The School of the Prophets
The Lectures on Faith: The Leading Course of the Paternal Institution
Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing;
and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting,
a house of faith, a house of learning... a house of order, a house of the Elohim.
In 1921, the Lectures on Faith were quietly removed from the Doctrine and Covenants by the institutional church โ without a sustaining vote, without a doctrinal explanation, without announcement. They had been included in every edition of the D&C since 1835. They were simply gone from the 1921 edition, and the correlated curriculum has treated them as a historical curiosity ever since. The reason is not hard to find. The Lectures contain the most precise and systematic account of the nature of God in the entire Restoration canon โ and that account is incompatible with the Nicene-adjacent theology the corporate church was drifting toward in the early twentieth century.
What the Lectures teach is not what the Sunday sermon teaches. They do not offer comfort and warm encouragement. They offer a rigorous, systematic course โ seven lectures building a complete theological structure from the foundations upward. Faith is not hope; it is the governing physics of the Council of the Elohim. God is not unknowable; his character, attributes, and perfections must be precisely known before faith can be directed toward him. Sacrifice is not optional; it is the mechanism that severs the intelligence from the Babylonian economy and establishes its claim upon the Celestial order. These are not devotional reflections. They are load-bearing doctrinal propositions, and they were taught in the original School of the Prophets as the curriculum by which apprentices were prepared to enter the presence of the Elohim.
A seeker who has felt that the religion they were given was missing something structural โ that there was no real framework beneath the testimony meetings and the correlated lessons โ will find that framework here. Approach these seven lectures as a student, not a worshipper. Take notes. Follow the references. The index below allows you to navigate directly to any lecture.
On Faith Itself
Faith is the governing principle in the Council of the Elohim. It is the 'moving cause'โthe literal force by which the Elohim bring order out of chaos. In the School, we reject the notion of faith as mere 'hope'; it is the actualized physics by which the worlds were framed. It is the vibration of the Word. If an intelligence does not act by faith, it remains in a state of entropy. To understand faith is to understand the technical governance of the governing order of the Elohim.
The Object of Faith
How does a fallen intelligence find the way back? Only through the record of those who have already ascended the Paternal Chain. We follow the 'Chain of the Priesthood'โa literal genetic and spiritual link back to Michael-Ahman, the Ancient of Days. Faith is sparked when the 'Record of Heaven' (the JST and 1879 Record) vibrates within the spirit, confirming that Jehovah is the Architect and Michael-Ahman is the literal Father of our spirits.
The Character of the Ahman
One cannot have faith in a being whose character is a mystery. We reject the 'unknowable' God of the creeds. Our doctrine demands a Paternal Head who is predictable in His perfectionsโMercy, Justice, and Truth. Because Michael-Ahman is an exalted Man, He is subject to High Law. If the Elohim could change, the physics of faith would vanish. The apprentice must know with absolute certainty that the Council operates by immutable Law.
The Perfections of the Ahman
The attributes of the AhmanโKnowledge, Faith, Justice, Judgment, Mercy, and Truthโare the components of the Divine Mind. In the School, we do not view these as metaphors, but as the literal composition of the Prototype, Son Ahman. The Father is the Elohim because He possesses the 'Fullness' of these attributes. To become like Him, the apprentice must organize their own intelligence according to these same six pillars, creating an internal House of Order.
The Administrative Binary
We move beyond the confusion of sectarian trinitarianism. The Father (Michael-Ahman) is a Personage of Spirit, Glory, and Power; the Son (Son Ahman) is the Personage of Tabernacle, the Image of the Father. They are 'one' in that they share a single Mindโthe Holy Spirit. This Spirit is the literal light that connects the individual apprentice to the centralized Intelligence of the Heavens. We are children of that Paternal Binary.
The Law of Sacrifice
The modern world seeks a religion without cost; we seek the altar of the Patriarchs. Sacrifice is the only mechanism that can sever the ties between the intelligence and the Babylonian Market. By laying all thingsโreputation, wealth, and life itselfโon the altar, the apprentice proves they are no longer subject to the lower laws of entropy. Sacrifice is the evidence that your faith has reached the threshold of the Celestial and secured a claim upon the Elohim.
The Prototype of Reconciled Beings
What is a 'Reconciled Being'? It is a being who has become precisely like the Prototype, Son Ahman. To be reconciled is to possess the same power, glory, and dominion as the Paternal Chain. We are in the business of 'Intelligence Apprenticeship.' The end goal is the Fullness of the Fatherโthe state where the individual intelligence is fully integrated into the Eternal Order of the Gods, ruling over their own stewardship in righteousness.