the Son of God, and so, too, are all men the offspring of God, and
Jesus but the first born of many brethren. Eternal Intelligences are
begotten of God, spirits; and hence are sons of God--a dignity that
never leaves them. "Behold," said one of old, "now are we the sons of
God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when
he shall appear we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is."[A]
[Footnote A: I John iii:2. I am not unmindful of the array of evidence
that may be massed to prove that it is chiefly through adoption,
through obedience to the Gospel of Christ, that man in the scripture is
spoken of as being a son of God. But this does not weaken the evidence
for the fact for which I am contending, viz., that man is by nature
the son of God. He becomes alienated from his Father and the Father's
kingdom through sin, through the transgression of the law of God; hence
the need of adoption into the heavenly kingdom, and into son-ship with
God. But though alienated from God through sin, man is nevertheless by
nature the son of God.]
_3. Jesus the First Born of Many Brethren:_ Sure it is that God,
the Father, is the Father of the spirits of men. "We," says Paul,
"have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them
reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of
spirits and live?" (Heb. 12:9).
According to this, then there is a "Father of Spirits." It follows, of
course, that "spirits," have a father--they are begotten. It should be
remarked that the term, "spirits" in the above passage cannot refer to
self-existent, unbegotten intelligences of the revelations, considered
in the foregoing lessons; and certainly this relationship of father
to spirits is not one brought about in connection with generation of
human life in this world. Paul makes a very sharp distinction between
"Fathers of our flesh" and the "Father of spirits" in the above. Father
to spirits is manifestly a relationship established independent of
man's earth-existence; and, of course, is an existence which preceded
earth-life, and where the uncreated Intelligences are begotten spirits.
Hence, the phrase "shall we not be subject to the Father of spirits and
live?"
Christ is referred to by the writer of the epistle to the Colossians,
as the "first born of every creature" (i:15); and the Revelator speaks
of him as "the beginning of the creation of God" (Rev. 3:14); and in
the revelation already quoted so often (Doc. & Cov. Sec. xciii) Jesus
represents himself as being in the "beginning with the Father;" and as
"the first born."
The reference to Jesus as the "first born of every creature" cannot
refer to his birth into earth-life, for he was not the first-born into
this world; therefore, his birth here referred to must have reference
to the birth of his spirit before his earth life.
The reference to Jesus as the "beginning of the creation of God,"
cannot refer to his creation or generation in earth-life; for
manifestly he was not the beginning of the creations of God in this
world; therefore, he must have been the "beginning" of God's creation
elsewhere, viz., in the spirit world, where he was begotten a spiritual
personage; a son of God.
The reference to Jesus as the "first born"--and hence the justification
for our calling him "our Elder Brother" cannot refer to any
relationship that he established in his earth-life, since as to the
flesh he is not our "elder brother" any more than he is the "first
born" in the flesh; there were many born in the flesh before he was,
and older brothers to us, in the flesh, than he was. The relationship
of "elder brother" cannot have reference to that estate where all
were self-existent, uncreated and unbegotten, eternal Intelligences;
for that estate admits of no such relation as "elder," or "younger;"
for as to succession in time, the fact on which "younger" or "elder"
depend, the Intelligences are equal, that is,--equal as to their
eternity. Therefore, since the relationship of "elder brother" was
not established by any circumstance in the earth-life of Jesus, and
could not be established by any possible fact in that estate where all
were self-existing Intelligences, it must have been established in the
spirit life, where Jesus, with reference to the hosts of Intelligences
designed to our earth, was the "first born spirit," and by that fact
became our "Elder Brother," the "first born of every creature," "the
beginning of the creations of God,".as pertaining to our order of
existence.
_4. Views of Sir Oliver Lodge on the Eternity of Mind:_ Some
scientists also bear testimony to the truth of the principle here
contended for. Sir Oliver Lodge, when arguing for the reality of that
mysterious, vital "something" which builds up from earth elements an
oak, an eagle or a man, closes with the question, "Is it something
which is really nothing, and soon shall it be manifestly nothing?"
