In any event, I owe a debt of thanks to a research assistant who helpfully called my attention to an exceptionally interesting text that was published in the 1990s. Friends, have you ever heard of a book called Expressions of Faith? The book was edited by Susan Easton Black and it features the testimonies of a number of marginally prominent Latter-day Saints, including Professor Daniel C. Peterson, whose testimony is entitled, "Shall We Not Go On in So Great a Cause?" and which can be found on pages 127-137. (Yes: you are right if you're thinking that this book seems like a precursor to "Mormon Scholars Testify." I wonder if Easton Black feels that she was ripped off?) At any rate, the Dr. Peterson's chapter is fascinating in all the ways you might imagine, including passages like this:
DCP in 'Expressions of Faith' wrote:I can believe in prophecy and revelation because I have, on my own small scale, experienced them. I have known things about the future that I could not possibly have known from any natural reading of the situation. I have felt the Lord speak through me and pronounce things (including a remarkable healing) that I, a cautious fellow, would never have said on my own. Indeed, I have been astonished and more than a little bit shocked to hear the words of the Lord come out of my mouth.
Wow! Despite everything I've seen and read, I don't think I've ever seen this degree of openness and candor from Dr. Peterson before. He seldom gets into the details of what he actually believes and feels--he hides all of that behind a shield. And given his other personality traits, it's hard to wonder: Why? Just look at him holding forth here, as if he's a prophet in the making:
Daniel Peterson wrote:The building up of Zion is a cause that has interested the people of God in every age; it is a theme upon which prophets, priests and kings have dwelt with peculiar delight; they have looked forward with joyful anticipation to the day in which we live; and fired with heavenly and joyful anticipations they have sung and written and prophesied of this our day; but they died without the sight; we are the favored people that God has made choice of to bring about the Latter-day glory; it is left for us to see, participate in and help to roll forward the Latter-day glory. . . . And whilst we are thus united in the one common cause, to roll forth the kingdom of God, the heavenly Priesthood are not idle spectators, the Spirit of God will be showered down from above, and it will dwell in our midst. The blessings of the Most High will rest upon our tabernacles, and our name will be handed down to future ages; our children will rise up and call us blessed; and generations yet unborn will dwell with peculiar delight upon the scenes that we have passed through, the privations that we have endured; the untiring zeal that we have manifested; the all but insurmountable difficulties that we have overcome in laying the foundation of a work that brought about the glory and blessing which they will realize; a work that God and angels have contemplated with delight for generations past; that fired the souls of the ancient patriarchs and prophets; a work that is destined to bring about the destruction of the powers of darkness, the renovation of the earth, the glory of God, and the salvation of the human family.
Hot damn! That is some fiery, biblical rhetoric indeed! This text is close to a quarter century old, so it has historical value, and it's interesting to see the Mopologists' more youthful ambitions. Still, as you may have gathered from this post's title, there is something else that interests me. It seems clear to me at this point that one of the principal issues of inquiry of Mopologetics that is most necessary at the moment is an exploration of their unique theology. What do they *actually* believe? Given what Mormonism demands of all members, what do Mopologists think they will get in the afterlife? These questions have been explored in various ways by a number of Cassius's most noteworthy faculty. I would just point out that, not that many months ago, we explored the question of whether the notion of the "TK Smoothie" figures into the Mopologists' beliefs about the afterlife. (DCP denied it publicly on his blog, despite clear evidence that one of his main friends and colleagues was a proponent of the idea.) Luckily for us, DCP's testimony is Expressions of Faith sheds yet more light on this puzzling question:
DCP in 'Expressions of Faith' wrote:Raised in what was then a part-member family in southern California, I think I first felt some of the thrill of the gospel in connection with a novel by Nephi Anderson entitled Added Upon.1 I stayed home from school one day at about the age of eleven or twelve. (I cannot recall, frankly, if I was really sick.) After a few hours, as usually happens in such cases, I was deeply bored. For some reason, I picked up a copy of Added Upon that we had inherited from my maternal grandmother, and I began to read. Nephi Anderson’s novel, a product of the “home literature” movement that flourished in the Church early in the twentieth century, is certainly not a great piece of writing by ordinary standards. But its scope caught my attention. In fact, I was entranced. I had thought of the gospel, up to this point, as something rather conventional, indeed as little more than a never-ending round of rather dull meetings.
Added Upon depicts a small group of characters as they move from the premortal existence through this life (where they come in contact with the gospel), into the spirit world, and beyond, into the resurrection and the millennium. I must have heard of such things before, but I had never previously had any notion of the richness, the sheer sweep and grandeur, of what we call “the plan of salvation.” It was, I realized, the most exciting thing I had ever encountered, the most magnificent vision of human destiny imaginable. And this sense of excitement has never left me. Moreover, although I know that it disturbs some outside the Church, I have never felt that the idea of exaltation, properly understood, leads to arrogance or pride; it is, rather, profoundly humbling, and a very holy doctrine.
