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GREG - Why is it that God is "one God" in the Bible and in the Book of Mormon. Example: Jesus saying "my father and your father and my God and your God. Most Christians believe in the trinity; that's how I was raised as well. But most people, as I've talked with them, see God as we do (somewhat)! but they believe that he's still only one God, and not 3 Gods. I admit, it is a little confusing, but this is how I see it. One day at work, I learned, while checking the voltage on our generators batteries,that one battery had a voltage of 8v; but it needed 32v to crank the generator. So they put 4 batteries in series to make it add up to 32v (8v+8v+8v+8v=32v). Each 8v is a battery in itself (and identical) but, all the batteries together, made "one big battery"32v. Using this same reasoning; this is how I view the Godhead. 1+1+1=3 Gods (All are a God) yet united, they are "one" God ! It was jesus Christ who created all things(Ephesians 3:9) He had to be God to do that(God the Son)!( It's like a marriage between a man and a woman; which are separate individuals that become ONE in marriage.)Just as the battery(8v), when joined together, they become "ONE", UNITED! The battery(8v) becomes greater in power as they are joined in series (32v)That's how I view God. As we become one with them, they will be added to even more and exalted even higher. Most Christians seem to use this analogy for God: 1x1x1=1. for 1 to equal itself, it must be the exact thing in this analogy. They also use water for an analogy: water/ice/steam. Same substance, but with a different form. This sounds good, but the only problem I see with it, that the Son is the express image of the Father! How could that be if they were in different forms? In the battery analogy, they are the same, but then I have a problem with the Holy Ghost? the scriptures don't say the Holy Ghost was the express image of Heavenly Father, only Jesus! What's your insight of the trinity?
JOEL - Your analogy is a good one except all three batteries are exactly the same, while the godhead is made up of three separate and distinctly different personages with
different roles to play. Also since each member of the godhead is already all-powerful, working together would not make them more powerful.
I like to think of them as a basketball team like the Utah Jazz. The team as a whole is called Jazz and each individual player of the team is also
called Jazz; each one considered equal in power and equal in importance to the whole team, yet they are different individuals, each with his own role to play (Center, Forward, Guard, etc.), and all work together for one purpose; to win the game.
Heavenly Father, Jesus, and the Holy Ghost are each called God, but together as a team they are one in purpose and therefore are also called God.
Jesus was the express image of the Father (Heb 1:3), but I assume it means the same as me being the express image of my own father; the same in a lot of ways but still different enough to be a unique individual.
In the D&C Adam's children were described the same way:
"Abel, the first martyr, was there, and his brother Seth, one of the mighty ones, who was in the express image of his father, Adam." (D&C 138:40)
This shows how the term "express image" allows for some individuality and differences.
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