"Not so," he answers, "nor is it so with intellect and consciousness
and will, nor with memory and love and adoration, nor all the manifold
activities which at present strangely interact with matter and appeal
to our bodily senses and terrestrial knowledge; they are not nothing,
nor shall they ever vanish into nothingness or cease to be. They did
not arise with us; _they never did spring into being; they are as
eternal as the Godhead itself,_ and in the eternal Being they shall
endure for ever. * * * And surely in this respect there is a unity
running through the universe, and a kinship between the human and the
Divine; witness the eloquent ejaculation of Carlyle:[A]
[Footnote A: Of Paul, too, and of David before him. See Hebrews ii:6,
and Psalms viii:4.]
'What then, is man! What, then, is man!
'He endures but for an hour, and is crushed before the moth. Yet
in the being and in the working of a faithful man is there already
(as all faith from the beginning, gives assurance) a something that
pertains not to this wild death-element of Time; that triumphs over
Time, and is, and will be, when Time shall be no more."--"Science and
Immortality," pp. 160, 161.
LESSON IV.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
INTELLIGENCES AND PROGRESS.
ANALYSIS.
I. Intelligences Differ in Degree of--
1. Intelligence.
2. Nobility.
3. Greatness.
4. Moral quality.
II. The "One" "Greater than All"--God.
1. Where Intelligences differ in degree there must be One Most
Intelligent of all.
2. His greatness immeasurable.
III. Capacity of Intelligences for Progress.
1. Inherent Powers of,
2. Led and helped in Progress by Higher Intelligences.
IV. Union of Spirit and Earth-Elements Essential to Progress of
Intelligences.
REFERENCES
Book of Abraham, Ch. iii; Book of Moses (in Pearl of Great Price), Ch.
i:25-38.
New Witnesses for God, Vol. III, pp. 198-207.
King Follett Sermon, Improvement Era, January, 1909.
"Immortality of Man," Improvement Era, April 1907. Doc. & Cov., Sec. 93
and Sec. 88.
Seventy's Year Book II, Lessons II and III.
_SPECIAL TEXT: "They who keep their first estate shall be added upon;
and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the
same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep
their second estate, shall have glory added upon their heads for ever
and ever." (Book of Abraham, Ch. iii:24-26.)_
DISCUSSION.
_1. The Varying Degrees of Intelligence Among Intelligences:_ We
are already made aware of the fact in the preceding lessons that though
Intelligences are equal in eternity of existence, it does not follow
that they are equal in degree of intelligence. (Lesson II. Subdivision
4.) "If two things exist," said the Lord to Abraham, and there be
one above the other, there shall be greater things above them. * * *
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."[A]
Not only do intelligences differ in regard to the degree of
intelligence, but they differ also in moral quality and greatness and
nobility.
"Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the Intelligences that
were organized before the world was; and among all these there
were many of the _noble_ and _great ones_; And God saw these souls
that they _were good_, and he stood in the midst of them, and he
said: These I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that
were spirits, and he saw that they were good; and he said unto me:
Abraham, thou art one of them; thou wast chosen before thou wast
born."[A]
[Footnote A: Book of Abraham, Ch. iii.]
The "among all these were many of the noble and great ones;" and "he
saw that they were good," clearly manifests that reference is made to
capacity, to largeness of mind-power, and to moral quality; and from
among these "noble and great ones," shall the "rulers" come. Abraham
was a type of the "noble and great ones," and was chosen before he was
born, and assigned to the part he took in his earth life, and is known
preeminently as the "friend of God," the "Father of the faithful."
Similarly was Jeremiah foreknown and foreordained to be a Prophet
(Jeremiah i:5); so, too, was St. John, the friend of Jesus, (I Nephi,
xiv:18-27). So also the Christ was chosen and his mission appointed--he
was "the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the World" (Rev.
xiii:8). And in his great prayer, before his passion, he said: "And
now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory
which I had with thee before the world was."[A]
[Footnote A: St. John xvii:5.]
Varying degrees of intelligence, then, among the Intelligences, as also
varying degrees of greatness and nobility of soul and of moral quality
are established; and doubtless the variation in the pre-earth existence
is as great as it is in earth life.
