sing All Hail to Jesus’ Name	182		主の御名をたたえん	105
In Remembrance of Thy Suffering	183		罪人のために	103
Upon the Cross of Calvary	184		カルバリに	106
Reverently and Meekly Now	185		敬い崇め	104
Again We Meet around the Board	186			-78
God Loved Us, So He Sent His Son	187		神は世を愛し	107
Thy Will, O Lord, Be Done	188			-77
O Thou, Before the World Began	189			-76
In Memory of the Crucified	190		十字架を覚え	111
Behold the Great Redeemer Die	191		見よ，罪のために	108
He Died! The Great Redeemer Died	192			-75
I Stand All Amazed	193		主イエスの愛に	109
There Is a Green Hill Far Away	194		街を離れたる青き丘に	110
How Great the Wisdom and the Love	195		高きに満ちたる	112
Jesus, Once of Humble Birth	196		いやしく生まれ	113
O Savior, Thou Who Wearest a Crown	197			-74
That Easter Morn	198			-73
He Is Risen!	199		主はよみがえりぬ	114
Christ the Lord Is Risen Today	200		主はよみがえりぬ（アレルヤ）	115
Joy to the World	201		もろびと，こぞりて	116
Oh, Come, All Ye Faithful	202		神の御子は今宵しも	117
Angels We Have Heard on High	203		み使い空に	119
Silent Night	204		聖し，この夜	118
Once in Royal David’s City	205			-72
Away in a Manger	206		天を降りし神の御子	120
It Came upon the Midnight Clear	207		天なる神には	121
O Little Town of Bethlehem	208		ああ，ベツレヘムよ	122
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing	209		天には栄え	123
With Wondering Awe	210		奇しきあか星	125
While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks	211		羊飼いらが	124
Far, Far Away on Judea’s Plains	212		昔，ユダヤの野辺に	126
The First Noel	213		牧人，羊を	127
I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day	214		なつかしい鐘は鳴る	128
Ring Out, Wild Bells	215			-71
We Are Sowing	216		日々によき種と	133
Come, Let Us Anew	217		来たれ，旅を共に続けん	135
We Give Thee But Thine Own	218			-70
Because I Have Been Given Much	219		主の恵み、人にも分かたん	138
Lord, I Would Follow Thee	220		われ主を愛して	134
Dear to the Heart of the Shepherd	221		羊を守れる羊飼いの愛	136
Hear Thou Our Hymn, O Lord	222			-69
Have I Done Any Good?	223		今日われ善きことせしか	137
I Have Work Enough to Do	224		陽の落ちね間に	145
We Are Marching On to Glory	225			-68
Improve the Shining Moments	226		時を惜しみて	146
There Is Sunshine in My Soul Today	227		心に光りあり	139
You Can Make the Pathway Bright	228		心の中に光を持てば	141
Today, While the Sun Shines	229		日の照る間に働け	142
Scatter Sunshine	230		光を道にまけ	143
Father, Cheer Our Souls Tonight	231			-67
Let Us Oft Speak Kind Words	232		親しく語り合わん	140
Nay, Speak No Ill	233		悪を言うな	150
Jesus, Mighty King in Zion	234			-66
Should You Feel Inclined to Censure	235		人の過ちを	147
Lord, Accept into Thy Kingdom	236			-65
Do What Is Right	237		正しかれ	151
Behold Thy Sons and Daughters, Lord	238			-64
Choose the Right	239		選べ，正義を	152
Know This, That Every Soul Is Free	240			-63
Count Your Blessings	241		み恵み数えあげ	153
Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow	242		愛の神，賛めよ	144
Let Us All Press On	243		神のみ業に進みて	149
Come Along, Come Along	244		来たれ，来たれ	154
This House We Dedicate to Thee	245		この家，父なる神に捧ぐ	148
Onward, Christian Soldiers	246		戦い進め	155
We Love Thy House, O God	247		いとまされる	158
Up, Awake, Ye Defenders of Zion	248			-62
Called to Serve	249		われらは天の王に	157
We Are All Enlisted	250		戦い止むまで	162
Behold! A Royal Army	251		見よ，王の軍は	160
Put Your Shoulder to the Wheel	252		世はよく働く人求む	161
Like Ten Thousand Legions Marching	253			-61
True to the Faith	254		シオンの若者，真理を守り	163
Carry On	255		山のごとく強く	167
As Zion’s Youth in Latter Days	256			-60
Rejoice! A Glorious Sound Is Heard	257			-59
O Thou Rock of Our Salvation	258		力強き主よ	164
Hope of Israel	259		シオンのつわもの	159
Who’s on the Lord’s Side?	260		主の方には	165
Thy Servants Are Prepared	261			-58
Go, Ye Messengers of Glory	262			-57
Go Forth with Faith	263		信仰もて行け	168
Hark, All Ye Nations!	264		天よりの声聞け	166
Arise, O God, and Shine	265			-56
The Time Is Far Spent	266		時過ぎて	169
