Wednesday, April 27, 2005
Lesson 12 The Godhead
The Godhead
"If men do not comprehend the character of God, they do not comprehend themselves" (Teachings, 343)
It is important to know who and what God is. The Prophet Joseph Smith, in his lectures on Faith, said, “For faith could not center in a Being of whose existence we have no idea, because the idea of his existence in the first instance is essential to the exercise of faith in him.” Not only is knowing that God exists important but so is having “a correct idea of his character, perfections, and attributes”, for without it. “the minds of men could not have sufficient power with God to the exercise of faith necessary to the enjoyment of eternal life.” (Lectures on Faith, delivered to a school of the elders, Kirtland
However, there is a lot of confusion about God and who he is.
BYU scholar Stephen Robinson has pointed out that the LDS idea of God is one of the theological tensions that cause many other Christian denominations to fight against the church, as well as out rejection of the post-biblical creeds. (see Stephen E. Robinson, Are Mormons Christians? Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1991; Encyclopedia of Mormonism, ed. Daniel H. Ludlow, 4 vols., New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1992, s.v. “Apostasy,” “doctrine,” “God the Father,” and “Godhead”).
The Apostle Dallin H. Oaks spoke about the difference between our unique belief in God with other Christians. “[M]any Christians reject the idea of a tangible, personal God and a Godhead of three separate beings. They believe that God is a spirit and that the Godhead is only one God. In our view, these concepts are evidence of the falling away we call the Great Apostasy.” Elder Oaks contributes these nonscriptural terms as “the incomprehensible mystery of God” and “the mystery of the Holy Trinity” to Greek philosophy: “In the process of what we call the Apostasy, the tangible, personal God described in the Old and New Testaments was replaced by the abstract, incomprehensible deity defined by compromise with the speculative principles of Greek philosophy. The received language of the Bible remained, but the so-called “hidden meanings” of scriptural words were now explained in the vocabulary of a philosophy alien to their origins. In the language of that philosophy, God the Father ceased to be a Father in any but an allegorical sense. He ceased to exist as a comprehensible and compassionate being. And the separate identity of his Only Begotten Son was swallowed up in a philosophical abstraction that attempted to define a common substance and an incomprehensible relationship. These descriptions of a religious philosophy are surely undiplomatic, but I hasten to add that Latter-day Saints do not apply such criticism to the men and women who profess these beliefs. We believe that most religious leaders and followers are sincere believers who love God and understand and serve him to the best of their abilities. We are indebted to the men and women who kept the light of faith and learning alive through the centuries to the present day. We have only to contrast the lesser light that exists among peoples unfamiliar with the names of God and Jesus Christ to realize the great contribution made by Christian teachers through the ages. We honor them as servants of God.”
Book of Mormon Christology
Mosiah 15:1-4 “God himself shall come down among the children of men . . . 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 the Son…And they are one God, yea, the very Eternal Father of heaven and of earth.”
Some believe Abinadi's Christology is incompatible with current Latter-day Saint Christology. Even if you accept the ideology that the former and the latter are different, a differing Christology does not mean a contradictory Christology. (This verse assumes a separation of Father and Son by the use of the pronoun ‘they’.) We will look at what the confusion is and attempt at clearing it up by looking at what we as Latter-Day Saints believe.
What do we believe? The first Article of Faith states “We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.” The distinctness of the Godhead is made even more clear in Doctrine and Covenants 130:22 “The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as mand’s; the Son also: but the Holy Ghost has a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell with in us.”
Joseph Smith said in a Sabbath day address in Nauvoo (11June 1943), “Any person that had seen the heavens opened knows that there are three personages in the heavens who hold the keys of power, and one presides over all.”
President Hinkley has said “The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are distinct beings but they are one in purpose and effort. They are united as one in bringing to pass the grand, divine plan for the salvation and exaltation of the children of God. (John 17:20-21) It is perfect unity between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost that binds these three into the oneness of the divine Godhead.” (The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, booklet [
Are We Polytheists?
