Agency (Mormonism)
Encyclopedia
Agency in Latter-day Saint theology
, is "the privilege of choice which was introduced by God the Eternal Father to all of his spirit children in the premortal state". Mortal life is viewed as a test of faith, where our choices are central to the Plan of Salvation
. "It was essential for their eternal progression that they be subjected to the influences of both good and evil". Mormons believe that Lucifer presented an alternative plan, which resulted in a war in heaven, with Lucifer being cast out of heaven and becoming Satan.
Mormons further believe that all individuals have the ability to differentiate between good and evil. Mormons further believe that Satan and his followers are not able to tempt people beyond the point where they can resist. This implies that mortals can be held accountable for our actions; mortals will be judged by God based on a combination of our faith and works (with Salvation coming only through the power, mercy and grace of Jesus Christ).
. Latter-day Saints believe that before the earth was created, all mankind lived as spirit children of God. Here, God 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 into a body and experiencing earthly life.
According to Mormon beliefs, God proposed a plan whereby further progression could take place, a Plan of salvation
. Because agency would allow all people to fall in 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 principle 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. Lucifer became Satan
.
". God foreordained men to particular stations in life in order to advance His plan to lead humanity back to His presence. These were foreordained before their mortal births to perform great missions for the Lord in this life as described in the Book of Abraham
in chapter 3, verses 22-23.
Mormons believe that these foreordinations were not unalterable decrees, but rather callings from God for man to perform specific missions in mortality. Even these who were foreordained for greatness could fall and transgress the laws of God. Therefore, mortality is simply a state wherein progression and testing is continued from what began in the pre-existence.
LDS doctrine states that God's plan includes the foreordination of prophets and teachers who have gifts and callings among men to teach and re-teach correct principles so that agency can be used wisely. (Jeremiah 1:5) God's plan includes the important role of parents to teach their children the path of righteousness and happiness (Deuteronomy 6:7), and the blessing of the holy scriptures to give a foundation of gospel knowledge, including the knowledge of the saving role of Jesus Christ and the importance of ordinances and covenants of the gospel.
David O. McKay
, former prophet
and President of the Church, stated, "It is the purpose of the Lord that man become like him. In order for man to achieve this it was necessary for the Creator first to make him free." Without free agency, mortality would be useless. Men are ultimately responsible for their own destiny, through their faith and obedience to the commandments of God. "Free agency" therefore should not be interpreted to mean that actions are without consequences; "free" means that it is a gift from God and consequences must necessarily come as a result of choices made. Thus free agency and accountability are complementary and cannot be separated.
This principle holds that it is wrong to deny someone of his/her free agency unless they have (criminally) abused it to infringe against the agency of another, as it would bind a person from their own choices. Such offenses logically include crimes such as murder
, rape
and slavery
. Furthermore, a person who prevents an individual from doing what they have been commanded to do (e.g., force them to do something they believe is wrong) will be held responsible for any offense.
Throughout the 20th century, General Church leadership often equated governments led by dictatorships as being under the influence and control of Satan. Such statements were never presented as church doctrine, however, but rather personal opinion. For example, Ezra Taft Benson
often spoke of the "evil" communist/socialist movements that threatened the free agency of mankind: "... it is realized that communism is turning out to be the earthly image of the plan which Satan presented in the preexistence. The whole program of socialistic communism is essentially a war against God and the plan of salvation-the very plan which we fought to uphold during 'the war in heaven.' Once Benson became the president of the LDS Church, he refrained from such statements.
LDS doctrine teaches that many men and women since the beginning of mortal time have used their agency unwisely, limiting their own progress and their opportunity to receive light and knowledge. Beginning with Cain, some have used their agency to inflict harm, abuse, tyranny, slavery, or death upon others, contrary to the will and commandments of God.
The fact that God allows these actions does not mean that He condones them. LDS doctrine holds that agency is an eternal principle, and that God has provided the way through the atonement of Jesus Christ whereby men and women can repent of their wrongful acts of commission or of omission, and come back into the path of receiving further light and knowledge through making right choices. The atonement of Christ and the plan of compassion among men also provides a way whereby those who have been harmed by the sinful actions of others may be healed in a spiritual sense, although this may take great patience and long-suffering, and often requires the help of others.
