The Very Eternal Father

Abinadi’s final words while teaching the priests of King Noah, before his last words as he was slain, were these: “Therefore, if ye teach the law of Moses, also teach that it is a shadow of those things which are to come—Teach them that redemption cometh through Christ the Lord, who is the very Eternal Father. Amen” (Mosiah 16:14-15). I believe if I were to say in a sacrament talk, “Jesus Christ is the very Eternal Father,” I would get some concerned looks about false doctrine being taught, but this is exactly what Abinadi declared. He expounded on this in these words, “I would that ye should understand that God himself shall come down among the children of men, and shall redeem his people. And because he dwelleth in flesh he shall be called the Son of God, and having subjected the flesh to the will of the Father, being the Father and the Son— The Father, because he was conceived by the power of God; and the Son, because of the flesh; thus becoming the Father and Son—And they are one God, yea, the very Eternal Father of heaven and of earth” (Mosiah 15:1-5). Christ can be called both the Father and the Son, and here the prophet explained that He is the Father because “he was conceived by the power of God.” In other words, Christ was given the attributes of God the Father because He is His Son, and so Christ can be called by Elohim’s name too, which is the Father. Perhaps it is not unlike how we each take upon us the (last) name of our own father so that we are called by that just like He is. Abinadi also explained that Christ is the “Eternal Father of heaven and of earth,” meaning that He is the Creator. As the Creator, He a Father to the earth itself.     

            The phrase “Eternal Father” is actually used in the Book of Mormon to refer both to Jesus Christ and to His Father (Elohim), highlighting I believe that they are indeed one in purpose and characteristics. Zeezrom asked this question to Amulek, “Is the Son of God the very Eternal Father?” Even Zeezrom, an apostate at the time, had a notion that the Son of God was the “Eternal Father” in some respect. Amulek responded, “Yea, he is the very Eternal Father of heaven and of earth, and all things which in them are; he is the beginning and the end, the first and the last” (Alma 11:38-39). By this he seems to have been referring to the Son as the Creator. Nephi, on the other hand, recorded these words of the angel to him, “Behold the Lamb of God, yea, even the Son of the Eternal Father!” Here Jesus was referred to as the Son and His Father (Elohim) was called the “Eternal Father.” Similarly, Moroni recorded the prayers performed on the bread and wine in remembrance of Jesus, and in these familiar words the “Eternal Father” is clearly referring to Elohim: “O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this bread to the souls of all those who partake of it; that they may eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son, and witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him, and keep his commandments which he hath given them, that they may always have his Spirit to be with them” (Moroni 4:3). The prayer is to the Father in the name of the Son, and we witness to Elohim that we will always remember His Son, the Savior. Two other passages are ambiguous. Moroni wrote, “And awake, and arise from the dust, O Jerusalem; yea, and put on thy beautiful garments, O daughter of Zion; and strengthen thy stakes and enlarge thy borders forever, that thou mayest no more be confounded, that the covenants of the Eternal Father which he hath made unto thee, O house of Israel, may be fulfilled” (Moroni 10:31). That “Eternal Father” mentioned there could be either the Savior or His Father. And Mormon wrote as he lamented the loss of his people, “O that ye had repented before this great destruction had come upon you. But behold, ye are gone, and the Father, yea, the Eternal Father of heaven, knoweth your state; and he doeth with you according to his justice and mercy” (Mormon 6:22). Again, it seems to me that this “Eternal Father of heaven” could refer either to the Savior or His Father. And perhaps it doesn’t matter, for their mission and purpose and love for all mankind is the same. Jesus and His Father are two distinct heavenly Beings, but both can be called the “Eternal Father” for their united role in bringing to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.