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"Has The Church Ever Had A Manual Or Given A Year To The Life And Teachings Of Jesus Christ Exclusively?"


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Posted

As has been done with the manuals of our prophets?

This was a quote, my OP, from another board, that jumped out at me. I was wondering if this has happened anywhere in time. Maybe, maybe not? It's something I'd love to see happen and wish that if anyone on here has access to someone in the church's Curriculum Dept. they might find out or put forth the idea.

Would anyone else like to see a manual like this?

Posted

As has been done with the manuals of our prophets?

This was a quote, my OP, from another board, that jumped out at me. I was wondering if this has happened anywhere in time. Maybe, maybe not? It's something I'd love to see happen and wish that if anyone on here has access to someone in the church's Curriculum Dept. they might find out or put forth the idea.

Would anyone else like to see a manual like this?

Jesus the Christ?

Posted (edited)

As has been done with the manuals of our prophets?

This was a quote, my OP, from another board, that jumped out at me. I was wondering if this has happened anywhere in time. Maybe, maybe not? It's something I'd love to see happen and wish that if anyone on here has access to someone in the church's Curriculum Dept. they might find out or put forth the idea.

Do you mean for Sunday School, because there is currently (and has been for at least from the time I went to BYU in the 70s) an institute manual that does pretty much that: http://institute.lds.org/manuals/new-testament?lang=eng

rel-211-212_student_nt.jpg

If one accepts that the prophets are passing on to us what the Lord teaches them, then everything the prophets teach that is inspired by the Spirit of God is a teaching of Jesus, is it not?

Edited by calmoriah
Posted

Jesus the Christ?

I thought that's what the bible was (or IS)?!

I would think any attempt to present such a manual by the church, must take quotes from BOM, D&C, etc,

Won't the same people cry "heresy"?

Posted

I thought that's what the bible was (or IS)?!

I would think any attempt to present such a manual by the church, must take quotes from BOM, D&C, etc,

Won't the same people cry "heresy"?

Didn't think of it that way. Good call. Maybe people would think that we only study JC once every several years. Thank you. I guess I just wanted to study His teachings in depth atleast 2 times a month, like we study the prophets, for one or two years. But see how this might seem silly because we should already have been studying Him.

Posted

As has been done with the manuals of our prophets?

This was a quote, my OP, from another board, that jumped out at me. I was wondering if this has happened anywhere in time. Maybe, maybe not? It's something I'd love to see happen and wish that if anyone on here has access to someone in the church's Curriculum Dept. they might find out or put forth the idea.

Would anyone else like to see a manual like this?

Since the manuals have to cover 48 weeks of lessons, you have to choose a subject that has enough material for that many lessons. If you're talking about our records of what Jesus actual said while on the Earth, that would probably be pretty tough. I mean, look at the "Teaching of the Presidents" series; those are pretty dense books made up almost entirely of quotes.

If you broaden the definition of "teachings of Jesus Christ" to include other revelations and such, then you've just described many of the scriptures, which are obviously taught in a four-year cycle in Sunday School.

Posted

Since the manuals have to cover 48 weeks of lessons, you have to choose a subject that has enough material for that many lessons. If you're talking about our records of what Jesus actual said while on the Earth, that would probably be pretty tough. I mean, look at the "Teaching of the Presidents" series; those are pretty dense books made up almost entirely of quotes.

If you broaden the definition of "teachings of Jesus Christ" to include other revelations and such, then you've just described many of the scriptures, which are obviously taught in a four-year cycle in Sunday School.

True.

Posted

It's not a manual, but does this count?

JesusChrist.lds.org

There is also the March 2008 Ensign, where the whole issue was devoted specifically to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thank you for these links, there is tons of information in them. I see that one must not rely only on Sunday School instruction, but personal study.

Posted

As has been done with the manuals of our prophets?

This was a quote, my OP, from another board, that jumped out at me. I was wondering if this has happened anywhere in time. Maybe, maybe not? It's something I'd love to see happen and wish that if anyone on here has access to someone in the church's Curriculum Dept. they might find out or put forth the idea.

Would anyone else like to see a manual like this?

Gospel Doctrine...the Prophets do not have original teachings, they teach the words and doctrines of Christ.
Posted

There is also the March 2008 Ensign, where the whole issue was devoted specifically to the Lord Jesus Christ.

That's a good one. Here are some main points that I found:

Article - We Testify of Jesus Christ

On page 6, "He, the lowly babe of Bethlehem who two millennia ago walked the dusty roads of the Holy Land,

became the Lord Omnipotent."

The Book of Mormon says Jesus is the Lord Omnipotent, from all eternity to all eternity (Mosiah 3:5). Jesus

did not have to become the Lord Omnipotent.

Article - We Testify of Jesus Christ

On page 9, "We place Jesus Christ on a pedestal as no other group I know of."

This is not accurate from my point of view as an evangelical. I don't view Jesus as being one God among a

countless number of Gods as in LDS theology. Jesus has always been God. In Mormon theology there are

an unknown number of pedestals, each with its own exalted person.

