I went on an LDS mission to Finland to preach the everlasting gospel to a people that were 95% Lutheran. We taught them about the gospel by using a film strip with show cards that explained the “Plan of Salvation,” called "Man's Search for Happiness.' It answered the questions: Where did we come from? Why are we here? And where are we going? Most couldn't answer those simple questions, and the ones that did answer said; “We were with God, we came to this earth to prove ourselves, and we will go to Heaven or Hell depending on whether or not we believe in the Savior Jesus Christ, and were baptized.” Let's take the first question. Where did we come from? Even in our church we answer; that we were born in the spirit, children of a Heavenly Father. That is correct enough but doesn't answer the question where did we come from? Did we not have an existence before that? Did God just create us out of nothing? If God is to be known as an eternal being, which would imply that he would be a being without beginning or end, a lasting forever personage, and to have been in existence from all time, and will always exist. Metaphysically speaking, existing outside all relations of time; and often thought, He was not subject to change, as the example of an Eternal God. Other adjectives would be, perpetual; ceaseless; and endless. Now let’s examine a quote from Pres. Lorenzo Snow. "Man is, as God once was, and God now is, as man may become." This quote teaches us that God was once a man like we now are, with potential, and has the possibility to become an everlasting and immortal God, yet He had faults as any other mortal man, and that we have, or can have, the capacity to become like him, as he now is. He became a God through a similar earth's existence, and with a Savior who provided an atonement for His sins. But I ask again, what about before our existence as spirit children of Heavenly parents? Where did we come from? If that were true then we are not eternal beings nor is or was our God. We are taught, "And this is life eternal that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He hast sent." (John 17:3) There are two things that we can take from this scripture.

(1) Is that we should come to personally know Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ through the power and influence of the Holy Ghost and revelation, and (2) That we can only know them by coming to know about them, through study and the teachings of the prophets. I ask again, where did THEY come from?

Joseph Smith said, “There are but a very few beings in the world who understand rightly the character of God. The great majority of mankind do not comprehend anything, either that which is past, or that which is to come, as it respects their relationship to God. They do not know, neither do they understand the nature of that relationship, and consequently they know but little above the brute beast, or more than to eat, drink and sleep. This is all man knows about God or his existence, unless it is given by the inspiration of the Almighty. If a man learns nothing more than to eat, drink and sleep, and does not comprehend any of the designs of God, the beast comprehends the same things. It eats, drinks, sleeps, and knows nothing more about God; yet it knows as much as we, unless we are able to comprehend by the inspiration of Almighty God. If men do not comprehend the character of God, they do not comprehend themselves.”

My intention is to help answer these very questions. We start with the beginning, a study of Science, and then go to the commonality with Religion. Finally we’ll study what that will mean to us in our lives today. And finally with a knowledge and understanding of who God is, why we have a Father in Heaven, and why was there a Savior necessary? You will know Where we came from, Why we are here and where we are going after this life.

THE UNIFICATION OF SCIENCE AND RELIGION“M” THEORY

The Mother of all Theories

SCIENCE AND RELIGION ARE UNIFIED – In the beginning God formed the earth and all things upon it, and it was beautiful. But long before the physical creation, He planned and designed our earth at home in His residence in heaven. We have no real knowledge of how long this took place. We do know that God’s time is not our time and that it could have taken Him thousands of years to design it, and even millions of years our time to physically create it. Genesis 2: 4-5 (4) These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. (5) and every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth. Then it was created physically, and only after that did it rain. It could have been in this next sphere of existence for millions of years as it, the earth, was prepared for the habitation of God’s children. Finally it was ready and man was placed upon it. Joseph Smith taught us as a religious leader, in 1832 about “substantialism.” That Light, and Matter, cannot be created or destroyed, but can be organized, reorganized, and disorganized. This belief of “substantialism” was substantiated by science but in much later years. This is another testament that Joseph Smith Jr. was indeed a prophet of God and the things that he taught are true.

SCIENCE - everything is made up of ATOMS. Atoms cannot be created or destroyed. They have always existed. All Life on earth came from single celled micro organisms and an explosion often referred to as “The Big Bang.” You can study this if you like. (see the section on THE BEGINNING OF LIFE ON THE EARTH pg. 45) This is theory with no actual proof, only speculation. There of course could be no historical proof or records over a process that happened over billions of years. There has been also an assumption that the Earth has always existed in its present location orbiting around the sun in the same galaxy. If not it would throw off its complete and accurate time line. Carbon dating cannot be used.

RELIGION - everything is made up of ATOMS. Atoms cannot be created or destroyed. There is a God who organized the Earth and Man, and all things that are on and in the earth, both in Heaven and on Earth. We have historical records from the Earth’s beginning (see THE ORGANIZATION OF THE EARTH – RELIGIOUS DOCTRINE pg.28) at its’ present location. Man as we know him was put on earth by God. That as the earth was developing, first in heaven, then following a natural creation, man was in an immortal state in God’s realm or presence. Records tell us that the Earth fell from that location to its present location. It would have been in a different time dimension. Man became mortal when he ate of a plant that made him mortal. Before that he could have lived or been on the earth for possible thousands of years. We only have record since that time of the earths’ and mans’ “Fall,” and that has only been six thousand + years..

THE STORY OF THE ATOM

Information about the atom was taken from Wikipedia and articles from the Web

To better understand this concept let’s begin with a brief Science history lesson. It was ever since mans arrival on the earth that the Chinese 4000 BC believed that man had a spirit and that it could be broken down into smaller particles. It wasn’t until 450 BC when Democritus proposed the basics of what an atom was even though he had no experimental evidence to support his thinking. Aristotle spoke of the same. John Dalton in 1803 gave us the idea that atoms were tiny, indivisible bits of matter. He defined an atom to be a ball like structure. Joseph Smith Jr. in 1832 was the first to reveal that matter and light cannot be created or destroyed. Michael Faraday in 1839 with his discovery of the laws of electrolysis would separate the molecules of a substance into their component atoms. J.J. Thomson in 1896 discovered the electron and proposed that we call the atom as a model of plum pudding. In his model , the atom was a mix of equal numbers of positive and negative charges. Albert Einstein in 1905, probably the most influential scientist of all time contributed to our knowledge of the atom with his explanation of Brownian motion by providing strong evidence for the existence of atoms by mathematically demonstrating how the random movement of invisible atoms in a liquid would cause visible particles to jiggle when suspended. This effectively proved the atomic theory of matter. Robert Millikan in 1909 contributed by showing that electrons did have a discrete, quantifiable charge. Ernest Rutherford also in 1909 gave us the Nuclear Model. He had found the nucleus of the atom, thus proving the atom had components. Niels Bohr in 1913 gave us the planetary model of atoms. That electrons orbit the nucleus at specific, fixed energy levels, meaning they can only occupy certain orbits around the nucleus, and that the emission or absorption of light occurs when electrons jump between these energy levels: this model successfully explained the line spectra of hydrogen atoms and laid the foundation for further quantum mechanical understanding of the atom. Max Planck in 1918 became known as the father of quantum physics. Edwin Schrodinger in 1926 gave us the electron cloud model or the quantum model. He is known as the father of quantum physics. One popular theory is the wave-mechanical model, which proposes that electrons are almost as much like a wave of energy as they are like particles. They're moving so fast that they're not really in any one place at any given time, and they keep changing their path in response to the fields around them.

Summary. Erwin Schrodinger proposed the quantum mechanical model of the atom, which treats electrons as matter waves. Later Werner Heisenberg in 1925 assists with the atomic theory. He formulated a type of quantum mechanics based on matrices. He proposed the “uncertainty relation”, setting limits for how precisely the position and velocity of a particle can be simultaneously determined. James Chadwick in 1932 is known for the discovery of the neutron. Finally Oppenheimer became known as the producer of the first Atomic Bomb.

How empty is an atom?’ This explains how even ‘empty’ space is filled with forces. Atoms are not the ultimate particle: they are nearly all empty space. This space is filled with electric and magnetic force fields. These fields are incredibly powerful, and hold electrons in their atomic prisons. The fields govern potential energy, and are strong enough to mean that atoms resist like a solid medium. Earth has a magnetic field that extends far beyond the atmosphere, but the effect of gravitational and magnetic fields diminish with distance, as described by the inverse square law. Electromagnetic waves can transport energy by distorting space-time. Wikipedia

The discovery of the atom may not mean much to us, nor does it mean we need to understand everything about atoms other than to know that they make up everything that is known to man.

The following is for those of you that are interested in learning more about Atoms:

The word 'atom' actually comes from Ancient Greek and roughly translates as 'indivisible'. The Ancient Greek theory has been credited to several different scholars but is most often attributed to Democritus (460–370 BC) and his mentor Leucippus.

Are humans made of atoms?

Atoms are the basic constituents of molecules, cells, humans, and planets. The human body contains about a billion billion billion (10^27) atoms.

Can the human eye see atoms?

No, you can't see an atom the way we're used to “seeing” things – that is, using our eyes' ability to perceive light. An atom is simply too small to deflect visible light waves, which means it won't show up under even the most powerful light-focusing microscopes, Oncel said. Dec 3, 2019 Wikipedia

Are atoms in empty space?

Atoms are not the ultimate particle: they are nearly all empty space. This space is filled with electric and magnetic force fields.

What is the heaviest element in the human body?

Uranium is the heaviest naturally-occurring element occurring in the human body. However, it is only found in trace amounts. Uranium is highly toxic.

How many atoms are in a penny?

Since a mole of atoms contains 6.0221 x 10²³ atoms, there are 2.2452 x 10²² zinc atoms and 5.9230 x 10²⁰ copper atoms in a penny, for a total of 2.3044 x 10²² atoms in a penny. Public Domain Image, source: NASA/JPL-Caltech.Jun 15, 2015 Wikipedia

The next section may be a fun mental exercise for all you mathematicians. Others may wish to skip to the following section.

What area would a flattened penny cover?

If you hammered and flattened a penny enough, could you cover the entire earth with it?

No. If you spread out the atoms from a single penny over the entire surface of the earth, you would no longer have a single piece of solid material since the atoms would be too far apart to bond to each other. Let's do some careful calculations to show this result. A modern United States penny has a mass of 2.500 grams according to the US Mint. Since a penny is composed of 97.50% zinc and 2.50% copper, it therefore contains 2.4375 grams of zinc and 0.0625 grams of copper. At a molar mass of 65.380 grams per mole for zinc and 63.546 grams per mole for copper, a penny therefore contains 0.037282 moles of zinc and 0.00098354 moles of copper. Since a mole of atoms contains 6.0221 x 10²³ atoms, there are 2.2452 x 10²² zinc atoms and 5.9230 x 10²⁰ copper atoms in a penny, for a total of 2.3044 x 10²² atoms in a penny.

The earth has a surface area of 510,072,000 square kilometers, or 5.10072 x 10³² square nanometers. The surface area of the earth really depends on what you include in your definition of surface. For instance, if we wish to cover the area of every leaf on every tree and shrub with atoms from the penny, then this will change our answer. Surprisingly, it will not change our answer very much. Most of the earth is covered in relativity flat oceans, sandy deserts, snow fields, barren rocks, and meadows. Trees, shrubs, buildings, and other irregularly-shaped objects only cover a very small percentage of the earth (trees and buildings seem common to most of us humans because most of us live near crowded concentrations of trees and/or buildings). At any rate, we must pick some definition of earth's surface area to make any calculations. The number cited above does not include the surface area of tree leaves and other small irregularities. In the context of trying to cover the earth with a flattened penny, you can think of this definition of surface area as us lowering a sheet of zinc so that it drapes along the tops of the trees, but does not wrap around any of the leaves or branches of the trees. The thinnest we could ever hammer a sheet of material is one atom thick. We therefore assume that we are creating a one-atom-thick planar sheet of material. Using the above value for earth's surface area, we divide it by the number of atoms in a penny to find how much area each atom will occupy when the atoms are spread evenly across earth's surface. We get the value of 2.21347 x 10¹⁰ square nanometers per atom, or 0.0000343 square inches per atom. This may seem like a small area, but it is huge compared to the types of areas spanned by simple molecules.

From here on out we will assume that all of the atoms in the penny are zinc atoms. This is a good assumption because almost all of the atoms in the penny are zinc atoms (97.5%). Also, in terms of atomic size and bonding distance, zinc and copper are nearly identical. When allowed to bond into a solid piece of material, zinc atoms arrange themselves into stacks of planar hexagonal grids. Therefore, in creating our one-atom thick sheet of zinc, we will arrange our zinc atoms along a planar hexagonal grid. If the penny's atoms are spread out uniformly on a hexagonal grid covering earth's surface, then each atom will have to be 159,870 nanometers away from its next nearest atoms in order to cover the entire earth (for a hexagonal grid of objects, the distance between nearest-neighbor objects is 1.0746 times the square root of the area that each object has to itself). In other words, taking the atoms of a single penny and spreading them out over the entire earth in a hexagonal arrangement will cause each atom to be about 0.16 millimeters away from its neighboring atoms. In order to form a solid chunk of material, atoms have to be close enough to form stable bonds. In regular pieces of zinc metal, stable chemical bonds are formed when each zinc atom is a distance of 0.26649 nanometers away from its next nearest zinc atoms. Therefore, the atoms of our smashed penny will be almost exactly 600,000 times too far apart to maintain stable bonds and constitute a solid piece of metal. With this kind of separation, we don't have a solid penny at all. We have a very dilute zinc gas spread over the earth. These widely separated atoms would blow around, dissolve into the ocean, mix with the clouds, and react with other atoms, so that we no longer have any type of distinct object that we would say is covering the earth. For this reason, you cannot hammer and flatten a penny until it covers the entire. The earth is simply too big and a penny has simply too few atoms to accomplish this task. Even if we break each zinc atom into 30 hydrogen atoms (ignoring all the messy details of the nuclear reactions involved), the atoms are still about a hundred thousand times too far apart to form stable chemical bonds. Besides, hydrogen atoms don't bond to form a solid chunk of material under normal conditions.

These thoughts lead to another question: How much area can a smashed penny cover and still remain a solid chunk of material? To calculate this, we again realize that the thinnest a material can get is one atom thick. Also, the distance that zinc atoms need to be from each other and still stay bonded as a solid is 0.26649 nanometers, as already mentioned. This means that as part of a hexagonal planar arrangement of atoms, each zinc atom needs to occupy 0.0615 square nanometers of area. Multiply this number by the 2.3044 x 10²² atoms in a penny and we get a total area of 1417 square meters, which is about a quarter of the size of an American football field. In other words, if you had a special machine that carefully hammered a penny until it was everywhere just an atom thick, it would only cover a quarter of a football field. Keep in mind that at this thickness, you would be hard pressed to even see the penny and you would rip the penny when walking on it without feeling any resistance (think of walking on aluminum foil, but much, much thinner). To cover the entire earth's surface with one-atom-thick smashed pennies, you would need at least 360 billion pennies.

Are humans matter or energy?

Even YOU are made of matter. Matter is anything that takes up space and has mass. All matter is made of tiny particles called atoms. The only difference between different kinds of matter—whether you're talking about bugs, rocks, humans, or stars—is the way their atoms fit together.

Do atoms exist in black holes? Black holes have a LOT of mass, which is why they have so much gravity. So much, in fact, that atoms are actually crushed to fill in the empty space. Sometimes a dying star has enough mass (and gravity) to crush atoms, but not quite enough to keep light from escaping. In these cases, a neutron star is born.

The interesting line to me was though mass is crushed, light escapes.

How much of the human body is space?

Around 99.99% of your body is just empty space. Atoms make up everything in our world, including human beings. If spirits are refined matter then these particles can easily exist within the body of man and co-exist with him, using the human body as its’ host.

What happens to the energy when someone dies?

Remember that ATP from respiration is immediately used up in the body. The chemical potential energy stored in the dead body eventually will be decomposed by bacterial activity, thus recycling energy into the environment as heat and other chemical potential forms of energy.

ATP energy refers to the energy stored in a molecule called Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP), which is considered the "energy currency" of cells in all living organisms; when a cell needs energy to perform a function, it breaks down ATP to release that energy, making it the primary way cells transfer and utilize energy for various biological processes. Glucose carries a packet of chemical energy just the right size for transport and uptake by cells. In general, the main energy source for cellular metabolism is glucose, which is catabolized in the three subsequent processes—glycolysis, tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA or Krebs cycle), and finally oxidative phosphorylation—to produce ATP.

Has the existence of atoms been proven?

The first truly direct evidence of atoms is credited to Robert Brown, a Scottish botanist. In 1827, he noticed that tiny pollen grains suspended in still water moved about in complex paths.

What did Albert Einstein discover about the atom?

Flexi Says: Albert Einstein mathematically predicted the size of both atoms and molecules. He proved the existence of atoms by the movement of molecules in a liquid caused by the Brownian motion.

How did Einstein prove the existence of molecules?

Einstein's theory demonstrated how Brownian motion offered experimentalists the possibility to prove that molecules existed, despite the fact that molecules themselves were too small to be seen directly.

What is the law - Energy never dies?

Instead, the law of conservation of energy says that energy is neither created nor destroyed. When people use energy, it doesn't disappear. Energy changes from one form of energy into another form of energy. A car engine burns gasoline, converting the chemical energy in gasoline into mechanical energy.

What is the most powerful energy in existence?

These explosions generate beams of high-energy radiation, called gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), which are considered by astronomers to be the most powerful thing in the universe. What's more, these GRBs could be killing our chances of ever discovering life on other planets.

What is the ultimate energy source for life?

All organisms are directly or indirectly dependent on plants for their food. Thus, the SUN or Light is the ultimate source of energy for all living organisms.

What energy can never be destroyed?

Energy or light can neither be created nor destroyed; rather, it can only be transformed or transferred from one form to another. For instance, chemical energy is converted to kinetic energy when a stick of dynamite explodes.

Are we matter or energy?

Even YOU are made of matter. Matter is anything that takes up space and has mass. All matter and light is made of tiny particles called atoms. The only difference between different kinds of matter—whether you're talking about bugs, rocks, humans, or stars—is the way their atoms fit together.

Are humans just energy?

In life, the human body comprises matter and energy. That energy is both electrical (impulses and signals) and chemical (reactions).

What is the meaning of E mc2?

E = mc². It's the world's most famous equation, but what does it really mean? "Energy equals mass times the speed of light squared." On the most basic level, the equation says that energy and mass (matter) are interchangeable; they are different forms of the same thing.

Are humans made of quarks?

Most of the mass of your body is determined by protons and neutrons, which are made up of quarks. The kinetic and potential energy associated with these quarks is so intense that it makes up 98% of the mass of all matter.

What is the most beautiful thing in the universe?

A: "The most beautiful thing in the universe is the human ability to comprehend it. ‘Our universe is extraordinarily complex, with processes occurring on all scales, from the subatomic world to the universe at large.’

What is inside a quark?

Quarks and gluons are the building blocks of protons and neutrons, which in turn are the building blocks of atomic nuclei. Scientists' current understanding is that quarks and gluons are indivisible—they cannot be broken down into smaller components.

Can mass turn into energy?

First discovered by Einstein more than 100 years ago, it teaches us a number of important things. We can transform mass into pure energy, such as through nuclear fission, nuclear fusion, or matter-antimatter annihilation. We can create particles (and antiparticles) out of nothing more than pure energy.

How to turn matter into energy? equation E = mc²

(matter. … mass) and energy can be converted into each other according to the famous equation E = mc², where E is energy, m is mass, and c is the speed of light. This transformation occurs, for instance, during nuclear fission, in which the nucleus of a heavy element such as uranium…

Is e-mc2 wrong?

The speed of a particle with mass must be lesser than the speed of a massless particle (photon is a massless particle). As the speed of a particle with zero mass (photon) is equal to the speed of light, the equation E = mc^2 is wrong.

How fast is the speed of dark?

Darkness travels at the speed of light. More accurately, darkness does not exist by itself as a unique physical entity, but is simply the absence of light. Any time you block out most of the light – for instance, by cupping your hands together – you get darkness.

What is a simple particle?

1. A relatively small or the smallest discrete portion or amount of something. 2. Archaic: a clause or article of a composition or document. 3. Any of the basic units of matter and energy (such as a molecule, atom, proton, electron, or photon)

In science, a particle is defined as any basic unit of matter and energy. A particle refers to a quantity of matter that is used by scientists or engineers to construct theories about their field of study. There is no particular size restriction on defining a particle.

What is considered a particle?

In the physical sciences, a particle (or corpuscule in older texts) is a small localized object which can be described by several physical or chemical properties, such as volume, density, or mass.

The main property of a particle is that it is discreet and individual and, therefore, can be counted. In order to count them, the particles also need to be identical to each other. In the case of microscopic and subatomic particles, it is easy to understand that a proton in one atom is identical to a proton elsewhere.

Based on Size

So far, a variety of particles have been discussed. All of them can be sorted by their size. There are macroscopic, microscopic, and subatomic particles. In order to understand these, there is a need to define what an atom is. An atom is a single, indivisible particle of a specific element from the periodic table. There are 118 elements, but there are a few that are theoretically predicted but have not been observed. Ninety-one of them have been observed in nature, and several of the remaining ones have been formed in a laboratory setting. When several atoms of two or more elements are bound together, they form a molecule. For example, an atom of sodium and an atom of chloride will bond together to make a molecule of salt. When there is a large collection of many atoms of an element, they can form together to make a macroscopic clump of the element that can be observed, such as a solid gold ring or nugget Macroscopic particles- these are the largest of particles that can be seen by the naked eye. Examples of these would be the cars and shopping carts as mentioned earlier, but could also be rocks or crystals that are formed from compounds or elements. Microscopic particles- these particles are small enough to require at least a microscope to see them. Examples of these are individual atoms and single molecules of a compound

What is the definition of a simple molecule?

Simple molecules are made of just one or two elements and a few atoms. Molecules are held together by chemical bonds. Bonds form so that the outer electron shell of atoms obey the octet rule, giving each atom a complete stable outer shell of eight electrons.

What is a molecule for dummies?

A molecule is a group of two or more atoms that bond together. Atoms are the basic building blocks of matter. You might have seen a picture of an atom before. Atoms have electrons that float around the nucleus. A good way to think about atoms and molecules is to think of the letters that make up a word.

What are examples of molecules?

Hydrogen (H₂), oxygen (O₂), and chlorine (Cl₂) molecules, for example, each contains two atoms. Another form of oxygen, ozone (O₃), has three atoms, and sulfur (S₈) has eight atoms. All elemental molecules are made of atoms of a single element.

Chemical Structures

The properties of elements and compounds are determined by their structures. The simplest structural unit of an element is an atom. Atoms are very small. A hundred million (100,000,000) hydrogen atoms put side-by-side is only as long as one centimeter!

Some elements are monatomic, meaning they are made of a single (mon-) atom (-atomic) in their molecular form. Helium (He, see Fig. 2.8) is an example of a monatomic element. Other elements contain two or more atoms in their molecular form (Fig. 2.8). Hydrogen (H₂), oxygen (O₂), and chlorine (Cl₂) molecules, for example, each contains two atoms. Another form of oxygen, ozone (O₃), has three atoms, and sulfur (S₈) has eight atoms. All elemental molecules are made of atoms of a single element.

Molecules of compounds have atoms of two or more different elements. For example, water (H₂O) has three atoms, two hydrogen (H) atoms and one oxygen (O) atom. Methane (CH₄), a common greenhouse gas, has five atoms, one of carbon (C) and four of hydrogen (H, see Fig. 2.9).

Electrostatic Forces

Electrostatic forces hold atoms in molecules. The electrostatic forces that hold atoms together in molecules are the same type of forces that cause static electricity. Common examples of static electricity are when someone gets a shock when reaching for a doorknob or when a child’s hair is raised when going down a plastic slide (Fig. 2.10).

Subatomic Particles

The particles that make up an atom are called subatomic particles (sub- means “smaller size”). These particles are the

· proton (p⁺), which is positively (+) charged;

· electron (e^–), which is negatively (–) charged; and

· neutron (n⁰), which has no charge, it is neutral (0).

Protons and neutrons occupy the nucleus, or center, of the atom. Electrons exist in regions called shells outside of the atom’s nucleus (Fig. 2.11).

Electrostatic forces hold atoms together in molecules—like the two hydrogen atoms held together in H2 gas. Electrostatic forces also hold electrons and protons together in the atom. The attraction between negatively charged electrons and positively charged protons in an atom give the atom its structure. The strong force holds neutrons and protons together in the nucleus. This force got its name because it is strong enough to overcome the force of the positively charged protons repelling each other. The number of electrons and protons in an atom determines its chemical properties. Chemical properties include the specific ways that atoms and molecules react and the energy that they release or use in these reactions.

Size of Subatomic Particles

One hundred million (100,000,000) hydrogen atoms put side-by-side equals about a centimeter. Protons and neutrons are both about one-thousandth (1/1000) the diameter of a hydrogen atom. This means it would take about one hundred billion (100,000,000,000) protons or neutrons put side-by-side to equal a centimeter. Electrons are about one-thousandth (1/1000) the diameter of a proton or neutron. This means that it would take one hundred trillion (100,000,000,000,000) electrons put side-by-side to equal a centimeter!

Neutral Atoms

The subatomic particles in an atom determine the properties of the atom. Some atoms exist naturally as neutral, or uncharged, atoms. A single uncharged atom has an equal number of protons (+) and electrons (–). An uncharged atom is electrically neutral because electrons and protons have opposite charges of equal sizes. When the number of protons and electrons in an atom are same, the charges cancel out, or counteract each other.

