In May1337, King Philip VI of France formally announced that he was laying claim to the duchy of Aquitaine, a part of present-day France which was at the time at least nominally under the jurisdiction of Edward III, King of England.[1] Thus, began what is commonly known as the Hundred Years War, a conflict between England and France that lasted 116 years, and is considered by many historians to be the longest war in recorded history. Imagine a war that lasted more than a century. People would be born, grow up, marry, have their own children, and die - without ever having known what life was like without the war. And their children and often grandchildren would have the same experience. To those multiple generations that lived in France and England during that period, the war must, at times, have seemed endless.
Despite its record length, the Hundred Years War was not the deadliest conflict in recorded human history. That dubious honor belongs to World War II in which, by conservative estimates, 50 million people lost their lives.[2] One study concluded that the Soviet Union alone suffered more than 25 million deaths as a result of the conflict, nearly 15% of that country's population.[3] To those nations most directly affected by that deadly conflict, and to those who lost even a single loved-one, the cost of the war must, at times, have seemed unbearable.
As long as the Hundred Years War was and as many casualties as World War II produced, combined they were not as long nor as costly as another war - a war that commenced before the foundation of the world and one that has continued largely unabated since that time.
That conflict began when our Father in Heaven convened his children in a grand council in heaven to discuss a plan by which we, as His children, could come to experience the kind of joyful and perfect life that He enjoyed. We do not know all the particulars of the dispute, but we do know that one of the core areas of disagreement concerned the concept of agency, something we already possessed at that stage of our existence.[4] Agency was an indispensible part of our Father's proposed plan. We were to be allowed to choose freely between good and evil, so that we might develop and perfect our ability to make correct choices. Because we would inevitably make mistakes as we engaged in that kind of experiential learning process, a Savior would be provided for us, one who would atone for our sins - if we would repent of them - thereby allowing us in the words of Elder Bruce Hafen, to "learn from [our] experience without being condemned by it."[5]
But there was an alternative plan presented. It was presented by Lucifer, "an angel of God who was in authority."[6] We don't know all the details of Lucifer's plan, but we do know that he "sought to destroy the agency of man,"[7] and made the false promise that not one soul would be lost.[8] We also know that some of our brothers and sisters found Lucifer's plan more attractive than that presented by our Heavenly Father and that a conflict - which the scriptures call a "war in heaven"[9] - ensued between the two groups.
We also don't know the exact nature of the battle, or the kind of weapons that were used, but John's description in Revelations chapter 12 verse 11 tells us that those who favored the Father's plan triumphed over Lucifer and his followers "by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony." This strongly implies that it was a war of words and faith, rather than a physical conflict. That we prevailed by the "word of [our] testimony"[10] also strongly suggests that we each expressed our individual faith in the Savior's promise that He would live His life and give His life in such a perfect manner that His infinite atonement would allow us to overcome the spiritual and physical deaths that were an inevitable part of the celestializing learning process we would go through in mortality. Keep in mind that when we made our decision at this critical juncture in our existence, the atonement had not yet happened. The blood of the Lamb had not yet been shed. We had to exercise faith in God's promise that His plan would work - and in Christ's promise that He would perform His indispensible part perfectly. Perhaps those who followed Lucifer found his plan so attractive precisely because they lacked faith in those divine promises - or faith in themselves to make correct choices.[11]
In any event, those who favored the Father's plan prevailed in the conflict. Ironically, those who sought to eliminate agency from our experience were allowed to exercise theirs throughout the process.[12] But this allowance came at a very high price - a third part of our Father's children lost their first estate[13] and thereby precluded themselves from ever having the fullness of joy that they might have experienced. Think about that. A third of the hosts of heaven were lost. While it is not entirely clear that the scriptural record is to be interpreted as meaning that literally 33 1/3 percent of those present were lost,[14] if that's what it does mean - the number of casualties could have been in the tens of billions.[15] Even if the numbers were less, when one considers the ultimate fate of those who kept not their first estate,[16] the loss must have been almost unbearable. It is no wonder that - as the scriptures record - "the heavens wept" over the loss.[17]
The implications of the enormity and permanency of that loss are quite profound. It demonstrates in a very powerful way the absolute centrality and indispensability of the concept of agency. Surely, if there were a way that the plan could have operated without the loss of so many of God's children, He would have chosen that path. However, agency is apparently so central to the eternal plan - such a bedrock foundation of the eternal laws that make exaltation possible - that God himself adheres to its principles, even when it means seeing some of His children condemned to failure. Viewed in that light, these well-known verses in Doctrine and Covenants section 121 take on a much deeper meaning: "No power or influence can [not just should not, but cannot] be maintained by virtue of the priesthood only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned; By kindness, and pure knowledge."[18] This is not just practical advice on how modern mortal priesthood bearers should interact with others; it is an eternal law and truth to which God Himself adheres.
