No
Two Persons are Born with the Same Talents and Capacities Bruce R. McConkie
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 No
two persons are born with the same talents and capacities; no two are
rooted in the same soil of circumstances; each is unique. The cares
of this world, gold and honor and power and renown, the lusts of the
flesh, the chains of past sins, and a thousand other things--all exert
their influence upon us. But in the final sense the answer stems back
to premortality. We all lived as spirit beings, as children of the Eternal
Father, for an infinitely long period of time in the premortal existence.
There we developed talents, gifts, and aptitudes; there our capacities
and abilities took form; there, by obedience to law, we were endowed
with the power, in one degree or another, to believe the truth and follow
the promptings of the Spirit. And the talent of greatest worth was that
of spirituality, for it enables us to hearken to the Holy Spirit and
accept that gospel which prepares us for eternal life. Men are not born
equal. They enter this life with the talents and capacities developed
in pre-existence...And as it is with the prophets, so is it with all
the chosen seed. "God's elect," as Paul calls them (Romans
8:33), are especially endowed at birth with spiritual talents. It is
easier for them to believe the gospel than it is for the generality
of mankind. Every living soul comes into this world with sufficient
talent to believe and be saved, but the Lord's sheep, as a reward for
their devotion when they dwelt in his presence, enjoy greater spiritual
endowments than their fellows. (Bruce R. McConkie, A New Witness for the Articles of Faith, p. 34) |
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