Does God the Father Have a Body of Flesh and Bones?

Doctrine and Covenants 130:22Doctrine and Covenants 130:22 · English, churchofjesuschrist.orgThe Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us.Doctrine and Covenants 130:22 · English, churchofjesuschrist.orgOpen the Source says the Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s, and the Son also, and that the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones but is a personage of Spirit. John 4:24John 4:24 · King James VersionGod is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.John 4:24 · King James VersionOpen the Source says God is a Spirit, and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. The body the Gospels describe is the risen Son’s. Jesus is God.

Key Points

• Doctrine and Covenants 130:22Doctrine and Covenants 130:22 · English, churchofjesuschrist.orgThe Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us.Doctrine and Covenants 130:22 · English, churchofjesuschrist.orgOpen the Source (1) gives the Father and the Son each a body of flesh and bones, and says the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us if he had such a body.
• Gospel Topics, God the FatherGospel Topics, God the Father · English, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsGod the Father is the Supreme Being in whom we believe, whom we worship, and to whom we pray. He is the ultimate Creator, Ruler, and Preserver of all things. He is perfect, has all power, and knows all things. He “has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s.”Gospel Topics, God the Father · English, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsOpen the Source (8) calls the Father the Supreme Being, perfect and all-powerful, and quotes Doctrine and Covenants 130:22 for his body. It says the later creeds lost the earliest Christian view of an embodied God.
• John 4:24John 4:24 · King James VersionGod is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.John 4:24 · King James VersionOpen the Source (2) says God is a Spirit. 1 Kings 8:271 Kings 8:27 · King James VersionBut will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?1 Kings 8:27 · King James VersionOpen the Source (4) says heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain him.
• Luke 24:39Luke 24:39 · King James VersionBehold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.Luke 24:39 · King James VersionOpen the Source (3) is the risen Jesus. A spirit does not have flesh and bones, as the disciples see that he has. That sentence is about the Son after the resurrection.
• John 1:14John 1:14 · King James VersionAnd the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.John 1:14 · King James VersionOpen the Source (5) says the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. Colossians 2:9Colossians 2:9 · King James VersionFor in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.Colossians 2:9 · King James VersionOpen the Source (6) says in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.
• Numbers 23:19Numbers 23:19 · King James VersionGod is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?Numbers 23:19 · King James VersionOpen the Source (7) says God is not a man, that he should lie. That line is about God’s truth. The page for the incarnation objection is Numbers 23:19: “God Is Not a Man.” Does This Rule Out the Incarnation?.

What Doctrine and Covenants 130:22 Says

Section 130 is a record of items of instruction Joseph Smith gave at Ramus, Illinois, on 2 April 1843. Verse 22 is the sentence on bodies. Doctrine and Covenants 130:22Doctrine and Covenants 130:22 · English, churchofjesuschrist.orgThe Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us.Doctrine and Covenants 130:22 · English, churchofjesuschrist.orgOpen the Source (1):

The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us.

Doctrine and Covenants 130:22 · English, churchofjesuschrist.org

The verse makes three claims. The Father’s body is flesh and bones, as tangible as a man’s. The Son’s body is flesh and bones in the same way. The Holy Ghost is a person, and he has no body of flesh and bones, because a body of that kind would keep him from dwelling in the saints. Latter-day Saint teaching treats the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost as three beings united in purpose. The Godhead in Latter-day Saint Teaching sets that teaching beside the creed of 381, which says the Son is of one substance with the Father.

The King Follett sermon and the Lorenzo Snow couplet go on to say that God was once as man now is. That further claim is Do Mormons Believe God Was Once a Man?. Verse 22, by itself, is the claim that the Father has a tangible body.

How Gospel Topics Describes the Father

The church’s current topic page puts the body in its first paragraph, next to the attributes. Gospel Topics, God the FatherGospel Topics, God the Father · English, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsGod the Father is the Supreme Being in whom we believe, whom we worship, and to whom we pray. He is the ultimate Creator, Ruler, and Preserver of all things. He is perfect, has all power, and knows all things. He “has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s.”Gospel Topics, God the Father · English, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsOpen the Source (8):

God the Father is the Supreme Being in whom we believe, whom we worship, and to whom we pray. He is the ultimate Creator, Ruler, and Preserver of all things. He is perfect, has all power, and knows all things. He “has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s.”

Gospel Topics, God the Father · English, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

The same pageGospel Topics, God the Father · English, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsGod the Father is the Supreme Being in whom we believe, whom we worship, and to whom we pray. He is the ultimate Creator, Ruler, and Preserver of all things. He is perfect, has all power, and knows all things. He “has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s.”Gospel Topics, God the Father · English, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsOpen the Source (8) gives the church’s reason for the difference from other churches. It says early Christian views of God were more personal and less abstract than the views of the later creeds, and that a merger of Christian doctrine with Greek philosophy began in the second century, after the loss of apostolic authority. Latter-day Saints, the page says, regard that merger as a grave error, and they hold that God the Father is an embodied being. The page also calls every person a literal spirit child of God, begotten in the premortal life. So in Latter-day Saint teaching the Father’s body is not a side detail. It is tied to the claim of a restored, pre-creedal view of God and to the teaching that humans are his offspring.

