A Tale of Two Gods, Or One, Or Perhaps Many

Consider the following statement and its declaration concerning the nature and relationship of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, especially the portion in bold.

Not only those who believed [in Jesus] 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 bears record of the Father and of the Son; which Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are one God, infinite and eternal, without end. Amen.

Is this a confession regarding the Godhead that you could agree with? Ponder what is said concerning what appears to be a statement in favor of the orthodox Christian view of the doctrine of the Trinity. It seems to me to be a pretty straightforward confession that the Father, Son and Holy Ghost are one God. In fact, it says exactly that.

Now, consider the following statements in light of the excerpt above:

The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the Son also;

God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens!!!. . . We have imagined that God was God from all eternity. I will refute that idea and take away the veil, so that you may see

The Godhead is a type of unity in the attributes, powers, and purposes of its members. So unity exists only in the common attributes that are shared, not in the sense of one being.

That these three [Father, Son, and Holy Ghost] are separate individuals, physically distinct from each other, is demonstrated by the accepted records of divine dealings with man.

then the Lord said: Let us go down. And they went down at the beginning, and they, that is the Gods, organized and formed the heavens and the earth. And the earth, after it was formed, was empty and desolate, because they had not formed anything but the earth; and darkness reigned upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit of the Gods was brooding upon the face of the waters. And they (the Gods) said: Let there be light; and there was light.

Would it surprise you to know that all the statements above come from the same religion? The Doctrine and Covenants of the Mormon Church declares the Father, Son and Holy Ghost to be, “one God, infinite and eternal, without end“, whereas Mormon elder James Talmadge says of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, “unity exists only in the common attributes that are shared, not in the sense of one being“, and the Pearl of Great Price (one of the authoritative Mormon sources) says of creation, ” and they, that is the Gods, organized and formed the heavens and the earth“. Additionally, in agreement with the first quote above, this statement from the Book of Mormon says, “and shall be brought and be arraigned before the bar of Christ the Son, and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit, which is one Eternal God“.

So, which is it?

I guess it depends upon which of the Mormon authorities you are reading.