Chapter V: Letter 1842: , Hist. of the Church, Vol. IV, p. 535 et Seq

Such is the authoritative declaration of the Church as to its faith in the Godhead. Such is the Godhead of the New Testament Scriptures--the Christian Trinity.

_2. Scripture Proof of the Trinity:_ In four separate ways is this made apparent: (1) at the baptism of Jesus. As Jesus, who is God, the Son, came forth from his baptism at the hands of John, a manifestation of the presence of God the Holy Ghost, was given in the sign of the Dove, which rested upon Jesus; while, lo, a voice from heaven, the voice of God, the Father, was heard, saying---"This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased";[A] (2) in the commission given to the apostles to teach all nations: "and Jesus came and spake unto them saying, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you."[B] (3) in the vision of Stephen; the mob rushed upon Stephen--"But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked steadfastly into heaven, and saw the Glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God."[C] (4) in the apostolic benediction, viz., "The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all."[D]

[Footnote A: Matt. iii:16, 17.]

[Footnote B: Matt. xxviii:18, 19.]

[Footnote C: Acts vii:55, 56.]

[Footnote D: II Cor. xiii:14.]

This Godhead of three divine persons is emphatically proclaimed in the Book of Mormon: They shall be "arraigned before the bar of Christ, the Son, and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit, which is one Eternal God, to be judged according to their works."[A] "And after this manner shall ye baptize in my name [this after giving the baptismal formula--I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, see context], for verily I say unto you, that the Father and the Son, and the Holy Ghost are one"--Jesus.[B] "The Father, and I and the Holy Ghost are one."--Jesus.[C]

[Footnote A: Alma xi:44.]

[Footnote B: II Nephi xi:24, 27.]

[Footnote C: Ibid ver. 36. See also III Nephi xxxiii:10; and Mormon vii:7.]

_3. The Doctrine of the Trinity Formulated in the Early Christian Church:_ To these scriptural groupings of the three persons into a holy trinity, may be added that earliest of post apostolic symbols known commonly as the "Apostles' Creed," because of the tradition that it was formulated by the apostles immediately before their dispersion into the world to fulfill the commission given to them by the Christ to teach all nations; but which notion is now very generally discredited, and the truer notion is held to be that this noted summary of Christian faith "arose from small beginnings, and was gradually enlarged as occasion required in order to exclude new errors from the Church."[A] But, however, and whoever constructed this so-called Apostles' Creed, this much must be said of it, viz., that it represents the almost universal belief of the early Christian Church in a Godhead consisting of three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; that this is in harmony with the New Testament scriptures, and is the symbol[B] of Christian faith that grew out of efforts to express the essentials of Christianity. The creed, in English, follows:

[Footnote A: In acknowledging that it has no claim to that venerable title (i. e., the Apostles' Creed), "we must guard against the common assumption," says Dr. Philip Smith, "that it is the oldest, as well as the simplest creed of the Catholic Church. True--as we have seen--it may be traced, in its most essential elements, from an early post-apostolic age; but, its development belongs solely to the Western Church, and its formal adoption, as a written creed, is later than the Nicene. It was the ancient baptismal creed as used in the Church of Rome, and was known as the Symbolum Romanum, or simply Symbolum, before it received the epithet of Apostolorum. Its forms were different in different churches; the earlier forms variously omitting the articles of the "descent into hell," "the communion of saints," "the life everlasting," and the epithet "catholic" before "church."]

[Footnote B: "These creeds obtained also the name of Symbols." Students' Ecclesiastical History, Dr. Philip Smith, Vol I, p. 234.]

THE "APOSTLES' CREED."

"I believe in God, the Father, Almighty; and in Jesus Christ, his only begotten son, our Lord, who was born of the Virgin Mary by the Holy Ghost, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, buried, arose from the dead on the third day, ascended to the heavens, and sits at the right hand of the Father; whence he will come to judge the living and the dead; and in the Holy Spirit; the holy church; the remission of sins; and the resurrection of the body."[A]

[Footnote A: Mosheim's Ecclesiastical Institutes, Vol. I, p. 80, Murdock's translation. The above form, is as it stood in the fourth century, a few centuries later it attained in the Romish Church its ampler form, in which it has since been adopted by most Protestant churches, as follows:

"I believe in God, the Father, almighty, maker of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried, he descended into hell, the third day he arose again from the dead, ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God, the Father, almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost, the holy Catholic church, the Communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen." In this form it is called the "Symbolum Roman--Roman Symbol."]

