Luke 24:36-43, "And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet. And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before them."
Is there a scripture anywhere that says that Christ layed down his body a second time? That he does not now have a body of flesh and bones? God is a Spirit? Yes. Christ has a body? Yes. Just because it says that God is a Spirit, does not mean that God does not have a body. The same could be said of you or I that we are spirit. Let us look at the scripture where this is discussed, John 4:23-24. "But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." This is not a scripture about the definition of God and a description of God. This is a scripture about how we need to worship him in spirit and truth because He is a Spirit. Just as this scripture requires that Jesus Christ didn't have a body. Neither does it requires that God not have a body. The fact that God is a spirit does not preclude that God has a body.
Is there more than one God? Can you admit to three Gods such as: The Father, The Son and The Holy Ghost. Are these three a single entity. But why? The scriptures only require that they be One. Jesus didn't seem to make the same assumption that you are making about what being one meant. In Matthew 19:17, he said, "And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good by one, that is God"
Lets make an examination of some of the scriptures and analyze them. I will try to suggest what the "Trinitarian" concept would suggest about their interpretation. Correct me where I am wrong. But most of all let us see what the Bible is actually saying. Must we make a doctrine that is too complicated for man to understand or does the Bible represent a doctrine the is clear, consise and consistent. Also a doctrine that can be understood by all men. In Matt. 18:3 Christ says, "Except ye be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." When Jesus said, "Suffer little children, and forbid them no, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven," I believe that he was indicating that the doctrine of the kingdom was simple enough for little children to understand.
I want to also comment a little on the name of God in the Old Testament. In the beginning the word is Elohim, which literally means Gods although it is usually used with a singular verb. There is one place that the King James translated Elohim as angels, however later translators have more correctly maintained the usage of god. This could be argued that it is not the same as God, but what does it mean as god? This is in Psalms 8:4-5, (The New English Bible) "what is man that thou shouldst remember him, mortal man that thou shouldst care for him? Yet thou hast made him little less than a god, crowning him with glory and honour."
Even in the beginning of the Bible, Gen 1:26-27, "And God said, Let
us make man in our image, after our likeness. . ." Who is "us" and "our".
We are talking about more than one individual. At least the first and simplest
explanation that the writers of the Bible would expect us to interpret
is that we understand them to mean more than one God.
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| Doctrine: | Beyond the comprehension of man | Simple and literal |
| Gen 3:22 "man is become as one of us" | "us" is not intended to mean more than one. | There is more than one God. |
| Gen 5:3 "Adam . .begat a son in his own likeness, after
his image"
Gen 1:26 "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness" |
We know what it means to have a son in the image and likeness of his father, but when God created man it was in his spiritual likeness and image. We are not physically like God. God cannot be confined to a physical body. | As Seth was like his father Adam, even so Adam was like God. He was created to look like God. |
| Matt 3:17 "This is my beloved Son" | The manifestation was Christ being baptized, the Father speaking from heaven, but they are the same substance. They only appear separate. | The Father in Heaven spoke from Heaven. They are separate individuals. |
| Matt 26:39 "O my Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt." | Christ is not actually praying to the Father, but is giving us an example of how we should pray. | Jesus Christ prayed to his Father, who was in heaven. The atonement process was significant, even for a God. |
| Luke 22:44 "And being in agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood" | Christ was again showing us how to pray and the process of preparing for the atonement. He did not actually bleed. | He was in agony as he took upon him the sins of the world. His agony was so great that he sweat blood. |
| Mark 13:32 "but of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father" | The Son knows because he is God, but the manifestation of God in Jesus Christ does not know. | The Father is in charge, He controls the future. The Son is directed by the Father. |
| John 14:38 "for the Father is greater than I" | The Father can not be actually greater, but the manifestation of the Father is greater. | The Father is greater than the Son. |
| John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son," | Christ is a manifestation of the love of God. Only begotten is a name of the Son. | The Father loved us so that he sent his son, his only begotten to redeem mankind. |
| Luke 2:52 "And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man." | Jesus as Christ already had all wisdom and stature, but he appeared to grow as a child would. | Jesus grew and developed as other children. His spirit in his body was Jehovah, the God of the Old Testament. |
We know that God the Father and Jesus Christ are spoken of as being one. Just what does that mean? In whatever way they are one, Jesus says that we should be one in the same way. In Christ Intercessory prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane he said, "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through there word; that they all may be one as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that thou hast sent me." So in whatever way Jesus is one with God the Father, Christ is saying that we should be one in that same way. Sure doesn't sound like some trinitarian concept that wasn't even invented until the Council of Nicea in 325 AD.
And in Acts how did Stephen describe God when he looked into heaven? "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God." He is describing two beings, not just one.
Is
God a Spirit in the Book of Mormon?
Is there
more than one God?
Doctrine of the Trinity