Chapter 3
Heavenly Parents, Savior, and Holy Ghost
In This Chapter
Understanding God’s origin, nature, and goals
Appreciating what the Savior does for humankind
Receiving God’s love, guidance, and protection through the Holy Ghost
The Mormon God — whom they usually refer to as Heavenly Father — is quite different from the God most Christians worship. In fact, Mormons reject the traditional concept of the Trinity, the idea that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are different forms of one entity whose ethereal substance fills the entire universe. Rather, Mormons believe in a godhead staffed by three individual beings — Mormons call them personages — who are one in mind and purpose:
In the CEO position is God, a physically resurrected man who’s achieved a glorified state of eternal omnipotence (meaning, he has all the power you could ever want and infinitely more). He’s the literal father of human spirits and ruler of the universe.
Second in command is God’s son, Jesus Christ. He’s a separate man whose spirit and physical body were literally procreated by God.
Number three is a being whom Mormons commonly call the Holy Ghost, Holy Spirit,
Spirit of God, or simply the Spirit. As a spiritual personage without a physical body, the Holy Ghost is able to directly communicate God’s messages to the human spirit.
In addition, Mormons believe that God has a better half. He’s eternally married to a glorified, deified woman who’s known as Heavenly Mother, with whom he has spirit children. Most Mormons discuss their spiritual mother only rarely and briefly — but they do know that, as the Encyclopedia of Mormonism states, Heavenly Mother is like Heavenly Father in glory, perfection, compassion, wisdom, and holiness.
The Head Honcho: God the Father
To Mormons, God is the same species as humans, but he’s infinitely more advanced. To make a comparison, if humans are like newly hatched tadpoles, then God has already progressed through the frog stage and become a handsome prince. In the Mormon view, God isn’t so much a creator as an organizer of raw materials. As we discuss in this section, he’s got a very specific purpose in mind for going to all this trouble to run the universe.
What if God were one of us?
Mormonism’s founding prophet Joseph Smith taught, “If men do not comprehend the character of God, they do not comprehend themselves.” More specifically, Joseph taught the following as life’s great secret: “God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens!” A later Mormon prophet put it this way: “As man now is, God once was: as God now is, man may be.” (Don’t worry — these 19th-century fellows were talking about women, too.)
To Mormons, these all-important concepts mean that God himself has gone through everything his human children have experienced, are now experiencing, and will yet experience. Nineteenth-century Mormon leaders taught that untold eons ago, God’s eternal essence was born as a spirit to Heavenly Parents, just like human spirits would later be born to him. He received a physical, mortal body on an earthlike planet and passed his mortal test — evidently with flying colors. After his mortal body died and was resurrected, he advanced to his current position as supreme ruler of this universe. Of course, all this happened long ago and via a more advanced process than any human can comprehend. Modern-day LDS leaders are more reticent about God’s origins than those 19th-century freewheelers, though they continue to emphasize that God has a glorified, resurrected physical body.
At some point after giving birth to their first spirit child (see this chapter’s later section, “Second Mate: Christ the Son”), God and his eternal wife had other spirit children as well — billions of them. To enable these children to start the cycle all over again by growing up and becoming like their own Heavenly Parents, God taught them the plan of salvation, which we describe in detail in Chapter 2. All humans who pass through this earth are God’s spirit children who agreed to undergo the most difficult phase of this plan: demonstrating their faith and obedience away from God’s presence and thus determining their eternal status.
In the Mormon view, Heavenly Father is the source of everything good, and his attributes include the following:
A glorified humanlike body: When the scriptures say that people are created in God’s image, Mormons take that claim literally — God looks like a man, with body, parts, and passions. Of course, he doesn’t have any flaws or weaknesses, and he’s so glorified that mortals would shrivel up in his presence if he didn’t preserve them. Mormon scripture reveals that he dwells near the universe’s greatest star, Kolob, where one day equals 1,000 earth years.
Omniscience and omnipotence: God knows everything there is to know and has complete control of this universe, although he limits his own power somewhat by allowing his children freedom to choose their own actions and consequences. He perfectly comprehends, executes, and — Mormons believe — obeys all laws of nature and science. He administers the universe through an all-pervasive power called the priesthood, which he shares with his worthy children, as we explain in Chapter 4.
