abijah` wrote: ↑February 3rd, 2020, 6:45 pm
i'mnotspecial wrote: ↑February 3rd, 2020, 6:00 pm
I want to participate in this, but first, can I ask you a favor? Can you put forth a definition of "pharisaical traditions" that sets the context for the discussion? People think of this in different ways and don't all agree on what is and isn't pharisaical...which is part of the problem...
If not, no worries.
yeah good point. when i first saw "pharisaic" i thought of rigid strictness but now i'm not as sure. rigid strictness still has it's place within the personality of god, so it must be something else.
i reckon it was their inverted perception of the commandments and their draconian enforcement of it. jesus didn't condemn them for following rites and statutes from the torah with painstaking exactness - he criticised them for looking on the exterior and not regarding the heart, which is where the commandments are rooted in.
in my opinion pharisaic worship is that which exalts the flesh and denies the spirit.
Exactly... it's hypocrisy that is the cardinal sin of the pharisees, not exactness in obedience to Eternal law and principle, or even the law of Moses.
Problem with even that is that I don't think we understand, in general, what Jesus meant by "hypocrisy." It is my belief that by "hypocrisy," Jesus was talking specifically about its essence, which is insincerity.
Here's the 1828 dictionary definition of hypocrisy:
HYPOC'RISY, noun [Latin hypocrisis; Gr. simulation; to feign; to separate, discern or judge.]
1. Simulation; a feigning to be what one is not; or dissimulation, a concealment of one's real character or motives. More generally, hypocrisy is simulation, or the assuming of a false appearance of virtue or religion; a deceitful show of a good character, in morals or religion; a counterfeiting of religion.
Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy Luke 12:1.
2. Simulation; deceitful appearance; false pretence.
With that said, I think any time we make a commitment to God without sincerity, and then we go on acting as though we're superior to others based on our "outward appearance," when inside ourselves we really couldn't care less, we are pharisaical.
This is how the 1828 dictionary defines pharisaicalness:
PHARISA'ICALNESS, noun Devotion to external rites and ceremonies; external show of religion without the spirit of it.
Again, that smells like insincerity to me.
That said, I THINK what Tyler is talking about might incorporate insincerity but probably has more to do with a focus on traditional things that don't really matter, ignoring things that matter most, and then using those traditional things to judge the personal righteousness of others. Please correct me if I'm wrong, Tyler.
If that's what he's going for, I'll make a list.
1. Beards and hair. I don't believe beards are an accidental genetic mutation but are part of the design of God for men. If I'm wrong, forgive me. I feel it's ridiculous for us to judge men as unrighteous because they grow their facial hair. I understand avoiding extremes, and I wholeheartedly advocate for the principles of moderation and contentment, but my beard in and of itself isn't unrighteous to God. Neither is my wife's armpit hair or leg hair.
2. What constitutes faithfulness in church activity. There are MANY people who are fully "active" in the gospel of Jesus Christ who rarely come to church, and they have valid reasons. I'll put it like I did in a talk I gave a few years ago. "I feel confident in saying that people with the gift of charity will be found doing good deeds. The exact nature of the deeds might vary. Not everyone has the same capabilities or lives in the same environment around people with the same needs. People who are filled with charity may be well-off or destitute, disabled or able-bodied, in captivity or free, and their service may be easy to see or untraditional and go unnoticed by the group. But all charity is certainly noticed by God. And to those who strongly desire to help others but for whatever reason find themselves incapable or must serve differently than desired, King Benjamin gives a comforting word. He said, 'All you who deny the beggar, because ye have not; I would that ye say in your hearts that: I give not because I have not, but if I had I would give. And now, if ye say this in your hearts ye remain guiltless.'"
While church attendance and service in the church can be a sign of charity, if we assume others (or ourselves) are "righteous" based solely on the grounds that we go to church on Sunday and hold a calling, we are kidding ourselves. Lots of people go to church and hold a calling without sincerity, which is hypocrisy, which Jesus Christ condemned. And lots of people sincerely WANT to be at church and hold a calling but can't, and they are NOT unrighteous, simply because they are at home on Sunday.
3. Sustaining church leaders without sincerity. I wonder how many of us raise our hands without even thinking about what it means to sustain a person in a calling. I don't think we know one another well enough, for the most part, for the sustaining vote to mean anything more than "I trust you Jesus, because I gotta be honest...I have no direct information to inform my support of this decision beyond my testimony that you're alive and this is your church instituted for the last days..."
4. Making covenants in the temple without sincerity, especially pertaining to chastity. The essence of chastity goes ignored. Jesus Christ was clear about the higher law pertaining to chastity, and we almost completely ignore it in our church culture, focusing exclusively on the outward expression of lust (adultery or fornication) while ignoring its foundation, or even encouraging it (immodesty). We are an immodest people, and many of us want it that way. Immodesty as I'm using it means to have a tempting manner or appearance.
5. How we dress as it pertains to business suits and such (modesty and moderation are valid concerns, however, because they are Eternal principles).
6. MOST IMPORTANT: taking upon us the name of Jesus Christ insincerely, which means we are unwilling to do the following from Mosiah 18:
"as ye are desirous to come into the fold of God, and to be called his people, and are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light; yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God, and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have eternal life—now I say unto you, if this be the desire of your hearts, what have you against being baptized in the name of the Lord, as a witness before him that ye have entered into a covenant with him, that ye will serve him and keep his commandments, that he may pour out his Spirit more abundantly upon you?"
There are a lot more that could be put here.
The pharisees were insincere. They claimed to be righteous because they said they obeyed the law, but they were completely insincere and stopped loving both the law giver and their fellow men. That's pharisaical, and it's so easy to fall into that trap.
I have to look inward often to see if I'm lacking in sincerity. Sometimes I am. Sometimes I'm not. It's a battle. It's important to stay close to the Lord, be converted and serve Him with sincere love, and feast upon His word in order to up the sincerity, I believe. "For how knoweth a man the master whom he has not served, and who is a stranger unto him, and is far from the thoughts and intents of his heart?" From Mosiah 5