GOD

"We believe in God the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ and in the Holy Ghost." 1st Article of Faith by Joseph Smith The above declaration sounds like an evangelical Christian statement of faith. From it, many conclude that Mormons are Trinitarian in their view of God. But, Mormons define Biblical terms with definitions from LDS scripture and prophets which makes clear communication between Mormons and Bible believing Christians difficult. For example, notice how LDS leaders define the above statement about God. THE TRINITY LDS Apostle James Talmage said of one God manifested in three persons, "It would be difficult to conceive of a greater number of inconsistencies and contradictions expressed in words as few" (A. of F., pp. 47-48). Joseph Smith also said, "I have always declared God to be a distinct personage, Jesus Christ a separate and distinct personage from God the Father, and the Holy Ghost was a distinct personage and a Spirit: and these three constitute three distinct personages and three gods" (T. of P.J.S., p. 370). Thus, Mormons reject the concept of one triune God and believe that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are three gods (M.D. pp. 269-270; 317; 576). However, the B. of M. declares, "This is the doctrine of Christ, and the only and true doctrine of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, which is one God, without end. Amen" (II Nephi 31:21; see also the last sentence in the testimony of the three witnesses; Alma 11:44; Mormon 7:7; III Nephi 11: 27, 36). The D. & C. 20:28 also teaches that the "Father, Son and Holy Ghost are one God, infinite and eternal, without end. Amen." LDS say this means "one in purpose," but not one God. They also claim their scriptures clarify things the Bible is unclear about. But, LDS scripture says that the Father, Son and Holy Ghost are "one God," but it never says they are "one in purpose." So, LDS doctrine is contradicted by their scripture! One reason for the LDS confusion about God is that they have tried to understand Him as if He were mortal. But, if God is "infinite," as D. & C. 20:28 says He is, then man's attempts to explain God will always fail. Men's minds are finite (limited) and therefore cannot possibly comprehend the infinite (unlimited) God. How can a limited mind encompass a God who is unlimited? Any God that can be fully comprehended by man's mind must also be a finite god - not the infinite God of Christianity! The Trinity is beyond human comprehension because God is infinite and therefore beyond man's ability to understand (Ps. 50:21, Is. 55:8-9). Even finite things such as the triple point of water (where it is solid, liquid, and gas at the same time) is beyond the understanding of most people. If men cannot fully understand finite things, are they not presumptuous to assume they can understand the infinite God? Mormons sometimes argue that the word "trinity" is not even in the Bible, which is true. But, LDS terms like "telestial," "eternal progression," and "celestial marriage" aren't in the Bible either, but LDS still believe in those concepts. Even if I John 5:7, is an interpolation as many claim, the Trinitarian concept of God is still in the Bible. Each member of the Godhead is called God: the Father in John 17:3, the Son in John 1:1, and the Holy Spirit in John 4:24 and Acts 5:3-4. But the Bible does not teach that there are three Gods. From beginning to end it teaches that there is but one God (Deut. 6:4; Is. 44:6, 8; Mark 12:29)! Therefore, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one God or the Bible contradicts itself. Mormonism says the latter is true and that their latter-day prophets and scripture clarify this confusion. So, let us see what their leaders and their scriptures teach about God. God the Father Mormon scripture declares, "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" (D. & C. 130:22). One reason the LDS teach that God the Father has a body of flesh and bones is because they believe that is the way Joseph Smith saw God in 1820 (see P. of G.P. J. S. History 1:16-17). LDS also believe that God became God through the process of "eternal progression," and that men today can become gods by the same process which is explained by Milton R. Hunter this way: In the first stage, man was an eternally existent being termed an intelligence.... The next realm where man dwelt was the spirit world. According to Mormon concept eternally-existing intelligences were