The Return of the Mormon Missionaries

The two Mormon missionaries that visited me last week returned. They had done some research on what we talked about the previous week and were ready to share. They welcomed the fact that my friend Dylan was there to add to the discussion.

The issue at hand was, is the Mormon belief of three Gods (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) contradictory to the Bible? One of the missionaries made the case that the Bible teaches the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one in will and purpose. He used verses from John 17 and 1 John 5:6-8 to make his case. When he was done I said I have no problem with the idea of the Godhead having one purpose; this is not an issue. However, I told him the discussion is not concerning purpose or will; it has to do with being or ontology. Multiple passages in the Bible, especially Isaiah 43 – 48, teach there is only one God by nature. Isaiah is not talking about one in purpose or will; he is dealing with the issue of one being. An example is Isaiah 44:6 “Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: ‘I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God besides Me.” Once we looked at multiple scriptures in Isaiah they both agreed he was teaching there is only one God. Both admitted they had no answer to the dilemma.

I pointed out additional problems when God says He created the heavens and the earth by Himself (Isaiah 44:24) and that God is the only savior (Isaiah 43:11). Why are these passages a problem? In John 1:3 Jesus is called the creator and throughout the New Testament Jesus is called the savior. How can God be the only creator and savior if Jesus is called creator and savior? I told him the only solution to this problem was the proper understanding of the Doctrine of the Trinity; one God subsists in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He then dropped a bomb on the conversation when he told us Jesus is Jehovah and the Father is “Elohim” in the Old Testament. Dylan and I had never heard this teaching from a Mormon. He said Jesus is the one speaking in Isaiah and this solves the problem of only one creator and savior. I said that may solve one problem but you haven’t solved the issue of Isaiah teaching there is only one God. Again they had no answer.

We talked briefly about how this belief contradicts the Jewish monotheistic beliefs and about Jesus never making this claim. I then asked them, when did Jesus come to earth? They admitted they didn’t know. As we concluded both had homework to do; they had to find answers to all the passages that clearly teach there is only one God and we had to find scriptures that refute Jesus as Jehovah speaking in Isaiah. Our assignment will be easy; theirs more difficult. Hopefully, they will return.

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