_4. Man's Allegiance to the Godhead:_ This holy Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, the Godhead, constitutes for the Christian the creating, sustaining, redeeming, witnessing power of the universe--the supreme God. In this Godhead righteousness, and holiness, and truth, and knowledge, and wisdom and power, and glory, and justice, and mercy and love, and all that we do or can recognize as belonging to the divine nature abound in their perfection. This Godhead is the source of spiritual power and light and glory; to whom man owes first allegiance; who is the true and only object--but singularly as well as in unity--of man's worship; to whom man submits his mind and his will for guidance--for in such submission alone is true worship.

LESSON VIII.

(Scripture Reading Exercise).

THE UNITY AND THE DISTINCTIVENESS OF THE PERSONAGES OF THE GODHEAD.

ANALYSIS.

I. The Oneness of the Trinity: its Nature.

II. Distinctiveness of the Father as a Personage.

III. The Distinctiveness of the Son--Divinity of the Son.

REFERENCES.

Mormon Doctrine of Deity, ch. IV; Seventy's Year Book No. III, lessons xxxiii, xxxiv and xxxv; and all the Scriptures cited in the body of the "Discussion."

_SPECIAL TEXT: "The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all. Amen." (II Cor. xiii:14.)_

DISCUSSION.

_1. The Unity of Father, Son and Holy Ghost:_ While conceiving these three Divine Personages, as constituting an organized unit, a body or Divine Council, it should be remembered that their oneness consist in moral unity, not physical unity, or identity of substance or essence. In other words, they are distinct and separate personages, in the sense of being three separate and distinct individuals, a unity only in agreement of purpose, and unity of will for the accomplishment of certain definite ends,[A] to bring to pass the immortality and eternal progress of man.[B]

[Footnote A: The Three Personagess. "Everlasting covenants was made between three personages before the organization of this earth, and relates to their dispensation of things to men on the earth: these personages, according to Abraham's record, are called God the first, the Creator; God the second, the Redeemer; and God the third, the Witness or Testator."--Little & Richards' Compendium--Gems from the Prophet's Teachings--p. 289.]

[Footnote B: Doc. & Cov., Sec. xciii:26-35. Book of Moses, Pearl of Great Price, ch. iii., II Nephi ch. ii; also New Witnesses for God, Vol III, ch xl. where the matter is discussed at great length.]

Jesus himself taught that he and his Father were one,[A] that whosoever had seen him had seen the Father also;[B] that it was part of his mission to reveal God, the Father, through his own personality; for as was the Son, so too was the Father;[C] hence Jesus was God manifested in the flesh, a revelation of God to the world;[D] a revelation not only of the being of God, but of the kind of being God is.

[Footnote A: John x:30; xvii:11-22.]

[Footnote B: John xiv:9.]

[Footnote C: John xiv:1-9; John 1:8.]

[Footnote D: I Tim. iii:16.]

[Footnote: Eph iii:14-19.]

Jesus also prayed--and in so doing showed in what the oneness of himself and the Father consisted--that the disciples might be one with him, and also with each other, as he and the Father were one. Not one in person, not all merged into one individual, and all distinctions of personality lost; but one in mind, in knowledge, in love, in will; one by reason of the indwelling in all of the one spirit, even as the mind and will of God, the Father, was also in Jesus Christ.[A]

[Footnote A: John xiv:10, 11, 19, 20.]

_2. The Separate Individual Existence of the Father:_ The existence of God, the Father, both Jesus and the Apostles accepted as a reality. Jesus nowhere attempts to prove God's existence. He assumes that and proceeds from that basis with his doctrine. He declares the fact that God was his Father and frequently calls himself the Son of God, and prays to the Father in that capacity: "As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father. * * * Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life for the sheep. * * * This commandment have I received of my Father. * * * The works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. * * * For which of those do ye stone me? The Jews answered him. * * * Because that that thou being a man makest thyself God. * * * Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said I am the Son of God? If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not."[A]

[Footnote A: St. John x.]

