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<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" height=90 BGCOLOR="#CC9900" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="043005a0dwnjzk.gif"> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="EDWARD WATSONS WEBWORLD"><U><B>home</B></U></A><B> | </B><FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#FFCC66" FACE="Arial" ><B>EDWARD WATS</B><B>ON'S WEBWORLD</B></FONT></div> <div> <A HREF="id61.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="SECTION 1 INTRODUCTION"><U><B>SECTION 1 INTRODUCTION</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id62.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="1"><U><B>1</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id66.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="2"><U><B>2</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><B>3</B><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id68.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="4"><U><B>4</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id55.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="5"><U><B>5</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id69.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="6"><U><B>6</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id59.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="7"><U><B>7</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id71.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="8"><U><B>8</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id72.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="9"><U><B>9</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id60.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="10"><U><B>10</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id73.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="11"><U><B>11</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id74.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="12"><U><B>12</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id75.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="13"><U><B>13</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id76.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="14"><U><B>14</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id77.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="15"><U><B>15</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id78.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="16"><U><B>16</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id79.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="17"><U><B>17</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id80.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="18"><U><B>18</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id81.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="APPENDIX"><U><B>APPENDIX</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id82.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="SECTION 1: CONCLUSION"><U><B>SECTION 1: CONCLUSION</B></U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id65.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="ABBREVIATIONS"><U><B>ABBREVIATIONS</B></U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>[MORMONISM. The Faith of the Twenty-first Century. Volume 1. Edward K. Watson. (Liahona Publications. Copyright © 1998 Edward K. Watson.) pp. 31-39. MORMONISM: Section 1, Chapter 3. All rights reserved.]</B></div> <bR> <div> <U>CHAPTER 3</U></div> <bR> <div> <B>Is Our Physical Appearance after Heavenly Father's? </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>A) Old Testament:</B> </div> <bR> <div>      (1) Gen<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT> 1:26-27 And God said, <I>Let us make man in our image [tselem], after our likeness [d</I><I>e</I><I>mût]:</I> and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So <I>God created man in his own image [tselem], in the image [tselem] of God created he him; </I>male and female created he them.</div> <bR> <div>      (2) Gen<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT> 9:6 Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for <I>in the image [tselem] of God made he man. </I></div> <bR> <div>      (3) Deut <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT>21:22-23 And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree: <I>His body shall not remain all night upon the tree,</I> but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for<I> he that is hanged is accursed of God</I>;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.</div> <bR> <div> <B>(1) Gen</B> <B> 1:26-27 1) Gen  1:26-27 </B></div> <bR> <div>      1)  “<I><B>tselem</B></I>”(6754) “image, copy, form.”<FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >1</FONT> It can be found 17 times in the OT (Gen  1:26-27;  5:3;  9:6; Num  33:52; 1 Sam  6:5,11; 2 Kng  11:18; 2 Chr  23:17; Ps  39:6;  73:20; Ezek  7:20;  16:17;  23:14; & Amos  5:26). Always discernable with boundaries and dimensions. Its discernable nature isn't negated even when it is used abstractly or representatively (Ps  39:6;  73:20). “The Hebrew word <I>tselem</I> refers to a three-dimensional image or form.”<FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >2</FONT></div> <bR> <div>      2) “<I><B>d</B></I><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><I><B>e</B></I></FONT><I><B>mût</B></I>” (1823) “likeness, shape, pattern, figure, form.”<FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >3</FONT> It can be found 25 times in the OT (Gen  1:26;  5:1,3; 2 Kng  16:10; 2 Chr  4:3; Isa  13:4;  40:18; Ezek  1:5,10,13,16,22,26,28;  8:2;  10:1,10,21-22;  23:15; Dan  10:16; Ps  58:4). As far as I know, only Ps  58:4 uses “<I>d</I><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><I>e</I></FONT><I>mût</I>” differing from an literal observant image which is discernable.