Christians shouldn't technically pray to Jesus (though many of them probably do). They are supposed to pray "in the name of" Jesus, as Jesus is the one intercessor between God and man.

That's how Mormons understand it as well, but I didn't realize evangelicals understood it that way, having heard so many pray directly to Jesus.

Trinity
 

To a true trinitarian, it's totally logical to pray to Jesus, since he is the same as the Father. Not to mention the Holy Ghost.

They are triune, but not interchangeable.

Depends on who's talking
 

I don't like it when Orthodox Christians tell me what I believe, so I won't do that to them. My Evangelical Christian (Presbyterian - PCUSA) friend and co-blogger says in his faith they pray to Jesus. Then again, there are Mormons who pray to their Heavenly Mother. And Catholics pray to Mary. Who's to say?

Sometime in the second or third century it dawned on Christians that the most sublime and attractive thing about Christ is that he was a God who suffered and died. (Volumes have been and could still be written on this aspect of Christ's persona and its resonance.) His appeal is in his dual humanity and divinity. Yet making him the Son of God threatened to detract from this sublime symbolism, perhaps reducing him to the greatest of prophets. So there ensued a lot of discussion culminating in bloodshed and even warfare over the nature of the godhead. For a while the ani-trinity movement held the upper hand in early Christianity, at least politically. Constatine's son Constantius was an Arian Christian; Arians were named after Presbyter Arius who like Mormons rejected the trinity, and contended that the Father and the Son were not the same personage. Pelagius was the same, which is why some Mormon mullahs like him so much.

The contrary view held that this definition of the godhead devalued Jesus and threatenecd to take away what most appealed about Christianity. Ultimately, in one of history's most profound ironies, the Arian Visigoths killed Emperor Valens, an erstwhile ally and fellow Arian, in battle, which brought an end to the popularity of Arianism among Roman nobiltiy. Valens was the last Arian emperor.

There's an excellent book called When Jesus Became God that discusses this history.

I think in much the same way Mormons took a while to realize the implication of saying Jesus was the Son. Talmage apparently understood what early Christians came to realize--that the power of Christianity as an idea emanates from God being a suffering, incarnate God. Clearly if, as Talmage decided, Jesus is Jehova, the ancient Hebrews clear back to the patriarchs prayed to Jesus. The answer to this conundrum is the Trinity. The Trinity fits with the original idea of Christ as the Logos, which we see in the Gospel of John. Christ as God's manifestation on earth, the means by which God interfaces with humanity, which is why Logos has been translated into the Word of God as well. As we've discussed here, Mormonism doesn't have as elegantly contructed and refined a doctrin as it could.

Very interesting. This is you at your best.

P.S. I voted for McCain.

Thanks.

I never doubted it.

The Mormon idea of who Elohim is, is misunderstood by outsiders. In my Intro to the Hebrew Bible class, Elohim has a plural suffix to Eloah. Elohim is sometimes used as a singular noun for the father but at other times it is used to describe a group of gods and introduces the idea of Judaic (not really Christian) polytheism. Even Mormons reject polytheism because of its denotation. They worship only one god but recognize a plurality of gods based on genealogy. At the same time, this idea lacks merit. In Judaic tradition of plurality of gods, it is not necessarily genealogical but based more on creation of deity. That is my understanding.

I think Wikipedia has a good reference for Elohim but I haven't looked at it in a while.

I eventually figured out the answer to this. It is that the Book of Mormon and the teachings of Joseph from that era are pretty clearly trinitarian. As his own views on this evolved we begin to see the doctrine of separate father and son in the D&C and in the first vision story that is told in 1838. A lot of brain power has been focused on trying to get these things into harmony with each other, but the bottom line is that Joseph's theology changed drastically during his relatively short ministry.

Mike and Arch, I figured I had kept you in suspense long enough on this issue. Hope you are both well.