Mormon cosmology
Mormon cosmology is the description of the history, evolution, and destiny of the physical and metaphysical universe according to Mormonism, which includes the doctrines taught by leaders and theologians of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), Mormon fundamentalism, and other denominations within the Latter Day Saint movement. Mormon cosmology draws from Biblical cosmology, but has many unique elements provided by movement founder Joseph Smith. These views are not generally shared by adherents of other Latter Day Saint movement denominations who do not self-identify as "Mormons", such as the Community of Christ.
According to Mormon cosmology, there was a
According to the Plan of Salvation, under the direction of God the Father, Jehovah created the earth as a place where humanity would be tested. After the
According to Mormon scripture, the Earth's creation was not
Divinity
In Mormonism, the concept of
Exaltation and eternal progression
In LDS doctrine, the goal of each adherent is to receive "
According to the belief, exaltation is a gift available only to those who have qualified for the highest "degree" of the
Origin of Elohim (God the Father)
According to Mormon theology, God the Father is a physical being of "flesh and bones."[19] Mormons identify him as the biblical god Elohim. Latter-day Saint leaders have also taught that God the Father was once a mortal man who has completed the process of becoming an exalted being.[20][21][22][23][24][25] According to Joseph Smith, God "once was a man like one of us and [...] once dwelled on an earth the same as Jesus Christ himself did in the flesh and like us."[26]
Origin of Jesus
Since the early 20th century,
Adam/Michael, under the Adam–God doctrine
According to
Although the LDS Church has repudiated the Adam–God doctrine,[34] the denomination's endowment ceremony portrays this Adam/Michael as a participant with Jehovah in the creation of the earth, under the direction of Elohim.[35]
Heavenly Mother and Holy Ghost
The official doctrine of the LDS Church includes the existence of "heavenly parents", which is generally understood to refer to the goddess
God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are recognized as the three constituent entities of the
Other worlds and extraterrestrial life
Mormon cosmology teaches that the Earth is not unique, but that it is one of many
The doctrine of other worlds is found in Mormon scripture, in the endowment ceremony, and in the teachings of Joseph Smith. In addition, many LDS Church leaders and theologians have elaborated on these principles through exegesis or speculation, and many of these ideas are widely accepted among Mormons.[45]
Official sources
According to a revelation dictated by Joseph Smith, Jesus is the creator of many worlds, so "that by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God."
Finally, the portion of the LDS Church's endowment ceremony depicting the creation of the world refers repeatedly to "worlds heretofore created".[48] In the portrayal of the Garden of Eden story during the endowment, after Lucifer has tempted Eve to eat of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, God the Father asks Lucifer what he is doing, and Lucifer replies "that which has been done on other worlds."[49]
Noncanonical statements by church leaders
Alleged statements of early church leaders
Some individual Latter-day Saints have espoused opinions that demonstrate their personal beliefs on the subject of other life in the universe.
According to Latter-day Saint Oliver B. Huntington, Joseph Smith said there was life on the Moon; Huntington also reported that he was promised in a patriarchal blessing given to him by Joseph Smith Sr. that he would preach the gospel to inhabitants of the Moon.[50]
LDS researchers John A. Tvedtnes and Van Hale have expressed doubt about the reliability of Huntington's claims. Regarding the first, it is likely that Huntington was repeating a description provided by another Latter-day Saint, Philo Dibble.[51] (Huntington was still a child when Smith died.) It is unclear what Dibble's source for the statement is, because Dibble did not indicate whether the recollection was his own or something he had heard from another person.[51] The alleged teaching was first recorded by Huntington in a journal entry after he heard it from Dibble about 40 years after Smith's death.[52] Regarding Huntington's second claim, the official LDS Church's record of the blessing indicates that it was given to Huntington by his father, William Huntington, not by Joseph Smith Sr.[51]
The extract from the blessing suggests a more plausible rationale, in that the events could occur at some time in the future or after mortality. Hence: "thou shalt have power with God even to translate thyself to Heaven, & preach to the inhabitants of the moon or planets, if it shall be expedient".[53]
There are no contemporary reports, records, or any other written support of Smith's alleged views or statements on extraterrestrials, nor are there any reports of statements other than the one claimed by Huntington, which is unverified and therefore possibly unreliable. Tvedtnes and
In a statement given on July 24, 1870, LDS Church president Brigham Young discussed the possibility that the Sun and the Moon were inhabited, but said these were his own personal thoughts.[55] In response to a claim of his being ignorant on the matter, Young agreed, asking, "Are not [we] all ignorant [about these matters]?"[55]
Various writings about Young's statement acknowledge that these were personal beliefs he held and that such beliefs were common in the 19th century and were even considered "scientific fact" by many at the time.[51][54] For example, William Herschel, the discoverer of the planet Uranus, argued, "[w]ho can say that it is not extremely probable, nay beyond doubt, that there must be inhabitants on the Moon of some kind or another?" Historians have said that Herschel "thought it possible that there was a region below the Sun's fiery surface where men might live, and he regarded the existence of life on the Moon as 'an absolute certainty.'"[56]
In any event, Young's personal beliefs on the subject of "inhabited worlds" are not considered LDS Church doctrine.
