The intellect is very important. God gave it to us and expects us to use it. We can take it with us when we die and the knowledge we gain in each stage of life will also go with us. However, the intellect is not the most important part of us, nor is it the source of absolute knowledge of truth. (more…)
Mormons do not pray to Mary. Statues are art, and, as with any other form of art, might be found in an individual building or home, usually in a nativity setting.
There are several aspects of Mormon beliefs that must be understood before this question can be answered. The first is that Mormon beliefs do not include the trinity. While they believe in God, Jesus, and in the Holy Ghost, they do not teach that they are the same being. They are three very distinct beings, wholly unified in purpose. For more on this, please read:
How Could Jesus Pray to Himself?
The second important point of Mormon doctrine is that we lived with God before we were born. God created our spirits and we lived with Him for a time before coming to earth.
Read more about this:
These two teachings are important because they explain why we don’t feel we need to pray to Mary in order to get God’s attention. It is sometimes explained that if we’re in a noisy room, we will notice, despite the din, the voice of someone we know and love. This is why some people pray to Mary-because when billions are praying, Jesus will hear His mother’s voice. However, Mormons believe God can hear their voice anyway, because we are very literally His children and He loves us and knows us.
Toddlers are taught, in their very first church class, this little rhyme:
Heavenly Father knows me
And what I like to do.
He knows my name and where I live.
I know He loves me, too.
Mormons believe this, and believe God knows them and loves them enough to recognize and notice their voices, and that He can hear and answer every prayer, no matter how many are coming through at any one time. This is a part of His divinity.
Mormons pray to God through Jesus Christ. Jesus was given the role of Intercessor by God. When Jesus Christ offered the Intercessory Prayer, we saw how He was able to pray on our behalf to the Father.
Several scriptures in the Bible promote Jesus’ role as our advocate or intercessor, including Timothy’s explanation that there is only one mediator:
5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; (1 Timothy 2)
Mary is very important in Mormon theology. Mormons believe she was chosen for her role as the mother of the Savior prior to her birth, and that her mission was foretold by prophets. Isaiah said, “14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14
The Book of Mormon also foretells Mary. Both Lehi and his son Nephi, the first two Book of Mormon prophets, saw Mary in visions and knew she would be the mother of God’s only begotten Son.
“As there is only one Christ, so there is only one Mary. And as the Father chose the most noble and righteous of all his spirit sons to come into mortality as his Only Begotten in the flesh, so we may confidently conclude that he selected the most worthy and spiritually talented of all his spirit daughters to be the mortal mother of his Eternal Son.” (Bruce R. McConkie, Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, Bookcraft, Inc., 1965, vol. 1, p. 85.)
We know that Mary had lived a highly moral life in order to be allowed to carry out this great assignment. We can presume she was intelligent and her responses to her calling tell us she knew the scriptures well.
Jesus came to earth as a baby, not a grown man. He did not begin with a full knowledge of who He was or a complete memory of His life prior to His birth. It would have been Mary’s role to train Him in the ways of life and to help Him become the type of person who could and would carry out His eternally significant mission. We can, therefore, presume she was a wise and capable parent, and that she never lost sight of her role in God’s plan for the earth.
For these reasons, and because of the tremendous sacrifices she made and the suffering she endured as she witnessed the treatment and death of her firstborn Son, Mormons honor Mary.
She is often used as an example of a woman of faith, sacrifice, and obedience. In lessons on motherhood, she is usually the first example offered. Mormons look to her to show them the way to live their own lives, but their relationship with God is a direct one. Mormons pray to God, through Jesus. They don’t feel the need to ask someone else to intervene on their behalf, because they believe God loves them enough to hear them. While they might ask friends to pray for them, this does not replace praying to God themselves. Being prayed for by others helps us to connect to one another, but even if only one person prayed for himself, that pray would be heard and answered.
