Thursday, March 16, 2023

Trent Horn on the Conception of Jesus in Latter-day Saint Theology

Today, my copy of When Protestants Argue Like Atheists by Trent Horn arrived (and being the speed reader I am, went through it in one sitting [in 25 mins for those curious]). Trent wrote the following about “Mormonism”:

 

Finally, both Catholics and Protestants need to be wary of citing theological opinions as if they were a religion’s official doctrines. For example, in 1909 the Mormon Church declared that “The Father of Jesus is our Father also. . . . Jesus, however, is the first-born among all the sons of God—the first begotten in the spirit, and the only begotten in the flesh.” (Joseph F. Smith, John R. Winder, and Anthon H. Lund, “Origin of Man,” Improvement Era [November 1909], 75-81)

 

Some early Mormons took this to mean that Heavenly Father (whom Mormons believe is an exalted man who has a physical body) had physical intercourse with the Virgin Mary. Brigham Young said that Jesus was “begotten of his Father, as we were of our fathers.” (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 8:115) However, the modern Mormon church has no teaching on how Jesus was conceived in his mother’s womb, so Young’s statement should be treated as a theological opinion within Mormonism and not be used as a damning example of Mormon doctrine. (Trent Horn, When Protestants Argue Like Atheists: 12 Weird Ways That Anti-Catholics Mimic Secular Critics [El Cajon, Calif.: Catholic Answers Press, 2023], 157)

 

 

Two things:

 

1. Credit to Trent. This was a major criticism in Inside Mormonism published by Catholic Answers back in 1999, and is a popular argument in many anti-LDS circles. In spite of #2 (below), this type of integrity is one of the reasons why Trent is one of my favourite Catholic apologists.

 

2. The relevant statement from the sermon (dated July 8, 1860) Trent references is "[Christ] partook of flesh and blood—was begotten of his Father, as we were of our fathers." While this could refer to sexual intercourse, I think it just means that Jesus was truly human and got his humanity from God the Father (as well as Mary) as we get our DNA from our biological parents (as Trent notes, we do believe that God, regardless of one’s interpretation of the King Follett Discourse, is an exalted man). For instance, in October 1866, Brigham would state he was unaware of the very mechanics of Christ's conception:

 

On this account infidels have called the Savior a bastard. This is merely a human opinion upon which one of the inscrutable doings of the Almighty. That very babe that was cradled in the manger was begotten, not by Joseph, the husband of Mary, but by another Being. Do you inquire by whom? He was begotten by God, our Heavenly Father. This answer may suffice you--you need never inquire more upon that point. Jesus Christ is the only begotten of the Father, and He is the Savior of the world, and full of grace and truth. (source)

 

 Note that Brigham denies knowledge of the mechanics of the conception of Jesus; instead, he states that this knowledge is sufficient for our needs and one should not speculate beyond such—that is very odd if Brigham did believe God the Father had coitus with Mary

For more on the conception of Jesus, see:

 

Refutation of "Mormonism says God impregnated Mary by sex"