This question was posed in an online group regarding the LDS doctrine that “God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens!” (Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1938, p. 345). Below it I have included my response in three parts.
Question:
Premise 1: God
does not change Premise 2: God is
eternal Logical conclusion:
God has always been god and could not have once been man because that would
have involved him not being god eternally and changing into god.
Countless people throughout time have wondered: “Is there a
God?” There are nearly as many opinions on this subject as there have been
people who have lived on this planet.
For this reason, many people feel confused or uncertain about whether or
not God exists, and if so, what that actually means for us humans.
Many people have rejected the notion of the existence of a
God or a higher being altogether. Still
others acknowledge that there may indeed be some kind of higher being who
exists in the universe, although they do not know who or what this being may
be, or what form he/she/it may take.
Others choose to reserve judgment for a number of reasons, including
waiting for more evidence (one way or another) to present itself.
The problem is that many of those who search for God tend to
reject scripture out of hand as a reliable source of evidence. I imagine that this is because they assume
that religious texts are essentially biased.
However, this forces them to look for evidence that is inconclusive at
best. There are many who point to the
workings of the natural world, and of creation as evidence of a divine
presence, but there are just as many people who point to the same evidence to
say there is not a god. There are some
who try to use a process of logic to reason their way to God, but once again
there are many who would argue that logic suggests that there is no God. Even some religious people might argue that
God is beyond our ability to grasp through human reason alone. I mention all of this in order to demonstrate
the evidentiary value that scripture can have in an honest and open-minded
investigation into the existence of God.
I have noticed that many people find the story of Adam and
Eve, and their fall from the Garden of Eden, to be a puzzling chapter in the
story of our shared Judeo-Christian faith.Many find it hard to account for because it doesn’t seem to fit with
modern notions of the origin of our species.Others struggle with the difficulties that arise over what seem to be
difficult doctrinal issues surrounding the fall.I have even heard Mormons refer to certain
aspects of the fall of Adam and Eve as “deep doctrine” as if it is some
incomprehensible mystery which cannot fully be understood or explained.Even those who accept the importance of the
Fall of Adam and Eve sometimes struggle with the full significance and meaning
of the fall, because the fall is so complex in its ramifications, and the full
meaning of the events and symbols used in the accounts of the fall can be
confusing and may even be perceived as contradictory to our limited
understanding.
Due to these and other difficulties, some are tempted to dismiss
the fall as a mere fable, and one that is no longer relevant to us today.However, this could not be further from the
truth.As modern day prophets have
repeatedly pointed out, it is crucial that each of us gain a good understanding
of the events and significance of the fall of Adam and Eve, and to do so is
actually fundamental to fully celebrating one’s faith.
“Just as a man does not really desire food until he is
hungry, so he does not desire the salvation of Christ until he knows why he
needs Christ.
No one adequately and properly knows why he needs Christ
until he understands and accepts the doctrine of the Fall and its effect upon
all mankind.”(Ezra Taft Benson, “The
Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants,” Ensign, May 1987, 85).
“The simple truth is that we cannot fully comprehend the
Atonement and Resurrection of Christ and we will not adequately appreciate the
unique purpose of His birth or His death—in other words, there is no way to
truly celebrate Christmas or Easter—without understanding that there was an
actual Adam and Eve who fell from an actual Eden, with all the consequences
that fall carried with it.”(Jeffrey R.
Holland, “Where Justice, Love, and Mercy Meet,” Ensign, May 2015, lds.org).
Q:If someone is preordained to do
something...does this mean that they can still choose not to?Or will they just do it regardless? Also, are
people preordained to do good things as well as bad? Or is it the same concept
as destiny?
A:When speaking about this principle, I think
"foreordained" is a better word to use when it comes to gaining a full understanding of the concept. I choose to stress the importance of the terms we use,
because misunderstandings concerning the doctrine of foreordination have caused
much confusion and disagreement among Christians in all ages, and even among
members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.However, foreordination is a doctrine which
must be understood and taught correctly (and in the proper context), because it
concerns where we came from, and what our purpose was in coming here.
“The combined doctrine of God’s foreordination is one of the
doctrinal roads “least traveled by.” Yet it clearly underlines how very long
and how perfectly God has loved us and known us with our individual needs and
capacities. Isolated from other doctrines, or mishandled, these truths can
stoke the fires of fatalism, impact adversely upon agency, cause us to focus on
status rather than service, and carry us over into predestination.
“Yet, though foreordination is a difficult doctrine, it has
been given to us by the living God, through living prophets, for a purpose. It
can actually increase our understanding of how crucial this mortal second
estate is and can further encourage us in good works. This precious doctrine
can also help us go the second mile because we are doubly called.”(Neal A. Maxwell, "A More Determined
Discipleship," Ensign, Feb. 1979, lds.org).
