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Man Is Different From All Other Life
Man is accountable, whereas all other intelligence on the earth is not accountable, because their behavior is "locked in". Notice that every individual of every other species act in the same way as each other, in their particular species. They don't have any choice in the matter so they are not accountable for their actions. Therefore they won't be judged on that basis, whereas mankind can be judged depending on their knowledge and circumstances.
Agency With No Interference
This bears repeating. Agency is free only if there is no interference from God. Men need to be able to fail as well as succeed. Accountability demands it.
Some seem to think that a Supreme Being should interfere in cases of unfairness, in time of war or in case of an earthquake, fires, mudslides, sickness or in the case of man's inhumanity to man. If men and women did not have the opportunity to make mistakes in judgment and suffer or benefit from their choices, they could not be held accountable, and there would be no learning, no knowledge or wisdom gained. In the real world if we will but look, it just so happens that we live in a world that we can succeed or fail and therefore we are held accountable.
There can be no progress without accountability. Personal progress can only come by accepting responsibility for own actions and moving on. Unless we do, we live in a world of pretend and blame others and circumstance and chance for our failures. The world of pretend is a world of despondency, of feeling sorry for ourselves, of depression. Jails and mental institutions are filled with those who haven't accepted responsibility for their own actions in the real world.
Again, agency is agency only if there is no interference from God - and that is exactly why He does not interfere.
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Time
Time is a measurement of a part of eternity which has a beginning and an end. Time pre-supposes change. Therefore time can be useful in determining the quality and quantity of change that has taken place. Time can be useful in determining progress or lack of it.
Our earth rotates once every twenty-four of our hours. If we always had constant light all over the earth all the time, it would be like having time stand still.
Since the elements and laws always exist whether past, present or future, to intelligent beings who comprehend this far better than we do, and
who dwell on spheres of constant light, to them everything is an ever-present now.
Time though can be used to good purpose by us and "them" but as far as our perspective of the eternities before and after this life, it has not been given to us to comprehend it. It would be impossible for us to concentrate on the job at hand.
Organization Of This Earth
The scripture says that God organized this earth in six days and rested on the seventh. The apostle Peter said that the Lord's days are equal to one thousand of our years. That would indicate that the planet or sphere where God dwells rotates on its axis once every thousand of our years. This shows the size of His world. It also tells us that God spent six thousand of our years directing the work of putting life on this planet, and not six of our twenty-four hour days.
Most, if not all of the creator's time, if you read the scripture, was spent preparing this planet for life. The elements of the earth were self-existing, organized and perhaps waiting like the other planets we know about in our own sun system - waiting to be put in place to inhabited by intelligent beings.
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Adam and Eve
We find that Adam and Eve were in a special set of circumstances because they were unlike any other life, in that they had no "instinct" to command them as to their behavior. They were like little children - innocent, unlearned and didn't know the difference between right and wrong, good and evil. That put them into a very different category - they were adults and able to act but not accountable or responsible for their actions.
Adam and Eve were in that state when they were instructed to multiply and replenish the earth and also to not partake of the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil unless they wanted to become subject to
death (separation of the spirit from the body) or mortality, and be sent out of the garden and away from God.
Eve was lied to and misled and she partook of the forbidden fruit which made her subject to death. She would be sent out of the garden and separated from Adam. The scriptures tell us that Adam was not deceived. Realizing that Eve would become mortal and be sent out of the garden, because of his love for Eve he also partook of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil so that he could be with Eve. After Adam partook of the fruit they both realized that before they could have kept the commandment to multiply and replenish the earth they had to receive knowledge and become mortal.
The decisions that Adam and Eve made were not evil. They were innocent at the time they made those choices and received the following
consequences:
1. The ability to die. (physical death)
2. The ability to remain together.
3. The ability to have children.
4. Were sent out of the presence of God. (spiritual death)
5. Became subject to pain and happiness and all the opposites of mortality which they could not experience in the Garden of Eden.
6. The ability to choose between good and evil, now knowing the difference. (agency)
7. The ability to progress, to learn from their experiences, and being introduced to the principle of work or effort and learned the benefits of it.
