1 Enoch 98

1 Enoch 98

Verse 4

“I have sworn unto you, ye sinners, as a mountain has not become a slave, and a bill does not become the handmaid of a woman, even so sin has not been sent upon the earth, but man of himself has created it, and a great curse shall they fall who commit it.”

“sin has not been sent upon the earth, but man of himself has created it”

The Qur’an also has many attestations that say that God only brings blessings and it is man who created sin and suffering.

Verse 6

“I have sworn unto you, ye sinners, by the Holy Great One, that all your evil deeds are revealed in the heavens, and that none of your deeds of oppression are covered and hidden.”

“all your evil deeds are revealed in the heavens”

There is a realm in which every action that is done, every intention that is possessed is exposed.  In the realm of clarity, nothing is hidden.  When one is able to see into this new dimension (usually referred to as “heaven” because of its extrinsic nature), one can see thoughts and actions in all possible sites and locations (whether it is inside a room or inside one’s own imagination and even in certain regions of time).  Everything that manifests explicit and eternal; all is transparent.

 Verse 7

“And do not think in your spirit, nor say in your heart, that ye do not know and that ye do not see that every sin is every day recorded in heaven in presence of the Most High.”

This verse implies that we know and see in our hearts and our spirit about this realm in which all is revealed and permanent (from 1 Enoch 98:6).  Deep down, we know that we cannot deny that we know about this realm, since we can derive this statement from knowing that truth is undeniable and unalterable.  No matter how well a secret is kept, it is still part of reality, it is still part of the truth; no matter how much one tries to hide it, it can never be destroyed.  By understanding the essence of this truth, we inherently and undeniably certify that realm in which everything is recorded.

June 14, 2012

2 Nephi 2

Verse 11:
"For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my firstborn in the wilderness, righteous could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness not misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if iy should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility.'

One of the beliefs that I keep hearing (and that seems to be essential to the Mormon tradition), is that original sin was necessary for humanity to evolve out of the state of innocence. That life in Eden was not enough; it was not bad, but then it could not be good either. And so, it was necessary for them to obtain the knowledge of good and evil, so that they could practice their "agency" (agency is an essential concept in Mormonism) and thus grow in goodness towards God's perfection.
This idea is not quite dualistic by saying that life and world must always have good and evil, instead it admits goodness within a dualistic nature but goes on to explain that even though this dualism was necessary in the origin that the purpose of this dualism was to grow perfectly into goodness and eventually eradicate evil.

"And now, behold, if Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen, but he would have remained in the garden of Eden. And all things which were created must have remained in the same state in which they were after they were created; and  they must have remained forever, and had no end. And they would have had no children; wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery, doing no good, for they knew no sin."
- 2 Nephi 2:22-23

In a "Practical Theology" class I took I read about Niehbur and how he thought that the reason why man was prone to sin was because of his "dual" nature. Because man is both animal and spirit, both spiritual and physical, he ends up desiring things that he cannot have. This is a problem for man because he ends up resorting to inappropriate measure to obtain the impossible; what else would he resort to? In this sense, it is the conflicting nature of the way that God formed him, that forced man to sin. And through the same token, it makes sin not an unnecessary and negative element; but an unavoidable step in the process of the growth of man.
And so, it seems that we are still in our embryonic stage as mankind lives in the state of sin. God is still creating us, and he will only finalize his creation, we will only be born until we are resurrected into perfection. Then we will truly be able to say with God that what he created was indeed good. (Read Romans 8:19-29)

This reflects another common concept that without evil, good cannot be defined; without pain there would be no pleasure; and without tragedy there would be no success.
I may believe this common concept but I also believe that evil is unnecessary, and therefore it logically follows that I believe that good is also unnecessary. In other words, as the Mormons would put it, I would have preferred to have stayed in a state of innocence in Eden. But this is because, I think that good and evil are misconceptions of reality. The knowledge of good and evil really is a fall, because Adam and Eve fell from reality into an illusion, and I want to wake up out of that dream.

Written 9-4-2014



Verse 23:

"And they would have had no children; wherefore they would have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery, doing no good, for they knew no sin."
In one of the conversations I had with the missionaries, they pointed out that God gave Adam two certain commandments... 1: Thou shall not take of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil and 2: be fruitful and multiply. Also, they always say that if Adam would have not transgressed he would not have had any children. So in conclusion, what God was giving them was an impossible ultimatum. Either they would not take the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and not be fruitful and multiply, or they would be fruitful and multiply only after they took the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. You cannot follow one commandment without breaking the other.
According to them, God knew this and he had planned for it all along.

Psalms 107

Verse 26

“You were tossed to the sky and to the ocean depths, until things looked so bad that you lost your courage.”

The ocean depths, the deeper you sink, the less hope you have.  What causes this hopelessness?: the thought that you are surrounded by something that end up taking your life; this thing becomes bigger and bigger.  Your doom is so great around you, and it is slowly becoming great.  But it is just water… could it be that hopelessness comes from the fact that the environment is incompatible with your organism?  What if it wasn’t?  Then this event would not be daunting anymore, it would just be scenery.  Just like you are now covered and surrounded by air; you are not as close to death as you think; you would open your eyes and notice the trees around you, the structures, the light… You notice; there is no pain.  There is no violation, as you feel the salt water fill your lungs, as you feel your body running out of oxygen, as you feel your mind losing consciousness and function due to lack of oxygen.  There is no violation, as you feel yourself being engulfed by an inability to feel, to think… just enjoy the scenery, enjoy the ride.

September 23, 2012

Psalms 103

Verse 8-10

“The Lord is merciful! He is kind and patient and his love never fails.

The Lord won’t always be angry and point out our sins;

He doesn’t punish us as our sins deserve.”

How much punishment do we deserve? We deserve the worst of hell.  He has enough mercy even to let us live ignorantly of this.  Without His protection we will not be able to escape. Truth is inescapable, we cannot avoid our verdict (See Psalms 139:7).  There is no death that will keep us from judgment.  God rules all, Life rules all (See Psalms 139:10).  We cannot escape life.  All we can do is submit to it, and everything it throws at us.  I kneel at your feet Lord, as I willing bear all the agony that you have set for me.  Refine me with your fire.

September 23, 2012