_2. The "One" More Intelligent Than All--God:_ When it is conceded
that among Intelligences there are varying degrees of intelligence,
and greatness and nobility and moral quality, then it follows that
there may be _One_ who is the most intelligent of all, greatest,
noblest, best; most wise and most powerful. And how far this greatest
and best may arise above the other Intelligences, who may say? There
are no terms of comparison for the superlative. It rises above all
comparisons, and how far above that to which it stands next--how far
above the "better" the "best" rises--none may say. The same holds as
to the "greatest" and the "noblest"--how far "greatest" rises above
"great;" how far "noblest" rises above "noble," or "best" above
"good," none may say. It may be that the "most intelligent," may
mean not only more intelligent than any other one out of the mass
of Intelligences, but more intelligent than all combined; and this
indeed is the interpretation I place upon the following passage in
the Book of Abraham: "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 them All._" That is, than "All" combined, and
for that reason is He God. "I dwell in the midst of them all," says
the Lord to Abraham. "I now, therefore, have come down unto thee to
deliver (i. e., _reveal_, see verses 1-15, Ch. iii) unto thee the works
which my hands have made, wherein my wisdom excelleth them all, for
I rule in the heavens above, and in the earth beneath, in all wisdom
and prudence, over all the Intelligences thou hast seen" (Book of
Abraham, Ch. iii:19-21). And to this agrees the following doctrine of
the Prophet: "In knowledge there is power. God has more power than all
other beings, because he has greater knowledge; hence he knows how to
subject all other beings to himself. He has power over all" (Sermon
at Nauvoo, April 8th, 1843, Hist, of the Church, Vol. V, p. 340.) And
as I have said elsewhere: This Mighty Intelligence, who is "more
intelligent than All" is also the All-Wise One; the All-Powerful One!
What he tells other Intelligences to do must be precisely the wisest,
fittest thing that they could anywhere or anyhow learn--the thing
which it will in all ways behoove them with right loyal thankfulness,
and nothing doubting, to do. There goes with this, too, the thought
that this All-Wise One is the Un-Selfish One, the All-Loving One,
the One who desires that which is highest, and best; not for Himself
alone, but for all; and that, too, will be best for Him. His glory,
His power, His joy will be enhanced by the uplifting of all, by
enlarging them; by increasing their joy, power, and glory. And because
this Most-Intelligent One is all this, and does all this, the other
Intelligencies worship Him, submit their judgments and their will to
His judgment and His will. He knows, and can do that which is best; and
this submission of the mind to the most Intelligent, Wisest--wiser than
All--is worship. This is the whole meaning of the doctrine and the life
of the Christ expressed in--"Father, not my will but Thy will, be done."
_3. The Capacity of Intelligences for Progress:_ If what has
been set forth as to the qualities, or attributes of Intelligences
be true--that they are conscious of self and of not self; that they
have powers of perception, comparison, deliberation, reason, judgment,
imagination and volition, (See Lesson I, this treatise) then they have
in them the inherent elements of progress. All they need with this
inherent equipment for progress is proper environment and action, and
the guidance of the Highest Intelligence; at least it must be admitted,
as to the last, that progress would be more sure, more rapid when so
guided.
_4. Purpose in the Earth-Life of Man:_ To provide the means and
opportunity for progress the earth-life of man was planned. As God
stood among the Intelligences, he said to those that were with him:
"We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of
these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell;
and we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things
whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them; and they who keep
their first estate shall be added upon; and they who keep not their
first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those
who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second estate
shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever."[A]
[Footnote A: Book of Abraham, Ch. iii:24-26.]
That is, interpreting the closing declaration, they shall have the
blessings of eternal progress. Progress, then, is the purpose for which
the earth life of man was planned--that Intelligences might be "added
upon," and that eternally.
"This is my work and my glory," says the Lord, "to bring to pass the
immortality and eternal life of man;" (Book of Moses, Ch. i:39, Pearl
of Great Price). That is of man _as_ man. Not the immortality of the
personal Intelligence or spirit of man, for that is already assured;
but the immortality of the spirit and body in their united condition,
and which together constitute "man;" or the soul, for, in the
revelations of God in this last dispensation, the spirit and the body
are said to be the "soul:" "Through the redemption which is made for
you is brought to pass the resurrection from the dead. And the spirit
and the body is the soul of man. And the resurrection from the dead is
the redemption of the soul" (Doc. & Cov. Sec. 88:14-16).
