“Doctrinal Mastery: 2 Nephi 26:33: ‘All Are Alike unto God,’” Book of Mormon Teacher Manual (2024)
“Doctrinal Mastery: 2 Nephi 26:33,” Book of Mormon Teacher Manual
Doctrinal Mastery: 2 Nephi 26:33
“All Are Alike unto God”
In your study of 2 Nephi 26, you learned that “all are alike unto God” (verse 33) and that God invites all His children to come unto Him. This lesson can help you memorize the doctrinal mastery reference and key scripture phrase for 2 Nephi 26:33, explain the doctrine, and apply principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge in real-life situations.
Power from personal preparation. The Lord told Hyrum Smith to first “obtain” His word, and then the Spirit would give him power “unto the convincing of men” (Doctrine and Covenants 11:21). Study diligently, pray, and ponder before you teach. This can allow the Holy Ghost to guide you in preparing lessons and discerning needs as you teach. The capacity to teach by the Spirit comes from personal effort and lesson preparation.
Student preparation: Invite students to memorize the scripture reference and key scripture phrase: 2 Nephi 26:33, “All are alike unto God.” One way to do this might be to use the Doctrinal Mastery app.
Possible Learning Activities
This doctrinal mastery passage lesson is designed to be taught after the lesson “2 Nephi 26,” which is the contextual lesson for the doctrinal mastery passage 2 Nephi 26:33. If this doctrinal mastery passage lesson needs to be moved to a different week, be sure to teach the corresponding contextual lesson during that week as well.
Explain and memorize
Read 2 Nephi 26:33 and review the doctrine you learned in the previous lesson that all are alike unto God.
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What are situations in which the doctrine in this verse could help? Explain how.
Give students an opportunity to memorize the reference of the doctrinal mastery passage 2 Nephi 26:33 and its accompanying key scripture phrase. The following is one example of how to do this.
Write the scripture reference and key scripture phrase for 2 Nephi 26:33, “All are alike unto God,” in your study journal. Repeat the scripture reference and key scripture phrase a few times (aloud or in writing) until you have committed it to memory.
Another option is for half of the students to say the scripture reference in unison, followed by the other half repeating the key scripture phrase. Repeat this multiple times.
Practice application
To help students review the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge in preparation for the following practice application, read a sentence from paragraphs 5–12 of the “Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge” section in the Doctrinal Mastery Core Document (2023) for each principle. Invite students to identify the principle emphasized in the sentence. Consider repeating a few times with different sentences.
The following account is about a man of black African descent who was impacted by the priesthood restriction. To learn about the priesthood restriction, see the heading to Official Declaration 2 at the end of the Doctrine and Covenants.
Consider displaying or providing a copy of the handout “Trust in the Lord” below. If you want, you can tell students the man’s name was withheld for privacy.
As you read this account, look for specific evidence of each of the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge in this brother’s journey.
Trust in the Lord
Book of Mormon Teacher Manual (2024)—“Doctrinal Mastery: 2 Nephi 26:33: ‘All Are Alike unto God’”
In 1969, a young adult living in Leicester, England, encountered missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He initially resisted their message, but eventually began meeting with them. After three months of intense investigation, he awoke one morning with a conviction that the Church was true.
He was eager to share his newfound testimony with the elders. Before he could do so, they informed him that he would be ineligible to receive the priesthood as a Church member because of his mixed-race heritage, which included ancestors of black African descent.
One day, he was speaking with a close friend about his experiences with the missionaries and began teaching his friend about the Prophet Joseph Smith. He recalled, “As I told that story, I just came alive and something took over and I just radiated.”
The experience reaffirmed his testimony, but his concerns about the priesthood restriction remained. As he prayed for further understanding, this message came to him: “You don’t have to understand everything about my gospel before you commit yourself to it. Why don’t you show your faith by accepting what you’ve heard and commit the rest into my hands?”
Comforted by the message, he prayerfully responded, “Yes, Lord, I will. I will take it in faith. And thank you, by the way, thank you.” Two months later, he was baptized and became a faithful member of the Church.
In 1975, three years before the revelation on the priesthood, he expressed his belief in a just God, writing that he accepted the restriction “in faith, without any reservation.” He added, “I am just grateful that the Lord’s priesthood is once again upon the earth, with all its attendant blessings, authority, and responsibility. It matters less to me who has it and who hasn’t, but much more how it is utilised.”
In 1978, he learned of the revelation extending the priesthood to all worthy men (see Official Declaration 2).
“Once [he] returned home, he and [his wife] talked all through the night about what the news would mean for their family. The change was monumental. The next morning, [he] was ordained a priest in the Aaronic Priesthood. Two months later, he was ordained a Seventy and was made the senior member of the stake Seventy’s quorum. And two months after that, [he and his spouse] were sealed in the London England Temple, along with their four children” (Elizabeth Maki, “I Will Take It in Faith,” history.ChurchofJesusChrist.org).
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How do you think this man might have felt when he heard he was ineligible to receive the priesthood?
Consider allowing students to share their insights by first asking, “What evidence did you see of the man using each of the principles of acquiring spiritual knowledge?” Alternatively, students could work in pairs or small groups to answer the following questions or be assigned one principle to focus on.
Act in faith
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In what ways did this man act in faith? How did this help him?
Examine concepts and questions with an eternal perspective
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How did Heavenly Father’s answer to this man’s prayer help him see his situation from an eternal perspective? How did this help him follow the Lord?
Seek further understanding through divinely appointed sources
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In what ways was the Holy Ghost a divinely appointed source helping him?
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What other divinely appointed sources in our day might help someone who has questions about the priesthood restriction? How might Official Declaration 2 and 2 Nephi 26:33 help them?
For additional information to help with questions about the priesthood restriction, refer to the “Commentary and Background Information” section at the end of this lesson.
It may be beneficial to ask additional questions such as the following: Why do you think 2 Nephi 26:33 is a doctrinal mastery passage? What have you learned or felt in your study today? How could you personally apply this man’s example and this passage to your life?
Conclude by bearing testimony of God’s love for all His children or inviting students to share their feelings and experiences about being alike unto God.
Doctrinal mastery review
The following review activity should be used in a lesson that will be taught soon after this one.
Separate students into small groups. Invite students in each group to take turns saying one word or number at a time until the group has completed the entire reference and key phrase “2 Nephi 26:33: ‘All are alike unto God.’” For example, the first student would say “2,” the second student would say “Nephi,” and so on until a student says the final word, “God.” Then, the next student could start over by saying “2.”
Invite each group to recite the reference and key phrase correctly as many times as they can in a given amount of time.