Fried Froth

President (then Elder) John Taylor was on a mission in France when he experienced the following, as described in The Gospel Kingdom: Selections from the Writings and Discourses of John Taylor, (collected and edited by G. Homer Durham):

I was walking about one day in the Jardindes Plantes—a splendid garden. There they had a sort of exceedingly light cake. It was so thin and light that you could blow it away, and you could eat all day of it, and never be satisfied. Somebody asked me what the name of that was. I said, I don't know the proper name, but in the absence of one, I can give it a name—I will call it philosophy, or fried froth, whichever you like. It is so light you can blow it away, eat it all day, and at night be as far from being satisfied as when you began.

President Taylor was never very tolerant of the “philosophies of men”. He further stated, concerning that experience, in a discourse given in the Bowery (in Salt Lake City) on September 20, 1857:

…fried bubbles, or the bubbles of learned men; for it reminded me of their philosophy.

I believe in the solid bread, and I do not care if it comes in big chunks; for then it is better than when there is not enough to satisfy the appetite. Truth and intelligence have a tendency to enlarge the capacity, to expand the soul, and to show man his real position—his relationship to himself and to his God, both in relation to the present and the future, that he may know how to live on the earth and be prepared to mingle with the Gods in the eternal worlds.

Other stalwarts in the Gospel, from prophets to local leaders have counseled us to beware of the philosophies of men. Lowell L. Bennion said:

It is often said that the gospel--in contrast to the thinking and philosophies of men--is eternal, unchanging truth. No thinking person, including the scientist himself, would dispute the fact that all human efforts to know the truth are tentative, unfinished, and changing. A glance at textbooks over the years is evidence of this. The hard won, laboriously acquired knowledge of the greatest of the scientists will be superseded one day by a larger, truer vision. Even the great artist is rarely satisfied with any of his creations. None fully expresses his felt impressions.

It can be easy to be led astray by those who fill the colleges and universities of the world with eloquent, elegant, and elitist philosophies that deny, or perhaps worse, trivialize the beauty and depth of the doctrines of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jacob, in 2 Nephi 9:28, speaks clearly and bluntly about the philosophical approach to life:

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.

In verse 29, Jacob makes the very wise observation that learning is good but eternal truths must be the measure of any counsel, philosophy, hypothesis, conjecture, supposition, or proposition offered to us:

But to be learned is good if they hearken unto the counsels of God.

It can be just as easy to accept the philosophies of those who preach a gospel of ease and simplicity. They suggest that small and easy sacrifices are sufficient for salvation. Their philosophies are as damaging as those who preach atheism or agnosticism, because they all lead to the same place in eternity. In Lectures on Faith, pg 6:7, Joseph Smith explains the requirement for adherence to eternal truths:

Let us here observe, that a religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation; …

These are pretty tough words. The prophet makes us understand that the wonderful blessings that the Lord has bestowed on us in this life can disappear in a moment and will not traverse with us into the next life. I believe that once we arrive in the spirit world, the earthly goods that we seek after and treasure in mortality will mean nothing to us. In Luke 2: 16-21, the Savior offered a parable:

The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

There is a wonderful story about a very wealthy man who was a great philanthropist and a leader in the Church.  He knew he was about to die, so he went to his bishop and asked to be able to take one suitcase with him into the spirit world. His bishop, of course, told him that such a thing was not possible. He went to the stake president and received the same response. Eventually, he was granted an interview with the President of the Church, who said that in view of his lifelong service in the gospel and his many contributions to the Church, he would grant permission for him to take one suitcase with him to the spirit world. In due time he passed onward, arriving at the pearly gates with his suitcase.

He was greeted by Peter, who said: “We are very curious about your suitcase. No one has ever been granted this privilege in all of eternity except you. Would you open the suitcase and let us see what you brought?”

The man opened the suitcase, which proved to be full of gold bullion. Peter exclaimed incredulously: “You could have brought anything you wished with you from mortality, and you brought – pavement??”

Don’t misunderstand: there is nothing wrong with owning a nice car, a beautiful home, becoming educated, or even acquiring great wealth. What He does ask is that these things occupy at least a poor third position behind the gospel and eternal families. In Psalms 103:2-5, we learn that the Lord does offer us the good things of the earth, but in harmony with the principles of the gospel:

Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.

So it would seem that the Lord’s tender mercies are dependent upon our adherence to basic gospel principles: Remember the Lord from whence all blessings come, live the gospel, take advantage of the atonement, repent of sin, and endure to the end. Enjoyment of the good things of the earth is possible and encouraged. Redemption is possible.

When we are young, we learn the basic principles of the gospel. We have a simple and beautiful understanding that we can grasp as children.  As we grow older, we begin to understand that the Gospel is indeed simple and beautiful, but it is also complex and full of nuances and mysteries. We learn that the truth of the gospel is unchanging and eternal, but our understanding of the gospel is not and cannot be unchanging. In fact, as we mature and grow in the gospel, many of our early beliefs may prove to be in need updating and clarification. We are promised in D&C 89:17 that we “...shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures” if we adhere to the principles of the gospel. The Lord does not wish for us to be clothed in sackcloth, ashes, and ignorance all our lives. In fact he expects us to gain knowledge and understanding in mortality. In D&C 130:18, we read:

Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection.

Our eventual objective in this life is to prepare ourselves for eternity, and then in eternity, to bring our thoughts and understanding into alignment with the Lord. Isaiah said for the Lord in Isaiah 55:8-9:

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

So let us avoid the “fried froth” that abounds in our mortal world. Let us carefully measure the worth of any “truth” and select only those ideas and philosophies that are in accordance with the gospel filter and will prepare us for the real understanding to come.