Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, widely known as the "LDS Church" or the "Mormon Church", is the largest and best known denomination within the Latter Day Saint movement (a form of Christian Restorationism). The church is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The Godhead

LDS theology maintains that God the Father (Heavenly Father), Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are three separate and distinct personages who together comprise the Godhead (as distinct from the traditional doctrine of the Trinity, which maintains that they are three persons but one in essence). All three members of the Godhead are eternal and equally divine, but play somewhat different roles. While the Holy Ghost is a spirit without a physical body, God and Christ do possess distinct, perfected, physical bodies of flesh and bone. Although Mormon theology sees the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost as separate beings, they are considered to be "one God" in most every other possible sense — most importantly they are one in purpose.

Related Topics:
Holy Ghost - Godhead - Trinity - Father

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Mormonism posits most of the same attributes to the members of the Godhead that Trinitarian Christianity posits to the Trinity: omnipotence, omniscience, omnibenevolence, eternal, immutable, immortality, and immanence in the universe but not transcendence of it. However, the meaning held for some of these attributes differ significantly. For example, Mormonism holds that: as the creator, God is the organizer of the universe since in Mormonism all matter (including sentient beings) that exists has always existed and will always exist; God's omnipotence does not transcend logic, or the basic laws of physics, though mankind may not necessarily understand those laws fully; and God's immutability concerns primarily His creations and His future status, not His status prior to that time.

Related Topics:
Trinity - Omnipotence - Omniscience - Omnibenevolence - Eternal - Immutable - Immortality - Immanence - Transcendence - Logic - Physics

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Although it is not stated in the canonical scriptures, Joseph Smith and other church leaders have taught that God the Father is an exalted man who once lived on an earth similar to this one, like His Son Jesus Christ. Joseph Smith reportedly said:

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:These are incomprehensible ideas to some, but they are simple. It is the first principle of the Gospel to know for a certainty the Character of God, and to know that we may converse with him as one man converses with another, and that he was once a man like us; yea, that God himself, the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth, the same as Jesus Christ himself did; and I will show it from the Bible. (Joseph Fielding Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pp. 345-46.)

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It is implied that God may have lived a mortal life and passed through death, being resurrected and eventually progressing to godhood. The creation story in Genesis would begin sometime after this point.

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Latter-day Saints generally also believe, although it is not canonical, that God is eternally married to a Heavenly Mother. Heavenly Mother is believed to be entirely equal in status to Heavenly Father, a celestial Goddess and God, respectively, forever married to one another and preserving differing yet complementary roles of deity, although She is not explicitly referred to in doctrine, scripture, or other Church canons. Her existence is referred to briefly in the Church hymn titled O My Father (Hymn number 292), and it is presumed from Church teachings proclaiming that each person is a "spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents" (See ). Thus, Her existence is simply acknowledged by Church members and leadership, but She is not worshipped nor is made the object of prayer. It is commonly surmised that She is deliberately and safely protected in anonymity by Heavenly Father, whereby no human knows Her name.

Related Topics:
Heavenly Mother - Goddess - O My Father

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While those outside the Church refer to the Church's doctrine of the godhead as polytheistic, Latter-day Saints would more accurately be portrayed as henotheistic or monolatristic. However, as a matter of worship, LDS believe in one God as taught in the Scriptures. This God is represented in God the Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. Protestant, Anglican, Roman Catholic, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox Christian churches insist their religion is monotheistic; that is, God is One in Being (ousia) and simultaneously Three, namely the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in Persons (hypostases). Though the existence of other gods or divine beings is acknowledged by the Church and its members, this fact is considered almost irrelevant to salvation: the other gods—which Latter-day Saints would refer to as exalted beings—have no impact on this sphere of existence, nor is their eternal role defined.

Related Topics:
Polytheistic - Henotheistic or monolatristic - Protestant - Anglican - Roman Catholic - Oriental Orthodox - Eastern Orthodox - Monotheistic

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Despite the Church's name, its focus on Jesus as the Savior of mankind, its "family values", and many of the Gospel teachings it shares with other branches of Christianity, many theologians and members of those other branches consider the difference between LDS practices and doctrines—such as the contrast between the Church's doctrine of the Godhead and the mainstream Christian doctrine of the Holy Trinity—so fundamental that they do not regard Latter-day Saints as Christians. (See Mormonism and Christianity.) In their view, a non-trinitarian understanding of Jesus Christ makes His saving grace null and void, and Latter-day Saints will be damned because of the differences in their understanding of Christ. Latter-day Saints counter that it is mainstream Christianity that misunderstands the nature of God. They hold that the mainstream concept of God was corrupted by the introduction of Platonic realism, Neoplatonism, and extreme Asceticism into the early Christian church and that these influences continued through the Great Apostasy.

Related Topics:
Family values - Gospel - Holy Trinity - Mormonism and Christianity - Latter-day Saint - Platonic realism - Neoplatonism - Asceticism - Great Apostasy

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Latter-day Saints do not use the Christian cross or crucifix as a symbol of their faith. Most modern Latter-day Saints choose to focus upon Jesus' life and resurrection, not his death. LDS also believe that the one over-riding sign of being a Christian is that one lives Christ's teachings.

Related Topics:
Christian cross - Crucifix

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One of the most commonly used visual symbols of the Church is the trumpeting angel Moroni, proclaiming the restoration of the true gospel to the Earth (usually identified as the angel mentioned in Revelation 14:6–7); and a statue depicting the angel often tops the tallest spire of LDS temples. Another common symbol members use are the letters CTR, meaning "Choose the Right", taken from the name and motto of a children's Primary class.

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See also: Godhead (Mormonism); King Follett Discourse

Related Topics:
Godhead (Mormonism) - King Follett Discourse

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