Ephesians 3:9
A bird's eye view of the earth from the air helps us see how small we really are. Moving to the view from space we see the earth and can't see the people. Moving to an even greater distance if only in our mind, we can go so far that the earth disappears in a fog of white light.
Powerful telescopes now show us images of what can only be an infinite cosmos. Looking into the heavens we gain a some perspective of where we are in the vast expanse of the heavens, a cosmological speck of planetary insignificance.
To the reasoning soul this contemplation often prompts the questions of where we came from and where we will go after death. Our present life, this reality of today is what philosophers have contended with for millennia. Why are we here?
Sources of religious knowledge in classical theism have been fixed and the canonization of the known scriptural documents have been closed without really answering these questions. Contemporary Christian philosophers have not arrived at a consensus as to God's central and eternal purposes in this vast array of creation. Their conclusion is that he did it for his own will and pleasure and such was the creation of man, a random and unknown purpose except to worship their creator.
The state of modern mainstream Christendom is such that there is no central authority or prophet to guide the church. The Bible because of its acceptance as scripture is a valid source of knowledge and guidance yet it has not brought unity to the believers.
Mainstream Christian apologists and scholars have stated that they believe in an inerrant Bible and that it is the only source of divine guidance. This determination was necessary for them to maintain some sense of credibility. However it is simply an opinion based conclusion.
The theology that has existed for thousands of years, since Constantine and the Nicene Creed, before we had the ability to look into deep space and the view the infinite cosmos is still held by these apologists. It is that God has only created one world of any concern. Now we can see how limited their understanding was and is. Because science has proposed a theory of a "Big Bang" or a singularity of creation beginning they point to this as confirmation of their doctrine. However it is still only a theory.
The known words of God's ancient prophets and apostles have been a fount of much wisdom and understanding. The Bible has successfully carried forward the message of Jesus Christ. There are however fallacies and contradictions in the doctrines of traditional theism as they exist today as men have changed the original teachings of the apostles and prophets to suit their purposes.
Christian philosophers as well as their critics have often been the ones to point out the various shortcomings in doctrine that fail to explain the contradictions that exist in the body of religious theology. As an example-Why would a loving creator create people knowing that they now faced the potential of condemnation?
Another example of a contradictory nature in these philosophies of men is that if God was already perfect, and has self-existed as an incomprehensible triune deity for aeons of eternity without creation of other creations; Why did he now need to be worshipped by creating inferior creatures and an imperfect world? Correcting flawed theology and reasoning such as this has been done by revelation by God's true and living prophets.
The teachings regarding God and creation have been touted as mysteries never to be known in this lifetime. Inquiring minds however have sought to make sense of this mortality both in light of scriptural content and logical reasoning.
Our desire to know why God does what he does is is placed in us as his offspring. We as children of God, created in his image should seek understanding by faith. It is stated in Genesis. "The man has become as one of us". This statement was made after partaking of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
The event, often referred to as the "fall of Adam", is not understood in its entirety by traditional scholars. It would seem obvious that it was and is essential for God's eternal plan for mankind or it would not have happened.
Our path back to God should not be in darkness or with a lack of understanding of spiritual purposes. How would denying his children of understanding manifest the love of a Father for his children? To say that we are so far below God that we are not capable of learning the purpose for being on earth is to say that darkness rules over light and that truth is beyond our comprehension.
Since the death of Christ and his apostles the Christianity that followed made God's identity a mystery. Men used religion to control people as subjects. As the doctrine of three beings in one deity became the prevailing teaching of the ages it has been held by most all Christian theologians since then. It is based on an ecumenical council that was held by politicians and theologians and not under divine authority.
The concept of a trinity or three beings in one God is the doctrine of the Nicene creed that was established by a political and church bishops. It became a foundational doctrine for Christianity to follow. Jesus and his apostles had been rejected and killed. The authority they held to preside in the church was lost and men by their own self appointments took control of the churches.
The Nicene creed has been one of the few agreements of classical theism continuing to our day in modern mainstream and orthodox Christianity. It is not a Biblical teaching. It is interpretative philosophy brought about by debate and misunderstanding of the scripture documents.
Even though the scriptural accounts in the Bible describe to us something of the nature of God, the disagreements led to discussions and debates that allowed a non-biblical creed to govern the establishment of Christian doctrine.
These doctrines prevail in the original universal church founded at the time of Constantine as well as the protestant churches of the reformation and today's vastly expanded christian divisions in the so called evangelical churches. They all proclaim self appointments by root authority from the Bible.
Traditional mainstream teachings often preclude their lack of answers with the following the scripture; "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:8,9)
While man's reasoning is certainly often flawed, and the scripture is true when understood, this is not a reason that mankind should not think it strange when they encounter something that does not make sense or is illogical and unintelligible.
