The Mormon Doctrine of Deity: The Roberts-Van Der Donckt Discussion / To which is added a discourse, Jesus Christ, the revelation of God; also a collection of authoritative Mormon utterances on the being and nature of God

by B. H. Roberts

THE GODHEAD ACCORDING TO THE DOCTRINE AND COVENANTS.

The book of Doctrine and Covenants in the main is a collection of revelations given through the Prophet Joseph Smith. It is not a formal treatise upon theology. This collection of revelations assumes the existence of God, and only incidentally treats of His being and attributes. And since the revelations pertain to our earth, and its heavens, and our God, the singular number is used in speaking of God; and yet in these revelations the persons of the Godhead are spoken of as being distinct from one another in the sense of being separate and distinct individuals, as the following passages illustrate:

There is a God in heaven, who is infinite and eternal, from everlasting to everlasting, the same unchangeable God, the framer of heaven and earth, and all things which are in them; and that he created man, male and female, after his own image and his own likeness, created he them and gave unto them commandments that they should love and serve him, the only living and true God, and that he should be the only being whom they should worship. But by the transgression of these holy laws, man became sensual and devilish, and became fallen man. Wherefore the Almighty God gave his Only Begotten Son, as it is written in those scriptures which have been given of him. He suffered temptations but gave no heed unto them; he was crucified, died, and rose again the third day; and ascended into heaven, to sit down on the right hand of the Father, to reign with almighty power according to the will of the Father, that as many as would believe and be baptized in his holy name, and endure in faith to the end, should be saved; not only those who believed after he came in the meridian of time, in the flesh, but all those from the beginning, even as many as were before he came, who believed in the words of the holy prophets, who spake as they were inspired by the gift of the Holy Ghost, who truly testified of him in all things, should have eternal life, as well as those who should come after, who should believe in the gifts and callings of God by the Holy Ghost, which beareth record of the Father, and of the Son; which Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are one God, infinite and eternal, without end. Amen.^[A]

[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov. Sec. 20:17-28.]

So also in section ninety-three the distinction between Father and Son and Holy Spirit is clearly made; and man declared to be of the same race with God. Indeed one may say that the supposed gulf of separation is swept away; that on the one hand the divinity of man is proclaimed, and on the other, the humanity of God. That is, there is identity of race between Gods and men; though man is now in a fallen state, working upward towards God, through the plan of redemption in Christ Jesus:

Every soul who forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me, and calleth on my name, and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall see my face and know that I am, and that I am the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world; and that I am in the Father, and the Father in me, and the Father and I are one: the Father because he gave me of his fullness, and the Son because I was in the world and made flesh my tabernacle, and dwelt among the sons of men. I was in the world and received of my Father, and the works of him were plainly manifest; and John saw and bore record of the fullness of my glory, and the fullness of John's record is hereafter to be revealed: and he bore record, saying, I saw his glory that he was in the beginning before the world was; therefore in the beginning the Word was, for he was the Word, even the messenger of salvation the light and the Redeemer of the world; the Spirit of truth, who came into the world, because the world was made by him, and in him was the life of men and the light of men. The worlds were made by him; men were made by him: all things were made by him, and through him, and of him. And I, John, bear record that I beheld his glory, as the glory of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, even the Spirit of truth, which came and dwelt in the flesh, and dwelt among us. And I, John, saw that he received not of the fullness at the first, but received grace for grace: and he received not of the fullness at first, but continued from grace to grace, until he received a fullness; and thus he was called the Son of God, because he received not of the fullness at the first. And I, John, bear record, and lo, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Ghost descended upon him in the form of a dove, and sat upon him, and there came a voice out of heaven saying, This is my beloved Son. And I, John, bear record that he received a fullness of the glory of the Father; and he received all power, both in heaven and on earth, and the glory of the Father was with him, for he dwelt in him. * * * And I give unto you these sayings that ye 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 fullness. * * * And now, verily I say unto you, I was in the beginning with the Father, and am the first-born. * * * Ye were also in the beginning with the Father; that which is Spirit, even the Spirit of truth. * * * Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be. All truth is independent in that sphere in which God has placed it, to act for itself, as all intelligence also, otherwise there is no existence. Behold, here, is the agency of man, and here is the condemnation of man, because that which was from the beginning is plainly manifest unto them, and they receive not the light. And every man whose spirit receiveth not the light is under condemnation, for man is spirit. The elements are eternal, and spirit and element, inseparably connected, receive a fullness of joy; and when separated, man cannot receive a fullness of joy. The elements are the tabernacle of God; yea man is the tabernacle of God, even temples; and whatsoever temple is defiled, God shall destroy that temple.^[A]

[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov. Sec. 93:1-35.]

Again:

The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's; the Son also: but 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.^[A]

[Footnote A: Ibid Sec. 130:22.]

Since then there is in these revelations, a recognition of the distinction between the persons of the Godhead, it is clear that the doctrine of a plurality of Gods is recognized. It is also incidentally recognized in other passages of the Doctrine and Covenants. In section seventy-six, where a description is given of the blessedness of those who believe and obey the gospel, it is said:

They are they who are the church of the first born. They are they into whose hands the Father has given all things. They are they who are Priests and Kings, who have received of his fullness, and of his glory, and are Priests of the Most High, after the order of Melchizedek, which was after the order of Enoch, which was after the order of the Only Begotten Son; wherefore, as it is written, they are Gods, even the sons of God—wherefore all things are theirs; whether life or death, or things present, or things to come, all are theirs and they are Christ's and Christ is God's.^[A]

[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov. Sec. 76:54-59.]

The revelation in which the above passage appears was first published in the Evening and Morning Star, July, 1832. Again, in a prayer and prophecy written by Joseph Smith while in Liberty prison, March, 1839, in the course of describing the power and glory and blessedness to be revealed in the dispensation of the Fullness of Times, the prophet declares that all things shall be made known—

According to that which was ordained in the midst of the Council of the Eternal God of all other Gods, before this world was.^[A]

[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov. Sec. 121:32.]

Again, in speaking of those who fall short of complete obedience to the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and describing their limitations the Prophet says:

From henceforth they are not Gods, but are angels of God, forever and ever.^[A]

[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov. Sec. 132:17.]

On the other hand he declares that all those who obey the fullness of the gospel—

Shall pass by the angels, and the Gods, * * * to their exaltation and glory in all things. * * * Then shall they be Gods, because they have no end; therefore shall they be from everlasting to everlasting, because they continue; then shall they be above all, because all things are subject unto them. Then shall they be Gods, because they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them.^[A]

[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov. Sec. 132:19, 20.]

Thus the revelations of God to the Church from the earliest times, and now collected in the Doctrine and Covenants, teach that men and Gods are identical in race, and that there is a plurality of Gods.