Chapter 8 -
The view on God

 

 

 

 

If we consider the Mormons' view on God, we can see that it differs a great deal from the normal Christian view. If we study this issue in the light of the following examples, we can clearly see that Mormons are actually polytheists.

 

MORMONS HAVE MANY GODS                                                               

 

In the beginning, the main God of Gods called together the Council of Gods, and they gathered together and developed a plan for creating and populating the world – in all occasions in which I have spoken about God, I have taught polytheism. (Joseph Smith, History of the Church, part VI, pages 308, 474; translated from the Finnish text).

 

A time to come in which nothing shall be withheld, whether there be one God or many gods , they shall be manifest. …. According to that which was ordained in the midst of the Council of the Eternal God of all other gods before this world was, that should be reserved unto the finishing and the end thereof, when every man shall enter into his eternal presence and into his immortal rest. (The Doctrine and Covenants 121:28 32. The revelation of Smith 20 March 1839 in Liberty Jail, Clay County, Missouri)

 

In heaven where our spirits have been born, there are many Gods who each have their own wife or wives who have been given to them before their redemption when they still were in a mortal state. (Orson Pratt / The Seer I, 37. EA. 13) Translated from the Finnish text

 

“Is there more than one God?" The answer is, “Yes, many.”(Catechism for Children, p.. 13, WEB. 32). Translated from the Finnish text

 

The examples above about the writings of Mormons indicate very clearly that Mormons believe in many gods. These people are so supporters of polytheism – an issue that some Mormons do not necessarily even know in the beginning.

   Instead, if we look at the Bible, it speaks about there being only one God and no others besides Him:

 

- (Deut 4:35) To you it was showed, that you might know that the LORD he is God; there is none else beside him. 

 

- (Deut 32:39) See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand.

 

- (Isa 44:6) Thus said the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.

 

- (Isa 45:5-6) I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded you, though you have not known me:

6  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.

 

- (Isa 46:9) Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me

 

- (1 Tim 1:17) Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

 

In addition, it should be noted that also the Book of Mormon speaks about one God only. The teachings and revelations of Smith and other leaders thus go against their own holy book:

 

And Zeezrom said unto him, Thou sayest there is a true and living God? And Amulek said, Yea, there is a true and living God. Now Zeezrom said: Is there more than one God? And he answered, No. (Alma 11:26- 29).

 

GOD WAS ONCE A MAN

 

"God himself was once as we are now, and he is now an exalted man - I say to you, that if you saw him in the form of a man - such as you are, in all mind and form he is like a man - He was once a man as we are; God, the Father of us all, really lived on Earth." (Joseph Smith, History of the Church, VI part, p. 305.). Translated from the Finnish text.

 

"What man is like now, God once was like, what God is like now, man can become like." (James Talmage: Articles of faith, p.430). Translated from the Finnish text.

 

The God of the Mormons was once a man as we are now.

   The Bible, instead, says that God has never been a man, and that He has been the same God from eternity to eternity:

 

- (Rom 1:22,23,25) Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

23  And changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four footed beasts, and creeping things.

25  Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

 

- (Ps 90:2) Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, you are God.

 

- (Ps 102:25-27) Of old have you laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of your hands.

26  They shall perish, but you shall endure: yes, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a clothing shall you change them, and they shall be changed:

27  But you are the same, and your years shall have no end.

 

- (Hebr 13:8) Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.

 

- (Hos 11:9) I will not execute the fierceness of my anger, I will not return to destroy Ephraim: for I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the middle of you: and I will not enter into the city.

 

- (Num 23:19) God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: has he said, and shall he not do it? or has he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

 

ADAM IS GOD

 

When Adam came to the paradise of Eden, he came there in a heavenly body and brought with him Eve, one of his wives. He helped in making and arranging this world. He is our Father and God and only god whom we deal with. (A statement by the second president of Society, Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses VI, 50. EA. / 13. WEB.33, EHK.381). Translated from the Finnish text.

 

The statement by the second president of Mormon Society, Brigham Young, says that Adam is the God with whom they are in connection.

   The Bible, however, tells us how the God of Heavens himself created Adam:

 

- (Gen 1:27) So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

 

- (Acts 17:24-26) God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwells not in temples made with hands;

25  Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he gives to all life, and breath, and all things;

26  And has made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

 

THE FATHER GOD HAS A BODY

 

"The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's; the Son also..." (The Doctrine and Covenants: 130:22 the revelation of Smith 2.4.1843).

 

The Doctrine and Covenants reveals a revelation of Joseph Smith according to which the God our Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as our bodies.

