Good And Evil

Good Evil - Mormon Doctrine Studies - Posted: 3rd Dec, 2007 - 8:46pm

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3rd Dec, 2007 - 8:45pm / Post ID: #
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Good And Evil

Good and Evil

The following is supposed to be an excerpt from Millennial Star 15 Dec. 1855 vol 17:785-789:

QUOTE

[1]                                  THE
                    Latter-day Saints' Millennial Star.

              He that hath an ear, let him hear what the spirit
                    saith unto the churches.--Jesus Christ

      Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins,
        and that Ye receive not of her plagues.--A Voice from Heaven.

    No. 50, Vol. XVII.  Saturday, December 15, 1855.  Price One Penny.



                                Good and Evil.

The unchangeableness of God is often asserted in the Scriptures, and in
Malachi He most emphatically says, "For I am the LORD, I change not." We are
also assured in Doctrine and Covenants, sec. 30, that "the works, and the
designs, and the purposes of God cannot be frustrated, neither can they come
to naught, for God doth not walk in crooked paths, neither doth he turn to the
right hand nor to the left, neither doth he vary from that which he hath said,
therefore his paths are straight, and his course is one eternal round." The
Almighty is a God of Truth, or a being who acts on eternal, unchangeable
principles or laws. Therefore the method of creating, peopling, redeeming, and
sanctifying this earth must be in the similitude of the plan which has been
pursued with other worlds in the eternities which have past. It is evident
that truth, and its opposite, or the principles of good and evil must be
co-existent with each other, and that the presence of One has ever been
necessary to develop the nature and powers of the other. From this it would
appear that organizations and intelligencies must experience the effects of
evil in order to understand its opposite, be redeemed by a sacrifice similar
to the made for this earth, and receive purification, sanctification, and
final redemption through faith, good works and obedience to similar laws [2]
and ordinances. Co-existent with the Gods of Eternity, there must have always
been personal representatives of evil, or devils for them to subdue, in order
that there might be an opposite in all things. Without opposition there can be
no progression without hate, no love; without darkness, no light; without
sorrow, no joy; without a hell, no heaven; without devils, no Gods. All things
must necessarily work out the designs of the Almighty, and increase His glory,
exaltation, and power.
We will not attempt here to dwell on the infinitude of the past, or to
fathom the mysteries of a continuation of great centres of influence
succeeding each other in the rounds of eternal progress, but content ourselves
with what appears evident from revelation, reason, and experience. These are
sufficient to guide man in the way of eternal life.
Not only do the Old and New Testament, and other ancient and modern
revelations through the Holy Priesthood assert the fact, but mankind of every
grade, condition and religion, whether Christian, Jew, Mahomedan, or Pagan.,
all believe in leading personages or influences which are the sources of good
and evil One of these is God the Father, Michael or Adam, from whose loins the
earth is peopled and who is now labouring for the redemption of his children.
The great captain of evil is Satan, formerly Lucifer, but now a fallen "Son of
the Morning," who with his followers are diligently labouring to destroy the
works of God by reducing them to a like condition with themselves.
We will now notice some of the leading characteristics of these two
personages, and the fundamental principles which govern their operations. The
number of the human family who do not believe in a God, or Supreme controlling
intelligence of some sort, is small. Of the two great divisions of men,
Christian and Pagan, the latter have the most rational idea of the form and
appearance of the Deity, and the one which most nearly conforms to what is
said of Him in the Bible. While the various Christian sects of the clay
believe Him to be the most perfect nonentity, without body, parts, or
passions, or without any of the characteristics of other intelligent
organizations, the Pagans believe that He has form, limbs, and features, and
hence [3] they worship images, or natural objects, instead of some imaginary
nonentity. The Bible most positively asserts that God made man in His own
image and likeness: consequently they must resemble each other in form, limbs,
features, the general configuration and appearance of an organized body. We
learn further from the same book that the Lord loved Jacob and hated Esau,
that His anger was kindled against Israel, that He talked with Adam, Noah, and
Moses, and eat meat with Abraham.
God is not only the fountain of life, light, and knowledge, and the
embodiment of every quality which makes up greatness, goodness, power, and
majesty, but He has the most thorough and complete practical knowledge of
everything pertaining to this earth, from the foundation through all its grand
superstructure, including every individual which exists upon it, and the laws
which organization govern them all in their numerous spheres. He understands
the relative positions, bearings, and influences which exist between the earth
and the planetary worlds, and systems which surround them. He understands the
number, and nature, the beginning, object, and end of all things for he
belonged to the council in which the plans of creation were devised, and has
practically assisted to carry them out in their details. He knew the spirits
of men before they came here, and the great object to be accomplished in their
union with mortal bodies. He comprehends the origin and effects of all the
imperfections, trials, and afflictions, and the full extent and power of all
the evil, with which man has to combat in his low estate. He has learned all
these things by thorough practical experience, by handling, suffering, and
realizing them, even as His creatures now do, therefore He has had hands to
labour, a body to suffer, a spirit to be chastened and a soul to appreciate.
He has had evil in every form to contend with temptations to resist, desires,
passions, and propensities to subdue and overcome. He has had death to suffer
and to conquer a resurrection to rejoice in, and has been added upon with
celestial power and glory. This is the God with whom we to do, and who stands
at our head to do battle with the powers of darkness, and assist us, His
children, to overcome, that we may receive a like glory with Himself, and live
in His presence.
[4] As God is the fountain of life, light, increase, and intelligence, Satan
is directly the opposite, and therefore the a origin of death, darkness,
ignorance, and disorganization. God organizes or creates Satan labours to
destroy His works. God is a being of tabernacle, while Satan and his followers
have forfeited their right to any. While the Lord has seen fit to reveal much
concerning Himself that is glorious and exalting, He has made known to man but
comparatively little of the real position, power, and designs of Satan, the
extent of his authority, or definite results of his operations in the great
economy of creation. Without Satan, the creations of God would be incomplete.
It is evident from the little which has been revealed, and the course which
they pursue, that mankind in general have but a very limited conception of his
position or power. In the first place he must have had great influence in
heaven in order to draw a third part of them into rebellion. We may form some
conception of this immense army of spirits who formed one-third part of the
hosts of heaven, and who do Satan's bidding, when we take into consideration
the myriads which make up the other two-thirds who have already taken
tabernacles on the earth, and who are in all probability destined to do so in
future.
Surely Satan is not wanting in an abundance of agents to work evil, to
mar the beautiful creations of God, to surround men with temptations, and
watch them by night and by day. When we take into consideration that there are
so many devoted to his service that they need but little attention innumerable
in deed must be the hosts that can, be brought to bear upon the few who are
determined to oppose his power and serve the God of heaven. These fallen
spirits, having forfeited their right to have tabernacles of their own, have
power to enter into and operate through other tabernacles, not only of men,
but of beasts, birds, and creeping things.
There are some passages of Scripture which, will give us some idea of the
high position and influence held and exercised by Lucifer. We read in Jude 9,
"Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about
the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said,
The Lord [5] rebuke thee."