Some have asked if we have statues of Mary. Mormon chapels do not have artwork of any kind in the actual chapel where the service is held. The chapels are extremely simple and free of any decoration except for occasional flowers. However, the buildings-hallways, offices, and classrooms– do have paintings, and some have statues. The statues serve only as decoration and are not used in any way in the worship services. They serve only as teaching aids or reminders of important aspects of gospel teaching.
Art plays an important part in Mormon life as a tool for teaching. Teachers are encouraged to use it to help emphasize aspects of the story or principle being taught, to hold attention, or to invoke important thoughts or feelings. Mormons do not pray to statues or make use of them as part of their services, however. They are simply decorations or teaching tools. Statues of Mary are most often shown in context with her mission on earth as Jesus’ mother.
Question: It seems that Christians are polytheists, worshiping three Gods. Do Mormons believe in one God?
A polytheist is someone who worships multiple gods. Generally, polytheism refers to a group of gods each working independently of one another and often, in the case of hard polytheism, in conflict with one another.
Mormons believe there are three Gods, but who function as an entirely unified body. Together, they form the Godhead and fulfill the complete mission of God. The Supreme God is God the Father. He is generally the One the Christian Bible refers to when it speaks of God, although in some cases, including in the Book of Genesis, Jesus is referred to as God during the creation of the world. Mormons teach that God’s Son created the earth, under the direction of God the Father. However, it is God the Father that Mormons call God and worship as such. He is the one they consider their Heavenly Father, while Jesus is their brother, the Son of God.
Mormons teach that God the Father is the Father of all things and is male, while the Jewish people teach that God does not have gender. He created the spirits of everyone who ever lived and oversees everything that happens, ruling over Heaven and Earth. We teach that He is very literally our Father, and view Him as a loving, caring Father who watches over His children and wants them to return home to Him.
Jesus is the Messiah, but not the Jewish Moshiach. While many Jewish people believe there will one day be a Messiah, they are watching for a political leader. The Jewish Moshiach is not a god, but a fully mortal human being. Mormons teach that Jesus had a mortal mother, Mary, but that God was very literally His Father. Jesus was His firstborn-the first spirit to be created, and was begotten of the Father. This gave Him a combination of the mortal and the divine, which was essential for him to be able to carry out the task He had undertaken, to live on earth as a mortal, and then to die, but only by His own choice. Mormons teach that no one could take the Messiah’s life from Him; He could only choose to give it.
Mormons teach that the Messiah’s mission was a spiritual one, with hearts won in a spiritual fashion. When He comes the second time, this is when He will rule over the world and be recognized as the Messiah by all, but again, it will be accomplished by spiritual means, not political or military ones.
The third member of the Godhead is the Holy Ghost. The New Testament in the Christian Bible tells of Jesus promising his disciples, in His final days, to send a comforter to them after He was gone. This is the Holy Ghost. This third personage in the Godhead does not have a perfected body of flesh and bone, as do God and Jesus. He is a Spirit. His role is to teach truth to those who are willing to hear it.
Jesus and the Holy Ghost honor God the Father and do only His will. They completely subject their own will for His and give Him the honor for all that happens. This is the meaning of the Christian Bible’s statement that God and Jesus are one. They are entirely unified in every way.
While the Mormons do teach there are three Gods, these are Gods working in perfect harmony, not at cross purposes, to carry out the work of God the Father for His children. It is God the Father who is worshipped as God.
Personal Response by Bethany
Yes! You can have faith and still believe in science. The scriptures clearly and repeatedly verify that God is the Creator of the earth, the heavens, and all things that are in them. They also attest that the elements of which the earth consists of are eternal. As a current biology major I am constantly tying science and religion together as I continually study the science of life and its spiritual connection with religion. As I increase my studies, my faith also increases as I see the hand of God in every aspect of life.
Elder Henry B. Eyring of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints stated that, “the essence of the gospel is the doctrine of trying…and that, of course, is the essence of science, also: the doctrine of trying, testing, and proving. That’s the kind of procedure that makes science what it is.” The point is that the gospel teaches us to experiment with the words of the Savior and to do as a scientist would do to find the truth. (more…)
This question is often asked by people who prayed for something they didn’t get or who didn’t feel they received the comfort or help they expected during difficult times. There are several aspects of the gospel that must be understood in order to know why this happened.
