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| English: Thomas S. Monson. Photo by Brian Tibbets (tibbets.org) (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
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| The Book of Mormon English Missionary Edition Soft Cover (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
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| Teacher (Photo credits: www.myparkingsign.com) |
In the Mormon theology adhered
to by most of Mormon communities (including The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), "God" means Elohim (the Father),[citation needed] whereas "Godhead" means a
council of three distinct divine beings; Elohim, Jehovah (the Son, or Jesus),
and the Holy Spirit. The
Father and Son have perfected, glorified, physical bodies, while the Holy
Spirit is a spirit and does not have a physical body. This conception differs
from the traditional Christian Trinity;
within Mormonism, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are not said to be
one in substance or essence; instead, they remain three separate
beings, or personages, completely united in will
and purpose as one God. This description
of God represents the orthodoxy
of The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), established early
in the 19th century. However, the Mormon concept of God has expanded since the
faith's founding in the late 1820s.
Beginning in 1838, Joseph Smith, Jr.
taught that he had seen two
personages in the spring of 1820. In 1843, Smith taught that these
personages, God the
Father and Jesus, had
separate, tangible bodies.
Most early Latter Day Saints
came from a Protestant
background, believing in the doctrine of Trinity that had been developed
during the early centuries of Christianity. Before about
1835, Mormon theological teachings were similar to that established view.[1] However, Smith's teachings
regarding the nature of the Godhead developed during his lifetime, becoming
most fully elaborated in the few years prior to his murder in 1844. Beginning
as an unelaborated description of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as being
"One", Smith taught that the Father and the Son were distinct
personal members of the Godhead as early as 1832.[2] Smith's public teachings later
described the Father and Son as possessing distinct physical bodies, being one
together with the Holy Ghost, not in material substance, but in spirit, glory,
and purpose–a view sometimes called social trinitarianism.[3]
Mormons view their
concept of the Godhead as a restoration of original Christian doctrine as
taught by Christ and the apostles. Elements of this doctrine were revealed
gradually over time to Smith. Mormons teach that in the centuries following the
death of the apostles, views on God's nature began to change as theologians
developed doctrines and practices, though they had not been called as prophets
designated to receive revelation for the church. Mormons see the strong
influence of Greek culture and philosophy[4] (hellenization) during
this period as contributing to a departure from the traditional Judeo-Christian
view of a corporeal God in whose image and likeness mankind was created.[5][6] These theologians began to define
God in terms of three persons, or hypostases, sharing one immaterial divine
substance, or ousia--a concept that found no backing in
scripture,[7] but closely mirrored elements of
Greek philosophy such as Neoplatonism.
Mormons believe that the development process leading up to the Trinity doctrine
left it vulnerable to human error, because it was not founded upon God's
established pattern of continued revelation
through prophets.
The Book of Mormon describes God the Father, his Son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost as being
"one", with Jesus appearing with a body of spirit before his birth,
and with a tangible body after his resurrection. The book describes the
"Spirit of the Lord" "in the form of a man" and speaking as
a man would.[8]
Prior to the birth
of Jesus, the book depicts him
as a spirit "without flesh and blood", with a spirit "body"
that looked the same as he would appear during his physical life.[9] Moreover, Jesus described himself
as follows: "Behold, I am he who was prepared from the foundation of the
world to redeem my people. Behold, I am Jesus Christ. I am the Father and the
Son. In me shall all mankind have life, and that eternally, even they who shall
believe on my name; and they shall become my sons and my daughters."[10] In another passage of The Book of Mormon, the prophet Abinadi stated,
"I
would that ye should understand that God himself shall come down among the
children of men, and shall redeem his people. And because he dwelleth in flesh
he shall be called the Son of God, and having subjected the flesh to the will
of the Father, being the Father and the Son—the Father, because he was
conceived by the power of God; and the Son, because of the flesh; thus becoming
the Father and Son—and they are one God, yea, the very Eternal Father of heaven
and of earth."[11]
After Jesus was
resurrected and ascended into heaven, The Book
of Mormon states that he visited a group of people in the Americas, who saw that he had
a resurrected, tangible body. During his visit, he was announced by the voice
of God the Father, and those present felt the Holy Spirit, but only the Son was
seen. Jesus is quoted,
"Father,
thou hast given them the Holy Ghost because they believe in me; and thou seest
that they believe in me because thou hearest them, and they pray unto me; and
they pray unto me because I am with them. And now Father, I pray unto thee for
them, and also for all those who shall believe on their words, that they may
believe in me, that I may be in them as thou, Father, art in me, that we may be
one."[12]
The Book of Mormon states that Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit are
"one."[13] The LDS Church interprets this
"oneness" as a metaphorical oneness in spirit,
purpose, and glory, rather than a physical or bodily unity. On the other
hand, some Latter Day
Saint sects, such as the Community of Christ,
consider The Book of Mormon to be
consistent with trinitarianism.
Some scholars have also suggested that the view of Jesus in The Book of Mormon is also consistent, or
perhaps most consistent, with
monotheistic Modalism.[14]
In 1835, Joseph Smith, Jr.
