A Rational Theology, As Taught Part 9

**Earthly Ordinances.** Great, eternal truths make up the Gospel plan. All regulations for man's earthly guidance have their eternal spiritual counterparts. The earthly ordinances of the Gospel are themselves the reflections of heavenly ordinances. For instance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost and temple work are really earthly symbols of realities that prevail throughout the universe; but, they are symbols of truths that must be recognized if the Great Plan is to be fulfilled. The acceptance of these earthly symbols is part and parcel of correct earth-life, and being earthly symbols they are distinctly of the earth, and can not be performed elsewhere than on earth. In order that absolute fairness may prevail and eternal justice may be satisfied, all men to attain the fulness of their joy must accept these earthly ordinances. There is no water baptism in the next estate, nor any conferring of the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of earthly hands. The equivalents of these ordinances prevail no doubt in every estate, but only as they are given on this earth can they be made to aid, in their onward progress, those who have dwelt on earth. For that reason those who have departed this life without having accepted the earthly ordinances, which const.i.tute in part the conditions of entrance to the Church, must have that work done for them on earth. By proxy they must be baptized by water, receive the laying on of hands and accept of the temple ordinances. By this method the path to eternal life is invariable; in fairness and without discrimination, all must tread it. Were there any departure from this order, it would be a short time only until men might take upon themselves the authority of devising various methods whereby eternal joy might be obtained. This would be unnatural, because definite order prevails throughout nature.

**A Work of Love.** To do work for the dead involves much sacrifice on the part of the living. Genealogies must be collected, exact information concerning dates of births and deaths and other fundamental data must be obtained, and the better part of a day is required to take the endowments for each dead person--and all this, usually, for a person long dead, of whom the worker may have no definite knowledge beyond name and time of his life. It follows that only by love for one's fellowmen can the work be done. Young and old may do work for the dead in the temples; and young and old are, indeed, engaged in it. Especially in the evening of life, when time is more plentiful for such work, do many persons give themselves fully to this labor of love. As a result of temple work for the dead, to which thousands of people give their time and means, a great flood of love for humanity is poured out upon the people.

**The Need of Records.** Before the earth pa.s.ses away into its next stage of existence, work must be done in the temples for all the living and all the dead. Only when this is done, will the curtain be rolled up, and the vision of complete existence given to man. To do work for the dead, who in life did not accept the Gospel, will require complete genealogies of the human race. To secure these is a gigantic task. The diverse conditions of human life, and the vicissitudes of the race have been such that frequently genealogies have not been written and often have been lost. The most careful search of man will not reveal them all. However, as has been explained, in an intelligent universe, nothing is wholly lost. The record of every man exists and by some means will be found before the work on earth is completed.

Meanwhile, no external power will come to man's aid, until he has used his own efforts, and therefore it becomes necessary for men to search out existing genealogies of the human race. When that has been done, in the years to come, man may rest secure that the G.o.ds who direct our earth, will come to the rescue of this important part of the work of salvation.

Consequently there is intense interest in the Church in all genealogical matters. Every person is on the lookout for his own genealogy; when that is completed, he searches for those of others.

Such work intensifies family loyalty and devotion, from which virtues proceed. It follows, also, that the Church records and preserves with utmost care the genealogical histories of its members. Sacred history shows that at all times, when the Church has been on earth, genealogies have been carefully kept and recorded.

**The Result.** Work for the dead has far-reaching results. First of all, it establishes a close communion among those who have lived and who are living on earth. The hearts of the children are turned to the fathers, and the hearts of the fathers are turned to the children.

This, indeed, is the vital principle of the Great Plan--that all may work together to the ultimate good of each.

The principle of infinite, loving brotherhood among men, as exemplified in the work for the dead, may be applied in the daily lives of the living. If so much work is done, so much time and energy expended and so much care bestowed upon the salvation of the dead, how much more should we help and support and love the living. The living must always be man's first concern. This principle, carried into our daily lives, means that we must continually and at our own sacrifice help each other. Then only will the sacrifice for the dead not be in vain.

Work for the dead is no doubt symbolic of the great universal law that things of the universe move onward together, not singly. So great is this principle in its application to daily life, among the living, that it rises to be one of the mightiest principles that contribute to human brotherhood and brotherly love.

CHAPTER 29.

MARRIAGE.

We are not the last spirits to enter upon the earth career. There are yet countless numbers of unborn spirits waiting for the privilege of receiving earthly bodies and of tasting the sorrows and the joys of earth. The living, who understand the Great Plan, must not then confine their attention to themselves and to those who have gone before. The waiting spirits must be a concern of our lives.

