askandanswer

33 For man is spirit. The elements are eternal, and spirit and element, inseparably connected, receive a fulness of joy; Does this verse teach that when the spirit and body of man are inseparably connected it/they will receive a fulness of joy? And if that is the case, would it then follow that all who are resurrected and thereby inseparably connected, receive a fullness of joy?

Thanks @Jersey Boy this is a very clear and logical explanation and answers well the questions I had.

If it was the case that one candidate is more evil than incompetent, and another candidate is more incompetent than evil, who would be the better candidate?

Does Section 138 also contradict what Section 76 was teaching?

Does this verse from section 76 of the Doctrine and Covenants suggest that Christ visited the spirits in prison and preached the gospel to them? 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; And do these verses, from section 138, suggest that He did not? 29 And as I wondered, my eyes were opened, and my understanding quickened, and I perceived that the Lord went not in person among the wicked and the disobedient who had rejected the truth, to teach them; 30 But behold, from among the righteous, he organized his forces and appointed messengers, clothed with power and authority, and commissioned them to go forth and carry the light of the gospel to them that were in darkness, even to all the spirits of men; and thus was the gospel preached to the dead.

What did he look like before he jumped in the river?

I wrote the following a few minutes ago during my scripture reading and thought it was worth sharing. Its an observation and conclusion rather than a question. This line of thought was triggered by part of Ether 4:15 15 Behold, when ye shall rend that veil of unbelief which doth cause you to remain in your awful state of wickedness, and hardness of heart, and blindness of mind, then shall the great and marvelous things which have been hid up from the foundation of the world from you—yea, when ye shall call upon the Father in my name, with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, then shall ye know that the Father hath remembered the covenant which he made unto your fathers, O house of Israel. Having a broken heart and a contrite spirit is essential - there is no other way around it, or no acceptable substitute. It may be worth thinking about if the heart is mended, and if so, how, and how might the heart that has been broken and mended be different from the heart that was not broken. This could be interesting. What kind of Being, or what kind of Father, wants the heart, the most essential part, of His children to be broken? Have God's children been made in such a way that the most essential part of them contains some sort of deficiency, or inadequacy, that needs to be removed or transformed? If so, what is that thing? I believe it is our will. Perhaps our will must be broken and and then re-made in such a way that we then turn our will over to God. Perhaps we retain our agency, but our will belongs to God and that fact might be either the sole, or the main, determinant of how we choose to use our agency. We might retain the capacity to choose, but have the desire to only choose that which God wants. Perhaps the main purpose of this life is to mold us to the point, or prepare us to the point, that we only want to choose what God would have us choose and be willing in all aspects to do as He desires and requires of us. I think that is the point at which we become most teachable, and there is a lot that we will need to be taught after this life. Perhaps there is something in us that needs to be "burnt out" or removed, or transformed, and then handed over to God. We need to become His completely. Like it or not, I should accept this deal because it is the only one on the table. But that should not be my reason for accepting it, I should accept it because I want it and because I trust God that this is the best possible thing that could happen to me. Why should I doubt given that God has promised me all that is His, all that He has? He's not trying to make me eternally subservient to Him, He is trying to help me become as He. We have a lot to learn in order for that to happen, and to learn that, we need to be teachable, and we are at our most teachable when our will is perfectly aligned with God, and we only want what He wants. This would help to explain why some people do not enter the celestial kingdom - they have retained an element of personal will, they have not handed themselves completely over to God, there is something within them still, this element of id (used in the Freudian sense) that blocks, or is a hindrance to, their ability to receive the necessary learning required to become as God. By retaining this element of self-will, they create an obstacle to participating in the learning necessary to become as God. And perhaps we can speculate a little further and say that Christ's Atonement was the ultimate test of, example of, demonstration of, subjugating one's will to God's, and in doing so, that may be how He became as His Father, although that conclusion, I suspect, is far more speculative and perhaps somewhat more tenuous, than the other conclusions here. The logic of this arrangement seems to be internally consistent and seems to fit together well.

2 and 3 both seem to be equally good definitions in this context. I guess if one event is more important than other, you would be more inclined to allocate greater attention and resources to that event.

I'm thinking that one possibility is that these verses refer to two outcomes, or end results, of the Plan of Salvation - one outcome being the immortality and eternal life of man, and the other, all things becoming subject to Christ. The underlinings in verse 39 are not from me. It's only just now, as a result of your comment, that I've looked again at verse 39 and noticed that the words work, glory, immortality and eternal life, appear as hyperlinks in lds.org, but when copied and pasted into thirdhour, those hyperlinks appear as underlined.

