Mormon Theology and Cosmology

By RE CASTEL

Some of the things I am presenting here border on the speculative. Many of the ideas presented here can be said as no longer essential to the obtaining of the divinely offered salvation and exaltation. However, I am delving into what may be considered the much higher and deeper views regarding Mormon theology and cosmology, which might be interesting to the people who allow themselves the privilege of thinking earnestly about the mysteries of God and of the existence as a whole. I am inspired by the hope that the ideas I am presenting here will also serve to glorify God our Father and promote the gospel of the Lord. I am enlivened by the hope that what I am presenting here in terms of what I perceive to be LDS theology and cosmology may actually help us draw nearer to God if we allow ourselves the earnest hearts.

It is a fact that the Prophet Joseph Smith taught the idea of an infinite hierarchy of gods. The Prophet taught the penetrating idea that God our Father himself has a father, and his father has a father, and so on ad infinitum, all of them being gods in their own right. And all these gods are part of the infinite hierarchy of gods. Conceivably, all the gods in the hierarchy of the gods abide by the same law by which they govern all existence.

Thus, there is the idea that there is an infinite hierarchy of gods that rule over all of the existence together as One God. There is one and only one all-encompassing existence, and there is one and only one infinite and eternal hierarchy of gods that rule as One God over the all-encompassing existence. And so, there is no escaping the rule of the grand order of the gods.

Now, according to the scriptures, we ourselves as offspring of God are in line towards becoming "joint-heirs" with our Lord Jesus Christ if we prove ourselves worthy of the exaltation. Thus, if adjudged worthy, we will become gods alongside our Lord Jesus Christ, and hence we will become gods who will be in perfect unity with the grand order of the gods. The supporting idea to this is that God is all-powerful and is therefore able to make gods out of us according to his promises which are written in the scriptures and faithfully declared by the prophets.

Considering the idea that we, if worthy, will become joint-heirs with the Lord and also the idea of the "continuation of seeds forever and ever" as promised to Abraham and to all those who obtain the eternal covenant with God, then it is imaginable that we will eventually have our own spirit children as did God our Father. And our spirit children will then be the next generation of those who will be admitted to a plan of salvation and happiness that is similar to the one that we entered into.

The above idea is in-keeping with what has been revealed to the prophets, God our Father was once the spirit offspring of his own father; and God our Father became our Father who begat the Lord Jesus Christ as his Firstborn and subsequently begat all of us who are also his offspring.

Thus, as revealed to the prophets regarding man's pre-mortal existence, mortal existence and post-mortal existence, we were the sons (the children) of God who shouted for joy in the heavens when the foundations of the world were laid (Job 38:4-7); we were the angels of God, the stars of heaven in that first estate, of whom a third were fallen from heaven because they rebelled against God and joined Lucifer who became Satan (Revelation 12:4, 7-9); we in this second estate are the two thirds of the angels of heaven who fought for and embraced God's plan of salvation and who now in this mortal estate obtain the bodies of flesh and bones, which will eventually be resurrected and restored with our spirits for the immortal and eternal post-mortal existence in our final eternal estate. And depending on our performance here in this mortal estate, we will either become mere servants to the gods in the final estate or become gods as joint-heirs with our Lord.

Mormon theology presents the idea of the infinite progression of gods begetting gods, the infinite and continuing begetting of spirit children, which are eventually provided with bodies of flesh and bones and given the decisive and determining experience of good and evil, which will provide the basis for the judgments into the eventual immortal and final everlasting existence.

To sum up the main idea of Mormon theology, the Prophet Joseph Smith very clearly preached the plurality of gods and the infinite hierarchy of gods. We are taught that we answer to the one God who is our Father and to the one Lord who is our Savior Jesus Christ. And this is according to the scripture that says "there be gods many, and lords many. . . But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him" (1 Corinthians 8: 4-7). The details regarding the profound "gods many, and lords many" idea are not discussed as much because these are not given the same urgency that is necessary in the saving of the souls of mankind which is the work of the ministry at hand.

