The "it"s and the "who"s

Behold my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name—hear ye him. (3 Nephi 11:7)

Today, I shall focus on the word "who."

"Who" has an interesting flavour about it - whether from cultural changes, tides of the time, whatever.

You see people in movies get offended when someone refers to an important individual as "it." And on the other hand, enemies and haters may objectify their targets or pawns by calling them "it" rather than who.

The negative side of these examples is the choice (or mistake) of not recognizing an individual as human.

The positive, on the other hand, is more honourable.

The Lord cares about the distinction between all the "it"s and all the "who"s. In fact, His culture is to respect all "it"s and "who"s anyway: all things have intelligences (reference needed; to review) but that's a topic for another day. Wouldn't you respect and cherish things you created? Especially if you looked at the finished product and said "it is good"?

A step up in topical intensity brings us to Elder Russell M Nelson's words:

"As Latter-day Saints, we refer to His mission as the Atonement of Jesus Christ, which made resurrection a reality for all and made eternal life possible for those who repent of their sins and receive and keep essential ordinances and covenants.

"It is doctrinally incomplete to speak of the Lord’s atoning sacrifice by shortcut phrases, such as “the Atonement” or “the enabling power of the Atonement” or “applying the Atonement” or “being strengthened by the Atonement.” These expressions present a real risk of misdirecting faith by treating the event as if it had living existence and capabilities independent of our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.

"Under the Father’s great eternal plan, it is the Savior who suffered. It is the Savior who broke the bands of death. It is the Savior who paid the price for our sins and transgressions and blots them out on condition of our repentance. It is the Savior who delivers us from physical and spiritual death.

"There is no amorphous entity called “the Atonement” upon which we may call for succor, healing, forgiveness, or power. Jesus Christ is the source. Sacred terms such as Atonement and Resurrection describe what the Savior did, according to the Father’s plan, so that we may live with hope in this life and gain eternal life in the world to come. The Savior’s atoning sacrifice—the central act of all human history—is best understood and appreciated when we expressly and clearly connect it to Him."

By quoting this, I have done two things:

1. Extended the application of "it"s to non-tangible things, like events. Here, the example of the event is the Atonement ("it") compared to the Saviour ("who").

2. Which brings me to the second point. Here, Elder Nelson has clearly taught that the power of God unto salvation is in the Saviour ("who") rather than the event or accomplishment ("it").

This allows me to finish a full circle from where I started: in His introduction to His Son, Heavenly Father refers to Christ as a "who". And individual above all individuals ever born on this earth. Yet "He descended below them all" (D&C 121).

Lastly, a quote from President Monson.

"Never let a problem to be solved [it] become more important than a person to be loved [who]."