It’s tantalizing to jump into the fracas and argue the nature of God from the trinitarian worldview, but we Mormons need to remember that our conception of God comes not from theological debate. It was revealed to a prophet.

And I agree with you, Paul. Our view of the Godhead is exceptionally clear.

“In the first sentence above I left out the word “add”. Scribes added things into the biblical manuscripts. That’s just historical fact. But it still doesn’t make any difference.

See “Bart Ehrman: “Misquoting Jesus: Scribes Who Altered Scripture and Readers Who May Never Know”
http://latterdayspence.blogspot.com/2009/04/bart-ehrman-misquoting-jesus-scribes.html”

I’m sorry- but most Christians today would reject anything that Ehrman states. There are better theologians than that to quote- who seem to disagree with Bart’s conclusions (he has a huge axe to grind that if you look long anough will find and will enlighten the discussion). If you were to come to my house and start quoting from Mr Ehrman I would laugh you out of the building. Really. He is that bad. So bad in fact that you wouldn’t ever reach the point of talking about your own faith to me. It would be an affront to my own beliefs. I have friends who read Ehrman so that they can know what he is saying, but most won’t entertain him at all.

I know that some see the Johannine portion of I John as an ‘addition’ by ‘redactors’, but the history does not *necessarily* prove that is the case. Theologians from both liberal and other camps tend to agree to disagree on this. It matters not. As a Christian seriously looking at the LDS faith with a view to moving over to it I see the argument against a traditional ‘trinity’ as a straw man. It would be better to focus on the existence of a relationship between the members of what we call the ‘Godhead’. One theologian I know calls this the principle of ‘the God who is never alone’. I prefer that.

The important question for a Christian (and by that I mean a non-LDS Christian) is whether a group professing Christian belief declares Jesus to be God. It is here you will often find a battlefield. An example of Christian theology on this subject far more reliable than Ehrman is Robert M Bowman’s “Putting Jesus in His Place”, a fine example of critical and historical thinking on the deity of Christ. On the trinity you will find many views- from orthodox to evangelical. Most all agree that God is ‘One’ in trinity. How’s that for clear

To me it seems your view of the Godhead is clearer than most, and if I were you I would be using that to help people understand the God who is never alone, rather than some wacky theologian who professes a Christian faith but is mostly accepted by those outside of the Christian faith

Sorry if I offended anyone there

Paul

As I’m sure you already guess, we don’t consider those scriptures to be at all contrary to our beliefs. God and Jesus Christ, as you read in the article, are “one.” One in purpose and in worship from us.

The scriptures in the bible that indicate that Jesus Christ and God the Father are two separate beings are abundant. So abundant that I won’t list them here. But here is a list of 61 of them for you to read at your leisure.

It should again be emphasized again that although we see the abundance of biblical evidence pointing towards a nontrinitarian God, the main reason we reject the trinity is because God and Jesus Christ revealed themselves to Joseph Smith separately.

Actually, as an LDS Christian, I prefer a coherent theology–one that’s not self-contradicting.

However, trying to poke holes in factual church history and biblical writings is comical when there are a slew more inaccuaracies in the chruch of LDS. A non-morman (or former mormans) could easily poke fun at the notion that the core beliefs of the chrich of LDS come from a hokey “an angel came to me” bit by Mr. Joe Smith, a “political” figure mind you.

The “Trinity” preserves the facts Jesus revealed about God.
The basic fact is Jesus himself and what he said. Jesus was once asked what was the greatest commandment and he said, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:29) In other words, Jesus affirmed that there is one God but he also said, “I and the Father are One” (John 10:30) and accepted the worship of his disciples (Matthew 2:11; 14:33; 28:9; 28:17; John 9:38). He said, “He who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9. )He said, “When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me.” (John 15:26)

When you put together all Jesus’ teaching about God and try to express it, you come up with the Trinity — Father, Son and Holy Spirit – Three in One.

The trinity is critical in the Christian faith for obvious reasons. As non-christians, I can understand the Mormon confusion.

I pray everyday for non-believers. God Bless!

Anyhow, I think the difference between the godhead and polytheism can be seen in how we pray. When I pray I may be directing it to one part of the Godhead but all three members are able to hear and answer my prayer. For example, I pray to Heavenly Father (“Dear Heavenly Father…”) but I do so in the name of Jesus Christ (“in the name of Jesus Christ, amen). And then during and after the prayer I rely on the Holy Ghost to give me answers and/or direction.

If a polytheist prays to Athena, he does not expect Aphrodite or Zeus to hear or answer his prayer.

Does that make sense?