altersteve Posted December 5, 2011 Posted December 5, 2011 We all know that in LDS doctrine all living things were created spiritually before they were created physically, and that all living things have spirits and will be resurrected. Does this only include human beings and animals, or does it literally mean all living things and include plants as well? Is there an official LDS position on this?
Gohan Posted December 5, 2011 Posted December 5, 2011 (edited) I was wondering the same thing the other day when I came across this passage in my reading.Moses 3:99 And out of the ground made I, the Lord God, to grow every tree, naturally, that is pleasant to the sight of man; and man could behold it. And it became also a living soul. For it was spiritual in the day that I created it; for it remaineth in the sphere in which I, God, created it, yea, even all things which I prepared for the use of man; and man saw that it was good for food. And I, the Lord God, planted the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and also the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Edited December 5, 2011 by Gohan
TAO Posted December 5, 2011 Posted December 5, 2011 (edited) Here is some stuff from the D&C that may help you =).http://lds.org/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/77.2?lang=eng#1Q. What are we to understand by the four beasts, spoken of in the same verse?A. They are afigurative expressions, used by the Revelator, John, in describing bheaven, the cparadise of God, the dhappiness of man, and of beasts, and of creeping things, and of the fowls of the air; that which is spiritual being in the likeness of that which is temporal; and that which is temporal in the likeness of that which is spiritual; the espirit of man in the likeness of his person, as also the spirit of the fbeast, and every other creature which God has created.Hope this helps =D.-TAO Edited December 5, 2011 by TAO
altersteve Posted December 5, 2011 Author Posted December 5, 2011 So every living thing has a spirit? Trees will be resurrected?
blackstrap Posted December 5, 2011 Posted December 5, 2011 If there is a vote,I vote against mosquitos...
Freedom Posted December 5, 2011 Posted December 5, 2011 I cannot find any qualifiers in the scriptures that exclude any living organisms.
Pandorian Posted December 5, 2011 Posted December 5, 2011 Interesting question. I have wondered this myself. How much 'spirit' do you need to have to have consciousness? How much conscience do you need to have to be accountable for doing good or evil? If all plants are 'resurrect-able', and considering space considerations, will there be enough space for all the grass on this Earth, or is there a 'grass heaven' for obedient grasses?
blackstrap Posted December 5, 2011 Posted December 5, 2011 I am considering a termite theory of spirit. In a termite colony the queen is a central control of all other members of the colony.To destroy a colony all that is needed is to destroy the queen and the rest of the termites quickly shut down. Perhaps some organisms are just extensions of a great center and as such there is no need for an individual resurrection. I now return you to regular speculation.
cdowis Posted December 5, 2011 Posted December 5, 2011 The scriptures make it clear that the earth itself has a spirit -- has been baptized, will be resurrected.
Calm Posted December 5, 2011 Posted December 5, 2011 I am considering a termite theory of spirit. In a termite colony the queen is a central control of all other members of the colony.To destroy a colony all that is needed is to destroy the queen and the rest of the termites quickly shut down. Perhaps some organisms are just extensions of a great center and as such there is no need for an individual resurrection. I now return you to regular speculation.I have a geologist friend who use such an idea to deal with the concept of no death prior to the Fall (death being defined as the separation of the spirit from the body). He saw some life forms, such as plants as appendages to the earth, similar to hair, skin, etc. When hair or skin dies, it does not indicate the death of the body, often such things signify growth instead. This, of course, assumes the earth itself has a spirit.
bu11fr0g Posted December 5, 2011 Posted December 5, 2011 The scriptures make it clear that the earth itself has a spirit -- has been baptized, will be resurrected.I don't know of this in the scriptures. reference please.
Nofear Posted December 5, 2011 Posted December 5, 2011 This is a list of quotes on the subject compiled by an ex-Mormon: animal resurrectionSource not-with-standing, the list is fair. Some of the commentary at the end is worth at least a modicum of thought if one wishes to speculate on the issue in my opinion (some are easily addressed).If all animal life will be resurrected, then heaven will be populated not only with our pet dogs, our ponies, and the robins whose song we enjoy, but also the flies, the gnats, the bats, the rats, the tapeworms, the sharks, the amoebas, even the bacteria - all the millions of species, each with its millions of individuals that have existed since the beginning of life on earth. Does that really sound like a heaven where one would want to be?Will the many chickens, hogs, steers, and trout whose parts have nourished me by passing through my digestive system receive "new bodies," or will their resurrected life be in a body reconstituted from that body which I and my table-mates partly utilized as energy and partly sent to the sewer system as waste?Predatory animals by their very nature prey upon other animals. For them, "eternal felicity" would be to be able to continue their predation. But what about the "eternal felicity" of their prey? A shark is an efficient hunter and eater of flesh, as are most predatory animals. The alleged "Intelligent Designer" did a good job in designing a killing machine. Can a shark (or a lion, or an alligator) be a happy eater of foliage?Of course I would perhaps like to have my beloved dogs in heaven with me, but over the years I have had quite a few. I wouldn't want that many dogs living with me here on earth - why would I want so many in heaven?What about the dinosaurs, the wooly mammoths, who are very large? Will there be enough room in heaven for the billions of creatures that have wandered the earth during the millions of years since life began here (every thing that ever lived!)?Which kingdom of heaven will the animals be assigned to (the celestial, terrestrial, or telestial)? One would assume that pets will go with their former owner, wherever the owner ends up. But is that fair to the pets, to base their eternal placement on the actions of their owner? And what about non-domestic animals? Of course in the top kingdoms we would like pleasant animals such as songbirds. Will cockroaches all be sent to the lowest kingdom?For my own personal opinion... I believe in animal resurrection and believe that celestial society will be replete with animals. I don't believe in the ressurection of "low" life forms but really don't know where to draw the line. Our current mortal physiology is intimately tied to microbial life and it is entirely necessary for our mortal bodies. Does that remain true with a resurrected body? I suspect not. Does that mean there won't be microbial life in the celestial realms? I suspect there will be at some level but I'm also comfortable with the idea of non-immortal microbial "life". In the end, we really have no idea.
