According to Mormon teaching, the Father is Elohim whereas Jesus in his prehuman existence was/is Jehovah:

“God the Eternal Father, whom we designate by the exalted name-title ‘Elohim,’ is the literal Parent of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and of the spirits of the human race” (“The Father and the Son: A Doctrinal Exposition by the First Presidency and the Twelve,” in James E. Talmage, The Articles of Faith, 466).

“I want to tell you, each and every one of you, that you are well acquainted with God our Heavenly Father, or the great Elohim. You are all well acquainted with him, for there is not a soul of you but what has lived in his house and dwelt with him year after year; and yet you are seeking to become acquainted with him, when the fact is, you have merely forgotten what you did know…

“Though each God in the Godhead is a personage, separate and distinct from each of the others, yet they are ‘one God’ … , meaning that they are united as one in the attributes of perfection. For instance, each has the fulness of truth, knowledge, charity, power, justice, judgment, mercy, and faith. Accordingly they all think, act, speak, and are alike in all things; and yet they are three separate and distinct entities. Each occupies space and is and can be in but one place at one time, but each has power and influence that is everywhere present.” (McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 319). (Doctrines of the Gospel Student Manual, Chapter 3: God the Eternal Father)

1. Jesus Christ is Jehovah, the God of the Old Testament (see Isaiah 12:2; 1 Nephi 19:10; D&C 110:1–4; JST, Exodus 6:1–3; Abraham 2:7–8)…

“Among the spirit children of Elohim, the first-born was and is Jehovah, or Jesus Christ, to whom all others are juniors” (Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine, 70). (Ibid., Chapter 4: Jesus Christ, the Son of God)

The belief that the Father is Elohim whereas Jesus is Jehovah wasn’t solidified as core Mormon doctrine until 1916. Prior to this time the terms were used more fluidly and interchangeably for both the Father and the Son, which is a fact acknowledged by Mormon theologians and scholars:

For nearly one hundred years now, Latter-day Saints have understood and more or less used elohim as “the name-title of God the Eternal Father.” [2] Yet historically they have not always used the term in this strict sense. In the nineteenth century, Latter-day Saint literature employed elohim in a wider range of meanings than today, some of which might seem foreign to contemporary ears. Even more remarkable is that early Latter-day Saint usage of the term mirrors in many respects its usage in the Hebrew Bible. In this essay we explore how elohim is used in the Hebrew Bible and sample how the early Latter-day Saints used the term.

In 1916 the First Presidency, in an essay entitled “The Father and the Son: A Doctrinal Exposition by the First Presidency and the Twelve,” issued a statement concerning the nature of the Godhead. The statement, published in the Improvement Era, set forth the official position of the Church on the Father and the Son. “God the Eternal Father, whom we designate by the exalted name-title ‘Elohim,’ is the literal Parent of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and of the spirits of the human race.” [3] The statement also made it clear that “Christ in His preexistent, antemortal, or unembodied state . . . was known as Jehovah.” [4] This is how Latter-day Saints use these terms in the Church today.

With this statement, a clear distinction was made between the titles elohim and Jehovah as they apply to members of the Godhead. Today elohim and Jehovah are often used to differentiate for the listener or reader whether the reference is to the Father or to the Son. This unique separation of terms (which also separates the Latter-day Saints from all other groups who accept the Bible as scripture) does not find its roots in the Hebrew Bible or its English translations, because the biblical evidence is at best ambiguous and at worst nonexistent. After all, Latter-day Saint usage of these and other theological terms stems from the words of latter-day prophets, not the Bible. Therefore, we now turn to a brief summary of what can be determined about how the term elohim is used in the Hebrew Bible.

… Therefore, even though the topic of this paper is elohim, we will necessarily point out that elohim and Jehovah are often interchangeable in early Latter-day Saint usage, in direct analogy to their use in the Hebrew Bible.

The range of early Latter-day Saint usage of elohim showed remarkable variety. There is no better place to begin a selective citation of these usages than with the Prophet Joseph Smith, who appears to have been the first to introduce the term to the Church… Latter-day Saints who are familiar with contemporary Latter-day Saint usage may find his use of the term somewhat surprising.

