Mormon,Mormonism Blessings come through Obedience to Law

There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—

And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated. (D&C 130:20-21)

Does this mean that obedience is the first law of heaven, as some LDS say? No, it merely  says that obedience brings blessings. The important thing to understand is the reason behind obedience. Do we obey our Priesthood leaders because they are our Priesthood leaders, that is, for the sake of obedience? Do we obey our priesthood leaders because we love them and love the people they are serving, that is, we obey because of love?

I believe that obedience for the sake of obedience is a stepping stone to obedience because of love. I believe that love is the first law of heaven. For example, do we do our home teaching teaching or visiting teaching because we are told by our leaders to do it, or do we do our teaching because we love the people we serve and want them to have the blessings of being a disciple of Christ.

Obedience for the sake of obedience has its place in our lives, but if we are to be really effective disciples of Christ, we must progress to obedience because of love.

Mormon,Mormonism: God's Use of Eternal Matter and Laws

In this post I discuss the nature of matter and the laws that govern matter, and God's use of that matter to create our earth.

Christ is the Source of Law

Latter-day Saints believe that all things in our mortal world are governed by an influence that comes from Jesus Christ. This influence is known in the scriptures as the Light of Christ.

Which truth shineth. This is the Light of Christ. As also he is in the sun, and the light of the sun, and the power thereof by which it was made.

As also he is in the moon, and is the light of the moon, and the power thereof by which it was made;

As also the light of the stars, and the power thereof by which they were made;

And the earth also, and the power thereof, even the earth upon which you stand.

And the light which shineth, which giveth you light, is through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your understandings;

Which light proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space—

The light which is in all things, which giveth life to all things, which is the law by which all things are governed, even the power of God who sitteth upon his throne, who is in the bosom of eternity, who is in the midst of all things. (D&C 88:7-13)

These verses say that "all things" are governed by the Light of Christ, which "is the law by which all things are governed". Those verses do not say or imply that Christ is the originator of laws. The verses only say that the laws come from Christ. Christ is a user of natural laws. This is a religious way of saying that the Cosmos is governed by natural laws, the same laws that are being discovered by scientists. Christ used those laws to create worlds.

The Elements are Eternal

The Lord explained to Abraham that the earth was created from existing materials or matter.

And there stood one among them that was like unto God, and he said unto those who were with him: We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell; (The Pearl of Great Price, Abraham 3:24)

Not only were the elements in existence at the time of the creation, they were eternal elements.

For man is spirit. The elements are eternal, and spirit and element inseparably connected, receive a fulness of joy; (D&C 93:33)

The elements may change form or be converted to energy, but they have always existed and will always exist.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that Jesus used existing matter in creating the earth. That teaching is a parallel to the scientific theory of the Big Bang. According to Wikipedia,

The Big Bang is the cosmological model of the universe whose primary assertion is that the universe has expanded into its current state from a primordial condition of enormous density and temperature.

If the Big Bang Theory is correct, the Cosmos began with matter of enormous, perhaps infinite, density and energy. Another description of the Big Bang describes the beginning of creation as finite matter that is compressed into an infinite density.

The New York Times article Laws of Nature, Source Unknown explains that scientists accept natural laws as the basis of creation and organization of the Cosmos but that they aren't in agreement about the source of those laws.

If the laws of physics are to have any sticking power at all, to be real laws, one could argue, they have to be good anywhere and at any time, including the Big Bang, the putative Creation. Which gives them a kind of transcendent status outside of space and time.

On the other hand, many thinkers — all the way back to Augustine — suspect that space and time, being attributes of this existence, came into being along with the universe — in the Big Bang, in modern vernacular. So why not the laws themselves?

The LDS viewpoint of natural laws is in agreement with the scientific viewpoint about the existence of natural laws but not about the source of those laws.

There is a traditional belief in Christianity that God is "all powerful" or omnipotent. According to this belief, God can speak, and instantly his words are obeyed. The common belief in Christianity that God created the cosmos out of nothing is based on this belief. However, Latter-day Saints do not believe that God can instantly create things out of nothing. Latter-day Saints believe that God created or organized the cosmos out of existing, eternal elements. Going further with this, let us read from the Doctrine and Covenants. Section 93, verse 33 states

For man is spirit. The elements are eternal, and spirit and element inseparably connected, receive a fulness of joy;

In telling us that the elements are eternal, the Lord has given one of the great laws of science: the elements have always existed. They may change form or be converted to energy, but they have always existed and will always exist.

