Great Grand Executor - Presentation

7/31/2019 Great Grand Executor - Presentation

1/8

Loyd Ericson

Summer Seminar

June 29th 2009

The Great Grand Executor

The Development of the Holy Spirit in the Thought of Orson and Parley Pratt

Throughout the writings of the brothers Parley and Orson Pratt, the conception of theHoly Spirit plays a central, though widely evolving, role in their theological writings. More than

merely reciting scriptures and the teachings of Joseph Smith, the Pratts utilized their own

insights, reasoning, and creativity as they elucidated on Mormon theology and tried to

synchronize Mormonism's radical new beliefs and existing scripture into a cohesive andsystematic whole. In doing so they both influenced and were influenced by the teachings of

Joseph Smith and each other, and while the brothers may have been distanced by geography and

personal estrangement, it is clear from their writings that they shared an admiration for each

others work as they depended on and built off from the other. While at first the emphasis on theHoly Spirit lies in its mere existence and renewed life in the practices of the Mormons, the role

of the Spirit changes as the growing conception of the eternal materiality of spirit shifts theirthought from the importance of the mere existence and influence of the Holy Spirit to a focus on

its ontological makeup and central role in Mormonisms new cosmology, finding its extreme in

Orson's understanding of the Holy Spirit as the Great God or Great Grand Executor of theuniverse.

In the opening pages of his first major theological work, A Voice of Warning and

Instruction to all People, Parley writes that the first cause of the confusion and misunderstanding

of scriptures by modern Christians lies in the supposition that direct inspiration by the HolyGhost was not intended for all ages of the Church, but was confined to primitive times. Because

of this misguided belief, those who supposed this sought to understand, by their own wisdom,and by their own learning, what could never be clearly understood . . . except by the Spirit ofGod.1 In this 1837 pamphlet, Parley almost exclusively uses the term Holy Ghost in lieu of

Holy Spirit as he writes about the importance of the gifts of the Spirit being practiced and

utilized by Christians. Here there is no exposition by Parley concerning who are whatthe HolySpirit is, only an emphasis on thatit is. While focusing on Mormonism as a restoration of

primitive Christianity, the importance of the Holy Spirit lies in the gifts of the Spirit, such as the

use of tongues and healings as evidence that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is

same Church of Christ established by the first Apostles of Jesus. According to Parley, No manhas the right to take this ministry upon himself, but he that is called by revelation, and duly

qualified to act in his calling, by the Holy Ghost.2

The Holy Spirit as the modus operandi by which Parley and saints of the Churchministered permeates virtually all of his works. Howeveralong with Joseph Smith's early

revelationsfor the first several years of Parley's writing, there is almost no discussion on the

ontological nature or character of the Holy Spirit prior to Smith's 1843 revelation (now known as

1 Parley P. Pratt,A Voice of Warning and Instruction to all People: or, an introduction to The Faith & Doctrine of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,Ninth Edition (Salt Lake City: The Deseret News Steam Printing

Establishment, 1874), 3. *Add note about editions.

2 Ibid., 73.


2/8


3/8

principle is in all things, and is the law by which they live and move and have being.10

Parley also briefly introduces in this essay the concept of the spirit as a fluid when he

argues that the scriptures do not speak of resurrected persons of flesh and bone having bloodflowing through their veins, but instead always substituted the word spirit. Hence we conclude

that the immortal body in its new organization is quickened by a fluid called spirit, which

emanates from God.11

In these brief passages, Parley is first to creatively utilize the material composition of

spirit to answer the daunting philosophical problem of mind-body dualism as well as the problem

of maintaining the omnipresence of God in light of Mormonism's fairly unique theology of afinitely located Deity. However, following this essay, Parley does not take up the issue of a

material spirit again in his pamphlets for a decade, instead only speaking of the Holy Spirit in his

previous terms of gifts, prophecy, and revelation. His brother Orson however, picks up Parley's

torch on material spirit a few years later and takes it to bold and controversial new territories.In the first part of his 1848 series, The Kingdom of God, Orson continues Parley's

arguments, but this time fully equating his brothers appeal to material spirit to the Holy Spirit of

