Do Mormons Worship the God of the Bible? Post 7

Post Author: Darrell

When comparing the nature of the Mormon Jesus to the Jesus Christ of the Bible, several significant differences become readily apparent. Deut. 6:4 tells us emphatically that God is one in nature: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” In addition, in John 10:30, Jesus tells us that He “and the Father are one.” When Christ uttered these words, the Jews picked up stones to kill Him, because they knew precisely what He was asserting; namely, that He is one with God and that, as a consequence of God being one in nature, that He Himself is God.

The biblical assertion that Jesus is God is confirmed by several other passages of scripture. Col. 2:9 says, “For in him [Christ] the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.” In addition, in John 8:58, Jesus said, “before Abraham was, I Am.” Once again, when He said this, the Jews tried to stone Him, because they realized He was taking upon Himself the name of God by applying to Himself God’s declaration in Exod. 3:14: “God said to Moses, ‘I am who I am’.” In addition, Jesus taught in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” At first glance, this verse may sound like it is simply a beautiful metaphor; however, a closer analysis reveals that Christ is referencing the Old Testament teaching in Ps. 27:1: “The Lord is my light.” Christ was literally proclaiming Himself to be the Yahweh of the Old Testament, and, thus, the God of all.

Verses such as those above place Mormons in a difficult position: how can their Jesus, a Jesus who was spiritually born of and is ontologically separate from God the Father, be God if there is only one God and God is one? The typical Mormon response to this problem is to say that God and Jesus are one in purpose and not one in nature; however, this answer falls decisively short of solving the problem, for Mormons are still forced to tackle the issue that their Christ has not always been God and had a God prior to Him, i.e., God the Father. The God of the Bible tells us that He has always been God and that there have never been any Gods besides Him: “Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me” (Isa. 43:10). Unfortunately for the Mormon Church, the LDS Jesus does not meet this standard and thus, cannot be the Jesus of the Bible.

In conclusion, as this series of posts has demonstrated, there are several significant differences between the God of Mormonism and the God of the Bible. The Mormon Godhead is comprised of three Gods who are separate and distinct in nature. However, the Bible teaches that there is but one God. Both the Mormon God the Father and the Mormon God the Son are embodied in flesh and bone, and as a result, cannot be in more than one place at a time. In contrast, the God of the Bible is said to be a spirit who is both invisible and omnipresent.

The Mormon God the Father is an exalted man who progressed and earned the honorific title God through a process similar to the one through which mankind is now going. However, the Bible teaches that God is not a man and has always been God. In addition, according to the Bible, God is not an honorific title that a being earns. Rather, it is something God simply is. Mormonism also teaches that God and man are the same species. On the other hand, the Bible makes it clear that God is self-existent and necessary, while man is contingent. Consequently, the idea that man and God are the same species is, from a biblical perspective, completely illogical.

The Mormon God the Son was spirit born of the Father and a Heavenly Mother, making Him ontologically separate from the Father. As a result, He has not always been God, and instead, progressed through obedience in a pre-mortal life to become “like unto God.” In contrast, the Jesus of the Bible is one with God. Consequently, the biblical profession of the eternality of God, i.e., that He has always been God, having no Gods before, after, or besides Him, applies equally to Christ making His nature inconsistent with the spirit born nature of the Mormon Jesus. For these reasons, it is readily apparent that the nature of the Mormon God and the nature of the God of the Bible are diametrically opposed to one another. In reality, there is no meaningful way to view them as describing the same being. As a result, it can be decisively said that the God of Mormonism is most certainly not the God of the Bible.

Tags: LDS, Mormon, Mormonism, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

This entry was posted by Darrell on Friday, June 11th, 2010 at 10:00 am and is filed under Mormonism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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Darrell

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http://buddy.illifly.de/rhoit/ Hilaria Jabbie

Awesome post. Thanks for sharing, it`s bookmarked.
Kyle

Wow you need some serious help :S if you cared to read the whole Book of Mormon you would have the answers you need to this rather silly argument. Also the (Mormon) religion accepts the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly. There have been many changes to the bible over time, and if you understood how the bible came to be in its current state you would openely accept that it has been modified/changed many times by many people. You should spend more time receiving the answers you need through prayer and not through your own understanding. If you were really as strong and dedicated memeber of the (Mormon) faith that you claim you were, you could of easily of had these and many more of your concerns answered. Your understanding of the Book of Mormon seems very limited and your knowledge of the Church like wise. I implore you to stop your anti Mormon rantings, and get on with your life. There are only a handfull of reasons you would actively bad mouth and try and disprove someone elses religion, and the reason you have given on other pages of your blog are not an acceptable enough reason. I hope and pray that your heart will be softened and that you realise that what you are doing on your blog is wrong and counter productive. If you have read the Book of Mormon properley then you understand the consequences of your actions, I do this to warn you lovingley as I worry for your salvation. Enjoy your religion if that is your choice but don’t slag off and try and disprove other people choices religions. Thankyou and I hope you will see the errors of your ways.
NickyMac

Kyle,

I am defensive of my faith because it is the most important thing to me, so I can understand your hurt when someone puts it down. You are allowed to confront a person that you believe has wronged you, otherwise you just sit in unforgiveness.

However, you must also consider that Darrell has obligations too. The bible says in Jude verse 3 to “earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”

In Acts 15 when Paul and Barnabas heard that there were people who were teaching something in error they were so concerned that they travelled to Jerusalem and debated with the people and tried to correct the false teaching.

Darrell is justifiably angry with the “new revelation” of Mormonism and genuinely worried for the people who are in bondage because of it. I’m sure he, and other Christians who care enough, will do everything they can to prevent its teachings from distorting the truth.

The New Testament warns about false prophets, it doesn’t make way for them.

I’m glad that you had the guts to read this post and I pray that the truth in the words stay with you.

Consider this: the enemy doesn’t need to turn people away from Jesus. All the enemy needs to do is distort His words and confuse people enough that they can’t follow Him.

With respect,
Nicky
http://thatfresnoblog.com Benjamin Baxter

I find the idea of a great apostasy absurd, considering Matthew 16:18. This in and of itself discredits the Mormon doctrine.

… and yet the Mormon persons live the Gospel better than those of us drenched in the culture of death. As we have seen, however, we cannot judge the truth of a claim by the behavior of its adherents, though we do.
anonymous

Reading your comments are quite interesting.

All I can say is that “the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.” -John 4:23

those who are sincere and are with real-intent would always long for the truth and would find it. and they would know by themselves where the true source of truth is.

the absolute truth doesn’t change. whether you believe it or not it will not change. All of us would be held accountable for our own response.

these absolute truths are being taught by the Spirit. These truths are “independent” in their spiritual sphere and are to be discovered spiritually.
Vandyke Candl

Then believing in the Bible means also the Ten Commandments? So the not committing adultery thing wasn’t an issue for JS?

Tough Questions Answered

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