agency

Pre-existence

major difference, and a key insight to Mormons' understanding of free agency, between mainstream Christians and Latter-day Saints involves the belief of a life before mortality, called the Pre-existence. Latter-day Saints believe that before the earth was created, all mankind lived in a pre-existent life as spirit children of God.[7] Here Heavenly Father nurtured, taught and provided means for their development. This preparation would allow them to later become the men and women of Earth, to be further educated and tested in the schoolhouse of mortality in order to return to God's presence and become like Him. Thus the pre-existent life is believed to have been an indefinitely long period of probation, progression, and schooling. Mormons believe that there came a time when we could not progress further without being born in to a body and experiencing earthly life.[8]



According to Mormon beliefs, God the Father proposed a plan whereby further progression could take place, a Plan of salvation. Because agency would allow all people to fall in sin (and, in fact, scripture teaches that all people will sin), a Savior was necessary to atone for the sins of each person so that they could return to live with their Father in Heaven. Jesus volunteered to follow the plan as outlined, which preserved agency, accountability for action and the necessary result that some of Heavenly Father's children would never to return to Heavenly Father as a consequence of sin. The second volunteer, Lucifer, attempted to amend the plan by proposing that all mankind would return to Heavenly Father despite their sins - essentially, defeating agency and the divine principal of accountability for action. God the Father chose the plan that he proposed with Jesus as the Savior. Lucifer and his followers rebelled against this plan and were eventually cast out of Heaven and became Satan.[9]

 

posted by web anak ndosari @ 5:06 AM