Gospel and Two Natures of Man

Volume One—Chapter Six THE GOSPEL AND THE TWO NATURES OF MAN

#Introduction

What has the gospel of Jesus Christ to do with our natural and spiritual selves? What do the commandments of the gospel require of us relative to our responses to our yearnings or needs? The gospel teaches it is normal to have lesser yearnings and to seek fulfillment of some of them. Indeed, it is entirely necessary and good that we do so. However, our responses to those lesser yearnings must be measured, controlled, and appropriate. We must also learn to free our spiritual selves from the shackles of an over-active, uncontrolled natural self. It is the denying of our natural self, when it is appropriate to do so, and deliberately obeying the Lord’s commands that yields spiritual growth.

The world teaches it is permissible to give our lesser needs free reign, as long as no one is harmed in the process. The gospel teaches differently. It is true we have needs. It is also true they have a powerful effect on us—our thoughts, speech, and behaviors. However, man is ultimately responsible for his own thoughts and actions. We are not animals. We each have the power to choose between a full, unrestrained response to our needs and a carefully considered response. We need not be completely at the mercy of our needs. The commandments of the gospel of Jesus Christ are guidelines which clearly spell out the limits we must impose upon our natural selves. To live within these limits is to achieve a satisfactory level of obedience to the commandments.

#Obedience

Our mortal lives are literally filled with moments of decision. Daily we are brought to situations where we must decide. Shall we obey this commandment or shall we not? It is vital for each of us to acknowledge that every commandment of the gospel of Jesus Christ pits our spiritual self against our natural self. Each commandment forces us to choose.

Our natural self is invariably inclined to do what is “natural”—the comfortable, easy, pleasurable, and immediately beneficial thing. In order to obey any commandment, we must control, subdue, or, in some cases, completely deny our natural self. Often we are not inclined to do so. We do not feel any natural deep conviction to resist our natural inclinations. In moments of decision, the almost imperceptible yearnings of our spiritual self may go virtually unnoticed. If we obey, it is often the result of a deliberate, conscious decision to do so. But as we are able to summon the strength of character to deliberately obey, our spiritual yearnings awaken and become more easily perceived. As we obey, the Spirit’s influence pushes our spiritual need more into the daily forefront of our mind and heart.

Let’s pause to consider two scriptural passages:

1. “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (Romans 8:6). The meaning of this passage is obvious in view of our present discussion. To be “carnally minded” is to have the habit of regularly and unrestrainedly responding to our lesser yearnings, to our natural self. The death that results is, of course, eternal separation from God, or spiritual death. The “life and peace” awarded to him who diligently and regularly responds to his spiritual needs is that matchless experience of peace we can only have in his eternal presence.

2. “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14). Here is a reminder that to the “natural man,” eternal things are not only unimportant, they are silly, naive, ridiculous, and foolish. It is impossible for any spiritual concept to impact the priorities and behavior of any man lest the influence of the Spirit be present. Remember, our spiritual self requires an intermediary. Otherwise it cannot participate in controlling our behavior. Only when the influence of the Spirit of God, is present can we feel and respond to our spiritual needs and become influenced by our spiritual self.

#Do Our Natural and Spiritual Selves Operate only in Mortality?

Thus far, we have considered the influences of our natural and spiritual selves only here on earth. But what about other stages of our existence? Did we possess these same dual and dueling characteristics in the premortal world? Will we possess them in the post-mortal spirit world? Will our natural and spiritual selves compete even in the kingdoms of glory?

In all phases of our existence, we possessed and will possess both characteristics, the natural self and the spiritual self. Also we have always been subject to God’s law, and we have possessed our agency. All necessary ingredients for spiritual growth have been in place. In all these settings, some individuals progress faster than others because they are more obedient to the commandments.

During our premortal experience, we did not possess the physical body we grapple with here on earth. Why is it, then, that there we did not all simply readily obey without protest or hesitation? Did we really have a “natural self”? What exactly were the yearnings of our natural self in that pre-existent realm? It is clear that when we addressed a commandment of God in the premortal sphere, somehow it was easier to disobey than to obey. The details of the “lower yearnings” we possessed there are currently beyond our understanding. But we may assume we had lower yearnings and higher yearnings even there, and it was difficult to deny the lower and respond to our spiritual self. The same may be said of the post-mortal spirit world and even the kingdoms of glory.

