True and Living (D&C 1:30)

In Doctrine and Covenants 1:30 the Lord says through Joseph Smith

And also those to whom these commandments were given, might have power to lay the foundation of this church, and to bring it forth out of obscurity and out of darkness, the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth, with which I, the Lord, am well pleased, speaking unto the church collectively and not individually

I have always read the phrase ’true and living church’ as a two-part description of our church. That it is the only church that is true and that is living. That is, there may be other true churches and other living churches, but The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only one that is both. I saw the word ’living’ depicting modern prophets and priesthood authority. While I still like that reasoning, I want to ponder if the phrase could be understood to mean that the only true things are those that are living.

In using the word ’living’, we impose a meaning of flowing, or we imply action, animation, and growth¹. Too often, when we explain truths, we want them to be the opposite of living. We want the truth not to move, not be full of life or not to change. In verse 30, the Lord is implying a truth that is living in the sentences before when he says that the church (or its people) will ‘have the power to lay the foundation and bring it forth out of obscurity and darkness’.

As I had proposed when I asked Is truth similar to intelligence in that it can act for itself and change? and then further discussed my answer in explaining that truth becomes more but has always been so, I think that Truth is living and is best exemplified by Christ and that it is mainly relational (please don’t hear relative)

Maybe the only true things are those things that are living. Those things that can act like Doctrine and Covenants 93 says in verse 30, ‘All truth is independent in that sphere in which God has placed it, to act for itself’ or ’there is no existence.’

Living things don’t stay the same; otherwise, there is ’no existence’. They change with time. True and living things change towards goodness with time. Thus, we can look at truth today as something more than what it was yesterday. Truth lives! In living, it becomes more just like you, and I can become more. Could this be what Christ meant in John 14 when he said, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me?’

He is true living. His path progresses perfectly. In Him, there is ’no variableness neither shadow of changing’ (Mormon 9:9) on the way. He does not change like a fallen man, where we have the possibility of living into the wrong paths. His living is true living and only progresses in truth without variableness. In Him, there is no crookedness. His ways are straight, but He is still moving on a path, and no man can come to the Father without progressing in the direction of Christ’s true path.

We all change as we progress on the path. Only the Truth improves without variableness while the rest of us need His straight line as a guide due to our variableness. We have moments of untruth or times of crooked paths. We should remember that as the body of Christ, we can be true and living on this earth (i.e., ‘speaking unto the church collectively and not individually’). That is our goal. We should be farther along truth’s progression than we were yesterday.

The path metaphor is helpful to differentiate changing truth as progressing versus being arbitrary. Whenever I discuss truth advancing with friends and family, I get some weird looks. I think they hear me saying that truth can be one thing today and something completely different tomorrow, almost like calling black white. There are overarching principles that stay constant. For example, we know that it is only in Christ that we can be saved. However, our relationship with Christ and how Christ interacts with our individual lives to save us changes in our relationship with Him. It progresses. The idea of covenants stays constant in our relationship with God. However, those covenants have changed based on peoples, times, and places. Even in our lifetimes, we progress through varied covenants that change our relationship with God. Thinking of the path metaphor, we can see all the different covenants (some even changing in our lifetimes) are built around the constant path truth of binding God to His children.

I agree with Brigham Young when he explains that all things are in progress and that there is no such thing as a stationary existence of God or man. I would add truth to the list as well.

To live as I am, without progress, is not life, in fact we may say that is impossible. There is no such principle in existence, neither can there be. All organized existence is in progress, either to an endless advancement in eternal perfections, or back to dissolution. You may explore all the eternities that have been, were it possible, then come to that which we now understand according to the principles of natural philosophy, and where is there an element, an individual living thing, an organized body, of whatever nature, that continues as it is? It cannot be found. All things that have come within the bounds of man’s limited knowledge-the things he naturally understands, teach him, that there is no period, in all the eternities, wherein organized existence will become stationary, that it cannot advance in knowledge, wisdom, power, and glory. Brigham Young, in Journal of Discourses, 1:349-50, July 10, 1853

…

Brother Orson Pratt, has in theory, bounded the capacity of God. According to his theory, God can progress no further in knowledge and power; but the God that I serve is progressing eternally, and so are his children: they will increase to all eternity, if they are faithful" Brigham Young, January 13, 1867, Journal of Discourses 11:286

We must live! In living, we can be true. Through Christ, our progress can straighten from the crooked roads of our fallen lives. Christ has told each of us, including the Church, that keeping Him as our head as our light gives us the potential to be on the true and living path. We can be ’true and living’ precisely because we change. God has invited us to progress with truth. Will we do it?

• commentary
• truth
• principles