Letter 5 — Elohim and Jehovah: One God
Letters To A Mormon Elder
by James R. White
Thursday, June 21
Dear Elder Hahn,
Welcome to summer in Phoenix! Predicted high today? Yes, 115°! But, as they say, it is a dry heat, right? As if that made any difference! I hate to tell you this, but last summer we had over 140 days that were over 100° and that was a new record! Not only that, but on two occasions it reached our all-time record, 118°. Aren’t you happy about that! I surely hope you have access to an air-conditioned car these days.
I received your message on my answering machine last evening, and I understand your inability to get around to a full rebuttal of my last letter. I appreciate your invitation to go ahead and address the other issues mentioned in my letter. Your Bible dictionary in the back of the 1981 edition of the King James Version of the Bible, on pages 710 — 11, says,
Jehovah. The covenant or proper name of the God of Israel. It denotes the “Unchangeable One,” “the eternal I AM” (Ex. 6:3; Ps. 83:18; Isa. 12:2; 26:4). The original pronunciation of this name has possibly been lost, as the Jews, in reading, never mentioned it, but substituted one of the other names of God, usually Adonai. Probably it was pronounced Jahveh, or Yahveh. In the KJV, the Jewish custom has been followed, and the name is generally denoted by LORD or GOD, being printed in small capitals. Jehovah is the premortal Jesus Christ and came to earth being born of Mary.
I made a special effort, in my preceding letter, to avoid addressing the issue that I now present to you because it is somewhat complicated at first glance. However, I also made a special effort to accurately cite the Bible and indicate when the KJV utilized the special form of the word “lord” that is printed like this: LORD. Note the small capitals used to inform the English reader that, as your Bible dictionary said above, the Hebrew term that is being translated as LORD is YHWH, or Yahweh, or, as you would probably put it, Jehovah. You will find that form of LORD all through your Old Testament, Elder Hahn. Each time you see that, you will know you are actually seeing the name of Yahweh, or Jehovah.
Why is this small bit of information important? Well, as you know, in Mormon belief, the Father and the Son are separate and distinct individuals, and separate and distinct gods. LDS doctrine has identified the Father by the term Elohim, as I mentioned in my earlier letter. The word is from the Hebrew language, and is, as you are aware, normally rendered simply as “God” in the KJV. While Joseph Smith was right to point out that the term Elohim is plural in Hebrew, he was just as wrong to say that it should then be translated as “gods.” While it is translated “gods” in some contexts, the number of the verb with which it is used, as well as the context of the passage, is the determinative factor. When it is used with a singular verb, it should be translated singularly, not as a plural.1Britannica – Elohim
Though Elohim is plural in form, it is understood in the singular sense. Thus, in Genesis the words, “In the beginning God (Elohim) created the heavens and the earth,” Elohim is monotheistic in connotation, though its grammatical structure seems polytheistic.
Be that as it may, in Mormonism the Father is “Elohim.” Now, the Son, Jesus Christ, is identified as Jehovah by the LDS Church. Therefore, since the Father and Son are separate and distinct gods, then Jehovah and Elohim also are separate and distinct gods. Mormon scholar James Talmage, in his book Articles of Faith, in Appendix 2, presents a discussion of this very issue, and in doing so presents “The Father and the Son: A Doctrinal Exposition by The First Presidency and the Twelve.” Below I quote from this work:
1. “Father” as Literal Parent Scriptures embodying the ordinary signification — literally that of Parent — are too numerous and specific to require citation. The purport of these scriptures is to the effect that God the Eternal Father, whom we designate by the exalted name-title “Elohim,” is the literal Parent of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and of the spirits of the human race. Elohim is the Father in every sense in which Jesus Christ is so designated, and distinctively He is the Father of spirits.
2. [. . .] Jesus Christ is the Son of Elohim both as spiritual and bodily offspring; that is to say, Elohim is literally the Father of the spirit of Jesus Christ and also of the body in which Jesus Clrrist performed His mission in the flesh, and which body died on the cross and was afterward taken up by the process of resurrection. .
