works in progress – Page 8

JQuery Hovering Footnotes

January 30, 2011/74 Comments/in Uncategorized, works in progress/by MormonBox

I have a number of articles with footnotes ^[1] that I wanted to post to my site, but I didn’t want to reformat them all and manually add the needed html. So I tried a number of footnote plugins like FD Footnotes, Footnotes for WordPress, WP-Footnotes and the YAFootnotes ^[2] Plugin, but none of them were exactly what I wanted.

I wanted a footnote plugin that would dynamically display the footnotes when you hovered or mouseovered the footnote link^[3]. I also wanted to be able to put the footnote text either inline OR at the bottom and have the plugin dynamically put them together at the end of the article. So I pulled together some of the work from YaFootnotes by stratos, as well as this great javascript code combined with this (both using jQuery).

Usage

In order to use the plugin just add double braces around the footnote link like this {1}^[4], and then add corresponding double bracketed numbers around the actual footnote. [1]My Footnote[1] (except double of course).

Look very closely at the below ‘Footnotes Test’ example image. At least half of the questions I get from people who cant get the plugin to work right, are because they are not formatting properly with TWO curly braces around the footnote link and TWO brackets around the footnote number before AND after the footnote text. (SEE EXAMPLE). It bassically follows the format of YaFootnotes. You would enter your footnotes according to the following format into the wordpress editor.

Then the php script reformats the code to spit out the following html in your page.

Which the browser then interprets with the javascript to add the dynamic popup. The plugin is also nice because you can put the footnote text either inline (right after the link), or at the bottom all together. Either way, the php code will parse it out of the body and stick them all together in a list in the footer. Then it uses jQuery to pull the footnote text out of the footer and dynamically stick it into the hoverbox so the user doesn’t have to go down to the footnote to read it (and so you don’t have to type it twice).

Also note, the ‘return to text’ symbol right now is just the ansi $crarr, but you could easily swap this out for a little image or just the words ‘back’. I will likely get around to adding this to the GUI some time^[5], so you don’t have to delve into the php file to do it.

Also be aware that the plugin does reference jquery, as well as its own small javascript and css file. If you would like to make changes to the pop-up styling, you can do so in the css file. Also, if you are concerned with these 3 files loading on each page, you could cut and paste the css into your theme style sheet and then comment out the load reference in the main php file. I plan on adding the capability in the back end to disable the loading of these external files and the dynamic popup capabilities that the files provide.

Download it here.

If you have a feature request you can leave a comment below, or if things are busy for me you may have better luck by dropping a small donation to encourage me to help. (Or if you love the plugin and just want to say thanks)

I actually have footnotes hidden in my blog, but if I didnt this is how the footnote list would look here at the bottom of the page. (and the links would work right)

Footnotes (↵ returns to text)

Such as this one.↵
I liked YaFootnotes because it was so simple and had very compact code↵
Like a lot of the jQuery footnote packages I’v seen out there.↵
I cant put double braces here, or it would become a footnote, and I didnt want to go to the work of making a picture of an individual example. So please just picture double braces and brackets instead of the single ones you see here.↵
This is a work in progress.↵

Protected: Background to ‘Book of Mormon Archaeology Unearthed’

December 17, 2010/in works in progress/by MormonBox

The Priesthood and the Power of Oneness

November 29, 2010/in Insights & Ramblings, works in progress/by MormonBox

A Philosophical Foundation
Each world cycle is composed of two parts. A dividing era, and a unifying era. A fall/division and a redemption/at-one-ment. Our source and our destination is oneness. Before this world was, we were one with God (in a sense), and all who take part in the redemption are seeking to bring all intelligence back into that oneness. So how is this accomplished?

I think the best way to see it is to take a lesson from nature… A snowflake, as well as most minerals, need a “seed”, or nucleus around which to grow. Most scientists believe that particles of dust provide this nucleus for snow. Once water coalesces around the dust particle, it freezes and begins to grow in a fractal (see Wikipedia) pattern. The formation is a chain-reaction which pulls water from the air to grow the snow flake. It is somewhat of a miracle that somehow each part of the flake knows how to grow perfectly symmetrically. The same is true for a diamond. Once a nucleus forms, the mineral continues to grow bigger and bigger in a perfectly symmetrical crystal lattice. And somehow every atom that is incorporated into that diamond follows the same form and habit (shape) of the nucleus.

The point of all this is that Christ is our nucleus and the priesthood is the magical power that makes the mineral and the snowflake grow, and do so in perfect symmetry, harmony and purity. It might be said that it is the power “to officiate in Gods name”, but this is trivial. The temporal ordinances of the Gospel have only one purpose, and that is to bring us to Christ (or in other words to bring us into a unity of the faith with Christ). Every temporal aspect of the gospel, or “Aaronic” aspect of the priesthood has the purpose of pulling chaotic intelligence from the earth and giving it a “like-mind” with our nucleus so that we can be assimilated into his body. Just as we eat food that we might assimilate it into our bodies, and we symbolically eat Christ’s flesh and blood that we might be one with his Spirit, the purpose of all the sacraments is to make us like Christ so at some point we might be fit food, that Christ may eat us and we may be one with his body. He is the vine and we are the fruit. His goal is to draw intelligence to himself to be connected totally and equally in mind and spirit and even to a lesser extent in body.

If you picture the Solar system, and Christ is in the center of the sun and is a mineral composed of pure energized hydrogen. We could then compare the planets to dispensational heads. The Sun constantly exerts two forces on all matter in the solar system. One is a gentle gravitational pull toward itself. The other is a constant solar wind blowing non-massive (unfit) material out toward the Oort cloud. We could then compare “the devil” to an oppositely polarized comet that spends most of its time out in the darkness of the universe. When the comet comes far enough into the solar system, its opposing polarity causes both the planets and the sun to “eject” masses of matter which are too strongly polarized to stay “at one” with the bodies they come from. They may separate and become planets of their own, or they may fly out of the solar body (system) completely to become comets or chaotic masses of stellar dust. In this example, lets call the seemingly opposing forces of gravity and the solar wind the priesthood. The priesthood of the sun governs what matter is attracted to the sun and what matter is repulsed. The priesthood of the planets does likewise for themselves, at the same time being controlled and even powered by the sun in a way a bit too complicated to explain here. (In essence a charged particle traveling through an alternating magnetic field creates its own alternating magnetic field, etc). So just as with the mineral and the snow flake, this mystical “priesthood” power is the force that allows these stellar bodies to attract “like-minded” aspects of stellar matter unto themselves to continue their own growth.

So in summery, I think the best definition of the priesthood is that found in D&C 84:19. It is the power holding “the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God”. Or perhaps better put, “the key of the intelligence of God”. It is the power to make your mind & spirit (intelligence) like and one with God’s mind and spirit (intelligence). And when that occurs, your body will follow suite and become like God’s as well, which is exaltation and eternal life. This is the Heavenly City or Zion spoken of in the scriptures where all men are one, and there are no rich or poor among them.

There are other more trivial aspect of the priesthood such as the organizational characteristics of the ‘Government of God’ (see John Taylor’s book with the same name for some good material on this). Additionally there are many who refer to the Power of God as manifest in the Gifts of the Spirit as the “power” of the priesthood (see this article for more on this distinction).

The Divisions of the Priesthood
Now a second point to make in reference to “the priesthood of all believers”. Remember there are two main divisions of the priesthood in the Church (even though as Joseph Smith said, “all priesthood is Melchizedek” or all priesthood is just a different manifestation of the same power). One is Temporal or Aaronic and one is the Spiritual or Melchizedek. I believe this distinction is an earthly shadow of a heavenly principle; being that there are two main divisions of the priesthood as seen from the perspective of a “king and priest” in heaven. There is an earthly priesthood and a heavenly priesthood. The lower is held and administered by the church on earth, the other is held and administered by the church in heaven. The lower earthly priesthood, of course, is governed by the higher heavenly priesthood. Just as the local or central high council (twelve) give bishops a large degree of autonomy, so also does the heavenly priesthood give the earthly one, while at the same time just as the general authorities are really the ones who have any control in which direction the church goes as a whole, so also is only the heavenly priesthood really in control of which direction human history goes.

And here is the big point I wanted to make in the previous article… the priesthood in heaven governs more than the Mormon Church. It governs the secular and religious affairs of the whole earth. The higher one gets in the heavens (third degree of celestial kingdom for instance), the more power the priesthood (both male and female) has to govern the affairs of beings below them (including the earth), BUT the less likely they are to do so in trivial ways. The higher a being is, the more power to influence they have, but the more respect they have for agency and self determination and so the less they exert that power on others.

Priesthood Apostacy
Now in regard to the quote of “the 1,400 years of priesthood privation and absence of divine authority”. This is a difficult thing to discuss. I believe on my mission my view of things was fairly dogmatic, following pretty closely with what I read in McKonkie’s Mormon Doctrine. I believed the “truth” was taken off the earth within the first four hundred years or so after Christ and that the Catholic Church was devoid of all authority and was perhaps even the “church of the devil” mentioned in Nephi’s vision. However, the more I read about the apostasy and then prayed for understanding, the more it seemed that there was so much more to it. I believe a first big step toward understanding is seeing and studying the parallel between the Times of Israel and the Times of the Gentiles (see my article here on it). A statement such as “the priesthood was taken from the earth for X years” is true, but only in the context it is usually trying to convey, which is that a certain level of the portion of the priesthood given to Both Abraham and Peter was taken from the general assembly of both Israel and the Christian/Catholic Church at the time of Moses (~1500 BC) and Justinian (~500 AD) respectively. We might simplistically generalize that the “Melchizedek” priesthood was taken from Israel at the time of Moses as also it was taken from the Christian Church at the corresponding time of Justinian. Although true as a simplified statement, a closer look at even that statement begs the question, “Do you mean that Elijah, who held the binding power to seal on earth and heaven, and was translated to heaven without tasting death only had the lower or Aaronic Priesthood? I would dare say not. I would say that many prophets such as Elijah, Daniel, Lehi and others held a form of the higher priesthood comparable to what we call today the “Melchizedek” Priesthood, even though it was not available to Israel at large because of thier wickedness and apostasy.

So also I ask, “where did they get it?” Most of those individuals were not descendants of Aaron and so should not have even had right to the Aaronic or Levitical Priesthood. But they were a member of the house of faith and chosen seed, and thus by their purity they were given great power by God and might I suggest that like John they were “ordained by [an] angel of God at the time he was eight days old unto this power” (D&C 84:28). Is this an example of the “priesthood for all believers”? Well, to argue for or against that you have to dive into definitions and semantics which always lead one in circles. The Catholic Church has been debating the protestants for years on this issue (see here.. and here ) and the truth is that the doctrine like all dogmas approximates the truth, but the truth is what it is and can only be fully known when it is revealed by the spirit. God respects his lower earthly priesthood. But there also is a higher heavenly priesthood organization with the authority to give power to whom they will. But God’s house is a house of order even through to some mortal’s eyes it may seem like giving people like Elijah or Lehi or Joseph Smith a higher priesthood was out of order, at some point we will see how it all followed the proper order after all.