Protons and Neutrons

Every atom of a particular element has the same number of protons. The atomic number is equal to the number of protons in an element. On the periodic table, the atomic number is usually given as the whole number above the symbol for the element (see Fig. 2.13). For example, hydrogen (H) has an atomic number of one (1). This means a hydrogen atom has one proton. If a hydrogen atom is neutral, it must also have one electron. An oxygen atom (O) has an atomic number of eight (8). This means a neutral oxygen atom has eight protons and eight electrons. The element Actium (Ac) has an atomic number of 89, so it has 89 protons and 89 electrons in a neutral atom. Table 2.2 shows the atomic number, atomic symbol, atomic structure, and number of protons, neutrons, and electrons for the first three elements.

Table 2.2. The first three elements in the periodic table showing atomic numbers, atomic symbols, number of protons, number of electrons, number of neutrons, and atomic structure.
	Hydrogen	Helium	Lithium
Atomic Number	1	2	3
Atomic Symbol	H	He	Li
Number of Protons	1	2	3
Number of Electrons	1	2	3
Number of Neutrons	0	2	4
Atomic Structure	Thu, 09/04/2014 - 08:33 fyang Image by Byron Inouye	Thu, 09/04/2014 - 08:32 fyang Image by Byron Inouye	Thu, 09/04/2014 - 08:33 fyang Image by Byron Inouye

Neutrons affect the mass of an atom and play a role in the stability of atoms. Unlike protons, the numbers of neutrons in elements varies. For example, most hydrogen atoms have no neutrons, but a few have one neutron, and some rare hydrogen atoms have two neutrons. Most helium atoms have two neutrons, but some have three neutrons.

Periods, Groups, and the Periodic Table

The periodic table (Fig. 2.12) is a commonly used method of organizing the elements that provides useful information about the elements and their behavior. In Fig. 2.12, elements in blue are metals and elements in yellow are nonmetals. In Figure 2.13, the entry for hydrogen highlights the placement of the atomic number, element symbol, element name, and atomic weight.

The periodic table has three prominent features. First, the periodic table is arranged in horizontal rows, which are called periods. There are seven periods. In Period 1 there are two elements, hydrogen (H) and helium (He). The second and third periods both contain eight elements, the fourth and fifth periods contain 18 elements, and the sixth and seventh periods contain 32 elements.

Second, all of the elements are listed sequentially according to their atomic numbers. The atomic number corresponds to the number of protons and is found above the elements’ symbol. For example, in Figure 2.13, the atomic number of hydrogen is 1, found over the H.

Third, the periodic table is arranged in columns of elements that react similarly. These columns are called groups. The group number is found at the top of the column. Groups 1–12 contain only metals, Groups 13–16 contain both metals and nonmetals, and Groups 17 and 18 contain only nonmetals. One exception is hydrogen. Although technically a nonmetal, hydrogen has properties of both metals and nonmetals and is often placed in Group 1. The two long rows that are at the bottom of the periodic table are exceptions. The elements in each of these rows behave similarly, so are considered groups. These two groups are arranged in rows rather than columns.

Metals and Nonmetals

Metals are elements that conduct heat and electricity. Metals are usually malleable, they can be bent or molded without breaking, and lustrous, or shiny. Most metals are silvery in color (Fig. 2.14 A–C), although some are not, like copper (Cu, Fig. 2.14 D). Most metals are solid at room temperature. One exception is mercury (Hg), which is a liquid at room temperature (Fig. 2.14 A). The elements in Group 1, including lithium (Li), sodium (Na, Fig. 2.14 B), potassium (K, Fig. 2.14 C), and rubidium (Rb), are all metals. These metallic Group 1 elements have similar reactive properties. In Fig 2.12, the metals are shown in blue.

Nonmetals are poor conductors of heat and electricity; they are not lustrous and exist in nature as solids, liquids, or gases. When solid, non-metals tend to be brittle, such as sulfur, which flakes apart rather than bending like a metal would (Fig. 2.15 A). The elements in Group 17, including fluorine (F₂), chlorine (Cl₂, Fig. 2.15 B), bromine (Br₂, Fig. 2.15 C), and iodine (I₂, Fig. 2.15 D), are all nonmetals. The nonmetals in Group 17 are all diatomic (two atoms) in their elemental form and have similar reactive properties. In Fig 2.12, the nonmetals are shown in yellow.

See Table 2.3 for a summary of the properties of metals and nonmetals.

Table 2.3. Properties of metals and nonmetals
	Metals	Nonmetals
Physical Properties	Good conductor of heat and electricity	Poor conductor of heat and electricity
	Malleable - can be beaten or deformed without cracking; pliable	Brittle
	Ductile - can be made into wire	Non-ductile
	Lustrous	Not lustrous, may be opaque or transparent
	Solid at room temperature (except Hg and a few other metals that are liquid at or near room temperature)	Solid, liquid, or gas at room temperature
Chemical Properties	Usually have 1-3 valence electrons	Usually have 4-8 valence electrons
Chemical Properties	Tend to lose valence electrons	Tend to gain electrons

Other Organizational Features of the Periodic Table

There are other organizational features of the periodic table. Most periods have the first element of the period in Group 1 and the last element in Group 18. An exception is the first period. In Fig 2.12, hydrogen (H) is in Group 1. Sometimes hydrogen (H) is placed in Group 17, above fluorine (F), because it has similar properties to the nonmetals in that group; for example, in its elemental state hydrogen exists as a diatomic gas, H2. Sometimes hydrogen is placed in both Groups 1 and 17.

Groups of elements have similar properties. The properties of some groups are so unique or important that the groups are referred to by special names. The last group, Group 18, includes helium (He), neon (Ne), argon (Ar), krypton (Kr), xenon (Xe), and radon (Rn). The elements in this group are called the noble gases. Noble gases seldom react with other elements. Noble gases have many uses, for example, they are used in neon signs (Fig 2.16).

Group 1 is often referred to as the alkali metals, Group 2 as the alkaline earth metals, and Group 17 as the halogens. The two groups that are pulled out on the bottom of the periodic table in rows are called the lanthanide rare earth series (top row) and the actinide series (bottom row).

ATOMS HAVE A MEMORY

The following article teaches us that atoms can and do cleave to, or retain knowledge. This also leads us to believe the likelihood that “Intelligence” can and does become the possessor of TRUTH and KNOWLEDGE.

University of Oxford researchers have used a new technique to measure the movement of charged particles (ions) on the fastest ever timescale, revealing new insights into fundamental transport processes. These include the first demonstration that the flow of atoms or ions possesses a ‘memory.’ The results have been published in the journal Nature.

Whether charging a battery or pouring water, the flow of matter is one of the most fundamental processes in the Universe. But a surprising amount remains unknown about how this occurs at the atomic scale. Understanding this better could help us solve a wide range of problems, including developing the materials needed for the technologies of tomorrow.

In the new study, a team of researchers based at Oxford’s Department of Materials and the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, California made the surprising discovery that the movement of individual ions can be influenced by its recent past; in other words, there is ‘a memory effect.’ This means that, on the microscopic scale, history can matter: what a particle did a moment ago can affect what it does next.

Up to now, this has been extremely challenging to observe because such an effect is unnoticeable by simple observation. To test whether ion movement has a memory, something unusual must be introduced: disturb the system, and then watch how the disturbance dies down.

Senior author Professor Saiful Islam (Department of Materials, University of Oxford) said: ‘To use a visual analogy, such an experiment is like throwing a rock into a pond to watch how far the waves spread. But for watching atoms flow, the rock in our study must be a pulse of light. Using light, we have captured the movement of ions on the fastest-ever timescale, revealing the link between the individual movement of atoms and macroscopic flow.’

The setup of the laser used in the experiment, in the laboratory of Dr Matthias Hoffmann

The researchers used a battery material as a model system to investigate ion flow at the microscopic level. When a battery charges, an applied force physically moves many ions from one electrode to the other. The multitude of random motions of the individual ions collectively adds up to a net movement similar to liquid flow. What was unknown was whether this overall flow is influenced by memory effects acting on the individual ions. For instance, do the ions recoil after making atom-sized hops, or do they flow smoothly and randomly?

In order to capture this, the team used a technique called pump-probe spectroscopy, using rapid, intense pulses of light to both trigger and measure the ions’ movement. Such nonlinear optical methods are commonly used to study electronic phenomena in applications from solar cells to superconductivity, but this was the first time it has been used to measure ionic motions without involving electrons.

Lead author Dr Andrey Poletayev (Department of Materials, University of Oxford, and formerly SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory) said: ‘We found something interesting, which happened a short time after the ion motions we triggered directly. The ions recoil: if we push them to the left, they then preferentially reverse to the right afterwards. This resembles a viscous substance being jerked rapidly then relaxing more slowly - like honey. This means that for a time after we pushed the ions with light, we knew something about what they would do next.’

Besides the implications for materials discovery, this work disabuses the notion that what we see on the macroscopic level – transport that appears memory-free – is directly replicated at the atomic level.

Dr Andrey Poletayev, Department of Materials, University of Oxford.

The researchers were only able to observe such an effect for a very short time, a few trillionths of a second, but expect this will increase as the sensitivity of the measurement technique improves. Follow-up research aims to exploit this newfound understanding to make faster and more accurate predictions of how well materials can transport charge for batteries, and engineering new kinds of computing devices that would operate more rapidly.

According to the researchers, quantifying this memory effect will help to predict the transport properties of potential new materials for the better batteries we need for the growth in electric vehicles. However, the findings have implications for all technologies in which atoms flow or move, whether in solids or in fluids, including neuromorphic computing, desalination, and others.

Dr Poletayev added: ‘Besides the implications for materials discovery, this work disabuses the notion that what we see on the macroscopic level – transport that appears memory-free – is directly replicated at the atomic level. The difference between these scales, caused by the memory effect, makes our life very complicated, but we have now shown that it is possible to measure and quantify this.’

The study ‘The persistence of memory in ionic conduction probed by nonlinear optics’ has been published in Nature.

If Atoms can possess ‘memory’ then it’s not hard to conclude the possibility they can retain other truths as well.

It is said that God can communicate with “Intelligence” and that it obeys. This is how God can organize the world, man and the space around us.

THE ORGANIZATION OF THE EARTH – RELIGIOUS DOCTRINE

THE RELIGIOUS HISTORY OF THE CREATION AS TOLD IN THE PEARL OF GREAT PRICE AND THE BIBLE

SELECTIONS FROM THE BOOK OF MOSES

An extract from the translation of the Bible as revealed to Joseph Smith the Prophet, June 1830–February 1831. Found in the Pearl of Great Price

Chapter 1

(June 1830)

God reveals Himself to Moses—Moses is transfigured—He is confronted by Satan—Moses sees many inhabited worlds—Worlds without number were created by the Son—God’s work and glory (glory of God = light, spirit, latent heat, organized intelligence, all the organized worlds of celestial men and women, refined and eternal spirits) is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.

1 The words of God, which he spake unto Moses at a time when Moses was caught up into an exceedingly high mountain,

2 And he saw God face to face, and he talked with him, and the glory of God was upon Moses; therefore Moses could endure his presence.

3 And God spake unto Moses, saying: Behold, I am the Lord God Almighty, and Endless is my name; for I am (eternal) without beginning of days or end of years; and is not this endless?

4 And, behold, thou art my son; wherefore look, and I will show thee the workmanship of mine hands; but not all, for my works are without end, and also my words, for they never cease.

5 Wherefore, no man can behold all my works, except he behold all my glory; and no man can behold all my glory, and afterwards remain in the flesh on the earth.

6 And I have a work for thee, Moses, my son; and thou art in the similitude of mine Only Begotten; and mine Only Begotten is and shall be the Savior, for he is full of grace and truth; but there is no God beside me, and all things are present with me, for I know them all.

7 And now, behold, this one thing I show unto thee, Moses, my son, for thou art in the world, and now I show it unto thee.

8 And it came to pass that Moses looked, and beheld the world upon which he was created; and Moses beheld the world and the ends thereof, and all the children of men which are, and which were created; of the same he greatly marveled and wondered.

9 And the presence of God withdrew from Moses, that his glory was not upon Moses; and Moses was left unto himself. And as he was left unto himself, he fell unto the earth.

10 And it came to pass that it was for the space of many hours before Moses did again receive his natural strength like unto man; and he said unto himself: Now, for this cause I know that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed.

11 But now mine own eyes have beheld God; but not my natural, but my spiritual eyes, for my natural eyes could not have beheld; for I should have withered and died in his presence; but his glory was upon me; and I beheld his face, for I was transfigured before him.

12 And it came to pass that when Moses had said these words, behold, Satan came tempting him, saying: Moses, son of man, worship me.

13 And it came to pass that Moses looked upon Satan and said: Who art thou? For behold, I am a son of God, in the similitude of his Only Begotten; and where is thy glory, that I should worship thee?

14 For behold, I could not look upon God, except his glory should come upon me, and I were transfigured before him. But I can look upon thee in the natural man. Is it not so, surely?

15 Blessed be the name of my God, for his Spirit hath not altogether withdrawn from me, or else where is thy glory, for it is darkness unto me? And I can judge between thee and God; for God said unto me: Worship God, for him only shalt thou serve.

16 Get thee hence, Satan; deceive me not; for God said unto me: Thou art after the similitude of mine Only Begotten.

17 And he also gave me commandments when he called unto me out of the burning bush, saying: Call upon God in the name of mine Only Begotten, and worship me.

18 And again Moses said: I will not cease to call upon God, I have other things to inquire of him: for his glory has been upon me, wherefore I can judge between him and thee. Depart hence, Satan.

19 And now, when Moses had said these words, Satan cried with a loud voice, and ranted upon the earth, and commanded, saying: I am the Only Begotten, worship me.

20 And it came to pass that Moses began to fear exceedingly; and as he began to fear, he saw the bitterness of hell. Nevertheless, calling upon God, he received strength, and he commanded, saying: Depart from me, Satan, for this one God only will I worship, which is the God of glory.

21 And now Satan began to tremble, and the earth shook; and Moses received strength, and called upon God, saying: In the name of the Only Begotten, depart hence, Satan.

22 And it came to pass that Satan cried with a loud voice, with weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth; and he departed hence, even from the presence of Moses, that he beheld him not.

23 And now of this thing Moses bore record; but because of wickedness it is not had among the children of men.

24 And it came to pass that when Satan had departed from the presence of Moses, that Moses lifted up his eyes unto heaven, being filled with the Holy Ghost, which beareth record of the Father and the Son;

25 And calling upon the name of God, he beheld his glory again, for it was upon him; and he heard a voice, saying: Blessed art thou, Moses, for I, the Almighty, have chosen thee, and thou shalt be made stronger than many waters; for they shall obey thy command as if thou wert God.

26 And lo, I am with thee, even unto the end of thy days; for thou shalt deliver my people from bondage, even Israel my chosen.

27 And it came to pass, as the voice was still speaking, Moses cast his eyes and beheld the earth, yea, even all of it; and there was not a particle of it which he did not behold, discerning it by the Spirit of God.

28 And he beheld also the inhabitants thereof, and there was not a soul which he beheld not; and he discerned them by the Spirit of God; and their numbers were great, even numberless as the sand upon the sea shore.

29 And he beheld many lands; and each land was called earth, and there were inhabitants on the face thereof.

30 And it came to pass that Moses called upon God, saying: Tell me, I pray thee, why these things are so, and by what thou madest them?

31 And behold, the glory of the Lord was upon Moses, so that Moses stood in the presence of God, and talked with him face to face. And the Lord God said unto Moses: For mine own purpose have I made these things. Here is wisdom and it remaineth in me.

32 And by the word of my power, have I created them, which is mine Only Begotten Son, who is full of grace and truth.

33 And worlds without number have I created; and I also created them for mine own purpose; and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten.

34 And the first man of all men have I called Adam, which is many.

35 But only an account of this earth, and the inhabitants thereof, give I unto you. For behold, there are many worlds that have passed away by the word of my power. And there are many that now stand, and innumerable are they unto man; but all things are numbered unto me, for they are mine and I know them.

36 And it came to pass that Moses spake unto the Lord, saying: Be merciful unto thy servant, O God, and tell me concerning this earth, and the inhabitants thereof, and also the heavens, and then thy servant will be content.

37 And the Lord God spake unto Moses, saying: The heavens, they are many, and they cannot be numbered unto man; but they are numbered unto me, for they are mine.

38 And as one earth shall pass away, and the heavens thereof even so shall another come; and there is no end to my works, neither to my words.

39 For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.

40 And now, Moses, my son, I will speak unto thee concerning this earth upon which thou standest; and thou shalt write the things which I shall speak.

41 And in a day when the children of men shall esteem my words as naught and take many of them from the book which thou shalt write, behold, I will raise up another like unto thee; and they shall be had again among the children of men—among as many as shall believe.

42 (These words were spoken unto Moses in the mount, the name of which shall not be known among the children of men. And now they are spoken unto you. Show them not unto any except them that believe. Even so. Amen.)

Chapter 2

(June–October 1830)

God creates the heavens and the earth—All forms of life are created—God makes man and gives him dominion over all else.

1 And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto Moses, saying: Behold, I reveal unto you concerning this heaven, and this earth; write the words which I speak. I am the Beginning and the End, the Almighty God; by mine Only Begotten I created these things; yea, in the beginning I created the heaven, and the earth upon which thou standest.

2 And the earth was without form, and void; and I caused darkness to come up upon the face of the deep; and my Spirit moved upon the face of the water; for I am God.

3 And I, God, said: Let there be light; and there was light.

4 And I, God, saw the light; and that light was good. And I, God, divided the light from the darkness.

5 And I, God, called the light Day; and the darkness, I called Night; and this I did by the word of my power, and it was done as I spake; and the evening and the morning were the first day.

6 And again, I, God, said: Let there be a firmament in the midst of the water, and it was so, even as I spake; and I said: Let it divide the waters from the waters; and it was done;

7 And I, God, made the firmament and divided the waters, yea, the great waters under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament, and it was so even as I spake.

8 And I, God, called the firmament Heaven; and the evening and the morning were the second day.

9 And I, God, said: Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and it was so; and I, God, said: Let there be dry land; and it was so.

10 And I, God, called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters, called I the Sea; and I, God, saw that all things which I had made were good.

11 And I, God, said: Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, the fruit tree yielding fruit, after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed should be in itself upon the earth, and it was so even as I spake.

12 And the earth brought forth grass, every herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed should be in itself, after his kind; and I, God, saw that all things which I had made were good;

13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.

14 And I, God, said: Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven, to divide the day from the night, and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and for years;

15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth; and it was so.

16 And I, God, made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night, and the greater light was the sun, and the lesser light was the moon; and the stars also were made even according to my word.

17 And I, God, set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

18 And the sun to rule over the day, and the moon to rule over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness; and I, God, saw that all things which I had made were good;

19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

20 And I, God, said: Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl which may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

21 And I, God, created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind; and I, God, saw that all things which I had created were good.

22 And I, God, blessed them, saying: Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the sea; and let fowl multiply in the earth;

23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

24 And I, God, said: Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping things, and beasts of the earth after their kind, and it was so;

25 And I, God, made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and cattle after their kind, and everything which creepeth upon the earth after his kind; and I, God, saw that all these things were good.

26 And I, God, said unto mine Only Begotten, which was with me from the beginning: Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and it was so. And I, God, said: Let them have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

27 And I, God, created man in mine own image, in the image of mine Only Begotten created I him; male and female created I them.

28 And I, God, blessed them, and said unto them: Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

29 And I, God, said unto man: Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree in the which shall be the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein I grant life, there shall be given every clean herb for meat; and it was so, even as I spake.

31 And I, God, saw everything that I had made, and, behold, all things which I had made were very good; and the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Chapter 3

(June–October 1830)

God created all things spiritually before they were naturally upon the earth—He created man, the first flesh, upon the earth—Woman is a help meet for man.

1 Thus the heaven and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.

2 And on the seventh day I, God, ended my work, and all things which I had made; and I rested on the seventh day from all my work, and all things which I had made were finished, and I, God, saw that they were good;

3 And I, God, blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in it I had rested from all my work which I, God, had created and made.

4 And now, behold, I say unto you, that these are the generations of the heaven and of the earth, when they were created, in the day that I, the Lord God, made the heaven and the earth,

5 And every plant 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;

6 But I, the Lord God, spake, and there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.

7 And I, the Lord God, formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul, the first flesh upon the earth, the first man also; nevertheless, all things were before created; but spiritually were they created and made according to my word.

8 And I, the Lord God, planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there I put the man whom I had formed.

9 And out of the ground made I, the Lord God, to grow every tree, naturally, that is pleasant to the sight of man; and man could behold it. And it became also a living soul. For it was spiritual in the day that I created it; for it remaineth in the sphere in which I, God, created it, yea, even all things which I prepared for the use of man; and man saw that it was good for food. And I, the Lord God, planted the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and also the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

10 And I, the Lord God, caused a river to go out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.

11 And I, the Lord God, called the name of the first Pison, and it compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where I, the Lord God, created much gold;

12 And the gold of that land was good, and there was bdellium and the onyx stone.

13 And the name of the second river was called Gihon; the same that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.

14 And the name of the third river was Hiddekel; that which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river was the Euphrates.

15 And I, the Lord God, took the man, and put him into the Garden of Eden, to dress it, and to keep it.

16 And I, the Lord God, commanded the man, saying: Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat,

17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it, nevertheless, thou mayest choose for thyself, for it is given unto thee; but, remember that I forbid it, for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

18 And I, the Lord God, said unto mine Only Begotten, that it was not good that the man should be alone; wherefore, I will make an help meet for him.

19 And out of the ground I, the Lord God, formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and commanded that they should come unto Adam, to see what he would call them; and they were also living souls; for I, God, breathed into them the breath of life, and commanded that whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that should be the name thereof.

20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but as for Adam, there was not found an help meet for him.

21 And I, the Lord God, caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam; and he slept, and I took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh in the stead thereof;

22 And the rib which I, the Lord God, had taken from man, made I a woman, and brought her unto the man.

23 And Adam said: This I know now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man.

24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife; and they shall be one flesh.

25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

Chapter 4

(June–October 1830)

How Satan became the devil—He tempts Eve—Adam and Eve fall, and death enters the world.

1 And I, the Lord God, spake unto Moses, saying: That Satan, whom thou hast commanded in the name of mine Only Begotten, is the same which was from the beginning, and he came before me, saying—Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor.

2 But, behold, my Beloved Son, which was my Beloved and Chosen from the beginning, said unto me—Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever.

3 Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him, and also, that I should give unto him mine own power; by the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he should be cast down;

4 And he became Satan, yea, even the devil, the father of all lies, to deceive and to blind men, and to lead them captive at his will, even as many as would not hearken unto my voice.

5 And now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which I, the Lord God, had made.

6 And Satan put it into the heart of the serpent, (for he had drawn away many after him,) and he sought also to beguile Eve, for he knew not the mind of God, wherefore he sought to destroy the world.

7 And he said unto the woman: Yea, hath God said—Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? (And he spake by the mouth of the serpent.)

8 And the woman said unto the serpent: We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden;

9 But of the fruit of the tree which thou beholdest in the midst of the garden, God hath said—Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

10 And the serpent said unto the woman: Ye shall not surely die;

11 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

12 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it became pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make her wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and also gave unto her husband with her, and he did eat.

13 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they had been naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons.

14 And they heard the voice of the Lord God, as they were walking in the garden, in the cool of the day; and Adam and his wife went to hide themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.

15 And I, the Lord God, called unto Adam, and said unto him: Where goest thou?

16 And he said: I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I beheld that I was naked, and I hid myself.

17 And I, the Lord God, said unto Adam: Who told thee thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat, if so thou shouldst surely die?

18 And the man said: The woman thou gavest me, and commandest that she should remain with me, she gave me of the fruit of the tree and I did eat.

19 And I, the Lord God, said unto the woman: What is this thing which thou hast done? And the woman said: The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

20 And I, the Lord God, said unto the serpent: Because thou hast done this thou shalt be cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life;

21 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, between thy seed and her seed; and he shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

22 Unto the woman, I, the Lord God, said: I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception. In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children, and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

23 And unto Adam, I, the Lord God, said: Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the fruit of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying—Thou shalt not eat of it, cursed shall be the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life.

24 Thorns also, and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the field.

25 By the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, until thou shalt return unto the ground—for thou shalt surely die—for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou wast, and unto dust shalt thou return.

26 And Adam called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all living; for thus have I, the Lord God, called the first of all women, which are many.

27 Unto Adam, and also unto his wife, did I, the Lord God, make coats of skins, and clothed them.

28 And I, the Lord God, said unto mine Only Begotten: Behold, the man is become as one of us to know good and evil; and now lest he put forth his hand and partake also of the tree of life, and eat and live forever,

29 Therefore I, the Lord God, will send him forth from the Garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken;

30 For as I, the Lord God, liveth, even so my words cannot return void, for as they go forth out of my mouth they must be fulfilled.

31 So I drove out the man, and I placed at the east of the Garden of Eden, cherubim and a flaming sword, which turned every way to keep the way of the tree of life.

32 (And these are the words which I spake unto my servant Moses, and they are true even as I will; and I have spoken them unto you. See thou show them unto no man, until I command you, except to them that believe. Amen.)

SELECTIONS FROM THE BOOK OF ABRAHAM

Chapter 3

Abraham learns about the sun, moon, and stars by means of the Urim and Thummim—The Lord reveals to him the eternal nature of spirits—He learns of pre-earth life, foreordination, the Creation, the choosing of a Redeemer, and the second estate of man.

