spirits – What Do Mormons Believe?

Spirit, Body and Tony Stark

Last week in Primary, I was trying to teach the children in our ward about how our spirits and bodies interact, and I discovered that Marvel had described it pretty well.

Our spirits are the eternal parts of us–they hold our personalities, our flaws, our potential, our divine nature. Our bodies are simply outer shells that amplify our spirits. Think of Iron Man. His suit allows him to do amazing things–fly, shoot lasers, swim down deep in the ocean. Things that his body, alone, could not do. But his body is controlling the show. Tony Stark is a moderately good person, and he mostly uses his suit to do good things. But think if Captain America got in that suit?! He would use it solely to do good. Not to be a show off, not to profit for himself. Now think of if that crazy red-faced villain got the suit. He would use it completely for evil. We don’t want him to get the suit.

Our spirits enter our bodies and get to do things that they haven’t ever been able to do before: eat (oh, I’m sure that when I get a body, I’ll just eat healthy and moderately), sleep (I bet on earth I’ll sleep exactly 8 hours a day), have a family (I’ll wait till marriage! Of course!), exercise (every. day.). And the list goes on. Our spirits didn’t have the same physical experiences without a body, and they were anxious to get one. And now we cruise around earth in these suits that amplify our spirits– if our spirit has a lot of pride, we use our body for vanity, we seek wealth, we put other people down. If our spirit has a problem with anger we have the equivalent of laser guns with our muscles, arms and legs. We are capable of so much destruction in these suits, but also so much good. If our spirits are full of faith, we can show it by physically attending church, giving compassionate service to people in need, hugging our children. If our spirits are thirsty for knowledge, we can incorporate information and wisdom much more quickly in the physical world–touching, experimenting, reading, trying things out. And that is the real wisdom in having these bodies–we can smooth out our flaws, overcome our evil tendencies by mastering our bodies–the cool features that they have that we should use appropriately in the proper time and place.

On a related note, sometimes Tony’s suit malfunctions. Pieces fall off deep in space, aliens shoot him down. Our bodies, too, can be imperfect–physically and mentally. But that doesn’t mean that the spirit driving the operation is faulted. And in the resurrection, everything will be made whole.

Is Jesus the only son of God?

Q. I grew up believing that Jesus was the only son of God. In your faith do you believe differently?

Jesus ascension

Short answer: Yes and No.

Long answer: You might think this question would have a straightforward answer, but turns out it doesn’t. Entire ecumenical councils have been convened to address the relationship between Jesus and the Father. It’s a sticky question, and this is why:

The Bible uses the term “Only Begotten” four times in reference to Jesus (the Book of Mormon and other LDS scriptures tack on a whopping forty more). So it seems pretty straightforward; he must be the only one. At the same time, however, there are many other scriptures that seem to indicate there are more children of God—namely us. Those scriptures refer to the human race as either being the children of God already (Acts 17:29: “Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God…”) or having the potential to become the children of God (John 1:12: “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God”). Furthermore, sometimes Jesus refers to the Father only as “my Father” (Luke 2:49), and sometimes as “your Father” (Matt 5:48), and sometimes both (John 20:17).

So which is it? Is Jesus the only son of God, or are we all sons and daughters of God? And if we’re not now, is it possible for us to become so?

I don’t pretend to understand how the majority of Christianity answers those questions, especially since the early creeds seem confusing on what exactly the relationship between the Father and the Son is. Luckily you just want to know what Mormons believe and that is, by comparison, pretty straightforward.

1. All of us (including Jesus) are children of God because God is the Father of our spirits.

To suggest that Jesus is always and ever was the only son of God is to ignore a whole lot of scripture in the Bible. In one sense, we are all children of God. God is the Father of our spirits. This is why Paul calls us all “the offspring of God.” We have that piece of divinity inside us. Jesus is special because he was, as the author of Hebrews calls him, “the Firstbegotten.” The same author calls His church the “church of the Firstborn.” Just the use of the words Firstbegotten and Firstborn imply that there are others. Not only that, we were all with God and Jesus before the world was. (See the posts on the pre-mortal life of man for a better explanation). In short: all of us are children of God, but Jesus is the first.

Jesus Birth

2. Jesus is the only begotten of the Father in the flesh.

If we all are children of God, why are the scriptures so adamant that he is the “Only Begotten Son”? To beget someone is to father them. Everyone born on earth has been begotten by an earthly, mortal father. That is, everyone but Jesus. Jesus was born to a virgin. His father is God. We don’t pretend to know the details of all that, but Jesus is the only one for whom that is true, and that’s why He is called the Only Begotten.