We love and worship both Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ (though nowhere in our doctrine does it say that we worship the Holy Ghost necessarily.). From Mormon.org “We love Christ. We worship Christ. He is our example and our Savior.” (Emphasis added) The doctrine of the Godhead begs the question of polytheism; “Because you guys believe in multiple Gods, isn’t that blasphemous or anti-monotheistic?” It should be pointed out that this doctrine of the Godhead isn’t polytheistic, but a belief in three all powerful Gods who are one in purpose. I would avoid using any labels like these however because of how different, difficult and loaded the terms are. In explaining and understanding our belief in God, we believe, as a revealed word of God, the doctrine of the Godhead isn’t blasphemous but beautiful. The fact that Jesus and the Holy Ghost both are considered Gods does not somehow take away from the Supremacy of Eloheim, nor from Their essential oneness. Here is what some LDS scholars and General Authorities have said on the matter:
- “The Latter-day Saints, who believe in the Godhead, are no more polytheistic than are Christians who believe in the Trinity. God and Christ are the objects of our worship. Even though Mormons believe in the ultimate deification of man, I am unaware of any reference in LDS literature that speaks of worshiping any being other than the ones within the Godhead. Latter-day Saints believe in "one God" in the sense that they love and serve one Godhead, one divine presidency, each of whom possesses all of the attributes of Godhood.” Robert Millet, The Mormon Faith: A New Look at Christianity
- “Primitive and pagan peoples often believe in and worship many supposed gods. They imagine that there are gods of birth, marriage, and death, of war and peace, of the mountains, forests, and plains, and so forth. It is falsely supposed by uninspired religious scholars that Yahweh or Jehovah was the tribal God of the Hebrew peoples, that he gradually came to have pre-eminence over the gods of other nations, and that he was finally accepted as the One Supreme Being. The fact is, however, that monotheism did not grow out of polytheism, rather polytheistic concepts are apostate perversions of the original truth about God which was revealed to Adam and the ancient patriarchs. It should be remembered that polytheism has reference to pagan deities to whom reverence, devotion, and worship are given. It is not to be confused with the gospel truth that there are "gods many, and lords many, But to us there is but one God, the Father, and one Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Cor. 8:4-7.) The saints are not polytheists.” Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine
One in Purpose
Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, while distinct beings, are still one in a very important sense that I believe all Christians should be able to agree on. In John 17 Jesus prays in verse 11; “Holy Father keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may one, as we are.” Verse 20-22 continue “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as though, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou has sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them that they may be one, even as we are one.” It is clear from these verses that Heavenly Father and Jesus are one. However, you have to really distort the scriptures to make that oneness have a metaphysical meaning. Jesus is praying that His disciples will be one with both Him and the Father. For Latter-Day Saints, this a beautiful doctrine of coming unto God and being unified with Them, one in purpose. How weird is it if this somehow meant that Jesus was praying for us to physically become one with God, like some sort of human transformer. This is God’s doctrine and he has given it to us so that “[Y]ou may understand and know how to worship, and know what you worship, that you may come unto the Father in my name, and in due time receive of his fullness.” (D&C 93:19)
Eloheim is the Father of Our Spirits
Eloheim will always be our Eternal Father in Heaven because he is the Father of our spirits. From the church sponsored website Mormon.org:
“Jesus taught that God is “Our Father which art in heaven” (Matthew 6:9). We call God Heavenly Father because He is the Father of our spirits.”
- Psalms 82:6 “All of you are children of the most High.”
- Acts 17:29 “We are the offspring of God.”
- Gen. 1:26 “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.”
- 1 Corinthians 8:5-6 “But to us there is but one God, the Father.”
- Philippians 2:5-6 “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God.”
- Romans 8:16-17 “The spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ”
- “The Father is the one true God. This thing is certain: no one will ever ascend above Him; no one will ever replace Him. Nor will anything ever change the relationship that we, His literal offspring, have with Him. He is Eloheim, the Father. He is God. Of Him there is only one. We revere our Father and our God; we worship Him.” Boyd K Packer “The Pattern of Our Parentage” Ensign, Nov. 1984
Jesus is Jehovah, God of the Old Testament
This may be one of the most confusing things about this discussion. Many times in the Old Testament, Jehovah (not Elohim) speaks as though he is Elohim. Is Jehovah of the Old Testament, who would become Jesus Christ of the New, the Father? Yes. Is He still distinct from Elohim? Yes. Is Elohim still our Eternal Father? Yes. Is this a contradiction? No. There are different meanings of the term Father, and Jesus inhabits many of them while still being subordinate to His Father in Heaven. Lets look at what the First presidency said about the Jesus as Father back in 1916.