What took place in the garden was a giant step forward in the eternal
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progress of Adam and Eve and their posterity. God's plans were not thwarted. He knew exactly what would happen, and wanted it to happen and planned for it minutely by placing Adam and Eve in those circumstances so they could choose for themselves in innocence. Before the foundation of the earth the Fall of Adam and Eve was planned so they and their billions of posterity could experience mortality away from God so they could gain the experience necessary and be truly tested. The consequences of the Fall of Adam and Eve as listed above were also planned for before the foundation of the world, and the consequence of death was provided for. A person who had the power to overcome death was also foreordained before the earth was organized, and his mortal name became Jesus Christ. He eventually took upon himself the results of the actions of Adam and Eve, as well as each of
our mistakes, dependent upon personal repentance. Because Adam and Eve
were innocent in the garden, they didn't have to repent of their decision to become mortal. Like us though, it was necessary for them to repent of their individual sins as they lived their lives.
The Prophecies of Noah
According to Moses
We don't know exactly when the Book of Genesis was revealed to Moses. His mission was to bring the posterity of Israel out of Egypt, and bring them through the desert to their promised land. The promised land happened to be a land where Israel and his family had already lived ( 400 years earlier). Moses, like Abraham, knew there was a blood relationship between the people of Egypt and the people who were already living in the land of Canaan (people descended from the man Canaan, or the Canaanites). Moses wanted his people the Israelites to understand who the Canaanites were and so he (Moses) tells us of an experience between Noah and his three sons Ham, Shem and Japheth.
Genesis 9: 19 -27
"And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the Ark, were
Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of
Canaan. These are the three sons of Noah: and of them
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was the whole earth overspread. And Noah began to be
an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard; and he drank
of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within
his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness
of his father, and told his two brethren without. And Shem
and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their
shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness
of their father; and their faces were backward, and saw not
their father's nakedness."
Please note that Moses doesn't make any mention of any of the sons of Shem or Japheth, but he goes out of his way two times to explain that
Ham was the father of Canaan. He is trying to teach the reader something. We might also get from this scripture that Ham saw that his father Noah was naked, and made fun of his father to his brothers. We also may assume from the actions of Shem and Japheth that they honored their father by covering him by going together backwards without looking at their father's nakedness. Let's read the rest of the verses and see what we can learn from Noah.
"And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his
younger son had done unto him. And he said, cursed
be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his
brethren. And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem
and Canaan shall be his servant. God shall enlarge Japheth,
and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall
be his servant."
Noah is clearly remarkable isn't he?! Ordinarily a person who is drunken does not know about and can't remember anything going on around him. Noah however, wakes up and knows exactly about everything that occurred. The first thing he says is Cursed be Canaan…even though you notice, that Canaan was not even there and had nothing to do with the whole thing! So what was Noah saying? Cursed be the posterity of Ham and they will be servants to the posterity of Shem and Japheth! Not only did he say servants, but he said servant of servants meaning maybe slaves? Now noting that Noah was a prophet and not just an angry father whistling in the dark
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here, but here was an opportunity for Noah, who was almost in the same position of Adam, to prophecy what would become of the posterity of his sons until the end of time! And of course a prophecy from a prophet is accurate and actually takes place down through the ages of mankind.
Let's go on with what Noah said: Blessed be Shem…..so God would bless the posterity of Shem. How? After fourteen generations from or through Shem, Abraham was born, and then Isaac and Jacob, and eventually the Savior of the world. We can assume the blessings spoken of are blessings of the gospel. All who accept the gospel of Jesus Christ become Israelites and the seed of Abraham.
God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem. He
says here, that in the future (shall) the posterity of Japheth will be enlarged
meaning many, or blessed or both. Also in the future the posterity of Japheth will have a special relationship with the posterity of Shem. What is it? Let's read the beginning of the next chapter in Genesis.
Genesis 10: 1-5
" Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah,
Shem, Ham and Japheth: and unto them were sons born
after the flood. The sons of Japheth: Gomer and Magog,
and Madai and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras.
the sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah.
and the sons of Javan: Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and
Dodanim. By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided
in their lands; everyone after his tongue, after their families,
in their nations."