The statement of Jesus when instituting the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper: "I will not drink hence forth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom."[A]

[Footnote A: Matt xxvi:29.]

The prayer of Jesus in Gethsemane: "O my Father if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt." And again: "O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done."[A]

[Footnote A: Ibid, verses 39, 42.]

John represents Jesus as saying in Gethsemane: "Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee. * * * And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. * * * Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one as we are. * * * That they all may be one: as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee. * * * O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee; but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me."[A]

[Footnote A: St. John xvii.]

Then, after the resurrection of Jesus, he meets Mary of Magdala and said to her, when she in her joy was about to lay hold of him: "Touch me not; for I have not yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God and your God."[A]

[Footnote A: St. John xx.]

The separate and distinct individual existence of God the Father could not be more emphatically represented than in these scriptures.

_3. The Separate and Individual Existence of the Son:_ The scriptures which teach the separate existence of the Father, teach also the separate and individual existence of the Son; but the question may arise, Was Jesus, the Son of God, also God? The passage already considered, in which Jesus is given equal rank with the Father and with the Holy Ghost, strongly implies that he is Divine, that he is Deity. In the Seventy's Year Book No. III, Lesson xxxiii, in treating at length upon the subject of the divinity of Jesus, the conclusion that Jesus, as well as the Father, is God, is worked out from the fact that Jesus is called God in the Scriptures;[A] that Jesus declares himself to be God--the Son of God;[B] that Jesus is to be worshiped--hence God;[C] that Jesus, under the Father's direction, is the Creator, hence God;[D] that Jesus Christ is declared to be equal with God the Father, hence God.[E] All these declarations are sustained by the scriptures and reasoned out in detail in the lesson of Year Book III cited above, and to that work the student is referred. Here it will be only necessary to cite the scriptures which sustain these several specific declarations concerning Jesus, the Christ, which I have done by giving them in the margin.[F]

[Footnote A: Isaiah vii:14; Matt. i:23; Isaiah ix:6.]

[Footnote B: John x:33; Matt. xxvii:63, 64; Matt. xxviii:18, 19; Heb. i:8.]

[Footnote C: Rev. xix;10 c. f; Heb. i:5, 6; Phil. ii:9, 10.]

[Footnote D: St. John i:1-4; Col. i:12-17; Heb. i:2.]

[Footnote E: Matt. xxviii:18, 19; Phil. iii:6; Heb. iii:3; Col. i:19: ii:9; II. Nephi xxvi:12.]

[Footnote F: The student will also find an elaborate discussion on the subject in the writer's "Mormon Doctrine of Deity," chapter iv. And also in his "Introduction to the History of the Church," Vol. I, pp. 81-89.]

Jesus, then, is separate and distinct from God, the Father; but is nevertheless not only divine, but Deity, equally so with the Father; for God so declares it, through his revelation to the world; but he is united with the Father in moral union of mind and will, and purpose.

LESSON IX.

(Scripture Reading Exercise.)

UNITY AND DISTINCTIVENESS OF THE PERSONAGES OF THE GODHEAD (Continued).

ANALYSIS.

IV. The Distinctiveness of the Holy Ghost.

V. The Divinity of the Holy Ghost.

VI. Unity and Distinction.

REFERENCES.

All the scriptures cited in the body of the lesson.

_SPECIAL TEXT: "Whoso believeth in me, believeth in the Father also, and unto him will the Father bear record of me; for he will visit him with fire, and with the Holy Ghost. And thus will the Father bear record of me, and the Holy Ghost will bear record unto him of the Father and me: for the Father and I and the Holy Ghost are one." (III Nephi xi:35, 36.)_

DISCUSSION.

_1. The Separate and Individual Existence of the Holy Ghost:_ The proofs which set off the Father and Son as separate and distinct personalities, which present them to us as two separate individuals, also presents the Holy Ghost as a separate and distinct personality. For whether we contemplate these divine personages when the three are represented together, as at the baptism of the Christ,[A] in the vision of St. Stephen,[B] in the baptismal formula,[C] or in the apostolic benediction,[D] they are always presented in a manner that implies distinctiveness as persons, however closely united in purpose.

