Criticism of Mormonism/Books/One Nation Under Gods/Use of sources/Conception of Christ

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Too much education damaging

A FAIR Analysis of: Criticism of Mormonism/Books/One Nation Under Gods A work by author: Richard Abanes

LDS "Birth Machines"

Conception of Christ

The Quotes

One Nation under Gods, page 287 (hardback and paperback)

• Is it true that Latter-day Saints do not believe that Jesus Christ was not "conceived in any way that might be considered supernatural" and that He was not "miraculously begotten, for instance, by the Holy Ghost, as Christianity teaches?"

The References

Endnote 38-39, page 577 (hardback); page 575 (paperback)

• Brigham Young, April 9, 1852, Journal of Discourses, vol. 1, 51.
• Brigham Young, August 19, 1866, Journal of Discourses, vol. 11, 268.

The Problem

This misrepresents LDS sources and doctrine.

Brigham Young: JD Vol. 1

Here is more of Brigham's statement:

"Now, remember from this time forth, and for ever, that Jesus Christ was not begotten by the Holy Ghost. I will repeat a little anecdote. I was in conversation with a certain learned professor upon this subject, when I replied, to this idea—"if the Son was begotten by the Holy Ghost, it would be very dangerous to baptize and confirm females, and give the Holy Ghost to them, lest he should beget children, to be palmed upon the Elders by the people, bringing the Elders into great difficulties." (emphasis added)

LDS doctrine teaches that Christ was the Son of God the Father, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

Book of Mormon

• Alma 7꞉10:And behold, he shall be born of Mary, at Jerusalem which is the land of our forefathers, she being a virgin, a precious and chosen vessel, who shall be overshadowed and conceive by the power of the Holy Ghost, and bring forth a son, yea, even the Son of God.
• 1 Nephi 11꞉18-20:And he said unto me: Behold, the virgin whom thou seest is the mother of the Son of God, after the manner of the flesh. And it came to pass that I beheld that she was carried away in the Spirit; and after she had been carried away in the Spirit for the space of a time the angel spake unto me, saying: Look! And I looked and beheld the virgin again, bearing a child in her arms.

Modern references

• "The manner of his conception had been miraculous, and she must have trembled to realize that the responsibility of nurturing this divine child was hers." (Barbara B. Smith, "No Ordinary Child", Liahona, Dec. 1989)
• "...she knew her cousin Elisabeth would lend a sympathetic ear, for had she not also experienced a miraculous conception?" (Mary Pratt Parrish, "Mary", Ensign, Dec. 1971)

Brigham Young: JD Vol. 11

Brigham said:

This matter [a negative attitude toward plural marriage] was a little changed in the case of the Savior of the world, the Son of the living God. The man Joseph, the husband of Mary, did not, that we know of, have more than one wife, but Mary the wife of Joseph had another husband. On this account infidels have called the Savior a bastard. This is merely a human opinion upon one of the inscrutable doings of the Almighty. That very babe that was cradled in the manger, was begotten, not by Joseph, the husband of Mary, but by another Being. Do you inquire by whom? He was begotten by God our heavenly Father. This answer may suffice you—you need never inquire more upon that point. Jesus Christ is the only begotten of the Father, and he is the Savior of the world, and full of grace and truth. It is not polygamy that men fight against when they persecute this people; but, still, if we continue to be faithful to our God, he will defend us in doing what is right. If it is wrong for a man to have more than one wife at a time, the Lord will reveal it by and by, and he will put it away that it will not be known in the Church. I did not ask Him for the revelation upon this subject. When that revelation was first read to me by Joseph Smith, I plainly saw the great trials and the abuse of it that would be made by many of the Elders, and the trouble and the persecution that it would bring upon this whole people. But the Lord revealed it, and it was my business to accept it.

LDS doctrine holds that God is Christ's literal Father, through the power of the Holy Ghost. The mechanism by which this was accomplished has been speculated upon, but as Brigham said, "this answer may suffice you--you need never inquire more upon that point." We know that God is Christ's father, but how this was accomplished is not revealed, and is unlikely to be.

Brigham's point here, though, is that the Christians of his day are being hypocritical by being offended at the idea of legitimately bearing children by one person when married to another. Brigham points out that Mary was married to Joseph, and yet bore a child that was not his, but God's. There are only two options—one can, as the "infidels" do, assert that Jesus was an illegitimate child. Or, one can conclude that God can, under some circumstances, make it proper for someone to be married to one person, and yet bear the child of another. If this is possible, why then is it impossible for God to command a man to father children by two women to whom he is legitimately married?

Thus, Brigham's argument is not about the mechanism of Christ's conception. Rather, he is using it as a reductio ad absurdum (if taking an argument to its logical conclusion results in an absurdity, then the argument is false). He does this to illustrate the fallacy in his Christian critics' attack on polygamy.

The author distorts Brigham's argument and LDS doctrine into an offensive construction that no Latter-day Saint would recognize as his or her beliefs. We have a right to declare our own doctrine and the interpretation of its implications, not hostile and ill-informed critics like the author of One Nation Under Gods.

Further reading

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