1. Father as Creator
“One “scriptural meaning of “Father” is that of Creator; e.g., in passages referring to any one of the Godhead as “the Father of the heavens and of the earth, and all things that in them are” (Ether 4:7; see also Alma 11:38–39; Mosiah 15:4). God is not the Father of the earth as one of the worlds in space, nor of the heavenly bodies in whole or in part, not of the inanimate objects and the plants and the animals upon the earth, in the literal sense in which He is the Father of the spirits of mankind. Therefore, scriptures that refer to God in any way as the Father of the heavens and the earth are to be understood as signifying that God is the Maker, the Organizer, the Creator of the heavens and the earth. With this meaning, as the context shows in every case, Jehovah, who is Jesus Christ the Son of Elohim, is called “the Father,” and even “the very Eternal Father of heaven and of earth” (see passages before cited and also Mosiah 16:15). With analogous meaning Jesus Christ is called “The Everlasting Father” (Isa. 9:6; compare 2 Ne. 19:6). The descriptive titles “Everlasting” and “Eternal” in the foregoing texts are synonymous. That Jesus Christ, whom we also know as Jehovah, was the executive of the Father, Elohim, in the work of creation is set forth in the book Jesus the Christ, chapter 4 [by James E. Talmage]. Jesus Christ, being the Creator, is consistently called the Father of heaven and earth in the sense explained above; and since His creations are of eternal quality He is very properly called the Eternal Father of heaven and earth.”
2. Jesus Christ as Father of those who abide in His Gospel
“Jesus Christ is regarded as the “Father” has reference to the relationship between Him and those who accept His gospel and thereby become heirs of eternal life.” Here are two scripture references that illustrate this:
“Behold, I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I am the life and the light of the world. “I am the same who came unto mine own and mine own received me not; “But verily, verily, I say unto you, that as many as receive me, to them will I give power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on my name. Amen” (D&C 11:28–30). To Orson Pratt the Lord spoke through Joseph the seer, in 1830: “My son Orson, hearken and hear and behold what I, the Lord God, shall say unto you, even Jesus Christ your Redeemer; “The light and the life of the world, a light which shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehendeth it not; “Who so loved the world that he gave his own life, that as many as would believe might become the sons of God. Wherefore you are my son” (D&C 34:1–3).”
3. Jesus Christ as Father by Divine Investiture of Authority
“[T]he title “Father” to Jesus Christ is found in the fact that in all His dealings with the human family Jesus the Son has represented and yet represents Elohim His Father in power and authority. This is true of Christ in His preexistent, antemortal, or unembodied state, in the which He was known as Jehovah; also during His embodiment in the flesh; and during His labors as a disembodied spirit in the realm of the dead; and since that period in His resurrected state. To the Jews He said, “I and my Father are one” (John 10:30; see also John 17:11, 22); yet He declared, “My Father is greater than I” (John 14:28), and further, “I am come in my Father’s name” (John 5:43; see also John 10:25). The same truth was declared by Christ Himself to the Nephites (see 3 Ne. 20:35; 3 Ne. 28:10), and has been reaffirmed by revelation in the present dispensation (D&C 50:43). Thus the Father placed His name upon the Son; and Jesus Christ spoke and ministered in and through the Father’s name; and so far as power, authority, and godship are concerned His words and acts were and are those of the Father.
“We read, by way of analogy, that God placed His name upon or in the angel who was assigned to special ministry unto the people of
“The ancient Apostle John was visited by an angel who ministered and spoke in the name of Jesus Christ. As we read, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John” (Rev. 1:1). John was about to worship the angelic being who spoke in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, but was forbidden: “And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things. “Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not; for I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God” (Rev. 22:8–9).And then the angel continued to speak as though he were the Lord Himself: “And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last” (Rev. 22:12–13)…
“Jesus Christ is not the Father of the spirits who have taken or yet shall take bodies upon this earth, for He is one of them. He is The Son, as they are sons or daughters of Elohim. So far as the stages of eternal progression and attainment have been made known through divine revelation, we are to understand that only resurrected and glorified beings can become parents of spirit offspring. Only such exalted souls have reached maturity in the appointed course of eternal life; and the spirits born to them in the eternal worlds will pass in due sequence through the several stages or estates by which the glorified parents have attained exaltation.” (A Doctrinal Exposition by the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles from Improvement Era, Aug. 1916, 934–42; capitalization, punctuation, paragraphing, and spelling standardized.)
