Ideas about the Atonement (Oneness with Christ)

In what way did Christ pay a ransom or price to obtain our freedom from death, sin, and
the devil? Why was physical pain involved, and how was it inflicted?
In order to answer these questions, we must first establish that key passages in the Bible
are not figurative, but literal. Joseph Smith pointed out:
Q: Do you believe the Bible?"
A: If we do, we are the only people under heaven that does, for there are none of
the religious sects of the day that do.
Q: Wherein do you differ from other sects?"
A: In that we believe the Bible, and all other sects profess to believe their
interpretations of the Bible, and their creeds.
(http://www.boap.org/LDS/Joseph-Smith/Teachings/T3.html)
Let us therefore take John at his word when he tells us that men were made of Christ
(John 1:1-4, D&C 93:10,), and that in him was the life of men and the light of men.
However strange or incoherent Johns language might seem, his testimony about our
origins might hold the key to understanding the atonement.
Part One of the Atonement: Fragments
The Mosaic law consists of killing, cutting apart, spraying blood, and burning flesh.
These are violent and matter-altering activities. Why such rituals? In mainstream
Mormon thinking, it is understood that these rituals were given to Moses as a way to
foreshadow the sacrifice of the Lamb of God on a Roman cross of torture in the meridian
of time.
The problem with that explanation is that it doesnt explain how Christ was slain from
the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8, Moses 7:47). In order to align our thinking
with the scriptures, we must consider the possibility that the Mosaic rituals were in
remembrance of a sacrifice that had already occurred in the pre-mortal realm.
In Revelation 22:16, Christ refers to himself as the bright and morning star. A star is a
massive collection of molecules, with various chemical compositions and properties.
When a star is burnt, cut apart, its blood sprinkled across the heavens, its parts
sacrificed, we call it a super-nova, or death of a star.
Let us consider the possibility that the first part of the atonement was the ripping apart of
a pre-mortal celestial body: the cutting a part of a god: the holy sacrament in its original
and literal form.
The idea that celestial entities such as planets or stars are sentient beings is not a pagan or

profane idea, it is of scriptural origin. In the book of Moses, the earth utters words with
an audible voice, expresses emotion, and makes detailed self-references. Upon hearing
the earth speak, Enoch is moved to tears, and asks the Lord to intervene and have mercy
(Moses 7:48).
In D&C 88:87, the sun is referred to as being of the male gender by the Lord, and in
Matthew 24, the moon is referred to as being of the female gender. If we are willing to
take such records literally, perhaps we can allow the possibility that Christ was in fact
once what he is called in Revelation: a star. (Cross reference: Anthony E. Larson, Keys of
Prophecy; plasma, planets, as centrally important touchstones in the scriptures).
If we are made of Christ as John testifies that we are, it follows that we are fragments
or shards of a stars self-sacrifice. It would mean that we were once subordinate
intelligences, trapped within a larger, dominant entity, but are now free to choose liberty
and eternal life, or captivity and death (2 Nephi 2:27; Cross reference Jacob Morgans
Divine Infusion Theory).
Previously, as latent intelligences, we would have been contained or trapped within
Christs entity, forced to do his will, only dimly aware of our own existence, or perhaps
not aware at all. This would explain how we are co-eternal with God. It would also
explain Johns testimony, that we possesses within ourselves the light of Christ -because we made of him, are a part of him.
When and Why All the Stars Sang Together
In Job 38:7 it says that when the foundations of the earth were laid, all the stars sang
together and all the sons of God shouted for joy. According to mainstream Mormon
thinking, this is a reference to the Plan of Salvation being presented to us.
If we take the scripture literally, that common Sunday School answer becomes
impossible. This is because the devil was also a son of God, and he rejected the plan
when it was announced. He did not want a savior, he wanted a fascist, minimal
agency plan that would force universal compliance while providing mediocre glory for
each intelligence.
If all the sons of God cheered together, it must have occurred before the Plan of
Salvation was offered to us. The only thing that would make the devil and his eventual
followers shout for joy with the rest of us was the first part of the atonement: our first
estate.
At the instance of our first state, it seems that neither the devil nor us realized that we
already had a Savior; we did not understand that the atonement was already in effect,
from the foundation of the world. For this reason, faith was necessary for our
progression, and it was possible for the devil and his follower to reject their first estate
and become fallen angels.