We can now re-phrase what Noah said by explaining that the posterity of Japheth (who now are known as the Gentiles) will come into the House of Israel (tent of Shem). They (the Gentile nations which are mixed with the scattered blood of Israel) will be brought into the House of Israel by the missionaries in the latter-days who hold priesthood authority in the restored Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
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Priesthood and the Posterity
Of Ham
We have learned from the above quotation of the prophecy of Noah, that the posterity of Ham were not given certain things that were to be given to the posterity of Shem and Japheth. In fact, according to Noah's prophecy, the posterity of Ham were to be slaves or servants, and denied certain privileges. This was given to the prophet Noah before any of these events took place in his own lifetime. We cannot place the guilt upon the posterity of Ham in their lifetimes, because these things were pre-determined before they were born. (Noah cursed Canaan, (or the posterity of Ham) not Ham). We, who now live in the 21st century after Christ, can witness that these
things have taken place in the earth's history. We cannot place a right or wrong to these things, except to account these things to God's timetable for events to happen. I will now quote from a statement of the apostle Paul, to see that he (Paul), had some sort of perspective in these things:
Acts 17: 24 - 26
"God that made the world and all things therein, seeing
that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples
made with hands; neither is worshipped with men's hands,
as though he needed anything, seeing he giveth to all life,
and breath, and all things; and hath made of one blood
all nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth,
and hath determined the times before appointed, and the
bounds of their habitation."
So according to the apostle Paul, God is in control (without taking away our agency) and has pre-determined or planned when each of us would come to the earth, and where and when we would live on it. He therefore knows what lineage or family we will be born into. To start with, each of mankind will be born into one of three lineages: Ham, Shem or Japheth.
In the autobiography of Abraham we find that the Egyptians at the time of Abraham were descendents of Ham. One of the sons of Ham was Canaan whose descendents had spread from Egypt to the land of Canaan, which was known as Palestine in the Old Testament. The scripture says that
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the word Egypt came from the name Egyptus, who was the wife of Ham, whose sons became the first rulers (pharaohs) of Egypt.
In the 26th and 27th verses of the first chapter it says that the descendents of Ham did not have the right to the priesthood, even though at the time they pretended to have that right.
Abraham 1: 21 -27
"Now this king of Egypt was a descendent from the loins
of Ham, and was a partaker of the blood of the Canaanites
by birth. From this descent sprang all the Egyptians, and
thus the blood of the Canaanites was preserved in the land.
the land of Egypt being first discovered by a woman, who
was the daughter of Ham, and the daughter of Egyptus,
which in the Chaldean signifies Egypt, which signifies
that which is forbidden. When this woman discovered
the land it was under water, who afterward settled her
sons in it; and thus, from Ham, sprang that race which
preserved the curse in the land. Now the first government
of Egypt was established by Pharaoh, the eldest son of
Egyptus, the daughter of Ham. And it was after the manner
of the government of Ham, which was patriarchal. Pharaoh,
being a righteous man, established his kingdom and judged
his people wisely and justly all his days, seeking earnestly
to imitate that order established by the fathers in the first
generations, in the days of the first patriarchal reign, even
in the reign of Adam, and also Noah, his father, who blessed
him with the blessings of the earth, and with the blessings
of wisdom, but cursed him as pertaining to the priesthood.
Now, Pharaoh, being of that lineage by which he could not
have the right to the priesthood, notwithstanding the Pharaohs
would fain claim it from Noah, through Ham, therefore my
father was led away by their idolatry;"
Abraham knew that the descendents of Ham were not given the opportunity at that time to hold the priesthood and also anyone intermarrying with that lineage would have their offspring deprived also. That is why Abraham, being a stranger in the land of Canaan, made his
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servant take an oath that he (the servant) would go out of the land of Canaan to get a wife for Abraham's son Isaac.
Genesis 24: 2 - 4
"And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house,
that ruled over all he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under
my thigh; and I will make thee swear by the Lord, the God
of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take
a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites,
among whom I dwell: but thou shalt go unto my country
and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac."
We also have another example in the finding of a wife for Isaac and Rebekah's son Jacob.
Genesis 27: 46
"And Rebekah said to Isaac, I am weary of my life because
of the daughters of Heth; if Jacob take a wife of the daughters
of Heth, such as these which are of the daughters of the land,
what good shall my life do me?
Genesis 28: 1
"And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him,
and said unto him, thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters
of Canaan……"
Notice that in the language of Moses that gave voice to Rebekah - that she reached way back into the genealogy of the Canaanites and referred to Heth, who is a son of Canaan. (see Genesis 10: 6)
As mentioned before, God has a timetable. We don't come to earth at the same time, live in the same place, or come to the same parents. The gospel cannot be taken everywhere at the same time either. Some country or lineage has to be first, second and third, and some have to be last. Does that mean that God loves someone more than others? Were Abraham and Isaac racists? Of course not. Everything was planned beforehand so that all his children would have the opportunity for all the priesthood blessings of God.
