The Sign of the Dove

I have never quite understood the sign of the dove at the baptism of Jesus as mentioned in all four gospels and latter-day scriptures.  Was there really a dove there or was the Holy Ghost just like a dove?  Was the Holy Ghost actual visible to John the Baptist or did he see an actual bird?  Why is this so important that so many scriptures would speak of it?  Of the four gospel accounts, three of them speak of how the Spirit descended like a dove.  Matthew’s account reads, “John saw, and lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon Jesus” (JST Matthew 3:45).  John similarly recorded, “And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him” (John 1:32).  Mark wrote, “And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him” (Mark 1:10).  All three of these declare that the Holy Ghost “descended like a dove,” which could mean that the descent itself was like a dove (i.e. the Holy Ghost descended out of heaven in some manner like a graceful dove would fly down) or that the Holy Ghost was like a dove (i.e. looked like a dove) and descended.  Luke’s version is slightly different and suggests the first interpretation: “And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him” (Luke 3:22).  The bodily shape seems to indicate that the Holy Ghost had its own bodily shape (i.e. like a man but in the spirit) and then had a descent like a dove’s. 

             This last interpretation—that the descent of the Holy Ghost of heaven was like how a dove would descend—seems to be consistent with how Joseph Smith spoke of this.  He stated, “The sign of the dove was instituted before the creation of the world, a witness for the Holy Ghost, and the devil cannot come in the sign of a dove. The Holy Ghost is a personage, and is in the form of a personage. It does not confine itself to the form of the dove, but in sign of the dove. The Holy Ghost cannot be transformed into a dove; but the sign of a dove was given to John to signify the truth of the deed, as the dove is an emblem or token of truth and innocence.” Elder McConkie commented after quoting this statement, “It thus appears that John witnessed the sign of the dove, that he saw the Holy Ghost descend in the ‘bodily shape’ of the personage that he is, and that the descent was ‘like a dove’” (Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 1:123-24).  If there really was no dove at all, though, that begs the question of how John recognized the spirit at all and what it means for the Spirit to descend like a dove.     

             The Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants use slightly different language.  Nephi wrote of his vision of the baptism of Jesus: “And the Lamb of God went forth and was baptized of him; and after he was baptized, I beheld the heavens open, and the Holy Ghost come down out of heaven and abide upon him in the form of a dove” (1 Nephi 11:27).  He commented again later, “Wherefore, after he was baptized with water the Holy Ghost descended upon him in the form of a dove” (2 Nephi 31:8).  What does “the form of a dove” mean?  To me that seems to more strongly suggest that there actually was a dove there, as does this verse from the Doctrine and Covenants: “And I, John, bear record, and lo, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Ghost descended upon him in the form of a dove, and sat upon him, and there came a voice out of heaven saying: This is my beloved Son” (Doctrine and Covenants 93:15).  The phrase “sat upon him” certainly seems to suggest that there was a bird actually present that John saw.  This much we do know—John saw some kind of sign from which He knew that Jesus was indeed the Son of God.  And for us, that witness is what the sign of the dove was all about.