FAIR is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of the doctrine, practice, and history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
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Revision as of 21:56, 25 December 2016
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Contents
- 1 Response to claims made in "Chapter 4: Polytheism Reborn"
- 1.1 Response to claim: 46 - The author states that "not only does the LDS church teach that there are three gods in the Godhead, but that there are other gods as well"
- 1.2 Response to claim: 46 - The author claims that the LDS church teaches that "God has not always been God"
- 1.3 Response to claim: 46 - The author states that the Old and New Testaments say that there is "only one absolute, holy God."
- 1.4 Response to claim: 47 - The author states that Joseph Smith taught that God was once a "finite man on another world"
- 1.5 Question: Does the doctrine that God has a physical body contradict the Bible?
- 1.5.1 A growing consensus of scholars recognizes that God, as depicted in the Bible, is embodied
- 1.5.2 It is incorrect to imply that God cannot be in human form, since a fundamental doctrine of Christianity is that Jesus is God, made flesh
- 1.5.3 These verses say nothing about the nature or form of God—they merely assert that God is not like man in certain ways
- 1.6 Response to claim: 49 - The author states that the Bible cannot be used to attribute human characteristics (body parts) to God, and that John declared that "God is a spirit"
- 1.7 Response to claim: 49 - That author states that Mormons believe in an "infinite regress" of gods, and that if this is true, then "no gods could have ever come to exist"
- 1.8 Response to claim: 53 - The author states that nothing in the scriptures indicates that God has a wife
- 1.9 Gospel Topics: "Our theology begins with heavenly parents. Our highest aspiration is to be like them"
- 1.10 Question: Do Latter-day Saints believe in a female divine person, a "Heavenly Mother" as counterpart to God, the Heavenly Father?
- 1.11 Response to claim: 54 - The author discusses the Mormon concept that "Jesus and Lucifer are our older brothers"
- 1.12 Response to claim: 55 - The author asks, "Do Men become Gods?"
- 1.13 Response to claim: 56 - The author notes that Mormons do not believe that the world was created "out of nothing"
- 1.14 Response to claim: 57 - The author claims that the Book of Mormon does not support a plurality of gods
- 1.15 Question: Does the Book of Mormon teach that Christ and the Father are a single individual expressing himself in different modes?
- 1.15.1 The Book of Mormon teaches that the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are three persons, and is not consistent with either modalism/Sabellianism or standard Nicene trinitarianism
- 1.15.2 How are the Father and the Son one?
- 1.15.3 3 Nephi clearly teaches that Jesus Christ and the Father are two persons:
- 1.15.4 Other examples in scripture
- 1.15.5 Jesus and the Spirit are two separate persons:
- 1.15.6 Jesus Christ sits on the right hand of the Father:
- 1.15.7 Christ the Eternal Father is not the same as God the Father:
- 1.15.8 Christ is the Father of our salvation:
- 1.15.9 Christ is often discussed as a clearly distinct individual from the Father
- 1.15.10 Other Book of Mormon examples
Response to claims made in "Chapter 4: Polytheism Reborn"
| Chapter 3: The Making of a Religion | A FAIR Analysis of: Mormonism Unmasked A work by author: R. Philip Roberts
|
Chapter 5: Confronting the Mormon Jesus |
Response to claim: 46 - The author states that "not only does the LDS church teach that there are three gods in the Godhead, but that there are other gods as well"
The author(s) of Mormonism Unmasked make(s) the following claim:
The author states that "not only does the LDS church teach that there are three gods in the Godhead, but that there are other gods as well."Author's sources: Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine (1979) 576-77.
FAIR's Response
Polytheism
Summary: Some non-LDS Christian claim that Latter-day Saints are polytheists because we don't believe the Nicene Creed. Others say Mormons are polytheists because they believe humans can become gods. Is this an accurate characterization of LDS belief?Response to claim: 46 - The author claims that the LDS church teaches that "God has not always been God"
The author(s) of Mormonism Unmasked make(s) the following claim:
The author claims that the LDS church teaches that "God has not always been God."
