askandanswer

I think there might be room to debate the question of the degree of David's culpability in the death of Uria. It's possible that those who have spoken and speculated on the topic and accused David of murder have not thought through all the many different legal phrases and terminologies that are used to describe the series of actions that directly, or indirectly, result in the death of another person, with each different phrase reflecting a different degree of culpability - eg, murder in the first degree, second degree, manslaughter, accessory to murder, etc. Exactly which kind of killing is the kind that attracts as its penalty eternal punishment? The facts show that David did not directly kill Uriah - that was done by somebody else - but that he engaged in a course of action that he hoped and believed, but possibly might not, lead to Uriah's death. Is that the same as murder, the kind of murder that damn's a person for eternity? In addition, surely, David, as commander-in-chief had the right to decide how to employ his troops. And surely it makes good sense to put some of his best troops into the hottest part of the battle? And possibly if Uriah had been a better soldier, he might have prevailed and the battle might have turned in the Israelite's favour. Or the Lord could have divinely intervened, as He occasionally did in the Israelite's battles, and completely changed the outcome. Or Joab, or the men under his command -as occasionally happened - might have chosen to disregard, or not follow to its fullest extent, David's orders to withdraw from Uriah. Or a hundred other possibilities. And surely David knew that every time he engaged in battle, that in effect, he was sending many, many of his people to be killed. Is one more person any different? Is David's degree of culpability significantly different from any front-line LDS commander who knowingly sends his troops into a hopeless situation, knowing that many will be killed?

Dessert: Apple crumble, (not pie) with lots of vanilla ice cream Sound: Hallelujah chorus from Handel's Messiah Scripture: Sermon on the Mount Movie: Same as beehfche but Return of the King

We chose which side of the war in heaven we would be on. That sounds like the exercise of agency to me.

Surely my existence is proof of evolution? LDS doctrine, which I passionately believe in, teaches me that I have evolved from an intelligence, to a spirit being, to a being with a physical body, and that if I make the right choices, that I will further evolve/progress to an eternal being and maybe even a god. Is that not a form of evolution: to change from a lower state to a higher state?

Thanks very much polar and dragon, these are both quite useful, particularly the reference in D&C 52.

I think that God created the earth and its inhabitants through a process of evolution. The idea of evolution seems to fit in very nicely with the idea of how we learn and progress - line upon line, here a little and there a little. Quite possibly, when the evolutionary process proceeded down a dead end path, or failed to proceed along the desired path, God gave it a little nudge to change its direction or speed it along. I don't say that I hold the following belief, but I just put it out as a possibility that may be worth considering - perhaps the difference between Adam and Eve, and all those almost human like creatures that may have proceeded them is that Adam and Eve may have been the first to have been given the light of Christ, thus making them fully human and children of a heavenly father, and susceptible to resurrection and eternal life whilst all those who proceeded them did not have the light of Christ and might not have such an opportunity.Just an idea.

Can anyone point me to any scriptures or prophetic or apostolic teachings that teach or emphasise that God is a God or order and that He usually follows the same procedures and routines when He does what He does? I’m looking for scriptures or teachings that highlight that God, when unfolding His plan for us, and carrying out His works, usually keeps to the same patterns or methods that He has used previously. The scriptures that best give a sense of what I’m looking for are the ones that teach that the Lords house is a house or order, or that the course of the Lord is one eternal round, or that God is an unchanging God, but if anybody can add to this very short list, or point me to some modern day teachings that add to or clarify the idea that God usually follows the same methodology, that would be very much appreciated. Many thanks

My suspicion is that, within his area of jurisdiction, God is free to decide what is and what is not good, but that His decisions must be in conformity with a set of higher laws to which even God is subject. There's a bunch of scriptural evidence to suggest that God is subject to laws not of His making. These higher laws might or might not constitute, or be based on, some sort of objective goodness, or they might again be based on some sort of even higher law ( I doubt it), but we don't know enough to make any valid conclusions on that question. Once God has decided that something is good, then for all intents and purposes, for us here on this earth at this time, that decisions becomes our objective goodness.