Gift of the Holy Ghost

1
Gift of the Holy Ghost

• Blessing of the righteous
• Compare when Jesus was on the earth
• Apostasy
• Dispensation of the Fullness of Times
• My own story

2
Blessing of the Righteous

• Definition
• Presence of the Holy Ghost is dependent on the
  worthiness of the recipient
• Holy Ghost, spirit being with free will, can
  visit anyone (Light of Christ, Influence of the
  Holy Ghost).
• Comfort and understanding equated. Comfort and
  guidance are the same, HG in charge of bringing
  guidance

3
Jesus on the Earth

• Jesus bestowed the gift on the Apostles
• Apostles in turn bestowed the gift on the
  righteous
• Paul
• increase in understanding once the gift given
• HG allows us to understand the spiritual with
  spiritual tools
• Nephi
• miraculous prayer of the righteous --
  understanding in their hearts

4
Early Church, w/o Jesus

• Church replacing heavenly teaching with worldy
  doctrines.
• Begin a means of justifying practices through
  tradition, not in scripture.
• Without the Holy Ghost, doctrine is debated and
  discussed. The Canon is born.
• Americas maintain a thread of authority longer.
• Mormon vs. Augustine
• Infant Baptism
• Augustine defends the practice in 408. Relies on
  reason for his justification
• Mormon confers through prayer and learns the
  answer by the gift. (approx 400)

5
Apostasy and the Search for Guidance

• Middle Ages and Renaissance
• Reason and Faith intermingle.
• Thomas Aquinas.
• Reformation
• Sola Scriptura
• Martin Luther
• KJV (1611)
• great need for accessibility -- layman needs to
  learn for themselves
• continued yearning

6
Apostasy (Cont)

• Enlightenment and Romantic
• the Mystery of God gives way to empiricism
• the focus of the western churches is on right
  behavior.
• Ordinances considered at best flexible and in
  some cases unimportant and unrelated to personal
  salvation
• Dispensation of the Fullness of Times
  (Restoration)
• Gift is restored. We can learn through Almas
  small and simple things that which we need for
  salvation
• Through the gift we understand the mysteries and
  ordinances

7
Dispensation of the Fullness of Times

• Oliver Cowderys understanding (much like
  Nephis)
• Joseph Smith shows the keys to comfort and
  guidance
• Gift will not be taken again from the earth

8
My Testimony

• Had to see for myself (the empiricist)
• In college, started to see Christianity
  everywhere (Eng/Phil).
• studying religion was both interesting and made
  me feel right
• religion could play on a field where other things
  couldnt (morality)
• The Search for God at Harvard
• My own trip to Yale Divinity
• Christianity became an institution for good in
  the world.
• Became concerned with pastoral care and general
  human welfare

9
My Testimony (Cont)

• Always felt that going to Div school was the
  right thing for me
• Dream about helping Amanda
• Positioned well to respond to questions from
  dedicated members of other religions (helped with
  Amanda)
• Finally learned to internalize the gifts of our
  Heavenly Father
• As I studied and became more worth, the Gift
  became more apparent.
• Now know that the Holy Ghost has always helped me
  on my path strange as it may be

10
My Testimony (Cont)

• Gift is really just that, a gift.
• The blessings are real, and comfort and
  understanding are coupled.
• In times of trouble, we can be sure of calm.
• Happy Day, All is Well