How can Jesus be a spirit child of Heavenly Father as our elder brother? Doesnt that indicate arianism? Jesus has always has been fully GOD John 1:1-3 and everlasting eternal psalms 90:2 by Jesus matureing until he became Iike God unto God abraham 3:24 woouldnt that indicate that Jesus waswasnt fully God? I know Jesus has always been God so this is uzzrling to me? How do we reconcile it?? Hoe csn Jesus becpme God when the standard works mention that Jesus is the eternal God. To e eternal means Jesus was always eternal from the beginning.. I csn accept the fact Jesus is pur elder brother but I have troubles believing tjat hr was begotten vhilf dpn of God by heavenly parents because if Jesus was begotten of Heavenly Father that would indicate that there was a time that Jesus didnt exist.
One Response to “How can Jesus be a spirit child of Heavenly Father as…”
Diego Leal
2012-10-28 15:10:36
For members of the church, Jesus Christ is the divine Son of God, our Savior and Redeemer through whom salvation is made possible. (Reflections of Christ)
Hi John. It was good to hear from you again. The central message of the New Testament is that Jesus Christ is the son of God, the Savior of mankind. Christ on multiple occasions referred to Himself as the Son of God. While we don't claim to understand how God the Father created God the Son, we do believe Jesus when he says he is God's Son and accept everything that that Sonship implies, including the obvious implication that God the Father created the Son.
Mormons believe that God the Son was the Father's first creation. Consequently, we agree with the sentiments expressed in John 1 and Psalms 90. Jesus Christ (the Word) was with God in the beginning. Together with God the Father, He created the universe.
The idea that at one point Jesus Christ was not fully God is, in my opinion, theologically problematic. Mormons believe that Jesus Christ, together with God the Father, helped create the universe. We believe He was divine before his birth, since we accept Him as Jehovah, the God of the Old Testament. We believe He led a sinless and perfect mortal life, thereby recognizing His intrinsic divinity during New-Testament times. If He was divine at the beginning of the universe, before His mortal ministry, during His mortal ministry, and, obviously, after His resurrection, at what point, exactly, did He "develop" his Godhood? It seems more reasonable to me to suppose that He was created divine from the beginning.
Now, there are Mormons who have a different perspective on this. Our church does emphasize the idea of theosis or exaltation, the idea that men and women can progress to be more like God after death, the idea that, with His divine authorization, God's children can participate in the divine nature while always being subject to the divine will. This doctrine has led some members of the church to suppose that, if men and women can become more like God, perhaps God the Son also went through a similar evolution. I respect this viewpoint but find the evidence in its favor lacking.
It's not exactly appropriate to call Mormons Arians. It is true that we believe Jesus Christ was created by God the Father; however, the idea that Jesus is subordinate to the Father is, in my opinion, again problematic. While we believe that God the Father and God the Son are physically distinct, we believe they function in perfect unity of purpose as one monotheistic unit, the Godhead or Trinity. In this sense, we are really more Trinitarian than Arian. How is it logical to say that Jesus is subordinate to God the Father when their will and purposes are identical?
As a final comment, I'm also not entirely comfortable with the idea that there was a time when Jesus didn't exist, because this seems to impose our human concept of linear time on God, who I suspect is not subject to time at all (Alma 40:8).
The simple answer to your question is that there is a lot about God that we don't know. We need to be more comfortable with our own ignorance, readily acknowledging that there's a lot we don't understand. I hope this helps.
Mormons believe that God the Son was the Father's first creation. Consequently, we agree with the sentiments expressed in John 1 and Psalms 90. Jesus Christ (the Word) was with God in the beginning. Together with God the Father, He created the universe.
The idea that at one point Jesus Christ was not fully God is, in my opinion, theologically problematic. Mormons believe that Jesus Christ, together with God the Father, helped create the universe. We believe He was divine before his birth, since we accept Him as Jehovah, the God of the Old Testament. We believe He led a sinless and perfect mortal life, thereby recognizing His intrinsic divinity during New-Testament times. If He was divine at the beginning of the universe, before His mortal ministry, during His mortal ministry, and, obviously, after His resurrection, at what point, exactly, did He "develop" his Godhood? It seems more reasonable to me to suppose that He was created divine from the beginning.
Now, there are Mormons who have a different perspective on this. Our church does emphasize the idea of theosis or exaltation, the idea that men and women can progress to be more like God after death, the idea that, with His divine authorization, God's children can participate in the divine nature while always being subject to the divine will. This doctrine has led some members of the church to suppose that, if men and women can become more like God, perhaps God the Son also went through a similar evolution. I respect this viewpoint but find the evidence in its favor lacking.
It's not exactly appropriate to call Mormons Arians. It is true that we believe Jesus Christ was created by God the Father; however, the idea that Jesus is subordinate to the Father is, in my opinion, again problematic. While we believe that God the Father and God the Son are physically distinct, we believe they function in perfect unity of purpose as one monotheistic unit, the Godhead or Trinity. In this sense, we are really more Trinitarian than Arian. How is it logical to say that Jesus is subordinate to God the Father when their will and purposes are identical?
As a final comment, I'm also not entirely comfortable with the idea that there was a time when Jesus didn't exist, because this seems to impose our human concept of linear time on God, who I suspect is not subject to time at all (Alma 40:8).
The simple answer to your question is that there is a lot about God that we don't know. We need to be more comfortable with our own ignorance, readily acknowledging that there's a lot we don't understand. I hope this helps.