I have been re-reading Mormonism: Shadow or Reality? by the Tanners, and have been rather struck by how rather misinformed their grasp of Trinitarian theology truly is. I have discussed how they advocate Modalism in a previous article:
Elsewhere, a careful reader will find that the Tanners identify the person of the Father with the Holy Spirit (i.e., the Father and Holy Spirit are the same person). While discussing Joseph Fielding Smith’s rejection of Jesus being the son of the Holy Spirit, but instead, Son of the Father, the Tanners write in response:
The reason that Joseph Fielding Smith objects to the teaching that Jesus was begotten by the Holy Ghost is that, according to Mormon theology, this would make Jesus the son of the Holy Ghost rather than the Son of God. This idea arises from an improper understanding of the term Holy Ghost. The term Holy Ghost means exactly the same as the term Holy Spirit. The American College Dictionary defines the term Holy Spirit as the Holy Ghost. Now, the Bible tells us that God is a Spirit, and that he is holy; therefore, God himself must be the Holy Spirit. (Jerald and Sandra Tanner, Mormonism: Shadow or Reality? [5th ed.; Salt Lake City: Utah Lighthouse Ministry, 1987, 2008], 260, emphasis in italics in original, emphasis in bold and underline added)
Such only goes to show that, as with many other professed Trinitarians, the Tanners are, functionally, heretical in their theology, not just from an LDS perspective, but even from a Trinitarian perspective.
