Element and Intelligence

"You ask the learned doctors why they say the world ws made out of nothing and they will answer "Doesn't the Bible say he created the world?" They infer from the word create, that it must have been made out of nothing. Now, the word create came from the word baurau (sic), which does not mean ot create out of nothing, it means to organize the world out of chaos - chaotic matter, which is element and in which dwells all the glory. Element had an existence from the time he (God) had. The pure principles of element which can never be destroyed; they may be organized and reorganized, but not destroyed. They had no beginning and can have no end." - History of the Church 6:308-9

"Intelligence is eternal and exists upon a self-existent principle. It is a spirit from age to age and there is no creation about it." -The King Follett Sermon, Joseph Smith Jr.

2 Ne 2:14 And now, my sons, I speak unto you these things for your profit and learning; for there is a God, and he hath created all things, both the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are, both things to act and things to be acted upon.

D&C 93:27-36 And no man receiveth a fulness unless he keepeth his commandments. He that keepeth his commandments receiveth truth and light, until he is glorified in truth and knoweth all things. Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be. All truth is independent in that sphere in which God has placed it, to act for itself, as all intelligence also; otherwise there is no existence. Behold, here is the agency of man, and here is the condemnation of man; because that which was from the beginning is plainly manifest unto them, and they receive not the light. And every man whose spirit receiveth not the light is under condemnation. For man is spirit. The elements are eternal, and spirit and element, inseparably connected, receive a fulness of joy; And when separated, man cannot receive a fulness of joy. The elements are the tabernacle of God; yea, man is the tabernacle of God, even temples; and whatsoever temple is defiled, God shall destroy that temple.The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth.

After reading some more about what Joseph Smith was taught and taught about creation and matter. There is some interesting stuff here. It seems that Joseph Smith identifies two primordial and eternal substances that on one hand are called light/spirit/intelligence and on the other is element. Both are eternal. Element can be recycled. I don't think intelligence is recycled as there is no reincarnation. The relationship of these things I don't know. Whether one can be converted into the other I don't know. Joseph says element is the substance "in which dwells all the glory". Well the glory of God is intelligence. So again, maybe it is the intelligence/spirit/light that is the eternal part. I thought it interesting that both light and element are required to come together to achieve a fullness of joy.

LDS Doctrine teaches of the eternal nature of the spirit and that all mankind are spirit children of God who is our Heavenly Father. Joseph Smith taught that intelligence or the spirit of man was not created but is self-existent and co-eternal with God. However, beyond this, it is unclear by what mechanism (adoption or gestation) man is considered spirit children of God. This question is like the ultimate nature vs. nurture debate. Recent LDS General Authorites have said that our “intelligence was clothed in spirit bodies.” Brigham Young is quoted as saying, “He created man, as we create our children; for there is no other process ” (JoD 11:122-123). Joseph Smith “But if I am right, I might with boldness proclaim from the house tops that God never did have power to create the spirit of man at all” (Follett).

Whether man is inherently composed of a similar eternal substance as God, man was spiritually gestated and generated by God or both, the philosophical importance of either scenario is the equality and eternal potential of man. Once you start believing that man is a created being not unlike the dungbettle or the ape, it doesn’t take long for some to begin believing that God made them better then others.

There are some out there which may criticize a belief in eternal element or eternal intelligence by appealing to science. Current science claims they have discovered the background radiation thought to be left behind from the Big Bang which scientist believe was a creation of everything out of nothing. Personally, I don't think that LDS need to argue over over the Big Bang because these same scientist are also looking for "dark energy" and "dark matter" which they theorize to make up over 96% of the mass-energy of the Universe. Therefore, if scientists can't even see, measure, or explain 96% of the Universe, then I am sure we have much to learn still about the 4% we can see.