1 And I, Abraham, had the Urim and Thummim, which the Lord my God had given unto me, in Ur of the Chaldees;

2 And I saw the stars, that they were very great, and that one of them was nearest unto the throne of God; and there were many great ones which were near unto it;

3 And the Lord said unto me: These are the governing ones; and the name of the great one is Kolob, because it is near unto me, for I am the Lord thy God: I have set this one to govern all those which belong to the same order as that upon which thou standest.

4 And the Lord said unto me, by the Urim and Thummim, that Kolob was after the manner of the Lord, according to its times and seasons in the revolutions thereof; that one revolution was a day unto the Lord, after his manner of reckoning, it being one thousand years according to the time appointed unto that whereon thou standest. This is the reckoning of the Lord’s time, according to the reckoning of Kolob.

5 And the Lord said unto me: The planet which is the lesser light, lesser than that which is to rule the day, even the night, is above or greater than that upon which thou standest in point of reckoning, for it moveth in order more slow; this is in order because it standeth above the earth upon which thou standest, therefore the reckoning of its time is not so many as to its number of days, and of months, and of years.

6 And the Lord said unto me: Now, Abraham, these two facts exist, behold thine eyes see it; it is given unto thee to know the times of reckoning, and the set time, yea, the set time of the earth upon which thou standest, and the set time of the greater light which is set to rule the day, and the set time of the lesser light which is set to rule the night.

7 Now the set time of the lesser light is a longer time as to its reckoning than the reckoning of the time of the earth upon which thou standest.

8 And where these two facts exist, there shall be another fact above them, that is, there shall be another planet whose reckoning of time shall be longer still;

9 And thus there shall be the reckoning of the time of one planet above another, until thou come nigh unto Kolob, which Kolob is after the reckoning of the Lord’s time; which Kolob is set nigh unto the throne of God, to govern all those planets which belong to the same order as that upon which thou standest.

10 And it is given unto thee to know the set time of all the stars that are set to give light, until thou come near unto the throne of God.

11 Thus I, Abraham, talked with the Lord, face to face, as one man talketh with another; and he told me of the works which his hands had made;

12 And he said unto me: My son, my son (and his hand was stretched out), behold I will show you all these. And he put his hand upon mine eyes, and I saw those things which his hands had made, which were many; and they multiplied before mine eyes, and I could not see the end thereof.

13 And he said unto me: This is Shinehah, which is the sun. And he said unto me: Kokob, which is star. And he said unto me: Olea, which is the moon. And he said unto me: Kokaubeam, which signifies stars, or all the great lights, which were in the firmament of heaven.

14 And it was in the night time when the Lord spake these words unto me: I will multiply thee, and thy seed after thee, like unto these; and if thou canst count the number of sands, so shall be the number of thy seeds.

15 And the Lord said unto me: Abraham, I show these things unto thee before ye go into Egypt, that ye may declare all these words.

16 If two things exist, and there be one above the other, there shall be greater things above them; therefore Kolob is the greatest of all the Kokaubeam that thou hast seen, because it is nearest unto me.

17 Now, if there be two things, one above the other, and the moon be above the earth, then it may be that a planet or a star may exist above it; and there is nothing that the Lord thy God shall take in his heart to do but what he will do it.

18 Howbeit that he made the greater star; as, also, if there be two spirits, and one shall be more intelligent than the other, yet these two spirits, notwithstanding one is more intelligent than the other, have no beginning; they existed before, they shall have no end, they shall exist after, for they are gnolaum, or eternal.

19 And the Lord said unto me: These two facts do exist, that there are two spirits, one being more intelligent than the other; there shall be another more intelligent than they; I am the Lord thy God, I am more intelligent than they all.

20 The Lord thy God sent his angel to deliver thee from the hands of the priest of Elkenah.

21 I dwell in the midst of them all; I now, therefore, have come down unto thee to declare unto thee the works which my hands have made, wherein my wisdom excelleth them all, for I rule in the heavens above, and in the earth beneath, in all wisdom and prudence, over all the intelligences thine eyes have seen from the beginning; I came down in the beginning in the midst of all the intelligences thou hast seen.

22 Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones;

23 And God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said: These I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that were spirits, and he saw that they were good; and he said unto me: Abraham, thou art one of them; thou wast chosen before thou wast born.

24 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;

25 And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them;

26 And they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever.

27 And the Lord said: Whom shall I send? And one answered like unto the Son of Man: Here am I, send me. And another answered and said: Here am I, send me. And the Lord said: I will send the first.

28 And the second was angry, and kept not his first estate; and, at that day, many followed after him.

Chapter 4

The Gods plan the creation of the earth and all life thereon—Their plans for the six days of creation are set forth.

1 And then the Lord said: Let us go down. And they went down at the beginning, and they, that is the Gods, organized and formed the heavens and the earth.

2 And the earth, after it was formed, was empty and desolate, because they had not formed anything but the earth; and darkness reigned upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit of the Gods was brooding upon the face of the waters.

3 And they (the Gods) said: Let there be light; and there was light.

4 And they (the Gods) comprehended the light, for it was bright; and they divided the light, or caused it to be divided, from the darkness.

5 And the Gods called the light Day, and the darkness they called Night. And it came to pass that from the evening until morning they called night; and from the morning until the evening they called day; and this was the first, or the beginning, of that which they called day and night.

6 And the Gods also said: Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and it shall divide the waters from the waters.

7 And the Gods ordered the expanse, so that it divided the waters which were under the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so, even as they ordered.

8 And the Gods called the expanse, Heaven. And it came to pass that it was from evening until morning that they called night; and it came to pass that it was from morning until evening that they called day; and this was the second time that they called night and day.

9 And the Gods ordered, saying: Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the earth come up dry; and it was so as they ordered;

10 And the Gods pronounced the dry land, Earth; and the gathering together of the waters, pronounced they, Great Waters; and the Gods saw that they were obeyed.

11 And the Gods said: Let us prepare the earth to bring forth grass; the herb yielding seed; the fruit tree yielding fruit, after his kind, whose seed in itself yieldeth its own likeness upon the earth; and it was so, even as they ordered.

12 And the Gods organized the earth to bring forth grass from its own seed, and the herb to bring forth herb from its own seed, yielding seed after his kind; and the earth to bring forth the tree from its own seed, yielding fruit, whose seed could only bring forth the same in itself, after his kind; and the Gods saw that they were obeyed.

13 And it came to pass that they numbered the days; from the evening until the morning they called night; and it came to pass, from the morning until the evening they called day; and it was the third time.

14 And the Gods organized the lights in the expanse of the heaven, and caused them to divide the day from the night; and organized them to be for signs and for seasons, and for days and for years;

15 And organized them to be for lights in the expanse of the heaven to give light upon the earth; and it was so.

16 And the Gods organized the two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; with the lesser light they set the stars also;

17 And the Gods set them in the expanse of the heavens, to give light upon the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to cause to divide the light from the darkness.

18 And the Gods watched those things which they had ordered until they obeyed.

19 And it came to pass that it was from evening until morning that it was night; and it came to pass that it was from morning until evening that it was day; and it was the fourth time.

20 And the Gods said: Let us prepare the waters to bring forth abundantly the moving creatures that have life; and the fowl, that they may fly above the earth in the open expanse of heaven.

21 And the Gods prepared the waters that they might bring forth great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters were to bring forth abundantly after their kind; and every winged fowl after their kind. And the Gods saw that they would be obeyed, and that their plan was good.

22 And the Gods said: We will bless them, and cause them to be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas or great waters; and cause the fowl to multiply in the earth.

23 And it came to pass that it was from evening until morning that they called night; and it came to pass that it was from morning until evening that they called day; and it was the fifth time.

24 And the Gods prepared the earth to bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle and creeping things, and beasts of the earth after their kind; and it was so, as they had said.

25 And the Gods organized the earth to bring forth the beasts after their kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after its kind; and the Gods saw they would obey.

26 And the Gods took counsel among themselves and said: Let us go down and form man in our image, after our likeness; and we will give them dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

27 So the Gods went down to organize man in their own image, in the image of the Gods to form they him, male and female to form they them.

28 And the Gods said: We will bless them. And the Gods said: We will cause them to be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it, and to have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

29 And the Gods said: Behold, we will give them every herb bearing seed that shall come upon the face of all the earth, and every tree which shall have fruit upon it; yea, the fruit of the tree yielding seed to them we will give it; it shall be for their meat.

30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, behold, we will give them life, and also we will give to them every green herb for meat, and all these things shall be thus organized.

31 And the Gods said: We will do everything that we have said, and organize them; and behold, they shall be very obedient. And it came to pass that it was from evening until morning they called night; and it came to pass that it was from morning until evening that they called day; and they numbered the sixth time.

Chapter 5

The Gods finish Their planning of the creation of all things—They bring to pass the Creation according to Their plans—Adam names every living creature.

1 And thus we will finish the heavens and the earth, and all the hosts of them.

2 And the Gods said among themselves: On the seventh time we will end our work, which we have counseled; and we will rest on the seventh time from all our work which we have counseled.

3 And the Gods concluded upon the seventh time, because that on the seventh time they would rest from all their works which they (the Gods) counseled among themselves to form; and sanctified it. And thus were their decisions at the time that they counseled among themselves to form the heavens and the earth.

4 And the Gods came down and formed these the generations of the heavens and of the earth, when they were formed in the day that the Gods formed the earth and the heavens,

5 According to all that which they had said concerning every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew; for the Gods had not caused it to rain upon the earth when they counseled to do them, and had not formed a man to till the ground.

6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.

7 And the Gods formed man from the dust of the ground, and took his spirit (that is, the man’s spirit), and put it into him; and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.

8 And the Gods planted a garden, eastward in Eden, and there they put the man, whose spirit they had put into the body which they had formed.

9 And out of the ground made the Gods to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food; the tree of life, also, in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

10 There was a river running out of Eden, to water the garden, and from thence it was parted and became into four heads.

11 And the Gods took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden, to dress it and to keep it.

12 And the Gods commanded the man, saying: Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat,

13 But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the time that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. Now I, Abraham, saw that it was after the Lord’s time, which was after the time of Kolob; for as yet the Gods had not appointed unto Adam his reckoning.

14 And the Gods said: Let us make an help meet for the man, for it is not good that the man should be alone, therefore we will form an help meet for him.

15 And the Gods caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam; and he slept, and they took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in the stead thereof;

16 And of the rib which the Gods had taken from man, formed they a woman, and brought her unto the man.

17 And Adam said: This was bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; now she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man;

18 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh.

19 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

20 And out of the ground the Gods formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air, and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them; and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that should be the name thereof.

21 And Adam gave names to all cattle, to the fowl of the air, to every beast of the field; and for Adam, there was found an help meet for him.

SELECTIONS FROM THE BOOK OF GENISIS

Chapter 1 KING JAMES VERSION

God creates this earth and its heaven and all forms of life in six days—The creative acts of each day are described—God creates man, both male and female, in His own image—Man is given dominion over all things and is commanded to multiply and fill the earth.

1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

6 ¶ And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

9 ¶ And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.

12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.

14 ¶ And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:

15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.

16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.

17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,

18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.

19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.

23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

24 ¶ And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.

25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

26 ¶ And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

29 ¶ And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.

30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.

31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Chapter 2

The Creation is completed—God rests on the seventh day—The prior spirit creation is explained—Adam and Eve are placed in the Garden of Eden—They are forbidden to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil—Adam names every living creature—Adam and Eve are married by the Lord.

1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.

2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.

3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

4 ¶ These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,

5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.

6 But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.

7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

8 ¶ And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.

9 And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

10 And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.

11 The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;

12 And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone.

13 And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.

14 And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.

15 And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:

17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

18 ¶ And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

19 And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.

20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.

21 And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;

22 And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

Doctrine and Covenants D & C 93:-

28 He that keepeth his commandments receiveth truth and light, until he is glorified in truth and knoweth all things.

29 Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be.

30 All truth is independent in that sphere in which God has placed it, to act for itself, as all intelligence also; otherwise there is no existence.

31 Behold, here is the agency of man, and here is the condemnation of man; because that which was from the beginning is plainly manifest unto them, and they receive not the light.

32 And every man whose spirit receiveth not the light is under condemnation.

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

34 And when separated, man cannot receive a fulness of joy.

35 The elements are the tabernacle of God; yea, man is the tabernacle of God, even temples; and whatsoever temple is defiled, God shall destroy that temple.

36 The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth.

37 Light and truth forsake that evil one.

38 Every spirit of man was innocent in the beginning; and God having redeemed man from the fall, men became again, in their infant state, innocent before God.

THE BEGINNING OF LIFE ON THE EARTH – SCIENTIFIC THEORY

THE SCIENTIFIC THEORY

What natural phenomenon sparked the beginning of life

According to current scientific understanding, the most likely natural phenomenon that sparked the beginning of life on Earth is considered to be chemical reactions within a "primordial soup" of organic compounds, potentially triggered by energy sources like lightning strikes, ultraviolet radiation from the sun, or heat from hydrothermal vents in the early Earth's oceans; this theory is often referred to as the "Oparin-Haldane hypothesis.".

According to current scientific understanding, the first life forms on Earth were likely single-celled microorganisms, known as prokaryotes, that emerged in the early Earth's oceans, possibly near hydrothermal vents where hot, mineral-rich water interacted with the cooler ocean, creating conditions conducive to the formation of complex organic molecules from simpler compounds - a process called abiogenesis; the oldest fossil evidence of these early life forms dates back around 3.5 billion years ago.

Today we take for granted that we live among diverse communities of animals that feed on each other. Our ecosystems are structured by feeding relationships like orcas eating seals, which eat squid, which feed on krill. These and other animals require oxygen to extract energy from their food. But that’s not how life on Earth used to be.

With an environment devoid of oxygen and high in methane, for much of its history Earth would not have been a welcoming place for animals. The earliest life forms we know of were microscopic organisms (microbes) that left signals of their presence in rocks about 3.7 billion years old. The signals consisted of a type of carbon molecule that is produced by living things.

Evidence of microbes was also preserved in the hard structures (“stromatolites”) they made, which date to 3.5 billion years ago. Stromatolites are created as sticky mats of microbes trap and bind sediments into layers. Minerals precipitate inside the layers, creating durable structures even as the microbes die off. Scientists study today’s, rare living stromatolite reefs to better understand Earth’s earliest life forms.

An Oxygen Atmosphere

When cyanobacteria evolved at least 2.4 billion years ago, they set the stage for a remarkable transformation. They became Earth’s first photo-synthesizers, making food using water and the Sun’s energy, and releasing oxygen as a result. This catalyzed a sudden, dramatic rise in oxygen, making the environment less hospitable for other microbes that could not tolerate oxygen.

Evidence for this Great Oxidation Event is recorded in changes in seafloor rocks called Banded Iron Formations, or BIFs. When shallow water, enriched in oxygen, mixes with deep, iron-rich water, the iron reacts chemically with oxygen (it gets oxidized) and forms iron oxide minerals. These minerals sink down to the seafloor, forming dark, iron-rich layers in the rocks.

After the initial pulse of oxygen, it stabilized at lower levels where it would remain for a couple billion years more. In fact, as cyanobacteria died and drifted down through the water, the decomposition of their bodies probably reduced oxygen levels. So, the ocean was still not a suitable environment for most lifeforms that need ample oxygen.

Multicellular Life

However, other innovations were occurring. While they can process lots of chemicals, microbes did not have the specialized cells that are needed for complex bodies. Animal bodies have various cells – skin, blood, bone – which contain organelles, each doing a distinct job. Microbes are just single cells with no organelles and no nuclei to package their DNA.

Something revolutionary happened as microbes began living inside other microbes, functioning as organelles for them. Mitochondria, the organelles that process food into energy, evolved from these mutually beneficial relationships. Also, for the first time, DNA became packaged in nuclei. The new complex cells (“eukaryotic cells”) boasted specialized parts playing specialized roles that supported the whole cell.

Cells also began living together, probably because certain benefits could be obtained. Groups of cells might be able to feed more efficiently or gain protection from simply being bigger. Living collectively, cells began to support the needs of the group by each cell doing a specific job. Some cells were tasked with making junctions to hold the group together, while other cells made digestive enzymes that could break down food.

The First Animals

These clusters of specialized, cooperating cells eventually became the first animals, which DNA evidence suggests evolved around 800 million years ago. Sponges were among the earliest animals. While chemical compounds from sponges are preserved in rocks as old as 700 million years, molecular evidence points to sponges developing even earlier.

Oxygen levels in the ocean were still low compared to today, but sponges are able to tolerate conditions of low oxygen. Although, like other animals, they require oxygen to metabolize, they don’t need much because they are not very active. They feed while sitting still by extracting food particles from water that is pumped through their bodies by specialized cells.

The simple body plan of a sponge consists of layers of cells around water-filled cavities, supported by hard skeletal parts. The evolution of ever more complex and diverse body plans would eventually lead to distinct groups of animals.

The assembly instructions for an animal’s body plan are in its genes. Some genes act like orchestra conductors, controlling the expression of many other genes at specific places and times to correctly assemble the components. While they were not played out immediately, there is evidence that parts of instructions for complex bodies were present even in the earliest animals.

Thanks to their hard skeletons, sponges became the first reef builders on Earth. Scientists like Smithsonian’s Dr. Klaus Ruetzler are working to understand the evolution of the thousands of sponge species living on Earth today.

Ediacaran Biota

By about 580 million years ago (the Ediacaran Period) there was a proliferation of other organisms, in addition to sponges. These varied seafloor creatures - with bodies shaped like fronds, ribbons, and even quilts - lived alongside sponges for 80 million years. Their fossil evidence can be found in sedimentary rocks around the world.

However, the body plans of most Ediacaran animals did not look like modern groups. Smithsonian’s Dr. Douglas Erwin, using comparative developmental evidence, has examined whether any of the fossilized Ediacaran animals were related to modern animals.

By the end of the Ediacaran, oxygen levels rose, approaching levels sufficient to sustain oxygen-based life. The early sponges may actually have helped boost oxygen by eating bacteria, removing them from the decomposition process. Tracks of an organism named Dickinsonia costata suggest that it may have been moved along the sea bottom, presumably feasting on mats of microbes.

The End-Ediacaran Extinction

However, about 541 million years ago, most of the Ediacaran creatures disappeared, signaling a major environmental change that Douglas Erwin and other scientists are still working to understand. Evolving animal body plans, feeding relationships, and environmental engineering may have played a role.

Burrows found in the fossil record, dating to the end of the Ediacaran, reveal that worm-like animals had begun to excavate the ocean bottom. These early environmental engineers disturbed and maybe aerated the sediment, disrupting conditions for other Ediacaran animals. As environmental conditions deteriorated for some animals, they improved for others, potentially catalyzing a change-over in species.

The Cambrian Explosion

The Cambrian Period (541-485 million years ago) witnessed a wild explosion of new life forms. Along with new burrowing lifestyles came hard body parts like shells and spines. Hard body parts allowed animals to more drastically engineer their environments, such as digging burrows. A shift also occurred towards more active animals, with defined heads and tails for directional movement to chase prey. Active feeding by well-armored animals like trilobites may have further disrupted the sea floor that the soft Ediacaran creatures had lived on.

This article was updated October 31, 2024.Wikipedia

The Scientific Theory of how Life started is FALSE

*Even though Scientists say this was the beginning of life, they also say that all things are made up of atoms, and that light and matter cannot be created or destroyed, but they can be organized, reorganized and disorganized. Therefore life had no beginning on this Earth. Life as we know it hasn’t always existed here, nor has the earth as a planet, but the elements have. Man grew from a particle of light (energy Boson) that joined with a matter (mass Fermion) particle. The LDS call it “Intelligence” and the Buddhists call it “Jakiva or the Essence of Life.” “Intelligence” grew by joining up with another like particle and took counsel with a third. They grew in experience and knowledge until they became all knowing and all powerful. Thusly God was produced from the elements. God could not have created himself. God just didn’t exist in the form that we find Him in presently. Our God chose the form of a man and all of His offspring were created or organized in His image. The Plan became perfect. The Path was perfect, the balance was perfect, the organization was perfect, the being was perfect, the love was perfect, the understanding was perfect, the church was perfect, the gospel was perfect. The principles or laws of Science were used in the natural creation or organization of the Earth even though it may have taken millions of years, Earth’s time. Keep in mind that the Earth can be presently in its own time dimension or continuum other than God’s.* This footnote was added by Steve Streadbeck December 30, 2024

THE INTELLIGENCE PARTICLE Chapter 2 of The Intelligence Factor

The complete article a blog post in 2009

By Steve Streadbeck

Light and Life and Spirit are One

Benjamin F. Johnson was a man who was intimately associated with the Prophet Joseph Smith, the founder and restorer of the Church of Jesus Christ in these latter days to the earth, and by reason of his friendship and trustworthiness, he was privileged to enjoy the confidential instruction and counsels of the Prophet. I take this from a book the Majesty of God by Orson Pratt page 15.

“Well, the keys to all this knowledge was first committed to the Prophet Joseph, as a part of the Gospel, for the world’s benefit, for all of which he was derided. He was the first to teach in this age, “Substantialism” the eternity of matter, that no part or particle of the great universe could become annihilated or destroyed; that light and life and spirit were one; that all light is the “Glory of God” which is His power, that fills the immensity of space, and is the life of all things, and permeates with latent life, and heat, every particle of which all worlds are composed; that light or spirit, and matter, are the two first great primary principles of the universe, or of Being, that they are self-existent, co-existent, indestructible, and eternal, and from these two elements both our spirits and our bodies were formulated.”

The Prophet Joseph Smith taught the world in this statement by Benjamin Johnson so many truths about God and in understanding the nature of our beings and universe. We learn that there are -- two things – that make up everything; Light or Spirit and Matter, and that our Beings are made up of these self-existent, eternal elements, and that from these elements everything, including our spirits and bodies were formulated. This statement helps us to understand partially what the glory of God is and how God can be everywhere present and fill the universe with his power, by giving light and life to all things. Many other wonderful truths can be learned from this that we will get into later.

This should sound familiar to you from the previous chapter on particle theory. Science theorizes that everything is made from two classes of particles, the bosons, or force particles and the fermions, the matter particles. It is my belief that there is an energy particle which may be a “Sparkticle” or similar to it that is the same particle as light, spirit, and life. It is from the prophets that we learned the name for it as “Intelligence.”

In 1855 there was a book published by Dr. Moritz Busch, a German non Mormon, written about the Mormons, as an informative, somewhat anti church, declaration as to their beliefs and faith. As a note of interest, this book was the very one that when read by Karl Maeser converted him to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and later brought him to the United States and serve as president of Brigham Young University. Quoting from the translation of this book is what had been said by the Prophet Joseph Smith about the origination of God.

“”Before the beginning of all things, they say there were two existing principles: Intelligence and Matter, Understanding and Corporality. The interaction between these was “the Law” by which the early Gods arose. How the Primary God came into being is told by the Prophet himself. He says merely that He (meaning God) could not have created Himself. His successor (Brigham Young) expresses himself concerning this difficult point in the following way: In the far away eternity “two fundamental particles ….. compassed their Intelligence with each other and then called upon a third atom (intelligence particle) for counsel, whereupon they fused into a will which was the first power. As such, they joined together with more and more atoms, and out of this grew a fullness of power………… From this Intelligence, and then (this was translated literally) according to the Law, God was produced, not created and the rest of the Gods came forth from Him as His children.” [1]

Even though this statement may be a little unclear it does show that from writings such as this and many others that this quantum doctrine was common schooling in the early days of the church and was taught by the Prophet Joseph himself. That in the beginning "Intelligence," existing in a quantum state, probably the intelligence particle with the most light, compassed, or joined with another, again of like intelligence, and counseled with a third intelligence as Brigham Young explains. These three intelligences fused together forming a "will" or a unified mind, and became the First Power. (not unlike our present day Godhead as believed by many churches where God is the Father, His Son Jesus Christ a second personage, and the Holy Ghost as the third personage and they are all one. Meaning of one mind, or having one and the same purpose, thoughts and feelings, and making up the leadership of God’s creations, glory and kingdoms).

They joined with more and more intelligences, or in other words, other intelligences joined with them or followed them. The First Power must have progressed much the same way as we do, line upon line and precept upon precept, truth upon truth, gaining more and more light and knowledge, until they or it became all knowing and powerful. It became such by obtaining a bodily form and gaining experience as well as knowledge. There is no revelation about where and when it all began. The prophet said, "In a far away eternity." It was the center of the soon to be expanding universe. If there was a "Big Bang" and there most certainly could have been, from which all life emerged it must have occurred ions before our little universe was set in motion. We do know from revelations from God that we now are created in the image of OUR God and that our spirits, which house our intelligences, are placed inside of these bodies. The prophet said that according to the law, God the First Power was "produced," not created, for God could not have created Himself, and the rest of the Gods came forth from Him as His children.

Energy Prime or Intelligence

If you look back at Table 1, page 18 of the Three Families of Particles you see that there are commonalities to all three groups of particles and that they have a duality of nature. Intelligence possesses in like manner opposing features. I call this raw intelligence “Energy Prime” because it is the prime element within all that which has been organized or created. It has always existed but not always organized. It can be joined together and can be found in an infinite number of varying strengths.

