Jesus Christ is referred to several times in the Book of Mormon as both the Father and the Son. (Mosiah 15:1-4; Ether 3:14.) The question might well be asked: In what way (or in what sense) is Jesus Christ both the “Father” and the “Son”? The words Father and Son are titles rather than names; thus they may be used to refer to more than one person. The term Father may rightfully be used to refer to Jesus Christ in the following areas:
(1) Jesus Christ is the Father of those who accept the gospel because it is through his atonement that the gospel is made active on this earth. (Mosiah 5:7; 15:10-13; see also D&C 25:1; 39:1-4; and Ether 3.)
(2) Jesus Christ is the Father of this earth in the sense that he created this earth under the direction of his Father. (Mosiah 15:4; 16:15; see also Alma 11:38-39; 3 Nephi 9:15; Ether 4:7; D&C 45:1.)
(3) Jesus Christ is the Father because of divine investiture of power—that is, Jesus Christ has been given the power to act for and represent his Father on this earth. (Read particularly D&C 93:2-4, 17.)
(4) Other dictionary definitions of Father that might be used to refer to Jesus Christ are as follows: “one to whom respect is due”; “one who cares as a father might”; “an originator, source, or prototype”; “one who claims or accepts responsibility.”
The term Son also has varied meanings. Jesus Christ is rightfully referred to as the Son in the following senses: (1) Jesus Christ is the firstborn of God in the spirit (Colossians 1:15-19; D&C 93:21); (2) Jesus Christ is the Only Begotten Son of God in the flesh (Jacob 4:5, 11; Alma 12:33-34; 13:5; John 1:18, 3:16); (3) Jesus Christ submitted his will to the will of his Father (Mosiah 15:2-7).
President Joseph Fielding Smith made the following observations concerning these verses:
The statement of Abinadi [indicates] … that Jesus Christ is both Father and Son to us [Mosiah 15:1-4]…What’s wrong with that scripture? What is a father? One who begets or gives life. What did our Savior do? He begot us, or gave us life from death, as clearly set forth by Jacob, the brother of Nephi. If it had not been for the death of our Savior, Jesus Christ, the spiritand body would never have been united again. As Jacob states:
And our spirits must have become like unto him, and we become devils, angels to a devil, to be shut out from the presence of our God, and to remain with the father of lies, in misery, like unto himself; yea, to that being who beguiled our first parents, who transformeth himself nigh unto an angel of light, and stirreth up the children of men unto secret combinations of murder and all manner of secret works of darkness.
O how great the goodness of our God, who prepareth a way for our escape from the grasp of this awful monster; yea, that monster, death and hell, which I call the death of the body, and also the death of the spirit.
And because of the way of deliverance of our God, the Holy One of Israel, this death, of which I have spoken, which is the temporal, shall deliver up its dead; which death is the grave.
And this death of which I have spoken, which is the spiritual death, shall deliver up its dead which spiritual death is hell; wherefore, death and hell must deliver up their dead, and hell must deliver up its captive spirits, and the grave must deliver up its captive bodies, and the bodies and the spirits of men will be restored one to the other; and it is by the power of the resurrection of the Holy One of Israel.
O how great the plan of our God! For on the other hand, the paradise of God must deliver up the spirits of the righteous and the grave deliver up the body of the righteous; and the spirit and the body is restored to itself again, and all men become incorruptible, and immortal, and they are living souls, having a perfect knowledge like unto us in the flesh, save it be that our knowledge shall be perfect. [2 Nephi 9:9-13.]If there had been no redemption from death our spirits would have been taken captive by Satan and we would have become subject to Satan’s will forever.
What did our Savior do? He begot us in that sense. He became a father to us because he gave us immortality or eternal life through his death and sacrifice upon the cross. I think we have a perfect right to speak of him as Father.
King Mosiah put his people under covenant to take upon them the name of Christ. And this was 124 years before the birth of Christ. I want to read a verse or two from this pledge.
And now, because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name; therefore, ye are born of him and have become his sons and his daughters. [Mosiah 5:7.]
Is there anything wrong in our calling Jesus Christ our spiritual Father?
And under this head [this wonderful king said] ye are made free and there is no other head whereby ye can be made free. There is no other name given whereby salvation cometh; therefore I would that ye should take upon you the name of Christ, all you that have entered into the covenant with God that ye should be obedient unto the end of your lives.
And it shall come to pass whosoever does this shall be found at the right hand of God, for he shall know the name by which he is called; for he shall be called by the name of Christ.
And now it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall not take upon him the name of Christ must be called by some other name; therefore, he findeth himself on the left hand of God [Mosiah 5:8-10.]
The Son of God has a perfect right to call us his children, spiritually begotten, and we have a perfect right to look on him as our Father who spiritually begot us.
Now if these critics would read carefully the Book of Mormon they would find that when the Savior came and visited the Nephites he told them that he had been sent by his Father. He knelt before them and he prayed to his Father. He taught them to pray to his Father, but that did not lessen in the least our duty and responsibility of looking upon the Son of God as a Father to us because he spiritually begot us. (Answers to Gospel Questions [Deseret Book Co., 1957-66] 4:177-80.)