In my blog series comparing and contrasting Joseph and Nietzsche, I side with Joseph as the overall better producer of a Life Philosophy; yet learning Nietzsche's philosophy led me to realize both men sought to rescue the culture of their day from atheistic skepticism and nihilism and future cultural degeneration. Nietzsche's Last Man was akin to Joseph's Natural Man, and Nietzsche's Superhumans has some similarities to Joseph's Supercouples. Nietzsche's concept of the Great Health -- and referring to humanity as "plant man," and the need for implanting a philosophical seedbed of ideas to sprout a better, stronger, healthier culture growing like a garden -- is similar to Parley Pratt's Great God and Joseph's revelations and scriptures: which speak of producing a healthy culture called Zion. Rather than a Platonist realm of disembodied ghosts escaping the physical earth into a realm of androgynous angels and a God the Father without a body, Joseph restored the original Hebraic theology: when God the Father had a body, and when God wanted to produce a People (Israel). So that the restoration of all things in Mormonism is the restoration of Hebraic Peoplehood.
This Peoplehood is grown via God's genes or divine seed which I cover in the following links in this paragraph. In my blog series on the LDS Godhead I cover how Jesus is the Monogene of Jehovah, and in my blog series on LDS Theosis I cover the meaning of the refiner's fire as God's Genome transforming one into a celestial-body. Here I will cover the meaning of the refiner's fire in more detail by showing that LDS Scripture is less Platonist and more Hebraic in its understanding of collective salvation and birthing Zion. In other words, LDS Christianity is about Peoplehood, it is about God's Genome growing God's Garden or Vineyard, with Christ as the True Vine growing branches that bear fruit bearing more seeds.
If one does a word search of the word vineyard in Book of Mormon they will see it recurs over 50 times and is presented over and over again, representing God's divine genome replicating itself like a Healthy Garden. A word search of the word "seed" in the Book of Mormon pulls up nearly a hundred verses, which in context refers to genetic and cultural inheritance through faithfulness and growth into either a healthy believing and vitally alive culture (in Christ) or an unhealthy (decaying) culture.
In the verses below I provide links to my blog posts that explain that this language of seeds and such is referring to the planting of God's divine seed (spiritual DNA) and the literal growth of a Divinized People: through both the faithfulness of one's fathers (and mothers) and the literal implanting of God's seed.
Verses below have been modified by me into plain English in places (emphasis added):
Alma 16:17: That they might not be hardened against the word [divine seed, see Alma 32], that they might not be unbelieving, and go on to destruction, but that they might receive the word [Christ as Monogene] with joy, and as a branch [People/culture] be grafted into the true vine [the genus of Christ], that they might enter into the rest of the Lord their God.
Mosiah 15:10: And now I say unto you, who shall declare his generation? Behold, I say unto you, that when his soul has been made an offering for sin he shall see his seed. And now what say you? And who shall be his seed?
1 Nephi 15:13-15: And now, the thing which our father means concerning the grafting in of the natural branches through the fulness of the Gentiles, is, that in the latter days, when our seed [lineage] shall have dwindled in unbelief, yea, for the space of many years, and many generations after the Messiah shall be manifested in body unto the children of men, then shall the fulness of the gospel of the Messiah come unto the Gentiles, and from the Gentiles unto the remnant of our seed— And at that day shall the remnant of our seed know that they are of the house of Israel, and that they are the covenant people of the Lord; and then shall they know and come to the knowledge of their forefathers, and also to the knowledge of the gospel of their Redeemer, which was ministered unto their fathers by him; wherefore, they shall come to the knowledge of their Redeemer and the very points of his doctrine, that they may know how to come unto him and be saved. And then at that day will they not rejoice and give praise unto their everlasting God, their rock and their salvation? Yea, at that day, will they not receive the strength and nourishment from the true vine? Yea, will they not come unto the true fold of God? Behold, I say unto you, Yea; they shall be remembered again among the house of Israel; they shall be grafted in, being a natural branch of the olive-tree, into the true olive-tree.
