Completing the "Godhead": Finwe as the Father that Jesus refers to in Bountiful

Placing Miriel as Mary, the mother of Jesus, also has implications for Finwe, her husband.  Specifically, in my story, he now becomes the Being that Jesus refers to as 'the Father', and who Mormons typically think of as God.  

The concept is going to be a little strange if thinking under the paradigm of Mormonism's 'Godhead', with three Beings constituting some heavenly High Council.  So, I think I will need to tackle that a bit.

Also, in hindsight and looking at this some more, I think I could have easily placed Finwe as the 'Father' even without backing into it from the Miriel thought.  Meaning, it makes enough sense to me on its own without having to rely solely on Miriel's identity as Mary to get there.  However, it was the Miriel thought that allowed me to reach that conclusion first, before then considering it on its own.  I wouldn't have gotten there without first thinking through Mary-Miriel, but now after arriving at the conclusion, I have a hard time seeing it another way (at least right now as I think through the broader story).

Godhead

Mormons view the Godhead as something different than the Trinity of other Christian beliefs, as Mormons will sometimes get flack for.  In their view, you have God, the Father, who is a distinct Being from Jesus, who was both a spirit child of God the Father in a premortal life, but also his actual physical son born on this world.  In addition, you have the Holy Ghost as another separate Being, but little is known or discussed about the nature of this Being, other than its effects are felt, particularly after one is baptized and receives 'the Gift of the Holy Ghost' (which is also not well defined).

In any case, we have covered the Holy Ghost in past posts, where I have made some guesses as to this "Being" actually being a sister-brother pair, both of whom were children of Eru in a life long before this world was created.  Este-Asenath-Nimloth would be the first person in that pair, and Eonwe-Faramir-Abinadi is the other person.  

In addition, Eru is Jesus in these stories, although I am not sure I have actually written a post on this.  Whereas the Holy Ghost topic was new thinking I was going through in relation to this blog, Eru as Jesus is something that is both strongly implied in some of Tolkien's own writing, and also made even more explicit in Doug's stories.  It makes enough sense to me that I haven't really had any need or interest to dive in and explore any alternatives, or even need to put any evidence or background together on it.

The important thing to call out, however, is that identifying Eru as Jesus does counter, quite significantly, Mormons' view of who Jesus is.  In modern Mormonism, Jesus was a spirit child of God, much like you and me in that view, but our older brother.  As part of his development going back to a 'pre-mortal' life, Jesus needed to be born, receive a body, learn, progress, etc., , just like we had to, apparently, with the added burden that he would also need to be 'perfect' in this life so he could bring the rest of us along with him back to Heaven.

The view of Eru as Jesus, however, is much closer to other Christian faiths (I think), and in fact much closer to how Jesus is described in the Book of Mormon.  He is the creator, and didn't 'need' to come to Earth as part of any personal development plan, but rather condescended into Earth (on whatever world or land) in order to save it and us.  This also gets at what exactly Jesus 'did', and what the plan was, which isn't the focus of this post, necessarily.

In any case, we have 2 of the 3 identities and related stories for this Godhead, and it is a family affair so far.  We have Eru, as the "Son", and two of his children in the roles of the Holy Ghost.

The Father I haven't really covered, I don't think, so I guess here we go in light of this thought thread.

Up until earlier this week, if asked who the Father was, I would have probably said that it was Manwe.  I just hadn't thought about it too much as I was going through other characters and story elements.  In cases like that, when I haven't yet turned my full attention to it, I have gone with the default, whether from Tolkien or Joseph Smith's writings, or from Doug's stories.  In this case, Doug has identified Manwe (the King of the Valar, or 'head' God) as God the Father, and also had a fairly involved story around Varda, Manwe's wife, as Mary.  This made sense to me, at least enough were I didn't see any need to challenge it as I was going through other material.

