Dean,
Here's some interesting reading on the Christian (Mormon) perspective of the
creation of this planet. It mostly discusses the creation of man, but
certainly supports your thoughts on the idea that this world isn't simply a
"lifeless dead lump," as you so eloquently put it!
From Doctrinal Commentary on the Pearl of Great Price, p. 144
The Earth Was Made a Physical-Spiritual Sphere in the Creation:
God's object was not to create a temporal sphere, except as the fall
of Adam would later make the earth a temporal orb subject to a law different
from that under which it was placed in the creation. The Lord's object was
to create a physical-spiritual sphere capable of existing forever in the
presence of God, amid the glory and power of the Father. This point is of
vital importance. A physical sphere is one that is organized from gross
elements. For such a sphere also to be spiritual it must be enveloped in
glory and quickened in its organization by divine spiritual powers of
intelligence, or life. To understand the story of the creation man must
elevate his mind above the temporal, mortal state and see things in a higher
and more meaningful relationship.
Evidence that physical life on earth was in a spiritual state of
existence before the fall is found in Moses's account of the placement of
life on the newly organized sphere. He reported the Lord as stating:
"And out of the ground made I, the Lord God, to grow every tree,
naturally, that is pleasant to the sight of man; and man could behold it.
And it became also a living soul. For it was spiritual in the day that I
created it; for it remaineth in the sphere in which I, God, created it, yea,
even all things which I prepared for the use of man."
All things that the Lord prepared on earth for the use of man were
spiritual in their physical organization at the time they were created. It
follows that they were first made spiritual, or in a physical-spiritual
state; and it was only after the fall of Adam that they were made temporal.
The account of creation in Genesis was not a spirit creation, but it
was in a particular sense, a spiritual creation. This, of course, needs some
explanation. The account in Genesis, chapters one and two, is the account of
the creation of the physical earth. The account of the placing of all life
upon the earth, up and until the fall of Adam, is an account, in a sense, of
the spiritual creation of all these, but it was also a physical creation.
Adam's body was created from the dust of the earth, but at that time
it was a spiritual earth. Adam had a spiritual body until mortality came
upon him through the violation of the law under which he was living, but he
also had a physical body of flesh and bones.
Now what is a spiritual body? It is one that is quickened by spirit and not
by blood. Our Father in heaven and our Savior and all those who have passed
through the resurrection have physical bodies of flesh and bones, but their
bodies are quickened by spirit and not by blood, hence they are spiritual
bodies and not blood bodies. The immortal body is quickened by spirit, but
the mortal body is quickened by blood.
Now when Adam was in the Garden of Eden, he was not subject to
death. There was no blood in his body and he could have remained there
forever. This is true of all the other creations. This statement may not be
very pleasing to our evolutionists, but it is true.
To illustrate and give support to the above view, it should be noted
that the resurrected body is a spiritual body. Said a revelation of the
resurrection of the righteous: "Notwithstanding they die, they . . . shall
rise again, a spiritual body." Observed Amulek (Book of Mormon writer):
"This mortal body is raised to an immortal body, that is from death, even
from the first death unto life, that they can die no more; their spirits
uniting with their bodies, never to be divided; thus the whole becoming
spiritual and immortal, that they can no more see corruption." The Apostle
Paul also indicated that in temporal death man is "sown a natural body,"
while in the resurrection he is "raised a spiritual body." Said he, "There
is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body."
In the final analysis, man as a resurrected being will be a
spiritual body; and in somewhat the same manner the earth and all things
thereon were spiritual in the creation, even though they were organized
physically at that time. These two spiritual organizations-the initial
organization of physical life on earth and the final organization of life in
the resurrection-were spoken of in a revelation that said:
". . . by the power of my Spirit created I them; yea, all things
both spiritual and temporal- (D&C 29:31 - 32)
"First spiritual [in the initial creation of physical life on the
earth], secondly temporal [in the subsequent re-organization of life under
the present temporal law], which is the beginning of my work; and again
[looking at things from our mortal state into the future] first temporal,
and secondly spiritual, which is the last of my work-
"Speaking unto you that you may naturally understand; but unto
myself my works have no end, neither beginning."
Some have supposed that the word "spiritual" in the first instance
above has reference to the organization of life in the pre-earth spirit
state, which occurred ages before the creation of the physical earth. This
conclusion, however, is not warranted for the following reason: The second
time the word "spiritual" is used in the above statement, it has definite
reference to a physical state-the resurrected state. This being true, it
follows that the first time the word "spiritual" is used in the above
quotation it should also have reference to a physical state-to the state of
physical life before the fall. Again, a revelation specifically refers to
the seven thousand years of the earth's "temporal existence." The period of
the earth's temporal existence began with the fall of Adam. Until then the
earth was not a temporal sphere, but a physical-spiritual sphere.
Blake
···
-----Original Message-----
From: dean [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Sunday, October 01, 2000 10:05 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [allplanets-hollow] Planets
TW,
It is a vedic concept that the planets are living entities. They are called
grahas in Sanskrit, points of influence. They have personified forms, the
predominating deity of the Earth is a cow named Bhoomi.
This can make sense, even to the Western mind, but for the Western mind to
accept, the scientific aspect has to be understood. The low frequency
photons, the cosmic rays, circulate throughout the interior of the planet.
These particles emanate from the openings to caverns and caves, and emanate
from the polar openings. In this role, they are called vayu, and direct the
wind patterns on the surface. These particles are the life breath of the
planet, and the rivers are its blood.
It doesn't make sense to me that God would create a lifeless, dead inert
lump for us to stomp around on. There are millions of microbes that feed on
our own body, yet we are living entities ourselves, going concerns. I feel
that this is the general scheme of things.
I don't what perspectives other scriptures give on this. Any volunteers?
Dharma/Dean
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