the Godhead. Unlike Parley, whose literary style was often poetic and primarily focused on an

aesthetic appraisal of Mormon theology, Orson's writing was much more meticulous as heapproached each topic in a logical and scientific fashion. According to Orson, the material and

physically located bodies of the Father and the Son require that they cannot be in two places atthe same instance and require time for [them] to transport . . . from place to place.12 Building

off of Parley, Orson writes that the Holy Spirit being one part of the Godhead, is also a material

substance, . . . [and] is called God in the scriptures, as well as the Father and the Son.13 Whilethe individual particles of the Holy Spirit are also materially located and cannot be in two places

at the same time, for Orson, the Holy Spirit is composed of inexhaustible quantities of spiritual

particles, and is thus able to be omnipresent as its particles fill the immensity of the universe.

Adding to this, Orson writes that the material substance of the Holy Spirit is intelligent, all-wise, and all-powerful,14attributes which he failed to use when describing the Father and the

Son just paragraphs earlier. For Orson, Each atom of the Holy Spirit is intelligent, and like all

other matter has solidity, form, size, and occupies space, while its distinguishing characteristicsfrom other matter are its almighty powers and infinite wisdom, and many other glorious

attributes which other materials do not possess.15Perhaps trying to incorporate Smith's April

1843 revelation (or section 130) which taught that the Holy Ghost . . . is a personage ofSpirit,16 for Orson, the person of the Holy Spirit is present when some of its atoms momentarily

unite to form the shape of a person. This understanding, according to Orson, solves the problem

of how the gift of the Holy Spirit could be shared by more than one person at the same time.

Instead of trying to explain how the personal form of the Holy Spirit could be at two places atonce, this is accomplished by merely receiving some of the infinite parts of the Holy Spirit, each

of which share the attributes of the whole.

10 Ibid., 32. Compare to D&C 88:7, 12-3 which states, This is the light of Christ . . . Which light proceedeth forth

from the presence of God to fill the immensity of spaceThe light which is in all things, which giveth life to allthings, which is the law by which all things are governed...

11 Ibid., 34.

12 Orson Pratt, The Kingdom of GodPart 1, 4.

13 Ibid.

14 Ibid., 5.

15 Ibid.

16 D&C 130:22.


4/8

This apparent preeminence of the Holy Spirit in Orson's thought continues into his

Absurdities of Immaterialism, written shortly afterThe Kingdom of God. After spending the first

two-thirds of this pamphlet expanding upon Parley's argument that material spirit solves theproblem of mind-body dualism, Orson continues his matter-of-fact speculation, writing that the

Holy Spirit is this glorious and all-powerful substance that governs and controls all other

substances . . . ; in it we exist, we live, we move, and by it we receive wisdom, knowledge, andare guided into truth.17 According to Orson, his conception of the Holy Spirit is the answer to so

many of the problems of philosophy and theology. It explains how our material physical bodies

can be linked to what seemed to be our immaterial minds, it explains how God can be bothphysically located and finitely confined to His material body and yet be infinitely present at

every location, it explains how the Father and the Son could be all-powerful and all knowing,

and it explains how the Father can communicate with humans or control matter from a distance.

At this point in Orson's writings, though the Holy Spirit shares the classical theologicalattributes of omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence, it is nonetheless still subject to and

governed or controlled by the Father and the Son. This, however, begins to change two years

later in his Great First Cause, when Orsonwriting the only time theologically with his

academic title (A.M.) instead of his apostolic titleprovides his own cosmological argument toprove the existence of the Holy Spirit.

