Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Dear Gramps,

I have a question. If God is eternal and we are too, then what made God our Heavenly Father before us, since our intelligences have both no beginning (We are all eternal).Our ages (if you can speak of age) are the same. What factor decided that God came forth from the intelligences to become a spiritual being before us. And His father before him. And those who will come after us. Again we have always lived, there was no beginning or end. Regards

David, from Europe

Dear David,

Man is a trinity in his organization. To speak of the age of man we must consider each of his integral parts.

Physical Man: This part of our triple nature is obvious. Born of mortal parents, we all know our birth dates. From then until now is how old we are.

Spiritual Man: Man’s spirit is a physical entity.

There is no such thing as immaterial matter. All spirit is matter, but it is more fine or pure, and can only be discerned by purer eyes (D&C 131:7).

The spirit occupies space and has essentially the same form and dimensions as the physical body that it inhabits. The spirit came into being in the same manner as physical bodies come into being. It was born of Heavenly Parents. We do not remember the date of our spiritual births, but the age of the spirit would be counted from that point. Jesus Christ was the first born son of God. He is our elder brother, and all the human family are brothers and sisters to each other-all children of the same Father in Heaven.

Intelligent Man: As when a mortal child is born the preexisting spirit enters the body giving it independent life, so also when a spirit is born the preexisting intelligence enters the spirit body giving it independent life. The intelligences that, in company with the spirit, inhabit the body of man, are the thinking part of us-the cognitive part, the part where knowledge is accumulated and where it resides. Prior to entering the spirit body the intelligences were not born, were not fabricated, were not suddenly brought into existence. They are eternal; they have always existed; they have had no beginning and will have no end. As such, they are co-eternal with the Intelligence that is God. The difference between the intelligence that is God and the intelligences that are us is described in the Book of Abraham 3:19-

And the Lord said unto me: These two facts do exist, that there are two spirits, one being more intelligent than the other; there shall be another more intelligent than they; I am the Lord thy God, I am more intelligent than they all.

Let’s understand this scripture. It does not say that in the ranking of the intelligences (quality) of all the intelligences (entities) God merely stands as the first in a linearly descending order, but he is more intelligent than they all!! He is more intelligent than the sum total of all the other intelligences. This is why he is God. Not only are all the other intelligences subject to his perfect will, but all the matter in the universe, all the spirits in the universe, all the forces in the universe are not only subject to his will, but exist through his creation and are under the dictates of his power.

Gramps

Copyright © 2024 Ask Gramps - Q and A about Mormon Doctrine. All Rights Reserved.
This website is not owned by or affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes called the Mormon or LDS Church). The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the position of the Church. The views expressed by individual users are the responsibility of those users and do not necessarily represent the position of the Church. For the official Church websites, please visit churchofjesuschrist.org or comeuntochrist.org.

Pin It on Pinterest