|
You're certainly no more ready to read this than I am to write it, but it simply can't be avoided any longer, and you'll see why. As I've repeatedly, repeatedly written and said (elsewhere/elsewhen), the scriptures are legal documents, and, as such, they define their own terms, sometimes as blatantly as declaring truth to be that which was, is, and will be, and that God is truth (Wrap your mind around that!), but also, just as often, indirectly, laboriously, spread throughout their pages like breadcrumbs. And it's these terms that I'm hesitant to teach you all. Why? Well, on the one hand, few appreciate, and even fewer retain, answers to questions they never asked. On the other hand, if God hides it in plain sight like that, it's usually because he meant it only for those he reveals it to. So, it is with some trepidation that I proceed. So, one of the things that everyone ... and I mean everyone ... I won't name names, but, once you've read this, if you believe what you read here, you'll see whom I mean ... everyone gets this wrong. When reciting scripture to the class, Nibley would, occassionally, interject, "Who's speaking?" Why? Because, often, as in the D&C, it's supposedly Christ, but that's not how it sounds. And that's our spring-board, right there, into our next definition: God I don't really know where to start, but I have to start somewhere, so I'll start at the top. God is all of it. Everything. The whole of the universe, and the spirit behind it. Elohim. Allah. The All. Or, as Joseph called it, The Grand Council of the Gods. Why do I say that? The D&C says that "The elements are the tabernacle of God..." Wait ... what?! The elements?! What on earth would the elements have to do with a theological discussion?! Scripture says God is a spirit! You see? This is what I mean when I say that I just don't know where to start. The very word, God, is really a concept so integral, so all-encompassing, that there's just no isolating any one aspect, independent of the others, without, as with the seven blind men exploring an elephant, confusion and dischord immediately ensuing. Still, we must try, so we'll take a little detour through the elements themselves. The Elements The elements as we know them were first 'properly' organized into tabular form by Dmitri Mendeleev 25 years after Joseph Smith's murder, and 36 years after D&C 93 was written. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Periodic_table) Prior to that, the elements were really what we now recognize as the 'states of matter'. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_matter#The_four_fundamental_states) To the ancients, these were Earth, Water, Wind, and Fire. But then there was the 5th 'element', or quintessence, that element from which the other four are made. Finally, though, as I mentioned earlier, scripture itself brings the elements into the discussion. How can we not pursue them? In fact, it's precisely the, today, common misunderstanding of far too many that the real universe is somewhow separate and distinct from God which has resulted is all of the corruption ever to infect the church in every age. Yes. And no. The most critical aspect of Mendeleev's 'periodic' table of elements, and the property which proved that he was on the right track, was that there were gaps, previously unknown elements that would only later be discovered. And this is important, and scripturally relevant, because, when you have the correct paradigm, missing knowledge becomes obvious, creating questions, questions that get answered. God has promised. Seek and ye shall find. Knock and it shall be opened unto you. Ask and ye shall receive. And there's another aspect that should be remembered, but which is all too rarely discussed. About 5 years earlier, British chemist, John Newlands, had observed that the properties of the chemicals that were just now beginning to be called elements had properties that repeated every 8 steps in atomic mass. That's an octave. Yes, musical rules apply to the chemical elements. The ancients' understanding of the elements, the states of matter, also still figure into Mendeleev's periodic (octave) table of elements. Notice how many 'periods' there are: 7 ... A, B, C, D, E, F, G ... Do, Re, Mi, Fa, So, La, Ti. And the colors? Those are the states of matter. And remember what I've said before about music, rhythm, rhyme, and meter being evidence to the ancients of the 'perfection' of a thing. Mendeleev's table preserves that musical paradigm, and that paradigm proves its correctness as much as the gaps did. Oh. Look what I just stumbled over. http://www.mysteryofmatter.net/Periodic_Table.html I'm spending a lot of time on this. I'll bring it home. You'll see. So. God is everything, the entire universe, and the 'spirit' in it. After all, if the elements are his tabernacle, then there's a spirit to be 'tabernacled' by those elements. But how does this work? I just don't have much time to explain all the wherefores and whys right now. We'll get to them in the comments later for those who decide to 'like' or 'comment' or otherwise follow this article so they get notified as I add more information. The next thing we have to cover is the spirit. There's a difference between 'spirit' (gnolaum) and 'THE spirit'. This has to do with being 'set apart'. 