Children of God

We are Children of Our Heavenly Father

God is not only our Ruler and Creator; He is also our Heavenly Father. All men and women are literally the sons and daughters of God. “Man, as a spirit, was begotten and born of heavenly parents, and reared to maturity in the eternal mansions of the Father, prior to coming upon the earth in a temporal [physical] body” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph F. Smith [1998], 335).

[What do scriptures and latter-day prophets teach us about our relationship to God?How does the belief that we are children of God empower us against sin? Example of the endowment of Moses.]

Every person who was ever born on earth is our spirit brother or sister. Because we are the spirit children of God, we have inherited the potential to develop His divine qualities. Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we can become like our Heavenly Father and receive a fulness of joy.

[How does your knowledge that you are a child of God influence your thoughts, words, and actions? How does this knowledge influence how you treat others?]

We Developed Personalities and Talents While We Lived in Heaven

The scriptures teach us that the prophets prepared themselves to become leaders on earth while they were still spirits in heaven (see Alma 13:1–3). Before they were born into mortal bodies, God foreordained (chose) them to be leaders on earth. Jesus, Adam, and Abraham were some of these leaders. (See Abraham 3:22–23.) Joseph Smith taught that “every man who has a calling to minister to the inhabitants of the world was [fore]ordained to that very purpose” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith [2007], 511). However, everyone on earth is free to accept or reject any opportunity to serve.

[Explain: intelligence, spirit body, physical body. How does the self-existence of man address the problem of suffering? How does foreordination empower against sin vs. predestination? Give the example of how deterministic philosophy results in students cheating]

We were not all alike in heaven. We know, for example, that we were sons and daughters of heavenly parents—males and females (see “The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” Ensign, Nov. 1995, 102). We possessed different talents and abilities, and we were called to do different things on earth. We can learn more about our “eternal possibilities” when we receive our patriarchal blessings (see Thomas S. Monson, in Conference Report, Oct. 1986, 82; or Ensign, Nov. 1986, 66).

A veil covers our memories of our premortal life, but our Father in Heaven knows who we are and what we did before we came here. He has chosen the time and place for each of us to be born so we can learn the lessons we personally need and do the most good with our individual talents and personalities.

[How have other people’s talents blessed you? How can your talents and gifts bless others?

Our Father in Heaven Presented a Plan for us to Become Like Him

Our Heavenly Father knew we could not progress beyond a certain point unless we left Him for a time. He wanted us to develop the godlike qualities that He has. To do this, we needed to leave our premortal home to be tested and to gain experience. Our spirits needed to be clothed with physical bodies. We would need to leave our physical bodies at death and reunite with them in the Resurrection. Then we would receive immortal bodies like that of our Heavenly Father. If we passed our tests, we would receive the fulness of joy that our Heavenly Father has received. (See D&C 93:30–34.)

[How does life on Earth prepare us to become more like our Heavenly Father? Differentiate godhood vs. eternal parenthood. Differentiate Satan's plan vs God's plan. Explain why the idea of a pre-existence cannot be accepted. Just returning to live with God is not the goal]

Our Heavenly Father called a Grand Council to present His plan for our progression (see Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, 209, 511). We learned that if we followed His plan, we would become like Him. We would be resurrected; we would have all power in heaven and on earth; we would become heavenly parents and have spirit children just as He does (see D&C 132:19–20).

We learned that He would provide an earth for us where we would prove ourselves (see Abraham 3:24–26). A veil would cover our memories, and we would forget our heavenly home. This would be necessary so we could exercise our agency to choose good or evil without being influenced by the memory of living with our Heavenly Father. Thus we could obey Him because of our faith in Him, not because of our knowledge or memory of Him. He would help us recognize the truth when we heard it again on earth (see John 18:37).

