The Hidden Rays of Gospel Light

By Frank C. Carman II, Ph.D.

Do you know how the atonement works?  How does God build worlds?  Would you like to have the faith to move mountains?  Do you know what is required to enter the Celestial Kingdom?  Do you wish you could make your prayers into a two-way communication with God as pure revelation?  Is the Lord's Prophet Infallible?  Who Were Adam's Parents?  Who is the Antichrist?  Do you think that a stone by the roadside has agency?  Is intelligence a separate entity from matter and spirit, or is it a property of spirit matter?  How did the Savior perform miracles?  The answers to these and other questions are found within the pages of this book.

 

Doctor Carman brings forward a life long study of the holy scriptures to answer these and other questions that have perplexed mankind from the beginning of time on this Earth.  It is common in a Sunday School class, when questions like these arise, to cast them off by assigning them to the "mysteries of God".  Yet, they are not mysteries, for the scriptures answer them plainly and simply as Dr. Carman unfolds them to our understanding for easy comprehension.  You will be amazed and thrilled as you discover the answers to these "mystery" questions through reading and pondering the words and concepts of this exciting book.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Frank C. Carman II, Ph.D.
• Release date: Aug 10, 2022
• ISBN: 9798986729701

Frank C. Carman II, Ph.D.

Frank C. Carman II, Ph.D. was raised as a protestant.  He attended M.I.T., graduating in Physics.  Dr. Carman enjoyed studying German, and Russian.  During the summer of 1961 he acquired work with a firm in Germany.  While there he met the church missionaries and was baptized shortly before returning to M.I.T. Dr. Carman went to the University of Washington for graduate study.  His bishop called him to serve a church mission, which was in Brazil, adding Portuguese to his languages of interest.  After his mission he returned to the University of Washington, completing an MS and PhC in Physics.  Because of grant cuts, Dr. Carman followed the physicist migration into Computer Science, studying CS at the University of Utah and later receiving an interdisciplinary Ph.D. degree among Physics, Computer Science, and Linguistics from BYU. Dr. Carman worked as a research scientist at ITT's Advanced Technology Center followed by the position as senior associate research scientist at Chemical Abstracts Service.  Feeling spiritually unfulfilled, Dr. Carman left the research environment to use his talents for the building of the Lord's Kingdom.  He and his wife moved to Utah where they started one of the first genealogy websites on the then new Internet in 1996 which is known today (July, 2022) as MyTrees.com. Dr. Carman has served, among other callings, as a member of the seventy presidency in his stake quorum of seventy.  Currently (July, 2022) Dr. Carman is serving with his wife as ward historians where he has developed a ward history website at localchurchhistory.org. Dr. Carman's goal is to read the entire standard works once every year except the Old Testament, which he reads once every four years.  The inspiration for his scripture study schedule came during his last year at M.I.T. when he met with Professor Henry Eyring at the University of Utah, to discuss graduate school selection.  During this meeting Professor Eyring mentioned that he had read The Book of Mormon some 40 times to that date.  This so inspired Dr. Carman to set a similarly rigorous goal of scripture study, which he has continued to this day (July, 2022).  Dr. Carman has seven natural children and three step children.

Book preview

Introduction

Iwas baptized as a convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the age of 19 in Germany during the summer of 1961.  It was so thrilling to me to find out about the restored gospel of our Savior, that I have made it a life long work to read, reread, and study the Holy Scriptures - both ancient and modern - to better understand my roll in this worldwide effort to prepare the world for the Second Coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Despite my advanced age at this time I look forward to this monumental event with great anticipation and will greet it with enthusiasm either here in the mortal world or from the spirit world.

During my studies of the restored gospel I've encountered several areas that have caused some confusion among the general membership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  Things such as the entrance requirements placed on the three kingdoms after this life, the nature and operation of faith, what the power of God is, and how the atonement actually works in our behalf have been some of those areas that I've delved into in some depth.  In so doing I've discovered much through both study and prayer.  Before leaving this mortal world I'd like to pass along those tidbits of knowledge with which the Lord has blessed me.

In so doing, I must state that I am fully responsible for the material within these pages.  I have done my best to adhere to the true principles and doctrines of the restored gospel.  Nevertheless, of necessity I have given my interpretation of scripture.  Always seek in prayer the truths for which you are searching and consult the Lord's prophets for resolution of anything you read herein that you feel needs to be clarified from one who holds those keys to clarify doctrine.

Throughout this work I have cited many scriptures.  All such citations I have placed in italics and added bold type to that text which I feel has special meaning.

Many of the footnotes reference Internet web pages.  If a web page is no longer available when you read this book, visit the Internet archive Way Back Machine at web.archive.org.  When there, enter the web address of the missing page to find the historical copy of that page.

Although this book focuses on clarifying doctrinal subjects via extensive analysis of scriptural passages, I believe that the main focus of our life should be the integration into our personality of the traits of Christ like love for self and others in all of our contacts with mankind throughout our lifetime.  It is my hope and belief that a thorough understanding of the doctrinal arena will provide the motivation to help us achieve those celestial goals here in mortality that Heavenly Father would have us learn and achieve.  To this end has this book been written.

Chapter 1 - Agency

Do you think that a stone by the roadside has agency?  Read on, and you'll discover something marvelous, yet true.  Of the five possible definitions of agency [1] given by Merriam-Webster the second one comes closest to our understanding of agency and reads:

the capacity, condition, or state of acting or of exerting power

The official definition of agency from the perspective of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints states[2]:

Agency is the ability and privilege God gives us to choose and to act for ourselves.