Again, "Men are that they might have joy," said the Prophet Lehi.[A]
"Men are that they might have joy!" Have we here the reappearance of
the old Epicurean doctrine, "pleasure is the supreme good, and chief
end of life?" No, verily! Nor any other form of old "hedonism"--the
Greek ethics of gross self-interest. For mark, in the first place,
the different words "joy" and "pleasure." They are not synonymous.
The first does not necessarily arise from the second, "joy" may arise
from quite other sources than "pleasure;" from pain, even, when the
endurance of pain is to eventuate in the achievement of some good:
such as the travail of a mother in bringing forth her offspring;
the weariness and pain and danger of toil by a father, to secure
comforts for loved ones. Nor is the "joy" here contemplated the "joy"
of mere innocence--mere innocence, which say what you will of it,
is but a negative sort of virtue. A virtue that is colorless, never
quite sure of itself, always more or less uncertain, because untried.
Such a virtue--if mere absence of vice may be called virtue--would
be unproductive of that "joy" the attainment of which is set forth
in the Book of Mormon as the purpose of man's existence; for in the
context it is written, "They [Adam and Eve] would have remained in a
state of 'innocence.' Having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing
no good, for they knew no sin." From which it appears that the "joy"
contemplated in our Book of Mormon passage is to arise from something
more than mere innocence, which is, impliedly, unproductive of "joy."
The "joy" contemplated in the Book of Mormon passage is to arise out
of man's knowledge of evil, of sin; through knowing misery, sorrow,
pain and suffering; through seeing good and evil locked in awful
conflict; through a consciousness of having chosen in that conflict
the better part, the good; and not only in having chosen it, but in
having wedded it by eternal compact; made it his by right of conquest
over evil. It is a "joy" that will arise from a consciousness of having
"fought the good fight," of having "kept the faith." It will arises
from a consciousness of moral, spiritual and physical strength. Of
strength gained in conflict. The strength that comes from experience;
from having sounded the depths of the soul; from experiencing all
emotions of which mind is susceptible; from testing all the qualities
and strength of the intellect. A "joy" that will come to man from
a contemplation of the universe, and a consciousness that he is an
heir to all that is--a joint heir with Jesus Christ and God; from
knowing that he is an essential part of all that is. It is a joy that
will be born of the consciousness of existence itself--that will
revel in existence--in thoughts of and realizations of existence's
limitless possibilities. A "joy" born of the consciousness of the
power of eternal increase. A "joy" arising from association with the
Intelligences of innumerable heavens--the Gods of all eternities. A
"joy" born of a consciousness of being, of intelligence, of faith,
knowledge, light, truth, mercy, justice, love, glory, dominion, wisdom,
power; all feelings, affections, emotions, passions; all heights and
all depths! "Men are that they might have joy;" and that "joy" is based
upon and contemplates all that is here set down. (New Witnesses, Vol.
III, pp. 199-120.)
[Footnote A: II Nephi ii:25.]
The foregoing considerations discover the purpose of God in the
earth-life of man to be the progress and joy of men, kindred
Intelligences with God; and with that progress and joy of kindred
Intelligences, there must be an ever widening manifestation of the
glory of God. "The glory of God is Intelligence, or, in other words,
light and truth" (Doc. & Cov. Sec. 93:36); but not "Intelligence"
only as it inheres in Himself; but also as it finds expression and
development in others.
_5. A Union of Spirit and Element Essential to a Fulness of Joy:_
In this progress of Intelligences there must be movement, action, new
environment, estates, experiences through which they pass.--Hence
Intelligences are begotten spirits, and spirits are begotten men--the
"deathless element"--Intelligence--must be united with earth-element,
to learn what earth-life has to teach, and get itself expressed through
earth-elements; which also--so far as such elements shall be essential
to an added dignity and power to the spirit of man--will be made
immortal, become an indissoluble part of the spiritual personage, the
spirit and the body thus inseparably united constituting the "_soul_
of man."[A] "Man is spirit."[B] "The elements"--earth elements--"are
eternal; and spirit and element, inseparably connected receive a
fullness of joy; and when separated man cannot receive a fullness of
joy." Hence for man, earth-existence became a necessity to progress,
and therefore it was provided.