[Prove to ourselves what we are made of. Will vs. Agency]

At the Grand Council we also learned the purpose for our progression: to have a fulness of joy. However, we also learned that some would be deceived, choose other paths, and lose their way. We learned that all of us would have trials in our lives: sickness, disappointment, pain, sorrow, and death. But we understood that these would be given to us for our experience and our good (see D&C 122:7). If we allowed them to, these trials would purify us rather than defeat us. They would teach us to have endurance, patience, and charity (see Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Spencer W. Kimball [2006], 15–16).

[God does know the intimate details of our life. Bad stuff doesn't just happen. G0d doesn't just play dice with the Universe despite what Rabbi Kushner says]

At this council we also learned that because of our weakness, all of us except little children would sin (see D&C 29:46–47). We learned that a Savior would be provided for us so we could overcome our sins and overcome death with resurrection. We learned that if we placed our faith in Him, obeying His word and following His example, we would be exalted and become like our Heavenly Father. We would receive a fulness of joy.

[A Muslim told me he could not accept Christ as God because that would mean all men are gods. A Christian told me he could not accept Islam because they deny the divinity of Christ. What think ye of Christ, whose son is He?]

Hebrews 12:9 (God is the Father of our spirits) Job 38:4–7 (premortal life implied) Abraham 3:22–28 (vision of premortal life) Jeremiah 1:5 (vision of premortal life) D&C 29:31–38 (vision of premortal life) Moses 3:4–7 (spiritual and temporal creations) 1 Corinthians 15:44 (spiritual and temporal creations) D&C 76:23–24 (begotten sons and daughters) D&C 132:11–26 (plan for progression)

Adam and Evolution

The LDS Church has as a core doctrine that all mankind are spirit children of our Heavenly Father. It is absolutely essential to our religion that men understand our relationship to God. Men, regardless of race, bond or free, are never to be compared to animals. Men are not just the highest animal creation. Like Christ, men are the literal spiritual offspring of God. Like Christ we were with God in the beginning and like Christ, who is the Firstborn, men are considered gods and children of god.

Rom 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Acts 17:29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.
Ps 82:6 I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.

Now, I have made a declaration that men are not to be compared to animals. However, science via evolution has been making these comparisons not long after this theory was first conceived. However, when Darwin first detailed evolution in his "Origin of the Species", the theory did not involve man. However, I am trained in the biological and physical sciences, and I am not ignorant of a few facts. First, animals have an almost miraculous capacity to adapt to their environment. Darwin correctly observed adaptation with regard to finch beak size in the Galapagos. The law of survival of the fittest is a true concept. The individual with the highest reproductive fitness will pass on their genes. Interesting concept here is that reproductive fitness benifits the individual, it doesn't necessarily benefit a population. Genetic variation is what benefits a population and may allow a select minority to resist or adapt to a disease or new environmental stress. These survivors may not be the considered the most reproductively fit during times of plenty, but when it comes to reproduction, nothing beats survival.

What science has not definitively shown is that while animals can adapt to a variety of environmental factors, one kind of animal has never been observed changing into another type of animal. Science has seen a squirrel adapt to living in trees and another adapt to living on the ground even until they reach the point of reproductive isolation. While reproductive isolation determines the creation of a new species, the new species in these cases is not another type of animal. In a, nother example, geneticists have determined that in some cases a single gene can result in the formation of wings in an insect or no wings. Obviously, the presence of wings vs. no wings makes a huge difference. However, also remember that while one gene can turn wings on or off, it takes many more genes for any species to form wings even if one or another genes disrupt the whole process.

Some may be surprised to discover that the LDS church does not have an official doctrine with regard to evolution itself. While the LDS Church does not have an official policy for or against animal evolution and there has been some debate over whether death in other animals existed prior to Adam, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does maintain that man is not part of the evolutionary process. LDS would absolutely reject the notion that man are "evolved from pond scum" or that mankind are just a "pack of neurons." How God formed the body of Adam from the dust of the Earth, has not been revealed specifically.

"Diversity of opinion does not necessitate intolerance of spirit, nor should it embitter or set rational beings against each other. ... Our religion is not hostile to real science. That which is demonstrated, we accept with joy; but vain philosophy, human theory and mere speculations of men, we do not accept nor do we adopt anything contrary to divine revelation or to good common sense."

This is an interesting example of why sometimes God does not reveal everything to us. BH Roberts was one of the most outspoken proponents in favor of death before Adam. While most LDS prophets and apostles have commented that they were of the opinion that the Fall of Adam brought death into the world, the LDS Church came to the conclusion the answer to this issue was not of eternal significance to the salvation of man, and by not taking sides, this avoided contention and made sufficient room in the LDS tent for religious scientists that have faith in God and believe that science and religion can harmonize.

I was watching PBS the other day and a NOVA-like show was visiting an institute of human evolution which had numerous remains of Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon (not called that any more). It is currently believed as far as I can tell that scientists believe that Neanderthals and Early Man (Cro-Magnon), lived in Europe at the same time but didn't mix. And then by some unexplained mystery Neanderthals who are believed to have lived on the Earth as early as 600,000 bc died out after Cro-Magnon moved in about 30,000 bc.

However, I think the Bible tells us exactly what really happened. John in Revelation was shown 4 beasts who stood around the throne of God. Joseph Smith asked God if these 4 beasts represented 4 individuals or classes. Joseph Smith was told that they represented both individuals and classes. The interesting thing about these 4 magnificent beasts full of eyes and wings (knowledge and power) is that one of the 4 had the face of a man. The significance of this is that this beast with the face of a man, was not a man. Could this beast have represented the Neanderthal?

Thinking along these lines, if Neanderthal and Human's lived together, did Humans and Neanderthal ever mix? Science says no, but the Genesis story may suggest they did. Genesis tells a bazaar tale of the sons of god intermixing with the daughters of man. The result of this forbidden mixing were offspring referred to as the Giants. Could the 6-7 ft Cro-Magnon remains represent the Giants spoken of in the Bible? If Cro-Magnon are the Giants, the Bible tells us that most if not all did not survive the global flood (see Gen 6:4, Deut 2:20-21).

Book of Mormon: Latter-Day Perplexities

The Book of Mormon is a volume of holy scripture comparable to the Bible that is another witness that Jesus is the Christ. While the Bible details that dealings of God with His people in Israel, the Book of Mormon tells of a branch of the tribes of Israel that is led to America. God establishes a sacred covenant with these people known as the Nephites, and appears to these "other sheep" in America after His resurrection.

The amazing thing to realize about the Book of Mormon other than it is a second witness of another civilization that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of the World is that this book of scripture was written for us in this day. The Nephites never had the book, the contents of the book were compiled by Mormon and his son Moroni just before the destruction and genocide of the Nephite civilization.

Morm. 8: 34-35 Behold, the Lord hath shown unto me great and marvelous things concerning that which must shortly come, at that day when these things shall come forth among you. Behold, I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing.

Here was have two prophets of God Mormon and Moroni compiling the wisdom and learning of a 1000 years of history of their civilization to help those of us living today in the Last Days before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. And by virtue of being prophets of God, Moroni tells us that God showed him the problems and perplexities of our day. And here in the Book of Mormon we have hand picked wisdom and stories which warn us of specific problems that we will face in our day just as they dealt with them in their day. But as Moroni writes, he hopes we will be more wise than they had been and not make the same mistakes that lead to their eventual destruction.

Morm. 9: 31 Condemn me not because of mine imperfection, neither my father, because of his imperfection, neither them who have written before him; but rather give thanks unto God that he hath made manifest unto you our imperfections, that ye may learn to be more wise than we have been.

The Book of Mormon presents several influential and destructive social, religious, and government philosophies and gives us instruction with how to deal with them. It thought it would be interesting to make a list of several of these issues and perplexities and draw parallels to issues of our day.

Learned Racism: Nephites vs. Lamanites: Lamanites were taught to hate the Nephites and perpetuated the lie that Nephi had wronged Laman and stolen the rights to government over the people. Nephites were warned not to despise the Lamanites because of the darkness of their skin and their beliefs was because the fault of the sins of their first parents, and that God was no respecter of persons. Nephites prayed for the Lamanites and coverted many to the gospel until in the end many Lamanites became and are praised for being more righteous than the Nephites.