It’s important to remember we can’t control God, particularly not without incurring great suffering. Early in Mormon Church history, Joseph Smith‘s scribe wanted to take the translation of the Book of Mormon-116 pages so far-to show his family. Joseph prayed and was told not to allow it. However, the scribe continued to plead, and Joseph gave in and continued to ask God to change His mind. Eventually, God told them to go ahead, since they were clearly determined to do it, anyway. The scribe took the manuscript home and it was stolen. Both men realized they needed to repent for their decisions. From this, Joseph Smith learned not to nag God. God is perfect and His first answer should be enough. God knew what would happen; they did not.
God can see further into the future than we can. While we make decisions on what is currently happening, and what we think will happen, God is looking at the larger picture. There might be consequences far into the future we can’t see. When we pray, we’re always to ask that God’s will be done. He wants us to tell Him what we want, but we must always do it with the understanding that we might not get what we think we want. God always answers prayers, but there are three possible answers: Yes, no, and not yet. God will answer our prayer in the way that is best for everyone concerned, and sometimes others will be affected by what we do, so their needs must be considered as well.
It can be upsetting when we are certain we know what’s best and God doesn’t give us what we want. It may be the trials we face will give us something we need in the future. All deaths can’t be prevented, because people do have to die, and only God knows the reason for the timing. All sadness or pain can’t be avoided if we want to grow and progress, or even to develop faith.
To make it easier to accept God’s will, we must develop a close and personal relationship with Him. We need to spend time in prayer and study long before the crisis begins, so we can recognize His “voice.” This isn’t to say He speaks to us in a voice we can hear. It’s a figurative statement. We need to know when what we’re feeling and experiencing comes from God, and we do that by spending time with God in prayer, scripture study, and contemplation.
Building a relationship of trust is also important. Trust takes time to develop and we can’t wait for a crisis to gain our faith. Over time, as we learn to recognize God’s hand in our lives, and see how well His decisions work out, we begin to trust Him, and know that what he decides to do is always the best decision. Then, when the most serious problems arise, we are able to turn them over to Him and feel safe and cared for.
When we think God is missing from the critical moments in our lives, it’s always really a matter of not recognizing Him. He is always there, but unless we know Him well, we won’t be able to see Him there, and won’t be able to feel the comfort available to us through the Holy Ghost. That comfort comes only when we completely trust God and take the time to sit quietly and feel His presence, even when He isn’t doing our will. The test of faith isn’t in making God do our will, but in our willingness to do and to accept His.
Personal Response by Nathaniel
Friends of other faiths have asked me why I wanted to go on a Mormon mission in the prime of my life. I was 23 years old, and most of my high-school friends had already graduated from college. My motivation for going on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormon Church) stemmed not only from my parents’ encouragement but a conviction that a mission would draw me closer to God.
Members of the Godhead are united in purpose and will but consist of three separate Beings: God, the Eternal Father; Jesus Christ, His Son, our Redeemer; and the Holy Ghost. This view of the Godhead is based on ancient and modern revelation, and Mormons‘ belief in the personal appearance of the Father and the Son to Joseph Smith in 1820.
Personal Response by Roger Keller
The Latter-day Saint (nicknamed Mormon) understanding of the Godhead and the nature of God are rooted in the prophet Joseph Smith’s first vision in which the Father and the Son appeared to Joseph standing side by side. The two members of the Godhead were clearly two separate, distinct personages. These two with the Holy Ghost, also an individual person of spirit, constitute the Godhead of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. They are absolutely one in love, will, purpose, and direction. There is no variation among them, and to underline this unity, even though it is not an ontological unity, Latter-day Saints often define the doctrine of the Godhead as “Social Trinitarianism,” thereby underlining the indivisible unity of the three.