Perfect love for all his children: God is the ideal parent. Even when individuals don’t comprehend or cooperate with his plan of salvation, God still loves them. Although people who are currently suffering — or watching others suffer — may not believe it, God is infinitely kind and compassionate and wants to help anyone who sincerely seeks him out. (For Mormon ways of connecting with God, see Chapter 17.) However, God practices tough love when it comes to upholding the terms of the plan of salvation, to which everyone agreed before being born on this earth. (To refresh your memory about these terms that Mormons claim you accepted, see Chapter 2.)
With Franklin Planner in hand: God the organizer
As we said earlier in this chapter, Mormons see God as an organizer of existing elements. They don’t believe he created anything out of nothing. However, even though they believe that all matter is eternal and can’t be created out of nothing, they do still sometimes use the term create to describe what God does: He can manipulate existing matter any way he wants, whether he’s forming comets or beetles. And he lets his children learn how to manipulate it, too.
Although God generally reserves initial spiritual creation for himself, he lets his children help in subsequent physical creation. Mormons believe that many of God’s brightest spirit children, including Adam and Eve, fulfilled assignments to help form this physical earth under the direction of the Savior. (Kudos to whoever did the fjords in Norway and other cool spots.) Closer to home, God’s children help create each other’s physical bodies by conceiving and giving birth to babies, and God inspires mortals to make scientific discoveries about manipulating the elements. All this creation is practice for potentially becoming more like God himself.
Why does God go to all this trouble?
Differences in beliefs about God the Father
Mormons differ from “traditional” Christians (such as Protestants and Catholics) in some fundamental ways. To help you understand, we’ve created Table 3-1 to highlight some of the most important differences in beliefs about God the Father. Even if you don’t have time to read the whole chapter, you should be able to master the basic bones of contention from this table and Table 3-2 (later in this chapter), which outlines differences in beliefs about Jesus Christ.
| Qualities of God | Mormon Christianity | Protestant and Catholic |
|---|---|---|
| Christianity | ||
| God the Creator | God organized all matter but | God created everything out |
| didn’t will it into being; matter | of nothing. | |
| has always existed. | ||
| God’s substance | Heavenly Father is a being of | God is spirit and doesn’t have |
| glorified flesh and bone, like his | a physical body. | |
| son, Jesus Christ. | ||
| God the Father | Human beings are God’s pro- | Human beings are created in |
| created children by nature, | God’s spiritual image, but | |
| born with divine potential. | they become his spiritual | |
| children through adoption by | ||
| God’s grace, not by their | ||
| nature. | ||
| God’s peers | Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, | Heavenly Father, Jesus |
| and the Holy Ghost are three | Christ, and the Holy Ghost | |
| separate beings who work | are members of the Trinity, | |
| together as one. | meaning they’re one in sub | |
| stance as well as purpose. | ||
| God’s family | God is eternally married to | God isn’t married, and his |
| Heavenly Mother, and together | only son is the Savior, | |
| they’ve populated the world | Jesus Christ. | |
| with their children (us). | ||
| God’s limitations | God is subject to certain laws of | God has no known limitations. |
| the universe, which are eternal. | ||
| God respects human agency, or | ||
| freedom, and won’t typically | ||
| interfere with the natural conse- | ||
| quences of human actions. | ||
| God’s goal for | God wants people to return to | God wants people to return |
| humanity | him and become like him in | to him and praise him |
| glory and love. | eternally. |
Second Mate: Christ the Son
Mormons view the New Testament as a mostly accurate account of Jesus’s earthly ministry (for more on Mormon views regarding the Bible, see Chap-ter 9). However, additional revelations to Mormon prophets have clarified aspects of what Jesus did before, during, and after his short mortal life, as well as what he’s expected to do in the future.
First and best
In Mormon theology, the being who would become known as Jesus Christ was born first among all God’s billions of spirit children, and he was by far the brightest, strongest, and most advanced of all God’s children. In the premortal world, where human spirits dwelt with the Heavenly Parents and prepared for earthly birth, this eldest son took a primary leadership role and was known as Jehovah. Many people believe the names Jehovah and the Lord in the Old Testament refer to God the Father, but Mormons believe these names refer to the personage who would later be born as Jesus Christ.