Alma 32:28-37, 40:
Now, we will compare the word unto a seed. Now, if you give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if you do not cast it out by your unbelief, that you will resist the Spirit of the Lord [transforming your inner man], behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, you will begin to say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it begins to enlarge my soul; yea, it begins to enlighten my understanding, yea, it begins to be delicious to me. Now behold, would not this increase your faith? I say unto you, Yea; nevertheless it has not grown up to a perfect knowledge. But behold, as the seed swells, and sprouts, and begins to grow, then you must needs say that the seed is good; for behold it swells, and sprouts, and begins to grow [a noomatic body within]. And now behold, will not this strengthen your faith? Yea, it will strengthen your faith: for you will say I know that this is a good seed; for behold it sprouts and begins to grow. And now, behold, are you sure that this is a good seed? I say unto you, Yea; for every seed brings forth unto its own likeness. Therefore, if a seed grows it is good, but if it grows not, behold it is not good, therefore it is cast away. And now, behold, because you have tried the experiment, and planted the seed, and it swells and sprouts, and begins to grow, you must needs know that the seed is good. And now, behold, is your knowledge perfect? Yea, your knowledge is perfect in that thing, and your faith is dormant; and this because you know, for you know that the word has swelled your souls, and you also know that it has sprouted up [the noomatic-body has begun to grow and sprout], that your understanding does begin to be enlightened, and your mind does begin to expand [as in the seal/Monogene of God is pressed into you toward a renewing of your mind, see Romans 12:2 EXB]. O then, is not this real? I say unto you, Yea, because it is light [see D&C 88]; and whatsoever is light, is good, because it is discernible, therefore you must know that it is good; and now behold, after you have tasted this light is your knowledge perfect? Behold I say unto you, Nay; neither must you lay aside your faith, for you have only exercised your faith to plant the seed that you might try the experiment to know if the seed was good. And behold, as the tree begins to grow, you will say: Let us nourish it with great care, that it may get root, that it may grow up, and bring forth fruit unto us. And now behold, if you nourish it with much care it will get root, and grow up, and bring forth fruit. ... And thus it is thus, if you will not nourish the word, looking forward with an eye of faith to the fruit thereof, you can never pluck [partake] of the fruit of the tree of life [the divine genome of Christ as the True Vine, as expressed in Lehi's Dream of the Tree of Life in 1 Nephi 8]. But if you will nourish the word, yea, nourish the tree [your inborn noomatic body] as it begins to grow, by your faith with great diligence, and with patience, looking forward to the fruit thereof, it shall take root; and behold it shall be a tree springing up unto everlasting life. And because of your diligence and your faith and your patience with the word in nourishing it, that it may take root in you, behold, by and by you shall pluck the fruit thereof, which is most precious, which is sweet above all that is sweet, and which is white above all that is white, yea, and pure above all that is pure; and you shall feast upon this fruit even until you are filled, that you hunger not, neither shall you thirst. Then, my brethren, you shall reap the rewards of your faith, and your diligence, and patience, and long-suffering, waiting for the tree to bring forth fruit unto you.
2 Nephi 31:17:
Wherefore, do the things which I have told you I have seen that your Lord and your Redeemer should do; for, for this cause have they been shown unto me, that you might know the gate by which you should enter. For the gate by which you should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then comes a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost.
Helaman 5:24:
And when they saw that they were encircled about with a pillar of fire, and that it burned them not, their hearts did take courage.
Helaman 5:45-51:
And behold, the Holy Spirit [Fluid Nooma] of God did come down from heaven, and did enter into their hearts, and they were filled as if with fire, and they could speak forth marvelous words. And it came to pass that there came a voice unto them, yea, a pleasant voice, as if it were a whisper, saying: Peace, peace be unto you, because of your faith in my Well Beloved, who was from the foundation of the world. And now, when they heard this they cast up their eyes as if to behold from whence the voice came; and behold, they saw the heavens open; and angels came down out of heaven and ministered unto them. And there were about three hundred souls who saw and heard these things; .... And ... they did go forth, and did minister unto the people ... And as many as were convinced did lay down their weapons of war, and also their hatred and the tradition of their fathers.
