Mormons are often accused of hiding their history and doctrines from the general populace of the church, as well as its investigators, out of fear that in breaching the subjects they will drive away the masses. One such doctrine that is highly susceptible to this unwarranted criticism is the revelation given by Joseph Smith detailing the plurality of Gods.

Joseph prefaced a sermon delivered on June 16, 1844 in Nauvoo, Illinois as follows:

“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 that 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?”

The notion that Latter-day Saints wish to sweep this doctrine under the rug is laughable in all of its aspects. Anyone who has ever entertained the missionaries is aware of this doctrine. It is a doctrine that sets the church apart from all the rest of Christendom and that makes the Church of Jesus Christ unique. Without it the church is no more enlightened than all of the rest of modern apostate Christianity. The doctrine is generally taught in the very first missionary discussion when the missionaries teach the nature of God in the context of Joseph Smith’s first vision:

“…I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me… 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!”

From the very beginning Joseph Smith knew and taught that God, the Father, and his Son, Jesus Christ, were two separate and distinct beings. He saw both of them, together, with Jesus standing on the Father’s right hand. So if they are separate beings and God the Father is God and Jesus Christ is God then there are two Gods.

At Jesus’ baptism three distinct personages manifested themselves. Jesus was physically present in the flesh. God, the Father, spoke from heaven declaring Jesus to be His son. The Holy Ghost descended in the form of a dove. Jesus was not a ventriloquist throwing His voice from the heavens and He was not a magician pulling a dove out of thin air. These were distinct manifestations of three separate entities (Mark 1:10,11; Luke 3:22).

However the creeds of men say:

“They are not three Gods, but one God… And in this Trinity none is afore or after another; none is greater or less than another. But the whole three persons are coeternal, and coequal. So that in all things, as aforesaid, the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity is to be worshipped.”

“We believe … in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father, only begotten, that is, of the substance of the Father; God of God; Light of light; very God of very God; begotten, not made; being of one substance with the Father… .”

Tertullian, who coined the term “Trinity” and was one of the ante-Nicene fathers of the late 2nd and early 3rd centuries A.D., agreed with Joseph Smith and those Nicene and post-Nicene fathers who came after him distorted the true interpretation and meaning of the word. The term “Trinity” was originally coined in response to a false doctrine being circulated by Praxeas (whom Tertullian called a heretic) who taught the Godhead in the same manner in which Athanasius and the council of Nice later taught it. Praxeas taught the sameness of the Father and the Son to which the author of the original definition of the “Trinity” replied:

“My assertion is that the Father is one, and the Son one, and the Spirit one, and that They are distinct from Each Other… Happily the Lord Himself employs this expression of the person of the Paraclete, so as to signify not a division or severance, but a disposition (of mutual relations in the Godhead); for He says, “I will pray the Father, and He shall send you another Comforter…even the Spirit of truth,” thus making the Paraclete distinct from Himself, even as we say that the Son is also distinct from the Father; so that He showed a third degree in the Paraclete, as we believe the second degree is in the Son, by reason of the order observed in the Economy. Besides, does not the very fact that they have the distinct names of Father and Son amount to a declaration that they are distinct in personality?”

“So it is either the Father or the Son, and the day is not the same as the night; nor is the Father the same as the Son, in such a way that Both of them should be One, and One or the Other should be Both,—an opinion which the most conceited “Monarchians” maintain. He Himself, they say, made Himself a Son to Himself. Now a Father makes a Son, and a Son makes a Father; and they who thus become reciprocally related out of each other to each other cannot in any way by themselves simply become so related to themselves, that the Father can make Himself a Son to Himself, and the Son render Himself a Father to Himself… Now all this must be the device of the devil—this excluding and severing one from the other—since by including both together in one under pretence of the Monarchy, he causes neither to be held and acknowledged, so that He is not the Father, since indeed He has not the Son; neither is He the Son, since in like manner He has not the Father: for while He is the Father, He will not be the Son…

“It will be your duty, however, to adduce your proofs out of the Scriptures as plainly as we do, when we prove that He made His Word a Son to Himself. For if He calls Him Son, and if the Son is none other than He who has proceeded from the Father Himself, and if the Word has proceeded from the Father Himself, He will then be the Son, and not Himself from whom He proceeded. For the Father Himself did not proceed from Himself. Now, you who say that the Father is the same as the Son, do really make the same Person both to have sent forth from Himself (and at the same time to have gone out from Himself as) that Being which is God.”