Regarding the cosmology for the theology given above, the Prophet Joseph Smith preached the idea of an infinite hierarchy of worlds in the cosmos. The writings of Abraham [Abraham 3: 2-3, 6, 8, 10, 12-13, 16] read as follows:

And I saw the stars, that they were very great, and that one of them was nearest unto the throne of God; and there were many and great ones which were near unto it;
And the Lord said unto me: These are the governing ones; and the name of the great one is Kolob, because it is near unto me, for I am the Lord thy God: I have set this one to govern all those which belong to the same order as that upon which thou standest.

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And the lord said unto me: Now, Abraham, these two facts exist, behold thine eyes see it; it is given unto thee to know the times of reckoning , and the set time , yea, the set time of the earth upon which thou standest, and the set time of the greater light which is set to rule the day, and the set time of the lesser light which is set to rule the night.
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And where these two facts exist, there shall be another fact above them, that is, there shall be another planet whose reckoning of time shall be longer still.
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And it is given unto thee to know the set time of all the stars that are set to give light, until thou come near unto the throne of God.
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And he said unto me: My son, my son (and his hand was stretched out), behold I will show you all these. And he put his hand upon mine eyes, and I saw those things which his hands have made, which were many; and they multiplied before mine eyes, and I could not see the end thereof.
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And he said unto me: This is Shinehah, which is the sun. And he said unto me: Kokob, which is star. And he said unto me: Olea, which is the moon. And he said unto me: Kokaubeam, which signifies stars, or all the great lights, which where in the firmament of heaven.
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If two things exist, and there be one above the other, there shall be greater things above them. . .

The above passages indicate that the hierarchical order of the cosmos and the hierarchical times of reckoning set in the cosmic hierarchy were divinely made known to Abraham.

From an explanation given for a facsimile from the Book of Abraham, it is stated that the various stars or planets borrow or receive light according to the revolutions of the governing stars and/or planets (or cosmic systems) in the cosmic hierarchy. By these I understand that the various stars or planets are fed and sustained in their particulate or tangible and glorified existence by the revolutions (or relative motions) of the cosmic systems.

I understand that there is an infinite cosmic hierarchy in the which the various cosmic systems are accorded their revolutions; the idea of hierarchic infinity supports the idea that each cosmic system has the relative motions towards infinite directions around it, such that each cosmic system is fed the relative motions that render and sustain its particulate or kinematic tangibility and also allow it to gain momentum (cosmic mass-energy), which is however balanced by the fissions and relative expansions in the infinite cosmic hierarchy and in the which the fundamental particles are quantized with the quantum of energy that is according to the various particle types.

What is being described above in terms of the physics is essentially the idea of the field. But here we have the idea of a kinematic field, the field of motions, wherein the kinematic vectors (the relative motions) that render the quantum definitions are provided by the revolutions of the cosmic systems in the infinitely hierarchical cosmos.

Another relevant revelation given to the Prophet Joseph Smith [D&C 88:6-13, 41] reads as follows:

He that ascended up on high, as also he descended below all things, in that he comprehended all things, that he might be in all and through all things, the light of truth;

Which truth shineth. This is the light of Christ. As also he is in the sun, and the light of the sun, and the power thereof by which it was made.

As also he is in the moon, and is the light of the moon, and the power thereof by which it was made;

As also the light of the stars, and the power thereof by which they were made;

And the earth also, and the power thereof, even the earth upon which you stand.

And the light which shineth, which giveth you light, is through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your understandings;

Which light proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space—

The light which is in all things, which giveth life to all things, which is the law by which all things are governed, even the power of God who sitteth upon his throne, who is in the bosom of eternity, who is in the midst of all things.

The above passages refer to and describe the light or eternal law – i.e., the eternal physics – that sustains and governs the cosmos within the infinite immensity of space.

Now, as may be understood from the ideas already presented and from the scriptures quoted above and the various pronouncements from the latter-day prophets, it is apparent that Mormon theology and cosmology involve mainly the following ideas that include a number of ideas that are piercing implications derived from the revelations to the prophets.