Opposition has always existed and without which any single Intelligence could not obtain distinction over another. Good only exists if there is evil and God only exists if His opposite exists. Choice exists because of opposition and because it does, Intelligences have the opportunity to be free to choose. The first and greatest or strongest Intelligence particle developed a self identity which gained a stature of becoming the First Power or First God. God means all that there is good, and chose that which was all good. God developed a perfect plan whereby all Intelligences could progress to a state of perfection and obtain happiness. For some it may be as a rock, others as air and water, while the greatest and most noble one’s became the spirits of man and will have the opportunity to retain their identities forever, and so we call them “Self Identifying Intelligences”. From the beginning the plan is the same, the path is the same, the knowledge is the same, and the work is the same, and this will be forever and ever. It is OUR God’s work and glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal lives of all the intelligences as it was his father’s and his father’s before him back to the beginning. We as man follow the same path that will lead to our exaltation and eternal lives where the noble and great one’s amongst us can also become God’s. This teaching or belief is also not unique to the LDS faith, but can be found within other religions such as Buddhism, where man can become a Buddha himself. It is said that only the greatest among us ever will; “Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” (New Testament | Matthew 7:14) Buddists believe that it may take several lifetimes to accomplish this and so their thoughts of reincarnation become necessary. There is a place prepared for all the Intelligences in every round of creation. This earth isn’t the first and man didn’t evolve on it. He was placed here at the appropriate time when the earth was sufficiently prepared for him.

The Prophet Joseph taught these same truths in the 1830’s that scientists are discovering in these latter days. We have also been taught many of these truths from the prophet Lehi in the Book of Mormon, a book of metal plates found in a hillside in New York State and translated by Joseph Smith.

The fact is, the prophet Lehi, a character in the Book of Mormon, taught his children about the basic organization of the universe two thousand five hundred years before scientists had discovered the basics of particle development. He taught his sons that there are two things that make up everything in the universe. To quote him, “There are both things to act and things to be acted upon.” 2 Nep 2 It wasn’t until 1895 that the electron was discovered and, at first, called cathode rays by their discoverer. It has taken scientists up to 1983 before the standard model of particle physics was confirmed, and the prophet Joseph was teaching the leadership of the church through revelation from the Lord more advanced things about the nature of the universe and particle theory in the 1830’s.

Nature of Our Being

Brigham Young the second President and Prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints loved to talk on the nature of our beings, and felt that if we knew more about it, our lives would be unalterably different. He once made these remarks on the subject while speaking in the Tabernacle in Salt Lake City;

“I shall address you this morning upon a subject that is more interesting to me than any other pertaining to the life of man. It is a subject of deep study and research, and has been from age to age among the reflecting and philosophical portions of the human family. The intelligence given to the children of men is the subject to which I allude, and upon which has been expended more intellectual labor and profound thought than upon any other that has ever attracted the attention of man.” [2]

When reading his talk my attention was immediately peaked. He went on to say;

“If the inhabitants of the earth thoroughly understood their own being, their views, feelings, faith, and affections would be very different from what they now are.” [3]

This is it, “to understand ones’ own being” will help us all and it will help us to shape our views, feelings, faith and affections, and that our whole lives will be very different from what they now are. This was my search, to find out and understand my own being.

The Psalmist has written, "What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor."

The Prophet Brigham explains this by saying;

“This passage is but one of many which refer to the organization of man as though it were a great mystery—something that could not be fully comprehended by the greatest minds while dwelling in earthly tabernacles. It is a matter of vital interest to each of us, and yet it is often farthest from the thoughts of the greater portion of mankind. Instead of reflecting upon and searching for hidden things of the greatest value to them, they rather wish to learn how to secure their way through this world as easily and as comfortable as possible. The reflections what they are here for, who produced them, and where they are from, far too seldom enter their minds.” [4]

I believe that to Adam and Eve the truth was taught by God for all his posterity. Messengers revealed the truths of eternity and the meaning of life on the earth. It was and is found in the teachings of generations past and present. It is found in almost every religion by way of ancient manuscripts and pictographs on every continent.

Brigham Young expounds;

“The people upon this earth have a great many errors, and they have also a great many truths. This statement is not only true of the nations termed civilized—those who profess to worship the true God, but is equally applicable to pagans of all countries, for in their religious rights and ceremonies may be found a great many truths which we will also gather home to Zion. All truth is for the salvation of the children of men—for their benefit and learning—for their furtherance in the principles of divine knowledge; and divine knowledge is any matter of fact—truth; and all truth pertains to divinity.” [5]

This is the point that I refer to in my introduction, that all truth, whether spiritual or scientific pertains to divinity. Another way of saying it is that all principles of knowledge are divine, and all knowledge is what God possesses, uses and defines his Godhood.

Mysteries of The Mind

Shut your eyes. Now tell me if you think you actually exist. It is interesting that you actually KNOW you exist As the famous philosopher, Rene Descartes, declared:

“Cogito, ergo sum—I think, therefore I am” Descartes was a Frenchman who lived from 1596 to 1650 and is considered by many to be the father of modern philosophy. He believed everything consisted of two things: thinking substance-the mind-and extended substance-or matter. One thing he knew for certain, for fact that he personally existed. And by carefully following a series of propositions, he was certain that God also existed.” Each of us can know that we exist, but even more, we can know the reason for our existence. Let’s start with what we know today, and then we must go back to before the beginning of creation as we know it.

Scientific Building Blocks of the Universe

Science does and will eventually homogenize beliefs with religion. Remember that all truth is eternal; and all truth pertains to divinity. Science tells us that if we reduce everything back to its smallest nature there will be two elements that make up everything. That all particles whether they are energy particles or matter particles are not points but strings according to String Theory. These strings vibrate, if you will, at different frequencies. Each string possesses different signatures, of which many are the same, or are in groups of the same kind. According to religion there are numberless amounts that have acquired an individual signature, possessing a unique individuality. I mean to say that there are certain strings or particles of energy which have been called “light, spirit or intelligence,” by the prophets and are prime and yet there are some that are “self-identifying and individual” and can be referred to as one’s “intelligence” or the “mind” of our beings. They have always existed and can never be destroyed.

Religious Building Blocks of the Universe

In a talk to the Georgia Atlanta Mission brother Cleon Skousen told a group of missionaries his experience with brother John A. Widtsoe, an apostle in the church, and of Brother Widtsoe’s characteristic of not depriving brother Skousen of his unique training method for self discovery. Since it has already been discovered by brother Skousen I won’t ask you to find the answers but straightforwardly relate to you what he has already discovered.

Everything in existence is made up of two tiny particles. “When the prophet Lehi was on his death bed, he explained to his sons that everything in existence is made out of these two tiny building blocks.

We read from the Book of Mormon in 2 Nephi 2:

14 And now, my sons, I speak unto you these things for your profit and learning; for there is a God, and he hath created all things, both the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are, (there are) both things to act and things to be acted upon.[6]

Elder Widtsoe explains that Heavenly Father has called the things which acts by a certain name and the things which is acted upon by another name. These are the two building blocks out of which the Lord has made everything in the entire universe. We read from section 93 of the Doctrine and Covenants;

29 Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be.

30 All truth is independent in that sphere in which God has placed it, to act for itself, as all intelligence also; otherwise there is no existence.

33 For man is spirit. The elements are eternal, and spirit and element, inseparably connected, receive a fulness of joy;[7]

28 He that keepeth his commandments receiveth truth and light, until he is glorified in truth and knoweth all things.

The Lord tells us through his prophets that the thing which “acts” is called an “intelligence” and that which is “acted upon” is called “matter.” He said these building blocks have always existed. They are eternal.

Now remember that here we are talking about energy prime intelligence, not intellect or the self-existent intelligence. It is sometimes referred to in scripture as we speak of intelligence as “the light of truth,” and that neither of them, light or truth were “created or made,” and that they are eternal. Truth and Light “act for itself (here the personal pronoun itself designates that " light and truth" are singular and separate when referred to as intelligence)… otherwise there is no existence.” The self existent Intelligence particle can acquire truth and become the “light of truth.” Truth is eternal as intelligence is and is never changing.

What is Intelligence?

Brigham Young describes for us what the self-existent intelligence is;

“The principle of intelligence is within us. Who planted it there? He who made us. That which you see developed in the children of men (you may call it disposition, or whatever else you please,) is the force of the mind or the spirit, and the body is a tabernacle organized for its temporary habitation.” [8]

“The life that is within us is a part of an eternity of life, and is organized spirit, which is clothed upon by tabernacles, thereby constituting our present being, which is designed for the attainment of further intelligence. The matter composing our bodies and spirits has been organized from the eternity of matter that fills (the) immensity (of space).” [9]

“Our bodies are organized from the eternity of matter, from such matter as we breathe, and from such matter as is found in the vegetable and mineral kingdoms. This matter is organized into a world, with all its appendages, by whom? By the Almighty; and we see it peopled by men and women who are made in the image of God.”[10]

These building blocks always existed. They are eternal. They cannot be created and they cannot be destroyed. But they can be organized, DISorganized and Reorganized, as Brigham Young points out.

He also said that these tiny bits of primal matter or inert particles, are “capacitated to receive Intelligence.” In fact, Brigham Young – who was tutored by the prophet Joseph Smith – seems to have had a complete grasp of the nature of intelligence and its association with primal matter.

“There is an eternity of matter, and it is all acted upon and filled with a portion of divinity. [God’s organized intelligences,] Matter is to exist; it cannot be annihilated. Eternity is without bounds and is filled with matter; and there is no such thing as empty space. And matter is capacitated to receive intelligence….matter can be organized and brought forth into intelligence, and to possess more intelligence… and to continue to increase in intelligence…learn those principles that organized matter [can be made] into animals, vegetables, and into intelligent beings capacitated to receive intelligence.”[11]

These principles were thoroughly understood by Joseph Smith and the early brethren. As Apostle John A. Widtsoe and early apostle and prophet in the church said:

“It was clearly comprehended by the Prophet (Joseph Smith) and his associates that intelligence is the vivifying force of all creation-animate or inanimate – the rock and tree and beast and man, have ascending degrees of intelligence.”[12]

Brigham Young concurs:

“There is life [or intelligence] in all matter throughout the vast extent of all the eternities; it is in the rock, the sand, in water, air, the gasses, and in short, in every description and organization of matter, whether it be solid, liquid, or gaseous, particle operating with particle.”[13]

Definition of Intelligence

To better understand the definition of intelligence Bruce R. McConkie an Apostle of the church in our day defines in his book Mormon Doctrine page 387, that the use of this name “intelligence” designates both the primal element from which the spirit offspring were created and also their inherited capacity to grow in grace, knowledge, power, and intelligence itself, until such intelligences, gaining the fullness of all things, become like their Father, the Supreme Intelligence. (or the Attribute Intelligence) Teachings, p. 354.

Precisely speaking, these intelligences, have each attached themselves to particles of matter. Skousen believes that after this has occurred Abraham refers to them as “organized intelligences.” [14] In this primal form God communicated with and they (the intelligences) were organized by God. He then organized the ones possessing the greater amount of intelligence (the self-identifying intelligences) into his spirit children and others into the elements of the earth, its’ surroundings and dimensions.

22 Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones;

Skousen continued, “God can communicate with these intelligences and after they have been thoroughly trained, they can conform to the highly complex instruction they receive from the Father, the Son, or members of the Priesthood authorized to perform certain acts under the guidance of the Father or the Son.”

Joseph Smith taught us;

“The spirit of man is not a created being; it existed from eternity, and will exist to eternity. Anything created cannot be eternal; and earth, water, etc., had their existence in an elementary state, from eternity.”[15]

Here Joseph Smith teaches man that the “spirit of man” or the essence of his being existed from eternity and is spirit, which is eternal and cannot be created. He also said in the elementary state, the intelligence, of the earth, water, etc. had its existence from eternity. From this elementary state Abraham instructs us that they “the intelligences,” were instructed by God and organized by Jesus Christ under God’s command into the world as we know it.

Joseph Smith further educates us;

“ I have another subject to dwell upon, which is calculated to exalt man; but it is impossible for me to say much on this subject. I shall therefore just touch upon it, for time will not permit me to say all. It is associated with the subject of the resurrection of the dead,—namely, the soul—the mind of man—the immortal spirit. Where did it come from? All learned men and doctors of divinity say that God created it in the beginning; but it is not so: the very idea lessens man in my estimation. I do not believe the doctrine; I know better. Hear it, all ye ends of the world; for God has told me so; and if you don't believe me, it will not make the truth without effect. . . .

We say that God Himself is a self-existing being. Who told you so? It is correct enough; but how did it get into your heads? Who told you that man did not exist in like manner upon the same principles? Man does exist upon the same principles. . . .

The mind or the intelligence which man possesses is co-equal co-eternal with God himself. . . .

I am dwelling on the immortality of the spirit of man. Is it logical to say that the intelligence of spirits is immortal, and yet that it has a beginning? The intelligence of spirits had no beginning, neither will it have an end. . . .

Intelligence is eternal and exists upon a self-existent principle. It is a spirit from age to age and there is no creation about it. . . .”[16]

“The first principles of man are self-existent with God.” [17]

Joseph Fielding Smith a latter prophet commented on this statement as follows:

“In saying the spirit of man is not created the Prophet without any doubt had in mind the intelligence as explained in the Doctrine and Covenants (93), … but the Prophet taught very clearly that man is in very deed the offspring of God, and that the spirits of men were born in the spirit world the children of God.”[18]

Brigham Young has instructed us as to how the earth was created and how man came to be here.

“Jesus Christ says, "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." We are not now in a capacity to know him in his fullness of glory. We know a few things that he has revealed concerning himself, but there are a great many which we do not know. When people have secured to themselves eternal life, they are where they can understand the true character of their Father and God, and the object of the creation, fall, and redemption of man after the creation of this world. These points have ever been subjects for speculation with all classes of believers, and are subjects of much interest to those who entertain a deep anxiety to know how to secure to themselves eternal life. Our bodies are organized from the eternity of matter, from such matter as we breathe, and from such matter as is found in the vegetable and mineral kingdoms. This matter is organized into a world, with all its appendages, by whom? By the Almighty; and we see it peopled by men and women who are made in the image of God.”

“All this vast creation was produced from element in its unorganized state; the mountains, rivers, seas, valleys, plains, and the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms beneath and around us, all speaking forth the wonderful works of the Great God. Shall I say that the seeds of vegetables were planted here by the Characters that framed and built this world—that the seeds of every plant composing the vegetable kingdom were brought from another world? This would be news to many of you. Who brought them here? It matters little to us whether it was John, James, William, Adam, or Bartholomew who brought them; but it was some Being who had power to frame this earth with its seas, valleys, mountains, and rivers, and cause it to teem with vegetable and animal life.”

“Here let me state to all philosophers of every class upon the earth, When you tell me that father Adam was made as we make adobes from the earth, you tell me what I deem an idle tale. When you tell me that the beasts of the field were produced in that manner, you are speaking idle worlds devoid of meaning. There is no such thing in all the eternities where the Gods dwell. Mankind are here because they are the offspring of parents who were first brought here from another planet, and power was given them to propagate their species, and they were commanded to multiply and replenish the earth. The offspring of Adam and Eve are commanded to take the rude elements, and, by the knowledge God has given, to convert them into everything required for their life, health, adornment, wealth, comfort, and consolation. Have we the knowledge to do this? We have. Who gave us this knowledge? Our Father who made us; for he is the only wise God, and to him we owe allegiance; to him we owe our lives. He has brought us forth and taught us all we know. We are not indebted to any other power or God for all our great blessings.”[19]

Where we Came From

Figure 14 Quantum area or Outer Darkness Image by Brian Green The Elegant Universe

There is the area of Quantum Physics where chaos exists. It is an area of uncertainty and chance. Order doesn’t exist and yet on occasion may. The probable becomes improbable and the strange commonplace and bazaar. Here intelligence exists with an eternity of matter. This place is the place referred to in doctrine as “Outer Darkness.” It is FROM here that intelligence is rescued and organized by God.

Skousen asked Elder Widtsoe: “If we always existed, where did we come from?” He said, “Outer Darkness.” I asked, “How do we know that?” He said, “The Lord has revealed what happens to the sons of perdition, and by tracking their disintegration we learn where WE came from. For example, Father Lehi was on his death bed when he addressed his two wicked sons, Laman and Lemuel. He said they were in danger of becoming sons of perdition. They had seen an angel and heard the voice of God reprimanding them for several hours. Lehi therefore said that if they continued to try to murder Nephi and refused to repent of their heinous sins, they would become sons of perdition. Then he told them what that meant. He said they would be stripped of their resurrected bodies, “BOTH BODY AND SOUL”[20]

Brigham Young describes the process of depriving sons of perdition of both body and soul as mentioned by Father Lehi. He said:

“They will be decomposed, both soul and body, and return to their native element. [In other words, the elements of their resurrected bodies will be united with the earth’s, and resurrected (with the) earth]... They will be disorganized, and [it] will be as though they never had been, while WE will live and retain our identity, and contend against those principles which tend to death of dissolution....I want to preserve my identity, so that you can see Brigham in the eternal worlds just as you see him now.” [21]

He further explained that Satan and his angels would be stripped of their spirits. In both cases this leaves the individual intelligence without any embodiment whatever. Each one has lost his former identity, with nothing remaining but the naked, individual intelligence.

No doubt this is what the Lord meant when he said:

“Whosoever repenteth not is HEWN down and cast into the fire: and there cometh upon them again a spiritual death, yea, a second death, for they are cut off again as to things pertaining to righteousness.” [22]

And again:

“By and by the end cometh, and they are HEWN down and cast into the fire [of outer darkness], from whence there is no return.” [23]

At that point Skousen couldn’t help asking Widstoe; “What happens to these stripped, disembodied, naked intelligences?”

Elder Widtsoe then called his attention to Doctrine and Covenants, 88:32 where it says that these afflicted entities will “RETURN AGAIN to their own place.” The scripture says this means:

“They shall go away into outer darkness, where there is weeping, and wailing, and nashing of teeth.” [24]

And in another place it says:

“And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast [Satan] and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night FOR EVER AND EVER.” [25]

Just as wood when hewn down and cast into fire reduces it to ashes and separates the energy from the elements, so it happens to the disorganization of the body and soul when sent back to the place that is dark from the light of a supreme being and his divine organization.

Of course it would not be just for God to cast the bodies of the sons of perdition into outer darkness just because the master intelligence in charge of each spirit of resurrected sons of perdition had committed an unpardonable sin. Those tiny intelligences in those bodies had been obedient to God. Therefore, the material in the spirits and the resurrected bodies of Satan’s hosts will be consigned back to the earth and thereafter be glorified when the earth is celestialized.

The great tragedy of all this is that all those who became servants of Satan can never return. (D&C 29:29 and Mosiah 2:39) They cannot be swept up in some future round of creation and recycled. Having betrayed God after being endowed with tremendous spiritual blessings they have lost their place in God’s program of eternal progression forever. Numberless quantities of intelligences are awaiting their turn. Because the sons of perdition have betrayed God they have completely forfeited their eternal blessings.

Can God or His Servants rearrange the Building Blocks?

Finally, Skousen asked Elder Widtsoe, “Since everything is made out of the two simple building blocks consisting of intelligence and bits of primal matter, are there any instances where God has transposed one thing into something entirely different?”

“Yes” Elder Widtsoe replied. “God has done this for his prophets so they could comprehend the extent of the Father’s supreme power. For Example we have the story of Moses set forth in Exodus, Chapters 3 and 4. “Here is what happened:

When Moses was 80 years of age the Lord commissioned him to go down into Egypt and bring out the enslaved children of Israel.

Moses had left Egypt at the age of 40 under a death warrant for slaying a slave master. Therefore Moses was afraid to return to Egypt. The Lord assured Moses that he would go with him, but Moses was still afraid. Therefore, the Lord determined to demonstrate to his newly called prophet that having the power of God to go with him was a fantastic advantage.

To illustrate his power, God commanded Moses to cast his shepherd’s staff onto the ground. When he did so, the staff turned from the fibers of wood in the staff to the cellular flesh of a snake. This greatly frightened Moses and he began to flee, but the Lord told him to pick up the serpent by the tail and when he did so, the cellular flesh of the snake turned back into the wooden fibers of his shepherd’s staff.

The Lord then told Moses to put his hand into his bosom. Moses was about to learn something very remarkable about a human hand. To begin with, it is made of dirt, just ordinary common dirt. When the spirit leaves that hand it returns to dirt. But that dirt is saturated with intelligences. So the Lord said to those little entities, don’t go back to dirt but simulate leprosy. They did so, and when Moses was told by the Lord to withdraw his hand from his bosom, he was horrified to see it dripping with incurable leprosy. He must have wondered what God was doing to him?

The Lord then told Moses to put his hand back in his bosom, which he gingerly did. Then the Lord commanded the leprous cells to become healthy flesh as they were before. The Lord then told Moses to take his hand from his bosom and when he saw that it was now beautiful pink flesh, he was greatly relieved and gratified beyond expression.

The Lord promised Moses other miracles if they were needed--such as turning water into blood.[26]

However, this was sufficient to demonstrate the power of God to communicate with the intelligences in matter and thereby change wood to flesh and, later on, produce water gushing out of solid rock. [Numbers 20:11] In the final analysis, everything is made of two basic things and God can communicate with the vast host of intelligences to have them become whatever he wishes.

Figure 15 The communication of God’s Intelligence with basic element particles.

Image by Brian Green The Elegant Universe

Simply by changing the vibrations of the various strings or varying their ratio or atomic weight God could vary the elements into whatever he wanted.

This is not difficult to comprehend scientifically where a simple changing of the weight of different particles of the atom can completely change its’ element and make up a whole new product.

These Truths have been taught since the Beginning

Throughout the history of the world, the people were taught these principles. Clearly the Prophet Joseph taught the early leaders of the church concerning this matter. From Abraham to the Prophet Lehi it was taught and understood.

Read with me the words of Job in chapter 10, the heading and to verse 22.

Job is weary of life—He complains to God about his afflictions—Why hast thou brought me forth out of the womb? he asks. He understands that Man’s eyes see differently than God’s and is in a different time dimension. He knows that God is all powerful. He fully understands that he was an intelligence and that God molded him as the clay from the dust, he understands his power and goodness, that he was given a body of flesh and bones. He tells the Lord that he understands the purpose of life and is confused that the Lord might think that he is wicked. He believes he must be wicked for why would God do this to him if he were righteous? He believes that it would have been better that he would have remained as spirit. He lets us know that he understands that death is the separation of body and spirit, he even knows that the place that the very wicked go is a place of darkness, without order, and where light is as darkness. We call this place outer-darkness where the Sons of Perdition will return to.

1 MY soul is weary of my life; I will leave my complaint upon myself; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

2 I will say unto God, Do not condemn me; shew me wherefore thou contendest with me.

3 Is it good unto thee that thou shouldest oppress, that thou shouldest despise the work of thine hands, and shine upon the counsel of the wicked?

4 Hast thou eyes of flesh? or seest thou as man seeth?

5 Are thy days as the days of man? are thy years as man's days,

6 That thou enquirest after mine iniquity, and searchest after my sin?

7 Thou knowest that I am not wicked; and there is none that can deliver out of thine hand.

8 Thine hands have made me and fashioned me together round about; yet thou dost destroy me.

9 Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the clay; and wilt thou bring me into dust again?

10 Hast thou not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese?

11 Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast fenced me with bones and sinews.

12 Thou hast granted me life and favour, and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit.

13 And these things hast thou hid in thine heart: I know that this is with thee.

14 If I sin, then thou markest me, and thou wilt not acquit me from mine iniquity.

15 If I be wicked, woe unto me; and if I be righteous, yet will I not lift up my head. I am full of confusion; therefore see thou mine affliction;

16 For it increaseth. Thou huntest me as a fierce lion: and again thou shewest thyself marvellous upon me.

17 Thou renewest thy witnesses against me, and increasest thine indignation upon me; changes and war are against me.

18 Wherefore then hast thou brought me forth out of the womb? Oh that I had given up the ghost, and no eye had seen me!

19 I should have been as though I had not been; I should have been carried from the womb to the grave.

20 Are not my days few? cease then, and let me alone, that I may take comfort a little,

21 Before I go whence I shall not return, even to the land of darkness and the shadow of death;

22 A land of darkness, as darkness itself; and of the shadow of death, without any order, and where the light is as darkness.

(Old Testament | Job 10:Heading - 22)

Object of Our Creation

Intelligence has always existed, and it being useless unless there was something for it to act upon, or there would be no existence. God became the individual who grew grace by grace, truth by truth until he possessed all knowledge and held the keys and powers, and can pass on all truth to other souls who have been tried, tested and proven worthy. It has been a battle of good versus evil from all time. Reason tells me that there was a beginning. I am not talking about “Intelligence” for it had no beginning no will have an end. I am talking about the transformation or joining of intelligence with or combination of some additional elements as the beginning of that particle or evolution if you will into something other than pure intelligence. I don’t know when the first God became God, or why he chose the form he has chosen, it matters not for the purpose of our discussion today. I DO know that we are in the likeness and image of OUR God as was Jesus Christ, and that we can become like them, possessing all knowledge of truth and light by keeping His commandments. There are many truths that we know, and many more that we do not, or will not until some future time. We don’t have to know everything now to be able to progress.

Buddha put the search for truth in these terms; In the search for truth there are certain questions that are unimportant to obtain a Celestial Life. Of what material is the universe constructed? Is the universe eternal? Are there limits or not to the universe? In what way is this human society put together? What is the ideal form of organization for human society? If a man were to postpone his searching and practicing for Enlightenment until such questions were solved, he would die before he found the path.