Because the concept of agency is so core to God's eternal plan of happiness for His children, Satan, whose goal is to make all men and women "miserable like unto himself,"[19] continues to do all he can to destroy it. As President James E. Faust observed, the war that began in heaven "rages today ever more fiercely."[20]
In order to understand the sometimes subtle, but unrelenting, ways in which Satan wages the battle in our lives today, it is helpful to understand the conditions that allow agency to exist and operate fully in our lives.
Elder D. Todd Christofferson has identified three key "elements" of what the scriptures call "moral agency."[21] The first is the existence of "alternatives to choose among."[22] Options make agency possible. In the words of Lehi, "[I]t must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things."[23] But these are not just options in the abstract (as Satan would have us believe), but options with consequences, consequences determined by eternal law. As Elder Christofferson explained, "Law provides us the options. It is by the operation of laws that things happen. By using or obeying a law, one can bring about a particular result - and by disobedience, the opposite result."[24]
The second key element, according to Elder Christofferson, is knowledge. "[F]or us to have agency," he noted, "we must not only have alternatives but we must also know that they exist and what they are."[25] Indeed, the more true knowledge we have, the greater the scope of our agency, especially if the knowledge includes an understanding of the consequences of our choices.
The third essential element is the "freedom to make choices," - that is, the ability to act on our knowledge of the available alternatives according to our desires or will - something Elder Christofferson identifies as "agency itself."[26] Although we may have had the capacity to express preferences as intelligences at the earliest stage of our eternal existence, our ability to act on those choices was enhanced by God's granting to us both our spiritual and physical bodies. By way of illustration, Elder Lionel Kendrick observed, "with our mortal bodies, we have the power of procreation in this life. We have the choice and capacity to control our physical desire, or have it control us."[27] We could not make such choices without the bodies that God has granted to us.
Each of these three elements - the existence of alternatives from which to choose, knowledge of those alternatives, and the capacity to select among them and act according to our desires - are essential to the existence of agency. However, while these three elements are necessary for agency to exist, they are not, by themselves, sufficient without the addition of a fourth fundamental, and most important foundation of agency - the Atonement. In fact, as President Boyd K. Packer has observed, "[h]ad agency come to man without the Atonement, it would have been a fatal gift."[28] Because we are imperfect we will inevitably use our agency to make wrong choices, and a single wrong choice would, without the atonement, eventually result in permanent physical death - and permanent banishment from the presence of God. In the words of the Book of Mormon prophet Jacob, without an infinite atonement, "this corruption could not put on incorruption, [and] . . . this flesh must have laid down to rot and to crumble. . . to rise no more. . . And our spirits must have become like unto [the devil], and we become . . . angels to a devil, to be shut out from the presence of our God ...."[29] Thus, the infinite atonement which Christ perfectly performed is, like the existence of alternatives, knowledge of those alternatives, and the ability to choose, something without which agency could not operate productively in the eternal plan.
