Rejoice in Our Knowledge of the Godhead

“Rejoice in Our Knowledge of the Godhead,” Ensign, Feb 2005, 65


Joseph Smith—History 1:17 [JS—H 1:17]: “I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description. … One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!”

What Do We Know about the Nature of the Godhead?

President Gordon B. Hinckley: “I believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost. I was baptized in the name of these three. I was married in the name of these three. I have no question concerning their reality and their individuality. … Miracle of miracles and wonder of wonders, they are interested in us, and we are the substance of their great concern. They are available to each of us. We approach the Father through the Son. He is our intercessor at the throne of God. How marvelous it is that we may so speak to the Father in the name of the Son. I bear witness of these great, transcendent truths. And I do so by the gift and power of the Holy Ghost” (“The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,” Liahona, Mar. 1998, 8–9; Ensign, Mar. 1998, 7).

Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: “[Joseph Smith’s] experience clarified for mankind the existence of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. Thus to the world came the vision that three personages comprise this great presiding council of the universe and have revealed themselves to mankind as three separate beings, physically distinct from each other. … The Holy Ghost … is a personage of spirit. The Holy Ghost is a witness of the Father and of the Son declaring to man their attributes, bearing record of the other personages of the Godhead” (“The Articles of Faith,” Ensign, May 1998, 23–24).

How Can Our Knowledge of the Godhead Draw Us Closer to Them?

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: “In all that Jesus came to say and do … He was showing us who and what God our Eternal Father is like, how completely devoted He is to His children in every age and nation. In word and in deed Jesus was trying to reveal and make personal to us the true nature of His Father, our Father in Heaven. He did this at least in part because then and now all of us need to know God more fully in order to love Him more deeply and obey Him more completely” (“The Grandeur of God,” Liahona and Ensign, Nov. 2003, 70).

Anne C. Pingree, second counselor in the Relief Society general presidency: “As Latter-day Saint women who have made covenants, all of us must have a clear understanding of the nature and roles of the members of the Godhead. Praying to a Father in Heaven, who knows and loves us; having confidence in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Redeemer; and feeling the companionship and promptings of the Holy Ghost, who teaches and testifies of the Father and Son, bring peace and joy to us in these perilous times.”

Ether 12:41: “Seek this Jesus … that the grace of God the Father, and also the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, which beareth record of them, may be and abide in you forever.”