Eternal Spirit, Reincarnation and Ex-Nihilo Creation

LDS doctrine is distinct from other Christian doctrines in that we do not believe that God created the Universe out of nothing (ex nihilo). That said, I think LDS need to be careful about what the implications of this belief are. When the eternal nature of matter was taught to Joseph Smith, the Big Bang Theory did not exist. And despite the failings of the Big Bang to explain why man has never observed the edge of the universe which forces us to conclude that the universe is not only expanding but accelerating due to some unmeasurable "dark energy"; most Christians like the Big Bang because the Bible clearly declares there was a beginning.

That said, LDS need not fall into the trap of arguing for the eternal nature of boron, strontium and rubidium. LDS belief is not necessarily contrary to the Big Bang or some other theory. What the Big Bang theory says is: In the Beginning there was nothing, which speaks of nothing as a something. And due to quantum mechanics, sometimes there can be small magnetic fluctuations in a nothing. Well, if you have a magnetic fluctuation, then you have somthing => Bang. While there remain many unanswered questions, It is important to understand what Joseph Smith actually taught on the subject.

First, Joseph Smith never was trying to argue for the eternal nature of dirt, rocks, or even sub-atomic particles like quarks, pions, and anti-neutrinos. What Joseph Smith taught was that spirit is eternal and that all things were created spiritually before they were made physically. Therefore, because we know that God is eternal, and God is spirit, therefore we know that spirit is eternal. We should also remember that the Creation story never discusses the creation of angels. This is precisely because, like Christ, the angels as well as the spirits of all mankind were with God in the beginning. Also, because, Joseph Smith was taught that there is no such thing as immaterial matter, He understood in the Doctrine and Covenants that spirit is a kind of pure and refined matter.

D&C 131: 7 There is no such thing as immaterial matter. All spirit is matter, but it is more fine or pure, and can only be discerned by purer eyes;

Therefore, if something like the Big Bang did occur as the measurement of the Background Radiation of the Universe suggests, it could be that creation simply involved the conversion of unorganized spirit material into organized physical material. Such a conversion of spirit matter into physical matter would resolve the problem of trying to explain how nothing can be a something. This process of conversion would also resolve the issue of violating the laws of thermodynamics and the conservation of energy. Some may argue that laws didn't exist until after the moment of creation and there was something to both govern and mediate the laws. But according to the Big Bang if quantum mechanics didn't exist first, then there would have never been that magnetic fluctuation in the nothing which resulted in the Bang.

But according to LDS theology, law as well as spirit is self-existent and co-eternal with God. The example that law is co-eternal with God is that the Bible teaches that the Son was with the Father in the beginning, So, therefore, the love of the Father for the Son also existed and is eternal. According to Ravi Zacharias, in all other world views, love follows life because God can't love until there is something to love. But only in Christianity does love precede life. Remember that God is love. And therefore, because all other laws are derived from love, love and law are eternal.

In both the Old and New Testaments, the words used in Hebrew and Greek for creation no not connote that God brought creation into existence from nothing. The several words in Greek and Hebrew suggest that the creative act involved "forming", "cutting out", "putting together" and "organizing" the elements. The Greek verbs for create connote that the elements were brought "into being" as opposed to being brought "into existence." In fact, everywhere modern NT translations use the word "exist" in creation verses, the translators ignored both the verb and the tense in the original Greek. Furthermore, the Bible likens God to the builder of a house or a potter of the clay. Even the title of YHWH which He gave to Moses of I AM THAT I AM can be interpreted to mean that God is the "Self-Existent of self-existent". So, if the Bible runs contrary to ex-nihilo creation, where did this idea originate?

One source of this doctrine could be from 2 Maccabees 7:28. The New American Bible version reads, "I beg you, child, to look at the heavens and the earth and see all that is in them; then you will know that God did not make them out of existing things; and in the same way the human race came into existence."

The Jerusalem Bible says: "My son, have pity on me; I carried you nine months in the womb and suckled you three years.... I implore you, my child, observe heaven and earth, consider all that is in them, and acknowledge that God made them out of what did not exist, and that mankind comes into being in the same way. Do not fear this executioner, but prove yourself worthy of your brothers, and make death welcome, so that in the day of mercy I may receive you back in your brothers' company."

