Topics on Which Revelation is Given

Joseph taught that there is a discrete portion of knowledge required to be saved. What happens when an individual believes that God would never grant revelation on some bit of that required portion of knowledge? That person will be damned, because he can never acquire the knowledge necessary for salvation.

It is of utmost importance to understand a very simple fact: God will grant revelation on any truth. Put differently, “by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.” (Moroni 10:5.) God will reveal all things. All means everything! Nothing is withheld. There were no caveats given here, and you won’t find any throughout scripture. In every case, the topics are boundless. There is no exception made for “things outside of your stewardship,” no exceptions made for doctrinal topics, and no exclusion of issues being considered by church leaders. You can know the truth of all things, including whether church policies are God’s will, whether or not the home teaching lesson is true doctrine, whether or not your neighbor ought to take the job she’s been mulling over,¹ and whether Joseph Smith practiced polygamy.

We are not only allowed to ask for revelation on any subject, we are commanded to. Besides all the explicit commands to ask, seek, and knock,² we are also commanded to be like children. The boundless questioning best characterized by children is the type of attitude that brought about Joseph's first encounter with God. He read James 1:5 and really believed that God would not upbraid—or scold—him for his questions, no matter how taboo, unpopular, or indiscrete his questions might be. Do you suppose that Joseph would have ever had the faith to ask such bold questions (notably pertaining to the religion of his parents) if he had been taught that only his church leaders could pray about church doctrines being true or not? Perhaps this is one element of God's command that we should be like children. “And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3.)

“All things” must necessarily include those things not currently known or understood. Many today are taught that it is only acceptable to question God when the answer is already known. For example, Elder Oaks once equated “seeking answers to mysteries” with “a strong desire to understand everything about every principle of the gospel,” which he called an invitation for Satan to lead the seeker into apostasy.³ “Everything” and “all” are synonymous, meaning that having “a strong desire to understand everything about every principle of the gospel” is exactly what God commands us to do! This position stands in direct defiance of God's word.

Meanwhile, the term “mysteries” merely means anything in the gospel that is not common knowledge. This can include both things that have never been revealed as well as things that have previously been revealed but which are presently misunderstood. Therefore, those who council you to avoid seeking the mysteries of the gospel is akin to someone telling you that you are not permitted to ask questions except when the answer to those questions is already known. Besides being illogical, this position stands in opposition to God's word on the topic, as he not only promises that mysteries will be revealed to those who are faithful,⁴ but also commands us (twice) to seek for the mysteries of God:

Seek not for riches but for wisdom; and, behold, the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto you, and then shall you be made rich. Behold, he that hath eternal life is rich. (D&C 11:7 and D&C 6:7.)

Further support for an expectation that God will reveal that which has not yet been revealed is codified in the “Articles of Faith”:

We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God. (Article of Faith 9.)

In yet another example, Nephi is told that all who search the mysteries of God diligently will be answered, and also that this is the duty of the Holy Ghost:

For he that diligently seeketh shall find; and the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto them, by the power of the Holy Ghost, as well in these times as in times of old, and as well in times of old as in times to come; wherefore, the course of the Lord is one eternal round. (1 Nephi 10:19.)

Some claim that God limits his definition of “all things” according to the church callings a person might have. These statements almost always inject legalistic phrases, such as “for the entire church”, that are not present in God's description of “all things.” For example,

When one person purports to receive revelation for another person outside his or her own area of responsibility—such as a Church member who claims to have revelation to guide the entire Church or a person who claims to have a revelation to guide another person over whom he or she has no presiding authority according to the order of the Church—you can be sure that such revelations are not from the Lord. (Elder Dallin H. Oaks, “Eight Ways God Can Speak to You,” Ensign Sept 2004.)

Another example:

First, we should understand what can be called the principle of 'stewardship in revelation.'....Only the president of the Church receives revelation to guide the entire Church. Only the stake president receives revelation for the special guidance of the stake. The person who receives revelation for the ward is the bishop. For a family, it is the priesthood leadership of the family. Leaders receive revelation for their own stewardships. Individuals can receive revelation to guide their own lives. But when one person purports to receive revelation for another person outside his or her own stewardship—such as a Church member who claims to have revelation to guide the entire Church or a person who claims to have a revelation to guide another person over whom he or she has no presiding authority according to the order of the Church—you can be sure that such revelations are not from the Lord. (Elder Dallin H. Oaks, “Revelation”, Sep 29, 1981 BYU devotional.)

Recall that God makes no mention of “the order of the church” or “authority” when he defines all things. When an individual believes God will not tell him something, he will not be able to ask in faith. Nor will he believe if the revelation comes without asking. Suppose you were minding your own business one evening, praying for the welfare of a neighbor you knew was going through hard times. Suppose further that God unexpectedly answered your prayer for the welfare of that person by giving you a message on their behalf with the command to deliver it. Would you do so? Would you believe God, or would you assume it was all a figment of your imagination?

In reality, God would rather us not set limits on what he can reveal. We are promised that he “upbraideth not,” or in other words, does not balk at the topics of the questions we might ask him. What would have happened if young Joseph Smith presupposed that, because he was not a leader of a church, he could not ask which of all churches was true?

Instead, we are told that what a person learns from God is limited not by calling or stewardship, but by the heed and diligence an individual exerts to obtain all truth:

`And now Alma began to expound these things unto him, saying: It is given unto many to know the mysteries of God; nevertheless they are laid under a strict command that they shall not impart only according to the portion of his word which he doth grant unto the children of men, according to the heed and diligence which they give unto him. (Alma 12:9.)`

How well you obey what you have been told and how hard you search for more are the only limiting factors in what God reveals to you. Joseph reiterated this principle when he taught that “if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come.” (D&C 130:19.) This is not limited in any way by what your leaders do or don't know. It is totally possible for you or anyone else to know more than your leaders know. Some balk at this possibility, but the situation is guaranteed if you exercise greater heed and diligence in searching than they do.⁵ Joseph challenged others to learn more than he knew, if they could: “God hath not revealed anything to Joseph, but what he will make known unto the Twelve, and even the least Saint may know all things as fast as he is able to bear them...”⁶ If the most ignorant Saint exerts greater diligence and obedience than another, no matter whether the other be a Pope or a President, that ignorant Saint will soon be in possession of greater knowledge than the other. God does not tether what an individual can know to what level of knowledge his church leaders have attained—such defies the law of heaven.

Brigham Young echoed the same sentiment. He said,

My knowledge is, if you will follow the teachings of Jesus Christ and his Apostles, as recorded in the New Testament, every man and woman will be put in possession of the Holy Ghost; every person will become a Prophet, Seer, and Revelator, and an expounder of truth. They will know things that are, that will be, and that have been. They will understand things in heaven, things on the earth, and things under the earth, things of time, and things of eternity, according to their several callings7 and capacities. (Brigham Young, JD 1:243.)

If Joseph was right in teaching that there is a discrete portion of knowledge required to be saved, and an individual came to believe that God would never grant revelation on some bit of that required portion, that person could never be saved. This is why it is critically important to understand that God has not, does not, and will not ever limit the topics on which revelation can be received.