The Pearl of Great Price
, one of the scriptures of the LDS church, states that Satan, the great deceiver, sought during premortal life to destroy the agency of man (See Moses 4:3), and that he continues to seek to enslave men, women and children in whatever ways that he can in this world, to "lead them captive at his will." (Moses 4:4) LDS doctrine teaches that whatever leads in this world to enslavement, addiction, or forced behavior is ultimately instigated by Satan. God allows these conditions because of the agency He has given to man, but He expects men to overcome evil by doing good among the society in which they live. God holds men and women responsible and accountable in relation to the light and knowledge they have. Every person born into the world is given the light of Christ, also called conscience, to guide each person in choosing good from evil.
LDS doctrine also holds that whenever gospel knowledge has been lost or limited among portions of mankind, this has come about because of the unrighteousness of the people and their leaders, as described by the prophet Isaiah in the Bible.
LDS leaders teach that family and societal relationships are a part of mortal life for many purposes, including the need to learn to show love, acceptance, and compassion in ways that continue to allow agency. They teach that unrighteous dominion is never acceptable to God, and that with the agency given to men is the expectation that when they marry, they will treat their wife and children with love, respect, tenderness, and material and emotional support. LDS leaders teach that men should treat women as equal partners in all decisions in the family.
.
As it is believed the Heavenly Father has blessed all of His children with the freedom to choose, Adam and Eve were given agency to make their own choices on the earth. He commanded them not to eat the forbidden fruit, or the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, warning that such would result in death. Obeying this commandment meant they could remain in the garden forever, but they could not progress by experiencing opposition in mortality and would remain innocent; they could not know joy because they could not experience sorrow and pain. Thus, as a part of the plan, Satan was allowed to tempt Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit and they chose to do so. As a consequence, they were separated from God’s presence physically and spiritually. Adam and Eve then became mortal; subject to sin and death, and were unable to return to Heavenly Father without His help. They could now experience disease and all types of suffering. They had moral agency, or the ability to choose between good and evil, which made it possible for them to learn and progress. It also made it possible for them to make wrong choices and to sin. In addition, they could now have children, so the rest of God’s spirit children could come to Earth, obtain physical bodies, and be proven. All this was in accordance with the plan of God. Only in this way could God’s children progress and become like Him.
Mormonism
Mormonism is the religion practiced by Mormons, and is the predominant religious tradition of the Latter Day Saint movement. This movement was founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. beginning in the 1820s as a form of Christian primitivism. During the 1830s and 1840s, Mormonism gradually distinguished itself...
, is "the privilege of choice which was introduced by God the Eternal Father to all of his spirit children in the premortal state". Mortal life is viewed as a test of faith, where our choices are central to the Plan of Salvation
Plan of salvation
According to doctrine of the Latter Day Saint movement, the plan of salvation is a plan that God created to save, redeem, and exalt humankind...
. "It was essential for their eternal progression that they be subjected to the influences of both good and evil". Mormons believe that Lucifer presented an alternative plan, which resulted in a war in heaven, with Lucifer being cast out of heaven and becoming Satan.
Mormons further believe that all individuals have the ability to differentiate between good and evil. Mormons further believe that Satan and his followers are not able to tempt people beyond the point where they can resist. This implies that mortals can be held accountable for our actions; mortals will be judged by God based on a combination of our faith and works (with Salvation coming only through the power, mercy and grace of Jesus Christ).
Pre-Earth Life
A major difference, and a key insight to Mormons' understanding of agency, between Latter-day Saints and other Christian groups, involves the belief of a life before mortality, called the Pre-earth life, Pre-mortal life, or Pre-existencePre-existence
Pre-existence , beforelife, or pre-mortal existence refers to the belief that each individual human soul existed before conception, and at conception one of these pre-existent souls enters, or is placed by God, in the body...
. Latter-day Saints believe that before the earth was created, all mankind lived as spirit children of God. Here, God 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 into a body and experiencing earthly life.
According to Mormon beliefs, God proposed a plan whereby further progression could take place, a Plan of salvation
Plan of salvation
According to doctrine of the Latter Day Saint movement, the plan of salvation is a plan that God created to save, redeem, and exalt humankind...