FAIR's Response
Unchanging
Summary: Does the Book of Mormon refute Joseph Smith on the nature of God? Critics point out that the Book of Mormon never says God was once a mortal. In fact, it teaches that God was always God. Take for instance Moroni 8:18. It says God is "unchangeable from all eternity to all eternity." Joseph Smith, however, taught, "We have imagined and supposed that God was God from all eternity, I will refute that idea, and take away the veil so that you may see."Response to claim: 46 - The author states that the Old and New Testaments say that there is "only one absolute, holy God."
The author(s) of Mormonism Unmasked make(s) the following claim:
The author states that the Old and New Testaments say that there is "only one absolute, holy God."
FAIR's Response
"No God beside me"
Summary: Some Christians claim that the Mormon doctrine of the Godhead and belief in theosis are not compatible with multiple statements in Isaiah that "beside [the Lord] there is no God." These passages include Isaiah 43:10-11; Isaiah 44:6,8; Isaiah 45:5-6; Isaiah 45:21-22; and Isaiah 46:9-10.Response to claim: 47 - The author states that Joseph Smith taught that God was once a "finite man on another world"
The author(s) of Mormonism Unmasked make(s) the following claim:
The author states that Joseph Smith taught that God was once a "finite man on another world."Author's sources: Joseph Fielding Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith (1977) 345-46.
FAIR's Response
Question: Does the doctrine that God has a physical body contradict the Bible?
A growing consensus of scholars recognizes that God, as depicted in the Bible, is embodied
The overwhelming academic consensus is that God, as depicted in the Bible, is embodied. Several books that you can read bare this out:
- Kamionkowski, S. Tamar and Wonil Kim, eds. Bodies, Embodiment, and Theology of the Hebrew Bible. New York: T&T Clark International, 2010.
- Halton, Charles. A Human-Shaped God: Theology of an Embodied God. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2021.
- Wilson, Brittany E. The Embodied God: Seeing the Divine in Luke-Acts and the Early Church. New York: Oxford University Press, 2021.
- Wagner, Andreas. God's Body: The Anthropomorphic God in the Old Testament. Trans. Marion Salzmann. New York: T&T Clark, 2019.
- Markschies, Christoph. God's Body: Jewish, Christian, and Pagan Images of God. Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2019.
- Sommer, Benjamin D. The Bodies of God and the World of Ancient Israel. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2011.
- Stavarakopolou, Francesca. God: An Anatomy. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2021.
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]
It is incorrect to imply that God cannot be in human form, since a fundamental doctrine of Christianity is that Jesus is God, made flesh
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):
- "God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man [i.e., a human being], that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?" - Numbers 23:19
- "And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent." - 1 Samuel 15:29
- I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee: and I will not enter into the city. - Hosea 11:9
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.
These verses say nothing about the nature or form of God—they merely assert that God is not like man in certain ways
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.
Response to claim: 49 - The author states that the Bible cannot be used to attribute human characteristics (body parts) to God, and that John declared that "God is a spirit"
The author(s) of Mormonism Unmasked make(s) the following claim:
The author states that the Bible cannot be used to attribute human characteristics (body parts) to God, and that John declared that "God is a spirit."Author's sources: John 4:24
FAIR's Response
God is a Spirit?
Summary: Critics object to the LDS position that God has a physical body by quoting John 4:24: "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."Response to claim: 49 - That author states that Mormons believe in an "infinite regress" of gods, and that if this is true, then "no gods could have ever come to exist"
The author(s) of Mormonism Unmasked make(s) the following claim:
That author states that Mormons believe in an "infinite regress" of gods, and that if this is true, then "no gods could have ever come to exist."Author's sources: Not provided
FAIR's Response
Infinite regress of Gods
Summary: Is it true that LDS doctrine teaches a "genealogy of gods," in which God the Father had/has a God, and this God had a God, and so forth? If so, how does LDS doctrine deal with the problem of an "infinite regress" of "great-great-grandfather Gods"?Response to claim: 53 - The author states that nothing in the scriptures indicates that God has a wife
The author(s) of Mormonism Unmasked make(s) the following claim:
The author states that nothing in the scriptures indicates that God has a wife.