#Are These Concepts Found in Scripture?

The terms natural self and spiritual self are not scriptural. The only related term in the scriptures is “natural man” (1 Corinthians 2:14; Mosiah 3:19; Alma 26:21; D&C 67:12; Moses 1:14). We read that when Adam and Eve transgressed in the garden and were cast out, they became subject to all the yearnings of the “natural man,” including those of their mortal body. Each of us also has entered mortality as a “natural man.” While our “natural self” has always been part of us, here on earth we refer to it as the “natural man.” Perhaps the specific term “natural man” is intended to emphasize the powerful yearnings incident to the physical body and other circumstances peculiar to mortality including the necessity of anticipating the experience of physical death. “Natural man” is an acceptable term when referring to humankind during this mortal experience. In other spheres, however (pre- and post-mortal), it seems preferable to use “natural self.”

It is ironic that the concept of the natural man is infrequently referred to in scripture. I say ironic because the concepts of the natural self and the spiritual self are so fundamental and vital in allowing us to understand ourselves and our plight in mortality. In our study of the doctrines in this book, I will refer to our “natural self” or to our “natural-man self” many times as we strive to understand it more completely.

#Who Created the Natural Self Within Each of Us?

Who created our natural self? Who is responsible for man’s inclination for worldliness? Who gave us these lesser yearnings? Who made them powerful influences on our behavior? Was it God? Was it Satan? Was it Adam and his transgression and fall? Are we each responsible for creating these natural urges within ourselves?

The answer is “none of the above.” The essence of each of us, our intelligence,

has always existed. We have each existed coeternally with God (D&C 93:29; Abraham 3:18). Our natural and spiritual selves have always been a part of us. They were never created.

We possessed these two natures prior to our spirit birth when we were unembodied intelligences. We had them following our spirit birth when we existed in the premortal world as spirits.

Agency, law, opposition, natural self, spiritual self, and the necessity of making moral choices always have been integral parts of our existence. In all settings as we have faced moral decisions, the easier option has always appealed to our natural self. That choice usually has not lead to spiritual growth. The other choice (obedience to the law) has always been more difficult but has led to spiritual growth. Hence in all stages of our existence some have progressed more rapidly and some more slowly.

#The Natural Self and Evil

Consider carefully this question: Is the natural self within each of us evil? Just what is evil anyway? The scriptures speak often of an evil person or the evil in a man’s heart. We may think of evil as an influence in people’s lives, certainly an adverse influence. Ultimately, any influence that leads a man away from progressing spiritually and returning to his celestial home is evil. By this definition, then, is a man’s natural self evil? Might it lead him away from his celestial potential? Indeed it might.

We have previously discussed the fact that some of the pulls of the natural self are not only wholesome but are necessary for survival. Hence the natural self may be said to have an evil influence only when the individual acquiesces excessively and inappropriately to the pulls of his natural self. Then the natural self is an important potential source of evil in the universe.

I will divide evil into two categories: moral evil and accidental evil. Philosophers refer to the second type of evil as natural evil. I shall avoid the word natural here to avoid confusion with the concept of the natural self.

Moral evil is caused by the yearnings of our natural-man self, our lower yearnings. It is the consequences on self and others of a man’s responding inappropriately and excessively to his natural self, to his lower needs.

Accidental evil is adversity. It is the adverse consequences of those often unexpected, undeserved, and unavoidable adversities that beset every one of God’s children. These are myriad, but a few examples might include disease, accident, bereavement, financial hardship, adverse family situations, or a host of large-scale disasters such as earthquake, storm, flood, fire, landslide, war, financial downturns, etc. These may be categorized as evils, as they may result in discouragement, unhappiness, anxiety, despair, and eventually even disobedience. These, in turn then, may potentially lead to a lesser eternal reward. Thus, the natural self is an important source of evil, but not the only source.