The Savior opens his
great sermon on the mount with a series of pronouncements that have come to be
known as “The Beatitudes.”The
beatitudes consist of a litany of traits that essentially describe Christ
himself and thus represent the attributes of a true disciple (or follower) of
Christ. The word “Beatitude” is derived
from the Latin adjective beatus,
“which means ‘to be blessed’ or ‘to be happy or fortunate’”(Ogden &
Skinner, 2006).
The great religious
writer Matthew Henry observed that happiness is highly sought after by “a blind
and carnal world” and that some even pretend to pursue blessedness, but he
laments that “most mistake the end, and form a wrong conception of happiness;
and then no wonder that they miss the way.The general opinion is, Blessed are they who are rich, and great, and
honourable [sic] in the world; who spend their days in mirth, and their years
in pleasure; who eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and carry all before them
with a high hand” (Henry, 1992).
This warped conception
of happiness is in fact nothing more than an illusion and those who subscribe
to the world’s definition of happiness are sure to be sorely disappointed when
they realize that riches and pleasures can only be fleeting and that they can
provide no meaningful or lasting happiness or joy, nor can they possibly confer
a state of blessedness upon those that heedlessly seek after them.
With His Beatitudes,
the Savior presents His disciples with His definition of what it means to be
happy, and what it truly means to be blessed.In doing so he presents us with what some have called “the constitution
for a perfect life” (Lee, 1975).In this he presents us with a series of
attributes which characterize the life of a disciple, characteristics from
which a happy life can be composed.Significantly each characteristic described in the beatitudes represents
an attribute of Christ’s own life and personality, and thus the beatitudes form
a sort of template or pattern upon which we are to model our own lives if we
truly seek to follow Christ to the eternal happiness which He has promised each
of us.In order to be truly happy we
have to learn how to ‘be’ like the Savior in all that we are.
Christ was deliberate
in placing the Beatitudes at the beginning of his sermon. Christ seeks to lift
our gaze to a higher goal-a more excellent way, as it were. If the Sermon on
the Mount is a road map to happiness and righteous living then the beatitudes represent
the destination. As mentioned before, the word 'beatitude' comes from the Latin
'beatus', which means happy, or blessed. The beatitudes are therefore not
criteria by which disciples are defined and others are excluded. Rather, they
represent the qualities of true happiness and contentment, the dimensions of a
life filled with joy. By these we are meant to learn how to recognize behaviors
that lead to joy, in contrast to others that can only lead to unhappiness or
misery.
Q:Is the Tree of Life real, and can we eat the fruit?
Note:
I have separated my answer into three sections so that the reader can
more readily access those sections which interest him or her.
I. The Vision of The Tree of Life
II. The Tree of Life and the Fall
III. The Iron Rod, or, “Can we eat the fruit?”
A:The tree of life and the fruit that it bears are powerful symbols of God’s
love and the promise of eternal life in His presence through the person of Jesus Christ. Some of the most sublime
imagery in the scriptures is tied up in the symbol of the tree of life.
Most
of what we know about the tree of life comes from the scriptural
accounts of Adam and Eve and their time in the garden leading up to
their eventual fall and expulsion from the garden. We are also
privileged to gain insight into the significance of the tree of life
through Lehi and Nephi’s prophetic visions concerning the Tree of Life.
The Vision of The Tree of Life
1
Nephi 11:25 And it came to pass that I beheld that the rod of iron,
which my father had seen, was the word of God, which led to the fountain
of living waters, or to the tree of life; which waters are a
representation of the love of God; and I also beheld that the tree of life was a representation of the love of God.
Nephi
perceived that the tree of life represents the love of God. This seems
fairly straightforward, but elsewhere in Nephi’s vision we see that
the tree of life also represents the Savior himself.
I wrote this post a few weeks after my mother died of breast cancer. At the time I was mostly interested in collecting those scriptures that testify of a life that continues beyond the grave, and I wasn't in a place emotionally in which I could write down my own thoughts on the subject. After a few years I finally feel like I have some perspective from which I can approach this tender issue, and so I decided to revisit this subject in order to add my own thoughts and perspective.
Since the beginning of time, man has been confronted by the awful reality and immutability of death. Death is our universal heritage, and it will come to all who have lived, are living, and who will ever live upon the Earth. In its implacable certainty and chilling finality, death has inspired fear and worry in countless generations as long as there have been humans who have survived after losing those closest to them to death. One of the great mysteries of existence is what happens to us after we die. Where do we go? What happens to us when we get there? Should I be afraid when my time comes? Do we go anywhere at all, or do we end up as worm food because there is nothing after this life but oblivion? Is death the end? These questions have puzzled, tormented, and fascinated us throughout our history; however, on a more personal level, questions like these proceed out of the genuine ache of loss and the deep, painful, and sincere desire to know: Will I ever see my loved ones again?
