The Mormon Doctrine of God: A Brief overview and Biblical Response
By: Moses Flores
All proper religion begins with a proper concept of the God that is to be worshipped. A wrong, or false, view of God inevitably means the practice of the wrong, or false, religion. Joseph Smith himself said, “If we start right, it is easy to go right all the time; but if we start wrong, we may go wrong, and it may be a hard matter to get right.[1]” Thus, it is proper to examine what the Mormon doctrine of God is. It is also important to understand what the Biblical doctrine of God is. Finally, it is important to determine if the Mormon doctrines of God are compatible with the Biblical doctrines of God. If they are not, then we must only conclude that Mormonism is false on the basis of their defective view of God.
Before we examine the Mormon doctrines, a word is in order about the standard by which all true Christian doctrine must be examined: The Bible.
The Bible is God’s revelation to
us. It is perfect and infallible in
conveying to us knowledge of God and what one must do to be saved. The Bible testifies to its own authority in
many ways. Frequently, the Scriptures
begin their messages with the phrase, “Thus says the LORD,” implying that what
the Scriptures say, God says. For
instance, in Romans 9:17, we read, “For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, ‘For
this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My
power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.’” This passage of Scripture is from Exodus
9:16. Romans9:13 identifies
the LORD speaking to Moses about Pharaoh who declares to Pharaoh God’s
word. The apostle Paul, in his
application of Scripture to teach about the reprobation of God, equates what
the Scriptures say to what God says. II
Timothy
The Scriptures are the sole infallible authority for determining what is Christian and what is not; what is true, and what is false. Who God is; and who God is not. Therefore, it is the Scriptures alone that will serve as the only infallible guide about God and true religion. Any deviation from Scripture about the nature of God constitutes idolatry. The student of God must use only that which is “useful for doctrine, correction, reproof and training in righteousness that the man of God may be complete and thoroughly equipped for ever good work” (II Tim. 3:16,17); that is, the “God-breathed” Scriptures alone.
The Mormon View of the nature of God
Mormon
Prophet Lorenzo Snow declared, “As man
now is, God once was; as God now is, man may become.[2]” This phrase is probably the most fundamental
understanding of the doctrine of God according to the Church of Latter-Day
Saints[3].
The doctrine finds its clearest exposition in a sermon Joseph Smith
preached at a funeral that is referred to as the “King Follet
Discourse.” In this discourse, Joseph
Smith said,
“God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted Man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens. That is the great secret. If the vail was rent to-day, and the great God who holds this world in its orbit, and who upholds all worlds and all things by his power, was to make himself visible, -- I say, if you were to see him to-day, you would see him like a man in form -- like yourselves, in all the person, image, and very form as a man; for Adam was created in the very fashion, image, and likeness of God, and received instruction from, and walked, talked, and conversed with him, as one man talks and communes with another.[4]”
So let’s put it all out on the
table. God, Elohim[5], used to
be a man just like every one else that we see here on Earth. He lived on
another planet similar to ours with its own god. Through obedience[6] to the god
of his world, he became exalted and was granted the right to form[7] his own planet.
Elohim then filled his planet with his “spirit children” who are formed
to worship him and seek to be exalted themselves by Elohim that they may become
gods of their own worlds eventually. There
are many implications that can be exegeted out of
these passages about the Mormon understanding of God.
First, God is not eternal. Joseph Smith said, “We have imagined and supposed that God was God from all eternity, I will refute that idea, and will take away and do away the vail, so that you may see.[8]” The logic here is simple. Since there was a time that God did not exist as the “exalted man” that he now is, then it must be the case that he was not always God. Rather, he “progressed” or “advanced” to what He now is. Apostle Orson Hyde said:
“Remember that God , our heavenly Father, was perhaps once a child, and mortal like we ourselves, and rose step by step in the scale of progress, in the school of advancement; has moved forward and overcome, until He has arrived at the point where He now is.[9]”
On a side note from our subject at hand, there is plenty to be said about Mormon anthropology (view of man) here as well. In particular, God is fundamentally no different than we are in substance. This implication will come up later, however. Also, we can note that God does not exist as a Spirit since he is a man, just like we are, only at a different level of exaltation. It may also be noted that the theology of Mormonism is essentially polytheistic since there is not one absolute God but rather a myriad of gods who rule their own respective worlds (polytheism).
Secondly, God is not immutable. Since, according to Mormonism, God used to be a man, it is logically consistent for them to teach that God has “progressed” to the point where he is now and will keep “growing.” This topic is related to the eternity of God. That is, since God is not eternal, he must experience change as he progresses from a “lesser being” to an “exalted man”. Some Mormon leaders have said,
“yet, if we accept the great law of eternal progression, we must accept the fact that there was a time when Deity was much less powerful than He is today. Then how did He become glorified and exalted and attain His present status of Godhood? In the first place, aeons ago God undoubtedly took advantage of every opportunity to learn the laws of truth and as He became acquainted with each new verity He righteously obeyed it.[10]”
Also,
“Therefore, if the law of progression be accepted, God must have been engaged from the beginning, and must now be engaged in progressive development, and infinite as God is, he must have been less powerful in the past than he is today.[11]”
Many Mormons find the denial of
God’s immutability consistent with several Bible passages that say “God
repented” or “changed his mind” (e.g. Gen.6:6; Exo.
32:14; I Chron. 21:15, etc…).
Third, God is not self-existent,
or self-sufficient. Because Elohim,
the god of our world, was once a man on another planet and was exalted to the
status of godhood by his heavenly father, it follows that Elohim’s
nature as God/exalted man does not exist as such within himself. Rather, it is granted to him by another
god. This is the case for every god of
Mormonism. Every god is the “spiritual
child” of another. That is, “the person
of Father in Heaven was begotten on a previous heavenly world by His Father;
and again, He was begotten by still more ancient Father; and so son, from
generation to generation…[12]”
The immediate question that is
raised by the philosophical mind is, “where did the first God come from?” Mormonism makes no attempt to answer this
question. This is perhaps one of the
greatest difficulties in accepting their theology since there is no first cause
in the universe. The law of eternal
progression pushes everything back into an infinite regress with no prime
mover. The law of eternal progression is
simply presupposed.
Fourth, God is not transcendent. Transcendence is a term used to signify
“otherness” especially that God is above and beyond us and all creation in his
essential nature. However, in Mormon
theology, since God is merely an exalted man, he is considered to by fundamentally
no different in substance from his “spirit children” (i.e. those living on his
planet). The only difference between God
and man, now, is that the latter is the exalted state of the former. Several Mormon leaders speak explicitly of
this belief. Apostle John Widtsoe, for instance, said that “God and man are of the
same race, differing only in their degrees of advancement.[13]”
Mormons believe that the Bible
teaches this from passages that ascribe human body descriptions to God. For instance, the mentions
of the “hand of God” or his “eyes” or “feet.”
