Book of Mormon, D & C, Pearl of Great Price

When Mary learned she was to have a divine Son, she was instructed to name him Jesus. Long before Mary knew He was to be her child, however, the Savior had been given many names—Jehovah, the Lamb of God, the Savior, the Redeemer. In His lifetime, He taught that He was God’s son. The Old Testament and Book of Mormon prophets knew of His coming long before He was born, and knew many of the names by which He would be known:

6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called, Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. (2 Nephi 19 and Isaiah 9:6)

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, sometimes called Mormons, use many of the Biblical names to describe their Savior. They are taught from a young age to use His name with respect, never using it as a swear word or a slang expression. The Savior is reverenced, and so His name is also reverenced. His name is given center space in the name of our church, because He holds the center spot in our religion and our hearts. His church, we teach, must contain His name. We are not, as commonly believed, The Mormon Church, because that would signify the church belongs to Mormon. No, it’s not Mormon’s church. He was a prophet, but not our Savior. Our church belongs to Jesus Christ, our Savior, and so it bears His name.

Because we worship Him, we teach our children—and our adults—not to take His name in vain.

“The desire and work of Satan is to mislead and corrupt. He seeks to frustrate the gospel plan by which God has provided the opportunity of eternal life for His children.

Satan seeks to discredit the sacred names of God the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ, the names through which their work is done. He succeeds in a measure whenever he is able to influence any man or woman, boy or girl, to make holy names common and to associate them with coarse thoughts and evil acts. Those who use sacred names in vain are, by that act, promoters of Satan’s purposes.” -- Dallin H. Oaks, “Reverent and Clean,” Ensign, May 1986, 49

Too many people today try to remove the divinity from Christ, reducing Him to a mere teacher. Even some Biblical translations in modern times have sought to do so, changing the scriptures about a virgin birth for the Savior to mean He was merely born to a young woman. This reduces our Savior’s birth to an ordinary one and helps people to rationalize their trivialization of the most sacred event that had ever occurred on earth.

When we refer to Jesus by His own name, or by a title that reminds us of His divinity, we are better able to live by His teachings and honor His gift and sacrifices for us.

We know Jesus Christ was born in a miraculous manner, the literal Son of God. We know He redeemed us from our sins, died on our behalf, and rose again when such a thing was clearly impossible in scientific terms. We know He is our Savior and we choose to honor Him in many ways, one of which includes treating His name with respect.

The Book of Mormon frequently quotes Isaiah, beloved by a number of Book of Mormon writers. In the following verse, found in 2 Nephi 16 of the Book of Mormon, and quoted from Isaiah 6, we find a clue as to how God wants us to study the gospel and to make spiritual decisions.

8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then I said: Here am I; send me.

9 And he said: Go and tell this people—Hear ye indeed, but they understood not; and see ye indeed, but they perceived not.

10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes—lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted and be healed. (2 Nephi 16)

Too many people approach the scriptures with a red pencil and an academic mind. While God is supportive of academic learning, when used correctly, it is not the best way to study scriptures or religious material if you are trying to find out truth.

Have you ever done a science experiment to find out if some scientific law was true? Perhaps, as a child, you grew flowers in a dark closet and more flowers in the sunshine, in order to prove sunlight is needed for proper plant growth.

When you’ve done this type of scientific research, you can share it with the world. If they trust your research, they needn’t repeat it themselves, but can rely on your work. We all accept many scientific facts based on the research of others that we have never repeated on our own.

When it comes to the gospel, however, scientific research isn’t sufficient to help us achieve our eternal potential. One can easily race through the Bible with the above-mentioned red pencil and say things like, “Angels—not scientifically possible, so the Bible is false.”

But, of course, the Bible isn’t false. The fact that we can’t scientifically prove the existence of angels doesn’t mean they don’t exist. So why, when we can’t scientifically prove angels—and in fact, portions of the Bible seem to actually contradict science—do we still choose to believe the Bible to be the word of God?

We believe it because matters of faith require a different type of science experiment. The spiritual type of research requires us to see with our eyes, hear with our ears…and understand with our hearts, as Isaiah made clear. It’s the part about understanding with our hearts that sometimes stops people from gaining a testimony.

To know if a spiritual teaching is true, we must approach it with our hearts instead of our intellect. We must study it out in our minds and come to a conclusion on our own. This is the eyes and ears part of Isaiah’s teaching. But then we must take it to God, the source of all truth and knowledge, and ask Him if we’ve chosen well. This is the understanding with the heart part of the teaching. It must be done by each person individually. You can read the testimonies of others, but only your own "research" can convert you.

Only God knows what is true. Science can’t tell you. People can’t tell you. God can. Once you know how to listen to God for your advice, you can seek out all knowledge. He can tell you who to trust and what to believe.

Would you dare trust your eternal life to anyone less knowledgeable than God? Understanding with the heart, and not just the intellect, is the proper path to our Father in Heaven.

Anyone who has seen a temple for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (incorrectly known as the Mormon Church) has seen the impressive statue of a man with a trumpet that tops most temples. This man is actually an angel named Moroni. A close-up view of the statue makes it clear angels don’t have wings.

So what are we to make of the seraphim described in the Bible, in Isaiah, chapter 6, and quoted in the Book of Mormon in 2 Nephi, chapter 16? Here are the scriptures in question, taken from the Book of Mormon version:

1 In the year that king Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.

2 Above it stood the seraphim; each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.

3 And one cried unto another, and said: Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of Hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.

4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.

5 Then said I: Wo is unto me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips; and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts.

6 Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar;

Frequently, visions seen by the prophets in both the Book of Mormon and the Bible are highly symbolic. Buildings, rivers, trees…many common things are used to symbolize something else. The symbolism is understood by those who use the Spirit of God to understand, while others are unable to comprehend and so, aren’t held accountable for a higher level of knowledge.

In these verses, the seraphim are angels who have wings but appear somewhat human. They are shown to praise and worship God and to interact with people—in this case, Isaiah. The wings in the vision are symbolic. They represent the ability of these beings to move rapidly through space.

We know seraphim existed in Heaven before the earth was created. We don’t actually know if they are related to the angels who have come to earth periodically to deliver messages from God.

The scriptures and church history record many instances of angels appearing to people on earth, including the angel who told Mary about the forthcoming birth of her child. It was an angel—the Angel Moroni mentioned at the start of this article—who came to teach and prepare a young Joseph Smith to participate in the restoration of the gospel.

As Mark E. Peterson, a former church leader said, “Many people no longer believe in the ministry of angels. But God does! He has used this means of communication from the days of Adam. Is there any reason why He should not continue the procedure in our day?” Mark E. Petersen, “The Angel Moroni Came!,” Ensign, Nov 1983, 29

Those who deny the truthfulness of the restored gospel based on their unwillingness to believe God might send angels to people today do God a great disservice. Sending angels in the early days was not a mistake to be repented of. It wasn’t something God did and got tired of doing. He sent angels whenever He had a message or when Heavenly work needed doing. Why wouldn’t He send them to us today? Can we believe God has nothing more to say to His children or that He sees no need to help us through His angels today?

Certainly not. And so, angels came to the prophets and people of the Bible, and they have come again in modern times to bring the blessings of Heaven to generations living in the time of the restoration.

Angels are here…but not with wings.