The Tongue of Angels

When I was very young, I remember going on trips to Los Angeles to visit the LDS Temple there.  It is a large building set up on a hill on Santa Monica Blvd, surrounded by lovely landscaping without fountains and trees.  The outside of this temple, for the most part, is plain.  It does not have the ornate granite look on the temple in Salt Lake City, nor does it have the stunning white spires of the temple in San Diego or the temple in Washington DC.  Perhaps it is because of its plain appearance that the golden statue fixed to the top of it always seemed to stand out to me.

The golden statue depicts an angel sounding a trumpet facing the east.  The concept comes from a biblical depiction in the book of Revelation, chapter 14, verses 6-7: "And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters."

The fulfillment of John's prophecy was realized when the angel Moroni appeared to the prophet Joseph Smith, and brought a message that led to the translation of the Book of Mormon, which contains a record that confirms the divinity of Jesus Christ and his everlasting gospel, and is actively being distributed to nations all over the world.

The concept of an angel bringing a message from God is not unique to the coming of the Book of Mormon.  The Bible names the angel Gabriel as the messenger who brought the news of Christ's birth to Mary.  There are numerous passages where angels have come to bring messages, warnings, or instruction from heaven.  Even going back to the garden of Eden, God placed Cherubim and a flaming sword to keep the way of the tree of life.

Over time, popular culture has influenced the impressions men have had of how angels appear and interact with people.  Small, plump, nude babies with feathered wings are popular in some depictions, perhaps portraying some sort of innocence.  Elegant figures with ornate dresses are common sights at the tops of Christmas trees.

Though I know they are not accurate representations, I confess to being impressed with fantasy portrayals of angels with majestic wings, bright armor, and shining swords.  Though I do not typically include images in my posts, I thought these might be enjoyable:

As entertaining as these fantasy characters are, the actual divine messengers do not appear like this.  In fact, because they are messengers it is rare that visibility is important at all in their work... The Book of Mormon prophet Nephi expounded a bit on this when he was trying to explain the concept of "speaking with the tongue of angels" (2 Nephi 32:2-3)

The idea is that angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost.  The methods by which the Holy Ghost, or the Spirit of God communicates are found in various places in the scriptures.

Consider the disciples on the road to Emmaus who spoke with the resurrected Christ.  After hearing his teachings, they confirmed with one another this spiritual influence by saying "Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?" (Luke 24:32)

Consider the word of the Lord coming to the prophet Elijah on Horeb.  He recognized the messenger that prepared him for his journey as an angel, and he knew enough to realize that the wind and the fire and the earthquake were not the voice of the Lord... After these things came a still small voice, which he recognized, and answered.  (1 Kings 19)

Consider the teachings of the Apostle Paul in Galatians: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law." (Galatians 5:22-23)

The other important emphasis of Nephi is not just the method by which they speak, but the message they speak: "Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do." (2 Nephi 32:3)

The message of angels is the message of God.  When the voice of the Father has been heard, it is almost always to point us toward his son, Jesus Christ.  (Mark 1:11, 2 Nephi 31:11, 2 Peter 1:17, Matthew 17:5, JSH 1:17)

Because the teaching of Christ is to have faith, to repent, and to follow him... so is the message of an angel.  Of course there may be certain circumstances where more specific guidance is needed, but for the vast majority of people... they are probably already aware of things they ought to be doing better.  Anyone who has felt persuaded to change their life to become a better person has, most likely, been persuaded by the tongue of angels.

While it is fine for fantasy stories to portray angels as powerful divine warriors, for the vast majority of the time, they need not seem aloof or withdrawn... in truth, the tongue of angels can be heard by those who listen.

Hellfire and Damnation (no, seriously)

When I was growing up, I had a large number of friends that had different Christian beliefs.  Some of them were Catholic, and some held to protestant views.  Many of them agreed that the general plan for humanity after life was over involved a judgement before God and an eternal life in either heaven or hell.  Though we never had long discussions about these subjects... there was a general consensus that going to heaven meant living with God in peace and happiness, and going to hell meant perpetual torture at the hands of the devil.

As a latter day saint, my instruction in the plan of salvation was a bit more complicated than the view that humans were created here on earth, and that based on our faith or behavior (or a combination of faith and behaviors) we would be assigned our eternal destination of eternal peace or eternal pain.

