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An image of God the Father by Julius Schnorr, 1860
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In orthodox Mormonism, the term God generally refers to the biblical God the Father, whom Latter Day Saints also refer to as Elohim or Heavenly Father, while the term Godhead refers to a council of three distinct divine persons consisting of God the Father, Jesus Christ (his firstborn Son, whom Latter Day Saints refer to as Jehovah), and the Holy Ghost. However, in Latter Day Saint theology the term God may also refer to, in some contexts, the Godhead as a whole or to each member individually.

Latter Day Saints believe that the Father, Son and Holy Ghost are three distinct beings, and that the Father and Jesus have perfected, glorified, physical bodies, while the Holy Ghost is a spirit without a physical body. Latter Day Saints also believe that there are other gods and goddesses outside the Godhead, such as a Heavenly Mother—who is married to God the Father—and that faithful Latter-day Saints may attain godhood in the afterlife. The term Heavenly Parents is used to refer collectively to the divine partnership of Heavenly Father and a Heavenly Mother. Joseph Smith taught that God was once a man on another planet before being exalted to Godhood.

This conception differs from the traditional Christian Trinity in several ways, one of which is that Mormonism has not adopted or continued to hold the doctrine of the Nicene Creed, that the Father, Son and Holy Ghost are of the same substance or being. Also, Mormonism teaches that the intelligence dwelling in each human is coeternal with God. Mormons use the term omnipotent to describe God, and regard him as the creator: they understand him as being almighty and eternal but subject to eternal natural law which governs intelligence, justice and the eternal nature of matter (i.e. God organized the world but did not create it from nothing). The Mormon conception of God also differs substantially from the Jewish tradition of ethical monotheism in which Elohim (אֱלֹהִים) is a completely different conception.

This description of God represents the Mormon orthodoxy, formalized in 1915 based on earlier teachings. Other currently existing and historical branches of Mormonism have adopted different views of God, such as the Adam–God doctrine and Trinitarianism.

Early Latter Day Saint concepts

In his 1838 personal history, Joseph Smith wrote that he had seen two personages in the spring of 1820. In 1843, Smith stated that these personages, God the Father and Jesus Christ, 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. Founder Joseph Smith's teachings regarding the nature of the Godhead changed during his lifetime, becoming most fully developed 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. Smith's public teachings 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. Latter-day Saint scholar David L. Paulsen refers to this oneness as constituting "one perfectly united, and mutually indwelling, divine community". Together with other Mormon and non-Mormon scholars such as Richard Bushman, Craig Blomberg, and Stephen H. Webb, they have described this oneness of the Godhead as social trinitarianism, while Mormon critic Robert M. Bowman Jr. prefers tritheism or "ethical polytheism".

Mormons view their concept of the Godhead as a restoration of original Christian doctrine as taught by Christ and the Apostles. Mormons see the strong influence of Greek culture and philosophy (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. These theologians began to define God in terms of three persons, or hypostases, sharing one immaterial divine substance, or ousia—a concept that some claim found no backing in scripture, but closely mirrored elements of Greek philosophy such as Neoplatonism.

Teachings during Joseph Smith's lifetime

The Book of Mormon teaches that God the Father, and his Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are "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.

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. 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." In another passage of the Book of Mormon, the prophet Abinadi states,

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.

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 as saying,

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.

The Book of Mormon states that Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit are "one". Some scholars have suggested that the view of Jesus in the Book of Mormon is also consistent, or perhaps most consistent, with monotheistic Modalism.

Even so, some historians have debated about Smith's early conception of God. According to Boyd Kirkland and Thomas Alexander, in the early-to-mid-1830s Smith viewed God the Father as a spirit. However, Terryl Givens and Brian Hauglid argue that although Smith sometimes spoke of God using trinitarian language, revelations he dictated as early as 1830 described God as an embodied being. Catholic philosopher Stephen H. Webb describes Smith having had a "corporeal and anthropomorphic understanding of God" evinced in his 1830 Book of Moses that described God as a physical being who literally resembles human beings. Steven C. Harper states that because, in the 1830s, Smith privately described to some of his followers his 1820 first vision as a theophany of "two divine, corporeal beings," "its implications for the trinity and materiality of God were asserted that early".