**Eternity of s.e.x.** It has already been said that s.e.x is an eternal principle. The equivalent of s.e.x has always existed and will continue forever. As the s.e.x relation, then, represents an eternal condition, the begetting of children is coincidently an eternal necessity. We were begotten into the spirit world by G.o.d the Father, and have been born into the world which we now possess.

**The Waiting Spirits.** According to the Great Plan, all who, in the Great Council, accepted the Christ, will in time appear on earth, clothed with mortal bodies. All these spirits must be born as children into the world. A high purpose, if not the main one, of the earth work must be, therefore, to continue the race by begetting children and properly caring for them until they reach maturity. Undoubtedly, the waiting spirits are hoping patiently for their turn to reach the earth--a glorious step in the progressive advancement of man, which the spirits have earned by their righteous lives.

**The Meaning of the First Command.** This doctrine makes clear the meaning of the first great command, to multiply and replenish the earth. It is not only for the joy and satisfaction of humanity that the s.e.x relation, with the possibility of begetting offspring, prevails on earth, but as much for the fulfilment of the eternal Great Plan. It becomes a necessary duty, for all wedded persons who dwell on earth, to bring children into the world. This is the greatest and holiest and most necessary mission of man, with respect to the waiting spirits. Fatherhood and motherhood become glorified in the light of the eternal plan of salvation.

The doctrine that wedded man and woman should not beget children or should limit the number of children born to them, is contrary to the spirit of the Great Plan, and is a most erroneous one. Let the waiting spirits come! Let children be born into the earth! Let fatherhood and motherhood be the most honored of all the professions on earth!

Marriage resulting in parenthood is a great evidence of the reality of the brotherhood of man, of the unselfishness of man. However, only in the marriage relation should children be begotten. Looseness of life, between man and woman, is the most terrible of human iniquities, for it leads, a.s.suredly, to the physical decay of the race. With the sanction of the Priesthood, men and women should contract to live together as husband and wife.

**The Family.** The unit of society is the family. The family circle is intimate, and in it the keenest human loves prevail. As the family develops so will society, as a whole, develop. By children comes complete family life. Without children, family life is incomplete.

Children are, then, a real necessity in the fulfilling of the possibilities of the Church. The true Church always encourages the begetting of children; the intensifying of family life, and the dignifying of all the duties pertaining to procreation.

**Celestial Marriage.** If s.e.x is eternal, it follows of necessity, that the marriage covenant may also be eternal. It is not a far step to the doctrine that after the earth work has been completed, and exaltation in the next estate has been attained, one of the chief duties of men and women will be to beget spiritual children. These spirits, in turn, in the process of time, will come down upon an earth, there to obtain an acquaintance with gross matter, and through the possession of earthly bodies to control more fully, and forever, the manifold forces surrounding them. It is one of the rewards of intelligent development, that we may be to other spiritual beings, what our G.o.d has been to us.

Among those who understand the Gospel, marriage may be, and indeed should be, for time and eternity. Marriage that lasts only during the earth life is a sad one, for the love established between man and woman, as they live together and rear their family, does not wish to die, but to live to grow richer with the eternal years. Marriage for time and eternity establishes a unique relation between husband and wife. Their children belong to them for time and eternity; the family is continued from this earth into the next life, and becomes a unit in the eternal life, and, in all family relations, the vision is cast forward, in antic.i.p.ation of an undying relationship.

**The Sealing Powers.** Naturally, the power to seal men and women to each other, for time and eternity, and to seal children to their parents for eternal ages, is a supreme power, committed to man's keeping. The President of the Church is the only person on the earth who holds the keys of these sealing ordinances. True, he may delegate his power to workers in the temples, so that celestial marriages and sealings may go on, but such delegated authority may be withdrawn at any moment. In that respect, it differs wholly from the power of the Priesthood, which can be withdrawn from a man only who is found in sin. It is proper that only one man should hold this power, for it is of infinite effect, and should be guarded with the most jealous care, and kept from the frail prejudices and jealousies of men.

The power to bind for time and eternity is the power, also, to loose that which has been bound, should it be found necessary. Undoubtedly, under human conditions, mistakes may be made, but if such mistakes are made and are not rectified on earth, they will, no doubt, under a supervising intelligent Being, be rectified in the hereafter. It is, however, only through the sealing power that the eternal relationship of the s.e.xes, the eternal increase of life, and the consequent eternal joy, may be obtained.