As I mentioned in another article.. Jesus submitted to John’s priesthood, even though “being without” priesthood (from the Jews perspective), he was greater than John’s priesthood. This is the lesson that the author of Hebrews is trying to get across when in Heb 7:14 he says, “For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Juda; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood”. In fact, this is likely a reason why many of the Jews accepted John the Baptist and not Christ. John was the son of a/the High Priest. He was a direct descendant of Aaron and a legitimate heir to the priesthood. The orthodox Jews were waiting for a great “prophet” and just as Catholics believe any great reformer must be part of the Catholic Priesthood and many Mormons believe that any prophet must be part of our high priesthood, so also many Jews undoubtedly believed the promised “Prophet” and great High Priest must be a Levite. So when Christ came along, who was not only not a descendant of Aaron or Levi or even Ephraim, but instead was a descendant of David through his unholy fornication with Bathsheba you can imagine the self-righteous repulsion from among the orthodoxy. I believe there is a great truth being taught here. Jesus submitted to the lower priesthood, but the heads of the lower priesthood rejected him. This is repeated throughout biblical history. The ones who think they have the birth right & priesthood are rejected by God, and an unexpected one gets it instead. The first are made last and the last are made first. When the orthodoxy gets weighed down in their own dogma, God sends a reformer from the unorthodox.

So what lessons might we as Mormons take away from this? I think we would do well to remember that we should all humbly submit to the priesthood, even as Jesus did to John, Caiaphas and Pilot. But at the same time, we would be well to remember that “God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham” (Luke 3:8). He can make any Son of God the Chosen Seed and he can give anyone His Priesthood. He follows a particular order, but we should not be so arrogant as to think we fully understand it. We should never think we know who is or isn’t God’s chosen. We should submit to earthly religion but realize that it is a schoolmaster pointing us to the higher heavenly religion (Gal. 3:24, 2 Ne. 25:25). We should heed the council spoken to us over the pulpit and written on our earthy tablets in our buildings made by hands, but we should thirst for the council whispered to us over the unhewn alter and put into the fleshy tablets of our hearts. There is a reason that the teachings of the Temple are to remain unwritten, and there is a reason why the highest teachings are to remain unspoken.

As for another in depth discussion on priesthood, see these two articles which elaborate a bit more on these principles…

see The Difference Between the Priesthood & Prophets https://gatheredin.one/326/the-difference-between-the-priesthood-prophets/

Also this artilce I found written by an anonymous individual in
https://gatheredin.one/54/the-doctrine-of-the-priesthood/

Also an article on the lower, temporal, Aaronic priesthood https://gatheredin.one/57/the-lower-priesthood-of-aaron/

The Parallel Between the Times of Israel and Times of the Gentiles

November 29, 2010/in Insights & Ramblings, Prophesy, works in progress/by MormonBox

“I give you a pattern in all things, that ye may not be deceived” (D&C 52:14)

One type or pattern that is helpful in understanding the role of the Gentile Christian Church in relation to Israel and the Great Apostasy is the pattern or type between the Times of Israel (from Abraham to Christ) and the Times of the Gentiles (from Christ to near present). These two biblical ‘epochs’ are exact mirrors of each other. By looking at the similarities in these two times and organizations one can see how higher beings must have led the Gentile Church (Catholic Church) and European history to essentially create a “repeat” of the events of the time of Israel. During the gentile epoch, the Catholic church and Rome played the part of Judaism and Jerusalem of the former epoch. By studying the blow timelines, and histories, you can see how both groups (Israel & Christianity) have the higher law and priesthood taken away after about 500 years of existence. Both groups were twice made captive to secular empires due to apostasy. Both groups exhibited similar phases of church and state rule. God used both groups to colonize and civilize the world during a colonial era spanning from one of their darkest periods to the end of the era. See more details in the article Redefining the LDS (Protestant) View of the “Great Apostasy”

Timeline summarizing the historical correlations or types between the times of Israel and the times of the Gentiles.

Abraham & Patriarchal Period (2000-1730 BC) = Apostolic Period (33- 300 AD)
God established the covenant with Abraham, Isaac & Jacob, blessing the nations of the earth through the seed of Jacob who were the twelve tribes of Israel. This was a type of Peter, James & John who blessed the earth through the seed or converts of the twelve apostles of the lamb. Just as the period from Abraham to Joseph in Egypt was a formative period wherein the seed of Abraham suffered from many wars famines and hardships, so also was the apostolic era up until Constantine a formative period where the early saints and bishops suffered much under the persecution of Rome.

Melchizedek, Abraham & Esais (~2000 BC) = Christ, Peter & Paul (~34 AD)
Just as Christ gave the priesthood separately to Peter personally, and then later to Paul through angelic visitation (see Gal 3), so also does the Bible and Doctrine & Covenants teach that Melchizedek gave the priesthood to Abraham, but a man name “Esaias”, who lived “in the days of Abraham, received the priesthood separately “under the hand of God” (D&C 84:7–14). It was this separate priesthood which was then passed on through the Midianites to Moses and the Israelite’s in the wilderness; in a way similar to what many have argued of Paul’s (not Peter’s) priesthood being the primary authority line among the Greek and Orthodox Christian churches. The biblical parallels between Melchizedek and Christ are too numerous to mention here. Any simple internet search will return scores of articles.

Joseph, Chancellor of Egypt (1718 BC) = Constantine Emperor of Rome (313 AD)
Just as Pharaoh saved the Egyptian Empire (& the whole region of the world) by promoting Joseph and following his council, so Constantine saved the Roman Empire (& that whole region of the world) by promoting Christianity and implementing its teachings. Also as Pharaoh allowed Joseph to bring his rebellious brothers (the twelve tribes) who had sold him, into Egypt to save and promote them…. so Constantine brought together the (somewhat corrupt) twelve tribes (bishops of the twelve apostles) into Constantinople, saving and promoting them … Just as Joseph worked behind the scenes to save Egypt and Israel, giving Pharaoh the glory in Egyptian history, so is it quite likely that some humble Christian worked behind the scenes to convert Constantine to the faith of his mother and persuade him to bring salvation to “famine-ridden” (persecuted) Christians. Constantine truly was the ‘Joseph or Pharaoh’ of the Gentile age.

Israel in Egypt (1732-1517 BC) = The Church in Constantinople/Roman Empire (313-528? AD)
Just as Israel spent 215 years in Egypt, a period which started very well for Israel, but in the end turned into captivity, necessitating great plague and destruction on Egypt to facilitate their delivery; So also the church at first prospered in Constantinople & The Roman Empire but with time this marriage of church and state became a captivity, requiring great plague and the fall of the Roman Empire to facilitate the churches escape from corruption.
Likewise it is imaginable that the children of Israel probably began to fall quite quickly into idolatry and partake of the sins of Egypt after coming there and being given privileged status under Joseph. They drank in the religion and idolatry of Egypt so much that by the time God sent Moses to deliver them from both physical and spiritual slavery, many did not want to leave and would not give up their idolatry (mixing Egyptian religion and temple rites into their own culture and religion). In fact we are told in the Bible and Book of Ben Kathryn that Israel never did give up the idolatry of the nations or even properly keep the laws and feasts revealed to Moses for the entire thousand years from Joshua to Ezra. Likewise, the church once brought into and promoted by Rome immediately fell into idolatry (mixing Christianity with Roman religion and Mithriaic Romanized rites) and paganism which they did not give up until the reformation. Much like Ezra, it took Luther to get the church to remember the Law of Christ and begin to tone down their worship of idols, Saints, and Roman culture.
When Constantine founded and brought the church into Constantinople he declared “…the church bishop will be second to Rome…”. However, in time this decree was ignored and Constantinople quickly became the head of the Church, facilitating the close alliance of Church and State, and bringing with it the corruption and captivity which always follows such an unholy alliance. (Note: This problem did not exist in Rome previous to Constantine, because although the head of the empire, Rome persecuted the church, adding to its purity and fortitude.) It was not until around 533 that Emperor Justinian once again declared the Roman Holy See as the highest ecclesiastical authority. It can be debated whether Justinian’s acts would put him more in line of Moses in liberating the Church, or Pharaoh in holding it hostage to State control. In any event, it was God’s hand in sending the Plague of Justinian in 541 which sufficiently devastated the population of the Roman empire (especially in the east) as to effectively bring about it’s final fall and the wholesale liberation of the Church from it’s control (for a time).

Moses (1517 BC) = Justinian (534 AD)
It is very interesting the way Justinian seems to fit as a parallel for Moses. Indeed even Justinian perceived himself to be a modern ‘Moses’ in his publication of the Corpus Juris Civilis (Body of Civil Law). This law was coincidentally published in 534 AD, 1000 years before Luther published the ‘Luther Bible’, bringing the people back to the true Law of Moses. The Corpus Juris Civilus was indeed also very similar to the Law of Moses, in that it reaffirmed the Orthodox Christian church as the only true religion (and the only state religion), it gave harsh laws concerning non Christians, arians, pagans and Jews, etc… Luther also appears to have been a great student of Justinian and both read and quotes extensively from his works. In fact the Justinian Code was the basis for German Law during the time of Luther as it had been the Basis of Law for the Holy Roman Empire throughout it’s existence.

If Justinian is indeed typified by Moses, the consequences would seem to persuade us that the close relationship of church and state by the medieval catholic church were not ungodly, but were in fact the will of God. Just as it had been god’s will for Israel to be HIS special people among the heathen nations of the Gentiles. There is more involved here, of course, because church and state were not totally united in Israel (king different from high priest), but the state was to follow the laws/ councils of the church. Of course this is how it was during the medieval period as well, the kings were different from the pope, but the church held a very large amount of influence over the kings. Justinian was a self proclaimed ‘Moses’ of the Gentile age.

Joshua (1477 BC) = Belisarius (533 AD)
Belisarius was Justinian’s main general, who enlarged the empire by 45% during his campaigns. He defeated the ostrogoth in Ravenna, captured all of Italy, defeated the Vandals in Carthage… He was an orthodox Christian and did much to defeat arianism including deposing the Pope Silverius (who was installed by the Goths) with Vigilius.

