(Scripture Reading Exercise.)

THE BATTLE FOR MAN'S MORAL FREEDOM IN MAN'S EARTH-LIFE.

SPECIAL TEXT: "All truth is independent in that sphere in which God has placed it, to act for itself, as all Intelligence also. Otherwise there is no existence." (Doc. & Cov., Sec. 93.)

DISCUSSION.

1. Of the Nature of Moral Freedom: The controversy in the heavenly council between Christ and Lucifer, gives emphasis to the importance of man's agency—his freedom to will and to do as he shall elect. The choice of the Christ as the Redeemer of the world cannot be regarded as being connected with any event by which the agency or moral freedom of Intelligences was then created. It was the maintenance of that which already existed rather than the creation of any new thing which was involved. Indeed the moral freedom of Intelligences is something which is as eternal as they are. Freedom is an attribute of Intelligences and may not be taken from them without robbing them of all joy and glory and dignity of existence. "Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be. All truth is independent in that sphere in which God has placed it, to act for itself, as all Intelligence also, otherwise there is no existence. Behold, here is the agency of man and here is the condemnation of man, because that which was from the beginning is plainly manifest unto them, and they receive not the light. And every man who receiveth not the light is under condemnation, for man is spirit."^[A]

[Footnote A: Doc. & Cov., Sec. 93:30-33.]

Whenever God, therefore, speaks of the agency or moral freedom of man,^[A] reference is had to the spirit or Intelligence which constitutes the real man, "for man is spirit," that is, mind, Intelligence is the real fact of him. All truth and all Intelligences are independent in that sphere in which God has placed them, to act for themselves, otherwise there is no existence (see above quotation). That is to say, there is no existence where this fact of the freedom of truth and of Intelligences does not obtain. Freedom of man, then, means freedom of the Intelligence which is the chief fact of man; freedom in all estates through which he shall be called to pass, in all spheres in which God shall place him to act, the quality of freedom never leaves him. In obedience or in rebellion against God, it is his freedom that keeps him in either condition, and ministers to his joy or his misery respectively.

[Footnote A: It will be observed that these terms are used interchangeably.]

"I know," says the Nephite Prophet Alma, "that he [God] granteth unto men according to their desire, whether it be unto death or unto life; yea, I know that he alloteth unto men, according to their wills; whether they be unto salvation or unto destruction" (xxix:4).

The second Nephi says: "The Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself. Men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great mediation of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself."^[A] Upon these principles it is manifest that God designed that freedom should follow Intelligences into their earth-life.

[Footnote A: II Nephi ii:27.]

2. Moral Freedom to Follow Man in all Estates: When the earthlife was proposed, Intelligences were about to exercise that freedom in a new sphere of existence; in a new environment, under new, and to them, doubtless, strange conditions. The plan Lucifer proposed involved the destruction of his freedom. "Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man," says the Lord. "Here am I," said Lucifer, "send me. I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind that not one soul shall be lost."^[A] Under this plan, Intelligences were to have an earth-life in which there would be no losses; a world where there was nothing adventurous and dangerous, a "game" in which there are no real stakes; all that was "hazarded" would be given back. All must be saved; and no price is to be paid in the work of salvation. The last word is to be sweet. All is to be "yes," "yes" in the universe.^[B] The fact of "no" was nowhere to stand at the core of things. There could be no seriousness attributed to life under such a plan, since there were to be no insuperable "noes" and "losses;" no genuine sacrifices anywhere; nothing permanently drastic and bitter to remain at the bottom of the cup. "I will redeem all mankind, that not one soul shall be lost," said Lucifer; "and surely I will do it." Man was to have nothing to do in the achievement, all was to be done for him. He was to be passive, merely. Not a thing to act, but something to be acted upon. Such only could be the outcome of a world where all mankind would be saved, "that not one soul should be lost." It would be an utterly meaningless world. Without heroism; listless indifference would claim it. Passage through such an estate would add nothing to Intelligences. And yet, beyond question, there were natures among the Intelligences of heaven that longed for such a scheme of things, so much they dreaded danger, adventure and the stress of life that comes from individual struggle and individual responsibility. "Give us ease, let us have things done for us without our concern and the pain of striving," is their cry. And a third part of the hosts of heaven Lucifer turned away from the Lord in that day, because they made this election, and they became the devil and his angels (Doc. & Cov., Sec. xxix).

[Footnote A: Book of Moses, Ch. iv:4.]

