- What do Mormons believe about the Trinity?
Mormons deny the Trinity as defined by the historic Christian Church. They do not believe in 1 God subsisting in 3 persons. Mormons believe the Father is god, the Son is another god, and the Holy Spirit is a 3rd god. In fact they believe every Mormon, male or female, can become a god. Therefore, they truly believe in an unlimited number of gods. They are polytheists, believers in many gods.
Let’s go back to the 3 pillars of the Biblical Trinity. Pillar # 3 (refer to the Mormonism part eight) the Mormons would agree with, the Father is god, the Son is god, and the Holy Spirit is god. They believe in 3 separate individual gods. Pillar # 2 they would agree all three gods are persons. It is pillar # 1, the teaching there is only one God, where they would majorly disagree. However, Biblical support for one God is found in throughout the Bible. Isaiah 43:10 “Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me.”
Clearly, God says there never was a god formed before Him nor will there be one after. This is counter to what Mormonism teaches. They teach there were many gods before and many after the god of this earth. According to their teachings, god the Father once was human and had to work himself up to becoming a god. Once He became god He began to rule over the Earth.
So how do they get around a clear teaching like Isaiah 43:10? They look at this Scripture in Isaiah and in their mind they see the words, “Before me no god, [of this earth] was formed, nor will there be one after me [formed on this earth].” They believe every Bible verse that teaches there is only one God, they think the writer is only speaking of this earth.
Yet, nowhere in the Bible does it use the words, “only one God of this earth.” This Mormon interpretation would have been completely foreign to the readers of this time period. No disciple or apostle ever thought they were going to become a god or that there were multiple gods. The early church always taught monotheism; the belief in one God. [For additional support of 1 God read Isaiah 43-48]
If a Mormon says they believe in the Trinity, ask them to define what they believe. Recently, I asked two Mormons if they believed in the Trinity. They said they believed in 3 separate gods. Joseph Smith had this to say about the doctrine of the Trinity: “Many men say there is one God; the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost are only one God. I say that is a strange God [anyhow]–three in one and one in three. . .It is curious organization… All are crammed into one God according to sectarianism (Christian faith). It would make the biggest God in all the world. He would be a wonderfully big God–he would be a giant or a monster,” (Joseph Smith, Teachings, p. 372).
Mormons do not believe in the Biblical doctrine of the Trinity. They are polytheists, which is the belief in more than one god. Christianity has always been a monotheistic religious belief system. Therefore, Mormons are not Christians.