Aaron/Eleazer = Pope Gregory I (the great)
Reading about Gregory is a breath of fresh air. He appears to have been a very benevolent good-hearted man. He aids in removing the Church from both Roman and Constantinople’s “Bondage”. He further exerted the primacy of the Holy See in Rome and perhaps more importantly, led the people to accept it by his goodness and popularity. He also served in Constantinople for a time under Justinian before returning to Rome and making many needed reforms. He also was a bit of a military leader and appears to have led in justice. Read about him in the catholic dictionary http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06780a.htm

Reign of the Judges = Post Roman Empire Church
Just as Israel entered a new period of fragmentation, idolatry, war/captivity and freedom from a king, so after the collapse of the Roman Empire the church both suffered and proffered from a period of fragmentation, conflict and idolatry. Reading the history of the papacy from Gregory to at least the split of the church you see how absolutely degenerate it, at times, became. The papacy became a puppet to the warring papal states and the pope was often a murderer or moral degenerate. This truly was a good parallel to an era where Israel was in constant bondage because of their wickedness.

Eli (1143)/Saul/David/Solomon (1014) begin the Empire of Israel = Charlemagne (800-814)/ Louis the Pious (814-840)/Sons? (Institution of the Holy Roman Empire)
[note: Newton’s “3 kings” were Charles Martel/Pepin the Short/ Charlemagne -all are father son, may be the better type?…]

Just as Israel is unified and made into a great empire by Saul & David, so is the Holy Roman Empire begun by reign of Charlemagne and Otto I. Just as Saul was crowned King by the High Priest Samuel, so was Charlemagne made emperor (Imperator Augustus) by Pope Leo III
Likewise “Charlemagne restored an equal balance between emperor and pope”, just as David taught that Obedience is better than the sacrifice of flesh etc…

However, This parallels bothers me as being anachronistic. It is just too early to work, and Charlemagne’s empire splits into Germany & France which I don’t think are types of Judah & Israel. Perhaps it is a sub-type or something else…? I should Look for a better type…perhaps it is Popes, or emperors at Constantinople. whoever they should be coronated by the religious leader, and lead to the division of the church. perhaps The Davidic era and kings of Israel does not have a type in the Gentile church. perhaps this is another aspect that exists only for the house of Israel, just as prophets who talk to God.

Temple of Solomon = Consolidation of the Catholic Church (Holy See)
The gentile church did not have a temple or tabernacle as did Israel. That institution was and is for Israel alone. However, the Gentile church regarded (as is true) the words of Christ’s stating that God can not be housed in stone and that the Body of Christ is the true Temple of God, and that the Church is in fact the living Body of Christ. Therefore, symbology and typology regarding the temple must be applied to the state and being of the Church; with special emphasis placed on the consolidation and leadership of the Church. Thus the destruction of the temple of Israel typified later destruction of faith in the Holy Roman See or consolidation and authority of the the Church and its Rome based leadership. This symbol seems quite fitting, as it was the temple that gave the nation of Israel its feeling of cohesiveness and divinely led nationality and authority.

Split of Northern/Israel and Southern Kingdom/Judah (989 BC?) = The Great Schism (1065 AD)
After the building of the great temple, Solomon foolishly causes the rebellion of the Northern Kingdom, which contains the greater part of the tribes of Israel (10 of them). Likewise, the foolish Pope Leo institutes the radical “Gregorian reforms” which state the Pope to be more powerful than any state and should have power to dispose Emperors. His reforms are of good intention but very prideful. They restate the Roman Popes preeminence over any other bishop (including Constantinople) and lash out against iconoclasm, an issue that leads the split off of the Eastern Orthodox Church (the greater part of the Christian church at the time).

The nature of this split is also of importance. The Northern Kingdom’s desire for more freedom actually leads to a kingdom of greater totalitarianism and despotism. Even after its destruction and absorption into Assyria, the Northern realms of Babylon/Persia/Macedonia and Rome tend to have more despotic rulers than Judah and Egypt ever did. — The same is true of the Byzantine or Eastern Orthodox Church. In its desire for greater theological freedom and mysticism it seems to breed more warlocks, magicians and imperial despots (especially in Russia).

Thus in this parallel, The Northern Kingdom and the Northern Empires (Babylon/Persia/Macedonia/Rome) are reborn in the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Eastern imperial phases of the Mongols and Russia. The Southern Kingdom and Egypt matching with the Roman Catholic Church and Western European Empires.

Assyria = The Mongols/Turks/Ottomans
The mongols were decedents of Northern Assyrian peoples (later called Scythians) who migrated up through the Caucasus region to east Asia. Their brutality and fighting styles were similar. But more importantly their effects upon later empires. The Mongol influence on Byzantium and Russia matching the Assyrian influence on Babylon and Israel.

Destruction/Captivity of Israel = Destruction/Captivity of Constantinople
Much research to do concerning this section… Just as the Northern Kingdom is destroyed by the Assyrians and carried off captive to later settle in Armenia, Tibet and Mongolia, so is Constantinople and much of the Eastern Orthodox church destroyed by Ottoman Turks, Mongols and the Golden Horde (All Turkish Nomadic Warriors) and again much is carried away into Armenia Tibet and Mongolia. There is a lot of mystery hidden in this type, but its unraveling holds the keys of how Buddhism and the East fit into the Gospel plan.

Diaspora of Judah (600-200 BC) = European Colonialism of the World (1500-1900 AD)
Just as God leads Lehi, Mulek and a host of other Israelites to (re)colonize and (re)populate every major continent and “isle of the sea” (2 Ne 10:21) from about 600 BC to 400 BC, so also European Christians like Christopher Columbus and Magellan are led by God to (re)colonize and (re)populate the world during the 15th through 17th centuries. This parallel is key to unraveling much of God’s use of Israel/Christianity to civilize the world fulfilling the Abrahamic Covenant. Many histories show that after the Babylonian diaspora Jewish enclaves popped up over much of Eurasia. Jewish & Semitic controlled ports were created up and down the eastern coast of Africa, all along the coasts of India and into Indonesia as well as throughout the Mediterranean and heading up into northern Europe. Historians are yet to discover the true magnitude and colonial parallel of this era. Just as it was not necessarily “Christianity” or any one European country that monopolized European Colonialism, so too it was not just “Judaism” or Israel that led the colonialism and imperialism of the world by Middle Eastern (Semitic) nations during the 6th to 2nd centuries before Christ.

However, one parallel of particular importance is that of the Lehite colonizing of North America with the English colonizing of North America. Both sparked restorational movements where a higher level of light was added to the mother religion (Judaism & Catholicism). Also Joseph Smith correlates chronologically to Alma the Elder, where both are regarded as “the founder of the church” (Mosiah 23:16, 29:47) which is given the responsibly of preparing a people ready for the Lords Coming.

Assyrian Sack of Israel (701 BC) = Tamerlane’s Sack of Eastern Orthodox Church & its Territories (1336–1405 AD)
Tamerlane (or Timur) the last great Turko-Mongol leader heads a campaign laying waste to much of the eastern church throughout Byzantium, Russia and the Russian steppe. The 15th century essentially marked the end of the Byzantine Empire. The Mongols were close analogs to the Assyrians in both origin and behavior.

Babylonian Captivity of Judah (586-446 BC) = Avignon Papacy & The Great Italian Wars (1494 – 1559 AD)
This parallel might be somewhat loose but still interesting and likely more thatn coincidence. The Great Italian wars, also called the Habsburg-Valois Wars, involved the papal states and most the major states of Western Europe associated with the Holy Roman Empire’s Habsburg Rulers (France, Spain, England, Scotland, etc). The war is associated with the Avignon Papacy, which is actually called by many historians the “Babylonian Captivity of the Papacy, because of its similarity in duration and scope. The war was a low point in European Unity, with the pope actually instigating part of the war against france. The Spanish and Portuguese inquisition was instituted during this time, as was the pope’s seizure of the papal states and building of St Peter’s Basilica which helped provoke the Reformation. Most certainly it was a major turning point for the Catholic church, the Holy Roman Empire, and Europe in general.

Ezra Rebuilding the temple (537 or 480 BC) = Martin Luther Reforms/ Rebuilds the Church (1517 AD)

Nabion states that it was 1000 yrs (exactly?) between Joshua and Ezra when Israel did not keep the feasts or the Law as given by Moses, thus we can also assume a period of 1000 yrs between Justinian and Luther when the Gentile church did not keep the spirit of the feasts or obey the Laws given to stay separate from Egypt/Babylon/Cesar. …The true date for the end of the 1000 yr period is more likely 1534 when Luther finished the translation of the ‘Luther Bible’ in German. This was about/exactly 1000 yrs from Justinian’s decree of 533/34.

But more important than Luther’s effect on Protestantism, was the Protestant movement’s effect on the mother church. The reformation brought about many, many needed reforms to Catholicism to bring it back to its roots.

Creation/Restoration of the Church through Alma = Restoration of the Church through Joseph Smith
As already mentioned Joseph Smith correlates chronologically to Alma the Elder, where both are regarded as “the founder of the church” (Mosiah 23:16, 29:47) which is given the responsibly of preparing a people ready for the Lords Coming. Additionally it is during this period of restoration among the Nephites that the Jaredite plates are found and interpreted giving a wealth of additional knowledge to the people, as well as a large amount of esoteric information to the prophets that is not allowed to be given to the Church in general (Mosiah 28:17–19, Ether 3:21–23, Ether 4:4).

Leontopolis Temple Built (169-154) = ????
Onias the rightful heir to the office of high priest flees to Egypt after temple is desecrated and builds a temple (the only functioning temple away from Jerusalem) at Leontopolis. This helps explain why Joseph & Mary fled to Egypt with Jesus, and why the Egyptian saints were so die-hard during the persecution of the first three centuries. The parallel is yet to be revealed, but has to do with the restoration of Judah and their rightful heir to the high priesthood (independent of the restoration work in America).

Babylonian Empire/Medo-Persia/Grecia/Rome-Sasinid = Early Russian Empire/Imperial Russia-Napoleonic Empire/British Empire/NATO-USSR
Just as Ezra came out of the Babylonian captivity so Luther came out of the Holy Roman Empire Captivity. There’s a lot more to these types though. The types have at least three different applications on three different levels. One is a loose European level, the next is a Eurasian level, the next is a global level. These types are the fulfillment to Daniel/John’s Revelation allegory. Getting too specific turns into speculation at this point.

Please read Redefining the LDS (Protestant) View of the “Great Apostasy” to see how this type helps to clear up misunderstandings LDS theology on the apostasy. As well as how it fulfills Bible prophesy, Modern Jewish prophesy, and the coming restoration of the Jewish state and Temple. See also Daniels 70 week prophecy and the war of Gog and Magog: The Book of Ben Kathryn’s cipher to biblical prophecy

—

summary
Date	Times of Israel	Times of the Gentiles	Date
1052 BC	Saul / David’s Empire	Otto’s Holy Roman Empire	962 AD
930 BC	Split of Northern & Southern Kingdoms	The Great East-West Schism	1054 AD
720 BC	Assyrians destroy Northern Kingdom	Mongols/Turks/Ottomans (Islamic) destruction of the Eastern Church	1299 – 1453 AD
620 – 529 BC	Babylonian Empire	Byzantine Empire	– 1453 AD
500 – 300 BC	Median & Persian Empires	Habsburg Eastern Europe (Holy Roman) Empires	1550 – 1804 AD
336 – 100 BC	Macedonian (Greek) Empire	French & British Empire	1750 -1960 AD
100 BC – 300 AD	Roman Empire	American/E.U. Empire	1950 – ?

