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The Godhead, an LDS View
By Michael Flournoy

What follows is a series of excerpts from Flournoy's article, digested here to give quick, concise conclusions for the internet surfer. If you wish to see the whole article, write to me, Sam Richardson, at samueler@comcast.net.

"It is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true. I am one that bare witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me." -Jesus Christ (John 8:17-18)

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to earth and took upon himself a fleshly body. He walked among men, teaching the way of salvation. He said "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me (John 14:6)." The Son of God atoned for the sins of the world and was lifted upon a cross to die. Three days later he was resurrected, fulfilling prophecy and giving evidence he was the Messiah.

As Latter-day Saints, we believe all this. We believe Jesus was more than a prophet. He is our Savior, our Redeemer, and our hope. Nephi of The Book of Mormon said, "...We talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins (2 Nephi 25:26)." Yet of the believers of Jesus throughout the world, many have concluded that Mormons are not Christian. The argument is Mormons have a different view of God. Opponents of the Church claim we believe in a God possessing different attributes and qualities, and therefore a different Jesus entirely--one who cannot save us from our sins, and therefore our faith is vain.

Christians primarily believe in the Trinity doctrine, which means they believe the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are one corporeal being. More specifically, according to their doctrine they're distinctly separate, but made of the same essence and are therefore one. They believe Jesus came from God to earth and was God incarnate. Jesus may have a body in most sects of Christianity, but the Father and the Holy Ghost do not. Latter-day saints, on the other hand, believe in the Godhead doctrine, or that Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are three separate beings. We also believe that the Father and the Son both possess bodies of flesh and bone.

With the concept of the Godhead comes several questions from mainstream Christianity. They wonder how we can believe the Father has a body when Jesus said "God is a Spirit", and how we can believe in three separate Gods when the Bible says explicitly that there is one. I would like to explain both of these in detail.

God Is a Spirit, but He has a Body around that Spirit Before I address the corporeal body of God, there is a great misconception that must be cleared up. As adamant as we LDS are about God having a body, some have pointed out an apparent contradiction in our scriptures concerning the Godhead. The dispute is between Doctrine and Covenants 130:22 and Alma 18:26-28.

Doctrine and Covenants 130:22: "The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us."

Alma 18:26-28: "And then Ammon said: Believest thou that there is a Great Spirit? And he said, Yea. And Ammon said: This is God..."

So the critics say the Doctrine and Covenants teaches a God with a body, while The Book of Mormon teaches that God is a spirit. First, Ammon was not teaching a detailed lesson about God, but was trying to expound on basic principles already known to King Lamoni. If one will take the time to read Alma 18 this will all be clearer. The Lamanite king already believed in a Great Spirit, so Ammon was basically just saying, "I know God is a foreign word to you, but you already believe in him as the Great Spirit."

The ironic thing is Ammon certainly didn't lie. God was a spirit! It is believed that when Ammon said this it was about 90 B.C.E., which means Jesus had not yet taken upon himself flesh. The Doctrine and Covenants is modern scripture. So it's safe to say that Ammon's preaching was true, and Doctrine & Covenants 130:22 is true, also.

After explaining the above principles, a young Evangelical once asked me, "But how do you know Ammon was talking about Jesus and not the Father when he said God was a spirit?"

This is a good question indeed. We believe Jesus created all things. Mosiah 3:8: "And he shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and earth, the Creator of all things from the beginning; and his mother shall be called Mary. "As Ammon preached he began to mention that this God was a creator. Alma 18:28: "And Ammon said: This is God. And Ammon said unto him again: Believest thou that this Great Spirit, who is God, created all things which are in heaven and in the earth?" In verse 32 he continues, "...yea and he looketh down upon all the children of men; and he knows all the thoughts and intents of the heart; for by his hand were they all created from the beginning." This is how I know Ammon spoke of Christ.

I'm not going to spend a lot of time on Jesus' body, since I assume most Christians would believe he has one. The literal resurrection of Christ is a vital part of the gospel. If there was no resurrection our faith is vain (1 Corinthians 15:17). Romans 6:9: "Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him." Since Christ would not die again, there is no reason to suppose he ever shed his physical body.

The idea of the Father possessing a physical form is often met with opposition. The scripture most used to deny God has a body is found in John 4:24: "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." As Latter-day Saints we are convinced that you can have a body, even if you are a spirit. Our own co-existing body and spirit is proof of that. Yes, God is a spirit, containing a tangible shell of flesh and bones.

I had an interesting conversation with a Christian fellow one day who said John 4:24 is misunderstood by most Christians. He pointed out that the S in Spirit is capitalized and didn't mean spirit at all. It meant 'the Holy Ghost was God'.