When the first part of the atonement occurred, the intellectual essence of the shattered
star must have been retained in a key fragment known as Jehovah, later to be known as
Jesus of Nazareth. This primary fragment was more intelligent than they all (Abr.
3:19).
Among his many other titles, Christ is referred to as the Chief Cornerstone (Eph. 2:20),
and Rock of Heaven (Moses 7:33). It may be that these names are in reference to
Christs original celestial body, and our fragmentary relationship to him.
Before the original Christ put himself on the altar to be broken apart, he would have
known that after being ripped apart, he would eventually come to know himself again,
grace upon grace, line upon line.
This shattering and then coming back together is somewhat analogous to what we
apparently agreed to when we were born into physical bodies on this earth. We knew that
we would be taken backwards into a state of being barely self-aware infants, even though
we had already attained a position of significant advancement in the heavens. Before
undergoing this profound retrogression, we understood that we would come to know
ourselves once again, as we were known.
Charity: the Pure Love of Christ
As Jehovah became more aware of who he was, he began to recognize us, to know and to
feel that we were part of him. This natural self-love was pure love, it was charity. This is
the love that Christ has for us, or in other words the love he has for himself, we who are
his extended body.
Proper self-love is the truest and purest kind of love. To thine own self be true. Joseph
Smith taught that self-aggrandizement is godlike and righteous when it results in
advancing those around us.
Christ had an innate desire to help us progress and return to him, so that without
compulsory means we would flow unto him forever and ever (D&C 121). Only
through our return, does he become complete, and perfect (Matthew 5:48). This is why
he volunteered when his Father requested a Messenger of the Covenant. Whether
knowing fully or not at that time who he was, his natural desire was to serve and protect
us, his extended body, his siblings, offspring, or fragments.
Several times in the scriptures, Christ refers to himself as a mother figure, a hen who
yearns to gather her chicks back to herself and protect them. This maternal language
makes sense if we are literally made of Christ. Like Athena hatched from the head of
Zeus, shattering his skull on the way out, we are the hatchlings or fragments of the primal
Christ, and he wants us back. He wants to protect us, and to teach us how to achieve
eternal victory and happiness.

In the book of Moses it is Christ (Jehovah) who is talking to Moses, and he calls himself
Father. This happens many times in the scriptures: Christ referring to himself as the
Father. Perhaps we should take him literally. Those who hate their own blood are those
who hate Christ, who is their father-originator (Moses 7:32-33).
Once all those who choose to heed his call are gathered back to Christ, they will not be
seeds of death (cross ref Skousens atonement essay) within him, mindlessly fighting and
thrashing around for freedom, but will instead be seeds of life, voluntarily obedient,
predictable, and pure: free to go beyond him and increase his glory worlds without end.
Son of the Morning, Fallen from Heaven
In the pre-mortal realm, all of the intelligences freed by the super-nova eventually
responded or were gathered back, and were given authority or stewardship according to
their abilities, vulnerabilities, or categorization.
The entity we call the devil was highly intelligent, and he most likely would have
received important stewardships. Whatever authority he was given, it is clear that he
abused that authority, and attempted to gain total control. He hated that others had so
much agency, and wanted all of us to be subject to his will.
He believed that he could maximize the glory and progress that was possible. He and
others like him rebelled against the prevailing order, and started using violence and
coercion to establish artificial dominions and rules, trying to remake heaven in their own
image. They used their intelligence in an attempt to violate the agency of others. As a
result, they were cast out or cut off, and the heavens wept.
The War in Heaven
With regard to the pre-mortal war in heaven, consider the following verse: And if thy
right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one
of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell
(Matthew 5:30). In this passage it may be that Christ is making a reference to his own
pre-mortal, fragmented body.
After being cast out, it appears that the devil and those of his ilk were still part of the
original Christ-god at some kind of sub-atomic or interconnected (plasma) level. It seems
they could not be entirely cut off without additional decisions being made by Christ and
by us. Perhaps this is why the devil has so much power and has played such a prominent
role in our existence.
We find him almost everywhere: in the Garden of Eden, in the Temple, in the life of
Moses, in the earthly life of Christ in the wilderness, arguing with Michael over Moses's
body (see the Book of Jude), ruling over the waters (D&C), in the Sacred Grove binding