The Spirit Body Interface

November 22, 2010/in Insights & Ramblings, works in progress/by MormonBox

The other morning I woke up with a fairly sophisticated idea of how this interaction works. I will attempt to teach it in the same way it was taught to me, although as I have thought about it the more I realize how much more there is to this.

The first idea to understand is that all matter and realities exist in differing densities often called dimensions. For example the mortal world exists in one density or dimension and the spirit world exists in another. The same is true for the three degrees of glory of heaven and hell. Each exists on or in a different density or dimension which can occupy the same “space” but different planes. As with all eternal principles a cipher or type is given us on earth in the three states of matter, Solid, Liquid and Gas. Each of these states are in essence differing densities and the key concept to understand is that substances always flow toward their own density; they are in fact quantized. So if you release a gas from a container underwater or even underground it will tend to raise to unite with material of its own level or density. Similarly, if you release liquid or solid from a container in the sky it will tend to fall to unite with its own “density” or level. [explore greater complexity in relation between gravity and density].

As a side note, notice that in each case an object or being made entirely of one density could move unhampered through any of the other densities provided the other densities “gave way” to the space displacement caused by that object. In other words a being or object of solid earth or liquid water can easily move through the air as long as the air allows the needed displacement. The opposite (that a being of gaseous air or liquid water could move through a solid such as salt or even theoretically iron, given the solid allows for the space displacement) is also true, but more difficult. So hopefully you can see how all movement of one density through another density depends upon the difference between the densities. Also important in this line of reasoning is how the density in which an object exists determines the “size” of the object. For example, a being of gaseous air (or a balloon for that matter) becomes much smaller if you force it to the bottom of the ocean (into a higher density or pressure), and likewise it would theoretically become smaller still if you could force it deep into earth.

Ok, so with that foundation lain we can now apply the same principles to densities as they relate to dimensions or “degrees of glory”. We can see that by forcing one dimension into another we affect both its size, and its ability to move through space (and time, but lets not go there yet). So a spirit, which can be compared to a being made of air because a spirit body is composed of less dense (rarefied, more pure) matter/energy, which is forced out of its natural density/dimension (the spirit world) and into a lower (more gross) density/dimension must, by virtue of the physics involved, “shrink”. Likewise its ability to move through space is also affected as a man trying to run underwater. We are in essence placed in a state of greater opposition and resistance/pressure.

Of equal importance is the concept that densities do not like to mix and so naturally the Spirit of man does not physically (or emotionally) want to be here. Like a balloon held underwater physically will always raise straight back up into the air unless it is constrained by a container, so also is the spirit of man physically pulled back toward the spirit world and is constrained from the transition only by its earthly container called a mortal body. [On another vain, think about how this relates to a resurrection into a density which is higher than our spirit’s energy/density “likes”.]

The next step in our journey toward understanding the spirit/body interface has to do with how one density of matter interacts with another. Now as is fairly well understood, there are two attractive forces in this world, the electric field and the other is the gravitational field. (see unified field theory to see how these relate) One of them affects mass, and thus is highly affected by density, the other affects charge and is thus highly affected by energy level (sorry for the crappy wording). So understanding these forces (let’s not analyze them too deeply because they are really just different aspects of the same force) we can see how the body (which is more dense) exerts an attractive force on the Spirit which is far lighter/less dense. In a relationship similar to the “heavy” earth holding the “light” moon in orbit, the “heavy” body holds the “light” spirit hostage. On the flip side, a highly “charged” particle (I hate to use these terms because they are so misleading) exerts a force even greater than the gravitational force on objects which are “less charged” (realize that positive and negative “charge” are in reality completely relative terms). For example a highly charged electro-magnet can lift or move a much heavier iron ball by virtue of charge difference. So in relation to the spirit/body interface this in the reverse of the gravitational force… the more highly charged spirit exerts an electrostatic force on the less “charged” body. So in that line of thinking, you could picture the spirit being like an electromagnet in and of itself. If you take that electromagnet and rub it in the dirt it will become covered in iron filings. The stronger the charge, the greater the power to pull those iron filings onto itself. The process with which the spirit “covers” itself with earth or iron filings during mortal growth and resurrection is a bit more complex.

The mother creates a fetus within herself through a process both biological and spiritual but for the most part it is the result of the parent’s genetic and spiritual make-up (not taking the spirit child into account). The spirit then enters the empty vessel prepared for it, in a process that takes an certain undisclosed amount of time (somewhere between 3-7 months?). Once in the body, the spirit is loosely held in place by “gravity” but more so by its own electric potential. After birth and during maturation, the body goes on biologically developing according to the instructions programmed into its body’s DNA, however a secondary developmental process is also at work… one which current science is completely unaware of. That process is the spirit’s (remember the electromagnet example of our spirit’s intelligence) subtle influence on the biological cell building process. Instead of an electromagnet pulling magnetic filings out of the earth to cover only its outer surface, the spirit pulls elements from the food we eat and air we breathe and coats/builds its every inner surface from the inside out (augmenting the biological process carried out under the instruction of the DNA). The consequence of this complementary spiritual building force is that if two different spirits where to be placed in genetically and biologically identical (DNA) bodies, the outcome after maturation could be biologically un-identical bodies (as is documented in non-identical monozygotic twins). More commonly, aspects of this process this can be seen in how even identical twins end up having different mental and physical skill sets, different facial expressions, and different cognitive abilities. This line of reasoning provides an alternate explanation why with non-identical monozygotic twins, two individuals with identical DNA, but very different spiritual powers end up being as different as two un-identical twins, because the power of the spirit combined with outside influences related to destiny have the power to “override” the programming of the DNA. A powerful spirit like Christ, has such powerful “charge” that his spirit could overpower any flawed programming in the DNA, eliminating cellular growth which might otherwise cause defects, disease or otherwise undesirable behavioral flaws. For one last example let us picture a cell dividing through mitosis. Lets imagine that the DNA of that cell is “flawed” and is instructing cell creation to occur in a way highly unlike (or undesirable to) the spirit body. Depending on the power of that spirit, the developing cell will be pulled accordingly toward the electric potential of the spirit’s cell causing a corresponding deviation from the DNA’s instructed path (even to changing the new cells DNA itself!)

So with a solid foundation lain on the Spirit’s potential energy, lets just state that it is quite small for most spirits, and explore how the spirit causes the body to move and act (in opposition to the state of death after a spirit leaves the body). Now obviously most mortal spirits have a very, very weak electric potential to the point that it can hardly even be read by current instrumentation. But we can all picture in our minds how if our spirit’s “electro-gravitational” potential where sufficiently strong, it could easily manipulate matter just as a strong electromagnet does. It could lift up cars, or be used to levitate ourselves as when Christ descended from the sky. With sufficient strength, and intelligence concerning how to manipulate matter at distance we could theoretically move large things (such as part the red sea) or move even just cells or atoms (such as healing a leaper or turning water to wine). From the knowledge we have of heavenly beings it would suggest that beings which dwell in higher densities/plains have a far greater electric potential than beings on our own plane. In the scriptures this is described as being full of “light”, which is in fact just a certain state of energy. This is why prophets, which filled with the “Holy Ghost” (or a being from a higher dimension) often have faces which show with radiant light. They are so energized (in a way we don’t quite understand) that the energy shines through their bodies without burning or harming them. (remember Moses had to be transfigured to stand in God’s presence to keep from being consumed/burnt)

That’s the effects of existing in a higher energy level, but for the rest of us our energy is so small that it can hardly move electrons (on our energy level). But the designer of our bodies understands well the principle of weights and counter balances. A man may be so weak that he can only lift a couple hundred pounds, but with a lever and thousand-pound counterbalances, he can use a tiny amount of effort to offset the balance system and lift great weights. In our bodies this is done through chemical reactions which are held in equilibrium. With carefully balanced equilibrium reactions, God has created a electro-chemical “machine” in which our spirits, with their limited strength, can use their infinitesimal electrical power over matter in this sphere to push a reaction existing at the synaptic nerve/spirit interface to be driven to a desired direction. This simple system of binary communication (the same system used to power our most powerful computers) allows the spirit to direct the body to do everything within its power. It seems obvious that spirits in another realm (having a deep understanding of the workings of the body) have been the source of inspiration for all our modern computer technology… based on the already existing, and far more complex, biological technology created by God. With this knowledge, one can more fully appreciate the complexity involved in the process of development and maturation. Our fully mature and intelligent spirits have to slowly learn how to program and control the sophisticated computers that are their new bodies, naturally and intelligently learning how to translate raw spiritual desires to nano-scopic binary synaptic impulses which then are translated into intelligible thought and chemical and biological motion. A process very similar to computer programming, but with the ability to heal itself and self-create additional circuitry and power.

The Principles of a Zion Community

November 2, 2010/in works in progress, Zion Communities/by MormonBox

Zion Communities are utopian constructs.

Above all, Zion is an idealistic goal. The goal of dreamers, prophets and philosophers who seek for perfection and make suggestions as to the best paths toward a Utopia of harmony and peace. Zion is the goal of Judeo-Christian religion. It is heaven, and working toward its creation should be the primary goal of any follower of Christ or adherent to a religion seeking the realization of the greatest good.

I’ve long been somewhat of a Utopian dreamer. I’ve put a lot of thought into what the “perfect society” would look like, and have started this list as a starting place for reforms I see needed in society and suggestions of things which could be changed in our society.

What Zion, or a Zion Community is and is not.

Zion (or a Utopia) is NOT one man’s view of perfection. Many dictators, despots and religious fanatics through history have sought to implement systems which seek to forcefully conform society to their view of perfection. To create a society “in their image”. This can never be a universal Zion/Utopia. Zion assures essential universal happiness in freedom. Its base ideal or value is freedom of individuality. It requires harmonizing the individuality of all in a way that maintains balance, harmony and universal happiness.

But paradoxically, happiness requires some sadness—since human emotion is built and defined by a system of duality or opposites. One cannot be happy without the existence of sadness—so Zion/Utopia is not a society where there is no sadness or negative conditions. It is a system where sadness/happiness, pain/pleasure, rich/poor and all unequal dualities are balanced in a manner that achieves what I call essential happiness.

It is a system of equal opportunity to desired conditions. All must be free to easily obtain their unique desires for happiness/sadness. To experience each condition in a timeframe and ratio that the individual balance necessary for any individual to call themselves essentially happy. To attain this, all must be constantly made aware and responsible for the effects of their actions on others.

