Holy Spirit

A few questions come to mind before I get into the main discussion.

Who is the Holy Spirit? Where does he come from?

Three glorified, exalted, and perfected personages comprise the Godhead or supreme presidency of the universe . . . They are: God the Father; God the Son; God the Holy Ghost (Religion 430-431 - Doctrines of the Gospel Student Manual, chapter 3, p. 8).

The section "God is your loving Heavenly Father" says, God has a body that looks like yours, though His body is immortal, perfected, and has a glory beyond description.

It seems the Holy Ghost was also perfected like Heavenly Father was perfected.

The most important thing here is to determine what perfected means. It is not perfect, but perfected. Pay careful attention. One is a verb and the other is an adjective.

Maybe this would entail him dying and resurrecting like Heavenly Father, unless he was perfected in some other way.

So, there may be a few identities of the Holy Spirit:

a. He was always a God, the first member of the Godhead before Heavenly Father and Jesus became Gods and joined.
b. He is a created being who was created as a God.
c. He is a created being who progressed into becoming a God.
d. He is a procreated spirit child of heavenly parents, the brother of Jesus.

According to Gospel Principles chapter 7, the Holy Spirit is a member of the Godhead in spirit form. According to page 8 of Doctrines of the Gospel Student Manual - Religion 430-431, the Holy Spirit is an exalted being. Three glorified, exalted, and perfected personages comprise the Godhead or supreme presidency of the universe ... They are God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost.

It is unclear how the Holy Spirit went from imperfection to perfection to gain his exaltation to godhood. Given the Church's teachings about marriage being a requirement for exaltation, it is unknown to whom and when the Holy Ghost married.

Gospel Principles says the Holy Spirit can be in only one place at a time (page 37). Doctrine and Covenants 130:22 says the Holy Ghost is omnipresent in that He is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us.

Is the Holy Ghost multi-present or not?

Here is an exercise for our Mormon audience:

From Gospel Principles, page 37 - "The Holy Ghost is a member of the Godhead. He is a spirit that has the form and likeness of a man (see D&C 130:22). He can be in only one place at a time."

Please follow very carefully otherwise you may get confused.

Let's read the passage.

"The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the [body of the] Holy Ghost could not dwell in us."

I inserted the phrase "[body of the]" so that the context remains consistent.

How can the LDS Church teach that the body of the Holy Ghost can dwell in someone and yet the body of the Holy Ghost can only be in one place at a time?

Is the LDS Church really talking about the idea of "influence" instead?

Let's reword the passage.

"The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the [influence of the] Holy Ghost could not dwell in us."

Do you notice the problem here?

If "influence" is meant, then one changes the passage to have two opposing contexts-one "body" (the first context referring to the Father and the Son) and the other "influence" (the second context referring to the Holy Ghost).

To make sense of this passage, one must conclude that the context is either body or influence, but not both.

So if the context is "body," then the Holy Ghost's body can indwell multiple people at the same time - thus making Him omnipresent.

Now what if we change the context to "influence?"

Can the influence of the Father and the Son dwell in multiple people at the same time? Is the influence of the Father and the Son also omnipresent like in the case of the Holy Ghost?

Suppose that they do have a body of flesh and bones as LDS theology teaches. Does having this type of body make their influence not omnipresent whereas having a spirit body makes the Holy Ghost omnipresent?

If and why would a Latter-day Saint even think about the context of influence when Doctrine and Covenants 130:22 is talking about body? Do you see the problem that arises if and when Latter-day Saints get the context wrong?

What if the context of the passage is "person?" Is that not the same as body?

Then it seems to say that the Holy Ghost is a spirit person who dwells in multiple people at the same time. This makes Him omnipresent again.

Can the body of the Holy Spirit be in more than one place at a time without the person of the Holy Spirit also being in more than one place at a time? Is there any effect on a person when the body of the Holy Spirit only (without person and influence) dwells in that person?

If you don't know what the word "dwell" means in this context, then you may also want to look at these verses:

"And this I know, because the Lord hath said he dwelleth not in unholy temples, but in the hearts of the righteous doth he dwell" (Alma 34:36).

"For every upright, honest person is possessed more or less, of the Holy Spirit, and this holy messenger in the hearts of men bears record of the word of God" (Teachings of Presidents of the Church - Joseph F. Smith, pp. 203-204).

"The idea that the Father and the Son dwell in a man's heart is an old sectarian notion, and is false" (D&C 130:2-3). The Heavenly Father dwells within Jesus (D&C 93:17; John 14:9).

What is the context of who or what is doing the dwelling? The person, the body, or the influence? All three, or a combination of the 3? If you pick your context wrong, then the verses will not make sense.

You will not find help if you come with a preconceived notion of a God who is limited by a physical body of flesh and bones. What you think is impossible for man is possible with God.

Another unclear teaching in LDS theology is on the identity of the Holy Ghost. Is he a spirit brother of Jesus and Lucifer or is he a God who existed before the Mormon Heavenly Father became a God?

By forcing a consistent interpretation on the context of section 130:22, you can quickly spot the confusion in LDS theology.