26 And may the grace of God the Father, whose throne is high in the heavens, and our Lord Jesus Christ, who sitteth on the right hand of his power, until all things shall become subject unto him, be, and abide with you forever. Amen. 39 For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. Are these two outcomes an equal priority in the eyes of God? Or is one more important than the other? Or is one simply a means of bringing about the other?

Does this verse suggest that sometimes the Lord uses the teaching method of line upon line and precept upon precept in order that those who are being taught "might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken"? But the word of the Lord was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

I think its a bit concerning for a missionary to preach something that they don't believe. Perhaps your son could reflect on the importance of bringing his beliefs into line with those of church authorities rather than reluctantly choosing to go along with beliefs that he thinks are false.

This sounds a bit odd coming from a leader in a country that was founded on a revolution.

For @Jamie123 This is the kind of poster I am

I haven't thought about this too carefully but I suspect that there is no matter without spirit, and since animals are a form of matter, there would be some spirit mixed up with that matter.

If people choose Trump on the basis that he is a lesser evil than Biden, ie, both are evil, but one is less so, would that suggest that America is at the point referred to in Mosiah 29:27? 27 And if the time comes that the voice of the people doth choose iniquity, then is the time that the judgments of God will come upon you; yea, then is the time he will visit you with great destruction even as he has hitherto visited this land.

I seem to recall reading various things that suggest that according to the laws that govern the universe, there is nothing which prevents time from flowing in more than one direction. It also seems to be the case that variations on the double slit experiment raise questions about causality as well, with photons appearing to change their behaviour as a result of something that has happened, but with the change happening before that something happens. These are things that I don't really have any understanding of, but I have come across these ideas in numerous places.

Psalms 119: 99 I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation.

And after that, if there is still more you want to know about God, then I would recommend a study of the life and teachings of Joseph Smith. I believe that no mortal, except for perhaps Adam, knew God and His works better than Joseph Smith and we have far more information from Joseph Smith than we do from Adam.

And what's wrong with that? I've heard that in some countries, people believe that they're led by those they've voted for! Sometimes in politics, a muscular posture is needed. Our second worst Prime Minister in the last half century was a bit of a boxer in his student days, winning some sort of boxing championship at Oxford University when he was there as a Rhodes scholar. Perhaps Australia would have been a better place if the kangaroo had won that one. https://www.smh.com.au/national/the-life-and-career-of-tony-abbott-20130908-2tdf6.html Its a bit of a tangent, but I was interested in this news article from a few days ago that suggested that the relatively low salary (by some people's standards) is causing some people to shun a career in politics. For radio talkback caller Michelle, a career in politics "was just not something I could afford to do for my family". She worked in investment analysis for a major mining company and pulled in well over a quarter of a million dollars a year. "And when I looked at going to parliament — you can't get a mortgage because your job is so uncertain, you're going to take a drop in salary of at least 25 per cent, and you're on call 24/7 and have no privacy," she told ABC Radio Perth. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-25/pay-rise-for-wa-politicians-and-public-servants-explained/104014998

I don't see what all the fuss is about. Here in Australia, debate is what you put on de hook to catch de fish. In the US it seems like debate is the hook you use to catch the voters.

I can't help but think that our Prophet is almost 20 years older than Biden. Let's hope he keeps the caffeine to a minimum

Let me check my records. Hmmm, @NeuroTypical, number of sins as of June 17: 1,207 Please note, this is the number of unrepented sins, the actual number is, well, somewhat higher.

A problem I have with this approach is that it turns God into a debtor to justice. If Christ's single Atonement on this Earth covered all the sins that were ever committed on other earths, it becomes hard to avoid the conclusion that the price of all those sins committed on other worlds prior to the Atonement on this world, effectively went on the credit card - with payment only being made well after those sins were committed. I can see the demands of justice for all those who sinned on this world prior to the Atonement perhaps being delayed until the Atonement, but to stretch the patience of justice to cover the sins of many worlds would seem a little surprising. There might also be some unfairness in delaying the exhaltation of all those beings from other worlds while they sat around waiting for something over which they had no control to happen on another world.

Thank you @zil2 your use of logic applied to scripture helps to clarify things. I agree with the idea that Christ will enable the means of redemption for all who He has created. I also agree that there is nothing definitive on whether the other worlds are or have been inhabited, although like you, I suspect that it is more likely than not that they are/have been. I guess that leaves open the question of whether its one atonement for all or one atonement per world or some other arrangement.