the tongue of an innocent boy named Joseph Smith. The devils influence and ideas are
almost everywhere we turn in mortality.
Why did Christ and other holy beings deign to speak or interact with a banished being
like the devil? Isnt such an interaction extremely unholy and far below them? Why did
the devil have so much power that he could access a God, and cause pain and temptation
to such a holy and exalted entity? Such a condition makes sense if the devil was
originally part of Christ, if there was a physical connection still in force.
Let us allow the possibility that prior to Christs earthly finishing of the atonement, the
devil could not be completely denied or rejected, and had the power to rule over various
matter types and spirits. In the New Testament we learn that Satan had at least a partially
legitimate claim on the body of Moses (ostensibly he was interfering with Moses body
being quickened or translated), because the archangel Michael durst not bring against
him a railing accusation (Jude 1:9, cr D&C 50:33).
It is important to remember what Christ refused to say about himself during his ministry:
And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him,
and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus
said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God
(Mark 10:17-18).
This assertion by Christ is perhaps one of the most mysterious and contradictory
statements anywhere in scriptures. Essentially every other scriptural reference to Christ
indicates that he is holy and good. So why would he take issue with being called good?
This anomalous verse in Matthew brings to mind the statement by Joseph Smith: By
proving contraries the truth is made manifest.
It may be that Christ could not say he was good because he was still in a war with his
members. One third of himself (Satan and his angels) was trying to destroy and entice the
other two thirds of himself (us) to hate itself and choose darkness and annihilation.
Christs fragmented body had not yet been purified and gathered. Prior to the earthly
atonement, to call Christ absolutely good would have been to call all demons and all
humans good, which of course would be false.
Part Two of the Atonement: Permanent Divorce or, How Christ Finished His
Preparations unto the Children of Men
When Christ came to earth, he was ready to finish the struggle of gathering his original
once-dormant-but-now-liberated-self back together. When he went into the Garden of
Gethsemane, and afterwards, when the Romans crucified him, all protective barriers
between Christ and the influence of the dark third were torn down or removed. Satan
organized his his followers and converged.
Imagine having to fight alone and hold your own, in the midst of a vast number of

powerful entities who are jealous of you, who hate you, who are still partially connected
to you, and who desperately want to steal or destroy the intelligence and power that you
have. Satan and his angels were able to access Christ, taunt him, tempt him to join their
cause, and inflict physical pain. It was a spiritual and physical assault of the most violent
and intimate kind. It was the terrestrial consummation of their celestial treason. They
attempted to torture and force him into submission and obedience to them. The rebellion
was at its climax.
It was at this time that Christ made the matter-altering decision to forever divorce himself
from that part of his body. He disowned the devil and the dark third permanently, for all
eternity, and covenanted that he would disown all others who would betray him to such
an extent. He broke the material connection between himself and all of his soul
fragments, and reformed the fabric or plasma
(http://www.amazon.com/The-Electric-Sky-Donald-Scott/dp/0977285111) in such a way
that an on-purpose sealing would be necessary to rejoin with him (temple rituals). It was
perhaps not until this moment of great crisis and pain that Christ fully understood the
linkage, and that it was possible to destroy it.
If Christ hadnt experienced that immense evil and torture first hand, and had not
witnessed the full and corrupt moral agency of Satan and his followers on their own
terms, he would not have been willing to amputate that part of himself permanently (cut
off his own arm, pluck out his own eye, as Matthew says). Resurrection would have
remained impossible, since the connection to Satan and the dark third provided them with
a veto over the interaction of spirit and matter once death had effected a separation.
Perfection
Alma 42:15 says that the atonement was such that it made God a perfect, just God. We
can assume then, that Christ was not perfect before that event, nor was he entirely just.
There was still corruption and injustice in his fractured, extended body. There was a
diseased limb that threatened to infect and kill the whole body, a fearsome situation of
gangrene. Hence the violent and gruesome metaphor in Matthew 5:30.
In order to destroy something that is part of you, a full cup of wrath is necessary. You
have to be certain that the severing is a matter of life and death. God the Father could not
make the decision to amputate a third of Christs body. It was only something Christ
could do for himself. When he asked for the cup to pass from him, he wanted there to be
some way for him to advance without killing part of himself. But that was not possible.
All judgment was placed in the hands of Christ (John 5:22). It was his responsibility to
judge his own body. He is the only one who could make the decision to destroy the
linkage.
The second part of the atonement had to happen on earth, because that is where Satan and
his angels were physically located and where they had the most power and influence and
could fully exercise their agency.

In this light, part of the Atonement was an act of destruction and divorce. By choosing to
cut off part of his body, and severing the interconnectedness of his extended body, Christ
made it possible for the remaining fragments to escape from Satans power and
dominion.