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Godhead

Godhead.

In rejecting the Christian doctrine of the Trinity (i.e., one God in three Persons), Mormonism’s Godhead consists of three distinct gods (Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost) who are united in purpose.

Joseph Smith taught, “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” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 370). Apostle Bruce R. McConkie explained, “Three separate personages – Father, Son, and Holy Ghost – comprise the Godhead. As each of these persons is a God, it is evident, from this standpoint alone, that a plurality of Gods exists. To us, speaking in the proper finite sense, these three are the only Gods we worship. But in addition there is an infinite number of holy personages, drawn from worlds without number, who have passed on to exaltation and are thus gods” (Mormon Doctrine, 1966, p. 576). In a General Conference address, Apostle Dallin Oaks taught, “In contrast, many Christians reject the idea of a tangible, personal God and a Godhead of three separate beings. They believe that God is a spirit and that the Godhead is only one God. In our view, these concepts are evidence of the falling away we call the Great Apostasy” (“Apostasy and Restoration,” Ensign (Conference Edition), May 1995, p. 84. See also “The Nature of the Godhead,” Ensign, January 2006, p. 50).

For a video on “Mormonism and Multiple Godheads, click here

For a four-part blog on the Trinity, click here

For more articles on the nature of God, click here

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