The World Is Not Fond Of The Doctrine Of Christ

 The 2nd Law of Thermodynamics is the law of nature which states that everything must decay. If you put a piece of metal in the desert and leave it there for several years, it will rust and dissolve. This is a law of physics but this same law applies to the spiritual world.

"And he had gone about among the people, preaching to them that which he termed to be the word of God. . . And he testified unto the people that all mankind should be saved at the last day. . . and [that God] redeemed all men: and, in the end, all men should have eternal life." (Alma 1:4) This is Nehor from the pages of The Book of Mormon. His preaching was focused on the flattering things of the world, to persuade men that they would be saved no matter what and therefore that there was no need of a Redeemer because your grand, eternal consequences were already guaranteed. Nehor was a master charlatan. His ideology had no room for the Doctrine of Christ or The Higher Law. The focus was on carnal things and the carnal, Lower Law.

I use Nehor's name in this Cwic  Interpreter because he was a religious man and because he was so successful. There are others who fight against the Doctrine of Christ such as Korihor, but they are atheists. It is the distortion of the Higher Law that the Nehor Principle focuses on. The corruption or elimination of the Doctrine of Christ. A negative force that never ceases and that began with the War in Heaven where Lucifer fought against having a Savior as part of the Plan of Salvation.

"Ye have said that salvation cometh by the law of Moses" (Mosiah 13:27), said Abinadi to the Priests of King Noah. King Noah and his priests denied Christ and the Higher Law. They believed only in the meritocracy of our own 'works'. For them, that was the Law of Moses. For us, that would more broadly be the law of God, in other words, the commandments. In Abinadi's words, "they understood not that there could not any man be saved except it were through the redemption of God." (Mosiah 13:27)  Abinadi went on to say, "did not Moses prophesy unto them concerning the coming of the Messiah, and that God should redeem his people? Yea, and even all the prophets who have prophesied ever since the world began -- have they not spoken more or less concerning these things? Have they not said God himself should come down among the children of men, and take upon him the form of man, and go forth in mighty power upon the face of the earth? Yea, and have they not said also that he should bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, and that he, himself, should be oppressed and afflicted?" (Mosiah 13:33-35)

This is the central story of the scriptures including the Old Testament. The prophets, witnesses of Jesus Christ, all preached about Him. For this they were ridiculed, stoned and killed. The Nehor Principle doesn't allow for the Grace of God. For his Mercy. For our faith in His Love and Sacrifice. Even today, the Doctrine of Christ in the majority of Christianity is limited. The idea that Christ suffered, loved and died so that we might become like Him is lost to most of the Christian world.

In the time of the prophet Isaiah, one of the temple relics was the Nehushtan, more commonly known as the Brazen Serpent. It is the instrument that was 'raised' by Moses in the desert that healed all those who were bitten by the poisonous snakes if they would only 'look' (Numbers 21). If you read Lehi's dream carefully, you will see the parallel to the poisonous (fiery) darts and to the Tree of Life. Both the Brazen Serpent and the Tree of Life represent not only Jesus Christ the person, but the entire Doctrine of Christ that he embodies. The Nehushtan was removed from the temple (2 Kings 18:4). Think about that. The symbol that represented 'the Healer', the Messiah, Jehovah Himself, was removed. Whether this was because of the narrative given in the book of 2 Kings which states that the people began to offer incense to it and treat it as an idol, or if the higher ups wanted to get rid of it, there was a definite loss of the Doctrine of Christ at this time. No wonder Isaiah is known as a Messianic prophet. It appears that he was fighting a vicious attack of the Nehor Principle among the people of Judah. Using the '3rd Interpreter' of 'Authorship', we can see that this was not only Isaiah's message, but his reaction to what was happening in his society. The Doctrine of Christ was eroding from the pinnacle of Judah's religious Values Hierarchy.

If we look closely, we can see these examples throughout the scriptures and can better understand why the Doctrine of Christ is not at times very explicit. Unlike what many biblical scholars claim is a 'likening' of Jewish theology and narratives void of Christ found within the Tanakh (Old Tesatament), there was rather a loss of this explicit doctrine that 'all the prophets who have prophesied ever since the world began' preached with passion, urgency and with the inspiration and revelation from God Himself. 

Look for the Nehor Principle. You will gain a clearer understanding of the Doctrine of Christ and its long and contentious history with the people of God. Especially today.

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