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Judaism and Mormonism
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) has several teachings about Judaism and the House of Israel. The largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement, the LDS Church teaches the belief that the Jewish people are God's chosen people and its members (i.e. Mormons) share a common and literal Israelite ancestry with the Jewish people.
Jewish theology is strictly monotheistic: God is an absolutely singular, indivisible, incorporeal, and incomparable being who is the ultimate cause of all existence. The Hebrew Bible presents God as the creator of the universe and the power controlling reality. The God of the Israelites commands them to worship no other gods but him: the God who brought them out of Egypt. The Babylonian Talmud references other, "foreign gods" as non-existent entities to whom humans mistakenly ascribe reality and power.
The theology of the largest Latter-day Saint denomination (headquartered in Salt Lake City) maintains that God the Father (Heavenly Father), Jesus (his son), and the Holy Ghost are three separate and distinct beings in personhood and substance, yet one in purpose. James E. Faust expounded the church's doctrine when he said,
The First Vision confirms the fact there are three separate Gods: God the Father—Elohim, to whom we address our prayers; Jesus the Christ—Jehovah; and the Holy Ghost—the Comforter, through whose spirit we may know the truth of all things.
Together, the three Gods comprise the Mormon conception of the Godhead, unified in purpose and heart[further explanation needed], which differs starkly from the Jewish Godhead. Mormon theology asserts that God the Father and Jesus have tangible, perfected bodies of flesh and bone. In contrast, the God of Judaism and the Hebrew Bible is strictly incorporeal and not anthropomorphic in any way. Humans are thought to be the literal spirit children of the Father in Mormonism, and through the atonement of Jesus, they can return to him upon dying and become gods. In his King Follet discourse, Joseph Smith said:
God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted Man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens. That is the great secret .... It is the first principle of the Gospel to know for a certainty the character of God and to know ... that he was once a man like us. Here, then, is eternal life—to know that only wise and true God, and you have got to learn how to become Gods yourselves, and to be kings and priests to God, the same as all Gods have done before you. ... God himself, the father of us all dwelt on an earth the same as Jesus Christ.
Furthermore, there are gods in the Mormon pantheon besides the Godhead's members, including the Heavenly Mother. Latter-day Saint theology also holds that, through the process of exaltation, humans can ascend to godhood. Within LDS theology, God the Father and Jesus were once mortal men who became exalted. However, how they came to obtain godhood is poorly characterized and doctrinally different from the process of exaltation humans are believed to undergo. In other words, God the Father and Jesus became divine beings much differently than the path through exaltation LDS members believe they will take to reach the same status. This differs from the Community of Christ's theology, which aligns more closely with Nicaean Christianity—in that it is trinitarian rather than nontrinitarian—than the LDS Church. In addition, there are other Latter Day Saint sects, such as the Church of Christ With the Elijah Message, that hold to the unity of God, expressing a form of modalism. The Book of Mormon also lends itself to modalistic interpretations of the Mormon Godhead.
Jesus is not a component of mainstream Judaism or a figure in the Hebrew Bible; Jews do not believe Jesus fulfilled the criteria for messiahship. With regard to the divinity of Jesus, a basic tenet of Judaism is that God is one in both substance and personhood; therefore, both the Christian doctrine of the Trinity and the Mormon doctrine of three separate Gods "united in purpose" are summarily rejected by Judaism. Jews do not believe that God has or can have a body. Therefore, the idea that God might have physical, "begotten" children is not possible and is considered heresy.
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Judaism and Mormonism
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) has several teachings about Judaism and the House of Israel. The largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement, the LDS Church teaches the belief that the Jewish people are God's chosen people and its members (i.e. Mormons) share a common and literal Israelite ancestry with the Jewish people.
Jewish theology is strictly monotheistic: God is an absolutely singular, indivisible, incorporeal, and incomparable being who is the ultimate cause of all existence. The Hebrew Bible presents God as the creator of the universe and the power controlling reality. The God of the Israelites commands them to worship no other gods but him: the God who brought them out of Egypt. The Babylonian Talmud references other, "foreign gods" as non-existent entities to whom humans mistakenly ascribe reality and power.
The theology of the largest Latter-day Saint denomination (headquartered in Salt Lake City) maintains that God the Father (Heavenly Father), Jesus (his son), and the Holy Ghost are three separate and distinct beings in personhood and substance, yet one in purpose. James E. Faust expounded the church's doctrine when he said,
The First Vision confirms the fact there are three separate Gods: God the Father—Elohim, to whom we address our prayers; Jesus the Christ—Jehovah; and the Holy Ghost—the Comforter, through whose spirit we may know the truth of all things.
Together, the three Gods comprise the Mormon conception of the Godhead, unified in purpose and heart[further explanation needed], which differs starkly from the Jewish Godhead. Mormon theology asserts that God the Father and Jesus have tangible, perfected bodies of flesh and bone. In contrast, the God of Judaism and the Hebrew Bible is strictly incorporeal and not anthropomorphic in any way. Humans are thought to be the literal spirit children of the Father in Mormonism, and through the atonement of Jesus, they can return to him upon dying and become gods. In his King Follet discourse, Joseph Smith said:
God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted Man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens. That is the great secret .... It is the first principle of the Gospel to know for a certainty the character of God and to know ... that he was once a man like us. Here, then, is eternal life—to know that only wise and true God, and you have got to learn how to become Gods yourselves, and to be kings and priests to God, the same as all Gods have done before you. ... God himself, the father of us all dwelt on an earth the same as Jesus Christ.
Furthermore, there are gods in the Mormon pantheon besides the Godhead's members, including the Heavenly Mother. Latter-day Saint theology also holds that, through the process of exaltation, humans can ascend to godhood. Within LDS theology, God the Father and Jesus were once mortal men who became exalted. However, how they came to obtain godhood is poorly characterized and doctrinally different from the process of exaltation humans are believed to undergo. In other words, God the Father and Jesus became divine beings much differently than the path through exaltation LDS members believe they will take to reach the same status. This differs from the Community of Christ's theology, which aligns more closely with Nicaean Christianity—in that it is trinitarian rather than nontrinitarian—than the LDS Church. In addition, there are other Latter Day Saint sects, such as the Church of Christ With the Elijah Message, that hold to the unity of God, expressing a form of modalism. The Book of Mormon also lends itself to modalistic interpretations of the Mormon Godhead.
Jesus is not a component of mainstream Judaism or a figure in the Hebrew Bible; Jews do not believe Jesus fulfilled the criteria for messiahship. With regard to the divinity of Jesus, a basic tenet of Judaism is that God is one in both substance and personhood; therefore, both the Christian doctrine of the Trinity and the Mormon doctrine of three separate Gods "united in purpose" are summarily rejected by Judaism. Jews do not believe that God has or can have a body. Therefore, the idea that God might have physical, "begotten" children is not possible and is considered heresy.