Priestcraft: Doctrine of Nehor: It used to be that if you believed in God then there was only one flavor of religion among the Nephites. But then there began to be men who set up churches to get gain. Men learned that if they went soft of the commandments and repentance, asuage their guilt, and falsely asure people that God would overlook their sins, people would give them money. The Bible calls this kind of thing "Gainsaying for Filthy Lucre" after the sin of Core or Korah (Jude 1:11). The Book of Mormon warns us that many in the Last Days would preach the false doctrine that God thinks its okay to eat, drink, and be marry a little and God will justify us in committing a few sins, and we will be beaten with a few stripes but in the end we will be saved in the kingdom of God.

Atheism and Secularism: Korihor argued that it was crazy and the effect of a deranged and frenzied mind to believe in God, and there was no proof of God or that Christ would come. He argued that religion was just a way to oppress the masses and keep them from enjoying their liberties. Also that man faired according to the management of the creature. Or in other words, if a man was smarter or stronger than another, then he was justified in taking advantage of his neighbor and enjoying a higher class and quality of life than his neighbor.

Socialism: The King-Men. The Jaredites and the Nephites learn that having a King leads to corruption, endless war, destruction, and suffering. King Mosiah gave up his kingship and instituted a legal system governed by an institution of elected judges. A vocal minority came along wanting to revert to the old system and promising each other positions in the new government. This group attempted to overthrow the representative government first by propagandizing the general masses and having the general masses vote on the issue. Then they attempted political assassinations and tried to infiltrate and appoint corrupt judges into the government, and change the laws.

Secret Combinations: Gaddiaton Robbers are an example of a group of King-men who conspired to overthrow the government. The King-Men were initially unsuccessful using various nefarious means such as propaganda, assassination, and infiltrating an appointing corrupt judges. However, they could never gain control of the majority of the electorate so they then joining forces with the Lamanites, and then by recruiting and training terrorists in remote, mountainous lawless areas they incited wars against the free government.

Ether 8:22-25 And whatsoever nation shall uphold such secret combinations, to get power and gain, until they shall spread over the nation, behold, they shall be destroyed;. . . Wherefore, O ye Gentiles, it is wisdom in God that these things should be shown unto you, that thereby ye may repent of your sins, and suffer not that these murderous combinations shall get above you, which are built up to get power and gain—. . . For it cometh to pass that whoso buildeth it up seeketh to overthrow the freedom of all lands, nations, and countries; and it bringeth to pass the destruction of all people,

Class Inequality: After the appearance of Jesus Christ in America, there was a great unity in the land such that all inequality ceased. There was no more rich or poor, bond and free, and there even ceased to be "any manner of -ites". However, the Book of Mormon reminds us how quickly we forget, and by the 3rd generation, there began to be great pride in the land, class inequality and class distinctions again which led to envy and then to strife, war, and then genocide. Hilter manipulated the poor classes in Germany by stimulating class envy against the more wealthy Jews, inciting them to anger, and then to justify genocide. The same thing happened in Rwanda between the Tutsis and Hutu.

In the Book of Mormon, we see again and again how fascist dissenters from the Nephites could easily insight the poorer Lamanites to anger and to wage war against the richer Nephites. This tactic of manipulating class envy to justify genocide has been used again and again in our day as well. Class inequality also empowers socialists who promise the poor benefits from a socialist government. But in reality, it is the rich who hoard their wealth that empower the socialists and the fascists. If the rich would care for the poor themselves, this would avoid the problem of class envy.

Eph. 6: 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Curse of the Water

Q. Someone asked me recently why LDS missionaries were not allowed to swim and did this policy relate to LDS believing that the waters had been cursed.

D&C 61:3;14 But verily I say unto you, that it is not needful for this whole company of mine elders to be moving swiftly upon the waters, whilst the inhabitants on either side are perishing in unbelief. . . . Behold, I, the Lord, in the beginning blessed the waters; but in the last days, by the mouth of my servant John, I cursed the waters.