Deborah Posted December 5, 2011 Posted December 5, 2011 If mosquitoes are resurrected maybe they go to Outer Darkness with the resurrected Sons of Perdition.It is an interesting question and it seems like the purpose of some life forms is only to feed others or to cause affliction on man. Hard to think of them being resurrected to any kingdom of glory even if they fulfill their purpose.
mbh26 Posted December 5, 2011 Posted December 5, 2011 If mosquitoes are resurrected maybe they go to Outer Darkness with the resurrected Sons of Perdition.Now you're talking. But if our resurrected bodies don't have blood, will mosquitoes be that much of a bother? I know the resurrection of all living things seems too infinite to be possible, but it all seems perfectly feasible to me. I even believe there are things that are not even possible for God, but resurrecting every living thing is not one of them from my perspective.
Freedom Posted December 5, 2011 Posted December 5, 2011 It is easy to see the difficulty when we perceive reality through our limited understanding and capacity to comprehend the real world around us. Since we don't even understand what causes life or for that matter, how our earth even functions it is naive to judge the condition of life in the eternities. It was not too long ago that humans 'knew' that the earth was flat because this is how they perceived it. Particle physicists accept that time can move both forward and backwards and they suggest that we only have difficulty with this because of our limited ability to perceive time and space. We understand, sort of, how the spirit and body work together with our own species but we should not apply the same rules to other organisms such as grass and bacteria. The argument about predatory animals is misguided in my opinion. Animals are only predatory when they are threatened and when they hungry. After a lion has eaten, an antelope could walk right up to it and the lion would not attack. If there is no fear and no need to eat, there would be no desire to hunt and attack. They would move on to a higher level of existence and on to different needs.
thesometimesaint Posted December 5, 2011 Posted December 5, 2011 I don't know how far up or down the food chain the Resurrection will pertain to. Here on this earth plants don't do well without the bacteria that convert nitrogen in the air to a form usable to plants.
Nofear Posted December 5, 2011 Posted December 5, 2011 If there is no fear and no need to eat, there would be no desire to hunt and attack. They would move on to a higher level of existence and on to different needs.We know human ressurected beings can eat mortal bread and fish. Do resurrected beings need to eat at all? If not, why would the emminitely efficient celestial realms even bother with the capacity in resurrected bodies? Do resurrected lions have teeth made to tear and rend muscle tissue or do they acquire molars for grinding plant tissue? Do resurrected bodies usually eat other resurrected bodies or are there vast farms of mortal plants and mortal animals for consumption by the immortalized?The point being here is not to answer any of the questions but to more bluntly expose our vast ignorance about the economy of the heavens. Giving that tremendous paucity of knowledge I personally am much more comfortable with softer statements like animal resurrection exists but we don't know at what level it will occur as opposed to more dogmatic statements like all life will be resurrected -- we may not know how but only that God will because he can. Such extreme positions make me uncomfortable.
Diggerdan60 Posted December 5, 2011 Posted December 5, 2011 (edited) I have definitely heard the teachings that all living things have a spirit, but I have never been taught that just because things have a spirit that they will necessary be resurrected. God’s work is to bring to pass the eternal life of Man. The scriptures say nothing of lower life forms. While I believe that it will be possible to populate the heavens with created life forms, I believe it is unlikely that every living thing will be resurrected. Correct me if I am wrong, but I do not believe there are any teachings that insinuate anything other than all men will be resurrected. Edited December 5, 2011 by Diggerdan60
Peppermint Patty Posted December 6, 2011 Posted December 6, 2011 It would be hard to share the Celestial Kingdom with leeches. I vote againt leeches.
TAO Posted December 6, 2011 Posted December 6, 2011 Guys, resurrected beings aren't carnivores, as far as I know... or at least the animals aren't =P. Remember, lion besides lamb, babe next to... I'm forgetting what =P. I could be very wrong though =P. But I'm not sure XD.
MShana Posted December 6, 2011 Posted December 6, 2011 This is obvious that all livung things have spirits.They can hear us, feel us. It's a well known fact that plants grow better when you talk to them or sing. I use that technique at home with my cactus and it works!
altersteve Posted December 6, 2011 Author Posted December 6, 2011 This is obvious that all livung things have spirits.They can hear us, feel us. It's a well known fact that plants grow better when you talk to them or sing. I use that technique at home with my cactus and it works!Mythbusters actually proved this isn't true. Plants grow better when you talk or sing to them because you're breathing CO2 on them, and the more CO2 plants get, the faster and better they grow. Not because they can hear you.
Nofear Posted December 6, 2011 Posted December 6, 2011 Guys, resurrected beings aren't carnivores, as far as I know... or at least the animals aren't =P. Remember, lion besides lamb, babe next to... I'm forgetting what =P. I could be very wrong though =P. But I'm not sure XD.Quite agreed. Nonetheless it remains true that resurrected beings are capable of either metabolizing or at the very least chewing meat.
thesometimesaint Posted December 6, 2011 Posted December 6, 2011 altersteve.True up to a point. Beyond that point increased CO2 actually hurts plants.http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/10/23/crop-scientists-now-fret-about-heat-not-just-water/
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