Zion Requires that the Most Unselfish Rule and Govern

“When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn” (prov 29:2). Evil or “wickedness” can be defined as selfishness empowered (or in power). This distinction is made clear in the angelic instructions to the prophet Jachanan Ben Kathryn. Righteousness can be defined as those wise and unselfish enough to judge and effectuate harmony (search ‘harmony’ in the text Oahspe). Perfect harmony requires that all members of a society be willing to sacrifice their selfish desires just enough to accommodate the happiness of the whole.

But the happiness of Zion is not the absence of selfish pleasures or the abstinence of experience. Many religions and ascetics have tried to found Zion on the principle of denying society the ability to seek pleasure or attain their desires. For socialist systems this might include prohibitions on wealth, whereas for some religious systems it might include prohibitions on sexuality. This is systemically dangerous however, as essential happiness requires the freedom to experience the dualities of pain and pleasure. Curtailing the freedoms of the populace may make a harmonizers job easier, but it can also lead to anarchy just as quickly as excessive behavior. A utopian society requires the goal of leaders to be the constant work of helping their people to attain their desires — but always in ways that do not threaten the essential happiness of others or the harmony of the group. (Note the LORDS chastisement to the prophet Ben Kathryn: “he who maketh his sin righteousness and he who maketh his righteousness sin are altogether this people. He saith to his fellow: ‘Let us go and move together unto a far place, unto the mountains or a wilderness haven, that we may dwell in sameness of mind and in purity.’ He shall be cut off from my sight, saith the LORD.”)

A “righteous” leader is a harmonizer. Like a composer conducting an orchestra, he must help each individual fully express their unique sound and instrument in a way which maintains the full harmony and happiness of the group. In this light a righteous leader understands both the absolutism and the relativity of morality. In formative political and religious systems, leaders often introduce absolute morality or law. The law of Moses, Hammurabi’s code are examples of early political systems which attempt to achieve social harmony with rigid laws that seek to codify morality. Most westernized countries have followed this example. These types of systems typically govern ownership, sexuality, violence, riches, pleasures and their opposites. Such a system serve as a foundation, but can never fully bring the harmony of a true Zion society.

The complexities of human nature, desire and motivation are far too dynamic and complex to be harmonized with strictures and codes written in stone. It’s like allowing a robot to write a symphony. Such a task defies the individual freedom of expression required in a true utopia. Any such attempts create monocultures which are more robotic than human. Because freedom of expression and individuality in desire are essential for a Zion/Utopia—the harmonizing of these systems must be done dynamically. Each moral regulation must be created dynamically, fitting to the uniqueness of each situation.

-. Ethics. The most important aspect of a Zion Community is the people. A perfect socio-political system is destroyed by an imperfect populace. Regardless of the laws, political system or urban environment the most important aspect of a Utopian society is a Utopian people. A selfless people can make a totalitarian government run flawlessly, and a selfish people will destroy a democracy immediately. The most important step to a sustainable community or national government is to help everyone understand this and seek first and foremost to educate the populace toward unselfishness. Unselfishness (or the so called “righteousness” of the scriptures) must be the first priority.

-. Size & Population. Every given people, area, and time have a particular threshold of population, which when exceeded destroys the sustainability and balance of the community system and organization. Cities, much like companies & churches, must learn to split and/or intelligently control growth. Joseph Smith put the population cap of a Zion community at 20,000. With today’s transportation and technology that population cap may be different, and likely should be different for different topography and demographics… but one can rest assured that once cities grow toward the 100,000 population demographic, it is impossible to maintain a Zion community. Just as atoms cannot remain stable on earth once they exceed the 100 proton/electron region, so too a city cannot prevent the issues which lead to instability when they exceed 40,000 to 80,000 people. For a city to sustain economic, environmental, political and cultural stability over centuries the people in the city MUST be able to personally know their political leaders, their neighbors, and a large portion of their fellow men/women in the population. There is also a more subtle but important aspect of group consciousness that requires a smaller population for stability. Most importantly, political inequality and economic disparity between the rich and poor must be minimized for a culture to be maintained for centuries. The balance between power and wealth can only be maintained when connections exist in the group consciousness. These cause and effect relationships are subtle, but history shows that NO large cities have existed for millennial without large economic or political turnover (collapse & restructure). And yet though history, people continue to build and seek out these types of socio-political arrangements because man’s goal tends to be money, possessions and ease instead of harmonic interpersonal relationships.

The Zion or Utopia of the future will be a Union of political entities. The political schema will be built fractionally following the pattern shown in the physics of the earth and universe. Each political polity will be a microcosm of the larger polity and a macrocosm of the smaller. With the smallest unit being the community and the largest unit eventually being the planetary governance. Freedom will be the foundational principle.

-the republican government of the U.S. or ‘union’ of separate but equal states is the basic political structure of Zion (European Union and United Nations are other attempts). This structure of separate but equal commonwealths was revealed by higher beings showing the basic principles of governance used on other spheres and planets which have achieved planetary unity. This political structure was distorted from the beginning by the federalists. These were selfish, wise, but power-mongering individuals holding on to the old systems and power structures which give the few power over the many. The hallmark of a service-to-self individual is that the ‘many’ are not intelligent to govern themselves, and thus the few must govern the many for the greater good–But (and this is a vitally important but) without, in any way, abrogating the free will of the group. This was often true in past times and is the reason why our current government was allowed to be a hybrid between the old monarchy structures (executive branch) and the coming social republics (see 33/11.11 “First on earth, monarchies, then republics, then fraternities).

-the civil war was the largest blow to our Zion-like government. By not allowing states to secede from the union, freedom or self determination was abrogated for the entire union. In a Zion government freedom is the foundational principle, held inviolate above all other principles. Any cohesive unit (community) must be allowed to secede through proper channels. This is the only way a federal government can be constantly held in check as to whether it is truly fulfilling the needs of the people and maintaining personal & group freedom. By living under the constant threat of polities leaving the union, the federal political structure is forced to make wiser decisions on lawmaking, debt and investment within participating nations/states. Furthermore, states must be under constant threat of being kicked out of the union, if their decisions have negative repercussions for the union.

-lawmaking. Nearly ALL laws should be made & maintained on a community level. Laws should be passed as low on the political latter as prudently possible. Law making should require at very least a super majority (or more) or it should be passed to the lower polity. Laws passed on 51% majority are a mockery to freedom and justice. A law passed on 51% in favor, means 49% of the population is being subjugated against their will. This is not sustainable government. “National” laws should only involve issues which DIRECTLY affect the nation, which is typically defense, trade and commerce. A nation has no business passing laws on civil rights, marriage, religion, or any other local issue (unless the people unanimously want it, which is very rare). Local lawmakers should always have the ability to overturn national laws in relation to their polity. A federal judges job should not be construed as having the ability to pass or strike down a law, the judges job is to decide what level polity can pass what laws based on who it affects. Where judges do not unanimously agree, law-making power should automatically revert back to the more local polity (to the people).
-on a local level people must have a personal relationship with their elected leaders.

-all power must require an equal amount of sacrifice. power without personal sacrifice breeds imbalance and corruption. requiring sacrifice for those in power ensures service-to-others individuals will rule. When political power comes with personal ease and advantage, service-to-self individuals will eventually take over.
-there are no supreme leaders. “National” power is equally shared by each community. All local power is manifested in governing bodies which respond to the will of the people. there are no presidents, no governors, no popes, no ruling individuals. (see Oahspe) The governing individual is a power structure of the past and is incompatible with sustainable governance. Ruling bodies (congresses and councils) are the hallmark of political structures of the millennium. Those who are not united, have no voice.

-each ruling polity must be viewed as EQUAL in power. The community government must be equal in authority to the state government which must be equal in authority with the federal government. These is the true balance of power. Not so much one branch of federal government balancing another, but each level of the fractal balancing the others. The trunk to balance the branch, the branch to balance the twig, the twig to hold the leaf which is the gem of the tree. When each level of the organization is equal, imbalances will be manifest to all because they will begin to break apart. If it is relatively easy for a community to leave the union, imbalance will be quickly manifest when a large group of them leave the tree. This will encourage the larger polity to resolve the imbalances, encouraging the groups to rejoin the UNION.

Just as the USSR did in the 1990’s, the USA will continue to become more unstable until it splits into multiple nations within the next 3 generations. Why? The same reason every empire has failed. Because it let power become too lofty. It allowed power to become consolidated into the hands of the few. It urbanized past critical mass both socially and politically. It allowed too many mega cities to be created where disparity inevitably grows between the rich and poor, creating a ruling class and a peasant class. It allowed this same disparity to be created in its lawmaking organizations, with a powerful federal bureaucracy which made one-size-fits-all laws on 51% majorities (often less than that). This has created large segments of the population who feel unlawfully subjugated. It has essentially turned what was meant to be a UNION of STATES into an imperial monarchy. It did not force those in power to personally sacrifice, which attracted power mongers to the offices with the most potential for greater power. These service-to-self individuals slowly pulled more and more power to themselves until the national government and its offices became infinitely more powerful than any other polity on earth. This consolidation of power led to abuse of power, which always leads to political entropy. If it were not for the economic & political hegemony of our federal government, and the negative stigma associated with secession created by the precedence of the civil war, several states would have already seceded from the union and our nation would likely already be working on healing the rift and balancing the inequalities in our systems.

3. Practices of a Zion Community.

Spiritual cosmology and its connection to Ancient mythology

August 11, 2010/1 Comment/in Insights & Ramblings, works in progress/by MormonBox

On earth there are three states of matter which mirror the greater states and densities of matter and human existence.

Earth – Water – Air
Flesh – Blood – Spirit
Corpor – Atmospherea – Es

Solid Earth, Liquid Water and Gaseous Air are symbols which were created to point us to the three states of inter-dimensional matter as explained best in Oahspe (If you haven’t read this reference you will likely be lost reading this article- ref). These densities are labeled solid “corpor”, liquid-like “atmospherea” which is an intermediate state always expanding or contracting toward on of its two extremes, and gas-like “es” or “etherea” which is the most rarefied of substances (and planets) and can dwell within both other states of matter. Es is the “highest” state as it has power to dwell within and direct the other states of matter much like ones spirit can dwell within ones physical body. One could also draw the comparison of how gas can dwell within and influence the solid earth, but solid earth can not and does not dwell “within” a gaseous object such as the atmosphere.

Each planet in the universe (1) progresses through these states of matter and (2) in fact has aspects of each of these states within its inter-dimensional being.