In public sermons later in Smith's life, he began to describe what he thought was the true nature of the Godhead in much greater detail. In 1843, Smith described both God the Father and God the Son as having distinct physical bodies and the Holy Spirit being a distinct yet incorporeal being, as well: "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. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us." Although the verse is included in canonized LDS scripture, some dispute its authenticity—particularly that of the Holy Ghost dwelling in humans since the teaching was inconsistent with the manuscript source's wording about the Holy Ghost and underwent various revisions and modifications before finalization.

During this period, Smith also introduced a theology that could support the existence of a Heavenly Mother. The primary source for this theology is the sermon he delivered at the funeral of King Follett (commonly called the King Follett Discourse). The LDS Church believes that a Heavenly Mother exists, but very little is acknowledged or known beyond her existence or the number of Heavenly Mothers as early LDS leaders did teach that it was "clearly shown that God the Father had a plurality of wives."

Later teachings

Lorenzo Snow succinctly summarized another portion of the doctrine explained in the King Follett Discourse using a couplet: "As man now is, God once was: / As God now is, man may be."

Denominational teachings

LDS Church

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.
Main articles: List of Latter Day Saint movement topics and Beliefs and practices of the LDS Church See also: Mormonism and Christianity and Exaltation (Mormonism)

The LDS Church holds that the Father and the Son have glorified physical bodies, while the Holy Ghost has only a body of spirit.

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. Church members 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."

This theology is consistent with Smith's 1838 account of the First Vision. This account, published as part of the church's Pearl of Great Price states that Smith saw a vision of "two personages", the Father and the Son. 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. 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, 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, through grace, 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. Leaders have taught that God is infinitely loving, though his love "cannot correctly be characterized as unconditional." Though humanity has the ability to become gods through the Atonement of Jesus, these exalted beings will remain eternally subject to God the Father and "will always worship" him. 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.

Community of Christ

See also: Community of Christ (differentiation from LDS Church)

The Community of Christ, formerly the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, affirms the doctrine of the trinity. The trinity is described in Community of Christ as a "living God who meets us in the testimony of Israel, is revealed in Jesus Christ, and moves through all creation as the Holy Spirit... community of three persons." This belief is inconsistent with the earliest versions of the text of the Book of Mormon and the First Vision accounts.

Plurality of gods

See also: Exaltation (LDS Church)