The Mormon view of the plan of salvation involves life beginning before mortality... such that being called children of God was not some figurative statement representing divine affection for humanity.  Similar to other views, it included mortality, and at death, some form of judgement where people would be assigned a destination of peace and rest or pain and confinement... but that these places would only be temporary.  After the end of the earth, there will be another judgement wherein people will be assigned permanent destinations in one of three kingdoms of differing glories.

Some people found this interpretation confusing, and inconsistent with scripture.  Of course, few of them were aware of the passage in 1 Corinthians 15:40-42:

"There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption..."

In my young mind, I believed this settled the question, but as I grew older, and read from the scriptures more on my own, I became confused as to why so many prophets and scripture passages used the heaven and hell model if it was incomplete.

Consider in the Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 9:34 - "Wo unto the liar, for he shall be thrust down to hell."  What does that even mean?  A person who lies (and presumably does not repent of this sin) will be sent to a lake of fire for perpetual torture?  Or a person will be uncomfortable for a temporary amount of time until final judgement where they will inherit a lesser kingdom?  Why say "hell" if it is so ambiguous?

Consider also the imagery in 2 Nephi 9:15-16 - "And it shall come to pass that when all men shall have passed from this first death unto life, insomuch as they have become immortal, they must appear before the judgment-seat of the Holy One of Israel; and then cometh the judgment, and then must they be judged according to the holy judgment of God.  And assuredly, as the Lord liveth, for the Lord God hath spoken it, and it is his eternal word, which cannot pass away, that they who are righteous shall be righteous still, and they who are filthy shall be filthy still; wherefore, they who are filthy are the devil and his angels; and they shall go away into everlasting fire, prepared for them; and their torment is as a lake of fire and brimstone, whose flame ascendeth up forever and ever and has no end."

Why describe everlasting fire, and torment as a lake of fire and brimstone with unquenchable flames if these things do not exist?

Even Jesus himself said "...but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire." (Matthew 5:22)

Ultimately, the idea is that sin is bad.  This is particularly important when discussing sinful behavior that does not seem to produce harmful consequences.  If two adults consent to extramarital intimacy, who is getting harmed?  If a person decides to indulge in some substance abuse in the privacy of their own home, who is getting harmed?  If a person decides to steal from someone who has an abundance of wealth and insurance to cover their losses, who is getting harmed?  If a person takes credit for things they did not do, what does it really hurt if they gain a small advantage?

It is a constant need for religion to convey the seriousness of actions that do not seem immediately harmful.  Unfortunately, the difficulty in doing so increases when faiths get into petty arguments regarding minutia and ignore elements that can truly erode the moral strength of society.  As time has passed, it has become increasingly popular for those who seek to establish secularism to mock those who try to maintain protections for time-honored social values.  Some of this mockery is even understandable as there have been some who have used religious and other persuasion to benefit themselves rather than their congregations or society in general.  Requesting evidence and clarity can help reduce the influence of falsehoods that inflate themselves with religious imagery such as ascending flames, lakes of fire, and perpetual damnation.

That having been said, the idea of hellfire and damnation is still important where the deeds of individuals cause unseen harm.  Whether the actions involve drinking contaminated water, avoiding potentially life-saving vaccinations, or transgressing the commandments of God... these deeds can result in actual harm.  Though the victims of bad water or a lack of vaccines can be observed to have been harmed in a relatively short period of time... the victims of some sinful behavior may not be revealed in a single lifetime, but that does not mean the crimes are imaginary.  The real victim of transgression actually experienced the torturous consequences of this behavior... and it is his prophets and apostles who through the ages have described the effects as being like unending flames, perpetual torment, and lakes of fire and brimstone.  In any sin, Jesus Christ is a victim.  The thoughtless idle words and deeds of men literally caused a person to endure such crippling pain that blood oozed out of his skin. (Luke 22:44)

These actual consequences of sin fall upon those that commit them unless they agree to accept the saving power of Jesus Christ... which literally saves men from having to endure these horrendous ordeals.  Understanding not only that God has tremendous rewards for those that heed his words, but that he literally seeks to prevent tremendous harm from coming upon us, should motivate us to better keep his laws.  No doubt, there are many reasons to choose the right... and even if avoiding hellfire and damnation are among them, then humanity is better off than it otherwise would be.