clothed with spirit bodies in the mansion of their Eternal Father... numerous sons and daughters were begotten and born of heavenly parents into that eternal family in the spirit world... There in the spirit world they were reared to maturity, becoming grown spirit men and women prior to coming upon this earth...Following his stay in the spirit world, man comes on earth... Here he receives a physical body and undergoes the experiences of mortality... Eventually, however, mortal death comes upon all. The eternal spirit goes to the spirit world to await resurrection and judgment... There they shall be assigned to the glory that they have merited... some will receive telestial glory; others terrestrial, while those who are recorded in 'the Lamb's book of life' will enter celestial glory. There some of them will become angels, and others priests and Kings, or in other words Gods (G.T.A., pp.127-129). Hunter also said, "Our Eternal Father has attained His position of exaltation and Godhood by obedience to the great law of progression" (Ibid., p. 12). W. Cleon Skousen, a former BYU professor, wrote: Through modern revelation we learn that the universe is filled with vast numbers of intelligences, and we further learn that Elohim is God simply because all of these intelligences honor and sustain Him as such.... But since God 'acquired' the honor and sustaining influence of 'all things' it follows as a corollary that if He should ever do anything to violate the confidence or sense of justice' of these intelligences, they would promptly withdraw their support, and the 'power' of God would disintegrate.... 'He would cease to be God.' Our Heavenly Father can do only those things which the intelligences under Him are voluntarily willing to support Him in accomplishing (The First 2000 Years, pp. 355-356). Is it really possible for the eternal, omnipotent (all powerful) God to lose His throne and "cease to be God?" The Bible says He is "from everlasting to everlasting" (Ps. 90:2). Thus, the LDS god must be a different god! LDS Apostle James Talmage wrote, "We believe in a God who is Himself progressive, whose majesty is intelligence; whose perfection consists in eternal advancement - a Being who has attained His exalted state by a path which now His children are permitted to follow, whose glory it is their heritage to share. In spite of the opposition of the sects, in the face of direct charges of blasphemy, the church proclaims the eternal truth: 'As man is, God once was; as God is, man may be'" (A. of F., p. 430). Joseph Smith also declared, "God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens!.... 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... he was once a man like us... and you have got to learn how to be Gods yourselves..." (T. of P.J.S., p. 345-346). Joseph Smith did not identify the man who was exalted and became God. But, Brigham Young, the second LDS prophet said, "When our father Adam came into the garden of Eden, He came into it with a celestial body, and brought Eve, one of his wives, with him. He helped to make and organize this world. He is MICHAEL, the Archangel, the ANCIENT OF DAYS! about whom holy men have written and spoken - HE is our FATHER and our GOD, and the only God with whom we have to do" (J. of D., Vol. 1, p. 50, emphasis is in the original). For more information on this doctrine of Adam being God, see J. of D., Vols. III, p. 319; IV, p. 1; V, pp. 331-332; D. of S., Vol. I, pp. 74-75. Joseph Fielding Smith, the tenth LDS prophet wrote, "It is true that Adam helped to form this earth. He labored with our Savior Jesus Christ. I have a strong view or conviction that there were others who assisted them. Perhaps Noah and Enoch; and why not Joseph Smith, and those who were appointed to be rulers before the earth was formed?" (D. of S., Vol. I, pp. 74-75). Milton R. Hunter, who was assigned to write the G.T.A. on behalf of the LDS General Authorities, also said, "Mormon prophets have continuously taught the sublime truth that God the Eternal Father was once a mortal man who passed through a school of earth life similar to that through which we are now passing... He became God - an exalted being - through obedience to the same eternal Gospel truths that we are given opportunity today to obey" (G.T.A., p. 104). And LDS Apostle Orson Pratt said, "The Gods who dwell in the Heaven from which our spirits came, are beings who have been redeemed from the grave in a world which existed before the foundations