Is there not much of a difference between Mormonism and Christianity?
Well actually, despite what many may think, there is. And when it comes to the sensitive and even highly charged issue that is eternal ramifications, the Christian may not know where to turn. Just trying to understand the Mormon's beliefs can be both confusing and frustrating. That's why Mormonism 101 was written, a book resourced by Mormonism Research Ministries Bill McKeever and Eric Johnson that contrasts vital doctrines such as who is God, what is Scripture, and how a person is able to go to Heaven.
When the two religions are placed side by side, the differences are many. Mormonism 101 is a tool that will help you better understand the doctrines of your Latter-day Saint friend, family member, or co-worker. And it even has witnessing tips available to help you in future conversations. Published by Baker Books, Mormonism 101 is available at mrm.org.
Or ask for it at your favorite Christian bookstore. Always be prepared to give an answer. And now, your host for today's Viewpoint on Mormonism. The incarnation of Jesus Christ. What has Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its leaders taught on this very issue? Welcome to this edition of Viewpoint on Mormonism.
I'm your host, Bill McKeever, the founder and director of Mormonism Research Ministry. And with me today is Aaron Shafalaloff, my colleague at MRM, and we are continuing our discussion, Aaron, of the incarnation of Jesus and how Mormon leaders have actually described how this came about as compared to how Christians have historically viewed what is known as the virgin birth. And maybe we should explain exactly what do we mean by the virgin birth? Well, by virgin birth in Christianity, what we're really referring to is the birth of Jesus, which did not require a prior physical copulation or sexual intercourse to be quite explicit.
Really, the substance of the virgin birth is the virgin conception. And what we're really accusing Mormonism as a whole of is having taught among leaders that God the Father had physical relations, physical sexual relations with Mary, and that this idea was taught by many of its leaders. It's recognized as having been taught by at least one modern Mormon apologist. And it's a strain of thought that continues to exist among some Mormon members today. And even among Mormon members who don't affirm it, they often will affirm it as acceptable or tolerable or as possible. They'll say it's a mystery. They'll say, well, we don't know if God the Father had sexual relations with Mary. But anyway, let's get to the Brigham Young quotes.
We need to. We need to go back to, really, the early years of the Mormon Church. Now, I'm not aware, maybe you are, but I'm not aware of Joseph Smith making any claims like this. A lot of this seems to go back to Brigham Young. And Brigham Young, we know, is responsible for bringing about some of the more strange doctrines that bother many of us Bible-believing Christians even to this day. And what I found, they even bother a lot of Mormons who have never heard about some of these things. He's crazy old Brigham Young in the attic.
Yeah, he's the old crazy uncle you just bring down whenever you need some kind of authority. Let's look at some of the statements that Brigham Young said. For instance, this is what Brigham Young said on February 8, 1857. He said, When the time came that his firstborn, the Savior, should come into the world and take a tabernacle, the Father came himself and favored that spirit with a tabernacle instead of letting any other man do it. The Savior was begotten by the Father of his Spirit, by the same being who is the Father of our spirits, and that is all the organic difference between Jesus Christ and you and me. Another quote, and by the way, you can get these at mrm.org slash virgin dash birth.
We're going to be reading a lot here. The birth of the Savior, Brigham writes, was as natural as are the births of our children. It was the result of natural action. He partook of flesh and blood and was begotten of the Father as we were of our fathers.
And that's the key phrase. Now, we would share in the belief that Jesus' birth was natural. Okay, Jesus coming through the birth canal and that was natural. But when Brigham Young adds here, he partook of flesh and blood, was begotten of his Father as we were of our fathers. Well, we have to ask, well, how are we begotten, quote unquote, of our fathers?
And you've got this Mormon doctrine of Heavenly Father having flesh and bones. You know, there's this question probably among Brigham's time, you know, how did the virgin birth happen if, you know, if miracles aren't as we thought they to be? What's important is, is how were we born? How were we to come about? And we all understand how that happens.
Anybody who has had kids knows how that happens. And when you use this expression, as we were of our fathers, unless he's implying we're all the product of a virgin birth, which I don't think we are, what is he saying? Right, and keep in mind that Mormon apologists say this. Well, they're maybe referring to human artificial insemination.
Just keep that in mind. Okay, another quote. The Father came down and begot him the same as we do now.
The same as we do now. Okay, now let's turn it a little bit because Brigham Young goes off on another direction in some of his talks, especially in his April 1852 sermon where he introduces for the first time in a general conference the teaching that Adam is actually God. This is the twist that Brigham Young put on it at that time. He said, what a learned idea. Jesus, our elder brother, was begotten in the flesh by the same character that was in the Garden of Eden, and who is our Father in Heaven. Now let all who may hear these doctrines, doctrines Aaron, he doesn't say theories.
How many times have I heard it's the Adam-God theory? Brigham Young never said that. Let all who hear these speculations.
