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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.
Algunos cristianos afirman que los SUD creen que Jesucristo y Satanás son hermanos y que así los SUD rebajan la estatura de Cristo o que elevan a Satanás. Unos críticos aun implican que los SUD lo adoran o lo veneran al diablo. [1]
Jesús, Satanás, y todos los humanos son hijos de Dios el Padre. Sin embargo, por medio la libertad de escoger, Jesús obedeció a Dios el Padre perfectamente y el participa en la naturaleza divina y el poder de su Padre. Por medio de esta libertad, Lucifer y los que le siguieron se rebelaron contra Dios, pelen contra Jesús y su reino e iglesia, y se han condenado eternamente. Los demás de los hijos de Dios—todos nosotros— tenemos que escoger o la vía de Jesús a que Él nos invita o a la de Satanás.
Al escoger el evangelio de Jesucristo y la gracia que proviene de el, podemos volver a vivir con Dios y maximizar la potencial divina que tenemos.
La doctrina SUD no corresponde a los conceptos tradicionales de los credos acerca de la Trinidad. O sea, los SUD no creen ni aceptan las doctrinas extra-bíblicas acerca de Dios que influyen tanto a los conceptos de la Deidad de muchos de los cristianos modernos como las que se encuentran en el Credo de Nicea. Específicamente, los SUD no aceptan la doctrina no-bíblica que Dios el Padre, Jesucristo, y el Espíritu Santo son manifestaciones distintas del mismo Ser.
La doctrina SUD enseña que Dios el Padre es distinto en ser y numero de su Hijo Unigénito Jesucristo y del Espíritu Santo. Dios el Padre se conoce como el padre literal de los espíritus de todos los hombres y mujeres.
Los SUD creen que el papel de Jesucristo es central en el plan de nuestro Padre Celestial. Cristo es único entre todos los hijos de Dios.
Dios el Padre creó muchos hijos espirituales, creados a su imagen y a la imagen de su Hijo Unigénito. Sus hijos son todos los humanos nacidos en la tierra. También algunos de los hijos de Dios se rebelaron contra Él, y fueron expulsados de la presencia de Dios. El líder de ellos es Lucifer y es el diablo. Los hijos de Dios que fueron expulsados y que siguen a Satanás se conocen como demonios y diablos. (Véase Doctrina y Convenios 76:25–27, Moisés 4:1–4, Abraham 3:24–28).
Entonces, en un sentido es correcto decir que Jesús y Satanás son hermanos, en el sentido que los dos tienen el mismo padre espiritual, Dios el Padre.
Sin embargo, los críticos no provienen el contexto de esta doctrina. Caín y Abel también eran hermanos, pero el lector de la Biblia nunca cree que eran iguales espiritualmente ni igualmente honrosos. Los críticos también no presten atención a la referencias bíblicas que implican que Satanás es uno do los “hijos de Dios” (Véase Job 1:6; 2:1).
Por final, de veras todos los humanos, demonios, y el diablo mismo comparten un padre espiritual con Jesús, ninguno de los hijos de Dios se iguala a Jesús. Todos los hijos de Dios, menos el Señor Jesús, han pecado «y están destituidos de la gloria de Dios» (Romanos 3:23). Al pecar, abandonamos y rebelamos contra nuestra herencia divina. Solo por medio de Jesús podemos volver a casa para estar con Dios el Padre. Todos tenemos que nacer de nuevo y recibir la adopción de Dios para ser restaurados a nuestro herencia divina (Véase Romanos 8:14-18).
El padre cristiano ante-Nicea Lactantius escribió:
Mucho de lo que Lactantius enseñó aquí no se consideran «ortodoxo» por los cristianos modernos. Sin embargo, Lactantius sí era ortodoxo durante su vida. Asombradamente, muchas cosas que él enseñó aquí se corresponden exactamente con las doctrinas «no-ortodoxos» de la doctrina SUD. Por ejemplo,
Source:Webb:BYUS:2011:1:Sameness of Jesus' humanity
It is claimed that Latter-day Saints believe Jesus was conceived through sexual intercourse between God the Father and Mary, and that Mary therefore was not a virgin when Jesus was born. It is also claimed that Latter-day Saints reject the "Evangelical belief" that "Christ was born of the virgin Mary, who, when the Holy Ghost came upon her, miraculously conceived the promised messiah."
