Hi Jeanie

As far as the creation, Russell, there was, first, a spiritual creation and then physical.

I’ve heard this story before, true or not it doesn’t get around the obvious contradiction between the plain words of the bible and what we know today from modern science about the origins of this planet and the life it contains. The two can not be reconciled in any way that I have yet seen but if you have a better answer please present it.

Of course that isn't going to make sense to someone who doesn't even believe WE have spirits.

I can understand the logical idea of many things I don’t believe are real, fiction stories, especially sci fi would make little sense otherwise.

As far as the order and what can and can't be....I guess you were there???

Do you really believe that I needed to be? Is there no other way you can imagine for us to understand the past? That’s a very very limiting point of view given that the vast majority of this planet’s history and of the universe’s history occurred before there were any such thing as people according to all the best evidence. Reality is we have no choice but to look for other methods of understanding the past, methods no based in human records and memories.

And I don't think your interpretation is right anyway.

You’ll have to explain what you think I’ve interpreted incorrectly.

I just found an excellent article. Actually I've copied it on here before. If either of you care to read it....you must read it very carefully, but it goes into more of an explanation of the creation and its purposes. It's about a page long. Give it a go.....

I’ve read the ‘philosophy’ behind the LDS church before, I used to have neighbours who were LDS well they were till the met me, he dropped out soon after though she is still a member I believe. I can’t say I found any of it compelling. As with this article it explained why you’d like things to be a certain way but it doesn’t touch on the really compelling evidence we have that shows us that the world is not that way. That’s what I found when I was first presented with their publications, you have to ignore a whole lot of really solid, well established evidence, to see the world from the LDS viewpoint and I’m not that good at ignoring evidence, I just cant do it.

All the best Jeanie.

Russell

P.S. it is not at all sad to see the world from a scientific, atheistic viewpoint, it is uplifting to understand that we are the latest products of over 3 billion years of success. Not one of our ancestors for all that time failed to make a living, find a mate and reproduce. That’s quite a lineage. Further it is uplifting to understand that we are made of the stuff of stars that the matter we consist of was born in the heart of stars that existed billions of years before this planet came into existence. We really are star stuff that has gained the power to understand the matter of the universe which gave birth to us.