This chart may help illustrate how Jesus and Jehovah are one and the same:
| Jehovah is Jesus | ||
| | Old Testament | New Testament |
| Jehovah/ Jesus Creator of the World | Isaiah 45:11-12 | John1:1,3 |
| Jehovah/Jesus is Savior | Hosea 13:4 | Luke 2:11 |
| Jehovah/ Jesus is Redeemer | Isaiah 43:14 | Galations 3:13 |
| Jesus/ Jehovah will deliver from death | Hosea 13:14 | 1 Corinthians 15:20-22 |
| Jews to Look on Jehovah/Jesus, who was pierced. | Zechariah 12:10 | John 19:34, 36 |
| Jehovah/ Jesus Followed | Exodus 13:21-22 | 1 Corinthians 10:1-4 |
| Jehovah/Jesus is Husband/ Bridegroom | Isaiah 44:6 | Revelations 1:8 |
| Jehovah/Jesus is First and Last | Isaiah 44:6 | Revelations 1:8 |
More Biblical Confirmation
The word used for God over 2,500 times in the Bible (See Genesis 1:1, for example) is the word Elohim. This Hebrew word broken up means God (elo) and him is a masculine plural or many! (Parenthetically, Hebrew and Arabic are both Semitic languages and the Arabic word for God, Allah, and the Hebrew word, Elo, are virtually the same word.)
| Distinct Attributes of God As Evident in Each Person of the Godhead | |||
| | The Father | Jesus Christ | The Holy Spirit |
| omnipotent (all-powerful) | Genesis 18:14 | Daniel 7:13, 14 | Psalms 104:30 |
| | | | |
| omniscient (all-knowing) | 1 Chronicles 28:9 | John 4:25, 26, 29; 6:64; He knew their thoughts: He knew the future: | Isaiah 40:13 |
| immutable (unchanging) | Malachi 3:6 | Hebrews 13:8 | 1 Corinthians 12:4 |
| eternal (everlasting) | Genesis 21:33 | Isaiah 44:6; 48:12 pre-existent to creation: | Hebrews 9:14 |
THE GODHEAD: Three Distinct Personalities
.I. The Father is a distinct personality apart from the Spirit:
Matthew 3:16, 17
Isaiah 48:16
II. The Spirit is a distinct personality apart from the Son:
Matthew Luke 12:10
John 16:7, 13, 14
1 John 5:6-8
III. The Son is a distinct personality apart from the Father:
Matthew 10:32; 11:25-27
Mark 13:32
Luke 17:5
John 5:19, 20, 30; 6:37-39; 14:12, 28, 31; 16:5, 16; 32:17
Ephesians 1:17, 20
1 Corinthians 3:23; 11:3
Colossians 3:1
Hebrews 1:1-3
More Distinctions Between the Members of the Godhead in the New Testament
Matthew 1:20, 21 "the Lord (the Father) ... the Holy Spirit ... Jesus"
Matthew 3:16, 17 "Jesus ... the Spirit of God ... a Voice from heaven (the Father)"
Matthew 12:18 "I ... My Spirit ... on Him"
Matthew 22:42, 43 "Christ ... the Spirit ... Lord (the Father)"
Mark 1:9-11 "Jesus ... the Spirit ... a Voice from heaven ... My beloved Son"
Mark 12:35, 36 "Christ ... the Holy Spirit ... the Lord (the Father)"
Luke 1:35 "the Holy Spirit ... the Highest ... the Son of God"
Luke 2:26, 27 "the Holy Spirit ... Christ ... Jesus"
Luke 3:21, 22 "Jesus ... the Holy Spirit ... a Voice from heaven ... My beloved Son"
Luke 10:21 "Jesus ... the Spirit ... Father"
Luke 12:9, 10 "God ... the Son ... the Holy Spirit"
John 3:5 "Jesus ... the Spirit ... God"
John 3:34, 35 "God ... the Spirit ... the Father ... the Son"
John 4:24, 25 "God ... a Spirit ... Messiah ... Christ"
John 14:16, 17, 26 "the Comforter ... the Father ... in My name"
John 15:26 "the Comforter ... the Father ... of Me"
John 20:21, 22 "Jesus ... Father ... the Holy Spirit"
Acts 2:32, 33 "Jesus ... God ... the Father ... the Holy Spirit"
Acts 2:38, 39 "Jesus Christ ... the Holy Spirit ... God"
Acts 4:30, 31 "Jesus ... the Holy Spirit ... God"
Acts 5:31, 32 "God ... a Prince and Savior ... the Holy Spirit"
Acts 7:55 "the Holy Spirit ... Jesus ... God"
Acts 8:14-16 "God ... the Holy Spirit ... Jesus"
Acts 10:38 "God ... Jesus ... the Holy Spirit"
Acts 10:46-48 "God ... the Holy Spirit ... the Lord"
Acts 11:16, 17 "the Lord ... the Holy Spirit ... God ... the Lord Jesus Christ"
