Claim: "In the Bible and according to history as we believe and the actual work of Jesus Christ he was God in the flesh, He was eternal with God, coequal uncreated." – Dr. Phil Roberts, President, Midwestern Bible Theological Seminary.
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Dr. Roberts is entitled to his opinion. However, this claim illustrates the source of the critics' attack on the Church. Dr. Roberts and the video's producers are creedal Christians. That is, they accept the creeds which were formulated hundreds of years after Christ's resurrection in an attempt to define the nature of God and Christ. The Latter-day Saints do not accept many of these creeds because they were:
- not found in the Holy Bible or other scripture
- not taught or believed by Jesus or the early Christians
- developed only with the addition of non-scriptural ideas and concepts (e.g. Greek philosophy)
Dr. Roberts believes that his creedal beliefs are supported by scripture. The Latter-day Saints, and many Christian scholars of religious history, believe otherwise—they realize and admit that non-scriptural ideas had to be added to the Bible to formulate the creeds.
Latter-day Saints accept the witness that Jesus was God in the flesh and eternal with God, for this is the testimony of scripture. They do not accept the later creedal additions of being "coequal uncreated," (though they understand 'uncreated' in a different sense than the creeds, see below).
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Claim: Mormons don't believe Jesus was the creator of all things.
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This objection also arises from a creedal interpretation of scripture. Creedal Christians accept the doctrine of creation out of nothing--sometimes called creatio ex nihilo. This doctrine holds that only God existed, and He created all other beings and things out of nothing.
This doctrine is not Biblical, but draws again on the influence of Greek thought in later Christian centuries. The LDS believe that some things simply cannot be created--"intelligence" and matter (see D&C 93:29). Thus, the LDS believe that God created all things that required creation through Jesus Christ.
Under the ex nihilo creed, God cannot be created, so He exists necessarily. Creedal Christians see no contradiction in saying God created all things even when He did not create Himself. Likewise, LDS Christians see no contradiction in claiming Jesus created all things, even if there are some things which are eternal and require no creation.
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Did President Hinckley admit that the Church does not worship the Biblical Jesus?
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The video makes much of a statement by Church President Gordon B. Hinckley:
- No I don't believe in the traditional Christ. The traditional Christ of whom they speak is not the Christ of whom I speak. For the Christ of whom I speak has been revealed in this the dispensation of the Fullness of Times.
- —President Gordon B. Hinckley, Deseret News (20 June 1998): 7. Screenshot
The "traditions" alluded to by President Hinckley are the non-Biblical creeds. But, members of the Church do not reject the Biblical witness—it is partly because the creeds are not Biblical that the LDS do not use them.
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Claim: "The Bible also teaches that Jesus has eternally been God, while Joseph Smith teaches that Jesus had to achieve Godhood."
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Satan's potential role in God's plan misrepresented
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The video does not accurately portray all of the LDS ideas regarding the "council in heaven" which are necessary for understanding. The video correctly notes that two spirit children of God (Jesus and Satan) offered to play a role in God's plan for human happiness. However, it neglects to mention that Satan's offer was not welcome or anticipated. Accepting Satan's offer was never an option—God says that Jesus' role was determined from the beginning: "my Beloved Son, which was my Beloved and Chosen from the beginning, said unto me—Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever" (Moses 4꞉2).
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What do the Latter-day Saints believe about Jesus Christ?
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The video avoided quoting any of the many LDS statements about Jesus Christ which would allow the LDS and their scriptures to speak for themselves. Instead, the DVD focused on a few ideas out of context, while assuming that non-Biblical creeds are true.
The LDS believe that Jesus Christ's role is central to our Heavenly Father's plan. Christ is unique in several respects from all other spirit children of God:
- Jesus was and is perfect
- Jesus is God (See John 1:1-2, Hebrews 1:6, 1 Nephi 11:16–26, D&C 76:13).
- Jesus is the Creator (See John 1:3, Hebrews 1:1–6, Mosiah 3:3, Helaman 14:12, Moses 2:1).
- Jesus obeyed the Father in all things (See 3 Nephi 11:11).
- Jesus was chosen and foreordained to be the Redeemer (See Isaiah 43:11, Mosiah 13:28–34, 3 Nephi 9:15, Moses 4:2).
- Jesus is the Mediator between God and humanity (See John 14:6, 1 Timothy 2:5, Hebrews 8:5, 2 Nephi 2:28, D&C 76:69).
- Jesus was "the Only Begotten"—only He, of all God's children, had a physical inheritance in His body from God the Father. (See John 1:14, John 3:16, John 14:3, Jacob 4:11, Alma 12:33–34).
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