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This is my first post. I created an account here just so I could ask this question: Is the mind spirit? I've been reading a lot of success books lately (7habits, etc) which have lead me to think about both the conscious and subconscious mind in particular. The information I'm learning regarding the mind has been very helpful in my life but I still don't know exactly WHAT the mind is. I feel I have a pretty good understanding of the body and spirit, but I am not sure whether or not the mind is physical or spiritual, or if it's possibly something separate?

I have two questions about abortion. Are the folks who say "It's my body, it's my choice" aware that they are violently taking that choice away from another human life (the baby)? If your body is your choice, why would you just go and kill the baby and take that choice away from him or her? Does the LDS church have an official position on abortion?

Why did Jesus have to be a "Begotten Son in the flesh"? Being His spiritual Firstborn Son is not enough? The "Sunday school" answer is something along the lines of Him being the only perfect, sinless man on earth or that He is the Firstborn. A deeper response might be that being a Begotten son would give him the ability to lay down His perfect life to pay for our sins and to overcome death or to even perform the miracles He did in this world. And another response would be to simply reveal God's nature. One could also say, the Savior had to be Begotten because it was prophesied that way and one could provide numerous scriptures to that regard but that doesn't explain 'why'. (*I am also not discussing how it was done, that would be for a different thread. And I am assuming the traditional LDS belief that Jesus is the literal Only Begotten in the flesh.) There are a couple questions this brings up, if that is what we believe. What is it about being the literal half-offspring of God in the flesh that allows Him to have otherwise lived an immortal life if He didn't sacrifice it for us? Do we not have examples of others who are walking the Earth in bodies that will not die but later given up and become resurrected? And why does this have to be done by being the literal offspring of God in the flesh? Why could it not be that Christ simply be given a perfect body to sacrifice later, why does it have to be an Only Begotten (that is really just a half begotten) body? If we say there is added value to being the literal Begotten Son of God in the flesh than it speaks to the idea that our greatness here on Earth is at least partly determined by the type of body we have. And not only having a certain type of body but one made up of a certain lineage. To make that body "perfect" does it have to be Begotten? If the answer is 'yes' than that would imply our perfected bodies after this life will all have to be Begotten of the Father. If the answer is 'no' then what really is the value of Jesus being literally Begotten of the Father in this life? The other category of questions comes from the idea that Jesus' body had to be Begotten to be able to overcome death. If we say that is the case then we are also saying that that is where the power to overcome death comes from, the body, at least in part. I've always considered Christ's ability to overcome death a function of his Priesthood power. If it was the Priesthood power alone than would it really matter what body Christ was born into, other than it being perfect? And if a perfect, flawless body was needed to overcome death, He would have to change that body to a mortal one to allow for death. If it was changed, or given up to become mortal at the cross or in the garden, then wouldn't He have also lost the ability to overcome death if it was from that perfect body? Was Jesus healing power and miracles a function of the Priesthood power alone or from the Godly body He had while on the Earth? Even just believing that a perfect, flawless body alone was needed for the sacrifice of the savior, why did that sacrificial body have to given by being "Begotten"? If one says, that is the only way to make a flawless, perfect body, then we would have to say that Adam and Eve's bodies were made the same way, which we know is not true because Jesus is the only Begotten. So we know there are other ways of making a perfect, flawless body. So, what is the significance, why did it have to be that Jesus is the literal Only Begotten Son in the flesh?

Is it possible to have a "live" body without a spirit? Such as what happens when someone is on life support and there is a general feeling that the person has already passed and so it is time to stop life support. Is it possible that there could be an alive body without the spirit present? Yes, we would call it "dead" in terms of the body without the spirit is dead. (James 2:26) But the tissue is alive, artificially alive just like there can exist faith (momentarily) without works. Or does it mean by definition that when the body is alive, even if it is in a very primitive way, such as heart rate, blood pressure and brain waves are present but no purposeful activity or interaction observed that the spirit has to be there? This was of course apply to the other end of life which is if the zygote is alive, the spirit is there? And also when God formed man before breathing in life, the body was "dead" or live tissue? It could also apply to recent threads pertaining to the flood and what is deemed "dead." (i.e. - the spirits were taken from all those animals left on land during the flood and yet the body remains, ready for the next generation.) Or, do we take that in a strict sense, with any hint of life there has to be a spirit present for that individual.

I've always had a hard time understanding this scripture. D&C 88:15 "15 And the spirit and the body are the soul of man." and yet the Gospel Topics definition on the LDS website of soul is; "in scripture, the term soul is used as a synonym for spirit to describe a person in four different phases of his or her eternal existence." Like in Abraham 3:23; "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." So, D&C 88:15 is kind of like saying 1 + 1 = 1. And then in Alma 40:23 it says; "The soul shall be restored to the body, and the body to the soul; yea, and every limb and joint shall be restored to its body; yea, even a hair of the head shall not be lost; but all things shall be restored to their proper and perfect frame." Well, if the soul is the spirit plus the body, how is that going to be restored to another body? So, in this case it seems that the "soul" is just referring to the spirit alone. I guess the question is why do we use the term "soul" at all, when in reality what is meant is spirit? Isn't "spirit" good enough? Or is there some added significance to the term "soul"? And D&C 88:15 makes it seem like "soul" is something more than the spirit alone. My feeling is that the word "soul" is used to describe the full faculties of an individual depending on what circumstance or period of life they are in. In the pre-existence the "soul" would be synonymous to "spirit" as there is no body. In this life, the "soul" is the combination of the effects from the spirit and the body. In the spirit world it is again by itself so the spirit once again equals the soul. And then once we receive a glorified body it goes back to being a spirit plus a body equals a "soul." And then we have scriptures like Abraham 5:7; " 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." that make it sound like "soul" is not an appropriate term for a pre-existence person because it is not a "living soul" until it is added to the body. So, does that mean the "soul" is dead in the pre-existence? These are confusing and interchangeable terms. What makes the term "soul" any different than "spirit"? What is the value of using the term "soul" over "spirit" or vice versa?