   The Bible, on the other hand, points out that God is the Spirit:

 

- (John 4:24) God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

 

- (2 Cor 3:17) Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

 

GOD HAS A WIFE OR WIVES

 

In Heaven where our spirits were born, there are many Gods, each of whom have their own wife or wives who have been given to them before their redemption when they were still in a mortal state." (Orson Pratt / The Seer I, 37. EA. 13) Translated from the Finnish text

 

The Mormons have lowered God almost to the level of a man; each of their gods have also their own wives.

   However, the Bible speaks nothing about the wives of God in a physical way.

 

MAN CAN BECOME A GOD

 

"… and they shall pass by the angels, and the gods, which are set there, to their exaltation and glory in all things, as hath been sealed upon their heads, which glory shall be a fullness and a continuation of the seeds forever and ever. …..Then shall they be gods, because they have no end; therefore shall they be from everlasting to everlasting, because they continue; then shall they be above all, because all things are subject unto them. Then shall they be gods , because they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them. (The Doctrine and Covenants: 132:19,20. 12 July 1843 the revelation of Smith).

 

Those who have obeyed the laws of the Gospel received Holy Spirit, got priesthood and held it in the honour and lived righteously, can enter the heavenly brightness. There they will have thrones, power to rule, and endlessly multiply; they will be Gods who create and rule the worlds and populate those with their descendants (Manual 1901-1902, I, 52, WEB. 365.)

 

The Mormons believe in many gods but they even taken this a step further and believe that men too can develop into gods who create and rule worlds and populate them with their descendants.

   However, the Bible shows that no-one can ever become God:

 

- (Isa 43:10-11) You are my witnesses, said the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that you may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.

11  I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no savior.

 

- (Eze 28:2) Son of man, say to the prince of Tyrus, Thus said the Lord GOD; Because your heart is lifted up, and you have said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the middle of the seas; yet you are a man, and not God, though you set your heart as the heart of God:

 

- (Acts 12:21- 24) And on a set day Herod, arrayed in royal apparel, sat on his throne, and made an oration to them.

22  And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man.

23  And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.

24  But the word of God grew and multiplied.

 

JESUS AND SATAN ARE BROTHERS

 

"Before Jesus was named the Savior of the world, He fought for this position with another son of God. This other son was Lucifer – the spirit brother of Jesus who desperately tried to become the Savior of mankind." (Milton R. Hunter, The Gospel Through the Ages, p.15). Translated from the Finnish text.

 

Another side to the peculiar Mormon view on God was also that Jesus and Satan were brothers.

   The Bible, instead, strongly stresses that Jesus is the one and only Son of God and that He is Himself God, so the view of the Mormons contradicts yet again with the message of the Bible:

 

- (1 John 4:9-10) In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.

10  Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

 

- (John 1:1,14) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

14  And the Word was made flesh, and dwelled among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

 

- (John 1:18) No man has seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him.

 

- (John 3:16) For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

 

JESUS WAS NOT CONCEIVED FROM THE HOLY SPIRIT

 

When virgin Mary gave birth to baby Jesus, the Father had conceived Him as His kind. He was not conceived from the Holy Spirit. And who was the Father? He was the first of mankind; and when He took a (human body) abode, it was conceived from His Father in Heaven in the same way as Cain, Abel, and other sons and daughters of Adam and Eve." (Journal of Discourses, I, 50. WEB. 34. EHK.381, a statement of Brigham Young). Translated from the Finnish text.

 

Brigham Young, the second president of Society spoke about how Jesus was not conceived from the Holy Spirit.

   However, if we look at the Bible, we see that it says just on the contrary:

 

- (Matt 1:20) But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, you son of David, fear not to take to you Mary your wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.

 

- (Luke 1:34- 35) Then said Mary to the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

35  And the angel answered and said to her, The Holy Ghost shall come on you, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of you shall be called the Son of God.

 

JESUS WAS MARRIED

 

Let us now study the question of the wives of Jesus: there were several holy women who greatly loved Jesus, and when He rose from the dead, He first appeared to these women or at least to one of them, namely Mary Magdalene. It is quite natural for a husband in resurrection first to appear to his own dearest wives." (Orson Pratt, The Seer I, 159. WEB.35). Translated from the Finnish text.

 

Jesus was a bridegroom (fiancé) in the wedding at Cana in Galilee – we claim that Jesus Christ was married, so that He would see his seed. (Orson Hyde, apostle, Journal of Discourses, part II, p.82). Translated from the Finnish text.

 

Another peculiar view that the Mormons have is that Jesus had wives.

   However, the Bible does not speak about the marriage of Jesus. Furthermore, in the wedding at Cana, Jesus was only a guest:

 

- (John 2:1-2) And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there:

2  And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.

 

 

 

 

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