Often used as evidence are a handful statements from early LDS leaders, such as Brigham Young, that directly or indirectly support this idea. However, such statements do not represent the official doctrine of the Church. The key, official doctrine of the Church is that Jesus is literally the son of God (i.e., this is not a symbolic or figurative expression), and Mary was a virgin before and after Christ's conception.
At the annunciation, Mary questioned the angel about how she could bear a child: "How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?" (Luke 1:34; the expression "know" in the Greek text is a euphemism for sexual relations). Nephi likewise described Mary as a virgin (1 Nephi 11:13-20), as did Alma1 (Alma 7:10).
Latter-day Saints do believe that Jesus Christ was literally the Son of God, not the son of Joseph or even the son of the Holy Ghost. (see 2 Ne 25:12 and DC 93:11) As Ezra Taft Benson stated,
[T]he testimonies of appointed witnesses leave no question as to the paternity of Jesus Christ. God was the Father of His fleshly tabernacle, and Mary, a mortal woman, was His mother. He is therefore the only person born who rightfully deserves the title “the Only Begotten Son of God.”[3]
The canonized scriptures are silent on how the conception took place—even Nephi's detailed vision of then-future Messiah is veiled during the part where Mary conceives (1 Nephi 11:19).
For example, Brigham Young said the following in a discourse given 8 July 1860:
"...[T]here is no act, no principle, no power belonging to the Deity that is not purely philosophical. The birth of the Saviour was as natural as are the births of our children; it was the result of natural action. He partook of flesh and blood—was begotten of his Father, as we were of our fathers." [4]
But are these types of statements official Church doctrine, required for all believing Latter-day Saints to accept? No—they were never submitted to the Church for ratification or canonization. (See General authorities' statements as scripture.)
Critics have noted that this statement, and others like it, can be read to indicate there was sexual intercourse involved in the conception of Jesus. Regardless of this speculation--which goes beyond the textual data--Brigham Young's view may be seen by some contemporary Latter-day Saints as correct in that Jesus was literally physically the Son of God, just as much as any children are "of our fathers." Modern science has discovered alternative methods of conceiving children--e.g., in vitro "test tube" babies--that don't involve sexual intercourse. Thus, though processes such as artificial insemination were unknown to Brigham and thus likely not referenced by his statements, it does not necessarily follow from a modern perspective that the conception had to come about as the result of a literal sexual union. It is certainly not outside of God's power to conceive Christ by other means, while remaining his literal father. (Put another way, Jesus shared God's genetic inheritance, if you will, without necessarily requiring a sexual act to combine that inheritance with Mary's mortal contribution).
Ezra Taft Benson taught:
He was the Only Begotten Son of our Heavenly Father in the flesh—the only child whose mortal body was begotten by our Heavenly Father. His mortal mother, Mary, was called a virgin, both before and after she gave birth. (See 1 Nephi 11:20.) [5]
Benson's emphasis is on both the literalness of Jesus' divine birth, and the fact that Mary's virginal status persisted even immediately after conceiving and bearing Jesus.
Bruce R. McConkie said this about the birth of Christ:
God the Father is a perfected, glorified, holy Man, an immortal Personage. And Christ was born into the world as the literal Son of this Holy Being; he was born in the same personal, real, and literal sense that any mortal son is born to a mortal father. There is nothing figurative about his paternity; he was begotten, conceived and born in the normal and natural course of events, for he is the Son of God, and that designation means what it says. [6]
In the same volume, Elder McConkie explained his reason for his emphasis:
"Our Lord is the only mortal person ever born to a virgin, because he is the only person who ever had an immortal Father. Mary, his mother, "was carried away in the Spirit" (1 Ne. 11:13-21), was "overshadowed" by the Holy Ghost, and the conception which took place "by the power of the Holy Ghost" resulted in the bringing forth of the literal and personal Son of God the Father. (Alma 7:10; 2 Ne. 17:14; Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-38.) Christ is not the Son of the Holy Ghost, but of the Father. (Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 1, pp. 18-20.) Modernistic teachings denying the virgin birth are utterly and completely apostate and false. [7]
Note that McConkie emphasized the literal nature of Christ's divinity, his direct descent from the Father, and the fact that the Holy Ghost was a tool, but not the source of Jesus' divine Parenthood.
Harold B. Lee said,
We are very much concerned that some of our Church teachers seem to be obsessed of the idea of teaching doctrine which cannot be substantiated and making comments beyond what the Lord has actually said.