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Since we are all different, and always have been, when and how we are born here depends on what we did in our pre-mortal life. What some do not receive in mortality, they receive in the period between their death and the resurrection. But whether we are born in Caesar's palace, or in a mud hut, nothing is guaranteed after our birth. We must learn right from wrong and exercise our agency no matter when or where we come into this mortal scene.
Since this subject has been centered around the posterity of Ham, it is my opinion that the Lord has ever been mindful of them, has heard their cries and their laughter, and has protected them by isolating them in Africa. As with everyone else, what they thought was a cursing or trial from God, eventually turns out to be for their best good, and a blessing. But it is now their day because the priesthood has been restored to their lineage. They are helping Shem and Japheth prepare the inhabitants of the world for the coming of Jesus Christ.
Christ Before His Mortal Birth
As a Spirit personage, before receiving His mortal body, Christ was known as Jehovah - the God of the Old Testament. God the Son was and is Jehovah.
CHRIST AS THE CREATOR
In Hebrews 1:2, Christ made other worlds including this one under the direction of the Father. He could be called a type of a father because He was the earth's organizer. The difference between God the Son and God the Father is that the Father is the father of Christ's spirit body as well as ours.
Hebrews 1: 2
"Hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom
he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made
the worlds."
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Hebrews 12: 9
"Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which
corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not
much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits,
and live?"
CHRIST AS THE SAVIOR
This certainly sounds familiar, doesn't it? All of the New Testament bears witness of it, but so does the Old Testament. One must remember, that "the Lord" in the Old Testament was Jehovah. Jehovah or God the Son is the Savior.
Isaiah 43: 11
"I, even I am the Lord: and beside me there is no Savior."
CHRIST AS THE JUDGE
In the Old Testament it says that Jehovah is the Judge.
Isaiah 33: 22
"For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver,
the Lord is our king; He will save us."
In the New Testament there is not question who the judge of this earth is:
John 5: 22
"For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed
all judgment unto the Son"
Therefore the Messiah, God the Son Jesus Christ is Jehovah - Creator, Savior and the Judge - not God the Father.
In Zachariah (Old Testament) we get another perspective of the Savior. The God of the Old Testament (Jehovah) will pour His blessings upon the jewish people in the last days and fight their battles. He speaks in the first person and says, "and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced." This shows clearly that the God of the Old Testament (Jehovah), is Jesus Christ the Son, not the Father.
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Zachariah 12: 10
"And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon
the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of
supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they
have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourned
for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that
is in bitterness for his firstborn."
When we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Mediator between us and the Father, and covenant with Him in the waters of baptism, we become
His sons and daughters.
The Atonement -To Overcome Physical Death
After Adam and Eve left the garden it was revealed to them that the consequences of their decision to become mortal would be remedied by the actions of a Savior. While they and succeeding generations waited for this Savior, they practiced the Law of Sacrifice which was that they should take an animal and sacrifice it in the name of the coming Savior. There were specific instructions given:
The animal: 1. Had to be a male.
2. Had to be the First Born.
3. Could not have any broken bones.
4. Could not be sickly or bruised.
5. It could not be strangled but must die by
the shedding of its blood.
They were told that the sacrifice was symbolic and would represent the sacrifice of the Messiah who would come in the Meridian of Time, to take upon Himself the sins of all the world. They were told that the Messiah:
1. Being a male would not only be the Only Begotten of the
father in the flesh (mortal mother, immortal father), but he was the
2. First-Born of His Father's spirit children.
3. When he would be sacrificed none of His bones would be broken.
4. His would be a sinless sacrifice and because He was taking upon
himself the sins of all mankind (dependent upon our personal
repentance) , in order for the sacrifice to be valid He had to be
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innocent like a lamb.
5. He would die by the shedding of His blood.
6. For the sacrifice to be valid, and differing from the animal
sacrifice, He had to be a willing sacrifice.
7. Even though He may have been willing to give His life for the
rest of us whom He loves, the sacrifice wouldn't have been valid
unless He had the power to stop man from taking his life.
8. He would have to have the power to resurrect Himself
(power over death) otherwise the sacrifice would also
have been invalid.
So Adam and the ancient holy prophets taught this ordinance to their
people and animal sacrifice and the teaching of the doctrine of blood atonement of the Messiah was the central theme and ordinance of their religion.
