Monism Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! =====Mormonism===== {{religious text primary|date=December 2022}} {{Main|Materialism#Christianity|Materialism and Christianity}} [[Mormonism|Latter Day Saint]] theology also expresses a form of [[Dual aspect theory|dual-aspect]] monism via [[materialism]] and [[Eternity of the world|eternalism]], claiming that creation was ex materia (as opposed to ex nihilo in conventional Christianity), as expressed by [[Parley P. Pratt|Parley Pratt]] and echoed in view by the movement's founder [[Joseph Smith]], making no distinction between the spiritual and the material, these being not just similarly eternal, but ultimately two manifestations of the same reality or substance.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Wrestling the angel : the foundations of Mormon thought: cosmos, God, humanity|last=Terryl|first=Givens|isbn=9780199794928|location=Oxford|oclc=869757526|year = 2015}}</ref> Parley Pratt implies a [[vitalism]] paired with evolutionary adaptation noting, "these eternal, self-existing elements possess in themselves certain inherent properties or attributes, in a greater or less degree; or, in other words, they possess intelligence, adapted to their several spheres."<ref>{{Cite book|title=Key to the Science of Theology.|last=Pratt|first=Parley|location=Liverpool|year = 1855}}</ref> Parley Pratt's view is also similar to Gottfried Leibniz's [[monadology]], which holds that "reality consists of mind atoms that are living centers of force."<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Theological Foundations of the Mormon Religion.|last=McMurrin|first=Sterling|location=Salt Lake City|year = 1965}}</ref> [[Brigham Young]] anticipates a proto-mentality of elementary particles with his vitalist view, "there is life in all matter, throughout the vast extent of all the eternities; it is in the rock, the sand, the dust, in water, air, the gases, and in short, in every description and organization of matter; whether it be solid, liquid, or gaseous, particle operating with particle."<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Complete Discourses of Brigham Young.|last=Van Wagoner|first=Richard S.|location=Salt Lake City|year = 2009}}</ref> The LDS conception of matter is "essentially dynamic rather than static, if indeed it is not a kind of living energy, and that it is subject at least to the rule of intelligence."<ref>{{Cite book|title=Process Theology: What It Is and Is Not. In Mormonism in Dialogue with Contemporary Christian Theologies.|last=Griffin|first=David Ray|location=Macon, GA|year = 2007}}</ref> [[John A. Widstoe]] held a similar, more vitalist view, that "Life is nothing more than matter in motion; that, therefore, all matter possess a kind of life… Matter… [is] intelligence… hence everything in the universe is alive." However, Widstoe resisted outright affirming a belief in [[panpsychism]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Joseph Smith as Scientist.|last=Widstoe|first=John A.|location=Salt Lake City|year = 1908}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page