15 August 2014.
Disclaimer:
Disclaimer:
In Mormon theology, it is important to know that only the current prophet has the sole right of interpreting and declaring doctrine. He alone has this right—not members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles individually and not local leaders.
While this is the case, it is also important to know, according to Joseph Smith, that “a prophet is not always a prophet,”(1) and, according to D. Todd Christofferson, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, that:
At the same time it should be remembered that not every statement made by a Church leader, past or present, necessarily constitutes doctrine. It is commonly understood in the Church that a statement made by one leader on a single occasion often represents a personal, though well-considered, opinion, not meant to be official or binding for the whole Church. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that ‘a prophet [is] a prophet only when he [is] acting as such.’(2)
So, while there will be quotes referencing Church leaders, it would be good to remember that some of their statements might be their own opinion.
Is Quetzalcoatl Jesus Christ?
This question is one that does not have a clearly defined answer. For Mormon apologists, yes, Quetzalcoatl is Jesus Christ. For some non-Mormon scholars, Quetzalcoatl is not Jesus Christ, and the reasoning is because not all of the distinguishing characteristics of Quetzalcoatl’s visit(s) match up with the distinguishing characteristics of Jesus Christ. In this essay I will share some quotes and statements which say Quetzalcoatl is Jesus Christ, and I will also give the critics viewpoint as to why they are not the same being.
In his pamphlet “Christ in America,” Mark E. Petersen, then a member of the Council of the Twelve, wrote:
The tradition of a White God in ancient America was preserved through generations of Indians from Chile to Alaska, and has been significantly persistent likewise among the Polynesians from Hawaii to New Zealand.
In their main details all such traditions agree. They differ in name and minor details from island to island and from country to country, but the overall outline remains the same—there was a Great White God. He came among their forefathers, ministered for a while, and then left again. Some say he ascended to heaven.
This is the true story of the Great White God. He is Jesus the Christ, the Savior of all mankind.(3)
Petersen felt, and stated publicly, that the Great White God referred to in many American Indian and Polynesian accounts is in fact Jesus Christ.
From Petersen, we see that he believed Christ to be the same as the “Great White God,” Quetzalcoatl. Petersen also accepts that there are minor details in the various accounts, but that the main portions of the accounts are the same—that he ministered among their people and left again.
Milton R. Hunter, a member of the First Council of the Seventy, believed the same as Petersen, namely that:
From Alaska…to…South America, paramount among all the traditions held by the Indians was that of a ‘Fair God.’
That God…had given them their government, their writing, and their culture. Above all he had given them their religious beliefs and practices, being their great high priest…
In Mexico Valley he was called ‘Quetzalcoatl.’…
Regardless of the name by which the white and bearded God was known, all of the Indian traditions were similar. This fact indicates that they came from a common source. All of the principal events of Christ’s life…were found among the American Indians by the Catholic Fathers when they first visited various parts of the New World.(4)
According to Hunter’s recounting of one tradition, this “Great White God”:
came to the people through the air, and as he descended to earth the sunrays sparkled on his beautiful white body and clothing. The quetzal bird as it flew through the air reminded the people of the glorious beauty and radiant splendor of the white-bearded God who had appeared to their ancestors; and so they added a pagan touch to that memorable event by selecting the most beautiful and highly prized bird of the New World, the quetzal, as a symbol of the white God, or Jesus Christ. Also, coatl, or serpent, was an ancient symbol of Israel's Anointed One. Thus, the Indians commemorated their white-bearded God with the symbol of ‘Quetzal-bird serpent’ or Quetzalcoatl.(5)
Hunter goes on to cite a Dr. Herbert Joseph Spinden, “one of the world’s greatest scholars on the American Indians,” and Hubert Howe Bancroft, an American historian and ethnologist, as saying that Quetzalcoatl was both “the greatest figure in the ancient history of the New World,” and that, “His teachings, according to traditions, had much in common with those of Christ in the Old World.”(6)
In his Conference talk, Hunter also cites Laurette Sejourne, a famous Mexican archaeologist, that:
His [Quetzalcoatl’s] essential role as founder of ancient American culture was never questioned by any of the historians of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, who always state that, just as our era began with Christ, so that of the Aztecs and their predecessors began—approximately at the same time—with Quetzalcoatl.”(7)
For Hunter, “the resurrected Savior and Quetzalcoatl and the other ‘Fair Gods’ of ancient America are identical.”(8)
Ted E. Brewerton, an Emeritus General Authority for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, felt the same as Hunter. Brewerton stated, in his General Conference address in October 1995, that:
Ancient American literature contains references to a white, bearded god who descended out of the heavens. He is called by many names; one example is Quetzalcoatl. Historians of the sixteenth century…recorded pre-Hispanic beliefs concerning the white, bearded god who came to the Americas long before the arrival of the Spanish conquerors.