. Because agency would allow all people to fall in sin, a Savior
Salvation
Within religion salvation is the phenomenon of being saved from the undesirable condition of bondage or suffering experienced by the psyche or soul that has arisen as a result of unskillful or immoral actions generically referred to as sins. Salvation may also be called "deliverance" or...
was necessary to atone for the sins of each person so that they could return to live with their "Father in Heaven." Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
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
Lucifer
Traditionally, Lucifer is a name that in English generally refers to the devil or Satan before being cast from Heaven, although this is not the original meaning of the term. In Latin, from which the English word is derived, Lucifer means "light-bearer"...
, attempted to amend the plan by proposing that all mankind would return to Heavenly Father despite their sins--essentially defeating agency and the divine principle 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. Lucifer became Satan
Satan
Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...
.
Foreordination
Mormons further believe that another aspect of agency occurred during the pre-mortal life. Some of the spirit children of God, so exercised their agency and so conformed to God’s law as to become "noble and great". This doctrine is called "foreordinationPredestination
Predestination, in theology is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God. John Calvin interpreted biblical predestination to mean that God willed eternal damnation for some people and salvation for others...
". God foreordained men to particular stations in life in order to advance His plan to lead humanity back to His presence. These were foreordained before their mortal births to perform great missions for the Lord in this life as described in the Book of Abraham
Book of Abraham
The Book of Abraham is a 1835 work by Joseph Smith, Jr. that he said was based on Egyptian papyri purchased from a traveling mummy exhibition. According to Smith, the book was "a translation of some ancient records....purporting to be the writings of Abraham, while he was in Egypt, called the Book...
in chapter 3, verses 22-23.
Mormons believe that these foreordinations were not unalterable decrees, but rather callings from God for man to perform specific missions in mortality. Even these who were foreordained for greatness could fall and transgress the laws of God. Therefore, mortality is simply a state wherein progression and testing is continued from what began in the pre-existence.
LDS doctrine states that God's plan includes the foreordination of prophets and teachers who have gifts and callings among men to teach and re-teach correct principles so that agency can be used wisely. (Jeremiah 1:5) God's plan includes the important role of parents to teach their children the path of righteousness and happiness (Deuteronomy 6:7), and the blessing of the holy scriptures to give a foundation of gospel knowledge, including the knowledge of the saving role of Jesus Christ and the importance of ordinances and covenants of the gospel.
Earth life
In essence, agency is the ability to make choices for oneself, as well as the ability to learn the difference between right and wrong and to make ethical and moral decisions.David O. McKay
David O. McKay
David Oman McKay was the ninth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , serving from 1951 until his death. Ordained an apostle and member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 1906, McKay was a general authority for nearly 64 years, longer than anyone else in LDS Church...
, former prophet
Prophet, seer, and revelator
Prophet, seer, and revelator is an ecclesiastical title used in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that is currently applied to the members of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles...
and President of the Church, stated, "It is the purpose of the Lord that man become like him. In order for man to achieve this it was necessary for the Creator first to make him free." Without free agency, mortality would be useless. Men are ultimately responsible for their own destiny, through their faith and obedience to the commandments of God. "Free agency" therefore should not be interpreted to mean that actions are without consequences; "free" means that it is a gift from God and consequences must necessarily come as a result of choices made. Thus free agency and accountability are complementary and cannot be separated.
This principle holds that it is wrong to deny someone of his/her free agency unless they have (criminally) abused it to infringe against the agency of another, as it would bind a person from their own choices. Such offenses logically include crimes such as murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
, rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
and slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
. Furthermore, a person who prevents an individual from doing what they have been commanded to do (e.g., force them to do something they believe is wrong) will be held responsible for any offense.
Throughout the 20th century, General Church leadership often equated governments led by dictatorships as being under the influence and control of Satan. Such statements were never presented as church doctrine, however, but rather personal opinion. For example, Ezra Taft Benson
Ezra Taft Benson
Ezra Taft Benson was the thirteenth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1985 until his death and was United States Secretary of Agriculture for both terms of the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower.-Biography:Born on a farm in Whitney, Idaho, Benson was the oldest of...
often spoke of the "evil" communist/socialist movements that threatened the free agency of mankind: "... it is realized that communism is turning out to be the earthly image of the plan which Satan presented in the preexistence. The whole program of socialistic communism is essentially a war against God and the plan of salvation-the very plan which we fought to uphold during 'the war in heaven.' Once Benson became the president of the LDS Church, he refrained from such statements.