As we mention earlier in the chapter, God instituted the plan of salvation so that his spirit children can progress to become like him. In order for this plan to work, a savior was required to help everybody recover from the sin and death they’d encounter as part of the earthly test. Guess who volunteered?
Among God’s oldest spirit children was another gifted and talented son, named Lucifer. As we discuss in more detail in Chapter 2, Lucifer developed the worst-ever case of sibling rivalry and rebelled against God and Jehovah/Jesus Christ, which got him and his followers kicked out of heaven. In the Mormon view, Jesus, the devil, and all humans everywhere are spiritual siblings.
Well before coming to earth to perform his saving mission, the Savior began serving as God’s second in command. While God created the earth spiritually, the Savior took primary responsibility for the earth’s physical creation. After mortals started wandering the planet with no memory of their premortal life, the Savior communicated with them through prophets and the Holy Ghost. On the rare occasion when God himself directly speaks or appears to a human, it’s generally to introduce his Son.
Both mortal and divine
In the Mormon view, God fathered everybody’s spirit, but the Savior’s physical body was the only one literally procreated by God, in partnership with the mortal Mary. (We could discuss what some early Mormons believed about the logistics of that situation, but we won’t go there.) Possessing both eternal and mortal DNA, Jesus was able to die and then be resurrected in glorified immortality, thus opening the way for everyone to eventually be resurrected.
Equally as importantly, Jesus paid the price for all the sins of humanity. In the Mormon view, whenever a moral law is broken, justice must be satisfied, and the Savior accomplished that for humankind on a spiritual, eternal level. Having paid this bill that mortals couldn’t pay for themselves, he forgives the debt for all people who sincerely repent of their sins and strive to live his gospel. Although many Christians believe that Jesus extends his grace to anyone who simply asks, Mormon Christians believe the Savior picks up the slack as a person makes his or her best effort to be good.
Together, the Savior’s overcoming of death and sin is known as his Atonement. Mormons believe that the hardest, most significant phase of the Atonement occurred in the Garden of Gethsemane, during that long night when Jesus literally sweat drops of blood (as described in the Bible, Luke 22:44). Although crucifixion was a horrible way to die, numerous others died that same way. Consequently, Mormons don’t place heavy religious significance on the sign of the cross. To Mormons, the most important aspects of the story are that Christ’s sacrifice atoned for people’s sins and that he lives today.
Was Jesus married?
Mormons view marriage as an eternal covenant that all men and women must make in order to be exalted, or become like God (for more on Mormon marriage, see Chapter 7). In addition, Mormons believe that Jesus Christ set a perfect example in all things. According to this logic, the Savior must’ve gotten married at some point.
Some early Mormon leaders speculated that the marriage at Cana, where Jesus turned water into wine, was actually his own wedding, which would help explain why he was trying to be a good host. Additionally, some Mormons believe that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and had children, and they reject the notion that Magdalene was a reformed whore. However, modern Church leaders pretty much publicly avoid this subject altogether.
The Savior’s post-crucifixion checklist
After his mortal body died on the cross, the Savior immediately got busy with the following tasks:
During the three days between Christ’s death and resurrection, Mormons believe his spirit visited the realm of the dead. Wanting to extend his atonement to every human who ever lived, he organized the righteous spirits to start preaching the gospel to those who died without hearing or accepting it. Until then, an impassable gulf had lain between the righteous and the wicked in the spirit world.
Jesus transformed his physical body into a perfect, glorified, immortal vessel for his eternal spirit. At the time of his resurrection, all the righteous people who’d died before him got resurrected too, all the way back to Adam. Most of the righteous who died after him will wait until his Second Coming to be resurrected. Mormons view the Savior’s resurrection as the single most significant and miraculous event in human history.
