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Hello Gramps…

My question to you has to do with the scripture in Psalms 8:4-5. “What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visiteth him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.”

Are we ranked lower than the angels then? and if so, why? I remember reading something (by Brigham Young, I think) about the angels being perhaps a little lower than us. Thanks!

Kevin, from Utah

 

Dear Kevin,

As mortals, we live in a telestial world, struggling to overcome the temptations of Satan. We learn from the scriptures that the Savior was the only perfect person that walked the earth, all the rest of us to one degree or another are sinful. “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). Contrast that to this description of the angels:

The angels do not reside on a planet like this earth; But they reside in the presence of God, on a globe like a sea of glass and fire, where all things for their glory are manifest, past, present, and future, and are continually before the Lord (D&C 130:6-7).

Angels, as resurrected beings, have passed through mortality, and those who minister to the earth come as representatives of God. Undoubtedly they have overcome the world and live in the presence of the Father. Which do you think are lower, men or angels?

Gramps

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