The Bible tells us that these Divine Beings are neither one in substance (material) nor coequal. It is clear that God, the Father, is ultimately in charge for he sent Jesus Christ to Earth to redeem mankind and Jesus followed the order.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:16,17).

There are several great truths in this verse, two of which debunk the claims of the Athanasian and Nicene Creeds. 1) Jesus is not coequal with God the Father inasmuch as God the Father “sent” His son to the Earth, and 2) Jesus Christ and God the Father are two separate and distinct personages as shown in the very act of “begetting”. These two principles are later born out once more when Jesus declares, “I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I” (John 14:28). Again, Jesus is not going unto Himself and He sets a distinct hierarchy of the Gods.

There are some Protestant faiths, or at least the clergy of these faiths, that do understand the separate nature of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost as evidenced by the following in “Morning Star,” a weekly newsletter of Wycliffe College, by Alan L. Hayes, director of the Toronto School of Theology:

“It seems to me preferable for a number of reasons to say clearly that YHWH is (at least in his appearances to human beings) Christ himself — that is, not God the Father, but God the Son.

“The pre-eminent reason for saying so is that, when we pray to God, we do so ‘through Jesus Christ our Lord.’ Our trinitarian theology affirms that the only access which any human being can have to God the Father is through the Son. ‘No one knows the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.’ If the Father appeared and spoke to Moses in the burning bush; if he communicated directly to the prophets; if he was worshipped by Israel without the necessity of a mediator, then the Church’s doctrine of the Trinity is mistaken. …

“The idea of Christ’s divinity [as it related to Monarchism and the modern Orthodox conception of the Trinity] and the doctrine of the Trinity were added in later centuries by the ascetic Greek philosophers who by then had taken control of the Church” [brackets mine].

Just as Jesus was sent by the Father the third member of the Godhead is sent by Jesus Christ, through permission of the Father, again setting up a divine hierarchy, “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me” (John 15:26).

But what of the scriptures that say they are one?

“I and my Father are one” (John 10:30).

“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).

Besides the fact that 1 John 5:7 in the original Greek, as well as in the Latin Vulgate, only says, “That there are three witnessing,” and excludes the remainder of the verse that was later introduced by a Trinitarian believing monk, the scriptures must agree in harmony of doctrine if they are to be believed. One verse cannot cancel out another and so it is necessary to discover what this “oneness” signifies since the scriptures are clear that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are distinct and separate individuals.

The best explanation of this “oneness” comes from the Bible and from John himself as he details Jesus’ prayer for His disciples:

“Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; 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. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one” (John 17:20-23).

Due to the length of this article and the use of both Modern and Early Semitic Script the remainder of this post may be downloaded in PDf format by clicking below. The PDF also includes source notes.

Plurality of Gods PDF

At this Easter season of hope and renewal we testify of the glorious reality of the atonement and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. The empty tomb brought comforting assurance and provided the answer to the question of Job, “If a man die, shall he live again?” (Job 14:14).

Because of the Savior’s resurrection we will overcome death and become the beneficiaries of His mercy and grace. In a world of trouble and uncertainty, His peace fills our hearts and eases our minds. Jesus is in very deed “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).

We give our sure witness that Jesus is the Christ. Though He was crucified, He rose triumphant from the tomb to our everlasting blessing and benefit. To each member of the human family He stands as our Advocate, our Savior, and our Friend.

Signed:

President Thomas S. Monson and his counselors, President Henry B. Eyring and President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, constituting the First Presidency of the Church.

Add to this the following testimony:

The Purifying Power of Gethsemane

Elder Bruce R. McConkie
Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

I feel, and the Spirit seems to accord, that the most important doctrine I can declare, and the most powerful testimony I can bear, is of the atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ.

His atonement is the most transcendent event that ever has or ever will occur from Creation’s dawn through all the ages of a never-ending eternity.

It is the supreme act of goodness and grace that only a god could perform. Through it, all of the terms and conditions of the Father’s eternal plan of salvation became operative.

Through it are brought to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. Through it, all men are saved from death, hell, the devil, and endless torment.

And through it, all who believe and obey the glorious gospel of God, all who are true and faithful and overcome the world, all who suffer for Christ and his word, all who are chastened and scourged in the Cause of him whose we are—all shall become as their Maker and sit with him on his throne and reign with him forever in everlasting glory.