"But it doesn't say God is the Spirit." I said, "It says God is 'a' Spirit." He must have noticed that for the first time, just as I had, and he said he didn't have an answer for such a thing. I don't have an answer either, although if the words God and Spirit are interchangeable, isn't it saying God is 'a' God? In any case this scripture does nothing to support the Trinity doctrine.

What do you think an Evangelical would say if you asked if God could eat? My experience shows me they would deny the possibility because God has no body with which to perform the task.

As silly as this sounds, Moses taught it to the Israelites. Deuteronomy 4:27-28: "And the LORD shall scatter you among the nations, and ye shall be left few in number among the heathen, whither the LORD shall lead you. And there ye shall serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood and stone, which neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell." The God of Moses could eat (Genesis 18:1-8), why not the God of the Protestants?

At this point many would prefer to say God can do anything, regardless of whether or not he has a body, rather than reconsider their stance on the Trinity doctrine. I think this notion is a serious mistake because when Jesus was resurrected he proved he had a body by eating! This is something he simply wouldn't have done if He were a spirit. If Jesus were merely a spirit, then asked for food, it would be deceiving to the rest of us, because the mere act of eating automatically brings to mind a body that would go through the motions, such as taking the food to the mouth, and chewing it, then swallowing. Luke 24:41-43: "And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before them." The fact that Jesus made it clear that He had a "body of flesh and bones," then later showed the rest of us that He had such a body by eating, and this coupled with the scripture from the Old Testament that showed us that God the Father can eat, tells me that God the Father, indeed, has a body of flesh and bones.

There are different places in the Bible which hint that God possesses a body. I won't bring up all the body parts attributed to God in the Old Testament, since they are widely believed to be metaphorical. Suffice it to say I believe in a God who literally has hands, feet, and shoulders.

My first biblical point comes from Genesis 1:26-27: "And God said, Let us make man in our own image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him, male and female created he them."

Latter-day saints would agree with other Christians that being created in God's image involves an array of attributes, but we also take that scripture to mean we are created to look like God physically. The scripture that backs this up in found in Genesis 5:3: "And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and he called his name Seth." Isn't this interesting? The same words 'image' and 'likeness' are used here.

Three Separate Beings

Protestants probably think Latter-day Saints are pretty blasphemous when they read the Pearl of Great Price, which is part of our scripture. There they read the account of the creation, but there's a twist. Instead of God doing these things, it's written as 'the Gods'. However, the Hebrew word for God in the Old Testament creation story is Eloheim, which is a plural noun. Therefore the literal translation of Genesis 1:1 would be: In the beginning the Gods created the heaven and the earth. It is very apparent that in the Old Testament God is speaking to someone during and after the creation story. Genesis 1:26: "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness..." Whomever God was speaking to, it was a being capable of creating man. Not only that, but this being must have had the same image and likeness of God in order for us to be made in the image and likeness of both. God could have been speaking to no one else but God, and the use of 'us' in the passage shows they are separate. This also happens in Genesis 11. Genesis 11:6-7 And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. (See also Gen. 3:22.)

Latter-day saints do not find these passages to be a problem in any way, because we understand the Father and the Son to be two distinct personages.

An argument for the Trinity doctrine is in John 14:8-11. Philip asks the Lord to show forth the Father and he replies, "Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake."

But John 14:20 shows that this isn't necessarily literal: Jesus said, "At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you."

But didn't I just say it's the Holy Ghost that dwells in us? I would hate to overlook the fact that in John 14:20 Jesus said in that day we would be in him, and he would be in us. If not for certain passages in the Bible, it would seem I had just contradicted myself. 1 Corinthians 6:16-17: What? Know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? For two, saith he, shall be one flesh. But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.

I haven't run across too many single men who claim they were once married but absorbed their wives. God said man would cleave unto his wife and they would be one flesh (Genesis 2:24), but this is metaphorical. Isn't it interesting that Paul would compare this scripture to being one spirit with the Lord? It was also metaphorical when Jesus said we would be in him, and he would be in us. But in a sense, this also portrays the unity and fellowship we will have with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

With that said, I would now like to turn to a popular scripture. John 1:1: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." The Word is Jesus Christ. Evangelicals read that the Word was with God, but also was God, seeing this as a scripture which defines the Trinity perfectly. Latter-day saints, on the other hand, view God as a title and believe Jesus was with God in the beginning, and also held the title God.

If you are a Christian reading this you might want to shake me and say, "The Bible says there's only one God (Isaiah 44:6, 8)!" I'm afraid it's not that simple. Take a look at what else the Bible says. 1 Timothy 2:5: "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus." Isn't a mediator supposed to be a middle party?