1. PLANETS PROGRESS THROUGH THE THREE STATES OF MATTER

Although we cannot scientifically see into the future or past histories of the planets, we can look at the current states of planets to draw conclusions about their past and future. In the Solar System and Universe we see planets which predominately mirror the states of matter and we correspondingly call them terrestrial planets, fluid planets/ice giants and gas giants. For detailed information on these planetary classifications one can consult this Wikipedia artilce. But as a general overview, the first four planets from the sun (Mercury, Venus, Earth & Mars) are composed primarily of solid matter (most of the planets mass is in solid state). The next four are composed predominately of highly pressurized liquids and gases. Although usually called ice and gas giants this is arguably something of a misnomer, since throughout most of the volume of these planets the components which constitute the majority of their mass are above the critical point and therefore classified as “supercritical fluids”. Beyond Neptune scientist have theorized about true “gas giants”, or planets which are truly composed predominately of gaseous material even at the high pressures which exist within the interior of most celestial bodies. Although contrary to the current scientific view on the formation of planets in our solar system, Oashpe as well as ancient mythology seems to suggest that the planets throughout their celestial history progress from one type of planet to another. For example, that terrestrial planets such as Earth & Venus will one day progress to become fluid/ice giants like Jupiter & Saturn and that fluid/ice giants will one day progress to become true gas giants like those theoretically loosely bound to our solar system.

2. ALL PLANETS HAVE ASPECTS OF THE THREE STATES OF MATTER WITHIN THEIR INTER-DIMENSIONAL BEINGS

Existence on most worlds is split between three predominate dimensions, paralleling earth, water and air. Earth’s ‘lowest’ dimension is the visible world we know during life, but it also has a second “spiritual” dimension which most religions call the “spirit world” and is the abode of the spirits of man when they die. Ancient religions often referred to the spirit world as the “Eternal Sea” because of its correspondence to the “liquid” state of matter. Above this density is a yet higher realm of the earth which we will call the “glorified exalted state”. This highest realm of the earth is out of the reach (in another dimension) of even the spirit world, just as the spirit world is out of reach (in another dimension) for those living in the material earth. This highest earthly dimension is the abode of the earth’s “governing ones” and corresponds to the “air” or gaseous state of matter or the “Es” worlds spoken of in Oahspe or the “highest heavens” or abode of God spoken of by most religions.

To understand this inter-dimensional aspect of the earth a bit better think of how the physical/material/temporal world has three stratified densities or states of matter (earth/ocean/atmosphere) but man only dwells in one of them (earth surface) although he can visit the others with some degree of discomfort (deep sea diving, air travel, etc). The spirit world or “liquid” dimension is also stratified, although unlike our earth dimension it is split into around nine densities of matter and man dwells in all of them. The density which a man’s spirit goes when he dies has to do with his propensities during life. The more selfish, flesh loving men go to the lower/denser levels (spirit prison) and the more unselfish “spirit” loving man goes to the higher/rarefied levels (spirit purgatory/paradise). Men in the spirit world can also travel to lower or higher densities from their natural state but only with considerable discomfort. (read J.S. Ward’s Gone West for the most detailed description of the spirit world- link).

[As a side note (perhaps most wont understand what Im saying here) the “liquid” or middle state of matter is always a microcosm of all three. Just as water (the middle substance/density) on earth is a microcosm of all three primal elements, existing plentifully as liquid seas & rivers, solid ice or gaseous clouds and mists, so also is the spirit world or “middle” dimension of earth/matter a microcosm of all three primal dimensions.]

Space Time of earth’s dimensions
The bottom two states of matter (physical & spirit worlds) travel together in space (and partially time) but the highest state travels separately in both space and time. As a type given us on earth think of how the rivers and oceans are “bound” to the earth. They rotate perfectly in sink with the earths rotations. (luckily for us because otherwise they would wash over the land and kill us all.) The atmosphere or “air” state of matter however moves somewhat independently of the earth. The lower levels of the atmosphere move freely over the ocean and continents carried clouds and water from one to the other. The higher levels of the atmosphere are even more loosely bound to the earth and hardly rotate with the earth at all. This can be compared to how “earth” & “water” (terrestrial & fluid/ice) planets move/rotate with the sun/solar system as well as how the mortal world and spirit world move in sync with each other, but how the “air” (true gas giants/planet X) move somewhat independently of the solar system and how the earths highest heaven (throne of our God) moves somewhat independently of the earth’s mortal and spirit space/time dimensions.

Now these are some very difficult concepts to understand and teach. They are concepts taught by God to early man after the flood, and books containing the original truths were given to the common people in allegorical tales. But through time and apostasy the concepts were distorted and the true understanding lost. By the time Moses came along all that was left was the allegories. And from these allegories the unseen inter-dimensional nature of the earth was completely lost, so all that was left was the seen aspects of the truth. Thus the people and priests began to distort the true history and hierarchy of the earth and solar system into a system of planetary idol worship which although somewhat approximating the truth, was devoid of true understanding.

Finish this…. talk about Jupiter being Zeus and Saturn being his father cronos. but how this is only partially true. talk about how when the “Es” world (planet x, sister sun, nemesis, whatever you want to call it) comes around it contracts the planets caused destructions which become incorporated into the mythology… etc..

The Dispensation of the Fullness of Times

August 3, 2010/1 Comment/in Insights & Ramblings, works in progress/by MormonBox

This comes from http://ldolphin.org/studynotes/purpose.htm and is pretty good for only relying on the bilble….

If we are to understand and appreciate God’s working in our lives we must come to an understanding of His will and purpose. Everything which God has and will do is to one glorious end. This end is His “Eternal Purpose” (Ephesians 3:11).

According to the Bible “He has made known to us the mystery of His will … that in the dispensation of the fullness of times He will gather together in one, all things in Christ, which are in heaven and on earth” (Ephesians 1:9–10).

The dictionary definition of “dispensation”, when speaking about God, is “the Divine order or dealings with mankind”. If we look back through history we see that the Divine order of things has changed.

Very early, we see that God spoke with individuals such as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Later we see that God expanded His dealings to include all the children of Israel as a specially favoured nation. As it is written “Hear this you children of Israel …. You alone of all the nations of the earth have I known” (Amos 3:1–2).

After Jesus ascended into heaven we see that God again expanded His dealings with mankind by established a new order of things called the Church, which includes representatives from every nation on earth.

Now in this passage of scripture we read of yet another “dispensation” in which God will expand His dealings to include “all things in heaven and on earth”.

So what does this mean?

1. The “dispensation of the fullness of times” obviously refers to the Millennial Kingdom which Christ will establish in the earth at the end of this Age.

2. We recognize this from the scripture in Revelation 10:6 where the angel of God declares that “there shall be time no more” just prior to the final demise of this world system and the establishment of the Millennial Kingdom. This passage indicates that the “time dimension” of the universe has outlived its usefulness to God, so He will do away with it. Thus we can say this corresponds to the “fullness of time” spoken of in Ephesians 1:9–10

3. To “gather together in one all things” speaks of the restoration of all things.

4. The instrument of this glorious work will be “Christ”, the Messiah.

Knowing the truth of God’s will reveals to us three major points:

1. God’s plan for the restoration of all things is still only in its preparatory stages.

2. The Church as we know it in this age is not God’s final attempt to restore everything to perfection.

3. That God’s ultimate plan for the restoration of creation will not find its fulfillment until the Kingdom of Christ is established in the earth.

TWO GREAT HOUSES
“God who at various times and in different ways spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son” (Hebrews 1:1).

According to this scripture God’s dealings with men have changed from “times past” to “these last days”. During the past “dispensations” God spoke to His people through the prophets (a special group of people who had the gift of hearing or seeing God), while in this “dispensation” He is speaking to men through His Son, Jesus.

This seems to indicate that God has changed His method of communication in order to achieve different results in different dispensations. This is in accord with the word, for the scriptures show us that God has prepared two “houses”, one a “house of servants” under the ministry of Moses to whom God promised “the nation and kingdom which will not serve you shall perish and those nations shall be utterly ruined ” (Isaiah 60:10–12), the other a “house of sons” under the ministry of Jesus (Hebrews 3:5–6) to whom God has said “Do not you know that the saints shall judge the earth … Do not you know that we shall judge angels” (1 Corinthians 6: 2 – 3).

There is great purpose in this, for we must remember that the Eternal Purpose is to gather together all things “in heaven and on earth”. To this end God has prepared these two “houses”:

1. Israel – a house of servants to rule the earth.

2. The Church – a house of sons to rule in the heavens.

Both will be under the lordship of Jesus. It is for this reason that Jesus is both “King of the Jews” (John 19:19) and “Head of the Church” (Ephesians 1:22).

So, when the Kingdom of God is established it will have both an “earthly” and a “heavenly” phase, and as Jesus said “The first (Israel) shall be last and the last (The Church) shall be first” (Matthew 20:16).

But this is not to say that all those who are numbered among Israel and the Church in these Ages will be reigning in the Age to come for “many are called but few are chosen” (Matthew 20:16).

We must realise that we are “on trial” in this Age to determine our fitness to reign with Jesus, “for judgment begins with the house of God” (1 Peter 4:17) and it is only those who “overcome” the trials and temptations of this present evil world who will be chosen to rule in the world to come (Revelation 3:21).
A PROMISE FULFILLED
God promised to Abraham that he would be the father of many nations. To illustrate His promise God gave Abraham two examples:

1. “I will make your descendants as numerous as the dust of the earth” (Genesis 13:16). This speaks of the “earth” and points to the nation of Israel, his “earthly” descendants.

2. “Look now to the heavens and count the stars if you can number them. So shall your descendants be” (Genesis 15:5). This speaks of the “heavens” and points to the Church, his “heavenly” descendants.

So God has prepared two great houses. One to rule in the heavenly places in Christ, the other to rule the earth under the Lordship of Christ.

Once these two groups are complete and properly prepared the stage will be set for the greatest event in the earth’s history – the return of Jesus, “whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began” (Acts 3:21). Therefore, when Jesus returns to the earth, there shall be a restoration.
HUMANITY RESTORED
We are told:

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ — if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. (Rom 8:14–21)

As the human race is the crowning glory of God’s creation, it is reasonable to assume that the benefit which will fall to “the creation” by the “revealing of the children of God” will naturally include Mankind at large.

We are told that God will “create new heavens and a new earth” (Revelations 21:1). We know from our previous study that the Church, having been called to the Divine Nature (2 Peter 1:4), and the Angels constitute the “new heavens, so who shall live in the new earth ?

We may be sure that there shall be men and women living in the New Earth for the word of God says, “The earth abides for ever” (Ecclesiastes 1:4) and “God formed the earth, He did not create it in vain, He formed it to be inhabited” (Isaiah 45:18) and yet again ” The heavens are the Lord’s, but the earth He has given to the sons of men” (Psalm 115:16).

Also in our previous study we saw that Israel will be ruling over other nations as God’s earthly agents in the Millennial Kingdom. Therefore there shall be people still living on the earth after the return of Jesus. These along with the rest of creation will be restored to perfection as God’s Eternal Purpose is fulfilled.
HOW DOES GOD ACCOMPLISH HIS PURPOSE ?
The answer is “a bit at a time”. From Age to Age God has been working to a plan, preparing each part in turn until He is ready to assemble the final product.

Later we will look very briefly at God’s plan to accomplish His Eternal Purpose.