As recorded in the New Testament, the resurrected Savior spent time teaching his apostles. In addition, Mormons believe he visited the people living in the Western Hemisphere, part of the “other sheep” that the Bible’s John 10:16 says he mentioned. Lasting several days, this visit is recounted as the centerpiece of the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith’s translation of the sacred account left behind by these people. (For more on the Book of Mormon, see Chapter 9.) He may have visited additional peoples around the world, who presumably have their own scriptures and sacred records about those encounters.
After the resurrected Savior ascended to heaven, he kept working behind the scenes among humans. Mormons believe that, within a few decades after Christ left the earth, persecution and corruption ruined his church, as we discuss in Chapter 4. For about 1,700 years, the Savior didn’t reestablish an official church or prophet on the earth, although he continued blessing and inspiring worthy, faithful individuals, especially those who sought religious freedoms.
Finally, when conditions were right for the restoration of the true religion, God and Jesus appeared to Joseph Smith in 1820. During the subsequent 24 years, Jesus restored his church, his gospel, and God’s priesthood through the Prophet Joseph. Since then, Mormons believe the Savior has been actively leading the Church through whatever man is serving as the current prophet. One of the LDS Church’s main purposes is to prepare people for Christ’s eventual Second Coming.
As Mormons strive to develop a personal relationship with Heavenly Father, they recognize that Jesus Christ is the middleman, the broker, and the gatekeeper — in theological terms, the mediator — between God and humanity. The only way back to God is through him. Mormons feel deep gratitude and love for the Savior and pledge total allegiance to him. When they pray to the Father or do anything else of a religious nature, they do it in Christ’s name (for more on Mormon prayer, see Chapter 17). The Church is Christ’s, the gospel is Christ’s, and Christ administers God’s priesthood among humans.
When he comes again
As the bumper sticker says, “Jesus is coming — everyone look busy.” No one but God knows exactly when Jesus will return in glory to rule the earth for 1,000 years, but Mormons believe the time is fast approaching and people should prepare.
Signs of the times
Although the Church’s restoration is one of the key signs that the Second Coming is near, Mormons believe they must still preach the gospel to all nations before Christ will return. Mormon missionaries have entered most countries, but places like Saudi Arabia and China still aren’t open for evangelizing. Some Mormons semiseriously debate whether electronically transmitted missionary work suffices, or if missionaries must personally visit each nation. In addition, Mormons expect to build the New Jerusalem in the state of Missouri before the Savior returns, to serve as his headquarters. (Why Missouri? See Chapter 11.)
Unfortunately, many of the signs preceding the Second Coming don’t sound like too much fun. Aware that time is running out, the devil is pulling out all the stops. The last century’s wars and social ills — and those of the present day — are mere warm-ups for how much worse things will get. The earth will go haywire with natural calamities, including earthquakes, disease, storms, and famine, and the wicked will run rampant. According to Mormon scripture, “All things shall be in commotion; and . . . fear shall come upon all people” (Doctrine and Covenants 88:91). Of course, the Lord has promised to comfort the righteous during these times of crisis, and many of them will survive to welcome him back.
It’s a bird! It’s a plane!
At a crucial point during Armageddon, the world’s final catastrophic war, Mormons believe the Savior will descend out of the sky to assume control of the earth and accomplish the following tasks:
Levitate the good people: As the Savior comes down from the heavens, he’ll resurrect the righteous dead, who’ll be airlifted up to meet him, along with those righteous people who are still living. Together with those who were already resurrected at the time of Jesus’s own resurrection, these people will eventually inherit the celestial kingdom, where they’ll live with God and potentially become like him. (For more on Mormonism’s three degrees of heavenly glory, see Chapter 2.)
Say goodbye to bad guys: With the good people safe, he’ll destroy the wicked mortals who are still living, imprison Satan, cleanse the earth with fire, and restore the earth to its Garden of Eden status, with no weeds or carnivores. All the wicked spirits from throughout history will stay in timeout in spirit prison.
Start his own show: He’ll establish a perfectly fair, just, and peace- ful worldwide government — run by both Church members and nonmembers — and launch the 1,000-year period of earthly paradise known as the Millennium. After the Millennium begins, he’ll resurrect the medium-good people from throughout history, those who lived decent lives but didn’t fully embrace the gospel. These people will eventually inherit the terrestrial kingdom.
