subject: Mormonism and the nature of God [print this page] Mormonism and the nature of God Mormonism and the nature of God
One of the 17 points of the true church according to Mormonism is that God the Father has a body of flesh and bones. This concept can be seen in the L.D.S scripture below.
D&C 130:22 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.
The question here is this true? Does God the Father have a body of flesh and bones? Since they claim to be the only true church one would think that they should be correct about the nature of God.
Let's see what the Bible has to say.
John 4:23-24
23 "But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.
24 "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." (NAS)
Luke 24:39 "See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have." (NAS)
Jesus made both of the above statements. Speaking of the Father he said "God is spirit" Jesus also said "a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have." So from Jesus we learn that the Father is spirit and that a spirit does not have a body of flesh and bones.
Interestingly enough the Book of Mormon also states that God is Spirit Alma 18:26-27 & Alma 22:8-11.
Mormonism also tells us that there are 3 separate Gods in the Godhead and God himself was once a man as we are. The Bible does not agree with these concepts either. Let's continue by looking at what they say about God.
Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Vol.2, GODHEAD
On June 16, 1844, in his last Sunday sermon before his martyrdom, Joseph Smith declared that "in all congregations" he had taught "the plurality of Gods" for fifteen years: "I have always declared God to be a distinct personage, Jesus Christ a separate and distinct personage from God the Father, and that the Holy Ghost was a distinct personage and a Spirit: and these three constitute three distinct personages and three Gods"
The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p.4
There are three Gods: the Eternal Father, Elohim, to whom we pray; Christ or Jehovah; and the Holy Ghost who testifies of the others and witnesses to us the truth of all things.
Journal of Discourses, Vol.6, p.3-4, Joseph Smith, April 6, 1844
In order to understand the subject of the dead, for the consolation of those who mourn for the loss of their friends, it is necessary that we should understand the character and being of God, and how he came to be so; for I am going to tell you how God came to be God. We have imagined and supposed that God was God from all eternity, I will refute that idea, and will take away and do away the vail, so that you may see.
These are incomprehensible ideas to some; but they are simple. It is the first principle of the Gospel to know for a certainty the character of God and to know that we may converse with him as one man converses with another, and that he was once a man like us; yea, that God himself the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth the same as Jesus Christ himself did; and I will show it from the Bible.
The Difference
The Godhead of Mormonism contains 3 Gods.
The Godhead in Christianity contains only one God.
God the Father of Mormonism has not always been God and he has a body of flesh and bones.
God the Father in the Bible has always been God, he does not change and he does not have a body of flesh and bones.
Ps 90:1-2 Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were born, or Thou didst give birth to the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God.
Isa 43:13 "Even from eternity I am He; and there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it?"
Isa 44:6"Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: 'I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God besides me.
In these 3 verses we have just seen that God has been God from everlasting to everlasting even from eternity. He is the first and the last and there is no God besides him. If that does not mean he has always been God what does it mean?
If God was once a man like us and through eternal progression became God then he certainly changed a lot. You would have to change a lot to be like God wouldn't you? The Bible says that God has not changed.
Mal 3:6 "For I, the LORD, do not change; therefore you, O sons of Jacob, are not consumed.
As you can see Mormonism and Christianity do not agree on the nature of God.
