When it comes to the value of human existence, there is a doctrinal dichotomy which deserves some discussion. In the Mormon Church, the doctrine is commonly taught that all of God’s children are very literally sons and daughters of God with the same divine potential as their spiritual parents. Scriptures which confirm this principle teach that ’we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together’ (Rom 8:16-17, see also Gal 4:1-7; Jn10:33-36). As his children, the Lord has asked us to remember that ‘the worth of souls is great in the sight of God’ (DC 18:10).
On the other hand, Mormon reminds us about the great nothingness of man, that we are even ’less than the dust of the earth.‘ Well you can’t get much more worthless than that! Moses concluded that ’man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed’ (Moses 1:10). Benjamin asked, ’Can ye say aught of yourselves? I answer you, Nay. Ye cannot say that ye are even as much as the dust of the earth’ (Mosiah 2:25).
Well, which is it? Are we worth less than the dust of the earth, or do we have great intrinsic worth as heirs of God? Can both of these things be true simultaneously? Mormon helps us to understand this doctrine. He explains that the dust moves according to the commands of God, but that man, by virtue of his agency, is the only being in the universe which defies the commandments of God. Therefore, as sinners, we are less than the dust of the earth.
Our potential , however, is divine. It was this great transformation, from sinner to joint-heir, to which Paul referred, ’the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant (or slave)…in bondage under the elements of the world: But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son…to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons…and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.’ (Gal 4:1-7) The proud need to be taught that they are less than the dust of the earth. If any boast of their divine potential, it is because they do not understand that such a glorious potential is available to them not because of their greatness but because of the condescension of Christ.
"What a piece of work is a man!…in action how like
an angel! in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of
the world! the paragon of animals! And yet, to me, what
is this quintessence of dust? man delights not me; no,
nor woman neither."
(Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act II, Scene 2)
Joseph Fielding Smith
“Now [Mormon] did not mean to say that the Lord has greater concern for and loves the dust of the earth more than he does his children. He did not mean to say that we, the children of the Lord, in his sight are considered less than the dust of the earth. The point he is making is that the dust of the earth is obedient. It moveth hither and thither at the command of the Lord. All things are in, harmony with his laws. Everything in the universe obeys the law given unto it, so far as I know, except man. Everywhere you look you find law and order, the elements obeying the law given to them, true to, their calling. But man rebels, and in this thing man is less than the dust of the earth because he rejects the counsels of the Lord, and the greater the blessings he receives, (this because of his agency), the more willingly does he turn from the source of those blessings, feeling self-sufficient, and puts his faith and his trust in the arm of flesh rather than in God.” (Conference Report, Apr. 1929, p. 55)
Brigham Young
“The animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms abide the law of their Creator; the whole earth and all things pertaining to it, except man, abide the law of their creation….We tame the animals and make them do our drudgery and administer to our wants in many ways, yet man alone is not tamed—he is not subject to his Great Creator. Our ignorant animals are faithful to us, and will do our bidding as long as they have any strength; yet man who is the offspring of the Gods, will not become subject to the most reasonable and self-exalting principles. How often have we witnessed a faithful animal conveying his master home so drunk that he could not see his way or sit up; yet his faithful animal will plod through mud, shun stumps, trees, and bad places, and land him safely at home.” (Journal of Discourses, vol. 9, pp. 246-7 as taken from Latter-day Commentary on the Book of Mormon compiled by K. Douglas Bassett, p. 205)