</div> <div>      “<I>tselem</I>” and “<I>d</I><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><I>e</I></FONT><I>mût</I>” are in nearly all cases referring to the exterior appearance or something which is discernable when used in relation to objects and beings, regardless of their materiality.</div> <div>      Compare Gen  1:26-27 with Gen  5:1-3: </div> <bR> <div>  Gen<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT> 1:26-27 And God said, <I>Let us make man in our image [tselem], after our likeness [d</I><I>e</I><I>mût]:</I> and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So <I>God created man in his own image [tselem], in the image [tselem] of God created he him; </I>male and female created he them.</div> <bR> <div>  Gen<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT> 5:1-3 This is the book of the generations of Adam.  In the day that <I>God created man, in the likeness [d</I><I>e</I><I>mût] of God made he him</I>; Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created. And <I>Adam</I> lived an hundred and thirty years, and<I> begat a son in his own likeness [d</I><I>e</I><I>mût], after his image [tselem]; and called his name Seth:</I></div> <bR> <div>      There really isn't any difference between these two accounts with each using “<I>tselem</I>” and “<I>d</I><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><I>e</I></FONT><I>mût</I>” in the same manner. The <I>only</I> reason why these two passages are understood differently<FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >4</FONT> by those who adhere to the “Traditional” Jewish/Christian theologies is because of their insistence in understanding Gen  1:26-27 to refer to the nonphysical characteristics of man. This is due to their theological training that God is an omnipresent, formless, nonmaterial being<FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >5</FONT> despite this isn't derived from the Bible but from Greek philosophy.</div> <bR> <div> “This similitude refers primarily to man's body, although of course the spiritual is not thereby excluded ... Modern man will probably object to this explanation by claiming that God has no shape at all, as He is a purely spiritual being. But such an incorporeal God-idea demands a power of abstraction that was beyond the reach of ancient Israel, and attained only by Greek Philosophy ... God is thus conceived as a human being, albeit many times more powerful and dreadful.<FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >”</FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >6</FONT></div> <bR> <div>   “The OT writers in general seem to have thought of God not as formless spirit but as having a form which could be seen (cf., e.g., Num  12.8), and all the probability is that this form was supposed to be the same as man's own form. There is therefore no objection to taking the statement to refer primarily to man's bodily form.”<FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >7</FONT></div> <bR> <div>   “... those interpretations limiting the `image' too exclusively to the `spiritual' side or moral capacity of mankind must be rejected.”<FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >8</FONT></div> <bR> <div>      They <I>assume </I>this passage doesn't say what it appears to be saying (our  physical appearance is patterned after God's outward physical image).<FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >9</FONT></div> <bR> <div>   `God must therefore have something like an “image” and “likeness” of his own.'<FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >10</FONT></div> <bR> <div>      Mormonism understands the  “image of God” to refer to the consolidation of three things (since each alone is insufficient to fully express what the “image of God” means):</div> <bR> <div> 1) Humans are  “gods-in-embryo.” We have a “divine spark” or divinity in us which gives us the potential to become like God, via  unity with Jesus Christ, due to being his spirit c hildren (see MORMONISM: Section 5).</div> <div> 2) We are superior to all other forms of life on earth.</div> <div> 3) Our physical appearance is created after the physical form of God.</div> <bR> <div>      Man's moral superiority and intellectual ability aren't related to the “image of God” since the ability to discern comes from partaking the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (Gen  3:5,22). Even if man's moral nature and intellectual ability were related to being in the “image of God,” they still wouldn't detract from the fact our physical appearance is included in man's being in the “image of God.”</div> <div>      To this day, traditional Judaism and Christianity still don't know what the “ image of God” means,<FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >11</FONT> simply because they view the  anthropomorphic form of God as a primitive superstitious relic not worthy of association with God.<FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >12</FONT></div> <div>      We on the other hand, accept what the Scriptures say on this issue and reject the Greek philosophical imposition on the scriptures that has dominated Traditional Theism:</div> <bR> <div> Gen  1:26-27- mankind was created by God after his image and likeness (which includes our physical appearance). </div> <div> Gen  5:1-3- Seth was created after the image and likeness (including the physical likeness) of his father, Adam (cf. D&C  107:43;  138:40; Mos  6:10). </div> <bR> <div>      No twisting the scriptures to mean something it doesn't. No centuries of debate as to the proper meaning of <I>imago dei</I>.<FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >13</FONT> No theological difficulties brought on by adherence to a non-biblical belief. No problem at all for the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (D&C  107:43).