King Follett and the Tree of Life

What follows is highly-peculiar doctrine, distinctive of Mormonism and very enlarging if you subscribe to it.

Who ever said that God was a man and that man will be God? God himself said it through Joseph Smith, first publicly revealed in this dispensation while the Prophet was eulogizing over his dead friend, King Follett. As we regard prophetic enunciations as scripture, we would be justified in proclaiming that President Smith the Christian Apostle and his edict are scripture.

But is it anywhere in our standard works? The Prophet himself, in that sermon, takes us through the Holy Bible, principally the Four Gospels, in a handful of languages to show us the truth, with the purpose of quieting his critics and discrediting his foes, so that he might convert them to the truth with the truth. I would turn to the Epistle of Barnabas (a pseudepigraphal work from the Codex Sinaiticus, a unique permutation of the New Testament) and also the books of Alma and Nephi, and the Doctrine and Covenants.

Before drawing into LDS-specific scripture, I would like to put to print some verses from Barnabas, 10th chapter:

1. LET us now inquire wheter the Lord took care to manifest anything beforehand concerning water and the cross.
7. ...He that does these things; shall be like a tree, planted by the currents of water, which shall give its fruit in its season. Its leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doth it shall prosper.
10. Consider how he has joined both the cross and the water together.
11. For thus he saith: Blessed are they who put their trust in the cross, descend into the water; for they shall have their reward in due time;
14. ...And there was a river running on the right hand, and beautiful trees grew up by it; and he that shall eat of them shall live for ever. The signification of which is this: that we go down into the water full of sins and pollutions; but come up again, bringing forth fruit; having in our hearts the fear and hope which is in Jesus, by the spirit. And whosoever shall eat of them shall live for ever.
15. That is, whosoever shall hearken to those who call them, and shall believe, shall live for ever.

Where in our LDS quadruple combinations do we find the doctrine that man may become like God, exalted, and so forth? I invite you to open up to 1 Nephi 11:7, an angel tells Nephi that he is about to show him the Tree of Life followed by a vision of the Son of Man, afterwhich Nephi shall bear witness that it is the Son of God. He shows Nephi the tree in verse 8. In verse 11, Nephi requests the interpretation thereof, or the meaning and symbolism behind the tree. Verses 12-15 and 19-20, the angel answers his request by showing him a vision of Mary and the Nativity. Then he asks Nephi "Knowest thou the meaning of the tree which thy father saw? And I answered him, saying: Yea, it is the love of God, which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men."

Angel: Here, take a look at this Tree.
Nephi: What does it mean?
Angel: Okay, here's a vision of the birth of Jesus Christ. Now do you know that the tree means?
Nephi: Yes, it is the love of God.

In Alma 32. Here, speaking to the oppressed, "Alma compares the word unto a seed—It must be planted and nourished—Then it grows into a tree from which the fruit of eternal life is picked."

In D&C 97:9 we read a promise to the Saints, based upon their righteousness, which, of course, is applicable to us all: "For I, the Lord, will cause them to bring forth as a very fruitful tree which is planted in a goodly land, by a pure stream, that yieldeth much precious fruit."

Here is Mike Brady's interpretation and piecing-together of everything presented above. I hope that I can be concise, and I hope that an understanding of what these prophets have said and revealed to us can be had by all. Feel free to give me feedback, or thoughts that you have had on this subject. Let me know how you feel about this blog and teach me from your experiences and revelations of your perspective on the doctrine. With no further ado:

Barnabas verses:
Water and cross refer to baptism and the tree, the tree upon which Christ was raised for all mankind to see. Trees that find root in pure water, also known as Living Water, also known as Jesus of Nazareth, will be made fruitful with leaves that do not wither. Tsumari (in other words), a tree that will not die, even whose leaves will not die. How does this tree find and use this water? Baptism! We immerse ourselves in the Living Water, we take upon us his name, his attributes (or covenant to do so, then take the sacramental blessings for our shortcomings), and therefore plug into that river. But wait, wait, wait... Isn't Jesus the tree? How can we symbolically shoot forth our roots into him, the Living Water, if Jesus is the tree? Are we trees, too?

Nephi verses:
Well, let's first look at Jesus as the Tree of Life, as Nephi beheld. The angel tells him "I'll show you the Son of God" and then Nephi sees a tree. Nephi asks to know the interpretation of the tree and the angel shows him the birth of Christ. The angel then asks if he understands, and Nephi says "Yea, it is the love of God, which sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men." Jesus is the Tree of Life, from whence we pluck pure fruit and become therefore purified by its essence.

Alma verses:
So Jesus is the Tree of Life, and we are also trees, as Barnabas (and Alma) taught, and commanded us to take our nourishment from Christ's water. Alma? Oh yeah, Alma taught that, too. So let's see, in his speech given on the Hill Onidah, he tells us to take within ourselves, within our hearts, a seed of faith, taken from the fruit that we plucked from the Tree of Life, or Christ himself. This faith can be applied to any Gospel subject, but ultimately it will be faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We ingest this, take it to heart, so that it may be pumped to every extremity of our soul.

"...behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me." (Compare Alma's words with Joseph Smith's words as he presented the doctrine of manhood being a step toward Godhood: "This is good doctrine. It tastes good. I can taste the principles of eternal life, and so can you. They are given to me by the revelations of Jesus Christ; and I know that when I tell you these words of eternal life as they are given to me, you taste them, and I know that you believe them. You say honey is sweet, and so do I. I can also taste the spirit of eternal life. I know that it is good; and when I tell you of these things which were given me by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, you are bound to receive them as sweet, and rejoice more and more.")

As our faith in Christ grows within our hearts, this seed grows and matures. As we take upon us his name and attributes, we grow and mature. We grow to become more and more like whom? Jesus Christ. Why? Because this mature seed within us is no longer a seed, but now a shoot, now a sapling, eventually a tree mighty and strong. Weathered, sure, but having drawn on the Living Water it is majestic and able to withstand what wind and temptation might beset it.

And now back to Barnabas (and the Lord in the D&C verse), my first source in comparing us to trees: "and he that shall eat of them shall live for ever. The signification of which is this: that we go down into the water full of sins and pollutions; but come up again, bringing forth fruit; having in our hearts the fear and hope which is in Jesus, by the spirit. And whosoever shall eat of them shall live for ever." So we partake of the fruit of the Tree of Life (capital letters) and become ourselves trees of life (lowercase letters). We are now like Christ, for others to come and pluck our fruit, for them to experience his love through our actions; for his attributes are now our attributes. We can bring others to Christ by our fruit. Even Joseph Smith says "God has wrought out a salvation for all men, unless they have committed a certain sin; and every man who has a friend in the eternal world can save him, unless he has committed the unpardonable sin. And so you can see how far you can be a savior."

Yes, the King Follett Discourse teaches us explicitly of our Godly potentials. So do our other scriptures, so do other men of God whose writings are not endorsed specifically as scripture, but contain truth nonetheless. Even the writings of Buddha, which I have much occasion to study, contain pure truth, if you can sense it. Thank you Alma, for showing us that we can become trees of life, right in the Book of Mormon.

Thank you Joseph Smith.

Thank you Jesus.