Doctrine and Covenants Lesson 23

The School of the Prophets provides a pattern for us to follow in our learning

The Lord wants his children to be educated, both temporally and spiritually.

The Lord instructed the Prophet Joseph Smith to begin a School of the Prophets in Kirtland, Ohio. The School of the Prophets began meeting in January 1833 in a small room above the Newel K. Whitney Store in Kirtland. In this school, the leaders of the Church were instructed in gospel doctrine, the affairs of the Church, and other matters. They were to prepare for Church leadership and missionary service.  Read D&C 88:77–80, and note the following:

• Verse 77 and 78 – The counsel is to teach diligently; not just study or learn diligently.  If we are going to be doing the teaching, we’d better know the material ourselves!
• Verse 78 – As we are diligent, meaning we keep at it even when it’s difficult, God’s grace will compensate for our weaknesses.
• Verse 80 – We are to learn to enable us to be more effective missionaries and servants in God’s kingdom.

These meetings provided the setting for spiritual experiences and in-depth discussions of gospel principles. Several revelations were received. The history of the Church records that “great joy and satisfaction continually beamed in the countenances of the School of the Prophets, and the Saints, on account of the things revealed, and … progress in the knowledge of God” (History of the Church, 1:334).

• What opportunities for learning do we have at church? What can we do to better prepare ourselves to learn in our Church meetings?
• Read D&C 88:122–25 with class members. What did the Lord command the brethren in the School of the Prophets to do? What did He command them not to do? (List class members’ responses on the chalkboard.) What can we learn from these verses about how to teach one another? What do these verses say about how we should learn from one another?

We should learn by study and also by faith

Read D&C 88:118.  Why are study and faith both necessary in our efforts to learn?  What are the dangers of learning without having faith in God and obeying His commandments? (See 2 Nephi 9:28–29; Satan tries to twist every good thing to serve his evil intents.)

In addition to studying the gospel, we should seek learning in other areas, such as history, science, and good literature. How has the study of such subjects enriched your life?

What should be the relationship between gospel learning and other worthwhile study?

President John Taylor, the third President of the Church, said: “We ought to foster education and intelligence of every kind; cultivate literary tastes, and men of literary and scientific talent should improve that talent; and all should magnify the gifts which God has given unto them. … If there is anything good and praiseworthy in morals, religion, science, or anything calculated to exalt and ennoble man, we are after it. But with all our getting, we want to get understanding, and that understanding which flows from God” (The Gospel Kingdom, sel. G. Homer Durham [1943], 277).

We should continue to learn throughout our lives

Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve said: “Because of our sacred regard for each human intellect, we consider the obtaining of an education to be a religious responsibility. … Our Creator expects His children everywhere to educate themselves” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1992, 5; or Ensign, Nov. 1992, 6).

As faithful followers of Christ, we want to receive this education that Elder Nelson refers to.  We can appropriately ask the following questions:

• Why should we learn?
• What should we learn?
• How can we learn?

The Savior has answered these questions, at least partly, in the Doctrine and Covenants.

D&C 6:7 – Why (to obtain eternal life) and what (seek wisdom, not riches).  Our society really has this messed up!  We seek riches, and the learning that we obtain is largely done with an eye to get rich!

D&C 19:23 – What (learn of Jesus Christ), how (in the meekness of his Spirit), and why (to have peace in Jesus).  What does “in the meekness of his Spirit” mean?

D&C 90:15 – What (languages, tongues and people) and how (by study).  How will this help others come to know Jesus?

D&C 93:36–37 – Why (so we can be glorified like God and forsake the evil one).

D&C 130:18–19 – Why (our knowledge goes with us in the next life and gives us advantage there).

• Point number one – what knowledge is likely to be of more value to us in the next life?  Sports statistics, movie star trivia, and skill at video games is likely to be less “advantageous.”
• Point number two – what does the scripture mean we will have an “advantage”?  I thought we were all supposed to be one in the Celestial kingdom, and we would not be competing with each other!  The word “advantage” has the same root as the word “advance.”  I don’t think this advantage refers to our being better than others or getting ahead of them.  Instead, it refers to our ability to advance, which is defined as “To accelerate the growth or progress; to further; to forward; to help on; to aid; to heighten.”  Doesn’t that sound like exaltation?

D&C 131:6 – Why (so we can be saved).

D&C 136:32–33 – How (learn through humility).

President Gordon B. Hinckley taught young people the value of education: “It is so important that you young men and you young women get all of the education that you can… Education is the key which will unlock the door of opportunity for you. It is worth sacrificing for. It is worth working at, and if you educate your mind and your hands, you will be able to make a great contribution to the society of which you are a part, and you will be able to reflect honorably on the Church of which you are a member. My dear young brothers and sisters, take advantage of every educational opportunity that you can possibly afford, and you fathers and mothers, encourage your sons and daughters to gain an education which will bless their lives” (“Inspirational Thoughts,” Ensign, June 1999, 4).

President Brigham Young taught, “Our education should be such as to improve our minds and fit us for increased usefulness; to make us of greater service to the human family” (Discourses of Brigham Young, sel. John A. Widtsoe [1941], 255).

President Thomas S. Monson reminded us that little children can understand the teachings in the scriptures: “A … hallmark of a happy home is discovered when home is a library of learning. … The Lord counseled, ‘Seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith’ (D&C 88:118). The standard works offer the library of learning of which I speak. We must be careful not to underestimate the capacity of children to read and to understand the word of God” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1988, 81–82; or Ensign, Nov. 1988, 70).

President Ezra Taft Benson of the Quorum of the Twelve taught: “Today, with the abundance of books available, it is the mark of a truly educated man to know what not to read. … Feed only on the best. As John Wesley’s mother counseled him: ‘Avoid whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, takes off your relish for spiritual things, … [or] increases the authority of the body over the mind’ ” (“In His Steps,” in 1979 Devotional Speeches of the Year [1980], 61).

In the temple we gain an education for eternity

In late June 1833, the Prophet Joseph Smith sent a plat for the construction of the city of Zion to the Saints in Independence, Missouri, with the temple at the center of the city.  Although Independence was not built as the Saints envisioned, they followed this pattern when building Salt Lake City. 

Placing the temple physically in the center of the city helps remind us that the temple can be a center of learning, and that focusing on Jesus Christ and his gospel should be the center of our lives.

The Lord has said that the temple is a house of learning (see D&C 88:119).  How does the Lord teach us when we attend the temple?  What can we do to receive the knowledge that is available in the temple?

Elder Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve said:

“The temple is a great school. It is a house of learning. In the temples the atmosphere is maintained so that it is ideal for instruction in matters that are deeply spiritual. …

“The temple ceremony will not be fully understood at first experience. It will only be partly understood. Return again and again and again. Return to learn. Things that have troubled you or things that have been puzzling or things that have been mysterious will become known to you. Many of them will be the quiet, personal things that you really cannot explain to anyone else. But to you they are things known. …

“So look toward the temple. Point your children toward the temple. From the days of their infancy, direct their attention to it, and begin their preparation for the day when they may enter the holy temple.

“In the meantime, be teachable yourself, be reverent. Drink deeply from the teachings—the symbolic, deeply spiritual teachings—available only in the temple” (The Holy Temple [pamphlet, 1982], 6–8).

Conclusion

I know that we will be blessed in our efforts to learn all that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ want us to learn if we do so with humility and a desire to serve in his Kingdom and bless others.  It is my prayer that we will all strive to do so with greater diligence.