The general idea of Deity accepted throughout the so-called Christian world is stated briefly in this way: "God is a being without body, parts or passions."

The Latter-day Saints regard our Heavenly Father as possessing an actual tabernacle of flesh and bones (not blood), and that in His image man is created. Our views respecting this important subject are based upon the revelations of God to man in ancient and modern times, and regarding which there is no contradiction in the testimony of the prophets. "God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them." (Gen. i:26, 27.)

It is claimed by some that this likeness is only to be understood as a moral image. There is, however, nothing to justify such a view, either in the statement quoted or any other passage of Holy Writ. On the contrary, the Scriptures show that man is actually in the image of his Maker. Concerning His appearance to Abraham, we read: "And the Lord appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre; and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; and he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground, and said, 'My Lord, if now I have found favor in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant: Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree.'" (Gen. xviii:1-4.)

Material as this may appear to many, the first verse of the chapter, as well as other verses following those quoted, proves conclusively that this records a personal appearing of the Lord, and also that He has a tangible being, composed of various parts of the body, as real as those which characterize His offspring. This instance is only one out of many in which the Lord appeared to Abraham. Read the seventeenth chapter of Genesis, 1-3, "And when Abraham was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on his face; and God talked with him." Then follows the conversation engaged in between God, our Eternal Father, and Abraham, the "father of the faithful." How such an event should occur between a real human being and one who had no real organization, "without body, parts or passions," requires more credulity to believe than to accept the idea which the Scriptures themselves convey in these chapters, viz: that God has an actual personality.

If language more direct than the foregoing is required, it can be found in the eleventh chapter of Genesis, regarding the confusion of tongues at the tower of Babel. "And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. * * * Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech." It is evident from this that the Lord was in one place, the tower of Babel in another; that He was surrounded by associates, and in counsel with them proposed to go to the place where the tower was in course of construction and there defeat the purpose of its builders. No one could take this account, written in the simplicity of truth, believing that it is a truthful statement of the historical facts, and still believe that God is without body, parts or passions and in His actual individuality fills at once the immensity of space.

The entire Bible history of Abraham is also one continuous account of personal visits, conversations and covenants made by the Almighty to and with the patriarch. Isaac was also favored with the presence of the Lord: "And Isaac went unto Abimelech, king of the Philistines, unto Gerar. And the Lord appeared unto him and said, Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of." (Gen. xxvi:1, 2.) And again in the twenty-fourth verse of the same chapter: "And the Lord appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy father; fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake."

Jacob, the grandson, of Abraham, was no less favored of the Lord in being a personal witness of His existence, with love and interest in His earthly children: "And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canan and blessed me, and said unto me, Behold I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I will make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession." (Gen. xlviii:3, 4.)

Abraham was designated "the father of the faithful, the friend of God." Of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob the Lord has said, "I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob." To them He made glorious promises and entered into everlasting covenants extending into eternity. He promised that their seed should be as numerous as the stars of heaven and as countless as the sands upon the seashore. To the thoughtful person who reads the Scriptures in the spirit of truth, it must be apparent that our Heavenly Father foreknew the unchanging integrity of these men, and because of this gave them such great promises and made them, by His visits to them, living witnesses of His existence and personality.

Moses is another witness to the personality of God. "And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God." (Ex. iii:6.) On another occasion there were over seventy witnesses that God is a personal being. "Then went up Moses, Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel; And they saw the God of Israel; and there was under His feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in His clearness." (Ex. xxiv:9, 10.) He said to the prophet Moses: "Thou canst not see my face; for there shall no man see me and live. And the Lord said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock; and it shall come to pass, while my glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will cover thee with my hand while I pass by; and I will take away my hand, and thou shalt see my back parts; but my face shall not be seen." (Ex. xxxiii:20-23.) Again it is written: "My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold." (Num. xii:7, 8)

These quotations respecting the prophet Moses show that on some occasions he had personal visits from the Lord. In one instance he was accompanied by over seventy associates, and once he was permitted to see the back parts only. These statements are so much in detail and in such direct language that they are not susceptible of any private interpretation, but must be taken in a literal sense. How any one can profess to believe in the Bible and read these statements, yet deny the personality of God, is a matter of wonder and astonishment, and can only be accounted for in the fact that people have been taught to accept the precepts of men without taking the natural and reasonable conclusions which a personal reading of the Scriptures would establish in their own minds.

