The Nature of God

Joseph Smith emphasized the essential need to understand the nature of God: “If men do not comprehend the character of God, they do not comprehend themselves.”¹ The first and primary article of our faith is that “[w]e believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.”² So who or what is God?

Continuing revelation teaches us about God

In a revelation given to Joseph Smith in 1833, the Lord said, “I give unto you these sayings that you may understand and know how to worship, and know what you worship, that you may come unto the Father in my name, and in due time receive of his fulness.”³ To know how to worship, and to know who or what we worship, is one of life’s great mysteries. But through continuing revelation, we learn line upon line.

The very first experience of the restoration, Joseph Smith’s First Vision, gave us significant knowledge regarding the nature of God. President Gordon B. Hinckley said, “Joseph went in [to the Grove] as a boy. . . . We do not have anything of the words of Joseph’s prayer. But we know that he made inquiry and that a conversation took place. And Joseph Smith learned in those minutes, however long or brief, more about the nature of God than all of the learned divines of all time had ever learned.”⁴ Why was that experience so vital to understanding the nature of God? What did Joseph learn that could not be learned from the Bible?

We read in the Book of Mormon that the prophet Nephi had a vision in which he saw the Bible “proceed[] out of the mouth of a Jew.”⁵ When it originated, “it contained the fulness of the gospel of the Lord, of whom the twelve apostles bear record.”⁶ But at some point, “many parts which are plain and most precious” were taken away “from the gospel of the Lamb.”⁷ This is often interpreted as the Bible being corrupted, or that things were removed or changed in the Bible. I’m not sure I see it that way. Nephi specifically said that plain and precious parts were taken away from the “gospel,” not necessarily the Bible.

It could be that writings of the Bible were changed. As just one example, it is believed that the book of Mark was the first of the four gospels to be written, sometime between A.D. 66 and 73.⁸ The earliest manuscript of the Book of Mark that exists is called Papyrus 137, and is only a fragment containing Mark 1:7-9 and 16-18.⁹ This manuscript is dated somewhere in the 2nd or early 3rd century. In other words, the earliest manuscript in existence of Mark 1 was created more than one hundred years after scholars believe Mark wrote his gospel, and it only contains a few verses. How do we know whether Mark’s account was changed sometime between when Mark wrote his gospel and the manuscripts were created that now comprise our Bible? Isn’t it at least conceivable that during that time there were things that were changed from his original writings?

But even if what we have in the Bible matches exactly what was written by those ancient prophets, I believe that Nephi was stating that knowledge and understanding would be lost, not necessarily biblical text. One of the truly surprising things I have learned as an attorney is that different people can interpret one law in many different ways. Different judges might interpret things differently. We interpret words based on our knowledge, life experience, and sometimes it is even influenced by how we feel in that moment. So no matter how much truth the Bible contains, our human understanding will struggle to understand, and different people will interpret the same passages differently. One of the circumstances that caused Joseph Smith to pray for answers was the confusion regarding the interpretation of the Bible: “the teachers of religion of the different sects understood the same passages of scripture so differently as to destroy all confidence in settling the question by an appeal to the Bible.”¹⁰

Truth is revealed by the power of the Holy Ghost, and we can only understand truth when enlightened by the Spirit. After Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery were visited by John the Baptist and given authority to baptize, they were “filled with the Holy Ghost.”¹¹ With that tremendous gift, Joseph said that their minds were enlightened, and they “began to have the scriptures laid open to our understandings, and the true meaning and intention of their more mysterious passages revealed unto us in a manner which we never could attain to previously, nor ever before had thought of.”¹²

“For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. . . . But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”¹³ As we explore the nature of God, we must rely on truths restored by modern prophets and apostles, in addition to what we can learn in the Bible.

Our Heavenly Father

Our Heavenly Father “has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s.”¹⁴ In the premortal world, we, as his spirit sons and daughters, “knew and worshipped God as [our] Eternal Father.”¹⁵

God is the source of all good things, he has all intelligence, all wisdom, and it is by his power that all things were created.¹⁶ “The purposes of our God are great, His love unfathomable, His wisdom infinite, and His power unlimited; therefore, the Saints have cause to rejoice and be glad, knowing that ‘this God is our God forever and ever, and He will be our Guide until death.’ [Psalm 48:14.]”¹⁷

Our Father in Heaven loves us perfectly. He has stated that his work and his glory is “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.”¹⁸ His glory is our eternal happiness. That truth should bring us a tremendous amount of peace.

Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ was “the Great Jehovah of the Old Testament.”¹⁹ Along with us, he was a spirit in the premortal world, but as the chosen savior he obtained godhood even before he obtained a physical body.²⁰

Under the direction of the Father, he created the earth.²¹ As Jehovah, he directed the work of the prophets as recorded in the Old Testament. The Savior’s atoning sacrifice has been celebrated and prophesied by “all the holy prophets,”²² and even Adam taught his posterity the plan of salvation and that “the Son of God hath atoned for original guilt.”²³ Although Jesus did not perform the atonement until the end of his mortal ministry, since the beginning of time the prophets testified of the atonement as if it had already been performed.²⁴ Even in the preexistence, we prevailed in the war in heaven “by the blood of the Lamb.”²⁵ In other words, even before we were born, we exercised faith in Jesus Christ and received strength through his atonement to overcome Satan.

Jesus Christ was born of Mary, the literal physical son of our Heavenly Father.²⁶ He lived his mortal life sinless, always doing the will of his Father.²⁷ At one point during his ministry, disciples of John the Baptist came to Jesus asking him if he was the promised Messiah. Jesus responded, “Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them.”²⁸ His mortal ministry was spent relieving suffering. Do we think his attitude has changed, or now that he is resurrected he is no longer concerned with us? His love for us allowed him to perform the greatest sacrifice that anyone could perform, and his primary objective is still to relieve our suffering.

The most glorious event in all of human history took place in a garden, when the Savior of the world took upon himself our sins and iniquities. “For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent; But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I; 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—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink—Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men.”²⁹

He was taken by the Jewish leaders, then given to the Romans and crucified until he “yielded up the ghost.”³⁰ During the three days between his death and resurrection, he preached to the spirits who had died: “While this vast multitude waited and conversed, rejoicing in the hour of their deliverance from the chains of death, the Son of God appeared, declaring liberty to the captives who had been faithful; And there he preached to them the everlasting gospel, the doctrine of the resurrection and the redemption of mankind from the fall, and from individual sins on conditions of repentance.”³¹

On the third day he was resurrected, preparing the way for all of us to be resurrected and return to the presence of God.

“Jesus is the Living Christ, the immortal Son of God. He is the great King Immanuel, who stands today on the right hand of His Father. He is the light, the life, and the hope of the world. His way is the path that leads to happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to come. God be thanked for the matchless gift of His divine Son.”³²

The Holy Ghost

Unlike the Father and the Son, who have bodies of flesh and bones, “the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us.”³³

Little is said about the Holy Ghost as a person, except when referenced in conjunction with the Father and the Son: “the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost are one; and I am in the Father, and the Father in me, and the Father and I are one.”³⁴

When the Savior appeared on the American Continent after his resurrection, he taught about the mission of the Holy Ghost: “And this is my doctrine, and it is the doctrine which the Father hath given unto me; and I bear record of the Father, and the Father beareth record of me, and the Holy Ghost beareth record of the Father and me; and I bear record that the Father commandeth all men, everywhere, to repent and believe in me. . . . Verily, verily, I say unto you, that this is my doctrine, and I bear record of it from the Father; and whoso believeth in me believeth in the Father also; and unto him will the Father bear record of me, for he will visit him with fire and with the Holy Ghost. And thus will the Father bear record of me, and the Holy Ghost will bear record unto him of the Father and me; for the Father, and I, and the Holy Ghost are one.”³⁵

The Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost are one

What does it mean that they are one? Through modern revelation, we know that they are three separate personages. So how are they one?

The scriptures can be confusing when referring to God. A common theme in the Book of Mormon is that “God himself” will atone for the sins and iniquities of his people.³⁶ When the Savior appeared to the Brother of Jared as a personage of Spirit, he said, “Behold, I am he who was prepared from the foundation of the world to redeem my people. Behold, I am Jesus Christ. I am the Father and the Son. In me shall all mankind have life, and that eternally, even they who shall believe on my name; and they shall become my sons and my daughters.”³⁷ If the Father and the Son are separate personages, why is Christ referred to as God, and why would he call himself “the Father and the Son”?

