Friday, August 17, 2018

"Elohim" in the Encyclopedia of Mormonism


In the following from the entry for "Elohim" in the Encyclopedia of Mormonism, we see that the naive, absolutist "Elohim = God [the Father]" reading is not a proper approach to Elohim:

SINGULAR USAGE. Elohim appears in the Hebrew Bible as a common noun identifying Israel's God: "In the beginning God [elohim ] created [singular verb] the heaven and the earth" (Gen. 1:1). It was also frequently used interchangeably with Jehovah, the proper name for Israel's God: "And Jacob said, O God [elohim ] of my father Abraham,…the Lord [Jehovah] which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country" (Gen. 32:9); see also Jehovah, Jesus Christ).

Latter-day Saints use the name Elohim in a more restrictive sense as a proper name-title identifying the Father in Heaven (see God the Father). The First Presidency of the Church has written, "God the Eternal Father, whom we designate by the exalted name-title "Elohim,' is the literal Parent of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and of the spirits of the human race" (MFP 5:26; see also Doctrinal Expositions of the First Presidency, "The Father and the Son," appendices, Vol. 4).