Although all is not gold that shines, any more than every religious creed is sanctioned with the so eternally sure word of prophecy, satisfying all doubt with “Thus saith the Lord;” yet, “by proving contraries,” truth is made manifest,” and a wise man can search out “old paths, wherein righteous men held communion with Jehovah, and were exalted through obedience.
Joseph Smith, “Letter to L. Daniel Rupp, June 15, 1844
In June 1844, Joseph Smith received a book entitled An Original History of the Religious Denominations at Present Existing in the United States. This book listed the various beliefs of different religions in America. Joseph Smith wrote a complimentary letter to the book’s editor, L. Daniel Rupp which contained the quote above.
The phrase “proving contraries” means to test, to struggle with competing ideas, to puzzle out the truth through practical experience. Joseph liked the idea of people being able to compare religions and “prove” them, or test them, for themselves. He was quite confident that a sincere seeker would recognize the truth of the restored Church of Jesus Christ.
The need for opposition
For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things.
2 Nephi 2:11
Lehi gave a great sermon on the importance of opposition in 2 Nephi chapter 2. He points out that without misery there can be no happiness – without wickedness there is no righteousness. One is defined by the existence of the other.
There are many “contraries” in life that we need to struggle with and work out. The big ones are probably Good vs. Evil and Truth vs. Lies. Obviously, Good and True are better than Evil and Lies, but the problem comes in telling them apart.
The entire history of the world shows that people are not very good at this. Evil always pretends to be Good and Lies always masquerade as Truth. The work of discerning the difference, and then living up to what we know, is the test of this life.
Doing the work
Doubt not, but be believing, and begin as in times of old, and come unto the Lord with all your heart, and work out your own salvation with fear and trembling before him.
Mormon 9:27
Eternal Life will not just be handed to us. We have to work for it. Many evangelical Christians, based on a simplistic reading of Romans 10:9-10, believe that a one-time declaration of faith in Jesus means that a person is “saved” for eternity regardless of anything they may have done before, or may do after, that time.
In contrast to this quick and easy, once and done, doctrine, the restored Church of Jesus Christ teaches that one grows in character and wisdom gradually – a step at a time.
For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have.
2 Nephi 28:30
Avoiding error
There are many potential pitfalls in the search for truth. Perhaps the most common is uncritically assuming one’s own opinions are facts. It is all too easy to let one’s ego interfere with one’s perception and one’s thought processes. Insecure people are especially prone to this error.
If one sincerely wishes to pursue and find truth, the prerequisite attitude is humility. One must be teachable and willing to learn new things. One must also be able to do that most difficult thing for humans – admit when one is wrong.
Also, rather than avoiding conflict and uncomfortable ideas, one must be willing to approach difficult questions fearlessly. One must be willing to give up false beliefs no matter how familiar and comfortable they have become. (Yes, Mormon Republicans, I’m talking to you).
Building on what we have
In the search for truth, we Latter-day Saints have an advantage because we know that Jesus is “the Way, the Truth and the Life” (John 14:6). We also have restored scriptures – and even living prophets. The problem is that we too easily grow comfortable with the truths we have and stop seeking for greater light and knowledge.
We can not stand still in this life. Complacency only leads people to lose what they once had. Life, by definition, is a process of continual growth. Refusing to learn and grow is the equivalent of death. Don’t commit intellectual or spiritual suicide.
And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well—and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell.
2 Nephi 28:21
Source
Joseph Smith, “Letter to L. Daniel Rupp,” June 5, 1844, History of the Church, 6:428
“There are many “contraries” in life that we need to struggle with and work out. The big ones are probably Good vs. Evil and Truth vs. Lies.”
And an equally big one is capital vs labor, especially in capitalism. And the Church in fact has paid a lot of attention to this, at least in the past, always coming out for capital, against labor. That’s why Utah is the most anti-union state in the nation! But most LDS can’t focus on this. Even liberal LDS can’t so focus or are kept from doing it. Nuff said.
“The phrase “proving contraries” means to test, to struggle with competing ideas, to puzzle out the truth through practical experience.”
This I very much like. What is the truth of labor relations? What is the reality of the wondrous Amazon “Fulfillment Center” at the west side of town? What is like to work there?
The last 50 years have seen the beating up of labor. This is the truth.
The older I get the more impressed I am with the notion of “proving contraries.” Eugene England wrote some influential stuff on that in essays in Why the Church is as True as the Gospel. I’ve seen interesting studies on how MAGA heads are far less likely than democrats to read news from multiple perspectives. I’ve long been influenced by the Perry Scheme for Cognitive and Ethical Growth, based on a long study of students coming to Yale and adapting provincial life to the university, and the difference between Position 2 of 9:
POSITION 2 – Multiplicity Prelegitimate. (Resisting snake)
Now the person moves to accept that there is diversity, but they still think there are TRUE authorities who are right, that the others are confused by complexities or are just frauds. They think they are with the true authorities and are right while all others are wrong. They accept that their good authorities present problems so they can learn to reach right answers independently.
And Position 9:
POSITION 9. Commitments in Relativism further developed.
The person now has a developed sense of irony and can more easily embrace other’s viewpoints. He can accept life as just that “life”, just the way IT is! Now he holds the commitments he makes in a condition of “PROVISIONAL ULTIMACY”, meaning that for him what he chooses to be truth IS his truth, and he acts as if it is ultimate truth, but there is still a “provision” for change. He has no illusions about having “arrived” permanently on top of some heap, he is ready and knows he will have to retrace his journey over and over, but he has hope that he will do it each time more wisely. He is aware that he is developing his IDENTITY through Commitment. He can affirm the inseparable nature of the knower and the known–meaning he knows he as knower contributes to what he calls known. He helps weld a community by sharing realization of aloneness and gains strength and intimacy through this shared vulnerability. He has discarded obedience in favor of his own agency, and he continues to select, judge, and build.
One aspect of the Perry Scheme is that progress is not inevitable. One response to the uncertainties of Position 5 is this:
If the person RETREATS, rage takes over and he loses agency to make sense. He survives by avoiding complexity and ambivalence and regresses to Dualism, position 2, (multiplicity prelegitimate). He becomes moralistic righteous and has “righteous” hatred for otherness. He complains childlike and demands of authority figures to just tell him what they want.
That is very MAGA. It is also interesting that Joseph Smith, by precept and example, tries to lead us to Position 9. (I have an essay showing that in Interpreter. “Sophic Box and Mantic Vista.”
In the William Blake’s The Marriage of Heaven and Hell, plate 3 has “Without contraries is no progression. Attraction and repulsion, Reason and Energy, Love and Hate, are necessary to human existence. ” That is also akin to Lehi’s discourse in 2 Nephi 2, and our Book of Moses and Temple on the need enter into this world of opposites, and the wisdom that comes from only from personal experience of both good and evil.
On the flip side of that, Nibley’s essay on “The Unsolved Loyalty Problem” in The Ancient State quotes Alfiodi, on “the cruelty of the times” as due to the “victory of abstract ways of thinking, the universal triumph of theory, knows no half measures, punishment, like everything elsemust be a hundred-percent, but even that seems inadequate.” (Nibley, 212).
Growth happens when one not only pursues truth, but when one also acts on truth, don’t you think? Study and learning is just the first step in progression. We do need to struggle with and work out the contraries. But that is insufficient without acting upon those truths, whatever they may be.