[Footnote A: Matt. iii:16, 17.]

[Footnote B: Acts vii:54-56.]

[Footnote C: Matt. xxviii:19.]

[Footnote D: II Cor. xiii:12, 14.]

Jesus clearly ascribes to the Holy Ghost a distinct personality. He represents the Holy Ghost as proceeding from the Father;[A] as sent forth in the name of the Son;[B] as abiding;[C] as teaching and as bearing witness;[D] as reproving the world of sin, and of righteousness and of judgment;[E] as guiding into all truth, and revealing the things of God to men.[F]

[Footnote A: St. John xvi:26.]

[Footnote B: St. John xiv:26.]

[Footnote C: St. John xiv:16.]

[Footnote D: St. John xiv:26 and xv:26, 27.]

[Footnote E: St. John xvi:8.]

[Footnote F: Ibid, verses 13-15.]

The apostles also refer to the Holy Ghost in much the same manner: Peter represents the Holy Ghost as speaking by the mouth of David concerning the treachery of Judas;[A] he also represents Ananias as having lied to the Holy Ghost;[B] also he represents the Holy Ghost as bearing witness with himself and his fellow apostle, John, to the divinity of the Christ;[C] also the Holy Ghost is represented as sending forth men to the ministry: "The Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them * * * so they being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia."[D]

[Footnote A: II Acts i:16, 17; c. f. Psalms xli:9.]

[Footnote B: Acts v:3.]

[Footnote C: Acts v:29-32.]

[Footnote D: Acts xiii:2-4.]

The Holy Ghost is represented as forbidding Paul and Timothy preaching in Asia, and Bithynia.[A]

[Footnote A: Acts xvi:6-8: "After they were gone through Phrygia and the region of Galatia and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach in Asia, after they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit suffered them not."]

The fruit of the Spirit (the Holy Ghost) is said to be "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance;" and as these things can only proceed from a being possessed of attributes that produce them, we must needs think of the Holy Ghost as loving, as merciful, as patient, as meek, as temperate, as gentle. All which with the other things preceding here said of him, clearly established personality for the third person of the Godhead.

2. The Holy Spirit Distinct from the Father and the Son, Both in Substance and Personal Action: On this subject Elder Orson Pratt has the following very valuable passage: "That the substance of the Holy Ghost is not identical with that of the Father and the Son, is evident from the whole tenor of scripture." Jesus says, "When the Comforter is come whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me."[A] This Comforter could not be the Father, because he "proceedeth from the Father." He could not be the Son, because he is sent by the Son. Again, he could not be the Father, because it is contrary to the order of heaven for Jesus to send the Father. And furthermore, he could not be the Son, because he is represented as "another Comforter," to be with the disciples, in the absence of Jesus. "If I go not away," says our Savior, "the Comforter will not come unto you, but if I depart I will send him unto you."[B] The persons of the Father and Son were to be in one place while the Comforter was to be in another, and therefore, the Comforter must necessarily be a distinct substance from the Father and Son."

[Footnote A: John xv:26.]

[Footnote B: John xvi:7.]

"That the Holy Spirit is something more than the mere power or influence exerted by the Father, is evident from his possessing an understanding, a will, and a power of distinct operation. Jesus says, concerning the Comforter, "Howbeit, when he, the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth; for he shall not speak for himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak; and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me; for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you."[A] Here the Holy Spirit is represented as a hearer--a speaker--a guide, receiving and showing what is received. Now such acts can only be the acts of a substance, possessing understanding and a will. That this substance is distinct from the Father is evident from his not speaking of himself, but only speaking what he hears, which shows, most plainly, a separate individuality. If the Holy Spirit were the Father, would it be reasonable to say, that he does not speak of himself? Does not the Father speak of himself? If the Holy Spirit be only a power or influence from the Father, what absurdity would run through the whole of the above passage! What nonsense would it be to say a power or influence hears--a power or influence speaks--a power or influence receives and shows! Yet this is the absurdity embraced by the Socinians. We can only think of speaking, and hearing, and willing, as applicable to a perceptive substance, and not to a quality. Again, the Spirit is represented as making intercession for the Saints. "Likewise," says Paul, "the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities; for we know not what we should pray for as we ought; but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered."[B] How could a power or influence of the Father intercede with the Father? How could a power or influence groan with groanings unutterable? Would the Father intercede with himself? The absurdity of supposing the Holy Spirit to be a mere property or influence of the Father, instead of being an intelligent agent of himself, is so great, that we do not feel disposed to bring further evidence or proof to establish the distinct identity of the two."[C]

[Footnote A: John xvi:13, 14.]