3. We become the sons and daughters of God in a different sense by accepting the gospel.

If we are all already the children of God, what is all this scriptural talk of becoming the children of God? Turns out sometimes salvation is spoken of as becoming the sons/daughters of God, or of Christ. When Jesus came to earth and atoned for our sins, he opened the way to be saved. He gave us power to become the sons of God, as John said. Maybe it’s confusing to describe it that way, but hey, it wasn’t my idea. Besides, it’s a good way to describe the spiritual change that happens when we accept Jesus Christ. I think the Book of Mormon king Benjamin described it best to his people, who had just accepted Jesus Christ with a covenant to follow Him:

“And now, because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name; therefore, ye are born of him and have become his sons and his daughters.” (Mosiah 5:7)

So we see that if there were only one sense in which a person could be a child of God, the Bible would remain ambiguous on the question. But if they are referring to different relationships, we get a coherent picture of our relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ. In one sense everyone is a child of God, in another sense only Jesus is, and in a third sense, we start out not children and then have the option to become children of God.

An important footnote: Do Mormons believe Jesus and Satan are brothers?

Carl_Bloch_Denying_Satan One of the more shocking things you’ll hear about Mormonism is that we believe that Jesus and Satan are brothers. Now that we’ve outlined our relationships to God, we can address that claim in the proper context. It’s true that they are brothers in the first sense that I described above, but saying it out of that context is intentionally misleading, because almost everyone is thinking in the second sense. When you’re coming from the position that Jesus is the only son of God, putting Satan up there with him not only seems like a blatant contradiction of the “Only Begotten” scriptures, but also makes it seem like we consider them to be equals. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Jesus Christ, the Greatest of all, who personifies goodness and grace, and Satan, the father of lies, who rebelled against God and was cast out of heaven, are not equals. They are brothers in the sense that we are all brothers and sisters, spiritual offspring of the same Father. Aside from that, they couldn’t be more different.

What Do Mormons Believe About Hell?

Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch’intrate

Q. What do Mormons believe about hell, and who is going there?

Short answer: Mormons believe in hell, but our conception of hell is different than the one that generally springs to mind, and we use the word to mean different things in different contexts. For us, there are two “hells”, really. One is a state of pain, guilt, and anguish where the spirits of the wicked will be after they die but before the final judgment (we often call this state spirit prison). The other is an everlasting state of hell reserved for a few truly wicked (we commonly refer to this one as outer darkness). Because the second state only applies to few, for the majority of people hell will not last forever: after the final judgment most people will receive some degree of glory.

Long answer: I wrote this post because I’ve found that people assume we believe in the traditional hellfire and damnation, and that causes a lot of misunderstanding. For instance, we claim to be the only religion with the “fullness of the gospel,” and that you have to be baptized by someone authorized by God (only in the LDS church) in order to be saved. People hear that and assume that we therefore believe that everyone else is “going to hell” in the sense that most modern Christians would use the phrase. That isn’t our belief, however.

What is hell? The word hell in the Bible is the English translation of the Greek word hades or the Hebrew word sheol. It originally referred to a temporary dwelling of spirits of all dead people, both righteous and wicked, and not solely as a place of punishment. The word hell didn’t evolve the sense of being a place of everlasting punishment until later (see reference 1, or click the word hades above for further reading).

That doesn’t mean that there isn’t a place of suffering, however. We believe that when we die, our spirits go to a place that we call the Spirit World to await the resurrection and judgment. Furthermore, the Spirit World is divided into two general states: paradise and prison, depending on how you have lived your life (see Megan’s two-part summary of the afterlife). In the Spirit World, everyone gets an equal chance (if they didn’t have it on earth) to hear and accept the gospel. Unrepentant people will still suffer, and we still refer to their suffering as “hell.”

plan-of-salvation1

What is hell like? The torment of the wicked isn’t described in much detail in the Bible, but King Benjamin in the Book of Mormon taught that the knowledge of our guilt would be our torment:

Therefore if that man repenteth not, and remaineth and dieth an enemy to God, the demands of divine justice do awaken his immortal soul to a lively sense of his own guilt, which doth cause him to shrink from the presence of the Lord, and doth fill his breast with guilt, and pain, and anguish, which is like an unquenchable fire, whose flame ascendeth up forever and ever. (Mosiah 2:38)

Alma (also in the Book of Mormon) wrote that we will not be able to look up to God, “and we would fain be glad if we could command the rocks and the mountains to fall upon us to hide us from his presence” (Alma 12:14)

It’s important to know that this suffering, while agonizing, will not last forever. Of those who would eventually inherit the lowest degree of glory, Joseph Smith taught:

These are they who are liars, and sorcerers, and adulterers, and whoremongers, and whosoever loves and makes a lie. . .These are they who are cast down to hell and suffer the wrath of Almighty God, until the fullness of times, when Christ shall have subdued all enemies under his feet, and shall have perfected his work; (D&C 76:103, 106)

hellsign1

What about the sons of perdition? We believe that one day “every knee shall bow and every tongue confess” that Jesus is the Christ. With a few exceptions everyone will be redeemed. Death and Hell will deliver up their captive spirits (2 Ne 9:12, Rev 20:13), all men will be resurrected and be brought forth to be judged and receive a degree of glory. The few exceptions I mentioned are called “sons of perdition.”