Fifth, God is not omnipotent. The word “omnipotent” comes from two Latin
words “omni”, which means “to have all,” and “potente”,
which means “power”. The orthodox
understanding of the omnipotence of God is that God possess all power that
there is to be possessed. However, in
Mormon thought, this cannot be so since God is granted his exalted status by
his God, he cannot, thus, have all power for there are myriads of gods who were
before him and even granted him his exalted status. Thus, Elohim is subject to higher
“intelligences”. Apostle Orson Hyde
said,
“There are Lords many, and Gods many, for they are called Gods to whom
the word of God comes, and the word of God comes to all these kings and
priests. But to our branch of the
kingdom there is but one God, to whom we all owe the most perfect submission
and loyalty; yet our God is just as subject to still higher intelligences, as
we should be to him.[14]”
Following this line of thought, some Mormon leaders have expressed the
thought that because Elohim was granted his status of exaltation because of his
obedience to eternal laws and principles, it follows that if Elohim, or any
other god, ceased to follow those principles they could have their exalted
status taken away from them and, thus, cease to be God. Mormon author W. Cleon
Skousen said,
“Through modern revelation we learn that the universe is filled with vast
numbers of intelligences, and we further learn that Elohim is God simply because
all of these intelligences honor and sustain Him as such….Since God ‘acquired’
the honor and sustaining influence of ‘all things’ it follows as a corollary
that if He should ever do anything to violate the confidence or ‘sense of
justice’ of these intelligences, they would promptly withdraw their support,
and the ‘power’ of God would disintegrate… ‘He would cease to be God’.[15]”
Since God does not possess “all
power”, what implications does that have with God? One notable implication is in regards to
creation. Mormonism teaches that God did
not create “ex nihilo” (out of nothing). As has been mentioned, God only “forms” the
earth out of matter that already exists.
Thus, he merely has an “organizing power” in regards to the “creation” of
the world. Also, in regards to the rule
of the world, men are endowed with “free-will” to frustrate the plans of God
for redemption.
Sixth, God is not omnipresent. To be omnipresent means to be in all places
at all times. Since God is a man in
Mormon theology and, thus, possesses a physical body, it is impossible for God
to be in all places at all times.
Brigham Young explicitly said, “some would have us believe that God is
present everywhere. It is not so.(Italics mine)[16]”. Even
the Holy Spirit is said to be a “Spirit man” of sorts who cannot be present in
all places at the same time.
In summation, Mormonism teaches that
God, Elohim, was once a man on another planet and through obedience to the god
of that world, he was exalted and became God.
The implications are as follows:
“As man now is, God once was”
1.
God was
not always God
2.
God is
not eternal, but finite
3.
God is
not spiritual (without body) but material
4.
He is
fundamentally the same essence/substance/nature as man is
“As God now is, man may
become”
5.
God
exists only in one place at any given time
6.
God is
mutable for he became what he is and may cease to be what he is
7.
He exist
in his exalted status by the will of another and is, thus, not self-sustaining,
or self-sufficient
8.
He does
not possess all power but only power relative to his formed world
As one can see, all the doctrines of God essentially flow from the
fundamental thought “as man now is, God once was; as God now is, man may
become.” This statement serves as the
matrix from which all Mormon theology proceeds.
A Biblical view of the doctrine of God
Now the question must be asked if
the Bible is consistent with the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
What does the Bible say about each of the doctrines of God that Mormon
theology rejects? We may note,
immediately, that the Bible nowhere says, nor implies, that God was ever a man
nor is He subject to other deities. We
may also note that the Bible never teaches that man may become God. The only one who spoke such language was the
serpent in the Garden of Eden who deceived
Eve by telling her, “you will be like God…” (Gen.
3:4).
The tendency to regard God in the image of the creature is noted as a
sinful tendency of fallen man to suppress the true knowledge of God (Romans
“Take careful heed to yourselves, for you saw no form when the LORD spoke
to you at Horeb out of the midst of the fire, lest
you act corruptly and make for
yourselves a carved image in the form
of any figure: the likeness of male or female…” (Deut. 4:15-16)
According to the Bible, it is a
corrupt thing to assign to God ANY physical image. Such acts are considered to be idolatrous in
the Bible (cf. Deut.
The Bible presents no image of God
whatsoever. Moreover, the second
commandment explicitly and emphatically declares “you shall not make for
yourself a carved image – any likeness of anything that is in the heaven above,
or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth…For I,
the LORD your God, am a jealous God…”(Deut. 5:8,9). Charles Hodge rightly notes that “idolatry
consists not only in the worship of false gods, but also in the worship of the
true God by images.[17]”
So what does the Bible say about
God, especially in regards to the teaching of God by the Mormon Church? It is the author’s contention that all the
denials of the nature of God seen above in the Mormon doctrines of God are
actually affirmed by the Bible. The
reader should keep in mind that this study is not meant to be an exhaustive
theological presentation of the doctrine of God for that would be well beyond
the intentions of this work. The reader
is advised to read works which are devoted specifically to the doctrine of God
and systematic theology[18]. The
topics will be addressed in correlation with the Mormon doctrines presented
above.
Eternity of God
In Psalm 90:2 we read,
“Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You
had formed the Earth and the World, even from everlasting to everlasting you
are God.”
This Psalm was written by Moses who
believes that God has been a continuous help and refuge for the people of God
in the sense that God has been with his people for all generations (v1). The basis for God being able to bless all
generations is that he has, “from everlasting to everlasting,” been God. According to this text, there has never been
a time when God was not God or when he had a beginning, so to speak.
As creatures, we say time began with
the creation of the world. God created
the world and since the cause precedes the effect, we may safely say that God
existed before time[19]. It is
possible for a Mormon to agree with these statements if they are not qualified[20]. God is
eternal in the sense that He has always been, is now, and ever will be – indeed
can never not be – the being that He is(cf. Exo.
Moses’ intentional use the doctrine
here in the Psalm, is that God’s eternity is a comfort for the believers who
are in covenant with God. Moses uses it
as the foundation for the providential blessings of God. We can say that because God has always been
God, is God, and always will be God, we can have assurance that God will always
protect and defend his people.