[Footnote B: Rom. viii:26.]

[Footnote C: Mill. Star, Vol. XII, pp. 306-7.]

_3. The Divinity of the Holy Ghost:_ There remains to be considered the question, Is the Holy Ghost God? Undoubtedly. The proof is in the fact that he is a member of the Holy Trinity.[A] Also in the fact that Jesus makes blasphemy against the Holy Ghost a greater sin than blasphemy against himself.[B] This could not be unless the Holy Ghost were Deity, and in some peculiar way so related to man that makes this sin of blasphemy against him especially heinous.

[Footnote A: This subject is to be worked out in greater detail in a subsequent lesson.]

[Footnote B: "All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men, but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. * * * Whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him, but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come." (Matt. xii:31; also Mark iii:28, 29.)]

"Why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost," said Peter to Ananias, when the latter had dealt deceitfully in the sale of his land and the gift he had made to the Church. "Thou hast not lied unto men," said the chief Apostle, "but to God!"[A]

[Footnote A: Acts v:1-14.]

From which it is to be concluded that to lie to the Holy Ghost is to lie to God, because the Holy Ghost is God.

I may not more fittingly close this and the two preceding lessons on the Godhead than by quoting a passage upon the subjects of which they treat from the writings of the late venerable Apostle, Orson Pratt, who upon both the oneness and the distinctiveness of the three personages of the Holy Trinity made the following observations:

_4. The Persons of the Godhead One Council:_ "The Godhead may be illustrated by a council, consisting of three men--all possessing equal wisdom, knowledge, and truth, together with equal qualifications in every respect. Each person would be a separate distinct person or substance from the other two, and yet the three would form but one council. Each alone possesses, by supposition, the same wisdom and truth that the three united or the one council possesses. The union of the three men in one council would not increase the knowledge or wisdom of either. Each man would be one part of the council when reference is made to his person; but the wisdom and truth of each man would be the whole wisdom and truth of the council, and not a part. If it were possible to divide truth, and other qualities of a similar nature into fractions, so that the Father should have the third part of truth, the third part of wisdom, the third part of knowledge, the third part of love, while the Son and the Holy Spirit possessed the other two-thirds of these qualities or affections, then neither of these persons could make 'one God, but only a part of a God.' But because the divisibility of wisdom, truth, or love is impossible, the whole of these qualities dwells in the Father--the whole dwells in the Son--the whole is possessed by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is one part of the Godhead in essence; but the whole of God in wisdom, truth, and other similar qualities. * * * The oneness of the Godhead, as described in the scriptures, never was intended to apply to the essence, but only to the perfections and other attributes."[A]

[Footnote A: Orson Pratt's Works, "Absurdities of Immaterialism," p. 30.]

LESSON X.

(Scripture Reading Exercise.)

SPECIAL OFFICES OF THE PERSONAGE OF THE HOLY TRINITY.

ANALYSIS.

I. Distinctiveness Among Divine Beings.

II. Special Characteristic and Office of the First Personage of the Trinity.

III. Father and "Fathering"--Creating and "Sustaining"--"Directing the Creation to Glorious Ends."

REFERENCES.

The works and passages cited in the body of this lesson.

_SPECIAL TEXT: "G. to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend to my Father and your Father; and to my God and your God." (Jesus--St. John xx:17.)_

DISCUSSION.

