The Christian View of the Trinity
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The Mormon View of the Trinity
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What the Bible Teaches
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Only One God “There is but one only living
and true God…” -- The
Westminster Confession of Faith, available online at http://tinyurl.com/agh5x “We believe in one God…” -- The
Nicene Creed, available online at http://tinyurl.com/2qyfcx “Question
5: Are there more Gods than one? Answer:
There is but one only, the living and true God.” - The
Westminster Shorter Catechism, available online at http://tinyurl.com/32qhcl “We worship one God in trinity
and the Trinity in unity, neither confusing the persons nor dividing the
divine being…. Thus the Father is God; the Son is God; the Holy Spirit is
God: And yet there are not three gods, but one God.” -- The
Athanasius Creed, available online at http://tinyurl.com/6yulrh |
Not One God, but Many “I will preach on the
plurality of Gods…. I wish to declare I have always and in all congregations when
I have preach on the subject of the Deity, it has been the plurality of Gods.
It has been preached by the Elders for fifteen years.” -- Joseph Smith, sermon,
available online at http://tinyurl.com/7hmneja “…they, that is the Gods, organized and formed
the heavens and the earth…. And they (the Gods) said: Let there be light; and
there was light…. And they (the Gods) comprehended the light, for it was
bright; and they divided the light, or caused it to be divided, from the
darkness. And the Gods called the light Day, and the darkness they called
Night.” -- The Pearl of Great Price, available
online at http://tinyurl.com/7kpov5w “and you have got to learn how
to be Gods yourselves, and to be kings and priests to God, the same as all
Gods have done before you…” -- Joseph Smith, sermon,
available online at http://tinyurl.com/7hmneja |
Isaiah 44:6 “Thus says the Lord,
the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord
of hosts: ‘I am the first and I am
the last, And there is no God besides
Me.” Isaiah 45:5 “I am the Lord, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God. I will
gird you, though you have not known Me…” |
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One God Existing in Three Persons “In the unity of the Godhead there be three
Persons of one substance, power, and eternity: God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Ghost…” -- The
Nicene Creed, available online at http://tinyurl.com/2qyfcx “In the unity of the Godhead there be three Persons
of one substance, power, and eternity…” -- The
Westminster Confession of Faith, available online at http://tinyurl.com/agh5x “And the catholic [universal] faith is
this: That we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity; Neither
confounding the Persons, nor dividing the Substance. For there is one Person
of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit. But the
Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, is all one…” -- The Athanasius Creed, available online at http://tinyurl.com/6yulrh “There are three persons in the Godhead: the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one God, the same in
substance, equal in power and glory.” - The
Westminster Shorter Catechism, available online at http://tinyurl.com/32qhcl |
Not one God Existing in Three Persons “Many men say there is one
God; the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost are only one God. I say that is a
strange God anyhow--three in one, and one in three! It is a curious
organization.” -- Joseph Smith, sermon,
available online at http://tinyurl.com/7hmneja “Three personages composing
the great presiding council of the universe have revealed themselves to man;
(1) God the Eternal Father, (2) His Son, Jesus Christ; and (3) the Holy
Ghost. That these three are separate individuals, physically distinct from
each other, is very plainly proved by the accepted records of the divine
dealings with man.” -- James Talmage,
a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints, from his book The
Articles of Faith, available online at http://tinyurl.com/7ycarcb “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.” -- Bruce R. McConkie, member
of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, from his book Mormon Doctrine, pp. 576-577 |
The truth that there is one God existing in three persons follows from
the Biblical teaching on the following five premises: 1.
There is only one God 2.
The Father is God 3.
Jesus is God 4.
The Holy Spirit is God 5.