Many other passages of Scripture
teach that God is eternal as well. For
instance, Psalm 93:2 says of God, “You are from everlasting.” Isaiah 40:28 refers to God as “the
everlasting God”; Isaiah 57:15 describes God as “the high and lofty one who
inhabits eternity”; I Timothy 1:17 calls God “the King eternal”.
Interestingly enough, Joseph Smith’s
assertion that God is not eternal is contradicted by myriads of passages from
the Book of Mormon. For instance, in I
Nephi 11:21 God is called the “eternal Father.”
What meaning does the word “eternal” have if not that God has always
existed and there never was a time when he was not? The word “eternal” leaves no room for a
doctrine that would say God did not always exist as God. Other reference to the eternal nature of God
from the book of Mormon include, but are not limited to I Nephi 10:18; 12:18;
13:40; 15:15; 2 Nephi 4:35; 9:8; 19:6 quoting Isaiah 9:6; and 26:12 (affirming
that Christ is the eternal God!)[21].
The Immutability of God
Because God is eternal in the state in which He will always exist, we
speak of God being immutable. That is to
say, God does not change. That eternity and immutability go together is found
in Psalm 102:25-27 which says,
“Of old You laid the foundation of the earth,
And the heavens are the work of Your hands.
They will perish, but You will endure;
Yes, they will grow old like a garment;
Like a cloak You will change them,
And they will be changed.
But You are the same,
And Your years have no end.”
In this Psalm, the author begins by
pleading for God’s attention as he ponders his own human frailty (v3-7) and his
enemies (v8-11). As the psalmist
contemplates these things he quickly finds help in the thought of God’s
eternity as he declares, “But You, O LORD, shall endure forever” (v12) whereas
his enemies will not. He continues to
magnify and extol God for his loving-kindness toward him and the people of God
throughout all generations (v12-22). As
the Psalmist begins to contemplate the shortness of his life he, again, raises
his thoughts to the eternal God (v26).
In mentioning God’s eternity, he echoes a parallel thought about the
nature of God. He says that though
things change in creation, God never changes; He remains the same (v27).
As has been mentioned before, the
doctrine of immutability logically follows from the doctrine of the eternity of
God. Because God is eternally God, He
does not change. If God has always been
God in his nature and being, then it follows that God is the same being that He
was then, as He is now, and as He ever will be.
To help with our understanding of the doctrine, it is important that we
also have an understanding of what we mean by “change”. Stephen Charnock, in reference to change,
said:
“A thing is said to be changed, when it is otherwise now in regard of
nature, state, will , or any quality than it was before; when either something
is added to it, or taken from it; when it either loses or acquires.[22]”
Now, when we say God does not
change, we do not mean that he does not cause change in His creation for He
obviously does. It is only asserted that
God, in his nature or being, does not lose or acquire anything (such as
knowledge, wisdom, etc…)
Commenting on Psalm 102:25-27,
Charnock says that “the essence of God, with all the perfections of His nature,
are pronounced the same, without any variation from eternity to eternity.[23]” We creatures, however, because we are bound
to time, experience change. In regards
to God, we may also perceive, have the appearance, that
God is changing. It is important,
therefore, that we elucidate in what ways God does not change.
First, God is unchanging in His
essential attributes. This has been
mentioned above in passing, but will now be dealt with only to give Scriptural
support to the teaching. The Prophet
Malachi, speaking for God, says, “For I am the LORD, I do not change.” The
context of this passage is God’s covenant faithfulness to
When mention is made of God’s
“essential attributes”, these are the attributes like omniscience,
omnipresence, omnipotence, sovereignty, goodness and truth. Much more could be said on these topics
individually, and some will be dealt with below; however it is beyond the scope
of this work to explore these attributes systematically. The readers is directed to works such as A.W.
Pink’s “The Nature of God”; John M.
Frame’s “The doctrine of God”; and
Stephen Charnock’s “the Existence and
Attributes of God.”
Second, God is unchanging in His
decretive will. Many passages in the
Bible emphatically teach that God has a plan for His creation. For instance, in Isaiah 14:24-27:
“The
Lord of hosts has sworn, saying,
‘Surely,
as I have thought, so it shall come to pass,
And as I
have purposed, so it shall stand:
That I
will break the Assyrian in My land,
And on
My Mountains tread him underfoot.
Then his
yoke shall be removed from them,
And his
burden removed from their shoulders.
This is
the purpose that is purposed against the whole earth,
And this
is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations.
For the
Lord of hosts has purposed, and who will annul it?
His hand
is stretched out, and who will turn it back?’”
Here, God reveals His unchanging plan for the
Assyrians, and, indeed, against all the nations that are against His elect
people. Combined with Ephesians 1:11
which says that God works “all things according to the counsel of His will,” we
can infer that God’s plans, because of His eternal wisdom and knowledge, are
from before the foundation of the world.
Other passages that teach God’s immutable decrees include Isaiah
46:9-10, which says,
“Remember
the former things of old,
For I am
God, and there is no other;
I am
God, and there is none like Me,
Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from
ancient times things that are not yet done,
Saying, 'My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,' “
Also,
Isaiah 55:11 which says,
“So
shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it
shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”
In
these few passages, as well as many others not mentioned, God reveals Himself
as immutable in regards to those things that He has infallible decreed to take place from before the foundation of
the world. Thus, God is unchanging in
His eternal plan[24].
Third,
God is unchanging in regards to His covenant faithfulness. Malachi 3:6, as mentioned in regards to the
immutability of God’s essential nature, is also a reference to the unchanging
covenantal faithfulness of God. After
declaring, “for I am the LORD, I do not change,” God
goes on to say, “therefore, you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob,” in order to
expound the significance of God’s immutability to them. In the midst of Israel’s covenant
unfaithfulness, God’s immutability extends itself to His promises for Israel,
and thus, they are not swallowed by the wrath of God. The prophet Micah likewise said,
“Who is a
God like You, Pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the
remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He
delights in mercy. He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our
iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. You will give truth to Jacob and mercy to
Abraham, Which You
have sworn to our fathers from days of old.”
The prophet writes this in the midst
of God’s judgment and wrath, yet expresses his hope for God’s future
restoration of His people. He says this
with basis in God’s unswerving covenant love and faithfulness to their fathers
“from days of old.” This same thought of
the immutability of God’s covenant faithfulness is in Psalms 89:34-37 which
says,
“My covenant I will not break,
Nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips.
Once I
have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David:
His seed
shall endure forever,
And his
throne as the sun before Me.