Lehi summed it up well in this familiar verse from 2 Nephi chapter 2, which refers to all four of the essential elements of agency: "And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall [the atonement]. And because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing [knowledge] good from evil [the existence of alternatives]; to act for themselves [the ability to act on our preferences] and not to be acted upon . . . Wherefore, [Lehi concluded]. . . all things are given ... which are expedient unto man. . . ."[30]
Even though these four essential pillars of agency are in place, Satan continues to wage the battle that he started before the foundation of the world. Perhaps it is arrogance, perhaps it is disbelief that God can, or will, fulfill all His promises, or perhaps it is simply outright defiance. Whatever the reason, Satan refuses to believe he has lost the war, and he continues to seek to destroy the agency of man, doing all he can to promote conduct and belief that will limit our agency. And he does it in ways that can confuse us so that we don't recognize that our essential agency is under attack. He does not tempt us by simply saying, "do this and your agency will be taken away." Instead, he attempts to disguise his modern-day efforts to destroy our agency by subtly undermining each of the four foundations of agency; often camouflaging his arguments in the name of freedom itself.
For example, Satan can undermine our ability to choose - one of the essential elements of agency - by enticing us to engage in conduct that can eventually - and in some cases, quickly - become addictive. Alcohol, drugs, and pornography are well known examples of this phenomenon. Satan does not tempt us with these enslaving activities by pointing out that our agency will be limited if we engage in them, but rather by trying to convince us that such activities will make us free and by arguing that admonitions to avoid such evils are themselves a violation of our agency. He would have us confuse the initial decision to act, which is entirely within our control, with the ability to decide the consequences of our actions, which is governed by eternal law. Elder Dallin Oaks taught this principle using an example to which I believe you can readily relate. "When I was serving [as President] of BYU," Elder Oaks said, "I heard many arguments on BYUs' Honor Code or dress and grooming standards that went like this: 'It is wrong for BYU to take away my free agency by forcing me to keep certain rules in order to be admitted or permitted to continue as a student.' [BYU did not force you to come here . . . That was your choice] ... It will not do to pretend that our agency has been taken away when we are not free to exercise it without unwelcome consequences."[31] Satan is correct when he tells us that we can use our agency to choose to engage in potentially addictive behavior, but he consciously fails to point out that we cannot avoid the consequences of those choices, which in many instances will greatly limit future choices.
It is not just by enticing us to engage in clearly addictive behavior that Satan tries to limit our ability to act according to our desires. He is able to limit this core component of agency by confusing us in other ways. Let me illustrate with a simple example from my own life. For a time, I practiced law in Arizona. The morning commute from our home in Tempe to my office in downtown Phoenix was a daily adventure that took anywhere from 20 minutes, on a good day, to close to an hour, on a bad day. After a few months, I began to notice that my mood for the day was determined largely by how long the commute took and how aggravated I was with the drivers who I thought were causing the problems. The longer the commute, and the more annoying the drivers, the more irritable I was with everyone I met during the day. When I first noticed this trend (probably long after my co-workers had discovered it), I became even more annoyed at the other drivers. How dare they ruin my day by making me angry and frustrated? Then one day I read, not for the first time, but with new eyes, three verses from Lehi's teachings in Second Nephi chapter 2. The first is verse 14: "God ... hath created .. all things that [are in the heavens and earth], both things to act and things to be acted upon." "That's it," I thought, "my problem is that those other drivers are acting upon me. It's all their fault." Then I came to verses 26 and 27: "And the Messiah cometh in the fullness of time that he may redeem the children of men ... And because that they are redeemed from the fall, they have become free forever ... to act for themselves and not to be acted upon. ... Wherefore men are free ... to choose liberty and eternal life ... or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself." It hit me like a thunderbolt. The problem was not with the other drivers; the problem was with me. Because of the atonement, I was free to choose my attitude, to act for myself, but I was surrendering that freedom by succumbing to Satan's temptation to become angry. And - just as Satan desired - I was becoming miserable. He had me thinking I had no choice about what mood I was in, when in reality, because of the atonement, it was entirely my choice. I could choose to act, but I too often chose to be acted upon, to be led captive by the actions of others, thereby surrendering my agency to them.
