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- TEACHINGS OF THE MORMON
CHURCH COMPARED -
- PAST AND PRESENT -
Have the teachings of the Mormon church been consistent and reliable? The
answer to this question is a clear no. This will be illustrated by the
following quotations from Mormon Scriptures, Joseph Smith and other top LDS
leaders.
1. IS GOD A SPIRIT OR DOES HE HAVE A BODY OF FLESH AND BONES?
The BOOK OF MORMON: published in 1830, this Mormon Scripture says
God is a spirit:
Holy, holy God; we believe that thou art God, and we believe that thou art
holy, and that thou wast a spirit, and that thou art a spirit,
and that thou wilt be a spirit forever. (Alma 31:15; Alma 18:4-5, 26-29;
22:8-11 are similar)
Note in Alma 31:15-38 that those who say God is a spirit are not corrected
in the prayer of the prophet involved even though other errors are. In none
of the references are any of the speakers corrected for calling God a "spirit"
or the "Great Spirit." In Alma 18:26-29, 22:8-11 alleged prophets
of God call God the "Great Spirit." The verses below, from the Book
of Mormon, also supports the teaching that God is a spirit. (At this point some
LDS may say: "The Book of Mormon references used are really referring to
the Son of God prior to coming to earth. The time period for the Book of Alma
was before the birth of Jesus Christ on earth. At this time he was a spirit."
First it should be noted that the context of Mosiah 15:3-5 and Lecture Fifth
of faith 5:1-2, shown below, make it clear that the Father is a spirit. Second,
it is correct that the time period is allegedly before the birth of Christ.
But the Book of Alma and the Book of Mosiah clearly say there is only one God,
as do other parts of the Book of Mormon, Alma 11:28-29, 44; Mormon 7:7. In addition
the term God within Mormonism usually refers to God the Father - Mormon
Doctrine, by Apostle Bruce R. McConkie, page 317. As a result it is reasonable
to assume that all the verses given refer to the Father.)
...The Father and Son- And they are one God, yea, the very Eternal
Father of heaven and earth. And thus the flesh becoming subject to the Spirit,
or the Son to the Father, being one
God... (Mosiah 15:3-5)
In the 1835 Doctrine and Covenants Joseph Smith also said the Father was
a personage of spirit, as contrasted with the Son who is a personage
of tabernacle (a physical body):
...We shall, in this lecture speak of the Godhead: we mean the Father, Son
and Holy Spirit. There are two personages...They are the Father and the Son:
The Father being a personage of spirit,
glory and power: possessing all perfection and fulness: the Son, who was
in the bosom of the Father, a personage of tabernacle...And
he being the only begotten of the Father...possessing the same mind with the
Father, which mind is the Holy Spirit... (1835 D&C, Lecture Fifth
of Faith, 5:1-2, pp. 52-53, First edition.)
NOT ONLY DO THE ABOVE SAY THAT GOD THE FATHER IS A SPIRIT, THERE ARE NO
LDS SCRIPTURES FROM 1830 TO ROUGHLY 1842 THAT CONTRADICT THEM.
THE MORMON CHURCH today teaches that the Father and Son each have
a body of flesh and bones, but the Holy Ghost is a personage of spirit (Doctrine
and Covenants 130:22)
THE BIBLE also says God is a spirit.
God is a Spirit . . . (John 4:24)
Perhaps a better way to say this is "God is spirit;" New Revised
Standard Version, John 4:24; "The New Testament Study Bible, John,
The Complete Bible Library, pp. 97-98. Also supporting the idea that
God is a spirit are the following:
"...for I am God, and not man." Hosea 11:9.
Also see 1 Samuel 15:29, 16:7; Numbers 23:19, Isaiah 31:3.
Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? Saith the
LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? ... (Jeremiah 23:24)
Is The Holy Ghost An "It"?
THE BOOK OF MORMON in several places says The Holy Spirit is an "it".