[Footnote A: "Now, verily I say unto you, that through the redemption
which is made for you is brought to pass the resurrection from
the dead. And the spirit and the body is the soul of man. And the
resurrection from the dead is the redemption of the soul;" (Doc. & Cov.
Sec. 88, verses 14, 15, 16).]
[Footnote B: Doc. & Cov. Sec. 93:33, 34.]
LESSON V.
(Scripture Reading Exercise.)
THE WAR IN HEAVEN.
ANALYSIS.
I. The War Vaguely Alluded to in Hebrew Scriptures.
II. The War More Definitely Described.
III. The Causes of the War.
REFERENCES.
Luke x:17, 18 and John viii:44.
Rev. xii:7-12; Jude 6.
Book of Abraham, Ch. iii:27-28; Book of Moses (Pearl of Great Price),
Ch. iv:4.[A]
[Footnote A: As side reading, I suggest "Milton's Paradise Lost," and
Elder Orson F. Whitney's "Elias," Canto III.]
_SPECIAL TEXT: "And there was war in heaven: Michael and, his angels
fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and
prevailed not; neither was there place found any more in heaven. And
the great dragon was cast out. He was cast out into the earth, and his
angels were cast out with him." (Rev. xii.7-9.)_
DISCUSSION.
_1. Recapitulatory:_ The fact of the Eternity of Intelligences,
their essential qualities, their capacity for progress, the necessity
for union with earth-elements in order to attain a fulness of joy, the
purpose of God with reference to man's earth-life--all these subjects
having been treated in the preceding lessons; we are now prepared to
consider the several steps taken with reference to bringing to pass the
earth-life of the spirits of men.
Running throughout the Hebrew scriptures, but more or less vague, there
are traces of the pre-earth existence of intelligences, and of strife
and struggle in that existence; rebellion and war; failure of certain
ones to keep first estates, their being cast out and reserved in chains
of darkness to some future day of judgment; some reference also to
eternal life that was promised of God before the world was made. Though
these lack somewhat in clearness, let me, if they may not be set forth
in anything like order, at least mass them, that they may be before us
in one view.
_2. The Hebrew Scriptures on the War in Heaven:_ In the very
beginning of the Hebrew scripture God, in the creation, is represented
as addressing others engaged with him in the creation work: "And God
said let us make man in _our_ image, after _our_ likeness."[A] Then
after the Fall: "And the Lord God said: Behold the man has become as
one of us to know good and evil."[B] Perfectly blending with this idea
of a plurality of divine Intelligences engaging in the work of creation
is the Lord's question to Job: "Gird up now thy loins like a man, for
I will demand of thee, and answer thou me: Where wast thou when I laid
the foundations of the earth? declare if thou hast understanding. Who
hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched
the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened?
or who laid the corner stone thereof, _when the morning stars sang
together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?"_[C]
[Footnote A: Gen. i:26.]
[Footnote B: Gen. iii:22.]
[Footnote C: Job xxxviii:4-7.]
It seems, then, that there were sons of God before the foundations of
the earth were laid, or even the measuring line was stretched upon it.
And may it not have been these Sons of God, whom God addressed in the
creation work, saying to them: "Let us make man in our image"--"The man
has become as one of us?"
On the return of the Seventy whom Jesus sent out on a special mission
into every city and place where he himself proposed to go, they said:
"Lord, even the devils are subject to us in thy name." To which Jesus
answered: "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven" (Luke x:17,
18). As if he would say, "Your victory over evil spirits in my name, is
not the first I have won over Satan. I saw him as lightning fall from
heaven."[A] One other reference to Lucifer in this same connection is
made by the Christ; when addressing contentious Jews, he said: "Ye are
of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He
was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because
there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his
own; for he is a liar, and the father of it."[B]