By James T. Summerhays

Editor’s note: BYU Studies is the university’s journal of LDS thought and scholarship. The upcoming issue features articles on infinity, what God thinks of America, and an in-depth look at the trial that sent Joseph Smith to Liberty Jail.  To learn more, to go byustudies.byu.edu

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“My husband cannot stand the subject of eternity or infinity. Whenever someone brings it up he becomes uneasy.”

Her statement led me to recall how I enjoyed the subject of eternity from my youth. It was a fine pastime in my estimation—staying up late with friends, talking about the incomprehensible universe, the wonders of God and his eternal nature, how we got here, and where we belong in the vast infinite creation.  O.K., so I may have been a little strange as a teenager.       

So I asked my work assistant, as she sat at her computer, “What is it about eternity that bothers your husband?”

“He just doesn’t like the idea that all things are in some sort of eternal present. ‘One eternal round’ sounds so static and lifeless to him. If we are resurrected and become like God, and we already know all things, past, present, and future, how do we make choices or ever have a fresh outlook on things? We already know precisely how we will act tomorrow, and there is no getting out of it.”

This was not the first time that I had come across this idea. I have known a few people who have been bothered by the concept of infinity and eternity. Something about this scripture, “Listen to the voice of the Lord your God, even Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, whose course is one eternal round, the same today as yesterday, and forever” (D&C 35:1), incites a certain misunderstanding that God is in a state that is static and unadventurous—though perhaps blissful, it is an eternal sameness that never ends and never gets better.

Personally, I have always felt my faith strengthened by the concept that God changes not. Even so, I can see how some might have in the back of their minds a subtle nagging that becoming like God may not be all that they had hoped. The quiet, subconscious thought arises, Will becoming like God be restrictive, devoid of progress?

Part of the philosophical difficulty lies in the fact that the impulse for improvement is in the very essence of human nature. We rejoice in learning some new exciting thing. We love new books and new music; we work all our lives to improve our living conditions. We are curious about the world around us. We want to learn more, and we want to progress. We want to know that we have choices and options. We view progress as the foundation of an educated mind and a civilized society. We believe that if you take from people all hope of progress, all hope that things can change and improve, they will cease to find reasons for existing.

In seeming contrast, the scriptures describe God as unchangeable throughout eternity. “For do we not read that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and in him there is no variableness neither shadow of changing?” (Mormon 9:9) I have known a few people that are positively perturbed and petrified at the prospect of such an existence. If interpreted in a vacuum, this scripture would appear on the surface to evoke images of a static life—eternal beings sitting in heaven, slaves to the dictates of eternal laws that do not allow for progress, liberty, agency, or variety.

Don’t get me wrong. I do not subscribe to the idea that God is in a state of progress in the sense that the universe is his vast laboratory, and he is an eternal student uncovering new doctrines or laws, as if he were a trekker about to discover a galaxy far, far away. Bruce R. McConkie called such an idea “demeaning” and an “almost unbelievable theory.” [i] However, the concept that God does progress in certain ways was taught by Joseph Smith, [ii] and notables such as John Taylor spoke with wit about the next life and how it will offer so much more interest to mankind than the old Christian idea “where they have nothing to do but sit and sing themselves away to everlasting bliss or go and roast on gridirons.” [iii]

It is enchanting to think, and I have a conviction on this point, that when all things are made known to us, we will find that God’s life is a wellspring of eternal progression that is vastly more dynamic, enterprising, free, creative, and joyous than any measly “progress” we enjoy in this life.

This conclusion was cemented in my mind after reading “To Journey Beyond Infinity” by BYU-Idaho Professor Kent Bessey. His article is slated to appear in the next issue of BYU Studies. For me, the key in understanding eternal progression was to be exposed to new concepts of infinity. In reading, I realized that infinity was not what I thought it was. Though it sounds silly, I began to grasp that infinity, is, well, vastly more infinite than I had considered, and God’s life by nature is much more infinite, powerful, and full of variety than previously comprehended.

Yes, there are many more steps than ten to comprehending infinity, but by becoming more acquainted with the subject, I learned something new that truly invigorated my outlook on how great the next life will be.

Eternalism in Our Faith

There is a current theological mood that often prevails today. It is that of putting everything we do not understand on the spiritual backburner, relegating hard subjects to the “mysteries” that we do not touch. Pondering is called speculating, and introspection called impractical.