Examples are:
For behold, again I say unto you that if ye will enter in by the way, and
receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all
things what ye should do. (2 Nephi 32:5)
That ye contend no more against the Holy Ghost, but that ye receive it,
and take upon you the name of Christ; that ye humble yourselves even to the
dust, and worship God... (Alma 34:38)
For behold, if ye deny the Holy Ghost when it once has
had place in you, and ye know that ye deny it, behold, this is
a sin which is unpardonable... (Alma 39:6)
Even an early Doctrine and Covenants reference agrees:
Wherefore, I now send upon you another Comforter, even upon you my
friends, that it may abide in your hearts, even
the Holy Spirit of promise; which other Comforter is the same that I promised...
(Dec. 27, 1832, D&C 88:3)
Two personages
In the 1835 Doctrine and Covenants Joseph Smith said there were two personages
in the Godhead and the Holy Spirit is not one of them:
...We shall, in this lecture speak of the Godhead: we mean the Father, Son
and Holy Spirit. There are two personages...they are the Father
and the Son: the Father being a personage of spirit, glory and power:
possessing all perfection and fulness: the Son, who was in the bosom of the
Father, a personage of tabernacle...And he being The only begotten of The Father...possessing
The same mind with the Father, which mind is the Holy Spirit...Q. How
many personages are there in the Godhead? A. Two: the Father and the Son. (1835
D&C, Lecture Fifth of Faith, 5:1-2, pp. 52-53, 55, First edition)
This Lecture Fifth of Faith about two personages is not an isolated case.
In a similar time frame, this idea is also supported in two additional statements
by Joseph Smith in two versions of his first vision story.
...When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages [The Father
and Son], whose brightness and glory defy all description... (Joseph Smith
- History 1:17)
This is from the official version in the Pearl of Great Price. It reached
this form in 1838. Another version from 1835 also spoke of two personages.
...A pillar of fire appeared above my head; which presently rested down upon
me, and filled me with unspeakable joy. A personage appeared in the midst
of this pillar of flame...Another personage soon appeared like unto the first;
he said unto me thy sins are forgiven thee... (Joseph Smith's 1835 diary, recorded
by Warren Cowdery, as reported in Joseph Smith's First Vision, by Milton
V. Backman, Bookcraft, 1971, 1980, Appendix B, p. 159, *)
The last part of the 1835 D&C reference shown above, "which mind
is the Holy Spirit," is consistent with the Book of Mormon which since
1830 says the Holy Ghost is an "it". The dictionary says an "it"
is impersonal, not male or female, a thing, an object, an animal. It is sacrilegious,
disrespectful and offensive to call the Holy Ghost an "it".
From the sources above saying the Holy Ghost is an "it" and the
Fifth Lecture on Faith above we must conclude that "the mind"
(Holy Spirit) shared by the Father and Son is an "it", not the third
person of the Godhead, thus changing the attributes of God.
THE BIBLE says the Holy Spirit (Holy Ghost) is a "person"
with personal attributes, and is God, not an "it". See Acts 5:3-4;
Ephesians 4:30, John 14:16-17, 26. It also speaks of three personages, not two,
see Matthew 3:16-17, 28:19; Luke 3:22; Acts 20:28; 2 Corinthians 13:14; 1 John
5:7.
2. HAS GOD, AS GOD, ALWAYS EXISTED?
FATHER NO LONGER SPIRIT, BUT NOW FLESH & BONES; HOLY GHOST NO LONGER
AN "IT", BUT NOW A SPIRIT; NOW THERE ARE THREE PERSONAGES, NOT TWO.
In April 2, 1843 Joseph Smith said God the Father has a body of flesh and
bones (hence not a spirit - see Luke 24:39 "...for a spirit hath not flesh
and bones..."). There are now three personages in the Mormon Godhead, not
two, as previously taught. The Holy Ghost is a personage, not an "it".
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. (April 2, 1843, D&C 130:22)
Even though this revelation is dated April 1843, it was not published in
any of the LDS periodicals of the period and probably not generally distributed
to the general LDS members until after 1855 (Journal of Discourses 3:39, 18:291-292,
23:173). It did not find its way into LDS Scripture until the 1876 edition of
the D&C and not accepted by the membership until the October 1880 general
conference (The Ensign, December 1984, pp. 37-38).
