nitram

Ladies and gentlemen, brethren and sisters, it has been an enlightening exchange of thoughts with you. But it's already past midnight here in the Pearl of the Orient Seas. I'm also done working on our school project. Adieu! (On to spending the next 8-9 hours with my mattress...)

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Come on. My question was about a man covered with a mantle then you gave me an Ewok?!?

Brother, I guess you missed this other possibility pointed out by our nice gentleman who goes by the forum username of Just_A_Guy. Thank you, sir, for brining this possibility up. :) I actually heard this explanation before from a pastor of the Protestant faith but I never knew that the the LDS Bible Dictionary also considers this as a possibility. But if Samuel did come there even not through the witch of Endor's summoning, then would that mean dead spirits can exit the spirit world before the ressurection, in contradiction with what an official LDS teaching manual entitled Gospel Principles says regarding the postmortal spirit world? Heavenly Father prepared a plan for our salvation. As part of this plan, He sent us from His presence to live on earth and receive mortal bodies of flesh and blood. Eventually our mortal bodies will die, and our spirits will go to the spirit world. The spirit world is a place of waiting, working, learning, and, for the righteous, resting from care and sorrow. Our spirits will live there until we are ready for our resurrection. Then our mortal bodies will once more unite with our spirits, and we will receive the degree of glory we have prepared for. (source: Gospel Principles, Chapter 41: The Postmortal Spirit World, p. 241) P.S. I apologize for being inquisitive.

Thank you, sir, for sharing with us an article from the LDS Church's official website. While I don't want to question this supposedly official interpretation on 1 Samuel 28, I would just like to inquire as to why the author, in some particular verses of chapter 28, seems to be suggesting that it was really the dead prophet Samuel who Saul conversed with. These are the verses I'm talking about: [15]And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do. [16]Then said Samuel, Wherefore then dost thou ask of me, seeing the Lord is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy? (1 Sam. 28:15, 16, KJV-LDS) Then Saul fell straightway all along on the earth, and was sore afraid, because of the words of Samuel: and there was no strength in him; for he had eaten no bread all the day, nor all the night. (1 Sam. 28:20, KJV-LDS) Take note that nowhere in chapter 28 does it directly say that the prophet Samuel was not there and that the words the unfavored king heard were of the witch or another familiar spirit and not of the prophet... or did the authors and/or the translators just missed these parts? :) P.S. I'm not yet taking sides on this one. This is why if you're going to notice, I'm playing safe with my words to avoid being misunderstood and, worse, being accused of teaching false doctrine. Now, if I ever misunderstood any statement from the Church or from you, my brother in Christ, please know that I gladly welcome corrections.

Gramps, is that you? :-) Yep, I did submit this to AskGramps.org. My purpose of asking this question here is to know the perspective of other Latter-day Saints on this. Anyway, if you really are Gramps, I want you to know that I'm one of your biggest fans. In fact, I bookmarked AskGramps.org. XD Ummm... If we were to read the verses that follow verse 14, we would know that the "old man in a mantle" and King Saul had a conversation about the latter's defeat in the hands of the Philistines. She couldn't have lied that she saw an "old man in a mantle." (I guess.)

The 28th chapter of the biblical First Book of Samuel tells us about a desperate Saul who, after not receiving any answer from the LORD God, consulted a witch who lives at Endor, anonymously and in disguise. He asked that witch to summon the spirit of the dead prophet Samuel. When the king inquired as of what she can see, the witch replied, saying she saw "an old man cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle." (1 Sam. 28:14) The same verse tells us Saul "perceived that it was Samuel." Now, my questions are: Was that old man covered with a mantle really Samuel... or was it someone/something else? Was the witch of Endor able to summon Samuel from the dead? Did that spirit come from the Spirit World... or did it come from somewhere else? Can witches/wizards/mediums/anyone summon a dead spirit from the Spirit World? Can a spirit from the Spirit World go back to the "mortal world" and appear/talk to living people?Thanks in advance! P.S. I don't know if this is where I'm supposed to post my topic. I just felt this is the most appropriate place to do so. If ever this should've been posted somewhere else, kindly relocate my thread. TY.

I do all three, but I'm more fund of RPGs. Uy, kababayan! Your Filipino is good enough and understandable. I'm glad to know that there are other kababayans here. :)

Ummm... I don't know where to start! xD Well, I'm nitram, your Latter-day Saint gentleman from the Philippines. You may address me using my aforementioned forum username. I'm a convert (baptized just last year) but I've been less active in the church for a while. I'm thinking of reactivating though, thanks to our ward's missionaries whose hearts are sincere serving in the LORD God's work in these latter days. They, truly by God's grace, recently visited me, just in time when I'm badly in need of spiritual renewal. Non-LDS-related info: I am fond of gaming and, just like what both my avatar and my forum profile's background suggest, I'm a big fan of the Ace Attorney series! In school, I serve as the managing editor of our school publication. While I frequently use the English language when conversing online, I speak Filipino, the national language of our country, when personally talking to other Filipinos and writing for our school publication. I consider myself an advocate of campus journalism. I also love listening to music (over and over again until I feel the need to either take a break or listen to another song because I almost memorized the song I'm playing). I blog and surf the internet (and view 9GAG's supposedly funny stuff when bored). That's all. I'm out of anything to share with you, ladies and gentlemen. For more, you may drop a visit to my forum profile or you may send me a message in private. Here's hoping a good online fellowship and thought-sharing with my brethren and sisters in Christ. P.S. If you would like to ask my age, I guess my fondness for gaming and my being a campus journalist is a good clue as to what age group I belong to. :-)