Mormon Godhead

As I explained in a previous post, The Trinity, Historic Christianity believes in the Trinity. In a fundamental difference with Historic Christianity, Mormons reject the Trinity. Instead, Mormons believe in the Godhead, composed of Three Gods, God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit. Though they are three separate and distinct Gods in their own right, they work in unity through the Godhead, with God the Father as the primary God in charge.

The Mormons believe the Nicene Council (325 A.D.) fabricated the teaching about the Trinity out of whole cloth. This position ignores the numerous statements throughout the Old Testament and extending into the New Testament that there is only One God. It ignores the implied teachings about the Trinity in the New Testament. It also ignores the numerous statements of early Church fathers about the Trinity, including those who had been alive when the apostles were still alive.

I haven't yet found a Mormon who can adequately explain all this. They will talk about how One God refers to only the Father, or only the Son, though those terms are not used in the Old Testament. Or they will insist that the Hebrew word Elohim refers to the Father, and Yahweh or Jehovah (an English transliteration of Yahweh) refers to the Son, even though these terms are all used interchangeably for God in the Old Testament. They especially have problems if you point out the combined Hebrew word which is translated Yahweh Elohim.

On a philosophical level, Three Gods would not lead to unity, even if it is claimed they work together, and eventually lead to disunity. The Mormons pride themselves on a unified religion, which they have as long as you do not seriously question the leadership publicly. (Those who do have been excommunicated.) However, the Mormon Church is one denomination among several in the Restorationist movement (all who believe Joseph Smith was a prophet and the Book of Mormons is a new revelation from God) and none of those denominations even talk to each other. In addition, the Mormon Church has led to one of the deepest divisions with every Christian denomination or church. The Mormons hold all of them to be apostates (a word essentially synonymous with rebellious). They agree that both Jesus Christ and God the Father told Joseph Smith in the First Vision (according to his third written account in 1938) that all Christian churches were wrong. (The two earlier written versions before did not mention that all the Christian churches were wrong, or that both Jesus and the Father appeared to Joseph Smith.) Oddly, while the Mormons desire the respect of other Christians, they say all of them are apostates. Calling Christians apostates hardly leads to respect or unity.

It's a shame, because there are many shared values between Christians and Mormons, and I hope efforts can be made to focus on those shared values and to find areas to work together.

Health Care

Most people sympathize with the concept that everyone should be able to receive health care. It sort of aligns with Christian concerns of taking care of the sick, like the good Samaritan. However, while the good Samaritan paid for the care of the man voluntarily out his own pocket, and therefore even the expert in the law considered him a true neighbor (Luke 10:25-37), many people think the government wants to pick our pockets to pay for the massive government program being put forth to achieve this result.

Is that true? President Obama says it is not. He claims his plan will not raise the already record-breaking deficit, nor require any new taxes, because it will be all paid by savings he will find in the Medicare and Medicaid government programs. This claim alone has seniors alarmed worried that the proposed savings will come at the expense of health care benefits already available to them. Since President Obama proposed the elimination of Medicare Advantage, a Medicare supplemental paid for by the government for poor seniors - administered by private companies - the fears of seniors have only escalated. When Humana sent out letters informing their clients about this proposal, and the impact it might have, the government threatened them, about as close to a case of censorship we have had for years.

The CBO (Congressional Budget Office), charged with impartially assessing such plans, has announced that the health plan proposals will cost a lot more than claimed in the President's proposals or the plans proposed by the Democrats in Congress, and will add a lot more to the deficit. Therefore, the President will have to raise taxes in order to attempt to make his proposal deficit neutral, which he has pledged, while at the same time pledging not to raise taxes on those making $250,000 or less. The CBO announcements has likely been the most important factor in the poll numbers showing growing opposition to the proposals on the part of the people. In the meantime, President Obama proposes a penalty for anyone who does not sign up for a health plan (something he was opposed to during his campaign), as well as fees for really good health care plans, but refuses to call this a tax, even when someone like George Stephanopoulos, a liberal, brings out a simple dictionary definition of taxes.

