# Mysteries

Sacred mysteries are spiritual truths revealed by God in stages—hidden not to conceal, but until hearts and minds are ready to receive them.

Alma taught that “it is given unto many to know the mysteries of God,” but that they are imparted “according to the heed and diligence which they give unto him.” Those who harden their hearts receive “the lesser portion of the word,” and those who do not are given “the greater portion,” until they know the mysteries of God “in full” (Alma 12:9–10). In Restoration usage, mysteries are spiritual truths that can be known only by revelation. The word comes from the Greek *mystērion*, from *myein*, “to close the lips or eyes.” In the ancient world it referred to sacred rites disclosed only to initiates.

## A secret meant to be told

Paul used the word in a way that departed from its pagan background. He spoke of “the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory” (1 Corinthians 2:7), and of a mystery “which in other ages was not made known” but “is now revealed” (Ephesians 3:3–5). For Paul a mystery was a truth kept in reserve until the appointed time and then proclaimed.

Restoration scripture extends the promise. To those who serve him in righteousness, the Lord says, “unto them will I reveal all mysteries, yea, all the hidden mysteries of my kingdom from days of old, and for ages to come” (D&C 76:7). The mysteries are hidden for a season. They are meant to be known.

Joseph Smith’s own ministry followed this pattern. He received revelation in stages over many years, and doctrines such as eternal families, the redemption of the dead, and the endowment unfolded gradually as he and the Saints were prepared to receive them. He once remarked that he could explain far more of what he had seen in vision if the people were prepared to receive it. In his experience the mysteries were bounded by the capacity of those who would hear them.

## Why are the mysteries hidden?

If God intends to reveal, why does he withhold? Alma’s answer is readiness. Knowledge given before a person can receive it may harm more than help, and so God measures it to the capacity and desire of the learner. The same pattern governs the ordinances. The greater priesthood “holdeth the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God,” and “in the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest” (D&C 84:19–20). The temple teaches by degrees, and each degree prepares for the next.

Of course, seeking the mysteries has its hazards. Church leaders have often warned against speculation that runs ahead of revelation or that treats obscure questions as a mark of spiritual standing. The mysteries of God are approached through obedience, study, and prayer, and the most important of them concern the plain truths of Christ’s Atonement and our relationship to the Father.

## Mysteries and inquiry

Mormon Transhumanists read the doctrine of the mysteries as an encouragement to inquiry of every kind. If God reveals truth by degrees to those who seek it, then the long work of science belongs to the same process. Discoveries about the structure of matter, the history of life, and the nature of mind disclose what was hidden to those who give heed and diligence. The open questions of our time, such as how consciousness arises, how the universe began, and what becomes of persons beyond death, mark the places where seeking continues.

Restoration scripture encourages this breadth. The Saints were told to learn of “things both in heaven and in the earth, and under the earth; things which have been, things which are, things which must shortly come to pass” (D&C 88:79). The range of that instruction takes in astronomy, history, and the affairs of nations. Learning in these fields prepares disciples for the work God gives them, and it belongs to the same seeking that opens the mysteries.

Humility belongs here as well. Each answer tends to open new questions, and the history of human knowledge suggests that our present understanding is partial. Restoration theology expects this. It describes a God who knows more than we do and who invites us to grow toward that knowledge, and it makes no pretense that we have already arrived.

## Knowledge upon knowledge

The Lord promised the early Saints that if they asked, they would receive “revelation upon revelation, knowledge upon knowledge, that thou mayest know the mysteries and peaceable things” (D&C 42:61). The mysteries, so understood, reward those who keep seeking. Their purpose is to bring us to know God, and in knowing him, to become more like him.

*See also*: [Existential Risk](/topical-guide/existential-risk), [Mysticism](/topical-guide/mysticism), [Responsibility](/topical-guide/responsibility)