There is really only one mystery to all of us and that is where did God come from? There is much evidence for each of us to discover about the purpose of life and eternal principles. God does exist and that is a good foundation for pondering his purposes. If traditional theology can't describe him, how can faith be developed?
Many people want to make sense of this existence and God's purposes for creating the earth. The concept that he creates out of nothing by simply speaking things into existence presents many contradictions and fallacies. It is like case law in the legal sense. A wrong foundational case will lead to many flaws in the decisions that are based on it.
The soul of man is the eternal union of spirit and body. There is a comprehensible difference in how a person's eternal value to our Father in Heaven is seen when we understand that we are his children. In the traditional doctrine of man's spirit being created out of nothing at birth, there is no real value to be associated with his creation.
If something can be spoken into existence, it can spoken out of existence. Based on this there should be no purpose for any suffering or damnation of a soul if creation is a simple process of willing it into existence or not. If Adam and Eve made a mistake why create and condemn a whole race through them? Why not stop and start over with new people?
Under this theology of instant creation at birth, God's love for the creation is nothing more than an associated emotion placed at the time of creation. Mormon theology teaches that we lived with God before coming to earth and have a personal relationship to him.
Emotional ties that motivate a process of salvation are developed based on an endearing relationship. The perfect love of our creator would not commit his children to a mortal life of suffering without an understandable purpose. (See essay on Agency)
Christians sincerely want to believe that God loves them even though their creation is simply a thought with no other attachment. Their idea of the emotion of love becomes part of the relationship so that scriptural reference can be fulfilled.
The wonder of creation isn't that a being could speak and by so doing cause things to come into existence from no source simply by willing it. This is the essence of a myth. The wonder is that He can control all elements, that they obey him when he speaks.
It isn't that human souls could be created in some mysterious fashion out of nothing, but that he could engender billions upon billions of eternal souls, eternal intelligence with spirit creation. His creations never end. His increase never ends. Time is not really a factor in the pre-mortal existence and he knows each one of us very intimately.
It would seem that in much the same way that a baby only develops and learns as it is exposed to life and is nurtured to maturity, our intelligence only progresses when joined to the body of our spirit which is created by and nurtured by our heavenly parents. This is how our journey of progress and learning begins. Then we step into mortality in a physical body which for many of us will be the most severe test of our eternal existence.
Watching the endless variety of his children learn and develop their spiritual capacity is what we can only imagine gives our eternal parents joy. As obedient spirits advance in understanding and capacity with the freedom we receive through the plan of the Father and the atonement of the Son we can become like him. His perfection is constant but his glory is dynamic, not static.
To know our self, our true identity and its eternal nature is necessary to truly find happiness. It is then that we can pursue with faith the thoughts and actions that will bring us back to God's presence, to live as he lives. This is life eternal. This is our heritage and our destiny if we so choose.
The mystery of creation is that it has no beginning. To the mind of man that is unfathomable. So it is one that we must accept on faith. The mystery of the "substance" that was the great debate of the Nicene council is answered in the nature of our eternal intelligence. It is the substance of all creation. God organizes and elements obey him. He does not create out of nothing.
Eternal intelligence and matter combine together to form the substance of all beings and all things. We have never been part of the same being, we each have our own individual eternal identity as sons and daughters of eternal parents. Our gender is part of who we are as eternal beings.
Traditional doctrines with their flawed understanding of the infinite nature of Christ's atonement have placed limits on God's power to create and to exalt his creations. Having determined through man's reasoning and exegesis of the scriptures that the Father is the only being of his kind was and is an error in theological reasoning. To teach that he can only create inferior beings for the sole purpose of worshiping him is a contradiction of love.
To think that an eternally perfect being finds happiness in the creation and suffering of creatures less capable than him is contradictory. It is also fallacious to imagine a perfect God incapable of creating after his own kind and governing in a universe of perfected beings when all of his creation manifests creation after its own kind.
Jesus was a God in premortality, we were not. He was the firstborn and his eternal intelligence is of such nature that he was appointed by the Father for the most important missions of our association with him. Through him the Father has delegated all creation.
We know from his birth to a mortal mother that eternal spirit beings do come to earth and receive tabernacles of flesh and blood. Their relationship is just what it appears to be, that of Father, mother and Son. The Father and Son using their creative powers to bring the rest of us to eternal lives with them.
Through our Savior and the Father and obedience to their laws and under their mercyand grace, we are able to attain their stature. This is their desire and their work through the creations they bring into existence. That is the unlimited nature of the sacrifice that Jesus performed. It can lift to the highest heights of existence in the eternal worlds. That is our destiny if we so choose. That is the essence of the love of God for his children.