Modern leaders
Some modern LDS Church leaders have taught that people live on other earths. For instance, apostle Joseph Fielding Smith (1876–1972) wrote:
We are not the only people that the Lord has created. We have brothers and sisters on other earths. They look like us because they, too, are the children of God and were created in his image, for they are also his offspring.[43]
[T]he great universe of stars has multiplied beyond the comprehension of men. Evidently each of these great systems is governed by divine law; with divine presiding Gods, for it would be unreasonable to assume that each was not so governed.[57]
Apostle Neal A. Maxwell (1926–2004) wrote, "we do not know how many inhabited worlds there are, or where they are. But certainly we are not alone."[58]
Mormon metaphysics
Mormon scripture and the teachings of Joseph Smith include a number of details concerning the nature of light, elements, matter, "spirit matter", and intelligence.
According to Mormon scripture, "the elements are eternal".[59] This means, according to Smith, that the elements are co-existent with God, and "they may be organized and reorganized, but not destroyed. They had not beginning, and can have no end."[60] This principle was elaborated on by Brigham Young, who said, "God never made something out of nothing; it is not in the economy or law of which the worlds were, are, or will exist."[61] Thus, Mormons deny ex nihilo creation and instead believe that God created or "organized" the universe out of pre-existing elements.[62]
Along with physical matter, Mormons believe that spirit "intelligences" have existed co-eternally with God.[63][64]
Mormons believe in a universe and a God governed by physical law, in which all miracles, including acts of God, have a natural explanation, though science does not yet have the tools or means necessary to explain them.[65]
Pre-mortality
Spirit intelligences and God's spirit children
It is believed there were pre-existing "spirit intelligences" that existed before God the Father and Heavenly Mother created spiritual bodies for them: "self-existing intelligences were organized into individual spirit beings"[66] by the Heavenly Parents and they became the "begotten sons and daughters of God".[67] The procreative process whereby the intelligences became spirits has not been explained. While spirit bodies are composed of matter, they are described as being "more fine or pure" than regular matter.[68]
The first-born spirit child of God the Father was Jehovah, whom Latter-day Saints identify as the premortal Jesus.
Council in Heaven
God the Father's plan for all his children was to provide a way for them to become more like him.
