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DAVEH: Sorry to take so long getting back to you on this, Lance.
While I can give you a longer version than before, I certainly can't
give you all the details, as I have neither the time (I do need some
sleep!) nor the knowledge. But....... As you must know, I believe God created us spiritually prior to the creation of the world. IOW....we were spirit beings in a pre-mortal existence. It is my belief that God the Father consists of a spirit housed in a physical body. He created us as spirit beings, with the intent that we could (if we desire and are obedient) become not only one with him, but also perfect (complete, as Perry would suggest) as he is perfect. That basic process is known by LDS folks as eternal progression....effectively progressing from a created spirit being to one who is like God. As has been often quoted, one LDS authority said....... As man is, God once was. As God is, man may become. .........which is a catchy phrase that tends to excite many Christians, yet it implies the thinking of many LDS folks who believe we have the potential to become like God....IFF we so desire to fulfill our potential to become one with the Lord by being obedient to him. Those who do so, bring glory to the Lord. Those who don't will suffer damnation (hell) to some extent, by impeding their eternal progression. In order that the spirit beings in the pre-mortal existence can progress to the point of gaining a glorified resurrected body of flesh and bone, as the Savior now has, it was necessary for us to be born into a world created perfectly, so to speak. Adam and Eve were created as immortals, and as such were incapable of death. Not only that, but they were incapable of understanding the difference between good and evil....they were innocent. Yes, they were pure and undefiled, but yet they were also naive in their innocence.....quite unlike God who knows the difference between good and evil. By placing the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the garden, and then commanding them not to eat of that tree, explaining that they would die IF they partook of the forbidden fruit, God made it possible for them to not only gain the knowledge needed to become like him, but he also provided a way they could shed their bodies of flesh and blood....by dying, which separates the spirit from the body. In partaking of the forbidden fruit, not only did A&E subject themselves to the possibility of physical death (which we define as the separation of the spirit from the physical body), but they also were separated from God.....which we define as spiritual death. In essence, this resulted in A&E experiencing two forms of hell....first the separation from God, and second being returned to the state of a spirit being, without the ability to overcome that deficit. Hence, they would remain in that eternal state of damnation forever, if it were not for God's plan of salvation. That plan of salvation was prepared before the foundation of the world, and Jesus was chosen to implement it. God prepared his Son to be a perfect sacrifice to atone for A&E's (and all of mankind's) transgressions. Not only that, but the Son he foreordained to save us from our (specifically, A&E's in this instance) sins also was able to overcome physical death in a process we know as the resurrection. Neither of these impediments to our progression were things we could overcome on our own though. We had to have a Savior do that for us. Due to his resurrection, all will be resurrected and gain an immortal physical body. Due to his atonement, all will have the opportunity to have their sins remitted and return to heaven IF they so desire and are willing to be obedient to the Lord's commandments. That is why it is through his grace that we are saved.......nothing we could do on our own could accomplish that salvation. Once Jesus fulfilled that mantle of salvation (both physical and spiritual), the only thing standing between us and God is ourselves. Effectively.......We can either keep the commandments, and return to the Lord in heaven, or we can eschew them and suffer damnation (impedance) to our eternal progression. I hope that answers your query, Lance. If you want a slightly deeper (and different) view of the Fall, I can post an interesting perspective of the Fall that was recently posted to an LDS Forum.....just let me know if that appeals to you. Lance Muir wrote:
-- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dave Hansen [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.langlitz.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you wish to receive things I find interesting, I maintain six email lists... JOKESTER, OPINIONS, LDS, STUFF, MOTORCYCLE and CLIPS. |
- Re: [TruthTalk] New Subject--A&E Dave Hansen
- Re: [TruthTalk] New Subject--A&E Lance Muir
- Re: [TruthTalk] New Subject--A&E Dave Hansen
- Re: [TruthTalk] New Subject--A&E Terry Clifton
- Re: [TruthTalk] New Subject--A&E Dave Hansen
- Re: [TruthTalk] New Subject--A&E Judy Taylor
