Mormon Beliefs: God

Mormons believe in a Godhead consisting of three separate and distinct individuals: God the Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. This Godhead is manifested in separate and visible form in many Biblical verses. However, the Holy Ghost does not have a body, so is often not shown in the Godhead except as in the baptism of Jesus Christ, when He appeared in the form of a dove. These verses are examples of the Mormon understanding that God is a distinct personage separate from the other members of the Godhead and that He as a physical and visible, although perfected and glorified body:

16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:

17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased (Matthew 3:16-17).

55 But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,

56 And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. (Acts 7)

The second scripture concerns the vision of Stephen, who was stoned for having dared to tell of a vision in which he saw both God and Jesus Christ. He made a great sacrifice to help us learn this eternal truth.

The Bible begins by telling us God created the earth and everything in it. We learn later that this creation was done under His direction and through the Savior, Jesus Christ. He then created human beings:

26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them (Genesis 1).

These verses tell us some important things about God. Mormons, a nickname for those who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, believe that God is literally our Father in Heaven, who first created our spirits and then sent us to earth to live, giving us bodies, families, and the opportunity to grow and to develop faith.

Genesis tells us we are created in God’s image. This, Mormons believe, is a wonderful gift that shows us just how much God really loves us. Because Mormons believe that God is literally our Father in Heaven, we often look to the ideal parent to understand the nature of God. A perfect and loving parent wants his children to grow up with all of his best qualities and never places limits on a child’s development and growth. Therefore, God, as a perfect being and perfect parent, wants us to become everything He is. Therefore, He created us in His own image, which means our bodies look like His, although His is perfected and glorified. What this means exactly, we don’t know, but the Bible does tell us we can become like God:

1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure (1 John 3).

Mormons have no canonized doctrine that God was started as a man or that Mormons will someday have their own planets. Some Mormons believe it, and some leaders believed it as a personal belief, but it is not part of canonized doctrine. Having a planet is really more of an insider joke to most modern Mormons, rather than a real belief. Even Gordon B. Hinckley, a recent former Mormon prophet, admitted he knew little about the concept because, although he understood the philosophy behind the idea, it just wasn’t really taught. Mormons spend almost no time worrying about mysteries or things that don’t impact our salvation. This doctrine is unimportant in terms of salvation, so Mormons are not particularly interested in it. Canonized doctrine nearly always involves issues that impact salvation.

Mormons do, however, believe in eternal progression. They believe that growing, learning, and progressing do not end with death. For all eternity, we will have the privilege of becoming more and more God-like. God and Jesus Christ commanded us to become more like them, and Mormons believe perfection will be the project of an eternal life.

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect (Matthew 5:48).

Since only Jesus lived a sinless life on earth, we know that perfection is something we need to be working towards now, but that we can’t reach until the next life. However, it is possible to reach it, because the Savior commanded us to do it. In this verse, we are instructed to become like God over the course of eternity and to God, a commandment is also a promise of what is possible.

Mormons believe in a kind, loving, and personally involved God. They believe God knows them personally, a knowledge gained before our births, when God created our spirits. We lived with Him for a while, building a personal relationship with Him. He watched as we made choices and became the beings we wanted to be. This attention to our development allowed God to say to Jeremiah:

 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations (Jeremiah 1:5).

God had watched Jeremiah carefully before his birth and knew he was so extremely valiant he could be trusted with the role of prophet even before he was born and began having mortal experiences. In the same way, God had gotten to know us so well He knew just when we should be born and what the circumstances needed to be for our optimal growth on earth. He knows what we are capable of and if we turn to Him for guidance, He will help us learn how we can be more than we ever imagined.

A recent Pew forum study of teenagers showed that most teens—but not Mormon teens—believe in a “butler” God, one who shows up when you want something and stays out of your way otherwise. Mormons do not believe in this type of distant God. They teach that God loves us and is always there, watching over us and guiding us—all we have to do is to “listen” to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. He has given us commandments to keep and this makes our faith a 24-hour, seven day a week religion. Our obedience to these commandments helps to demonstrate our love for God.

Mormons believe that God is a loving Father in Heaven and look forward to the opportunity to live with Him again someday.