One of the purposes of this earthly existence is for each of God's children to demonstrate through free will the desire to choose righteousness rather than evil.[71] To facilitate free will decision-making, God would cause each spirit child to have no memory of their pre-earth life.[71] All would be given trials and would fall short of perfection, but a savior would be provided, the acceptance of whom would lead ultimately to redemption and a return to live with God the Father forever.[71] Jehovah volunteered to be the savior[77][78] and said, "Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever."[79] Jehovah was "the only person who could be [the] Savior."[30]
War in Heaven
Lucifer, another of the spirit sons of God the Father, also sought to be the chosen savior; however, he proposed that the free will of humankind be abrogated so that "all mankind" would be redeemed through compelled obedience.[80] Additionally, Lucifer proposed that all glory and honor (and consequently power)[81] be transferred from God the Father to himself. Lucifer's plan was rejected by God the Father, which caused Lucifer to be enraged and to attempt to overthrow God.[78][80]
The
Temporal creation and fall
Following the War in Heaven, Jesus created the earth under the direction of God the Father. Since all matter is co-eternal with God, creation of the earth was not performed ex nihilo. Rather, God performed creation by organizing pre-existing matter.[62] The earth and everything on it were created spiritually by God before they were created physically.[82] Jehovah used the priesthood to create the physical earth and everything in it as well as the Sun, Moon, stars, and planets.[83] Jehovah had assistance from other children of God, including the archangel Michael. God the Father and Jehovah together created the physical bodies of Adam and Eve, which were patterned after the physical body possessed by God. Michael's spirit was placed in the male body (Adam), and a spirit daughter of God was placed in the female body (Eve).
Adam and Eve were placed in the
Satan tempted Adam and Eve to partake of the forbidden fruit. Eve yielded to temptation and ate the fruit; when she told Adam that she had eaten the fruit, Adam chose to eat also.
As a direct result of the fall of Adam and Eve, all children of God who would be born into the world suffer physical death and spiritual death.[30] While physical death is the separation of the spirit from the body, spiritual death is the separation of a person from God.[30] Spiritual death results from making sinful decisions between good and evil. Were it not for the atonement of Jesus Christ, physical death and spiritual death would both prevent God's children from returning to him with a physical body.[30]
Unlike some Christians, Latter-day Saints generally do not see the fall as a serious sin or as an overwhelmingly negative event. Rather, the fall is viewed as "a necessary step in the plan of life and a great blessing to all of us. Because of the Fall, we are blessed with physical bodies, the right to choose between good and evil, and the opportunity to gain eternal life. None of these privileges would have been ours had Adam and Eve remained in the garden."[84] Latter-day scripture reports that Adam and Eve later rejoiced that they had chosen to partake of the fruit,[86] and the Book of Mormon teaches that the fall was necessary for humankind to exist and for them to experience joy, which is the ultimate purpose of existence.[87]
The afterlife
Spirit world
If a person physically dies without being given the chance to accept the atonement of Jesus Christ on the earth, they will be given that chance as a spirit after death.[88] Necessary ordinances, such as baptism, can be vicariously performed on behalf of the person in LDS Church temples.[88]
Resurrection
Mormons believe that Jesus guaranteed the physical resurrection of all humanity. They teach that when Jesus physically died on the cross, Jesus' suffering ended and his spirit left his physical body.[89]
On the third day after his death, Jesus' spirit returned to his physical body and he became the first child of God to be resurrected with a perfect and immortal physical body of flesh and bone.[30] Because Jesus was resurrected, all children of God who ever lived on the earth will one day be resurrected.[90][91] Thus, the spirit children of God will all receive immortal physical bodies of flesh and bone, and their spirits and their bodies will never again be separated.[92]
Final Judgment and the degrees of glory
After an individual is resurrected, they will be judged by Jesus as part of the
Exaltation
Members believe that after the resurrection and judgement many will meet the requirements to achieve exaltation or the highest level of salvation in the celestial kingdom wherein they will eternally live in God's presence, continue as families, become gods, create worlds, and have spirit children over which they will govern.[94][95][96] Church leaders have taught God wants exaltation for all humankind and that humans are "gods in embryo".[97][98][99] Exaltation is considered by the Church to be the "greatest gift of God" and is also called "salvation" or "eternal life".[a][13][100]
Exaltation consists of "the kind of life God lives".[100] In other words, exalted beings will live in great glory, be perfect, and possess all knowledge and wisdom.[100] Exalted beings will live forever with God the Father and Jesus Christ, will become gods and goddesses, will live with their righteous earthly family members, and will receive the fulness of joy enjoyed by God and Christ.[100] One of the key qualifications for exaltation is being united in a celestial marriage to an opposite-sex partner.[14][15] Such a union can be created during mortality, or it can be created after death by proxy marriages performed in temples.[88]
See also
Notes
- which?] state that "salvation" refers only to the process of souls being freed from the bonds of Hell (also called "Spirit Prison"), or released from Paradise (also called "Spirit Paradise"), and the subsequent resurrection of said souls; while "exaltation" and "eternal life" refer to the state of living with God the Father and Jesus Christ in the "highest degree" of heaven.