In 1916, the First Presidency (with President Joseph F. Smith)³⁸ and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (which included George Albert Smith, David O. McKay, Joseph Fielding Smith, and James E. Talmage)³⁹ published a “Doctrinal Exposition” titled “The Father and the Son,”⁴⁰ in which they addressed various uses of the term “Father” as applied to Diety. As we try to understand how the Father and the Son are one, it is useful to consider how the term “Father” is applied to Jesus Christ. The following section contains a few quotes to summarize the ideas, but I would encourage you to read the entire document.

Quotes from the “Doctrinal Exposition”

“Father” as Literal Parent. God the Eternal Father, whom we designate by the exalted name-title “Elohim,” is the literal Parent of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and of the spirits of the human race.

“Father” as Creator. Various scriptural passages refer to any one of the Godhead as “The Father of the heavens and of the earth.” Scriptures that refer to God in any way as the Father of the heavens and the earth are to be understood as signifying that God is the Maker, the Organizer, the Creator of the heavens and the earth. With this meaning, Jehovah, who is Jesus Christ the Son of Elohim, is called “the Father,” and even “the very eternal Father of heaven and of earth.”

Jesus Christ is the “Father” of Those Who Abide in His Gospel. This has reference to the relationship between Him and those who accept His Gospel and thereby become heirs of eternal life. Salvation is attainable only through compliance with the laws and ordinances of the Gospel; and all who are thus saved become sons and daughters unto God in a distinctive sense. We may become children of Jesus Christ by being born anew – born of God. By the new birth – that of water and the Spirit – mankind may become children of Jesus Christ, being through the means by Him provided “begotten sons and daughters unto God.”

Jesus Christ the “Father” by Divine Investiture of Authority. In all His dealings with the human family, Jesus the Son has represented and yet represents Elohim His Father in power and authority. This is true of Christ in His preexistent, antemortal, or unembodied state, in which He was known as Jehovah; also during His embodiment in the flesh; and during His labors as a disembodied spirit in the realm of the dead; and since that period in His resurrected state. The Father placed His name upon the Son; and Jesus Christ spoke and ministered in and through the Father’s name; and so far as power, authority and Godship are concerned His words and acts were and are those of the Father. There is no impropriety in speaking of Jesus Christ as the Elder Brother of the rest of human kind. Let it not be forgotten, however, that He is essentially greater than any and all others, by reason (1) of His seniority as the oldest or firstborn; (2) of His unique status in the flesh as the offspring of a mortal mother and of an immortal, or resurrected and glorified, Father; (3) of His selection and foreordination as the one and only Redeemer and Savior of the race; and (4) of His transcendent sinlessness. Jesus Christ is not the Father of the spirits who have taken or yet shall take bodies upon this earth, for He is one of them. He is The Son, as they are sons or daughters of Elohim.

One in Power

Please note that the prior section are not my words, but are quotes taken from the 1916 Doctrinal Exposition. That exposition contains significant scriptural quotations, and I would encourage you to read it for further understanding (see footnote 37 for the references).

As we try to understand what it means that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are one, we often say that they are one in purpose. But I have come to think of them as one in power. During the final night of the Savior’s mortal ministry, he taught his disciples and prepared them for the challenging events that were soon to unfold. He said, “I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.”⁴¹ How would he come to them? He said, “These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”⁴²

How would “he” come to them? By sending the Holy Ghost in his name. Because they are one, and because they are one in power, what is done by one is effectively done by all. They are three separate personages, but one in power. They are three unique individuals, but they share work, authority, and power to bring to pass our immortality and eternal life. When “God” is referenced in the sciptures, it is often difficult to determine whether that refers to the Father or the Son. But because they are one, they are God, and it is by their power that we are offered salvation.