of this earth were laid. They and the heavenly body which they now inhabit were once in a fallen state. They were exalted also, from fallen men to Celestial Gods to inhabit their Heaven forever and ever" (The Seer, p. 23). Pratt also said, "We were begotten by our Father in Heaven; the person of our Father in Heaven was begotten on a previous heavenly world by His Father; and again He was begotten by a still more ancient Father, and so on, from generation to generation, from one heavenly world to another still more ancient, until our minds are wearied and lost in the multiplicity of generations and successive worlds" (Ibid., p. 132). Joseph Smith said, "Our text says, 'God hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father ' (Rev. 1:6). ...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" (T. of P. J. S., pp. 370, 373; M.D., p. 577). Just where the first God came from is an unanswered mystery to LDS, much like where life and motion came from is a mystery to the evolutionist. In fact, "eternal progression" is a form of evolution applied to God! The LDS do use a few Bible verses to try to make this doctrine appear to be Christian. For example, they use John 14:9, saying that Jesus Christ had a body of flesh and bones, so God the Father also had a body of flesh and bones. But, John 14:10-11 says that Christ is in the Father and the Father is in Christ. If verse 9 means that the Father has a body of flesh and bones because the Son does, how can these two bodies be inside of each other? LDS also use John 5:19 to try to show that God the Father was once a Savior of a world and had to die and be resurrected much like Christ did for this world. But, that verse is not about God the Father being a Savior of some other world. It says that Christ did the same miracles that God the Father did; therefore, He should receive the same honor (verse 23). LDS try to support their claims of a "flesh and bones" God by saying He created man in His own image (Gen. 1:26-27). But, God was not created in the image of man! Just because man has a body of flesh, blood, and bones does not mean that God is made of the same material. The statue, or image, of Abraham Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial is 19 feet tall and made of white Georgia marble, but was President Lincoln 19 feet tall with a body of white marble? Obviously, "image" does not mean "made of the same material" or "made the same size." Furthermore, Joseph Fielding Smith said, "We know that Jesus our Savior was a Spirit when this great work (creation) was done. He did all these mighty works before he tabernacled in the flesh" (D. of S., Vol. I, p. 75). That statement shows that man could not be created in the physical image of the Lord because He created man when He was a Spirit, before he had a physical body! LDS say Luke 24:39 shows Jesus has a body of flesh and bones and since Jesus was "the express image" of the Father (Heb. 1:3), the Father must also have a body of flesh and bones. But, Col. 1:15 says that Christ "is the image of the invisible God." Just before Jesus' reference to His body of flesh and bones, He "vanished out of their sight" (Luke 24:31). A body "as tangible as ours" (D. & C. 130:22) cannot just vanish. But, Christ's resurrected body was also a spiritual body (I Cor. 15:44-45). The Bible declares that God is an invisible Spirit and that no man has ever seen Him (see 20" class="scriptRef">Ex. 33:20; John 1:18; 4:24; 5:37; Col. 1:15; I Tim. 1:17; 6:16; I John 4:12, 20). These verses show that Joseph Smith could not see God. But, God did reveal Himself in the form of a man or in a theophany in the Old Testament which was recorded by the writers in anthropomorphic terms or by describing God in human form as in Ex.33:9, 11, 23; 24:9-11; Gen. 5:24; and 6:5-9. LDS often claim that God has a physical body because the Bible speaks of "the arm of the Lord," "the eye of the Lord," "the hand of the Lord," and so on. Using that same logic, we might conclude that God is a "bird" according to Ps. 57:1 and 91:4. Or He might be a blast furnace (Deut. 4:24 and Heb. 12:29)! Mormonism did not always teach a "flesh and bone" god. Even though the D. & C. 130:22 says, "The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's," Joseph Smith earlier defined God as follows: There are two personages who constitute the great, matchless, governing and supreme power over all things - by whom all things were created and made, that are created and