3. [. . .] With this meaning, as the context shows in every case, Jehovah who is Jesus Clrrist the Son of Elohim. .
4. [. . .] None of these considerations, however, can change in the least degree the solemn fact of the literal relationship of Father and Son between Elohim and Jesus Christ. Among the spirit children of Elohim the firstborn was and is Jehovah or Jesus Christ to whom all others are juniors. . . . (James Talmage, Articles of Faith, pp. 466 — 72)
Lord willing, Elder Hahn, I shall return to the subject of Jesus Christ being the literal offspring of God the Father in the flesh, and what this means with regards to the virgin birth, etc. But for now, I am attempting to set this point firmly before us: In Mormon belief, the Father is Elohim; the Son, Jesus Christ, is Jehovah. Since the Father and the Son are separate and distinct gods, then Elohim and Jehovah are, in Mormonism, names of separate and distinct gods. Now I recognize that many LDS have said, “Well, Jehovah can be called ‘Elohim’ in the sense that Jehovah is a god.“ I recognize this fact. However, what is clear is that Jehovah can not be said to be Elohim, and certainly, if we find the Lord Jesus identifying the Father as Jehovah, we find a real problem in LDS theology. If I might allow Elder McConkie to address the issue:
Being thus aware of how far astray the religious intellectualists have gone in defining their three-in-one God, it comes as no surprise to learn that they thrash around in the same darkness in trying to identify Elohim and Jehovah and to show their relationship to the promised Messiah. Some sectarians even believe that Jehovah is the Supreme Deity whose Son came into mortality as the Only Begotten. As with their concept that God is a Spirit, this misinformation about the Gods of Heaven is untrue. The fact is, and it too is attested by Holy Writ, that Elohim is the Father, and that Jehovah is the Son who was born into mortality as the Lord Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah. (The Promised Messiah, p. 100)
I was “biting my lip” so to speak in my previous letter, as so often I wanted to bring out the underlying identification of Jehovah as the only “Elohim” that is made so often in the passages I quoted to you. If you would, go back now and, realizing that whenever you see the word “LORD” in those passages in Isaiah (or elsewhere), you are reading about Jehovah, and almost always when you see the word “God” you are reading about Elohim, reread those passages and see how often LDS belief is contradicted by the words of the Bible. Note some of the more obvious passages:
Isaiah 43: 10-11 “before me there was no God [El, the shortened form of Elohim] formed, neither shall there be after me.” [Note that it is Jehovah who is here speaking.]
Isaiah 45:5 — “I am the LORD, [Jehovah], and there is none else, there is no God [Elohim] beside me.” There is no Elohim beside Jehovah? That is what the Bible says.
How can it be that Jehovah can say that there is no Elohim beside Him? Of course, I believe that the only God anywhere is Jehovah God, so that is easy for me to answer. But you must be asking why the Bible does speak of “Elohim” as God as well, right? The answer is pretty clear:
Deuteronomy 4:35, 36 Unto thee it was shown, that thou mightest know that the LORD [Jehovah] he is God [Elohim]; there is none else beside him. . . . Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the LORD [Jehovah] he is God [Elohim] in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.
You see, Elder Hahn, Jehovah IS Elohim. Both names refer to the one God of the Bible, not to two different gods. In fact, the compound name “Jehovah Elohim” occurs over 500 times in the Old Testament, all referring to the one God of Israel, Jehovah. It is Jehovah who created all things, Jehovah who has eternally existed as God.
Let me point out a few specific things in the above quotation from Deuteronomy 4. First, note that the fact that Jehovah is Elohim is repeated twice — the same truth is to be seen in such passages as l Kings 18:39 and Psalm 100:3. The term Elohim is definite in the Hebrew language; that is, it has the definite article before it. This is the Elohim about which we are speaking, which would indicate that this is not just a description of Jehovah as “a god” as in a title. If the LDS Church is going to say that there is a separate God named “Elohim,” then that is the God under discussion here. Next, note that if Jehovah and Elohim were separate gods, the passage would say “there is none other besides them.” But, of course, it doesn’t say that. It says there is none else beside him. Yes, the term is singular in the Hebrew. It is utterly impossible, on the basis of the Bible, to distinguish between Jehovah and Elohim. The Bible simply will not allow for it. There is only one God, “Jehovah Elohim.”