'Spirit' is that quintessence that the ancients knew about. It is the fundamental building-block of all matter. "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; We cannot see it; but when our bodies are PURIFIED (finer?) we shall see that it is all matter." And remember the very first law of algebra, the reciprocal law: If A=B, then B=A. So, if spirit is matter, but more fine or pure, then matter is spirit, just less fine or pure. And, the fact is, as you'll see soon, we are gradually acquiring 'spiritual eyes', imaging devices that can see things the naked eye could never see, such as magnetic fields, and even atoms themselves. (Although, for now, not sub-atomic particles.) So, how is matter spirit? How is spirit matter? Simple. The light of Christ. Eh?! Light exerts pressure. Light is a wave in spirit. Spirit is what the Greeks called the ether, or the aether, and which was later called the luminiferous ether (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luminiferous_aether) precisely because it was understood, or rather believed, to be the medium through which light traveled. And, while 'officially' debunked and dismissed, scientists keep coming back to this. And, where they're literally in fear of their jobs for even mentioning it, they substitute a modern version of it which is now called dark matter (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_matter) (See that mention of Neutrinos? SPIRIT!) and dark energy (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_energy). You really need to follow the links under the metaphysics, mythology, science, and engineering headings. (Oops! I lost that link! I'll see if I can find it again.) Now, an aside here. I know that talk like this just inflames the 'spiritualists', and quite ironically so, but, to these, I say just read 1 Nephi 22:1-3 where you'll see Nephi explaining precisely this misconception to his brothers. And his conclusion is simply that the spirit is the medium by which prophets gain knowledge of very temporal, very real, very worldly things. In other words, spirit/spiritual is NOT ... I repeat NOT about things sentimental, things of character, personality, emotion, passion, nor any other such things. The knowledge obtained via the spirit can certainly be very moving, but the 'movement' is not what the spirit conveyed. The knowledge was/is. Get over it. Spirit is a real, physical ... infinity. And yet, spirit is NOT a THING. When Christ is called "the very Eternal Father of heaven and of earth, and all THINGS which in them are", this is to distinguish him from his father, the father of lights, the 'father' of spirits, the one who organized spirit into spirits, setting them apart from 'spirit', to grant them 'agency', by separating them from the rest, imposing this separation by a wall, a veil, the flesh, our tabernacles. And this is why 'religion' is given to us, and is a basic urge, as Gobekli Tepe has shown: To REUNITE with that spirit, with that God, from whence we came. I know. I know. I'm all over the map here. I warned you. This just can't be done like anything else. Because God is one. How do you separate it? So, anyway, Spirit is the fundamental building block of all THINGS ... THINGS ... they were made by Christ. Whenever you read/hear of God Almighty ... That's Christ. The Light of Christ shapes spirit (making it 'less fine') into (lumpy) matter, matter that we can see and feel with our material eyes. But now let's back up. God is one. But we say that because God is made of other th... no. Not things. 'PERSONAGES'. Who are they? The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. NO! They comprise the GODHEAD! What head exists on its own? NONE! Paul goes into detail explaining this, how we can't all be the mouth or eyes or whatever, but that we all, together, comprise the body of Christ. And that was referring to the church, but also drawing a parallel with the ancient understanding that we all are also a part of the 'church of the firstborn', the kingdom of heaven, the whole of the universe, God himself. So, there's the Godhead, and there's all the rest of us. And the Godhead is comprised of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Now, the D&C also corrects another misconception, but, as I'm saying here, and everywhere else, we must pay close attention to the details of the words used because they are legally correct, scientifically precise, and profoundly