After arguing for the eternal existence of matter and the impossibility of inert matteracting unprovoked, Orson concludes that there must be an eternal substance which can act and

create forces from within itself. He concludes that All the organizations of the worlds,

including the spiritual personages of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, must . . .have been the result of the self combinations and unions of the pre-existent, intelligent, and

eternal particles of substance. These eternal Forces and Powers are the Great First Cause of all

things and events that have had a beginning.18 Then, building from William Paley's argument

from designwhich states that complex objects cannot have come about by chance, but showsigns of design and thus imply a designer Orson argues that because the spiritual personages

of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, must exhibit more evidences of design. . . .

we are compelled to believe that these . . . must have had a beginning, for inasmuch as theyindicate a design there must have been an anterior designer[and] this designer must have been

a self-moving intelligent substance capable of organizing itself into one or more most glorious

presonages [sic].19 Orson concludes by personifying this substance which is the Great FirstCause as he alludes (like his brother Parley) to section 88 of the Doctrine and Covenants, saying

that He is in all things and through all things, and the law by which all things are governed; and

all things are not only by him and for him, but OF him. His majesty and power, His wisdom and

greatness, His goodness and love, shine forth in every department of creation, with a glory that isineffable, immortal and eternal.20

Perhaps because he saw himself writing as an academic instead of an apostle, Orson does

not explicitly call this personified First Great Cause the Holy Spirit. In fact, the term Holy Spiritis not used at all in this pamphlet as Orson instead uses Holy Ghost when referring to the

personages of the Godhead. That he believed it to be the Holy Spirit becomes abundantly clear

two years later in his most ambitious and controversial theological endeavor, The Seer.Here, Orson tries to solve the problem of how the persons of the Father and Son could

17 Orson Pratt,Absurdities of Immaterialism, 25.

18 Orson Pratt, Great First Cause, 16. Emphasis added.

19 Ibid. Emphasis added.

20 Ibid.


5/8


6/8

communication confined to infrequent letters and reading each others writings. Just before

completing The Seer, Orson sent a letter to Parley praising his works, telling his brother There

are no writings in the church with the exception of the revelations, which I esteem more highlythan yours; and I think were you to give your time more to writing and publishing it would . . . be

a blessing to millions.23 Parley took up his brothers challenge, writing his theological magnum

opus, which he finished and published in 1855 with the title, Key to the Science of Theology. Justas Orson had utilized ideas first introduced by his brother, Parley in turn clearly pulls from

Orson's writings, including The Seer. In this book, Parley reverses his terminology from his

Voice of Warning, this time almost exclusively using the term 'Holy Spirit' in lieu of 'Holy Ghost.'Like his earlier work, Parley argues that the gifts of the Spirit, especially revelation are of utmost

importancethe very key to the science of Theology, he writes, is the key of divine

revelation.24

While revelation may have been the key to his theology, in Parley's book it is the HolySpirit which brings together his seven sciences of revelation, worlds, knowledge, life, faith,

spiritual gifts, and all other sciences and useful arts.25Nearly quoting his brother verbtim,

Parley writes that the substance called the Holy Spirit is diffused among the elements of

space and is the grand moving cause of all intelligences. It is the great, positive, controllingelement of all other elements. It is omnipresent by reason of the infinitude of its particles, and it

comprehends . . . . the past, present and future in all their fullness. In short, Parley writes,using language from The Seer, the Holy Spirit is the attributes of the eternal power and

Godhead.26 Finally, alluding to The Seer's explanation of exaltation, he writes, Those beings

who receive of [the Holy Spirit's] fullness are called sons of God, because they are perfected inall its attributes and powers, and, being in communication with it, can, by its use, perform all

things.27

Absent from his theology though, is any discussion of the person or personage of the

Holy Spirit. This would perhaps explain Parley's use of the term Holy Spirit, as it could betterconnote a substance or ethereal material, while the term Holy Ghost seems to imply more of a

personage. For Parley, the Holy Spirit is merely a divine substance or fluid whose

communicative properties . . . bears some resemblance or analogy to the laws or operations ofelectricity.28 It is by being filled with this divine fluid that enabled Jesus to speak with truth and

perform miracles, and it is in this same manner that a person is able to have the gifts of the Spirit.

