Mormons believe the Bible in a comprehensive way; every detail of Bible doctrine is wholeheartedly received and accounted for by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (members of the Mormon church). The Bible records the following about the postmortal Messiah:
“Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1: 11).
The risen Lord Jesus ascended into heaven as a glorified, resurrected being. Prior to His ascension into heaven, we learn from Luke about the specific nature of having a resurrected body; Luke records the “manner” of , and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold 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 29: 36-39).
Latter-day saints are commonly called “Mormons,” because of their belief in a book of ancient scripture called “the Book of Mormon.” This compilation of sacred writings–spanning a thousand years from 600 B.C. to 400 A.D.–contains an account of the resurrected Christ appearing to the inhabitants of ancient America in 34 A.D.
“Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world. And behold, I am the light and the life of the world; and I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world, . . . And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto them saying: Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world” (3 Nephi 11: 10-14).
In complete agreement with the testaments of the Bible, the Book of Mormon provides a complementary testament of Jesus Christ. Because of this additional witness, latter-day saints are crystal clear about the postmortal nature of the risen Lord–Mormons know that Luke’s record is exactly right (Luke 29: 36-39).
This second witness from “the stick of Joseph” (Ezek. 37: 15-20), further reinforces the fact that “the children of God” (Romans 8: 16, 17) are literally created in His image (Genesis 1: 27) and will be resurrected in His image as well (1 John 3: 2).
All controversy concerning Christ’s resurrected reality was clarified beyond question on a spring day in 1820, when “two Personages” appeared to a prophet of God.
The reality of the Father and the Son as two distinct beings is a truth established in the Bible–numerous times! In the Acts of the Apostles, the following witness is given of the separate nature of God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ:
“But [Stephen], being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God” (Acts 7: 55, 56).
Breaking from Christian traditions intiated in the 4th Century A.D., Mormons know two things about the postmortal reality of Jesus Christ:
1) Jesus has a resurrected body of “flesh and bones” precisely as Luke recorded.
2) Jesus is a distinct personage, separate from the Father, as Stephen testified.
Mormons believe in, and account for, every detail of Bible doctrine; they strive to “live by every word that [proceeds] from the mouth of God” (D&C 84: 44).