2 Maccabees is one of several books which are part of the Apocrypha. While they are considered scripture by the Catholic Church, these books are not considered inspired by most other Christians. However, this didn't stop several Evangelical friends from using it during a conversion on this subject. As far as Joseph Smith's view an the Apocrypha is concerned, God told him the interpretation of it was correct and while there are many inspired things within these books, there are also some uninspiring things also. (as a side note, I really like that this verse teaches about the eternal nature of family relationships).

The interesting and pertinent part of the verse is the phrase "God made them out of what did not exist" or "God did not make them out of existing things." Other than the problem of these 2 translation's speaking of a "nothing" as a "something" this verse really does teach something quite extraordinary that I only now realized. This verse is not talking about God creating something out of nothing. Again, according to the Greek, the verb suggests that God made the heaven and the Earth from material that wasn't already something else. [οὐκ ἐξ ὄντων - not from things that are] In other words, this is teaching that there was no reincarnation of matter involved in the creation. While we observe physical matter recycled in the Universe as stars eat other stars, when it comes to the creation of heaven, Earth, and of man, God did not take material that was from a prior creation and reuse it in this creation. 2 Maccabees makes much more sense that Mom would be saying, "Son, don't fear death, God won't recycle your spirit/consciousness/essence, and we will again be together as a family"

Another source of the ex-nihilo doctrine could be from Shepherd of Hermas First Vision Chapter 1 which reads: "but hear the words which I am going to speak to you. God, who dwells in the heavens, and made out of nothing the things that exist". This verse at the very beginning of the Shepherd of Hermas has been translated to support ex-nihilo creation all the way. It would be interesting to see what the original Geek text says, the big issue with the Shepherd of Hermas is that it was written in the 2nd Century probably by the brother of Pope Pius 1. According to the LDS, because Hermas was not a martyr, he necessarily becomes part of the Apostasy.

My point in this post is to not let LDS critics lure LDS in trying to defend what we do not believe. LDS do not need to defend the eternal nature of dirt. Nor should we be lured into arguing against scientific theories such as the Big Bang. LDS can stand behind the belief of the eternal nature of spirit. God is eternal, God is spirit, therefore spirit is eternal.

As far as what this mysterious matter is that has not been something else; could it be dark matter and dark energy? Wiki describes dark matter as: "The vast majority of the dark matter in the universe is believed to be nonbaryonic, which means that it contains no atoms and that it does not interact with ordinary matter via electromagnetic forces. The nonbaryonic dark matter includes neutrinos, and possibly hypothetical entities such as axions, or supersymmetric particles. " So, according to Wiki, Dark matter composes most of the mass and energy of the galaxy that has no atoms therefore it has never been regular physical measurable matter. Dark Matter may not be the correct candidate to constitute eternal matter, but its existence is an example and analogy of what 2 Maccabees was talking about.

Also, remember that the Bible says that "without God nothing was made, that was made." If this were Hebrew, the redundancy would be considered emphasis. But this verse was written in Greek and not Hebrew. So, the redundancy is not emphasis but an adverbial clause that serves to modify (adjunct or disjunct) the subject and the verb of the sentence. Again, Bible says that "without God nothing was made, that was made" Therefore the redundancy here suggests that not everything required making.

The Bible says that God created all things both visible and invisible. While some interpret invisible as referring to spirit, LDS interpret invisible as referring to forces like gravity, and electromagnetism, and wind and invisible gases etc. We should not forget that spirit is visible in many cases so it would not fall under the category of invisible necessarily

The rejection of ex-nihlo creation has one major benefit. It is the only rational way to deal with the problem of evil and suffering that atheists bring up again and again. If God made Satan out of nothing, than He is responsible for a defective creation. Doesn't the Bible ask, "will the pot say against the potter, he made me not or he hath no understanding." But God said that after the creation, everything was good. If you say, that God didn't mess up but gave Satan his agency and let him go wild, then you have to confess that God was an accomplice to murder and gave the gun to a known murderer and God knew exactly what Lucifer would do with it.