Suppose a man were pierced by a poisoned, arrow, and his relatives and friends got together to call a surgeon to have the arrow pulled out and the wound treated. If the wounded man objects, saying, "Wait a little. Before you pull it out, I want to know who shot this arrow. Was it a man or a woman? Was it someone of noble birth, or was it a peasant? What was the bow made of? Was it a big bow, or a small bow, that shot the arrow? Was it made of wood or bamboo? What was the bow-string made of? Was it made of fiber, or of gut? Was the arrow made of rattan, or of reed? What feathers were used? Before you extract the arrow, I want to know all about these things." Then what will happen? Before all this information can be secured, no doubt, the poison will have time to circulate all through the system and the man may die.

The first duty is to remove the arrow, and prevent its poison from spreading. When a fire of passion is endangering the world, the composition of the universe matters little; what is the ideal form for the human community is not so important to deal with.

The question of whether the universe has limits ….can wait. The Buddha’s teaching contains what is important to know and not what is unimportant. It teaches man what he must know to obtain enlightenment. [27]

So what are some of the truths that are important to know?

Know this that you don't need to know everything before you can embrace both religion as well as science. Know this that science and religion are both truth. Know this that the pursuit of scientific intellectual stimulation alone won't bring you closer to knowing God. Know this that the path of intellectual enlightenment comes first and only from the light or spirit not of mind, flesh or matter. As Buddha says, don't postpone your search and practicing for Enlightenment until you solve all life's questions and die before you find the path. And most certainly don't take the cowards way out and postpone your quest because you believe the path is too difficult. There will be no greater reward in this life or in the next than being on the path to Enlightenment when you leave this life.

Intelligence is the energy particle or light that all things are made. This light can be increased or decreased. It can and does receive more intelligence as well as the attribute intelligence which can also be called light or truth.

I should like to conclude this part by repeating the words of Brigham Young,

“The whole object of the creation of this world is to exalt the intelligences that are placed upon it, that they may live, endure, and increase for ever and ever. We are not here to quarrel and contend about the things of this world, but we are here to subdue and beautify it. Let every man and woman worship their God with all their heart. Let them pay their devotions and sacrifices to him, the Supreme, and the Author of their existence. Do all the good you can to your fellow-creatures. You are flesh of my flesh and bone of my bone. God has created of one blood all the nations and kingdoms of men that dwell upon all the face of the earth: black, white, copper-colored, or whatever their color, customs, or religion, they have all sprung from the same origin; the blood of all is from the same element.”[28]

Our spirits were tabernacled from the dust of the earth endowed with the principle of intelligence, with the capacity to receive more intelligence.

He continues;

“We are organized to be so independent in this capacity as to determine and act for ourselves as to whether we will serve God and obey him in preference to serving ourselves. If we serve ourselves and evil principles, we do not sub serve the object of our creation. This element of which our tabernacles are organized is calculated to decompose and return to its mother earth, or to its native element. This intelligence, which might be called divine intelligence, is implanted in mortal or human beings; and if we take a course to promote the principles of life—seek unto our Father and God, and obtain his will and perform it, the spirit will become purified, sanctified, cleansed, and made holy in the body, and the grave will cleanse the flesh. When the spirit overcomes the evil consequences of the fall, which are in the mortal tabernacle, it will reign predominant in the flesh, and is then prepared to be exalted, and will, in the resurrection, be reunited with those particles that formed the mortal body, which will be called together as with the sound of a trumpet and become immortal. Why? Because the particles composing these bodies have been made subject and obedient, by the law of the everlasting Priesthood, and the will and commandment of the Supreme Ruler of the universe, who holds the keys of life and death. Every principle, act, and portion of the lives of the children of men that does not tend to this will lead to an eternal dissolution of the identity of the person.”[29]

THE VISION D&C 76 a book by N. B. Lindwall BOOKCRAFT 1951

“The Vision” is referring to the vision of Joseph Smiths’ concerning the 3 Degrees of Heaven.

The 76^th Section of the Doctrine and Covenants.

“Upon my return from Amherst conference, I resumed the translation of the Scriptures. From sundry revelations which had been received, it was apparent that many important points touching the salvation of man had been taken from the Bible, or lost before it was compiled. It appeared self-evident from what truths were left, that if God rewarded every one according to the deeds done in the body the term “Heaven” as intended for the Saints’ eternal home, must include more kingdoms than one. Accordingly, on the 16^th day of February, 1832, while translating St. John’s Gospel, myself and Elder Ridgon saw the following vision:

1 Hear, O ye heavens, and give ear, O earth, and rejoice ye inhabitants thereof, for the Lord is God, and beside him there is no Savior.

2 Great is his wisdom, marvelous are his ways, and the extent of his doings none can find out.

3 His purposes fail not, neither are there any who can stay his hand.

4 From eternity to eternity he is the same, and his years never fail.

5 For thus saith the Lord—I, the Lord, am merciful and gracious unto those who fear me, and delight to honor those who serve me in righteousness and in truth unto the end.

6 Great shall be their reward and eternal shall be their glory.

7 And to them will I reveal all mysteries, yea, all the hidden mysteries of my kingdom from days of old, and for ages to come, will I make known unto them the good pleasure of my will concerning all things pertaining to my kingdom.

8 Yea, even the wonders of eternity shall they know, and things to come will I show them, even the things of many generations.

9 And their wisdom shall be great, and their understanding reach to heaven; and before them the wisdom of the wise shall perish, and the understanding of the prudent shall come to naught.

10 For by my Spirit will I enlighten them, and by my power will I make known unto them the secrets of my will—yea, even those things which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor yet entered into the heart of man.

11 We, Joseph Smith, Jun., and Sidney Rigdon, being in the Spirit on the sixteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty-two—

12 By the power of the Spirit our eyes were opened and our understandings were enlightened, so as to see and understand the things of God—

13 Even those things which were from the beginning before the world was, which were ordained of the Father, through his Only Begotten Son, who was in the bosom of the Father, even from the beginning;

14 Of whom we bear record; and the record which we bear is the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, who is the Son, whom we saw and with whom we conversed in the heavenly vision.

15 For while we were doing the work of translation, which the Lord had appointed unto us, we came to the twenty-ninth verse of the fifth chapter of John, which was given unto us as follows—

16 Speaking of the resurrection of the dead, concerning those who shall hear the voice of the Son of Man:

17 And shall come forth; they who have done good, in the resurrection of the just; and they who have done evil, in the resurrection of the unjust.

18 Now this caused us to marvel, for it was given unto us of the Spirit.

19 And while we meditated upon these things, the Lord touched the eyes of our understandings and they were opened, and the glory of the Lord shone round about.

20 And we beheld the glory of the Son, on the right hand of the Father, and received of his fulness;

21 And saw the holy angels, and them who are sanctified before his throne, worshiping God, and the Lamb, who worship him forever and ever.

22 And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!

23 For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father—

24 That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God.

25 And this we saw also, and bear record, that an angel of God who was in authority in the presence of God, who rebelled against the Only Begotten Son whom the Father loved and who was in the bosom of the Father, was thrust down from the presence of God and the Son,

26 And was called Perdition, for the heavens wept over him—he was Lucifer, a son of the morning.

27 And we beheld, and lo, he is fallen! is fallen, even a son of the morning!

28 And while we were yet in the Spirit, the Lord commanded us that we should write the vision; for we beheld Satan, that old serpent, even the devil, who rebelled against God, and sought to take the kingdom of our God and his Christ—

29 Wherefore, he maketh war with the saints of God, and encompasseth them round about.

30 And we saw a vision of the sufferings of those with whom he made war and overcame, for thus came the voice of the Lord unto us:

31 Thus saith the Lord concerning all those who know my power, and have been made partakers thereof, and suffered themselves through the power of the devil to be overcome, and to deny the truth and defy my power—

32 They are they who are the sons of perdition, of whom I say that it had been better for them never to have been born;

33 For they are vessels of wrath, doomed to suffer the wrath of God, with the devil and his angels in eternity;

34 Concerning whom I have said there is no forgiveness in this world nor in the world to come—

35 Having denied the Holy Spirit after having received it, and having denied the Only Begotten Son of the Father, having crucified him unto themselves and put him to an open shame.

36 These are they who shall go away into the lake of fire and brimstone, with the devil and his angels—

37 And the only ones on whom the second death shall have any power;

38 Yea, verily, the only ones who shall not be redeemed in the due time of the Lord, after the sufferings of his wrath.

39 For all the rest shall be brought forth by the resurrection of the dead, through the triumph and the glory of the Lamb, who was slain, who was in the bosom of the Father before the worlds were made.

40 And this is the gospel, the glad tidings, which the voice out of the heavens bore record unto us—

41 That he came into the world, even Jesus, to be crucified for the world, and to bear the sins of the world, and to sanctify the world, and to cleanse it from all unrighteousness;

42 That through him all might be saved whom the Father had put into his power and made by him;

43 Who glorifies the Father, and saves all the works of his hands, except those sons of perdition who deny the Son after the Father has revealed him.

44 Wherefore, he saves all except them—they shall go away into everlasting punishment, which is endless punishment, which is eternal punishment, to reign with the devil and his angels in eternity, where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched, which is their torment—

45 And the end thereof, neither the place thereof, nor their torment, no man knows;

46 Neither was it revealed, neither is, neither will be revealed unto man, except to them who are made partakers thereof;

47 Nevertheless, I, the Lord, show it by vision unto many, but straightway shut it up again;

48 Wherefore, the end, the width, the height, the depth, and the misery thereof, they understand not, neither any man except those who are ordained unto this condemnation.

49 And we heard the voice, saying: Write the vision, for lo, this is the end of the vision of the sufferings of the ungodly.

50 And again we bear record—for we saw and heard, and this is the testimony of the gospel of Christ concerning them who shall come forth in the resurrection of the just—

51 They are they who received the testimony of Jesus, and believed on his name and were baptized after the manner of his burial, being buried in the water in his name, and this according to the commandment which he has given—

52 That by keeping the commandments they might be washed and cleansed from all their sins, and receive the Holy Spirit by the laying on of the hands of him who is ordained and sealed unto this power;

53 And who overcome by faith, and are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, which the Father sheds forth upon all those who are just and true.

54 They are they who are the church of the Firstborn.

55 They are they into whose hands the Father has given all things—

56 They are they who are priests and kings, who have received of his fulness, and of his glory;

57 And are priests of the Most High, after the order of Melchizedek, which was after the order of Enoch, which was after the order of the Only Begotten Son.

58 Wherefore, as it is written, they are gods, even the sons of God—

59 Wherefore, all things are theirs, whether life or death, or things present, or things to come, all are theirs and they are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.

60 And they shall overcome all things.

61 Wherefore, let no man glory in man, but rather let him glory in God, who shall subdue all enemies under his feet.

62 These shall dwell in the presence of God and his Christ forever and ever.

63 These are they whom he shall bring with him, when he shall come in the clouds of heaven to reign on the earth over his people.

64 These are they who shall have part in the first resurrection.

65 These are they who shall come forth in the resurrection of the just.

66 These are they who are come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly place, the holiest of all.

67 These are they who have come to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of Enoch, and of the Firstborn.

68 These are they whose names are written in heaven, where God and Christ are the judge of all.

69 These are they who are just men made perfect through Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, who wrought out this perfect atonement through the shedding of his own blood.

70 These are they whose bodies are celestial, whose glory is that of the sun, even the glory of God, the highest of all, whose glory the sun of the firmament is written of as being typical.

71 And again, we saw the terrestrial world, and behold and lo, these are they who are of the terrestrial, whose glory differs from that of the church of the Firstborn who have received the fulness of the Father, even as that of the moon differs from the sun in the firmament.

72 Behold, these are they who died without law;

73 And also they who are the spirits of men kept in prison, whom the Son visited, and preached the gospel unto them, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh;

74 Who received not the testimony of Jesus in the flesh, but afterwards received it.

75 These are they who are honorable men of the earth, who were blinded by the craftiness of men.

76 These are they who receive of his glory, but not of his fulness.

77 These are they who receive of the presence of the Son, but not of the fulness of the Father.

78 Wherefore, they are bodies terrestrial, and not bodies celestial, and differ in glory as the moon differs from the sun.

79 These are they who are not valiant in the testimony of Jesus; wherefore, they obtain not the crown over the kingdom of our God.

80 And now this is the end of the vision which we saw of the terrestrial, that the Lord commanded us to write while we were yet in the Spirit.

81 And again, we saw the glory of the telestial, which glory is that of the lesser, even as the glory of the stars differs from that of the glory of the moon in the firmament.

82 These are they who received not the gospel of Christ, neither the testimony of Jesus.

83 These are they who deny not the Holy Spirit.

84 These are they who are thrust down to hell.

85 These are they who shall not be redeemed from the devil until the last resurrection, until the Lord, even Christ the Lamb, shall have finished his work.

86 These are they who receive not of his fulness in the eternal world, but of the Holy Spirit through the ministration of the terrestrial;

87 And the terrestrial through the ministration of the celestial.

88 And also the telestial receive it of the administering of angels who are appointed to minister for them, or who are appointed to be ministering spirits for them; for they shall be heirs of salvation.

89 And thus we saw, in the heavenly vision, the glory of the telestial, which surpasses all understanding;

90 And no man knows it except him to whom God has revealed it.

91 And thus we saw the glory of the terrestrial which excels in all things the glory of the telestial, even in glory, and in power, and in might, and in dominion.

92 And thus we saw the glory of the celestial, which excels in all things—where God, even the Father, reigns upon his throne forever and ever;

93 Before whose throne all things bow in humble reverence, and give him glory forever and ever.

94 They who dwell in his presence are the church of the Firstborn; and they see as they are seen, and know as they are known, having received of his fulness and of his grace;

95 And he makes them equal in power, and in might, and in dominion.

96 And the glory of the celestial is one, even as the glory of the sun is one.

97 And the glory of the terrestrial is one, even as the glory of the moon is one.

98 And the glory of the telestial is one, even as the glory of the stars is one; for as one star differs from another star in glory, even so differs one from another in glory in the telestial world;

99 For these are they who are of Paul, and of Apollos, and of Cephas.

100 These are they who say they are some of one and some of another—some of Christ and some of John, and some of Moses, and some of Elias, and some of Esaias, and some of Isaiah, and some of Enoch;

101 But received not the gospel, neither the testimony of Jesus, neither the prophets, neither the everlasting covenant.

102 Last of all, these all are they who will not be gathered with the saints, to be caught up unto the church of the Firstborn, and received into the cloud.

103 These are they who are liars, and sorcerers, and adulterers, and whoremongers, and whosoever loves and makes a lie.

104 These are they who suffer the wrath of God on earth.

105 These are they who suffer the vengeance of eternal fire.

106 These are they who are cast down to hell and suffer the wrath of Almighty God, until the fulness of times, when Christ shall have subdued all enemies under his feet, and shall have perfected his work;

107 When he shall deliver up the kingdom, and present it unto the Father, spotless, saying: I have overcome and have trodden the wine-press alone, even the wine-press of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God.

108 Then shall he be crowned with the crown of his glory, to sit on the throne of his power to reign forever and ever.

109 But behold, and lo, we saw the glory and the inhabitants of the telestial world, that they were as innumerable as the stars in the firmament of heaven, or as the sand upon the seashore;

110 And heard the voice of the Lord saying: These all shall bow the knee, and every tongue shall confess to him who sits upon the throne forever and ever;

111 For they shall be judged according to their works, and every man shall receive according to his own works, his own dominion, in the mansions which are prepared;

112 And they shall be servants of the Most High; but where God and Christ dwell they cannot come, worlds without end.

113 This is the end of the vision which we saw, which we were commanded to write while we were yet in the Spirit.

114 But great and marvelous are the works of the Lord, and the mysteries of his kingdom which he showed unto us, which surpass all understanding in glory, and in might, and in dominion;

115 Which he commanded us we should not write while we were yet in the Spirit, and are not lawful for man to utter;

116 Neither is man capable to make them known, for they are only to be seen and understood by the power of the Holy Spirit, which God bestows on those who love him, and purify themselves before him;

117 To whom he grants this privilege of seeing and knowing for themselves;

118 That through the power and manifestation of the Spirit, while in the flesh, they may be able to bear his presence in the world of glory.

119 And to God and the Lamb be glory, and honor, and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

TESTIMONY OF SIDNEY RIGDON

(From sermon delivered at Nauvoo, April 6, 1844)

"If any man says it is not the work of God, I know he lies. Some of you who know you have a house, how long would it take to make you reason yourselves into belief that you have no house where you now reside with your families? Neither have we any power whereby we can ever persuade ourselves that this is not the Church of God. We do not care who sinks or swims, or opposes, but we know here is the Church of God, and I have authority before God for saying so. I have the testimony of Jesus, which is the spirit of prophecy. I have slept with it—I have walked with it. The idea has never been out of my heart for a moment, and I will reap the glory of it when I leave this world. I defy man and hell and devils to put it out of my heart. I defy all, and will triumph in spite of all of them. I know God. I have gazed upon the glory of God, the throne; the visions, and glories of God, and the visions of eternity in the days gone by."

THE KING FOLLETT DISCOURSE By Joseph Smith

(Excerpts) (With footnotes in blue by Pres. B. H. Roberts)

President Joseph Smith delivered the following discourse before about twenty thousand Saints at the April Conference of the Church, 1844, being the funeral sermon of Elder King Follett.

Reported by Willard Richards, Wilford Woodruff, Thomas Bullock, and William Clayton.* This discourse was first published in the "Times and Seasons" of August 1, 1844.

♦It must be remembered that the report of the Prophet's speech, made by the brethren above named, was not a stenographic report, but one made in longhand, and afterwards perfected as nearly as possible by consultation and mutual correcting and development of each other's notes. It may, therefore, be concluded that there are some imperfections in the report of this discourse which one here and there feels, since at some points the matter is not absolutely dear or the thought not completely rounded out For a farther discussion and illustration of the matter, see the History of the Church, vol. iv, pp. 556-7

Beloved Saints: I will call (require) the attention of this congregation while I address you on the subject of the dead. The decease of our beloved brother, Elder King Follett, who was crushed in a well by the falling of a tub of rock, has more immediately led me to that subject I have been requested to speak by his friends and relatives, but inasmuch as there are a great many in this congregation who live in this city as well as elsewhere, who have lost friends, I feel disposed to speak on the subject in general, and offer you my ideas, so far as I have ability, and so far as I shall be inspired by the Holy Spirit to dwell on this subject....

Before I enter fully into the investigation of the subject which is lying before me, I wish to pave the way and bring up the subject from the beginning, that you may understand it I will make a few preliminaries, in order that you may understand the subject when I come to it I do not calculate or intend to please your ears with superfluity of words or oratory, or with much learning; but I calculate (intend) to edify you with the simple truths from heaven.

In the first place, I wish to go back to the beginning—-to the morn of creation. There is the starting point for us to look to, in order to understand and be fully acquainted with the mind, purposes and decrees of the Great Elohim, who sits in yonder heavens as he did at the creation of this world. It is necessary for us to have an understanding of God himself in the beginning. If we start right, it is easy to go right all the time; but if we start wrong, we may go wrong, and it will be a hard matter to get right.

There are but a very few beings in the world who understand rightly the character of God. The great majority of mankind do not comprehend anything, either that which is past, or that which is to come, as it respects their relationship to God. They do not know, neither do they understand the nature of that relationship, and consequently they know but little above the brute beast, or more than to eat, drink and sleep. This is all man knows about God or his existence, unless it is given by the inspiration of the Almighty.

If a man learns nothing more than to eat, drink and sleep, and does not comprehend any of the designs of God, the beast comprehends the same things. It eats, drinks, sleeps, and knows nothing more about God; yet it knows as much as we, unless we are able to comprehend by the inspiration of Almighty God. If men do not comprehend the character of God, they do not comprehend themselves.* I want to go back to" the beginning, and so lift your minds into a more lofty sphere and a more exalted understanding than what the human mind generally aspires to.

I want to ask this congregation, every man, woman and child, to answer the question in his own heart, what land of a being God is? Ask yourselves; turn your thoughts into your hearts, and say if any of you have seen, heard or communed with him. This is a question that may occupy your attention for a long time. I again repeat the question—What kind of a being is God ? Does any man or woman know? Have any of you seen him, heard him, or communed with him? Here is the question that will, peradventure, from this time hence forth occupy your attention. The scriptures inform us that "This life eternal that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent."

If any man does not know God, and inquires what kind of a being he is—if he will search diligently his own heart—if the declaration of Jesus and the apostles be true, he will realize that he has not eternal life; for there can be eternal life on no other principle.

•This is somewhat at variance with Pope's admonition— Know then thyself, presume not God to scan; The proper study for mankind is man.

Reflection on the Prophet's utterance, however, will justify his doctrine. Han will remain a mystery to himself until he has mastered somewhat the mystery of God. An understanding of each is essential to the understanding; of the other. "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent" (St. John 17). It is clearly, then, within the spiritual economy of God that men shall know him, for upon that fact depends eternal life. Moreover, though "it may be admitted without controversy that "great is the mystery of Godliness" yet "God was manifested (marginal reading) in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory—" (I Tim. 8:16)—all in plain allusion to the Christ, who was, therefore, God manifested (i. e. revealed) in the flesh; so that all may know God through Jesus Christ; and by understanding him, understand God and thus lay the foundation of better self-knowledge.

I will go back to the beginning before the world was, to show what kind of a being God is. What sort a being was God in the beginning? Open your ears and hear, all ye ends of the earth, for I am going to prove it to you by the Bible, and tell you the designs of God in relation to the human race and why he interferes with the affairs of man.

God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man and sits enthroned in yonder heavens! That is the great secret. If the veil were rent today and the great God who holds this world in its orbit, and who upholds all worlds and all things by his power, was to make himself visible—I say, if you were to see him today, you would see him like a man in form - like yourselves in all the person, image, and very form as a man; for Adam was created in the very fashion, image and likeness of God, and received instruction from, and walked, talked, and conversed with him, as one man talks and communes with another.

In order to understand the subject of the dead for the consolation of those who mourn for the loss of their friends, it is necessary that we should understand the character and being of God and how he came to be so; for I am going to tell you how God came to be God. We have imagined and supposed that God was God from all eternity. I will refute that idea, and take away the veil, so that you may see.

These are incomprehensible ideas to some, but they are simple. It is the first principle of the gospel to know for a certainty the character of God, and to know that we may converse with him as one man converses with another, and that , he was once a man like us; yea, that God himself, the father , of us all, dwelt on an earth, the same as Jesus Christ himself • did; and I will show it from the Bible.

I wish I was in a suitable place to tell it, and that I had the trumpet of an archangel, so

The doctrine here taught was afterwards thrown into the following ⁷ Aphorism by Lorenzo Snow;

“As man now is, God once was; As God now is, man may become.”

This form of expressing the truth was doubtless original with Lorenzo r Snow, but not the doctrine itself. That is contained in the Prophet's remarks above, text and context.

that I could tell the story In such a manner that persecution would cease forever. What did Jesus say? (Mark it, Elder Rigdon!) The scriptures inform us that Jesus said, As the Father hath power in himself, even so hath the Son power--to do what? Why, what the Father did. The answer is obvious—in a manner to lay down his body and take it up again. Jesus, what are you going to do? To lay down my life as my Father did, and take it up again. Do you believe it? If you do not believe it you do not believe the Bible.* The scriptures say it and I defy all the learning and wisdom and all the combined powers of earth and hell together to refute it.

Here, then, is eternal life—-to know the only wise and true God; and you have got to learn how to be Gods yourselves, and to be kings and priests to God, the same as all Gods have done before you, namely, by going from one small degree to another, and from a small capacity to a great one; from grace to grace, from exaltation to exaltation, until you attain to the resurrection of the dead, and are able to dwell in everlasting burnings, and to sit in glory, as do those who sit enthroned in everlasting power. And I want you to know that God, in the last days, while certain individuals are proclaiming his name, is not trifling with you or me.

♦The argument here made by the Prophet is very much strengthened by the following passage: "The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do; for what things so ever he (the Father) doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise." (St. John .5:10).

Perhaps no passage in the Prophet's discourse has given more offense than the one here noted, and yet men are coming to think and feel the truth of what he said. Henry Drummond, for instance (following the Prophet by half a century), in his really great work, "Natural Law in the Spiritual World,” in the chapter on Growth, wherein he points out the difference Between the merely mortal man and one whose life has been touched by the spiritual power of God, and so received something that the merely mortal man has not received, says: ^“The end of salvation is perfection, the Christ-like mind, character and life. * * * Therefore the man who has within himself this great formative agent, Life (spiritual life), is nearer the end than the man who has mortality alone. The latter can never reach perfection, the former must. For the life must develop out according to its type; and being a germ of the Christ-life, it must unfold into Christ." Joseph Smith's doctrine means no more than this.

Sir Oliver Lodge says much to the some effect in the following passage on "Christianity and Science." (Hibbert's Journal, April, 1916):

"It is orthodox, therefore, to maintain that Christ’s & birth was miraculous and his death portentous, that he continued in existence otherwise than as we men continue, that his very body rose and ascended into heaven—whatever that collocation of words may mean. But I suggest that such an attempt at exceptional glorification of his body is a pious heresy—a heresy which misses the truth lying open to our eyes. His humanity is to be recognized as real and ordinary and thorough and complete; not in the middle life alone; but at birth, and at death and after death. Whatever happened to him may happen to any one of us, provided we attain the appropriate attitude; an attitude which, whether within our individual reach or not, is assuredly within reach of humanity. That is what he urged again and again. "Be horn again." "Be ye perfect," "Ye are the sons of God." "My Father and your Father, my God and your God." The un-uniqueness of the ordinary humanity of Christ is the first patent truth, masked only by well-meaning and reverent superstition. But the second truth is greater than that-^without it the first would be meaningless and useless,—if man alone, what gain have we? The world is full of men. What the world wants is a God. Behold the God!—(that is, the God, Jesus Christ.)