It shall
be established forever like the moon,
Even
like the faithful witness in the sky." (cf. Isaiah 54:6-10; Jeremiah
33:17-26)
This
aspect of the immutability of God is especially important in regards to the
doctrine of salvation. For in the
Gospel, God has promised to give eternal life and righteousness to those who
repent of their sins and place their faith in Christ alone as the perfect and all
atoning sacrifice for our sins. If God
did not have the attribute of immutability, especially in His covenantal
dealings with men, then we could have no solid basis for saying that God will
finally fulfill His promises for He could change His mind at any moment. But we can know that we have salvation
because the eternal and immutable God has decreed salvation for as many as He
would call to repent of their sins and have faith in Christ.
Finally,
God is unchangeable in regards to the truthfulness of His revelation. II Timothy
Some problem passages regarding
immutability
Certainly
the passages of Scripture quoted above concerning the immutability of God do
prove, indeed, that God is immutable in certain respects. However, there are some passages of Scripture
that seem to suggest that God is mutable.
For instance, Genesis 6:6 says that “LORD was sorry that he had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His
heart.” Exodus 32:14 also says that God
“relented from the harm which He said
He would do to His people.” Also, Amos 7:3, 6 speak of God “relenting”
concerning certain judgments on
On
the contrary, I believe that these passages are entirely consistent with the
immutable character and nature of God and even with passages like Numbers
“God is not
a man, that He should lie,
Nor a son of
man, that He should repent.”
“And also
the Strength of Israel will not lie nor relent.
For He is not a man, that He should relent.”
These
passages of Scripture, in fact, teach that God often uses contingencies in
order to urge people to repentance and righteousness. That is, sometimes, prophets prophesy in such
a way that they do not reveal the decretive will of God but rather urge that
people that the character of God is such that if they will do good, they will
be blessed; but if they do evil they will be judged. Thus, if a nation (O.T. example) ceases to do
good, it is the essential nature of God to punish
wickedness. However, if they turn from
their evil, they will entreat God’s favor for it is also within the essential
nature of God to bless righteousness. Sometimes,
as was seen above, God does reveal His decretive will and there is no turning
back the hand of God from what He has purposed.
But this is not always the case.
God does not always reveal His decretive will. If He did, we would know the end from the
beginning even as God does.
The
Scriptures clearly presents this concept is several passages of Scripture. One example of this type of prophecy is found
in Jeremiah 18:1-10.
“The word
which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, ‘Arise and go down to the
potter’s house, and there I will cause you to hear My
words.’ Then I went down to the potter’s
house, and there he was, making something at the wheel. And the vessel that he made of clay was
marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as
it seemed good to the potter to make.
Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying; ‘O house of
Notice
that this vision is about the absolutely sovereignty of God in blessing and in
judgment. Hence, the imagery of a potter
who can manipulate and mold the clay as it seems good to him. Second, notice the generality in which God
speaks about the morality of nations and kingdoms. He says that if judgment has been pronounced
against them and that nation then repents from its evil ways, then God will
relent concerning the judgment He was going to bring on them. Likewise, if a nation or kingdom is
experiencing God’s providential blessings yet commences to do evil in the sight
of the Lord, then God will relent concerning His blessings on that nation and
bring about His judgment. This is a
revelation of the character of God and how He deals with our sin. That is, it is in accordance with the eternal
attribute of the righteousness of God to bless those –whether individuals or
nations – who do righteousness. It is
also in accordance with the eternal attributes of God’s holiness, righteousness
and justice to judge sin whether on individuals or nations. It is also in accordance with the eternal
attributes of God’s mercy and grace to turn away from His wrath on the
conditions of faith and repentance toward God.
That this is the true understanding of the text is seen from the
following passage in Jeremiah 18:11 in which God says:
“Now
therefore, speak to the men of
In
verses 1-10, God reveals to Jeremiah and to His covenant people what His
character is like, namely that God will relent of evil if His people will place
their faith again in God and repent of their wicked ways. Here, he tells them that He is already making
plans for their demise but if they repent and make their ways good, God will
turn away from that which He is preparing for them. Other passages that bring this out include
Jeremiah 26:3, 13, 19.
These
passages teach that many prophecies concerning the judgment and blessing of God
are conditional upon obedience to the commandments of God (compare Deut.
28). God sovereignly reserves the right
to execute or cancel these according to how the people receive the warnings of
God given by the prophets. But if God
relents concerning evil or good, it in no way changes His essential nature or
attributes. He is not added to or taken
away from, but merely acting according to His eternal nature and
attributes. Although it may seem that
God is “changing” from our perspective, we can say that while God may “change”
the way He acts toward men, He is never changed in His essential nature, decretive
will, covenant faithfulness or the truth of His revelation. In fact, it is God’s covenant faithfulness
that makes Him act differently toward men.
His covenant terms for blessing and curse laid out in Deuteronomy 28 clearly
comes out as contingent: “If you
diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God….then blessings; But if you do
not obey the voice of the LORD your God…then curses.”
Sometimes,
however, it is not obedience or lack of it that causes God to relent concerning
judgments. Sometimes it is also prayer
that serves as the contingency. For
instance, in Genesis 18, God reveals to Abraham His imminent judgment on
God
is not changing His will here at all for Sodom was still destroyed and if God
was telling the truth about for how many He would spare the cities, then we
must only assume that God did not find even ten righteous in the city. Instead, we see that Abraham was able to talk
with God about His righteousness and ask God to be true to His eternal nature,
namely His attributes of justice and righteousness. God actually shows that He is willing to
remain true to His nature, especially when His children pray to him about being
so. This is just like Christians
claiming for God to be true to His promises.
God did not change His mind about anything. Rather, He revealed to Abraham His essential
nature and the same principles from Deuteronomy 28 and Jeremiah 18: that if a
group of people or individual will do righteousness, then they will be blessed,
but if they will do evil then they will merit the fierce wrath and judgment of
God. Thus, Abraham’s prayer to God is
used to show that God will allow prayer to serve as a means of God relenting
from evil. In this case, God did not
relent from His evil but this is because He was true to His essential nature.
Another
example where God uses prayer as a means of “relenting” is found in Exodus
32. In context, Moses has gone up to
“LORD, why
does your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You
have brought out of the
Moses
uses intercessory prayer as a means of asking God to be true to His covenant
promises. Now, in a sense,
Both
of these verses illustrate that God has contingent judgments that may be
changed by means of prayer. These are
times when God, within His character, still leaves room for repentance from
wickedness or has ordained that prayer to Him be the factor that withholds his judgments[26].