Isa 29:16 Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter’s clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?

Instead knowing that the spirit of Lucifer/Satan aways existed and was evil from the beginning by nature, God gave Lucifer every opportunity to choose good as Lucifer was like an archangel like Gabriel or Michael, but Satan fell, and Satan is only allowed to rebel for a short time for Gods purposes so that his other children can be exposed to good and evil and discover for ourselves what what we are made of. And we are promised through Christ all our loses will be made up to us and God will wipe away every tear.

You ask the learned doctors why they say the world ws made out of nothing and they will answer "Doesn't the Bible say he created the world?" They infer from the word create, that it must have been made out of nothing. Now, the word create came from the word baurau (sic), which does not mean ot create out of nothing, it means to organize the world out of chaos - chaotic matter, which is element and in which dwells all the glory. Element had an existence from the time he (God) had. The pure principles of element which can never be destroyed; they may be organized and reorganized, but not destroyed. They had no beginning and can have no end. - History of the Church 6:308-9

Intelligence is eternal and exists upon a self-existent principle. It is a spirit from age to age and there is no creation about it. -The King Follett Sermon, Joseph Smith Jr.

I don't believe Element refers to the same state of matter as the word connotes today. I believe that Joseph Smith is using the terms "element" "spirit" and "intelligence" interchangeably. What Joseph Smith calls "element" is not what we call "element" because he says his element is that substance "in which dwells all the glory." Or it may be that Joseph Smith differentiate between two primordial substances; element and intelligence. From these come two types of creation, one which is created to act, and that which was created to be acted upon. Therefore, I would say that that which was created to act is never recycled or reincarnated while that which was created to be acted upon can be reused, reformed, recycled, etc.

2 Ne 2:14 And now, my sons, I speak unto you these things for your profit and learning; for there is a God, and he hath created all things, both the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are, both things to act and things to be acted upon.

looking back at 2 Maccabees 7:28 where it says "God made them out of what did not exist" or "God did not make them out of existing things." This could be assuring the son that God does not take living material that is sentient and is intelligence, destroy the sentience, and use that material in another creation. Christ did change water to wine but this kind of "element", I suppose, is created to be acted upon and is not living.

I was asked, If God is Spirit and God is eternal and only spirit is eternal, the only way you can claim matter is eternal is to say matter is spirit. What is the nature of spirit? Is it alive? Does it have consciousness? Can it think? I don't know about thinking, but some scientists now believe that all matter has a degree of free will. A mathematical proof for this was recently derived called the "free will theorem." Some scientist believe that it is free will of matter that gives rise to quantum mechanics. Quantum mechanics is the explanation for why when 99.99999 etc% of all the particles do one thing, just a few particles decide that they are going to do something else.

Free Will, Agency and Calvanism

The following is part of a conversation with regard to Agency and Calvinism: Calvinist say no one is free or has agency but Christ, and you are not free until you accept Christ and therefore you are free in Christ. This then leads to the idea that all men are fallen and sinful and deserve nothing but death and misery and it is only by the goodness of God that He selects and few of His chosen to be elected to Eternal Life. Then these same people do things like change the name of the "free will offering" to the "election collection" etc.

God says in the Bible, Look, man has become as one of us to know Good and Evil. So, yes Adam and Eve were not free in the Garden to choose because they had the minds of little children. It is the Bible itself that says they only learned good and evil after partaking of the fruit. But it wasn't the fall alone that produced agency. Agency is a product of several factors including:1. knowledge of good and evil, 2. enticement by good and bad, 3. the atonement of Jesus Christ, 4. and then an ability to choose Christ (free will). All 4 elements are necessary.