In speaking of these wondrous things I shall use my own words, though you may think they are the words of scripture, words spoken by other Apostles and prophets.

True it is they were first proclaimed by others, but they are now mine, for the Holy Spirit of God has borne witness to me that they are true, and it is now as though the Lord had revealed them to me in the first instance. I have thereby heard his voice and know his word.

Two thousand years ago, outside Jerusalem’s walls, there was a pleasant garden spot, Gethsemane by name, where Jesus and his intimate friends were wont to retire for pondering and prayer.

There Jesus taught his disciples the doctrines of the kingdom, and all of them communed with Him who is the Father of us all, in whose ministry they were engaged, and on whose errand they served.

This sacred spot, like Eden where Adam dwelt, like Sinai from whence Jehovah gave his laws, like Calvary where the Son of God gave his life a ransom for many, this holy ground is where the Sinless Son of the Everlasting Father took upon himself the sins of all men on condition of repentance.

We do not know, we cannot tell, no mortal mind can conceive the full import of what Christ did in Gethsemane.
We know he sweat great gouts of blood from every pore as he drained the dregs of that bitter cup his Father had given him.

We know he suffered, both body and spirit, more than it is possible for man to suffer, except it be unto death.
We know that in some way, incomprehensible to us, his suffering satisfied the demands of justice, ransomed penitent souls from the pains and penalties of sin, and made mercy available to those who believe in his holy name.

We know that he lay prostrate upon the ground as the pains and agonies of an infinite burden caused him to tremble and would that he might not drink the bitter cup.

We know that an angel came from the courts of glory to strengthen him in his ordeal, and we suppose it was mighty Michael, who foremost fell that mortal man might be.

As near as we can judge, these infinite agonies—this suffering beyond compare—continued for some three or four hours.

After this—his body then wrenched and drained of strength—he confronted Judas and the other incarnate devils, some from the very Sanhedrin itself; and he was led away with a rope around his neck, as a common criminal, to be judged by the arch-criminals who as Jews sat in Aaron’s seat and who as Romans wielded Caesar’s power.

They took him to Annas, to Caiaphas, to Pilate, to Herod, and back to Pilate. He was accused, cursed, and smitten. Their foul saliva ran down his face as vicious blows further weakened his pain-engulfed body.
With reeds of wrath they rained blows upon his back. Blood ran down his face as a crown of thorns pierced his trembling brow.

But above it all he was scourged, scourged with forty stripes save one, scourged with a multithonged whip into whose leather strands sharp bones and cutting metals were woven.

Many died from scourging alone, but he rose from the sufferings of the scourge that he might die an ignominious death upon the cruel cross of Calvary.

Then he carried his own cross until he collapsed from the weight and pain and mounting agony of it all.
Finally, on a hill called Calvary—again, it was outside Jerusalem’s walls—while helpless disciples looked on and felt the agonies of near death in their own bodies, the Roman soldiers laid him upon the cross.

With great mallets they drove spikes of iron through his feet and hands and wrists. Truly he was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities.

Then the cross was raised that all might see and gape and curse and deride. This they did, with evil venom, for three hours from 9:00 A.M. to noon.

Then the heavens grew black. Darkness covered the land for the space of three hours, as it did among the Nephites. There was a mighty storm, as though the very God of Nature was in agony.

And truly he was, for while he was hanging on the cross for another three hours, from noon to 3:00 P.M., all the infinite agonies and merciless pains of Gethsemane recurred.

And, finally, when the atoning agonies had taken their toll—when the victory had been won, when the Son of God had fulfilled the will of his Father in all things—then he said, “It is finished” (John 19:30), and he voluntarily gave up the ghost.

As the peace and comfort of a merciful death freed him from the pains and sorrows of mortality, he entered the paradise of God.

When he had made his soul an offering for sin, he was prepared to see his seed, according to the messianic word.

These, consisting of all the holy prophets and faithful Saints from ages past; these, comprising all who had taken upon them his name, and who, being spiritually begotten by him, had become his sons and his daughters, even as it is with us; all these were assembled in the spirit world, there to see his face and hear his voice.

After some thirty-eight or forty hours—three days as the Jews measured time—our Blessed Lord came to the Arimathaean’s tomb, where his partially embalmed body had been placed by Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathaea.

Then, in a way incomprehensible to us, he took up that body which had not yet seen corruption and arose in that glorious immortality which made him like his resurrected Father.

