The Father and The Son
A doctrinal exposition by the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve, June 30, 1916
Reprinted in The Ensign, April 2002, pages 13-18. In the early 1900’s, some discussion arose among Church members about the roles of God the Father and Jesus Christ. The First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles issued a treatise in 1916 to clarify the meaning of certain scriptures where Jesus Christ, or Jehovah, is designated as the Father. Following are some highlights of the treatise
. The scriptures plainly and repeatedly affirm that God is the Creator of the earth and the heavens and all things that in them are. In the sense so expressed, the Creator is an Organizer. God created the earth as an organized sphere, but he certainly did not create, in the sense of bringing into primal exitstence, the ultimate elements of the materials of which the earth consists, for “the elements are eternal” (Doctrine and Covenants 93:33).
. So also life is eternal, and not created; but life, or the vital force, may be infused into organized matter, though the details of the process have not been revealed unto man. (See Genesis 2:7, Moses 3:7, Abraham 5:7) Each of these scriptures states that God breathed into the body of man the breath of life. Moses 3:19 states that God breathed the breath of life into the bodies of the beasts and birds. God showed unto Abraham “the intelligences that were organized before the world was”, and by “intelligences” we are to understand personal “spirits” (see Abraham 3:22-23). Nevertheless, we are expressly told that “intelligence”, that is, “the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be.” (Doctrine and Covenants 93:29)
. The term “Father” as applied to Deity occurs in sacred writ with plainly different meanings. Each of the four significations specified in the following sections should be carefully segregated.
. 1. “FATHER” AS LITERAL PARENT
. God the Eternal Father, whom we designate by the exalted name/title “Elohim”, is the literal Parent of our Lord and Savior Jesus Chest 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. “FATHER” AS CREATOR
. A second scriptural meaning of “Father” is that of Creator. Therefore, scriptures that refer to God in any way as the Father of the heavens and the earth
. are to be understood signifying that God is the Maker, the Organizer, the Creator of the heavens and the earth. Jesus Christ, being Creator, is consistently
. called the Father of heaven and earth in the sense explained above, and since His creations are of eternal quality He is very properly called the Eternal
. Father of heaven and earth.
. 3. JESUS CHRIST THE “FATHER” OF THOSE WHO ABIDE IN HIS GOSPEL
. A third sense in which Jesus Christ is regarded as the “Father” is reference to the relationship between Him and those who accept His gospel and thereby
. become heirs of eternal life. The intercessory prayer found in John 17 is an example of this doctrine. If it be proper to speak of those who accept and abide
. in the gospel as Christ’s sons and daughters (the scriptures are explicit on this point) it is consistently proper to speak of Jesus Christ as the Father of the
. righteous, they having become His
. children and He having been made their Father through the second birth – the baptismal regeneration.
. 4. JESUS CHRIST THE “FATHER” BY DIVINE INVESTITURE OF AUTHORITY
. A fourth reason for applying the title “Father” to Jesus Christ is found in the fact that in all His dealings with the human family , Jesus the Son has represented
. and yet represents Elohim His Father in power and authority. This is true of Christ in his preexistent, antemortal, or unembodied state, in the which He was
. known as Jehovah, also during his embodiment in the flesh, and during His labors as a disembodied spirit in the realm of the dead, and since that period in
. His resurrected state.
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