Attributes of God: Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent

Related posts: Omniscience and Fate; Omniscience and divine learning; The Fall of Man: Defense of the Doctrine; Whence God? Talking about God

Immutable; Omnipresent; Impassible

In this six part series I explore Mormon conceptions of the attributes of God and compare them to traditional Christian beliefs. By conceptions I mean that Mormonism has no prescribed conception of the attributes of God. There are guidelines but few specifics. We don’t adhere to the traditional belief that God has one essence and three personal distinctions; we don’t accept God’s plurality and unicity. Not in any traditional sense at least. We believe the Godhead consists of three separate persons, each a God. (See Godhead: God or Gods?) Though we believe they share an intimate unity such that they may be spoken of as God, our language is along the lines of social trinitarianism; generally, that is the sense of our unqualified monotheistic language. In the posts comprising this series, when I use the word God in an LDS context it is in this generic sense. Continue reading

Why Covenants?

Related Posts: Mormon temple garments; Justification; Grace; Election; Faith and Charity; Justification and Salvation

Why do we make covenants to do things we are already commanded to do? For example, in the temple we make a covenant to obey the law of chastity. That is, no sexual relations outside marriage. We also make covenants to do things like obey God and to follow the Gospel. But these things are already commandments. So why are we making covenants to do things we are already obligated to do? That is the question I shall explore.

See also:“A closer look at the Draper Temple,” Mormon Times.

A covenant people

The Navoo Temple

The Navoo Temple

President Ezra Taft Benson once said,

We are a covenant-making people. The temple is one of the holy places in which the Savior commanded the faithful to stand. It is a holy place because it is a house of covenants (The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, 250). Continue reading