Theory of God by the Logic of the Scriptures © | Privacy Policy
Theory of God
Of LDS Christianity
The Logic and Physics
Overview and assumptions (These are my opinions from scriptural study: not necessarily church doctrine ) 6/1/2023
My goals differ from those of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Mine are to determine the logic, order and implications inherent in the LDS scriptures (My house is a house of order not of confusion: D&C 132:8). The Church's goals are to create a self-sustaining gospel society to construct and support the temples so that required earthly ordinances may be performed. Our gospel also provides rules for a happy life and salvation. By far, temple work is more important since it provides salvation for all the world -- not just members of the LDS church. Apparently, a society composed of beings under the Curse of Eden (John 4:2) is needed to construct, maintain, and use the temples throughout the Millenium.
We develop a scenario consistent with a literal interpretation of scriptures from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS) that is applicable to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Our assumptions are:
God The Father wants as much good for His children that they can tolerate, and they get to choose their fate.
Satan and its seed exist as conscious spiritual beings with free will. -- not as manifestations of the human mind.
The LDS scriptures and concepts of a preexistence, heavenly kingdoms, resurrection, millennium, sexism, and racism are correct and can be examined as if they were a scientifically accurate description of this world and universe.
In using scriptures, we must realize that the religious concepts of the translators actually affect their translation of the Bible. In Genesis 4:7, God’s conversation with Cain: the first two translations treat sin as a person; the second two as human weaknesses to be overcome.
LDS translation: If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
KJV: If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
NCB :But if you do what is wrong, sin is crouching at your door. It seeks to dominate you, but you can overcome it.” But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”
NIV: But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”
LDS believe that God’s curse on Adam, Eve and Satan actually occurred. It was not allegorical. Therefore, Satan and his seed (here called sin) are sentient spirits. That assumption affects our concept of heaven and explains why a Lamb of God is necessary. Therefore, our analysis shall assume the KJV and LDS scriptures are correct. Note that "thou shalt" is a command or a statement of fact, while "you must" is a choice. Cain has his body: Satin has none. He is a parasite on Cain. When the veil is removed and physic powers of the resurrected are restored to equal those of the spirit world, proud Satan, having no physical body, will be Cain's lackey.
On the Physicality of spirits
Can a spirit directly interact with matter? The short answer is no. This is clearly shown in the Grand Keys of D&C 129 and specifically 129: 2, 8. In 1 Nephi 4:10,11 Nephi had to do physically what the spirit could not do on his own—even to prevent a nation from perishing in unbelief. There are many other examples. Discernment between unembodied and embodied spirits is impossible without this key. That is why Jesus told the apostles to handle him (“a spirit hath not flesh and bones” Luke 24:39) and Thomas to feel His wounds (John 20: 27). However, spirits have immense physic power over humans if they choose to exert it. The examples made in “Doctrine and Covenants 129:8 and the Reality of Satan’s Physicality,” Religious Educator 8, no. 1 (2007): by Alonzo L. Gaskill all depend on the physic control of a human by a spirit. There is never an example of a chair being thrown across the room by itself. Blindness, lack of speech, swollen tongue. deafness, bodies thrown across the room, even marks on the skin (as in shingles) language shifts (as in Tower of Babel) can be caused by physic interference or rewiring of the brain circuitry.
If spirits cannot interact with matter, they have none of our five senses: sight, touch, hearing, smell, and taste. They cast no shadow and have no reflection. They are parasites to the host spirit/body they inhabit. If they see, it is through the eyes of their host. There could be more than one spirit per body (Mark5:9). The host spirit rules over the parasites that inhabit them (Moses 5:23).
The Deceptions of Satan
One of the other lessons of D&C 129 is the Satan and his seed are not allowed to exactly duplicate a righteous spirit—there must be a tell. Satan is a counterfeit and cannot mimic all the features of the good. He can deceive as when he said, “one soul shall not be lost” (Moses 4:1) instead of not one soul shall be lost. Many followed him thinking they would be redeemed without risk. Many of these spirits are not evil—just deceived, but the error was forever theirs. Satan cannot lie. Even when Satan told an apparent lie (Moses 1-19), Moses could tell the difference.