The use of eternal elements implies that God used eternal laws to organize the elements. At least within Christianity, this belief that God followed natural laws in His creative work is, I believe, a belief that is unique to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The Book of Mormon establishes the fact that God can not violate the laws of justice and mercy, and this implies that God cannot violate any of the laws that are involved in His creative works. This means that all of the laws of nature that are being discovered by scientists are eternal laws that govern the cosmos, and that God obeys those laws in His work. Jesus Christ used those laws in his creation of the cosmos under the direction of his Father.

God can, of course, bring into play higher laws that might overshadow lower laws. A simple example of such hierarchies of natural laws is the law of gravity vs. the law of aerodynamic lift. An unorganized weight of several tons can not "fly" through the air. It just "sits" on the ground like the lump of matter that it is. However, if that matter if formed into particular shapes and given sufficient thrust, it can move through the air. The law of gravity is still in effect, but the law of "lift" has overshadowed gravity and causes the matter to leave the ground and fly. I believe that God's performing of miracles is such a use of higher laws to overrule lower laws.

I'm grateful that God follows natural laws and that those laws are absolute in their existence and influence. Were it not for this, our universe would be chaotic and inconsistent, and we would be unable to advance in our spiritual and scientific lives. We would always hiding in our houses, caves, or where ever, not knowing what would happen next.

Mormon,Mormonism: Speaking for God?

The purpose of this blog is to discuss speculations about Mormon beliefs. In identifying and discussing these topics, it is important that, from the Mormon viewpoint, the beliefs are considered true and are not just personal opinion or folklore. Truth in religion implies a basis of some kind of revelation from God.

The Scriptures are True

The scriptures, we believe, were revealed by God to ancient prophets, and most Latter-day Saints accept scriptural statements as being true. Of course, individual interpretations of the scriptures may not be correct.

Statements by General Authorities May Be Personal Opinion

Statements by General Authorities are usually accepted by Latter-day Saints as being from God, but we must be careful in accepting such statements, because the authorities may speak their opinions with no desire on their part to have their statements be considered revelation from God. In contrast with today, General Authorities during the 19th century often gave personal opinions in books and sermons. Church Authorities today focus on basic principles from the scriptures and are less likely to propagate their opinions.

The Doctrine and Covenants explains when a Priesthood holder is speaking for God.

And behold, and lo, this is an ensample unto all those who were ordained unto this priesthood, whose mission is appointed unto them to go forth -- And this is the ensample unto them, that they shall speak as they are moved upon by the Holy Ghost. And whatsoever they shall speak when moved upon by the Holy Ghost shall be scripture, shall be the will of the Lord, shall be the mind of the Lord, shall be the word of the Lord, shall be the voice of the Lord, and the power of God unto salvation. (D&C 68:2-4)

Statements by General Authorities, as well as by other Priesthood holders, should be considered to be the will of the Lord only if the persons were inspired by the Holy Ghost to make those statements. This implies that Priesthood holders may say things that were not inspired by the Holy Ghost and are thus not the will of the Lord. In fact, Joseph Smith said "that a prophet was a prophet only when he was acting as such." When General Authorities speak, we have to discern whether they are speaking for themselves or for the Lord.

Only the President Can Declare New Doctrine

More importantly, statements made by Church authorities that are not taken from the scriptures are official doctrines of the Church only when they are given by or are authorized by the President of the Church. President J. Rubin Clark (Counselor in the First Presidency) explained it this way.

only the President of the Church, the Presiding High Priest, is sustained as Prophet, Seer and Revelator for the Church, and he alone has the right to receive revelations for the Church, either new or amendatory, or to give authoritative interpretations of scriptures that shall be binding on the Church, or change in any way the existing doctrines of the Church.

This means that Apostles, or other Church leaders, can not declare new interpretations of the scriptures or new Church teachings as official Church doctrine. In addition, not all statements by Church presidents are given as official church positions. If a president gives a statement as the official position of the Church, he will announce it as a revelation, and the statement will be approved by the Council of the Twelve and will be sustained by the members of the Church. For example, Brigham Young repeated a common belief of his time that there were people living on the moon. Even though that statement was commonly accepted by scientists of his time, the statement was obviously his opinion, and it was not given in the context of new church doctrine.

Folklore Fills in the Details

Every religion has information that should be considered folklore. Folklore might be true or it might be false, but it is accepted by people as being true, even though the truth of it has not been substantiated.

Folklore often attempts to explain situations or incidents that are not fully explained in the scriptures or in history. An example of folklore is the belief that Jesus was married. The scriptures do not teach that Jesus was married, and as far as I know no President of the Church has officially declared as Church doctrine that Jesus was married. There are historical documents that date back to the early centuries of Christianity that state that Jesus was married, but those documents have not been canonized as scripture.

