Chapter 21: The Mormon Concept of DeityThe Godhead and Participatory Monotheism

In brief

Is the Latter-day Saint God merely “a glorified man”? Seaich says no. God is cosmic in power and presence, and his Spirit fills the universe (Psalm 139; D&C 88). Yet he also has a glorified body of flesh and bone, as most early Jews and Christians believed until Platonism took hold. Seaich argues that the Trinity cannot be found in the Bible, and he traces the patriarchal pattern of El and his Son Yahweh. He proposes the term “participatory monotheism”: one divine fulness shared by many exalted sons.

This page summarizes Chapter 21 of Understanding Mormonism: The Restored Gospel of Christ and Its Biblical Foundations in Latter-day Saint Belief by Eugene Seaich (2026 Annotated Edition, edited by Eric Hendrickson). The summary is quoted from the book’s “In brief” and is editorial material, not the author’s words. The full chapter, with its notes and argument, is in the book.

Independent scholarship by Eugene Seaich. Not an official publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.