Satan's first great deception captured a third of the spirits in the Grand Council. Thereafter, the rebels were sent to earth as spirits without bodies: They were never born so they could not be born again (John 3:3). They became Satan's seed, and with the Curse in Eden, we became their lawful prey.
Satan's second great deception was to convince the world that he does not exist. We double think: on Sunday, we accept demonic possession and tales of the Flood; for the rest of the week, a multiple personality is a just a medical affliction and the earth is 4.5 billion, not 7,000 years old. (I have treated this in my earlier essay on Noah and there are many other explanations offered.)
Satan's third great deception was to create a powerful counterfeit religion. Satan wants to be worshiped (Moses 1:12). Here again, there are tells. Note that God's justice requires that your salvation does not depend upon your religious beliefs. Satan can deceive: but if you sin while following him, the sin remains with you. The disadvantage of being in a false (or no) religion is that, without guidance, the likelihood that you will sin is increased. God warns us to forgive everyone rather than commit sin in revenge in D&C 64:10.
We live in the midst of a battle between Un-resurrected and fallen spirits -- both with equal physic powers. They have affected the interpretations of our scriptures as shown above. They attempt to discredit biblical prophecy. An example of this was shown in the Coronation of King Charles III of Great Britain in the TV discussion of The Stone of Scone. There was no interest in the origins of the stone before the coronations of English kings (i.e., Judah, Ulster Ireland, Scotland and then Great Britain) nor in the underlying prophecies in Genesis 49:10 and Genesis 49:22. Books and articles have been written to justify these prophesies: The Septre and the Birthright by Allen 1905,
https://www.originofnations.org/books,%20papers/jeremiah_in_ireland.htm, and https://www.originofnations.org/Royals/queens%20descent/The%20Queen's%20Royal%20Descent%20from%20King%20David%20of%20Judah.htm?utm_content=buffere9b4b&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer&fbclid=IwAR0Xpi2-bCJPlMv3igzVGNk_M4MkheCLOboP0bKtM9rs5R04Ahcbw99WIsk. are a few. These present a theory that the Prophet Jerimiah brought the daughters of King Zedekiah, the last Jewish king of the line of Perez (from Judah and Tamar), to Ulster, Ireland to marry into the male line of Zerah, the twin of Perrez. This secured the genetic link of the Throne of David into these latter days. to await the coming of Shiloh. Of interest is that Prophet Joeseph Smith is not English but is descended from the ancient royalty of Northern Ireland (Deseret News 8/8/2008, De Groote). Of course, Satan and his agents have written books in rebuttal in his attempt to discredit the prophesies and disillusion the living. Still evidence abounds: the preeminent royal line in the world is English and with all of its pageantry it is a fit place from which Jesus (Shiloh) may reign in glory. The British Commonwealth satisfies blessing of Genesis 48:19 on Ephraim while Manasseh is The United States. Great Britain and the United States satisfy the requirement of free agency (Moses 4:3) while much of their opposing forces now follow Satan's principle of submission to God or to the state. Another prophesy of note is in Genesis 22:17: Thy seed shall posess the gate of his enemy -- a reference to the sea power of Great Britian during the time she (holding the throne of David) was the lawgiver of the Commonwealth of nations. This contest between free agency, freedom, democracy and submission to a state or religion is the contest of these Latter Days.
Note that both Joseph and Judah had Egyptian wives and thus, being descended from Ham's wife, their children could not propagate the Priesthood (Abraham 1:27). But their children were treated very differently: Joseph's children were specifically adopted by Jacob (Genesis 48:5) and given lands; Judah's children, Er and Onan, were slain by The Lord forcing Judah to produce a suitable genetic heir with a roadside liaison with Tamar (Genesis 38) who had an acceptable lineage (see the Book of Jasher). Here also, we see the split in the royal line of Judah between Pharez and Zarah making it possible for the line to David's throne to be reconstructed in Ireland. Oddly, one the flags of Ulster, Ireland has the Yellow Star of David overlaid by the red hand of Zarah--although I could find no connection in the literature.
