# Field

Discover how the Mormon Transhumanist Association engages with field work, bridging faith and emerging technology to shape a flourishing human future.

[Image: In Hebrew, *sadeh* can mean both tilled ground and open country, like the “field” where the “beasts of the field” roam.]

A field is an open stretch of land, historically cleared for crops or pasture, yet its etymological and scriptural roots run much deeper. The Hebrew *sadeh* comes from a root meaning "to spread out," encompassing both tilled ground and wild open country—hence the biblical phrasing "beasts of the field." The Greek *agros* (farm or field) shares ancestry with the Latin *ager*, giving us the English word *agriculture*.

In Latter-day Saint theology, "the field" carries profound spiritual weight, most notably from an 1829 revelation calling laborers to a field "white already to harvest" (Doctrine and Covenants 4:4), a phrase that forever linked "the field" to missionary work. Yet, this spiritual metaphor is firmly grounded in a literal theology of creation. Restoration scripture declares that "every plant of the field" existed "spiritually, before they were naturally upon the face of the earth" (Moses 3:5), intertwining the natural and the spiritual into a single, cohesive creation where the physical earth mirrors divine design.

## The First Labor

Before it became a metaphor for the world, the field was humanity's first classroom. Following the expulsion from Eden, the uncultivated field became the primary site of human progression. Adam and Eve were commanded to "till the earth, and to have dominion over the beasts of the field" (Moses 5:1). The ground was cursed for their sake—not as a punitive measure, but as a necessary environment for growth and resilience.

By the sweat of their brow, early humanity learned the law of the harvest, discovering that the earth yields its strength only to persistent, faith-driven labor. This foundational narrative transforms the field from mere dirt into a sacred trust. It establishes the spiritual baseline that human beings are meant to act as co-creators with God, coaxing life and sustenance from the soil. The act of cultivating a field became humanity's first enduring covenant with the physical world, emphasizing stewardship over the environment rather than mere extraction.

## A Celestial Harvest

Ultimately, the concept of the field unites humanity's earliest labors with its highest technological potential. As our capacity to cultivate the earth grows through advanced science and agriculture, the ancient mandate of stewardship remains. We are called not merely to extract the earth's resources or monopolize its abundance, but to use our expanding tools to feed the hungry, renew the environment, and elevate the human family.

By ensuring that the fruits of modern innovation are consecrated for the good of all—leaving the metaphorical "corners of the field" for the vulnerable—we fulfill our role as divine co-creators. In this light, the field becomes more than a place of physical labor. It doubles as a proving ground where, through faith and ethical technology, we prepare the world for a celestial harvest.

## The Corners of the Field

[Image: Leviticus 19 commands leaving the corners of the field for “the poor and stranger.”]

The ancient law of Moses transformed the agricultural field into an instrument of social justice. Leviticus 19 strictly commanded the Israelites, "thou shalt not wholly reap the corners of thy field," mandating that gleanings be left "for the poor and stranger." The field was not merely a private asset; it was a communal resource overseen by God, engineered with a built-in safety net.

The Book of Ruth vividly illustrates this law in action. Ruth, a destitute Moabite widow, survives by gleaning in the fields of Boaz. Through this act of agrarian charity, she is integrated into Israel and ultimately becomes the great-grandmother of King David.

Jesus later amplified the value of the field, using it to describe the kingdom of heaven as a "treasure hid in a field," so valuable that a man "selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field" (Matthew 13:44). For Latter-day Saints, this agrarian parable echoes the principles of the Law of Consecration. In this higher economic law, the "corners of the field" expand to encompass one's entire surplus, consecrated to ensure that there are "no poor among them." The field becomes a proving ground for economic equality, testing whether a society can harvest its abundance without succumbing to greed.

## The Field Is the World

[Image: Jesus interprets “the field” in the wheat and tares parable as “the world” (Matthew 13:38).]

In explaining the parable of the wheat and the tares, Jesus declared unequivocally, "The field is the world" (Matthew 13:38). Today, modern agriculture possesses the technological reach to make that global metaphor a literal reality. Innovations such as satellite guidance, remote soil sensors, and machine vision allow farmers to optimize water, fertilizer, and herbicide application on a plant-by-plant basis. Gene-editing technologies can rapidly accelerate the breeding of crops that withstand severe drought or resist devastating diseases. Many religious transhumanists and advocates of ethical technology view these tools as divine provisions—instruments meant to fulfill the mandate to feed a growing global population and renew the earth.

However, the technological field is fiercely contested. The prophet Isaiah pronounced a woe upon those "that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth" (Isaiah 5:8). This ancient warning maps perfectly onto modern corporate consolidation.

*See also*: [Body](/topical-guide/body), [Calling](/topical-guide/calling), [Celestial](/topical-guide/celestial), [Celestial Kingdom](/topical-guide/celestial-kingdom), [Christ](/topical-guide/christ), [Consent](/topical-guide/consent), [Covenant](/topical-guide/covenant), [God](/topical-guide/god), [Immortality](/topical-guide/immortality), [Kingdom](/topical-guide/kingdom), [Law](/topical-guide/law), [Mind](/topical-guide/mind), [Nature/Natural](/topical-guide/naturenatural), [Non-Intervention](/topical-guide/non-intervention), [Omega Point](/topical-guide/omega-point), [Peace](/topical-guide/peace), [Posterity](/topical-guide/posterity), [Posthuman](/topical-guide/posthuman), [Religion](/topical-guide/religion), [Resurrection](/topical-guide/resurrection), [Revelation](/topical-guide/revelation), [Salvation](/topical-guide/salvation), [Soul](/topical-guide/soul), [Technological Singularity](/topical-guide/technological-singularity), [Theosis](/topical-guide/theosis), [Transhuman](/topical-guide/transhuman), [Transhumanism](/topical-guide/transhumanism), [Uploading](/topical-guide/uploading)