Peace on earth, good will toward men: The Millennium
During the Millennium, mortals will still dwell on the earth, having children and living out their lives. However, only people of celestial or terrestrial caliber will experience mortality during the Millennium, and Satan won’t be able to tempt or confuse anybody. Even better, no one will have to deal with HMOs, because no one will get sick. Instead of experiencing death and burial, people will turn immortal in the twinkling of an eye.
Not everyone living on the earth during the Millennium will be a member of the Savior’s true church. People will still be free to believe and worship as they please, and some will hold onto mistaken beliefs and follow false religions — at least, until missionaries can persuade them otherwise.
Two major religious efforts will continue through Christ’s Millennium:
Performing ordinances on behalf of the dead: As discussed in Chap- ter 7, no one can be saved without receiving certain earthly physical ordinances, such as baptism. Mormons are currently trying to perform these ordinances on behalf of all dead people, who can then decide whether to accept or reject them. However, Mormons have so much work to do that they’ll continue in the Millennium.
Preaching and teaching: Missionaries will preach the Savior’s true gospel to all people, and eventually everyone will acknowledge Christ as their Savior.
During the Millennium, Jesus and other resurrected beings will visit the earth as needed to oversee the government and help Church members carry out the ordinance work for the dead. At the conclusion of the Millennium, the spirits of the wicked from throughout history will finally finish their 1,000-year timeout and be resurrected, eventually to inherit the telestial kingdom.
As great as the Millennium sounds, it has a catch at the end. Satan will be unleashed for one last time, and he’ll succeed in turning away more people from God. The armies of the righteous will defeat the armies of evil for the final time, and God will forever cast out Satan and his followers into outer darkness. Then will come the final judgment, when all people receive their eternal reward in one of the three kingdoms of heaven.
Differences in beliefs about Jesus Christ
Table 3-2 illustrates how Mormons view Christ, as opposed to other Christians.
| Qualities of Christ | Mormon Christianity | Protestant and Catholic |
|---|---|---|
| Christianity | ||
| Nature of Christ | Christ is the Messiah and the | Christ is the Messiah, the |
| literal Son of God. He’ll return | Son of God, and also God | |
| someday and usher in 1,000 | the Father made flesh. He’ll | |
| years of peace and glory on | return someday, either just | |
| earth. | before or just after 1,000 | |
| years of peace and glory on | ||
| earth. | ||
| Creation of Christ | Christ is the firstborn of Heavenly | Christ is the only-begotten |
| Father and the oldest brother of | Son of God and is of one | |
| all human beings, spiritually | substance with the Father. | |
| speaking. He’s the only one of | He was “begotten,” but not | |
| Heavenly Father’s children to be | made or created. | |
| conceived in mortality by a | ||
| human and God. | ||
| Christ in the | Christ is a separate physical | Christ is part of the Trinity, |
| Godhead | being from God the Father and | along with God the Father |
| the Holy Ghost. The three beings | and the Holy Ghost, who all | |
| are united in purpose and love | function as one being. God | |
| but not in substance. Christ is | the Father was physically | |
| subordinate to the Father and | incarnated, or made flesh, | |
| does his will (John 14:28). | in the person of Jesus of | |
| Nazareth. Christ is eternally | ||
| coequal with God the Father. | ||
| Christ’s activity | Christ taught, healed, and per- | Christ taught, healed, and |
| on earth | formed miracles before his cruci- | performed miracles before |
| fixion. In the three days between | his crucifixion and resur- | |
| his crucifixion and resurrection, | rection. After his resurrec- | |
| he went to spirit paradise (see | tion, he spent 40 days | |
| Chapter 2) to teach righteous | teaching his disciples | |
| spirits how to help those in spirit | before ascending into | |
| prison. After his resurrection, he | heaven. | |
| taught his disciples in Jerusalem | ||
| and the Nephites in the Western | ||
| Hemisphere, and he may have | ||
| taught “lost sheep” scattered in | ||
| other places. After his ministry | ||
| among the Nephites, he | ||
| ascended into heaven. | ||
| Christ’s premortal | Christ implemented the plan of | Christ was spiritually pre- |
| résumé | salvation during the council in | sent at creation, but his |
| heaven (see Chapter 2), headed | precise role is unknown. | |
| up the earth’s creation, and | ||
| functioned as Jehovah in the | ||
| Bible’s Old Testament. | ||
| Christ’s Atonement | In the Garden of Gethsemane | On the cross, Christ paid |
| and on the cross, Christ paid the | the price for our sins and | |
| price for our sins and offered | offered himself as a sacri- | |
| himself as a sacrifice for all | fice for all people. | |
| people. |
God’s Whisperer: The Holy Ghost
Mormons are unusual in their belief that God the Father has a physical body, like his Son Jesus Christ. The Holy Ghost, in contrast, is a spiritual being. In fact, Mormons often say Holy Spirit rather than Holy Ghost, using the two terms interchangeably. (Ghost was a term used in the 17th-century King James Version of the Bible to signify “spirit,” and the name stuck.)