There
are instances, however, where God reveals His judgments as being absolute (mentioned
above in God’s immutability to His decretive will). For instance, in Jeremiah 7:15-16, the
captivity of God’s people is determined as so certain that God says,
“Therefore, do not pray for this people, nor lift up a cry or prayer for them,
nor make intercession to Me, for I will not hear you.[27]” At some points, God, regarding the judgment
of His people even says, that “if Moses and Samuel stood before Me, My mind
would not be favorable toward this people” (Jer.
15:1). Many other passages of Scripture
follow this same pattern including Isaiah 45:23, Jeremiah 4:28;
Thus,
though God is said to “relent” and appear to “change His mind” at times
concerning the bestowal of His blessings and His judgments, it is entirely
consistent with the nature and sovereignty of God to bless and to judge on the
basis of obedience to His will. It is
also consistent with the righteousness of God to allow a righteous man to
intercede and, thus, avert the judgment of God, even for a time[28]. That God “relents”
does not mean that God did not know something nor does it mean that He is
“changed” or “progressive” in knowledge, nature, or will. God is the great “I AM”. He is self-sufficient and lacks nothing. He does not lack knowledge of these
events. Rather, he is consistent within
His absolute sovereignty and character when His acts appear to change to men,
but there is, underlying these acts, an absolute nature that is eternal and
immutable[29].
The Self-Sufficiency of God
According
to Mormonism, God (Elohim) exists by the will of another who granted him such
an exalted status. The God presented in
the Bible, however, is said to be entirely self-sufficient in His own
existence. Further than this, we can say
that God is independent in everything from His existence, to His attributes, to
His decrees and His works[30]. As such, God relies on no one or no thing for
anything. This is true because God has
created all things out of nothing and, thus, owns all things (see Gen.
14:19,22; Psalms 24:1; 50:10-12; 82:8;
89:11; Exo.
19:5; Deut. 10:14; Job 41:3; I Chron. 29:11).
We,
however, as creatures owe our existence to external sources. We must say that we exist because of our
parents, and they exist because of their parents, etc… We must say that we exist as we are because
we live in a planet that is favorable for our particular living
conditions. We are alive because of air,
water, and space to inhabit. And
ultimately, we exist because God choose to make us. It is in God that we “live, move and have our
being” (Acts
This
is known as the self-sufficiency of God, or as Aseity, to use a fancier term. No creature can say that they exist in and of
themselves. No creature is
self-sustaining. One passage of
Scripture that brings this out most clearly is found in Paul’s sermon on Mars
Hill in Acts 17. As he is observing the
pagan practices of the Greeks and hearing their philosophers, Paul stands next
to an altar marked, “to the unknown god” and proclaim to them the true
God. He says,
“God who made the world and everything in it, since He is
Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is he worshipped with men’s hands as
though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things…”
The
God of the Bible exists in and of Himself.
He is not subject to “eternal principles” that have made Him God at
all. God is not added to for He needs
nothing. God is the source of all and
lacks nothing to be what He has always been, is, and will be. He is entirely sufficient in His own being.
The Transcendence of God
Continuing
from the Aseity of God, we ascribe to God the attribute of being “other” than
all of Creation and, in a sense, “far removed.”
That is, because God is self-sufficient and is not contained by His own
creation, He transcends all of creation (yet, is still immanent in His dealings
with it). God is the cause of creation,
and is thus, distinct from it. That is,
God is not to be confused with His creation even though he upholds and sustains
all things. That God is unlike anything
in creation is brought out by many texts of Scripture. For instance, Micah 7:18 says,
“Who is a God like You, pardoning
iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage?”
Exodus
“Who is like You, O LORD, among the
gods?
Who is like You, glorious in holiness,
Fearful in
praises, doing wonders?”
In I Kings 8:23, Solomon echoes the
same thoughts:
“LORD God of
These
Scriptures bring out not only the distinctness of God from His creation but His
uniqueness to all else that is. Because
God alone is unique as the creator, there is no room for other gods as long as
the God of the Bible exists. There are
no other gods to be able to compare God to.
The Prophet Isaiah brings this out very well.
“To whom then
will you liken God? On what likeness
will you compare Him?” (40:18)
Just a bit
further, God says through Isaiah:
“To whom
then will you liken me, or to whom shall I be equal?” (40:25)
Again in 46:5,9
“To whom
will you liken Me, and make me equal and compare Me, that we should be alike?....For I am God and
there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me.”
The last propositions are very
critical. “There is no other” nor is
there “none like Me” says the Lord. If the Mormon doctrine of God was true, then
surely it is sheer folly for Elohim to not recognize that there were, and are,
other gods before Him and many other exalted men just like him. Because of the claims of God here, it can
only be concluded that the theology of the Latter-Day Saints is NOT that of the
Bible. God is God. He is not a creature
of another, nor is He to be identified as the same substance as the creation.
However, we should be aware that in
the Bible, God is frequently compared to things in His creation. For instance, in many places, God is said to
be a “rock” for His people (cf. 2 Sam. 22:2, 47; Psa.
31:3). What are we to make of these texts
and the transcendence of God? Not
denying the above truth – that God is not His creation and is, thus, distinct
from it – we may say, on the basis of the revelation of God only, that God
often uses images from His creation in order to relate His attributes and
character to His people. Thus, God is
only comparable to His creation on the basis of His revelation and only in the
sense in which it does so.
For instance, the senses in which
God is a “rock” in Scripture are in the sense that God is a sure
foundation. God is one in whom I can
place my faith in and be secure as standing on a solid rock. But God is not like a “rock” in the sense
that he is one of many, or that He is insignificant when compared to the rest
of the world. Any other sense given to
the comparisons of God by God in the
Scriptures to creation are to be rejected.
One final point that is in order
concerning the transcendence of God is our reaction to Him. As creatures, we must be in absolute and
total awe of this God, for He is unlike anything that we can imagine or see in
creation. Though He uses anthropomorphic
language to help us grasp a hint of his nature and character, when we
comprehend him as our creator, our sovereign king, as holy, just, gracious,
merciful, etc…we must humbly bow in adoration.
The Power of God
That God is all powerful has been
and is ground for religious worship. “To
attribute weakness to God,” writes John M. Frame, “is incompatible with the
stance of worship.[31]” Being logically consistent with the Law of
Eternal Progression, Mormonism teaches that God, Elohim, is not all powerful
for there are “intelligences” that have preceded his existence and are even the
cause for his status as an exalted being.
Scripture, however, has much to say
about the ultimate power of God. For
instance, in 2 Chronicles 20:6 we read,
“O LORD, God, of our fathers, are you not the
God who is in heaven? You rule over all
the kingdoms of the nations. Power and
might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you.”
