To Be Learned

The first two books of Nephi in the Book of Mormon have a lot to say about learning. Nephi recorded a prophecy from Isaiah that would be fulfilled by Martin Harris and those learned men who rejected his story about the Book of Mormon. He wrote, “The Lord God shall say unto him to whom he shall deliver the book: Take these words which are not sealed and deliver them to another, that he may show them unto the learned, saying: Read this, I pray thee. And the learned shall say: Bring hither the book, and I will read them. And now, because of the glory of the world and to get gain will they say this, and not for the glory of God. And the man shall say: I cannot bring the book, for it is sealed. Then shall the learned say: I cannot read it. Wherefore it shall come to pass, that the Lord God will deliver again the book and the words thereof to him that is not learned; and the man that is not learned shall say: I am not learned. Then shall the Lord God say unto him: The learned shall not read them, for they have rejected them, and I am able to do mine own work; wherefore thou shalt read the words which I shall give unto thee” (2 Nephi 27:15-20). The story serves as a warning about a possible effect of learning—it may lead us to reject the word of God. The learned man would not receive the book from God because he was more concerned about the glory of the world than the truth. Learning, if we are not careful, can lead to a pride that leads us to reject the things of God.

Jacob warned us in these words: “O that cunning plan of the evil one! O the vainness, and the frailties, and the foolishness of men! When they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not. And they shall perish.” If our learning causes us to think that we are wise and the counsel of God is foolishness, then we are in trouble. He also added,  “And whoso knocketh, to him will he open; and the wise, and the learned, and they that are rich, who are puffed up because of their learning, and their wisdom, and their riches—yea, they are they whom he despiseth; and save they shall cast these things away, and consider themselves fools before God, and come down in the depths of humility, he will not open unto them” (2 Nephi 9:28, 42). If our learning causes us to be puffed up because we think we are wise, the Lord will not open to us true wisdom. Nephi spoke about the churches in the last days and said this: “And they shall contend one with another; and their priests shall contend one with another, and they shall teach with their learning, and deny the Holy Ghost, which giveth utterance” (2 Nephi 28:4). Learning, when not accompanied by the Holy Ghost, leads to pride and contention.   

And yet, these verses should not deter us from learning. These two books of Nephi do encourage us to seek learning as long as we do so in the right way. I love this additional statement from Jacob: “But to be learned is good if they hearken unto the counsels of God” (2 Nephi 9:29). The key is to learning while still hearkening to the counsels of God. In the very first verse of the Book of Mormon, Nephi highlighted the importance of learning for him: “I, Nephi, having been born of goodly parents, therefore I was taught somewhat in all the learning of my father; and having seen many afflictions in the course of my days, nevertheless, having been highly favored of the Lord in all my days; yea, having had a great knowledge of the goodness and the mysteries of God, therefore I make a record of my proceedings in my days” (1 Nephi 1:1). He was learned because his father had taught him, and he became an adept leader, traveler, ship builder, and city builder because of his knowledge. He never stopped hearkening to the counsels of God, and so his learning was put to the right uses. He described how he learned from God which enabled him to do what his brothers thought was impossible: “Now I, Nephi, did not work the timbers after the manner which was learned by men, neither did I build the ship after the manner of men; but I did build it after the manner which the Lord had shown unto me; wherefore, it was not after the manner of men” (1 Nephi 18:2). He was able to build the ship because his most important learning came from the Lord. The words of Isaiah that Jacob quoted could have been Nephi’s as well: “The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season unto thee, O house of Israel. When ye are weary he waketh morning by morning. He waketh mine ear to hear as the learned” (2 Nephi 7:4).

                Perhaps these words of the Lord given through Nephi summarize best how we should seek learning: “For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have” (2 Nephi 28:30). As we seek to hearken to the counsels and precepts of God, then our learning will lead to true wisdom. Learning is good and the Lord wants us to seek secular and spiritual knowledge, but in so doing we must never stop hearkening to the counsels of God.