Mormons believe the Holy Ghost is a witness to truth, a comforter, and a sanctifier. The more pure and obedient that people are, the better they’re able to feel the Holy Ghost’s spiritual influence. Mormons strive to follow God’s commandments so they can retain the companionship of the Holy Ghost as much as possible, and they draw upon his guidance when discerning right from wrong, evaluating spiritual teachings, and pressing on toward perfection. As the Spirit carries out the will of the Father, his influence can be felt everywhere in the world at the same time — in fact, Church leaders compare the Holy Ghost to the sun, which warms the entire earth and sheds light everywhere.
The Spirit who never got a body
The Holy Ghost is unique among the three personages in the Godhead because this member is the only one without a physical body. Church leaders have taught that the Holy Ghost has a spiritual body, which is presumably a more advanced, deified version of the spirit body that Mormons believe everyone had in the premortal life.
Mormons believe that as a spirit, the Holy Ghost can communicate intimately with every person’s spirit, though the person needs to strive to live righteously so as not to repel the Holy Spirit. No unclean thing can sustain the presence of God, and the Holy Ghost literally imparts God’s presence to humans in a tangible way. With this idea in mind, Mormons who’ve been baptized and have received the gift of the Holy Ghost (see the next section) are careful to remain worthy of that gift.
The gift of the Holy Ghost
From time to time and under special circumstances, such as while being taught by the missionaries, Mormons believe anyone can feel the Spirit’s influence and his confirmation of the truth of certain teachings. In addition, Mormon leaders have taught that great scientific discoveries and uplifting works of art result from the Holy Ghost’s inspiration, whether or not their creators were members of the LDS Church. (Latter-day Saints also believe that every person, Mormon or not, can have constant guidance from something called the light of Christ. This light comes from Christ’s spirit and provides all accountable people with a basic knowledge of right and wrong.)
Having the Spirit all the time
Mormons believe that LDS Church members can receive the constant gift of the Holy Ghost. After people are baptized — see Chapter 6 for more on baptism and its meaning for Mormons — the next ordinance they receive is confirmation, which includes the bestowal of the gift of the Holy Ghost. This happens through the laying on of hands by someone with the proper authority, meaning a Melchizedek Priesthood holder (see Chapter 4). After this ordinance, members can potentially experience the Spirit’s influence ever after, not just on an occasional basis.
During the confirmation ordinance, the priesthood holder simply blesses the individual to receive the Holy Ghost. Some Mormons believe that when this blessing takes place, it actually verifies the Holy Ghost’s entry into that person’s life and heart and imparts the Spirit’s influence. Others feel that the ordinance establishes the Mormon’s receptivity and willingness to receive the Holy Ghost, but doesn’t dictate where the Spirit goes and what he does. (As the Bible says in John 3:8, the Spirit’s influence bloweth where it listeth, meaning it goes wherever the heck it wants to.) Whatever the case, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost is essential to receiving full salvation.
Confirmation of membership and bestowal of the gift of the Holy Ghost can happen any time after baptism. In some cases, this ordinance is performed immediately following baptism, after the new member has changed into dry clothes and freshened up while those in attendance sing hymns or listen to a talk. In other cases, particularly with adult converts, many wards hold the confirmation ordinance during sacrament meeting the Sunday after the baptism so the whole congregation can witness and welcome the new convert.