Let’s look at another passage, Exodus 34:14:
For thou shalt worship no other god; for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.
Elder Hahn, if there are indeed three separate and distinct gods for this planet — Elohim, Jehovah, and the Holy Ghost — which one do we worship? Do we worship Elohim only? Do we worship Jehovah? Who? Apostle Bruce R. McConkie addressed this issue in a talk he gave at Brigham Young University in March of 1982. In this speech (in which he declared that people “should not strive for a special and personal relationship with Christ,” he addressed the question of whom we should truly worship. Here is what he said:
We worship the Father and him only and no one else. We do not worship the Son and we do not worship the Holy Ghost. I know perfectly well what the scriptures say about worshipping Christ and Jehovah, but they are speaking in an entirely different sense — the sense of standing in awe and being reverentially grateful to Him who has redeemed us. Worship in the true and saving sense is reserved for God the first, the Creator.
Apostle McConkie said that his words were “doctrine of the Church,” and he said that “everyone who is sound spiritually and who has guidance of the Holy Spirit will believe my words and follow my counsel.” In this talk we are told that “Christ worked out his own salvation by worshipping the Father.” How strange this sounds to the person who understands the monotheism of the Bible! Indeed, how absurd it is to think of Jehovah worshiping someone higher than himself!
Psalm 97:9 — “For thou, LORD, art high above all the earth; thou art exalted far above all gods.”
Psalm 135:5 — “For I know that the LORD is great, and our Lord is above all gods.”
There is none above Jehovah, there is none beside Him. Jehovah worships none but is to be worshiped by all, for He is the one true God.
This takes us back to the Scripture at hand, Exodus 34:14. Here we are told that worship — and who can doubt that this means worship in its highest sense, for the context is that of worshiping gods — belongs solely and completely to Jehovah. We are to worship no other God than Jehovah. Jesus expressed this in Matthew 4:10 when He rebuked Satan by saying, “Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.” Since Jesus is worshipped in the Bible, it is clear that both the Father and the Son along with the Spirit are the one Jehovah. Worship is due to none else.
You are left with a dilemma, then, Elder Hahn. Whom shall you worship? Since Mormons are polytheistic and believe that there are true gods other than Jehovah, they are left in a situation where there is no solution. Worship, true worship, demands strict monotheism. Mormonism does not have a proper knowledge of the true God, hence true worship is impossible. Therefore, when you worship a god other than Jehovah, Elder Hahn, you are doing so in violation of not only Exodus 34:14 but also of the first commandment as recorded in Exodus 20:2-3, which states,
I am the LORD [Jehovah] thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. (See also Deuteronomy 5:6-7)
You have a god before Jehovah, Elder Hahn! Your Mormon beliefs are causing you to break the very first commandment of God himself! Is there a more basic truth of God than this, that He alone should be worshiped? No, there is not. Yet, when you attempt to make the Bible into a polytheistic book, in the process you end up creating such a mess that you have to break the very first commandment! As I said before, the fact of God’s uniqueness is the most basic truth revealed in Scripture. It is central to properly worshiping God, wouldn’t you agree? And can you see how very dangerous it is to be in error on this issue, Elder? If these passages of Scripture are correct, you have been led into a grave error — the sin of idolatry itself.
The fact that Jehovah is the only God acknowledged by the Bible is to be found all through the Old Testament. Jehovah is the Creator of all that is. Remember the passages from Isaiah that we saw in my previous letter? Look at this one from Isaiah 44:24:
Thus saith the LORD [Jehovah], thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the LORD [Jehovah] that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself.
