How LDS GodHead metaphysics destroys the idea of God, leads to Paganism, and collapses into relativism

Lessons in Logic and Philosophy.

I recently had a chat with another subscriber about a comment he made on a YouTube video we were both watching - the Debate between a Trinitarian philosopher and an LDS apologist advocating for the GodHead theology (Link at the end of the article.)

He raised some philosophical points from logic that I thought were very interesting. I took many university courses on Logic from the philosophy department. I thought this might make for an interesting article. I, however, did not spend so much time in the philosophy department on epistemology, which is undoubtedly part of this discussion. So, let’s break it down and define some relevant terms and concepts.

Warning: The article is long and technical. It’s not for the faint-hearted. If you are LDS and sensitive to a critical analysis of - not so much your beliefs, but the metaphysical and theological models and frameworks they are built on - then please stop reading now. The intention here is not to rip on you, on Mormons in general, or anyone’s faith in particular; it’s a purely intellectual exercise based on logic and metaphysics. It’s written by and for intellectual logic and philosophy nerds. No emotions were involved in (or sacrificed during) the creation of this article, AND it’s best read with a purely intellectual/rational and wholly dispassionate mindset where the emotions have been sent outside to play elsewhere (or temporarily put into a locked box.) To reiterate, if you are not very good at compartmentalizing your intellect and your emotions, and you are LDS, please stop reading here. Proceed at your own risk. You have been warned.

What is Epistemology? (eh-pist-o-mology)

Epistemology is the study of how we know what we know. It's the branch of philosophy that asks big questions about knowledge: What is knowledge? Where does it come from? AND most importantly; How can we be sure that something is true?

Think about how you gain knowledge in your own life. You might learn things through your senses (seeing, hearing, touching), through reason and thinking, through studying scriptures or other texts, through personal experience, or through personal revelation from God. Epistemology examines all ways of knowing and tries to understand their nature and validity, while putting some guidelines and principles in place by which we can evaluate these different ways of knowing.

For an LDS person, epistemology is likely to include faith-based ideas about:

• Revelation: The belief that God reveals truth to individuals and prophets as a significant source of knowledge. This falls under the purview of epistemology – how do we validate and understand knowledge gained through spiritual means?

• Study and Faith: The scripture in Doctrine and Covenants 88:118 that encourages seeking learning "by study and also by faith" touches on epistemological ideas, suggesting that both intellectual effort and spiritual conviction are avenues to truth.

• Knowing Truth: The concept of knowing the "truth of all things" through the power of the Holy Ghost (Moroni 10:5) is a powerful epistemological claim – that spiritual (experience) can lead to certain knowledge.

Note: I’m not going to address or try to validate or refute the LDS-centric points above. Instead, I’m going to use concepts from Epistemology to look at the Theology of the LDS concept of the GodHead vs the Trinity particularly as it relates to what happens if you erase the Creator/Created distinction from both Judaism and Christianity and replace it with the LDS metaphysical model of Intelligence+Spirit+(optional Body) that makes all things, including God, Angels, Demons, Humans, Animal all essentially the same type of being. (Maybe I will address the LDS epistemological points above in a later article, but honestly, I’m just not that interested. If you believe that subjective emotion should occupy a significant and definitive role in your epistemological framework as an arbiter of truth, then I’d say there are larger issues to address first.)

What concepts from Epistemology are we using here?