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SOURCES:
Anthony Sweat, Michael Hubbard MacKay, and Gerrit J. Dirkmaat, "Doctrine: Models to Evaluate Types and Sources of Latter-day Saint Teachings," Religious Educator 17, no. 3 (2106): 100–25. https://rsc.byu.edu/vol-17-no-3-2016/doctrine-models-evaluate-types-sources-latter-day-saint-teachings#_edn53
“Jesus’ Early Ministry in Judea and Jerusalem.” Thomas A. Wayment. The Life and Teachings of Jesus Christ: From Bethlehem through the Sermon on the Mount.
Richard Neitzel Holzapfel and Thomas Wayment
“Jesus Teaches at Jacob’s Well.” Gaye Strathearn. The Life and Teachings of Jesus Christ: From Bethlehem through the Sermon on the Mount.
Richard Neitzel Holzapfel and Thomas Wayment
“Early Galilean Ministry and Miracles.” Cecilia M. Peek. The Life and Teachings of Jesus Christ: From Bethlehem through the Sermon on the Mount.
Richard Neitzel Holzapfel and Thomas Wayment
The New Testament Made Harder by James E. Faulconer
The New Testament: A Translation for Latter-day Saints - Thomas A. Wayment
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“Doctrine: Models to Evaluate Types and Sources of Latter-day Saint Teachings"
Anthony Sweat, Michael Hubbard MacKay, and Gerrit J. Dirkmaat
Helpful Tools to Evaluate Doctrine
Because we have a lay membership that is required to teach each other the doctrines of the kingdom (D&C 88:77), members will, inevitably, need to evaluate the Church’s authorized teachings. How can we know if the Church stands behind a particular teaching as one of its authorized doctrines? Although a variety of things are taught in the Church (and thus may be considered part of Latter-day Saint doctrine), the following four[27] questions are designed to help point us in the right direction when we are looking for official teachings.
1. Is it repeatedly found in the scriptures?
2. Is it proclaimed by the united voice of the current Brethren?
3. Is it consistently taught by current General Authorities and general officers acting in their official capacity?
4. Is it found in recent Church publications or statements?
In 2006, due primarily to the popularity of the novel The Da Vinci Code, which posited that Jesus was married and had children, the Church officially released a statement through its spokesperson, saying, “The belief that Christ was married has never been official church doctrine. It is neither sanctioned nor taught by the church.” Thus, while once perhaps being an authoritative teaching, using the model of official sources of doctrine, it is no longer an authorized teaching of the Church. It’s absent in the Church’s current official publications, it is not taught cumulatively by the modern General Authorities, nor is it declared by the united voice of the modern First Presidency and Apostles. Using our model of types of doctrine, Jesus’s marriage status now rightly belongs to the esoteric ring of doctrine—something once known or taught by others and one day may be taught again, but is not known, taught openly, or declared authoritatively today. It is now a non-authorized, esoteric teaching.
“The making of the wine at the wedding, however, was clearly not an act of creation ex nihilo. It was rather a re-creation, a remaking of something better out of something that was already good. In Cana, Jesus showed His ability to transform the physical world, but the act implies His power also to transform the psychic world. Jesus can, by the power of His word, transform water into wine. As that wine becomes a symbol of His blood, He demonstrates that he can, by the atoning act in which that blood is spilt, transform sinful men into holy ones.”
“This act symbolizing Jesus’ ability to transform a physical substance at its most basic level proclaims His ability to bring about profound spiritual transformation as well. The altered substance was, it must be remembered, hidden in vessels, and the change was not discovered until the headwaiter tested the inner content of those vessels.”
“This reasoning suggests that the transformation Jesus can effect in His faithful followers is not primarily a change of the outer but rather of the inner, man. As the water in the vessels was made wine, rich and red it points to the inner man being made new by the blood of Christ, and this critical metamorphosis is bound up with obedience to Jesus’ word, for John says that Jesus’ mother instructed the servants thus: “Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it” (John 2:5). In response to Jesus’ command, the transforming miracle was wrought.”
“Early Galilean Ministry and Miracles.” Cecilia M. Peek. The Life and Teachings of Jesus Christ: From Bethlehem through the Sermon on the Mount.
Richard Neitzel Holzapfel and Thomas Wayment
Sanhedrin - Bible Dictionary
The Jewish senate and the highest native court in both civil and ecclesiastical matters. Under the presidency of the high priest it regulated the whole internal affairs of the Jewish nation.
The powers of the Sanhedrin were extensive, for the Greek and Roman masters of the Jews granted them a considerable amount of self-government. From the New Testament we gather that it was the supreme court of justice in all cases, and that it had officers of its own who arrested accused persons and carried out its sentences and decrees.
John the Baptist
“ . . . by the time Jesus came to be baptized, John had already developed a well-defined set of enemies and had refined his prophetic harangue to include the Jewish aristocracy more narrowly. The Gospel of John weaves the beginning of Jesus’ ministry into the fabric of John’s final days, therefore the two could have overlapped for some time.”
The New Testament: A Translation for Latter-day Saints - Thomas A. Wayment
Samaritans - Bible Dictionary
The complex relationship between Jews and Samaritans was marked with hostility and mutual condemnation. The Samaritans were a mixture of native Israelites, some of whom had been deported to Assyria in 722 BCE, and colonists who had been relocated in the region by the Assyrians and Babylonians. The Samaritans claimed Israelite heritage, and they built a temple on Mount Gerizim in Samaria believing it was the Holy Mount. They only accepted the Pentateuch, the first five books of Moses. They did not accept the rest of the other books of the Old Testament. They believe that Moses was the final seal of the prophets.
Samaritan Woman at the Well
"John’s description of what happened next offers profound symbolism: she left her water pot. Her pot can be seen as emblematic of the cares of the world, her old life, and her old source of sustenance. She left it all behind for her new life that led her to share the living water or good news—the gospel. Jesus broke down enormous social barriers and trusted her to witness the truth of His Messiahship. He trusted her with the mysteries, and He trusted her to change. In this manner, Jesus empowered her and those of us who also have water pots to leave behind."
Dr. Lynne Hilton Wilson
“A fourth-century Christian, Ephraim the Syrian, wonderfully summarized Jesus’ interactions with the Samaritan woman: “Our Lord came to the fountain of water as a hunter . . . . He cast a bait for the drove so that through it he might capture the entire flock . . . She first saw him as someone thirsting; and then as a Jew; then as a prophet, and after that as God. As someone thirsting, she persuaded him; as a Jew, she recoiled from him, as a learned one, she interrogated him, as a prophet she was reprimanded, and as the Messiah she worshipped him.”
Gaye Strathearn quoting: Ephrem, Commentary on Titian’s Diatessaron.
"Salvation comes from how individuals respond to the Savior’s attempts to raise their sights from an earthly perspective to a heavenly perspective and how they respond to His universal invitation, 'Come, follow me.'"
Gaye Strathearn
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