It is ironic that evil in either form (moral or accidental) can be a useful and productive thing. Each is an adversity in our lives, and an appropriate response to adversity allows us to grow to become more like God. In fact evil can be the very mechanism by which we grow spiritually. In 2 Nephi 2:11 the prophet Lehi teaches: “For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my first-born in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad.” This verse suggests that adversities we inevitably face are entirely necessary. They are vital as we attempt to work out our salvation, even though they have the potential for producing evil, damaging effects.

#What Is the Greatest Source of Evil in Our Universe?

Many would respond to this question in knee-jerk fashion and answer, “Satan.” But is he? I believe a careful second thought would suggest it is the natural self within each of us that is the source of most of the evil in our universe. Imagine a hypothetical world without Satan or his influences. Would that world be free of evil? Would it be free of sin? Would all inhabitants of this hypothetical world inherit celestial glory? The answer is “no” to all of these questions. Man’s own inherent tendency to respond inappropriately to his lesser yearnings would still be present. These lesser yearnings are surely the main culprit and the most important source of evil.

#The Problem of Evil

Historical “orthodox” Christianity believes God is absolutely omnipotent and created his universe absolutely (out of nothing, or ex nihilo). From this belief, a problem arises. It is the so-called “problem of evil.” This problem may be summarized as follows: God may be regarded as responsible for everything in the universe since he created it out of nothing. Since evil exists, then God must have created it. Then arises the difficult question: Is the existence of evil compatible with the existence of an omnipotent God who has the desire and ability to eliminate evil? The cynics then ask, “Might this mean that God may not, in fact, exist?” This question has long been used by atheists to justify their lack of belief. After all, shouldn’t a God who created everything ex nihilo have been able to preclude all evil from becoming part of our universe?

We know the solution to this problem, and it is a simple one. God did not create the universe ex nihilo. Rather, he created it ex materia, or out of materials that have always existed. These basic materials include unorganized matter and intelligences. Evil was not created by God. It existed in the materials God utilized in creating his universe. It existed in the natural self of each intelligence.

What about the accidental evil discussed above? Does God “create” (impose) these evils? Adversities are an integral part of the mortal experience and not usually

imposed by God. However, he has agreed to our being exposed to them here on earth. He desires that we each have a fully mortal experience characterized by the presence of both moral evil and accidental evil.

#Satan’s Role

In our mortal world, there is much of evil, adversity, and opposition. We have concluded Satan did not create the natural self, the most significant potential source of evil. So, what is his role in all this evil? Are we justified in blaming the evil in the world on Satan, as we are often inclined to do?

Though none of the evil, adversity, or opposition in the world originated with Satan, he obviously encourages it, delights in it, and takes advantage of it. By his clever manipulations and persuasions, he also enhances and expands the evil in the world.3

#The Daily Contest

We have discussed the fact that every individual possesses a natural and a spiritual self. We are each a combination of the two. We each have the potential for responding to both natural and spiritual yearnings. An ongoing struggle exists between these two natures of every man.

Let us, in our mind’s eye, draw a line on a figurative whiteboard. This line, actually a bidirectional arrow, slopes upward from left to right. Let us then write “natural man” near the lower left end of the line and “spiritual man” near the higher right end. The grand secret here in mortality is to move to the right and upward on this equilibrium line. It is to “put off the natural man.” The reason the spiritual man is represented as being higher than the natural man is discussed below under the heading below, “Hedonistic Gravity.” The scriptures suggest it is common for mortals to stray too far down and to the left. In fact, this leftward sliding, caused by too much giving in to the temptations of the world, is the “universal sin”—the sin of pride.4

Please know this discussion applies to you individually. It is vital you understand this struggle. Here is the essence of the mortal experience. The line between these two essences, the natural self and the spiritual self, is the stage upon which your mortal life is played out. Mortality is a war that rages within you, literally daily. This war will continue to rage until you depart this mortal sphere. It may continue forever. How important is this war? Its outcome will determine your eternal reward and eternal dwelling place!

Are you a natural man or a spiritual man? You are a combination of the two, as are we all. No one of us is all one and none of the other. In fact, we regularly move back and forth on the line between the two. Even in one day, we may move some distance back and forth. Every man has lower needs and higher needs. Each of are two natures see things differently. Each seeks for different things. Each has its own approach to living.