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3rd Dec, 2007 - 8:46pm / Post ID: #
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Evil Good

Continued...

QUOTE
Before leaving this part of our subject, we will add, that in reviewing
it, it is evident that the mission of Satan on the earth is a necessary one,
that he has been especially raised up to fill the place which he now occupies,
that the great plan for the redemption and exaltation of man could not have
existed according to the order of creation without, him, and that he is one of
those dignitaries against whom men should not bring a railing accusation, lest
they partake of his spirit.
The whole life of man is a continual struggle against the powers of
death. It is this warfare, this effort of the spirit and body to cling
together in opposition to the principles of dissolution, which causes the pain
and affliction which men are heirs to. The organization of man is the battle
ground where the powers of life and death contend for the mastery. Death will
be overcome in proportion as man obtains a knowledge, and practices, the
principles of life. In these days of ignorance, no considerable knowledge of
these principles can be obtained. except by revelation through the Priesthood.
As soon as the matured spirit is ushered into its new sphere of action in
its infant tabernacle, the spirits of darkness are on hand to commence their
operations, in order to prevent if possible its attaining the object of its
creation. They go to work under the evil impulses within them to introduce,
into the system artificial and injurious desires and habits, and through life
they are continually drawing men into evil, by leading their minds into false
conceptions of right and wrong, by prompting them to indulge in delusive
hopes, until they are caught in a snare, or by surrounding them with a chain
of circumstances which will induce them if possible to break the laws of life.
Satan tempted Eve to partake, of the forbidden fruit, by assuring her,
that she should not surely die, and that she should receive an increase of
knowledge. This proved in part to be true, for on eating she discovered that
she had done that which would give her a practical knowledge of the elements
of death, which from that time operated in her against those of life. Adam, in
order to fulfil the first great commandment to multiply, which he could not do
if separated [6] from Eve, partook also of the fruit, and went with her from
the garden. This enables men to exercise their free agency in choosing which
they will serve, for they must obey the influences of one or the other. Man
cannot remain neutral. If that were possible he would become a mere cypher,
cease to progress, And never attain the object of his creation. He must choose
between good and evil, and his free agency consists in the privilege of
choosing either, or, in the language of the Prophet Brigham, "Life and death
are set before us, and we are at liberty to choose which we will."
Much has been said upon this subject of free agency, and volumes have
been written by learned commentators and pious divines; but it simply resolves
itself into this, that good and evil are placed before men, and they are left
free to choose between them. Every intelligent organization in the universe
must have its opposite, by which its adaptation to the object of its creation
may be compared and by which its progress towards that object, or departure
therefrom, may be noted, on the same principle that anything in motion is only
known to be so from a change in its relative position with other objects.
Without this principle of free agency, the powers and capacities of men would
remain inactive, and there would be nothing to stimulate to progress and
improvement. It was blessings a arising from these three principles---good,
evil, and free agency, which caused Adam and Eve to rejoice, as stated in the
revelation given to Moses, Pearl of Great Price, page 15---"And in that day
Adam blessed God and was filled, and began to prophesy concerning all the
families of the earth: Blessed be, the name of God for my transgression, for
in this life I shall have joy, and again in my flesh I shall see God. And Eve,
his wife, heard all these things and was glad, saying, Were it not for our
transgression we should never have had seed, and should never have known good
and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth
unto all the. obedient."
The sectarian world, in their ignorance and pious enthusiasm, are
continually mourning and complaining about the course pursued by our First
Parents, and condemning them for and act without which men could not have
existed, and received the joys of salvation and [7] redemption through the
death and resurrection of Christ. On the contrary, they should rejoice with
Father Adam and Mother Eve, that they partook of the tree of knowledge of good
and evil, and thus opened the way for their children to obtain exaltation and
eternal lives. Mankind, in keeping the commandment "Honour thy father and
mother," should begin with their first progenitors, to whom more abundant
