Emails to a Mormon (somewhat borrowed title) - Part 3

Hi, sorry I haven't gotten back to you. And the answer to if we believe our Heavenly Father, His son, Jesus, and the Holy Ghost are three gods is no. We acknowledge Heavenly Father as God, and His son, to have just as much power being in a state of godhood, but the holy spirit is different. We believe the Holy Ghost to be more of a messenger, he helps us discern right from wrong when occassion happens that we wouldn't know, or we're on the fence. He is referred to by our church as a "still small voice." And yes, we do recognize that there are other "gods" in existence, including Jesus Christ holding all the power of which his and our Father in Heaven holds. We also believe that if one lives his/her life in such a way that permits, at the judgement, Jesus and Heavenly Father will grant powers of godhood. Over-all, we believe in two supreme beings, a Heavenly Father, and His son, our eldest brother, Jesus Christ.

---------------------------------------------------------

My reply:

Hello Danny

Thanks for getting back to me.

In Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Joseph is recorded as saying:

“I will preach on the plurality of Gods. I have selected this text for that express purpose. I wish to declare I have always and in all congregations when I have preached on the subject of the Deity, it has been the plurality of Gods. It has been preached by the Elders for fifteen years. 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. If this is in accordance with the New Testament, lo and behold! We have three Gods anyhow, and they are plural; and who can contradict it?” (Pg. 370).

Joseph Smith declares that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are three Persons and three Gods.

I am glad that we agree that the Latter-day Saint Church teaches that there are many other true gods in existence. To once again provide a contrast with my position, I hold to absolute monotheism - that there is only one true god in existence.

The reason I believe in absolute monotheism is because I believe the Bible teaches it. One passage that clearly teaches absolute monotheism is Isaiah 43:10, ""You are My witnesses," declares the LORD, "And My servant whom I have chosen, So that you may know and believe Me And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, And there will be none after Me."

I will note that this is the LORD speaking. "LORD" is how our English translations render the Tetragrammaton (YHWH ... Yahweh) from the Hebrew text. The Tetragrammaton would be very familiar to Isaiah's audience because the Jews said the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4) every morning - the Shema includes the Tetragrammaton. But Isaiah continues quoting Yahweh as stating that there were no gods formed before Him, and there will be no gods formed after him.

Indeed, there have been no gods before Yahweh. And there will not be any gods formed after Yahweh. Yahweh is the only god, and He will always be the only god. Absolute monotheism.

I'm sure you understand my point, and I look forward to your response.

Casey Ryan,
AOMin