Veils of Unbelief

In our fallen state, we are not usually given to know the things of God beyond any reasonable doubt.

Rather, the burden of proof in spiritual matters is most often by the preponderance of the evidence.

Walking by faith, seeing "through a glass, darkly," we exercise even tiny particles of faith and vitalize our moral agency to trust, believe, and obey. (1 Corinthians 13: 12)

Insisting on all things being proven beyond any possibility for doubt can stifle our faith, nullify our agency, and frustrate the plan for our growth and learning.

"For behold, I am God; and I am a God of miracles⁠; and I will show unto the world that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever; and I work not among the children of men save it be according to their faith."

2 Nephi 27: 23, emphasis added

Jesus promises us, "Seek, and ye shall find." (Matthew 7: 7; Luke 11: 9)

Of course this applies to truth seekers, who are promised fulfillment to their every want.

But I believe this promise applies also to those who seek reasons not to believe.

There are always things that can be cited as reasons not to accept truth, no matter how unreasonable they seem to others—to those who have learned to love the truth.

In the mind of the disbeliever, they are allowed to form the basis for denial, becoming the governing truth overarching other, even more eternally significant ones.

That which you seek, you will find.

For this reason, it is important that we seek after good things—those that are "virtuous, lovely, or of good report, or praiseworthy." (Articles of Faith 1: 13)

Not always as a punishment (in our narrow way of thinking), occasionally veils are placed upon us, individually or as a people, to protect us from the blinding brightness of God's glory if we are unprepared, and our spiritual eyes have long been adjusted to the dark.

One example of this is the withdrawal of the Melchizedek priesthood from among the people between the time of Aaron, up until the Savior's dispensation in the meridian of time. (See The Sons of Levi, by the Author)

Many situations can cause a of veil of unbelief to fall over a person.

The Lord doesn't want veils covering us. His work and glory is to make His truest self known, and to invite all of us to live as He lives. This means light. And light means intelligence.

"It is impossible for [anyone] to be saved in ignorance." (Doc. & Cov. 131: 6)

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"Come unto me, O ye house of Israel, and it shall be made manifest unto you how great things the Father hath laid up for you, from the foundation of the world; and it hath not come unto you, because of unbelief.

"Behold, when ye shall rend that veil of unbelief which doth cause you to remain in your awful state of wickedness, and hardness of heart, and blindness of mind, then shall the great and marvelous things which have been hid up from the foundation of the world from you—yea, when ye shall call upon the Father in my name, with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, then shall ye know that the Father hath remembered the covenant which he made unto your fathers, O house of Israel.

"Therefore, repent all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me, and believe in my gospel, and be baptized in my name; for he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned; and signs shall follow them that believe in my name."

Ether 4: 14-15, 18

"And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not.

"Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed."

Isaiah 6: 9-10

"Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see.

"Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, as my messenger that I sent? who is blind as he that is perfect, and blind as the Lord’s servant?

"Seeing many things, but thou observest not; opening the ears, but he heareth not."

Isaiah 42: 18-20

"As for those who are bent upon denying (the truth), they would not believe, because it is all the same to them whether you warn them or do not warn them.

"(With the result that) [God] has set a seal upon their hearts and upon their hearing, and on their eyes is a covering. And a mighty punishment awaits them."

Al-Baqarah 2: 7 (The Holy Quran)

These ancient prophetic writings are certainly apt, though my favorite description of this condition comes from the prophet Joseph Smith.

He said,

"There has been a great difficulty in getting anything into the heads of this generation. It has been like splitting hemlock knots with a corn-dodger for a wedge, and a pumpkin for a beetle. Even the saints are slow to understand."

(Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p 278)

If you didn't know, a corn-dodger is a piece of cornbread, and a beetle is a large mallet. Hemlock knots are extremely hard. It's funny to picture a pumpkin crashing down, smashing a piece of cornbread, leaving the piece of wood intact at the bottom of a pile of mush.

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During a moment of spiritual yearning in one family, Nephi asked his brothers, Laman and Lemuel, if they had prayed to get greater understanding from the Lord. They said,

"We have not, for the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us." (1 Nephi 15)

I think Laman and Lemuel in effect say, "No, we haven't asked the Lord to show us greater knowledge, because He never told us we could ask such a thing."

Friends, let's not blame God for "withholding" knowledge we ourselves are unwilling to seek.

Seeking and finding are both actions we take.

We are not to be acted upon in learning truth. We must act.

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Why is it that ignorant people set themselves up to the position of telling others what they have not seen or experienced?

"I have not experienced such and such, therefore it cannot be that you have experienced it either."

How absurd!

What a demonstration of submission to the will of the father of lies, the ultimate phony, the great enemy of happiness and liberty.

How is one's lack of experience evidence that something is unknowable?

Such personal assumptions of omniscience are indeed great veils to understanding.

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Joseph Smith was once preaching in a public meeting at Philadelphia. He was heckled by an outburst from the crowd.

Someone called out for a sign!

To this public call for a sign, the Prophet had a call of his own.

Joseph replied that the Lord had told him "a wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign," and that this rule was true even down to a person.

Sometime before this meeting, Joseph had made it his rule to assume that any person who asks for a sign is guilty of the sin of adultery, at least in their heart.

He therefore called out the sin of the man, and publicly declared him to be an adulterer.

I imagine a hushed pause falling over the crowd, as the gathered audience waited in stunned anticipation for further exchange.

Soon enough, another member of the crowd sold the sign seeker out, yelling that he could verify the statement of the Prophet, for he knew the man and caught him in the very act.