Now I am fully aware of the doctrinal dilemma I have gotten myself into thus far, and will take a few moments to correct it before continuing on. Earlier I said we believe in 3 Gods, but now I have admitted one God, reducing Jesus to a mediator only. The question that must be asked then is: do Mormons really believe Jesus is God? The highly favored misconception says we do not, but The Book of Mormon teaches we do. 1 Nephi 11:7: "For if there be no Christ there be no God; and if there be no God we are not, for there could have been no creation. But there is a God, and he is Christ, and he cometh in the fullness of his own time." Mosiah 5:15: "Therefore I would that ye should be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in good works, that Christ, the Lord God Omnipotent, may seal you his, that you may be brought to heaven, that ye may have everlasting salvation and eternal life, through the wisdom, and power, and justice, and mercy of him who created all things, in heaven and in earth, who is God above all. Amen."

There you have it; Latter-day Saints do believe Jesus is God. So where is the reconciliation between Jesus and the Father being called God if there is only one God? The scholars of Nicea invented the Trinity doctrine to justify this, but we have an alternate conclusion. I almost hate to say it, because I know how annoying it is to Christians who have heard it over and over again, but Jesus is the God of this world. He is the only God we can attain salvation through and so to us there is one God.

After all, isn't this what Paul taught the people at Corinth? 1 Corinthians 8:5-6: "For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,) But to us there is but one God, the Father; of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him." The fact that Paul was talking about idols is unimportant. He didn't say there was one God; he said 'to us' there is one God.

Yet there remain questions to be answered. Paul said 'to us' there is one God, the Father and one Lord Jesus Christ. How can this possibly make sense without the Trinity? Here is something to consider. How do we know he wasn't referring to one being? It could easily be one God with two titles, "the Father," and "the Son." It would be the same if I said there is one Jesus, the Savior, and one God the Redeemer.

But wait a minute! Mormons don't believe Jesus is the Father, right? The answer to this is complicated. We do not believe Jesus is the Father, but we do believe Jesus is sometimes called the Father. Just as they are two separate beings, but both hold the title God, they also each hold the title Father. This is explained in The Book of Mormon. Mosiah 15:2-4: "And because he dwelleth in flesh he shall be called the Son of God, and having subjected the flesh to the will of the Father, being the Father and the Son. The Father, because he was conceived by the power of God; and the Son, because of the flesh; thus becoming the Father and Son. And they are one God, yea, the very eternal Father of heaven and of earth." Thus I believe Paul was simply speaking of Jesus when he said "To us there is but one God, the Father; of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him."

Now I would like to put forth two quotes by the Savior. John 8:54: "Jesus answered, If I honor myself, my honor is nothing: it is my Father that honoreth me; of whom ye say, that he is your God." John 5:31, 37: "If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true...And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath born witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape."

According to his own words, if he is the Father his witness cannot possibly be true, because he would be bearing witness of himself. Since we believe Jesus spoke the truth, and is the Truth, we must conclude that the Trinity concept is false.

Perhaps the most convincing argument for the Gods being separate and embodied is they have been witnessed as such. Steven saw the Father and the Son right before he was martyred. The Acts 7:55: "But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God." When I have quoted this scripture I have been gently reminded by my opponents that it never says Steven actually saw God. Technically, this is true, but if he did not see the Father then how did he know Jesus was standing at his right?

The biggest reason Latter-day Saints believe in the Godhead is Joseph Smith saw them this way. He wrote: "...I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me... When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other- This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him (Joseph Smith--History 1:16-17)!"

Closing Remarks: One of my favorite scriptures comes from Romans 14, where it talks about the disagreements about eating meat. Romans 14:15-17: "But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died. Let not then your good be evil spoken of: For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." To me this says God's kingdom has nothing to do with the arguments we have here on earth, it's all about righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

Finally I would like to bear my testimony of who God is, not from any doctrinal standpoint, but from my own experience. When I was 16 I attended EFY, which is a church service for LDS youth. During my time there the greatest experience of my life occurred. Jesus Christ revealed himself to me. I had had some limited knowledge of who he was before, but in one night I learned more than I could have dreamed. I knew he lived, and that he loved me with a love incomprehensible to my mind. I knew I was accountable to him, and that his power was infinite. So real were the impressions placed in my mind, that to this day it feels the same when I think back on that night. That Cornerstone of the Church has changed my life. I know Jesus is my redeemer and I know there is only one Lord, one faith, one baptism (Ephesians 4:5). Amen.

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