Here, Jehoshaphat appeals to God as
the armies of
“But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever pleases Him.” (Psalms
115:3)
Against the Mormon conception of our
God being in submission to another god, Psalm 135:6 says,
“For I know that the LORD is great, and our Lord is above all gods[32]. Whatever the LORD
pleases He does.”
Because God is supreme, He is not
lacking in power to do anything (cf. Gen. 18:14; Jer.
32:17), rather He does all that He desires to do. Passages like Isaiah 14:24-27 especially are
clear that God’s power does as He wills and no one possesses any power greater
to withstand or annul His plans. The
passage reads,
“The LORD of hoses has sworn, saying
‘Surely, as I have though, so it shall come to pass,
And as I have purposed so it shall be stand
That I will break the Assyrian in My land,
And on My mountains tread him underfoot.
Then his yoke shall be removed from their shoulders.
This is the purpose that is purposed against the whole earth
And this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations.
For the LORD of hosts has purposed,
And who will annul it?
His hand is stretched out,
And who will turn it back?” (cf. Isa. 43:13;
55:11; Dan. 4:35; Job 23:13)[33]
In these passages, and several others,
the Bible is clear that God, as the one true God, possesses the power to do
whatsoever He wills to do. God’s power
is not the result of reaching and “exalted” status, nor is there any who possesses
power over Him or above Him. The God of
the Bible is not the same God of Mormonism.
Even the angels of heaven declare this to be so as they declare,
“Alleluia! For the
Lord God omnipotent reigns!” (Rev. 19:6). He is the “mighty One of Israel” (Isa.
In passing, we should note that God’s
power to do whatsoever He pleases also extend to the salvation of men. This topic, however, will be dealt with later
in the examination of the doctrines of salvation and grace.[34]
The Omnipresence and Spirituality of God
Contrary to Mormonism, the God of
the Bible is essentially Spirit. The
clearest text and proof of this is spoken by the Lord Jesus Himself while
speaking to the Samaritan woman at the well.
While Jesus is explaining to this woman the way of the true worship of
God, and countering the exclusively Jewish notion that God may properly be
worshipped only in
The significance of such a statement
can hardly be overlooked. In context, we
conclude that God may be worshipped at any place with the right motives and
attitude of approach. But because He is
Spirit is this truly possible. This is
the presupposed thought that Jesus brings out.
Since He is spirit – incorporeal, non-material – He is not limited by
space and time, or to a finite body, as the God of Mormonism is. Biblical authors have expressed the
spirituality and immensity of God in passages like I Kings 8:27 which says:
“But will God indeed dwell on the Earth?
Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple I have built!” (cf.
2 Chron. 2:6)
Also,
Isaiah writes,
“Thus says the LORD,
‘Heaven is my throne, and earth is my footstool.
Where is the house that you will build me?
And where is the place of my rest?
For all those things my hand has made,
And all those things exists’ says the LORD.”
The only kind of being who is able
to fit such a description is one who is not confined to a material body. Interestingly enough, the Bible never states
exactly what God is. John
“by teaching the spirituality of God theology
stresses the fact that God has a substantial being all His own and distinct
from the world, and that this substantial Being is immaterial, invisible, and
without composition or extension. It
includes the thought that all the essential qualities which belong to the
perfect idea of Spirit are found in Him:
that he is a self-conscious and self-determining Being. Since He is Spirit in the most absolute, and
in the purest sense of the word, there is in Him no composition of parts. The idea of spirituality of necessity
excludes the ascription of anything like corporeity to God, and thus condemns
the fancies of some of the early Gnostics and medieval Mystics, and of all
those sectarians of our own day who ascribe a body to God.[35]”
Nothing could be stated more clearly
about the spiritual nature of God in John 4:24. Other passages that speak of the invisible
nature of God include I Timothy
“It is true the Bible speaks of the hands and feet, the eyes and ears,
the mouth and nose of God, but in doing this it is speaking anthropomorphically
or figuratively of Him who far transcends our human knowledge, and of whom we
can only speak in a stammering fashion after the manner of men.[36]”
In other words, the language of the
Bible used to describe certain functions of God is often described in accordance
with images that men may understand. As
humans, we tend to connect the act of hearing with ears because, as creatures,
we know of no being that listens without ears.
We know of no Being that sees without eyes. Thus, to try and comprehend how God can do
those things without those body parts is nearly impossible. But Biblical language, in order to help the
readers understand, will say things like “the eyes of the LORD” to simply
convey that God sees all. Their
intentions were not to describe a/the material nature of God. They used imagery we would be familiar
with. Thus, a passage like Psalm 17:8,
where the Psalmists asks God to keep him under the
shadow of His “wing” is not meant to teach that God has wings. The imagery conveys the idea of protection,
just as “eyes” ascribed to God conveys that nothing is hidden from Him.
Since God is, then, essentially
spirit and uncontainable by anything material, as He transcends all He has
created, it follows that God’s presence is in all places and at all times
(eternity). God is inescapable. Theology has given the name of “omnipresence”
to this attribute of God. The word
“omni” is from the Latin meaning “to have all”.
Thus, God is said “to have all presence” and thus, inhabits all places
at all times. A few passages especially
bring this doctrine to light. In Psalm
139, for instance, David writes,
“Where can I go from Your spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the Sea,
Even there your hand shall lead me,
And your right hand shall hold me.”
David’s first two questions are
rhetorical in nature signifying that the answer of where anybody can flee from
the presence of God is nowhere. God is
inescapable because He inhabits all places and all time (“inhabits
eternity”). The prophet Jeremiah also
said,
“’Can anyone hide himself in secret places so I shall not see him?’ says
the LORD. ‘Do I not fill heaven and
earth?’ says the LORD. (
In His fullness of Being, God fills
all places and all times. There is not a
place where He does not exist, nor is there a time when He does not. As He fills all creation with His presence,
so it is in Him that “we live, move and have our being” (Acts
However, there are some places in
Scripture where the presence of the Lord is said to “depart.” For instance, in Isaiah 59:1-2 we see,
“Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened,
That it cannot save;
Nor His ear heavy,
That it cannot hear.
But your iniquities have separated you from your God;
And your sins have hidden His face from you,
So that He will not hear.”
Likewise,
in Proverbs
“The LORD is far from the wicked,
But He hears the prayer of the righteous.”