The Prophet, after the manner of the Hebrew Bible, employed on occasion the terms elohim and Jehovah interchangeably for the God of Israel. For example, in a letter to Major General Law dated August 14,1842, and in keeping with common American usage, he used the title Jehovah for God the Father, but also equated Jehovah with elohim: “Let us plead the justice of our cause; trusting in the arm of Jehovah, the Eloheim, who sits enthroned in the heavens.” [29] Here we have exactly analogous usage as in the Hebrew Bible: “Jehovah, the elohim of the Hebrews.” Just over a week later, Joseph, in supplicating God in prayer, equated Jehovah and elohim again: “O, thou who seeth and knoweth the hearts of all men; thou eternal, omnipotent, omnicient, and omnipresent Jehovah, God; thou Eloheem, that sitteth, as saith the psalmist; enthroned in heaven; look down upon thy servant Joseph, at this time; and let faith on the name of thy Son Jesus Christ, to a greater degree than thy servant ever yet has enjoyed, be conferred upon him.” [30] It is clear that the Prophet, by equating elohim with Jehovah, used the terms differently than Latter-day Saints do today…

The above quotations are not meant to suggest that nineteenth-century Latter-day Saint usage of elohim and Jehovah was clearly defined. In fact, most usages of these terms are ambiguous, denoting simply “God.” Because they are often used in similar phrases and usually appear in contexts that often do not specify identity, it seems likely they were often used as generic names for deity without consistent specificity. This may explain why different denotations for Jehovah were used simultaneously, and why both the plural and singular meanings of elohim were used…

Even though he referred to Jehovah as elohim and used Jehovah as a term for God the Father in many instances, at some point Joseph Smith made a clear distinction between elohim and Jehovah. For purposes unrelated to Hebrew Bible usage, Joseph Smith must have thought it important to distinguish between God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son. In a late reminiscence, Edward Stevenson remarked in his journal that “Joseph Smith was the first, whome I ever herd proclaim a plurality of Gods, he said that there was Elohiem God, and Jehovah God, and Michial God.” [35] He also remembered that “Joseph the Seer, said, in the grand Council of Heaven, The Great Ɇelohɇiåm, directed Jehovah and Michaiel[?], for the Gods Counciled in the beginning of the Creation of This Earth.” [36] A remark by Brigham Young in 1852 would seem to corroborate Edward Stevenson’s later recollection: “It is true that the earth was organized by three distinct characters, namely, Eloheim, Yahovah, and Michael.” [37] Here the delineation is clearly set forth in terminology that is similar to the usage that prevails in the Church today…

The matter began to be laid to rest in the early 1900s when the meanings of the terms elohim and Jehovah as they are known within the Church today were clearly set forth. Charles W. Penrose was adamant that Church members understand and use these terms differentially. In September 1902, two years before his ordination to the apostleship, he wrote an Improvement Era article entitled “Our Father Adam.” In it he explained that “Elohim, Jehovah and Michael were associated in that mighty work. When God spake ‘in the beginning,’ he gave direction to other divine persons and said, ‘Let US do thus and so,’ and they obeyed him and acted in harmony with Him. The Eternal Elohim directed both Michael and Jehovah, and the heavenly hosts obeyed them. When Adam was formed ‘out of the dust of the earth,’ he worshiped the great Elohim, the Eternal Father of us all.” [55] The statement by the future Apostle made it clear that elohim was a name or title for God the Father, separate and distinct from Jehovah, and he made the point in the context of the Creation.

Only two months later in the November issue of the Improvement Era, W. H. Chamberlin, a teacher at Brigham Young College in Logan, Utah, wrote an article entitled “Use of the Word Elohim,” in which he clearly stated that “Jehovah was a personal name applied to the Being who guided Israel, and afterwards lived on the earth as Jesus Christ.” [56]

Several years later, Charles W. Penrose, this time as an Apostle and member of the First Presidency, spoke in the October 1914 General Conference of “the great Elohim, the God of gods, the Father of our spirits, the Mighty and Eternal One [is the One] to whom today we address our praises and our prayers.” [57] Clearly, Elder Penrose wanted to emphasize for the Saints that elohim should be applied to God the Father.

