EVIDENCE: Sacred Secrecy (3 Nephi 14:6)

Ed J. Pinegar, Richard J. Allen

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus Christ declared: “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you” (Matthew 7:6). While much of the world considers Christ’s statement to His followers a riddle, or at the very least confusing, biblical scholars eventually theorized its basic meaning: The Lord does not want certain of His words to be shared with the unfaithful or uninitiated. But not until the last several decades did scholars of non-LDS faiths understand that the Savior referred to holy things imparted by Him to His followers. When the Book of Mormon was translated by inspiration in 1829, the Lord’s words were repeated and made perfectly clear by the temple setting and glorious events in His visit in 3 Nephi. Modern Saints have long recognized the importance of sacred discretion in regards to temple ordinances and covenants. (See Echoes, 336–338.)

Commentaries and Insights on the Book of Mormon, Vol. 2

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