This is the third in a series of articles designed to help Missouri Baptists engage LDS neighbors in respectful gospel conversations.
As Paul noted of the “super apostles” who deceived the church at Corinth, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints proclaims “another Jesus … a different Spirit … a different gospel” (2 Cor. 11:4).
This realization shouldn’t cause us to be angry with our Mormon neighbors. Rather, their sincere beliefs that run counter to biblical Christianity should grieve us, and spur us to engage in respectful gospel conversations with them.
In the previous column, we examined the counterfeit Jesus of Mormonism. Now, we turn our attention to the “different Spirit” of the LDS Church.
Traditionally, LDS leaders have drawn a distinction between the Holy Spirit and the Holy Ghost. The Holy Spirit is an impersonal force also known as the “Spirit of Christ” or the “Light of Christ.” The Holy Ghost is a divine person inhabiting the premortal spirit world.
In Evidences and Reconciliations, LDS Apostle John Widtsoe explains: “The Holy Spirit is the agent, means, or influence by which the will, power, and intelligence of God, and the Godhead, personal Beings, may be transmitted throughout space…. The Holy Ghost, sometimes called the Comforter, is the third member of the Godhead, and is a personage, distinct from the Holy Spirit. As a personage, the Holy Ghost cannot anymore than the Father or Son be everywhere present in person.”
Parley Pratt, an early LDS leader, described the Holy Spirit as an ethereal, physical fluid filling the universe – essentially a medium through which God operates – while the Holy Ghost is a personal being.
The LDS Church’s own Bible Dictionary – an official publication bound into LDS editions of the King James Bible since 1979 – makes this distinction explicit: “The light of Christ should not be confused with the personage of the Holy Ghost, for the light of Christ is not a personage at all. Its influence is preliminary to and preparatory to one’s receiving the Holy Ghost.”
In LDS practice, this distinction between the Holy Spirit and Holy Ghost matters because only baptized members of the LDS Church can receive the gift of the Holy Ghost – meaning the ongoing companionship of that person.
Meanwhile, the Holy Spirit is available to all people and is what prompts non-members toward truth, according to the Book of Mormon: “the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil” (Moroni 7:16).
Robert Millet, a prominent Brigham Young University theologian, writes that the Holy Ghost is one of God’s spirit sons (like Jesus and Lucifer). “We may infer, therefore, that he will eventually receive a physical body, like every other son and daughter of the Father who was faithful in the first estate [premortal existence].”
In summary, the LDS Holy Ghost is, in all probability, a premortal spirit son of God the Father, presently serving in the Godhead without a physical body. He can be in only one place at a time, which is why his influence is mediated through the impersonal Holy Spirit rather than his personal presence.
Several key points help us form a biblical response to the LDS understanding of the Holy Spirit and Holy Ghost.
First, Scripture reveals that the Holy Spirit and Holy Ghost are one and the same – the third person of the triune Godhead. The translators of the King James Version used “Holy Ghost” (90 times) and “Holy Spirit” (seven times) interchangeably. Modern translations favor “Holy Spirit” and avoid “Holy Ghost” to be consistent in rendering the Greek “hagion pneuma.”
Second, the Holy Spirit is both personal and divine. Mormons (and Jehovah’s Witnesses) mistakenly understand the Spirit as an impersonal force. He is not. Scripture consistently reveals the Spirit’s personhood and deity.
For example, the Spirit creates (Gen. 1:2); speaks as God (2 Sam. 23:2); counsels (John 14:16-17); prophesies (Num. 24:2-4); reveals future events (Acts 21:11); chooses and empowers (Judg. 3:9-10); testifies (Rom. 8:16-17); confirms our adoption into God’s family (Gal. 4:6-7); intercedes on our behalf (Rom. 8:26-27); and knows God’s thoughts (1 Cor. 2:10-11).
Further, the Spirit appoints overseers to shepherd the church (Acts 20:28); distributes spiritual gifts (1 Cor. 12:6-11); forbids and allows (Acts 16:6-7); may be blasphemed (Matt. 12:31); may be grieved (Eph. 4:30); may be insulted (Heb. 10:28-29); may be tested, lied to, and sinned against (Acts 5:1-11); imparts new life (John 3:5-8); and much more.
Does this sound like an impersonal force?
Third, note that the Holy Ghost of Mormonism, like Heavenly Father and Jesus, can only be one place at a time. Heavenly Father and Jesus have bodies of flesh and bone, according to LDS teaching, limiting them spatially. Meanwhile, the Holy Ghost is confined to the premortal spirit world.
But Scripture makes it clear that all three persons of the Godhead share the same divine attribute of omnipresence (e.g., Ps. 139:7-10; Prov. 15:3; Col. 1:1; Heb. 4:13).
Finally, by denying the personality, deity, and omnipresence of the Holy Spirit, Mormons limit the essential work of the Spirit in redemption. Scripture tells us the Spirit is the agent of the Incarnation (Matt. 1:18-25); the companion of Christ throughout his earthly ministry (Matt. 3:16-17; 12:28); one who raises Jesus from the dead (Rom. 8:11); the one who convinces unbelievers of their need for Christ (John 16:7-11); the one who makes believing sinners spiritually alive (John 3:5-8; Titus 3:5); and much more.
So, ask your Mormon neighbors who they believe the Holy Spirit is, and whether he may be distinguished from the Holy Ghost. Listen respectfully to their answers. And be prepared to share the biblically faithful Holy Spirit with them.
Next: The gospel of Latter-day Saints