These and several other passages
(cf. I Samuel
Theologians have generally
distinguished between God’s “covenant presence” or an “ethical presence” of
God. That is, at times God’s presence is
felt, or “localized”, it seems, in greater measure and those places are then
called “holy” so that violating God’s law in those places has more severe
consequences. Also, there is the sense
in which sin separates men from God in that God shows them no providential
favor (cf Deut. 28:15-68). God’s providential blessings follow those who
have faith in Him and obey His commandments (Deut. 28:1-14). Thus, Scripture exhorts men to “draw near” to
God through faith and repentance (James 4:8 cf. Psalm 73:28; Malachi 3:7;
Hebrews
Therefore, in those senses are we to
understand the Scriptures that speak of the “absence” of the presence of
God. For disciplinary reasons, even, God
will “hide” himself. But in no way
should we see these as teaching that God, in His fullness and essence, cannot
be in all places and at all times. He is
the high and lofty one who inhabits eternity (cf. Isa.
57:15).
On a final note, God’s omnipresence
is closely connected with His sovereignty and power. For if God is to rule all things in all places then it must follow that God must be where He intends
to rule all things. Assuredly, where
ever God is not, there is nothing. It is
in God and through God that all things are upheld and have their existence (cf.
Acts
An evaluation of the God of Mormonism: Is the God of Mormonism the God of the Bible?
This work began asking the essential
question: “is the God of Mormonism the God of the Bible?” After careful examination of the teachings of
the Latter-Day Saints and what the Scriptures say about God, one can only
conclude that the God of Mormonism is not the God of the Bible. In comparing these few theological points, we
can see that both theologies are mutually exclusive on their views of God; one
is a man, the other is spirit; one was made God, the other was always God; one
may cease to be, the other will always be and cannot ever cease to be.
The only thing one can do now is to
decide what will be the authorative revelation of God. Will the words of Joseph Smith be upheld and
the Bible jettisoned? If the Bible is
the ultimate authority and final revelation of God, then the proper thing to do
is abandon the belief in the God of Mormonism and come to the one true God of the
Bible through faith in Jesus Christ and repentance for sin, especially false
theology. It is not popular to believe
today that false theology is a sin.
False theology is an expression of idolatry, and, thus, can only be
sin. It is sinful to twist and corrupt
the image of the one true God into the image of a man, or something more
suitable to the desires of men. Romans
1:21-23 shows how men have committed this sin for ages.
“For although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were
thankful, but became futile in their
thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and
changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man…”
Notice from this text that God is to
be known only as he has revealed Himself to us and to be glorified as God in
the manner that He alone prescribes.
But, in rejecting the true image of God[37] and not
honoring God as He is to be honored, the Scripture reveals that men are in a
state of futility as they are engaging in their idolatry. They are further called foolish in the very
core of their being (their hearts) as their futility results in their hearts
being darkened even further. Notice also
that the image of God ascribed to him in futility is according to that of
man. But the true image of God is not
this for the Bible says that this is the “changed” image of God. If the image is changed, then it is not what
God’s true image is. Thus, Mormonism’s
image of God is a “changed” image of God.
Finally, the image of God according to that of man is said to be in the
image of “corruptible man,” while the image of the true God is
“incorruptible.” The deficiencies of
Mormonism are easily seen in the light of this verse.
The pages of Scripture are clear
about the true God. I Timothy
“Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise,
be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”
Likewise,
in I Timothy 6:15-16 God is
“the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of
kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable
light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power.
Amen.”
This is the God that exists. The God of Mormonism cannot, according to the
Bible’s testimony of the nature of the true God, exist. The existence of one being that is God
precludes the existence of any other god or gods. There can only be one and that is the God of
the Bible.
________________________________________________________________________
[1] Smith, Joseph, King Follet Discourse, http://www.helpingmormons.org/follet.htm
[2] Prophet Lorenzo R. Snow, Unchangeable
Love of God,
[3] All doctrines concerning the nature of God revolve around
this key phrase. As will become clear,
nothing will be said about the nature of the God of Mormonism that cannot be
derived from the propositions that God was once a man and man may become a God.
[4] Smith, King Follet Discourse
[5] Also known as “Heavenly Father”. The reader should also understand that
Mormonism makes a distinction between “Elohim” and “Jehovah”. In Mormon theology, “Jehovah” is designated
as Jesus Christ. The reader should be
aware that the Bible, contrary to Mormon usage and belief, uses the name Elohim
to designate Jehovah (eg. Gen. 2:4-22, Deut. 4:1:
Judges 5:3, I Sam. 2:30)
[6] “Here, then, is eternal life -- to know the only wise
and true God; and you have got to learn how to be Gods yourselves, and to be
kings and priests to God, the same as all Gods have done before you, -- namely,
by going from one small degree to another, and from a small capacity to a great
one, -- from grace to grace, from exaltation to exaltation, until you attain to
the resurrection of the dead, and are able to dwell in everlasting burnings and
to sit in glory, as do those who sit enthroned in everlasting power. And I want
you to know that God, in the last days, while certain individuals are
proclaiming his name, is not trifling with you or me… When
you climb a ladder, you must begin at the bottom, and ascend step by step until
you arrive at the top; and so it is with the principles of the Gospel: you must
begin with the first, and go on until you learn all the principles of
exaltation. But it will be a great while after you have passed through the vail before you will have learned them. It is not all to be
comprehended in this world: it will be a great work to learn our salvation and
exaltation even beyond the grave.” King Follet
Discourse
[7] NOT create. “Now,
I ask all who hear me, why the learned men who are preaching salvation say that
God created the heavens and the earth out of nothing?
The reason is, that they are unlearned in the things
of God and have not the gift of the Holy Ghost. They account it blasphemy in
any one to contradict their idea. If you tell them that God made the world out
of something, they will call you a fool. But I am learned, and know more than all the world put together. The Holy Ghost does, anyhow; and
he is within me, and comprehends more than all the
world; and I will associate myself with him.
You ask the learned doctors why they say the world was made out of
nothing; and they will answer, "Don't the Bible say he created the
world? And they infer, from the word create, that it must have been made
out of nothing. Now, the word create came from the word baurau, which does not mean to create out of
nothing; it means to organize -- the same as a man would organize
materials and build a ship. Hence we infer that God had materials to organize
the world out of chaos -- chaotic matter, which is element, and in which dwells
all the glory. Element had an existence from the time He had. The pure
principles of element are principles which can never be destroyed: they may be
organized and re-organized, but not destroyed. They had no beginning, and can
have no end…” ibid.
[8] ibid.
