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Chapter 9b of a-e

The Personality of God - One God?

 Are God and Jesus Christ one God, or are they two separate Gods?

Welcome to the Mormon Mann YouTube channel. I am Kendall, the Mormon Mann. In this playlist “Joseph Smith and the Bible,” I am challenging over 80 of Joseph Smith’s teachings, and I am doing it using only the Bible.

In this Chapter 9 – The Personality of God, I am breaking down our Heavenly Father’s personality into five key topics. These are presented as short, individual videos so you can explore each one easily.

1.     Does God Have a Body of Flesh & Bones? (Ch 9a)

2.     Are God and Jesus Christ one God, or are they two separate Gods? (Ch 9b)

3.     Can Man See God? (Ch 9c)

4.     Did Christ Create Worlds Without Number? (Ch 9d)

5.     Is Jesus Christ Jehovah, the God of the Old Testament?  (Ch 9e)

In this video, Chapter 9b, I will be challenging Joseph Smith’s teaching that God the Father and Jesus Christ are two separate Gods. I will also reveal how they can be described as one.

Make sure that you press the Subscribe button so that you can follow all of these challenges.

The Question Begins in Genesis

Let’s start off with the original creation of the man in Genesis 1:26:

Genesis 1:26

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:…

In order to consider the fact that God the Father and Jesus Christ are two separate beings, one must listen carefully to what the writer of Genesis was saying: “Let us make man in our image.”  This passage is definitely stating there is more than one God creating man!

Who is “us” in this statement?

By the end of this Chapter 9, we will know who “us” are!

The Case for One God

Many Christians believe that the personality of God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are all one God.  There are several great scriptural support for this position.

John 10:30

I and my Father are one.

Isaiah 43:10-11

Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye 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 saviour.

Isaiah 44:6

Thus saith 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.

Isaiah 45:21-23

21 …And there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. 

22. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. 

These passages strongly emphasize one God.

The LDS Position. 

Joseph Smith’s taught something different. In his First Vision account, he said:

16. …I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.  17. It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound.  When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air.  One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other – This is My Beloved Son..  Hear Him![1]

It is the position of the LDS church that:

1. God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are three separate and distinct persons. 

2. Each has a separate identify.

3. The Father and the Son possess glorified bodies of flesh and bone. 

A Real Tension in Scripture

Having these two entirely different opinions about God and His personality, which interpretation is correct?

This support for both creates a biblical contradiction with a doctrine that could be eternally critical for many. 

Here’s the issue:

Both views appear to have biblical support.

This creates an important question:

How can God be one—and yet appear as multiple distinct beings?

Evidence of Distinction

Several passages clearly show separation:

1. The Baptism of Jesus

Matt 3:16, 17

And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: 

17. And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

• Jesus Christ is in the water

• The Spirit of God (which is the Holy Ghost) descends in the form of a dove

• God the Father, speaking from heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

How can God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost all be one Spirit, and have all of these bodily parts, be in three different locations?

2, Stephen’s Vision

A second passage that reveals a distinct separation of our Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ, where they are two separate beings:

Acts 7:55-56

55. But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,  56. And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.

• Peter distinctly saw Jesus Christ standing on the right hand of God.

How can God and Jesus Christ be one, when Peter actually sees two personages?

3. Paul’s Teachings

Hebrews 1:1-2

1. God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 

2. Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds.

Paul taught the Hebrews that:

• God speaks through his Son.

• God appointed His Son heir of all things.

• God creates the worlds by His Son.

4. Paul continues to teach that:

Hebrews 1:5

For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou are my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?

• “I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son.”

A defined relationship—Father and Son.

Here we have four examples of God and Christ being two distinct separate beings.

How can God and Christ be one and also be two separate beings?

Christ clears up this contradiction up in His intercessory prayer to Heavenly Father on the eve of His crucifixion.

In this prayer, Christ was praying for his disciples and His followers. Christ explains the concept of being one in the following passages.

John 17:11

And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee, Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.

John 17:20-22

20. Neither pray I for these alone, for them also which shall believe on me through their word; 

21. That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. 

22. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: 

23.  I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. 

This is critical!

Jesus is not praying that believers become one being, but one in:

• purpose

• unity

• mission

This Intercessory Prayer reveals how the Father and Son are “one.”

Unity of Purpose

How can all of us be “one in purpose?”

Christ prays that believers become one just like He and the Father are one.

That unity is:

• shared will

• shared mission

• perfect agreement

Not a merging into a single person.

What Is That Purpose?

According to modern LDS scripture, Christ revealed to Joseph Smith what God’s purpose is in the Book of Moses, which is found in The Pearl of Great Price.

Moses 1:39

For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.

Christ calls His followers to join in that mission—to spread the gospel and build His kingdom.

This is how believers become “one” with God.

Back to “One God”

Now, taking on the topic of there being just one God.

Remember the creation in Genesis?

Genesis 1:26

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:…

The God of the Old Testament is saying, “Let us!” The last that I learned in English was that “us” is the plural form.

More Challenging Passages

Searching the scriptures even further reveals the multiplicity of Gods. This is really revealing!

Psalm 136:2

O give thanks unto the God of gods: for his mercy endureth for ever.

Some Christian’s believe that they are referring to the Gods made by man, the graven images, the Greek Gods and etc..  This is not so because nowhere in the scriptures has God acknowledged that He even accepts these gods of man.  In fact, God is always condemning these graven image gods.

Moses, a prophet who was directly taught “face to face” by the God of the Old Testament, also taught the same concept.

Deuteronomy 10:17

For the Lord your God is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty, and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh reward:

One of the most revealing passages that supports the multiple God theory is:

Psalm 82:1,6

God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; he judgeth among the gods. 

This language suggests:

• plurality

• hierarchy

• a “congregation” of divine beings

How big is a congregation?

Is there more than one God?

Paul Confirms the Language

The apostle Paul answers these questions!

1 Corinthians 8:5, 6

5. For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,)

6 But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.

This suggests:

• many “gods” exist in some sense

• but only one God is worshipped by us

There are some Christian’s who believe that these gods are the gods made by man. This is seriously doubtful. To think or believe that the God of the Old Testament would “stand in a congregation of almighties” who are a bunch of pagan, man made gods! I don’t believe it!

In chapter 16 – Salvation vs Exaltation, I go into detail about the last few scriptures that mention multiple gods.

Putting It Together

So what do we conclude?

• Scripture shows distinction between Father and Son

• Scripture also affirms oneness

• Jesus defines that oneness as unity of purpose

Joseph Smith’s teachings resolves this apparent contradiction.

Let’s look at the Biblical Support Chart for this topic.

The Biblical Support Chart

Is the following topic supported in the Bible? Yes or No

1. Does the Bible support the teaching that God the Father and His son Jesus Christ are two different personages? Yes

(John 17:11,20-22, 1 Cor 6:17; John 10:30; Matt 3:16,17; Acts 7:55,56; Heb 1:1,2,5; Psalm 136:2; Deu 10:17; Psalm 82:1,6; 1 Cor 8:5)

This ends Chapter 9b. If you agree that God and Jesus Christ have bodies of flesh and bone, please press the like button.

We will go next into Chapter 9c – Can man see God?

I hope to see you in my next video where I will answer whether or not man can see God.

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[1] Joseph Smith—History.  Chapter 1, verses 16 and 17.  From the Extracts from the History of Joseph Smith, The Prophet, History of the Church, Vol. 1, Chapters 1-5.