Calvinist use several scriptures as proof text for their belief. Two scriptures in the Bible say that no one cometh unto the Son save the Father draweth him, and another says that none which the Father giveth to Christ will be lost. Calvinist interpret the first to support the idea that if the Father didn't elect us, none of us would escape death and hell. And Calvinist interpret the second to mean that after you have been selected or elected, that is impossible to fall from grace.

However, what is left out in this interpretation is that these two scriptures fail to account for the truth that God is no respecter of persons and he draweth all men to Christ and excludeth no none.

2 Ne. 26: 33 For none of these iniquities come of the Lord; for he doeth that which is good among the children of men; and he doeth nothing save it be plain unto the children of men; and he inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile.

This interpretation also excludes the possibility that some could reject the Father's drawing. The Bible says none which the Father giveth the Son would be lost, it does not say everyone that the Father draweth would be drawn. The Book of Mormon says that man is not free to choose unless enticed by one side of the other. The drawing of the Father to Christ is the required enticement. And the Book of Mormon says that because of the Fall, if it had not been for the atonement of Christ all mankind would have been doomed to be miserable forever. So, taking the Bible and Book of Mormon together gives a clear understanding that through Christ, all men are free to choose. Whether we choose freedom and to remain free or whether we choose captivity and death. We must be enticed by the Father, but in the end, the decision is ours to make.

Calvinists claim that after you accept Christ that it is impossible to fall from grace. This may be so, if a person is really elected for salvation and is not just a tare among the wheat. Paul would say such was never under grace and that person is really elected to damnation because he is put in a situation where he is making promises and not keeping thus bringing more judgment upon himself had he remained ignorant. Again, agency still applies because a person could refuse to be drawn by the Father. And Satan and the 1/3 part of heaven are an example of individuals turning against the Father. Of course, it is correct that without Christ no one is free. But, as long as you are alive and accepting Christ is an option and the Father is reaching out to rescue and draw you, then you are still free to choose to accept or decline.

Josh. 24: 15 Choose you this day whom ye will serve;. . . but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

Rev. 3: 20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

Failure of Zion

Section 101 explains why Zion failed. The reason is because the people failed to obey the commands of God to build a temple. The temple provides spiritual protection against sin through sanctification. Had the people been more sanctified through the temple, the LDS people probably would have gotten along with their neighbors better and not resulted in the Mormon War and the Extermination order. It takes two to tango, and in war both sides are wicked. One side may be less wicked than the other.

BUt, If we were righteous, then God would help us avert war, and would fight our battle for us like what God did for the Southern Kingdom of Judah during the time of Isaiah. When someone is rude or mean to you and you are rude and mean back, that gives them justification in their mind for the initial rudeness and worse behavior in the future. Pretty soon noone can remember who was mean first.

Anyways, it is actually prophesied that Zion would not be realized on the first try. This goes back to Able being killed by Cain, and then with the birth of Seth. Another allegory goes to the flood and God starting over with Noah and his family. Another allegory is Solomon building the temple instead of David because David was a man of war. Another allegory is the 2 attempts to build the Temple of Zerrubabbel. Isaiah said in the Last Days the temple would be built in the top of the mountains. Utah means "top of the mountains, or high place" in the Ute language. Mormons wanted to name the State "Deseret,' but the governor of the territory at the time decided otherwise. And Abraham blessed Joseph who was sold into Egypt that his future seed in the Last Days: " The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren.”(Gen.49:22-26).

The best prophecy is the account by John in Revelations about the woman (Zion) getting ready to give birth to child (Theocracy) and the dragon devouring the child just as it is born and sending a flood against the woman. Then John says the woman was carried away into the dessert and nurished there and the Earth helps the woman until she is ready to return but this time wearing her beautiful white robes. Zion is the LDS church, the dragon and the flood represent the persecution. The child being devoured represents how Joseph Smith was martyred right after declaring his candidacy for president of the United States. The woman going into the wilderness represents the LDS church going to Utah. The Earth helping the woman represents the Book of Mormon which came from the Earth and out of the Earth.