Any time Satan can get us to sin - even when the sin does not obviously lead to addiction - he thereby limits our agency - at least until we repent. As the Bible Dictionary explains, "By transgression, man loses control over his own will and becomes the slave of sin."[32] In some cases, such as with pornography or drugs, this is obvious. Yet even less dramatic sins like anger, procrastination, or the use of improper language can cause us to lose our agency. We should not so easily give away in this estate that for which we fought so valiantly in the prior one.
Just as he uses clever deception to persuade us unknowingly to limit our capacity to choose, Satan also tries subtly to eliminate the knowledge element of the agency equation. I have already referred to one way in which he does this - by trying to convince us that knowledge of what the initial choices are is full knowledge, when such knowledge is woefully incomplete without a corresponding knowledge of the consequences of our actions. A related method that Satan uses to limit the knowledge component of our agency is to cause us to undervalue the knowledge that is available to us. While it is true that some kinds of information are more important than others to our eternal progression, it is also true that acquisition of true knowledge in any field can enhance the scope of our agency. As Russell T. Osguthorpe, the Sunday School General President, explained in a recent devotional at LDS Business College: "Every time we learn more truth in whatever field of study, our choices expand. The nurse who learns about the effects of the drug atropine can choose to administer that drug to a patient whose heartbeat is fading. The nurse who does not know about the effects of atropine cannot make that choice, and the patient might die. So, [Brother Osguthorpe continues] our ability to exercise that power that is within us to choose increases as we learn. The more we choose to learn, the more power we have to choose."[33] Thus, what you learn here will not just help you pass a class or acquire the skills you need to support yourself financially, it can expand the scope of your eternal agency. Don't let Satan fool you into thinking that knowledge is transitory or unimportant.
Satan also uses clever and misleading arguments to undermine another key element of agency - the existence of alternatives or opposites from which to choose. One way in which he does this is by making critical distinctions between opposites seem insignificant, thereby obscuring the true nature of the alternatives. For example, he seeks to convince us that the only difference between a violation of the law of chastity and the proper use of the sacred powers of procreation is a piece of paper, suggesting that a marriage license is the sole distinction between these two dramatically different acts, and thereby causing some to misunderstand both the purpose of the procreative powers and the eternal significance of sacred temple covenants. This blurring of distinctions causes some to fail to realize the true significance of the choices they face concerning intimate relationships, thus leading them to make choices that can limit their agency eternally.
Understanding the centrality of agency can change the way you view almost every experience you have, even your experience as students at BYU Idaho. Let me give one example. As you may have noticed, the tuition you - and students at all BYU campuses and LDS Business College - pay is considerably lower than that charged by almost any other private university. You may also be aware that your tuition does not come close to paying the cost of your education and that your education - like that of all students at all BYU campuses - is heavily subsidized by the tithe payers of the Church. With this fact in mind, when I became the dean of the law school at BYU, I suggested to the University Administration that it might be proper to increase the law school's tuition. I questioned the fairness of using what in some cases is the widow's mite to finance the education of lawyers, many of whom will have generous incomes over their careers. (I should also acknowledge that I thought the law school's revenues might be helped by such an increase - so my motives weren't entirely pure). In any event, my suggestion that tuition be increased was not accepted.
That caused me to wonder why the Board of Trustees, which includes the members of the First Presidency, three members of the Quorum of the Twelve, and other people who know well the many good uses to which tithing funds could be put - would choose to so heavily subsidize the education of lawyers - and that of all other BYU students. As I pondered that question, the thought came powerfully to my mind that one possible reason has to do with the concept of agency. Using tithing to subsidize BYU students' education allows those students to graduate with much less debt than they might otherwise have - in many cases with no debt at all. By contrast, the average law student at many top private law schools graduates with a law school-incurred debt of more than $100,000. With such debt hanging over their heads, the choice of what those students can do following graduation is severely limited. They have little choice but to work for the highest paying firm they can find, because, as I told prospective law students, they will have a mortgage payment, they just won't have a house to go with it. As many of our leaders have reminded us, "debt can be enslaving."[34] It can limit our agency dramatically. Some law students might decide that they could be of most use as a solo practitioner in Driggs, Idaho or Panguitch, Utah, but if they have to pay off a large educational debt with what they earn, that avenue may not be open to them. Other law students may decide that rather than practice law, they will stay home with young children. However, if they are tens of thousands of dollars in debt, such a choice may be impracticable. Thus, the sacrifice of millions of tithe payers who subsidize your education leaves you free to choose to do what you - and the Lord - want you to do.
