# PonderIt

## Monday, August 18, 2008

### Mysteriously Important Bodies

There's something very important about having bodies that I don't fully comprehend, but a couple of items recently have given me reason to consider anew the importance of physical bodies in Mormon theology.
First, a quote from Joseph Smith.

> So plain was the vision, that I actually saw men, before they had ascended from the tomb, as though they were getting up slowly. They took each other by the hand and said to each other, ‘My father, my son, my mother, my daughter, my brother, my sister.’ And when the voice calls for the dead to arise, suppose I am laid by the side of my father, what would be the first joy of my heart? To meet my father, my mother, my brother, my sister; and when they are by my side, I embrace them and they me.

The "first joy" is to "meet my father" and other relatives? We believe that the the spirit world has a similar social structure to this world. If that is the case, we will have just come from being with our righteous fathers and sons and mothers and daughters. Why then would the resurrection be a time of singular rejoicing? I can only imagine that the thrill of an embrace--a physical embrace--will be something we've been longing for since the separation of our bodies and spirits.
The second point of emphasis for bodies is the work we do in temples for the dead. Let's take baptism for the dead as our example. Baptism is a time to make a covenant. God has specified a particular ritual we must go through to enter into a covenant with Him. We must have an authorized priesthood holder immerse us in water.
I suppose that God could have easily chosen any other act to consummate this covenant. He might have insisted that we all speak a particular phrase, or that we wave our hands in the air, or that we lie on our backs very still for several minutes. For a number of good reasons, he chose the symbol-rich ordinance of baptism.
So now consider those people who didn't have an opportunity to be baptized in mortality. What is so special about the physical-body part of the ordinance that God requires it for all people, even if it must be done by proxy? For the life of me, I can't image why he couldn't have them perform some similar body-free ordinance in the spirit world. But they apparently need water baptism just as mortals do. I don't understand it, but it seems to be saying something very important about bodies.

#### 9 Comments:

- Good questions all around. I wish I had good answers.

  By Geoff J, at 8/19/2008 9:16 AM

- D&C 138:50 tells us that the dead looked upon the long absence of their spirits from their bodies as a bondage. So, yes, I guess resurrection will be a time of joy.
  For those who didn't have an opportunity to be baptized in mortality the physical-body part of the ordinance is necessary to force the living and the dead to work together; to turn the hearts of the children to the fathers and visa versa.

  By Howard, at 8/19/2008 11:34 AM

- So, Howard, you think baptism for the dead has less to do with physical bodies and more to do with needing a welding link. Interesting thought.
  It may only push the question further down the line on baptism for the dead. If we only need to bind the generations, isn't water baptism a labor intensive way to accomplish that? Couldn't we find a shorter ordinance that would accomplish the same thing?

  By Bradley Ross, at 8/19/2008 2:33 PM

- The time and labor intensity of doing work for the dead empowers the welding link.
  We can see the welding link in action from the side of the living. As we begin our genealogy the dead begin to come alive in our minds and we begin to see them as people. We visit the grave yards, read the epitaphs, listen to the family folklore and we imagine their lives. The more engaged we become, the greater our connection.
  Sure, many of them don’t care; some may even want us to stop. But, I often think about the grateful few who want us to complete their work. They can see the people next door watching TV or surfing the net as we drive to the Family History Center, log onto FamilySearch.org or drive to the Temple. They are dependant; they cannot do it for themselves. Our selfless effort must be obvious to them. Is it any wonder that their presence is often felt during these ordinances?
  What would quick and easy ordinances do to the participation of the dead?
  My guess is that having the same ordinance done for them offers meaningful closure and it says; they are us and we are them.

  By Howard, at 8/19/2008 6:51 PM

- Thanks for that post, Brad. I especially like the Joseph Smith quote. Howard makes some good points about welding links. It's often true that when we put effort into something, we appreciate it more, and I would agree that that is the case with temple work.
  As a related example, I've often been intrigued by the idea that many people are willing to say they accept Christ and follow Him, but when it comes to baptism--where the rubber hits the road--they are hesitant to do it. Or similarly, there are many couples who say they are committed to each other, but they are hesitant to get married. We mortals seem to be "wired" to acknowledge some inherent significance in physical actions. Physical actions seem more "real" to us.

  By gsbbyu, at 8/21/2008 7:56 AM

- I'd add 2 Nephi 9:8 to the list of sources that demonstrate the importance of having a physical body. It says that "if the flesh should rise no more our spirits must become subject to that angel who fell from before the presence of the Eternal God." Personally, I don't fully understand the cause-effect relationship between no resurrection and becoming subject to Satan (why is it necessarily the case that our spirits can't live under God's influence unless they have bodies?), but apparently there is a connection, which reinforces the importance of having a physical body.

