spirit002

Dear Bro. Gorton, I read with interest your comments to Paul from Minnesota regarding the condition of spirits relative to the spirit’s ability to be taught the Gospel. In your comments you restated the doctrine related to the spirit having the same disposition as it did in mortality, and therefore if lusts and other desires of the flesh have not been conquered previous to death, it would be so much the worse for that spirit as it attempted to overcome those weaknesses in an effort to repent and conform with Gospel principles. I have trouble with that belief because faults such as alcohol or substance abuse, or a reliance on tobacco are matters of the physical body, not the spirit. Alcohol and tobacco alter the body's cell structure, especially in the brain, thus causing the dependency, and the spirit is not made of such cells and are, therefore, not subject to such alteration and subsequent dependence. To say that a person who is a slave to alcohol in mortality will remain so in the spirit world is to say that the spirit of that person is similarly enslaved, thus debunking the teaching that the spirit and the body are separate and distinct entities. If this is true, then the inevitable conclusion one comes to is that the spirit is equally capable of mortal pollution which is difficult to understand; how can that which is purely spirit be overcome by that which is purely physical? I will not be offended if my question is not posted on your web site, but your response will be appreciated. Thank you, Richard

Dear Richard,

Your conclusion of a complete separation of the body and spirit is based on an interesting assumption. You state, “the spirit is not made of such cells and [is], therefore, not subject to such alteration and subsequent dependence.” We don’t know the actual composition of spirit matter and whether a personage of spirit has a composition that is equivalent at the cellular level or not. However, apart from that, although the brain is composed of mortal material, the mind, which is the function of the brain, certainly accompanies the spirit on its eternal journey. The experience of mortality, so vital to our eternal progress, is carried into the spirit world in the mind that is an essential part of the spirit. The propensities of the mind will not change when we discard the robe of mortality. We will be the same person, think the same thoughts, have the same desires, likes and dislikes. How could we not have also the same habits?

One of the early accounts of near death experiences was recorded by George Ritchie, in a book entitled, “Return From Tomorrow.” In that book he tells of being in the presence of post-mortal spirits in a bar, who were trying to satisfy their cravings for liquor by grabbing at glasses of alcohol, but without the possibility of making contact with the glass.