[9] Hyde, Orson, quoted in Journal
of Discourses, ed. Watt, George D., 26 vols. (
[10] Hunter, Milton R. , The
Gospel through the Ages, (Stevens and Wallis,
[11] Widtsoe,
John A. , A Rational Theology As Taugh by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7th
ed. , Desert Book Co., Salt Lake City, UT, 1968, pg. 24
[12] Pratt, Orson, The
Seer, Eborm Books,
[13] quoted in Gospel
through the ages (Hunter, Milton R., Stevens and Wallis, Salt Lake City, UT, 1945, pg. 107)
[14] Hyde, Orson, “A Diagram of the
[15] Skousen,
W. Cleon, The
First 2000 years , Bookcraft, Salt Lake City, UT,
1979, pg. 355-356
[16] Young, Brigham quoted from Journal of Discourses, ed. Watt, George D., F.D. Richards,
[17] Hodge, Charles, quoted in “Knowing God” Packer, J.I.
(I.V.P., Downers Grove, IL., 1973) pg. 44
[18] The author personally recommends “The Doctrine of God” by John M. Frame; “Existence and Attributes of God” by Stephen Charnock, “The Nature of God” by A.W. Pink, “Knowing God” by J.I. Packer; “A New Systematic Theology of the Christian
Faith” by Robert L. Reymond; and “Systematic Theology” by Louis Berkhof.
[19] The author recognizes the problem of using temporal
language to describe the existence of God before time and offer no solution to
this except that God’s eternity is incomprehensible to a finite mind and by
those who are bound to time.
[20] That is, a Mormon can agree with the statement that “God
existed before the world did” but with the sense that God was in an exalted
state before the world was formed by Him.
But embedded in their understanding is the presupposition that God was
not always in an exalted state and, thus, not always God.
[21] The use of quotes from the Book of Mormon is not to give
any authority to that Book of Mormon that is equal to or above the authority of
the Scriptures. If anything, the use of
the Book of Mormon to prove doctrines from the Bible either 1) shows the
inherent contradictions of the theology of Joseph Smith with the Book of Mormon
and the Bible 2) or that the original doctrine of God in the Book of Mormon
(1830) was not Joseph Smith’s final doctrine of God as presented in the King Follet Discourse (1844), meaning that Smith’s doctrine of
God underwent some major overhauling in the course of 14 year from the initial
publishing of the Book of Mormon to his delieverance
of the King Follet Discourse. That point, however, is beyond the scope of
this work and must be taken up later in these studies.
[22] Charnock,
Stephen, The Existence and Attribute of
God, vol. 1,Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1996, pg. 317
[23] ibid., pg. 316
[24] To
argue, as some Christians do, that God did not know the choices of men until
they were created and, thus, did not know infallibly who would go to heaven and
who would not is, indirectly, an attempt to remove from God the attribute of
eternity. It also removes from God the
attribute of immutability for that would mean that there was no knowledge of
those who would finally be saved in the mind of God until after the creation
was made. This means that God has
changed in regards to His knowledge for there was knowledge that God gained
from His creation.
[25] By “change” here, the term is used in the sense that
God’s mind has been changed either because of the addition of contingencies,
either by the human will or simply knowledge that was not taken into
consideration.
[26] This is a very good practical point as well. We must learn that our prayers, while they
don’t change the character of God or His decretive will, are decreed by God as
a means for blessing or withholding judgment from others. Thus, prayer for nations and leaders of
nations, for churches, for pastors, etc…are all useful and honored by God in
some way. Let us never be discouraged to
pray as these Godly men did especially when we have the covenant promises of
God to stand upon and the revealed character of God. Thus, the Scripture says, “Now this is the
confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will,
He hears us. And if we know that He
hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have
asked of Him” (I John
[27] Here is a verse that reveals that in other case, God would
hear the prayer, or cries, of the prophet and probably relent from His
judgment.
[28] Jonah’s preaching lead to repentance which averted the wrath
of God for a time. The prophet Nahum,
however, much later prophesied the inevitable destruction of
[29] For a
fuller treatment of this subject, the author recommends reading John M. Frame’s
chapter “A God who relents” found in the Doctrine
of God (pg. 561-566) and Richard Pratt’s “Historical contingencies and Biblical predictions: an essay on the
importance of conditionality in Bible prophecy” found at http://thirdmill.org/newfiles/ric_pratt/TH.Pratt.Historical_Contingencies.pdf
[30] by “independent”, the author means that He does not rely
on the creation to give Him his knowledge, or cause Him to make decrees based
on how creation will respond to Him or His will
[31] Frame, The Doctrine of God, Presbyterian and
Reformed Publishing Co., Phillipsburg, New Jersey, 2002 pg.
515
[32] The Bible, here, is not acknowledging the existence of
other gods. Rather, it is demonstrating
the futility of man in relying on idols and not the true and living God.
[33] From these passages, one can also see the absolute
sovereignty of God (the supreme exercise of His will) among His creation. This obviously has some implications for how
“free” men are from God when it comes to their decisions. Suffice it to say that many Scriptures on the
power of God extend even over the wills of men to do all that God pleases. If this were not so, then God could never
promise anything future nor prophesy with certainty about future event for it
could be that someone could “freely” choose to not do what God wanted them to
do in order to bring about God’s will in the earth. This would then push God back into a
“contingency” mode in regard to God’s knowledge. But that is certainly not the case with these
texts and many others. God is God and
commands all power.
[34] Sadly, it is here where most popular Christian systems fail
to be different from Mormonism and other cults.
The majority of Christianity teaches that a person is saved if, by their
own free-will, they will come to Christ and repent of their sin and if they
will follow in this path of faith they will be saved. Which is to say, if they live their life of
faith and works displaying their faith, then they will be saved. The common ground with Mormonism is the
unbiblical concept of “free-will”.
Because a person makes a “free-will” choice to be saved, it must
necessarily follow that they can make a “free-will” choice to reject salvation
if they so choose. The atonement of Christ, which will also be discussed later,
becomes nothing more than atonement for past sins but must constantly be
“re-applied” through faith and repentance for daily sins. This kind of atonement, in and of itself,
does not secure any results but awaits the “free-will” choice of faith for its
intentions to have effect. This entire
line of thinking, known in the Christian community, historically, as
Arminianism, is not able to stand against Mormonism consistently for it shares
a common basis for the reception of the grace of God. The Reformed/Calvinist tradition alone, is
able to say that, through the sovereignty of God, God alone saves and preserves
sinners unto salvation and makes complete atonement on their behalf. And the basis for this is the absolute power
and sovereignty of God.
[35] Berkhof,
Louis, Systematic Theology, Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Mich., 1941, pg. 66)
[36] ibid.
[37] mans