  By gsbbyu, at 8/21/2008 7:57 AM

- I think baptism is the switch that activates the atonement in one's life. There is a quote in a YW lesson that talks about our physical bodies. It says that as we become more perfect, so do our physical bodies ( I am paraphrasing). Baptism makes us children of Christ (born again), not what welds the generations together.
  I believe it is the sealing ordinances that bind us together, or links the generations. I also believe that if we repent in this life through the atonement, that repentance can be retro active though past generations of ancestors with the same sin that has been passed from generation to generation. We hear how some sins have a 'genetic' component and I agree-it is the physical manifestation of a spiritual weakness that runs through generations and can be worked out only while in the flesh (thrusting off the natural man)-hence the idea that our ancestors would be lost without us being sealed together.

  By ShelleyG, at 8/23/2008 5:01 PM

- Also, I think if we truly understood how essential these links are, we would be more diligent in working to free our ancestors from the sins they are bound by as they no longer have those physical bodies to excercise the changing power of the atonement with.

  By ShelleyG, at 8/23/2008 5:04 PM

- I found a Wonderful site on Isaiah!
  http://www.isaiahexplained.com/
  The site has free lessons on every chapter.
  Very well done and in the author’s own voice.
  Every Isaiah Chapter has the Analytical Commentary of Isaiah. Enjoy this personable verse-by-verse commentary of Isaiah by well-known Hebrew scholar Avraham Gileadi.
  “Dr. Gileadi is the only LDS scholar I know of who is thoroughly competent to teach the words of Isaiah”—Professor Hugh Nibley, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah. (1. 6. 2003)
  “It is my testimony that this man has been brought forward and trained at this time to help those inside the Church into Isaiah, and those outside the Church, Jew and Gentile, through Isaiah into the Church” —Arthur Henry King, author, former BYU professor and London
  Temple President.
  “Dr. Gileadi has achieved a major breakthrough in the investigation of a book of such complexity and importance as the Book of Isaiah”—Professor David Noel Freedman, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
  “Dr. Gileadi’s work will render obsolete almost all the speculations of Isaiah scholars over the last one hundred years . . . enabling scholarship to proceed along an entirely new line . . . opening new avenues of approach for others to follow”—Professor Roland K. Harrison, Wycliffe College, Toronto, Canada.
  “Only one who is truly at home not only with the Hebrew but with the ancient manner of biblical thought could have produced such an insightful and ground-breaking book”—Professor S. Douglas Waterhouse, Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan.
  “Avraham Gileadi’s unsealing of the Book of Isaiah will forever change people’s
  understanding of Judeo-Christian religion, lifting it to heights hitherto known only to prophets and saints”—Arie Noot, corporate executive, Edmond, Oklahoma.
  “Isaiah Decoded is a huge breakthrough for the seeker of truth—Jew, Christian, Moslem, and agnostic. From an ancient writing, Gileadi has brought to light eternal truths about the nature of God and our relationship to him that have lain buried for centuries in the dust of time”—Guy Wins, fifth-generation Jewish diamond dealer from Antwerp, Belgium.
  “Gileadi is the only scholar I know who has been able to express the Jewish expectation of the Messiah in relation to the life and mission of Jesus of Nazareth”—Daniel Rona, Israeli tour guide, Jerusalem, Israel.
  “Dr. Gileadi has clearly demonstrated his mastery of the Book of Isaiah and of the scholarly literature dealing with it”—Professor Ronald Youngblood, Bethel Theological Seminary, San Diego, California.
  “Avraham Gileadi’s books and tapes take the casual observer of Isaiah’s words and transform him into an enlightened and lifelong student of the Word of God”—Allan and Nancy Pratt, LDS mission president, Toulouse, France.
  “Dr. Gileadi has awakened a whole new depth of my understanding of Isaiah’s prophetic message. His books and tapes illuminate the urgent relevance of Isaiah’s writings to our own day”—Becky Douglas, supervisor and sponsor of three orphanages in India, Atlanta, Georgia.
  “Dr. Gileadi’s translation [of the Book of Isaiah] is clear and smooth, allowing the reader to appreciate the power and beauty of Isaiah as conveyed in the Hebrew original”—Professor Herbert M. Wolf, Wheaton College, Wheaton, Illinois.
  “Gileadi has uncovered an amazing message written in a divine code by the prophet–poet Isaiah. This will give comfort, hope, and joy to masses of people as they cope with the perplexing events now unfolding before their eyes”—Fenton Tobler, thirty years elementary school principle, Las Vegas, Nevada.

  By Anonymous, at 12/21/2008 10:39 AM

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