4 possible reasons that might explain all of God's actions


askandanswer
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Vort’s question, raised in his post entitled “Fighting on enemy ground” in the General Discussion forum, leads to me think of the “why” reasons that might lie behind the laws and commandments that God has given us. To me, there seems to be four sets of possible reasons, which I think, taken either individually or together, might cover all possible reasons why God has given us the laws He has. These reasons are:

 

 

1 Because the laws He has given us must be consistent with some sort of higher, eternal law, which even God is subject to. For example, there must be opposition in all things and we grow by making righteous choices in the face of that opposition, and eternal justice demands that sins be paid for.

 

 

2. Because He loves us and knows what is best for us, and wants us to be happy, and He knows from His own experience that obedience to the set of laws He has given us provides a greater likelihood of more people experiencing greater happiness than any other set of laws He could have given us. For example, (Old Testament | Genesis 2:24)

24  Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.''

 

3. Because the laws He has given us reflect His personal preference, eg, Adam-ondi-Ahman will be the place where Adam comes to visit his people for the last days, rather than my back yard

 

 

4. Because God is trying to mold our eternal character to fit an outcome He would like to achieve eg,

(Book of Mormon | Alma 7:9)

9  But behold, the Spirit hath said this much unto me, saying: Cry unto this people, saying—Repent ye, and prepare the way of the Lord, and walk in his paths, which are straight; for behold, the kingdom of heaven is at hand, and the Son of God cometh upon the face of the earth.

and

(Doctrine and Covenants | Section 45:9)

9  And even so I have sent mine everlasting covenant into the world, to be a light to the world, and to be a standard for my people, and for the Gentiles to seek to it, and to be a messenger before my face to prepare the way before me.

 

 

Of course, in some situations, or for some laws, there is likely to be some overlap between these four possible reasons, in that one law could be explainable by more than one reason. On the other hand, it may well be that there are some laws, or some situations, that can only be explained by one of these reasons.

 

 

What do you think? Do these four possible reasons for God’s many laws adequately cover all of the reasons for all of God’s laws? Are more reasons needed? Are fewer? If so, what more reasons are needed, or which of these four are not needed?

ps

After thinking about it during church today, it seems that I need to add another reason that can help to explain why God does what he does. 

5. To accommodate the weaknesses of man. For example, Matthew 19: 7 - 8

(New Testament | Matthew 19:7 - 8)
7  They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away?
8  He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.

 

Edited by askandanswer
Added a fifth reason
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On ‎12‎/‎3‎/‎2016 at 1:56 PM, askandanswer said:

Vort’s question, raised in his post entitled “Fighting on enemy ground” in the General Discussion forum, leads to me think of the “why” reasons that might lie behind the laws and commandments that God has given us. To me, there seems to be four sets of possible reasons, which I think, taken either individually or together, might cover all possible reasons why God has given us the laws He has. These reasons are:

 

 

1 Because the laws He has given us must be consistent with some sort of higher, eternal law, which even God is subject to. For example, there must be opposition in all things and we grow by making righteous choices in the face of that opposition, and eternal justice demands that sins be paid for.

 

 

2. Because He loves us and knows what is best for us, and wants us to be happy, and He knows from His own experience that obedience to the set of laws He has given us provides a greater likelihood of more people experiencing greater happiness than any other set of laws He could have given us. For example, (Old Testament | Genesis 2:24)

24  Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.''

 

3. Because the laws He has given us reflect His personal preference, eg, Adam-ondi-Ahman will be the place where Adam comes to visit his people for the last days, rather than my back yard

 

 

4. Because God is trying to mold our eternal character to fit an outcome He would like to achieve eg,

(Book of Mormon | Alma 7:9)

9  But behold, the Spirit hath said this much unto me, saying: Cry unto this people, saying—Repent ye, and prepare the way of the Lord, and walk in his paths, which are straight; for behold, the kingdom of heaven is at hand, and the Son of God cometh upon the face of the earth.

and

(Doctrine and Covenants | Section 45:9)

9  And even so I have sent mine everlasting covenant into the world, to be a light to the world, and to be a standard for my people, and for the Gentiles to seek to it, and to be a messenger before my face to prepare the way before me.

 

 

Of course, in some situations, or for some laws, there is likely to be some overlap between these four possible reasons, in that one law could be explainable by more than one reason. On the other hand, it may well be that there are some laws, or some situations, that can only be explained by one of these reasons.

 

 

What do you think? Do these four possible reasons for God’s many laws adequately cover all of the reasons for all of God’s laws? Are more reasons needed? Are fewer? If so, what more reasons are needed, or which of these four are not needed?

ps

After thinking about it during church today, it seems that I need to add another reason that can help to explain why God does what he does. 

5. To accommodate the weaknesses of man. For example, Matthew 19: 7 - 8

(New Testament | Matthew 19:7 - 8)
7  They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away?
8  He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.

 

 

One very important point to keep in mind is that we currently are experiencing what could best be called an “alternate reality”.  Our mortal existence is not actually real but at best is a pseudo reality that will dissolve in time.  What we experience, sense and realize is not eternal but will all end in time and on an individual scale will end for individuals at our unique death.

For those that do not believe in G-d and an afterlife; this pseudo reality is the totality they are capable of grasping and all hopes of justice, intelligence, goodness, kindness and a great many other ideals with all their counterparts are nothing more or less than fading figments of temporary imaginations and cannot be “real” in any long term possibility. 

My point is that we live in this pseudo temporary reality that is in essence a stacked deck.  How the deck is stacked and who is really responsible is an unreal figment of our temporary imagination based in various levels of speculation – all of which is just another way of saying we live out our mortal existence by faith.  Whatever impressions we have of G-d and what he intends to do with us is a matter of faith based in a temporary condition we can at best understand as an unsolvable mystery.  The scriptural doctrine is that we are in an impossible hopeless and fallen state.  And that we are only saved from this tragic state through the atonement of Christ. 

The single possibility is that G-d only will or can “fix” this problem – outside of this possibility there is no possible reason or intelligent answer to explain G-d – or for that matte anything thing else other than the eventual end of, not just our individual lives but even the existence of this entire universe as we think we know it.

 

The Traveler

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