</div> <bR> <div>      <B>(2) Gen</B> <B> 9:6 2) Gen  9:6  & (3) Deut </B> <B>21:22-23 3) Deut  21:22-23  </B>We are created in the image of God [<I>tselem Elohim</I>]. We take this literally. Just as we and Adam are created in  God's image (including physical appearance- Gen  18:1; Ezek  1:26) so is Seth created in Adam's image (D&C  107:43;  138:40; Mos  6:10). To murder a human is so serious. Why? Because humans are created in  God's image. To harm a human harms God. This is identical with defacing a statue or painting of a king in an ancient monarchy. Violating his image was a violation of his person. This is also why a corpse couldn't be left hanging overnight (Deut  21:22-23) since such a degradation was an affront to God.</div> <div>      Our critics may say Gen  1:26 &  9:6 don't refer to God creating man physically after his image because there are other animals that have bodies similar to ours like apes and gorillas but they are not created in God's image. </div> <div>      This is an erroneous argument since man's physical appearance is only <I>part</I> of us being in the “image of God.” Our critics argue that this verse only applies to the intellectual and moral characteristics of man. We, in turn, say it refers to the physical characteristics as well as the intellectual and moral capabilities of man.<B> The </B> <B>image of God can be seen when one looks upon a human.</B><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >14</FONT> In studying all the references to this topic, the weight of the evidence points to Gen  1:26, as we are created literally in the image (<I>tselem</I>) and likeness (<I>d</I><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><I>e</I></FONT><I>mût</I>) of God just like Seth was in the image (<I>tselem</I>) and likeness (<I>d</I><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><I>e</I></FONT><I>mût</I>) of Adam (Gen  5:1-3; Mos  6:10) by nature<I> and physical appearance.</I><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >15</FONT></div> <div>      Why would the land be defiled if the Israelites left a human body hanging overnight? The footnote in the LDS Version of the AV says: “According to Rabbinical commentaries, to leave a body hanging was a degradation of the human body and therefore an affront to God, in whose  image man's body was made.”<FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >16</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>B) New Testament:</B> </div> <bR> <div>      (1) Jas<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT> 3:9 Therewith bless <I>we</I> God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, <I>which are made after the similitude [</I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><I>h</I></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="WP MultinationalB Roman" ><I>4</I></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><I>m</I></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="WP MultinationalB Roman" ><I>4</I></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><I>i</I></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="WP MultinationalA Roman" ><I>Ç</I></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><I>sis</I></FONT><I>] of God.</I></div> <bR> <div>      (2) 1 Cor <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT>11:7 For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the <I>image</I> <I>[</I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><I>eik</I></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="WP MultinationalA Roman" ><I>Ç</I></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><I>n</I></FONT><I>] </I>and glory <I>[</I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><I>doxa</I></FONT><I>]</I> of God: but the woman is the glory <I>[</I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><I>doxa</I></FONT><I>]</I> of the man.</div> <div>                          </div> <div>      (3) 1 Cor <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT>15:47-49 The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the <I>image</I> <I>[</I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><I>eik</I></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="WP MultinationalA Roman" ><I>Ç</I></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><I>n</I></FONT><I>]</I> of the earthy, we shall also bear the <I>image [</I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><I>eik</I></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="WP MultinationalA Roman" ><I>Ç</I></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><I>n</I></FONT><I>]</I> of the heavenly.</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="BernhardMod BT" >     (4) Rom</FONT> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="BernhardMod BT" > 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be <I>conformed [</I></FONT><I>summ</I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="WP MultinationalB Roman" ><I>4</I></FONT><I>rph</I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="WP MultinationalB Roman" ><I>4</I></FONT><I>s</I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="BernhardMod BT" ><I>] to the image [</I></FONT><I>eik</I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="WP MultinationalA Roman" ><I>Ç</I></FONT><I>n</I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="BernhardMod BT" ><I>] of his Son,</I> that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.</FONT></div> <bR> <div>      (5) Col<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT> 3:10 And have put on<I> the new man</I>, which is renewed in knowledge<I> after the image [</I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><I>eik</I></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="WP MultinationalA Roman" ><I>Ç</I></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><I>n</I></FONT><I>] of him that created him.