Yeah, these speculations are just my opinions. He doesn't say that. He says, now let all who may hear these doctrines pause before they make light of them or treat them with indifference, for they will prove their salvation or damnation. Hardly what Stephen Robinson, a BYU professor, said that, well, maybe Brigham was just kidding.
That doesn't sound like he's kidding. He goes on in that same message, he goes on to say, if the Son was begotten by the Holy Ghost, which of course would be the position of most Bible-believing Christians today, it would be very dangerous to baptize and confirm females and give the Holy Ghost to them, lest he should beget children to be palmed upon the elders up by the people, bringing the elders into great difficulty. So, just in case people have missed it, Brigham Young taught that Adam of Adam and Eve was Heavenly Father. And one of the extensions of this teaching that really confirms the essence of the Adam-God teaching of Brigham is that Brigham teaches that Adam is the one who impregnated Mary. He really did believe that Adam was Heavenly Father. Well, we find Brigham Young also saying this in 1866, he says, the man Joseph, the husband of Mary, did not, that we know of, have more than one wife, but Mary, the wife of Joseph, had another husband. On this account, infidels have called the Savior a bastard.
Can I say that on Christian radio? I'm just quoting Brigham Young here. This is merely a human opinion upon one of the inscrutable doings of the Almighty. That very babe that was cradled in the manger was begotten not by Joseph, the husband of Mary, but by another being. Do you inquire by whom? He was begotten by God, our Heavenly Father. The answer may suffice you. You need never inquire more upon that point, according to Brigham Young.
Heber C. Kimball, another early Mormon leader, taught First Presidency under Brigham Young. In relation to the way in which I look upon the works of God and His creatures, I will say that I was naturally begotten. So was my Father, and also my Savior Jesus Christ. According to the Scriptures, He is the first begotten of His Father in the flesh and there was nothing unnatural about it. Nothing unnatural, folks.
Now, what are you envisioning here? Nothing unnatural. Obviously about human artificial insemination. Wouldn't that be unnatural, right? That would be unnatural.
That's not natural. They didn't even know about human artificial insemination back then. And folks, you're probably wondering why we're laughing about that, because we have had so many Mormons try to skirt this issue by implying that that's what it could have been. And really, that is one of the most silliest notions. That's not how early Mormon leaders thought.
They would not have looked at it this way at all. Orson Pratt, early Mormon leader, he taught, As God the Father begat the fleshly body of Jesus, so He, before the world began, begat His Spirit. As the body required an earthly mother, so His Spirit required a heavenly mother. As God associated in the capacity of a husband with an earthly mother, so also He associated in the same capacity with a heavenly one. Earthly things being the likeness of heavenly things, and that which is temporal being the likeness of that which is eternal. In other words, the laws of generation upon the earth are after the order of the laws of generation in heaven. It's worth pointing out that Mary and God the Father, according to Orson Pratt, are associated in the capacity of husband and wife. Now, Ezra Taft Benson, the thirteenth president of the Mormon Church, said this, You know, he starts that quote earlier by saying, In fact that he prefaces it that way. But anyway, who in their right Christian mind would say that Jesus was sired? That's a farm term.
You know, that's something that you would hear someone on a farm saying. Also interesting is that this quote was re-quoted in the 2001 December Ensign. In other words, it's not something that just goes back several decades, it's something that Mormon people today should be listening to because it's in a current publication. The language that Mormon leaders continue to use, or the quotes of past leaders, help perpetuate this traditional belief among Mormons. Certainly, and as we have been talking about, there are Mormons who certainly are mixed on this. Some Mormons don't agree with these teachings, some don't seem to have a problem with it. But the fact that the Mormon Church doesn't come out with an official statement on that I think is very telling. Why don't they?
You would think that they would make the matter very clear to their own people whether or not it was by a physical impregnation by God the Father who has a body of flesh and bones, or it was in fact understood in the traditional way that Christians have always held. Especially if they're going to put up all those Christmas lights. Yeah, okay. Especially. Really. Millions of them at Temple Square.
Millions of them. Anyway, so we're going to be discussing this again as we go on. We hope that you'll join us in our next broadcast of Viewpoint on Mormonism. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormon Church, is a huge topic of interest among many Bible-believing Christians who want to reach their LDS friends and loved ones with the biblical message of hope and grace. If you're a Christian who wants to be better informed about the beliefs of the Mormon people, Mormonism Research Ministry wants to be a resource for you. Since 1979, Mormonism Research Ministry has worked hard to clearly articulate Mormon doctrine and history in order to better understand the issues that separate Mormonism from the Christian faith. At MRM.org, you'll find links to hundreds of articles as well as dozens of videos that will effectively educate you on this fascinating topic. Should your church need a live presentation, simply contact MRM and schedule one of our several PowerPoint presentations that have helped thousands of Christians better understand the beliefs of their LDS neighbors. To schedule MRM at your church, write us at MRM.org or call 801-572-2153. Let MRM help you become a confident ambassador for Christ.
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