3 Nephi 17:24-25:
And as they looked to behold they cast their eyes towards heaven, and they saw the heavens open, and they saw angels descending out of heaven as it were in the midst of fire; and they came down and encircled those little ones about, and they were encircled about with fire; and the angels did minister unto them. And the multitude did see and hear and bear record; and they know that their record is true for they all of them did see and hear, every man for himself; and they were in number about two thousand and five hundred souls; and they did consist of men, women, and children.
3 Nephi 19:13-14:
And it came to pass when they were all baptized and had come up out of the water, the Holy Ghost did fall upon them, and they were filled with the Holy Ghost and with fire [with the Fluid Nooma]. And behold, they were encircled about as if it were by fire; and it came down from heaven, and the multitude did witness it, and did bear record; and angels did come down out of heaven and did minister unto them.
3 Nephi 22:14-17:
In righteousness shalt you be established; you shalt be far from oppression for you shalt not fear, and from terror for it shall not come near you. Behold, they shall surely gather together against you, not by me; whosoever shall gather together against you shall fall for your sake. Behold, I have created the smith that blows the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy[see Isaiah 54:16 KJV, and the EXB translation]. No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper; and every tongue that shall revile against you in judgment you shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.
3 Nephi 24:2-3:
But who may abide the day of his coming, and who shall stand when he appeareth? For he is like a refiner's fire, and like fuller's soap. And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.
The natural man is refined (purged like gold or silver) and becomes a noomatic body, as Lectures 5 and 7 explains. LDS Christians become glorified and "holy" through the Holy Spirit (Sacred Nooma) that burns away their Adamic-body forming a new star-like noomatic body (gifted to them), inherited from Christ's seed (DNA): making them joint heirs with Christ the Only Monogene, thus one becomes Christ's child, and Christ is their noomatic Father (Progenitor).
For example, here is what the LDS Scripture glossary shows under children of Christ:
Put off the natural man and become as a child, Mosiah 3:19; 27:25–26.
Because of the covenant ye shall be called the children of Christ, Mosiah 5:7.
If ye will lay hold upon every good thing, ye certainly will be a child of Christ, Moro. 7:19.
As many as received me, gave I power to become my sons, D&C 39:4.
(Source)
Again, a study of the word seed in LDS Scripture shows that the word seed has the meaning of a literal implantation of spiritual sperma (divine genomic DNA) into souls as if into wombs in order to produce a new species, a People. The word seed also signifies the "words of scripture" as seed that is sown into soil, but since Christ is the word made flesh (John 1:1), and all Scripture testifies of Christ (John 5:39-40) and He (his genome and life's example) is the way (wise path to God), the truth, and the divine-life (see John 10:10; 14:6), then the words of Scripture as seed becomes I think a metaphor for an intellectual and heartful conversion from the words leading to the fluid nooma implanting the divine Gene/DNA into one's soul ("quickened in the inner man" per Moses 6:65–66) through the words of scripture which when read produces faith; and faith opens the door -- as Christ is the door to the genome of eternal lives per John 10:7-10) -- the door to receiving the baptism of fire (the reception of the fluid nooma implanting the seed/sperma of God) that conceives a noomatic body. In other words, the words of scripture (as seed) causes faith or trusting loyalty to (or allegiance to) Christ as King, which implants the divine DNA through the fluid nooma. So just as the Old Testament is focused on sprouting a righteous seed, i.e. producing a righteous People, the seed of Christ grows the righteous seed of God's Cultural Garden. We see this clearly in the following LDS Scriptures when we search the word "seed," which pulls up the following which supports my analysis above:
I will put enmity … between thy seed and her seed, Gen. 3:15 (Moses 4:21).
not sow … with mingled seed, Lev. 19:19 (Deut. 22:9).
his seed shall inherit the earth, Ps. 25:13.
seed of the wicked shall be cut off, Ps. 37:28.