I realize how sensitive the subject of the endowment ceremony in the Mormon temple is to you, Elder, and I shall not ask you to comment on this issue, as I know you would feel uncomfortable doing so, but I wanted to point out to you that in the LDS temple ceremonies Elohim, the Father, is portrayed sending Jehovah and Michael down to “organize” the earth. How can you reconcile this teaching with the statements made by Jehovah here in Isaiah 44:24? Jehovah claims to have stretched out the heavens “alone” and to have spread abroad the earth by himself! Wasn’t Elohim involved? What about Michael? Of course, as we have seen, Jehovah is Elohim, and that is the explanation of this passage. Jehovah is the only Creator there is since He is the only God there is. Making two gods out of the one God of the Bible can only lead you to confusion and error.
Above I mentioned the fact that some LDS have attempted to avoid the clear difficulties attendant with their belief in two separate gods, Elohim and Jehovah, by asserting that Jehovah can indeed be called Elohim, and not compromise their theology. But, upon pressing them further, I have asked, “Could then the Father ever be identified as Jehovah?” “No!” was the consistent reply. Jehovah is a name reserved solely and completely for the Son. However, I would like to point out, Elder Hahn, that the Bible clearly teaches that the name “Jehovah” is connected with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as well. You do not object to the identification of the Son as Jehovah, of course, and I will not here delve into the issue of the identification of the Spirit as Jehovah other than to simply point you to such passages as Isaiah 6:9; Acts 28:25-26; Exodus 4:11; 1 Corinthians 12:10-11. The main issue here is the identification of the Father as Jehovah.
The popular LDS booklet What the Mormons Think of Christ quotes Matthew 22:41-46, and in so doing twists the Scriptures to hide the clear fact that here Jesus identifies the Father as Jehovah. How is this done? Below I give you the quotation exactly as it appears in the pamphlet, including the brackets (you can check this against the copies that were in your Book of Mormon the evening you were at my home):
“While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David. He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, the Lord [Elohim, the Father] said unto my Lord [Jehovah, the Son], Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions.” (p. 6 in the 1976 and 1982 editions)
The Mormon authors of this pamphlet have added the information that the quotation Jesus gives of Psalm 110:1 identifies the Father speaking to the Son, which is correct, as far as it goes. Incorrect is the information added — that being that the first “Lord” is “Elohim,” and the second “Lord” is “Jehovah.” Is this true? Does Psalm 110:1 say that Elohim spoke to Jehovah as if there were two different gods here, one Elohim and one Jehovah?
No indeed! Let’s look at Psalm 110:1 from the KJV: “The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.” Note, Elder Hahn, that the passage says that “Jehovah said unto my Lord (Hebrew: Adonai)” not “Elohim said to Jehovah.” The name “Elohim” does not even appear in the passage. If this is indeed the Father speaking to the Son, as the pamphlet says (and I agree), then what we have here is Jehovah (the Father) speaking to the Son (Adonai, “Lord”). Clearly, then, the Father is here identified as Jehovah, the one speaking to the Son. Since it is also clear that the Bible also says Jesus is Jehovah, then we must conclude, as the Christian Church always has, that Jehovah is tri-personal; that is, that three persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) share the one being that is Jehovah God. I realize that for a person raised in LDS teaching, who is accustomed to believing in a finite god, this could be confusing. What you need to realize is that the God of the Bible is infinite — that is, he is unlimited. His being, therefore, can be shared by more than one person, just as the Bible teaches.
There are other references that identify the Father as Jehovah. For example, when Jesus was tempted by Satan, Satan demanded worship from Christ. Jesus replied by stating that one is to worship God alone. In doing so he quoted Deuteronomy 6:13 and 10:20 (passages specifically about Jehovah God) in reference to the Father. No one who listened to the Lord Jesus speak and preach doubted that when He spoke of the Father, He was speaking of Jehovah God.
