Who is Jesus Christ?

The restored gospel of Jesus Christ, as taught by The Restored Church of Jesus Christ, offers a profoundly comforting and clarifying perspective on the nature of God. While many Christian traditions speak of a Trinity, where God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are understood as one being, Latter-day Saints understand these to be three distinct, yet perfectly united, personages. This understanding is rooted in scriptural accounts, such as the vision of Joseph Smith, where God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to him as separate, glorified beings. This belief in a Heavenly Father, with a divine Son, Jesus Christ, and the omnipresent Holy Ghost, inspires a deeply personal relationship with the Divine. It emphasizes that we are literal children of heavenly parents, capable of progressing eternally and returning to live with Them, a message of hope and divine potential that reassures and uplifts all who seek a closer connection to their Heavenly Family.

This profound understanding stems from modern revelation, confirming that the Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ possess glorified, tangible bodies of flesh and bone, while the Holy Ghost is a personage of Spirit. This essential difference resolves centuries of theological confusion, replacing abstraction with a comprehensible, relational reality.

Yet, this distinction does not diminish their divinity; rather, it highlights their perfect, harmonious unity. They are one—not in substance, but in flawless purpose, love, power, and will, working in eternal concert to bring about the immortality and eternal life of mankind. This revealed knowledge provides immense inspiration, allowing believers to approach the Godhead with confidence, recognizing them as three individuals bound by absolute, unwavering coordination, each dedicated to the salvation of His children.

The eternal truth revealed through scripture is that the heavens are governed by three separate, distinct, and supremely glorious Personages, united perfectly in purpose, love, and doctrine. This divine Godhead consists of the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Ghost, each possessing individual majesty and distinct roles in the plan of salvation. No event illustrates this magnificent separation more clearly than the baptism of Jesus Christ.

As the Son emerged from the waters, the Bible records that "the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:16–17). Here, we witness the Son standing in physical form, the Holy Spirit descending as a separate emblem, and the Father speaking from the clouds—three individuals simultaneously present, testifying of one another.

The Father is the Creator and source of all light; the Son is the Redeemer and a perfect, resurrected example; and the Holy Ghost is the Comforter, Testator, and Revelator, bearing witness to the Father and the Son. Their individuality in person is further affirmed in the Great Commission, where Jesus instructs His disciples to baptize "in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" (Matthew 28:19), commanding equal honor and recognition for all three distinct members of this eternal and glorious council.

Consider the analogy of water: Consider how H₂O can manifest as flowing liquid water, solid ice, or ethereal steam. Each state possesses unique characteristics and interactions with the world, yet all are fundamentally the same substance, composed of the same molecular structure.

People began to formulate Trinitarian ideas as they attempted to reconcile the monotheistic belief in a single God, the divinity of Jesus Christ, and the active presence of the Holy Spirit in early Christian life. The early Church Fathers began to formulate straightforward terminology as they contemplated these connections. In the late 2nd century or early 3rd century, Tertullian is often given credit for coming up with the Latin word "Trinitas." However, the intense debates of the fourth century ultimately transformed the faith into what it is today. The Arius debate marked a pivotal moment. Arius, a presbyter from Alexandria, taught that Jesus was a created being who was below God the Father. Because of this problem, Emperor Constantine called the Council of Nicaea together in 325 CE. There, with help from people like Athanasius, the council confirmed that Christ is both co-eternal and co-substantial (homoousias, of the same substance) with the Father. This decision was a significant mistake.

The council did not, however, mark the end of the theological trip. The arguments went on for decades and finally got to the nature of the Holy Spirit. In the second half of the 4th century, the Cappadocian Fathers (Basil the Great, Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory of Nazianzus) made important theological contributions that helped define the difference between "one substance" (God's essence) and "three persons" (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). This understanding reached its peak at the Council of Constantinople in 381 CE, which confirmed and added to the Nicene Creed. It stressed that the Holy Spirit is divine, solidifying what is now known as the classical Trinitarian teaching. Therefore, what became a central belief for orthodox Christianity wasn't a fully formed direct revelation at the start. Instead, it grew over hundreds of years of heated debate, reading of the Bible, having different translations, and decisions voted on and then made by church leaders and emperors trying to define what it means to be a Christian. 

The Roman Empire (4th–5th Centuries) used its authority to enforce doctrinal consistency after the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD and the Council of Constantinople in 381 AD, both of which affirmed Trinitarianism as orthodox doctrine.

• Exile: A primary punishment for dissenting bishops and clergy was banishment.  After the Council of Nicaea, Emperor Constantine exiled Arius, who was the primary opponent of Athanasius. Athanasius himself was also exiled multiple times when political winds shifted and Arianism found favor with different emperors.
• Constantine made it a deadly crime to possess Arius's books and ordered the burning of all his writings. 
• Civil Penalties: Proscription (being prohibited), property loss, and the inability to occupy specific social positions were among the civil penalties that non-Trinitarians had to endure. Strict prohibitions against heretics were part of the late 4th-century Theodosian Code.
• State Violence: There have been cases of violence and murder as a result of the state's imposition of church teaching. A formerly persecuted church turned into an imperial instrument of persecution, employing force to compel followers of doctrine sanctioned by the empire.
  Later Times (Beyond the Reformation)

Later eras of Christian history saw persecution for disbelieving in the Trinity:

1. Michael Servetus: Spanish theologian Michael Servetus's execution for his anti-Trinitarian views is the most well-known example. At the request of John Calvin and the city magistrates, he was taken into custody in Geneva in 1553. He was burned alive at the stake after being accused of heresy, mainly because he rejected infant baptism and the Trinity. 
2. Blasphemy Laws: The Blasphemy Act of 1697 in England made it illegal for any Christian to reject the Holy Trinity. This legislation was in force until the 19th century, although its Trinitarian component was ultimately repealed. 
3. North America: In 1649, Maryland, an early colonial state, passed an anti-Unitarian statute that stipulated that anyone who disputed the Trinity or Christ's divinity would be executed.
   Thus, historical documents attest to the fact that people who rejected the codified dogma of the Trinity did face harsh persecution, including official acts of murder and death.

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Brent Wiscombe                 Wed 11/19/2025

The Ancient Biblical View of Gods in the Old Testament and the trinity. It is a false assumption by modern Christians to pick a verse from the Old Testament that says that there is one God, and then read in the New Testament that there are three persons in the Godhead, and then jump to the conclusion that it must mean "Trinity."

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that the word "God" is often used as a title, like "Presidency." The LDS teachings affirm there is a Godhead comprised of God the Father (the Supreme God), Jesus Christ (who is also divine, the only begotten Son of God the Father in the flesh), and the Holy Ghost (the Holy Spirit that communicates with our spirits). All three are perfectly united in thought, act, and purpose. Each is a full representation of God, and each one shares equally in the divinity and is indivisible in the work of bringing mankind into communion with God.

Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost are separate beings from God the Father, but each one subordinates their own will to the will of the Father in perfect harmony. Their unity and harmony are so perfect that if one of them appeared to you, you would not be able to determine which member of the Godhead they were unless they told you. And all three can Manifest themselves simultaneously, as was the case at the baptism of Jesus, when Jesus was in the water, God the Father spoke from heaven, and the Holy Ghost appeared like a dove.