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| The Grand Council in Heaven |
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There are only two scriptures which describe the events of the council itself, although there are several which discuss the aftermath. The less complete one is found in the Book of Abraham: 24. And there stood one among them that was like unto God, and he said unto those who were with him: We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell; 25. And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them; 26. And they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with hose who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second state shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever. 27. And the Lord said: Whom shall I send? And one answered like unto the Son of Man: Here I am, send me. And another answered and said: Here am I, send me. And the Lord said: I will send the first. 28. And the second was angry, and kept not his first estate, and, at that day, many followed after him (Abraham 3:24-28). There are three actors in this drama, God the Father, one who was "like unto God", or Christ, and the "second" person, or Lucifer. The two "estates" are the Pre-Mortal life (first estate), and earth-life (second estate). The most complete picture of this council is described in the Book of Moses: 1. And I, the Lord God, spake unto Moses, saying: That Satan, whom thou hast commanded in the name of mine Only Begotten, is the same which was from the beginning, and he came before me, saying - Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor. 2. But, behold, my Beloved Son, which was my Beloved and Chosen from the beginning, said unto me - Father, they will be done, and the glory be thine forever. 3. Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him, and also, that I should give unto him mine own power; by the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he should be cast down; 4. And he became Satan, yea, even the devil, the father of all lies, to deceive and to blind men, and to lead them captive at his will, even as many as would not hearken unto my voice (Moses 4:1-4). The salient features of the council in Heaven are clear: there was a discussion about the nature of this earth life, and two plans were presented on how that was to be accomplished. Christ's plan pleased the Father, and was selected. Lucifer's plan was rejected, and he became angry and rebelled against the Father. I will defer a discussion of the plans themselves to the section which discusses Free Agency. For now let us examine is Lucifer and the nature of his fall. All of our modern connotations of the word "Lucifer" are bad, but they have only come through the association of the name with the persona of the devil. The Latin roots for the word mean "light bringer", and serve as a translation of the Hebrew name which means "shining one" (Strong's Analytical Concordance). Before his tragic fall, Lucifer is described as "an angel of God who was in authority in the presence of God" (DC 76:25). Though never explicitly stated, it may be assumed that Lucifer was also among the noble and great ones which Abraham saw in his vision of the Pre-Mortal life. How did such a great one come to such an end that Isaiah cries "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!" (Isaiah 14:12). There are two aspects of Lucifer's plea before God that are important factors which lead to his fall. The first is his plan itself. Lucifer had the best of intentions. He wanted all of God's children to return to God's presence. Surely that is a noble goal, and one with which God would sympathize. It was not Lucifer's goal, but his method which caused the rejection of his plan. The Lord clearly states that one of the reasons for the rejection of Lucifer's plan was that he "sought to destroy the agency of man" (Moses 4:3). As we will see later, this fatal flaw in the plan made it unworkable. God could never have chosen that plan, because it would not accomplish Gods work, which is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man (Moses 1:39). The second problem with Lucifer's presentation of the plan is so thoroughly bound up in his fall, that at times it is not clearly identified. Lucifer's plan wouldn't work, and therefore could not have been chosen. The failure to have his plan selected, however, did not make him fall, did not make of him the devil. Lucifer caused his own fall through a flaw in his character. In Moses' account of the presentation of Lucifer's plan, Lucifer begins to show his excessive pride: "I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor" (Moses 4:1). Once again, the general request must be seen in context. We may understand it better by comparing it to our knowledge of Christ. Christ became our Savior, and through his efforts has become one with the Father, and has received "all that the Father hath". Christ is an heir of the Father, and has received a kingdom. Surely Lucifer knew that this inheritance was part of his birthright. He may have thought he was asking for no more that was rightfully due the Savior. It was Lucifer's pride, however, that wanted Glory in an inappropriate way. Rather than understanding the nature of eternal progression, that the glories to which we attain exalt our Father, Lucifer somehow felt to exalt himself. It was this inappropriate pride which blinded Lucifer to the rightness and justness of God's selection of Christ to be the Savior. Even this sin of pride might have been forgiven, had Lucifer stopped short of letting his pride rule him. He did not. What followed turned the "shining one" into "Satan, that old serpent, even the devil" (DC 76:28). John describes the event which followed in the Book of Revelations: 7. And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, 8. And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. 9. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him (Revelations 12:7-9) We do not know how "war" is waged in the Heavens. We only know that the result was that Lucifer was cast out, and that "a third part of the hosts of heaven turned he away from me because of their agency; and they were thrust down, and thus came the devil and his angels" (DC 29:36-37). The aftermath of the war must have left great sorrow among God's children, for many of their brothers and sisters had been cast out. We simply have no information. What we can surmise, however, is that eventually the process continued, and preparations were made for our life on earth. |
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| by Brant Gardner. Copyright 1998 |
After our birth
as spirits, the next clearly identifiable event of our Pre-Mortal life is the Council in Heaven. "In the beginning,
the head of the Gods called a council of the Gods; and they came together and concocted a plan to create the world
and people it" (Joseph Smith, TPJS p. 349). Joseph does not explain at this point what he means by "Gods",
though the Book of Abraham, which was translated prior to the time of this statement has the "Gods" participating
in the creation of the world. Since Joseph never references more than God the Father, and we are not truly "Gods"
of that stature until the end of the purposes of earth-life, this terminology must relate to that group of the
noble and great who directly participated in the creation. This terminology would include Christ among the "Gods"
even though it preceded his earthly mission. This is an instance where Joseph's desire to help us understand eternal
reality becomes limited by the words and concepts available. From a technically theological point, they could not
be "Gods" until they were resurrected and exalted, and yet they were clearly more than witnesses to the
creative process. We must assume that the term "Gods", as used here, is simply a generalization rather
than a technical definition.|
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