_1. Alikeness and Diversity in the Nature of Divine Beings:_ Whatever may be said in the scriptures of the union in knowledge, mercy, love, power, and will--in a word, whatever may be said of the alikeness of these holy and divine Personages of the trinity, it should be so understood as to allow of the thought of some difference in office; and of some one or more distinctions in their relations to each other, and in their relationship towards men; and even in their physical natures when compared one with another. I feel encouraged to make this avowal, unusual though it may be, because in nature we may observe both a unity and a diversity. Though a given species of grass may have general characteristics in which all the varieties of grasses are alike, yet men have not yet found two blades of grass precisely alike. In all the leaves of the forest, there have not yet been found two leaves exactly alike; among all the hordes of men--the millions living and the millions dead--no two have yet been found one of which is a precise counterpart of the other. It is so everywhere you look in nature; in animal or plant life; in mountains, rivers or valleys; in the sands or among the shells of the sea shore--everywhere unity of kind, of groups, but infinite variety of individuals. That being the general truth taught throughout nature, may it not hold in reference to Divine Personages as well? Without absolutely insisting upon it, I shall venture to say I think so; and that in some way--in office, in function, in appointment, in some respects even in physical nature also--there are distinctive characteristics in the three divine Personages of the Godhead.

Setting forth, and in profoundest reverence, the Personages of the Godhead with reference to their chief functions as each stands related to man, they appear as God, the Father; God, the Son, Redeemer of man; God, the Holy Ghost, Witness to man of truth, of all truth.

Let us consider each in these capacities respectively.

_2. God, the Father:_ With this conception of God as "Father" there is associated the larger--but not higher--idea of "Creator."

There exists, I think, a real difference between the idea of "father" and "creator," and yet one feels, from our use of terms, and even from the terminology of holy scripture, that each idea may include the other. But first as to the distinctions between "father" and "creator." The term "father" carries with it the notion of generation, begetting from one's own person, springing from one's own nature, and partaking of one's own physical and mental qualities and perhaps likeness, but the term "creator" does not necessarily convey that notion, since a created thing may be external to the nature of the being who created it; as, for example, when God created the heaven and the earth.[A] In this case the heaven and the earth did not bear the image of God; nor was it made in his likeness, as the result was when God said, "Let us make man in our image, and after our likeness." So in relation to man; he begets a son or a daughter by act of generation; he is a father; and also, in a sense, a creator.[B]

[Footnote A: Gen. i.]

[Footnote B: Athanasius makes the following distinction between "begotten" and "created," which I believe to be true and of great importance as a truth. "Let it be repeated," he says, "that a created thing is external to the nature of the being who creates it; but a generation, (a begetting, as a father begets a son) is the proper off-spring of the nature." (Quoted in Shedd's Hist, of Christian Doctrine, Vol. I, p. 322.)]

He gathers materials and builds a house; or with various colored pigments, brushes, and stretched canvas he paints a landscape, or from some rude block of marble with mallet and chisel he hews out the image of a man; he is a creator. Creator of the house, the painted landscape, the statue; and also, in a certain sense, after our manner of speech, we could say the father of them. So that in the terms "father" and "creator" there is both a distinction and a sameness.

_3. The Dual Idea of "Father" and "Creator:"_ I said a moment since that scripture terminology justified this dual idea that goes with the use of "father" and "creator." Now to the proof: In Hebrews we find this passage: "We have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: Shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?"[A] From this it is learned that God is the "Father" of the spirits of men--from which circumstance comes the title--"God, the Father." In the Book of Moses, the Lord, following an account of the creation, says: "I, the Lord God, created all things of which I have spoken spiritually, before they were naturally upon the face of the earth. * * * And I, the Lord God, had created all the children of men; and not yet a man to till the ground; for in heaven created I them. * * * And I, the Lord God, formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul, the first flesh upon the earth, the first man also; nevertheless all things were before created; but spiritually were they created and made according to my word."[B]

[Footnote A: Heb. xii:9.]

[Footnote B: Book of Moses (Pearl of Great Price), ch. iii:5, c. f. Doc. and Cov. Sec. xxix:30-34; also Book of Abraham, ch. iii:23. Gen. i:26-27; c. f. Gen. ii:5-7.]

