nature of God – Page 3 – What Do Mormons Believe?

Jesus the Christ

Among Christ’s titles is “Alpha and Omega,” signifying the first and last letters in the Greek alphabet. His influence can be felt from one end of eternity to the other, as well as all along the way. Every aspect of Mormonism focuses on Him; we revere Him as our God, our Creator, our Brother, and our King.

“In the Beginning…
…was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” (John 1:1-3)

Jesus, like all of us, existed before birth. He was an important figure in our premortal family as the birthright, first-begotten Son of the Father, and our eldest and wisest brother. As our leader, He championed the causes of justice, mercy and free will. He was appointed to be our Savior. We had faith in Him. We followed Him willingly and loved Him.

Under the Father’s direction, Jesus created the heavens and the earth. He made them beautiful and fruitful. But it wasn’t just an art project; earth was to be a testing ground for God’s children. Jesus said, “We will prove them herewith to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them;” (Abraham 3:25)

And command them, He did. Jesus is identified in the Old Testament as Jehovah, the great I Am. He told Noah to build an ark; He spoke to Moses face to face; it was His presence that rested upon the tabernacle of Israel within a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Over the centuries, He spoke to Samuel, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lehi, Nephi, and many other noble prophets of Israel.

Their messages (which were always His message) were invariably teachings of repentance, obedience, and foretelling of the coming Messiah, who would one day deliver them.

“And the Word was made flesh…
…and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. He came unto his own, and his own received him not.” (John 1:14, 11)

birthofjesus Mary, a virgin maiden from Nazareth became miraculously pregnant: an angel appeared to her and said, “Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.” (Luke 1:31) When He was born in Bethlehem, He became the only begotten Son of God in the flesh. From His mother, he inherited mortality; from His Father, he received power over death.

At the age of thirty, He began His ministry. Jesus was a profound teacher and a miracle worker. Although He was popular among common folks, He upset the status quo of the reigning religious leaders, and they opted to eliminate Him. They submitted Him to the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate to be executed.

christ-gethsemane He knew His execution was imminent, but something weightier was on His mind: the souls of all people. He had been chosen by the Father to be the sacrificial lamb — to atone for the sins of mankind. He prayed long and hard in the garden of Gethsemane that fateful night. At first He hesitated, pleading for some other way, “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine be done.” (Luke 22:42)

The consequences of sin are death and suffering. Jesus suffered in Gethsemane, then died by crucifixion on Calvary the following day.

But the sins were not His; they were ours.

Why did He do it? Jesus later spoke these words to the prophet Joseph Smith:

“For behold, I, God have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent; which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit–Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men.” (Doctrine & Covenants 19:16,18-19).

“He is not here, but is risen”
(Luke 23:6).

On the third day after His death, before He was even fully interred in his tomb, Jesus arose. He showed His fully-perfected physical body to Mary and to His disciples; they felt the nail prints in his hands and feet and knew it was the Lord. His ministry continued another forty days, long enough to more fully establish His Church with the apostles. Then “he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.” (Acts 1:9).

Why didn’t He stick around? For one thing, He had another pressing matter. He had earlier told His apostles, “Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.” (John 10:16).

jesusteachinginthewesternhemisphere

We have record of at least one group of His “other sheep” in the Book of Mormon. He was met by the Nephites and Lamanites with celebration and enthusiasm (3 Nephi 11). We are certain He visited other groups, but we have not yet received records of these visits.

Jesus has remained alive in an immortal and perfect physical body ever since. He showed himself to Stephen, Saul, John, Mormon, Moroni, and many others, including the pious fourteen-year-old Joseph Smith. He has promised, “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” (Matthew 5:8).

As in ancient times, the prophets dispense the Savior’s message to the world, including a witness “that He lives! For we saw him, even on the right hand of God;” (Doctrine & Covenants 76:22-23).

“The Lord himself shall descend…
…from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first” (1 Thessalonians 4:16).

jesus_returns

We still await the Savior’s triumphant second coming. He will reveal himself to everyone altogether then, and the graves of the righteous will open for their turn at resurrection.

We will all recognize Him as King (some with dismay or anxiety), “For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God” (Romans 14:11-12). He will reign personally for a thousand years; then, the wicked will finally be resurrected, and each of us who has lived in this world will receive our final judgment from Jesus the Christ.

And what better judge could we ask for? Jesus knows us best, having been among us from the very beginning. He created the world and even walked among us in mortality. He felt our pains and afflictions and temptations and death itself; all so He would know how to relieve us (see Alma 7:11-12). He is our righteous leader and king. We can have faith in Him. We can love Him with all our hearts.