How Wondrous and Great	267			-55
Come, All Whose Souls Are Lighted	268		高き知恵もて	170
Jehovah, Lord of Heaven and Earth	269		エホバ，天地の主	171
I’ll Go Where You Want Me to Go	270		み旨のまま行かん	172
Oh, Holy Words of Truth and Love	271		高きに導く	173
Oh Say, What Is Truth?	272		真理は何と言えば	175
Truth Reflects upon Our Senses	273		真理，胸に照り	174
The Iron Rod	274		鉄の棒	176
Men Are That They Might Have Joy	275			-54
Come Away to the Sunday School	276			-53
As I Search the Holy Scriptures	277		われみ言葉読む	177
Thanks for the Sabbath School	278			-52
Thy Holy Word	279			-51
Welcome, Welcome, Sabbath Morning	280		楽し安息の日	178
Help Me Teach with Inspiration	281		主よ霊感もて	182
We Meet Again in Sabbath School	282			-50
The Glorious Gospel Light Has Shone	283			-49
If You Could Hie to Kolob	284			-48
God Moves in a Mysterious Way	285			-47
Oh, What Songs of the Heart	286		われら天にまた会うとき	179
Rise, Ye Saints, and Temples Enter	287		起て，宮に入りて	183
How Beautiful Thy Temples, Lord	288			-46
Holy Temples on Mount Zion	289			-45
Rejoice, Ye Saints of Latter Days	290			-44
Turn Your Hearts	291			-43
O My Father	292		高きに栄えて	180
Each Life That Touches Ours for Good	293			-42
Love at Home	294		家庭の愛	181
O Love That Glorifies the Son	295			-41
Our Father, by Whose Name	296			-40
From Homes of Saints Glad Songs Arise	297			-39
Home Can Be a Heaven on Earth	298		愛ある家は	186
Children of Our Heavenly Father	299			-38
Families Can Be Together Forever	300		家庭は永遠に	187
I Am a Child of God	301		神の子です	189
I Know My Father Lives	302		お父さまは生きています	190
Keep the Commandments	303		戒めを守る人を	193
Teach Me to Walk in the Light	304		光の中進もう	194
The Light Divine	305		神の光受け	191
God’s Daily Care	306			-37
In Our Lovely Deseret	307		神の聖徒の	185
Love One Another	308		共に愛し合え	192
As Sisters in Zion (Women)	309		シオンの娘	195
A Key Was Turned in Latter Days (Women)	310			-36
We Meet Again as Sisters (Women)	311			-35
We Ever Pray for Thee (Women)	312			-34
God Is Love (Women)	313			-33
How Gentle God’s Commands (Women)	314			-32
Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee (Women)	315			-31
The Lord Is My Shepherd (Women)	316			-30
Sweet Is the Work (Women)	317			-29
Love at Home (Women)	318			-28
Ye Elders of Israel (Men)	319		イスラエルの長老たちよ	196
The Priesthood of Our Lord (Men)	320			-27
Ye Who Are Called to Labor (Men)	321		み言葉により	197
Come, All Ye Sons of God (Men)	322		神権持つ子らよ	199
Rise Up, O Men of God (Men’s Choir)	323			-26
Rise Up, O Men of God (Men)	324			-25
See the Mighty Priesthood Gathered (Men’s Choir)	325			-24
Come, Come, Ye Saints (Men’s Choir)	326			-23
Go, Ye Messengers of Heaven (Men’s Choir)	327			-22
An Angel from on High (Men’s Choir)	328			-21
Thy Servants Are Prepared (Men’s Choir)	329			-20
See, the Mighty Angel Flying (Men’s Choir)	330			-19
Oh Say, What Is Truth? (Men’s Choir)	331			-18
Come, O Thou King of Kings (Men’s Choir)	332			-17
High on the Mountain Top (Men’s Choir)	333			-16
I Need Thee Every Hour (Men’s Choir)	334			-15
Brightly Beams Our Father’s Mercy (Men’s Choir)	335		天父は灯台のごとく	200
School Thy Feelings (Men’s Choir)	336		心を迎えよ	198
O Home Beloved (Men’s Choir)	337			-14
America the Beautiful	338			-13
My Country, ’Tis of Thee	339			-12
The Star-Spangled Banner	340			-11
God Save the King	341			-10
Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam	-1		光となるように	188
Oh, I Had Such a Prettty Dream, Mama	-2		母よ、われ美しき夢見ぬ	184
Waiting for the Reapers	-3		刈り手をまちつつ	156
My Jesus, As Thou Wilt	-4		主のみ旨に従い行かん	132
Let Us Treat Each Other Kindly	-5		やさしく交わらん	131
Behold the Lamb of God	-6		天の装いの子羊、見よ	130
Verdant Spring and Rosy Summer	-7		若葉の春	129
The Joy and the Song	-8		主をたたえん	39
Kind and Heavenly Father	-9		やさしき天の父よ	35