D&C 4: Thrust that Sickle!

Ah, yes, I remember this section well.  I read it from the pulpit at my sister's missionary farewell.

What a Threshold

I've said this a few times before, but Joseph Smith really did have a knack for penning a killer line here and there.  This one balances eloquence and solemnity pretty well and I think it represents Smith in his peak literary form (verse 3):

Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day.

And even though I think it sounds cool and it has a pleasant rhythm, it's actually a pretty awful thing to teach.  He's basically saying that if you give one drop less than 100 percent effort, you're gonna have some serious explaining to do.

I understand the need to motivate people to better themselves and I think we should always be ready to admit when we can improve...but this kind of stuff leads to the overwhelming panic of what-if-after-everything-I'm-doing-I'm-still-not-good-enough, and that's just not healthy—especially when eternity is at stake.

Laundry List of Awesomeness

Joseph's writing gets a tad lazier a few verses later (verse 5-6):

And faith, hope, charity and love, with an eye single to the glory of God, qualify him for the work.

Remember faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness, godliness, charity, humility, diligence.

Now we're just listing things.  When one collection of traits required for good missionary service isn't enough, we'll just tack on a longer one to give you plenty of stuff to remember.  It's especially odd because faith and charity appear in both groupings.  Did God think we had already forgotten what he told us in the previous sentence?  Is there any significance to moving charity toward the back of the line the second time around?

The second list is troubling because there's so much overlap here.  Depending on which definitions of temperance and virtue we're using, temperance could be one form of virtue.  Additionally, virtue, knowledge, charity, and patience are all different aspects of godliness.  And doesn't brotherly kindness sound like it's merely a subset of charity?  It's not a string of direct synonyms or anything,  but concision and lucidity fall by the wayside when God throws around such sloppy phraseology.

I have trouble believing in a god whose wording is this lazy.  This wasn't a translation or anything, so it's not like we can blame the clunky language on the practical limits of expressing Reformed Egyptian concepts in modern English syntax.  I would expect that a being of God's knowledge and wisdom and experience would have a much better command of his children's forms of communication—as well as some sharper writing skills.

Lies, Damn Lies

The final lines contain another frequent Doctrine and Covenants refrain (verse 7):

Ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Amen.

This is false.  I suppose that this can be interpreted as a promise being given only to Joseph Smith Senior, for whom the revelation was intended, but this idea is reiterated so many times in the Doctrine and Covenants that it seems pretty clear that the expectation is for it to be taught as an open offer—and my experience, that's how it's taught in LDS congregations.  He who asketh receiveth.

But Mormonism also teaches that not everything prayed for will be granted—especially lately, now that we've entered the era of Faith Not to be Healed.  So this verse is basically reduced to scriptural filler.  It's meaningless, but it sounds nice and it sure helps pad the word count.