When Hezekiah, king of Judah, was beset by the Assyrians he offered the following prayer to the Lord: "Lord, bow down thine ear, and hear; open, Lord, thine eyes, and see; and hear the word of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living God." (II Kings xix:16.) And again it is written: "Now mine eyes shall be open, and my ears attend unto the prayer that is made in this place. For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there forever; and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually." (II Chron. vii:15, 16.) The Psalmist David expressed himself, saying: "I have called upon Thee, for Thou wilt hear me, O God; incline thine ear unto me, and hear my speech. As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied, when I awake with Thy likeness." (Psalms xvii:6, 15.) These expressions in the prayers of righteous men point to the manifest truth that God has eyes to see, ears to hear, a heart with which to love, a mouth to speak; and taken with other statements of Holy Writ, show beyond the possibility of a reasonable doubt, that our Heavenly Father is possessed of a body composed of the various parts which go to constitute the several members of a human body, and that He is susceptible of anger, love and hatred. He hates iniquity and loves righteousness. He is angry with the wicked every day. Such are the statements of Holy Writ. He, therefore, cannot be without body, parts or passions.

The Lord was also seen by the prophet Isaiah. "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple." (Isa. vi:1.) To corroborate these testimonies of the Old Testament we call the attention of the reader to several passages in the New. When Stephen was being martyred he saw God: "But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God." (Acts vii:55, 56.) Nothing could be plainer and more convincing from the written Scriptures than that Stephen actually saw God, and that He and His Son were in the heavens in the presence of each other.

Paul wrote to the Philippians as follows: "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus; who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God." (Phillip. ii:5 6.) And again in Col. i:15, Paul said respecting the Savior: "Who is the image of the invisible God, the first born of every creature." To the Hebrews the same apostle says, concerning Jesus: "Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high." (Heb. i:3.) These writings of Paul, though not relating to a personal appearance of God, fully corroborate in doctrine all the quotations on the subject made from the Old and New Testaments. The Scriptures referred to show conclusively the personality of the Father, and a portion of the quotations presented, point to the fact that He is a separate personage, and entirely distinct in person from His Son Jesus Christ.

We now call the attention of the reader to a few passages of Scripture, showing the personality of the Savior, not only in reference to His individuality before His crucifixion, but showing that in His resurrected and immortal state, He will continue a separate and distinct personality from all other beings. Subsequent to His resurrection He appeared to the apostles; at first sight they were terrified, and supposed 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 showed 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." (Luke xxiv:38-45.) Thomas, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came, and when told by his brethren that they had seen the Lord, he would not believe them, and said: "Except I shall see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into His side, I will not believe." Subsequent to this appearance, Thomas was present when the Savior invited him to satisfy his mind to the fullest extent, thrusting his hand into His side and beholding the wounds in His hands and feet, when he exclaimed, "My Lord and my God." (John xx:2, 5, 28.)

Here is a clear demonstration that Jesus in His immortal state continues as a personal being, with a tangible body of flesh and bones. To show that there is no change in the personal status of the Savior, eighteen hundred years have passed away since His resurrection, and yet we learn from the Scriptures that still in the future He shall appear in the same body: "And His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof. * * * And the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with Thee." (Zech. xiv:4-6.) In the thirteenth chapter, which appears to be connected with His appearance upon the Mount of Olives, we find the following statement: "And one shall say unto Him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then He shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends." (Zech. xiii:6.)

Many entertain the belief that of the three personages constituting the Godhead only one is a personal being with a tangible body, viz.: the Lord Jesus Christ. Enough evidence has been offered to prove the contrary of this erroneous theory; but as the Scriptures are full of evidence on this important subject, I will present the reader with several quotations which will aid him in his researches after the truth respecting this important doctrine. Matthew informs us concerning the baptism of the Savior that "The heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon Him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.'" (Matt. iii:16, 17.) In this instance the Savior is represented as being at the waters of Jordan, while the voice of His Father came from the courts of heaven, showing that the Father and Jesus are two distinct personages, existing in separate places at the same time. This testimony of Matthew is corroborated by that of Mark and Luke, the former in the eleventh verse of his first chapter: "And there came a voice from heaven, saying, 'Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased'"; and in Luke, the third chapter and twenty-second verse, as follows: "And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, 'Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.'"

It is recorded that on one occasion, while the Savior seriously contemplated the coming ordeal of His crucifixion, this occurred: "And Jesus answered them, saying, 'The hour is come, that the Son of Man should be glorified. He that loveth his life shall lose it. If any man serve me, let him follow me. If any man serve me, him will my Father honor. Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father save me from this hour; but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name.' Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, 'I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.'" (St. John xiii:23, 25, 26, 27, 28.)

Still another instance where the voice of the Father was heard, and in the presence of other witnesses than the Savior, is recorded in Matthew, seventeenth chapter, fifth and sixth verses: "While He yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.' And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid." The disciples here referred to were Peter, James and John. Peter relates this impressive event as follows: "For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eye-witnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory, and there came such a voice to Him from the excellent glory, 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.' And this voice which came from heaven we heard when we were with Him in the holy mount."

