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(1/21/02)
"The personal recognition and confession of God's preeminent position is
the beginning point of religious experience. It encompasses all else.
Practically every interview in the Church from baptism to priesthood
advancement begins with this confession. It is likewise reflected in the
first article of faith: 'We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in
His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.' [A
of F 1:1] All else proceeds from this first and fundamental truth.
Without this first confession of God, no confession to Him can have full
meaning." — Dennis B. Neuenschwander, "The
Path
of Growth," "Ensign," Dec. 1999, p. 13
(1/22/02)
"We maintain that the concepts identified by such nonscriptural
terms as 'the incomprehensible mystery of God' and 'the mystery of the
Holy Trinity' are attributable to the ideas of Greek philosophy. These
philosophical concepts transformed Christianity in the first few
centuries following the deaths of the Apostles. For example,
philosophers then maintained that physical matter was evil and that God
was a spirit without feelings or passions. Persons of this persuasion,
including learned men who became influential converts to Christianity,
had a hard time accepting the simple teachings of early Christianity: an
Only Begotten Son who said he was in the express image of his Father in
Heaven and who taught his followers to be one as he and his Father were
one, and a Messiah who died on a cross and later appeared to his
followers as a resurrected being with flesh and bones." — Dallin H.
Oaks, "Apostasy
and
Restoration," "Ensign," May 1995, p. 84-85
(1/23/02)
"A fourth area of misunderstanding among some of our friends in
Christianity is that they refer to us as 'polytheists,' meaning that we
believe in a plurality of Gods. Much misunderstanding would be avoided
if they understood that we worship only one Godhead, consisting of God
the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. We believe that the
biblical record teaches that God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy
Ghost are separate persons. When the Savior was baptized, the Father
spoke His approval from heaven, and the Holy Ghost was witnessed to be
present by the sign of a dove (see Matt.
3:16-17). Likewise the Bible records the prayers of Jesus Christ
to our Father in Heaven, a separate being (see John
17:3). We believe this doctrine is taught in the Bible despite
what the creeds of other Christian denominations may teach." — M.
Russell Ballard, "Building
Bridges
of Understanding," "Ensign," June 1998, p. 67-68
(1/24/02)
"The first article of faith is familiar to all members of the
Church. It is the pivotal position of our religion. It is significant
that in setting forth the primary elements of our doctrine, the Prophet
Joseph put this number one..." — Gordon B. Hinckley, "The
Father,
Son, and Holy Ghost," "Ensign," Mar. 1998, p. 2
(1/25/02)
"In this final, glorious, gospel dispensation we have received the
most basic truth of all eternity, and that truth concerns the nature and
kind of being that God is. It is eternal life to know the Father and the
Son. (See John 17:3.)
There is no possible way to go degree by degree, step by step to the
high exaltation we seek unless and until we come to a knowledge of the
nature and kind of being that God is. Thus, when we talk about eternal
life, we are talking about the kind of life that God our Father lives;
and when we speak of him, we are speaking of a holy, perfected, exalted,
ennobled man--an individual, a personage, a being with 'a body of flesh
and bones as tangible as man's.' (D&C
130:22.) We are talking about someone who is a literal parent, who
is the Father of the spirits of all men. You and I were born as members
of his family. We have seen his face; we have heard his voice; we have
received his counsel, personally, as well as through representatives and
agents; we knew him in the pre-existence. Now a curtain has been dropped
and we do not have the remembrance that we had then, but we are seeking
to do the things that will enable us to be like him." — Bruce R.
McConkie, "Celestial
Marriage," "New Era," June 1978, p. 12, 14
8/7/11
We say, “We believe in God, the Eternal Father.” Do we really
believe that he is the Father of our spirit, and act accordingly? We
say, “We believe in … His Son, Jesus Christ.” Do we really believe that
Jesus Christ is our Savior, and act accordingly? Would we live the way
we do if we were conscious of that all the time? - N. Eldon Tanner,
"Remember Who You Are," Ensign (CR) October 1981
2/17/17
“We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ,
and in the Holy Ghost” (A
of F 1:1). This is our primary declaration of faith. We speak
unabashedly of the living reality of the Lord Jesus Christ. We declare
without equivocation the fact of His great act of Atonement for all
mankind. That act brought assurance of universal resurrection and
opened the way to exaltation in our Father’s kingdom. – Gordon
B. Hinckley, “Our
Testimony to the World,” Ensign (CR) May 1997
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