I hope you will think about this and find the time to respond. I realize, however, that you may be very confused, especially about the relationship of the Father, the Son, and the Spirit, considering what I have written. So, in closing, I would like very quickly to make sure you understand what Christians believe about the doctrine of the Trinity. If you would like to discuss it further at another point, that is fine with me. I have met so many Mormons who have a very flawed understanding of the Trinity that I would like to attempt to head off any problems we might have right now.
For me, simplifying the doctrine of the Trinity to its most basic elements has been very important and very useful. When we reduce the discussion to the three clear biblical teachings that underlie the Trinity, we can move our discussion from the abstract to the concrete biblical data and can help individuals such as yourself understand why Bible-believers such as myself believe in the Trinity, despite the fact that the word Trinity does not appear in the text of Scripture.
We must remember that very few have a good idea of what the Trinity is in the first place — hence, accuracy in definition will be very important. The doctrine of the Trinity states that there is one eternal being of God — indivisible, infinite. This one being of God is shared by what we call three co-equal, co-eternal persons — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. It is good here to distinguish between the terms being and person. It would be a contradiction to say that there are three beings within one being or three persons within one person. So what is the difference?
We clearly recognize the difference between being and person every day. We recognize what something is, yet we also recognize individuals within a classification. For example, we speak of the being of man — human being. A rock has being — the being of a rock, as does a cat, a dog, etc. Yet, we also know that there are personal attributes as well. The Bible tells us there are three classifications of personal beings — God, men, and angels. What is personality? The ability to have emotion, will, to express oneself. Rocks cannot speak. Cats cannot think of themselves over against others, and, for example, work for the common good of “catkind.” Hence, we are saying that there is one eternal, infinite being of God, shared fully and completely by three personal self-distinctions: Father, Son, and Spirit. I use the phrase “personal self-distinctions” rather than “persons” simply because you, as a Mormon, would be highly likely to attach to that term a physical form, which would be an incorrect assumption. When I speak of a “divine Person” I am not referring to a physical human being, but to a Person who is personal — that is, who speaks, loves, wills, etc. The term, for me, does not refer to a physical manifestation. And note this as well, Elder Hahn: I am not saying that the Father is the Son, or the Son the Spirit, or the Spirit the Father. It is very common for people to misunderstand the doctrine to mean that we are saying Jesus is the Father. The doctrine of the Trinity does not in any way say this!
The three biblical doctrines that flow directly into the river that is the Trinity are as follows: (1) There is one and only one God, eternal, unchanging. (2) There are three eternal Persons described in Scripture — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. These Persons are never confused with one another — that is, they are carefully differentiated as Persons. (3) The Father, the Son, and the Spirit, are identified as being fully deity — that is, the Bible teaches the deity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. One could possibly represent this as follows:
The three sides of the triangle represent the three biblical doctrines, as labeled. When one denies any of these three teachings, the other two sides point to the result. Hence, if one denies that there are Three Persons, one is left with the two sides of Full Equality and One God, resulting in the “Oneness” or “modalistic” teaching of the United Pentecostal Church and others. If one denies Full Equality, one is left with Three Persons and One God, resulting in “subordinationism” as seen in Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Way International, and others (though to be perfectly accurate the Witnesses deny all three of the sides in some way — they deny Full Equality [i.e., Jesus is Michael the Archangel], Three Persons [the Holy Spirit is an impersonal, active “force” like electricity] and One God [they say Jesus is “a god”— a lesser divinity than Yahweh; hence they are in reality not monotheists but henotheists, believers in one “major” deity, as well as other “minor” deities]). And, if one denies One God, one is left with polytheism, the belief in many gods, as seen clearly in the Mormon Church.
I truly hope, Elder Hahn, that you will look into God’s Word and examine these issues. I am more than happy to provide you with this information, but I want you to realize that you are now responsible for it. You cannot simply ignore the clear teaching of the Bible as you have now seen it. You must deal with what God’s Word says. I reiterate my offer — if you wish to sit down and talk about these things, please feel free to contact me. May God bless you as you seek His will.
Sincerely,
James White
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