A unique but central tenet of the Mormon faith is found in the LDS Scripture Doctrine and Covenants 130:22. It says, "The Father [God] has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's..."

Mormon Prophet Gordon B. Hinckley defended this doctrine from the Bible: "In His image man was created. ...In the account of the Creation of the earth, 'God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness' (Gen. 1:26). Could any language be more explicit?" (Gordon B. Hinckley, First Presidency Message, "The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost," Ensign, March 1998, 2)

Furthermore, the LDS web site designed for people investigating the Mormon faith states, "We are created in God's image. In the Old Testament God said, 'Let us make man in our own image, after our likeness' ...God the Father and His son Jesus Christ, appeared to Joseph Smith in the spring of 1820. Joseph revealed that the Father and the Son each have a 'body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's' (D&C 130:22). God is our Heavenly Father, and we are created in his image."

Indeed, Mormons often scoff at Christians who believe the Bible instead teaches God the Father is an invisible Being of spirit, without flesh and bones. (See John 4:24; Luke 24:39; Hebrews 11:27; etc.) They ask, "What else can it mean when God says He created man in His image?"

Christian author and speaker Adrian Plass pondered a similar question. He understood Paul taught in Colossians 1:15 that Christ is the image of the invisible God. But what, exactly, is the image of something that is invisible? Mr. Plass wrote a poem which well describes how Jesus is the image of the invisible God -- an image human beings are created to display.

Image of the Invisible God Copyright © 2003 Adrian Plass. Used by permission. To visit Mr. Plass' web site click here.