Friday, September 03, 2010

"I'm a Mormon" - What do Mormons believe about “eternal life?”

After months of waiting to see why my Mormon.org propaganda profile hasn't been approved, I finally received a response from the site's moderators. In the Frequently Asked Questions section, I choice to answer the question, "What do Mormons believe about "'eternal life?'" This is something that I have thought and written much about, so I figured it would be a fun one to answer.

I answered:

I believe that eternal life is something that can and should be achieved now in the present. Eternal life is to live and love others as God does. Too often I think we are confused in thinking that eternal life is something we must wait for, or that it is something that can only be found in another life after this. Rather, I believe that it is by following Christ's example and learning to love as He did that we find ourselves with eternal life in the present.
This apparently was not what they wanted a Mormon to say, and I got this response:

Lloyd, 
This question was primarily intended to provide nonmembers with information about what the Church teaches/believes concerning life after death, and the possibility of eternal life in God's presence. Could you please include such information in your answer along with your personal views.
Thanks for making adjustments!
So here we try again, and this time I'll try to make it clear that I am pointing out what our scripture teaches:


The scriptures teach us that eternal life is something that can and should be achieved now in the present. The Book of Mormon prophet Nephi taught in the final verses of his writings that “to believe in [Jesus], and to endure to the end, . . . is life eternal”  (2 Ne. 33:4). Nephi here does not say simply that faith in Christ and enduring to the end eventually result in eternal life, but rather that faith in Christ and the act of enduring is itself eternal life. Eternal life is to live and love others as God does. For Nephi, eternal life is something experienced in the present, and is not just a result of righteous living. It is righteous living. This equation of righteous living with eternal life by Nephi correlates with his own father’s (and brother Jacob’s) teachings that we are free to choose between eternal death and eternal life (2 Nephi 2:27-29; 10:23).

Too often we are confused in thinking that eternal life is something we must wait for, or that it is something that can only be found in another life after this. Rather,it is by following Christ's example and learning to love as He did that we find ourselves with eternal life in the present. Eternal life is not a reward for keeping God’s commandments and serving others in love, but to have eternal life is to do those things and live that kind of life.

I guess I'll just have to wait and see what happens. I'm guessing that I would have a better chance of getting this approved if I wrote about Kolob, celestial baby-making (aka S-E-X), and three kingdoms of heaven.

10 comments:

  1. I like your approach, and I actually think the expanded version is improved, so here's hoping they go with it!

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  2. Or tack on to the very end: "Mormons also usually believe that eternal life is living with God and our families forever." haha

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  3. Perhaps I should tack this on the end:

    "Mormons also usually believe that eternal life is to live immortally on a planet near the star Kolob where they will create planets and populate them with children which they will sexually reproduce. This creation of billions of spirit babies may or may not utilize heavenly polygamy--though not all Mormons agree on that. Only those who are sealed in temples will have eternal life near Kolob."

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  4. Dear Loyd,

    Please provide an answer that would comfortably fit alongside any doctrine presented within the Gospel Principles instruction manual.

    Thanks for making adjustments!

    Sincerely,

    The Mormon.org staff

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  5. It's kind of funny that they phrase the question as "what do Mormons believe", and not as "what do you believe". It makes it seem less like a personal profile page and more like an entrance exam.

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  6. Loyd, you could have made the point you want to make (which is an important one) and have added something about life hereafter (which we do believe in) without all the Kolob and baby-making stuff.

    The scriptures do teach that Eternal Life is something we seek now, but they also teach it as something fully to be had only later.

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  7. Loyd to make it go along with Gospel Primary, I mean Principles, you should add in a line something like, "In the old days, ancient Jesus wore tunics and carried a staff. Jesus in the eternities wears a suit and carries a briefcase."

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  8. Dork, what did you expect?

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  9. Loyd, holy hanna. I don't know where to start. I'll start just by agreeing with lucy. BTW, I'm pro new mormon.org site - hopefully they will approve your comment, even though I don't agree.

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