He said, "You are correct in saying that same-sex attraction is not a sin nor has the church ever said it was, but your reference to the Book of Mormon may be taken out of context (now that’s got to sound like class a bit, eh?). Though you provided no reference, I think the text to which you are referring is Alma 34:34: “for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world.”
While I can certainly see how one may understand the verse to be referring to one’s physical spirit, verse 35 goes to say: “for behold (notice the “for” which works as a “because”), if ye have procrastinated the day of your repentance even until death, behold, ye have become subjected to the spirit of the devil, and he doth seal you his; therefore the Spirit of the Lord hath withdrawn from you.” In this verse, it is the influence of the spirit of the devil or the Spirit of God that we take with us. This is reinforced in verse 38: “contend no more against the Holy Ghost…” Notice that in both it is not our actual individual spirit that is the subject, but the influence of either the Adversary or the Holy Ghost that we take with us.
If you heed the spirit of the devil, you carry that spirit with you, if you are led by the Holy Ghost, it is that which goes with us. Your interpretation of the verse, which does not seem to take in the full context, leads to an assumption of your part that homosexuality is part of your spiritual makeup, something the verse does not say, or does any doctrinal statement that I know of."
--End of Part Two
While I can certainly see how one may understand the verse to be referring to one’s physical spirit, verse 35 goes to say: “for behold (notice the “for” which works as a “because”), if ye have procrastinated the day of your repentance even until death, behold, ye have become subjected to the spirit of the devil, and he doth seal you his; therefore the Spirit of the Lord hath withdrawn from you.” In this verse, it is the influence of the spirit of the devil or the Spirit of God that we take with us. This is reinforced in verse 38: “contend no more against the Holy Ghost…” Notice that in both it is not our actual individual spirit that is the subject, but the influence of either the Adversary or the Holy Ghost that we take with us.
If you heed the spirit of the devil, you carry that spirit with you, if you are led by the Holy Ghost, it is that which goes with us. Your interpretation of the verse, which does not seem to take in the full context, leads to an assumption of your part that homosexuality is part of your spiritual makeup, something the verse does not say, or does any doctrinal statement that I know of."
--End of Part Two
So--how does "taking the same spirit" mean your desire to sin, but not the rest of your personality? If our spirit isn't our personality---and all that goes into it--then what is it? (of course including sexuality.
ReplyDeleteJoe--yeah...I'm not really sure what he meant by that...it was the most confusing part--which is why I put it in the second segment.
ReplyDeleteIf our attractions, our sexuality, and our fondness for certain people do not go with us into the next life... doesn't that present a really big problem for the concept of eternal marriage?
ReplyDeleteNor do I think those verses necessarily prove that our attractions *don't* come with us into the next life. Sometimes it's fun to just sit with the tension of not knowing. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd I believe that back in the day when Spencer Kimball and Mark Peterson were preaching that homosexuality was a choice and could be cured, the Church did indeed consider the quality of homosexuality a sin, and excommunicated people for it. I know someone to whom this happened. So your prof is not correct on that point either.
ReplyDeleteI think when he is saying that we carry spirits with us, he is saying we can carry the spirit of the Holy Ghost with us, or the spirit of the adversary. This is a principle of spirits with carry us in this life, and that same spirit will carry with us into the next life.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I am not gay myself, I have several friends and family that have come out to me, and each of them have stressed the fact that being gay does not define who they are. They are still the same person, but they also happen to be attracted to people of the same gender. In every case they have stressed that even with their attraction it does not define them as a person or change who they are. They are the same person they were before they came out to me. Being gay doesn't define their personality. Some people let it do so I know, perhaps they are the people who, carrying that spirit with them into the next life. I don't know. But there are some thoughts on the matter anyway. I guess I just wanted to say that it doesn't seem to me that the nature of your attraction doesn't make up your personality of define you.