He Taught Us How to Live i P I D MK S C J S iii Perspectives and Insights ank you to our eight children, Russ, Gina, Craig, Scott, Christy, Jim, Spencer and Lora, whose experiences in life helped provide examples for our stories Published July 2017 by Trusthouse Book Company P.O. Box 148, Payson, Utah 84651 Cover Design by Scott Howard Scribner Printed by J Mart Printing and Copy Center 280 North Main Street, Spanish Fork, UT 84660 iv Preface Having already written, and privately published, autobiographies for our family, some have wondered why we have also written this book. Whereas an autobiography contains the major events of life, this work instead illustrates our search for eternal truths. Our exploration for such truth, such as the meaning and purpose of our existence, has been a life-long endeavor. For me, the beginning of this journey preceded my convert baptism into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which happened over y years ago. For my wife Cecile, who was born a member of the LDS church, it began in her youth. Nearly two thousand years ago the Apostle Peter wrote, “Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you (for) a reason of the hope that is in you . ” (I Peter 3:15) is book is our response to that challenge. It contains not only what we believe, but why we believe it. It is a testimony expressed through the process of discovery by which these unchanging truths have been learned. We do stand as witnesses that Jesus is the Christ and that He has restored the fullness of His gospel through living prophets in our own time. However, we also realize that this work contains our own perspective of these historical events. We understand that our perception of history may not be shared by all people from this or other cultures. ey may perceive history quite dierently and we respect their right in coming to a variety of conclusions. Freedom of choice lies at the very heart of the teachings of Jesus and all the prophets of God in all eras of time. Still, it is hoped that these perspectives, when properly understood, will bless and enrich the lives of all who are willing to receive them. ough this work is my rst published book, (other than my own autobiography) my wife, Cecile James Scribner, is already an author in her own right. In 1988 she wrote and published a book titled, “Every Life with a Purpose.” She also wrote a collection of Readers eater Scripts titled, “ e Family and Friends of the Prophet Joseph Smith.” In 2006 this latter work was selected by the Cultural Arts Committee of the Church, along with other submissions, to be recognized for excellence in creative writing. A sample of each selected submission was then performed on Temple Square in Salt Lake City. e items by Cecile which are included in this book were taken from talks and performances she has written and produced since 2006. Her perspective is dierent from my own, but complements my thoughts perfectly. She was raised in the Mormon Faith and her ancestors came to Utah as pioneers in the nineteenth century. Her whole married life (in addition to raising our eight children) has been devoted to the creative arts of drama and dance. She has co-authored and produced two sesquicentennial church history pageants, one in California and one in New Zealand where we served a mission together. Together we hope that you will nd an increase in faith and joy as you read, ponder and put into action the principles presented herein. Douglas M. Scribner v Table of Contents No Middle Ground – Witnesses of Jesus .................... 1 A Personal Conversion ................................ 11 He Taught Us How to Live .............................. 17 Really? A Plan of Salvation?............................. 23 Fervent, Eectual Prayer . Availeth Much................ 33 e Holy Priesthood ................................... 39 Decisions - Choose To Believe ........................... 49 e Power of Hope .................................... 53 A Passion for Discovering Truth ......................... 57 No Man Is An Island................................... 61 Rebecca Swain Williams – A Woman of Faith .............. 77 e Restoration of Temple Blessings ...................... 81 Happiness – Joyous Interludes Between Troubles ............ 95 I ee Wed.......................................... 105 e Martyrdom...................................... 113 Watch and be Ready .................................. 125 vii No Middle Ground - Witnesses Of Jesus No Middle Ground – Witnesses of Jesus by Douglas M. Scribner A Myriad of Voices e most profound and life changing challenge found in the words of living prophets from all dispensations of time is for mankind to believe and develop faith in Jesus of Nazareth as the Son of God and Savior of the World. Nothing else compares to it! is declaration is the bedrock foundation of Christian doctrine and can not be taken lightly. e world has a growing number of atheists who loudly proclaim that there is no God and that everything pertaining to religion is man’s own imagination designed to pacify those who believe. ey maintain that God is a myth created so people will be lulled into a condition where they can be manipulated and controlled. Atheists also consider the statement “Jesus is the Son of God,” to be a cruel lie designed to give false hope to the intellectually impoverished individuals who embrace it. eir slogan of today is not freedom of religion, but freedom from religion. ere is an even larger segment of the population which is, or claims to be, agnostic. ey maintain that it is impossible to know or to prove whether or not God exists. So, say they, the only rational position is to rely solely upon biological and physical science. ey deem faith to be irrational and declare that neither religion nor atheism is provable. When confronted with evidence of the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth, they o en respond that he was simply an itinerant preacher who was deluded by his own imagined grandeur. In light of all this confusion, it helps to have an accurate de nition of faith – what it is and what it is not. e Book of Mormon prophet Alma de ned it well when he said, “Faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things which are not seen, which are true.” 1 At the same time, faith is not just wishful thinking, nor is it blind, unquestioning obedience. e Apostle Paul wrote, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” 2 us we may expect that real faith will be based on rational observation supported by factual evidence. ough it may not be provable, it is reasonable. e con rmation of faith in Jesus as the Christ is a gi from God, which comes through the power of the Holy Spirit. is con rming witness is known as a testimony. A clari cation of the process by which a person can gain such a personal testimony was given in modern times by a revelation to the prophet Joseph Smith. He said, “To some it is given by the Holy Ghost to know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that He was crucied for the sins of the world. To others it is given to believe on their words, that they also might have eternal life if they continue faithful.” 3 Clearly, dierent people are given a variety of dierent spiritual gi s. Not everyone will have the gi of personal revelation, but they may well have a gi such as the discernment to know if someone else speaks the truth. e promise from God is that every person is given a gi by the Holy Spirit, whether they recognize it or not. Discovering one’s own spiritual gi can in itself be a faith promoting experience. One way to begin this process is to study the life of Jesus Christ. Since there are so many varied viewpoints about Jesus, one must consider the source of these opinions. e most reliable sources are the statements made by those people who knew Jesus intimately – either as eye witnesses during his mortal life, or by way of prophetic vision. e eye witnesses were 1 Perspectives and Insights his disciples who wrote of his life and ministry. However, both ancient and modern prophets have also received the revelation necessary to testify of the reality of Jesus and his Divine Mission. ese revelations came by the power of the Holy Spirit, and in no other way. e Apostle Peter clari ed this fact when he said, “Knowing this rst, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For prophecy came not in old times by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” 4 e implication of this statement is that scriptures were given by living prophets and thus they are also to be interpreted by living prophets. e original apostles of Jesus o en interpreted the words of earlier prophets, and the apostles in our own dispensation have the authority given them to do likewise. When we are confronted by someone’s own interpretation of a scripture that doesn’t ring true, we should consider the source as well as the words themselves. e Reality of Jesus as a Person ough some continue to besmirch the very existence of Jesus, there is substantial evidence that he was a real person who had a remarkable impact on the lives of those around him. e Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus, was a contemporary of Jesus and included references to Jesus and John the Baptist in his historical work, Antiquities Of e Jews.