What do Mormons believe about the Godhead?
Members of the Godhead are united in purpose and will but consist of three separate Beings: God, the Eternal Father; Jesus Christ, His Son, our Redeemer; and the Holy Ghost. This view of the Godhead is based on ancient and modern revelation, and Mormons‘ belief in the personal appearance of the Father and the Son to Joseph Smith in 1820.
Personal Response by Roger Keller
The Latter-day Saint understanding of the Godhead and the nature of God are rooted in Joseph Smith’s first vision in which the Father and the Son appeared to Joseph standing side by side. The two members of the Godhead were clearly two separate, distinct personages. These two with the Holy Ghost, also an individual person of spirit, constitute the Godhead of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. They are absolutely one in love, will, purpose, and direction. There is no variation among them, and to underline this unity, even though it is not an ontological unity, Latter-day Saints often define the doctrine of the Godhead as “Social Trinitarianism,” thereby underlining the indivisible unity of the three.
In Latter-day Saint thinking, however, there is a subordinationism within the Godhead. The Father clothes the intelligences of the Son and Holy Ghost with spirit form and is therefore superior to them. He gives directions which they carry out in total unity and unanimity with Him. Each of the three is God, but the Father reigns supreme, and as it says in I Cor. 15:24 after subordinating all things to himself, in the end the Son will deliver all things to the Father and then subject himself fully to the Father, in order that the Father may reign over all.
As is clear, Latter-day Saints do not subscribe to the traditional doctrine of the Trinity as defined at Nicaea in 325 C.E. The Latter-day Saint doctrine is not derived from an interpretation of scripture or from neo-Platonic philosophy, but rather from the first vision. It is the Latter-day Saint conviction that the traditional doctrine of the Trinity cannot be found or defended from the Old and New Testaments, but rather that it is an unnecessary philosophical addition to biblical doctrine, trying to answer a question that does not need answering. That question is how there can be one God in the Old Testament, and yet three persons who receive divine ascription in the New? The Nicene answer is that there are three simultaneously, co-existent persons–Father, Son, and Holy Ghost–in the Godhead, and to retain the Old Testament one God, they must be of “one essence” or “one nature.” Any competent Protestant or Catholic theologian will, however, say that this is THE mystery of God and is not fully comprehensible.
Latter-day Saints do not see such a problem, because they believe that in the New Testament something new about God is learned. The one who is made known in the Old Testament as God, YHWH or Jehovah, has become incarnate as Jesus, and from him we learn that there is not just one God, but a Godhead composed of three simultaneously, co-existing persons–Father, Son, and Holy Ghost–who are one in all aspects save nature, and who together compose a Social Trinity.
Personal Response by Karen Merkley
Three Separate Beings
I’m so glad you asked; I remember wondering about the Godhead before I became a Mormon (member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). I scratched my head every time we recited the Athanasian creed, trying earnestly to get my mind around the notion of a three-personed God. Try as I might, I just couldn’t assimilate it. And yet I had to know. I finally determined to ask God. In the middle of a hotel room in London, I dropped everything, knelt in prayer and asked Him to please dispel my confusion about the Godhead. As I prayed, it was as if the lights turned on immediately. I received a message, through the Spirit, like this: “It’s simple: “I’m your Father, Jesus is my Son, and the Holy Ghost bears record of both of us.” I got up from that prayer as if with a new pair of glasses. I knew for myself that God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost were separate Beings. Later, I learned that not only this concept, but all other pure and perfect truths about my relationship to God and Jesus Christ, are actually taught in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Is There a God?
I don’t know if you’re wondering if there is even a God. If so, I’ve been there. There was a time in my life when I didn’t know if God lived. I felt alone and unsure of my purpose. At one particular point in my life, I began to despair that I would never know my purpose or the answers to the questions of my heart. Without those answers, the desire to live waned. The world looked cold and senseless. Maybe it does to you, too. I wondered how I could carry on from day to day without knowing why I was even on the earth.
Lacking some key to the universe, I sat despondently on the edge of my studio bed, staring at a bottle of pills. At that time, though, I was caught by surprise-by a gently but profound strain of impressions from a loving Father through what I now recognize as His Spirit. I was told, through those welcome whisperings, that “every moment of love and discovery in my life had not been wasted” and I must have the courage to live on. I was also told, in fact, spiritually guaranteed, that I would find the purpose of life. I accepted with confidence those impressions though I didn’t quite comprehend their appearance on the screen of my soul.
I spent the next months contemplating my life. On one remarkable occasion, as I was jogging around the neighborhood under the exquisite light of a full moon, I received what I can only describe as an injection of truth-a stunning, indelible witness that God lived I recall sitting down on the curb, sobbing, tears of joy. I was changed instantly. I felt loved, and I felt an overwhelming inclination to love like never before I knew there was a God which I hadn’t known for myself just moments before. I knew, at last, I had a purpose. It was incredibly sweet.I know you can know that God lives for yourself as well.
I longed to know more about God, his plan for me and my duty and responsibility towards Him and others. For the rest of the story, please view this video clip.
Related Scriptures
Acts 17: 29: This scripture affirms that we are children of God the Father. D&C 130: 3 The Lord Himself testifies of the separateness of members of the Godhead, and dispels the notion that they will only dwell in our hearts.
John 14:23 The Father and the Son will personally appear to those who have proven faithful and through every hazard and mortal trial.
Moses 1:3-6, 39 God’s purpose is to bring about our happiness and eternal life.
Matthew 3:13-17 At Jesus’ baptism, each member of the Godhead is represented separately and distinctly.
John 14:6-10 We come to know the Father as we obey His Son, Jesus Christ. They are separate Beings.
Acts 7:55-56 Stephen sees Jesus Christ at the right hand of God the Father.
2 Nephi 31:18 This scripture specifies the role of the Holy Ghost, and distinguishes His role from that of the Father and the Son.
D&C 76:20-24 Joseph Smith sees the Savior at the right hand of the Father, and bears record of them.
Additional Resources
For official websites of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, visit www.mormon.org and www.lds.org.
“What Do Latter-day Saints Believe about the Godhead?” LDS FAQ Web Site, BYU Studies
Articles:
Liahona, Feb. 2005, 25; or Ensign, Feb. 2005, 65 What do we know about the nature of the Godhead? How can our knowledge of the Godhead draw us closer to Them?
Gordon B. Hinckley, Liahona, Mar. 1998, 2-9; or Ensign, Mar. 1998, 2-7 It is that perfect unity between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost that binds these three into the oneness of the divine Godhead.
Dallin H. Oaks, Ensign, May 1995, 84-87 In common with the rest of Christianity, we believe in a Godhead of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. However, we testify that these three members of the Godhead are three separate and distinct beings.
Joseph B. Wirthlin, Ensign, Nov. 1991, 15-17 One distinctive principle [of the gospel] is a true concept of the nature of the Godhead.
John H. Vandenberg, Ensign, May 1974, 11-13 There is no question that Jesus taught the very nature of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost-three personages of form and substance, individual and distinct.
Tags: God the Father, Godhead, Jesus Christ, Karen Merkely, Prayer, purpose of life, Roger Keller, separate beings, the Holy Ghost, the Son, trinity
This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 15th, 2008 at 9:40 am and is filed under Array. You can follow any responses to this entry through the /feed feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.