However, as with other themes and characters, such as Gandalf-Nephi, now that I have had some time to think on it (and by time, I mean the last couple days... so this is fairly new thinking and liable to errors, or being wholly wrong), I don't like it.  So, I have replaced Finwe in my mind as to who the Father is, and we will see how it goes.

The Father

I skimmed (fairly quickly, actually) back through Jesus' words at Bountiful, and noted that at no time (from what I noticed) does Jesus call the Being he refers to as 'the Father' God.  He does talk about God, but when using his own words, he is always referring to himself.   For example, when he first appears at Bountiful, he introduces himself and then invites everyone to feel his wounds, so that they can know that he, Jesus, is their God:

Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world. (3 Nephi 11)

He will go on to say God in the 3rd person several times, but in each of these instances he is only quoting scripture, such as Isaiah.  He never uses his own words to describe another as "God" (that I could find in my quick skim...  I may have missed something).

Thus, when speaking in his own words, he will always refer to the Father as simply that - the Father.  God, as we would think of that term, is Jesus, and he seems to make it fairly clear that this is so.

I just call this out because this comes across very much as a family relationship or House that is being brought back together, and this ties very much to the situation of Finwe's House, the Noldor, and to at least a partial definition of "Israel".

No House, of all those that resided in Valinor among the Eldar, was more shattered and broken than what the Noldor became in the events following the death of the Two Trees, and the loss of Finwe.  Finwe and Miriel's family were bereft of both of them, a missing King and Queen.  I covered this a bit in my post on Miriel, or at least it would have been covered in the link I attached, so I won't revisit the details of this broken House here.  The important part I am trying to convey is that the events on Valinor ended with a broken and scattered House, with many of them completely exiled from ever returning to Valinor, and a curse laid upon them to round out the whole affair.  Feanor would die at the hands of multiple Balrogs shortly after his exile, and his sons would, reportedly, go on to try and fulfill the oaths they took in reclaiming the Silmarils from Melkor (to disastrous results).

So, that House was and is a mess.  But, it is not 'allowed' to remain that way, I don't believe  Jesus' promise is that he will reclaim them, or as many as we would attach to Finwe (in other words, I can't simply say that all physical descendants of Finwe are all his House - I don't know if that is true).  This is where the definition of "Israel" is still frustratingly less clear than I would like it to be in my head, but again, I view Finwe's family and House going back well before this Earth, and to plans made by both Finwe and Eru to go back just as far.  "Israel" is not necessarily the same thing as the "Family of Light", though there maybe be significant overlap if we were to draw the two out as in a Venn diagram.  Again, it is something I would like to get a better handle on in the future, but it isn't the emphasis of this post other than to articulate the there is Finwe and Miriel, and they have a House or family that needs to be reconciled to them, based on promises made quite a long time ago.  That is the key point here.

Some of these promises are captured in Doug's second book.  As a reminder, I treat Doug's writings the same way I currently do the bible in many ways - good stuff in there if you know what you are looking for or trying to find, but corrupted, changed, and likely dangerous if used in the wrong way.  In those writings are some references to Finwe's relationship with Eru, and plans that they made.  These make sense to me, or seem to fit this narrative, so I will use them.  

This is another case where it isn't necessary to go into Doug's writing, but it might be helpful to understand just a couple story elements to then have a better basis on how to assess or approach what I am writing here.  So, I will pull in just a few things.

Anyway, in those stories, in this period stretching way back, it seems that Eru made a plan with Finwe, that would, at a time very far distant in the future, result in the overthrow of Melkor, specifically, and of evil influences and forces related to him, more generally.  Here is a brief excerpt showing Eru (again, who we would know later here on Earth as God and Jesus) first visiting Finwe when it seems that in a time far past there was another world that had been overtaken by Melkor:

Thus, when Eru landed in a world he [Melko] had by lies corrupted, and there even as a wayfaring beggar of no knowledge, nor threat to its Ruler, unsettled that Dark king became, where price encircled his throne, and buoyed those abiding near his house; to Finwe came Eru in those Ancient Before Days, and finding his heart unscathed amid those fumes and coals (as it were) of spirit-evil, a plan these two devised...