</I></div> <bR> <div>      (6) Eph<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT> 4:24 And that ye put on<I> the new man,</I> <I>which after [</I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><I>kata</I></FONT><I>] God</I> is created in righteousness and true holiness.</div> <bR> <div>      (7) Phil<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT> 3:10,21 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made <I>conformable</I> <I>[</I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><I>summ</I></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="WP MultinationalB Roman" ><I>4</I></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><I>ph</I></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="WP MultinationalB Roman" ><I>4</I></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="WP MultinationalA Roman" ><I>Ç</I></FONT><I>]</I> unto his death ... Who shall<I> change [</I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><I>metasch</I></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="WP MultinationalA Roman" ><I>‘</I></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><I>matiz</I></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="WP MultinationalA Roman" ><I>Ç</I></FONT><I>] our vile body, that it may be fashioned [</I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><I>summ</I></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="WP MultinationalB Roman" ><I>4</I></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><I>rph</I></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="WP MultinationalB Roman" ><I>4</I></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><I>s</I></FONT><I>] like unto his glorious [</I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><I>doxa</I></FONT><I>] body,</I> according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.</div> <bR> <div>      (8) 1 Jn<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT> 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear <I>[</I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><I>phan</I></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="WP MultinationalB Roman" ><I>.</I></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><I>r</I></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="WP MultinationalB Roman" ><I>4</I></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="WP MultinationalA Roman" ><I>Ç</I></FONT><I>]</I> what we shall be: but we know that, <I>when he shall appear</I> <I>[</I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><I>phan</I></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="WP MultinationalB Roman" ><I>.</I></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><I>r</I></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="WP MultinationalB Roman" ><I>4</I></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="WP MultinationalA Roman" ><I>Ç</I></FONT><I>], we shall be like [</I><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><I>h</I></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="WP MultinationalB Roman" ><I>4</I></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><I>m</I></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="WP MultinationalB Roman" ><I>4</I></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><I>i</I></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="WP MultinationalA Roman" ><I>Ç</I></FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><I>s</I></FONT><I>] him; for we shall see him as he is.</I></div> <bR> <div>      (9) 2 Cor<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT> 3:18 But<I> we all, with open face beholding as in a glass [to mirror] the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, </I>even as by the Spirit of the Lord.</div> <bR> <div>      (10) Acts <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT>17:22-29 Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, [Ye] men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.<I> Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you</I>. God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; <I>Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing</I>, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;  And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, <I>For we are also his offspring. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device. </I></div> <bR> <div> <B>C) Latter-day Scriptures:</B></div> <bR> <div>      (1) Mosi<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT> 7:27 And because he said unto them that <I>Christ was the God, the Father of all things,</I> and said that<I> he should take upon him the image of man, and it should be the image after which man was created in the beginning</I>; or in other words, he said that <I>man was created after the image of God,</I> and that God should come down among the children of men, and take upon him flesh and blood, and go forth upon the face of the earth.</div> <div>      (2) Alma<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT> 5:14,19 And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God?<I> Have ye received his image in your countenances</I>? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?... I say unto you, can ye look up to God at that day with a pure heart and clean hands? I say unto you, can you look up, <I>having the image of God engraven upon your countenances</I>?</div> <bR> <div>      (3) Eth<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT> 3:15-17 And never have I showed myself unto man whom I have created, for never has man believed in me as thou hast. Seest thou that <I>ye are created after mine own image</I>? Yea, even <I>all men were created in the beginning after mine own image</I>. Behold, <I>this body, which ye now behold, is the body of my spirit; and man have I created after the body of my spirit; and even as I appear unto thee to be in the spirit will I appear unto my people in the flesh.