To the growing amount of Church material clarifying the matter was added Jesus the Christ, by James E. Talmage. This work, commissioned by the First Presidency and published in 1915, was foundational in establishing practice. In it Elder Talmage explained, “Elohim, as understood and used in the restored Church of Jesus Christ, is the name-title of God the Eternal Father, whose firstborn Son in the spirit is Jehovah—the Only Begotten in the flesh, Jesus Christ.” [58] The clarity and precision articulated so well here by Elder Talmage, and which helped set the course for our contemporary usage, must have been refreshing to many Church members.

These statements continued to build when President Penrose again clearly separated the terms elohim and Jehovah for members of the Church. In the April 1916 general conference, he declared:

Now, who is this person, this Jesus Christ? Is He Adam or a son of Adam? Not at all. . . . Well, was Jesus Jehovah? Yes. . . . We are told by revelation that in the creation of the earth there were three individuals, personally engaged. This is more particularly for the Temple of God, but sufficient of it has been published over and over again to permit me to refer to it. Elohim,—not Eloheim, as we spell it sometimes—that is a plural word meaning the gods, but it is attached to the individual who is the Father of all, the person whom we look to as the great Eternal Father. Elohim, Jehovah and Michael, were engaged in the construction of this globe. Jehovah, commanded by Elohim, went down to where there was space. [59]

President Penrose in this rare instance referred to the temple for the source of the definition that we today take for granted. He then identified very clearly the three persons as God, Jesus Christ, and Adam. This distinction in terms seems to have most often been associated with the creation of the earth, and it seems that was in this isolated instance where these names were separated.

An additional authoritative statement appears to have been necessary. It came in the form, mentioned above, of an official statement of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve dated June 30, 1916: “God the Eternal Father, whom we designate by the exalted name-title ‘Elohim,’ is the literal Parent of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and of the spirits of the human race. . . . Christ in His preexistent, antemortal, or unembodied state . . . was known as Jehovah.” [60] This was a clear and official delineation of terms for the benefit of the Church members.

Summary and Conclusion

As detailed above, Church members prior to the authoritative clarifications of the early twentieth century often used elohim and Jehovah interchangeably and inconsistently, much the same way they are used in the Hebrew Bible. Like much of the Christian world of the nineteenth century, Latter-day Saints did not always distinguish between Jehovah, God the Father, the God of Israel, elohim, or simply God. However, the flexibility of use and at times the ambiguous phrasing of the nineteenth century that reflected general American usage and served the general Christian world well, fell short of the precision that the restoration of the gospel brought to Latter-day Saint understanding of the Godhead.

It is remarkable that early Latter-day Saints used the name Jehovah in reference to both God the Father and to his Son. Equally interesting is that elohim seems to have been used by Latter-day Saints for both God and gods, exactly as it is used in the Hebrew Bible, that is, as both a singular and a plural noun, a proper name and a common noun. Officially, this practice ended in 1916.

And finally, a word of caution here is appropriate. Since the modern Latter-day Saint usage of Jehovah and Elohim was not taken from the Hebrew Bible, it can create misunderstandings if imposed upon the Hebrew scriptural account. Thus if we try to exclusively assign actions to different members of the Godhead based on which divine name is used in the Hebrew Bible, the result, in many instances, will be chaos. Additionally, D&C 20:28 states that “Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are one God” (see also 2 Nephi 31:21; Alma 11:44; 3 Nephi 11:27, 36; Mormon 7:7). In this same vein, Elder Bruce R. McConkie once said that “most scriptures that speak of God or of the Lord do not even bother to distinguish the Father from the Son, simply because it doesn’t make any difference which God is involved. They are one. The words or deeds of either of them would be the same words and deeds of the other in the same circumstance.” [64] Therefore, the issue of which name or title is assigned to which member of the Godhead is not one that Latter-day Saints should be overly concerned with. But it is helpful to know that the meaning of a word such as elohim is not always the same in all times and in all places. (Usage of the Title Elohim | Religious Studies Center – BYU; bold emphasis mine)

Notice the candid admission that these distinctions are not supported by the Holy Bible, specifically the Hebrew Old Testament, since Elohim is used for both YHWH and a host of others, including for the false gods of the pagan nations surrounding Israel.

I will have more to say about this point in the next part as I refute this Mormon assertion: WHO IS THE ELOHIM OF MORMONISM? PT. 2.

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