Acts 20:21-23 "God ... Jesus ... the Holy Spirit"
Romans 1:1, 3, 4 "God ... His Son, Jesus Christ ... the Spirit"
Romans 5:5, 6 "God ... the Holy Spirit ... Christ"
Romans 8:2, 3 "the Spirit ... Jesus ... God ... His own Son"
Romans 8:8, 9 "God ... the Spirit ... the Spirit of Christ"
Romans 8:16, 17 "the Spirit ... God ... Christ"
Romans 14:17, 18 "the Holy Spirit ... Christ ... God"
Romans 15:12, 13 "Root of Jesse (Jesus) ... God ... Holy Spirit"
Romans 15:16 "Jesus ... God ... the Holy Spirit"
Romans 15:30 "The Lord Jesus Christ ... the Spirit ... God"
1 Corinthians 6:10, 11 "God ... the Lord Jesus ... the Spirit"
1 Corinthians 12:4-6 "Spirit ... Lord ... God"
1 Corinthians 7:39, 40 "the Lord Jesus ... the Spirit ... God"
1 Corinthians 8:2 "the Lord Jesus ... the Spirit ... God"
2 Corinthians 3:3, 4 "the Spirit ... Christ ... God"
2 Corinthians 13:14 "Jesus ... God ... the Holy Spirit"
2 Corinthians 5:5, 6 "God ... the Spirit ... the Lord (Jesus)"
Galatians 4:6, 7 "God ... the Spirit ... Son ... Father ... God ... Christ"
Ephesians 2:18 "through Him (Jesus) ... Spirit ... the Father"
Ephesians 2:21, 22 "the Lord ... God ... the Spirit"
Ephesians 3:14, 16 "the Father ... Jesus Christ ... His Spirit"
Ephesians 4:4-6 "Spirit ... Lord (Jesus) ... God and Father"
Ephesians 5:18-20 "Spirit ... Lord (Jesus) ... God ... Father"
Colossians 1:6-8 "God ... Christ ... Spirit"
1 Thessalonians 4:6-8 "Lord (Jesus) ... God ... Holy Spirit"
1 Thessalonians 5:18, 19 "God ... Father ... Christ ... Jesus ... Spirit"
2 Thessalonians 2:13, 14 "God ... Lord ... God ... Spirit ... Lord Jesus Christ"
Titus 3:4-6 "God ... Holy Spirit ... Jesus Christ"
Hebrews 2:3, 4 "Lord (Jesus) ... God ... Holy Spirit"
Hebrews 3:4, 6, 7 "God ... Christ ... Holy Spirit"
Hebrews 6:4-6 "Holy Spirit ... God ... Son"
Hebrews 9:14 "Christ ... Spirit ... God"
Hebrews 10:29-31 "Son of God ... Spirit ... Lord ... God"
1 Peter 1:2 "God the Father ... Spirit ... Jesus Christ"
1 Peter 3:18 "Christ ... God ... Spirit"
1 Peter 4:14 "Christ ... Spirit ... God"
2 Peter 1:21 "God ... Holy Spirit ... Lord (Jesus)"
2 Peter 2:1 "God ... Holy Spirit ... Lord (Jesus)"
1 John 4:2 "Spirit ... Jesus ... God"
1 John 4:13, 14 "Spirit ... Father ... Son ... Savior"
1 John 5:7 "Father ... Word ... Holy Spirit"
Jude 20, 21 "the Holy Spirit ... God ... Lord ... Jesus Christ"
Revelation 1:9, 10 "Jesus Christ ... God ... Jesus Christ ... Spirit"
Revelation 3:5-7 "Father ... Spirit ... He that hath the key of David (Jesus)"
Revelation 14:12, 13 "God ... Jesus ... Lord ... Spirit"
Revelation 21:9, 10 "Lamb ... Spirit ... God"
Revelation 22:16-18 "the offspring of David (Jesus) ... Spirit ... God"
The Doctrine of the Godhead and the Divine Progression of Man Taught Anciently
- “As man now is, God once was; As God now is, man may be” –Lorenzo Snow (President Snow often referred to this couplet as having been revealed to him by inspiration during the Nauvoo period of the church. See, for example, Deseret Weekly, 3 November 1894, 610)
- “Do we cast blame on him [God] because we were not made gods from the beginning, but were at first created merely as men, and then later as gods? Although God has adopted this course out of his pure benevolence, that no one may charge him with discrimination or stinginess, he declares, ‘I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are sons of the Most High.’ . . . For it was necessary at first that nature be exhibited, then after that what was mortal would be conquered and swallowed up in immortality.” - Irenaeus, bishop of
- "Yea, I say, the Word of God became a man so that you might learn from a man how to become a god." - Clement of
