I too have been in church classes where this chapter is held up as a means of putting women in their place. I do not believe that is common these days but it certainly was when I was younger. It seemed to be an admonition for women not to seek all the blessings of the gospel. The important ones were restricted to the men. I remember hearing a talk once where the speaker kept telling the women that "good women" never wanted this blessing or that blessing. By the time he finished, I honestly felt like I had just heard a speech where the phrase "good Negro" could have been substituted and the talk delivered by a southern segregationist on a Mississippi courthouse step in the 1950's. I am grateful we have cast off false traditions of limited roles for women.
SuzanneJune 20, 2018
Susan:
This is a wonderful and beautiful article and is positively inspiring!
The author of this article says D & C 25 applies to both men and women. The first sentence of the last paragraph states:
“After all is said and done, Section 25 presents a dozen and a half injunctions, most of which are applicable to men and women alike...” - I think the author agrees with your statement that it applies to both men and women.
Craig FrogleyJune 18, 2018
I am thrilled to see that others are discovering the wonderful pondering pattern offered by the chiasm pattern. I read section 29 as a chiasm with verse 30 as the center, which reads: "the first shall be last, and that the last shall be first IN ALL things whatsoever I have created by the word of my power"
To me that means that I should be looking for "chiastic thinking" everywhere God's creations are found.
This article was so well thought out and written...congratulations!!
PatriciaJune 18, 2018
Wonderful article!
SusanJune 18, 2018
I have a disagreement with a common interpretation we give to the phrase that what is said to Emma is said to all women. Everywhere else in the D&C when the phrase is used we believe the Lord's words then apply to male and female alike. Why in this chapter alone do we assign all the admonitions and warnings to only women? If we do that then I, as a woman, can dismiss any commandments in the book that are not in this chapter as not applicable to me because obviously what the Lord said to a man could only be applicable to other men and not to truly all of us.
Also, I do not believe that if Emma desired to see the plates it was a worldly desire. We certainly do not present the desires of the Three Witnesses as a worldly desire that they should have just dismissed. If you watch the video produced by the Church, this desire is shown as important and necessary prior to these men being called.
I have always wondered why we in the Church are so quick to apply one standard to the men of Joseph Smith's time and then twist the words to give them a different meaning when applied to Emma.
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BarbaraJune 22, 2018
I too have been in church classes where this chapter is held up as a means of putting women in their place. I do not believe that is common these days but it certainly was when I was younger. It seemed to be an admonition for women not to seek all the blessings of the gospel. The important ones were restricted to the men. I remember hearing a talk once where the speaker kept telling the women that "good women" never wanted this blessing or that blessing. By the time he finished, I honestly felt like I had just heard a speech where the phrase "good Negro" could have been substituted and the talk delivered by a southern segregationist on a Mississippi courthouse step in the 1950's. I am grateful we have cast off false traditions of limited roles for women.
SuzanneJune 20, 2018
Susan: This is a wonderful and beautiful article and is positively inspiring! The author of this article says D & C 25 applies to both men and women. The first sentence of the last paragraph states: “After all is said and done, Section 25 presents a dozen and a half injunctions, most of which are applicable to men and women alike...” - I think the author agrees with your statement that it applies to both men and women.
Craig FrogleyJune 18, 2018
I am thrilled to see that others are discovering the wonderful pondering pattern offered by the chiasm pattern. I read section 29 as a chiasm with verse 30 as the center, which reads: "the first shall be last, and that the last shall be first IN ALL things whatsoever I have created by the word of my power" To me that means that I should be looking for "chiastic thinking" everywhere God's creations are found. This article was so well thought out and written...congratulations!!
PatriciaJune 18, 2018
Wonderful article!
SusanJune 18, 2018
I have a disagreement with a common interpretation we give to the phrase that what is said to Emma is said to all women. Everywhere else in the D&C when the phrase is used we believe the Lord's words then apply to male and female alike. Why in this chapter alone do we assign all the admonitions and warnings to only women? If we do that then I, as a woman, can dismiss any commandments in the book that are not in this chapter as not applicable to me because obviously what the Lord said to a man could only be applicable to other men and not to truly all of us. Also, I do not believe that if Emma desired to see the plates it was a worldly desire. We certainly do not present the desires of the Three Witnesses as a worldly desire that they should have just dismissed. If you watch the video produced by the Church, this desire is shown as important and necessary prior to these men being called. I have always wondered why we in the Church are so quick to apply one standard to the men of Joseph Smith's time and then twist the words to give them a different meaning when applied to Emma.
MarshaJune 18, 2018
What a wonderful article and insights!
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