The Physical Resurrection
Of Christ and of All Mankind
A great part of the atonement was accomplished in the Garden of Gethsemane where the Savior bled at every pore. He later was taken and put on a wooden cross at a public execution. His death had to be a public death so that there couldn't be anyone at any age of the world who could say that He really didn't die. Isaiah the prophet described what kind of a death the Savior would suffer over six hundred years before it happened. See Isaiah 22: 20 - 25.
Three days later Jesus' spirit returned to His body and first appeared to and talked to Mary, and then to His eleven apostles who were gathered together in one room. He showed them his pierced side, hands and feet and they each physically felt his wounds. The apostles at first were afraid and thought that He was a spirit because He entered the room without using the door or windows. He calmed them down and explained that a spirit didn't have a resurrected body of flesh and bones like his.
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Luke 24: 36-39
36. And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them,
and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
37. But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had
seen a spirit.
38. And He said unto them, why are ye troubled? And why do thoughts
arise in your hearts?
39. Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me and see;
for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have.
The apostle James said:
James 2: 26
26. For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works
is dead also.
So the scriptural definition of death is the separation of the body and the spirit. The resurrection is just the opposite - the reunification of the body and the spirit. Christ's body was not subject to pain nor death anymore, which brings us to what Paul wrote to the members of the Church in Rome about the resurrection of Christ:
Romans 6: 9
9. Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead, dieth no more.
death hath no more dominion over Him.
So Christ's body, having been reunited with His spirit, would never die again. His spirit can never leave His resurrected body. That's the law. Christ did not leave His body on the earth. His resurrected body and His spirit can never be separated again. That would be dying a second time. Therefore God the Son is not a spirit only but is united eternally with His resurrected immortal body of flesh and bones.
Alma 11: 45
45. Now behold, I have spoken unto you concerning the death of the mortal body, and also concerning the resurrection of the mortal body. I say unto you that this mortal body is raised to an immortal body; that is from
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death, even from the first death unto life, that they can die no more; their spirits uniting with their bodies, never to be divided; thus the whole becoming spiritual and immortal, that they can no more see corruption.
Alma 11: 42-43
42. Now there is a death which is called a temporal death; and the death
of Christ shall loose the bands of this temporal death, that all will be raised from this temporal death.
43. The spirit and the body shall be reunited again in its perfect form; both limb and joint shall be restored to its proper frame, even as we now are at this time; and we shall be brought to stand before God, knowing even as we know now, and have a bright recollection of all our guilt.
Moroni 10: 34 (Incidentally, this is my favorite scripture, and it is the last verse of the Book of Mormon.)
34. And now I bid unto all, farewell. I soon go to rest in the paradise of God, until my spirit and body shall again reunite, and I am brought forth triumphant through the air, to meet you before the pleasing bar of the great Jehovah, the Eternal Judge of both quick and dead. Amen.
Matthew 27: 52-53
52. And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose.
53. And came out of the graves after his resurrection and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.
If Christ Is A Resurrected Being Forever
What Kind of Being is God the Father?
In Christ's prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane he prayed: and this is life eternal, to know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent". We may not understand the full implications of what difference it makes to know the true character of God, but apparently it makes the difference between gaining eternal life or not.
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In Hebrews 1: 1-3 we read:
1. God, who in sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
2. Hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds;
3. Who (Christ) being the brightness of His (the Father's) glory, and the express image of His (the Father's) person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high."
The Christ, having a resurrected, immortal body of flesh and bones, after He ascended into the heavens and joining his Father, sat on His right
side and was in the express image of His Father's person. The Son's perfect
body resembles the Father's body. If we consider that Christ's body was now in a perfect state - never to die again, never to change, we can safely assume that His Father had achieved this same perfection before Christ did, and He (the Father), has a resurrected, immortal body of flesh and bones also.
We wouldn't have had the insight to figure this great truth out on our own without revelation from a prophet of God. The very first thing that God revealed to the boy Joseph Smith was the truth about God the Father and the Son. Why? Because as Jesus said in His prayer to the Father, understanding the truth about God and His Son was the most important truth a person could have, which could eventually make it possible for that person to gain eternal life. That truth was hidden in the scriptures and denied by the Christian churches of his (Joseph's) day. In his first vision, Joseph saw that both God the Father and His Son were separate resurrected immortal beings, and they both talked to him. I bear witness to you that the spirit has whispered to me many times that what Joseph Smith said he saw, he saw, and the truth about the Father and the Son has been restored.
