God

I was asked today, by the only person I'm aware of who frequents this blog, why I have not posted an entry in the past two weeks. I told her that I was gathering material, which is a half truth. I've begun a correspondence with a friend of mine, who is LDS and a philosophy major, concerning the compatibility of Mormonism and Stoicism. His evaluation confirmed a lot of my own feelings on the matter. That is part of the "material" I've been gathering. I've also discovered, somewhat by accident, a list of quotations by LDS Apostle Neal A. Maxwell on the subject of the omniscience of God that elucidates the subject I am discussing.

I would like to dedicate this entry to the topic that is at the heart of this entire matter and then work around it with later posts. This is the question of "what is 'God?'" A discussion of the topic of Destiny is necessary to accompany this, because in Stoicism God and Destiny are inseparable.

I must begin a discussion of God by saying that the word "God" is mostly meaningless. When the books of the Bible were translated into the European languages, the word "God" was substituted as a blanket word for a plethora of words and phrases from the original. There is Elohim and Yahweh (Jehovah) and many others. It does not represent a single concept. Furthermore, the "God" of Mormonism does not nearly constitute the same idea as that of Stoicism. To compare the two would be a gross equivocation. One is a corporeal being of vast creative power and influence, the other an abstract conception of moving fire and reason. What I believe is important about the word is that it is the label for what the user reveres as the ultimate source of himself and the world he lives in. This being said, I am not going to even attempt to avoid using the word; just understand that when I refer to either the Mormon or Stoic God, I am not speaking of equatable concepts.

A substantial problem when discussing the God of Mormonism is that, in my opinion, it is impossible to hold a clear and consistent image of what God is based off of the scriptural accounts or testimonies of individuals. The idea of God is not understood identically by all Mormons. What I have observed is that God is understood in parts and rarely as a whole concept. Growing up, I learned that God the Father was once a man like Jesus, born into the Universe and raised out of that estate into Godhood. There is no agreement on whether he is or is not the Creator of the Universe or just a select portion of it. There is a general consensus that God is now stagnant in his perfection, but there are dissenters who believe that he continues to progress. It is agreed that it is knowledge and an incorruptible flesh that makes God a God. The Mormon God does not seem to be a being that exists outside or in any way transcend the Universe. He lives in it and is a part of it, which is (though they may deny it) a major digression from the belief of the rest of Christianity. There seems to be very little real attempt by Mormons to wrap their heads around the concept (and I suspect some may not really believe) that God is Omniscient. The concept of Omniscience is central to the topic at hand.

In the LDS literature it is said that time to God exists as an "eternal now." Past, present, and future are seen by God as an entirety. In fact, there is no past, present, or future, only the whole, the fourth dimension. This is an idea that I understand as the Block-Universe model of time. The future preexists as surely as the past. If this is true (I contend it is) then it presents serious questions over whether human agency is real. If the future already exists, then a person's actions in the future must already be decided. Where then is agency? This is an especially difficult concept for the Mormon mind because Mormons are constantly affirming the existence of their free will and the non-existence of fate. The idea of Omniscience and the "eternal now" are not generally taught and watered down when they are. The Mormon (like most Westerners) are unwillingly to give up their free will and find every excuse to avoid doing so. (Actually the giving up of free will is a topic I want to discuss in a later post). Determinism (in different terminology) is Mormon doctrine. It is also the Stoic doctrine from which all of its other doctrines rely on. However, Stoics and Mormons agree that this does not wholly negate agency. Agency exists, as Apostle Neal A. Maxwell and I independently agree upon, in the fact that we are ignorant of our futures. For a comprehensive list of quotes from the Apostle Maxwell visit this webpage. The point is, unbeknown by most Mormons, Destiny is the doctrine. It is confirmed by reason and revelation.

So back to the idea of God. I have not yet adequately described the God of Stoicism. The Stoic God is the author and mover of the Universe and Destiny. It is not something outside or a part of the Universe. It exists in the Universe and is the Universe. It is the Word, reason, the physical laws governing the Creation, fate. It would be fair, as many do, to not recognize this concept as deity at all.

It seems fair to say that the God of Mormonism's power resides in His understanding of the God of Stoicism. It is what makes Him able to govern and command the elements with perfect faith what they will and must do. He knows the laws and the plan of Destiny. The label of "God" is mostly arbitrary and really only depends, as stated earlier, what an individual reveres as his ultimate source, Destiny or the Great Commander of Destiny who was the Architect of this world.


More later.