made, whether visible or invisible; whether in heaven, on earth, or in the earth, under the earth, or throughout the immensity of space - They are the Father and the Son: The Father being a personage of spirit, glory and power: possessing all perfection and fullness: The Son, who was in the bosom of the Father, a personage of tabernacle, made, or fashioned like unto man, or being in the form and likeness of man, or, rather, man was formed after his likeness, and in his image;... and is called the Son because of the flesh (Lectures on Faith, Lecture Fifth, p. 53). Notice that in this lecture Joseph Smith said God the Father was a personage of spirit while Jesus Christ was called the Son "because of the flesh." Thus, Smith did not believe that both the Father and Son had bodies of flesh and bone at the time he wrote that in 1835! But, LDS today claim that Joseph Smith discovered that both God the Father and the Son have bodies of flesh and bone when he saw them in his First Vision in 1820! According to D.H.C., Vol. II, p. 180, Joseph Smith had the Lectures on Faith published in the D. & C. in 1835. But, in 1921, they were deleted because the LDS found that it was difficult to teach that God the Father had a body of flesh and bones with this contradiction in their same book of scripture. In Rom. 1:22-23, Paul warns of those who will try to make God in the image of corruptible man which leads to immorality and brings God's judgment upon them. The Bible portrays God as an infinite being who is not a man, exalted or not. It is impossible to reconcile the following verses with the LDS teaching that God is a changing, progressing man: "God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent" (Num. 23:19); "for I am God, and not man" (Hos. 11:9); "I have made the earth, and created man upon it" (Is. 45:12); These things hast thou done and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee and set them in order before thine eyes (Ps. 50:21). The following verses teach that God is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient; no god or man with a tangible body of flesh and bones could be omnipresent: Rev. 19:6; Deut. 4:39; Ps. 139; Pr. 15:3; Jer. 23:24; Acts 17:27; Ps. 33:6; Heb. 11:3; John. 1:3. The Bible also teaches God is unchangeable and eternal: Deut. 33:27; Ps. 41:13; 90:2; 106:48; Is. 40:28; Jer. 10:10; Mal. 3:6; Col. 1:17; I Tim. 1:17; Heb. 13:8; James. 1:17. Even the B. of M. denies that God is a glorified man in these verses: II Nephi 2:14; 9:20; 11:7; 29:7; Jacob 2:21; 4:9; Mosiah 2:23; 4:21; 5:15; 7:27; 13:34; Alma 18:28, 32; 22:10; 26:35; Mormon 9:9-11, 17, 19; Ether 3:15; I Nephi 9:6; Moroni 7:22; 8:18. See also D. & C. 20:12, 17. Mormon doctrine is again contradicted by Mormon scripture. Mother God Mormonism not only teaches a Heavenly Father with flesh and bones, but also a "Heavenly Mother" with flesh and bones as well. LDS Apostle James Talmage wrote, "We are expressly told that God is the Father of spirits, and to apprehend the literalness of this solemn truth we must know that a Mother of spirits is an existent personality" (A. of F., p. 443). And LDS Apostle Bruce McConkie wrote, "This doctrine that there is a Mother in Heaven was affirmed in plainness by the First Presidency of the Church (Joseph F. Smith, John R. Winder, and Anthon H. Lund) when in speaking of pre-existence and the origin of man, they said that 'man as a spirit was begotten and born of heavenly parents and reared to maturity in the eternal mansions of the Father'" (M.D., p. 516). And the same author declared, "We, the human family, literally the sons and daughters of Divine Parents, the literal progeny of God our Eternal Father, and of our God Mother, are away from home for a season" (The Philosophical Basis of Mormonism, p. 9). Milton Hunter also said, "The stupendous truth of the existence of a Heavenly Mother, as well as a Heavenly Father, became established facts in Mormon Theology" (G.T.A., p. 98). Hunter then quoted the familiar Mormon hymn, "O My Father." The third verse declares, "In the heav'ns are parents single? No; the tho't makes reason stare! Truth is reason, Truth eternal, Tells me I've a Mother there" (G.T.A., pp. 99-100). The LDS teaching of a Heavenly Mother clearly indicates she has a body just like the Heavenly Father, so that they can procreate offspring. Since they have resurrected bodies of flesh and bones, why are their children born as baby spirits without bodies of flesh and bone? Jesus Christ Orson