Our natural self predominates when we are without the influence of the Spirit of God. The spiritual man in us predominates after the Spirit has had his way with us, after we have made ourselves worthy of his ministrations.

A healthy spiritual self, plus the Holy Ghost, can eventually take firm control of an individual’s behavior. Unfortunately, however, the spiritual self can take control only when the natural self has relinquished that control. If an individual’s natural self is constantly demanding satisfaction and being satisfied, then the spiritual self must simply wait. Even though spiritual cues and promptings may exist in our environment, we may not perceive them. Only when an individual consistently denies his natural self and deliberately obeys the Lord’s commands does the natural self begin to abate, and the spiritual self begin to assert itself and assume control.

When our spiritual self is in firm control, our lower needs are not completely neglected. Rather, they are well disciplined and kept in an appropriate perspective.

#Hedonistic Gravity

There is an obvious tendency for man to drift “naturally” downward to the left on the line I have drawn on our figurative whiteboard. It is as though there were a force of gravity pulling each man downward toward that which is comfortable, easy, selfgratifying, and pleasurable. I will refer to this force as “hedonistic gravity.” If you do nothing, you drift downward and to the left. If you always do those things that are pleasurable or comfortable, then you drift downward and to the left more rapidly.

Climbing toward the right, however, is quite a different story. It is uphill all the way. You must constantly strive. You must be proactive. You must get out of your comfort zone. Constant effort and vigilance is essential. You can’t go it alone. The Spirit must be there to help.

When you simply pick up your feet and relax, you start drifting leftward and downward. When you are passive, even though you may be well-intentioned, you drift downward. It is inevitable. There is no plateau in spiritual growth! No one can remain on a spiritual “dead level.” If you are not striving to be obedient, then you are gradually losing ground. If you are not progressing, then you are drifting downward. Any progress in an upward direction must be earned. You must strive to overcome your natural-man self to make this progress.

#Do Our Yearnings Follow a Predictable Pattern?

It is important we all come to understand our natural-man self over the period of our lives. Might we predict we will likely make gradual progress in overcoming these natural yearnings as life passes? We all are prone to think they are maximal early on in our lives. The young man or woman seems more subject to the lusts of the flesh. We may think if we are successful in denying our natural selves and obeying the commandments early on, we will experience mitigation or a lessening of those natural pulls with time and maturity. Then, we suppose, when we arrive in middle or late middle age, there should be “no contest.” Our natural self will have been subdued and overcome.

We are all too familiar with the specifics of the natural impulses in ourselves and others. They consist of, among others, our sexual impulses, our need for recognition and status, our willingness to pull others down if necessary, and our need to possess nice material things. Do these, in fact, disappear over time, particularly as we mature?

Our natural drives are labile, unpredictable, and exceedingly dangerous. The sexual pulls of a young man, for example, may be compelling when he is in is teens and early twenties. Then they may become less of a problem when he marries. But then, quite unexpectedly, his biological drives may tempt him to sin a few years later when another woman, other than his wife, appears in his life. This same problem may flare when he is in middle age and begins to doubt whether he will ever be attractive to the opposite sex again.

Another example is materialism. It may not be much of a problem early in life at a time when one is struggling to make a living and support a family. But then, later in life, one finds himself able to acquire a few nice things. Material things may then become more important than they have ever been. Consequently other, truly important, things may begin to pale in importance.

We must never let down our guard. This mortal life has a way of surprising us. We may come to feel we are progressing satisfactorily in a spiritual sense. We may begin to feel secure. Then, along comes an unexpected flare of a previously nontroublesome temptation. These are more likely if we have become complacent about our spiritual growth. They may occur during one of those “pseudo-plateaus” in our spiritual progress. The only reliable protection against unexpected, severe temptation is continual spiritual growth.5

#Each Individual Will Eventually Evidence His True Colors

Eventually, though the struggle between our two natures never really ends, each individual will tend to “gravitate” to a certain place on the line—usually near one or the other extremes of the line. Each person eventually becomes more a natural man or more a spiritual man. The Savior taught why it would be difficult to remain in the midpoint of the line: “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew 6:24).