Brewerton then cites Bernardo de Sahagun, Diego Duran, and Bartolomé de las Casas as stating that this Quetzacoatl was, “esteemed and considered as a god,” he was a “great man” and “was white, had a rounded beard” and “was tall.”(9)
For Brewerton, “The Book of Mormon gives an accurate account of the coming of the Lord to ancient America.”(10)
Critics.
Undoubtedly there are critics which claim that the similarities between Quetzalcoatl and Jesus Christ are too few to argue that they are the same being, and apologists simply overlook some of the glaring differences.
As critic Richard Abanes explains: “What LDS apologists tend to not mention are a few additional aspects of Quetzalcoatl, none of which seem very consistent with Jesus Christ.”(11)
According to the Fair Mormon Answers website, these additional aspects are:
-Snake worship
-Human sacrifice made to Quetzalcoatl
-Quetzalcoatl’s twin brother Xolotl(12)
Even though critics claim that there are some glaring differences, Mormon leader John Taylor writes that, “the history of [Quetzalcoatl] has been handed down to us through an impure…source, which has sadly disfigured and perverted the original incidents and teachings of the Savior’s life and ministry.”(13)
So for Mormon apologists, the reasons for Quetzalcoatl not being Jesus Christ are because of an inaccurate, twisting of the accounts.
B.H. Roberts also held this viewpoint, when he wrote:
As already remarked, there is much attributed to this Deity of native American tradition that seems incompatible with the character of Messiah, and with his labors while in the western hemisphere; but for all that one may see in outline here the leading truths respecting the Son of God as made known to the Nephites through prophecies and the Christ’s advent among them, all of which is set forth in the Book of Mormon; while that which is not congruous to Messiah and his mission to the Nephites, results—as already pointed out—from the confusion of a number of traditions concerning several other great characters who have figured in native American history, and of whom the Book of Mormon speaks. But, in the foregoing excerpts from the works of those skilled in the lore of ancient America, we have the account of ‘The great or glorious Man of the country,’ that can be no other than the Hebrew Messiah—the Jesus Christ of the Book of Mormon.(14)
Conclusion.
Many Mormon leaders seem to believe that Quetzalcoatl and Jesus Christ are the same. As John Taylor writes,
The story of the life of the Mexican divinity, Quetzalcoatl, closely resembles that of the Savior; so closely, indeed, that we can come to no other conclusion than that Quetzalcoatl and Christ are the same being.(15)
So is Quetzalcoatl Jesus Christ? The answer varies on if you ask Mormon apologists, or critics of the religion.
Sources.
(1)J. Reuben Clark, Jr., “When are the Writings and Sermons of Church Leaders entitled to the Claim of Scripture?” BYU Address, 7 July 1954.
(2)David Todd Christofferson, “The Doctrine of Christ,” Ensign (Conference Report), May 2012, http://www.lds.org/ensign/2012/05/the-doctrine-of-christ?lang=eng (accessed 24 September 2012).
(3)Mark E. Petersen, Christ in America, Pamphlet, http://ldspamphlets.org/Christ_in_America.htm (accessed 15 August 2014).
See also Mark E. Petersen, “Who was the Great White God?” Conference Report, October 1970, http://scriptures.byu.edu/gettalk.php?ID=1818&era=yes (accessed 15 August 2014).
(4)Milton R. Hunter, “The Greatest Event in Ancient America,” Conference Report, April 1961, http://scriptures.byu.edu/gettalk.php?ID=1127&era=yes (accessed 15 August 2014).
(5)Milton R. Hunter, “Book of Mormon Evidences,” Conference Report, October 1954, http://scriptures.byu.edu/gettalk.php?ID=744&era=yes (accessed 15 August 2014).
(6)Milton R. Hunter, “The Greatest Event in Ancient America,” Conference Report, April 1961, http://scriptures.byu.edu/gettalk.php?ID=1127&era=yes (accessed 15 August 2014).
(7)Ibid.
(8)Ibid.
(9)Ted E. Brewerton, “The Book of Mormon: A Sacred Ancient Record,” Ensign, November 1995, https://www.lds.org/ensign/1995/11/the-book-of-mormon-a-sacred-ancient-record?lang=eng (accessed 15 August 2014).
(10)Ibid.
(11)Fair Mormon Website, http://en.fairmormon.org/Jesus_Christ/Relationship_to_Quetzalcoatl
(accessed 15 August 2014).
(12)Ibid.
(13)John Taylor, An Examination into and an Elucidation of the Great Principle of the Mediation and Atonement of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (Salt Lake City: Deseret News Company, Printers and Publishers, 1882), http://www.gutenberg.org/files/36327/36327.txt (accesssed 15 August 2014).
(14)B.H. Roberts, New Witnesses for God (Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1909-11).
(15)John Taylor, An Examination into and an Elucidation of the Great Principle of the Mediation and Atonement of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (Salt Lake City: Deseret News Company, Printers and Publishers, 1882), http://www.gutenberg.org/files/36327/36327.txt (accesssed 15 August 2014).