meaningful. And what Joseph tells us is that the idea that the FATHER and/or SON can dwell in the hearts or minds of men is WRONG, and is an old 'sectarian' notion. Why? Because they have their tabernacles of flesh and bone (but NOT blood). (Blood belongs to the earth.) No, it's only the spirit which can live in the hearts and minds of men, and, indeed, we've been commanded to gain a greater portion of the Holy Spirit to dwell with us. Apparently there's plenty of room, and if we don't fill it well, something worse will. So, how then can the elements be the tabernacle of God? Pay attention to the details of the words! GOD! Not the FATHER or the SON! But they are God. So says the scriptures. Yes. No. What? As Nibley kept asking: Who's talking? Any of the three, AND ANY PROPHET, has the right and the power to speak for the whole, THE ALL. By the way, notice what Christ calls out on the cross. Is it Elohim? No. Is it an Aramaic pronunciation of Elohim? No. It is the singular of Elohim. Elohim is plural. Its singular is Eloi. Why not just El? Because El is just the male. Eloi is the male and the female. Christ is calling out for HIS father AND mother. Eloi. Remember that God stopped referring to Adam and Eve separately, 'and He called THEIR name Adam'. Elohim is the gods and the goddesses ... God. The All. Allah. Anyway, so startled was John the Revelator by Gabriel's delivery that John assumed he was facing God himself, and Gabriel had to correct him. But then Gabriel went right back to speaking as if he was God. Elohim. All of them. That's how it works. So, when we're told that God's tabernacle is the elements, that's 'God' speaking. But which one? Well, given what I've told you already, it's clearly the spirit, because all knowledge, vision, perception comes through the spirit, but speaking for God, as if God. Likewise D&C 88. Christ is revealing to Joseph Smith that the kingdoms/planets/space in between ... ALL ... are 'him', God. Not just Christ. Not just the Godhead. God. All. Now, we come to the roles. They are one God, but, just as time is clearly a different thing from space, they are also inseparable. We use time to measure space, and space to measure time, and neither can exist without the other, and yet they are clearly not the same. We can discuss the nature and properties and characteristics of each independently of the other even though they are inextricably intertwined. Likewise the roles of the individual members of the Godhead. I've already told you that the spirit provides the medium, and Christ the driving, almighty force with shapes spirit into matter, but they have other aspects, which are derivatives of these roles, and they work like this: The Father ... is the father of time: Eternity itself. The human mind can scarcely conceive of eternity, let alone its personification, but it's true. As you'll see. This father formed spirits. This father connects all parts of time with one another. This is how it is that God knows the end from the beginning. This is why it is that we are repeatedly told that time is irrelevant to God, that time is only measured to men. The father isn't just eternal, like Christ, he is eternity. Einstein was quite right in declaring time to be the indispensable 4th dimension, but he wasn't entirely correct in his paradigm. That's why, unlike Mendeleev's correct table paradigm, Einstein ultimately got lost in confusion, and sought to the end of his days for the 'unified field', aka God. It really works like this: Space (the '3' dimensions of height, width, and depth) are the first dimension, Time (Einstein's 4th dimension) is really the second dimension, and Mass (the stuff of the universe, aka matter, aka 'things') is the real third dimension. And there's that ubiquitous THREE again. The Spirit ... is the ruler of space: Infinity itself. This is how the elements, all the way up to the planets, galaxies, and even larger structures, are the tabernacle of God. The spirit does NOT have a body of flesh and bone, but it does have a body. It's body is the universe. Including us. It lives in us. The father and son do not. The spirit lives in them, too. In fact, Joseph Smith told us that the spirit is the mind of the father and the son. This is what connects all parts of God/the Universe with all other parts. This is what allows God to know all things. Because he's in all things, connected to all things. He literally IS all things. All things denote there is a God. All THINGS are spiritual to God. This is how it is that God knows every hair on your head. This is how/why the spirit is the testator: All knowledge travels over the 'wires' of the spirit, as LIGHT. So that brings us to Christ. Christ says that he is the light which enlightens our eyes. This alone ought to end all the 'spiritualist' nonsense, but they just don't know what to make of this scripture, so they shrug their shoulders and move on, repeating that old nonsense about 'God being unknowable', or that 'not all things have been revealed yet'. Well, maybe not to them, but I'm revealing it to you now. Christ creates, and constantly sustains, all the matter in the universe. We are talking about an order of power, a power of intelligence, a scale that we, even I must say, simply can't 'comprehend'. (Critical word.) But Christ 'drives' spirit into all that we see and feel. It is Christ that gives mass to spirit. It was not the least incorrect for the fictional Higgs Boson to be called 'the God Particle'. