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< Criticism of Mormonism | Books | Becoming Gods
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{{:Question: Does the doctrine that God has a physical body contradict the Bible?}} | {{:Question: Does the doctrine that God has a physical body contradict the Bible?}} | ||
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+ | |title=Becoming Gods | ||
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God is a Spirit. | God is a Spirit. | ||
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*{{s||John|4|24}} | *{{s||John|4|24}} | ||
*{{s||Luke|24|39}} | *{{s||Luke|24|39}} | ||
*{{Ensign1|author=Gordon B. Hinckley|article=The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost|date=Oct. 5, 1986|page=no page listed by author}} | *{{Ensign1|author=Gordon B. Hinckley|article=The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost|date=Oct. 5, 1986|page=no page listed by author}} | ||
+ | |information=LDS accept these scriptures, but (like many conservative Christian commentators) do not believe that they are statements about God's nature. | ||
}} | }} | ||
+ | {{:Mormonism and the nature of God/God is a Spirit}} | ||
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Chapter 4 | A FAIR Analysis of: Becoming Gods: A Closer Look at 21st-Century Mormonism A work by author: Richard Abanes
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Chapter 6 |
Author's source(s)
Response
Mormons do not believe that "God is not a man" in spite of Biblical verses that state such.Author's sources:
The overwhelming academic consensus is that God, as depicted in the Bible, is embodied. Several books that you can read bare this out:
This last book, God: An Anatomy, was helpfully reviewed by Latter-day Saint scholar and apologist Daniel C. Peterson. Peterson commends and gives some cautions regarding the book that may apply more generally to the books just listed. We recommend seeing his review cited below.[1]
Mormons believe that God has a physical body and human form. Does scripture which says that "God is not a man" (e.g. Numbers 23:19, 1 Samuel 15:29, Hosea 11:9) contradict this idea?
These scriptures read (emphasis added):
The first passage, in Numbers, not only says that "God is not a man", but it also says that God is not "the son of man." If a Christian were to claim from this passage that God is not a man, they would have to consistently claim that God is also not a "son of man." This of course contradicts many New Testament statements about Jesus (who is God) to the contrary. Though there are many examples, one should suffice. Jesus says, "For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." Matthew 12:40 Therefore, we know that the passage from Numbers is not suggesting that God is fundamentally not a "son of man", but rather that God is not a "son of man" in the sense that God doesn't have need for repentance. The next logical step requires us to conclude that the passage is not suggesting that God is fundamentally "not a man", but that God is not a man in the sense that God does not lie.
God will not lie or change his declared course, unlike humans. As the NET translation of 1 Samuel says, "The Preeminent One of Israel does not go back on his word or change his mind, for he is not a human being who changes his mind.”
It is incorrect to imply that God cannot be in human form—the fundamental doctrine of Christianity is that Jesus is God, made flesh. One would have to assume that these verses also apply to Jesus, when they clearly do not. Jesus may be in human form, but he will not sin, or change his mind from doing his father's will.
God is a Spirit.Author's sources:
- John 4꞉24
- Luke 24꞉39
- Gordon B. Hinckley, "The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost," Ensign (Oct. 5, 1986).
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