Is love a power that extends beyond this world?
The religious traditions set forth in scholarly institutions have established in their basic theology the idea that God creates things out of nothing. If such is the case, then love is something God invented. I do not believe in such theology. If such were the case then God's love would be limited.
These same scholars and theologians also imply that God has created only one inhabited world where salvation takes place. They believe that the Bible is necessary to have in order to be saved. Therefore he has also created a limited number of people and love is thereby limited as well. It expands no further and essentially stops.
Mormons on the other hand believe that creation is endless. God has created worlds without end, and salvation too is endless. As those beings that follow God gain salvation they do so by acquiring the characteristic of perfect and eternal love.
What is the power that causes creations like this world and love to exist. Before I try to explain this I would like to point out a few observations and and things that I believe.
The endless nature of space and the fact that eternity exists are two concepts at the core of any search for truth. In the context of eternity our modern science would be infantile even if it were 10,000 years old or 100,000 years which it isn't. It does not approach the endless prospect of eternity that went on before we began to exist in mortality. How can some individuals think that 200 or 10,000 years allows them to catch up with an eternity of truth? If your mind can't conceive of eternity try imagining back a trillion years instead. What was God doing then? Who did he love?
Part of the problem with theologies of the orthodox scholars is that they don't line up with science or good philosophy or common self-evident truths. With them there is no prospect of love prior to birth. Early church theologians taught about the human soul per-existing birth. In the modern world only Mormonism says that we lived as individuals before we were born into mortality and expresses a reasonable theology for the creation of a world.
Science can explain very well the organization of the body and its functions. We know how atoms come together to form a person and all other things. Matter cannot be created or destroyed. How a person is formed is not magic, it is science.
Science however does not have all of the answers. While some think the universe was created by a singularity, it is just a theory. The more realistic observation is that all matter, elements etc., have always existed.
God is the author of all science and that should tell us something about him. He is a naturalist. He creates and lives according to natural eternal laws, not magical inclinations and powers. His perfected attributes and presence are glorious to a level we may not comprehend with our present understanding and yet love is his motivating force.
Philosophy can conceive some answers to live by but only God can reveal the full nature of truth. We cannot make up our own science or theology and think that they are true.
In explaining the existence of our spiritual nature many a philosopher and speculator or scholar has tried to come up with ideas that made God mystical and incomprehensible. This was before we could see many things that we now see and know. Their views were either based on scholarly interpretation or philosophical debate. None of which are authoritative.
If you don't think a part of you, your intelligence and spirit is eternal you should probably stop reading here. I was skeptical and had my own personal religious philosophy like most people. I was closer to God in the mountains than in the church I would tell myself.
I finally realized that if truth was incontrovertible it probably wasn't coming from me. I kept looking and found what I believe was a reliable source. I have tested it for over 40 years and reliable it is. It is the same source to which the scriptures were revealed in the first instance.
The prophets of God are this source. The philosophies and conclusions of individuals are not. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the channel on the earth that teaches the fullness of the gospel of Christ and He stands at the head of the church and his prophets and apostles direct it.
Understanding eternal creation and love is based on revealed theology in the LDS church, not the long standing philosophies of men. I have written some of my personal beliefs in this blog.
If you believe the Bible for example, the scripture is quite clear that we are created male and female in the image of God. No other orthodox religious organization teaches this as a literal fact. For them this statement is a metaphor.
The orthodox teaching is that God does not have a body or exist as an actual person. They developed a confusing dogma of three beings in one. They teach of a solitary being, a one planet creator that is limited to creating only inferior persons such as us. They put limits on the perfecting nature and the power of Christ.
How was our spirit created? The literal nature of our spiritual creation is a natural process. It is not magic or made up out of a void. Our physical body is the natural result of a creative union.
All science is a spiritual truth as well. The elements of spirit are just as real as the organics we experience now. We just don't have the science currently that demonstrates all of the revealed theology.
There is an eternal pattern of creation. It doesn't change. We look like the parents of whose spiritual children we are and our mortal parents as well.
In the eternal and infinite heavens there is no creation without both motherhood and fatherhood bound together in holy commitments.
The nature of our creation and our maleness and femaleness is a self-evident truth manifest in the earth and is an eternal law. Likewise there is no continuation of love without this creative process.