In the Church God also works a “bit at a time”. He does this by “revelation”. First he reveals to us a part of his plan, and then we begin to implement it in our lives. Once we have that bit working God will reveal more of his plan to us.

This is shown in the Bible. God entered into a number of “covenants” (contracts) with different people in ages past. God entered into a covenant with Noah, Abraham, Moses, David and finally us. Each covenant was richer and more detailed in its promise than the one before it. Each extended the initial conditions until finally Christ came to establish an even richer covenant with us.

So we have a cycle of “revelation” and “implementation”. God is building us up into his eternal purpose brick by brick, principle by principle and power upon power.
SUMMARY
God is working all things toward one final purpose, the restoration of all creation through the Christ. This will find its fulfillment in the Millennial Kingdom. Until then God has been preparing two great groups who will play a vital part in this work:

1. Israel – to rule the earthly kingdom

2. The Church – to rule the heavenly kingdom.

All this is under the ultimate Kingship of Jesus, the only begotten Son of God.

The Aaronic & Melchizedek Priesthoods

August 1, 2010/1 Comment/in Insights & Ramblings, works in progress/by MormonBox

work in progress…. finish this some time.
Rename this to order of the priesthood or something.

In the LDS Church the Priesthood is divided in two primary divisions, the Aaronic and Melchezidek Priesthood. LDS Scripture teaches us that the Aaronic Priesthood is a “Lower” and “Temporal” Priesthood set to preside over temporal matters; whereas the Melkezidek Priesthood is a “higher” “spiritual” priesthood designed to preside over spiritual matters. I believe that these two priesthoods were meant to be profound symbols pointing us to two distinct aspects of religion; namely that there is a “temporal”, earthly or humanistic aspect of religion, and a “spiritual”, heavenly or divine aspect of religion. The biblical record makes the existence of these two aspects of religion fairly clear.

-lower priesthood is a school master to bring us to christ. (the catholic reformation were trying to make many of the same points that Stephen and early apostolic reformers were)

-god of old testament commands israel to build him a house/temple (made with human hands), but then tries to teach israel that He does not dwell in temples made with human hands.

-god tells israel they should not have a King, because he wants to personally be their King. But they insist and so he helps them coronate a king and the result is just as the prophets foretold; oppression, repression, taxes, war, imperialism and politically influenced religion.

-god wants israel to come worship “the true god” on the mount at sinai, but they are afraid and need a god made with hands—so they have Aaron fashion a golden calf. As a punishment, god makes Aaron and his posterity priests (like the egyptians), gives them a temple (made with hands), and a “lower” religion which was a also a human construct.

-The purpose of the human aspects of religion (things like the temple, the altar, the outward ordinances) are designed to point us to the higer inward spiritual aspects of religion.

OUTLINE:
-define and explain the two aspects of the priesthood
-both these priesthood functions are related to family lines because abilities of the adept are often passed genetically. (but not necessarily!). give examples of when they were and weren’t! lehi/nephi/lanuel, david, samuel, Jesus is best example of both, had a kingly line NOT a priestly one and defied the jewish concepts of traditional priestly lines!
cover the two aspects one at a time…
-both of these functions were given to MANY different dispensational heads in early history and continue in thier seed, so mormons dont need to pridefully think we are the only ones with priesthood!
-in regards to priesthood ‘power’, the ordinances are symbolic. You do not need to be ordained to exercise god’s power. you do not need to be lds, or jewish.
-quote extensively from law of one. quote oahspe about those capable of “hearing the voice” or clairvoyance. genetic manipulation and off planet implanting might be associated with this.
-talk about it in regards to women, non-Israel, and blacks in priesthood.
-in regards to priesthood ‘authority’, it is the lower priesthood which governs this. talk about two paths.
-women hold the priesthood in many ways.
-god is like a computer network or internet which we can tap into to access power. power gives authority. the most powerful are selfless because it is a superior system.
-need to talk about the ideal masculine and feminine and how true power is achieved though balancing these. quote pearl on story of martyr couple, and androgynous adepts. also oahspe on principles of androgyny.

There is a misunderstanding in the Church, that members of the LDS Church are the only ones with any “priesthood”… This is simply not supported by restored scripture.

Firstly, it is important to realize there are different aspects of the priesthood. In Mormonism, the priesthood is “the power and authority of God given to man”. One aspect of this power or authority is the right to govern. In this case priesthood is essentially political. The second aspect of priesthood is the “power of God” in the sense of one obtaining God’s supernatural abilities. Although closely related to governance, this aspect of God’s power is done by the “gifts of the spirit”, more than by virtue of the priesthood, per se. For more information on how the gifts of the Spirit tap into priesthood power and allow any worthy individual to do healings, prophesies, miracles or other supernatural phenomenon see ‘The Difference Between Priesthood and Prophets‘.

Both of these powers are given to man in assorted ways and have many examples in scripture. This article will show that in both cases God’s priesthood is not limited to the LDS Church. Although God often restores and reconfirms priesthood power as an addendum to reconfirming his covenant with subsets of humanity, aspects of his priesthood continues within the bloodlines of those to whom it is given and serves its needed purposes outside of organized religion. Many of these rights and powers of the temporal priesthood are passed hereditarily from father to son/daughter with no need for an ordinance.

(Abraham 2:11)
11 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee; and in thee (that is, in thy Priesthood) and in thy seed (that is, thy Priesthood), for I give unto thee a promise that this right shall continue in thee, and in thy seed after thee (that is to say, the literal seed, or the seed of the body) shall all the families of the earth be blessed, even with the blessings of the Gospel, which are the blessings of salvation, even of life eternal.

(D&C 84:17–18)
17 Which priesthood continueth in the church of God in all generations, and is without beginning of days or end of years.
18 And the Lord confirmed a priesthood also upon Aaron and his seed, throughout all their generations, which priesthood also continueth and abideth forever with the priesthood which is after the holiest order of God.

(D&C 86:8–11)
8 Therefore, thus saith the Lord unto you, with whom the priesthood hath continued through the lineage of your fathers—
9 For ye are lawful heirs, according to the flesh, and have been hid from the world with Christ in God—
10 Therefore your life and the priesthood have remained, and must needs remain through you and your lineage until the restoration of all things spoken by the mouths of all the holy prophets since the world began.
11 Therefore, blessed are ye if ye continue in my goodness, a light unto the Gentiles, and through this priesthood, a savior unto my people Israel. The Lord hath said it. Amen.

Show that the priesthood comes through the new and everlasting covenant. And that covenant was made with MULTIPLE parties from the beginning.

Abraham received it from Melchizedek.
BUT Moses received it through Jethro’s line which began with Esaias, of whom we learn “And Esaias received it under the hand of God. Esaias also lived in the days of Abraham, and was blessed by him…” (D&C 84:12–13)

This of course was not a singular occurrence, the Brother of Jared also lived just before Abraham and we can only guess that he also received his priesthood “under the hand of God”. After all, we learn from D&C 88:22 that “without this [the authority of the priesthood] no man can see the face of God, even the Father, and live” (D&C 88:22). Which brings us back to our previous point, with the question; “how then did Joseph Smith see the face of God and live, when he had not yet been ordained to the priesthood at the time of the first vision?” The answer… this scripture is deeply symbolic. But additionally Joseph was a blood descendant of a high priesthood line (Ephraim), which even through the apostasy “must needs remain through… your lineage until the restoration of all things” (D&C 86:10)

Why then was the priesthood even restored? The answer, the entire process of the restoring of the priesthood and keys through the holy ordinances is a necessary part of confirming and renewing the new and everlasting covenant. Even though the covenant was made of old, and remained through the seed of the original testators, God renews it at the beginning of each dispensation for the sake of the faith of those involved and the whole world at large. For “without the ordinances thereof… the power of godliness is not manifest unto men in the flesh” (D&C 84:21). As the Lord says…

(D&C 84:48)
48 And the Father teacheth him [the priesthood holder] of the covenant which he has renewed and confirmed upon you, which is confirmed upon you for your sakes, and not for your sakes only, but for the sake of the whole world.

Explain a bit more how he gave it to multiple dispensations heads. Abraham, Brother of Jared, Esaias, (and others we dont know about). Then he confirmed it with multiple people. Moses, Jaredites and others we dont know about). Today he has renewed it with Joseph Smith and the LDS church, but to think that he has not re-confirmed it with the other divisions of the earth is a bit narrow minded. Was not John the Revelator himself “preparing the lost tribes” (D&C 77:14, ref). Do we not think God renewed the covenant with them as well? And what of the Jews? Doesn’t the Lord say concerning both the Jews and the 10 tribes,

26 And they who are in the north countries shall come in remembrance before the Lord; and their prophets shall hear his voice, and shall no longer stay themselves…
35 And they also of the tribe of Judah, after their pain, shall be sanctified in holiness before the Lord, to dwell in his presence day and night, forever and ever.

-explain how the Church, 10 tribes and Judah are all to be restored separately. The Jews do not need the priesthood restored to them; they will rebuild the temple and offer an acceptable sacrifice (Mal. 3:3–4, D&C 13:1) using the Levitical priesthood which has been maintained through their generations. The prophets of the 10 tribes also may have intact priesthood lines.

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Finish the article. Hit the points
-anyone can access intelligent infinity, or the ability to alter reality by our wills. it is a “gift of the spirit” and is free to any diligent seeker. However, use of this ability is guarded by higher beings on many different levels.

– It is important to understand the two paths of the Law of One; service to self and service to others. These are essentially the two ends of the spectrum concerning governance systems in our world and the galaxy in general. The service to self system is a top-down autocratic system of rule in which the few govern the many. This political/religious system exists to bring prestige, power, glory, energy, money and sustenance from the many to the god leader and his elite supporters. On the opposite side is the service to others system where there no inequality and all are entirely ONE. In this system no-one lifts themselves above another and all share power equally and serve eachother unfailingly. There is no need for a king (Samuel 8:4–22, D&C 38:21, Mosiah 29:10–32). If there is a leader appointed, they serve the people without requiring the people to serve or worshiping them. This system is only possible with a righteous selfless people, and historically when people are too selfish to establish this type of democratic system, the higher gods hand governance to the the lower gods who establish monarchies and dictatorships.

