Eternalism Module 25 - Ethics, Unconditional Love

Love is Confused There are definitions of love in Greek: Eros Sexual Passion: “…eros was viewed as a dangerous, fiery and irrational form of love that could take hold of you and possess you…Eros involved a loss of control that frightened the Greeks.” Philia Friendship: “…showing loyalty to your friends…” Ludius Playful Affection: “…referred to the playful affection between children or young lovers.” Agape Universal Brotherly Love: “This was a love that you extended to all people, whether family members or distant strangers.” Pragma Longstanding Love: “…the deep understanding that developed between long-married couples. It was about making compromises to help the relationship work over time, and showing patience and tolerance.” Philautia Self-Love “…two types ... unhealthy narcissism, where you became self-obsessed … and healthy self-esteem. As Aristotle said, ‘All friendly feelings for others are an extension of man’s feelings for himself.’”

“If I may dare the biological image, God is a ‘host’ who deliberately creates His own parasites; causes us to be that we may exploit and ‘take advantage of’ Him. Herein is love. This is the diagram of Love Himself, the inventor of all loves.”

Christ’s love for us will give us strength and urge us to spend ourselves for him. ‘Let the sisters and the people eat you up.’ We have no right to refuse our life to others in whom we contact Christ.

God is Love If you Get God Wrong, You’ll Get Love Wrong; If you Get Love Wrong, You’ll Get God Wrong. Should it Surprise Us, then, that Apostate Christianity Gets BOTH God and Love Wrong?

“Fellowship with God is not governed by law but by love…”

“God’s love allows no limits to be set for it by the character or conduct of man. The differences between the worthy and the unworthy, the righteous and sinner, sets no bounds to His love.”

“Love loves the unlovable … For sinners are lovely because they are loved; they are not loved because they are lovely.”

Eternalism’s Alternate Ending: “Once Small figured out there were no conditions or boundaries, Small did whatever Small wanted, whenever Small wanted, without any consequences.”

Love loves the unlovable no matter what = Unconditional Love

"It is not an unusual thing to have students cover willful disobedience in the blanket of God’s love and to advance the idea of a universal salvation that sounds dangerously like that advocated by Lucifer in the councils of heaven.”

"Some members wonder why their priesthood leaders will not accept them just as they are and simply comfort them in what they call pure Christian love. Pure Christian love, the love of Christ, does not presuppose approval of all conduct. Surely the ordinary experiences of parenthood teach that one can be consumed with love for another and yet be unable to approve unworthy conduct. We cannot, as a church, approve unworthy conduct or accept into full fellowship individuals who live or who teach standards that are grossly in violation of that which the Lord requires of Latter-day Saints. If we, out of sympathy, should approve unworthy conduct, it might give present comfort to someone but would not ultimately contribute to that person’s happiness.”

“They do not love that do not show their love.”

…lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God”

“If ye keep my commandments, [then] ye shall abide in my love.”

“Mercy cannot rob justice”

“In today’s world trembling with terror and hatred, our knowledge of divine love is of utmost importance... While divine love can be called perfect, infinite, enduring, and universal, it cannot be characterized as unconditional. The word does not appear in the scriptures…The full flower of divine love and our greatest blessings from that love are conditional—predicated upon our obedience to eternal law.”

Some seem to value God’s love because of their hope that His love is so great and so unconditional that it will mercifully excuse them from obeying His laws. In contrast, those who understand God’s plan for His children know that God’s laws are invariable, which is another great evidence of His love for His children. Mercy cannot rob justice, and those who obtain mercy are ‘they who have kept the covenant and observed the commandment.’ If anyone thinks that godly or parental love for an individual grants the loved one license to disobey the law, he or she does not understand either love or law. In other words, the kingdom of glory to which the Final Judgment assigns us is not determined by love but by the law that God has invoked in His plan to qualify us for eternal life, ‘the greatest of all the gifts of God.’

Christ died not to save indiscriminately but to offer repentance.

“Therefore, according to justice, the plan of redemption could not be brought about, only on conditions of repentance…”

And the great and wonderful love made manifest by the Father and the Son in the coming of the Redeemer into the world; That through his atonement, and by obedience to the principles of the gospel, mankind might be saved.

