Foundations: The Nature of God

Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:
The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star,
Hath had elsewhere its setting,
And cometh from afar:
Not in entire forgetfulness,
And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come
From God, who is our home: -From William Wordsworth,  "Intimation of Immortality"

The Existence of God

Sometimes it helps to go back and start at the very beginning. Before any of the ideas I'm sharing here will make any sense, or will have any relevance whatsoever, we must be willing to accept one fundamental premise: We are not alone here, on this blue-green marble floating around a small yellow star campfire in space. We must open ourselves to the idea that there is a supreme Being in the Universe with all knowledge, and all power--the Creative force behind all things we perceive in the material world. 

Aristotle, the Greek Philosopher, and the early Christian thinker Anselm, seemed to conceive of God as a logical necessity. To Aristotle, God was the Prime Mover--the First Cause in the long chain of causes and effects we see around us in Nature. The effects provide proof for the existence of some initial cause. Anselm had a similar, though slightly harder to grasp argument--that God is "that being than which none greater can be conceived." In other words, the ability of our minds to conceive of a Supreme Being provides evidence of His existence. 

I am looking for a more intimate, personal knowledge of God than these philosophers can provide, though--not simply a logical conclusion I accept as the necessary result of so many premises, nor the purely emotional clinging to some idea of Divinity to avoid slipping into the chasm of existential angst. I am looking for a knowledge of God that can only come through the sort of relationship that exists between intelligent beings. 

Joseph Smith is taught that "three things are necessary in order that any rational an intelligent being may exercise faith in God unto life and salvation: First, the idea that He actually exists. Secondly, a correct idea of His character, perfections, and attributes. Thirdly, an actual knowledge that the course of life which he is pursuing is according to His [God's] will" (Joseph Smith, Lectures on Faith, 3:2-5) So, beyond simply the idea that God exists, which Anselm or Aristotle or any other of a number of self-proclaimed teachers would tell me, I need to know what He is actually like, and further, I need to know what He expects of me, so that I can order my life according to His will. 

The Nature of God

If we want to really know someone, we can imagine what they might be like, or we can ask them; the latter approach is by far the more effective one. Similarly, we cannot expect to come to know God by bouncing postulates, hypotheses, and guesses off of one another. The best source of information about God comes directly from God, either to our souls directly, or by way of those who have had personal interaction with Him. Searching through the sacred accounts found in the Holy Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price, we can find many of the attributes of God as described by individuals who interacted with Him face to face as Moses did. The Apostle John teaches us that "God is Love," (1 John 4:7), and the Apostle Paul teaches that He is the Father of our Spirits, and the source of all Life, Action, and Being (Acts 17:27-28. Hebrews 12:9). Over and over as I read about God's attributes, I see two themes repeated--His Creative Power, and His Perfect Love--both of which are key elements in His role as our Eternal Father. For this reason, I feel it is more useful to refer to God by that title- Father in Heaven or Heavenly Father, rather than by any other: It clearly and definitively describes the Nature of God, and our relationship to Him. 

The term "father" comes laden with all sorts or baggage for many members of the human race, but that is because mortal fatherhood is only a shadow, or a reflection, of true Eternal Fatherhood. I have been blessed with a mortal father who truly understands the Eternal Nature of fatherhood, and has used his role to teach me what it actually means to be a father, but I recognize that not all have been so fortunate, and I mourn with those whose relationships with their fathers are troubled, painful, or non-existent. However, the aberrations and imperfections in the mortal reflections of the Divine Reality do not negate that reality. Our Father in Heaven does love us perfectly, even if some of our mortal fathers hurt us. He is mindful of us, even when mortal fathers walk out on some of us. He has created this earth for us, and is mindful of our needs, even when some mortal fathers shirk their duty to provide for and protect their offspring. He is all-knowing and all-powerful, even when some mortal fathers allow their own ignorance and pride to limit their children's growth. He is what all mortal fathers should strive to be, and so we can rely on Him and have faith in Him regardless of our circumstances and station in life. 

Messengers

Knowing we have a Perfect, Loving, All-Powerful Father in Heaven is a great foundation, but as was noted earlier, we also need to know that our choices are in accordance with His will--we need to find out what our Heavenly Father wants for us. Some elements of the Father's will are imbued in us from before birth, little sparks of light we carry inside, the "clouds of glory" spoken of by Wordsworth.  But these are only hints, clues along the path--we need more guidance to understand who our Father is, who we are, and who we can become. To some, God reveals himself more completely, more directly, face to face. For the rest of us, we look to these messengers, commissioned by God, given His Divine authority, to teach His truth. These messengers are more than just moral philosophers or great teachers--they are Prophets and Apostles (Apostle literally means "one who is sent"). They are given authority by our Father in Heaven to teach us His will for us. These messengers were sent in Ancient times--we know them as Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Elijah, Peter, James, John, and Paul to name a few. These men understood that all of us are God's children, and that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was sent to save us from ourselves. They taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ, even before Christ was born, for souls in the time of Noah or Abraham were as precious to God as souls in the time of Christ. These messengers came to deliver the Good Tidings of salvation through Christ, and some accepted their words, but most rejected them. The messengers of God have never been terribly popular with  society as a whole. 

 Further messengers have been sent in modern times, beginning with Joseph Smith, the Prophet of the Restoration. 170 years ago this past week, Joseph Smith was murdered by an angry mob of men who opposed the truths he taught. Yet these were not Joseph's truths--they were God's truths, taught then by Joseph, and taught today by Thomas S. Monson, Henry B. Eyring, and Dieter F. Uchtdorff--the current Prophet and his two counselors, as well as the members of the modern day Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. The Pattern continues--our Father loves us and wants us to know who He is, and so He has sent messengers to point us to Christ, who will then escort us back to the Father. 

From YouTube's Mormon Channel, "Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration"