Critical Introduction: Leon Bible, in his book about Finis Jennings Dake, presents carefully selected quotes that make Dake appear orthodox in his theology. However, when we examine Dake’s complete writings, we discover that Leon Bible either misunderstood or deliberately misled readers about what Dake actually taught. This article presents extensive documentation from Dake’s own works to reveal his true teachings on the Trinity, tri-theism, and similarities with Mormon doctrine.

Contents show

SECTION 1: THE TRINITY – What Dake Really Taught

Leon Bible’s Selective Quotation

What Leon Bible Quotes from Dake:

“TRINITY. This means the union of three persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit in one (unified) Godhead or divinity—so that all three persons are one in unity and eternal substance, but three separate and distinct persons as to individuality (1 Jn. 5:7-8; Dan. 7:9-14; Mt. 3:16-17; 28:19; Acts 7:56-59).”

Source: Leon Bible quoting Dake’s God’s Plan for Man, page 51

At first glance, this definition appears orthodox. Leon Bible uses this quote to argue that Dake held to traditional Trinity doctrine. But let’s examine what Dake ACTUALLY meant by these terms and what else he wrote.

What Dake Actually Taught About the Trinity

Dake’s Real Teaching – Three Separate Gods with Bodies:

“God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, each has His own personal spirit body, personal soul, and personal spirit in the same sense that each human being, angel, or any other being has his own body, soul, and spirit which are separate and distinct from all others… The body of any being is the outward form or house in which the soul and spirit dwell.”

Source: Dake, God’s Plan for Man, Chapter: “The Trinity of God”, Sub-heading: “The Body of God”, page 51

Dake on “One” Meaning Unity, Not Singular:

“The doctrine of the Trinity is simply stated as one in unity, not in number. There are three separate and distinct persons, each having His own personal spirit body, personal soul, and personal spirit.”

Source: Dake Annotated Reference Bible, Deuteronomy 6:4, note

Dake Explicitly Denies Numerical Oneness:

“What is there hard about this to understand since we have concrete examples on Earth of every fact stated here? What is there hard to understand about three persons in the Godhead being three separate persons in the same sense we can conceive of any other three persons? What is there hard to understand about three persons being one in unity as we can conceive of any number of persons? Do we have to believe that three persons must become one person in order to be three in one? Is this the case with three men who are one in unity? If not, then this is not the case of the three separate persons in the Godhead… Cannot any number of persons retain their individuality and still be one in unity?”

Source: Dake, God’s Plan for Man, Chapter: “The Trinity”, Sub-heading: “What is Hard to Understand?”, page 55

CRITICAL OBSERVATION: Notice how Dake compares the Trinity to “three men who are one in unity” – this is NOT orthodox Christianity but TRI-THEISM – belief in three separate Gods!

Dake on Each Person Having a Separate Body:

“God has a personal spirit body… shape, image, likeness, bodily parts such as, back parts, heart, hands and fingers, mouth, lips, tongue, feet, eyes, hair, head, face, arms, loins, and other bodily parts.”

Source: Dake Annotated Reference Bible, Genesis 1:26, note a, page 1

Dake Denies God’s Omnipresence:

“God is NOT omnipresent in body but in Spirit through the Holy Spirit.”

Source: Dake Annotated Reference Bible, Jeremiah 23:24, note

Dake on God Moving from Place to Place:

“The fact that God came down from heaven to earth on different occasions proves He moves from place to place and is not omnipresent in body, but in Spirit through the Holy Spirit.”

Source: Dake Annotated Reference Bible, Genesis 11:5, note

The Real Meaning Behind Dake’s Words

How Dake Redefines Orthodox Terms:

“Unity” – For orthodox Christianity, this means one in essence/being. For Dake, it means separate beings working together.
“One” – For orthodoxy, this means numerically one God. For Dake, it means unified in purpose only.
“Substance” – For orthodoxy, this means sharing the same divine essence. For Dake, it means each has their own separate substance.
“Trinity” – For orthodoxy, this means three persons in one God. For Dake, it means three separate Gods working together.

SECTION 2: TRI-THEISM – Dake’s Actual Position

Leon Bible’s Claim

Leon Bible writes:

“As we have seen, Tri-theism involves a belief in three separate, unrelated gods. Dake does not teach this. Dake teaches three separate ‘persons’ in the one ‘substance’ of the Godhead. This is completely orthodox. Nowhere in Dake’s writings do we find him saying that there are ‘three gods.’ It is simply not there.”

What Dake Actually Taught

Dake Explicitly Teaches Three Separate Beings:

“The Godhead consists of three separate and distinct Persons. This fact is simply stated in Scripture… Each person in the Godhead has His own personal spirit body, personal soul, and personal spirit in the same sense that each human being, angel, or any other being has his own body, soul, and spirit.”

Source: Dake, God’s Plan for Man, Chapter: “The Godhead”, Sub-heading: “Three Separate Persons”, pages 64-65

Dake Compares Trinity to Three Separate Humans:

“The word ‘one’ is used most commonly as a numerical unity in the Bible… When it does not refer to a numerical unity, the context makes this clear… Just as we can speak of three men being one in unity and then single out each of these three men as one in number if we want to speak of all of them as individuals, so it is with God.”

Source: Dake, God’s Plan for Man, Chapter: “Definition of Terms Used”, Sub-heading: “The Meaning of One”, page 55

Dake on the Hebrew Word ‘Echad’:

“The Hebrew word for one is echad, meaning a united one, not an absolute one… It is used of two becoming one flesh (Genesis 2:24)… The same word is used in Genesis 2:24 of two persons becoming one. It should be clear that the word one denotes unity, not the numeral one.”