But the prophecy will still be fulfilled. LDS still plan to build the city of Zion. But it will wait for a future day during the tribulation and before the rapture and the wrath when all governments collapse and a center gathering place is needed to protect the LDS people from the ensuing anarchy. However, right at the moment, Independence MO is a suburb of Kansas City, so there are no immediate plans to do anything. There is one troublesome prophecy concerning Independence which Joseph gave to General Doniphan while meeting with him and a 3rd person entered the room and offered to pay a dept to Doniphans business firm with land from Independence. Joseph warned Doniphan to not accept the land. This prophecy was fulfilled during the Civil War when Colossians W. R. Penick burned Jackson County to the ground in 1863 in response to General Order No. 11 by Union General Thomas Ewing, Jr. and again in 1864 when the area of Independence was ravaged by war again by Confederate Sterling Price who launched Price's Raid through the area culminating with the Battle of Westport.

"'Doniphan, I advise you not to take that Jackson county land in payment of the debt. God's wrath hangs over Jackson county. God's people have been ruthlessly driven from it, and you will live to see the day when it will be visited by fire and sword. The Lord of Hosts will sweep it with the besom of destruction. The fields and farms and houses will be destroyed, and only the chimneys will be left to mark the desolation.'

In reality, Joseph Smith prophesied and knew all along that the LDS people would end up in Utah. It is documented that Joseph Smith prophesied that the Saints would become a great people in the midst of the Rocky Mountains. There is some debate about this prophecy mainly because Brigham Young preferred Vancouver Island to the Salt Lake Valley, but a record by Oliver H Olney verifies the prophecy.

"I prophesied that the Saints would continue to suffer much affliction and would be driven to the Rocky Mountains, many would apostatize, others would be put to death by our persecutors or lose their lives in consequence of exposure or disease, and some of you will live to go and assist in making settlements and build cities and see the Saints become a mighty people in the midst of the Rocky Mountains." Documentary History of the Church (DHC) 5:85 August 1842

"As a company is now a forming / In to the wilderness to go / As far west as the Rocky mountains. . . . If this was not the secret whispering / Amongst certain ones of the Church of L.D.S. / And could be easily proven If man could speak." [Oliver H. Olney Papers, Western Americana, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven, Conn.] July 2, 1842

Eternal Marriage vs Eternal Unions

Today we are faced with the issue of civil unions vs. traditional marriage. For the most part, while most Christians do not approve of homosexual behavior or same-sex unions, we do love them as our brothers and sisters and agree that these couples who desire to live together should be afforded most all the same benefits as a married couple.

But you can't give all the benefits of traditional marriage to a civil union, or then it would be traditional marriage just called by a different name. So, then what is the one thing that differentiates traditional marriage from a civil union. I believe that one thing that differentiates civil unions from traditional marriage is the primary right to bare, adopt, and raise children. Again, I would define traditional marriage as being between a man and a women for the purposes of creating a family unit prepared to receive children if they do come along either biologically, by adoption, through familial and neighborly influence, or in expectation and hope of eternal parenting and nurturing future souls in the next life.

While the issue of same-sex marriage is considered the civil rights issue of our generation, I think the rights that are not being considered here are the rights of child to be raised by both a mother and a father. I believe it to be the right of all children to be raised in a home with both a father and a mother. Since, Civil unions do not provide this right, therefore, I think that they are different and should be regulated different from traditional marriage.

Now, it is true that there are many children in need of adoption. Especially in Haiti. Therefore, just because a child cannot have the ideal situation, we don't need to throw out the next best thing or even the 5th best just because it is not the ideal. So, it may be better that a child be adopted by a same-sex couple then not have any parents. That said, I do not support same sex couples using sperm donors and surrogates. Purposefully creating a child in this way to be raised by a same-sex couple is a clear violation of that child's right. However, if a child has already been born and has no caregivers, a same-sex home may be a satisfactory alternative.