He then received all power in heaven and on earth, obtained eternal exaltation, appeared unto Mary Magdalene and many others, and ascended into heaven, there to sit down on the right hand of God the Father Almighty and to reign forever in eternal glory.

His rising from death on the third day crowned the Atonement. Again, in some way incomprehensible to us, the effects of his resurrection pass upon all men so that all shall rise from the grave.

As Adam brought death, so Christ brought life; as Adam is the father of mortality, so Christ is the father of immortality.

And without both, mortality and immortality, man cannot work out his salvation and ascend to those heights beyond the skies where gods and angels dwell forever in eternal glory.

Now, the atonement of Christ is the most basic and fundamental doctrine of the gospel, and it is the least understood of all our revealed truths.

Many of us have a superficial knowledge and rely upon the Lord and his goodness to see us through the trials and perils of life.

But if we are to have faith like Enoch and Elijah we must believe what they believed, know what they knew, and live as they lived.

May I invite you to join with me in gaining a sound and sure knowledge of the Atonement.

We must cast aside the philosophies of men and the wisdom of the wise and hearken to that Spirit which is given to us to guide us into all truth.

We must search the scriptures, accepting them as the mind and will and voice of the Lord and the very power of God unto salvation.

As we read, ponder, and pray, there will come into our minds a view of the three gardens of God—the Garden of Eden, the Garden of Gethsemane, and the Garden of the Empty Tomb where Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene.

In Eden we will see all things created in a paradisiacal state—without death, without procreation, without probationary experiences.

We will come to know that such a creation, now unknown to man, was the only way to provide for the Fall.

We will then see Adam and Eve, the first man and the first woman, step down from their state of immortal and paradisiacal glory to become the first mortal flesh on earth.

Mortality, including as it does procreation and death, will enter the world. And because of transgression a probationary estate of trial and testing will begin.

Then in Gethsemane we will see the Son of God ransom man from the temporal and spiritual death that came to us because of the Fall.

And finally, before an empty tomb, we will come to know that Christ our Lord has burst the bands of death and stands forever triumphant over the grave.

Thus, Creation is father to the Fall; and by the Fall came mortality and death; and by Christ came immortality and eternal life.

If there had been no fall of Adam, by which cometh death, there could have been no atonement of Christ, by which cometh life.

And now, as pertaining to this perfect atonement, wrought by the shedding of the blood of God—I testify that it took place in Gethsemane and at Golgotha, and as pertaining to Jesus Christ, I testify that he is the Son of the Living God and was crucified for the sins of the world. He is our Lord, our God, and our King. This I know of myself independent of any other person.

I am one of his witnesses, and in a coming day I shall feel the nail marks in his hands and in his feet and shall wet his feet with my tears.

But I shall not know any better then than I know now that he is God’s Almighty Son, that he is our Savior and Redeemer, and that salvation comes in and through his atoning blood and in no other way.

God grant that all of us may walk in the light as God our Father is in the light so that, according to the promises, the blood of Jesus Christ his Son will cleanse us from all sin.

In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen.

DNA and the Book of Mormon Part 1

DNA and the Book of Mormon Part 2

DNA and the Book of Mormon Part 3

Dr. Ryan Parr Discusses DNA as it relates to the Book of Mormon Peoples Part 1

Dr. Ryan Parr Discusses DNA as it relates to the Book of Mormon Peoples Part 2

Dr. Ryan Parr Discusses DNA as it relates to the Book of Mormon Peoples Part 3

Dr. Ryan Parr Discusses DNA as it relates to the Book of Mormon Peoples Part 4

Dr. Ryan Parr Discusses DNA as it relates to the Book of Mormon Peoples Part 5

The argument is often made that since Christ paid the ultimate sacrifice and that animal sacrifice was no longer necessary, somehow this signaled the end of the Priesthood and that the destruction of the Temple was the sign for this. This is convoluted reasoning.

The Priesthood had many more duties besides sacrifice and the temple being destroyed had nothing to do with the continuance of the Priesthood. Sacrifices were conducted under the Levitical Priesthood and the administration thereof were not the duties of the Melchizedek order. It was this portion of the Levitical Priesthood that was done away (the offering of animal sacrifice), but the Levitical or Aaronic Priesthood had other duties that administered in the temporal affairs of man. Evidently many of the church fathers and students of John felt the need for the continuance of the Priesthood until a unity of the faith was accomplished.

