Wednesday, August 24, 2022

Steven A. Cramer (LDS) on God Having "Thoughts" and "Thinking"

LDS author Steven A. Cramer, in In His Image (1999), affirmed that God thinks. While I am not suggesting he is an Open Theist, the belief that God actually thinks (which implies a moment-by-moment existence of sorts to God) has important implications:

 

WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT GOD’S THOUGHTS

 

One of the most compelling reasons to reverence our minds and use them as God has asked us to is the way he uses his mind on our behalf. The scriptures repeatedly emphasize that even with all the things required of him to operate innumerable galaxies throughout the entire universe, the Lord continually thinks about each of our lives and needs. It’s astonishing that the God o the universe, with innumerable worlds to care for, has the interest, much less the divine capacity, to watch our individual lies and think about “the thoughts and intends of our hearts” (Alma 18;32; see also D&C 33:1; 88:109). . . . It isn’t hard to picture him thinking about the apostles and prophets, but his thoughts and attention are directed equally to the very least of us. This is true even though, in comparison to them, “I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me” for “he remembereth every creature of his creating” (Ps. 40:17; Mosiah 27:30). (Steven A. Cramer, In His Image: Finding Courage, Hope, and Confidence to Become More Christlike [American Fork, Utah: Covenant Communications, Inc., 1999], 197, italics in original)