Pratt also said, "As God the Father begat the fleshly body of Jesus, so He, before the world began, begat his spirit. As the body required an earthly Mother, so his spirit required a heavenly Mother. As God associated in the capacity of a husband with the earthly mother, so likewise He associated in the same capacity with the heavenly one" (The Seer, pp. 158-159). If God the Father has a "body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's" (D. & C. 130:22), how did his fleshly body procreate through sexual union both the spirit body of Jesus and later His physical body? Pratt further explains, "We have now clearly shown that God the Father had a plurality of wives, one or more being in eternity, by whom He begat our spirits as well as the spirit of Jesus His Firstborn... (Ibid., p. 172). Notice that the "Mother in heaven" is God's wife. Mormon leaders have taught some strange things about Jesus Christ. Many Mormons may not be aware of all of those teachings, but they are important if we are to understand Mormon theology. The following are some of the unique LDS teachings about Christ. Such doctrine results in a radically different view of Jesus Christ than what the Bible teaches! Brigham Young taught in his earliest "Adam-God" message, "When the Virgin Mary conceived the child Jesus, the Father had begotten Him in His own likeness. He was not begotten by the Holy Ghost. And who is the Father? He is the first of the human family... Jesus, our elder brother, was begotten in the flesh by the same character that was in the garden of Eden, and who is our Father in Heaven. Now remember from this time forth and forever, that Jesus Christ was not begotten by the Holy Ghost" (J. of D., Vol. I, pp. 50-51). But, Matt. 1:18 and Luke 1:35 both indicate Jesus was begotten by the Holy Spirit, so somebody is wrong! Some Mormons think that Brigham's message about "Adam-God" was misquoted. But, Brigham himself declared, "I have never yet preached a sermon and sent it out to the children of men that they may not call scripture" (J. of D., Vol. XIII, p. 95). Brigham's Adam-God sermon was not only preached on April 9, 1852, and then printed in the J. of D., but it was again printed 19 months later in the LDS Millennial Star (No. 48, Vol. XV, Saturday, November 26, 1853). Brigham also declared, "God revealed to me... that Adam is our Father and God" (Deseret News, June 18, 1873). James Talmage wrote that Christ had a "unique status in the flesh as the offspring of a mortal mother and of an immortal or resurrected and glorified Father" (A. of F., p. 473). Talmage does not tell us the name of the "resurrected and glorified Father" of Jesus, but Brigham Young did! He said it was Adam! (J. of D., Vol. I, p. 50; Vol. IV, p.1). Milton R. Hunter also said, "He (God) created men, as we create our children; for there is no other process of creation in heaven or on the earth, in the earth, or under the earth, or in all the eternities, that is, that were, or that ever will be" (G.T.A., p. 99). In the Mormon concept of "eternal progression," Mormons believe that Jesus Christ, Lucifer, and all of us were spirit children of God in the pre-mortal world (M.D., p. 278). Jesus is called "the First Spirit Child born to God the Father in Pre-existence" (Ibid., p. 281). In the P. of G.P. Moses 5:13, Satan declares, "I am also a son of God." And Milton R. Hunter wrote, "The appointment of Jesus to be the Savior of the world was contested by one of the other sons of God. He was called Lucifer, son of the morning. Haughty, ambitious, and covetous of power and glory, this spirit-brother of Jesus desperately tried to become the Savior of mankind" (G.T.A., p. 15). How did Jesus become a god and savior? James Talmage wrote that marriage is a "requirement to all who are not prevented by physical or other disability from assuming the sacred responsibilities of the wedded state... (It) is ordained of God and designed to be an eternal relationship of the sexes" (A. of F., pp. 443-444). Bruce McConkie declared, "Celestial marriage is the gate to an exaltation in the highest heaven within the celestial world" (M.D., p. 118). Mormon scripture says, "Angels did not abide my law; therefore, they cannot be enlarged, but remain separately and singly, without exaltation in their saved condition, to all eternity; and from henceforth are not gods, but are angels of God forever and ever" (D.