Wouldn't you know--this book--Added Upon is freely available online? Well, first thing's first: let's get the obvious agreements out of the way: DCP is correct that the story "is certainly not a great piece of writing by ordinary standards." But, hey: he loves it! Bear in mind his praise for this book and consider that, as we speak, he and Midgley are beside themselves over the fact that gemli made a joking allusion to The Silence of the Lambs--a movie which, at this point, is considered a classic (it swept the Oscars), and which Midgley seems to have never even heard of. Midgley and Kiwi57 are slamming gemli for liking Toy Story, but have they taken a look at Added Upon?
Well, let me be honest: Added Upon totally sucks. The only way you could improve upon it is by turning it into a graphic novel, in which case it would then be equivalent to one of Jack Chick's tracts. That said, it's easy to see why DCP would like it. The book is, for better or worse, an attempt to imagine a legitimate LDS afterlife. So, what happens when you die? We know that there are three kingdoms, and that only the totally loyal and faithful LDS will go to the "best" kingdom. But the reasons how and why the three kingdoms differ from one another is usually vague (or it is depicted that way). Some LDS leaders have been bold enough to describe reasons why the lower kingdoms are "bad" (hence the "TK Smoothie" idea), and it seems likely that the Mopologists would sympathize with these views (despite the repeated claims that there is no "hell" in Mormonism). In any event, Added Upon does seem to depict what will happen in Mormon Heaven, and I'm guessing that this is the part that resonated with DCP. By way of backstory, this scene involves some poor sap who apparently wasn't as virtuous in his earthly life as he ought to have been--per Mormon standards--and so now he's been relegated to a "lesser" kingdom, and yet in Anderson's rendering of the LDS afterlife, the members of the different kingdoms are allowed to mingle. So, if you've ever wondered: "What would happen if one family member was a totally loyal and faithful Latter-day Saint, but other members of the family were not?" this passage will answer your question:
Nephi Anderson wrote:As we were talking to a group of sisters a man rushed in upon
us. With quick, eager words he asked us if we had seen someone whom he
named and described. At the sight of him, one of the women shrunk back
as if to hide in the crowd, but he saw her, and exclaimed:
"'Is that you? Yes--Oh, have I found you at last!'"
"The sister put forth her hand as if to ward him off, as he pressed
through the crowd to her. 'How did you get here?' she asked. 'Keep
away--you are unclean--keep away.'
"He paused in some astonishment at this reception. Then he pleaded with
her to let him accompany her; but she retreated from him, crying, 'You
are unclean; do not touch me.'
"'Yes,' he acknowledged, 'I suppose I have been a sinner; but listen to
my justification: I sinned to drown my sorrow when you died. I, also,
wanted to die. My heart was broken--I could not stand it--it was because
I loved you so--'
"'No; you did not love me. Love is pure--made purer by sorrow. Had you
truly loved, you would not have sinned so grievously. Your sorrow needed
to be repented of. Sorrow cannot be drowned in sin--no, no; go away.
Please go; you frighten me.'
"The man stood rigid for some time, and the expression on his face was
something terrible to see. The cold, clear truth had for the first time
burst upon him to his convincing. He had a 'bright recollection of all
his guilt,' and his torment was 'as a lake of fire and brimstone.' The
woman, recovering somewhat from her fright, stood before him with
innocent, clear-shining eyes, with half pity and half fear showing in
her beautiful countenance--for the woman was beautiful. The man stood
for a moment, which seemed a long time to all who witnessed the scene,
then his head dropped, his form seemed to shrivel up as he slouched out
of our company and disappeared from sight."
There was silence. Then Rupert added, "And yet some people tried to make
us believe that there is no hell."
LOL! As DCP says, "I had never previously had any notion of the richness, the sheer sweep and grandeur, of what we call “the plan of salvation.” It was, I realized, the most exciting thing I had ever encountered, the most magnificent vision of human destiny imaginable."
Right: it's an afterlife where, thanks to Holy fiat, those who don't obey the Gospel will "shrivel up" and suffer humiliation on into eternity. The book really is a treasure trove of delights. Think how wonderful it would be to go on to an eternity like this:
Rachel found continual delight in all the wonders of spirit-land. Her
circle of acquaintances enlarged rapidly, as those for whom she had done
temple work were glad to know her, and to know her was to love her.
These brought her in touch with many others; thus her sphere of
usefulness extended until she, too, could say that she was busier than
ever in joy-giving activities.
Friends and colleagues, this is really just the beginning, I think. I daresay that Added Upon has suddenly become a canonical text in the field of Mopologetic Studies. It has been endorsed as a "masterpiece" of spiritual insight by none other than Dr. Peterson himself. Given that, it certainly deserves our careful attention and analysis.