What a sign! Though probably not the kind of sign the sinner was seeking! (See Doc. & Cov. 63: 7, 14-15)

(Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 278)

The Lord promises signs following them that believe.

In the famous words of Spencer W. Kimball, "Faith precedes the miracle."

Signs do not create faith, they follow it.

Spiritual work must occur before any righteous expectation of a sign from God.

As we learn from Jesus's statements recorded in the New Testament, and as Joseph learned more clearly and completely from the Lord Himself, the sin of adultery is specifically associated with sign-seeking. (Matthew 12: 38-39; 16: 1-4; Doc. & Cov. 63: 7-23, 32-37; see also Luke 11: 29)

Why this unholy relationship between sign seeking and adultery?

We can learn something as we consider the attitude shared and shown in the desired outcome of either experience.

Adulterers and sign-seekers want the pleasure without the preparation—the experience without the commitment.

They want the return without the investment.

They want the benefit without the work.

They want the payoff without any buy-in.

They want the free peanuts, without having to pay for a ticket, or board the train.

They want the glory without the guts.

They want to be acted upon and receive the reward, without acting in faith to bring it to pass.

Closely related, aye, even indistinguishable, is the pilfered proffering of pornography. (See Matthew 5: 27-30; Doc. & Cov. 63: 16, also verse 37)

Pornography opens a dark portal to view things that are completely out of order, throwing confusion upon what ought to be a simple, sacred matter.

It teaches that the ultimate experience is to sit and be entertained by something externally imposed, rather than to act in faith and create a righteous relationship.

It teaches that physical thrills can substitute for deep spiritual connections, that a fleeting moment of mirth is worth a lifetime of regret, that we can arrange things according to our individual likings, and ignore clear commandments of God with no real harm being done.

It perverts the sanctity of sexuality by teaching that it is something supremely personal, with no room for comment from the Creator of us all. The creature surpasses the Creator in this turning of things upside down.

Those entrapped by its snares may find that their ever-increasing appetites can only be satisfied by further indulgence, venturing farther and farther away from the safety of restraint, thrashing them against truth and reason to the point of losing their respect for themself and others, even unto criminal violence.

The blackened veil dropped over the mind of one so entangled can be very thick indeed.

All manner of truth has great difficulty getting through such a barrier.

Pornography is no idle pastime. It is a pernicious poison, spreading like cancer through the mind, the heart, and even the immortal spirit.

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Seek Not for Riches, But for Wisdom

A bright illustration of another veil of unbelief can be found in the story of Mary of Bethany anointing Jesus with the costly spikenard ointment. (Matthew 26: 6-13; Mark 14: 3-9)

In protest, it appears it was Judas Iscariot who rebuked the Lord for accepting Mary's gift, and claimed it was an unnecessary waste. They could have sold that precious potion and given the money to help the poor!

Though this was true, it was not the governing truth of the matter at hand. (See The Truth of the Matter, by the Author)

This very phenomenon is still common, which I call the "Judas Argument."

Many question the use of funds in churches, and endlessly accuse them of failing to do more to help the poor.

To this inquiry, (which is worthy of consideration—see 1 Nephi 13: 5-9; 2 Nephi 28: 12-15; Mormon 8: 32-41), I usually ask the inquirer if they can tell me how much money and other resources are being given to help the poor.

Then I ask another question.

How much do you give to help the poor? (See Matthew 26: 11 and Mark 14: 7)

If they are unable or unwilling to discuss this, so am I. I kindly inform them that I will not continue the conversation until they give me their two answers.

It's so easy to throw out accusations of wrongdoing against a public symbol of charity.

This "Judas Argument" can be a veil of unbelief, casting shade upon many worthy endeavors, and excusing some in their reluctance to serve meaningfully.

Can we measure the true value of the sacred experiences to be had in the Houses of the Lord being built and operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?

The many millions being spent on temples could be given to feed the poor with physical food, clothing, shelter, etc.

The ways that these expensive temples help the poor is far more valuable, however.

The ordinances of exaltation open to every woman and man the possibility of receiving all that the Father has, even infinite riches! (Doc. & Cov. 84: 33-39)

As He was anointed with the best available, and graciously accepted the offer, so He is blessed today with expressions of worshipful loving devotion, made by all kinds of worthy sacrifice, even if through monetary expenditure.

I don't think He has a problem with any honest expression of love for Him.

"Let [the people] alone; why trouble ye [them]? [They have] wrought a good work on me."

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In the parable of the Sower, or of the Four Kinds of Soil, Jesus uses an interesting phrase: the deceitfulness of riches. (Matthew 13: 3-23)

Though not an absolute rule regarding all who have worldly wealth, the tendency is to smugly sit back spiritually, determining that all is well with one's soul, because one is rich.

Greater riches open greater opportunity to bless mankind through giving. They are not a mark of divine favor.

Keeping God's commandments and prospering in the land as a result is not limited to financial blessings.

Money is only a symbol of wealth. Actual wealth is the ability to provide abundantly.

Money doesn't taste very good in times of famine.

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Ironically, a greater acceptance of divine truth can cast a veil of unbelief over us, if we mistake having some truth for having all of it.

I've seen this expressed as the idea that God only deals with or cares about one group of His children—that He only talks in one way.

Being offered the best doesn't mean other offerings aren't any good.

Find the good in the world.

Seek after these things.

Rend the veil.

See also:

Contact and the Pursuit of Truth, by the Author

Grace: The Power of Faith and Works, by the Author

Do You Have Time? by the Author

Road to Jericho, by the Author

Fishers and Hunters, by the Author

The Fisherman, by the Author

Are You Ready? by the Author

Know, Feel, Do, by the Author