& C. 132:15-17). Thus, LDS temple rites include celestial marriage for those just getting married, solemnizing any non-temple marriage, and proxy marriage for the dead. If all else is in order, temple marriage will assure one of achieving godhood. What has all this to do with Jesus Christ? Milton R. Hunter wrote, "Jesus became a God and reached His great state of understanding through consistent effort and continuous obedience to all the Gospel truths and universal laws" (G.T.A., p. 51). Since celestial marriage is one of those laws, Jesus had to be married! LDS Apostle Bruce McConkie was talking about celestial marriage when he said, "If a man gets the fulness of the priesthood of God, he has to get it in the same way that Jesus Christ obtained it, and that was by keeping all the commandments and obeying all the ordinances of the house of the Lord" [LDS temple] (M.D., p. 482). But, McConkie also said of Christ, "He is the Firstborn of the Father. By obedience and devotion to the truth he attained that pinnacle of intelligence which ranked Him as a God, as the Lord Omnipotent while yet in His pre-existent state" (M.D., p. 129). Unless Mormon temples exist in "pre-existence," how could Jesus be ranked as a God there? Joseph Fielding Smith, the tenth LDS Prophet, also said, "Mortality is the testing or proving ground for exaltation to find out who among the children of God are worthy to become Gods" (D. of S. Vol. I, p. 69). If Jesus made it to Godhood without meeting the LDS requirements of mortality, temple rites and so on, can others make it this way also? However, LDS Apostle Orson Hyde wrote, "Jesus was the bridegroom at the marriage of Cana and Galilee" (J. of D., Vol. II, p. 82). And LDS Apostle Orson Pratt said, "If all the acts of Jesus were written, we no doubt should learn that these beloved women (Mary, Martha and Mary Magdalene) were His wives" (The Seer, p. 159). Pratt again said, "We have also proved most clearly that the Son followed the example of His Father, and became the great Bridegroom to whom kings' daughters and many honorable wives were to be married" (Ibid., p. 172). The tenth LDS Prophet, Joseph Fielding Smith, was asked if Jesus was married. His answer was, "Yes! But do not preach it! The Lord advised us not to cast pearls before swine!" (from a letter dated March 17, 1963). Since eternal marriage can only be performed in LDS temples, (M.D. pp.117; 482), in what temple was Jesus married? Certainly not in the temple in Jerusalem for no marriages were ever performed in it because it was used only for sacrifices and offerings. The above quotes show that many leading Mormons have taught that Jesus was married and even a polygamist! Some also taught that Jesus had children by those polygamous wives. For example, Orson Hyde said, "Before the Savior died, He looked upon His own natural children, as we look upon ours" (J. of D., Vol. II, p. 82)! Obviously this Mormon "Savior" is not the same Savior we read about in the Bible. The Holy Ghost Talmage said that the Holy Ghost "is a personage of Spirit" (A. of F., p.42; see D.& C. 130:22), but later he claimed an immaterial being or body cannot exist (Ibid., pp. 43, 48). Thus, the Holy Ghost must have a "material" or "tangible body," or He does not exist! But, on April 6, 1843, Joseph Smith said, "The Holy Ghost is yet a spiritual body and waiting to take to himself a body as the Saviour did or as the gods before them took bodies" (Discourses on the Holy Ghost, compiled by N.B. Lundwall, p. 73). Mormonism also makes a distinction between the Holy Ghost and Holy Spirit. LDS Apostle John A. Widtsoe said, "The Holy Ghost, sometimes called the comforter, is the third member of the Godhead, and is a personage distinct from the Holy Spirit. As a personage, the Holy Ghost cannot any more than the Father and Son be everywhere present in person" (E.& R., p.76). But, if the Holy Ghost is no more omnipresent than the Father and Son, how can He "dwell in us" as D.& C. 130:22 teaches? That verse says, "The Father has a 21 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." Obviously, if the Father and Son have tangible bodies of flesh and bones, they cannot dwell in us because that would involve stuffing one body of flesh and bones inside of another! Nor can a body of flesh and bones be everywhere at once. Therefore, how can God the Father or the Son listen to LDS prayers all over the world at the same time? McConkie also claims, "the Holy Ghost is the third member of the Godhead. He is a personage of Spirit, a Spirit Person, a Spirit Man, a Spirit Entity. He can be in only one place at one time, and he does not and cannot transform himself into any other form or image than that of the Man whom he is though his power and influence can be manifest at one and the same time through all immensity" (M.D., p. 359). Notice that the Holy Ghost's "power and influence" are omnipresent, but the Holy Ghost is not! Therefore, He cannot dwell in all LDS, as D.