Reading Hebrews in context it will be seen as irrefutable proof of the necessity of the priesthood so that man through it, may become perfected and come to a unity of the faith.

(Eph. 4:11- 13) And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

(Heb. 7:11) If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?

So if apostles and pastors and teachers, etc were given for the perfecting of the saints and, as stated in Hebrews, that perfection comes through the Melchizedek Priesthood, then these officers therefore must have held the Melchizedek priesthood. This is clear. What authority did Christ give to His apostles? Who has the authority to administer in the requisite ordinances of the gospel? This is the priesthood and it is for the perfection and edification of the Saints.

Hebrews 7:11 refers to two “orders” of the Priesthood: 1) the order of Aaron and 2) the order of Melchizedek. The order of Aaron, according to this epistle was for the temporal ordinances but was not established for the perfecting of the Saints. This was the purpose of the Priesthood after the order of Melchizedek and men could not be made perfect without this priesthood. The very word “order” infers an organization. If one held the priesthood there would be no need for an “order”. In the Greek the word is “taxis” from the Greek verb “tasso”, meaning to arrange in an orderly manner. There would be no need to arrange anything if there were only one in the “order”, in fact it wouldn’t even be called an order.

Ignatius of Antioch (a student of the Apostle John who lived 35-110 AD) wrote: “For the priesthood is the very highest point of all good things among men, against which whosoever is mad enough to strive, dishonours not man, but God, and Christ Jesus, the First-born, and the only High Priest, by nature, of the Father. Let all things therefore be done by you with good order in Christ. Let the laity be subject to the deacons; the deacons to the presbyters; the presbyters to the bishop; the bishop to Christ, even as He is to the Father” (Ignatius, The Epistle of Ignatius to the Smyraeans, Chapter 9 – Honour the Bishop).

Notice that Ignatius does not say that Christ is the only High Priest; he says that He is the only High Priest, by nature, of the Father, meaning that this authority was inherent in Him as God. All others must be given this authority, as were the apostles. Christ gave this authority to His apostles and told them that they had power to bind on Earth and it would be binding in Heaven; and they could loose on Earth and the same would be done in Heaven (Matt 16:19). The apostles were not High Priests, by nature, and therefore had to be given that authority of Christ. They held the keys to the perfecting of the Saints, as Matthew made clear.

He said the “priesthood is the very highest point of all good things”. The priesthood was acknowledged at this time by the present tense. Then he distinguishes the priesthood from the laity in so much that he starts naming offices. And as Ignatius also said, in striving against this priesthood authority, “you dishonour… God”.

Now let’s see what Irenaeus (a second century church father and disciple of Polycarp, who was a student of John’s as well) said in the early 2nd Century: “adhere to those who… do hold the doctrine of the apostles, and who, together with the order of priesthood (presbyterii ordine), display sound speech and blameless conduct for the confirmation and correction of others (Iranaeus, Against Heresies, Book 4).

Irenaeus made it clear that the Apostles and those of His day held this order of priesthood. He earlier in his “Against Heresies” also mentions that no other except those who were called and ordained held this priesthood.

The ancient Jews at Qumran realized that the Melchizedek Priesthood would accompany the final days before the second coming of Christ: their understanding was that the Melchizedek Priesthood would return in the “last days” and bring about salvation after an apostasy (a reign of Belial – the Dark Ages). This was to apply “to the Last Days” and after a time when “teachers have been hidden and kept secret, even from the inheritance of Melchizedek, who will return them to what is rightfully theirs” (The Dead Sea Scrolls - 11Q13 – The Coming of Melchizedek).

“How long will you judge unjustly, and show partiality to the wicked? Selah” (Ps.82:2 – the 82nd Psalm is referenced a lot throughout this text and specific references to the divine council as well), the interpretation applies to Belial and the spirits predestined to him, because all of them have rebelled, turning from God’s precepts and so becoming utterly wicked. Therefore Melchizedek will thoroughly prosecute the vengeance required by God’s statutes. In that day he will deliver them from the power of Belial, and from the power of all the spirits predestined to him. Allied with him will be the “righteous divine beings” (Isa 61:3)”. (Wise, Michael, Martin Abegg Jr. and Edward Cook. “The Dead Sea Scrolls: A New Translation”. San Francisco: HarperCollins. 2005. pp 590-593).

Notice who will be aligned with Melchizedek!