So, to paraphrase, Melkor had set up an evil kingdom, of which Finwe found himself within but not a part of - meaning he was a righteous person surrounding by evil.  Eru visits him in order to put a plan in motion that will take down Melkor once and for all (we are in the 'latter' stages, perhaps, of this plan).

At a later time, it seems that Melkor has in fact been capture and jailed, but this situation will not last (obviously, since we are here, now, in this state).  This is all part of the plan, however, (as I see it), and Eru gives Finwe a parting blessing before taking off again for destinations unknown.  This blessing is important, because it establishes the Eru and Finwe are essentially 'partners' in what Eru is trying to accomplish.  Here is part of the blessing he gives (this and the next excerpt are taken from "Words of Them That Slumbered"):

Blessing now I leave also imprinted on thy brow,

Forever, by ye thus bodied or otherwise:

That though now crown upholding, this brow is 

A seat of wise counsel, and shall in time come

To seat in judgment, even as Melko once sat,

To misery's content; other shall thee decide,

In mercy, and to thy house's dominion, though 

Its denizens be parted, and throw forth arrows

At one another, all shall be to they glory, and 

To mine, too; and this is the glory of we two:

To liberate all anywhere bound, unjustly,

By oath on-taken, willfully, yet later rued, and

Would be foresworn, if the consequences abiding,

Slept instead; so shall I in my wise purpose,

Break even heart from mind, as eye from face,

Leaving one without sight to guide, and the other,

Nowhere to turn, in ward in reflection;

These words shall not break, though all they House

Entire, without exception, dispossessed even

To their loss of own lore, of self, house,

And in mercy also, or Eru

Ok, so a bit to chew through, there.  Eru alludes to Finwe's House breaking, and that they would all lose their knowledge, of who they themselves were, of their family and House, and even knowing Eru.  However, this is all part of the larger plan - the long-game - and this will be rectified.

I bolded the section above where Eru essentially establishes this partnership between both he and Finwe, and that the Story that will develop, and which will ultimately free many people from Evil, will be to both of their glories.  This gives additional meaning, in my view, to Jesus' statements of he and the Father being 'one', and he in the Father, and the Father in him.  There is a plan in place, a Good one, and both Finwe and Eru seem to have been in on it from the get-go - something uniquely 'theirs'.

Eru, in these writings, will also go on to say some things about Finwe and a new name or Being he will be as part of this whole affair, but that will be for another post.  It will potentially become important in understanding another facet or purpose to the Jaredites sailing for Eressea, since we will find Finwe among them in that journey.

So, as I see it, it makes complete sense for Eru to be born as Jesus, with Finwe (by whatever name he goes by at the time of Jesus' birth) and Miriel as his parents, because he is specifically condescending to become part of that family (Israel) that will be broken, as part of his larger plan, in order to save it.  He will keep his promise, redeem Finwe's House, uniting them back to their Father (who he has also taken on as his own Father in this story), and who is the Being that Jesus is referring to at Bountiful.  He is talking to members of the Finwe's Family going back to that earlier time, identifies them as such, and so is rightly teaching them and trying to restore them to their Father, perhaps.

In essence, this remains a family affair, and our definition of what constitutes that Family continues to expand, potentially.  As I said, there isn't a limit that I know of (with the exception of a few individuals), and all who wish to join with Eru and his family (Eru as Jesus now literally folding his own family in with that of Finwe, the Father) receive and take part in all of the promises and blessings.

In any case, as I said at the beginning of this post, there is enough here where I am encouraged to go ahead with the thinking that Finwe is the Being known as "the Father", who would be the same individual Mormons think of when referring to "God".  In fact, even in just the couple days I have been thinking on it, I have a hard time in seeing it now otherwise, whether Manwe or anyone else.  We will see, though, as with the other topics that are being explored here, whether this particular hypothesis will hold together as we explore implications, but for now it works for me.