honour is due for taking the first great step through which their children may
realize the glories of a celestial kingdom, and receive an inheritance among
the Gods of eternity.
In order to understand better the real position in which man is placed in
this world, we will take into consideration his position before be came here,
and why it was necessary for him to come here. Sufficient has been revealed to
show conclusively that men were free agents in their first estate, as well as
in this, or that they had the privilege then, the same as now, of following
either Lucifer or Michael. There is no principle on which the rebellion or
obedience of the hosts of heaven can be accounted for, except on that of
voluntary action. Without the privilege of choosing or refusing, there can be
no sin. The consequences of this rebellion in heaven were, that those engaged
in it were condemned to remain in their spiritual estate without the power of
increase, while the obedient were progressing through their second estate.
Their forlorn condition is forcibly described in the sixth verse of the
Epistle of Jude---"And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left
their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness
unto the judgment of the great day." The fact that those reserved in
everlasting chains under darkness kept not their first estate, shows that the
privilege of coming here was founded on certain conditions, that they broke
them, and that those who have the privilege of taking tabernacles fulfilled
them. Therefore the very fact of spirits entering the second estate at all, is
conclusive evidence that they leave the first free from sin or transgression.
It cannot be inferred from this that spirits come here prepared to occupy
equal positions in this world. See Pearl of Great Price, page 25---"Now the
Lord had shown unto me, the intelligencies that were organized before the
world was; and among all these there were [8] 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 them that
were spirits, and he saw that they were good."
The Lord, in a revelation to the Prophet Joseph Smith and others, has
plainly stated the reason why it was necessary for spirits to come here and
take tabernacles. This reason may be found in Doctrine and Covenants, page
246---"The elements are eternal, and spirit and element, inseparably
connected, receiveth a fulness of joy; and when separated cannot receive a
fulness of joy." Mankind cannot be stationary, they must move forward, or
retrograde, and either implies continual change, as says the Prophet
Brigham---"You may explore all the eternities that have been, were it
possible, then come to that which we now understand according to the
principles of natural philosophy, and where is there an element, an individual
living thing, an organized body, of whatever nature, continues as it is? IT
CANNOT BE FOUND."
After the intelligences in the bosom of the Father had fulfilled the law
of their spiritual existence, they could progress no further without some
change in their organization and sphere of action, And their Creator, in
obedience to the eternal law of increase by which He increases His own glory
by adding to that of His children, had a habitation prepared for them of
grosser material than spiritual element, and gave each a portion of it, fitted
up to be a dwelling place for the spirit. This union of organizations, or of
spiritual with mortal bodies, is placed under certain laws founded in truth
and righteousness, which if it will faithfully keep, it will be for ever
united under a still higher law, and in a more exalted sphere, after going
through the changes of a dissolution of the mortal organization, and being
quickened again, and filled with the element of eternal life. Birth, death and
the resurrection are very important eras in the progress of intelligences. The
changes which may take place after the resurrection are not revealed, but
reasoning from analogy there never can be an end of them in the eternal rounds
of progress.
The body to man is the foundation or beginning of his kingdom, the first
change from a primitive, state, the beginning of an [9] organization in the
image of, and like unto, the Gods, in which is the germ of eternal lives. How
important then that it be strengthened and perfected in right principles, that
the superstructure may be complete in all its parts. Just in proportion as man
improves upon and perfects, his body through the will of his spirit, which
must be controlled by the dictates. of revelation from God, will he prove
himself worthy of having added unto him pure and virtuous women as wives and
through them other bodies in the image, and the offspring, of his own. In
fact, spirit and body united is the only medium through which "a fulness of
joy" can be received, or exaltation and eternal lives be realized. The measure
of these blessings to every man will be the degree of perfection which he
attains to in keeping the laws which were ordained to govern him in this
temporal estate. (Millennial Star 15 Dec. 1855 vol 17:785-789.)





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