[Footnote B: The expressions here used are a paraphrase of a passage in a lecture of the late Prof. Wm. James, on "Pragmatism" (page 295), on the thought, "May not the notion of a world already saved in toto anyhow, be too saccharine to stand."]

3. The Thoughts of a Modern Philosopher: Mr. Wm. James, in his "Pragmatism," has a very wonderful passage bearing upon the whole thought here dwelt upon; and it is so pregnant with suggestion relative to our theme, so supported by philosophical thought and analysis of human nature, both strong and weak, that one marvels at the idea and thought in it which so parallels our own doctrines advanced in the Book of Moses—the doctrines above considered and given to the Church, in large part, in the very first years of her existence.^[A] The following is the passage from Mr. James:

[Footnote A: For full account of the Book of Moses, see Seventy's Year Book. No. I, Lessons v and vi. It was published in full by F. D. Richards in the Pearl of Great Price, 1851, Liverpool, England.]

"Suppose that the world's Author put the case to you before creation, saying: 'I am going to make a world not certain to be saved, a world the perfection of which shall be conditional merely, the condition being that each several agent does its own "level best." I offer you the chance of taking part in such a world. Its safety, you see, is unwarranted. It is a real adventure, with real danger, yet it may win through. It is a social scheme of co-operative work genuinely to be done. Will you join the procession? Will you trust yourself and trust the other agents enough to face the risk?

"Should you, in all seriousness, if participation in such a world were proposed to you, feel bound to reject it as not safe enough? Would you say that, rather than be part and parcel of so fundamentally pluralistic and irrational a universe, you preferred to relapse into the slumber of nonentity from which you had been momentarily aroused by the tempter's voice?^[A]

[Footnote A: Of course this proposition of relapsing into "nonentity" is no part of the "Mormon" scheme of thought, since the actual proposition of our revelations was made to Intelligences alike uncreated and uncreatable, and alike indestructible; so that while in the exercise of their freedom these Intelligences might decline participation in the scheme of things proposed, they could not sink back into nonentities.]

"Of course, if you are normally constituted, you would do nothing of the sort. There is a healthy-minded buoyancy in most of us which such a universe would exactly fit. We would therefore accept the offer—'Top! and schlag auf schlag!" It would be just like the world we practically live in; and loyalty to our old nurse Nature would forbid us to say no. The world proposed would seem 'rational' to us in the most living way.

"Most of us, I say, would therefore welcome the proposition and add our fiat to the fiat of the creator. Yet perhaps some would not; for there are morbid minds in every human collection, and to them the prospect of a universe with only a fighting chance of safety would probably make no appeal. There are moments of discouragement in us all, when we are sick of self and tired of vainly striving. Our own life breaks down, and we fall into the attitude of the prodigal son. We mistrust the chances of things. We want a universe where we can just give up, fall on our father's neck, and be absorbed into the absolute life as a drop of water melts into the river or the sea.

"The peace and rest, the security desiderated at such moments is security against the bewildering accidents of so much finite experience. Nirvana means safety from this everlasting round of adventures of which the world of sense consists. The Hindo and the Buddhist, for this is essentially their attitude, are simply afraid, afraid of more experience, afraid of life!

"And to men of this complexion, religious monism comes with its consoling words: 'All is needed and essential—even you and your sick soul and heart. All are one with God, and with God all is well. The everlasting arms are beneath, whether in the world of finite appearance you seem to fail or to succeed.' There can be no doubt that when men are reduced to their last sick extremity, absolutism is the only saving scheme. Pluralistic moralism simply makes their teeth chatter, it refrigerates the very heart within their breast. * * *

"I find myself willing to take the universe to be really dangerous and adventurous, without therefore backing out and crying, no play. I am willing to think that the prodigal son attitude, open to us as it is in many vicissitudes, is not the right and final attitude towards the whole of life. I am willing that there should be real losses and real losers, and no total preservation of all that is. I can believe in the ideal as an ultimate, not as an origin, and as an extract, not the whole. When the cup is poured off, the dregs are left behind forever, but the possibility of what is poured off is sweet enough to accept.

"As a matter of fact, countless human imaginations live in this moralistic and epic kind of a universe, and find its disseminated and strung along successes sufficient for their rational needs. There is a finely translated epigram in the Greek anthology which admirably expresses this state of mind, this acceptance of loss as unatoned for, even though the lost element might be one's self:

"A shipwrecked sailor, buried on this coast,
Bids you set sail.
Full many a gallant bark, when we were lost,
Weathered the gale."