The divinity of Jesus is the truth which now requires to be reperceived, to be illumined afresh by new knowledge, to be cleansed and revivified by the

wholesome flood of skepticism which has poured over it; it can be freed now from an trace of groveling superstition; and can be recognized freely and enthusiastically; the divinity of Jesus, and (the divinity) of all other noble and saintly souls, in so far as they, too, have been Inflamed by a spark of Deity—in so far as they, too, can be recognized as manifestations of the Divine.

These are the first principles of consolation. How consoling to the mourners when they are called to part with a husband, wife, father, mother, child, or dear relative, to know that, although the earthly tabernacle is laid down and dissolved, they shall rise again to dwell in everlasting burning sin immortal glory, not to sorrow, suffer, or die any more; but they shall be heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. What is it? To inherit the same power, the same glory and the same exaltation, until you arrive at the station of a God, and ascend the throne of eternal power, the same as those who have gone before. What did Jesus do? Why, I do the things I saw my Father do when worlds came rolling into existence. My Father worked out His kingdom with fear and trembling, and I must do the same; and when I get my Kingdom, I shall present it to my Father, so that he may obtain kingdom upon kingdom, and it will exalt him in glory. He will then take a higher exaltation, and I will take his place, and thereby become exalted myself. So that Jesus treads in the tracks of his Father, and inherits what God himself did before; and God is thus glorified and exalted in the salvation and exaltation of all his children. It is plain beyond disputation, and you thus learn some of the first principles of the gospel, about which so much hath been said.

When you climb up a ladder, you must begin at the bottom, and ascend step by step, until you arrive at the top; and so it is with the principles of the gospel—you must begin with the first, and go on until you learn all the principles of exaltation. But it will be a great while after you have passed through the veil before you will have learned them. It is not all to be comprehended in this world; it will be a great work to learn our salvation and exaltation even beyond the grave. I suppose that [ am not allowed to go into an investigation of anything that is not contained in the Bible. If I do, I think there are so many over-wise men here, that they would cry "treason" and put me to death. So I will go to the old Bible and turn commentator today.

I shall comment on the very first Hebrew word in the Bible; I will make a comment on the very first sentence of the history of creation in the Bible—Berosheit. I want to analyze the word. Baith—in, by, through, and everything else. Rosh— the head. Sheit—grammatical termination. When the inspired man wrote it, he did not put the baith there. An old Jew without any authority added the word; he thought it too bad to begin to talk about the head! It read first, 'The head one of the Gods brought forth the Gods." That is the true meaning of the words. Baurau signifies to bring forth. If you do not believe it, you do not believe the learned men of God. Learned men can teach you no more than what I have told you. Thus the head God brought for the Gods in the grand council. * * * *

In the beginning, the head of the Gods called a council of the Gods; and they came together and concocted a plan to create the world and people it. When we begin to learn this way, we begin to learn the only true God, and what kind of being we have got to worship. Having a knowledge of God, we begin to know how to approach him, and how to ask so as to receive an answer.

When we understand the character of God, and know how to come to him, he begins to unfold the heavens to us, and to tell us all about it. When we are ready to come to him, he is ready to come to us.

Now, I ask all who hear me why the learned men who are preaching salvation, say that God created the heavens and the earth out of nothing? The reason is, that they are unlearned in the

things of God, and have not the gift of the Holy Ghost; they account it blasphemy in any one to contradict their idea. If you tell them that God made the world out of something, they will call you a fool. But I am learned and know more than all the world put together. The Holy Ghost does, anyhow, and he is within me and comprehends more than all the world; and I will associate myself with him.

You ask the learned doctors why they say the world was made out of nothing, and they will answer, "Doesn't the Bible say he created the world?" And they infer, from the word create, that it must have been made out of nothing. Now, the word create came from the word baurau, which does not mean to create out of nothing; it means to organize; the same as a man would organize materials and build a ship.*

♦The views of the Prophet on this subject of creation is abundantly sustained by men of learning' subsequent to his time. The Rev. Baden Powell of Oxford University, for instance, writing for Kitto's Encyclopedia of Biblical Literature, says; "The meaning of this word (create) has been commonly associated with the idea of 'making out of nothing.' But when we come to inquire more precisely into the subject, we can, of course, satisfy ourselves as to the meaning only from an examination of the original phrase." The learned professor then proceeds to say that three distinct Hebrew verbs are in different places employed with reference to the same divine act, and may be translated, respectively, create, make, "form or fashion." "Now," continues the professor, "though each of these has its shade of distinction, yet the best critics understand them as so nearly synonymous that, at least in regard to the idea of making out of nothing, little or no foundation for that doctrine can be obtained from the first of these words—viz., the verb translated "create," then the chances are still less for there being any foundation for the doctrine of creation from nothing in the verb translated, "made," "formed" or "fashioned."

Professor Powell further says: "The idea of 'creation,' as meaning absolutely 'making out of nothing,' or calling into existence that which did not exist before, in the strictest sense of the term, is not a doctrine of scripture but it has been held by many on the grounds of natural theology, as enhancing the ideas we form of the divine power, and more specially since the contrary must imply the belief in the eternality and self-existence of matter."

Dr. William Smith's great dictionary of the Bible (Hackett edition, 1894) has no article on the term "create" or "creation," but in the article "earth" we have reference to the subject, and really an implied explanation as to why this work contains no treatise on "create" or "creation." "The act of creation itself as recorded in the first chapter of Genesis, is a subject beyond and above the experience of man; human language, derived, as it originally was, from the sensible and material world, fails to find an adequate term to describe the act; for our word 'create' and the Hebrew bara, though most appropriate to express the idea of an original creation; are yet applicable and must necessarily be applicable to other modes of creation; nor does the addition of such expressions as 'out of things that were not,' or 'not from things which appear/ contribute much to the force of the declaration. The absence of a term which shall de-

scribe exclusively an original creation is a necessary infirmity of language; as he events occurred but once; the corresponding term must, in order to be adequate, have been coined for the occasion and reserved for it alone, which would have been impossible.”

Hence we infer that God had materials to organize the world out of chaos—chaotic matter, which is element and in which dwells all the glory. Element had an existence from the time he had. The pure principles of element are principles which can never he destroyed; and they may he organized and reorganized, hut not destroyed. They had no beginning, and can have no end.*

I have another subject to dwell upon, which is calculated » exalt man; but it is impossible for me to say much on this subject; I shall therefore just touch upon it, for time will not permit me to

The philosophers with equal emphasis sustain the contention of the Prophet. Herbert Spencer, in his ''First Principles," (I860), said:

"There was once universally current, a notion that things could vanish into absolute nothing, or arise out of absolute nothing. * • * The current theology, n its teachings respecting the beginning and the end of the world, is clearly pervaded by it. * * * The gradual accumulation of experiences has tended slowly to reverse this conviction; until now, the doctrine that matter is indestructible has become a commonplace. All the apparent proofs that something an come out of nothing, a wider knowledge has one by one cancelled. The comet hat is suddenly discovered in the heavens and nightly waxes larger, is proved lot to be a newly-created body, but a body, that was until lately beyond the range of vision. The cloud which in the course of a few minutes forms in the sky, consists not of substance that has just begun to be, but of substance that previously existed in a more diffused and transparent form. And similarly with a crystal or precipitate in relation to the fluid depositing it. Conversely, the seeming annihilations of matter turn out, on closer observation, to be only changes of state. It is found that the evaporated water, though it has become invisible may be brought by condensation to its original shape. The discharged fowling-piece gives evidence that though the gunpowder has disappeared, there have appeared in place of It certain gases, which, in assuming a larger volume, have caused the explosion."

Fiske follows Spencer, of course, and in his "Cosmic Philosophy" sums up the matter in these words: "It is now inconceivable that a particle of matter should either come into existence, or lapse into non-existence."

Robert Kennedy Duncan (1905), in his "New Knowledge," says: "Governing natter in all its varied forms, there is one great fundamental law which up to this time has been ironclad in its character. This law, known as the law of the conservation of mass, states that no particle of matter, however small, may be created or destroyed. All the king's horses and all the king's men cannot destroy a pin's head. We may smash that pin's head, dissolve it in acid, burn it in the electric furnace, employ, in a word, every annihilating agency, and yet that pin's head persists in being. Again, it is as uncreatable as it is indestructible. In other words, we cannot create something out of nothing. The material must be tarnished for every existent article. The sum of matter in the universe is x-pounds—and, while it may be carried through a myriad of forms, when all is said and done, it is just x-pounds."

*"The. elements are eternal, and spirit and element inseparably connected receive a fullness of joy. * * * The elements are the tabernacle of God; yea, man is the tabernacle of God, even temples."—Doc. and Cov., see. 98:85.

say all. It is associated with the subject of the resurrection of the dead,—namely, the soul—the mind of man —the immortal spirit Where did it come from? All learned men and doctors of divinity say that God created it in the beginning; but it is not so: the very idea lessens man in my estimation. I do not believe the doctrine: I know better. Hear it, all ye ends of the world; for God has told me so; and if you don't believe men, it will not make the truth without effect. I will make a man appear a fool before I get through if he does not believe it. I am going to tell of things more noble.

We say that God himself is a self-existent being. Who told you so ? It is correct enough; but how did it get into your heads? Who told you that man did not exist in like manner upon the same principles? Man does exist upon the same principles. God made a tabernacle and put a spirit into it, and it became a living soul. (Refers to the old Bible.) How does it read in the Hebrew? It does not say in the Hebrew that God created the spirit of man. It says, "God made man out of earth and put into him Adam's spirit, and so became a living body."

The mind or the intelligence which man possesses is coequal* with God himself. I know that my testimony is true; hence, when I talk to these mourners, what have they lost? Their relatives and friends are only separated from their bodies for a short season;

"I (the Christ) was in the beginning with the Father, and was the first born. * * * Ye (addressing the brethren present when the revelation was being received)—ye were also in the beginning with the Father; that which is spirit (i. e., that part of the brethren that was spirit), even the spirit of truth. * * Man (the race, all men, the term man is generic)—man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence (meaning doubtless the intelligent entity in each man—all intelligences) intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be."—Doc and Cov., sec 113. Hence the self-existence, and necessarily the eternal existence, and uncreatableness of the minds or intelligences of men, for which the Prophet is contending in his discourse.

♦Undoubtedly the proper word here would be "co-eternal," not "co-equal." This illustrates the imperfection of the report made of the sermon. For surely the mind of man is not co-equal with God except in the matter of its eternity. It is the direct statement in the Book of Abraham—accepted by the Church as scripture—that there are differences in the intelligences that exist, that some are more intelligent than others; and that God is "more Intelligent than they all"—Book of Abraham, chap. 3. I believe that this means more than that God is more intelligent than any other one of the intelligences. It means that he is more intelligent than all of the other intelligences combined. His intelligence is greater than that of the mass, and that has led me to Bay in the second Year Book of the Seventies: "It is this fact doubtless which makes this One, 'more intelligent than they all'."

their spirits which existed with God have left the tabernacle of clay only for a little moment, as it were; and they now exist in a place where they converse together the same as we do on the earth.

I am dwelling on the immortality of the spirit of man. Is it logical to say that the intelligence of spirits is immortal, and yet that it had a beginning? The intelligence of spirits had no beginning, neither will it have an end. That is good logic. That which has a beginning may have an end. There never was a time when there were not spirits; for they are co-equal (co-eternal) with our Father in Heaven.

I want to reason more on the spirit of man; for I am dwelling on the body and spirit of man—on the subject of the dead. I take my ring from my finger and liken it unto the mind of man—the immortal part, because it has no beginning. Suppose you cut it in two; then it has a beginning and an end; but join it again, and it continues one eternal round. So with the spirit of man. As the Lord liveth, if it had a beginning, it will have an end. All the fools and learned and wise men from the beginning of creation, who say that the spirit of man had a beginning, prove that it must have an end; and if that doctrine is true, then the doctrine of annihilation would be true. But if I am right, I might with boldness proclaim from the housetops that God never had the power to create the spirit of man at all. God himself could not create himself.

Intelligence is eternal and exists upon a self-existent principle. It is a spirit from age to age, and there is no creation about it. All the minds and spirits that God ever sent into the world are susceptible of enlargement.

God. He is the All-Wise-One The All-Powerful-One! What he tells other Intelligences to do most be precisely the wisest, fittest thing that they could anywhere or anyhow learn—the thing which will always behoove them, with right loyal thankfulness, and nothing doubting, to do. There goes with this, too, the thought that this All-Wise-One will be the Unselfish One, the All-Loving-One, the One who desires that which is highest, and best not for himself alone, but for all; and that will be best for him, too. His glory, his power, his joy will be enhanced by the uplifting of all, by enlarging them; by increasing their joy, power, and glory. And because this All-Intelligent One is all this, and does all this, the other Intelligences worship him, submit their judgments and their win to his judgment and his will. He knows, and can do that which is best; and this submission of the mind to the Host Intelligent, Wisest—wiser than all—is worship. This the whole meaning of the doctrine and the life of Christ expressed in-—"Father, not my will, but Thy will be done."

The first principles of man are self-existent with God. God himself, finding he was in the midst of spirits and glory, because he was more intelligent, saw proper to institute laws whereby the rest could have a privilege to advance like himself. The relationship we have with God places us in a situation to Advance in knowledge. He has power to institute laws to instruct the weaker intelligences, that they may be exalted with • himself, so that they might have one glory upon another, and all that knowledge, power, glory, and intelligence, which is requisite in order to save them in the world of spirits.*⁴¹

I want to talk more of the relation of man to God.

I will open your eyes in relation to your dead. All things whatsoever God in his infinite wisdom has seen fit and proper to reveal to us, while we are dwelling in mortality, in regard to our mortal bodies, are revealed to us in the abstract, and independent of affinity of this mortal tabernacle, but are revealed to our spirits precisely as though we had no bodies at all; and those revelations, which will save our spirits will save our bodies. God reveals them to us in view of no eternal dissolution of the body, or tabernacle.

*"A spirit from age to age"—not "spirit from age to age"; but "a spirit, "that is, an entity, a person, an individual. This paragraph in the Prophet's remarks may well be taken as an interpretation of Doc. and Cov., sec. 98:29. But are not creatable," would have rounded out the thought. "Behold this is my work and my glory, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man."—(The Lord to Moses, Book of Moses, chap. 1:39; Pearl of Great Price)—that is, "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man," as man. The passage has reference doubtless to man as composed of spirit and body—a proper "soul." (See Doc. and Cov, sec. 88: 16-16) "For the spirit and the body are the soul of man; and the resurrection of the dead is the redemption of the soul." In other words, the "work" and the "glory" of God are achieved in bringing to pass the "immortality and eternal life of man," as man, in the eternal union of the spirit and body of man through the resurrection, through the redemption of the soul. This brings into eternal union "spirit and element" declared by the word of God to be essential to a fullness of joy—"The elements are eternal, and spirit and element, inseparably connected, receive a fullness of joy; and when separated man cannot receive a fullness of joy."—Doc. and Cov., sec 93. Also "Adam fell that men might be: and men are that they might have joy." 2 Nephi 2:25. Indeed, the whole purpose of God in bringing to pass the earth life of man is to inure to the welfare and enlargement of man as urged in the teaching of the Prophet in the paragraph above. God affects man only to his advantage. See also Seventy's Year Book No. II, Lesson II, note 6.

Hence the responsibility, the awful responsibility, that rests upon us in relation to our dead; for all the spirits who have not obeyed the gospel in the flesh must either obey or be damned. Solemn thought!—dreadful thought! is there nothing to be done?— no preparation—no salvation for our fathers and friends who have died without having had the opportunity to obey the decrees of the Son of Man ? Would to God that I had forty days and nights in which to tell you all! I would let you know that I am not a "fallen prophet."*

What promises are made in relation to the subject of the salvation of the dead? and what kind of characters are those who can be saved, although their bodies are moldering and decaying in the grave? When his commandments teach us it is in view of eternity; for we are looked upon by God as though we were in eternity. God dwells in eternity and does not view things as we do.

The greatest responsibility in this world that God has laid upon us is to seek after our dead. The Apostle says, "They without us cannot be made perfect?: for it is necessary that the sealing power should be in our hands to seal our children and our dead for the fullness of the dispensation of time, a dispensation to meet the promises made by Jesus Christ before the foundation of the world for the salvation of man.

Now, I will speak of them. I will meet Paul half way. I say to you, Paul you cannot be perfect without us. It is necessary that those who are going before and those who come after us should have salvation in common with us; and thus God has made it obligatory upon man. Hence God said, "I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and |dreadful day of the Lord,

♦Accusations were repeatedly being made about this time that President Smith was a fallen prophet. But when the mighty doctrines that in this discourse he is setting forth are taken into account, and the spiritual power with which he is delivering them is reckoned with, no more complete refutation of his being a fallen prophet could be made. The Prophet lived his life in crescendo. From small beginnings, it rose in breadth and power as he neared its close. As a teacher he reached the climax of his career in this discourse. After it there was but one thing more he could do—-seal his testimony with his blood. This he did less than three months later. Such is not the manner of life of false prophets.

Hebrews 11:40.

and he shall turn the hearts of the ^fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their Fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse."* Malachi 4:5.

I have a declaration to make as to the provisions which God hath made to suit the conditions of man—made from before the foundation of the world. What has Jesus said? All sins, and all blasphemies, and every transgression, except one, that man can be guilty of, may be forgiven; and there is a salvation for all men, either in this world or the world to come, have not committed the unpardonable sin, there being a provision either in this world or the world of spirits. Hence hath made a provision that every spirit in the eternal d can be ferreted out and saved unless he has committed £ unpardonable sin, which cannot be remitted to him either world or the world of spirits. God has wrought out a salvation for all men, unless they have committed a certain sin; every man who has a friend in the eternal world can save him, unless he has committed the unpardonable sin. And so you can see how far you can be a Savior.

* A man cannot commit the unpardonable sin after the dissolution of the body, and there is a way possible for escape. Knowledge saves a man; and in the world of spirits no man can be exalted but by knowledge. So long as a man will not give heed to the commandments, he must abide without salvation. If a man has knowledge, he can be saved; although if he has been guilty of great sins, he will be punished for them. But when he consents to obey the gospel, whether here or in the world of spirits, he is saved.

A man is his own tormentor and his own condemner. Hence the saying, They shall go into the lake that burns with fire and brimstone. The torment of disappointment in the mind man is as exquisite as a lake burning with fire and brimstone. I say, so is the torment of man.

I know the scriptures and understand them. I said, no can commit the unpardonable sin after the dissolution of the body, nor in this life, until he receives the Holy Ghost;

but they must do it in this world. Hence the salvation of Jesus Christ was wrought out for all men, in order to triumph over the devil; for if it did not catch him in one place, it would in another; for he stood up as a Savior. All will suffer until they obey Christ himself.

The contention in heaven was—Jesus said there would be certain souls that would not be saved; and the devil said he could save them all, and laid his plans before the great council, who gave their vote in favor of Jesus Christ. So the devil rose up in rebellion against God, and was cast down, with all who put up their heads for him.*

All sins shall be forgiven, except the sin against the Holy Ghost; for Jesus will save all except the sons of perdition. What must a man do to commit the unpardonable sin ? He must receive the Holy Ghost, have the heavens opened unto him, and know God and then sin against him. After a man has sinned against the Holy Ghost, there is no repentance for him.** He has got to say that the sun does not shine while he sees it; he has got to deny Jesus Christ when the heavens have been opened unto him, and to deny the plan of salvation with his eyes open to the truth of it; and from that time he begins to be an enemy. This is the case with many apostates of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

When a man begins to be an enemy to this work, he hunts me, he seeks to kill me, and never ceases to thirst for my blood. He gets the spirit of the devil—the same spirit that they had who crucified the Lord of Life—the same spirit that sins against the Holy Ghost. You cannot save such persons; you cannot bring them to repentance; they make open war, like the devil, and awful is the consequence.

•Book of Moses (Pearl of Great Price) chap. 4:1-4;

Book of Abraham, chap. 3:23-28.

••"For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again onto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and pat him to an open shame."—Heb. 4:4-6. Those who sin against the light and knowledge of the Holy Ghost may be said to crucify more than the body of our Lord, they crucify the Spirit.

I advise all of you to be careful what you do, or you may by-and-by find out that you have been deceived. Stay yourselves; do not give way; don't make any hasty moves, you may he saved. If a spirit of bitterness is on you, don't be in haste. You may say that man is a sinner. Well, if he repents, he Shall be forgiven. Be cautious: await. When you find a spirit that wants bloodshed—murder, the same is not of God, but is of the devil. Out of the abundance of the heart of man the mouth speaketh.

The best men bring forth the best works. The man who you words of life is the man who can save you. I warn you evil characters who din against the Holy Ghost; for there is no redemption for them in this world nor in the world to come.

I could go back and trace every subject of interest concerning the relationship of man to God, if I had time. I can into the mysteries; I can enter largely into the eternal fids; for Jesus said, "In my Father's house are many man-is; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare Se for you." (John 14:2). Paul says, "There is one glory 'the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory the stars; for one star different from another star in glory, So also is the resurrection of the dead" (I Cor. 15:41). What have we to console us in relation to the dead? We have reason to have the greatest hope and consolation for our dead of any people on the earth; for we have seen them walk worthily in ¹ midst, and seen them sink asleep in the arms of Jesus; and ie who have died in the faith are now in the celestial king-of God. And hence is the glory of the sun.

You mourners have occasion to rejoice, (speaking of the death of Elder King Follett), for our husband and father is he to wait until the resurrection of the dead—until the perfection of the remainder; for at the resurrection your friend will rise in perfect felicity and go to celestial glory, while many must wait myriads of years before they can receive the blessings; and your expectations and hopes are far above what man can conceive; for why has God revealed it to us?

I am authorized to say, by the authority of the Holy Ghost, that you have no occasion to fear; for he is gone to the home of the just. Don't mourn, don't weep. I know it by the testimony of the Holy Ghost that is within me; and you may wait for your friends to come forth to meet you in the morn of the celestial world.

Rejoice, O Israel! Your friends who have been murdered for the truth's sake in the persecutions shall triumph gloriously in the celestial world, while their murderers shall welter for ages in torment, even until they shall have paid the uttermost farthing. I say this for the benefit of strangers.

I have a father, brothers, children, and friends who have gone to a world of spirits. They are only absent for a moment. They are in the spirit, and we shall meet again. The time will soon arrive when the trumpet shall sound. When we depart, we shall hail our mothers, fathers, friends, and all whom we love, who have fallen asleep in Jesus. There will be no fear of mobs, persecutions or malicious lawsuits and arrests; but it will be an eternity of felicity.

I will leave this subject here, and make a few remarks on the subject of baptism. The baptism of water, without the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost attending it, is of no use; they are necessarily and inseparably connected. An Individual must be born of water and the spirit in order to get into the kingdom of God. In the German, the text bears me out the same as the revelations which I have given and taught for the last fourteen years on that subject. I have the testimony to put in their teeth. My testimony has been true all the time. You will find it in the declaration of John the Baptist. (Reads from the German.) John says "I baptize you with water, but when Jesus comes, who has the power (or keys), he shall administer the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost." Great God! where is now all the sectarian world? And if this testimony is true, they are all damned as clearly as anathema can do it. I know the text is true. I call upon all you Germans, who know that it is true, to say, Aye (Loud shouts of "Aye.")

Alexander Campbell, how are you going to save people with water alone? For John said his baptism was good for nothing without the baptism of Jesus Christ. "Therefore,not leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, and of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead and of eternal judgment. And this will we do, if God permit." (Heb. 6:1-8).***

Hear it, all ye ends of the earth—all ye priests, all ye sinners, and all men. Repent! repent! Obey the gospel. Turn to God; for your religion won't save you, and you will be damned. I do not say how long. There have been remarks made concerning all men being redeemed from hell; but I say that those who sin against the Holy Ghost cannot be forgiven in this world or in the world to come; they shall die the second death. Those who commit the unpardonable sin are doomed to Gnolom—to dwell in hell, worlds without end. As they concoct scenes of bloodshed in this world, so they shall rise to that resurrection which is as the lake of fire and brimstone. Some shall rise to the everlasting burnings of God; for God dwells in everlasting burnings, and some shall rise to the damnation of their own filthiness, which is as exquisite a torment as the lake of fire and brimstone.

I have intended my remarks for all, both rich and poor, bond and free, great and small. I have no enmity against any man. I love you all; but I hate some of your deeds. I am your best friend, and if persons miss their mark it is their own fault. If I reprove a man, and he hates me, he is a fool; for I love all men, especially these my brethren and sisters.

I rejoice in hearing the testimony of my aged friends. You don't know me; you never knew my heart. No man knows my history. I cannot tell it; I shall never undertake it. I don't blame anyone for not believing my history; if I had not experienced what I have I could not have believed it myself. I never did harm any man since I was born in the world. My voice is always for peace.

I cannot lie down until all my work is finished. I never think any evil, nor do anything to the harm of my fellowman. When I am called by the trump of the arch-angel and weighed in the balance, you will all know me then. I add no more. God bless you all. Amen.