Men are nothing without women and women are nothing without men as nothing would exist without both. You shouldn't believe everything you see on TV or that you hear politicians say regarding the procreative processes and their activities to stop it.
Love is the source of God's desire to lift us to our full potential. God as the creator of our spirit means parents plural. The glory of God is not limited to the male gender. Until prophets again were called on the earth this was the conclusion of various scholars acting on their own accord in conjunction with certain creeds that have been adhered to for almost 2000 years.
We should love one another because we are quite literally brothers and sisters, spirit sons and daughters, children of God. Our identity is eternal. It is not a conclusion decided by philosophy.
Science however does not have all of the answers. While some think the universe was created by a singularity, it is just a theory. The more realistic observation is that all matter, elements etc., have always existed.
God is the author of all science and that should tell us something about him. He is a naturalist. He creates and lives according to natural eternal laws, not magical inclinations and powers. His perfected attributes and presence are glorious to a level we may not comprehend with our present understanding and yet love is his motivating force.
Philosophy can conceive some answers to live by but only God can reveal the full nature of truth. We cannot make up our own science or theology and think that they are true.
In explaining the existence of our spiritual nature many a philosopher and speculator or scholar has tried to come up with ideas that made God mystical and incomprehensible. This was before we could see many things that we now see and know. Their views were either based on scholarly interpretation or philosophical debate. None of which are authoritative.
If you don't think a part of you, your intelligence and spirit is eternal you should probably stop reading here. I was skeptical and had my own personal religious philosophy like most people. I was closer to God in the mountains than in the church I would tell myself.
I finally realized that if truth was incontrovertible it probably wasn't coming from me. I kept looking and found what I believe was a reliable source. I have tested it for over 40 years and reliable it is. It is the same source to which the scriptures were revealed in the first instance.
The prophets of God are this source. The philosophies and conclusions of individuals are not. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the channel on the earth that teaches the fullness of the gospel of Christ and He stands at the head of the church and his prophets and apostles direct it.
Understanding eternal creation and love is based on revealed theology in the LDS church, not the long standing philosophies of men. I have written some of my personal beliefs in this blog.
If you believe the Bible for example, the scripture is quite clear that we are created male and female in the image of God. No other orthodox religious organization teaches this as a literal fact. For them this statement is a metaphor.
The orthodox teaching is that God does not have a body or exist as an actual person. They developed a confusing dogma of three beings in one. They teach of a solitary being, a one planet creator that is limited to creating only inferior persons such as us. They put limits on the perfecting nature and the power of Christ.
How was our spirit created? The literal nature of our spiritual creation is a natural process. It is not magic or made up out of a void. Our physical body is the natural result of a creative union.
All science is a spiritual truth as well. The elements of spirit are just as real as the organics we experience now. We just don't have the science currently that demonstrates all of the revealed theology.
There is an eternal pattern of creation. It doesn't change. We look like the parents of whose spiritual children we are and our mortal parents as well.
In the eternal and infinite heavens there is no creation without both motherhood and fatherhood bound together in holy commitments.
The nature of our creation and our maleness and femaleness is a self-evident truth manifest in the earth and is an eternal law. Likewise there is no continuation of love without this creative process.
Men are nothing without women and women are nothing without men as nothing would exist without both. You shouldn't believe everything you see on TV or that you hear politicians say regarding the procreative processes and their activities to stop it.
Love is the source of God's desire to lift us to our full potential. God as the creator of our spirit means parents plural. The glory of God is not limited to the male gender. Until prophets again were called on the earth this was the conclusion of various scholars acting on their own accord in conjunction with certain creeds that have been adhered to for almost 2000 years.
We should love one another because we are quite literally brothers and sisters, spirit sons and daughters, children of God. Our identity is eternal. It is not a conclusion decided by philosophy.
The life giving process that we are familiar with doesn't always take place in a union of love and respect. Children are not always welcome in some relationships.
Most of mankind has the power to create life with few exceptions. It is given to us as a natural order and exists independent of how we might choose to develop our appetites and passions. Love is not just the base attraction among humans, nor is it random, but its counterfeits are.
