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)
For more
on the conception of Jesus, see: