Monday, January 1, 2024

John A. Widtsoe on the Eternal Nature of Man

  

Constitution of Man. The development of the practices of the Church follows a definite conception of the constitution of man. According to Mormon philosophy, man is an eternal, deathless spirit, inhabiting a mortal body. The spirit of man, composed of spirit materials, is an intelligent being possessed of a will—in short, an ego. The body of man, composed of materials of earth, is the instrument through which the Spirit manifest itself and operates on earth. All manifestations of human life, bodily, mental, emotional, spiritual, result from an interactions of body and spirit. The degree and direction of such interactions depend, first, upon the power of the development of the spirit, and, secondly, upon the condition of the body, which is, as it were, a veil through which the spirit must receive its earthly impressions, and make itself known to the outside world. The several normal manifestations of life are but different, graded, often overlapping, interactions of body and spirit. The many phases of man’s nature spring from the same source. (John A. Widtsoe, Program of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints [Salt Lake City: The Deseret News Press, 1937], 32-33)

 

The Body the House of the Spirit. Yet other considerations justify the care of the body as a religious requirement. The eternal spirit of man is obliged to express itself through the body. The degree of ease with which such expressions may be made depends upon the health of the body. When blood and bone, muscle and sinew, bodily organ and nerve, unction fully and properly, the body becomes most transparent to the spirit. Indeed, the spirit always functions best through a sound body. All the powers of man are but the results of the interactions of spirit and body, and mind and emotion do their best and safest work in a body which is physiologically sound. A clouded mind is an apparently healthy body is due to some abnormal physiological condition, which if removed, would restore the person to normal behavior. “By temperance and moderation lay the foundation for the development of the mind.” (Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 282.)

 

Eternal Nature of Body. One of the purposes of the coming of man upon earth is to attain a body which, associated with the spirit, will increase man’s capacity for progression. The body as known on earth is mortal, subject to death. It will be resurrected, and in its new, purified condition, will be an eternal associate of the spirit. In the life to come, body and spirit will be equally imperishable. “Spirit and element, inseparably connected, receive a fullness of joy.” (D. & C. 93:33.) The doctrine that man shall inherit his body eternally, sets up another reason for the care of the body. The experiences on earth are not transient, but impressed eternally upon the constitution of man. The eternal body inherits the sum of all personal earth experiences. Such being the case, the care of the body becomes paramount. Nothing must be done to mar the beauty or full expression of the imperishable body, which is to be man’s eternal companion. (Ibid., 36-37)

 

Personal Intelligences. The Church accepts the certain facts of science as won by patient seekers after truth, and holds in respect the changing inferences set up in the attempt to explain the increasing accumulation of facts. It does not affirm or deny the correctness of modern views regarding the ultimate nature of matter and energy; though it leans, from glimpses of revealed truth, to the doctrine of one ultimate element from which matter and energy are derived.

 

The Church does not set up, however, the doctrine that there are found in the universe personal individual intelligences. Each of these is characterized by the possession of a will, which may be used by the individual in the attempt to accomplish a definite purpose. These intelligences have the power to operate upon the other contents of the universe—matter or energy—and must be placed by the side of matter and energy as constant ingredients of the universe.

 

Such personal intelligences are found on earth. Among them are the men and women forming the human family. Personal intelligences are also found in the invisible or spirit world, and constitute the intelligent portion of the “unseen world.”

 

The Church holds therefore that the contents of the universe may be divided into two classes, personal intelligences, and the contents of the universe upon which these intelligences act. These are two universal realities. (Ibid., 191-92)


 

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