Most of mankind has the power to create life with few exceptions. It is given to us as a natural order and exists independent of how we might choose to develop our appetites and passions. Love is not just the base attraction among humans, nor is it random, but its counterfeits are.
Love develops not only by serving others but serving with them. If we don't create life and nurture it in bonds of stability then love will not develop or eventually disappear from society.
Why did God give us the power to create life? Because he wants us to learn to love like he does. To nurture and to bond in a natural occurring way in family units.
Why did God give us the power to create life? Because he wants us to learn to love like he does. To nurture and to bond in a natural occurring way in family units.
The law of sexual integrity or chastity guides us to the highest order of eternal relationships. Whether or not our mortal circumstances provide opportunities to have children we can live it. This law is an eternal self-existing principle.
What if we don't have the opportunity to form the marriage relationship we might desire at the present time? Patience and faith still form the basis for this endeavor. No one is denied a blessing they seek because it did not present itself in mortality. Because of the perfect love of God opportunities exist of which we have been made aware but not yet fully revealed.
The joy of love is compounded immensely in marriage with the fidelity of husband and wife...not diminished. When we observe the law of sexual integrity, life giving powers and joys are magnified and multiplied in our lives, and they can extend to the next life. Our emotional investments do not go away when we die if we covenant here to keep them.
What if we don't have the opportunity to form the marriage relationship we might desire at the present time? Patience and faith still form the basis for this endeavor. No one is denied a blessing they seek because it did not present itself in mortality. Because of the perfect love of God opportunities exist of which we have been made aware but not yet fully revealed.
The joy of love is compounded immensely in marriage with the fidelity of husband and wife...not diminished. When we observe the law of sexual integrity, life giving powers and joys are magnified and multiplied in our lives, and they can extend to the next life. Our emotional investments do not go away when we die if we covenant here to keep them.
God ordained marriage for men and women and invites us to follow His pattern for the fullness and perfection of love. God's love is the love of parents, a mother and a father for their children. There is nothing strange about it. Natural eternal creation both of the body and the spirit bring natural affection and care for the offspring. This is the transcendent opportunity to serve not only each other but with each other in life and love giving opportunities. Not just in mortality but in eternity.
Living outside the bounds of these protections of marriage and sexual integrity causes loss of the internal spiritual sensitivities that allow us to develop the full potential of this eternal experience.
Marriage and family is an eternal order of living. It is given so we can make the commitment to receive the full potential of love. This will be more than a lifetime process and it won't happen without many mistakes. This is why there is a Savior. Our mistakes don't need to hold us back.
Living outside the bounds of these protections of marriage and sexual integrity causes loss of the internal spiritual sensitivities that allow us to develop the full potential of this eternal experience.
Marriage and family is an eternal order of living. It is given so we can make the commitment to receive the full potential of love. This will be more than a lifetime process and it won't happen without many mistakes. This is why there is a Savior. Our mistakes don't need to hold us back.
Our decisions do determine our direction and ultimate destiny. This is the law of Agency and the law of the Harvest or the law of Compensation. Eternal relationships are at the center of everything we believe in the church. Love is eternal because it exists and is perpetuated in the family unit both in heaven and in earth. Without familial creation there is no continuation of love.
God will not force us to act in a holy manner just because he does. He invites us to follow his order of love because our eternal nature can develop to its fullest potential by doing so. This is the path of perfect and eternal love. It comes through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The only way to define love is for God to reveal it to us. He calls it the pure love of Christ or charity. This is the summation of all virtues that causes one to be willing to offer a full measure of sacrifice to bless the lives of others and lift them to their fullest potential.
It is the utmost of unselfishness that brings forth compassion, patience, and kindness and many others. It is the perfection of the eternal spirit child of God that comes as a gift to us. The gift is however a conditional gift that we must accept and act upon less our freedom of choice or agency be infringed upon.
The only way to define love is for God to reveal it to us. He calls it the pure love of Christ or charity. This is the summation of all virtues that causes one to be willing to offer a full measure of sacrifice to bless the lives of others and lift them to their fullest potential.
It is the utmost of unselfishness that brings forth compassion, patience, and kindness and many others. It is the perfection of the eternal spirit child of God that comes as a gift to us. The gift is however a conditional gift that we must accept and act upon less our freedom of choice or agency be infringed upon.
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