Meanwhile, other proposals to reform health care go largely ignored. For years, the government has allowed a tax deduction for health plans offered by employers, but unfairly prevented a similar deduction for plans purchased by individuals as well as the self-employed. This government policy has distorted the private market. Most individuals have no idea of what health care actually costs. They only know what their contribution is after their employer pays their share of the health care plan they have. The employee doesn't realize they are really paying for the cost that their employers pay, since the employers reduces their wages to account for what they are paying in health care benefits. The employer chooses the plan, not the employee, though sometimes they are given a choice of plans the employer pre-selects. The plans usually selected by the employer have very low or no deductibles, at a high cost to the employer, resulting in a lower wage for the employee. When the employee goes to the doctor or the hospital, they often have no idea of the cost, nor do they care because it is covered under their plan.

A better plan would be to give a deduction, or better, a tax credit, directly to individuals to choose their own plans. That way, consumers would be in charge of deciding which health care plans to purchase, along with a choice about deductibles, as well as when coverage would kick in. Direct consumer involvement historically has been the best vehicle to driving down costs as providers of goods and services compete for their business. The current system keeps consumers in the dark about not only the cost of their health care plans, and ultimately about the cost of their health care itself. Under this system, it is not surprising that health care costs continue rising.

The Trinity

Every Christian church, or denomination, proclaims the Trinity, three persons in one God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (or Ghost). This universal Christian doctrine is accepted, taught, and proclaimed in all Christian churches, as best expressed in the Nicene Creed. This doctrine demonstrates a unity between the Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Episcopalian/Anglican, Methodist, Baptist, Pentecostals, non-denominational and interdenominational churches, as well as all other Christian churches and denominations.

It is extremely important to notice that Christianity does not attempt in any way to say that the Trinity means three Gods are one God. Such a statement would be a logical contradiction, and therefore completely unreasonable. Instead, a unified Christianity has insisted that the Trinity means that God, while one in essence is manifested in three Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Every Christian church or denomination you enter therefore accepts the Trinity, as well as the Nicene Creed, regardless of whatever other disagreements they might have with other churches or denominations.

The Trinity is not only a unifying doctrine among churches and denominations, it also answer deep philosophical questions. One of the great questions, debates, and issues in philosophy regards the ultimate issues of unity and diversity. All around we see diversity. What gives unity to it? Without such a unity, we are only left with a wild diversity which ultimately does not sit at all well with us on a deep level as human beings. Our spirits strives at that deep level for unity. However, on that level, we cannot accept a made-up or arbitrary unity. Our spirit/souls long for an ultimate unity to that diversity, yet such a unity that does not deny or suppress the diversity we not only see all around us, but also sense or intuit in our souls. The Trinity provides a beautiful, magnificent answer to that unity and diversity our spirit/souls strive for and needs that ultimately can not be found elsewhere and corresponds to the unity and diversity all around us.

The Trinity is primarily based on the teachings about One God based in Old Testament Israel, which goes back to Abraham, and even earlier. All monotheistic religions, whether Hebrew, Islamic, or Christian, trace their roots back to Abraham (usually affectionately referred to as Father Abraham). The Trinity reflects the New Testament emphasis that Jesus Christ, on his own, refers to himself as God, and strongly implies that the Holy Spirit is also God. However, even the Old Testament implies a Trinity by such passages in Genesis where God says he will create man in our image. Denying this very historical Christian doctrine not only raises religious issues, but philosophical as well. Usually, as a society denies the Trinity, freedom tends to be restricted. This tendency most clearly manifest itself in Islamic societies where, though much of the Old Testament and the New Testament is affirmed, we easily see a restriction of freedom because of the lack of a foundation in diversity which provides a basis for freedom. Therefore, many in the West would instantly find the restrictions of a Muslim society unbearable, even though we find a common heritage in Abraham. The teachings about the Trinity largely explains why Western Civilization has led and provided the world with a maximization of freedom without falling into chaos.

In the context of the One God, promulgated and emphasized time and again in the Old Testament, as well as repeated time and again in the New Testament, the Trinity, strongly implied in the New Testament by the references by Jesus to himself as God, as well as the Holy Spirit. The Trinity avoids the errors of asserting three Gods, as well as the error of asserting that God is only one Person to the denial of Jesus Christ or the Holy Spirit as God.