A. The origin of this goes back to the Doctrine and Covenants and the practice of returning missionaries to return home to Nauvoo via paddle boat up the Mississippi and Missouri from New Orleans. Christ told Joseph Smith that He preferred the missionaries to travel by land and not by water so that they could continue missionary work while they traveled. Also, there was mention made of avoiding sin because while the laws of the land applied to the land, it has always been the practice that the laws don't necessarily apply to the water. So, even to this day, paddleboats were used for gambling and brothels up and down the Mississippi.

As far as missionaries not being allowed to swim. This is a policy decision based on a desire to prevent injury. Missionaries are much less likely then their counterparts to be injured or die while on their mission. Missionaries are permitted to travel by boat, or ferry and missionaries get in the water to baptize converts often. Missionaries are also instruccted to bathe daily as well.

The curse of water spoken of in Revelation as part of the 7 trumpets, and 7 vials of the tribulation in the last days over the Seas, rivers, fountains etc and really is symbolic of peoples, nations, and tongues. So, in reality God is concerned with people not the water, and it is the people who are cursed and not really the water itself. This understanding fits perfectly with the reasoning that missionaries were instructed to travel home by land and continue to preach the gospel message instead of traveling by boat while the cursed peoples on the shores perish.

Rev. 17: 15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.

Notes on Genetics and the Book of Mormon

Some people out there still falsely claim that modern Native American mtDNA studies absolutely refute and entirely disprove the Book of Mormon. Unfortunately, these claims arise from the incorrect interpretation of scientific data and then inappropriate application to the Book of Mormon.

mtDNA stands for mitochondrial DNA. Turns out that mitochondria contain a small bit of DNA and the cool thing about this DNA is that it is entirely maternally derived. There is no recombination with paternal DNA at all because sperm doesn't have mitochondria, only the egg does. The consequence of this is that you can more easily trace genetic ancestry back through time to its origins.

Normal Chromosomal DNA in the nucleus of each cell is a mixture of mom and dad's DNA which occurs during miosis through a process called recombination. Recombination is the mechanism that makes us all genetically unique. Conversely, maternally derived mtDNA and paternally derived Y-Chromosomal DNA are passed on from parent to child virtually unchanged except for the occasional random mutation. This makes things much easier to track. Even the random mutation is useful as it serves as a sort of biological clock which allows geneticists the ability to determine who came before who. Assigning a specific date is quite another challenge.

Some early geneticists were interested in using mtDNA techniques to determine the origins of the Native Americans. So, a group of scientists gathered data from different groups of Native Americans as well as from a collection of pre-Columbian mummies. These scientists also collected mtDNA from other groups in Siberia, Mongolia, and around the world and determined that the Asian groups and the Native American groups shared common mtDNA sequences which they named haplogroups A,B,C, and D. Geneticists consider these 4 Haplogroups to be founding Native American mtDNA haplogroups from Asian origin and not from the Middle East. A handful of people looked at this data and said "ah ha, this proves once and for all the Book of Mormon is a fraud!"

But then other researchers who together with the first researchers really could care less about the Book of Mormon, and continued to do mtDNA studies. And, it soon came out that the original work missed an important mtDNA founding haplogroup. This founding haplogroup is more rare but definitely there and definately important. Geneticists gave this rouge founding mtDNA haplogroup the name Haplogroup X (X2e to be specific). This mtDNA is found around the Great Lakes Region in Canada to a high percentage and it just so happens that there is another population in that exhibits Haplogroup X2 to a very high percentage. This group is known as the Druze, and it just so happens that this group lives in none other than Northern Israel. Now the Druze are not the source of the X2, but are considered a refugium or repository of X2 which is believed to have been derived from the people of Northern Israel at the time the Druze settled the area about 1000ad. X2 is found in a very high percentage among the Druze because of a more modern tradition and practice of intermarriage (not inbreeding).

