A Pagan Mind

      How does a pagan mind think?  Here are five steps to paganism.

1. Deify Time   Time is a thing.  The Bible proclaims that all things have been made by God.  "For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible,..."  (Colossians 1:16)  If God created time, then he is not subject to it.  The creator is not subject to His creation.  God exists outside of time because he has always existed.  To deify time, one can give time God-like qualities.  Specifically, one can say that time always existed like God.  Or you can say that time is infinite, without beginning or end - like God.
2. Deify Space   Space is a thing as well.  The Bible proclaims that God made all things.  Evolutionary models imply that time and space have always existed.  Evolution would be impossible, of course, if there were no space to evolve in or time to evolve in the space.  Space is often given God-like characteristics.  God has eternally existed.  Evolutionists imply that space has always existed and will always exist like God.
3.  Deify Nature   Genesis gives us the story of God's creation.  If you believe that God does not exist, then you can't believe that he created this world.  So something had to create our world.  Scientists often ascribe God's creative power to nature.  Evolutionists say that nature is like God in that it has the innate power to create life over millions/billions of years.  Many believe that nature is in a constant struggle to create the most superior, most fit specimens possible.  The second law of thermodynamics tells us that nature devolves or degenerates on it's own.  To make a tree evolve into a wooden table, we have to put creative energy into the process.  The tree does not make itself into a table from its own creative power.  Genesis tells us that God created matter and arranged it into everything in our universe.
4.  Deify Nature with Intellect  The Bible tells us that God has infinite knowledge and wisdom.  He is the ultimate designer.  He is the superior engineer - the finest creator in the universe!  Many try to ascribe a great creative ability to nature.  DNA research has shown that every living cell has a set of detailed plans of specific information.  There is a ton of planning that has gone into the creation of every single earthly creature.  Some scientist claim that nature, through natural selection, has the wisdom and knowledge for creating life.  Again, God-like characteristics are assigned to nature.
5.  Praise Nature   We should praise God for his magnificent creation - this world we get to enjoy.  Often, however, many would rather ascribe praise to nature for this magnificent earth we live in.  Here is the thinking:  Through millions of years nature has evolved this_____.  Or through billions of years nature has naturally selected this_________.  Some scientists think that nature, over billions of years, was able to accomplish the same thing that took God 6 days.  It takes great faith to be a pagan.  You must believe that time and space eternally existed.  You must believe that nature has great creative abilities.  You must believe that nature has the wisdom and knowledge to build DNA blueprints.  You must basically believe that nature is God.
      Our sun is a star.  Stars eventually burn out.  When our sun ceases to produce light and warmth, everything on earth will freeze and die.  If nature is your god, then your god is eventually going to die.

