THE MORMON DOCTRINE OF DEITY

by B.H. Roberts

"In nothing have men so far departed from revealed truth as in their conceptions of God. Therefore, ... it pleased the Lord in these last days to open again direct communication with men, by a new dispensation of the gospel, it is not surprising that the very first revelation given was one that revealed himself and his Son Jesus Christ. A revelation which not only made known the being of God, but the kind of a being he is."
- B. H. ROBERTS -
The complete original text of Elder B. H. Roberts' monumental work "The Mormon Doctrine of Deity." With numerous scripture references added where there were none in the original. The original page numbers are in [].
Some of the topics covered are: -
The Form of God Of the Unity of God The Plurality of Gods Jesus Christ: the Revelation of God Evidence of Christ's Divinity from the Scripture The Character of God Revealed in the Life of Jesus Christ The Doctrine of the Godhead According to the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Book of Abraham The "Mormon" Doctrine of Deity as Set Forth in the Discourses of the Prophet Joseph Smith and Early Church Publications The Prophet Joseph Smith's Views in Relation to Man and the Priesthood Discourses on Deity and Man by President Brigham Young and Orson Pratt President Joseph F. Smith on the "Mormon" Doctrine of Deity

Genres: Religion, Lds, Theology, Nonfiction

190 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

Brigham Henry Roberts was a Mormon leader, historian, and politician who published a six-volume history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and was denied a seat as a member of United States Congress because of his practice of plural marriage.

Reviews

[Tom]

A really excellent statement and defense of the Mormon doctrine of deity. I've just finished a first pass of a Project Gutenberg text of this book (it's in the public domain), so if anyone wants to help with proofreading, or just read it, I've got a free copy for them.

The first three chapters (a bit over half of the book) consist of an article by B. H. Roberts on the topic, a rebuttal by a Catholic reverend, and an extensive response by Roberts. These chapters show very clearly the distinction between the Mormon view and the doctrine of most other denominations. Roberts' enthusiasm about the Mormon view is contagious.

The later chapters include a number of works on the same topic, including a couple of discourses of Joseph Smith and work by Brigham Young, Orson Pratt, and Joseph F. Smith. These serve to support Roberts' doctrinal position (demonstrating that the same doctrine has been preached continuously throughout church history) and contain some interesting tidbits.

[Talkador]

This is a truly fascinating book. What I’ve come to realize is that the theology of the LDS Church is profoundly—indeed, radically—different from the monotheism found in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Mormonism, God is not the one and only Creator of the universe, but rather one God among many, existing alongside the universe rather than transcending it.

In fact, I get the impression that Hinduism may actually come closer to monotheism than Mormonism does—at least Hinduism affirms an overarching, unifying divine force that drives all things. Mormonism, by contrast, lacks any such central, ultimate being beyond the pantheon of exalted gods.

The issue here is not really about the message of the gospel. A Mormon will affirm that Christ is the Messiah who died for humanity. Nor is the issue the Book of Mormon itself—one could hypothetically imagine that Christ made appearances to people on the other side of the world. The problem isn't even that the LDS Church is a "sect"—many Christian groups, even within mainstream denominations, display sectarian tendencies. It’s not the temples either—after all, Catholic churches themselves function, in a way, as temples modeled on the Old Testament.

No, the heart of the issue lies in the rejection of God as the Creator ex nihilo—the One who is almighty, omnipresent, infinite, and who exists outside of time, space, and matter. The One who, in His divine sovereignty, chose to take on human flesh and, in that form, bore the sins of the world on the cross.

[Alvaro Lainez]

A great early work on Latter-day Saint theology. BH Robert’s was way ahead of his time and his philosophical and scriptural arguments have only grown stronger with the advancement of Biblical scholarship. As he points out, most of Vander-Donckt’s arguments fall short due to false assumptions he had about Mormon cosmology and theology but Robert’s still does a great job breaking down the scriptural arguments and philosophical arguments. He is right to constantly hit on how orthodox Christology is incompatible with classical theism and specifically the argument of divine simplicity.

The only reason I gave it 4 stars is because it is slightly dated in the fact that there are stronger arguments on both sides now. The strongest arguments for classical theism against Mormonism philosophically and theologically can be found in works like the New Mormon Challenge and stronger arguments in favor of LDS theology can be found in the works of David Paulson and especially Blake Ostler (his responses to the New Mormon Challenge and his Exploring Mormon Thought series.)

[Larry]

Invaluable. Unmistakably Clear.

Shocking … because that which was made plain from the beginning is indeed plainly obvious.

It may seem masked, hidden, and made mysterious because we’ve erred in discerning truth from error, preferring contortion, confusion, and confounding, over thought-to-be blasphemous notions.

Isn’t it illuminating to consider how notions which are the very essence of the plain truth have come to be called evil?

Stunning to consider.

[Matthew Allison]

For those who want to learn more about Mormon theology, for both non-Mormons and Mormons alike provides a very insightful read. I enjoyed it much and learned much.

[Jeff Crosby]

Interesting for the dialogue.

[Nicole]

I highly recommend this book. The foreword was written by my absolute favorite philosopher at BYU, Dr. David L. Paulsen. During his lifetime, B. H. Roberts, the author, was affectionately known as "defender of the faith"- I often think of Susan Easton Black as the current "defender of the faith", though in truth, I don't know of anyone who can quite measure up to Roberts. As a member of the Seventy, I think we are safe in counting this book as fascinating, and containing in-depth doctrine (keep in mind that it is a "discussion" between Roberts and Van der Donckt, who attempts to prove false LDS doctrine. Roberts' responses are fluently skillful, non-aggressive yet powerful, and extremely informative; they dissemble Van der Donckt's proof texts with effortless wisdom and truth.

[Kathy]

Outstanding discussion of the nature of God. B.H. Roberts wrote an article for the Church's Improvement Era magazine. The Reverend C. Van Der Donckt, of Pocatello, Idaho, a priest of the Roman Catholic Church wrote a reply, which the editors of the Improvement Era published. Then Brother Roberts wrote a final rebuttal. This was interesting to me to see that the Mormon doctrine of God stands up quite well to philosophical inspection. (For me, it triumphs.) Philosophical discussions usually make my head spin; this was quite readable.

[Amanda]

Loved this book! Roberts is now one of my favorite authors. He is clear, concise, and to the point. I love the way he writes! A few of the articles by various early Church leaders that were included in the back of the book were quite good as well. It was rather difficult to read the Van der Donct portion of the book, because he didn't know very much about our doctrine. It was still interesting. On the whole, quite a good book!

[Bryce Spencer]

B. H. Roberts clearly defends the doctrine of Deity and explains the nature of God. It was interesting to see the other view of the Godhead.

[Pam]

Much to learn in this book.

[Luna]

A relatively comprehensive examination of LDS beliefs relative to the Godhead and its distances from the trinity creeds and beliefs of Catholic and many Protestant sects.