Understanding the difference between Civil Unions and Traditional Marriage really helped me understand the purpose of Eternal Marriage in the LDS Church. The LDS church has always believed that all those who accept Jesus Christ as their Savior will be saved. The only caveat to this is that while many will be saved, not everyone will receive the same rewards or gifts. And while all rewards or gifts are freely offered, they must be accepted. And it is the LDS view that those Christians who reject the LDS gospel and LDS temple marriage, are not rejecting heaven, but just rejecting a specific crown/reward/seat/kingdom/glory/gift/reward in heaven. We call this gift exaltation.

But Christians and LDS know that if both they and their spouse are believers and truly born again, then they will both be in heaven. And being in heaven will not dilute that relationship. We will still know as we are known,, and know as we know now. Joseph Smith taught that the same sociality that exists here will exist there except it will be coupled with eternal glory. Therefore, our love for Christ and others will not dilute our love for our family and our spouse, but it will magnify that love forever. So, naturally we can expect that families will voluntarily choose to remain together even without LDS eternal marriage. So what is difference with LDS eternal marriage?

The blessing of LDS eternal marriage is found in its purpose. Remember the primary purpose of marriage is to raise children up unto the Lord biologically or by adoption or by influence. Therefore, I believe the blessing of Eternal marriage involves being blessed to participate with God in His work of eternal parenting . The most sacred work of God and His most sacred title is that of Father. Eternal Life is the promise of coming to know God. I'm not sure how one could come to know God unless they were blessed to serve God in the kind of work that God does. Therefore, I believe that while all Christians may enjoy a form of eternal union with their spouse, and family, only those who are willing to receive the gift of LDS eternal marriage will be blessed with the opportunity to adopt self-existent spirits and nurture them and prepare them prior to being born into an Earth-like experience.

While many critics of the LDS church make LDS eternal life and exaltation sound strange, I think when it is understood that the spirits of all man are eternal and self-existent and have no beginning and no end, it is more understandable that each of us as a self-existent and co-eternal intelligence were adopted spirit children of God and nurtured by eternal parents before coming to Earth and being born to and nurtured by earthly parents. In the next life, those who receive it, will be blessed to continue to work of creation, and eternal parenting with our Heavenly Father through the blessing of LDS Eternal Marriage.

Christ was asked on one occasion by a Jewish Man if a Jewish Woman married 7 brothers according to the law of Levarite Marriage, in the resurrection, whose would she be. Jesus responded that the man denied the power, and that those worthy to obtain that world would be as the angels and not married nor given in marriage. Many see this as saying there is no marriage in heaven. But this is forgetting who Christ is talking to and about. The Jews were were offered but rejected the higher covenant. The Jews turned down eternal marriage. Consequently, those worthy to receive this lesser world/crown/seat/glory/reward/kingdom/seat/mansion would be like the angels and not married but maybe just enjoy a eternal union.

However, Heb 1 says that Christians through the sealing keys given to Peter that whatsoever is bound on Earth is bound in heaven are promised to be glorified together with Christ who was made higher than the angels and given a more excellent name than they. Therefore, Christs answer to the Jew about the Jew doesn't apply to Christians who do not deny the power of Christ, and who are willing to receive the blessing of LDS Eternal Marriage. According to Gal 4, Some who are saved will be considered children of the bondwoman Hagar, while others are called children of the promise. Again, Jews didn't have eternal marriage so as Christ said, the Jewish woman in question would not be married to any of the 7 brothers in the next life. But the important point here is that this restriction in Luke 20:35 doesn't apply to Christians because Christians are promised to be made higher than the angels and will receive a far better world/reward/gift/kingdom/crown than the Jewish woman because of Christ.

Heb 1: 5 , 13-14 For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?. . . But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?

Gal 4:22 For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman. . . Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar. . . Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.