At the April 1844 general conference Joseph reinforced the teaching that
the Father has a body, but now he adds that He was once a man like us before
becoming a God.
God an Exalted Man --- I will go back to the beginning before the world was,
to show what kind of being God is. What sort of a being was God in The beginning?
Open your ears and hear,...God himself was once as we are now, and is
an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens!...the great God who holds
this world in its orbit, and who upholds all worlds and all things by his power,....
you would see him like a man in form like yourselves in all the person, image,
and very form as a man;...it is necessary we should understand the character
and being of God and how he came to be so; for I am going to tell you how
God came to be God. 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. These are incomprehensible ideas to some, but they
are simple. It is the first principle of the Gospel to know for a certainty
the Character of God, and to know that we may converse with him as one man
converses with another, and that he was once a man like us; yea, that God
himself, The Father of us all, dwelt on an earth, the same as Jesus Christ himself
did... (April 1844, Teachings of The Prophet Joseph Smith, by Joseph
Fielding Smith, p. 345-346; History of The Church 6:305)
These last two references are now the official position of the Mormon Church.
But, according to the Bible and the Book of Mormon, God the Father is a spirit,
he does not have a body of flesh and bones (...for a spirit hath not
flesh and bones... Luke 24:39). The Bible also clearly says that God is not
man, see Hosea 11:9, Numbers 23:19.
Some LDS in their effort to refute clear statements about God, as God, from
eternity to eternity attempt to redefine the meaning of "eternity."
If Joseph Smith thought it had other than its dictionary meaning he clearly
had the opportunity to say so at this point. But he didn't, instead he said
"I will refute that idea and take away the veil." He chose not to
change its meaning. Gospel Principles, published by the LDS Church also
provides the usual dictionary definition for "eternity;" see page
376 of the 1992 edition and page 353 of the 1986 and older editions.
THE BOOK OF MORMON: now let us examine what the Book of Mormon says
about God, as God, from eternity. Does it agree with Joseph Smith's statement
in the last reference that God was not God from eternity?
...I, the Lord your God, have created all men,...And I do this that I may
prove unto many that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever; and
that I speak forth my words according to mine own pleasure... (2 Nephi 29:7,
9)
For behold, God knowing all things, being from everlasting to everlasting...For
I know that God is not a partial God; but he is unchangeable from all eternity
to all eternity. (Moroni 7:22; 8:18)
For do we not read that God is The same yesterday, today, and forever,
and to him there is no variableness neither shadow of changing? (Mormon 9:9)
Note how these declare the unchangeable God. Even an alleged revelation of
the same time period agrees:
Thereby showing that he is the same God yesterday, today, and forever...By
these things we know that there is a God in heaven, who is infinite and eternal,
from everlasting to everlasting the same unchangeable God, the framer of
heaven and earth, and all things which in them are;...Which Father, Son, and
Holy Ghost are one God, infinite and eternal, without end.
Amen. (April 1830; D&C 20:12, 17, 28)
In spite of what some may say, the data is clear that Smith is correct when
he tells us he once believed and taught that God was God from all eternity,
but that he then changed his mind. It is not possible for God the Father to
have once been a man like us, who died and was resurrected and progressed to
Godhood, and at The same time for him to have been God, as God, from all eternity.
Both cannot be correct. These concepts are 100% opposite each other!
As you consider the contradictions above and below, note the dates of the
reference and keep in mind that the Book of Mormon and the last Doctrine and
Covenants reference stating that God has always been God, WERE WRITTEN WELL
BEFORE JOSEPH SMITH CHANGED HIS TEACHINGS IN 1842-1844. The Book of Mormon and
Doctrine and Covenants are allegedly from God (see: The Vitality of Mormonism,
by Apostle James E. Talmage, c1919, p. 127; also see D&C 1:2, 6). Is it
God that can not get the description of his attributes correct? 1 Corinthians
14:33 and D&C 132:8 tell us God is not The author of confusion.
