These notes discussing The Restoration of the Fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ contain links to a few books that have helped me understand the context and content of the scriptures. As an Amazon Affiliate, I do earn a small commission from qualifying purchases (at no extra cost to you). Click here to see all of my favorite books on Amazon.
In this podcast, Bryce and I talk about the importance that the Restoration has in our lives. Specifically, we address the idea that the order of things revealed were important because the order in which they were restored are vital for us to grow in faith and understand basic things before we can grow in our understanding of more complicated concepts. The slides provided here are helpful in this presentation.
SLIDES – The Restoration of the Fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ
As a former born again – I can understand how Christians conclude the Lord is triune. The basis is that there is only one god – Deut 6:4 and if you worship more than one God it is idolatry Exod.20:3-6
So with that as the infallible premise, the only explanation is that the three have to be one…
so that is why they embrace the three in one god.
The foundation is God became the Son and the Son became the spirit.
Can you explain the following verses –
1 Cor 15:45 …the last Adam became a life giving spirit
2 Cor 3:17 – Now the Lord is that spirit
1 Tim.3:16 – ‘great is the mystery of godliness, God was manifest in the flesh’…. assuming one God only, then the Father is the Son….?
I am careful with ideas that something is “infallible,” especially when quoting Deuteronomy. I would say that Deuteronomy 6.4, while an excellent verse, would not be a jumping off point for understanding God, especially when we see the political events that shaped Deuteronomy and created the environment that brought it about. Much of Deuteronomy is a theological fight against the very things that 1 Nephi 1 is addressing, defending, and the very foundational premise of the entire Book of Mormon and even the Restoration. You might want to watch this video where I break this down: Episode 230 – Was Jesus Deleted from the Old Testament?
You might also want to read Jonah Barnes’ book where he breaks down some of the arguments that are being addressed in this video as well. His book is worth owning – Jonah Barnes, The Key to the Keystone: How Apocryphal Texts Unlock the Book of Mormon’s Brass Plates, Plain and Precious Publishing, 2024.
I would also add that the multiple plurals used in the Hebrew Bible allow for multiple divine beings addressing mortals. For example, Gen. 1.26 reads in part, “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…” – this is all plural language from multiple divine beings, reading וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים נַעֲשֶׂה אָדָם בְּצַלְמֵנוּ כִּדְמוּתֵנוּ – Here we have a singular “he said,” followed by Elohim, which is a plural – Gods, with we will create man in OUR image, in OUR likeness. So this is not all cut and dry as some think. The Bible is very complicated, and the councils of the 4th and 5th centuries worked very hard to try and come up with an arrangement that would work and make things fit. I’m just trying to show how it isn’t as simple as the born agains think it is, because it isn’t. Since all they have is the text, then we must read what it actually says.
The Latter-day Saint position is a bit different. That is because Joseph actually saw God. And he saw the Father and the Son. So this changes things, and so I would say that is our premise. Start with the Sacred Grove. As fast as we can get to the Sacred Grove, and read his words – this tells us more than the creeds of 4th century Christendom. The creeds were a good attempt at politically figuring things out, but God stands revealed or forever remains unknown. I suppose the test on whether Joseph was correct on this comes down to whether the Book of Mormon is true. Knowing that it is brings us to a different premise and opens up different possibilities regarding Biblical interpretation. I will use the Revelations of the Restoration to understand and interpret Biblical passages and not vice versa.
I would push back against “God became the Son and the Son became the Spirit.” To me, this is riddled with all kinds of problems. The complexity of the Greek understanding of the Logos turning into how the apologists then took the Logos doctrine and used it to emphasize that Jesus was the unmoving mover of Aristotle’s philosphy gets complicated real quick. Early Christian thinkers, such as Justin Martyr, Clement of Alexandria, and Origen, adopted and adapted the concept of the Unmoved Mover to align with Christian theology. They used it as part of their efforts to demonstrate that Christianity fulfilled and transcended Greek philosophy, asserting that Christian doctrine was not only compatible with rational thought but was the ultimate truth sought by the Greek philosophers. Suffice it to say that councils decided what “orthodoxy” was, and for every verse emphasizing “one God” I can show another that embraces henotheism in the Hebrew Bible. To make matters more complicated, the entire background of the Hebrew Bible assumes a polytheistic set of assumptions – for example, Exodus 20 tells us that we are to not have any gods “before” Yahweh – essentially acknowledging that Yahweh is the preeminent god, surpassing all other gods. The concept of the “trinity” or “triune God” is nowhere in Hebrew Bible.
A couple book recommendations: Smith, The Origins of Biblical Monotheism: Israel’s Polytheistic Background and the Ugaritic Texts, Oxford University Press, 2003.
Hillar, From Logos to Trinity: The Evolution of Religious Beliefs from Pythagoras to Tertullian, Cambridge University Press, 2012.
Hopkins, How Greek Philosophy Corrupted the Christian Concept of God, Horizon Publishers, 2009.
McConkie, Sons and Daughters of God: The Loss and Restoration of Our Divine Inheritance, Bookcraft, 1994.
I went to show notes Episode #301 about D&C. I then clicked the diagram about the D&C: Line upon line. I then try to go back to the Whole of Ep. 201 Show notes and I cannot with everything I try to do. I open up new windows to go to the whole of Ep 301 show notes and website won’t let me.
Mark, sometimes the site crashes due to high usage. I just checked it out and the links are all working properly. But today is Wednesday and so I am guessing (but don’t know for sure) that you may have been on the site when alot of folks are using it. This is a free site and I guess you get what you pay for! So sorry! I am not a tech guy – mostly a book nerd who loves the Restored Gospel. I need tech help! If you know anyone willing to help me out, let me know! I apologize for the inconvenience!
I also haven’t been able to open the show notes link, but I am very interested. It’s after 11 p.m., so I doubt there’s a lot of traffic on the site at the moment. Thanks for sharing your knowledge, Mike!
I really like the illustration of the progression of revelations given to Joseph Smith. Having it pointed out that the truths restored move from the true nature of God in the Sacred Grove and about Christ and His mission in the Book of Mormon all the way to Eternal marriage and theosis in Nauvoo really puts the big picture in perspective for the Doctrine and Covenants.