Is God a Spirit?

John 4:24John 4:24 · King James VersionGod is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.John 4:24 · King James VersionOpen the Source (2) is Jesus speaking to the woman at the well. God is a Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. The sentence is about the kind of worship the Father seeks, from a woman who has asked whether worship belongs on one mountain or in Jerusalem. It is also a sentence about what God is. He is a Spirit.

1 Kings 8:271 Kings 8:27 · King James VersionBut will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?1 Kings 8:27 · King James VersionOpen the Source (4) is Solomon at the dedication of the temple. Will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain him, and still less the house Solomon has built. The prayer is about the LORD’s presence. Neither the house nor heaven can contain him.

Scripture also speaks of God’s hand, his eyes, his arm, and his face. Those sentences are about his action, his knowledge, and his presence. Isaiah 59:1Isaiah 59:1 · King James VersionBehold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:Isaiah 59:1 · King James VersionOpen the Source says the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, and his ear is not heavy, that it cannot hear. The line is about his power to save and to hear. It is not a measurement of limbs. Latter-day Saint teaching reads Doctrine and Covenants 130:22Doctrine and Covenants 130:22 · English, churchofjesuschrist.orgThe Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us.Doctrine and Covenants 130:22 · English, churchofjesuschrist.orgOpen the Source as a body one could touch. John 4:24 and 1 Kings 8:27 speak of a God who is Spirit and whom heaven cannot contain.

Does Jesus Have a Body in Heaven?

Luke 24:39Luke 24:39 · King James VersionBehold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.Luke 24:39 · King James VersionOpen the Source (3) is the risen Jesus with the disciples. He tells them to behold his hands and his feet, and to handle him and see. A spirit does not have flesh and bones, as they see that he has. He then eats before them. The sentence answers the fear that they are seeing a ghost. The one who was crucified is present, with a body they can touch.

That body is the Son’s body after the resurrection, the flesh the Word took in John 1:14John 1:14 · King James VersionAnd the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.John 1:14 · King James VersionOpen the Source (5). Philippians 2:6–8Philippians 2:6–8 · King James Version^2:6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: ^2:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: ^2:8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.Philippians 2:6–8 · King James VersionOpen the Source says he was in the form of God and took the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. In Colossians 2:9Colossians 2:9 · King James VersionFor in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.Colossians 2:9 · King James VersionOpen the Source (6), the fulness of the Godhead dwells in him bodily. The incarnation is the Son taking flesh. The Father did not acquire a body he had lacked. The Son who is God took our nature, died, and was raised. Thomas calls that risen Jesus Lord and God in John 20:28John 20:28 · King James VersionAnd Thomas answered and said unto him, My LORD and my God.John 20:28 · King James VersionOpen the Source.

Doctrine and Covenants 130:22Doctrine and Covenants 130:22 · English, churchofjesuschrist.orgThe Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us.Doctrine and Covenants 130:22 · English, churchofjesuschrist.orgOpen the Source puts the Father’s body and the Son’s body in the same clause: flesh and bones as tangible as man’s. Luke 24:39 is the Son, speaking of the body the disciples can see. The two sentences are not the same claim. One is the church’s revelation that the Father has a tangible body. The other is the Gospel’s account of the risen Son.

What About Numbers 23:19?

Numbers 23:19Numbers 23:19 · King James VersionGod is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?Numbers 23:19 · King James VersionOpen the Source (7) says God is not a man, that he should lie, neither the son of man, that he should repent. Balaam is telling Balak that God will not unsay the blessing he has put on Israel. The line is about truth and about a mind that does not reverse itself the way a man does. It is not a lesson in anatomy. Christians still refuse the comparison the King Follett sermon makes, that the Father was once a man. The page that reads Numbers 23:19 as an objection to the incarnation is the Islam and Judaism question linked above. The Son became man. God did not become a liar.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Does Doctrine and Covenants 130 Say About God Dwelling in the Heart?

Verse 3 of the same sectionDoctrine and Covenants 130:22 · English, churchofjesuschrist.orgThe Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us.Doctrine and Covenants 130:22 · English, churchofjesuschrist.orgOpen the Source (1) reads John 14:23John 14:23 · King James VersionJesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.John 14:23 · King James VersionOpen the Source as a personal appearance of the Father and the Son. It calls the idea that the Father and the Son dwell in a man’s heart “an old sectarian notion, and is false.” Verse 22 then explains how the Holy Ghost, who has no body, can dwell in us.

Can the Father Fill Heaven If He Has a Body?

Christians answer from 1 Kings 8:271 Kings 8:27 · King James VersionBut will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?1 Kings 8:27 · King James VersionOpen the Source and Jeremiah 23:24Jeremiah 23:24 · King James VersionCan any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.Jeremiah 23:24 · King James VersionOpen the Source that God fills heaven and earth. Doctrine and Covenants 130:22 affirms the Father’s tangible body and gives indwelling to the Holy Ghost, who has none. The two answers rest on different accounts of what the Father is.

Keep Reading

• The Godhead in Latter-day Saint Teaching
• Do Mormons Believe God Was Once a Man?
• Do Latter-day Saints Believe in a Heavenly Mother?
• What Is the Incarnation?
• The Trinity
• Is Jesus God?