One God

Today I read Mosiah 15. This chapter has caused much confusion for many people. I remember when I was a missionary, I helped baptize a young woman named Sherry. She was the only person who I helped baptize that I know read the Book of Mormon on a consistent basis. I remember quite clearly the day she read Mosiah 15. It confused her so much that she started over reading the Book of Mormon from 1 Nephi convinced she had missed something.

The reason this chapter can confuse so many people, is because Abinadi is teaching the priests of Noah here that Jesus Christ is both the Father and the Son. This can be a very confusing concept because Latter-day Saints don't believe in the Trinity, we believe in a Godhead, meaning 3 separate persons who comprise 1 God. They are 1 God because they all have the same purpose. They are 1 in much the same way a man and his wife are commanded to be 1 flesh.

I remember reading an answer Joseph Fielding Smith gave to this question once. He stated that Jesus Christ was the Father in that He created all things here on this earth, under the direction of our Heavenly Father. So he is the Father of our earthly bodies. He is also the Father in that He bought us from our debtors, namely sin. It is still not the easiest concept to wrap one's mind around, but suffice to say Jesus Christ, Heavenly Father and the Holy Ghost are 3 separate personages, but 1 God in purpose. As I mentioned above we should all be striving to reach such a state of purpose and aligning ourselves to God's will.

I also like how Abinadi touches on the salvation of little children, which I will touch on much, much later when we read Moroni 8. However, I do like that it is mentioned here and that it is clear they understood the doctrine well before Mormon's time. Until tomorrow.