References
- ^ LDS Church 1995 ("Each [human] is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents."); LDS Church 2009, p. 9 ("Man, as a spirit, was begotten and born of heavenly parents, and reared to maturity in the eternal mansions of the Father.").
- ^ Romney, Marion G (April 1971), "Elder Marion G. Romney, Satan- The Great Deceiver", Ensign
- ^ Lund, Gerald N. (February 1982). "I Have a Question: Is President Lorenzo Snow's oft-repeated statement—"As man now is, God once was; as God now is, man may be"—accepted as official doctrine by the Church?". Ensign.
- OCLC 39732987.
- ^ "Religions: An explanation of Mormon beliefs about God". BBC. October 2, 2009. Retrieved 2014-10-28..
- ISBN 978-0-7645-7195-4.
- ^ a b ""Mother in Heaven"". churchofjesuschrist.org. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
- ^ "Becoming Like God". LDS Church.
- ^ LDS Church 2009, p. 227.
- ^ LDS Church 2009, p. 11
- ^ LDS Church 2009, p. 275; Pope 1992, p. 479.
- ^ Apostles, Elder Russell M. NelsonOf the Quorum of the Twelve (April 5, 2008). "Salvation and Exaltation". www.churchofjesuschrist.org. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
Eternal life, or celestial glory or exaltation, is a conditional gift. Conditions of this gift have been established by the Lord, who said, "If you keep my commandments and endure to the end you shall have eternal life, which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God." Those qualifying conditions include faith in the Lord, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost, and remaining faithful to the ordinances and covenants of the temple.
- ^ a b Doctrine and Covenants 14:7
- ^ a b Doctrine and Covenants 131:1–3.
- ^ a b LDS Church 2009, pp. 219–224
- ^ Young, Brigham (1867). "Remarks in the Bowery (August 19, 1866)". Journal of Discourses. 11: 266.
- ^ Smith, Joseph F. (1884). "Discourse Delivered in the Tabernacle (July 7, 1878)". Journal of Discourses. 20: 28–31.
- ^ Pope 1992, p. 479 (exaltation "is available to be received by a man and wife").
- ^ Doctrine and Covenants 130:22
- ^ LDS Church (2011). "Chapter 2: God the Eternal Father". Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith. pp. 36–44.
- ^ Young, Brigham. "Progress in Knowledge, &c. (1859-10-08)". Journal of Discourses. 7: 333.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Young, Brigham. "The Kingdom of God on Earth is a Living, Moving, Effective Institution: We Do Not Carry It, But It Carries Us (1866-06-17)". Journal of Discourses. 11: 249.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Snow, Lorenzo (1984). Williams, Clyde J. (ed.). The Teachings of Lorenzo Snow. Salt Lake City, Utah: Bookcraft. pp. 1–2.
- ^ Hunter, Milton R. (1945). The Gospel Through the Ages. Salt Lake City, Utah: Stevens and Wallace. p. 104.
- ^ Romney, Marion G. (October 3, 1964). "Discourse". Conference Report: One Hundred Thirty-fourth Semi-annual Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (published October 1964). pp. 48–52.
- ^ Larson 1978.
- ^ Kirkland, Boyd (Spring 1986). "Elohim and Jehovah in Mormonism and the Bible". Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought. 19 (1): 77–93. Archived from the original on 2011-06-13. Retrieved 2009-03-02.
- ^ Benson, Ezra Taft. "Jesus Christ is the Son of God in the most literal sense".
- ^ John 10:17–18.
- ^ a b c d e f g LDS Church 2009, pp. 59–66.
- ^ Alma 34:10–12.