CHAPTER 30.

THE COMMUNITY.

The relations of the few and the many lead to great problems which are of the gravest import to humanity.

**Community Defined.** A community is a body of people having common interests and, usually, living in the same place, under the same laws and regulations. From the beginning of time, individuals have a.s.sociated and grouped themselves into communities. Every Church is a community of believers. The Church which conforms to the whole law is the one characterized by authority and operating under authoritative laws.

**The Individual in the Community.** A community is a great organism, with individuality which must express itself in adaptation or opposition to law.

Since the community is composed of individuals, each with independent wills and agencies, nothing must be done, as a community, to prevent the full unfolding of the individual, for the more progressive the individuals, the more progressive is the community. While the community is under responsibility to each individual, the individual, having accepted a place and life in the community, must not do anything that will restrain other individuals of the community.

Whatever is good for the many, must always take preference. This does not interfere, in the least, with full individual development, since the greatest individual development always comes from proper adaptation to law. When each individual faithfully obeys the law, the community is safe.

**The Rights of the Community.** The community has rights which are as inalienable as the free agency of individuals. An individual who will not obey the community laws should move out of the community.

Those who remain must yield obedience to the laws established for the public good. This was well brought out in the Great Council, when Lucifer fell because he was not one with the community. In that great day, as in our day, the many had the right to demand that their good be considered as of primary importance.

**Training for the Community.** In view of the supremacy of the community it becomes indispensable that the powers of the individual be so unfolded as to be of service to the community. No man can selfishly stand aside and say "I am sufficient unto myself; in the community I have no interest; though I obey its laws, I do not serve it." It is not sufficient that a man obey the laws of the community; he must vigorously serve the community. Every act of every man's life must relate itself to the good of other men. This is fundamental in the Gospel, and should be fundamental in the daily relations of men.

This justifies the modern training now given men for the necessary pursuits and common tasks of daily life. Whatever is necessary, may and should be made honorable and dignified. All pursuits are made professional, so that all who serve the good of the many, may find the same joy in their work whatever it may be. All men should be trained for service to the community.

It is an interesting commentary on the present-day Church that President Brigham Young was one of the first men in America to establish schools in which the training of men for the actual affairs of life was made pre-eminent. Today we train for citizenship, whether in the Church or in the State. In such training lies the hope of the community for its future. By such training will a feeling of community responsibility be established among men.

**The Supremacy of the Community.** From all this and from what has been said in preceding chapters, it is clear that the Great Plan was so devised that men may unitedly work out their salvation. Man may not stand alone. Brotherhood is the great principle on which the Church is based.

MAN AND NATURE.

CHAPTER 31.

MAN AND NATURE.

There is but one nature. All things, visible or invisible, belong to the one universe.

**The Intelligence of Nature.** Each and all of the numerous forces in the universe may be subjected to the will of man. In the universe are untold numbers of intelligent beings, whose main business it is to discover the ways of nature, and by an intelligent control of nature, to acquire greater power of advancing development. The holy spirit fills all things, and by its means the thoughts and minds of these increasing intelligent beings are everywhere felt. Intelligence permeates the universe.

The question is often asked, "Does nature, as we know it, the rocks and trees and beasts, possess intelligence of an order akin to that of man?" Who knows? That intelligence is everywhere present is beyond question. By the intelligent G.o.d, nature is directed. The forming of a crystal or the conception of a living animal is, somehow, connected with an intelligent purpose and will. This fruitful field of conjecture should be touched with care, for so little definite knowledge concerning it is in man's possession.

**A Living Earth.** It seems to be well established that the earth as a whole, is a living organism. It had a beginning; it will die or be changed, and after is purification it will be brought into greater glory as a resurrected organism. Even the symbolism of baptism was performed for the earth when the waters descended in the great flood.

All this can simply mean that the earth, as well as all on it, are subject to the fundamental Plan, involving the atonement of Jesus Christ.

The earth as an organism does its work perfectly well. It is without sin. "The earth abides the law of a celestial kingdom, for it fills the measure of its creation, and transgresses not the law. Wherefore it shall be sanctified; yea, notwithstanding it shall die, it shall be quickened again, and shall abide the power by which it is quickened, and the righteous shall inherit it." If the earth is a living organism, it seems more than likely that all things on earth possess a measure of life and intelligence.

**The Lower Animals.** The lower animals were created by the power of G.o.d. All things created by him, have first been created spiritually, then temporally, after which they pa.s.s again into the spiritual life.