One thing you rarely see during these ordinances is something that’s more common in Pentecostal services, where the person who’s received the Holy Ghost dances, claps, whoops for joy, or falls down in the Spirit. Although Mormons in the 1830s engaged in all manner of ecstatic behaviors during worship, Mormons today are pretty sedate by contrast. The individual who’s just received the gift may experience a warm and steady feeling of light or may shed tears of joy. Others report feeling nothing unusual at that time but then have deep spiritual experiences afterward. Mormons believe that receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost isn’t a one-time affair but a lifelong experience that can grow in depth, frequency, and intensity.
Receiving specialized gifts of the Spirit
Mormons rejoice to know that scripture promises some beautiful spiritual gifts that go along with receiving the Holy Ghost. Obviously, not all Church members possess every gift that Paul outlines in the New Testament or Joseph Smith and other prophets mention in modern revelations. As Paul put it, “There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit”; one person may be a healer and another an interpreter. Early Mormons wore their spiritual gifts on their sleeves a lot more than Latter-day Saints do today, but the fact is that Mormons still believe in miracles and seek them regularly. Some of the more common manifestations of spiritual gifts include the following:
The gift of healing: Today, many Mormon men who hold the Melchizedek Priesthood carry a small key chain vial containing consecrated oil. At any time, in any kind of emergency, they’re prepared to perform an anointing and blessing to heal someone. Although all priesthood holders possess the authority to administer to the sick, Church leaders teach that some have this gift to a greater degree than others. In addition, Mormon history is rife with stories of women and others who didn’t hold the priesthood but who could heal through prayer and the gift of the Spirit.
The gift of tongues: Hearing spiritual gibberish in a Mormon chapel — other than a particularly long-winded talk in sacrament meeting — or seeing someone else rise up to interpret what’s been said is unlikely nowadays. However, such speaking in tongues was common among Mormon men and women in the 19th century. Mormons believe that today’s most common manifestation of this gift is missionaries quickly and thoroughly learning foreign languages.
The gift of faith:
Mormons believe the Spirit witnesses about the truth of spiritual wisdom and increases faith. Again, some people seem to have the gift of faith more than others, while some have the gift of riding another person’s coattails of strong, abiding faith.
The gift of prophecy:
Although the president of the Church is the only person who receives revelations from God that are binding for the entire Church, individual Mormon men and women are entitled to revelations about their own lives, families, and Church callings.
The gift of casting out demons:
As with speaking in tongues, this spiritual gift was more visible in the 19th century than it is today, but Mormons still call upon the Holy Ghost to help them withstand temptation and repel Satan’s influence. Such episodes may never be as dramatic as a full-twisting Exorcist head spin, but this gift is nevertheless effective. If a Mormon senses the presence of a demon, he or she can verbally cast it out in the name of Jesus Christ.
Keeping the Spirit
The Holy Ghost is God’s primary way of leading people to Christ, confirming spiritual truth, and helping them endure to the end in righteousness. When people have the Holy Ghost in their lives, they feel more connected to Heavenly Father through prayer and are more able to recognize the needs of people around them.
Mormons believe, however, that the trick is to keep the Spirit at all times. As people study the scriptures, pray regularly, and serve others, they can feel the influence of the Holy Ghost most clearly. But the Spirit won’t stick around where he’s not wanted. If people don’t at least try to keep God’s commandments, the Spirit will flee. Yet, he’ll return after a person repents and tries again to live righteously.
Sometimes, even people who strive to obey God’s commandments and do the right thing experience dry spells when the Spirit feels far away. Most Mormons can point to times in their lives when they felt very close to the Spirit and other times when they felt alone. Perhaps God uses these times to strengthen and test people — difficult times help us grow, and in the Mormon view, spiritual growth is the whole reason we’re here on earth. Even Christ, who was sinless and perfect, experienced loneliness when he felt that God had abandoned him (for more on that, check out Mark 15:34 in the Bible).