- ^ Young 1852, p. 50.
- ^ Young 1852b, p. 13.
- ^ Bailey, Arthur A. (1992). "Adam". Encyclopedia of Mormonism.
- ^ Meservy, Keith (January 1986). "Four Accounts of the Creation". Ensign: 50.
- Ursenbach Beecher, Maureen; Fielding Anderson, Lavina (eds.). Sisters in Spirit: Mormon Women in Historical and Cultural Perspective. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. pp. 64–77.
- ^ a b LDS Church 2009, p. 32.
- ^ Doctrine and Covenants 130:22.
- ^ Johnson 1992, p. 1595
- ^ Johnson 1992, p. 1595 (citing Moses 1:39).
- ^ Book of Moses 1:29–34.
- ^ Kirk D. Hagen, "Eternal Progression in a Multiverse: An Explorative Mormon Cosmology", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, vol. 39, no. 2 (Summer 2006) pp. 1–45.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-57008-646-5
- ^ a b D&C 76:24.
- ISBN 027598933X. Retrieved 19 April 2015.
- ^ Book of Moses 1:35.
- ^ Book of Moses 7:30.
- ^ "The LDS Endowment: The Creation". ldsendowment.org. Retrieved 2009-04-20.
- ^ "The LDS Endowment: The Garden". ldsendowment.org. Retrieved 2009-04-20.
- ^ O. B. Huntington, "Our Sunday Chapter: The Inhabitants of the Moon", Young Woman's Journal 3:263–64 (March 1892).
- ^ a b c d Hale, Van (September–October 1982). "Mormons And Moonmen" (PDF). Sunstone. 7 (5): 15.
- ^ Foundation for Apologetic Information & Research.
- ^ Mormons and Moonmen, Van Hale, p. 14, Sunstone.
- ^ a b Allen, James B. (September–October 1982). "But Dick Tracy Landed on the Moon" (PDF). Sunstone. 7 (5).
- ^ a b Journal of Discourses 13:271.
- ^ Patrick Moore, New Guide to the Moon (W.W. Norton & Company, New York: 1976), cited by Hale, Van (September–October 1982). "Mormons And Moonmen" (PDF). Sunstone. 7 (5): 15.
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- ^ Doctrine and Covenants 93:33.
- The Contributor, vol. 4, p. 257 (Joseph Smith, April 1844 sermon).
- ^ Journal of Discourses 14:116
- ^ a b Stephen E. Robinson. "LDS Differences in Doctrine".
- ^ Joseph Smith (Joseph Fielding Smith ed.). Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book) pp. 353–54.
- ^ Bruce R. McConkie (1966). Mormon Doctrine (Salt Lake City, Utah: Bookcraft) p. 387.
- ^ Ostling & Ostling 2007, p. 306.
- ^ Marion G. Romney, "The Worth of Souls," Ensign, November 1978, p. 13.
- ^ Doctrine and Covenants 76:24.
- ^ Doctrine and Covenants 131:7–8.
- ^ Doctrine and Covenants 93:21.
- ^ Joseph F. Smith. Gospel Doctrine (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book) p. 70.
- ^ a b c d e f LDS Church 2009, pp. 9–12.
- ^ Ezra Taft Benson, "Joy in Christ," Ensign, March 1986, p. 3.
- ^ John 14:6–9.
- ^ Ether 3:14–17.
- ^ Doctrine and Covenants 93:33–34.
- ^ Joseph Smith (Joseph Fielding Smith ed.). Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book) p. 348–49, 365.
- ^ Abraham 3:27.
- ^ a b c d e LDS Church 2009, pp. 13–16.
- ^ Moses 4:2.
- ^ a b c Moses 4:1, 3–4.
- ^ D&C 29:36–38.
- ^ Moses 3:5.
- ^ LDS Church 2009, pp. 23–26.
- ^ a b c d e f g LDS Church 2009, pp. 27–30.
- ^ Moses 3:16–17.
- ^ Moses 5:11.
- ^ 2 Nephi 2:22–25.
- ^ a b c LDS Church 2009, pp. 241–244.