In contrast, Joseph Smith’s whole mission to help people understand the mysteries of eternity. “It is my meditation all the day, and more than my meat and drink, to know how I shall make the Saints of God comprehend the visions that roll like an overflowing surge before my mind.” [iv]

The restoration was all about uncovering a mystery to the world. It should not surprise us then, that Joseph and his contemporaries established a tradition of trying to explain and depict the mystery of infinity. Joseph sought to change our whole perspective: “When His commandments teach us, it is in view of eternity; for we are looked upon by God as though we were in eternity; God dwells in eternity, and does not view things as we do.” [v] Joseph taught that matter is eternal, spirit is eternal, intelligence is eternal; these revelations were ahead of the times in which he lived. He completely changed the classic view of infinity and creation. W. W. Phelps, drawing upon the tradition of eternalism that Joseph Smith established, penned the lines that we now sing:

D’ye think that you could ever,
Through all eternity,
Find out the generation
Where Gods began to be?
Or see the grand beginning,
Where space did not extend?
Or view the last creation,
Where Gods and matter end?

Me thinks the Spirit whispers,
"No man has found 'pure space,'
Nor seen the outside curtains,
Where nothing has a place."
The works of God continue,
And worlds and lives abound;
Improvement and progression
Have one eternal round. (Hymns, 284)

 This tradition of eternalism should be a signal to us that we have full permission to study, contemplate, and delve fully into such a mystifying but extraordinary subject. Besides, studying eternity does wonders for gaining a proper perspective on life and all its little annoyances.

Cantor Seeks After Infinity

If we want to know more about infinity, a good place to start is to acquaint ourselves with those that have made the subject of infinity their life’s passion—a lifetime of another’s wisdom can go a long way in helping us. Professor Bessey explains in his BYU Studies article about one such man who did so. “Few have been as intrigued by the concept of infinity—or as tenacious in trying to understand it—as the German mathematician Georg Cantor. Between 1874 and 1884, Cantor published numerous papers that illuminated some of the shadowy regions of the infinite. He discovered a remarkable realm where half of a pie is as large as the whole, infinity comes in different sizes, and miracles are mathematically plausible.” Cantor discovered an expanse of “paradox and poetry of a sort never before encountered, where human intuition had little authority.”

Cantor’s discoveries came at great sacrifice, for prominent mathematicians of his time vigorously opposed him. This led to much emotional trauma for him personally, even nervous breakdown. In many ways, he died a broken man. [vi] Although his yearning and sacrifice was thought by many at the time to bear only the fruit of failure, he is now vindicated—not only because his work is widely accepted today—but in that you and I can grow a little closer to understanding God and his universe through Cantor’s lifelong study of infinity. And what did his lifetime of study reveal? Well, to me at least, it is that Cantor’s world of infinity inevitably leads to the concepts of liberty and variety.

 What Does Infinity Have to Do With Variety?

It is a well established teaching that Christ and his Father are whole, completed beings, and there is no need for them to improve in character. They are the embodiment of perfection and have no need to change. This does not mean, however, that there is not an infinite variety involved in that state of perfection.

True it is that the word variety is never used in our standard works. Thank goodness for the restored gospel that teaches us that all truth is not limited to a certain number of pages in a book, even if that book is the Bible or Book of Mormon. Many of us are familiar with the use of the word variety in sacred houses of worship. We learn there that the Creator glories in variety. To me, this little detail speaks volumes. It practically opens up a whole new subclass of theology. It takes God from the realm where nothing is permissible except strict adherence to narrow and unyielding law, to a realm where anything that is good and beautiful is possible.

I like to think, for example, that the Creator had an infinite variety of possible choices in how to fashion, say, the lilies of the field. Innumerable choices were sufficiently good and righteous. He simply chose how to form the lily according to what gave him joy. Having a perfect command of all eternal laws, he knew the finished product would be just right. This idea of creative process makes perfect sense when we observe the universe around us—every planet, every star, every galaxy is different, yet all are stunning in their form and majestic in their beauty. In describing God’s life, the words unchanging and immutable are perfectly appropriate. Having learned a little more about infinity, I have a new appreciation for the words variety and liberty in describing that life.

Steps One Through Ten: Ponder Infinity

If there are tens steps at all in this process, it would be simply to read and ponder ten times over. Let my co-worker’s husband, and anybody else that is troubled by the subject of infinity, throw open the windows of the mind and let the sun shine through. True it is that infinity is a wonderfully mysterious subject. But when we catch even a tiny glimpse of what its true nature is, as prophets and poets and mathematicians have done before, we will stand in silent awe at God and his wonders.

To learn more, to go byustudies.byu.edu

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