Furthermore, unlike Orson, Parley does not fully take his brother's final step of explicitlymaking the Holy Spirit the Great God of the universe. This may be due to Parley's disagreement

with this part of Orson's theology, or perhaps was intentionally left out to avoid the same rebukes

Orson had received by Young. If it is due to the latter, Parley certainly hints at Orson's

controversial theology. He writes of a Supreme Head29 who is in control of all who haveattained the attributes of God by receiving a fullness of that holiest of all elements, which is

called the Holy Spirit. This Holy Spirit contains, in itself, a fullness of the attributes of light,

intelligence, wisdom, love and power. And it is this wisdom that is the motive power whichmoves to action the grand creative power of Gods and inspires the Gods to multiply their

23 Orson Pratt to Parley Pratt, September 12, 1853.

24 Parley Pratt,Key to the Science of Theology, 27.

25 Ibid., 2.

26 Ibid., 38-40.

27 Ibid., 41.

28 Ibid., 100.

29 Ibid., 34.


7/8

species.30 Though Parley also uses terms such as 'the Father' to describe the Grand Head, who

is Father of all,31 because of Orson's claim that many terms such as these are used to describe

the primordial Great God, it is unclear exactly how much of Orson's theology Parley subscribedto, or if any minor edits were made to distance himself from it. Unfortunately Parley died less

than two years after the printing ofKey to the Science of Theology,providing no more

elucidation on this subject.A year after Parley's publication, however, Orson took up the challenge of writing one

more time on this theology in a pamphlet entitled The Holy Spirit. Just as they played off of each

others' writings in the past, Orson once again builds off of Parley's work, repeatedly describingthe Holy Spirit as a divine fluid. He writes, Heat, light, electricity, and all the varied and grand

displays of nature, are but the tremblings, the vibrations, the energetic powers of a living, all-

pervading, and most wonderful fluid, full of wisdom and knowledge, called the Holy Spirit.32

Just as with Parley's book, it was by being filled with this divine fluid that Jesus was able toperform miracles, and it is likewise that humans are able to possess the gifts of the spirit. Perhaps

noting what he saw to be a deficiency in his brother's Key to the Science of Theology, Orson

writes that the terms Holy Ghost and Holy Spirit refer to the same substance and could be used

interchangeably. He then uses them as such, spending several pages arguing how the Holy Spiritcan meet the scriptural demands to simultaneously be both a fluid as well as a personage, arguing

as he did in previous pamphlets that by concentrating its fluid, the Holy Spirit could take on theform of a personage.

Beyond his discussion of the Holy Spirit being a fluid, Orson here adds nothing new to

his theology, though perhaps taking one more cue from his brother Parley, Orson presents histheology of the Holy Spirit in a manner that would seem less controversial than (though still

compatible with) the theology articulated in The Seer. While Orson writes that the Father and the

Son have the authority to command the Spirit, the Holy Spirit is nonetheless still the great

grand executor of all the sublime and majestic movements exhibited in boundless space.33

Despite his attempts to mirror Parley's more moderate rhetoric, Orson's writing was

nevertheless still condemned by Young and the First Presidency of the Church who issued a

public letter condemning this last theological work, asking the Saints to cut out and destroythis pamphlet from their volumes of Orson's writings.34 Ironically, Parley'sKey to the Science of

Theology, which had a theology virtually identical to Orson'sHoly Spirit, was reprinted in

several editions throughout this time, and left mostly unaltered until the mid-twentieth century.While it may be argued in either direction whether it was Parley or Orson who provided a

greater contribution to and influence on Mormon theology, their concept of the Holy Spirit was

primarily a collective development between the two as they continually depended on and built

from the creative and intuitive insights provided by each others' writings. While Orson's finalthoughts on the piece were condemned and Parley's promoted, they both represented a combined

and shared effort to make sense of the radical teachings of Joseph Smith in light of what they

thought were scriptural imperatives for the attributes of deity. Though Mormons today tend toshy away from the Pratt's conception of the Holy Spirit, the Pratts effort to confront the challenge

of maintaining the classical attributes of God while embracing Mormonism's unique theological

beliefs, set the standard for approaching this same challenge that Mormon theologians and

30 Ibid., 46.

31 Ibid., 35.

32 Orson Pratt, The Holy Spirit, 50.

33 Ibid., 55.

34 1865 First Presidency Letter to Orson Pratt.


8/8

philosophers are still trying to answer today.

Documents

Great Grand Executor - Presentation