Celestial laws are strict: no trace of deception is allowed (D&C 129:7). Even The Father is bound by His word (Moses 4:30). According to the Law of Vicarious Atonement, removal of the curse must be done by an innocent, independent, free agent acting without compulsion. Jesus, who satisfies this requirement was anointed to this terrible task in the Grand Council and recognized by John as the Lamb of God (John 1:1). He freely fulfilled this requirement even as The Father forsook Him. Jesus was the only being that could fulfil this pre-existant assignment since He was not a descendant of Adam but of the Father. When His baptism removed the Curse on Eve ,only then did He become the Lamb of God soon to be recognized by Satan. Another scriptural example of vicarious curse removal is in Alma 53:15–23.
Why did The Father curse Adam with a curse that He could not remove Himself? Possibly to give Adam, a sinless Celestial being the opportunity to sin by placing him into a temporary mortal state. Then, individual judgments could be made on him and his descendants. Note that Adam had to accept this capability to sin by his physical act representing the Priesthood. Every mortal must prove their worth unfettered by the terrible constraints of Celestial law. Then, Adam and his descendants could be judged and returned to their appropriate positions in the kingdoms of immortality by the Atonement and earthly temple ordinances joining the resurrected body to its spirit. These rites are performed by mortals in the Priesthood. Even Jesus could not participate (John 4:2). Why did The Father curse Eve? The first time Satan confronted Jesus was directly after His baptism. Satan does not see things as we do. It is possible that before Eve's curse was removed from Jesus by baptism, and before Jesus became the sinless Lamb of God, that He was undistinguishable by Satan from among the other souls on earth. In other words, Jesus was protected until he was ready for His mission
On the structure of Heaven
LDS doctrine is clear that there are three degrees of glory, (Telestial, Terrestrial, and Celestial). The latter is further subdivided into three sections: the highest is Exultation and requires marriage in temples and spirit children. We also learn that no advancement from kingdom to kingdom is possible and that the resurrected being is given a body appropriate to his kingdom. Further, all resurrections are completed at the end of the millennium.
I suggest the following order for heaven which can never change after Jesus presents it to The Father:
Telestial Kingdom: These are they whom the Lord Jesus cannot forgive. They are Telestial resurrected beings which also provide physical housing for the many deceived spirits that followed Satan in his rebellion at the Grand Councils. Where else would Satan and his seed be if not together with Cain and other sinners? Surely, they cannot be allowed to roam the universe after the end of the millennium. Examples of multiple spirits in a single body abound (e.g., my name is Legion Mark 5:9). They are consigned to the spirit prison together with Satan’s seed during the millennium and released when resurrected as Telestial bodies. All spirits will be housed in bodies at the end of the resurrections and before presentation to the Father. Satan’s work is to make conditions on Earth so miserable as to encourage sin. Besides a general satisfaction with the misery of condemned souls, Satan obtains more bodies to spread his seed spirits to ease the crowding. Please note the translations of Genesis 4:7 presented above.
Terrestrial Kingdom: These are they whom the Lord does not condemn but choose not to abide by the laws of the Celestial Kingdom. They chose not to be baptized. They have no responsibilities and limited glory. (God forces no one into Heaven).
Celestial Kingdom: These are they who accept baptism, the cleansing blood of the Lamb, and the duties of the Celestial Kingdom. Level 1: These are they who choose to remain unmarried through the millennium. (God forces no one into eternal marriage). Level 2: These are they who choose to marry but have no children. (God forces no one to have children). Level 3: These are they who choose to marry and have spirit children and achieve Exultation which is eternal life – perhaps because their children will preserve their legacy.