Latter Day Saints believe God's children have the potential to live in his presence, continue as families, become gods, create worlds, and have spirit children over which they will govern. This is commonly called exaltation within the LDS Church. Leaders have also taught that humans are "gods in embryo". Although Mormonism proclaims the existence of many gods, it does not advocate for the worship of any besides Earth's God. Some leaders have taught that God was once a mortal human with his own God. Church founder Joseph Smith taught in his famous King Follett discourse that God was the son of a Father, suggesting a cycle of gods that continues for eternity. Other more modern leaders and church publications have taught similar things.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Davies, Douglas J. (2003). "Divine–human transformations". An Introduction to Mormonism. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. pp. 65–90. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511610028.004. ISBN 978-0-511-61002-8. OCLC 438764483. S2CID 146238056.
  2. First Presidency; Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (April 2002). "Gospel Classics: The Father and the Son". Ensign. LDS Church. Retrieved February 10, 2019.
  3. ^ Robinson, Stephen E.; Burgon, Glade L.; Turner, Rodney; Largey, Dennis L. (1992), "God the Father", in Ludlow, Daniel H. (ed.), Encyclopedia of Mormonism, New York: Macmillan Publishing, pp. 548–552, ISBN 0-02-879602-0, OCLC 24502140, retrieved May 7, 2021 – via Harold B. Lee Library
  4. ^ Mason, Patrick Q. (September 3, 2015). "Mormonism". Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.013.75. ISBN 978-0-19-934037-8. Archived from the original on November 30, 2018. Retrieved May 15, 2021.
  5. Dahl, Paul E. (1992), "Godhead", in Ludlow, Daniel H. (ed.), Encyclopedia of Mormonism, New York: Macmillan Publishing, pp. 552–553, ISBN 0-02-879602-0, OCLC 24502140, retrieved May 7, 2021 – via Harold B. Lee Library
  6. ^ Carter, K. Codell (1992). "Godhood". In Ludlow, Daniel H. (ed.). Encyclopedia of Mormonism. New York City: Macmillan Publishing. pp. 553, 555. ISBN 978-0-02-904040-9. They will dwell again with God the Father, and live and act like him in endless worlds of happiness  above all they will have the power of procreating endless lives.  Those who become like him will likewise contribute to this eternal process by adding further spirit offspring to the eternal family.
  7. Noyce, David (November 14, 2016). "Meet the (heavenly) parents: Mormon leaders are mentioning this divine duo more often". The Salt Lake Tribune.
  8. McArthur, Krishna; Spalding, Bethany Brady (April 1, 2022). "Guides to Heavenly Mother". Dialogue. 55 (1): 135–147. doi:10.5406/15549399.55.1.06. S2CID 247958856.
  9. Terry, Roger (December 1, 2021). "Getting the Cosmology Right". Dialogue. 54 (4): 75. doi:10.5406/15549399.54.4.071. ISSN 0012-2157.
  10. Chan, Dawn (April 20, 2016). "How to Become a God". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X.
  11. "Gospel Principles Chapter 47: Exaltation". ChurchofJesusChrist.org. Retrieved October 17, 2017.
  12. Brown, Gayle O. (1992), "Premortal Life", in Ludlow, Daniel H. (ed.), Encyclopedia of Mormonism, New York: Macmillan Publishing, pp. 1123–1125, ISBN 0-02-879602-0, OCLC 24502140, retrieved May 7, 2021 – via Harold B. Lee Library
  13. Paulsen, David L. (1992), "Omnipotent God; Omnipresence of God; Omniscience of God", in Ludlow, Daniel H. (ed.), Encyclopedia of Mormonism, New York: Macmillan Publishing, p. 1030, ISBN 0-02-879602-0, OCLC 24502140, retrieved May 7, 2021 – via Harold B. Lee Library
  14. Widmer (2000)
  15. Alexander (1980, online p. 1)
  16. Frederick, Nicholas J. (2016). The Bible, Mormon scripture, and the rhetoric of allusivity. Madison, New Jersey: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. p. 38. ISBN 978-1-61147-906-5.
  17. Doctrine and Covenants 76:12–24
  18. ^ Bushman (2008, p. 6) (Mormons believe in what is sometimes called "social trinitarianism," meaning the three beings of the Godhead are blended in heart and mind like extremely close friends, but are not one being); Early passages in Smith's revelations could be interpreted as traditionally trinitarian, but the doctrine of three Gods in one soon gave way to a Father, Son and Holy Ghost, three distinct beings united in purpose and will but not in substance. See also: Doctrine and Covenants 130:22.
