Grasping the Concept of Eternity - A Discourse

We are immortal beings at heart. This life in a mortal, physical body is a mere dot in the vast universe which is our personal timeline, if you will. Be it a few minutes or a hundred years, this life will end. Mortality is important - vastly important - but it is a means, not an end in itself.

To believe in a God, a being who is all-powerful and all-knowing, is comforting. Believing that He created us out of nothing is rather unsettling, because if we were entirely his underlings from eternity to eternity, we could have no hope to progress like Him. He has even stated that "All that [He] hath shall be given unto [us]," according to the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood. How would we be able to receive all that He hath, which includes being co-eternal with all things, if we were not co-eternal with Him from the start?

Looking forward is a common pastime among humankind. It involves thinking about decisions made now, possibilities for the future, and perhaps at what life could be like after death, if one believes in such. It is comforting to believe that death is not the end, but also can be extremely nerve-wracking, depending on your perception of the afterlife. It makes one consider their whole being, and if they are doing anything of lasting value.

Looking backward, past our mortal history, is a less common pastime. Who or what were we before we existed as we are? Are we just creatures of some cosmic creation, or are we something more? What exactly is creation, anyway? The list of unanswered questions grows exponentially when we consider that birth was NOT our beginning, and such a belief solidifies the idea that death cannot be our ultimate end.

The prophet Joseph Smith once said, "Is it logical to say that the intelligence of spirits is immortal, and yet that it has a beginning? The intelligence of spirits had no beginning, neither will it have an end. That is good logic. That which has a beginning may have an end. There never was a time when there were not spirits."

If we take this concept as a possibility, and consider what it truly means to be eternal, we discover an idea that mortal minds simply cannot fully comprehend - perpetual existence, breaking supposed laws of physics as we understand them today. Entropy, enemy to eternity, is the target of this doctrine. If one is true, the other must needs be disproved to some extent. If something can exist eternally, it must not experience entropy, or else it has ways of counteracting entropy. If something experiences entropy as I understand it, however, then it physically cannot sustain itself eternally.

Then, there is the idea of eternal progression. Much like the universe is ever-expanding and yet not running out of energy (as of yet), so too is the intelligence of man's spirit. We are constantly learning, growing, absorbing new information and reacting to it, accepting or rejecting new ideas and opportunities that come our way. In this, the ideal is that we never stop learning, never stop growing, until we reach a point of omniscience, of perfect knowledge, where we - like God - can know and understand all things, from eternity to eternity.

This doctrine of omniscience also calls into question the idea of agency, and how much control we actually have in our own lives. I have not the time nor capacity to fully analyze this argument at this time, but I mention it because the power of choice is something we have always had, to some degree, and will always have forever. In the pre-mortal existence we had a choice to follow God's plan or rebel against it. In this life we are given effectively infinite choice, as we control our own bodies and, in this way, our own destiny.

I close with a reference to pagan belief. Some concept of eternity has always dominated the minds of mankind, and even those who do not fully understand God's ways have visualized something of eternity. The Celtic Knot, for instance, can be viewed as symbolic of eternity. One single thread, looping endlessly on its course, "one eternal round," just as God's course is said to be, never varying from its perfect path.

Of course, this is just one interpretation of the Celtic Knots. Since the originators of the design are not alive today we cannot ask them of their initial intent in creating these images, so we are left with our own ability to interpret them according to our culture and understanding.

I believe, however, that some semblance of Gospel truth exists in all things, no matter how twisted or broken it has become. I hope that all men, no matter their belief, can consider the concept of eternity, and how their lives may weave into an eternal tapestry, from unending to unending, if they accept God's wise plan of exaltation.

This document does not in any way represent the official views of the Church as a whole; it is merely the theories of my own study and personal revelation, written down in a manner suitable for presentation and future personal study.

Salvation vs Exaltation - A Doctrinal Analysis

       Salvation is the focus of nearly all of Christianity. Christ's Atonement offers Salvation to all who will accept it, "Without money and without price." Grace is His gift, and it frees us of the burden of guilt we accumulate through sin. Being "Saved" in this sense truly is as easy as accepting Jesus Christ as your savior.

So, if that is salvation, then what of principles and ordinances? Why would man be forced to follow a strict path if accepting a freely offered gift is all that is required to achieve this salvation?

In truth, man is not forced to follow a path; he is "free to choose liberty and eternal life, ... or captivity and death." What we do in this life, what we ultimately achieve, is in our own hands. In this, Salvation is but the beginning of an eternal journey. Exaltation is, or at least should be, the true purpose of life. "This is [God's] Work and ... Glory; To bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." As Salvation, and thus immortality, are freely given, He has already completed his first goal. His second, granting us eternal life, depends much more on our own choices.

If we are to understand why eternal life is so important that God has made it his goal to grant it unto us, we must first understand what it truly is. Eternal Life is more than merely living forever - that is immortality, already covered through the Atonement and Resurrection of Christ. But what is merely living? What more could there be? It is how you fill this life, how you "fulfill the measure of [your] creation," which leads to joy.

