FORWARD: Disclaimer-This treatise, though drawn upon scripture and authorative references, is also treated with the reasoning of man's science as it may be applied and such personal opinions there on. It is not an official Church doctrinally approved treatment, but a treatment in understanding. An example of such is the 'backward' analysis of the 'mind' or nero/nervious system that physically amounts to man's 'intelligence' and its 'input' network of 'receptors' and nervous system contected to the central processing and storage unit, the human brain. Since such 'temporal' or 'physical' structures are deduced to faciiitate and house man's 'Intelligence' upon which man's and God's eternal nature is founded, it seemed reasonable for some reflective understanding to relate such elements of man, his eternal spirit Intelligence with that which we can see and study in its related temporal tabernacle. Of course such is not and/or has not been scripturally or Church doctrinally sustained.

Progression, The Design of Eternity

prepared and presented by Don R. Hender

    THE phases or stages of Eternal Progress may be variously set out depending upon certain perspectives and the circumstances that surrounds these phases or stages. For purposes here in, there will be presented Six Primarially Foundational Phases or Stages. They are:

Now these six rudimentry phases or stages do have sub-stages of being some of which sadly may have come to a limited developmental stage that though it is eternal, is will not further develop in design beyond that which it has achieve. That being what has been termed 'eternally damned or stopped within that limited state. For example Lucifer and his angels have achieved a Spirit birth of intelligence meeted with a spirit body, but they are forever limited to that stage or phase of existance forever more not as said 'failing to have kept their first estated due to their own disobedience and rebellion against God their Father and his selected, appointed, annointed, ordained, consecrated, empowered heir - in this case Jehovah the Firstborn son of the Father in the Spirit. They will forever be Intelligence embodied within their spirit body, their soul of that level and nothing more.

Plan of Eternal Progression
Charting the Plan
(Ages of Time - Generation of Jehovah-Jesus)

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Eternity
And
Intelligence

Pre-Mortal
First Estate
Existence

Second
Estate (A)
Mortality

Second
Estate (B)
Spirit World

Second
Estate (C)
Millennium

'Final Estate'
Eternity
of Glories

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Intelligences  

Spirit Birth

Mortal Birth

Mortal Death

Resurrection

Glorification

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Intelligences  

Councils In Heaven
(Planning and Organizing)

War in Heaven

Creation

Garden Home

Adam to Noah

Time of Patriarchs

Time of Moses' Lesser Law

Time of Scattering

Meridian of Time

Time of Apostasy

Time of Awakening

Time of Restoration

Time of God's Coming

Millennium

Prison

Last Battle

Final Judgments

Kindoms Glory

Godhood

Eternal Progression

Eternal Posterity

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~ N O T E S ~

* The Soul: Variously used and defined is seems appropriate that a 'definition of use' be made as to how the term 'soul' is being used in this treatise. The first mention of the soul in made in Genesis 2:7:
    "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." ~ Genesis 2:7 ~ (see also: 1 Corinthians 15:45; D&C 88:15;)

Some teach ignorantly that man consists of three parts, which they term 'spirit, soul and body.' Technically this analysis actually confuses the issue of the nature of man, as they are using 'dual' application terminology in their attempt to define three separate 'parts' ad to what constitutes man! The first scriptural reference should denounce their statement, but with a little definition of 'terms' it could stand as being correct. What was 'formed' from the 'dust of the ground' was the physical body of a man and in Genesis 2:7, that particular 'man' was 'Adam' and the name 'Adam' mens man. So in effect the physical body of Adam (man) in and of itself, is not a living being (soul), until the 'breath of life' until that which gives man life it breathed into the temporal or physical tabernacle. But this first scripture would imply that the termporal or physical body when combined with the 'breath of life' does constitute the 'Soul' - 'a living soul.'

Further light and knowledge concerning this matter is given in the Book of Mormon in the third chapter of the book of Ether. When our Spirit Ministering God Jehovah (who is the same as Jesus Christ) appear unto the brother of Jared (Mahonri Moriancumr) some 2,000 years before he would be born of the Father in the flesh, he explained unto the brother of Jared concerning this 'creation' of the man Adam:

    "Behold, I am he who was prepared from the foundation of the world to redeem my people. Behold, I am Jesus Christ. I am the Father and the Son. In me shall all mankind have life, and that eternally, even they who shall believe on my name; and they shall become my sons and my daughters.
    "And never have I showed myself unto man whom I have created, for never has man believed in me as thou hast. Seest thou that ye are created after mine own image? Yea, even all men were created in the beginning after mine own image.
    "Behold, this body, which ye now behold, is the body of my spirit; and man have I created after the body of my spirit; and even as I appear unto thee to be in the spirit will I appear unto my people in the flesh.    " ~ Ether 3:14-16 ~

