How Are Spirits Made?

[Pa Pa]

I had always assumed that because we are made in Gods Image, that Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother procreated spirits by having sex. I guess it just made sense to me that if our mortal bodies works that way to make another body, they would work that way to make spirits also.

My sister-in-law does not agree, she believes spirits are made a different way (like how the earth was created, from unorganised matter) So what i want to know is, after this life, when we are resurrected, will we have sex? If we do, will it be for procreation, or just recreation? (My husband is interested to know this also!)

Don't know...but if my wife thinks she will have to have more children (meaning giving birth) she might not want to go!

[Guest HEthePrimate]

My sister-in-law does not agree, she believes spirits are made a different way (like how the earth was created, from unorganised matter) So what i want to know is, after this life, when we are resurrected, will we have sex? If we do, will it be for procreation, or just recreation? (My husband is interested to know this also!)

I'll bet your husband is interested to know this!! *wink*wink* Well I, for one, would not mind at all if "sex is eternal." The Proclamation on the Family hints that sex/gender was around in the Pre-existence--that is, there were male & female spirits. But I have no idea how spirits are made in the first place. Intriguing question!

[Doctor Steuss]

I imagine the joys experienced in Heaven will make the joys of earth seem like paltry wooden tokens. Whether they are necessarily through physical means or emotional means, or even scientific means is negligible. The mere joy of existence in the hereafter will probably blow all of our minds more than anything we will ever experience here.

[Guest moreholinessgiveme]

I had always assumed that because we are made in Gods Image, that Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother procreated spirits by having sex. I guess it just made sense to me that if our mortal bodies works that way to make another body, they would work that way to make spirits also.

My sister-in-law does not agree, she believes spirits are made a different way (like how the earth was created, from unorganised matter) So what i want to know is, after this life, when we are resurrected, will we have sex? If we do, will it be for procreation, or just recreation? (My husband is interested to know this also!)

I don't know how to back it up scripturally, but logically, it would seem to make sense.

When Heavenly Father and Mother make spirits, they do it the same way Fathers and Mothers make physical babies here on earth.

And, I'm not sure that Heavenly Father and Mother are limited to *just* spirit bodies. I would think they could make physical bodies from the same process as well (Adam & Eve).

[Still_Small_Voice]

While I don't think there is any official church doctrine on whether there are sexual relations between husband and wife after the resurrection, there is one point of doctrine that is made clear. Only those who have inherited the celestial kingdom and received their exaltation will have spirit children.

[mnn727]

Last time I heard there have been about 6 Billion people on this planet, if you go with the biblical record of 6000 years since Adam and Eve that means that means that 1 million Spirit Children would have to be born every single year (2739 spirit babies every day) - sorry, but I'm not sure any woman would think that's Heaven

[bunnzy]

Keep in mind that pain in child birth was a result of the fall, and of eve being the first to partake of the fruit.

Pregnancy, and childbirth will not hurt after this life. And we have ALL ETERNITY, we have time to make billions and billions of spirit children.

[Guest moreholinessgiveme]

Last time I heard there have been about 6 Billion people on this planet, if you go with the biblical record of 6000 years since Adam and Eve that means that means that 1 million Spirit Children would have to be born every single year (2739 spirit babies every day) - sorry, but I'm not sure any woman would think that's Heaven

LOL.

Not sure I want to touch that with a 10 foot pole.

I'm sure it will be minus the labor and delivery pain. Remember, we'll be immortal and impervious to mortal pains and sicknesses and discomforts.

[Ron Beron]

"Sex as a celestial being with celestial glory seems a bit primitive and simplistic at best and crude and offensive at worse. " - Ron Beron

I do not understand how you could come to such a conclusion, RB, I had always been taught, and if you look up church doctrine on it, that sex is divine and holy. We go under covenant in the temple to be chaste and cleave only unto our spouse. I do not see how sex is primitive or simplistic. Sex is only offensive when Satan distorts it. When used in marraige it is special and divine.

I think you misunderstood me. I said, "sex as a celestial being" not as a physical being. Since we will be living in a celestial paradisical glory then the idea does seem simplistic.

[Ron Beron]

So you believe sex is sinful or dirty? Strange then isn't it that God would choose this "dirty, sinful" method to give every single one of His children a physical body. No my friend, sex is for sharing and loving "..and two shall become one" when done in the correct relationship (marriage)

See my post above....

[Ron Beron]

IMO the method of creating physical children, i.e. sexual relations, is a purpose and function for this sphere and for our mortal bodies.

I believe that spirit children will be "organized" in some manner but not through sex or any other method used in this world. I don't believe we will be eternally pregnant as we know it. I believe we will function on a higher plane of creation.

Garden Girl

GG...If I had rephrased my answer to reflect the simplicity of your remarks then I would have fewer pushbacks. Thanks.

[MorningStar]

GG...If I had rephrased my answer to reflect the simplicity of your remarks then I would have fewer pushbacks. Thanks.

GG phrases things beautifully, doesn't she?

