The fundamental beliefs of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are encapsulated in 13 “Articles of Faith.” The most fundamental of those articles of faith is the first one, which says:
“We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.” (Articles of Faith.)
What sets apart this belief from the beliefs of most other Christian denominations is that Latter-day Saints believe that Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost are three separate individuals (collectively referred to as “the Godhead”), not a “trinity” comprising one individual with three separate manifestations.
Indeed, this difference is so fundamental that many Christians denounce Latter-day Saints as being “non-Christian” because of this very belief. This article will show the foundation of this Latter-day Saint belief, and also that this belief is consistent with the teachings found in the New Testament and the Old Testament.
1. Latter-day Saint Beliefs
The Latter-day Saint belief about the nature of the Godhead has its foundation in Joseph Smith's “first vision.” In summary, Joseph Smith, when he was 14 years old, prayed to know which church he should join. In answer, God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to him and told him that he should join none of the churches that then existed. He thus saw with his own eyes that the Father and the Son are two separate personages. (Joseph Smith - History.)
Joseph Smith later wrote:
“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.)
This is consistent with the Biblical teaching that, after His resurrection, Jesus Christ has a body of flesh and bones:
39 Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. (Luke 24:39.)
The experience of seeing God face-to-face was not unique to Joseph Smith. Consider these examples from the Old Testament and the New Testament:
30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. (Genesis 32:30.)
10 And they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, …. (Exodus 24:10.)
11 And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. (Exodus 33:11.)
9 And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice, …. (1 Kings 11:9.)
5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. (Isaiah 6:5.)
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. (Acts 7:55-56.)
Thus we see that several people have had the privilege of seeing God; and that the martyr Stephen in particular, with his dying breaths, declared that he saw God the Father and Jesus Christ as TWO SEPARATE INDIVIDUALS.
2. Bible Teachings
The Old Testament and the New Testament contain the following further teachings about the nature of God.
Firstly, there are some passages that refer to the one-ness of Jesus with the Father:
30 I and my Father are one. ….
38 … that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him. (John 10:30, 38.)
7 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. (1 John 5:7.)
Of this concept of one-ness, there is a similar expression used in relation to the disciples:
32 And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. (Acts 4:32.)
In the Great Intercessory Prayer recorded in John chapter 17, Jesus prayed to the Father using these words:
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. ….
22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: (John 17:11, 22.)
So not only did Jesus pray for His followers to “be one,” but He literally prayed for them to be one IN THE SAME WAY that He and the Father are one. That does not denote the one-ness of being a single individual with multiple manifestations; it can only refer to being united in love and purpose, in the same way that the disciples were referred to in Acts 4:32 as being “of one heart.”
After Jesus’ resurrection, He made it clear that He had to go to another place (He had to “ascend”) to His Father:
17 Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. (John 20:17.)
They were not in the same place, so how could They be the same person??
Again consider the experience of the martyr, Stephen, referred to above:
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. (Acts 7:55-56.)
But you don’t need to wait until you read the New Testament to find this truth about the plurality of the Godhead. This truth is taught in the very first chapter of the Bible. You only need to read 26 verses into the Bible to read this:
26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: …. (Genesis 1:26.)
Then, just two chapters later, we read this:
22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: …. (Genesis 3:22.)
Thus we see that the true nature of the Godhead, as taught by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is true Christianity as taught in the Bible. The false doctrine of “the trinity” is a perversion of the teachings of the Bible, and places man-made creeds (such as the Nicene Creed) above the Bible.