There is a problem with making a link between Great Lake Native American mtDNA and Druze mtDNA, and that is that some scientists think that the genetic information left the Middle East and arrived in America almost 10-15,000 years ago. However, if your a Christian, I hope you would never use this argument because you would have to explain why you suddenly believe that man lived on the Earth before Adam and Eve who lived only 4000bc.

But then again, scientists at MIT who could care less about Adam looked at the assumptions built into how other geneticists determine time via random mtDNA mutation and created a new model correcting for non-random mutation and determined that the Earliest Common Ancestor or Mitochondrial Eve could have lived just 2000bc.

Another problem with assuming random and constant mtDNA mutation is the same problem that C14-Dating has. Thanks to recent Global Warming and Evironmental Science, we now know what some of us always knew that C14-Dating is wrong and that the rate of C14 isotope generation is not constant. The C14 isotope is a product of the amount of Cosmic Rays striking the Earth from Interstellar Space. And the rate of Cosmic Rays striking the Earth is inversely proportional to the strength of the Solar Wind and Solar Cycle. Since we know this is a cycle, we now realize, I hope, that C14/C13 ratios are not static nor are they at a steady state. Therefore, the way C14 and other radio-isotopic dating techniques determine dates is wrong. The important thing here with regard to mtDNA mutation is the same Cosmic Rays that make C14 and other isotopes are the same particles that are responsible for a majority of mtDNA mutation.

Now, I don't want to make the same mistake as Book of Mormon critics do by using mtDNA data to support the Book of Mormon. The Data doesn't. My point in bringing this up is to explain the complexities involved in the data, and many of the assumptions behind the conclusions. As I see it, at this current time, mtDNA data shouldn't be used at all for or against the Book of Mormon. If you want to know if the Book of Mormon is Holy Scripture by God about Jesus Christ, then you must read it and pray and ask God seeking spiritual enlightenment via the Holy Ghost. This is the only way God has given to know at this time.

1. When the Nephites arrived there were Jaredites already here.
2. Jaredites came from the Middle East but likely passed through Asia on the way.
3. The barges could have followed the land up the coast of Japan and Siberia along the Bearing Straight to Alaska and then down the California Coast.
4. We know that Coriantumr lived to see the Mulekites.
5. Mulek from Judah likely hitched a ride on a Phoenician boat and who knows what DNA came along with him.
6. We really don't know what ancient 10 Tribes of Israel DNA from 600 bc looks like. modern Jewish mtDNA and Y is mixed from Europe and Khazar Russia (Altai Republic), and even the Cohen Haplotype is suspect.
7. We dont know what ancient Nephite DNA looks like
8. All we know is what current Jewish DNA looks like compared to several pre-Columbian Mummies and modern native americans which tells us nothing about a comparison of ancient American to ancient Israel.
9. The Book of Mormon itself says only a "remnant of [the Nephite] seed" would persist into the Last Days. Therefore, we should not expect a majority of Native American DNA to come from the Middle East. Additionally, the Nephites as a people were destroyed by genocide and the Book of Mormon refers to Native Americans as Lamanites not Nephites. The significance of this title as Lamanites is that the Book of Mormon infers that the Lamanites intermarried with the natives from the beginning and were never genetically pure.
10. Haplogroup X comes from Northern Israel and not via Asia. Altai Republic X got there a different way, maybe the by the Khazars?
11. Iceland study shows us that modern mtDNA can be the product of just a few mtDNA sources just a few hundred years ago.
12. Jewish geneticist state that if 1 intermarriage happens every 10 years among 100 persons, then the admixture of DNA would represent >30% DNA in just 800 years. http://www.jogg.info/11/coffman.htm
13. Native American populations went through a severe bottleneck event upon the arrival of Europeans and smallpox and other infectious diseases.
14. When the Book of Mormon says the Jaredites were destroyed, it means their civilization was destroyed, it does not mean very last person was annihilated such that they became extinct.
(read Hugh Nibley's "There Were Jaredites")