Time, Space, Spirit and the Unchangeable Being

      Mosiah 4:9 says, "Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth;..."  Time is a thing given to us on this earth.  Mosiah and Alma proclaim that "all things" have been created by God.  So we can assume that God created time.  Alma 18:28&29 also speak of creation.  "...Believest thou that this Great Spirit, who is God, created all things which are in heaven and in the earth?  And he said: Yea, I believe that he created all things which are in the earth;..."  Alma 22:10 says, "...he is that Great Spirit, and he created all things both in heaven and in earth."
      Moroni 8:18 speaks about time, "For I know that God is not a partial God, neither a changeable being; but he is unchangeable from all eternity to all eternity."  This verse could have said that God has an unchanging purpose.  Instead Moroni said that he is an "unchangeable being".  How is it possible that this unchangeable being existed "from all eternity to all eternity"?  Could he exist since the beginning of time?  Here is the simple answer:  He existed before time because he created time.  He is beyond time.  Time is simply one of his creations.  It is proper to say that He is from all eternity to all eternity because He is the Creator of time.  Mosiah 3:5 also speaks of time:  "...the Lord Omnipotent who reigneth, who was, and is from all eternity to all eternity, shall come down from heaven among the children of men, and shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay,..."  Moroni 7:22 again mentions time: "For behold, God knowing all things, being from everlasting to everlasting,..."  Mormon 9:19 also mentions an unchangeable being: "And if there were miracles wrought then, why has God ceased to be a God of miracles and yet be an unchangeable Being?  And behold, I say unto you he changeth not; if so he would cease to be God; and he ceaseth not to be God, and is a God of miracles."
      Here is a problem:  How can one physically exist without time to exist?  If God created all things, then what about space?  Space is a thing.  Can anyone physically exist without space to exist in?  The Book of Mormon solves this dilemma.  We already mentioned it in Alma 22:10.  "And Aaron said unto him: Yea, he is that Great Spirit, and he created all things both in heaven and in earth..."  God created time and space.  A physical body requires space to exist in and time to exist in that space.  God is not subject to his creation.  He does not require his creation in order to exist.  This is quite a remarkable solution!!
      Here is another problem:  How was it possible for God to attain infinite power in a finite amount of time.  Mosiah 3:17,18 & 21 say that God is omnipotent - all powerful or having infinite power.  Here is an example:  If the distance from New York to Los Angeles was an infinite amount of miles, how long would it take to travel from one of the cities to the other.  The answer is that it would take an infinite amount of time to travel an infinite of miles.  However time is finite since it was created by God.  There was a beginning to time when God made it.  So how does one get to infinite power and infinite knowledge?  The Book of Mormon tells us that God was already God before time began.  As we quoted before in Moroni 8:18, "...God is not a partial God, neither a changeable being; but he is unchangeable from all eternity to all eternity."  You do not have to travel to a place if you are already there.  God was already omnipotent (infinite power) and omniscient (infinite knowledge) before he created time.  This is a brilliant solution!
      Some people say that they cannot believe in a god that they cannot understand.  This fact is stated in Mosiah 4:9.  "Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend."  An infinite mind, like the mind of God, can understand infinity.  Sometimes a finite mind does not even understand what is finite.  We are finite.  If you are praying to an exalted, finite man-god that is understandable, then you have missed the God of the Book of Mormon.  The true God is beyond our understanding.  That is one reason he is God.

God is Spirit? Alma 18 & 22

      "God is a great spirit" and "God created all things" are two concepts that go well together in the book of Alma.  Alma 18:26-29 says, "And then Ammon said: Believest thou that there is a Great Spirit?  And he said, Yea.  And Ammon said: This is God.  And Ammon said unto him again: Believest thou that this Great Spirit, who is God created all things which are in heaven and in the earth?  And he said: Yea, I believe that he created all things which are in the earth;..."  Alma 22:9-11 says, "And the king said: Is God that Great Spirit that brought our fathers out of the land of Jerusalem?  And Aaron said unto him: Yea, he is that Great Spirit, and he created all things both in heaven and in earth. Believest thou this?  And he said: Yea, I believe that the Great Spirit created all things, and I desire that ye should tell me concerning all these things, and I will believe thy words."
      If these Alma passages stated that God was confined to a physical body, it would be a problem.    Creating a physical body requires matter.  The matter in this physical body would need space to exist in.  It would also need time to exist in the space.  These passages state that God has created all things in the earth.  Matter, space and time are things that exist in the earth.  So, according to these passages, matter, space and time were created by God.
      Is it possible that God is subject to his creation?  Did he create himself?  If God was confined to a physical body, he could not have existed before time, space and matter were created.  Moroni 8:18 says, "For I know that God is not a partial God, neither a changeable being; but he is unchangeable from all eternity to all eternity."  The words from all eternity to all eternity mean from an infinite amount of time in the past to an infinite amount of time into the future.  God has always existed just the way that he is today.  He has never changed.  He existed before time began.  He is greater than matter, greater than space and greater than time.  He is not subject to them.  Matter, time and space are subject to him.  These are things he created.  These two passages say that God is a Spirit (not confined to a physical body).   So, the concepts of creating all things and God being a spirit, go well together.