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.
Difference between revisions of "Mormonism and the nature of God/"God is a man""
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* "'''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?" - {{s||Numbers|23|19}} | * "'''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?" - {{s||Numbers|23|19}} | ||
| − | * "And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for '''he is not a man, that he should repent'''." - | + | * "And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for '''he is not a man, that he should repent'''." - {{s|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.{{s||Hosea|11|9}} | + | * 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. - {{s||Hosea|11|9}} |
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.” | 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.” | ||
Revision as of 19:42, 4 January 2009
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Contents
Criticism
Critics object to the LDS position that God has a physical body and human form by quoting scripture which says that "God is not a man" (e.g. Numbers 23꞉19, 1 Samuel 15꞉29, Hosea 11꞉9).
Source(s) of the criticism
- Richard Abanes, Becoming Gods: A Closer Look at 21st-Century Mormonism (Harvest House Publishers: 2005). 136. ( Index of claims )
Response
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
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.”
Conclusion
Surely the critics do not mean to imply that God cannot be in human form—the fundamental doctrine of Christianity is that Jesus is God, made flesh. The critics' reading would require these verses to also apply to Jesus, when they clearly do not. Jesus may be in human form, but he will not sin, change his mind from doing his father's will.
Endnotes
None