Service to the self is always inferior to service to others. It is impossible for the one to consistently defeat the many. The entropy in an inward/upward flowing political configuration is too high. Earthly and galactic history consistently shows that an outward/downward flowing political configuration is more powerful. Service to others IS the superior configuration. Show the densities; by 6th density all selfish groups switch to selflessness because there ceases to be possibility for progression otherwise.
-survival of the fittest governs the universe; even among gods. As taught to Abraham (Abr 3:16–19), the most intelligent/powerful always gains the right to govern. The “gods” who govern this world do so because they have used “intelligent infinity” or God’s power to become powerful enough to subjugate others to their wills. Man, Lucifer and lower gods do this through selfish force and violence. Higher gods have grown wise enough to see the detrimental entropy caused by the force and violence of tyranny; they instead use powers of “selfless” mental coercion and selfless service (D&C 130:36–46).
-there is a higher and a lower priesthood. An earthly and heavenly priesthood. One is essentiall selfish, the other selfless. One visible, the other invisible.
-because the selfless gods are more powerful than the self-made gods, they control our galaxy. but they allow gods of a lower order (of both paths) to rule earth and give them priesthood keys in accord with mans agency.
-priesthood power of both paths is passed through bloodlines and remains in one’s seed.
-Lucifer has priesthood and powers. As a god of this world he rules the lower priesthood and is permitted to instill and regulate the thrones, dominions, powers and principalities of this world until Christ puts this system under his feet at his coming.

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Four Fold Ministry of the Twelve.

Talk about the four-fold from gospel of the holy twelve… It is a symbol of the four divisions of the earth, and the four divisions of Israel, or God’s elect on earth and in heaven… all working independently of each-other, often without each others knowledge, to accomplish God’s purposes…

12. And from these there were called twelve to be Prophets with the Apostles, and twelve to be Evangelists and twelve to be Pastors, and their Helps were added unto them, and Deacons of the Church Universal, and they numbered one hundred and twenty. And thus was the Tabernacle of David set up, with living men filled with goodness, even as the Master had shewn unto them. [look for a type in soloman’s temple…]
13. And to the Church in Jerusalem was given James the Lord’s brother for its president and Angel, and under him four and twenty priests in a fourfold ministry, and helpers and deacons also. And after six days many came together, and there were added six thousand men and women who received the holy Law of Love, and they received the word with gladness

6. And to the Apostles were given staves to guide their steps in the ways of truth, and crowns of glory withal; and to the Prophets burning lamps to shew light on the path and censers with fire; and to the Evangelists the book of the holy law to recall the people to the first principles; and to the Pastors were given the cup and platter to feed and nourish the flock.
7. But to none was given aught that was not given to all, for all were one priesthood under the Christ as their Master Great High Priest in the Temple of God; and to the Deacons were given baskets that they might carry therein the things needful for the holy worship. And the number was about one hundred and twenty, Peter presiding over them.

I believe there are deep esoteric principles taught in this symbology which is reiterated with the symbolic use of the four and twenty elders described in Revelation 4:4,10; Rev 5:8,14; Rev 11:16; Rev 19:4) and reiterated in D&C 77:5.

The four divisions are also symbolized by Brahman man Nebuchadnezzar statue. Also four divisions in D&C 77:3, as well as 4 divisions of the earth & Noah, Japheth, Shem, Ham.

This would have to be a really long article to explain this all, but in summary. Every major religion on earth has come about through the priesthood. Hinduism and its restorationist sect of Buddhism came through Shem’s priesthood. Judaism and its two restorationist sects of Christianity and Islam came through Abraham’s priesthood (also Shem’s decedents). Japheth also has/had the priesthood and he uses it to rule China and southeast Asia (passed into Taoism and other Chinese religions). To add a higher degree of complexity the brother of Jared’s priesthood was spread to South America, Tibet and Anatolia by Heth’s great empire (not a lot revealed on this yet, see Law of One). It is very important to understand the distinctions between the lower and higher priesthoods. Organized religion has the lower “temporal” priesthood, and it is never long until this right to governance is hijacked by the selfish or self-righteous. Historically it has predominately been used by service-to-self individuals who are well-meaning but full of ego, self-righteousness and self-deception. These well-meaning individuals gravitate toward positions of power and quickly fill the ranks of most governments and churches. They are usually good people and should not be demonized but the populace should be aware that we give them power out of love so they can obtain their desires and progress. This lower priesthood is all about visible power, visible right to governance, power and prestige. It is the schoolmaster.

The higher priesthood administers in “spiritual” things and is held by those who rule in heaven. True prophets, adepts and mystics of every religion access this priesthood and by it do miracles, obtain revelation, and start systems which alter the coarse of human history. Most of this activity occurs in secret. That which is not done in secret becomes the stuff of legend and scripture. It is without “beginning of years” or “father and mother” and is not passed down hereditary like the lower priesthood. Nor does it need a visible ordinance to be conferred. The evidence of this priesthood is in the works of those who possess it.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

In this light, I believe every lover of equality, freedom and “righteousness” should be encouraged to study the breadth of the world’s political and religious systems. The political systems and empires of Communism and Democracy which grew out of the ideas revealed by these higher beings during Joseph Smith’s time are examples of the heavenly forces vying for control of our world right now. I believe political systems (religions) in heaven and the galaxy follow similar patterns to those on earth. And just as they have in the past, these heavenly and spiritual forces constantly work to win over the decision makers of all earth’s powerful organizations. As I have learned more about these heavenly organizations and forces, I am sad to see the inroads they have made in overcoming organizations which I love such as the United States government and the LDS Church.

Mormonism should be the epitome of service to others governance, where the leaders serve their people without expectation of reward.

Wishful and childish thinking will almost always try and get you to believe that the Church is either led entirely by the benevolent God of the Universe, or falsely led entirely by a devil or a bunch of old normal Joes. Through a lot of prayer and meditation, I have come to see that all earthly people and organizations are led by many voices of differing polarity. The more my understanding of the unseen higher planes grows, the more I see how phenomenally amazing the visions in the Book of Mormon are, and also how sadly poor the basic LDS understanding of our own scripture and revelation is. The LDS people (myself included for most my life so far) are blinded by our own unbelief and self-righteousness to the point that we don’t realize we are in nearly all cases associated as much with the “Gentiles” mentioned in LDS scripture as with “God’s people” (D&C 109:60, 113:10). The “marvelous work” and restoration of Israel has not yet fully come forth. The LDS Church is only a small part of a much larger work which is taking place predominately in the world’s political arena. But we are still in a probationary period at the end or fulness of the times of the Gentiles where the work of restoration and harvest has only begun. And the LDS Church, just like the “Gentile” organizations of the world will soon have to choose whether they will “repent” or change their world-views and traditions which are still largely based on distorted views of morality and negative ideologies of control and inequality.

The great and abominable Church mentioned in LDS scripture is a highly controlling organization which exists in heaven and works on all earthly organizations for the express purpose of bringing the world into bondage. The “illuminati”, an oversimplified cliche from the new age movement, are well known or secretive groups (secret combinations in the Book of Mormon) which work under varying degrees of inspiration from these heavenly forces. It is my testimony that just like much of the world’s current political and religious organizations, the LDS church has espoused many principles and ideologies of these negative forces. Much as Jesus (for good reasons) chose a spectrum of highly positive (John) to highly negative (Judas) apostles in the beginning of the Christian era, so too does our current LDS church contain a wide spectrum of positive and negative hierarchy and proponents. The primary philosophies of these positive and negative paths are fairly intuitive …

spectrum of organizational polarities from self serving to serving others. where does the LDS Church fit? Where do we fit in our families or personal responsibilities?

Principles of positivity (service to others, democratic principles)

-To forsake self and labor to serve others. To put the needs of others and the group before your own. To not put yourself above others. To expend more energy helping others than the energy others expend to serve or praise you. To give more than you receive. To be meek and humble. To seek equality for all. To warn others of danger in order to prevent suffering. To love and serve the “wicked” or those who seek to hurt you. To not label and judge others as wicked, but look for the best in others while advocating propriety. To pass praise and worship on up the chain. To break up class systems or systems of inequality. To promote freedom to all. To value common sense and each individuals right to personal inspiration over religious fanaticism or rigid legal systems of control or manipulation. To offer people positive/constructive counsel but not negative proscriptions. To rule by loving brotherhoods instead of rigid laws determined by an elite and enforced by punishment.

Principles of negativity (service to self, autocratic principles)

-To set up an elite where the few enslave and rule over the many, politically and religiously (kings & priests). To create a populace (not part of the ruling class) who is selfless and thus meek and easy to manipulate into being willingly enslaved. To create systems where the energy and resources of the many benefit and enrich you, the elite few (righteous kings & priests are rewarded). To crave or demand praise and worship. To utterly destroy the” wicked” (in other words, your enemies) and use fear and manipulation to rule and enslave your “servants”. To put yourself above others as much as possible (as a benevolent God or King or Priest), while manipulating your subjects into a belief that they are unworthy, unequal to you, subservient to you and in need of your benevolence and forgiveness. To build up class systems and psychologically, spiritually, physically and economically subjugate as many people as possible (by their own free will) in order to serve the elite. To promote religious & political fanaticism and keep people from thinking for themselves or thinking out of the box. To enforce rigid laws by manipulation, armies, imprisonment and violence.

Principles common to both.

-To work toward unity, in order to increase the groups power. To seek wisdom and knowledge in order to raise in power.

Extreme Examples of these Groups

In our day, North Korea in particular is a good example of how an almost purely negative governmental system works. Even before Genghis Khan, this region of the world has been a major proponent of the negative path. Much like the governments of Lenin, Stalin and Mao, North Korea one of the most closed, controlled, autocratic totalitarian governments in the world. To someone accustomed to the freedom of the west, it seems obvious that there is something inherently “evil” about their political systems. If you love control and power, then its a great place for you to be born as an elite because all control is in the hands of a small ruling class, and much of the countries resources go to supporting that elite (many capitalistic organizations use the same principles). The people have very little freedom, and are manipulated by fear and propaganda into thinking their leaders are God-like. And yet by creating a closed-minded mentality, good intelligent people in these cultures are fine with the status quo because they are almost entirely ignorant of the fact that most the world operates much differently. It’s important for members of any nation, religion or political organization to be able to look outside their little boxes, and compare the spectrum of governmental systems so they can best chose between the pluses and minuses of each.

North Korea fanfare and tribute to their “beloved leader”, Kim Jong-un. A classic example of self serving governance, where the many serve the elite few.

I’m no neophyte to Mormon doctrine or controversy. I’ve read a lot of religious material from LDS sources and most of the earth’s religious systems; and it seems the more material I read, the more I find myself having to pray and meditate for a while in order to integrate everything and figure out exactly where I think the LDS Church is right now. It is obvious to me as I’ve studied history that no earthly religion is perfect or even close to perfect. They all contain mixed and distorted material and teachings, and often when I delve into the controlling, compulsive, manipulative and occasionally deceptive aspects of LDS church doctrine and history… I worry that they are far too ingrained in the negative or service-to-self path. (see distinctions below) However, on the flip side I am hopeful as I listen to conference, see the open dialog occurring about troubling aspects of church history and feel out the general attitude of members in Utah that the Church and its hierarchy are predominantly seeking service to others by relaxing their power grip, opening their dialog, letting go of their pride and moving more and more toward the positive polarity.

Timeline Test

July 29, 2010/in works in progress/by MormonBox

This is a post to test the WordPress Simile Timeline plugin. I like this timeline and want to do a lot with it. more later

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