& C. 130:22 says He does! Apostle Widtsoe claimed that the Holy Ghost is in touch with the entire universe through the Holy Spirit, "The chief agent or agency by which the Holy Ghost accomplishes his work is usually spoken of as the Holy Spirit or the Spirit of God. It is a universe-filling medium or influence" (E.& R., p. 62). In the Bible the original Greek words that were translated "Holy Ghost" were also translated "Holy Spirit." Therefore, no legitimate distinction can be made between the Holy Ghost and the Holy Spirit for the words refer to the same Person! Apostle Parley Pratt said there is "a divine substance or fluid, called the Holy Spirit" (Key to Theology, p. 29). Then he declared, "The purest, most refined and subtle of all substances, and the one least understood, or even recognized, by the less informed among mankind, is that substance called the Holy Spirit" (Ibid., p. 39). By their own definition, Mormonism's three gods (Father, Son, and Holy Ghost) are not omnipresent. (E. & R. pp. 62, 75; M.D. p. 319). Therefore, they can neither be omniscient nor omnipotent! The Holy "Spirit" is not included as one of the LDS gods. POLYTHEISM Joseph Smith taught that God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are "three distinct personages and three Gods" (T. of P.J.S., p. 370). Bruce McConkie declared, "Three separate personages - Father, Son, and Holy Ghost - comprise the Godhead. As each of these persons is a God, it is evident from this standpoint alone, that a plurality of Gods exists. To us, speaking in the proper finite sense, these three are the only Gods we worship. But in addition there is an infinite number of holy personages, drawn from worlds without number, who have passed on to exaltation and are thus Gods" (M.D., pp. 576-577). Joseph Smith also said, "In the beginning the head of the Gods called a council of the Gods" (T. of P.J.S., p. 349). And Orson Pratt declared, "If we should take a million of worlds like this and number their particles, we should find that there are more Gods than there are particles of matter in those worlds" (J. of D., Vol. II, p. 345). Mormon scripture also teaches the doctrine of a plurality of Gods: "So the Gods went down to organize man in their own image, in the image of the Gods to form they him, male and female to form they them" (P. of G.P. Abraham 4:27) Abraham 4 and 5 as well as D.& C.132:37 are other LDS scripture teaching the plurality of gods. Joseph Smith even attempted to make the Bible teach polytheism, "Paul says there are Gods many and Lords many; and that makes a plurality of Gods... Paul had no allusion to the heathen gods in the text" (T. of P.J.S., p. 371). Read I Cor. 8:4-6 in its context. It says there are many pagan idols or gods, "but to us there is but one God." Smith did not read the text very carefully! It alludes only to heathen gods and does not teach polytheism! The Bible denies the existence of more than one true God in the following verses: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord" (Deut. 6:4); "Before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me" (Is. 43:10); "I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God" (Is. 44:6). See also I Cor. 8:4-6; Eph. 4:4-6; I Tim. 2:5; Gal. 3:20; Matt. 19:17; 18" class="scriptRef">Mark 10:18; 12:32; I John 5:7; I Chron. 16:25-26; Deut. 4:35, 39; 5:7; 6:4; 32:39; II Sam. 7:22; I Chron. 17:20; Ps. 83:18; 86:10; Is. 44:8; 45:5-6, 18, 21-22; 46:9; 48:12. Mormon scripture even denies the plurality of Gods in the B. of M. Alma 11:26- 31; D.& C. 20:12, 17, 19, 28; P. of G.P. Moses 1:6. Mormonism teaches that there are many gods, yet only one God; that God is unchangeable (B. of M. Mormon 9:9, 19; Moroni 8:18; D. & C. 20:17), yet He was once a man who progressed to Godhood, and we can also progress to godhood; that God has a Father and Mother (M.D., pp. 577; 516-517), and that they also have parents, grandparents, and so on, yet God is eternal! The Christian doctrine of the Trinity is difficult to comprehend, but the LDS view of God is contradictory and unbiblical.