Then there is this by Theophilus (115-180 AD) another early Bishop of Antioch and successor to Ignatius, also said to have been a representative of Barnabus (a prophet and one of the candidates for the authorship of the Epistle to the Hebrews, according to Knight and Edwards Compact Bible Handbook - of the Nelson Compact Bible Study Series). If Barnabus was the author of this Epistle, as was supposed, and Theophilus was supposed to be one of his representatives then I would think his words would carry weight.

Here is what he said:
“And at that time there was a righteous king called Melchizedek, in the city of Salem, which is now Jerusalem. This was the first priest of all high priests of the Most High God. . . . And from his time priests were found in all the earth.” (Apologia ad Autolycum, Book I).

Theophilus tells of the beginning of the Melchizedek Priesthood and the Dead Sea Scrolls talk about its role in the Last Days, which most Christians firmly believe we are in.
I found this interesting as well (from the 5th century Church Historian Socrates Scholasticus) relaying an argument that occurred in a council at a reworking of the Nicene Creed for the umpteenth time:

“…Those assembled at Antioch were by them invested with the sacerdotal office. Now if those at Antioch have disowned their own fathers, those who follow them are unconsciously following parricides. Besides how can they have received a legitimate ordination from those whose faith they pronounce unsound and impious? If those, however, who constituted the Nicene Synod had not the Holy Spirit which is imparted by the imposition of hands, those at Antioch have not duly received the priesthood: for how could they have received it from those who had not the power of conferring it?” (Socrates Scholasticus, Ecclesiastical History Book 2).

So even in the 5th century the importance of the continuation of the Priesthood by proper authority and proper manner was seen as important to Socrates Scholasticus.

John Cotton, even later, in the 17th century spoke of this authority passed to the “fraternitie presbytery” (brethren of the Priesthood) in his “The Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven and Power Thereof , According to the Word of God”.

It has now been demonstrated that the Melchizedek Priesthood is the authority to act in the name of Christ. This authority was given to the apostles to “bind on earth and it would be bound in heaven”. This authority of Jesus was necessary for this to take affect. Jesus spoke of this when he said that there would be some that would cast out devils in His name but when the end came He would say to them, depart from me because I don’t know you (Matt 7:22). He will not recognize authority that He did not give. And further proves that the “priesthood of all believers” is a very recent evolution of the Protestant faith and was not to be had in the primitive church.

Joseph Smith had this authority given him (as did Oliver Cowdery) by Peter, James and John, who had received that authority from Jesus Christ. Peter, James and John delivered this priesthood authority at the time of the restoration. There was no man on the Earth at that time that still possessed the Melchizedek Priesthood and it had to be restored by those in authority to restore it; even Peter, to whom Jesus explicitly gave the keys while yet in His ministry.

Now, how is this Priesthood authority to be passed on? The scriptures make this very clear:

(1 Tim. 4:14)
Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery.

(2 Tim. 1:6)
Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.

(Acts 6:2-9)
2 Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.
3 Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.
4 But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.
5 And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch:
6 Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.
7 And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.
8 And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and miracles among the people.

(Acts 13:2)
2 As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.
3 And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.

(Heb. 6:1,2)
1 Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God,
2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.

Remember, perfection comes by way of the Melchizedek Priesthood!

(Heb. 7:11)
11 If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron?

The scriptures make it clear that there would be no perfection without the Melchizedek Priesthood and that this priesthood was passed on by the laying on of hands (or ordination). There is no evidence here that the authority to administer the Priesthood was given to all believers but that some were chosen by the assembly to receive it after much prayer and fasting. Therefore, Jesus said be ye therefore perfect even as your Father in Heaven is perfect (Matt. 5:48) but made it very clear that perfection could not come without the Melchizedek priesthood as written in the epistles by his apostles. It must then be deduced that either Jesus gave a commandment that was impossible to fulfill or that the Melchizedek Priesthood had to be passed on to achieve Jesus’ designs and fulfill His commandment.

I sit this morning at my window looking at the first signs of life, long dormant through a long winter’s sleep. Fresh, crisp blades of green grass peek gingerly through the snow crusted ground and the first new buds of spring, with a blanket of white enshrouding them, on tree limbs that no longer look dead, are yawning, showing chlorophyll laden tongues that will eventually bloom into glorious splendor, providing a refuge from the heat of the summer and an abundance of life within its verdant cover. The promise of life surrounds me on this brilliant resurrection morning as I ponder and reflect on the meaning of this heaven sent day.