Sons of perdition are the truly evil. They are those that want no part in salvation. They deny the truth and defy God’s power, and crucify the Savior unto themselves, and put him to an open shame. They are the only ones who shall not be redeemed in the due time of the Lord (D&C 76:31-38). They do not inherit a glory at all, but rather dwell with the devil and his angels forever. Their state is sometimes referred to as “hell” also, or “outer darkness,” though both of those words also refer to the temporary state. It’s hard to be a son of perdition. Really hard. Cain and Judas hard. For all intents and purposes, it’s not even an option for the majority of humanity.

If everyone will just be saved, why does anyone’s conversion even matter? I thought you’d never ask! It matters for two reasons: 1) The wicked will still suffer. A lot. Enough that no amount of raucous fun you could have on earth would ever possibly be worth it. And 2) There are very different degrees of glory that you will inherit forever, based on how much you were “willing to receive.” But that’s a topic for a different day.

(1) See Frederic W. Farrar, Eternal Hope (1892), xxxvi-xlii

Baptisms for the Dead

Q. What happens to people who die without being taught/accepting baptism in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?

Heavenly Father has prepared another chance for them to hear the gospel and choose to accept or reject it.

The official Church website explains: “Jesus Christ taught that baptism is essential to the salvation of all who have lived on earth (see John 3:5) Many people, however, have died without being baptized. Others were baptized without proper authority. Because God is merciful, He has prepared a way for all people to receive the blessings of baptism. By performing proxy baptisms in behalf of those who have died, Church members offer these blessings to deceased ancestors. Individuals can then choose to accept or reject what has been done in their behalf.”

Baptism is the first ordinance of the gospel. It is so important that even Jesus Christ asked to be baptized in order to fulfill all righteousness. Because Heavenly Father desires for us all to return to Him, He has made it possible for the dead to have the same opportunities as the living through the temple ordinances.

Some have the misconception that this temple work forces the deceased persons into covenants against their will. This is entirely false. All spirits maintain their free will after death and can opt to accept or refuse the ordinance of baptism. When a living person is baptized and receives the Gift of the Holy Ghost in behalf of a deceased person, it is only to give the deceased person the opportunity – the option of redemption.

LDS.org also reveals: “Many in the spirit world embrace the gospel. However, they cannot receive priesthood ordinances for themselves because they do not have physical bodies. In holy temples, we have the privilege of receiving ordinances in their behalf. These ordinances include baptism, confirmation, Melchizedek Priesthood ordination (for men), the endowment, the marriage sealing, and the sealing of children to parents. The Lord revealed this work to the Prophet Joseph Smith, restoring a practice that had been revealed to Christians shortly after the Resurrection of Jesus Christ (see 1 Corinthians 15:29 ).

Part of the mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is to Redeem the Dead. Because of this, we participate in genealogy/family history work to find our ancestors who were not able to hear and accept the gospel while on earth. Many in my family are involved in this work because of our desire to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children to their fathers as mentioned at the very end of the old testament.

I love going to the temple. There is such a special feeling that accompanies me when I’m in the House of the Lord. Doing the physical ordinances for my ancestors who have passed on is an amazing experience because I know that many of them have been waiting for hundreds of years to finally have their baptism performed. Being a part of their spiritual progression is remarkable. I know that God is merciful and mindful of each of us because He gives everyone a fair chance at accepting or rejecting the message of the gospel.

Whose are We?

The following question was submitted in the question box: Did god make me or did my mum and dad make me?

The answer is yes.

There are two parts to each of us–the spiritual part, and the physical part.

God made the eternal part–our spirits have existed for eons and will continue to exist forever. They are our essential, unique core. I personally believe that they are the basis of our personalities, our talents, our inclinations and our weaknesses. And they have amazing potential. God made our spirits just like our parents made our bodies–thus, we are literally children of our Heavenly Father, and we can become like Him in character, nature and knowledge. More information about this is found here.

The second part of us is the physical body. The one that is imperfect, weak, tired, hungry, and will eventually die. Our parents made that one (well, God still organized all of the elements that we are made of, but lets not get too technical). These bodies are really important to our salvation as well. As Dave noted in his post below, the spirit AND the body are the soul of man (and woman). We have to figure out this body in order to eventually have a resurrected body (like Jesus and our Heavenly Father). Sort of like how parents give their 16 year old children a beat up car to learn on before they can even touch the Lexus. . .

jalopy lexus So, whose are we? We’re God’s. Thoroughly. Because the most important part of us, the part of us that will continue forever–that part is divine.