With that freedom, as with all freedom, comes accountability. In the case of BYU students, whether they be in Provo, Laie, or Rexburg there are at least two important parts of that accountability. First, it is incumbent on you - whose career and life options are being expanded as a result of the sacrifice of others - to maximize the educational opportunity that is afforded to you. It is your responsibility to learn all you can, so that you are best positioned to do what you - and the Lord - want you to do. Contrary to what Satan may whisper in your ear when the alarm goes off early in the morning to rouse you to go to class or finish a paper, there is more riding on the decision you make at that point than your own g.p.a. or individual success. Those who could benefit from your enhanced education - whether they be your future children, your future clients, or the communities or nations in which you will live - all will be benefitted by your choosing to use your time here as wisely as possible.
Second, because the subsidy allows you to be relatively free from debt and therefore free to do what the Lord wants you to do, it is your responsibility to live your life in a way that makes you worthy to receive the inspiration that will guide you in making that decision. Inspiration about what you should do with your life after you leave here will not come to your bishop, or to President Clark, or to President Monson. It will come to you. But, it will come only if you are worthy. That is one way in which adherence to the honor code can enhance your agency. As you adhere to gospel standards, your capacity to understand - and therefore your freedome to follow - the Lord's plan for you will increase.
So, study and learn as much as you can while you are here, and live worthy of the spirit to guide you. You owe that much to those whose sacrifice in paying tithing allows you greater freedom of choice as you graduate.
Let me conclude with some observations about Satan's efforts to undermine the fourth -and most critical of the foundations of agency - Christ's atonement. Satan used all his arsenal to prevent that atonement from happening, unleashing, without restraint, all that he had at his disposal to prevent Christ from performing that infinitely important act. And, all that Satan had was considerable - it was enough to make Christ "bleed at every pore"[35] - it was enough to cause Christ to wish that the "cup could pass from Him"[36] - but it was not enough for Satan to triumph in that critical hour.[37] Satan lost that battle. He cannot fight it again. The victory on that front is secure.
However, while Satan cannot alter the reality, reach, or eternal nature of the atonement, he still wages a battle against this most important element - not by trying to undo the act itself (which he cannot do) but by challenging our faith in it. Satan convinces too many of us that while the atonement is real in the abstract, its infinite power does not extend to us and our sins and our weaknesses. In doing so, he seems to be returning to a tactic that he used so successfully with a third of the hosts in the war in heaven - persuading God's children not to believe God's promises. When faced with such arguments and doubts, we should respond with the same weapon that prevailed against such fallacious contentions in the original battle. You will remember that Satan was vanquished, and our victory in that battle assured, by the "word of [our] testimony." If we sometimes doubt whether the promises made by the Savior are real, or whether they extend to us and our unique situations, we can be emboldened by the reassuring fact that we believed before - and believed with such certainty that the forces of darkness were compelled to flee from our presence. In your moments of doubt, despair, and fear, remember that, as Elder Neil L. Anderson has taught, "faith itself is a choice"[38] - and you already made that choice once when faced with the same decision in the pre-earth life. Christ's promise was then, and is now, that because he would overcome all, we could overcome all. Now that Christ has fulfilled His promise that he would wrought an infinite atonement in order to make that possible, our choice should be even more obvious.