Another example of folklore, from LDS Church history, is that the Federal Government originated the idea and came to the Church with a request that 500 men be formed into a Battalion to fight against Mexico. The truth is that Brigham Young sent Jesse C. Little to Washington to see if the Federal Government could assist the migration by employing Mormons to "fortify and defend the west". President Polk "offered to aid the pioneers by permitting them to raise a battalion of five hundred men, who were to join Colonel Stephen W. Kearny, Commander of the Army of the West, and fight for the United States in the Mexican War. Little accepted this offer." I expect that the men who volunteered for the battalion didn't know that Brigham Young had instigated the negotiations that led to their service with the U.S. Army, and they probably believed that the Federal Government had started the affair. Thus a new folklore was born.

Folklore can be hard to weed out of the Church, because members, including priesthood leaders and General Authorities, may have believed the folklore for generations and may have a difficult time accepting the fact that the stories are just folklore and are not "gospel".

Mormon,Mormonism Folklore

In this Part, I explain how I came to understand that folklore may not be true. The lessons I learned in this regard have helped me handle conflicts between LDS Church doctrine and science, as well as to better understand Church doctrine and Church history, and I hope my experiences will be useful to others.

I grew up in a small town in Southern Utah. I believed that everything that was said by a General Authority was true. I also believed that the Book of Mormon was the religious history of the American Indians and that the Lamanites had scattered over the face of the Western hemisphere and were thus the principle ancestors of the Indians.

I served a LDS mission from 1956 to 1958, and I served primarily in West Virginia. As a missionary we spent our time doing door-to-door tracting. While in Clarksburg, West Virginia, we encountered quite a few members of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I knew nothing about their religious beliefs, so I studied LDS Church history to better understand why the early leaders of that church hadn't gone west with Brigham Young.

General Authorities May Be In Disagreement

While studying LDS history, I came upon a conflict between Joseph Fielding Smith of the Council of the Twelve and B. H. Roberts of the First Council of the Seventy. Two General Authorities of the LDS Church who disagreed about a point of history. I don't remember the subject of their disagreement, but I realized that both couldn't be right. One had to be right and the other had to be wrong, or they both had to be wrong. This was the first time that I realized that LDS General Authorities might say or publish incorrect statements. That was quite an eye-opener for a young LDS man. While doing this study, I came across a statement by Elder John Taylor that helped me solve the dilemma of two General Authorities being in disagreement (I call him Elder Taylor, because his statement was made before he became President of the Church). Elder Taylor said that the Church can not be held responsible for the statement of any Elder. The Church can only be held responsible for the scriptures. I don't know if Elder Taylor meant his phrase "any Elder" to apply to General Authorities, but I took it that way. I realized that if the Church is not responsible for statements made by General Authorities, then those statements are given as personal opinion not as revelation. This solved my dilemma about two General Authorities being in disagreement. I realized that General Authorities are not infallible and that they have personal opinions about religious and historical matters. This realization has been invaluable to me throughout my life, especially when I've encountered anti-Mormon literature.

Folklore is Common in the Church

Shortly before beginning my mission, I attended a fireside in which a professor at the College of Southern Utah talked about Mormon myths. One of the myths he discussed was the story of the origin of the Mormon Battalion that I discussed in Part 1 of this post. Another myth that he discussed was the common belief among Utah Mormons (maybe non-Utah Mormons too, I don't know) that the Negroes did not hold the Priesthood because in the pre-existence, they were neutral in the war in Heaven. They didn't follow Satan in the war, so they came to earth to experience mortality, but they didn't follow Christ so they were deprived of the Priesthood during their mortality. The speaker explained that even though that story about the Negroes was a common belief, it was not taught in the scriptures. The lesson I learned from that fireside, that not all beliefs that are commonly held by Church members have been substantiated as truth, has been helpful to my understanding of LDS doctrine and history.

Church Leaders are Human

The bottom line to this, as far as I am concerned, is that members and leaders of the LDS Church are not infallible. They are human and have the weaknesses of mortality that we all have. They have personal opinions about religious matters and may express those opinions, as well as make mistakes, in their sermons and writings. This human factor does not detract from their callings as Apostles and Prophets, Stake Presidents, Bishops, etc. It just means they are human like you and me. God has chosen them to be His leaders, but He does not violate their agency by preventing them from being human and from making mistakes as they fulfill their callings.