You asked about the birth of the Savior. Never have I talked about sexual intercourse between Deity and the mother of the Savior. If teachers were wise in speaking of this matter about which the Lord has said but very little, they would rest their discussion on this subject with merely the words which are recorded on this subject in Luke 1:34-35: "Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God."
Remember that the being who was brought about by [Mary's] conception was a divine personage. We need not question His method to accomplish His purposes. Perhaps we would do well to remember the words of Isaiah 55:8-9: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."
Let the Lord rest His case with this declaration and wait until He sees fit to tell us more. [8]
How do members of the Church understand the divine Sonship of Jesus Christ, and the relationship between the Father and Son, since there is only "one God"?
Although the Bible contains numerous examples of the separate nature of the Father and the Son, there are only a few instances where all three members of the Godhead are described as separate and distinct.[9] The best example is the baptism of Jesus Christ (Matt. 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-22; John 1:29-32). In all but John's account all three members of the Godhead are identified: the Father bearing witness "from heaven" (Matt. 3:17; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22), the Son "coming up out of the water" (Mark 1:10), and the "Holy Ghost descending in a bodily shape like a dove" (Luke 3:22). All three members of the Godhead are clearly separate entities who, in this instance, are physically separated also.
John provides another scriptural witness that "there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word [Jesus Christ], and the Holy Ghost" (1 Jn. 5:7). John adds that "these three are [actually] one,” apparently meaning one witness because they, like the witnesses of the spirit, the water, and the blood "agree in one" (1 Jn. 5:8). Bible scholars have noted that 1 Jn. 5:7 and 8 are not found in the early Greek manuscripts and may therefore be of questionable authority. Whether or not these verses are authentic, it is clear from other Bible passages that the Father and the Son are in fact separate witnesses. John himself records in John 8:17-18 and Plantilla:Bv that Jesus taught: "It is written in your law that the testimony of two men is true. I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me... I do nothing of myself; but as my Father taught me, I speak these things. And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone, for I do always those things that please him.”
Many who espouse the Triune concept point to Old Testament scriptures as proof that there is only one God (Gen. 1:1; Isa. 43:10-12; Plantilla:Bv; Plantilla:Bv) but these verses, as originally written, made no such claim. Although our King James Version (KJV) states in Genesis 1:1 that, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” the Hebrew identified Eloheim as the creator. Eloheim is the plural form of eloah (as used in Isa. 44:8) which means God or Deity. Thus eloheim literally means Gods or Deities and Genesis 1:1 could be translated: "In the beginning Gods created the heavens and the earth" (see Abraham 4:1). Use of "us" and "our" in Genesis 1:26 further justifies this conclusion.
Examination of the Hebrew text also helps us understand Isaiah's references (chapters 43 and 44) to one God. Isaiah 43:10-12 in the KJV reads: "Ye are my witnesses saith the Lord [Jehovah in Hebrew]... understand that I am he: beside me there was no God [Eloheim in Hebrew] formed neither shall there be after me. I even I am the Lord [Jehovah] and beside me there is no saviour.... ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord [Jehovah], that I am God [El]." Knowing that Jehovah was Jesus Christ (see 1 Cor. 10:4), we are confronted with a contradiction. Paul the apostle later taught that "there is but one God, the Father... and one Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things..." (1 Cor. 8:6, see also 1 Tim. 2:5). If Jesus as Jehovah was saying that he was the only God then the Father could not logically also be the only God and still be separate from Jesus Christ. The Hebrew wording clarifies the meaning of these verses. The last portion of Isaiah 43:10, for example, reads: "who has formed a god or poured out an image [i.e. idol] to no profit?" (Hendrickson Interlinear Bible) Thus, the Lord is not claiming to be the only God in existence but is warning Israel not to uselessly worship false idol gods (see also Isa. 17:7-8; Plantilla:Bv; Plantilla:Bv; Plantilla:Bv). When these chapters are read in context in the KJV, it is clear that Isaiah's reference to forming god is speaking of graven images of metal and wood. Isaiah 44:8-18 makes it unmistakably clear that the prophet is condemning idolatry and not a belief in more that one god.