To aid you in a small way in finding the strength to choose faith in Christ in those sometimes trying moments, let me share with you my personal witness that Christ lives and that His promises are sure. He has overcome Lucifer and has thereby preserved our agency. He loves you - each one of you - with a love deeper than you can imagine. Through his infinite atonement, He has made you free to realize your divine potential. He did so because He knows of your great potential. If you will but choose to follow Him, you will experience the fullness of joy that He has promised. I so testify in His holy name, even Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes
[1] Christopher Allmand, The Hundred Years War: England and France at War c 1300-c 1450 at 7, 10-11
[2] John Keegan, The Second World War 12 (1989)
[3] Michael Ellman, "Soviet Deaths in the Great Patriotic War: A Note," Europe-Asia Studies, Jul. 1994, Vol. 46. Issue 4, p. 671
[4] Moses 4:3
[5] Bruce C. Hafen, "The Atonement: All for All," Ensign, May 2004, 97
[6] D&C 76:25
[7] Moses 4:3
[8] Moses 4:1
[9] Revelations 12:7
[10] Revelations 12:11
[11] Daniel Ludlow has suggested that those who followed Lucifer "either lacked faith in our Heavenly Father, in the Savior, or in the gospel plan, or they lacked faith in their own ability or willingness to keep the law that would be given to them." Daniel H. Ludlow, Moral Free Agency," in Speeches of the Year 1974 (Provo: BYU Press, 1975), 182
[12] D&C 29:26
[13] D&C 29:36-37
[14] Kevin W. Bulloch, "The War in Heaven and Satan's Continuing Battle for Power," Religious Educator, vol. 11 No. 1 at 41 n. 1 (2010) (setting forth position that the term "one-third part" means "limited," rather than a specific percentage. However, many modern prophets have used the term in a way that seems to suggest the more common understanding of the term. See, e.g. James E. Faust, "The Forces That Will Save Us," Ensign, Jan 2007, 4-9 ("Wrong as Satan was, he was persuasive enough to entice one-third of the hosts of heaven to follow him")
[15] Using the assumption that there were 5 million inhabitants in 8,000 BC, the Population Reference Bureau estimates that over 106 billion people have been born on this Earth. http://www.prb.org/Articles/2002/HowManyPeopleHaveEverLivedonEarth.aspx. Limiting the calculation to those on this earth - ignoring, for simplicity's sake, the other countless worlds God has created - a third part would be over 30 billion
[16] D&C 76:32-38
[17] D&C 76:26
[18] D&C 121:41, 42
[19] 2 Nephi 2:27
[20] James E. Faust, "The Enemy Within," Ensign, Nov 2000, 44-46
[21] D. Todd Christofferson, "Moral Agency," in Brigham Young University Speeches 2005-07 at p. 2. See also Ludlow, at 2, L. Lionel Kendrick, "Our Moral Agency, Ensign, Mar. 1996, 28 (identifying the same three elements and adding a fourth - the operation of law). The latter seems implicit in Elder Christofferson's analysis:"for ... alternatives to exist, there must be law. Christofferson at 2
[22] Christofferson, at 2
[23] 2 Nephi 2:11-13
[24] Christofferson, at 2
[25]Christofferson at 2
[26] Christofferson at 2
[27] Kendrick, at 28
[28] Boyd K. Packer, Atonement, Agency, and Accountability," Ensign, May 1988, 69
[29] 2 Nephi 9:7-9
[30] 2 Nephi 2:26-27
[31] Dallin H. Oaks, "Weightier Matters," Brigham Young University Speeches, 1998-99 (Feb 9, 1999) at 2
[32] Bible Dictionary, "Atonement"
[33] Russell T. Osguthorpe, "Agency, Love, and Learning," LDS Business College Devotional, January 26, 2010, at 8
[34] See, e.g., Robert D. Hales, "Becoming Provident Providers Temporally and Spiritually," Ensign, May 2009, 7-10
[35] D&C 19:18
[36] Matthew 26:39
[37] D&C 19:19
[38] Neil L. Andersen, "You Know Enough," Ensign, Nov 2008, 13-14 ("faith is not only a feeling; it is a decision. He would need to choose faith")