His seed also will I make to endure for ever, Ps. 89:29.
seed of evildoers shall never be renowned, Isa. 14:20 (2 Ne. 24:20).
Thy seed also had been as the sand, Isa. 48:19 (1 Ne. 20:19).
he shall see his seed, Isa. 53:10 (Mosiah 14:10).
seed to the sower, and bread to the eater, Isa. 55:10 (2 Cor. 9:10).
their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, Isa. 61:9.
they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, Isa. 65:23.
so shall your seed and your name remain, Isa. 66:22.
I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed, Jer. 2:21.
Neither shall ye build house, nor sow seed, Jer. 35:7.
bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king’s seed, Dan. 1:3.
That he might seek a godly seed, Mal. 2:15.
some seeds fell by the way side, Matt. 13:4 (Luke 8:5).
likened unto a man which sowed good seed, Matt. 13:24.
least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest, Matt. 13:32 (Mark 4:31).
He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man, Matt. 13:37.
good seed are the children of the kingdom, Matt. 13:38.
raise up seed unto his brother, Matt. 22:24 (Mark 12:19; Luke 20:28).
The seed is the word of God, Luke 8:11.
Christ cometh of the seed of David, John 7:42 (Rom. 1:3; 2 Tim. 2:8).
Of this man’s seed hath God … raised … Jesus, Acts 13:23.
Except the Lord … had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, Rom. 9:29.
God giveth … to every seed his own body, 1 Cor. 15:38.
born again, not of corruptible seed, 1 Pet. 1:23.
his seed remaineth in him, 1 Jn. 3:9.
that they might raise up seed unto the Lord, 1 Ne. 7:1.
that we had gathered together all manner of seeds, 1 Ne. 8:1.
I will manifest myself unto thy seed, 1 Ne. 13:35.
thy seed shall not utterly be destroyed, 2 Ne. 3:3.
if I will … raise up seed unto me, I will command my people, Jacob 2:30.
began to till the ground … with all manner of seeds, Mosiah 9:9.
who shall be his seed, Mosiah 15:10.
I say unto you that they are his seed, Mosiah 15:13.
mingle his seed with that of the Lamanites did bring the same curse upon his seed, Alma 3:9.
give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, Alma 32:28.
grow, then you must needs say that the seed is good, Alma 32:30.
we are a remnant of the seed of Joseph, Alma 46:23.
seed of Zedekiah are with us, Hel. 8:21.
gather … all the remnant of the seed of Jacob, 3 Ne. 5:24.
ye are a remnant of the seed of Jacob, Morm. 7:10.
God, gave unto Adam and unto his seed, that they should not die, D&C 29:42.
Lord confirmed a priesthood also upon Aaron and his seed, D&C 84:18 (107:13).
faithful, I will multiply blessings upon them and their seed, D&C 104:33.
which glory shall be a fulness and a continuation of the seeds forever, D&C 132:19.
Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, Moses 5:11.
remnant of his seed should always be found, Moses 7:52.
this right shall continue in thee, and in thy seed … the literal seed, or the seed of the body, Abr. 2:11.
(Source)
Compare Abraham 2:11 above with Jacob 2:30 here below (emphasis added):
For if I will, saith the Lord of Hosts [Armies], raise up seed unto me, I will command my people [to practice plural marriage]; otherwise they shall hearken unto these things [i.e. be monogamous].
And now consider 2 Nephi 3:11 (emphasis added):
But a seer will I raise up out of the fruit of thy loins; and unto him will I give power to bring forth my word unto the seed of thy loins—and not to the bringing forth my word only, saith the Lord, but to the convincing them of my word, which shall have already gone forth among them.
In all of this, we see the consistent theme throughout all LDS Scripture that just as when seeds are sown in good soil and properly nourished there are produced plants and a Lush Garden; so too, when the seeds as genes and healthy cultural ideas are implanted into minds and hearts there is produced a healthy society and a quasi-ethnic identity, a culture and a People. Thus, "Mormons" are a People.
