Why do we need a body of flesh and bones?

[KingintheNorth]

If I'm not mistaken, according to mormon scriptures God has a physical body. Why? And why do we need to have bodies? The doctrine that our mortal lives are for learning makes sense to me, but that our mortal lives are also for the opportunity to gain a material body doesnt make much sense.

[bytebear]

Mostly it's just the way it is. Why do we have 5 fingers and not 4 or 6? This is just the way the system works. Something about physically interacting and not just being a non-interactive brain doesn't allow us to progress. I also suspect a lot of it has to do with the ability to procreate and share in the ability to create life. And to procreate we must have bodies.

[james12]

Your question is a good one. It is a question all members should ask themselves, and they should not be satisfied with trite, clearly incomplete answers. Mark these words as given to Elder Packer in his patriarchal blessing, "[The body] is the instrument of your mind and the foundation of your character." Our body is a tool or instrument which amplifies our spirit. It expands the breadth and depth of our emotions. Through our mortal body we more deeply experience love, kindness, happiness, but also sorrow, pain, and disappointment. Our bodies enhance our relationships with others and expand our ability to obey. Our spirits our pure but have difficulty controlling these new and expanded emotions.

At the same time, our bodies our subject to the power of the adversary. Through our mortal tabernacle evil is suggested to us. The thoughts are constant. They whisper discouragement, distraction, and giving into the lusts of the flesh. Things like, "That should make you mad", "you're too tired", "you can find such pleasure in immorality".

In such cases Brigham Young said, "If the spirit yields to the body, the devil then has power to overcome the body and the spirit of that man, and he loses both." (Discourses of Brigham Young, p 70) This is the test. We did not come here to: number one, be tested, and number two, gain a body. They are one and the same. Our test is to gain our body and present pure before God. For everyday practical purposes the matter can be summarized in one question. "Will my body rule over my spirit, or will my spirit rule over my body? ...That, brothers and sisters, is the test." (Elder Bednar, Ye are the Temple of God, Sep 2001, Rick's College)

[KingintheNorth]

James, that was great thank you. Do you just have these saved somewhere or did you look it up? I heard it explained as a fullness of joy before, but I didn't know what it meant. This is much clearer.

[estradling75]

The doctrine is here

Doctrine and Covenants 93:33 

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

[Blackmarch]

If I'm not mistaken, according to mormon scriptures God has a physical body. Why? And why do we need to have bodies? The doctrine that our mortal lives are for learning makes sense to me, but that our mortal lives are also for the opportunity to gain a material body doesnt make much sense.

Because God had one, and we as spirits before we were born, wanted to be like him.

When you get a chance, pick up a rock, heft it, feel it weight, and then do whatever with it. a spirit cannot do that, a spirit may be able to manipulate gravity and inertia, or whatever, to cause the rock to move but that is not the same. If we are to be able to gain the ability to be able to do all things under God then it imperative that we get a physical body as much as getting a spirit body, so that we can perform in the physical as well as being able to perform in the spiritual.

We also learn from scriptures revealed in this day that the combination of spirit and physical allows a body to become greater or more perfect in some way.

[james12]

James, that was great thank you. Do you just have these saved somewhere or did you look it up? I heard it explained as a fullness of joy before, but I didn't know what it meant. This is much clearer.

I have spent some time studying and considering the doctrine. I think what I have said just touches the surface. Thanks for you comments. Good luck in finding truth.

[Seminarysnoozer]

The doctrine is here

Doctrine and Covenants 93:33Â*

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

That verse tends to be separated by itself but by itself hardly explains the doctrine. Within that section are verses such as " 3 And that I am in the Father, and the Father in me, and the Father and I are one—

4 The Father because he gave me of his fulness, and the Son because I was in the world and made flesh my tabernacle, and dwelt among the sons of men." Which seems to speak of the two bodies, the mortal one that provides a part of the fullness in understanding good and evil amongst the sons of men and then the Father gave his fullness, the resurrected body, making the Father and the Son one. Those verses are also required to ponder the real meaning of verse 33. Because verse 33 alone does not explain the 'how' a fullness is "received". One thing to call attention to are the words "gave" and "received". The fullness is truly something given and received and not something developed over time. There is a point in the plan in which one jumps up in a non-line-upon-line fashion, the point of resurrection, where one gains a significant amount of glory. The glory of the moment is delivered in the form of a physical body. I think these are things to ponder.

Also ponder " 24 And truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come;" and "26 The Spirit of truth is of God. I am the Spirit of truth, and John bore record of me, saying: He received a fulness of truth, yea, even of all truth;" and in verse 27 we read that we cannot receive the fullness without being obedient to all the commandments which we know results in receiving a Celestial physical body upon resurrection. This links the idea of receiving a knowledge of all truth, of things as they are, as they were and as they are to come.

[Guest nader]

Mostly it's just the way it is. Why do we have 5 fingers and not 4 or 6? This is just the way the system works. Something about physically interacting and not just being a non-interactive brain doesn't allow us to progress. I also suspect a lot of it has to do with the ability to procreate and share in the ability to create life. And to procreate we must have bodies.

This can kind of answer your question as to why we have 5 and not 6 fingers.

Evolution of the human hand: the role of throwing and clubbing