Fulfilling the measure of our creation is our ultimate purpose. For what were we created? Adam and Eve were created in God's own image to "Multiply and replenish the Earth." Raising posterity is certainly a large measure of our creation, and one of the greatest blessings of eternal life.

What else is the measure of our creation? To learn, grow and even create by ourselves. We are commanded to "Be ... Perfect, even as [Jesus and our Heavenly Father are] perfect," but how are we to attain this perfection? "Line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little." Certainly that implies the acquisition of knowledge is at least a part of our purpose for living, and the use of said knowledge is just as important, if not more so. If wisdom is the correct application and use of knowledge, then the Proverb-writer was right to proclaim its worth as "far above rubies." How we use our knowledge will ultimately determine if we are becoming perfect, and thus if we are filling the measure of our creation.

Eternal life is to fill the measure of our creation endlessly, both in this world and the world to come. This blessing can only come about if we earn it, and God has declared that it will only be available to those who achieve exaltation, the highest degree of glory in the Celestial Kingdom. To enter this kingdom, we must be able to pass its gates, and that can only come about by providing the proper signs and tokens, just as passing an earthly gate comes through providing proper identification or authority. God's kingdom is just and perfectly ordered, and thus nothing can enter in except by the way He has declared. This way is Christ, as he declared when he said "I am the way; ... No man cometh unto the Father, but by me." We need to follow Christ to get back to God, and that means far more than accepting Him as our savior - it means becoming like Him, following His example, taking upon us His name and attaining the attributes he displayed.

If Eternal Progression is reserved for those who achieve Exaltation, then what of those who do not achieve Exaltation? They who merely accept Salvation, or who do not accept Christ at all? What is the fate of these, given every chance to change both in this life and in the next, who refuse? Now, I do not claim to know their fate, but by my understanding, they are "consigned to that gulf of misery and endless woe." The "pains of a damned soul" may not be literal fire, it may not be punishment as we understand it, but in the eternal scale, it is a far worse punishment than mere pain.

Those who are unchanged by the Atonement of Christ will remain unchanged. They will not be worthy to inherit "All that [God] hath," and more than that, they will not even want to. The responsibility, the pressure, the power will be more than they can accept. They will WANT to flee God's presence, to reject the great gift He has laid before them, to find their own place of happiness. They do not progress - as such, they are damned. In fact, rather than progress, they will regress, becoming beings capable of finding happiness in their endless lives devoid of growth and change. Such a fate is unfathomable, and is true suffering to anyone with the Godly desire to grow and create.

The separation of these other groups, those not achieving exaltation, is a simple delineation.

        Those who rejected the Plan of Salvation in the pre-mortal life, who never were given the opportunity to progress because they "kept not their first estate," are cast out of heaven. These are joined by those few who in this life had gained a sure witness of the Holy Ghost, but denied its truth. These are they who openly rebelled against God, despite having a true knowledge of His character. They inherit no glory, and are called the Sons of Perdition, dwelling forever in Outer Darkness, devoid of light and life.

        Those who do not accept Salvation exist under a burden of all their guilt, suffering even as "angels to a devil," those followers of Perdition, save it be they have still "kept their first estate," attaining a physical body, and not denying a sure witness of the Holy Ghost. They are still immortal, they still have some power in a physical sense, but their progress is stopped, and they are burdened by chains of their own design. These are they who inherit the Telestial glory.

Those who accept Salvation, but refuse the signs and tokens God requires, enter a kingdom of their own. They are free of the guilt of their sins according to the Atonement, but their progression is still halted, and they do not have power and glory given to them from on high. They do not live in God's presence, and do not feel worthy to approach His throne, so they stay where they are, content with what they have achieved. These are they who inherit the Terrestrial glory.

There are those who inherit lesser degrees of the Celestial glory. These are they who follow Christ, accept Salvation, and even present the signs and tokens to enter God's presence. They have followed Him and His Son, but have fallen short of true eternal progression, as they have not entered into "The New and Everlasting Covenant of Marriage," which is required to have and maintain posterity throughout the eternities. They are servants of God, His angels and loyal children, and know incredible joy. They progress to an extent, but they cannot inherit "worlds without end," as they do not have posterity unto themselves. These are they in the first and/or second degree of the Celestial Kingdom.

Those who accept Salvation, follow Christ, present all the signs and tokens, have entered into the New and Everlasting Covenant, and are truly changed, will enter into the Third Degree of the Celestial Kingdom, the Glory of Exaltation. They will continue to progress throughout the eternities, they will have an endless posterity, inheriting "worlds without end," and ultimately know complete joy. "All that [God] hath shall be given unto them," and they will receive it with gladness.

With this greater understanding of the doctrine of Salvation and Exaltation, I hope that some confusion has been cleared up over what the difference between them is, and why Exaltation is so much more than Salvation. This document does not in any way represent the official views of the Church as a whole; it is merely the theories of my own study and personal revelation, written down in a manner suitable for presentation and future personal study.