“The central feature in Lehi’s dream is the tree of life—a representation of “the love of God”. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Thus, the birth, life, and atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ are the greatest manifestations of God's love for His children...The fruit on the tree is a symbol for the blessings of the Atonement. Partaking of the fruit of the tree represents the receiving of ordinances and covenants whereby the Atonement can become fully efficacious in our lives.

Duty Ethics … But I say unto you, Love your enemies [unconditionally…the same as your friends and family], bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; Value Ethics … But I say unto you, Love your enemies [conditionally…differently than your friends and family], bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

… But I say unto you, Love your enemies [conditionally…differently than your friends and family], bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

“It is written, ‘Love your enemies’ … I do not think the term was any more misapplied than when the Apostles wrote, ‘Love your enemies;’ for I do not believe a word of that.”

“‘Love your enemies!’ What, love hell? When people do that, they get where devils are. If it had been written, ‘Love the spirits God has placed in tabernacles, and try to reclaim them and do them good, and pray for those who despitefully use you,’ I would feed and clothe them, take peculiar care of them, and place them where they would not hurt any body. You may think that I am disputing the Bible. If you understood what the Lord means when he talks about loving his children, you would understand that he does not love them as they are now; for he hates and is angry with the wicked.”

“There is a difference between the love we should bear towards our enemies and that we should bear towards our friends. … I do not love them so that I would take them into my bosom, or invite them to associate with my family, or that I would give my daughters to their embraces, nor my sons to their counsels. I do not love them so well that I would invite them to the councils of the Priesthood, and the ordinances of the House of God, to scoff and jeer at sacred things which they do not understand, nor would I share with them the inheritance that God, my Father, has given me in Zion. … But we do not love to associate with our enemies, and I do not think the Lord requires us to do it. If He does He will have to reveal it, for I cannot find it anywhere revealed.”

“I have not much love for them, only in the Gospel. I would cause them to repent, if I could, and make them good men and a good community. I have no fellowship for their avarice, blindness, and ungodly actions. To be great, is to be good before the Heavens and before all good men. I will not fellowship the wicked in their sins, so help me God.”

“Do I love murderers and mobocrats as I do good men? No. Do I pray for them? Yes, that the Lord would judge them out of their own mouths, and that speedily.”

DUTY ETHICS Matt 7:1 “JUDGE not [no matter what], that ye be not judged.” VALUE ETHICS (JST) Matt 7:1 JUDGE not unrighteously, that ye be not judged: but judge righteous judgement.

Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

For behold, my brethren, it is given unto you to judge, that ye may know good from evil; and the way to judge is as plain, that ye may know with a perfect knowledge, as the daylight is from the dark night. For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God.

“I have been puzzled that some scriptures command us not to judge and others instruct us that we should judge and even tell us how to do it…The key is to understand that there are two kinds of judging: final judgments, which we are forbidden to make; and intermediate judgments, which we are directed to make, but upon righteous principles.” …“The effect of one mortal’s attempting to pass final judgment on another mortal is analogous to the effect on an athlete and observers if we could proclaim the outcome of an athletic contest with certainty while it was still under way. A similar reason forbids our presuming to make final judgments on the outcome of any person’s lifelong mortal contest.” …“We must, of course, make judgments every day in the exercise of our moral agency, but we must be careful that our judgments of people are intermediate and not final. Thus, our Savior’s teachings contain many commandments we cannot keep without making intermediate judgments of people…

“In this regard, there is sometimes a chance for a misunderstanding, especially among young people who may think we are not supposed to judge anything, that we are never to make a value assessment of any kind. We have to help each other with that because the Savior makes it clear that in some situations we have to judge, we are under obligation to judge—as when He said, “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine” (Matthew 7:6). That sounds like a judgment to me. The unacceptable alternative is to surrender to postmodern moral relativism, which, pushed far enough, declares that ultimately nothing is eternally true or especially sacred and, therefore, no one position on any given issue matters more than any other. And in the gospel of Jesus Christ that simply is not true. … In this process of evaluation, we are not called on to condemn others, but we are called upon to make decisions every day that reflect judgment—we hope good judgment.”