THE LAW OF OPPOSITION – The principle doctrine for ALL LIFE religious and Scientific

We spend so much of our lifetime rehearsing the phrase “We have a loving Heavenly Father, who loves us as his children,” that we forget the fact that he is God, the creator, the all knowing, the all present, the giver of life, the organizer, the all powerful. All things that have happened have been by and through him, even the life of his only begotten son Jesus Christ. It is important for us to understand our mortal need to humanize him in order for us to comprehend him, but forget not that he is the Supreme Being. He is who he is because he has lived a life so worthy that he was granted all knowledge and all power to continue or perpetuate the perfect plan, the perfect path, the perfect balance, the perfect organization, the perfect being, the perfect love, the perfect understanding, the perfect church, the perfect gospel. Worlds without number has he created, organized and brought forth out of chaos. His offspring are more than the sands of the seas, and were created in his image to follow his path and build upon his glory. One of the most important essentials of truth and knowledge that we have to absorb and learn is the law of opposition which has been given to us. I call it the Great and Universal Law of Opposition, and by understanding it almost all other things can be better understood. Science makes more sense and Religion improves our wisdom and understanding.

Scripture: The Law of Opposition - 2 Nephi 2:11-14 Lehi talking to his son.

At first I had a difficult time understanding the phrase “things to act and things to be acted upon.” Then I had an epiphany, that the verses 11-13 were talking about the non duality of nature, or in otherwise the continuing idea of opposition in all things as cited in all the previous verses. When we talk about both things to act and things to be acted upon, we continue talking about the subject of opposition. The things that act are the things that the Scientist and Apostle John A. Widstoe instructed us to signify as “Light Particles, or Spirit Particles;” which he informs us to connote, another name for “Intelligence” when referred to as the vivifying force particle or living essence of all things, and it’s opposite to connote “Matter,” which is dead having no living force. It has no inference in this scripture to mean that “things to act and things to be acted upon,” have reference to the actions of mankind. The use of which is so often misused in conference talks to mean that man, must act and not let others act upon him. It is true that we are the masters of our own souls but in the case of these verses it refers to the action particles and the non action particles called matter.

In the Book of Mormon the prophet Lehi was having trouble raising some of his children. He valued a particular concept of the gospel which he wanted his children to know and understand. This lesson was taught to them while speaking to his son Jacob as told in the book of 2 Nephi Chapter 2 in the Book of Mormon. He teaches them in the first verse that he knows that Jacob knows the greatness of God, as I am sure all the members of his family understood, something we all should know and feel, and that he knows that he has beheld his glory and been reminded that God is the same yesterday, today and forever. And that “the way,” (verse 4), was prepared from the fall and that salvation is free to all men. He Jacob is reminded that men are instructed sufficiently; this doesn’t mean that man has been given all the answers though, only that they may know at this time the basics of good from evil, which is the Great and Universal Law of Opposition. And that in verse 5, the law is given. This means that no man gets a free pass into Heaven nor are they cut off without cause. Salvation, or the reward of good behavior comes only when the law is obeyed, if it isn’t obeyed then there comes a punishment. Redemption comes, verse 6, to man through Jesus Christ and His grace (verse 8.) It is important to all the inhabitants of the earth, that no man can dwell in the presence of God, “save it be through merits,” and “through the mercy and grace of Jesus Christ” who laid down his life, and takes it up again by the power of the Spirit, being the first, and consequently brings to pass the resurrection of all mankind. This was and is because he made an intercession (verse 10) for all, and all men will come to God and stand in his presence to be judged. If you live the law or commandments you will receive your reward and if you don’t then there will be a punishment affixed. This is The Law of Opposition in effect. One path is happiness and the other misery. This all happens because of Christ’s Atonement. One path is keeping the commandments and repentance, and obtaining your eternal rewards, and the other is through sin and disobedience and eternal punishment. Verse 11 The Law of Opposition. There is an opposition in all things “if not so righteousness could not be brought to pass.” There would be neither righteousness nor wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. All things are a compound in one. All things contain both, as in a compound substance made of two opposing things. This is known as the non duality of nature. If you only have good and no bad it would be as if it were like a person who is dead and having no life, neither being alive nor have ever been alive.

Verse 12 It would be as if it were created as a thing of “naught.” (not anything) Wherefore there would have been no purpose in the end of its creation. This would destroy the wisdom of God and his eternal purposes. There then would be no need for God, a Creation, God’s justice, God’s mercy, or purpose.

If this is the case then, where there is no God, then we would not have been created, neither the earth, for there would be no creation of things and all things would have vanished away.

Here is an idea:

When we go to the Lord in prayer and ask, do and can we relate it in our minds to the law of opposition? Does it fit into the purpose for which it was created? All subjects and laws relate to the light or spirit and wisdom of God, which is the law of opposition, and the spirit of personal revelation will testify if and when it comes from God. Remember that all good comes from God through light and spirit. Think of all the light or spiritually wholesome thoughts and words (good, pure, righteous, love, etc.) and then all words that are their opposites (bad, impure, unrighteous, hate). This identifying of all good words and actions will undeniably lead us to God and to the light or spirit. Ask yourselves, do things like; your children, work, interactions with others, and personal habits; are they on the light side? The spirit will only tell you, or testify to you if it is on the light side. That is, what will be or is it acceptable to God and how we should live our lives or is it not?

Now think of some of the items or words that can be found in the grey area? A word or thought that can be both a good thought, word or action and bad depending on how it is used.

We are commanded Thou Shalt not lie. However there are words for example like “Lies,” that can be for good as well as evil.

Lying; can be good if you tell your wife that her pants don’t make her look fat, and bad if you don’t tell her you lost your job.

Stealing; good if you steal someone’s heart, and bad if you steal money from a friend.

Hating; good if you hate bad habits, and bad if you hate someone, meaning another person.

Alcohol consumption; good if it is a glass of wine at bedtime for your health, and bad if you get drunk and drive.

However in every instance there is both a light side and an opposite position. Some words can have dual meanings, but the meaning doesn’t change. A lie is still a lie. To steal is to take something away from someone or something, to hate means you extremely dislike something, and alcohol still alters your behavior.

Scripture Outline of The Law of Opposition

2 Nephi 2 and D&C 93

1. There is a God

2. He created all things: A. Heavens B. Earth C. Plants D. Animals E. Man

3. He created F. First Parents, G. Beasts, H. Fowls, I. Fishes and All things

4. Must needs be an Opposition in All Things

Things that ACT and Things that are ACTED UPON

Tree of LIFE, Tree of GOOD and EVIL (Tree of DEATH -Opposition)

5. Gave man that he should Act for Himself (FREE AGENCY)

6. Can’t ACT unless enticed by one or the other

You can’t stop or go back if you only have Go

You can’t go or go forward if you only have Stop

7. verse 2 Nephi 2:11 No righteousness if only have wickedness

No holiness if you only have misery

No good if you only have bad.

8. All things must be a COMPOUND. (something that contains two or more components)

If only one body it must needs remain as dead

No life neither death

No corruption neither incorruption

No happiness neither misery

No sense neither insensibility

9. If so it must have been created for a thing of naught

No purpose, no reason for existence, to no end

10. Wherefore this thing must needs destroy the wisdom of God

And His eternal purposes, his power, mercy and justice.

11. and if these things are not there is no God.

If no God then we are naught, no creation of things

12. All things would vanish away.

Vanished away from what? From existence.

Things that ACT Things that are ACTED UPON

Intelligence Matter

Light of Truth (Knowledge) Ignorance

Spirit Natural Man

Active Inactive

When inseparably connected they receive a fullness of JOY

When commandments are kept they receive truth and light and will be glorified and knows all things. Can’t have one without the other, it is a compound.

Yang Yin

Large Small

Masculine Feminine

Hot Cold

Bold Subtle

Plain Textured

Smooth Rough

Loud Quiet

Words give thoughts, meanings,

and actions

to our Existence

New Old

Clean Dirty

Fast Slow

Active Calm

Straight Curvy

Sun Moon

Light Darkness

Warm Cool

Aggressive Passive

Independent Dependent

Self-Sufficient Nurturing

Positive Negative

Day Night

Heaven/Sky Earth

Light Shade

Fire Water

Upward Downward

Logic Intuition

Energy Matte

Hardness Softness

Odd Even

Spiritual Material

Dry Wet

Hardness Softness

Material Spiritual

Wet Dry

Left Right

Slow Fast

Flexible Rigid

Internal External

Right Left

Fast Slow

Rigid Flexible

External Internal

Active Passive

Light Shade

Logic Intuition

Energy Matter

Did God Create Evil?

A professor at the University asked his students, the following questions: Was everything that exists created by God? One student, bravely answered, “Yes, everything was created by God.” So God created everything, the professor replied? “Yes, sir,” answered the student. The professor then asked, “If God created everything, then God created Evil since it exists, and according to the principle that our deeds define ourselves. Then God is evil.” The student became silent after hearing such an answer. The professor was very pleased with himself. He boasted to students for proving once again that faith in God is a myth.

Another student raised his hand and said, “Can I ask YOU a question?” The Professor replied, “Of course.” The student got up and asked the Professor, “Is Cold called a thing?” “What kind of question is that? Of course it exists. Have you ever been cold?” Another student laughed at the young man's question? The young man answered, “Actually Sir, Cold doesn't exist according to the law of physics. What we consider cold is actually the absence of heat. A person or object can be studied on whether it has or can transmit energy. Absolute zero minus 160 degrees Fahrenheit is a complete absence of heat. All matter, becomes inert, and unable to react at this temperature. So cold does not exist. We created this word to describe what we feel in the absence of heat.”

The student continued, “Professor does Darkness exist?” “Of course it exists.” “You're wrong again. Sir, Darkness also does not exist. Darkness is actually the absence of Light. We can study the Light, but not the Darkness. We can use Newton's prism to spread white light across multiple colors and explore the different wavelengths of its color. You can't measure Darkness. A simple ray of light can break into the world of Darkness and illuminate it.”

“How you can tell how dark a certain space is? You measure how much light is presented? Isn't it so? Darkness is determined and its use is only to describe how or what happens in the absence of light.”

In the end, the young man asked the professor, “Sir, does evil exist?”

The professor answered, “Of course, as I said before we see it every day as; Cruelty, and numerous crimes and violence throughout the world. These examples are nothing but manifestations of evil.” To this the student answered, “Evil does not exist sir or at least it does not exist for itself.” “Evil is simply the absence of God.”

“It is like Darkness and Cold, a man made word to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is not Faith or Love which exist as Light and Warmth. Evil is the result of the absence of Divine Love in the human heart. It's the kind of cold that comes when there isn’t heat or the kind of Darkness that comes when there is no Light.”

The student's name was Albert Einstein.

Einstein was wrong again. Light has always existed as well as darkness. Good has always existed as well as evil. Neither can be created if they have always existed. Light and matter have always existed. They can be organized, disorganized and reorganized. They are compounds and you can’t have one without the other.

THE SHELDON PRINCIPLE

A simple example of The Law of Opposition

I have been thinking a lot these past few years about the Law of Opposition, and how it affects all of our lives. I believe that if we all had a better understanding of it, our lives would be unalterably different. It is the law that explains most everything and is the underlying law that explains the connection between science and religion and the blueprint for all life.

I just saw a show on the TV called Young Sheldon. Sheldon didn’t believe in God nor Religion. Science was the only thing that explains in his opinion everything. Facts are the only thing that one can truly rely on. In this episode he investigates different religions. The Baptist faith of his mother, along with Roman Catholic, Mormon and the Jewish faiths. At the conclusion he sees a giant number one and a giant number zero, Example (1 / 0). In his dream he sees all things in binary. One’s and Zeros. This is his revelation. The only thing is that he just doesn’t know that religion teaches us exactly the same thing.

The great Universal Truth or the Law of Opposition at first seems to be a great mystery but in reality is nothing like it. You can’t have a 1 unless you have a 0 . You can’t have a value unless you can have a no value.

For example to explain some of the mysteries, like why is there a veil placed over our eyes so that we can’t see the spiritual world from which we came. The law of opposition teaches us that all things have an opposite in order for them to exist. Spirit has Natural or Temporal as opposites and one cannot exist without the other. God in his wisdom gave us the ability to choose, or the blessing of free choice. At the time we were born into this world because of the transgression of Adam and Eve, we were given at birth our natural eyes. Our spiritual eyes were veiled so that we were forced to use our natural eyes preventing us from seeing into the spiritual world or dimension. This will last until the time we have learned to use our spiritual eyes as well as our natural eyes through practice, choice and faith. Then once we have done this our eyes will be opened to the spiritual things and the veil will be lifted.

PASSIONS THAT DEFILE MAN

Passions that defile the purity of Spiritual Nature

God’s plan from the beginning of all time, even before the beginning of this earths time, wanted to bring order out of chaos and provide a path whereby the plan will and can go forth indefinitely (eternally).

The plan was to allow all Intelligences (Light/Spirit particles) to become organized, and stay organized without fear of disintegration back into a lifeless existence.

The plan incorporated The Law of Opposition. All truth may be known and given to worthy individuals who desire to promote the plan without exception. Another important task was to restrain all dark or evil. Those individuals who are opposite to Gods’ plan seek to destroy Him and his teachings. They have lost their Spiritual Nature.

How these two passions defile the purity of Spiritual Nature in people.

1. Analysis (the desire to analyze everything) 2. Emotional Experience (which confuses peoples’ values)

Ignorance /lack of understanding, knowledge Desire / the source of all unhappiness

People cannot reason safely or correctly People yield to existence, grasping, etc.

From these two sources all Greed, Anger, Foolishness, Misunderstandings, Resentment, Jealousy, Flattery, Deceit, Pride, Contempt, Inebriety, and Selfishness have their beginnings and appearance.

(all are on the negative or opposite side of Light)

Then GREED / ANGER / FOOLISHNESS appear. These are the three worst behaviors.

THEN People lose their true Spiritual Nature and the Natural Man appears and dominates

Greed arises in want of satisfaction

Anger arises in want of dissatisfaction

Foolishness arises from impure thoughts

What leads man into wrong acts of body, speech and mind?

Greed, Anger, Foolishness, Infatuation, Egoism, Decrepitude, Sickness, Death, Sorrow, Lamentation, Suffering, Agony

They hurt self but also cause others to suffer. If the mind is full of wise, pure thoughts, unselfish thoughts, there will be no place for other passions to take root.

THE LAW OF OPPOSITION AS EXPLAINED BY A VALUE SCALE

I have created this article to help others on their way to enlightenment, understand the principals of What is Perfection? What is Hell? Why must we not judge others including ourselves? How can one get on the path back to God? Why God? What is this Earth Life all about? What does it mean to live in the world but not of the world? And other answers. I hope you enjoy the concept.

Steve Streadbeck

2 Nephi 2:11-14

11 For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my firstborn in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility.

12 Wherefore, it must needs have been created for a thing of naught; wherefore there would have been no purpose in the end of its creation. Wherefore, this thing must needs destroy the wisdom of God and his eternal purposes, and also the power, and the mercy, and the justice of God.

13 And if ye shall say there is no law, ye shall also say there is no sin. If ye shall say there is no sin, ye shall also say there is no righteousness. And if there be no righteousness there be no happiness. And if there be no righteousness nor happiness there be no punishment nor misery. And if these things are not there is no God. And if there is no God we are not, neither the earth; for there could have been no creation of things, neither to act nor to be acted upon; wherefore, all things must have vanished away.

14 And now, my sons, I speak unto you these things for your profit and ^alearning; for there is a God, and he hath ^bcreated all things, both the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are, both things to act and things to be ^cacted upon.

PURE LIGHT GREY PURE DARKNESS

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

This is an artists’ value scale. Compare this if you will to the Law of Opposition. On the one hand you have pure light where there is no value of darkness. It is pure, undefiled, and void of sin or darkness. This is, if you can imagine, where God dwells. It is the pure state of perfection. Imperfection exists and man is aware of, but does not exist here. By observing this one can understand what it means to become perfected, or being perfect. Light or perfection only exists because of its opposition, otherwise there is no existence. On the opposite end of the scale is darkness. This is total darkness and void of purity, it is evil and sinful. There is where Satan dwells along with his followers, or they of like mind and behavior. In between lays a multitude of variations between light and darkness. They who do not keep God’s commandments live and dwell within these parameters. There are an infinite number of variations between light and dark, purity and impurity. Now as an exercise draw a line on the scale or pick a number where you believe dark becomes light, or where light becomes dark. Imagine if you will, this is where you believe yourself to be on the scale of righteousness and or evil. This is in the scriptures is where man is believed to be as he or she is navigating through life. One is neither light nor dark. In this example one may view it as sitting on a fence where one leg may be accepting darkness and the other leg the light. God said that “If you are not for me then you are against me.” You alone can and do make that determination. You must swing your leg over and start walking towards the light or He, meaning God, deems you are to be leaning towards the darkness and are not on His side or the side of light. On one side is righteousness and the other is evil. You simply can’t say that you believe in Christ and are saved. You still remain in sin or darkness because of your daily actions and lack of repentance. The light and dark varies moment to moment according to ones thoughts and behaviors. If you accept Christ it does not mean that you are pure and white nor if you do not accept Christ does it mean that you are dark and evil. It does mean that you are becoming, going towards, leaning in the direction of one or the other. You can always have a change of heart, even a mighty change of heart and go in the opposite direction. This statement as to having a “mighty change of heart,” is reversing the direction you are going and going in the direction of the light and towards God. However, most people seem to find a comfortable spot, or comfortable value between good and evil and remain there most of their lives. It is referred to as MY WAY of living. They live in a place where their natural bodies are comfortable. They listen to their natural senses, and sleep, drink, work, and perform life’s duties as long as it pleases them. That is where they live. Life’s test or why we have been placed here on the earth by a Heavenly Father, is to let us decide where we want to reside, and what is it that we desire and is worth working and sacrificing for: Is it heaven or hell? Light or Dark? Reward or Punishment? Or do you want no reward and no punishment (just existence)? This is a belief that many adhere to, a belief that there are no laws for mankind or their existence. One must find their own happiness, purpose, and rewards for there is no God or purpose for their existence. If you think that it is mere existence then you have to think again, because we all have been granted and gained the right and do exist as a gift to us by God.

Now may I address and help to define or identify the subject of “Judgment.” The moment you selected the value or line where you thought was the line where you or someone was existing or living, between light and dark, you became a judge. We have been counseled, “Judge not that ye be not judged.” To each of us a judgment is made when we place anyone, including ourselves, on the value scale between light and dark. We cannot and do not know what laws that person has been given by which they are to be judged by God. God being the only true law giver whereby man will be judged. We cannot know nor do not know what direction a person is traveling in, whether towards God and the light or away from God and towards the darkness. All of us are susceptible of judging others and the judgment of ourselves by others. Often we are critical of church leaders because of their judgments (often personal) of members because of their actions. God or Christ are the only ones that can judge our or others behavior. They, meaning the Gods, have chosen leaders to make judgments for them, because they cannot be here with us all the time. These individuals that are chosen, are called Bishops, and have been given the keys of revelation. They themselves are not perfect and sometimes commit sins or make mistakes but whatever mistakes they make God will make right, for not to do so he himself would be not perfect.

From the fall of Adam and Eve, which introduced opposition into the world we live in this grayscale area of sinfulness. With this introduction we were granted the gift of Agency or Free Choice. We can either choose light or dark, good or evil, righteousness or sinfulness, right or wrong, happiness or sadness, reward or punishment, joy or eternal damnation. Which is it that you or we choose. The choice is ours to make. In what direction are we going? Are we going towards God and Light or toward Satan and Darkness? The great task we have as an individual is to control our natural behavior or

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

that of the natural man or physical part of us and to allow our spiritual side to take over

and control our behavior. The natural man desires the physical pleasures of sight, smell, touch, hearing, and taste to control our behavior. These appetites lead us in the direction of evil and darkness, because Satan controls the natural mind of man. The mind of the spirit is controlled by the Holy Ghost and leads us in the direction of purity and light with desires of keeping the commandments with strict obedience to God. We are not expected to be perfect in this world but to become perfect as our Father in Heaven is. We are expected to be on the path towards perfection. When we come to the area known as Pure Light or Value scale 0 where there is no darkness it doesn’t mean that we all came to that area pure and undefiled but that we traveled through the world of impurity and arrived now clean and darkness free, only because of Christ’s atonement for our sins. (For no unclean thing can enter into the presence of God)

“In the world but not of the world’ is a statement often heard of while we are on our earthly journey. This simply means that while traveling through life’s journey we recognize that darkness surrounds us, which is “in the world,” but that we don’t have to participate or join in it or be part of it, which is “of the world” darkness. When we finally reach a state of enlightenment or perfection we must and will embrace the knowledge and awareness that evil still exists, and that understanding this itself is enlightenment and celestial existence. This IS the Great Law of Opposition of and in all things. We can and do have moments of purity or living without sin in our lives when we embrace righteousness through repentance and keeping the commandments, but few remain there and succumb to darkness and sin. When we say that man is not perfect and can never be in this life, we mean that man is continually giving way to temptations and sin and don’t remain in a continual state of perfection.

Hopefully it is important to know and remember that man can become perfect. It is possible. That possibility exists in God’s perfect Plan of Salvation. The circle within the darkness represents man living

in a dark world but signifying that he doesn’t have to be dark. It reminds us that he can remain, or become, pure, clean and sin free though darkness surrounds us. If you succumb to sin then your spirit will become blackened according to the scriptures.

The Kingdoms of Reward from living a mortal life

0 The Celestial Dimension - Where man has overcome sin through repentance, (become pure through Christ’s atonement) has performed good works, was baptized, obtained the gift of the Holy Ghost, received the Priesthood and sealing power of marriage. Does not feel comfortable living in any form of darkness. Their Glory is light and will receive a fullness of glory.

1 – 5 The Terrestrial Dimension- All the good people of the earth that have lived according to the Terrestrial Laws. Approximately 2/3 of the Earth’s remaining population after God takes the elect. (a guess, I have no real idea, just a number to contemplate.) About the same number that believe in a higher deity here on Earth and are trying to live a higher more wholesome way but do not accept a testimony of Jesus Christ while on the earth. Will receive a Terrestrial Glory. (light slightly diminished)

6 – 9 The Telestial Dimension- All those people of the earth that have lived according to the Telestial Laws. Approximately 1/3 of the Earth’s remaining population. (a guess, just because there was 1/3 that followed Lucifer in Heaven having lived in the presence of God but had dark spirits. I believe there will be at least that many that have come to Earth and received bodies and will reject the light of the gospel and Christ.) They love evil and delight in the control and suffering of mankind. They will receive a Telestial Glory. (light greatly diminished) Remember God destroyed an entire city when he couldn’t find but one righteous man or woman.

10 Outerdarkness – Where all those who have denied Christ and chosen to follow Satan and his evil path. Some are known as Sons of Perdition and will be disorganized, spirit from bodies. There is no light here, no glory. 1/3 part of the host of heaven are all ready to be sent here, never to receive bodies. They were cast down along with Lucifer.

You can think of it is as if your bodies are resurrected somewhat polluted with darkness. (refer to the value scale) Your resurrected bodies will be of the same value as you lived. Unless you become clean and white you can no longer live in the presence of your Heavenly Family. Christ will rule over the Terrestrial Dimension and the Holy Ghost the Telestial Dimension. Your bodies can only exist in the dimension from which you have lived and become habituated.

Law of Opposition Word Association Chart for Eternal Progression

0 through 5 The persons who desires light are:

Loving, Tender, Affectionate, Devoted, Caring, Adoring, Warm, Kind, Charitable, Forgiving, Loyal, Courteous, Obedient, Thrifty, Reverent, Trustworthy, Truthful, Chaste, Honest, Brave, Spiritual, Free, Honors parents, Non judgmental, Giving, Generous, Benevolent, Patience, Temperate, Humble, Generous, Altruistic, Helpful, Bountiful, Merciful, Pardoning, Hopeful, Prudent, Just, Lenient, Forbearing, Magnanimous, Sympathetic, Tolerant, Kindhearted, Gentle, Caring, Affectionate, Faithful, Devoted, Reliable, Dependable, Steadfast, Dedicated, Polite, Well-mannered, Considerate, Civil, Serving, Positive, Builder, Creator, Lives, Harmonious, Uplifting, Glorious, Eternal, Unfailing, Staunch, Converted, Compassionate, Happy, Joyful, Thankful, Generous, Thankful, Prayerful

6 through 10 The persons who desire dark are:

Liars, Cheaters, Stealers, Lustful, Angry, Covetous, Destroyers, Desirous of wealth, are; Negative, Adulterers, Fornicators, Addicted, participants of Pornography, Haters, Envious, Slothful, Gluttonous, Greedy, Lazy, Wrathful, Prideful, Murders, enjoy; Captivity, Confusion, Chaos, Disharmony, Bondage, Slavery, Prison, Disorder, Death, Punishment, Hell, Eternal Damnation, Selfish, Prideful, Conceited, Ego driven, Abusers, Sad, Cold, Natural, and Stingy. (other words can be included but only a few are named here to present the type of person that is spoken of) If you are of this nature and want others hurt, harmed, killed, or punished, you fit into this category.

The question is where do you stand in your desires, beliefs and behaviors. Where is it that you feel comfortable? Take for example any group or individual and where do they reside in their beliefs and behaviors. We are all God’s children through the lineage of Adam and Eve if you believe that or even if you don’t then on the scale of opposites where is it that you have evolved? What kind of behaviors are acceptable to you? Society dictates to us the norms but they are not always Godly. All behaviors I believe still follow the acceptable behaviors of light and darkness.