Within those three verses contains a great clearifying statement on the natures of God and man. Jesus Christ, who is the same as the Spirit God Jehovah, was prepared for those commisions 'from the foundation of the world.' And as the Spirit God of the Old Testament, he introduces himself to the brother of Jared as Jesus Christ, or as a transliterated alternative Jehoshua the Messiah. There are a number of ways that Christ/Jehovah stands as the Father and the Son and that fact is also taught by Abinadi in Mosiah chapter 15 (see my commentary). As Jesus Christ, he states that he 'created' man. This would refer to that temporal physical 'creation' as recorded in Genesis 2:7. Jesus asks the brother of Jared in he can see that man was created after or in the image of his them spirit body. That in itself confirms that the spirit body is in the same shape and form as the physical body. He emphasized to Mahonri that the body of Christ which he sees "is the body of my (his) spirit. And he states that all men were created "in the beginning after mine own image." That 'beginning' would reference the very spirit birth - creation of all men and women.

Then in the writings of Abraham, we have Abraham understanding and accounting of the 'creation' and that coorelated same verse relative to the man Adam rendered as such:

    "And the Gods formed man from the dust of the ground, and took his spirit (that is, the man's spirit), and put it into him; and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul.
    "And the Gods planted a garden, eastward in Eden, and there they put the man, whose spirit they had put into the body which they had formed."     ~ Pearl of Great Price | Abraham 5:7-8

The additional light of understanding that Abraham's account gives is that is was the 'Gods,' meaning that Jehovah/Jesus worked with and under the direction of Elohim, Our Father Who Are in that Celestial Heaven, the Father of our Spirits. And it states that is was the already so formed 'spirit of Adam' and put it into that physical body from the elements of the ground or earth. And then with the 'kick starting' of the 'breath of life' (not dissimilar to the first gasp of breath and cry of a new born baby throuogh his nostrils) did Adam become a 'living soul.' Thus is clearly states that it was the combination of the 'spirit body of man' combined with the 'physical body' that then constituted a 'living soul.'

And thus the concept of the 'soul,' the 'living soul,' would and or could refer to the whole structure of man. Whatever did constitute the 'living Spirit of man' combined with the 'physical body' of man constituted a 'living soul.'

But it is not that simple. It would seem that the concept of the 'soul' or the 'living soul' of man, was not solely reserved for just the combination of 'Intelligence, Spirit Body and Temporal Body.' In reference to the death of 'mother Rachel,' it speaks of "her soul was departing, (for she died). (Genesis 35:18; see also D&C 45:2; 63:4; 101:37) What was departing Rachel's physical body was her still living Spirit Body, which was also refered to as her 'soul.' Thus the concept of the 'soul' would seem to be a cummulative arrangement. The combination of eternal Intelligence and the Spirit Body at the time of our Spirit birth, was refered to as our 'soul.' Certainly Jehovah/Jesus Christ, as our Spirit God of the Old Testament, was a 'living soul' though he had yet not come into his body of flesh born of Mary.

Thus the 'Soul' or the definition which this treatise does us, it that the Soul refers to the 'person' or to 'you.' And at various times 'you' are composed of differing things. As the spirit sons and daughters of God the Father Elohim, were were the combination of 'Intelligence' and 'Spirit Body.' And in that state, that was our 'living soul' — that was who we were and what we were. And we had our abilities and our lives as to who we were in the preexistence. Then that living soul of intelligence and spirit body was placed into our physical body of flesh and blood. And then that was who you were - who we were - and as that was who we were still as living souls in that combination of intelligence, spirit body, and physical body. And then as mother Rachel, that living part of intelligence and spirit body then leaves the physical body which returns to the earth from which it came. And we become what is called 'dis-embodied' Spirits again as 'intelligence and spirit body' for a time, but we are still living souls as the word soul refers to you, us, me in what ever form and combination we are. In the resurrection we, our intelligence and spirit are reunited/united to our incorrupt able immortal body of flesh and bone, and that is our 'living soul' or the you or me that we are. And thus it is so even when we are gloried with our final body of glory, be it celestial, terrestrial, of telestial. And that then is our 'living soul' our serlves as we are then.

In short, the soul is not a single component of what we are made up of at any time, but it speaks of what ever combination of such component structures brought together as who 'you' are or who 'I' am. It is the person that is the soul. And the soul is not just one component part that is lost if and when one of those parts, such as the mortal body is gone from it. The soul is eternal in its nature, even as god is also. One might consider the butterfly and the stages of life that it passes through from catabilar, to a cacoon incrusted form, to the final butterfly that flies away. They all were the same 'soul' even in its different forms. Today was stand as a soul of intelligence, spirit body, and mortal physical body. When our mortal body dies and returns to the dust of the earth, our 'soul' does not die. It lives on as that of our 'intelligence' and 'spirit body.' And it is still our soul! It is still who it is that we are.