Here we have God saying that he had "created all the children of men," and yet there was not a man to till the earth; "for in heaven I created them," that is, uniting this statement with Paul's passage, he had become the "Father of spirits;" and "Father" and Creator are seen to be used synonymously. Conversely: Nothing is clearer than that God, in the Scriptures, is proclaimed the "Creator:" "Creator of heaven and earth and all things that in them are." And now comes one of our Book of Mormon writers, saying: "and they [i. e., Father and Son, see context] are one God, yea, the very eternal Father of heaven and of earth."[A] Which can only be understood as "creator of heaven and earth."

[Footnote A: Mosiah xv:4.]

Again: "Is the Son of God the very eternal Father? * * * Yea, he is the very eternal Father of heaven and of earth, and all things which in them is."[A] In the quotation following the terms are used in combination. Samuel, the Lamanite prophet, was sent unto the people of a certain city, that they "might know of the coming of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of heaven and of earth, the Creator of all things, from the beginning."[B] From these passages it is evident that the term "father" is made to include the idea of "Creator."

[Footnote A: Alma xi:38, 39.]

[Footnote B: Helaman xiv:12. Wherein Jesus is referred to as the Creator, the "Father of heaven and earth," it should be understood that he is so under the direction of the God, the Father; "God * * * hath * * * spoken to us by his Son, by whom also he (God the Father) made the worlds" (Hebrews i:3). "To us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things,--and we in him: and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him" (I. Cr. viii:6) " * * * God, who created all things by Jesus Christ" (Eph. iii:9). So that while Jesus was the immediate creator of things he did so under and by the Father's direction, so that the Father may still be regarded as the first mover in the creation drama, Jesus the agency through whom he acted.]

_4. "Father" and "Fathering:"_ The chief characteristic, of the First Personage of the Godhead, then, appears to be that of "Father," "Creator." And with this goes the extended idea inseparably associated with the notion of "Father," viz., "fathering"--caring for, sustaining, upholding. We contemplate this Holy First Personage, then, not only as "Father of spirits;" but one anxious for their welfare, for their progress. And he himself has declared "this is my work and my glory--to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man."[A] And in the creation drama we have God, the "Father of the spirits," standing among them and planning for their advancement. God said unto those who were with him: "We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell; and we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them; and they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate, and they who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever. And the Lord said: Whom shall I send? And one answered like unto the Son of man: Here a. I, send me. And another answered and said: Here am I, send me. And the Lord said: I will send the first."[B]

[Footnote A: Book of Moses, ch. i:39.]

[Footnote B: Book of Abraham, ch. iii:24-27.]

And so the second personage of the Godhead was chosen for his office of Savior of men. But the first Personage was proposing the plan for "adding upon" these spirits of heaven. He was planning for their increase in honor and glory for ever and ever; and that through development; though increasing their intelligence, knowledge, wisdom and spiritual power; by experiences to be obtained in earth-life among broken harmonies, when fidelity to truth and virtue and God should be tested, where men should find themselves. He was "fathering" them. Just as in being "Creator" he not only creates--causes to exist--but he cares for the "creation," he sustains it; upholds it; guides it to some definite end, to the achievement of some beneficent purpose.

Such must be our thought of this all glorious First Personage of the Godhead-Father, Creator; also Sustaining, Guiding, Loving Power of the Universe.

LESSON XI.

(Scripture Reading Exercise.)

SPECIAL OFFICE OF THE PERSONAGES OF THE HOLY TRINITY (Continued).

ANALYSIS.

IV. Special Office of the Second Personage of the Trinity--Redeemer.

V. Special Office of the Third Personage of the Trinity--Witness.

VI. The Three in Union.

REFERENCES.

The citations in the body of this lesson.

_SPECIAL TEXT: "But Christ being come an High Priest of good things to come * * * through the Eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God." (Hebrews ix:11, 14.)_

DISCUSSION.

_1. God, the Son, Redeemer:_ We have found the chief office or function of the first Personage of the Godhead, so may we find the chief office and function of the second, and much more briefly. More briefly because one Year Book of the Seventy's course in Theology has already been devoted to him and his work. He is the Redeemer of men. To be such was his appointment in heaven, as incidentally, we have seen in Lesson IX; and as it is abundantly declared in the scriptures.

_2. Scripture Declaration of the Office of the Christ:_ "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life."[A]

[Footnote A: St. John iii:14.]

"Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us."[A]

[Footnote A: I John iii:16.]

"God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting life."[A]

[Footnote A: St. John iii:16.]

"For Christ hath also once suffered for sin, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God," being put to death in the flesh but quickened by the Spirit.[A]

[Footnote A: I Peter iii:16.]

"When we were yet without strength in due time Christ died for us. * * * Being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. * * * When we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son."[A]

[Footnote A: Rom. v:6-10.]

"It hath also been made known unto me, by the power of the Holy Ghost, wherefore I know if there should be no atonement made, all mankind must be lost."[A]

[Footnote A: Jacob, Book of Mormon, vii:12.]

"Behold, he suffereth the pains of all men; yea, the pains of every living creature both men and women and children, who belong to the family of Adam;"[A]

[Footnote A: II Nephi ix:21.]

"Surely every man must repent or suffer [i. e. eternal consequence of sin]. . . . For behold, I God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent, but if they would not repent, they must suffer even as I, which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit, and would that I might not drink the bitter cup."[A]

[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov., Sec. xix:16-18.]

_3. The Offering of the Christ Voluntary:_ The chief office, then, of the Christ is that of Savior, Redeemer. In that work is revealed the love of God. "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting life."[A] And Christ so loved men that he voluntarily made the sacrifice: "As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep [i. e. for men]. . . . Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself."[B]

[Footnote A: St. John iii:14-18.]

[Footnote B: St. John x:15-18.]

"Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? [i. e. for his deliverance from those who had taken him for the crucifix]. But how then shall the scripture be fulfilled, that thus it must be?"[A]

[Footnote A: Matt. xxvi:52-54.]

Though in the shadow of the cross he could have found deliverance from his voluntarily accepted mission had he so elected; but thanks be to God, he endured and fulfilled his mission to menward. And in that office of Savior, Redeemer, one recognizes the devotion of the brother and the friend of man; and in this he made manifest the love of God for the world; even also as he manifested the brightness of God's glory, and the express image of his person, being indeed the full and complete revelation of God to the world--"God manifested in the flesh."

_4. Christ the Mediator:_ In this second Personage of the Godhead, then, one may see not only the Redeemer, the Savior, the Revealer of God; but through those offices one may also see the Brother and Friend of man. The Mediator, the one who brings God close to man; the one who brings men close to God. The one who reflects God into the world. The one who banishes the terror which men have had of God, and reveals the love of God, and the mercy and compassion of the Father--the one whom the ages longed for--the need of the world as Mediator between man and violated law--Herald of grace--Christ the Son of God, by way of pre-eminence; Christ, the Brother and Friend of Man.

_5. God the Holy Ghost--Witness in the Godhead; Spirit of Truth and Revealer of Truth:_[A] "I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed; and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost,"--Paul.[B]

[Footnote A: As this Divine Personage of the Holy Trinity is to be the subject of several lessons, and the central thought in this whole treatise here only so much is said of him as will suggest his relationship to the other two personages of the Godhead, and indicate his special office.]

[Footnote B: I Cor. xii:3.]

"Then are ye in the straight and narrow path * * * and ye have received the Holy Ghost, which witnesses of the Father and of the Son."[A]

[Footnote A: II Nephi xxxi:18.]

"When the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me."[A]

[Footnote A: St. John xv:26.]

"Howbeit, when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

"He shall glorify me; for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

"All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you."[A]

[Footnote A: St. John xvi:13, 15.]

"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you."[A]

[Footnote A: St. John xiv:26.]

In these scriptures we have presented the chief office of the Third Person of the Holy Trinity. The Holy Ghost by way of pre-eminence is the Witness of God, and for the truth of God. The Father's witness; the Son's witness; the Truth's witness; and because of this--as the outgrowth of it--the Guide into all truth; the Comforter, the Assurer, the universal Voice to soul of man of certainty; the universal Eye to the spirit of man, that can and does show him things to come. The Seer Power in the Souls of men. The Witness for God; who is also God, Deity; and the bond of union and communion between God and Souls of men. Spirit Personage of the Godhead; one in moral and spiritual union with God, the Father, and God, the Son, and the cause and special power of union between God, and those who receive the truth.