(with the involvement of Sidney
Rigdon), publicly taught the idea that Jesus Christ and God the Father were
two separate beings. In the Lectures on Faith, which had been taught in 1834 to the School of the
Prophets, the following doctrines were presented:
- That the Godhead consists of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (5:1c);
- That there are two "personages", the Father and the Son, that constitute the "supreme power over all things" (5:2a, Q&A section);
- That the Father is a "personage of spirit, glory, and power" (5:2c);
- That the Son is a "personage of tabernacle" (5:2d) who "possess[es] the same mind with the Father; which Mind is the Holy Spirit" (5:2j,k);
- That the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit constitute the "supreme power over all things" (5:2l);
- That "[T]hese three constitute the Godhead and are one: the Father and the Son possessing the same mind, the same wisdom, glory, power, and fullness;" (5:2m);
- That the Son is "filled with the fullness of the Mind of the Father, or in other words, the Spirit of the Father." (5:2o).
Though never part of
the official Mormon canon, Lectures on Faith were included as part of the 1835 Doctrine and Covenants. Having never been
accepted as binding doctrine, they were eventually removed from the Doctrine and Covenants by the LDS Church and
the Community of Christ. Most modern Latter Day Saints do
not accept the idea of a two-"personage" Godhead, with the Father as
a spirit and the Holy Spirit as the shared "mind" of the Father and
the Son. Moreover, many Latter
Day Saint apologists propose a reading of Lectures
on Faith that is consistent with Smith's earlier or later doctrines, by
putting various shadings on the meaning of personage
as used in the Lectures.
In 1838, Smith
published a narrative of his First
Vision, in which he described seeing both God the Father and a separate
Jesus Christ, similar in appearance to each other.
The Correct Theology (LDS) As per my personal bias:
Latter-day Saints
believe in the resurrected Jesus Christ, as depicted in the Christus statue in the North Visitors' Center on Temple Square in Salt Lake City
See also: Mormonism and
Christianity and Exaltation
(Mormonism)
The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints holds Joseph Smith's
explanation of the Godhead as official doctrine, which is to say that the Father and the Son have glorified
physical bodies, while the Holy
Ghost has only a body of spirit. The differences between the Mormon
doctrine of the Godhead and that of Trinitarianism have set Mormonism apart, for which
some Christian denominations reject Mormonism as a Christian Faith.
Leaders and
scriptural texts of the LDS Church affirm a belief in the Holy Trinity but use
the word "Godhead" (a term used by the Apostle Paul in Acts 17:29;
Romans 1:20, and Colossians 2:9) to distinguish their belief that the unity of
the Trinity relates to all attributes, except a physical unity of beings. The
Latter-day Saints believe that "The Father has a body of flesh and bones
as tangible as man’s; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh
and bones, but is a personage of Spirit."[21]
According to LDS
teachings, this theology is consistent with Smith's 1838 and subsequent
accounts of the First
Vision. These accounts state that Smith saw a vision of "two
personages," the Father and the Son.[22] Mormon critics view this 1838
account with skepticism, because Smith's earliest accounts of the First Vision
did not refer to the presence of two beings.[23] The church also teaches that its
theology is consistent with the Biblical account of the baptism of Jesus which
referred to signs from the Father and the Holy Spirit,[24] which the denomination interprets
as an indication that these two persons have distinct substance from Jesus.
Smith taught that
there is one Godhead and that humans can have a place, as joint-heirs with
Christ, if they follow the laws and ordinances of the gospel. This process of exaltation means
literally that humans can become full, complete, joint-heirs with Jesus and
can, if proven worthy, inherit all that he inherits. Though humanity has the
ability to become gods through the Atonement of Jesus, humanity will remain
eternally subject to God the Father.[citation needed] Among the resurrected, the righteous
souls receive great glory and return to live with God, being made perfect
through the atonement of Christ. Thus, "god" is a term for an
inheritor of the highest kingdom of God.[25]
LDS Church President
Gordon B. Hinckley
offered a declaration of belief wherein he reaffirmed the teachings of the LDS
Church regarding the distinct individuality and perfect unity of the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Ghost. He affirmed that God the Father is "the
Father of the spirits of all men," "the great Creator, the Ruler of
the universe," whose "love encompasses all of His children, and it is
His work and His glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of His
sons and daughters of all generations." He affirmed that Jesus Christ, the
Son of God and "the one perfect man to walk the earth," is the
"Firstborn of the Father and the only Begotten of the Father in the
flesh," and that He fulfilled Isaiah's prophecy that "his name shall
be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The
Prince of Peace." He affirmed, "He is the Savior and the Redeemer of
the world," through whose loving atoning sacrifice
is extended to "every son and daughter of God, the opportunity for eternal
life and exaltation in our Father’s kingdom, as we hearken to and obey His
commandments. [...] I worship Him as I worship His Father, in spirit and in
truth. [...] We approach the Father through the Son. He is our intercessor at
the throne of God." He affirmed that the Holy Ghost is a distinct spirit
being who is the Comforter and the Testifier of Truth, and that the
"perfect unity between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost that binds
these three into the oneness of the divine Godhead."[26]
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