FAIR's Response
Gospel Topics: "Our theology begins with heavenly parents. Our highest aspiration is to be like them"
"Becoming Like God," Gospel Topics on LDS.org:
Eliza R. Snow, a Church leader and poet, rejoiced over the doctrine that we are, in a full and absolute sense, children of God. “I had learned to call thee Father, / Thru thy Spirit from on high,” she wrote, “But, until the key of knowledge / Was restored, I knew not why.” Latter-day Saints have also been moved by the knowledge that their divine parentage includes a Heavenly Mother as well as a Heavenly Father. Expressing that truth, Eliza R. Snow asked, “In the heav’ns are parents single?” and answered with a resounding no: “Truth eternal / Tells me I’ve a mother there.”45 That knowledge plays an important role in Latter-day Saint belief. As Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles wrote, “Our theology begins with heavenly parents. Our highest aspiration is to be like them.”[2]
Question: Do Latter-day Saints believe in a female divine person, a "Heavenly Mother" as counterpart to God, the Heavenly Father?
Latter-day Saints infer the existence of a Heavenly Mother through scripture and modern revelation
Because LDS theology rejects the doctrine of creation out of nothing (creatio ex nihilo) as a post-Biblical addition to Christian belief, and because they see God as embodied in human form while rejecting creedal Trinitarianism, having a female counterpart to Our Heavenly Father seems logical and almost inevitable. This is especially true given the LDS embrace of the doctrine of theosis, or human deification. Thus, the Heavenly Mother shares parenthood with the Father, and shares His attributes of perfection, holiness, and glory.
There is evidence for this doctrine in ancient Israel,[3] and within the Book of Mormon.[4]
As early as 1839, Joseph Smith taught the idea of a Heavenly Mother.[5] Eliza R. Snow composed a poem (later set to music) which provides the most well-known expression of this doctrine:[6]
- In the heav´ns are parents single?
No, the thought makes reason stare!
Truth is reason; truth eternal
Tells me I´ve a mother there.
When I leave this frail existence,
When I lay this mortal by,
Father, Mother, may I meet you
In your royal courts on high?
- In the heav´ns are parents single?
In 1909 the First Presidency, under Joseph F. Smith, wrote that
man, as a spirit, was begotten and born of heavenly parents, and reared to maturity in the eternal mansions of the Father [as an] offspring of celestial parentage...all men and women are in the similitude of the universal Father and Mother, and are literally the sons and daughters of Deity....[7]
The 1995 statement issued by the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles, entitled The Family: A Proclamation to the World, states that all men and women are children of heavenly parents (plural), which implies the existence of a Mother in Heaven.[8]
All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny.
Response to claim: 54 - The author discusses the Mormon concept that "Jesus and Lucifer are our older brothers"
The author(s) of Mormonism Unmasked make(s) the following claim:
The author discusses the Mormon concept that "Jesus and Lucifer are our older brothers."
FAIR's Response
Brother of Satan?
Summary: It is claimed that the LDS consider Jesus and Satan to be "brothers," thus lowering the stature of Christ, or elevating Satan. Some go so far as to imply that the LDS "really" worship or revere Satan, and are thus not true "Christians."Response to claim: 55 - The author asks, "Do Men become Gods?"
The author(s) of Mormonism Unmasked make(s) the following claim:
The author asks, "Do Men become Gods?"
FAIR's Response
Deification of man
Summary: It is claimed that the doctrine of human deification is unbiblical, false, and arrogant. Related claims include: 1) Mormons believe they will 'supplant God', 2) Belief in theosis, or human deification, implies more than one "god," which means Mormons are "polytheists," 3) The Mormon concept of "human deification" is a pagan belief derived from Greek philosophy.Response to claim: 56 - The author notes that Mormons do not believe that the world was created "out of nothing"
The author(s) of Mormonism Unmasked make(s) the following claim:
The author notes that Mormons do not believe that the world was created "out of nothing."
FAIR's Response
Creatio ex nihilo
Summary: Mainstream Christianity teaches that God created the universe from nothing (ex nihilo), while Mormons teach that God organized the universe from pre-existing matter. The LDS God is therefore claimed to be "less powerful" than the God of mainstream Christianity, or "unbiblical."Response to claim: 57 - The author claims that the Book of Mormon does not support a plurality of gods
The author(s) of Mormonism Unmasked make(s) the following claim:
The author claims that the Book of Mormon does not support a plurality of gods.