For me this day has nothing to do with pagan bunnies, the fertility rites symbolized in colored eggs and chocolate sweets. The only sweets I am reflecting on are the sweets provided by my Savior who gave the true promise of a renewal of life. I think of families sitting in church singing praises to their God and King, who burst the bands of death in our behalf, so that we may all live again, after our own brief respite from our fleshly tabernacles, to rise once more unto glories untold in the morning of the first resurrection. And then, as this thought crosses my mind, my consciousness is transported to the final days of my Lord’s ministry where this King of Kings rode into Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover, not in great glory on an Arabian Stallion, but humbly on the back off an ass fulfilling the prophecy which says, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass (Zech 9:9).

Later as Jesus celebrated the Passover with the traditional unleavened bread, bitter herbs and fruit of the vine He was already suffering with the knowledge that one of His own would betray Him. I can almost feel the heartbreak as Jesus told his apostles, “one of you which eateth with me shall betray me. And they began to be sorrowful, and to say unto Him one by one, Is it I?” I can almost see the dark eyes of Judas Iscariot, averted from those of our Savior so as not to feel the searing and sorrowful scorn that must have accompanied His gaze, as he continued the charade by asking, “Is it I?” and knowing full well that it was. How our Lord must have sorrowed for Him knowing that He was now lost and destined to become a son of perdition. But this was just the beginning of the sorrows that He was foreordained to endure.

Now my minds eye is a witness at Gethsemane. The apostles at some distance from our Lord are sleeping, even as they had promised to keep watch, while the Savior of mankind is in deep and impassioned supplication to His Father, enduring, first hand, the suffering off all who had already lived, all that were then living and all that were yet to be born, being pressed by the tremendous guilt of the entire world so much so that great drops of blood were excreted from every pour. He was feeling the presses of Gethsemane’s name sake as the crushing weight of the world come down upon Him, pleading with His Father that if there were any other way to let the cup pass from Him. Even with the amount of suffering He was undergoing at that time, still He left the situation in the hands of His omniscient Father. A last and ultimate sacrifice for the sins of an entire world!

And then, came the betrayer, who, with a mock kiss delivered His God into the hands of the executioners. Thirty pieces of silver paid, never to be spent! A son of perdition hanging by the neck from some justice-bound tree! A grisly deed done!

Throughout His trials Christ stood mostly silent. He knew that His hour had come and that He now must finish what He was sent to do. I tremble, as in my mind I am witness to each stroke of the hammer, driving metal spikes into His hands and feet. I want to rush the executioners and deliver my Lord from this terrible anguish but I cannot move other than the incessant shaking within my body. I feel my Lord’s fleeting glance directed my way assuring me that this must be and it is all right. While He is suffering, I feel that He is still thinking about us, and not in His own excruciating pain as flesh is torn and bones move asunder. He knows that in so doing He will save us. Carrying His own cross toward Golgotha he is spit upon, beaten with rods and whips, and mocked with every step until He can no longer walk and another is mercifully and blessedly appointed to carry His cross for Him the last bit of the way.

Being raised up on the cross at the “place of the skull” between two common thieves “one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be the Christ, save thyself and us. But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:39-43).

And then the entire Earth was engulfed in darkness and the ground shook and there was great destruction upon all the land as God, the Father, I imagine, not being able to bear the tremendous agony of His Son, withdrew into the furthest recesses of His universe, causing Jesus to scream out, “My God, My God why hast thou forsaken me” (Mark 15:34). A malevolent onlooker, devoid of all compassion, then runs and gives Jesus vinegar to drink. With a loud cry Jesus then gives up the ghost, saying, “Father, into thy hands I commend my Spirit” (Luke 23:46).

For three days the apostles of the Lord wandered like a ship in the night being tossed about by a storm, supposing that it was over, and we must assume that the thief on the Christ accompanied Jesus to a place set aside for the spirits of men, where they await the resurrection (1 Peter 3:18-21; 4:1-6). Not heaven, for on the third day after the Christ’s crucifixion Mary Magdalene came to the tomb of Christ. Upon arriving and seeing that the stone covering the tomb had been rolled away she became very concerned and asking, whom she supposed to be the gardener, what they had done with the body of her Lord was answered, “Mary”. Recognizing the voice of her Lord she turned and said, “Master” and ran toward Him. But Jesus kindly rebuked her and told her, “Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended unto 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 20:16,17).