THE BIBLE also says that God has been God from eternity to eternity:
Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed The earth
and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. (Psalm
90:2)
Thy throne is established of old: thou art from everlasting. (Psalms
93:2)
For I am the LORD, I change not:... (Malachi 3:6)
The eternal God... (Deut. 33:27)
Also see Psalm 103:17, 147:4-5; Hebrews 13:8. Both the Bible and the Book
of Mormon contradict Joseph Smith and the present day teachings of the Mormon
Church (see page 2-3 of this paper).
3. IS THERE ONLY ONE GOD?
THE BOOK OF MORMON says there is only one God (The words are paraphrased
in some cases). In the front pages of the Book of Mormon we find "The Testimony
of Three Witnesses," the last line has:
..., And the honor be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost,
which is one God. Amen.
Other Book of Mormon passages have:
...Christ the Son, and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit, which is one
Eternal God . . . (Alma 11:44)
...Father, and The Son, and The Holy Ghost are one . . . (3 Nephi
11:27, 36)
Is there more than one God? ...No. (Alma 11:28-29)
Father, Son, Holy Ghosts is one God. (Mormon 7:7)
THE MORMON CHURCH and Joseph Smith say there are many Gods.
Joseph Smith said:
In the beginning, the head of the Gods called a council of the Gods;
and they came together and concocted a plan to create the world and people it.
(April 1844, Teachings of The Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 349)
I will preach on the plurality of Gods. I have selected this text
for that express purpose. I wish to declare I have always and in all congregations
when I have preached on the subject of the Deity, it has been the plurality
of Gods. It has been preached by the Elders for fifteen years. (June
16, 1844, ibid, p. 370)
If Abraham reasoned thus If Jesus Christ was the Son of God, and John discovered
that God the Father of Jesus Christ had a Father, you may suppose that He
had a Father also. Where was there ever a son without a FATHER? And where
was there ever a FATHER without first being a son? Whenever did a tree or anything
spring into existence without a progenitor? And everything comes in this way.
Paul says that which is earthly is in the likeness of that which is heavenly,
Hence if Jesus had a Father, can we not believe that He had a Father also?...
(June 16, 1844, ibid, p. 373)
...they, that is the Gods, organized and formed the heavens and
the earth. (Abraham 4:1; also see 4:2-29)
Smith must have forgotten a revelation of five years earlier: "A
time to come in the which nothing shall be withheld, whether there be one God
or many gods, they shall be manifest;" March 20, 1839, D&C 121:28)
A plurality of Gods is taught in the Mormon Church's teaching manuals:
President Joseph Fielding Smith said: "Our Father in heaven according
to the Prophet, had a Father, and since there has been a condition of this kind
through all eternity, each Father had a Father" (Doctrines
of Salvation 2:47)....President Joseph F. Smith taught: "I know that God
is a being with body, parts and passions....Man was born of woman; Christ,
the Savior, was born of woman; and God, the Father was born of woman"
(Church News, 19 Sept, 1936, p.2). (Search These Commandments,
Melchizedek Priesthood Personal Study Guide, Copyright 1984 by Corporation of
The President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, page 152)
We can become Gods like our Heavenly Father. This is exaltation...They
[people] will become gods....and will be able to have spirit children also.
These spirit children will have the same relationship to them as we do to our
Heavenly Father. They will be an eternal family....They will have everything
that our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have, all power, glory, dominion,
and knowledge. (Gospel Principles, page 290, 1986 edition or older; copyright
1978 by Corporation of The President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints)
THE BIBLE says there is only one God.
I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me:
I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: That they may know from the rising
of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the
LORD, and there is none else...Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let
them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath
told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside
me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. (Isaiah 45:5-6,
21)
Seeing it is one God, which shall justify The circumcision by faith,
and uncircumcision through faith. (Romans 3:30)
For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man
Christ Jesus; (1 Timothy 2:5)
John Farkas, Berean Christian Ministries, P.O. Box 1091, Webster, N.Y. 14580
5-19-96
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