FAIR's Response
Question: Does the Book of Mormon teach that Christ and the Father are a single individual expressing himself in different modes?
The Book of Mormon teaches that the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are three persons, and is not consistent with either modalism/Sabellianism or standard Nicene trinitarianism
It is claimed that the Book of Mormon teaches Sabellianism, also called modalism, i.e., the belief that Christ and the Father are a single individual expressing himself in different modes.[9]
The Book of Mormon teaches that the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are three persons, and is not consistent with either modalism/Sabellianism or standard Nicene trinitarianism.
How are the Father and the Son one?
- "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."(3 Nephi 19꞉23)
3 Nephi clearly teaches that Jesus Christ and the Father are two persons:
- "Behold, I am Jesus Christ the Son of God. I created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are. I was with the Father from the beginning. I am in the Father, and the Father in me; and in me hath the Father glorified his name." (3 Nephi 9꞉15)
- Ironically, Nicene trinitarians use a similar scripture in the Bible (John 1:1), in favor of the doctrine of the Nicene trinity (God in three persons). Thus, such language cannot be used as clear evidence of modalism.
Other examples in scripture
- "And for this cause ye shall have fulness of joy; and ye shall sit down in the kingdom of my Father; yea, your joy shall be full, even as the Father hath given me fulness of joy; and ye shall be even as I am, and I am even as the Father; and the Father and I are one." (3 Nephi 28꞉10)
Jesus and the Spirit are two separate persons:
- "But he [Jesus] truly gave unto them bread to eat, and also wine to drink. And he said unto them: He that eateth this bread eateth of my body to his soul; and he that drinketh of this wine drinketh of my blood to his soul; and his soul shall never hunger nor thirst, but shall be filled. But he truly gave unto them bread to eat, and also wine to drink. And he said unto them: He that eateth this bread eateth of my body to his soul; and he that drinketh of this wine drinketh of my blood to his soul; and his soul shall never hunger nor thirst, but shall be filled.Now, when the multitude had all eaten and drunk, behold, they were filled with the Spirit; and they did cry out with one voice, and gave glory to Jesus, whom they both saw and heard." (3 Nephi 20꞉7-9)
- This scripture demonstrates that Mormon 7꞉7 and 2 Nephi 31꞉21 are not saying that Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost are the same person.
Jesus Christ sits on the right hand of the Father:
- "And may the grace of God the Father, whose throne is high in the heavens, and our Lord Jesus Christ, who sitteth on the right hand of his power, until all things shall become subject unto him, be, and abide with you forever. Amen."(Moroni 9꞉26)
Christ the Eternal Father is not the same as God the Father:
- Christ is sometimes denominated "the Father because he was conceived by the power of God" (Mosiah 5꞉3)
Christ is the Father of our salvation:
- "And now, because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name; therefore, ye are born of him and have become his sons and his daughters. "(Mosiah 5꞉7)
Christ is often discussed as a clearly distinct individual from the Father
- The Nephites who witnesses the risen Christ were first spoken to by God: "6 And behold, the third time they did understand the voice which they heard; and it said unto them: 7 Behold my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name—hear ye him." (3 Nephi 11꞉6-7) This was followed by Jesus' appearance, where he makes his own role and the Father's quite distinct: "I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world. 11 And behold, I am the light and the life of the world; and I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning" (3 Nephi 11꞉10-11).
- Jesus later also demonstrated their separate nature:
- "...this is my doctrine, and it is the doctrine which the Father hath given unto me; and I bear record of the Father, and the Father beareth record of me, and the Holy Ghost beareth record of the Father and me; and I bear record that the Father commandeth all men, everywhere, to repent and believe in me" (3 Nephi 11꞉32).
- "...not at any time hath the Father given me commandment that I should tell it unto your brethren at Jerusalem" (3 Nephi 15꞉14).
- "Neither at any time hath the Father given me commandment that I should tell unto them concerning the other tribes of the house of Israel, whom the Father hath led away out of the land. 16 This much did the Father command me, that I should tell unto them...." (3 Nephi 15꞉15-16).