Later, the disciples of Jesus were gathered together and Jesus came unto them and let them feel the wounds in his flesh and ate with them so that they would know that He was no longer dead, but was resurrected, not as a spirit but flesh and bone (Luke 24:37-43).

So now as I look out of my window at the new life forming on this beautiful spring morning that is set aside as a reflection of life and resurrection and as a symbol, to me, that all, though dead, will live again, just as the grass dies and is buried beneath the snow but is also renewed in the dawning of a new spring.

My testimony is that Jesus Christ, indeed, died for the sins of all and was resurrected and lives again, seated on the right hand of the Almighty God, His and our Father in heaven. He lives and this I know beyond any doubt. And it is in His wonderful name, even Jesus, the Christ, that I expound these eternal truths. Amen.

In a thread on a recent blog at Truth Restored I had a mini discussion with someone who claimed that God was no utilitarian. He made the statement that God was not concerned about numbers when it came to mankind’s happiness. According to Jeremy Bentham (who first set forth the moral theory of utilitarianism) utility is defined as the greatest good for the greatest number. The confusion of whether God is utilitarian or not comes into play with the definition of the word “good”. From John Stuart Mill’s Utilitarianism we read, “The utilitarian doctrine is that happiness is desirable, and the only thing desirable, as an end; all other things being only desirable as means to that end” (chapter 4). Previously in chapter 2 of the same work we read, “We not uncommonly hear the doctrine of utility inveighed against as a godless doctrine. If it be necessary to say anything at all against so mere an assumption, we may say that the question depends upon what idea we have formed of the moral character of the Deity. If it be a true belief that God desires, above all things, the happiness of his creatures, and that this was his purpose in their creation, utility is not only NOT a godless doctrine, but more profoundly religious than any other. If it be meant that utilitarianism does not recognize the revealed will of God as the supreme law of morals, I answer that a utilitarian who believes in the perfect goodness and wisdom of God necessarily believes that whatever God has thought fit to reveal on the subject of morals, must fulfill the requirements of utility in a supreme degree…”

Now, having quoted Mill, (and let me say here that I do not endorse all Mill has to say on the subject but find tidbits of truth here and there) I will use some of the arguments given me against God being utilitarian. “What about the biblical flood of Noah?” ask the detractors. “What of Sodom and Gomorrah?” “What of the Passover when the destroying angel killed all the first born of Egypt?” While each of these questions is valid one must also look past the immediate act and into the grand picture. If God had not wiped out all the wicked in the earth at the time of the flood, would future generations have found true happiness as they perpetuated their wickedness at the cost of other’s happiness? The same is true with Sodom and Gomorrah. As concerning the Passover, had not the Israelites become much more numerous than their captors who were holding them in bondage and enjoying the happiness of the few upon the blood, sweat, and tears of their more numerous slaves? God gives commandments unto men, not to unnecessarily restrict them but for their own happiness and the happiness of those around them. If we kill, steal, cheat on our spouse, and bear false witness we are indeed infringing on the happiness of the majority and this, in turn, necessitates punishment of the perpetrator for the happiness of the greatest number. Obeying the laws of God and the laws of the land, where they are just, brings happiness to the obeying individual as well. Solomon in his wisdom said, “…he that keepeth the law, happy is he” (KJV, Proverbs 29:18).

Mormonism in this respect could be said to be utilitarian, as well. A main tenet of the religion is that “Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy” (Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 2:25). God wishes joy upon all of His children but gives unto us our free agency to act according to our desires. Just as a man running a race always keeps his eye on the finish line we must not get caught up so much in the here and now but move along with the final goal always constant.

From the moment Mitt Romney began to publicly contemplate running for president of the United States of America until now his Mormon faith has played a major part in the debate of his credentials to hold that office. Of course, most of the accusations about the church are totally false and as old as the church itself and each have been proven, using primary source documents, as such. One key point that has been totally omitted when addressing a “Mormon In The White House” (borrowing a title from Hugh Hewitt’s best selling book) by Hewitt and all other’s addressing how his faith would play in a presidency is the very high regard that Mormons hold for the U.S. Constitution and this great nation which is bound by it. 

(more…)

It answers the questions that at some time in all of our lives we eventually ask:
1. Where did I come from?
2. Why am I here on Earth?
3. Where am I going after I die?

Furthermore, it shows to the world that Mormon’s have considered themselves Christians since the beginnings of the Church in 1830 and it is not a recent phenomena or a change in our doctrine, as some have attempted to claim.

Part 1

Part 2