The account of this vision is also recorded in Mark ix:7: "And a voice came out of the cloud, saying: 'This is my beloved Son; hear Him.'" it is also said in Luke ix:35. "And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, 'This is my beloved Son: Hear Him.'" Surely the testimony of three or four reliable witnesses is sufficient to affirm the truth of this matter. When the Savior addressed the Father, no one could reasonably say that He was addressing Himself. We have many instances recorded by the writers of the New Testament that Jesus supplicated His Father in humble prayer. "I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes; even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered to me of my Father." (Luke x:21, 22.) "Father, the hour is come; glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee. And now, O Father, glorify Thou me with Thine own self, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was." (John xvii:1, 5.) "I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world; again, I leave the world, and go to the Father." (John xvi:28.)

To these references may be added those before referred to, giving an account of the martyrdom of Stephen, in the seventh chapter of the Acts of the Apostles, and the statement by Paul, in the first chapter of his letter to the Hebrews. Many other scriptural testimonies might be cited to prove that the Father and the Son are personal beings, each separate and distinct from the other.

The following passage of Scripture is often cited to prove that the Savior is the only personal being in the Deity: "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their 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. And the glory which Thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one." (John xvii:20-22.)

The very wording of this Scripture shows that the Father and the Son are not one in person, because He prays that all the disciples may be one in the same manner that the Father and the Son are one, and one in that sense only, for the simple reason that the oneness of the Father and the Son is perfect and complete. Their unity consists in being one in wisdom, one in knowledge, one in power, one in council, having a unity of purpose in the accomplishment of man's salvation to the tallest extent and in every conceivable respect. The disciples of Jesus could not be one in person, for each of himself is a separate individuality; they can be one, however, as the Father and Son are one, in the accomplishment of one great purpose—the salvation of mankind—because they are baptized by one Spirit into one body, even the church of Christ; they have one Lord, one faith and one baptism, and are all taught of God, having "access by one Spirit unto the Father" (Eph ii:18), who is not the author of confusion, and cannot consistently, with His own attributes, contradict Himself.

When Jesus sent His disciples into the world He commanded them to baptize penitent believers "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." (Matt. xxviii:19.) These three personages are understood by believers in the Bible to constitute the Godhead. We have shown that the Father and Son are separate personages. It is just as evident, from the Scriptures, that the Holy Ghost is as much a separate and distinct personage as are the other two. Concerning the enormity of sinning against the Holy Ghost, Jesus said: "Wherefore I say unto you, all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come." (Matt. xii:31-32). Again, "Verily I say unto you, all sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme; but he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation." (Mark iii:28-29.)

Agreeable to the language of these quotations, there is a distinct separation between the personality of the Savior and that of the Holy Ghost. Jesus, in speaking of those who should believe and obey Him, used this language: "He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive; for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified." (John vii:38, 39.) It appears from this statement that while Jesus was the representative of the Godhead to men in the flesh, at least for a period of time, the Holy Ghost had not come to officiate at that time as a personal witness of the Father and the Son to the children of men. To corroborate this idea, we quote from the sixteenth chapter of John, seventh verse: "Nevertheless I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you." That this Comforter is the Holy Ghost is evident from the fourteenth chapter of St. John, sixteenth and twenty-sixth verses: "And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." Further: "But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth, which proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of me." (John, xv:26.)

These promises are so definite that no one could reasonably mingle the personality of the Holy Ghost with that of either the Father or the Son. After the crucifixion and resurrection of the Savior, and when He had spent forty days with His disciples before His ascension, instructing them preparatory to their great mission, before He allowed them to go out, He reminded them of the promise which He had made to them, and commanded them to tarry at Jerusalem "until ye be endued with power from on high." (Luke xxiv:49.) This promise was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost, when the powers of the Holy Ghost were manifest through His glorious gifts which attended the apostles on that occasion. On that great day the Holy Ghost as a gift for their permanent guidance, was promised to all without distinction of time or place, if they would have faith, repent and be baptized by divine authority.

The personality of the Holy Ghost as a minister for God has been enjoyed in every dispensation of the Gospel. "Men and brethren, this Scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake." (Acts i:16.) Again: "Ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost; as your fathers did, so do ye." (Acts vii:51.) This is proof that David and the prophets spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, as did the disciples in the dispensation of Christ; also that the ancients rejected the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, as did the people in the days of the apostles. The apostle Peter says: "For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man; but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." (II Peter i:21.) No one by reading the Scriptures can reasonably deduce therefrom that divinely authorized men were justified in their official ministrations in speaking by any other power than that of the Holy Ghost. Paul says: "No man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost." (I Cor. xii:3.)

The great gifts of the Spirit have been referred to in earlier pages of this work, and need not be repeated here; but the character of those gifts and the constant necessity for their existence, together with the passages quoted here, are positive proof that the Holy Ghost is one of the Deity and a separate personage from the Father and Son. At the Baptism of the Messiah He was present in the waters of the Jordan with John the Baptist. The Father was in the heavens above, and His voice was heard, while the Holy Ghost descended upon the Savior, as witnessed by its appearance in the form of a dove. The Father, Son and Holy Ghost. The three constitute the great, supreme Godhead, yet are as separate and distinct in their personalities as any earthly parents and the children.