The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three distinct Persons. Biblical evidence for each of these five premises is too numerous to
reproduce here but can be found at http://tinyurl.com/7mcgqzb |
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God is Eternal and Uncreated “In the unity of the Godhead there be three
Persons of one substance, power, and eternity: God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Ghost. The Father is of none, neither begotten nor proceeding;
the Son is eternally begotten of the Father; the Holy Ghost eternally
proceeding from the Father and the Son…” -- The
Westminster Confession of Faith, available online at http://tinyurl.com/agh5x “one
Lord Jesus Christ… begotten, not made” -- The
Nicene Creed, available online at http://tinyurl.com/2qyfcx “Uncreated
is the Father; uncreated is the Son; uncreated is the Spirit.” -- The Athanasius Creed, available online at http://tinyurl.com/6yulrh |
God is Created and There was a Time When He
was Not “We have imagined and supposed
that God was God from all eternity. I will refute that idea…” -- Joseph Smith, sermon,
available online at http://tinyurl.com/7hmneja “God himself was once as we
are now, and is an exalted man…” -- Joseph Smith, sermon,
available online at http://tinyurl.com/7hmneja “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. Where was there ever a son without
a father? And where was there ever a father without first being a son?
Whenever did a tree or anything spring into existence without a progenitor?
And everything comes in this way.” -- Joseph Smith, sermon,
available online at http://tinyurl.com/7hmneja |
Psalm 90:2 “Even
from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.” |
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Only God the Son (Jesus) Has a Body “There is but one only, living, and true God, who
is infinite in being and perfection, a most pure spirit, invisible, without
body…” -- The
Westminster Confession of Faith, available online at http://tinyurl.com/agh5x “For
this purpose, then, the incorporeal and incorruptible and immaterial Word of
God entered our world. …He took to Himself a body, a human body even as our
own.…Thus, taking a body like our own, because all our bodies were liable to
the corruption of death, He surrendered His body to death instead of all, and
offered it to the Father.” -- Saint
Athanasius, On the Incarnation,
available online at http://tinyurl.com/2bsq4k3 |
God the Father Has a Body “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.” -- Doctrine and
Covenants 130:22, available online at http://tinyurl.com/6s54m3c “Therefore
we know that both the Father and Son are in form and stature perfect men ;
each of them possesses a tangible body.” -- James Talmage,
a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints, from his book The
Articles of Faith, available online at http://tinyurl.com/7ycarcb |
John 4:23 “God
is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” Luke 24:39 “See
My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit
does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” |
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Jesus Was Born of a Virgin “I
believe in God, the Father Almighty, -- The Apostles’ Creed, available online at http://tinyurl.com/827qx “one Lord Jesus Christ…Who, for us men and for our salvation, came
down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary,
and was made man…” -- The
Nicene Creed, available online at http://tinyurl.com/2qyfcx “The Son of God, the second person of the Trinity,
being very and eternal God, of one substance and equal with the Father, did,
when the fullness of time was come, take upon Him man's nature, with all the
essential properties, and common infirmities thereof, yet without sin; being
conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the virgin Mary, of
her substance.” -- The Westminster Confession of Faith, available online at http://tinyurl.com/agh5x “…as regards his Godhead, begotten of the
Father before the ages, but yet as regards his manhood begotten, for us men
and for our salvation, of Mary the Virgin, the God-bearer…” -- The Council of Chalcedon, available online at http://tinyurl.com/8ydd9pb |
Jesus Was Not Born of a Virgin “The
birth of the Saviour was as natural as are the births of our children; it was
the result of natural action. He partook of flesh and blood - was begotten of
his Father, as we were of our fathers…” -- Journal of
Discourses, vol. 8, available online at http://tinyurl.com/6oyuzwy “The
question has been, and is often, asked, who it was that begat the Son of the
Virgin Mary…. 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.” -- Journal of
Discourses, vol. 1, available online at http://tinyurl.com/6oyuzwy “Christ was begotten by an Immortal Father in the
same way that mortal men are begotten by mortal fathers." -- Bruce R.
McConkie, member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, from his book Mormon Doctrine, p. 547 “The fleshy body of Jesus required a mother as well
as a Father. Therefore, the Father and Mother of Jesus according to the
flesh, must have been associated together in the capacity of husband and
wife." -- Orson Pratt, an original member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles, from his book The Seer, p. 158 |
Luke 1:26-35 “Now
in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee
named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the
house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And having come in, the angel
said to her, ‘Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are
you among women!’ But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and
considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, “Do
not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb
and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and
will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne
of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and
of His kingdom there will be no end.” Then Mary said to the angel, ‘How can
this be, since I do not know a man?’ And the angel answered and said to her,
‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will
overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be
called the Son of God.’ |