This brief discussion on the nature and character of God can be a framework for continued study. The entirety of the scriptures help us understand this topic, but more importantly, we must gain knowledge of God by the power of the Holy Ghost. In his great intercessory prayer, Jesus said, “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”⁴³ To know God, then, is a lifetime of work. It requires studying the scriptures, studying the words of modern prophets and apostles, but it also requires an effort to invite the Holy Ghost into our lives so we can learn through continuing, personal revelation. Just as we can only truly know someone in this life by spending time with them, if we want to know God, we must spend time with him. And we can do that as we “always have his Spirit to be with [us].”⁴⁴

References

1. Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, 40, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/teachings-joseph-smith/chapter-2?lang=eng&id=p12#p12. ↩︎
2. Article of Faith 1, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/comeuntochrist/article/articles-of-faith. ↩︎
3. Doctrine and Covenants 93:19. ↩︎
4. Gordon B. Hinckley, “Inspirational Thoughts,” Ensign, August 1997, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1997/08/inspirational-thoughts?lang=eng. ↩︎
5. 1 Nephi 13:23. ↩︎
6. 1 Nephi 13:24. ↩︎
7. 1 Nephi 13:26. ↩︎
8. New Testament Student Manual: Religion 211-212, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah, 2018, Chapter 11, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/new-testament-student-manual/introduction-to-mark/chapter-11?lang=eng&id=figure1_p4#figure1_p4. ↩︎
9. Wikipedia, Papyrus 137, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papyrus_137. ↩︎
10. Joseph Smith-History 1:12. ↩︎
11. Joseph Smith-History 1:73. ↩︎
12. Joseph Smith-History 1:74. ↩︎
13. 1 Corinthians 2:11, 14. ↩︎
14. Doctrine and Covenants 130:22. ↩︎
15. The Family: A Proclamation to the World, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/the-family-a-proclamation-to-the-world/the-family-a-proclamation-to-the-world?lang=eng&id=p3#p3. ↩︎
16. Teachings of the Presidents, Joseph Smith, 39. ↩︎
17. Teachings of the Presidents, Joseph Smith, 39. ↩︎
18. Moses 1:39. ↩︎
19. The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/the-living-christ-the-testimony-of-the-apostles/the-living-christ-the-testimony-of-the-apostles?lang=eng&id=p3#p3; Doctrine and Covenants 110:3. ↩︎
20. Ether 3:16 (“Behold, this body, which ye now behold, is the body of my spirit; . . . and even as I appear unto thee to be in the spirit will I appear unto my people in the flesh.”) ↩︎
21. The Living Christ. ↩︎
22. Helaman 8:16. ↩︎
23. Moses 1:54. ↩︎
24. Jarom 1:11 (“Wherefore, the prophets, and the priests, and the teachers, did labor diligently, exhorting with all long-suffering the people to diligence; teaching the law of Moses, and the intent for which it was given; persuading them to look forward unto the Messiah, and believe in him to come as though he already was.”); Mosiah 16:6 (“And now if Christ had not come into the world, speaking of things to come as though they had already come, there could have been no redemption.”) ↩︎
25. Revelation 12:11. ↩︎
26. 1 Nephi 11:18-21. ↩︎
27. John 5:30 (“I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.”) ↩︎
28. Matthew 11:4-5. ↩︎
29. Doctrine and Covenants 19:16-19. ↩︎
30. Matthew 27:50. ↩︎
31. Doctrine and Covenants 138:18-19. ↩︎
32. The Living Christ. ↩︎
33. Doctrine and Covenants 130:22. ↩︎
34. 3 Nephi 11:27. ↩︎
35. 3 Nephi 11:35-36. ↩︎
36. Mosiah 13:28; Mosiah 15:1; Alma 42:15. ↩︎
37. Ether 3:14. ↩︎
38. General Authorities of the Church Research Guide, https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/training/library/general-authorities-of-the-church/list-of-presidents-of-the-church-and-their-counselors. ↩︎
39. List of Members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/training/library/general-authorities-of-the-church/list-of-members-of-the-quorum-of-the-twelve-apostles. ↩︎
40. BYU Idaho Special Collections, “1916 The Father and the Son,” https://archives.byui.edu/s/public/page/1916-the-father-and-the-son; “Gospel Classics: The Father and the Son,” Ensign, April 2002, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2002/04/the-father-and-the-son?lang=eng. ↩︎
41. John 14:18. ↩︎
42. John 14:25-27. ↩︎
43. John 17:3. ↩︎
44. Doctrine and Covenants 20:77. ↩︎