”And according as I have commanded you thus shall ye baptize. And there shall be no disputations among you, as there have hitherto been; neither shall there be disputations among you concerning the points of my doctrine, as there have hitherto been.” (LDS 3 Nephi 11:28)
When Jesus appears among the Nephites, all who are present first come and witness for themselves that he is the promised Messiah who was slain for the sins of the world. After they all witness for themselves, Jesus calls Nephi forward and gives him power to baptize the people. He then calls eleven others and also gives them power to baptize. He then directs his instruction to these 12 whom he had chosen. He instructs them how to baptize and teaches them his doctrine. When he teaches these twelve disciples how to baptize and his doctrine, he tells that he is making these clarifications so there will be no ”disputations among you concerning the points of my doctrine, as there have hitherto been.”
No disputations among who? Who is this directed to? There are a lot of people present but at this moment, he has just called forward these 12 disciples and has been instructing them. The instruction to them begins with:
”And again the Lord called others, and said unto them likewise; and he gave unto them power to baptize. And he said unto them: On this wise shall ye baptize; and there shall be no disputations among you.”* (LDS 3 Nephi 11:22).
Note how them continually refers to the 12 just chosen. For more clarification, after all of the instruction referred to here is finished, it says:
”And it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words unto Nephi, and to those who had been called, (now the number of them who had been called, and received power and authority to baptize, was twelve)” (LDS 3 Nephi 12:1).
I put that in just to be clear that this instruction really is directed specifically to the 12 whom he had chosen.
This raises some interesting questions. Jesus says that he is teaching them these things so there will be no disputations among them “as there have hitherto been”. Did these 12 know each other before Jesus calls them forward? Some of them most certainly did since some family members are mentioned later when the names of these 12 disciples are given. Aside from those related to one another, how did each one know the others? What was their relationship like? From what little we know about them before Jesus brings them together on this occasion, we are simply told that they had disputations among them concerning the points of Christ’s doctrine.
Isn’t it interesting that when Jesus calls these 12 disciples, they are apparently not all from the same theological camp. They have some serious “doctrinal differences” with each other. They had been treading into troubled waters with how they handled these doctrinal differences. Jesus warns them against the approach they had taken and how they had treated one another over these differences. He warns them:
“And there shall be no disputations among you, as there have hitherto been; neither shall there be disputations among you concerning the points of my doctrine, as there have hitherto been. For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another. Behold, this is not my doctrine, to stir up the hearts of men with anger, one against another; but this is my doctrine, that such things should be done away.” (LDS 3 Nephi 11:28-30).
It is not pleasing to God to have his people defending their views of his doctrine with contention. “Defending the truth” on matters deemed to concern salvational doctrine was simply stirring up anger among the people concerning these things. This lead the people to also contend with anger one with another. They could have felt justified because they were defending truths concerning salvation. Yet it was not of God.
How much division had their doctrinal differences caused? After their government had fallen and the people divided themselves into tribes (see LDS 3 Nephi 7:2-3), were these doctrinal differences a reason why even good people had separated themselves from one another? When Jesus appears to all of them, after introducing himself, and allowing them to witness that it is truly him, Jesus’ first order of business is to get these doctrinal differences taken care of right away.
Just how different the views were among these 12 may not be fully appreciated. We don’t have the details of their differences. Based on the warning which Jesus gives them, those differences appear to be quite serious. They felt strongly enough about their doctrinal views that their differences could lead to contending with anger over them. It was the cause of disputes among them. Jesus lets them know that he is aware of their previous disputes.
How does Jesus settle their disputes? He gives a simple explanation of his doctrine. His doctrine is not to be used as a weapon to divide and cause contention. His doctrine is to do away with such things. To put an end to doctrinal disputes, Jesus declares with certainty his doctrine, ”Behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, I will declare unto you my doctrine. And this is my doctrine, and it is the doctrine which the Father hath given unto me” (LDS 3 Nephi 11:31-32).
He continues and teaches the true points of his doctrine. When he finishes teaching them his doctrine, he says ”And whoso shall declare more or less than this, and establish it for my doctrine, the same cometh of evil” (LDS 3 Nephi 11:40).
To do away with doctrinal disputes, Jesus firmly declares his doctrine. He settles the doctrinal questions with his simple and clear teaching. Arguing that there is more to his doctrine than just this, or that a point or two that he makes is not his doctrine, leads to contention. Trying to establish some other points and treat them with such importance as if it is his doctrine, comes of evil.
Could it be that his doctrine, if properly appreciated and lived could do away with all such disputes? Can doctrinal differences be settled by the doctrine which Jesus teaches here? Is it enough to refer to these verses or must they be lived in order to settle these differences?
To put all parties again on a level playing field, Jesus has them all baptized following this declaration, regardless of what their prior position may have been. Nephi may have been baptizing before, but even he was baptized again after.
If Jesus came among people today, could he appear to people who have doctrinal differences? Could he choose people from among various parties to be a light unto all the people? How might he settle their doctrinal differences and put them all on a level playing field with one another? How important, or unimportant are these doctrinal differences then? Must Jesus appear and do this again or could a similar approach work for settling such disputes today?