"It is, then, perfectly possible to accept sincerely a drastic kind of a universe from which the element of 'seriousness' is not to be expelled. Whoso does so is, it seems to me, a genuine pragmatist. He is willing to live on a scheme of uncertified possibilities which he trusts; willing to pay with his own person, if need be, for the realization of the ideals which he frames."^[A]

[Footnote A: "Pragmatism" (1908), Wm. James, pp. 290-297.]

4. The Startling Parallel Between the Reflections of the Philosopher and the Doctrines of the Book of Moses: Such the voice of a modern, and, without disparagement of others, I think I may venture to say, our greatest American, philosopher. In this statement, as I said in introducing it, Professor James puts the case of the proposed earth-existence of man, as set forth in the early revelations to the Church, in a way that is startling. The proposition put to Intelligences before the earth was made, in each case; an earth-life full of adventure and danger, safety not guaranteed,^[A] in each case; the counter plan proposed that would guarantee safety rejected; and yet the existence of some "morbid minds" among the spirits—found "in every human collection," to whom "the prospect of a universe with only a fighting chance" made no appeal, and accordingly their rejection of it, and their rebellion. But, thank God, the Christ in that great council prevailed, as also he prevailed in the war of the Rebellion in Heaven, which followed upon that Council's decision. The Christ's spirit stood for the freedom of man in that great controversy. He stood for a serious earth-life for Intelligences, in which though there would be some losses, many losses, in fact, yet also there would be much gain and glory. Gain, however, that could not be obtained but through great strivings; the exercise of all the great virtues, of trust and patience, endurance and courage, wisdom and temperance, together with faith and hope and charity. Thank God, I say, that Jesus the Christ, in the pre-existence, stood for all those things which make earth-life worth while and existence itself endurable—for the moral freedom of man.

[Footnote A: "We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these [Intelligences] may dwell; and we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them; and they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever" (Book of Abraham, Ch. iii:24-26).]

5. The Spirit of Lucifer: In the closing paragraph of Lesson V it is stated that two mighty principles were involved in the plan of earth-life for Intelligences. One the agency of man; the other, the honor and glory of God. The first has been considered; the second must now receive attention:

"I will redeem all mankind that one soul shall not be lost; and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor." To this the Christ is said to have replied: "Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever" (Book of Moses, Ch. iv:1, 2). These two propositions represent the spirit of the two characters here in contention. The one, self-seeking, vainglorious, selfish—willing that the agency of man shall be destroyed if only he may be exalted. Willing that Intelligences shall be bereft of freedom—if only he can be Lord. "And surely I will do it," self sufficiency. "Wherefore give me thine honor!" With which would go also the power of God and the glory! (See Book of Moses, Ch. iv:3.) Hence this scheme of Lucifer's contemplated not only the despoliation of man, but the dishonoring of God. Truly the ambition of Lucifer was boundless, as his selfishness was fathomless. Well might the poet make lord Wolsey say:

"I charge thee, fling away ambition;
By this sin fell the angels."^[A]

[Footnote A: King Henry VIII.]

6. The Christ Spirit: In contrast with Lucifer's characteristics revealed in this controversy, contemplate the plan and character of the Christ. Standing as it does in antithesis to the agency-destroying plan of Lucifer, it must be held to be agency-preserving, hence offers not salvation to all so "that one soul shall not be lost," but predicates salvation upon compliance with some conditions, on obedience, say, to God. Under this agency-preserving plan, then, the Christ said: "Father, thy will be done." Equivalent to saying, Father, let thy freedom-preserving plan obtain, and be carried into effect—"Thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever!" And it was in this spirit that the work of the atonement was wrought out in the earth-life of the Christ. "I came down from heaven," said he, "not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me" (St. John vi:38). "I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which sent me" (St. John v:30). Thrice in that hour when the shadows and sorrows due to a world's sin were falling upon him, the Christ prayed, "O, my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me: except I drink it, thy will be done" (Matt. xxvi). And when the betrayer came, and with him the agents of the earthly government, and one drew the sword to resist them, the Christ chided him, and told him to put up his sword, and gave his impulsive follower to understand that his course in submitting to the world's forces was voluntary on his part. "Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?" (Matt. 26:53, 54.) And so "he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (Phil. ii:8). Such the spirit of the Christ—humble submissiveness—

"Thy will, O God, not mine be done,
Adorned his mortal life."