  19. ^ Bowman, Robert M. Jr. (November 16, 2016). "Social Trinitarianism and Mormon Theology". Evangelical Theological Society Annual Convention.
  20. Salai, Sean S.J. (August 19, 2015). "Catholic and Mormon: Author Q&A with Professor Stephen H. Webb". America. Retrieved August 19, 2015. Mormons emphasize the relative independence of the three divine persons of the Trinity. Many theologians today, whatever their church tradition, are developing what is called a "social Trinity," which is very similar to Mormonism in seeing the Trinity as a society of persons rather than a single immaterial substance defined by a set of internal relations.
  21. Coleman, Gary J. (April 2007). "Mom, Are We Christians?". Ensign. LDS Church. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
  22. Butler, Shanna (February 2005). "What Happened to Christ's Church?". Liahona. LDS Church. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
  23. Harrell, Charles R. (2011). This Is My Doctrine: The Development of Mormon Theology. Draper, Utah: Greg Kofford Books. ISBN 978-1-58958-103-6 – via Google Books.
  24. Draper, Richard D. (April 1984). "The Reality of the Resurrection". Ensign. LDS Church. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
  25. Thomas Mozley "The Creed, or a Philosophy" 1893 p 303.
  26. The wording of the Council of Constantinople (360) prohibited use of the terms substance, essence, and ousia because they were not included in the scriptures. see: here (archived from the original on 11 August 2023). Retrieved 22 December 2023
  27. "History of Trinitarian Doctrines (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)". plato.stanford.edu. Stanford University. 3.3.2 Augustine. Retrieved October 17, 2017.
  28. "God, Godhead". ChurchofJesusChrist.org. Retrieved October 17, 2017.
  29. Ether 3:6–9
  30. 3rd Nephi 11
  31. 3rd Nephi 11:11
  32. Ether 3
  33. Ether 3:14
  34. Mosiah 15:1–4
  35. 3rd Nephi 19:22–23
  36. 3rd Nephi 11:36
  37. Widmer (2000, p. 6).
  38. Park, Benjamin E. (Summer 2010). "Salvation through a Tabernacle: Joseph Smith, Parley P. Pratt, and Early Mormon Theologies of Embodiment". Dialogue. 43 (2). University of Illinois Press: 1–44. doi:10.5406/dialjmormthou.43.2.0001. S2CID 171908868 – via Scholarly Publishing Collective.
  39. Bergera (1989, pp. 36, 53)
  40. Givens & Hauglid (2019, p. 73)
  41. Webb (2011, p. 254)
  42. Harper (2019, p. 55)
  43. Doctrine & Covenants 130:22
  44. "Sunday Evenings With The Doctrine and Covenants. Section 130. Part I. The Manuscript Source of D&C 130". Bycommonconsent.com. February 3, 2013. Retrieved October 17, 2017.
  45. Wilcox, Linda (June 30, 1992). "The Mormon Concept of a Mother in Heaven". Sisters in Spirit: Mormon Women in Historical and Cultural Perspective. Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press. p. 72. ISBN 0-252-06296-5.
  46. Wilcox Hammond, Linda (June 30, 1992). "The Mormon Concept of a Mother in Heaven". Sisters in Spirit: Mormon Women in Historical and Cultural Perspective. Champaign, Illinois: University of Illinois Press. p. 66. ISBN 0-252-06296-5 – via Google Books.
  47. Rosetti, Cristina (April 1, 2022). "'O My Mother': Mormon Fundamentalist Mothers in Heaven and Women's Authority". Dialogue. 55 (1). University of Illinois Press: 133. doi:10.5406/15549399.55.1.05. ISSN 0012-2157.
  48. Dana, Bruce E. (September 2004). The Eternal Father and His Son. Cedar Fort. p. 62. ISBN 1-55517-788-3. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
  49. Swanson, Vern G. (2013). "Christ and Polygamy". Dynasty of the Holy Grail: Mormonism's Holy Bloodline. Springville, UT: Cedar Fort. pp. 247–259. ISBN 978-1-4621-0404-8. Dr. William E. Phipps noted that the belief that 'Jesus married, and married often!' was used to encourage and promote the doctrine of polygamy amongst timid Latter-Day Saints ... By the late-1850s the idea that more than one woman was married to Jesus was widely accepted among Mormon circles. ... As if the concept of Christ's polygamy was not unsettling enough, Mormonism even taught in the nineteenth century that God the Father had a plurality of wives as well.
  50. Morris Brown, Samuel (December 1, 2011). In Heaven as It Is on Earth: Joseph Smith and the Early Mormon Conquest of Death. Oxford University Press. p. 266. ISBN 978-0-19-979368-6.
  51. Mouw, Richard J. (May 2016). "Mormons Approaching Orthodoxy". First Things. New York City: Institute on Religion and Public Life. ProQuest 9deca3393917d5a61d59857dcb107139.
