[Colofornian]

From the blog: Mormonism teaches that the Father and Son are separate Beings. It interprets their oneness that the Bible talks about as a unity of purpose or something similar, but never as a unity of being. But what trips me up is a LDS Scripture like D&C 20:19. “And gave unto them commandments that they should love and serve him, the only living and true God, and that he should be the only being that they should worship.” The things that strikes me are the singulars (only God. . .only being). Who is the only being that this verse refers to? Who is the only being that should be worshipped? Does this refer to Heavenly Father or Jesus? It seems pretty clear to me that this scripture states that only one God is to be worshipped and, according to Mormonism, “one God” and “one being” can’t refer both to Heavenly Father and Jesus. Therefore my question: whom do Mormons worship? Or more pointedly, would it be accurate to say that Mormonism does not teach worship of Jesus?

Q1 Do Mormons worship Jesus?
A It depends upon which Mormon and which Mormon leaders you talk to. Lds "apostle" Bruce McConkie advised Lds STRONGLY in 1982 to not worship Jesus.

McConkie must have seized upon the Mormon "scripture" of D&C 20:17-19 as the key verse that would “guide” his pattern of worship once & for all: and that he should be the ONLY BEING whom they should worship ... as he quoted it to BYU students. (See Our relationship with the Lord)

Christians worship this Messiah, just like God told the angels to do in Hebrews 1:6. And I challenge grassroots Mormons to defy their leaders -- like Lds "apostle" McConkie when they tell them NOT to directly worship Jesus (see Mormon 7:7; 2 Nephi 25:29; 4 Nephi 4:37; 3 Nephi 11:17; 3 Nephi 17:10).

I DIRECTLY pray to this Jesus as Stephen did in Acts (7:59) -- and even as the supposed Book of Mormon disciple characters DIRECTLY and repeatedly did to Jesus in 3 Nephi 19: 6-26...again -- a Mormon "scripture" de-emphasized & ignored by Mormon leaders).

Q2 If some Mormons do worship Jesus -- and if they deem Jesus a "separate" god than Heavenly Father, doesn't that mean they worship more than one god?

A Yes.

To show you the extent of confusion this has caused even among Mormon leaders, look at "apostle" McConkie's book, Mormon Doctrine:

"Three separate personages--the Father, Son and Holy Ghost--comprise the Godhead...To us, speaking in the proper finite sense, these three are the only gods we worship." (Mormon Doctrine, pp. 567-577, 1966 edition)

Q3 Wait a minute. Didn't you just get done telling us that McConkie advised BYU students NOT to worship Jesus in 1982?

A Indeed, he did, after saying the above in 1966! But McConkie was so confused, he would say "3" then "2" in the same book...and then eventually settled on "1" by 1982!

McConkie, on p. 848 of Mormon Doctrine, emphasized worshiping two gods: "The Father and the Son are the objects of all true worship....No one can worship the Father without also worshiping the Son....It is proper to worship the Father, in the name of the Son, and also to worship the Son" (McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 848).

Q4 Doesn't the Book of Mormon contradict even the two-god worship theory of McConkie's?

A Yes. Mormon 7:7 reads: 7And he hath brought to pass the redemption of the bworld, whereby he that is found guiltless before him at the judgment day hath it given unto him to ddwell in the presence of God in his kingdom, to sing ceaseless praises with the choirs above, unto the Father, and unto the Son, and unto the Holy Ghost, which are one God, in a state of happiness which hath no end.

So you can see how confusing this gets...trinitarian theology is found frequently in the Book of Mormon...including worshiping the Holy Spirit!

Q5 Doesn't it all boil down to how many gods you worship?

A Yes.

Thomas calls Jesus his God in John 20:28; even the Joseph Smith's concocted "Nephite disciples" called Jesus “their Lord and God” (3 Nephi 19:18).

And look @ what other Mormon "scriptures" say:
* The D&C says Jesus is God (19:4; 62:1; etc.) Since there’s only one true God in the bible and in the LDS scriptures [for example, the Mormon "scripture" from the Pearl of Great Price says "no God besides me" (1:6)]
* All this means is that either Jesus is a false god or is the one true God. As Jesus Christ is a God to Thomas (John 20:28) -- so Thomas has two gods?

[MHGinTN]

Well, Colo, as you know, if you ask one Mormon Lady Lawyer, she will tell you that she has only one Lord, Jesus Christ. If you ask a PD, it will respond that the godhead is worshipped. If you ask Delphi abuser, you will get a too long essay which will not answer your question but will suffice to obfuscate the question. So, perhaps you could write to Tommy MOnson and have him answer ... or not, since he isn’t likely to answer a gentile.

[MIchaelTArchangel]

Methinks they worship money and themselves.

[stranger and pilgrim]

Lots of believers understand God, the father, and Jesus to be separate entities/souls. It’s not just Mormons. Jehovah’s Witnesses have them as separate beings as well. Certainly Jews see them as two different souls. In fact, of all the world’s religions, only modern Christians have the trinity doctrine. It’s not clear that the early church had that belief, either. They knew him to be the SON of God.

FWIW, worshipping Jesus is never specifically commanded in the Bible (though there are instances of people doing so). You will not find a verse that says to worship Jesus (follow, obey, etc., sure, but not worship). In Revelation, a holy angel (which may or may not be Jesus, depending on your interpretation of Revelation) corrects John when he sees himself falling down to worship the angel and says that the testimony of Jesus is to worship GOD.

“Rev.19:10 — And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

[volunbeer]

This will become a very common thread if Mittens is nominated.........

[fishtank]

This is the true Jesus:

Colossians 1:13-17 (KJV)

“Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness,

and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:

In whom we have redemption through his blood,

even the forgiveness of sins:

Who is the image of the invisible God,

the firstborn of every creature:

For by him were all things created,

that are in heaven, and that are in earth,

visible and invisible,

whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers:

all things were created by him, and for him:

And he is before all things,

and by him all things consist.”

[svcw]

Since lds teach godS not god, could be anybody.

[HenpeckedCon]

Jesus of Kolob?

[allmendream]

Most believers claim to worship God, but many cannot seem to worship anything but themselves.

That is why they imagine God to be so very much like themselves in every aspect.

Mormons think that they themselves shall become Gods - so with them it is even more endemic.

[reaganaut]

They will CLAIM they worship Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost, however that isn’t true.

In reality they worship ‘the LDS Church’ and Joseph Smith. Do they pray to Joseph? Not at all, but they revere him in a way that is worship. Same with the LDS church, ‘the Church’ always comes first, Jesus is always just a footnote, you can see this in conference talks, in their testimonies, in the admonitions to never do anything to make ‘the church’ look bad, the temple rituals - the law of consecration is about giving to “THE CHURCH”.

Of course the LDS will deny it, I would have too when I was LDS, it was only after I became a Christians and started worshiping God, Jesus, and the Spirit, did I see that when I was LDS it was all about “The Church” and Joe Smith, not God or Christ at all.