There are many in today's world - especially youth, who think that the way to learn good from evil is to go out and do evil things. This is especially common among young latter day saints born into the covenant, who feel that perhaps they have missed an important part of their moral or ethical education by not participating in activities that are frowned upon by the church. We know that this is an erroneous conception, but as I was reading in Moroni chapter 7, I found a verse that proves the point.
Moroni chapter 7 talks a good deal about the way to judge between good and evil. Essentially the way to judge if something is evil is by its fruits and visa versa. After talking about the Light of Christ, Moroni exhorts us to not judge wrongfully. Then he says this, "Wherefore, I beseech of you, brethren, that ye should search diligently in the Light of Christ that ye may know good from evil; and if ye will lay hold upon every good thing, and condemn it not, ye certainly will be a child of Christ." (Moroni 7:19) I think that Moroni's message is pretty explicit. The way to judge between good and evil is done through the Light of Christ and not through it's opposite, through darkness. Just as searching for things and judging things is ineffective in the dark, so is judging without the Light of Christ and relying solely upon our poor night vision.
The Light of Christ is the light that defines what everything is - that is why it is the way to judge. If you think about it, colors, and shapes, and sizes, and most visual things are somewhat relevant because of different lighting conditions. Socrates gave a famous cave analogy in which he determined that people living in a cave their entire life with only the light of a fire would learn to judge things by their shadows until they broke out of the environment they were in and ventured out of the cave into daylight. The Light of Christ has this effect in helping us to know the way to judge when so many live in a cave of moral relativism.
I am so grateful for the Light of Christ as a light and a guide to help me know what is right and wrong and to guide my way on the path of life.
1 comment:
I remember that cave allegory from when I was in school. I loved Plato (and Socrates) because of all of the gospel comparisons you could make with their teachings. Enjoyed your post.
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