Isaiah 43:12 is also clarified when examined in Hebrew. The Hebrew reads: "Ye are my witnesses saith Jehovah, I (or I AM), El (short form of Eloheim) and no other eloheim [gods}}; in this case false gods] no none are like me.” This verse actually uses three names for deity together. The contraction of Jehovah-Eloheim (translated LORD God in the KJV) is a similar, commonly found, grouping of names found in the Hebrew Old Testament. It appears that these compound name-titles were an attempt by ancient writers or scribes to refer to more than one member of the Godhead by a compound name (Articles of Faith, p. 49). Thus the Hebrew of the above verse might more accurately be rendered "Ye are our witnesses saith Jehovah and Eloheim and no other gods are like us.”
Although references to Christ's sonship are somewhat rare in the OT, they nevertheless exist. {[b||Daniel 3|25}} describes a fourth individual in Nebuchadnezzar's furnace whose form was like a "Son of God [Elah].” Proverbs 30:4 speaks of the "son" of the creator and Daniel 7:13 refers to the glorious coming of the "Son of man" (compare John 3:13 andMoses 6:57). Hosea 11:1 was quoted by Matthew 2:15) as a prophecy that God's "son" would be called out of Egypt and we should not forget that Isaiah's famous messianic prophecy foretold the birth of a son who would also be known by the titles "everlasting Father" and "mighty God" (Isa. 7:14; Plantilla:Bv).
Although the New Testament also speaks of the "oneness" of the Godhead (John 10:30; Plantilla:Bv; 1 Cor. 8:4-6; 1 Jn. 5:7), the context of the verses generally provides the key to a correct interpretation. John, for example, quotes the Savior's reference to his own oneness with the Father but also indicates that the disciples need to be one (using the same Greek word) with himself, God, and other believers (John 6:56; Plantilla:Bv; Plantilla:Bv; 1 Jn. 3:24; Plantilla:Bv). The context of many of Paul's references to oneness make it clear that he is speaking of a oneness of mind and spirit. Paul speaks, in 1 Corinthians 2:16, of having "the mind of Christ.” He likewise tells the Philippians "stand fast in one spirit with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel" (Phil. 1:27; see also Gal. 5:22-25 and 1 Cor. 1:10). Paul also made frequent reference to a oneness of the saints (again using the same Greek word) with God and Christ as well as with other members (Rom. 8:1; Plantilla:Bv; Plantilla:Bv; 1 Cor. 3:16;Plantilla:Bv; Plantilla:Bv; Plantilla:Bv; 2 Cor. 5:17;Plantilla:Bv; Gal. 2:20; Plantilla:Bv; Eph. 1:10; Plantilla:Bv; Phil. 1:27; Col. 1:27; Plantilla:Bv; Heb. 2:11). It is especially significant that Paul used the same verbal construction as Christ used in saying, "I and my Father are one" (John 10:30) to describe his relationship to Apollos. He wrote, "I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.... Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one..." (1 Cor. 3:6,8). From the above cited references it should be clear that both John's and Paul's concept of "oneness" was not that of a merging of substance but was an expression of unity of purpose, mind, and heart. Modern scripture also confirms this interpretation (D&C 35:2; Plantilla:Sv; Plantilla:Sv).
Jesus Christ taught: "And now... I come to thee, Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one [in purpose and unity] as we are." (John 17:11)
Here are some New Testament scriptural examples that illustrate the separate nature and substance of the Father and the Son:
It is claimed that Latter-day Saint doctrine, which teaches that a physical body is necessary for a fulness of glory, is inconsistent, since Jesus was God prior to his mortal birth. However, having a body is necessary for a fullness of joy (DC 93:33). The Holy Ghost is also God, but does not at present have a body in LDS doctrine.
It was necessary that at some point Jesus receive a body, but the specific time in which He did so is not particularly important. (To travel overseas, one needs both a passport and an airplane ticket. It doesn't matter in which order one gets the passport or the ticket, but one must eventually have both in order to reach one's destination.)
If a specific sequence is an absolutely requirement, then all Christians would need to explain how Christ's atonement could be efficacious to those who were born, lived, and died prior to His crucifixion. The fact that the atonement was effective should caution us against adopting an absolute requirement for sequence concerning Christ's receipt of a physical body.
Critics ignore that the gospel teaches us what we must do to fulfill God's commandments and purposes. It does not spend much time telling us what Jesus was required to do—clearly, he had many duties and abilities which far outstripped ours. That is why he was God and Savior before we came to this earth, and why we must rely upon his grace for salvation.
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