  52. Givens, Terryl L. (November 3, 2014). Wrestling the Angel: The Foundations of Mormon Thought: Cosmos, God, Humanity. Vol. 1. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199794928.003.0008. ISBN 978-0-19-979492-8 – via Google Books.
  53. ^ Burton, Rulon T. (2004). We Believe: Doctrines and Principles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Tabernacle Books. ISBN 978-0-9748790-3-1 – via Internet Archive.
  54. "Comparing doctrines". The Denver Post. December 6, 2007.
  55. ^ Larson, Stan (July 1, 2014). "Another Look at Joseph Smith's First Vision" (PDF). Dialogue. 47 (2): 47. doi:10.5406/dialjmormthou.47.2.0037. ISSN 0012-2157. S2CID 171511992.
  56. Matthew 3:16–17
  57. ^ Hales, Brian (Fall 2012). "'A Continuation of the Seeds': Joseph Smith and Spirit Birth". Journal of Mormon History. 38 (4). University of Illinois Press: 105. doi:10.2307/23292634. JSTOR 23292634. S2CID 254493140.
  58. Ostler, Blake T. (March 1, 2006). Exploring Mormon Thought: Volume 2, The Problems of Theism and the Love of God. Greg Kofford Books. p. 19 – via Google Books.
  59. Noyce, David (March 17, 2022). "Is God's love 'unconditional'? Let the debate continue". The Salt Lake Tribune. Much of the chatter dates back to apostle Russell M. Nelson's pre-presidential piece titled "Divine Love" in 2003. 'While divine love can be called perfect, infinite, enduring and universal, it cannot correctly be characterized as unconditional,' he states. 'The word does not appear in the scriptures.'
  60. Piper, Matthew (February 28, 2014). "Essay explains Mormon teaching on 'becoming like God'". The Salt Lake Tribune.
  61. Noyce, David (April 11, 2016). "Your quick A-to-Z guide to Mormonism — Part II". The Salt Lake Tribune.
  62. Widmer (2000, p. 92)
  63. "Basic Beliefs". Community of Christ. Retrieved October 1, 2017.
  64. "Accounts of Joseph Smith's First Vision". The Joseph Smith Papers. Archived from the original on December 15, 2023. Retrieved December 22, 2023.
  65. Gospel Fundamentals (PDF) (2002 ed.). Salt Lake City: LDS Church. p. 201. They will receive everything our Father in Heaven has and will become like Him. They will even be able to have spirit children and make new worlds for them to live on, and do all the things our Father in Heaven has done.
  66. Boyd, George T. (1968). "A Mormon Concept of Man". Dialogue. 3 (1): 65. doi:10.2307/45226953. JSTOR 45226953. S2CID 254392103.
  67. Hagen, Kirk D. (Summer 2006). "Eternal Progression in a Multiverse: An Explorative Mormon Cosmology". Dialogue. 39 (2): 2. doi:10.2307/45227238. JSTOR 45227238. S2CID 254398580.
  68. Cook, Bryce (July 1, 2017). "What Do We Know of God's Will for His LGBT Children?: An Examination of the LDS Church's Position on Homosexuality". Dialogue. 50 (2): 6. doi:10.5406/dialjmormthou.50.2.0001. JSTOR 10.5406/dialjmormthou.50.2.0001. S2CID 190443414.
  69. Hale, Van (February 28, 2015). "Defining the Mormon Doctrine of Deity" (PDF). Sunstone. Vol. 10, no. 1. p. 25.
  70. ^ "An explantation of Mormon beliefs about God". BBC. October 2, 2009. God the Father is a being called Elohim, who was once a man like present day human beings, but who lived on another planet. Over time this man made himself perfect and became God, with a knowledge of everything, and the power to do anything. God became perfect by following the rules laid down by his God.
  71. Robinson, Stephen E. (1992). "God the Father: Overview". In Ludlow, Daniel H. (ed.). Encyclopedia of Mormonism. New York City: Macmillan Publishing. p. 549. ISBN 978-0-02-904040-9. As the Prophet Joseph Smith said, 'God himself was once as we are now'  Thus the Father became the Father sometime before the 'beginning' as mortals know it.  Gods and humans are the same species of being, but at different stages of development in a divine continuum
  72. "Chapter 23: Discourse of the Prophet—The Godhead—The Mob Uprising—Arrest of President Smith, et al. over the "Expositor" Affair—Trial before Esquire Wells". History of the Church. Vol. 6 (1991 Reprint ed.). Deseret Book. July 1, 1991. pp. 474, 476. ISBN 0-87579-486-6. I will preach on the plurality of Gods.  If Jesus Christ was the Son of God, and John discovered that God the Father of Jesus Christ had a Father, you may suppose that He had a Father also.
  73. ^ Wimmer, Ryan (2007). "Islamic 'Taqiyya' in Mormonism". The John Whitmer Historical Association Journal. 27. John Whitmer Historical Association: 153–154. JSTOR 43200282.

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