1 Nephi, 2 Nephi, Jacob: Grace & Works Continued

Problem 2

In a previous post, I comment that two problems underlie religious systems--in part because they underlie all human systems: 

1. The problem of grace versus works—that is, the problem of a deity's mercy versus human merit.
2. The problem of an elect or elite, those who are supposedly entitled to more of God’s mercy and intervention.

The previous post addresses the first problem. 

The second problem, an elite who claim more of god(s)' attention, is so old and so human it barely needs an explanation. Various anthropologists question whether cave ceremonies were open to all members of a tribe or to only a few. Ancient Europeans didn't live in the caves at Lascaux and Altamira (even Palaeolithic folks at risk from the cold and huge predators didn't want to live in the dark). Those caves and their art were likely tied to rituals and ceremonies, potentially linked--in Europe--to bears as guides, totems, and supernal beings. As some anthropologists suggest, the rituals may have been limited to an "elite." 

I don't entirely accept the anthropologists' arguments here since a lack of remains (bones from dinner, bones from residents) and/or a small space does not denote a lack of visitors. These types of deductions argue that ceremonies can only occur in a specific way. But a coming-of-age or other life-specific ceremony (each member of the community undergoes a once-in-a-lifetime event) is more than probable. 

When they link cave ceremonies to elites, anthropologists are drawing on later social behavior. As Rodney Stark has pointed out, religions tend to move from sect to church and back to sect. In the early stages, the behavior of the members is usually (though not always) far more egalitarian. As the sect transforms into a church, it begins to gain an elite. The natural-man desire for guarantees is bolstered by more and more refined rituals that are difficult to master (unless one has money and free time).  

When the desire for guarantees meets the creation of elites, all kind of troubles ensue. These troubles are followed, almost inevitably, by reformation. 

That is, it is nearly a historical given that a elite-centered religion with strict behavioral guidelines will be followed by something that challenges the related doctrines and reaches out to everyday folks. Buddhism was a reformation. Protestantism was a reformation. The list is endless. 

At the back of the troubles and reformations is, again, grace v. works, which I will address again in later posts.