The Holy Ghost’s many roles
So what does the Holy Ghost do, exactly? While the Father organizes and sustains all things and the Son redeems mortality, the Holy Ghost kind of keeps the home fires burning. In fact, fire is one symbol of the Holy Ghost that frequently appears in scripture (see, for example, the apostles’ experience with “tongues of fire” when they were baptized in the Spirit in the New Testament, recounted in Acts 2). The Holy Ghost performs several vital functions in the Godhead and in bringing people to Christ.
The witness of Christ
In Mormonism, the law of witnesses dictates that more than one righteous person will confirm a true spiritual principle. This idea seems to be true of the Godhead as well: The Spirit is an additional witness of Christ. In the Savior’s baptismal story, for example, God announces Christ’s identity while the Spirit rests on Jesus. The other members of the Godhead testify to Christ’s divine nature.
The comforter
Shortly before Christ was crucified, he promised his disciples that he wouldn’t leave them comfortless but would send a comforter to help them in their path (John 16). This promised helper was the Holy Ghost.
The Holy Ghost exists as a comforter for each person and also as an enabler of sorts: Mormons believe one of the primary ways God answers prayers is through other people, and the Spirit is the still, small voice of God that keeps members in tune with the needs of others. Sometimes Mormons feel a little tug to pray for someone or do something to help someone they know. This urge may be as simple as a phone call to a particular friend, only to find out the friend had a rotten day and needed a boost at just that moment.
Sometimes, the Holy Ghost communicates comfort to an individual by showering that person with what the Bible calls the “peace that passeth all understanding” (Philippians 4:7). After prayer, a Latter-day Saint may feel an unexpected sense of calm about a difficult issue or problem and a knowledge of what to do. In addition, the Holy Ghost can provide the blessed assurance that a person’s sins are truly forgiven.
The revealer of truth
Mormons are a prayerful people, and they often bring things to God in prayer that other folks may consider trivial (for more on Mormon prayer, see Chapter 17). They follow James 1:5, which says that if they lack wisdom, they should ask God, who gives to everyone liberally. With this idea in mind, Mormons pray for the answers to tough questions and for guidance in making all kinds of decisions, both major and minor. They believe the Holy Ghost often confirms the truth of something they’ve prayed about. Sometimes, they receive a tingling or warm sensation running through their bodies, or simply a peaceful sense of calm about a particular course of action. On the other hand, they believe they’ll receive a “stupor of thought” if something isn’t right.
The sanctifier
The Holy Ghost plays an important role in helping members stay on the straight and narrow path. He sanctifies, or helps them become more holy. As we explain earlier in this section, the Holy Ghost is sometimes associated with fire, and fire is the ultimate refiner’s tool. The Spirit’s goal is to purify an individual.
As we discuss in Chapter 2, one of the most important principles of Mormon life is what they call enduring to the end. Having faith in Christ, repenting, and being baptized are all wonderful, but those actions don’t help people much in the long run if they backslide or fall away from the faith. Enter the Holy Ghost — the Spirit helps members stay in tune with the will of Heavenly Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. He keeps members honest — who can say the Holy Ghost isn’t responsible for those occasional prickings of conscience that help keep them on the right path? The Holy Ghost grants people beautiful spiritual experiences, moments of great joy, and answers to prayer to help them stay on the journey and grow in grace.
The unforgivable sin
Before you finish this chapter thinking everything about the Holy Ghost is warm and fuzzy, you should know one more thing: The Bible says that blaspheming the Holy Ghost is the one unpardonable sin (Matthew 12:31–32). As we discuss in Chapter 2, this kind of blasphemy is one of the few things that absolutely guarantee someone a room reservation in Hotel Outer Darkness.
Just what exactly does it mean to blaspheme the Holy Ghost? Well, Church leaders teach that you need to have experienced the full influence of the Spirit and then denied it by willfully, consciously turning away from God. Joseph Smith said that when a person knows all about the plan of salvation, receives a spiritual witness of its truth, and then denies Christ, he or she sins against the Holy Ghost. This idea makes sense because, as we explain earlier in this section, one of the Holy Ghost’s primary functions is to testify of Christ. When we reject Christ’s message, having previously embraced it, we also shoot the messenger, the Holy Ghost.