#Cross Yourself

Let’s open the Book of Mormon to Alma 39 where Alma is counseling his wayward son Corianton. He is telling him how to move uphill and to the right on our figurative sloped line:

Now my son, I would that ye should repent and forsake your sins, and go no more after the lusts of your eyes, but cross yourself in all these things; for except ye do this ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God. Oh, remember, and take it upon you, and cross yourself in these things (Alma 39:9, italics added).

What does Alma means when he says “cross yourself”? None of us in mortality is ever completely free of our “natural man” tendencies. Man’s “natural” tendency is to be drawn toward worldly pleasures and travel down worldly paths. To do unnatural things is to “cross” oneself. We “cross” ourselves when we turn away from worldly lusts and seek instead for righteousness. In scripture, to “cross” oneself is the same as to “take up one’s cross.” To his disciples in Jerusalem, Christ said: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me” (Matthew 16:24). On another occasion he counseled: “It is better that ye should deny yourselves of these things, wherein ye will take up your cross, than that ye should be cast in hell” (3 Nephi 12:30).

We cross ourselves when we strive to be carefully, diligently obedient to all of the commandments. We cross ourselves when we confess our sins and shortcomings. We cross ourselves when we willingly forgive others, accept counsel and chastisement, render service to others, and submit ourselves to the will of God. We cross ourselves when we put ourselves in the background and push others to the forefront. We cross ourselves when we ponder and study the Savior; when we pray continually; when we have him on our minds continuously; and when we give thanks to him repeatedly.

As we cross ourselves, the Spirit will begin to refine us. We shall gradually begin to receive, through personal revelation, attributes of God, gifts of the Spirit.

#The Natural Man Is an Enemy to God

The natural man, or the inappropriate natural inclinations of men, are those that have not been touched or refined by the influence of the Holy Ghost. Every man or woman has tendencies of the natural man that are not alterable except through the influence of the Holy Ghost.

For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint [a spiritual man] through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father (Mosiah 3:19).

The natural man is an “enemy to God” because that part of his nature is alien to things of a spiritual eternal nature. When his natural impulses are in control of his thoughts, words, and behaviors, he is a natural man. His perspective is limited to the carnal and worldly. The natural man is completely incapable of understanding spiritual things.

#Atheism

Atheism is another manifestation of the natural man. Some atheists claim a strong belief that there is no God. Others simply and passively lack a belief in God. Let us examine this worldly trend so prevalent in our contemporary world.

Since we believe that every mortal is born with the “spirit of Christ” (Moroni 7:16- 17; D&C 93:2), is it not surprising that an individual may come to the point of declaring (and ostensibly meaning it) that he has no belief in God or in an afterlife?

How might we explain atheism? It would seem there are at least two major factors involved:

1. As we have discussed, with each giving in to one’s natural self (each sin), there occurs an incremental insensitivity to the influence of the Spirit of God. Consequently, with repeated sin, there also occurs a progressive insensitivity to all spiritual matters and concepts. One may become completely consumed by things of the world. One becomes completely unable to feel spiritual impressions and promptings. Things an individual can experience with his five physical senses become all important. In fact, they are the only things that matter. “The only things that are real are things of the world, things I can see, hear, smell, touch, and taste. Everything else is imagination.” Spiritual matters eventually become unimportant, and even the object of skepticism and scorn.

This complete rejection of anything spiritual has led to the religious philosophies of rationalism, empiricism, and cynicism. Rationalism is the philosophical doctrine that reason alone is the source of knowledge. Empiricism holds that all knowledge comes only through the physical senses, through physical evidence, and through observation. Cynicism is simple a tendency to doubt the existence and therefore reject the very existence of a Divine Being and the spiritual and supernatural realm. Every account of a “spiritual” experience or impression is regarded as a subterfuge—a self delusion. A captivation by worldliness also leads to a belief in naturalism. Naturalism is the belief that all phenomena are explained by laws of science and that all theological, spiritual, or supernatural explanations are therefore without value.