Thus, we are given the choice blessing from our Heavenly Father of being able to act for ourselves.  The prophet Lehi in speaking to his sons near the end of his life stated[3]:

14.  And now, my sons, I speak unto you these things for your profit and learning; for there is a God, and he hath created all things, both the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are, both things to act and things to be acted upon.

When I was much younger I once thought that all things in the Universe could be classified as things that act or things that are acted upon.  I saw living things - both humans and animals - as those things which act through the use of agency, and most all else such as stones, mountains, and inanimate objects, as things that are acted upon.  My own experiences in life, especially when I tackled the job of building my own house as a home for my family, reinforced my belief that we act and those inanimate objects are acted upon.  After all, how could an inanimate object have agency?

Then, certain things in the scriptures caused me to reflect and ponder the nature of agency and how it possibly could be incorporated into inanimate objects.  My first encounter was once when I was reading of the Savior's triumphant entrance into Jerusalem near the end of his life[4] (emphasis added):

37.  And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen;

38.  Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.

39.  And some of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master, rebuke thy disciples.

40.  And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.

Now the Savior would not and could not lie.  Hence, the very creation of God (e.g. the stones) could cry out.  I do not speculate as to how that could happen, only that the Lord said it would happen, should he silence his disciples.  Some might suggest that this was metaphorical and that it referred to the remainder of the multitude.  However, the entire multitude was already praising the Lord[5].  Therefore, stones cannot be referring to the multitudes.  Taken literally the stones would cry out in praise of the Savior, should the multitude be silenced.  This would suggest that inanimate objects have some form of agency and are aware of the Divine.  Although a stone does not have the physical structure to cry out, it would seem that the spirit matter associated with it would somehow declare emphatically its joy in seeing the Son of God fulfilling his divine mission among men.

The disciples of Jesus asked him why they could not cast out an evil spirit.  His reply also suggests that inanimate objects have agency[6] (emphasis added):

19.  Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out?

20.  And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

Note how the Lord says that it shall remove, not that it will be removed, suggesting that some kind of agency associated with the mountain is choosing obedience and acting accordingly.[7]

There are many such instances  in the scriptures.  For example, consider these words of the Lord to his apostles[8] (emphasis added):

5.  And the apostles said unto the Lord, Increase our faith.

6.  And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.

Perhaps the best known example of inanimate objects demonstrating agency is when the Lord calmed the stormy sea.  He simply spoke the command and the elements obeyed him (emphasis added)[9]:

37.  And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.

38.  And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?

39.  And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

40.  And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?

41.  And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?[10]

Simply stated, both the wind and the waves obeyed the Lord's commands to them.  This is a powerful witness to the agency of inanimate objects.  I believe that it is possible that the spirit matter associated with the wind and the waves enforced some sort of control over its temporal matter, showing that they honor the Divine by being obedient thereto.

I have often heard the following comment, or one like it, in a Sunday School class or talk from the pulpit:  God is so powerful because he knows more of the laws of Nature than we do.  This appears to place Nature above God, where even God is subject to some unknown power, requiring his learning of these laws of Nature.  What I find most inspiring in this God/Nature relationship is that God is all powerful in the Universe and he is the one who gives to matter these laws of nature, which are then obeyed by the matter contained in the Universe.  Let's put it another way:  God tells matter how to act, whether it be planets circling a star or the chemical action and effect of atoms within a substance.  All these laws of Physics and Chemistry are given to matter by God, himself; then, the matter acts by obeying God's commands.  I take as my witness to this, Section 88:36-45 of the Doctrine and Covenants (emphasis added):

36.  All kingdoms have a law given;

37.  And there are many kingdoms; for there is no space in the which there is no kingdom; and there is no kingdom in which there is no space, either a greater or a lesser kingdom.

38.  And unto every kingdom is given a law; and unto every law there are certain bounds also and conditions.

39.  All beings who abide not in those conditions are not justified.

40.  For intelligence cleaveth unto intelligence; wisdom receiveth wisdom; truth embraceth truth; virtue loveth virtue; light cleaveth unto light; mercy hath compassion on mercy and claimeth her own; justice continueth its course and claimeth its own; judgment goeth before the face of him who sitteth upon the throne and governeth and executeth all things.

41.  He comprehendeth all things, and all things are before him, and all things are round about him; and he is above all things, and in all things, and is through all things, and is round about all things; and all things are by him, and of him, even God, forever and ever.

42.  And again, verily I say unto you, he hath given a law unto all things, by which they move in their times and their seasons;

43.  And their courses are fixed, even the courses of the heavens and the earth, which comprehend the earth and all the planets.

44.  And they give light to each other in their times and in their seasons, in their minutes, in their hours, in their days, in their weeks, in their months, in their years—all these are one year with God, but not with man.

45.  The earth rolls upon her wings, and the sun giveth his light by day, and the moon giveth her light by night, and the stars also give their light, as they roll upon their wings in their glory, in the midst of the power of God.

God gives the so-called laws of Nature, which should properly be labeled the laws of God, to our mortal world; note particularly verse 42 (in bold).  That these laws can change for matter (element) when God so ordains is exemplified in the matter that constitutes a resurrected personage.  Surely the molecules and atoms (or whatever the matter may be called) that make up the body of a resurrected personage obey laws different from what we experience in the mortal universe.  We are mortal and that which makes up our bodies will eventually decay and return to dust (corruptible), whereas the matter in a resurrected being is immortal and will never decay (incorruptible)[11].  This shows that it obeys different laws than matter in the mortal world.

The clincher to this designation of inanimate objects as possessing a form of agency is given in the creation of the Earth account in the Book of Abraham within the Pearl of Great Price.  Even though this is a planning stage for the actual creation, these scriptures testify to the agency contained within matter itself[12].  Please note that the word ordered could be replaced with the synonym