Even
though secularism is on the rise in the West, it is not very difficult to find
someone who will say that they believe in the existence of God. Who, or what
that God is remains a different question. Some will say that they believe
someone, or something is out-there, but they have no idea who or what it is. Others
will perhaps describe a God made in their own likeness, often a God that suits their
own desires and beliefs. Whilst others may insist that they believe in the God
espoused by one of the world’s major religions.
Does
God exist? Who is this God and how can we know what God is like?
THE
BIBLE
The
Bible does not seek to explain the existence of God, but rather plainly states that
God is. What then follows throughout the pages of the Bible is an unfolding
revelation of this God and, as His nature and attributes are revealed, a doctrine
of God is formulated. It is this doctrine that has been accepted and believed
upon within Christianity for the last two thousand years.
The
question this brief two-part article seeks to address is this: how does the
Mormon doctrine of God compare with the historic biblical doctrine of God? Do
Mormons and Bible believing Christians trust in and worship the same God?
A
DIFFERENT GOD
‘Some who write anti-Mormon pamphlets insist the
Latter-day Saint concept of Deity is contrary to what is recognised as
traditional Christian doctrine. In this they are quite correct’[1]
I
have spoken to many Mormons who tell me that the God that they worship is no
different to the God that I worship. They can appear greatly offended by my
suggestion that we do not. Now I would consider that most Mormons honestly
believe that the God they trust in is the same God found in the pages of the
Bible. If they do, I would like to suggest there are three reasons for this.
i)
They are ignorant
of what the Bible teaches about God.
ii)
They are ignorant
of what Latter-day Saint leaders have taught, and continue to teach, about God.
iii)
They are sold on
the idea that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true and
restored Church, so whatever their leaders say is true, regardless of what the
Bible says.
Let
us consider some major differences between the God of Mormonism and the God of biblical
Christianity. Are we worshipping the same God?
THUS
SAYETH THE MORMON LEADERS
Former
Mormon President Gordon B. Hinckley said the following:
‘Other people do not understand the true nature of
God. They are still bound by the old Nicene Creed of the fourth century, which
I cannot understand. But we have a perfect knowledge of the nature of God that
has come through the First Vision of the Prophet Joseph.’[2]
So,
what is the true and perfect knowledge of the nature of God revealed by the
Prophet Joseph?
Firstly,
Joseph taught that God has a body of flesh and bones.
‘The Father has a body of flesh and
bones as tangible as man’s… (Doctrine & Covenants 130:22)
Mormons
believe that God, whom they call Heavenly Father, came into existence in the same
manner as each of us. He, like the rest of us, was the offspring of a Heavenly
Father and one of his wives. He was then ‘born into mortality’ on another
planet, where he sufficiently lived out his plan of salvation, enabling him to
become a God himself. Thus, he is now the God of this planet.
Where
is all that in the Bible?
It
was this God who, according to the first vision account, appeared to young
Joseph in that ‘sacred grove’; a God who had the appearance of a man with a
body of flesh and bones.
This
is not the God of the Bible.
THE
ETERNALITY OF GOD
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. Psalm 93:2
According
to the Bible, God has always been God. There wasn’t a time when He didn’t
exist. The Mormon belief that God was once a sinful man who became a God is
nowhere found in the Bible. Bizarrely,
the Book of Mormon agrees with the Bible and so disagrees with Mormon doctrine:
For I know that God is not a partial God, neither a
changeable being; but he is unchangeable from all eternity to all eternity. Moroni 8:18
Moroni
8:18 states that God is not a ‘changeable being’. This leads to a further
issue, that of the immutability of God.
THE IMMUTABILITY OF GOD
But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no
end. Psalm 102:27
Like
Psalm 102:27, Moroni 8:18 clearly teaches the immutability of God, that is that
God is unchangeable. Elsewhere the Book of Mormon says:
And if there
were miracles wrought then, why has God ceased to be a God
of miracles and yet be an unchangeable Being? And behold, I say unto you
he changeth not; if so he would cease to be God; and he
ceaseth not to be God, and is a God of miracles. Mormon 9:19
What
are honest Mormons to do with these clear verses that teach that God does not
change? Should they believe what the Bible and Book of Mormon communicates
about the nature of God, or should they believe Mormon doctrine?
God
is not a changeable being, and in this we find great comfort. It means we can
take Him at His Word. Imagine, if God could change. Nothing would be secure or
assured. He may love me today, but not tomorrow. He may forgive me one minute
but hold me accountable the next. But we see that the Bible teaches that God
does not change. He is, and always has been, the constant, steadfast,
trustworthy God.
But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and
gracious, long suffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth. Psalm 86:15
Not
so for the God of Mormonism.
Theirs
is a God that hasn’t always been God, therefore he is not immutable. The Mormon
God being partial to change can offer no real lasting comfort, nor hope.
This
is not the God of the Bible.
In part 2, I will continue to consider the God of Mormonism.
[1] A Sure Foundation: Answers
to Difficult Gospel Questions (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co. 1988), 93
[2] Ensign, February 2007, p.8
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