In every age, poets, artists, parents, priests, and oracles have struggled in an effort to provide answers to the universal question which confronts all men. They have produced elaborate mythologies and cosmologies in order to explain a mystery which in truth confounds them as much as it does the rest of us. Without a true understanding of where we came from, why we are here, and where we are going how can these people, however well-meaning they may be, provide any answers that shed any real light on our fate after mortality? The fact is that they can't, because they lack the basic truths that are necessary to provide meaningful answers to the deep questions of the soul. Fortunately there is someone who knows exactly why we are here, and where we are going, because He is the one who put us here in the first place. God cares about His children, and He mourns when we mourn. From His earliest recorded dealings with men, through the means of His holy prophets, God has provided answers and comfort to those in every age who seek solace in the knowledge that death is indeed not the end.
In the grand scheme of things, our time in this life is incredibly short, or as Macbeth opines upon hearing that his wife is dead, "Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player that struts and frets his hour upon the stage and is heard no more." (William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 5). How great it is to know that there is hope beyond this short life! That although our lives are altogether too brief, there is an answer to the question "If a man die, shall he live again?"
Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower, and is cut down: he fleeth also as a shadow, and continueth not. Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;
For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease. Though the root thereof wax old in the earth, and the stock thereof die in the ground; Yet through the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth boughs like a plant. But man dieth, and wasteth away: yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he? As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up: So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep. If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. (Job 14:1-2; 5;7-12; 14)
My friend T. S. sent me this question the other day, and I was somewhat amused to receive it, as I have been waiting for someone to send me just such a question since I started writing this blog.
Q: I have a nonmember friend who read a chapter in a world religion book about Mormons and it said that we believe we will become God and have our own planet someday and now she thinks we are freaks. How do you respond to this and what scriptures are there in the Bible that support such a claim?
Paul taught in 1 Corinthians 15 that while all men will be resurrected, not everyone will be resurrected to the same state of glory. He compares these degrees of glory to that of the sun, the moon, and the stars respectively. In so doing he is merely using a comparison to illustrate the glorious nature of the resurrection of our bodies, and the difference in glory among the states to which a man may be resurrected.
a. Jesus Christ performed the atonement in order to bring mankind back into the presence of God. All mankind will be brought to stand before Christ so that they might be judged. Helaman 14:17 But behold, the resurrection of Christ redeemeth mankind, yea, even all mankind, and bringeth them back into the presence of the Lord.
3 Nephi 27: 14-15 And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me, that as I have been lifted up by men even so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil—And for this cause have I been lifted up; therefore, according to the power of the Father I will draw all men unto me, that they may be judged according to their works.
b. We will be brought to stand before the Savior to be judged. John 5:22-23 For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.
A friend of mine sent me a question concerning life after death, and I gave him more answer than I think he wanted. With his permission, I am publishing my response in installments, as it is quite long.
In order to fully address your question, it becomes necessary to make a distinction between what happens to us when we die, and what happens to us when we are resurrected, which as you’ll see, are actually two separate and distinct aspects of life after death.
A friend of mine sent me this question last week, and I thought that it might be worthwhile to share it with others, since she's probably not the only one who wants to know the answer. Therefore I am publishing a modified version of her question (to preserve her anonymity) and my answer with her permission.
I was curious about some things. With all this talk lately about Temple marriage and stuff, I was wondering, is it necessary? Being sealed to your family and all that. Reason: A friend of mine mentioned that she didn't think she would ever get married. And one of her friends said the same thing. And I think they are pretty great girls, and I actually think they will get married to someone, but whatever. My point is, what if they don't? Also, I have some good friends who are married, they are great and love each other, but what if they don't get sealed to each other? What if I don't? Is that going to stop their, or my, progression?
And what about the kids thing? Say, those girls do eventually get married to someone, neither of them want kids. And you know that my married friends don't want kids. Does that mean that's it?
Also, on a personal front, I want to get married. I want to have a family. However, I don't think that will happen. I really want to progress. I want to continue to go on a path, I just want to know what is expected. That wasn't quite the right word. I don't know how to express what I am asking here, but I am hoping that you know me enough to know what I am asking.
Click to go to a previous installment:
A friend of mine sent me this question last week, and I thought that it might be worthwhile to share it with others, since she's probably not the only one who wants to know the answer. Therefore I am publishing a modified version of her question (to preserve her anonymity) and my answer with her permission.