- ^ Mark 15:37.
- ^ 1 Corinthians 15:21–22.
- ^ Alma 11:44.
- ^ Alma 11:45.
- ^ Doctrine and Covenants section 76
- S2CID 254493140.
Today, an accepted doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints interprets verses in Doctrine and Covenants 132 as references to the birth of spirit offspring by exalted married couples in the celestial kingdom
- ISBN 978-0-02-904040-9.
They [resurrected and perfected mortals] will dwell again with God the Father, and live and act like him in endless worlds of happiness ... above all they will have the power of procreating endless lives. ... Those who become like him will likewise contribute to this eternal process by adding further spirit offspring to the eternal family.
- ^ Gospel Fundamentals (PDF) (2002 ed.). Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. p. 201.
They [the people who will live in the celestial kingdom] will receive everything our Father in Heaven has and will become like Him. They will even be able to have spirit children and make new worlds for them to live on, and do all the things our Father in Heaven has done.
- S2CID 254392103.
- S2CID 254398580.
- S2CID 190443414.
- ^ a b c d LDS Church 2009, pp. 275–280.
Bibliography
- Adams, Lisa Ramsey (1992), "Eternal Progression", in OCLC 24502140
- Carter, K. Codell (1992), "Godhood", in OCLC 24502140
- Paul, Erich Robert (1986), "Joseph Smith and the Plurality of Worlds Idea", Dialogue, 19 (2): 13–36.
- Johnson, Hollis R. (1992), "Worlds", in OCLC 24502140
- Larson, Stan (1978), "The King Follett Discourse: A Newly Amalgamated Text" (PDF), BYU Studies, 18 (2): 193–208
- Salt Lake City, Utah: LDS Church.
- Salt Lake City, Utah: LDS Church.
- ISBN 978-0-06-143295-8.
- Pope, Margaret McConkie (1992), "Exaltation", in OCLC 24502140
- Ricks, Shirley S. (1992), "Eternal Lives, Eternal Increase", in OCLC 24502140
- Vogel, Dan; Metcalfe, Brent Lee (1990), "Joseph Smith's Scriptural Cosmology", in Vogel, Dan (ed.), The Word of God: Essays on Mormon Scripture, Signature Books, p. 187.
- Journal of Discourses by Brigham Young, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, His Two Counsellors, the Twelve Apostles, and Others, vol. 1, Liverpool: F.D. & S.W. Richards (published 1854), pp. 46–53.
- Young, Brigham (August 28, 1852b), "Address", Deseret News—Extra, Salt Lake City: LDS Church (published September 14, 1852), pp. 11–14.
Further reading
- OCLC 28928183
- Crowe, Michael J. (1999), The Extraterrestrial Life Debate, 1750–1900, Courier Dover Publications, pp. 241–246, ISBN 0-486-40675-X — Crowe discusses Smith's and Young's statements on the subject of the plurality of worlds
- Howe, A. Scott; OCLC 769323275
- Launius, Roger D. (May 1995). "A Western Mormon in Washington D.C.: James C. Fletcher, NASA, and the Final Frontier". JSTOR 3640896.
- OCLC 318822109
- OCLC 1636293
- Paul, Erich Robert (1992), Science, Religion, and Mormon Cosmology, University of Illinois Press, ISBN 0-252-01895-8
- Piper, Matthew (February 25, 2014). "Essay explains Mormon teaching on 'becoming like God'". The Salt Lake Tribune.
- OCLC 4939406
- Enoch's City of Zion to Koloband contrasts it with modern UFO beliefs, noting the absence of any such beliefs in official doctrine
- John A., Widstoe (1915), Rational Theology: As Taught by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah: General Priesthood Committee of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
External links
- Stephen R. Gibson, Did Joseph Smith Teach That the Moon Was Inhabited?
- Will Schmidt (1989), "Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, And Extraterrestrial Quakers!", Watchman Expositor, Vol. 6, No. 9, Watchman Fellowship ministry.
- Joseph Smith and moonmen, at the Foundation for Apologetic Information & Researchwiki