LDS doctrine teaches that many men and women since the beginning of mortal time have used their agency unwisely, limiting their own progress and their opportunity to receive light and knowledge. Beginning with Cain, some have used their agency to inflict harm, abuse, tyranny, slavery, or death upon others, contrary to the will and commandments of God.
The fact that God allows these actions does not mean that He condones them. LDS doctrine holds that agency is an eternal principle, and that God has provided the way through the atonement of Jesus Christ whereby men and women can repent of their wrongful acts of commission or of omission, and come back into the path of receiving further light and knowledge through making right choices. The atonement of Christ and the plan of compassion among men also provides a way whereby those who have been harmed by the sinful actions of others may be healed in a spiritual sense, although this may take great patience and long-suffering, and often requires the help of others.
The Pearl of Great Price
Pearl of Great Price (Mormonism)
The Pearl of Great Price is part of the standard works of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and some other Latter Day Saint denominations....
, one of the scriptures of the LDS church, states that Satan, the great deceiver, sought during premortal life to destroy the agency of man (See Moses 4:3), and that he continues to seek to enslave men, women and children in whatever ways that he can in this world, to "lead them captive at his will." (Moses 4:4) LDS doctrine teaches that whatever leads in this world to enslavement, addiction, or forced behavior is ultimately instigated by Satan. God allows these conditions because of the agency He has given to man, but He expects men to overcome evil by doing good among the society in which they live. God holds men and women responsible and accountable in relation to the light and knowledge they have. Every person born into the world is given the light of Christ, also called conscience, to guide each person in choosing good from evil.
LDS doctrine also holds that whenever gospel knowledge has been lost or limited among portions of mankind, this has come about because of the unrighteousness of the people and their leaders, as described by the prophet Isaiah in the Bible.
LDS leaders teach that family and societal relationships are a part of mortal life for many purposes, including the need to learn to show love, acceptance, and compassion in ways that continue to allow agency. They teach that unrighteous dominion is never acceptable to God, and that with the agency given to men is the expectation that when they marry, they will treat their wife and children with love, respect, tenderness, and material and emotional support. LDS leaders teach that men should treat women as equal partners in all decisions in the family.
"Free" agency
The term free agency is commonly used, and has traditionally been interpreted as meaning that individuals have the ability to choose their actions freely. Many leaders of the LDS Church have pointed out that the term "free agency" should not be interpreted to mean that agency does not have consequences, but rather that agency is fraught with risk and choices (the result of the exercise of agency) determine eternal destination. Some church manuals avoid the term "free agency" and instead say simply "agency." Some church leaders favor the term moral agencyMoral agency
Moral agency is a person's ability to make moral judgments and take action that comport with morality.A Moral agent is "a being who is capable of acting with reference to right and wrong"-Development and analysis:...
.
Adam and Eve
It is said that Adam and Eve were the first of God’s children to come to Earth. They were created in God’s image, with bodies of flesh and bones. God placed them in the Garden of Eden. Here they did not remember their former existence though they were still able to enjoy God’s presence and could have lived forever.As it is believed the Heavenly Father has blessed all of His children with the freedom to choose, Adam and Eve were given agency to make their own choices on the earth. He commanded them not to eat the forbidden fruit, or the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, warning that such would result in death. Obeying this commandment meant they could remain in the garden forever, but they could not progress by experiencing opposition in mortality and would remain innocent; they could not know joy because they could not experience sorrow and pain. Thus, as a part of the plan, Satan was allowed to tempt Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit and they chose to do so. As a consequence, they were separated from God’s presence physically and spiritually. Adam and Eve then became mortal; subject to sin and death, and were unable to return to Heavenly Father without His help. They could now experience disease and all types of suffering. They had moral agency, or the ability to choose between good and evil, which made it possible for them to learn and progress. It also made it possible for them to make wrong choices and to sin. In addition, they could now have children, so the rest of God’s spirit children could come to Earth, obtain physical bodies, and be proven. All this was in accordance with the plan of God. Only in this way could God’s children progress and become like Him.