- In the beginning men "were made like God, free from suffering and death," and that they are thus "deemed worthy of becoming gods and of having power to become sons of the highest." - Justin Martyr (about a.d. 100-165 Dialogue with Trypho, 124)
- "The Word was made flesh in order that we might be enabled to be made gods. . . . Just as the Lord, putting on the body, became a man, so also we men are both deified through his flesh, and henceforth inherit everlasting life… He became man that we might be made divine." (Athanasius, Against the Aryans, 1.39, 3.34., On the Incarnation, 54.)
- "But he himself that justifies also deifies, for by justifying he makes sons of God. 'For he has given them power to become the sons of God' [John 1:12]. If then we have been made sons of god, we have also been made gods." Augustine of Hippo a.d. 354-430, On the Psalms, 50.2.)
- An anti-Christian writer of the day (A.D. 178) attacked the Christians for their teachings of a comprehensible God who had a body in the image of man’s:
The Christians say that God has hands, a mouth, and a voice; they are always proclaiming that “God said this” or “God spoke.” “The heavens declare the work of his hands,” they say. I can only comment that such a God is no God at all, for God has neither hands, mouth, or voice, nor any characteristics of which we know. And they say that God made man in his own image, failing to realize that God is not at all like a man, nor vice versa; God resembles no form known to us. They say that God has form, namely the form Logos, who became flesh in Jesus Christ. But we know that God is without shape, without color. They say that God moved above the waters he created-but we know that it is contrary to the nature of God to move. Their absurd doctrines even contain references to God walking about the garden he created for man; and they speak of him being angry, jealous, moved to repentance, sorry, sleepy-in short, as being in every respect more a man than a God. They have not read Plato, who teaches us in the Republic, that God (the Good) does not even participate in being. (Celsus, On the True Doctrine: A Discourse Against the Christians, translated by R. Joseph Hoffman (New York University Press, 1987)
- "It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship…" The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses, rev. ed. (New York: Macmillan, Collier Books, 1980), 18.
- “The command Be ye perfect is not idealistic gas. Nor is it a command to do the impossible. He is going to make us into creatures that can obey that command. He said (in the Bible) that we were "gods" and He is going to make good His words. If we let Him-for we can prevent Him, if we choose-He will make the feeblest and filthiest of us into a god or goddess, dazzling, radiant, immortal creature, pulsating all through with such energy and joy and wisdom and love as we cannot now imagine, a bright stainless mirror which reflects back to God perfectly (though, of course, on a smaller scale) His own boundless power and delight and goodness. The process will be long and in parts very painful; but that is what we are in for. Nothing less. He meant what He said.” Lewis, Mere Christianity, 174–75.
Conclusion:
With President Hinkley I bare witness that it is a “Miracle of miracles and wonder of wonders, they are interested in us, and we are the substance of their great concern. They are available to each of us. We approach the Father through the Son. He is our intercessor at the throne of God. How marvelous it is that we may so speak to the Father in the name of the Son.
I bear witness of these great, transcendent truths. And I do so by the gift and power of the Holy Ghost.”
