I - Belief Series

Without trying, I have so far devoted a majority of my posts, unintentionally, to the writings of Joseph Smith. It's very easy to do - a thirty volume set will be available in the next few years chronicling every written word penned by or influenced by the man. But in addition to Joseph Smith's thoughts and testimony, there is so much more that is on my mind that I would love to lay out here. I have had it in mind for some time to create a series of posts that lay out my religious beliefs. Here are my reasons for wanting to do this:

Foundation - If this site is going to be about various thoughts about my religion from my own perspective, it might as well start with a foundation for my beliefs.

Understanding - I want to increase in some small way a general understanding of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - even if it is from a blog like this that very few will ultimately read. I have had enough experience so far to know that to be a Mormon conjures up a multitude of reactions - both positive and negative. When most people find out that I am Mormon, they leave it at that with no editorializing, leaving me to wonder what exactly they are thinking. Others are more forthcoming with their thoughts and questions. Usually those who are the most curious are all pretty religious themselves. Hopefully, those who fall into either camp will read this and come away with a better understanding of Mormonism and the beliefs that I and so many others around the world hold dear.

Former LDS friends - I'm writing this to my friends who have been members of the church, but who for varying reasons have decided to leave the church. That really is the main reason I started this blog. I hope that at least one of the them, and there are several, will stumble across this page and maybe see things through a different perspective, and re-examine their own faith ---and re-join us! We miss you.

Spread the word - Anyone who knows me well knows that I am an unapologetic advocate for my church, so I do not shy away from saying that I would love to see you or anyone else convert to my faith. I would also love to see members of my faith increase in their faith. I also seek ways to constantly increase my own personal faith. So by saying, "spread the word" I mean that it is my feeling that the truths I embrace can help you and can help the entire world.

However, I am not a salesman and I am perfectly content if you do not agree with my beliefs (see "Understanding" above). I think my non-LDS friends would never say that I push my religion on them. I speak freely of my religion, but I'm not annoying about it, and I love to learn about the faith & convictions of others, whether they be Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, etc. And I forgot atheists. They, too, I believe, are acting on faith to NOT believe in a God. They believe to not believe.

So with that, I'll begin to outline my case for what I believe. If you have strong beliefs in Mormonism or anything else, I encourage you to do the same on your own site, and please share your site with me. I'd love to check it out.

Doctrine on the mind of man

Great Joseph Smith quotes on the core LDS doctrine on immortality & matter from http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith,_Jr. ---

There is no such thing as immaterial matter. All spirit is matter, but is more fine or pure, and can only be discerned by purer eyes. We cannot see it, but when our bodies are purified, we shall see that it is all matter. --Doctrine and Covenants 131:7-8 (May 17, 1843)

[W]e shall find a very material difference between the body and the spirit; the body is supposed to be organized matter, and the spirit, by many, is thought to be immaterial, without substance. With this latter statement we should beg leave to differ, and state the spirit is a substance; that it is material, but that it is more pure, elastic and refined matter than the body; that it existed before the body, can exist in the body; and will exist separate from the body, when the body will be mouldering in the dust; and will in the resurrection, be again united with it. --Joseph Fielding Smith (editor), Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 207 (April 1, 1842)

You ask the learned doctors why they say the world was made out of nothing; and they will answer, 'Doesn't the Bible say He created the world?' And they infer, from the word create, that it must have been made out of nothing. Now, the word create came from the word baurau which does not mean to create out of nothing; it means to organize; the same as a man would organize materials and build a ship. Hence, we infer that God had materials to organize the world out of chaos—chaotic matter, which is element, and in which dwells all the glory. Element had an existence from the time he had. The pure principles of element are principles which can never be destroyed; they may be organized and re-organized, but not destroyed. They had no beginning, and can have no end. . . . [T]he mind of man—the immortal spirit. Where did it come from? All learned men and doctors of divinity say that God created it in the beginning; but it is not so: the very idea lessens man in my estimation. I do not believe the doctrine; I know better. Hear it, all ye ends of the world; for God has told me so . . . We say that God himself is a self-existent being. Who told you so? It is correct enough; but how did it get into your heads? Who told you that man did not exist in like manner upon the same principles? Man does exist upon the same principles. God made a tabernacle and put a spirit into it, and it became a living soul. . . . How does it read in the Hebrew? It does not say in the Hebrew that God created the spirit of man. It says 'God made man out of the earth and put into him Adam's spirit, and so became a living body.' The mind or the intelligence which man possesses is [co-eternal] with God himself. I know that my testimony is true . . . Is it logical to say that the intelligence of spirits is immortal, and yet that it had a beginning? The intelligence of spirits had no beginning, neither will it have an end. That is good logic. That which has a beginning may have an end. There never was a time when there were not spirits; for they are [co-eternal] with our Father in heaven. . . . I take my ring from my finger and liken it unto the mind of man—the immortal part, because it has no beginning. Suppose you cut it in two; then it has a beginning and an end; but join it again, and it continues one eternal round. So with the spirit of man. As the Lord liveth, if it had a beginning, it will have an end. All the fools and learned and wise men from the beginning of creation, who say that the spirit of man had a beginning, prove that it must have an end; and if that doctrine is true, then the doctrine of annihilation would be true. But if I am right, I might with boldness proclaim from the house-tops that God never had the power to create the spirit of man at all. God himself could not create himself. --History of the Church 6:308-309