• There is an infinite number of the gods in a hierarchy that rules over all existence as One God;



• God our Father is one of the infinite number of gods in the hierarchy of gods that rules over all existence as One God;



• God our Father is an embodied immortal being;



• The resurrected Lord Jesus Christ is an embodied immortal being;



• The infinite hierarchy of gods unceasingly continue with the process of begetting gods in the whole of the infinite existence;



• The process of the begetting of gods by the already existing gods in the hierarchy involves the organization or the bringing forth of new spirit entities from the eternal and infinite chaos and also from the depths of the consciousness of the gods into the eternal and infinite cosmos – the abstractions and corporealizations caused by the gods bring forth the cosmic existence of new spirit entities;



• God our Father is in the cosmos – the great star Kolob being nearest to the throne of God our Father;



• God our Father owns a part of the infinite cosmos as his dominion amongst the gods, which dominion has a governing star called Kolob that governs a multitude of other stars and planets that includes the earth upon which we now stand;



• All the gods are in the cosmos, and all of the other gods have their dominions in the infinite cosmos;



• The dominion of the greater gods include the dominions of other gods, in so much as there are gods who are gods over other gods as suggested by the scriptures that clearly state that "God is a God of gods…";



• There is the eternal and infinite realm of cosmos, which is the glorified material existence, and also the eternal and infinite realm of chaos, which is the dark and void existence – the cosmos and the chaos comprise the substance of existence;



• The gods obtain from the dark voidness of the chaos the fundamentally existing primordial component (in the form of dark energy, the chaotic voided motions) that they use for the creation of the tangible cosmic mass-energy that then become integrated into the cosmos;



• There is a continuous composing of cosmic mass-energy out of the chaotic or dark energy of the chaos, and these composed cosmic mass-energy become the materials organized by the gods to create new worlds – and this is where the genesis formula provides the scientific support by its suggestion of the continuous formation of cosmic mass-energy into the cosmos out of the chaotic void-energy from the chaos;



• There is the infinite space having a volumetric dimension that contains the cosmos and the chaos that comprise the substance of existence;



• The essence of motion renders kinematic definitions to the substance of existence;



• There is also the time dimension that is the abstract dimension through which we have the temporal duration or passage of the overall instance of existence;



• With our understanding of the fundamental principles, especially the idea of the essence of intelligence as having the input-process-output capabilities in both the realm of phenomena and the realm of noumena, we are now readily enlightened by the teachings of the prophets regarding the idea that there is intelligence in all things (both the things that act and the things that are merely acted upon) and regarding the idea that God's 'power and influence', the light of truth, subsists in all things and permeates all things in the cosmos.

In sum, according to what I understand, there is one totality of the existence with the fundamental aspects of an infinite time and an infinite space, wherein an infinite realm of cosmos and an infinite realm of chaos always existed, with the infinite cosmos continually growing according to a continuous cosmic mass-energy creation fed by chaotic energy from the dark voidness of the chaos. According to what I understand, the embodied gods exist and reside in the cosmos; these gods belong to an infinite hierarchy of gods that together rule over all the infinite cosmos, with each god having his own cosmic dominion. The gods beget gods, and thus become gods over gods in the infinite hierarchy and with each god’s dominion ever increasing as the gods ascend according to the order in the hierarchy of the gods. The glorified dominions of the gods grow without compulsory means according to the fundamental continuous cosmic creation fed by the inexhaustible chaos of the void. And thus, evidently, the fundamental realities exist without compulsory means or cause; space and time are eternal; the cosmos always existed; the chaos always existed; the infinite order of gods always existed; the laws by which the gods govern all existence always existed; the cosmos is ever-growing and is fed by the fundamentally existing energy from the inexhaustible chaos; the immortal gods perpetually multiply; and the immortal worlds are perpetually multiplied.

Thus, unique from all the ideas propounded by all the other Christian churches, Mormon theology and cosmology propounds that there are many gods, that the gods beget gods, and that the cosmos grows. Distinctively, Mormon doctrine propounds that there is an infinite number of gods who are the governors of the infinite cosmos and the sentinels who guard the gates towards immortality – but that, to us, there is one God, who is our Father, and one Lord, who is our Savior.

Now, please mind, because there are so many ideas that are merely implied by the ideas that are supported by revelations, clarifications on which ones are merely suggested by and are not directly supported by revelations are rather difficult. I actually have difficulty believing that the ideas that I seem to have discovered first, like the fundamental self-existing principles and the genesis formula, were not understood by the prophets.

At this point, if any of the ideas presented here are contrary to the revealed truth, let me just say that I am ever ready to submit to authority and will humbly stand corrected on whichever idea is clearly shown to be contrary to the revealed truth.