Conversation in Nauvoo about the Corporeality of God

Authors

Jacob Neusner

Keywords

Mormon studies, Nauvoo, nature of divinity, corporeality

Abstract

Religion scholar Jacob Neusner looks at the corporeal nature of God through the lens of Mormonism and Judaism. He addresses anthropomorphism and incarnation, and concludes that the way to know God is through “our relationship with him, not through our act of the incarnation of God in heart and mind and soul.” Neusner appreciates the powerful doctrine of God’s corporeality taught by the Prophet Joseph Smith in the 1842 King Follett Sermon, which says that men may converse with God “as one man converses with another.” He says, “In the formative documents of the Torah in its oral version, that same conviction of God’s corporeality….governs.” This article was originally a speech at Brigham Young University.

Jacob Neuser, “Conversation in Nauvoo about the Corporeality of God,” BYU Studies 36, no. 1 (1996-1997): 6-30.

Recommended Citation

Neusner, Jacob (1996) "Conversation in Nauvoo about the Corporeality of God," BYU Studies Quarterly: Vol. 36: Iss. 1, Article 3.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol36/iss1/3