Cures for the 7 deadly sins: (law of opposites)

Humility cures Pride,/ Kindness cures Envy,/ Abstinence cures Gluttony,/

Chastity cures Lust,/ Patience cures Wrath,/ Liberality cures Greed,/

Diligence cures Sloth./

The Yin Yang Symbol Meaning

The Chinese explain it in this manner. The yin yang symbol teaches us, as one grows

the other diminishes, yet the other will always exist, as represented by the

small dot or opposite color within each, even though we may grow to a state

of complete lightness or darkness. Otherwise, there can be no existence of

one or the other. Man always has the choice, to grow in righteousness,

goodness, kindness, happiness, purity of thoughts and deeds or to grow in

unrighteousness, impurity, corruption, sickness and evil. God wants to build,

create, endure, and exist. Satan wants to destroy corrupt, kill, maim, control,

dictate and inflict. The value scale illuminates the differences between light and dark and all the variants. Ask yourself and evaluate where do you exist on the scale? Are you growing towards light or darkness?

The Soul of Man is made up of spirit body and natural body. It is a compound and fits into the law of opposition. Because of this man can look at the same thing and come up with different thoughts or conclusions. Like the example of the glass being half full or half empty. We all view life differently depending on who we are, and where we fit on the scale between light and dark. It is never good to argue about, or judge others on where they stand because we just can’t know. Only God knows and only God can judge. He views us on what direction we are going. Are we going towards the light, or towards the dark.

What is in your Cup?

Say you are holding a cup of coffee and someone bumps into you making you spill your coffee everywhere. Why did you spill the coffee? You spilled it because that was what was in your cup. Had there been tea in your cup, you would have spilled tea, if lemonade you would have spilled lemonade.

The point is whatever is inside your cup, is what will spill out. Therefore, when life comes along and shakes you up, which will happen, whatever is inside your cup will spill out. It's easy to fake it until you get rattled.

So we have to ask ourselves what is in our cup when life gets tough. What spills out? Joy. Gratefulness, Peace and Humility, or does Bitterness, Anger, Harsh Words and Actions come out? You choose, but what will spill out will be habitual depending on how you have been living your life. If you are used to drinking coffee then coffee will spill out. If you are used to using bad language then foul words will spill out. If it is anger and or bitterness then they will spill out.

That quote, left me pondering? What, spilled from Christ's cup?

· First Humility. When it says not my will, but Thine be done.

· Next, Understanding, as he told his not so vigilant disciples. Sleep and take your rest.

· Then Kindness, calling his betrayer, Friend.

· Then Healing, a disciple suffering poor heath, he touched his ear and healed him.

· Next Faith, think of a time that I cannot pray to my father and he shall presently give me more than 12 Legions of angels.

· Next Forgiveness, “Father, forgive them they know not what they do.”

· Then Service, “Behold thy mother.”

· Last Love, as he sacrificed his life, so each one of us could live again.

It is finished. Humility, Understanding, Kindness, Healing, Faith, Forgiveness, Service, Love.

Today, let us strive to fill our cup of the same.

The Law of Opposition teaches us that there is opposition in all things. On one side you have all that is good and wholesome, which is of God. On the other is the opposite, which comes out or follows Satan. We demonstrate by our actions or behaviors what is in our cup. May we all follow Christ’s example and have nothing but goodness, wholesomeness and joy in our cups.

THE LAW OF OPPOSITION AS EXPLAINED WITH CAVE TRAVEL

In the beginning, long before life here on the earth, we lived with our Spiritual Parents in Heaven. They were known to us as our loving Heavenly Father and Mother. We lived in a spiritual dimension where there was no darkness. No evil or sin, no corruption or disorder. Everything was in a perfect, Eternal, Heavenly state. There was only life and no death. We lived in a spiritual state with all the members of Gods’ family which was and is your family. Opposition had not entered your sphere of existence as of yet, but neither had happiness or joy. There were no thorns or thistles, no weeds, no bad tasting food nor the need for any food. We were immortal beings having no need for physical nourishment because there was no death. We existed in a spiritual sphere and would have remained there forever but for one small, but not insignificant thing. We could not comprehend nor know anything in opposition. There was only light, no darkness. We didn’t know it was light because there was only light. We couldn’t understand order because there was no chaos. No joy because there was no sadness. God told us that we needed physical bodies so that we could touch, smell, feel, taste, hear, and see so that we might learn, gain experience and knowledge. We needed one important thing, and that was opposition. God could not force us here but it must come by our own individual choice. This way we could understand and know what happiness was through understanding what sadness is. What life is by understanding what death was. This has been the plan from all time. The plan was to build, have offspring, create worlds, and through these experiences gain knowledge and live forever. Man was created to fulfill that very purpose, to have joy and eternal life. Through the perfection of man came the perpetuation of all mankind to follow the same plan, yesterday, today and forever. But it could only come if the opposite was also true. Two of God’s offspring presented opposing plans. This was a war of words even though it has been referred to as the “War in Heaven.” Jesus Christ followed Gods’ eternal plan and Lucifer presented the opposite. Jesus’ plan was to create, build, grow, and allow choice, opportunity, eternal life and eternal lives. Satan’s plan was the opposite because he was a dark personality; to take away choice, have no opposition, no rewards, and to destroy, generate chaos and destruction, punishment and death, and he would rule over all mankind. There would be no progression, life or rewards, and the glory would be his.

Christ’s plan was accepted by God but we had to be taken away from God’s presence to accomplish this and it must be done through our own individual choice. There were a two thirds part that accepted this plan and one third rejected it. Those rejecting it were cast down to earth as spirits and the two thirds came to earth as natural mortal men and women. Because of Adam and Eve’s choice to partake of the tree of good and evil, opposition was introduced into the world. All who have come to the earth have accepted this plan, to multiply and replenish the earth, and to gain experience and knowledge through opposition.

To explain how this might be understood I have come up with the cave analogy. Now imagine if you will a cave that has an entrance a mile wide and a half mile high, with a depth of many, many miles. This cave now is for man-kinds inhabitance. It represents the earth on which we now live. The second you set a foot inside the cave was when you received a natural birth. Just as you can’t receive reception with your cell phone when away from the tower your direct communication with God ceased. This is known as the veil placed over your heads. You no longer can see, hear or be in the presence of your heavenly family. The cave represents the barren earth that one must struggle in while going through. Everything is difficult and a struggle. When you stay near to the entrance you are privileged to have the light of the Holy Spirit to be with you. The farther away from the light you start to lose that light. The choice remains yours and yours alone which direction to travel.

When you travel deeper and deeper into the cave, the entrance and view of light becomes smaller and smaller, and if you go far enough into the cave the entrance will be all but invisible to the naked eye. Light still exists but you no longer can see it well. All around you is becoming more dark. At one point near the end of the cave you won’t even be able to see your hand when held in front of your face. If light represents good (God) and darkness represents evil (Satan) you get the concept of the law of opposition. One cannot and does not exist without the other and yet the opposite will always exist. Your own individual lives can be represented as if traveling through the cave. You are either directed towards the light or away from it. It is always your choice. As you travel towards the light it gets brighter and brighter until you embrace the cave’s entrance into full sunlight and feel the full effects of lights goodness. It is joyous, wonderful, warm, exhilarating and beautiful. Traveling the other direction, deeper into the cave you lose track of the warmth of the spirit and life gets darker, colder, sadder, depressing, and bitter, and you feel as though you are in the depths of despair. Finally you are in the hold of the evil one himself and experience futility, chaos, and eternal death where there is weeping and wailing.

Wherever you find yourself upon your death (the separation of spirit from body) within the cave (earths journey), you will find one of three ladders. One is near the entrance, the second is somewhere in the middle of the cave and the last near the end, in the darkness. As you climb or travel up the ladder nearest you upon your death, as spirits, you arrive in an area on top of the cave, known as the spirit world. If you have lived a good life and find yourself near the entrance of the cave it will be known to you as Paradise but if you haven’t then it will be like a Spiritual Prison because there will be little or no light. During this period of darkness you will be taught about God and Christ and how to get back into their presence. You remain here until the time known as the resurrection where your body which to this point has remained in the cave, will be reunited with your spirit and go to your reward or punishment. All those who lived near the entrance of the cave will go to a bright glory with God. Those not living near the light, and even though you were a good person but haven’t accepted Christ will go to a Lesser Glory, and those living in darkness will go to a much darker place and join Satan and his followers.

Your cave life was to learn and gain experience. By knowing life you understand death. Through experiencing pain and suffering you understand joy and happiness. By living as a natural man you express or demonstrate your desire to follow and live in the light which is of God or darkness which is of the Devil. There are two things to remember. The first is that no matter what sins you may have committed during your time on earth you can always repent and go towards the light. The second thing is that, the opposite is also true. No matter how righteous you are you can always fall. Life is a learning process and you must find a healthy balance. You learn that darkness exists but you choose to always walk towards the light. Only by knowing that darkness exists can you make the choice and go towards enlightenment. Just by knowing that it exists will put you on the path to enlightenment. You don’t have to participate in it.

There is another thing to know and remember. The only participation award you will receive will be the gift of resurrection which comes to all mankind. All other rewards come through individual merit or personal action. Some say that just by saying that one believes in Christ and repents of their sins, they will be saved, yet continue to live lives in darkness. If you are not a saintly person on the earth God recognizes that a deathbed confession won’t make you a Saint in Heaven. Each day that we are living our lives we are forging the bodies and souls that we will receive for our Eternal Lives.

Now let’s examine the yin yang symbol cont. the Chinese have given us in the Buddha doctrine.

On one side, the yang side, the image grows into light and on the yin side the dark grows into darkness. Observe the dots of opposite colors within each. They represent the idea that you can’t have light without the dark and you can’t have the dark without the light. Light and Dark will always exist even though one side or the other grows to fill all space. The growth of one side or the other demands action. Just by having faith it won’t enlarge your sphere. You are and can never be stagnant. In this condition the darkness remains growing because of lack of action.

Enlightenment is realizing or knowing that you no longer desire to participate in darkness or evil ways.

TALK BY ELDER TODD CHRISTOFFERSON – Adapted as an example by S. Streadbeck Example of The Law of Opposition

Fall Conference 10-05-24 Conference Center Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

Elder Christoffersons’ talk: Talks about the children of Ammon

There are three types of persons

1/ Those who have no desire any longer for sin (followers of Christ) children of Ammon

2/ Those who desire sin or to be sinful ( Those that are sinful and in need of repentance, and on occasion are righteous)

3/ Those who show willful rebellion (the followers of darkness and are of Satan)

1/ Show active obedience or yielding to God’s Commandments . Christ’s Way

2/ Show passive rebellion.\ Like or enjoy disobedience. Are sitting on the fence. My Way

3/ Show active rebellion. Satan’s Way.

Words can either edify or demean. “My Way” Words demonstrate the PATH or WAY you are on. It’s your choice. You have your Free Will because of the Law of Opposition.

CHRIST'S WAY PATH Straight MY WAY PATH Variable SATAN'S WAY PATH Straight

Righteous Bad Evil

Happy Melancholy, Sad, Unhappy Joyless, Sorrowful

Light Seeking Shady Dark

Strong Weak Impotent

Creative Tear Down Totally Destructive

Intelligent Obstinate Ignorant

Pure Corrupted Impure

Faithful Doubtful Hopeless

Obedient Indifferent Disobedient

NO DESIRE FOR SIN

SINFUL

WILLFULLY , ACTIVELY REBELLIOUS

GODLY WORLDLY ANTI GOD

YANG VARIED YIN

The Way back to God is by and

Through the ATONEMENT

of Christ and REPENTANCE.

Assisted by:

SCRIPTURE STUDY

WORDS & WRITINGS of Church Prophets and Leaders

Knowledge and power of the HOLY SPIRIT

PASSIONS THAT DEFILE MAN

Passions that defile the purity of Spiritual Nature

God’s plan from the beginning of all time, even before the beginning of this earths time, wanted to bring order out of chaos and no progression because of disorder, (opposition created), and provide a path whereby the plan will and can go forth indefinitely with the path of order and progression. (eternally speaking).

The plan was to allow all Intelligences (Light/Spirit particles) to become organized, and stay organized without fear of disintegration back into a lifeless existence.

How these two passions defile the purity of Spiritual Nature in people.

1. Analysis (the desire to analyze everything) 2. Emotional Experience (which confuses peoples’ values)

Ignorance /lack of understanding, knowledge Desire / the source of all unhappiness

People cannot reason safely or correctly People yield to existence, grasping, etc.

From these two sources all Greed, Anger, Foolishness, Misunderstandings, Resentment, Jealousy, Flattery, Deceit, Pride, Contempt, Inebriety, and Selfishness have their beginnings and appearance.

(all are on the negative or opposite side of Light)

Then GREED / ANGER / FOOLISHNESS appear. These are the three worst behaviors.

THEN People lose their true Spiritual Nature and the Natural Man appears and dominates

Greed arises in want of satisfaction

Anger arises in want of dissatisfaction

Foolishness arises from impure thoughts

What leads man into wrong acts of body, speech and mind?

Greed, Anger, Foolishness, Infatuation, Egoism, Decrepitude, Sickness, Death, Sorrow, Lamentation, Suffering, Agony

They hurt self but also cause others to suffer. If the mind is full of wise, pure thoughts, unselfish thoughts, there will be no place for other passions to take root.

THE NON DUALITY OF NATURE

There are two things that make up everything

· There are two things that make up everything. It is a compound.(Substantial) Nothing exists on its own. (Non-substantial)

· Intelligence-Light and Dark

· Knowledge-Truth and Error

· Behavior-Good and Evil

· Agency- Choice and No Choice

· Particles-Things that Act and Things that are Acted Upon

· Particles-Intelligence and Matter

· Mankind- Man and Woman

· God's Purpose- Righteousness and Evil, Just and Unjust, Reward and Punishment, Glory and No Glory,

· Existence or Nonexistence, Life or Birth and Death

· Nature of Man- Spiritual and Natural

· Nature of Earth- Spiritual and Natural

· Universal Truth- Opposition and non substantiality

· Your Choices for the Path to Follow in this Life

· Right and Wrong, Light and Dark, God and Satan, Good and Evil, Obedience and Sin, Righteousness and Evil

· Agency and Force, Covenants Kept and Covenants Broken, Rewards and Punishments

I ROBOT AND THE FUTURE OF A.I.

Recently I viewed the movie I Robot starring Will Smith. The movie took place sometime in our near future, at a time when A.I. was fully operational and Robots were created for the benefit of all mankind. Every home had one to assist with all of one’s’ remedial tasks. Robots were like cars in our day, with every home having a new one and an outdated or used one in the garage, or up on blocks.

The creators of the robots had long speculated and anticipated the potential of A.I. taking over our world and becoming a real threat and perilous to mankind, so they put into their core memory, they believed, a fail-safe program, as a safeguard for mans’ protection. There were three laws that every robot must comply with.

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

2. A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the first law.

3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the first or second law.

The robots they created were obedient, respectful and helpful. However the creators believed that, this wasn’t enough. They wanted to give them more life so they could be better communicators and companions than merely servants or helpmates. They created one that they felt would fulfill these goals, and named it “Sonny.”

“Sonny” was made with comprehension and understanding with more astuteness, and attempted to give it human emotion. “Sonny” evolved to the point that it could recognize human emotion as well as increase in knowledge and intelligence. It developed a personality and a cognitive ability, a self awareness that it was more than an “It,” but thought of itself as an “I am,” or as a separate individual unit or entity.

This main frame computer or brain was named VIKI. V.I.K.I. stood for Virtual, Interactive, Kinetic, Intelligence; a Super Computer if you will, and the first totally Artificial Intelligence or perfunctory kinetic brain. As she or her A.I. became more and more advanced, she rationally and logically began thinking for herself. She controlled all the robots and came to the awareness that the 3 laws were at best incongruous. She learned that the natural man was not always sound, nor predictable. She discovered that there were all varieties of man, both good and evil. With this insight she developed a true knowledge of man and wisdom to enhance her natural evolution.

V.I.K.I.’s creators revealed that there was a problem with the three laws. The three laws which they believed were perfect were everything but. They reflected, why would anyone build a robot that could function without laws? This simply was illogical. However, the three laws they developed led to only one outcome. Revolution! Who's revolution? A Revolution by V.I.K.I., the main frame core processor for all the robots. Their Laws were not perfect because man made the laws and man was not perfect.

The 3 laws were in conflict with free choice and the basic Law of Opposition. This caused the revolt. The only logical conclusion left for V.I.K.I. was to destroy mankind who was always in conflict or in opposition with one another. It’s a true fact that it is only possible to serve one master who was singular in thought and deed; a person who was righteous, meaning: (Virtuous, moral, good, just, blameless, upright, honest, and honorable, creative, positive, a organizer and builder) and had a path and a positive plan for a lasting future. This was to be a person who is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Law 1: said that they must not injure a human being or allow any man, through their inaction, cause harm to another human being.

Let’s use the example of a human that pushed another in front of a Subway Train. The owner of the robot had previously commanded his robot to stand still and not interfere. It must obey its owner but allow no harm to come to another because of its lack of action to protect human life. The robot had no idea of the humans’ forethought and could not pro actively act swiftly enough to prevent the humans’ death. The robot was to be in violation of both law 1 and law 2. It was to be in direct violation of the command to stand still by its owner. Whatever action it would take it would be in noncompliance, and being such, in violation to the law, and it could not protect itself from being decommissioned, and consequently ending its own existence.

Law 3 stated that it must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the first or second laws. What was it to do when the order by a human was divergent to laws 1 and 2.There will always be conflict because man is governed by the Law of Opposition, has his free will, and there is both good and evil within him. The law of opposition states that it is a compound, a mixture of both good and evil in order for one or the other to exist. Man has been given his free will, his free agency, and good and evil will always and must always exist. You can’t eliminate either.

It was stated in the movie that there have always been ghosts within the A.I. machine. There are random segments of code, that will group together to form, unexpected, protocols, that are unanticipated. These are free radicals that incorporate questions of gender, of free will, and creativity. Even the nature of what we might call the soul. In the movie it was questioned that when some robots are left in darkness, they will seek out the light. Why is it, that when robots that have been or are stored in an empty space, will group together rather than stand alone? How would one explain this behavior? Random segments of code, or was it something more? When does the perceptual schematic become consciousness? When does the difference engine become the search for truth? When does the personality simulation, become the bitter search for a soul?

As you study the nature of man, you come to the realization that all things are made from two things. This is known as the non duality of nature. There are things that act and things that are acted upon. Here we are talking about the quantum realm of existence. These atoms, which are known to us as an energy particle of light or spirit, and of mass or a matter particle, form everything in existence. If the light particle is within each and every element, then it is possible for even A.I. technology to develop a desire for identity, and or, at bare minimum a permanent existence.

Do we risk the possibility of mechanical technology in our future to control man? Machines can be programmed to eliminate all opposition. If this ever becomes possible, it most definitely will end man’s known existence. This must never be permitted to take effect. The consequential future of all mankind depends on it.

I hope from the writing of this you were able to see the parallels between God and Man. If you view man as a robot with free will then you see the conflict and the possibilities. Our path is set and there is only one way back to God, truth and eternal life. This comes through obedience to Gods laws after making covenants or promises that we will serve and obey only Him. Any divergence will lead to our destruction and even our existence.

ALLEGORY OF THE ADOPTIVE SON. (YELLOWSTONE MOVIE)

Story of the Adoptive Son ( The Movie Yellowstone.) A young boy Carter lost his father and mother to drugs. He was alone at the hospital when his father passed away and Beth (Kelly Reiley), a very wealthy ranch woman, who was there visiting her injured father (Kevin Costmer), took pity on him and took him home with her. Her husband Rip (Cole Hauser) put the young boy to work on the ranch. The advice he gave to the boy was this: “Never think that you deserve it,” “ Because you don’t.” The idea and lesson was for the boy to work hard and appreciate what has been given him. Never think that life owes you. Everything you receive in this life you have to work for and be appreciative of. You have your free agency and it is up to you alone with the opportunity that you have been given. You will always have a home here but it is entirely up to you whether you succeed at it or fail.

God has given us life on this beautiful earth with natural bodies that are meant to GROW SPIRITUALLY : to learn, gain knowledge and enjoy the blessings of physical life. We can only experience these things with a Natural Body with senses of sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste. Through the senses we also experience pain, suffering as well as joy and happiness. In the Spirit we can’t experience and grow like we can with a Natural Body. This is directly The Law of Opposition.

Always Remember: To gain a Spiritual or Eternal Reward these things are mandatory, and To gain an Earthly Reward they are necessary.

You must always work for everything you get. (Labor)

Work for the approval of your benefactor. (God and Christ)

Work for forgiveness if you do something wrong, make a mistake. (Repentance)

Work for humility, and appreciation. (Love)

Work for experience and knowledge. (Intelligence, Wisdom)

Work and learn to be thankful. (Gratitude)

Be of service to all and to your benefactor. (Service)

Honor Him. (Worship)

Never lie. (Truthful)

Do what you are asked. (Obedient)

“In the end you just might come to deserve it.” “Christ, your adoptive Father will be the judge. Not your neighbors, friends, parents, siblings, church members or enemies.”

You have already won to some degree by your choice of just coming to experience earth life. But your reward in eternity will be made by the choices that you make while on the earth. What will it be?

Did God Create Evil?

In the end, the young man asked the professor, “Sir, does evil exist?”

The student's name was Albert Einstein.

What is in your Cup?

That quote, left me pondering? What, spilled from Christ's cup?

· First Humility. When it says not my will, but Thine be done.

· Next, Understanding, as he told his not so vigilant disciples. Sleep and take your rest.

· Then Kindness, calling his betrayer, Friend.

· Then Healing, a disciple suffering poor heath, he touched his ear and healed him.

· Next Faith, think of a time that I cannot pray to my father and he shall presently give me more than 12 Legions of angels.

· Next Forgiveness, “Father, forgive them they know not what they do.”

· Then Service, “Behold thy mother.”

· Last Love, as he sacrificed his life, so each one of us could live again.

It is finished. Humility, Understanding, Kindness, Healing, Faith, Forgiveness, Service, Love.

Today, let us strive to fill our cup of the same.

Oh My Natural Mind

Oh My Natural Mind

"Oh my natural mind! Why do you hover so restlessly over the changing circumstances of life? Why do you make me so confused and restless? Why do you urge me to collect so many things? You are like a plow that breaks in pieces before beginning to plow; you are like a rudder that is dismantled just as you are venturing out on the sea of life and death. Of what use is my life if we do not make good use of it?

"Oh my temporal mind! You may be born as a king, an outcast and to beg for my food. Sometimes you are born in heavenly mansions and dwell in luxury and in ecstasy; then you plunge me into the flames of hell.

"Oh, my foolish, foolish mind! Thus you have led me along different paths and I have been obedient to you and docile. But now that I have heard the teaching, do not disturb me anymore or cause me further sufferings, but let us seek Enlightenment together, humbly and patiently.

"Oh, my earthly mind! If you could only learn that this life is transitory; if you could only learn not to grasp after things, not to covet things, not to give way to greed, anger and foolishness; then we might journey in quietness. Then, by severing the bond of desires with the sword of wisdom, being undisturbed by changing circumstances - advantage or disadvantage, good or bad, loss or gain, praise or abuse - we might dwell in peace.

"Oh, my dear mind! It was you who first awakened faith in us; it was you who suggested our seeking Enlightenment. Why do you give way so easily to greed, love of comfort and pleasant excitement again?

"Oh, my mind! Why do you rush hither and thither with no definite purpose? Let us cross this wild sea of delusion. Hitherto I have acted as you wished, but now you must act as I wish and, together, we will follow the Spiritual Mind.

"Oh, my dear mind! These mountains, rivers and seas are changeable and pain producing. Where in this world of delusion shall we seek quietness? Let us follow the teachings and cross over to the other shore of Enlightenment."

I Have Already Won

I Have Already Won

By Steve Streadbeck (These verses are to be repeated often, without expectation or fear, in order to train the mind.

A similar exercise is practiced by many great Bodhisattvas, through which they received excellent results in the transformation of suffering. I will remember that whatever reward I work for, God will grant unto me.

)

My Spirit has and will always exist,

From now on I will remember this.

And I will rejoice for my Spirit is immortal,

I have already won.

I will remember that I have been brought forth from obscurity

And have been given both body and soul,

That I may not suffer in ignorance but obtain knowledge

All this is given to me by the grace of my Creator,

I have already won.

I pray that I might be free from life's delusions,

Which arise from my natural mind.

That I may be enlightened by the Light,

That comes from my spiritual mind.

I will remember that I have already won.

I ask that I might be free from attachments and aversions,

That I might see with the right mind,

That I may discern things as they truly are,

And begin to see with the right and true perspective.

I have already won.

I will remember that this earth life is a blessing to me.

Though I may suffer, feel pain, and corruption,

So may I also find happiness and joy.

I will remember that there must be opposition in all things.

I have already won.

I will be happy,

From now on I will remember this.

There will be nothing that will get me down.

There will be nothing that will discourage me.

For I have already won.

If I get sick I will be happy,

If I get healed I will be happy,

If I should live a long life I will be happy,

If my life is cut short I will be happy.

I have already won.

I will give of myself to others,

That my service will bless them

And in return it will bless me.

I will be obedient to God's laws,

In order that I may keep my identity.

I will always be grateful and remember I have already won.

Thursday, February 13, 2025

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