[charity]

I think we will do all the good things we did here, but just not the bad things. We will eat, but not overeat, we will have sex, but not for any lustful reason, we women will have babies, but without all the unpleasant stuff, we will get to be parents to babies without the spit up, and toddlers without the tantrums, and teenagers without cars. What bliss.

[Ron Beron]

I think we will do all the good things we did here, but just not the bad things. We will eat, but not overeat, we will have sex, but not for any lustful reason, we women will have babies, but without all the unpleasant stuff, we will get to be parents to babies without the spit up, and toddlers without the tantrums, and teenagers without cars. What bliss.

Okay, Charity, I think that you are overly projecting at this point. How about lustfully eating without guilt or weight or no teenagers at all. That would be heaven.

[charity]

Okay, Charity, I think that you are overly projecting at this point. How about lustfully eating without guilt or weight or no teenagers at all. That would be heaven.

Is that being saved IN our sins?

[Facsimile 3]

Maybe this is because I am 19 and leaving for my mission in less than a month, but I would personally rather not have to deal with sexual feelings in the afterlife. I'm sure that changes when you have a wife and all that jazz, but I really hope there is a much deeper way of loving in a Celestial state. We use only 10% of our brains in our mortal bodies and we can read each other's thoughts in heaven, I don't know about you, but I can picture much grander designs than that of sex on earth.

[Guest HEthePrimate]

Maybe this is because I am 19 and leaving for my mission in less than a month, but I would personally rather not have to deal with sexual feelings in the afterlife. I'm sure that changes when you have a wife and all that jazz, but I really hope there is a much deeper way of loving in a Celestial state. We use only 10% of our brains in our mortal bodies and we can read each other's thoughts in heaven, I don't know about you, but I can picture much grander designs than that of sex on earth.

Fax 3,

You are certainly right to avoid focusing on sexual feelings at this point in your life. Within the bonds of marriage, however, it is a good thing, and can be a very profound way of expressing love. That's one of the reasons why it's limited to marriage, IMO.

I don't know that in the Celestial Kingdom we'll be reading each other's thoughts, but it would be cool if we could choose to communicate telepathically! (It would save on phone bills, anyway.)

Have a great time on your mission! My nephew is serving right now, and doing well.

DH

[cobra]

A resurrected being has no blood.

[Gaia]

I had always assumed that because we are made in Gods Image, that Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother procreated spirits by having sex. I guess it just made sense to me that if our mortal bodies works that way to make another body, they would work that way to make spirits also.

My sister-in-law does not agree, she believes spirits are made a different way (like how the earth was created, from unorganised matter) So what i want to know is, after this life, when we are resurrected, will we have sex? If we do, will it be for procreation, or just recreation? (My husband is interested to know this also!)

GAIA:

Hi Bunnzy -- Great Question!

It is *not* official doctrine, but there are many statements by modern prophets that indicate (they certainly beleived and taught) procreation as the way that God ordained creation to occur.

Here are just a few quotes you may want to explore, from the Journal of Discourses --

1. God is the Father of our spirits and bodies; We are the same species as God; We are His children:

President Brigham Young:

Thus you may continue and trace the human family back to Adam and Eve, and ask, "are we of the same species with Adam and Eve?" Yes, every person acknowledges this; this comes within the scope of our understanding.

But when we arrive at that point, a vail is dropt, and our knowledge is cut off. Were it not so, you could trace back your history to the Father of our spirits in the eternal world. He is a being of the same species as ourselves; He lives as we do, except the difference that we are earthly, and He is heavenly. He has been earthly, and is of precisely the same species of being that we are...."

(Journal of Discourses, 26 vols. [London: Latter-day Saints' Book Depot, 1854-1886], 4: 218.) 4:215

2. The Father begat spirits, then created earthly tabernacles:

President Brigham Young:

Things were first created spiritually; the Father actually begat the spirits, and they were brought forth and lived with Him. ...

When the time came that His first-born, the Saviour, should come into the world and take a tabernacle, the Father came Himself and favoured that spirit with a tabernacle instead of letting any other man do it. The Saviour was begotten by the Father of His spirit, by the same Being who is the Father of our spirits, and that is all the organic difference between Jesus Christ and you and me. And a difference there is between our Father and us consists in that He has gained His exaltation, and has obtained eternal lives. The principle of eternal lives is an eternal existence, eternal duration, eternal exaltation. Endless are His kingdoms, endless His thrones and His dominions, and endless are His posterity; they never will cease to multiply from this time henceforth and forever.

(Journal of Discourses, 26 vols. [London: Latter-day Saints' Book Depot, 1854-1886], 4: 218.)

3. We are sons of God through generation same as our children from us:

Apostle and 1st Counselor, Heber C Kimball:

We are the sons and daughters of God; we have proceeded from him through the laws of generation, the same as my children have proceeded from me. God is the great father of our race, and as a man is not perfect without the woman, neither is the woman without the man in the Lord; they depend upon each other, and are necessary to each other for the propagation of our species.