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higgs_boson) Because the 'mass' of the universe, as far as anyone can tell, exists nowhere within the stuff of the universe. Had it really existed, it certainly would have been aptly named. MASS ... that is Christ's domain. Christ gives weight and inertia to everything. It is Christ who makes all that we think of as the laws of physics work. The MASS of the universe comes from outside the universe, not from inside it. I'm pretty sure Tesla knew this. (That's why he lived a celibate life.) (There's a connection that I'll cover separately.) (Maybe.) And only when our scientists accept this truth, and start pursuing it seriously, will we ever finally finish Mendeleev's table, understand magnetism and electricity, and all the rest. We will finally comprehend even God. Scripturally, all the clues are there. You read it everywhere in scripture. Just pay attention now as you study, and you'll see all this play out before your eyes. You'll see that I'm right. You'll understand why, when it says spirit, it means spirit, and not God. Why when it says father (and remember that Christ is also a father, but, as Amulek corrected Zeezrom, the very eternal father of heaven and earth (things), and all THINGS that in them are), it means just the father. (But which one? There are TWO fathers. One is also a son, the 'son of Man', AND a father.) Armed with this knowledge, like the gaps in Mendeleev's Periodic Table, you have what you need to make sense of what you read. You have what you need to discern whether another speaker or writer has their facts straight. You have what you need to understand the physical world around you. You have what you need to fill in the gaps. Just be aware, even the highest leaders tend to confuse these terms. They tend to mix things up incorrectly, and incoherently. Don't judge them. Remember, no one gets answers to question they don't ask, and they are all pretty busy right now asking other question, like how to save us from our pride and rebelliousness. How to save the church from the coming calamity. When one of them turns their attention to this, you'll start to see more clarity on this subject from them. Also, remember that the D&C tells us that the spirit and the body are the soul of man, but in the 'most correct' book (the Book of Mormon), the word, soul, while not incorrect, is repeatedly used where the word, spirit, would be more technically correct. Now, that is all the most fundamental nature and character of God. We have more local allegories: Saturn (the father of the gods), Jupiter (the 'son of Man' and king of the gods), and Mars (the only begotten). How do these figure in? Simple. We are told that Michael became Adam, Gabriel became Noah, and Jehova became Christ. Jehova/Zeus never came to earth in any mythology. Instead, he sent 'his only begotten', Mars, Apollo, Hercules, etc., all born of a divine father and a human mother BY THE POWER OF THE SPIRIT. IT'S JUST AN ALLEGORY! Like Paul's allegory of Sarah and Hagar in Galatians 4. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Galatians+4%3A21-31&version=RSV But, that brings us back to D&C 88. And Paul's wording is pretty confusing, too. And then there's his testimony on MARS' hill. And D&C 76. Who is the allegory here? The planets? Or us? But, the bottom line of all of this is this: God is. This is the only correct way to word it in our language, imho. And we know this now (or should) because Joseph Smith, very plainly, is all that he ever claimed to be: Prophet, Seer, Revelator. And we know this now (or should) because, not only the things I've written above, but also because of the Book of Mormon: It is all the things it claims to be. And we know this (or should) not only because of all the magnificent scholarship supporting it, and countering its detractors, not only because of what I've told you, but also because of that small thing by which great things (which appear small to the understanding of men) are brought to pass: The Liahona. How on earth did Joseph invent that? How would anyone have invented that? THAT is a miracle. But you don't get it, do you? It's just like that scripture where Alma declares that 'all things denote there is a God'. It's ok. We'll get there. You'll see. |