Monotheism

[Cherrybrook]

Hello everyone. I finally managed to join in and have a question to begin with. It's something that my friend asked me a long time ago, but I could not answer. Now it came back to my mind through an article in Liahona. So here we go:

Often when the mormons are asked if they are monotheists, because they believe in more than one God and they reply that yes we do believe in more than one God, but only worship one God, the Elohim. However, several church leaders mention worshiping Christ:

"He is the central focus of our worship. I speak the name of Jesus Christ in reverence and wonder." Gordon B. Hinckley Liahona march, 2008

"That is Jesus Christ, whom we worship, with all our souls, all our minds and might and strength." Spencer W. Kimball, New Era, October 1978

"I worship Him as I worship His Father, in spirit and in truth." Gordon B. Hinckley Liahona July, 2006

"Jesus Christ is literally the Son of God, the Only Begotten in the flesh. He is our Redeemer, and we worship him" Heber J. Grant quoted in Liahona, march 2008

So do we (mormons) worship both Jesus Christ and the Elohim or just one of them? And if we worship both of them can we still consider ourselves monotheists?

[Guest tomk]

There are a few reasons why this is a challenge to explain to others.

1) They have the weight of the "traditions of their fathers" bearing down on them. The great majority of the Christian world believes in God, the Father, God, the Son, and God, the Holy Ghost. They believe that these three members of the Godhead are ONE composite creature, which is "unknowable."

2) Only God can "reveal" unto us who He is and how to worship Him. We can have the truth of it spoken to us, but only God can reveal it to our minds and hearts, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

A recent General Conference talk by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland talks about how we see the Godhead, and why we believe ourselves to be Christians, and how the rest of the Christian world believes in a skewed version of the Godhead that Christ never taught:

The Only True God and Jesus Christ Whom He Hath Sent

God, the Father, is the Father of us all, including Christ. It is His Plan. During His mortal ministry, Christ Himself pointed to the Father as the Source of his miracles and his ability to bring to pass the Atonement.

His Son, Jesus Christ, is our Savior and Redeemer. Our Heavenly Father has ordained Him to be the one whose name our Church bears. We are to make friends with Him, counsel with Him, even cry unto Him in our moment of need. We do not [normally] pray to Him publicly, but in every other form we are invited to come unto Him.

The Holy Ghost plays an anonymous part in relaying unto us the Words of Jesus Christ, which are the Father's words. It is through the ministration (Gift) of the Holy Ghost that Christ makes us over in His image and gives us of His attributes.

[Flyonthewall]

Hello everyone. I finally managed to join in and have a question to begin with. It's something that my friend asked me a long time ago, but I could not answer. Now it came back to my mind through an article in Liahona. So here we go:

Often when the mormons are asked if they are monotheists, because they believe in more than one God and they reply that yes we do believe in more than one God, but only worship one God, the Elohim. However, several church leaders mention worshiping Christ:

"He is the central focus of our worship. I speak the name of Jesus Christ in reverence and wonder." Gordon B. Hinckley Liahona march, 2008

"That is Jesus Christ, whom we worship, with all our souls, all our minds and might and strength." Spencer W. Kimball, New Era, October 1978

"I worship Him as I worship His Father, in spirit and in truth." Gordon B. Hinckley Liahona July, 2006

"Jesus Christ is literally the Son of God, the Only Begotten in the flesh. He is our Redeemer, and we worship him" Heber J. Grant quoted in Liahona, march 2008

So do we (mormons) worship both Jesus Christ and the Elohim or just one of them? And if we worship both of them can we still consider ourselves monotheists?

The way I see it, Jesus Christ is the mediator, the conduit to the Father. He is the face of the Father to us. No man goes to the Father except through Jesus Christ.

Anything we do or say to Jesus Christ, gets passed to the Father. So if we worship Jesus Christ, it is as if we are worshipping the Father through Jesus Christ.

The Father and Son are one.

This makes sense in my head, I just hope it translates well onto here.

[COUNTRYBEAR]

We beieve in the exisitance of many gods, but we worship the Eternal Father, Elohiem, through the intermediary of the saviour Jesus Christ whom we reverance.

[prisonchaplain]

This string raises a question in my mind. I understand that the Godhead is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. There is no argument here. However, this issue of who gets worshipped...and exactly what the Holy Spirit is... To make the question simple, I'll like this: are the three gods of the Godhood co-equal?

[skalenfehl]

I believe they are equal in purpose (to bring to pass our immortality and eternal life), however the glory is for the Father as the father of our Savior and of us. Christ has always yielded to the will of the Father. As far as a sense of hierarchy, I believe the Father is over all.

[a-train]

Worshipping the LORD consists of doing as He does. It is therefore not possible to worship the Son and not worship the Father. Mormons worship the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

-a-train

[Moksha]

So do we (mormons) worship both Jesus Christ and the Elohim or just one of them? And if we worship both of them can we still consider ourselves monotheists?

I think the exact term to use is Henotheist.

From the Wikipedia:

Although most Mormons adamantly label themselves as monotheists, some claim that Mormons are henotheistic. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormonism, or the LDS Church) considers the members of the Christian Godhead as three distinct beings, where God the Father is supreme, yet all three beings are defined collectively as "God". Though not mentioned in canonical LDS scripture, some Latter Day Saints infer the possible existence of other gods and goddesses. However, they aren't known, acknowledged, and have no relevance to this Earth or humanity.See Godhead (Mormonism).Another supposition not discussed in canonical scripture is the concept of a Heavenly Mother. Mormons worship one God; this belief is most easily described as worshiping God the Father through the conduit of the Son, Jesus Christ. Whereas other Christians speak of "One God in Three Persons," LDS scripture speaks instead of three persons in one God. See the Book of Mormon's Mosiah 15:4 ("they are one God"), and LDS interpretation of John 17:11[1] (Jesus asks the Father in prayer that his disciples "may be one, as we are").

[Gwen]

this link is from another thread but i think it helps define the difference between each member of the god head and why we do indeed worship one god (the father). or at least i thought it was releveant........lol sorry if it's not.

Our Relationship with the Lord - Bruce R. McConkie

[AnthonyB]

We beieve in the exisitance of many gods, but we worship the Eternal Father, Elohiem, through the intermediary of the saviour Jesus Christ whom we reverance.

CountryBear,

If Elohim is the Father and Jesus is YHWH, then who is Gen 2 talking about when it uses "YHWH Elohim"?

[a-train]

CountryBear,

If Elohim is the Father and Jesus is YHWH, then who is Gen 2 talking about when it uses "YHWH Elohim"?

The LDS use of the term 'Eloheim' to refer to the Father specifically is only a tradition from the 19th Century. It is acknowledged that the plural term as used it in the OT refers to the Godhead as a whole.

'YHWH Eloheim' refers to the Saviour. It is like saying 'the YHWH of the Eloheim'.

-a-train

[Hemidakota]

A -train is correct.

Lord GOD or the FATHER is the center of worship.

[Cherrybrook]

Thanks for your posts. Geve me a lot to think about. Hemidakota: The word "LORD" might be a bit confusing and interpreted to mean either Father or the Sone, but in those quotes I gave they clearly talked about Jesus Christ as the center of our worship. And I think that can only mean one person.