Work of Knowledge

[Justice]

Moroni 10:

9 For behold, to one is given by the Spirit of God, that he may teach the word of wisdom;

10 And to another, that he may teach the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;

I get the word of wisdom. I wonder what Moroni meant by the word of knowledge?

Edited November 7, 2008 by Justice
Edit: sorry title should be Word of Knowledge.

[Guest tomk]

I profess no expertise, here.

If we have any gift, whether of wisdom or knowledge, it comes from God through the Spirit.

So it is God's wisdom and God's knowledge that we receive.

There is also Knowledge OF God - His perfection and attributes -- the KIND of life He lives from moment to moment.

If we teach the word of knowledge -- that ability is given to us by God. He gives us the words.

If we receive the word of knowledge -- we receive it because God has revealed the meaning unto us via the Spirit.

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As a side note -- I personally believe that the reception of the Second Comforter is what makes the most sense in this context. It is the goal. Seeing Christ "face-to-face" is THE ultimate reception of Wisdom and Knowledge -- for He is the embodiment of those things in their fullness. Christ is the Fullness of the Gospel. His person and presence, not just His teachings. To receive the fullness of the Gospel IS to see Christ face to face even as the brother of Jared did.

[Elgama]

My Patriachal blessing blesses me with the gift of Knowledge and understanding and the Kindness of Heart to know how to apply it. My children in their baby blessings were both blessed with the gift of knowledge, my daughter was also blessed with the ability to use the knowledge in a Christlike fashion, my son was blessed with wisdom and fortitude and courage to use it.

Knowledge and wisdom are not the same things - knowledge to me is knowing what the law or commandment or passage of scripture says, I know my daughter is great at memorising and we have a Brother at church that in his 40s still knows word for word every discussion lesson he learned on his mission, every scripture mastery from seminary, every article of faith, their knowledge is amazing, but I find that Brothers' understanding of what he can recite is sometimes a bit lacking. You can't have wisdom without knowledge but you can have knowledge without wisdom and understanding, that is when the old adage a little bit of knowledge is dangerous applies. Having said that my understanding of a scripture stays with me much longer than my knowledge of what it says. For me wisdom is the more important but I admire those that can retain exact words.

Ugh not sure what I am trying to say lol you'll probably get a more coherent answer tommorrow

-Charley

[Guest tomk]

I think I heard it said that Wisdom is the appropriate application of Knowledge.

You can be Knowledgeable without being Wise. But not the other way around.

Also, there is the wisdom of the world, which is different than the wisdom of God.

There is the knowledge of the world, which is different from the knowledge of God.

[Justice]

Ahhh.

I was leaning more toward THE Word of Wisdom, and how it is a law to live by for physical well-being...

..and I wonder if THE Word of Knowledge may be something that was known among the Nephites as a law to live by for spiritual well-being. Perhaps something that we are unaware of yet in this time. Maybe something on the plates that we have not been allowed to see yet... possibly in connection with the Law of Consecration. Or, maybe we have it as separate commandments but it's not known to us as a group or "Word" yet.

Maybe I should have been more specific.

Edited November 8, 2008 by Justice

[Justice]

Okay, here's where I'm going with this:

I was reading in Mosiah, and I was reading King Benjamin's final words to his people...

Mosiah 4:

9 Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend.

Simply believe a few basic things about God:

1. Believe He is the Creator.

2. Believe He knows and understands all things needed in order to save and exalt man.

3. Believe that if God speaks something we don't have to understand it in order to believe it is true; just believe that God cannot/does not lie.

10 And again, believe that ye must repent of your sins and forsake them, and humble yourselves before God; and ask in sincerity of heart that he would forgive you; and now, if you believe all these things see that ye do them.

Once we believe those things about God, then read the word of His Gospel and do them:

1. Repent of our sins.

2. Forsake them; sin no more.

3. Pray in humility for forgiveness.

4. Seek continual prayer.

If you do this; you will receive that. That is the format of all promises from the Lord.

Now, the same thing spelled out in different words so we can understand at our our own level:

11 And again I say unto you as I have said before, that as ye have come to the knowledge of the glory of God, or if ye have known of his goodness and have tasted of his love, and have received a remission of your sins, which causeth such exceedingly great joy in your souls, even so I would that ye should remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own nothingness, and his goodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy creatures, and humble yourselves even in the depths of humility, calling on the name of the Lord daily, and standing steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come, which was spoken by the mouth of the angel.

Then the promise:

12 And behold, I say unto you that if ye do this ye shall always rejoice, and be filled with the love of God, and always retain a remission of your sins; and ye shall grow in the knowledge of the glory of him that created you, or in the knowledge of that which is just and true.

If we want to always remember Him and retain, always, a remission of our sins, it is done by learning to pray always.

For example: I was speaking to my Elder's Quorum President, and a good friend, and he said he doesn't watch movies very often anymore. When he watches movies he only watches G and a few PG rated movies. But, he only watches those, now, when he is watching with his kids and there's a principle that can be taught to his kids. I was astounded at his reason for not watching them.

He explained that everyone has their weaknesses, which he believes are those things given to us that take our mind and focus off the Savior and His Gospel. He said when he watches a movie he goes 2 hours focused only on the movie. One day at the end of a movie he realized he just wasted 2 hours and didn't think about the Savior or His Gospel once. He realized then that movies weren't for him. He realized that, for him, it was a powerful tool Satan uses to "take his eyes off the Savior for a moment, like he did with Peter when he was walking on the water."

I think there is knowledge in there somewhere that we can all learn from. I wonder if this "Word of Knowledge" is a series of teachings that the Nephites used to "always retain [Christ] in rememberance," so that they could "retain a remission of sins daily." This is only done through constant prayer.

Edited November 8, 2008 by Justice