- "I have received a commandment of the Father that I shall go unto them, and that they shall hear my voice, and shall be numbered among my sheep, that there may be one fold and one shepherd; therefore I go to show myself unto them" (3 Nephi 16꞉3).
- "...thus commandeth the Father that I should say unto you...." (3 Nephi 16꞉10).
- "...now I go unto the Father, and also to show myself unto the lost tribes of Israel, for they are not lost unto the Father, for he knoweth whither he hath taken them" (3 Nephi 17꞉4).
- "... I give unto you another commandment, and then I must go unto my Father that I may fulfil other commandments which he hath given me" (3 Nephi 18꞉27).
- "And now I go unto the Father, because it is expedient that I should go unto the Father for your sakes" (3 Nephi 18꞉35).
Jesus' constant distinction between himself and the Father in both space (Jesus must leave the Nephites and go to the Father) and in giving instructions/commands (Jesus is commanded or not commanded by the Father repeatedly, and he obeys) are inconsistent with either Sabellianism or standard Nicene trinitarianism. Jesus and the Father are here clearly two distinct beings, though united in will and intent through divine love and obedience of the Son to the Father's will.
Other Book of Mormon examples
- "I am mindful of you always in my prayers, continually praying unto God the Father in the name of his Holy Child, Jesus, that he, through his infinite goodness and grace, will keep you through the endurance of faith on his name to the end." (Moroni 8꞉3)
- "Behold, they believed in Christ and worshiped the Father in his name, and also we worship the Father in his name. And for this intent we keep the law of Moses, it pointing our souls to him; and for this cause it is sanctified unto us for righteousness, even as it was accounted unto Abraham in the wilderness to be obedient unto the commands of God in offering up his son Isaac, which is a similitude of God and his Only Begotten Son." (Jacob 4꞉5)
It is a stretch to interpret the scriptures above in favor of Sabellianism. Therefore, verses in the Book of Mormon that might imply Sabellianism should likely be interpreted in a different sense, if this is plausible in the text. This is not difficult.
Notes
- ↑ Daniel C. Peterson, "An Unexpected Case for an Anthropomorphic God," Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 50 (2022): vii–xx.
- ↑ "Becoming Like God," Gospel Topics on LDS.org (February 25, 2014)
- ↑ Alyson Skabelund Von Feldt, "Does God Have a Wife? Review of Did God Have a Wife? Archaeology and Folk Religion in Ancient Israel," FARMS Review 19/1 (2007): 81–118. off-site wiki
- ↑ See Daniel C. Peterson, "Nephi and His Asherah: A Note on 1 Nephi 11:8–23," in Mormons, Scripture, and the Ancient World: Studies in Honor of John L. Sorenson, edited by Davis Bitton, (Provo, Utah: FARMS, 1998). [191–243] direct off-site A shorter version of this article is also available in Daniel C. Peterson, "Nephi and His Asherah," Journal of Book of Mormon Studies 9/2 (2000). [16–25] link
- ↑ Elaine Anderson Cannon, "Mother in Heaven," in Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 4 vols., edited by Daniel H. Ludlow, (New York, Macmillan Publishing, 1992), :961.off-site
- ↑ This is Hymn #292 in the current LDS hymnal ("O My Father"). Written at Joseph Smith's death, the poem was originally published as Eliza R. Snow, "Invocation," Times and Seasons 6 no. 17 (15 November 1845), 1039. off-site GospeLink (See Terryl L. Givens, People of Paradox: A History of Mormon Culture (Oxford University Press, 2007), 168. ISBN 0195167112. ISBN 978-0195167115.)
- ↑ Messages of the First Presidency, edited by James R. Clark, Vol. 4, (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1970), 205–206. GL direct link (italics added). Originally in First Presidency, "[Evolution:Primary_sources:First_Presidency_1909 The Origin of Man]," Improvement Era 13 (November 1909), 61–75.
- ↑ The First Presidency and Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, "The Family: A Proclamation to the World," Ensign (November 1995): 102. (Statement issued by President Gordon B. Hinckley on 23 September 1995.) off-site
- ↑ Origen Bachelor, Mormonism Exposed Internally and Externally (New York: Privately Published, 1838), 24. off-site