What is Charity? Reflections Taken From The Books of Ether & Moroni

What is Charity?

Teaching from the Book of Mormon

Taken from The Books of Ether & Moroni

by J.C. Winegardner

2013-11-17
Revised 2015-04-02

Introduction

I have a friend, who I have known for many years, who attributes 'love' as the solution to all of life's maladies.  As the song as, all we have to do is love.  My friend will remain nameless.  I disagree.  There is more to life.  Life is hard.  We have many challenges to overcome.  Emotional and hormonal levels simply cannot solve all the challenges places before us.  There are real obstacles that require real solutions.  The adjective love is often used  as synonymous with charity.  This essay is about clarifying divine charity with no aspersions casting towards my friend or others who believe that 'love' can solve it all.

The phrase “charity” is often used when referring to the character of Jesus Christ. What is charity? Is charity doing nice things for others, in other words is charity dogooderism? In order to grasp the significance of charity and to not misunderstand its meaning in our lives we are going study charity from a doctrinal perspective, taking as sources the writings from the Book of Mormon prophet Moroni. These writings are found in Ether 12 & Moroni 7.

All viewpoints are of the author and while they are correct, they are not the official position of the First Presidency or any member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. All opinions expressed herein are those exclusively of the author. I make no representation that such opinions are endorsed by or are approved by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS).

Foundation – Ether 12 & Moroni 7

Ether 12 & Moroni 7 were both authored by the Prophet Moroni. That understanding cannot be minimized. In order to grasp the significance we have to embrace that the same author of both texts was one person and he knew that the doctrines, principles, and truths in Ether 12 would help modern man more fully understand the doctrines, principles, and truths in Moroni 7.

First, we read in Moroni 7, verses 44 through 48:

44 If so, his faith and hope is vain, for none is before God, save the meek and lowly in heart; and if a man be meek and lowly in heart, and confesses acceptabley the power of the Holy Ghost that Jesus is the Christ, he must needs have charity; for if he have not charity he is nothing; wherefore he must needs have charity.

45 And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

46 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail—

47 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.

48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.

Implications of the Doctrine of Charity

We are first told that the true followers of Jesus Christ must have charity or we are nothing. We are then told that charity is the pure love of Jesus Christ. In our modern world we are often encouraged to be charitable and to support others through charity. In fact there are thousands of organizations if not hundreds-of-thousands whose exclusive mission is providing charitable acts to others, the downtrodden, the disenfranchised, the poor and the destitute.

 

There is nothing wrong with that point-of-view of charity or of charitable acts. We should help and serve others. However, the notion that charity is the same thing as “dogooderism” is not what the Prophet Moroni meant. We can prove it by simply substituting the two words in the text, that is every place where you see “charity” replace it with do-gooderism. This what the text would be if that were Moroni's intention:

44 If so, his faith and hope is vain, for none is before God, save the meek and lowly in heart; and if a man be meek and lowly in heart, and confesses acceptabley the power of the Holy Ghost that Jesus is the Christ, he must needs have do-gooderism; for if he have not dogooderism he is nothing; wherefore he must needs have do-gooderism.

45 And dogooderism suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

46 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not do-gooderism, ye are nothing, for do-gooderism never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto do-gooderism, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail—

47 But do-gooderism is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.

48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love (do-gooderism), which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.

Reads very odd now doesn't it? By simply referring to verses 45-48 we learn about the attributes of charity. Such attributes include:

1. Long-suffering

2. Not envying (of others)

3. Not being puffed up (blowing our own horn)

4. Not seeking our own self interest

5. Not rejoicing in iniquity

6. Not being easily provoked

7. Does not dwell on evil thoughts or designs

8. Rejoices in truth

9. Bears and endures all challenges

10. Believes and hopes for all good things

Further Moroni teaches that “charity” shall never fail, and he exhorts the reader to have charity for the attribute of charity never ends (his word is failure). He urges us to have charity for it shall be well with us at the last day if we possess charity. Clearly, the Lord and His prophet Moroni did not mean “do-gooderism”. Is it possible that dogooderism can come short and in Moroni's words fail? Can we honestly say that “dogooderism” is the “pure love of Christ”? Clearly and obviously the meaning of “charity” is much more profound and powerful than simple “do-gooderism”.

In order to come to fuller and complete understanding of the Lord's intention we need to refer to another of Moroni's writings. This is found in Ether 12:33-34. Which reads:

33 And again, I remember that thou hast said that thou hast loved the world, even unto the laying down of thy life for the world, that thou mightest take it again to prepare a place for the children of men.

34 And now I know that this love which thou hast had for the children of men is charity; wherefore, except men shall have charity they cannot inherit that place which thou hast prepared in the mansions of thy Father.

Here we learn that the love that motivated Christ to lay down his life for the world, its occupants past, present and future is charity. There is that word again, only in these verses it is clearly defined. What is another word for what Christ did in Gethsemane and upon the cross? 

Think hard. The word is A-T-O-N-E-M-E-N-T (atonement).

Is atonement dogooderism? Absolutely not. However armed with this new understanding it fits perfectly Moroni's discussion in Moroni 7. Now lets replace “dogooderism” with “atonement”.

It now reads (with some editing for readability):

44 If so, his faith and hope is vain, for none is before God, save the meek and lowly in heart; and if a man be meek and lowly in heart, and confesses acceptabley the power of the Holy Ghost that Jesus is the Christ, he must needs have (the) atonement; for if he have not the atonement he is nothing; wherefore he must needs have the atonement..

45 And the atonement suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

46 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not the atonement, ye are nothing, for the atonement never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto the atonement, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail—

47 But the atonement is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.

48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love (the atonement), which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.

With the Ether 12 understanding of “charity” as “the atonement” the passages in Moroni 7 take on an entirely new meaning. Attributes of the atonement such as endurance to the end, never failing, long-suffering, hoping for all good things in the eternities and the other attributes detailed previously in this article clearly now make sense once we are armed with an understanding that the “charity” Moroni refers to is “the atonement”. As the Apostle Paul wrote “...can anything separate us from the love of God?”

One more principle needs to be discussed before we conclude. Moroni states in 7:47-48 that whoever is found possessed of it (charity aka the atonement) “...it shall be well with them...” and we are exhorted to pray with all the energy of our souls to have it (charity/the atonement) with us at the last day.

Who or what is doing the possessing? Are we possessing charity (the atonement) or is the atonement (charity) possessing (having claim on us)? We often read the verses that we are doing the possessing, we are the ones claiming charity (the atonement). However, that is NOT what Moroni has written. We are urged to pray with all the energy of our hearts (souls) that charity (the atonement) may have claim on us in the last day.

How does charity (the atonement) have claim on us? It is through the ordinances, the covenants attached to those ordinances, and the living of those covenants that we may have the benefit of charity (the atonement).

What is the benefit of having charity (the atonement) possessing (having claim) on us? I do not fully understand the entirety of the doctrine, however I know that one of the principle benefits is the forgiveness of our sins. This only comes as we receive the ordinances of the restored Priesthood and LIVE the attached covenants. As the Doctrine Covenants (D&C 130:20-21) teaches we can only be blessed by complying with celestial principles and living of the covenants.

If you have a question or a comment please email me at JcarylW@gmail.com.

J.C. Winegardner