(Journal of Discourses, 26 vols. [London: Latter-day Saints' Book Depot, 1854-1886], 11: 81.)

4. God created man as we created our children:

(President Brigham Young):

I believe that the declaration made in these two scriptures is literally true. God has made His children like Himself to stand erect, and has endowed them with intelligence and power and dominion over all His works, and given them the same attributes which He himself possesses. He created man, as we create our children; for there is no other process of creation in heaven, on the earth, in the earth, or under the earth, or in all the eternities, that is, that were, or that ever will be.

(Journal of Discourses, 26 vols. [London: Latter-day Saints' Book Depot, 1854-1886], 11: 123.)

* * *

I know (from previous discussions on this topic) that there are some folks who find this idea offensive or troubling, but i can't figure out why --

I think sex is sacred -- not just in theory, but in fact, in PRACTICE -- and certainly no less so when Divine Beings participate in it!

Now, a lot of folks seem to try to do all sorts of mental gymnastics to try to avoid the clear implications of Brigham and Heber's words -- suggesting everything from some sort of Celestial version of "in vitro" fertilization, to magic --

But it seems to me pretty simple: When Brigham YOung says, "Man was created precisely as we all are created," "God produced us upon the same principle that we produce our children," or "We are sons of God through generation, the same as our children from us," and "God created man as we created our children," --

We just need to consider -- even / especially in this day of medical miracles -- just how would Brigham and his contemporaries have produced their children?

Sex is beautiful, sacred, divine -- in practice, not just in theory; and i look forward to the day when the church proudly (and officially!) affirms that it is the way for all generation to take place -- here and in the Eternities.

I think that would put LDS in the (enviable) position of articulating a profoundly beautiful and powerful doctrine worthy of consideration by all people with brains and hearts -- and a healthy appreciation for the sacred, wondrous, delightful and holy blessings that sex and sensuality are / should be.

Blessings --

~Gaia

[Gaia]

Don't know...but if my wife thinks she will have to have more children (meaning giving birth) she might not want to go!

GAIA:

I LOVED the whole process -- from falling in love to making a commitment, to becoming (and being) pregnant, to giving birth, to raising children --

Even though my (first) husband was abusive (even while i was pregnant) and left just before i gave birth to our second child -- and I wound up being a single MOther for most of their growing-up years -- the entire experience was (mostly) a joyful one for me.

I guess i was lucky in that respect -- I know there are many who (unfortunately and sadly) have had extremely negative experiences that have "soured" them on the process. I pray for their healing --

[Still_Small_Voice]

I guess i was lucky in that respect -- I know there are many who (unfortunately and sadly) have had extremely negative experiences that have "soured" them on the process. I pray for their healing --

I think that is what happens. God gives mankind a gift and they, thru their own free agency, use it for unlawful purposes to their own damnation.

When we have become a pure people we shall see things as they really are.

[Gaia]

I think that is what happens. God gives mankind a gift and they, thru their own free agency, use it for unlawful purposes to their own damnation.

When we have become a pure people we shall see things as they really are.

GAIA:

Hi Still_Small_Voice -- That's certainly true;

However, I was thinking and referring more to women who have been sexually harassed or abused, and therefore develop problems related to intimacy....

The statistics say that one out of every THREE females will sometime in their life, experience some form of sexual harassment or abuse -- THINK about that -- ONE IN THREE! Count six women you know, and TWO of them will likely experience some kind of abuse....

And However inflated that number might be, it is nevertheless an outrageous thing that so many of our girls and women -- our mothers and sisters and daughers -- will have to experience such a violation of what should be such a great joy and blessing -- through NO fault of their own!

And of course, one of the unfortunate responses to such violation, is often the tendency to become very confused about sex, and even (compulsively) mis-use it in various ways.....

So sad, so sad.....

Perhaps we (and our culture!) are ALL in need of healing, eh? .....

[Still_Small_Voice]

GAIA:

The statistics say that one out of every THREE females will sometime in their life, experience some form of sexual harassment or abuse -- THINK about that -- ONE IN THREE! Count six women you know, and TWO of them will likely experience some kind of abuse....

I know two women who have been raped so I don't disbelieve the statistic.

[HiJolly]

A resurrected being has no blood.

Can you explain why you believe this?

HiJolly

[Sheelah]

Well if you don't mind me answering this, as this has always been my understanding also...

Brigham Young tells us, as shown in Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young:

The blood he spilled upon Mount Calvary he did not receive again into his veins. That was poured out, and when he was resurrected, another element took the place of the blood. It will be so with every person who receives a resurrection; the blood will not be resurrected with the body, being designed only to sustain the life of the present organization. When that is dissolved, and we again obtain our bodies by the power of the resurrection, that which we now call the life of the body, and which is formed from the food we eat and the water we drink will be supplanted by another element; for flesh and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God [see 1 Corinthians 15:50] (DBY, 374).

"Chapter 37: Understanding Death and Resurrection,” Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young, 273

Also to quote the scripture used above:

1 Corinthians 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.