Article - Who is Jesus Christ

On pages 15-16, "Nephi testified that the Bible once contained the fulness of the gospel of the Lord ... He

[Nephi] then prophesied that the precious things would be restored (see 1 Nephi 13:34–35). And they were

restored."

Note the phrase "once contained". The LDS Church seems to contradict this teaching of Nephi because the

Introduction page of the Book of Mormon currently asserts that itself and the Bible both contain the fulness of

the Gospel. All LDS doctrines are not found in the Book of Mormon. If anything, the Book of Mormon should

not be said to contain the fulness of the Gospel based on this criteria.

Article - Faith in Jesus Christ

On page 26, "You exercise faith in Christ when you have ... (2) a correct idea of His character."

If Jesus was not a procreated spirit child of Heavenly Father and Mother, then it is safe to say that people

do not exercise faith in Christ since they do not have a correct idea of His nature.

Article - The Atonement of Jesus Christ

On page 35 is found a very interesting teaching.

"His ransom for Adam’s original transgression so that no member of the human family is held responsible for

that sin ... while all members of the human family are freely given a reprieve from Adam’s sin through no

effort of their own, they are not given a reprieve from their own sins unless they pledge faith in Christ".

Article - The Living Christ

On page 43, "He walked the roads of Palestine, healing the sick, causing the blind to see, and raising the dead. He

taught ... the reality of our premortal existence."

I am not aware of Jesus teaching this from reading the Bible, nor from the Book of Mormon for that matter.

Article - Worshipping through Hymns

On page 65, "Some of our most beloved hymns teach us to follow Christ’s servants, His chosen prophets in our

day. “Praise to the Man,” for instance, helps us remember the important role of the Prophet Joseph Smith in the

Restoration of the gospel."

To this date, I think there is only one song to a President of the church. One part of this hymn has Joseph Smith

mingling with the Gods.

Thanks,

Jim

Posted

And therein lies a tale!

The instruction we receive in our Sunday meetings is not sufficient, not by any means, to bring us closest to the Lord Jesus Christ. Personal study is definitely necessary.

The thing is, we know which lesson in our manuals is to be covered on a given Sunday, and at a minimum we should be reading those lessons and the assocated scriptures prior to Church services, so that we are prepared to discuss the topics. How many of us do that? I know that I do not. But quite apart from that, we need to be studying on a personal level every single day.

So it's kind of unnecessary to appeal the Curriculum Dept. We are, when it comes down to it, our very own curriculum departments.

Posted

Gospel Doctrine...the Prophets do not have original teachings, they teach the words and doctrines of Christ.

Neither statement is mutually exclusive.

Posted

As has been done with the manuals of our prophets?

This was a quote, my OP, from another board, that jumped out at me. I was wondering if this has happened anywhere in time. Maybe, maybe not? It's something I'd love to see happen and wish that if anyone on here has access to someone in the church's Curriculum Dept. they might find out or put forth the idea.

Would anyone else like to see a manual like this?

We simply don't have the source material to do a comparable manual for the Savior. He left no writings that we know of, and we certainly don't have recordings of Conference talks he's given (wouldn't THAT be a trip). The closest thing we have are his teachings as recorded and presented (and commented upon) by prophets and apostles in the scriptures.

Posted (edited)

Thank you for these links, there is tons of information in them. I see that one must not rely only on Sunday School instruction, but personal study.

Tacenda you have to be one of the most humble people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. God bless you.

Edited by halconero
Posted

I was thinking about this as I began re-reading Jesus The Christ this weekend. I noticed that it was written in 1915 and that in 2015 we will be studying the New Testament in Gospel Doctrine class again. I also noticed that there are 43 chapters in the book. Perhaps a few of those chapters could be stretched out to two week lessons so we could get a full 48 week course. The only downside is that we would not be studying any teachings of Paul and other Apostles. There are some valuable chapters in those parts of the New Testament.

Posted

Yes. It's called the scriptures. :)

Posted (edited)

Tacenda you have to be one of the most humble people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. God bless you.

I'm going to take that as a compliment, probably undeserved though. God bless you too! Edited by Tacenda
Posted

http://deseretbook.com/Christs-Ideals-Living-Obert-C-Tanner/i/5089047

1955 SS manual. I used to have a copy, but I think I sold it at the FAIR Conference.

Wow that's kind of old. I'm nostalogic for that particular time frame. Particularly the David O. Mckay eras, before the correlation period. This would nice in the curriculum sometime, as it once was apparently. So not as unplausible as we might think. Thanks for digging it up Bernard!
Posted (edited)

http://deseretbook.com/Christs-Ideals-Living-Obert-C-Tanner/i/5089047

1955 SS manual. I used to have a copy, but I think I sold it at the FAIR Conference.

Wow that's kind of old. I'm nostalogic for that particular time frame. Particularly the David O. Mckay era, before correlation was put in place. This would be nice in the curriculum sometime, as it once was apparently. So not as unplausible as we might think. Thanks for digging it up Bernard! Edited by Tacenda
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