A Thought on Patience

toiler I came across this great scripture in the Book of Mormon. It describes the Lord helping a small group of righteous people escape from bondage. It says:

“And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord.

And it came to pass that so great was their faith and their patience that the voice of the Lord came unto them again, saying: Be of good comfort, for on the morrow I will deliver you out of bondage.” Moroni 24:15-16

I just find it interesting that part of the reason God chose to free those people so soon was because they were just so darned patient and cheerful about everything, while, on the other hand, their less patient countrymen suffered a lot longer and a lot more (go read that. It’s an interesting comparison). Their situations were so similar, and they were both asking for deliverance, but their respective attitudes made all the difference in how God chose to respond to them. It rather reminds me of when I was little and my mom would refuse to give me something until after I stopped whining for it and asked nicely.

So as a terribly impatient person, I have to wonder if sometimes the Lord is just waiting for me to chill out a little and stop being so insistent all the time. Not that I’m saying we shouldn’t ask for things, or even be diligent about it, but I think there’s a difference between being persistent and whining. Maybe it’s that cheerful submission to his will that the scripture was talking about. And maybe it’s also faith:

“Patience is tied very closely to faith in our Heavenly Father. Actually, when we are unduly impatient, we are suggesting that we know what is best—better than does God. Or, at least, we are asserting that our timetable is better than His” –Elder Neal A. Maxwell (“Patience,” Ensign, Oct. 1980, 28).

That’s all. Just something to think about next time you need help escaping from slavery.

What Do Mormons Believe? – The Basics

I don’t pretend to know all the answers, but I know where I can find them. The basic beliefs of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints are spelled out as part of the restoration by Joseph Smith in the “Articles of Faith”. He states in 13 articles:

We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.
We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression.
We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.
We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.
We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.
We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth.
We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth.
We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.
We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.
We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisaical glory.
We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.
We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.
We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul–We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.

These are the beliefs that set Mormons apart from the rest of the religious world. That is not to discount all the truths of other religions around the world. Bring your truth and we will add to it. We hope these articles will spark many more questions from you, our readers.

What Do Mormons Believe? – God the Father

There seem to be a lot of people these days, that get all wound up when we try to claim we’re Christians. We say, “We believe in Jesus Christ; isn’t that the basic thing that distinguishes us from, say Muslims, Buddhists, Jews, and Hindus?”

“No! You believe you can become Gods,” they retort.

They view this as heretical; we don’t see the problem. I think it boils down to our conception of who God is.

Many outside our faith see Him as a faceless, nebulous essence, which has no personality, passions, body parts, etc. He has all power and can therefore be everywhere and nowhere at the same time. He is often represented as an unknowable, and unpredictable force and he created all of us for the purpose of having worshipers.

Let me assure you, Mormons do not hope to become this sort of “God.”

We view Him as a parent. He is a nice person. He has a distinct face and a real, corporeal body. Although He is omniscient and omnipotent, we know that he uses this power primarily for the advancement of his sons and daughters. His work and His glory, he tells us, is “to bring about the immortality and eternal life of man.” Moses 1:39

He loves us because we are His children. We are not just ‘things’ he created so that we would constantly worship Him. As children and heirs (instead of creations) we have the capacity, inherent within us, to become like Him. Each of us does — not just Mormons.

Who are the Trinity?

I just finished teaching an Intro to Philosophy class with the University of Phoenix and the section on metaphysics spent a lot of time on the idea of proving God’s existence. What struck me was that all of the European philosophy about God and spirit was based on the concepts outlined in the Nicene Creed.

In the King Follett lectures Joseph Smith makes the comment that you need to start right! If you don’t start right you can never expect to find the truth. The main argument dealt with at Nicaea was the nature of God…which is a pretty good starting point. After many months of argument most of those attending agreed to the concept that God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are the “Trinity” which is this mystical mixture of spirit and material that isn’t affected by passion. It is large enough to cover the whole earth and small enough to dwell in your heart. Part of the dignitaries left the convention and went back to the Eastern church where they proposed that God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit were separate beings, laying the groundwork for the Orthodox Greek and Russian churches.

For over 1,000 years most Europeans were taught the ideas agreed to at Nicaea, therefore all the philosophers who were trying to prove the existence of God were trying to prove the existence of the Trinity. Joseph Smith at age 14 gained a greater insight into the nature of God than all those scholars in AD 325. He saw God and Jesus as two separate, physical beings. Now by having the truth to start from, the restoration of the gospel could begin. The first Article of Faith is an answer to the false beliefs perpetrated since the council of Nicaea, “We believe in God the Eternal Father, and in his Son Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost” Articles of Faith 1:1