</I> And now, as I, Moroni, said I could not make a full account of these things which are written therefore it sufficeth me to say that<I> Jesus showed himself unto this man in the spirit, even after the manner and in the likeness of the same body even as he showed himself unto the Nephites.</I></div> <bR> <div>      (4) D&C <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT>20:18 And that <I>he created man, male and female, after his own image and in his own likeness, created he them.</I></div> <bR> <div>      (5) D&C <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT>130:1,22 When the Savior shall appear we shall see him as he is. <I>We shall see that he is a man like ourselves</I> ... <I> The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's; the Son also;</I> but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us.</div> <bR> <div>      (6) Mos<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT> 1:16 Get thee hence, Satan; deceive me not; for<I> God said unto me: Thou art after the similitude of mine Only Begotten.</I></div> <bR> <div>      (7) Mos<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT> 6:9 <I>In the image of his own body, male and female, created he them,</I> and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created and became living souls in the land upon the footstool of God.</div> <bR> <div>      (All of these identified Greek words and their occurrences are examined in the Appendix to demonstrate the accuracy of my interpretation.)</div> <bR> <div>      There are three things discernable in the Scriptures concerning man being in  God's image: 1) Our physical appearance is created after God's outward appearance. 2) Man is superior to every kind of life on earth. 3) Humans a re “gods” in embryonic form and the true followers of Christ are further transformed into God's image by receiving a glorious  physical body and glorious capabilities duplicating what Heavenly Father and Jesus have (see MORMONISM: Section 5). </div> <bR> <div>      <B>(1) Jas</B> <B> 3:9 1) Jas  3:9  & (2) 1 Cor </B> <B>11:7 2) 1 Cor  11:7 </B> Humans are created after the likeness of God which we understand to include our physical appearance.<FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >17</FONT> There aren't any qualifiers in these passages which state these men are true followers of Christ, especially since they are being cursed by men who also praise God.</div> <div>      <B>(3) 1 Cor </B> <B>15:47-49 3) 1 Cor  15:47-49 </B> The contrast between the two types of images [<I>eik</I><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="WP MultinationalA Roman" ><I>Ç</I></FONT><I>n</I>] are clear. The earthly image is what all men inherited from Adam and is after the  image of God. The heavenly image is bestowed upon the true disciples of Christ.  It changes them into what the glorious Jesus is: “Just as we have the likeness of the man made of earth, so we will have the likeness of the man made from heaven.”<FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >18</FONT></div> <div> <B>     (4) Rom</B> <B> 8:29 4) Rom  8:29 ; (5) Col</B> <B> 3:10 5) Col  3:10 </B> & <B>(6) Eph</B> <B> 4:24 6) Eph  4:24 </B> Those chosen by God will be changed into the  <I>image [eik</I><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="WP MultinationalA Roman" ><I>Ç</I></FONT><I>n]</I> of his Son, for Jesus to be the eldest among many brothers. The “new man” we put on is made resembling God.</div> <div>      “<I>eik</I><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="WP MultinationalA Roman" ><I>Ç</I></FONT><I>n</I>” is always used in the NT to be an outward visible representation of an object or being. Our outward appearance is literally created after the outward anthropomorphic appearance of God.</div> <div>      <B>(7) Phil</B> <B> 3:10,21 7) Phil  3:10,21  &</B> <B>(8) 1 Jn</B> <B> 3:2 8) 1 Jn  3:2  </B>Jesus will change our corruptible body and  transform it to resemble his glorious body. </div> <div>      <B>(9) 2 Cor</B> <B> 3:18 9) 2 Cor  3:18 </B> “When we [the true followers of Christ] look into a mirror, we see God's glory and are transformed (<I>metamorpho</I><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="WP MultinationalA Roman" ><I>Ç</I></FONT>) into  his image, undergoing ever-increasing glory/splendor by the Spirit of the Lord.”</div> <div>      Our outward appearances are created after  God's image but Christ's true followers go beyond being in the “image of God” and are continually being transformed into  his resemblance. Those who are the true followers of Jesus will experience further metamorphosis until eventually resembling what Jesus currently is, perfecting the “putting on Christ” (Rom  13:14) which began at baptism (Gal  3:27) or the image of God on our countenances (Alma  5:14,19).</div> <div>      <B>(10) Acts </B> <B>17:22-29 10) Acts  17:22-29 </B> This passage can also be used to show our physical appearance is after God's. God doesn't resemble idols engraven by man but instead resembles man himself. How do we know this? Because we are his offspring. <I>An offspring of any species will resemble the outward form of its parent.</I></div> <bR> <div>      Each passage individually may not give the clearest description of whether  God the Father truly has an anthropomorphic, three-dimensional body but this truth is undeniable,<FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >19</FONT> when they are grouped together and the particular words are studied for consistency of interpretation.</div> <div>       This feature of God's nature is abhorrent to those conditioned by years of indoctrination that God is a  formless, static,  omnipresent nonmaterial being which fills the universe. Is the God of Greek Philosophy found in the Bible? No. Is their God the same God of the Bible? No.<FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >20</FONT> The Bible clearly describes the true God and his physical a nthropomorphic nature.<FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >21</FONT> </div> <div>      Non-Mormons  worship God in vain <I>if</I> they put their traditions above the Word of God (Matt  15:3,9; Mark  7:7; Col  2:8; 1 Pet  1:18). This is done if they cling to the God formulated out of the minds of the Greek Philosophers in opposition to the God repeatedly described in the Bible.</div> <bR> <div>  Col<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT> 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.</div> <bR> <div>      Paul's warning nearly two thousand years ago [despite the different circumstance] applies perfectly to those who reject the true biblical teaching about God in favor of what is now the “traditional” doctrine of God. The source of the “traditional” view of God has for most people been obscured by time but its source nonetheless, remains Greek Philosophy; not the Bible. </div> <bR> <div>  <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="BernhardMod BT" >Mark</FONT> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="BernhardMod BT" > 7:7-9 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.</FONT></div> <bR> <div>      We have a choice. Truth or Tradition. As Joshua said long ago:</div> <bR> <div>  <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="BernhardMod BT" >Josh </FONT> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="BernhardMod BT" >24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.</FONT></div> <bR> <div>      There isn't any doubt that the Bible describes God to be in anthropomorphic form and also describes a material God, despite never explicitly stating whether God has a material body or not. We can discern this by examining the status of Jesus with his duplication of the form of Heavenly Father and also by our imitation of God's form.</div> <bR> <div>   <B>If the glorified Jesus has a material body; so does Heavenly Father.</B></div> <bR> <div>      I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true church and its belief in God having a material anthropomorphic form is clearly supported by an honest examination of the Bible.</div> <bR> <div> <B>[ENDNOTES]:</B></div> <bR> <div> 1.ABDBHL. 6754; TWOT. 1923a; BDBGHEL. pp. 853b-854a; NUW. p. 244; WBDB-R. B8444; OTWS. p. 225; NIDOTTE 4:643.</div> <bR> <div> 2.MSG. p. 17.</div> <div> 3.ABDBHL. 1823; TWOT. 437a; BDBGHEL. p. 198a; NUW. pp. 136-137; WBDB-R. B2168; TDOT. 3:257-260; NUBD. Form, Likeness.</div> <div> 4.MSG. p. 17 `This “image” or “likeness” is not an object of cultic veneration, but is something that defines the essence of man, even in his physicality. This notion of <I>tselem</I>, as the likeness of a heavenly although not necessarily corporeal structure, undergoes all the stages of interpretation and reinterpretation required by the desire for an ever-stronger emphasis on divine transcendence and the conception of God as pure spirit.'</div> <div> 5.It's obvious why Gen 1:26 was so problematic for those who followed the traditional monotheistic theology (post-Second Isaiah) MSG. p. 251.</div> <div> 6.Hermann Gunkel quoted in MSG. pp. 17-18.</div> <div> 7.TWBB. p. 110.</div> <div> 8.OTS. p. 78.</div> <div> 9.e.g., IBC. p. 60, but see NSBD. p. 544 “The Biblical account of man's creation includes also statements implying that man is endowed with the image (form) of God. This may mean that God has a bodily form, which serves as the pattern for that of man; or the image of God may be man's moral nature; or it may consist in simple lordship over the other creatures. None of these views is satisfactory. Yet the frequent repetition of the statement (Gen 5:1; 9:6; Jas 3:9; Col 3:10) forbids the dismissal of it as a mere rhetorical embellishment. The image of God is better understood to be that which brings man in relation to God; in other words, to be his personality (Ps 8:5).” cf. ROT. p. 72 “Jehovah can be seen (Ex  33:18-23; Num  14:14), at least in a vision (Isa  6:1), for he has a form or can assume one (Gen  3:8-21;  18:1). He is imagined in human form ( 1:27), like a man, with eyes and ears, hands, feet, fingers, mouth and nose, and even lips, tongue, breath (Isa  30:27-28).”</div> <div> 10.MSG. p. 17.</div> <div> 11.See for example HFG. p. 98; NIBD. Image of God; NIDOTTE. 4:644; ISBE. Image of God; DB. p. 385.</div> <div> 12.cf. DB. p. 385; TEBD. p. 515.</div> <div> 13.TOT. p. 305; TEBD. p. 515.</div> <div> 14.EHG. p. 166.</div> <div> 15.There is definitely “a resemblance between God and his first creature” which was later taken to mean Adam had cosmic proportions (i.e., all of creation existed within the person of Adam). MI. pp. 117-119.</div> <div> 16.HB. p. 286. Footnote to verse 23a. Also see <I>t. Sanh</I>. 9.7; <I>m.. Sanh</I>. 10:2. Also 11Q Tem. 64:6-13; HCNT. 763; DJG. p. 148.</div> <div> 17.Also see 2 En 44:1 “The Lord with his own two hands created mankind; and in a facsimile of his own face.” OTP. 1:171; HCNT. 881.</div> <div> 18.GELNT-SD. 58.35.</div> <div> 19.See Wis 2:23.</div> <div> 20.HG. pp. 35-36.</div> <div> 21.MSG. p. 28 “<I>We may therefore assume that the Deity has a mystical form </I>that manifests itself in two different aspects: to the visionary, <I>it manifests itself in the tangible shape of a human being seated on a throne of glory constituting the supreme primal image in which man was created</I>; aurally, at least in principle, it is manifested as God's name, broken into its component elements, whose structure anticipates that of all being.” (Italics added)</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="mailto:ewatson@shaw.ca" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:ewatson@shaw.ca"><U>e-mail me!</U></A></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>