Atheists reason that there is no God and hence no revelation. There exists no set of divine laws. There is no absolute right or wrong, no good or evil. None of us is in jeopardy of eternal punishment. Therefore, we may behave as we please without fear of eternal consequences. We may ignore those rules or “commandments with which ecclesiastical leaders brow beat us.” Moral standards and values come only from human experience.

The ethical standards so derived are often called “situational ethics.” This is the philosophy of relativism. Relativism is a theory of knowledge, truth, or morality in which there is no absolute. The standard of judgment, then, varies with each individual and his or her situation and environment.

2. The promptings of the Spirit of Christ, though blunted, never disappear completely. Unrelenting ambiguity is inevitable. Therefore, when an individual becomes caught up in sin and rejects all things spiritual, there remains a persistent element of fear for one’s eternal future. This subtle fear is almost relegated to the subconscious. It often leads to an urgent, defensive need to self justify: “How naive and unsophisticated to actually believe in such things as God or an afterlife.” “Are you an adult? Do you require someone to tell you what you can and can’t do? If I want to sleep with my girlfriend, and it does no harm to anyone, then I will. What can be wrong with that? There is no God and no valid commandments.” The more vociferous the denial of God by an atheist, the more the ambivalence that festers in his soul.

The fear of the eternal future and the need to justify self is particularly strong if the individual is an apostate who once accepted, but now rejects, spiritual truth.

Humanism may be defined as a system of thought or action in which human interests, values, comforts, needs, and dignity predominate. In fact, to a humanist they are the only criteria by which judgments can be made. To them, human beings are the supreme reality in a natural world. Humanism rejects the importance of a belief in God.

In some instances the humanist may be more of an agnostic—those who believe it is impossible to know for certain there is a God. These may allow: “If, by chance, there is a heaven and a God, then he will judge me for my value as a human being, and not for my belief in him. He will value me based on how I have interacted with other humans.” A fear of death and the eternal future lie at the origin of this philosophy. Humanism, for humanists, is merely a cover-up and attempt at self justification.

The self-justifier preaches that man ought to be free rather than be bound down and limited by any type of authority placed over him. This argument is intended to appeal to the natural man within all of us. We all have a natural tendency to resent any type of restraint or authority placed over us. We want to be “free.” The individual hiding his underlying fear likes to point out to others just how they are enslaved by religious law. He says in effect, “Look at you. You are slaves to the so-called commandments.” Since misery loves company and a fellowship of like believers (actually unbelievers) can be of great comfort to the sinner, he hopes people will respond with an indignant attitude: “Like heck I am. Let me show just how ‘enslaved’ I am.” He may encourage and provoke others to demonstrate their unfettered “freedom.” We might term this philosophy liberationism, a theology that stresses freedom from any restraints.

#The Spiritual Man

Once sanctified by the Holy Spirit, man is fundamentally, profoundly changed from natural to spiritual. He possesses a “broken heart and contrite spirit.” He is a man with the gift of divine indebtedness. But the scriptures describe him in many other ways as well. He is said to be “born again”; a “new creature”; he transforms from a state of carnality to being “as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him.” He cannot look upon sin “save it be with abhorrence.” He receives Christ’s “image” in his “countenance.” He experiences a “mighty change” of heart. He is a candidate to receive the “fruits of the Spirit” which, according to the Apostle Paul, are “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, faith, meekness, temperance” (Galatians 5:22-23). He is then said to possess the “divine nature” rather than a natural nature. His perspective is not confined to this earthly sojourn but is rather an eternal one. He knows that this earth life is not the real life.

I will conclude this chapter by relating an old Cherokee Indian legend: One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, “My son, the battle is between two ‘wolves’ inside us all. One is evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other is good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.” The grandson thought about it for a moment and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf wins?” The old Cherokee replied simply, “The one you feed.”

See chapter 3, The Creation.

2 We will discuss adversity with its potentially evil effects in volume 3, chapter 1, Adversity and Suffering.

We will discuss the role of Satan in our universe further in chapter 16, The Role of Satan.

See a more complete discussion of pride in chapter 5, The “Natural Self” and “Spiritual Self.”

5 See chapter 7, Spiritual Growth—Gifts of the Spirit.