While man's reasoning is certainly often flawed, and the scripture is true when understood, this is not a reason that mankind should not think it strange when they encounter something that does not make sense or is illogical and unintelligible.
There is really only one mystery to all of us and that is where did God come from? There is much evidence for each of us to discover about the purpose of life and eternal principles. God does exist and that is a good foundation for pondering his purposes. If traditional theology can't describe him, how can faith be developed?
Many people want to make sense of this existence and God's purposes for creating the earth. The concept that he creates out of nothing by simply speaking things into existence presents many contradictions and fallacies. It is like case law in the legal sense. A wrong foundational case will lead to many flaws in the decisions that are based on it.
The soul of man is the eternal union of spirit and body. There is a comprehensible difference in how a person's eternal value to our Father in Heaven is seen when we understand that we are his children. In the traditional doctrine of man's spirit being created out of nothing at birth, there is no real value to be associated with his creation.
If something can be spoken into existence, it can spoken out of existence. Based on this there should be no purpose for any suffering or damnation of a soul if creation is a simple process of willing it into existence or not. If Adam and Eve made a mistake why create and condemn a whole race through them? Why not stop and start over with new people?
Under this theology of instant creation at birth, God's love for the creation is nothing more than an associated emotion placed at the time of creation. Mormon theology teaches that we lived with God before coming to earth and have a personal relationship to him.
Emotional ties that motivate a process of salvation are developed based on an endearing relationship. The perfect love of our creator would not commit his children to a mortal life of suffering without an understandable purpose. (See essay on Agency)
Christians sincerely want to believe that God loves them even though their creation is simply a thought with no other attachment. Their idea of the emotion of love becomes part of the relationship so that scriptural reference can be fulfilled.
The wonder of creation isn't that a being could speak and by so doing cause things to come into existence from no source simply by willing it. This is the essence of a myth. The wonder is that He can control all elements, that they obey him when he speaks.
It isn't that human souls could be created in some mysterious fashion out of nothing, but that he could engender billions upon billions of eternal souls, eternal intelligence with spirit creation. His creations never end. His increase never ends. Time is not really a factor in the pre-mortal existence and he knows each one of us very intimately.
It would seem that in much the same way that a baby only develops and learns as it is exposed to life and is nurtured to maturity, our intelligence only progresses when joined to the body of our spirit which is created by and nurtured by our heavenly parents. This is how our journey of progress and learning begins. Then we step into mortality in a physical body which for many of us will be the most severe test of our eternal existence.
Watching the endless variety of his children learn and develop their spiritual capacity is what we can only imagine gives our eternal parents joy. As obedient spirits advance in understanding and capacity with the freedom we receive through the plan of the Father and the atonement of the Son we can become like him. His perfection is constant but his glory is dynamic, not static.
To know our self, our true identity and its eternal nature is necessary to truly find happiness. It is then that we can pursue with faith the thoughts and actions that will bring us back to God's presence, to live as he lives. This is life eternal. This is our heritage and our destiny if we so choose.
The mystery of creation is that it has no beginning. To the mind of man that is unfathomable. So it is one that we must accept on faith. The mystery of the "substance" that was the great debate of the Nicene council is answered in the nature of our eternal intelligence. It is the substance of all creation. God organizes and elements obey him. He does not create out of nothing.
Eternal intelligence and matter combine together to form the substance of all beings and all things. We have never been part of the same being, we each have our own individual eternal identity as sons and daughters of eternal parents. Our gender is part of who we are as eternal beings.
Traditional doctrines with their flawed understanding of the infinite nature of Christ's atonement have placed limits on God's power to create and to exalt his creations. Having determined through man's reasoning and exegesis of the scriptures that the Father is the only being of his kind was and is an error in theological reasoning. To teach that he can only create inferior beings for the sole purpose of worshiping him is a contradiction of love.
To think that an eternally perfect being finds happiness in the creation and suffering of creatures less capable than him is contradictory. It is also fallacious to imagine a perfect God incapable of creating after his own kind and governing in a universe of perfected beings when all of his creation manifests creation after its own kind.
Jesus was a God in premortality, we were not. He was the firstborn and his eternal intelligence is of such nature that he was appointed by the Father for the most important missions of our association with him. Through him the Father has delegated all creation.
We know from his birth to a mortal mother that eternal spirit beings do come to earth and receive tabernacles of flesh and blood. Their relationship is just what it appears to be, that of Father, mother and Son. The Father and Son using their creative powers to bring the rest of us to eternal lives with them.
Through our Savior and the Father and obedience to their laws and under their mercyand grace, we are able to attain their stature. This is their desire and their work through the creations they bring into existence. That is the unlimited nature of the sacrifice that Jesus performed. It can lift to the highest heights of existence in the eternal worlds. That is our destiny if we so choose. That is the essence of the love of God for his children.