Compare Statements by Church Leaders With the Scriptures

Elder Taylor said the Church can only be held accountable for the scriptures, so when I hear or read statements from Church Leaders that seem unusual, I compare those statements with the scriptures and with official Church policies. If the statements are not taught in the scriptures or in Church policies, I consider the statements as personal beliefs, and I don't get overly concerned about them. The statements I'm referring to could be in Conference talks, BYU religious talks, talks by visiting authorities at Stake Conferences, books published by individuals, books and manuals published by the Church, and statements published in the Deseret Morning News and the Church News. Many LDS disagree that I include books, manuals, and newspapers published by the Church, because those persons consider such books as official statements by the Church. I include literature published by the Church because of the "human factor" of the committees that create the literature -- mistakes will occur. As an example of this, before my Mission President was called on his mission, his wife had been a member of a committee that approved manuals for use by the Sunday School. She told us about a particular manual that had been approved and had been used in the Sunday School but was later withdrawn because errors were discovered in the book.

Mormon,Mormonism Two Creations of the Earth

From The Pearl of Great Price, Moses 3:5 we learn there were two creations of the earth, one spiritual and one physical.

And every plan of the field, before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew. For I the Lord God, created all things, of which I have spoken, spiritually, before they were naturally upon the face of the earth. For I, the Lord God, had not caused it to rain upon the face of the earth. And I, the Lord God, had created all the children of men; and not yet a man to till the ground; for in heaven created I them; and there was not yet flesh upon the earth, neither in the water, neither in the air.

Mormon,Mormonism: Raised from the Dead Not a Resurrection

The Bible tells of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. This was not a resurrection but just a return to mortality. In a way of thinking, this was a re-creation of the mortal Lazarus.

Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.

(It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.)

These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.

Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.

And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.

And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.
(John 11: 1-2, 11, 14, 43-44)

When Jesus called his apostles, he gave them the power of the Apostleship and told them to raise the dead.

Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give. (Matthew 10:8)

Scientists have succeeded in activating extinct viruses. Because a virus is a simple entity while a person is a complex organism, scientists still have a long way to go before they might be able to restore life to a dead person. But, activating an extinct virus is still an amazing feat!

I've been thinking about bringing a dead person back to life. I don't understand very well the differences between a living person and a dead person, but the scriptures do give a partial idea from the religious viewpoint of what would have to happen to have a dead person brought back to life. The Apostle Paul said we are the offspring of God

Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device. (Acts, 17:29)

and Latter-day Saints accept his statement literally. We believe we are spirit children of our Father in Heaven. This means that the difference between a person and an animal is that the person is a combination of a physical body and a spirit body, the spirit body being an offspring of God, while an animal has no spirit offspring of God. These two requirements would have to be met to have a person raised from the dead. This means that God would have to permit His spirit offspring to re-enter the physical body in such a way that the person became alive.

Will scientists ever be able to bring people back from the dead. This is just a guess, but I would say "probably", if God allows His spirit offspring to reenter the body. However, this would not be a resurrection.

Mormon,Mormonism Human Soul

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that the human soul is quite different than the human souls that are envisioned by other Christians.

And the spirit and the body are the soul of man. (D&C 88:15)

That is, the soul is a combination of a spirit offspring of God and a physical body that acts as a tabernacle for the spirit. To understand the significance of our soul, we need to better understand spirit. Joseph Smith said spirit is matter that is more refined and more pure.

There is no such thing as immaterial matter. All spirit is matter, but it is more fine or pure, and can only be discerned by purer eyes. (D&C 131:7)

My interpretation of this scripture leads me to believe that spirit matter is governed by different laws than the mortal laws of nature. Let us get a better understanding of spirit matter. In the Book of Mormon, there is a clear and explicit account of a man, known as "the Brother of Jared", talking with Jesus Christ, the Jehovah of the Old Testament, who at that time was a spirit. From this experience, we learn that bodies of spirit matter look like bodies of flesh and bone. The brother of Jared saw the spirit body of Jesus prior to Jesus being born of Mary, and he thought the body was flesh and blood; Jesus corrected him and explained it was the body of his spirit. Then Jesus said

Behold, this body, which ye now behold, is the body of my spirit; and man have I created after the body of my spirit; and even as I appear unto thee to be in the spirit will I appear unto my people in the flesh. (Ether 3:16)

Spirits have mass that can be formed and shaped. Spirit mass can reside inside physical mass. Spirit mass is not visible to normal eyesight. Now, we have a little better idea of what Joseph Smith meant when he said spirit is matter but is more refined and pure than mortal matter. Because of this, I don't believe instruments used by scientists will detect the presence of spirit matter or spirit energy. However, I could be wrong about this.