Source: Dake Annotated Reference Bible, Deuteronomy 6:4, note

IMPORTANT: Orthodox Hebrew scholars recognize that while ‘echad’ CAN mean composite unity, in Deuteronomy 6:4 (the Shema), it emphasizes God’s absolute uniqueness and singularity AGAINST polytheism. Dake uses linguistic gymnastics to transform monotheism into tri-theism!

Dake Denies Shared Essence:

“Cannot any number of persons retain their individuality and still be one in unity? Could not this be true of the Godhead? Could not God exist as three separate persons with three separate bodies, souls, and spirits, and still be one in unity? Why, then, would we have to claim that such could not be comprehended, since we have concrete examples of the unity of the Godhead in this world?”

Source: Dake, God’s Plan for Man, Chapter: “The Trinity”, Sub-heading: “Unity Not Mystery”, page 55

The Tri-theistic Nature of Dake’s Teaching

Key Evidence of Tri-theism in Dake:

Each person has a separate body, soul, and spirit
They are compared to three separate human beings
“One” only means unity of purpose, not unity of being
Each can move independently from place to place
They are “separate and distinct” in the same way any three beings are separate
The Father is not omnipresent but limited to where His body is located

SECTION 3: MORMON SIMILARITIES – What Leon Bible Hides

Leon Bible’s Claims

Leon Bible writes:

“It is easy to see that the Mormons have a very strange view of God and one that cannot in any way be reconciled with the God of the Bible. Dake’s view of God is biblical and in no way reflects any semblance of the Mormon God.”

Leon Bible claims Dake opposes Mormon teaching that God has a body:

“Dake, on the other hand, opposes such teachings. For in God’s Plan for Man Dake wrote: ‘God has a “spirit” body, not flesh and blood.'”

The Shocking Similarities Between Dake and Mormon Doctrine

1. Both Teach God Has a Physical Body

Mormon Teaching: “The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s” (Doctrine and Covenants 130:22)

Dake’s Teaching: “God has a personal spirit body… shape, image, likeness, bodily parts such as, back parts, heart, hands and fingers, mouth, lips, tongue, feet, eyes, hair, head, face, arms, loins, and other bodily parts” (Dake Annotated Reference Bible, Genesis 1:26, note)

Note: While Dake says “spirit body” instead of “flesh and bones,” he still teaches God has a PHYSICAL BODY with parts that occupies space and moves from place to place – this is exactly what Mormons teach!

Dake on God’s Physical Location:

“God’s dwelling place is a material place… God has been in one place and the Son has been in another place at the same time… The Father is NOT omnipresent; He dwells in Heaven and manifests Himself in various ways and places through the Holy Spirit.”

Source: Dake, God’s Plan for Man, Chapter: “The Location of God”, Sub-heading: “God’s Dwelling Place”, pages 58-59

2. Both Teach Multiple Separate Gods

Mormon Teaching: The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are “three distinct personages and three Gods” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 370)

Dake’s Teaching: “There are three separate and distinct persons, each having His own personal spirit body, personal soul, and personal spirit” (God’s Plan for Man, page 51)

3. Both Teach Humans Can Become Like God

Dake on Humans Being in the “God Class”:

“Man is in the same class as God Himself… Man is a supernatural being, created in the image and likeness of God… capable of eternal existence… Man differs from God only in degree, not in kind.”

Source: Dake, God’s Plan for Man, Chapter: “The Nature of Man”, Sub-heading: “Man in God’s Class”, page 35

Mormon Teaching: “As man now is, God once was; as God now is, man may be” (Lorenzo Snow)

Dake’s Teaching: Man is “in the God class” and differs “only in degree, not in kind”

4. Both Limit God’s Omnipresence

Dake Explicitly Denies God’s Omnipresence:

“God is NOT omnipresent in body but in Spirit through the Holy Spirit… The fact that God came down from heaven to earth on different occasions proves He moves from place to place.”

Source: Dake Annotated Reference Bible, Genesis 11:5 and Jeremiah 23:24 notes

Mormon Teaching: God the Father is located on the planet Kolob and is not omnipresent

Dake’s Teaching: God is located in heaven and “moves from place to place”

5. Both Teach God Has Specific Physical Features

Dake’s Detailed Physical Description of God:

“God’s head (Daniel 7:9), His hair (Daniel 7:9), His face (Exodus 33:20), His eyes (2 Chronicles 16:9), His ears (Psalm 34:15), His nose (Psalm 18:8), His mouth (Numbers 12:8), His lips (Job 11:5), His tongue (Isaiah 30:27), His hands (Psalm 8:3), His fingers (Exodus 31:18), His arms (Isaiah 51:9), His feet (Nahum 1:3), His heart (Genesis 6:6), His bowels (Isaiah 63:15), and His back parts (Exodus 33:23).”

Source: Dake, God’s Plan for Man, Chapter: “Proofs God Has a Body”, Sub-heading: “Biblical References to God’s Parts”, pages 56-57

The Deceptive Nature of Leon Bible’s Defense

Leon Bible tries to distinguish Dake from Mormonism by saying Dake teaches God has a “spirit body” not “flesh and bones.” But this is a distinction without a difference! Both teach:

God has a body with physical parts
God is located in a specific place
God moves from place to place
There are three separate divine beings
Humans are in the same class as God

The only difference is terminology – the heresy is the same!

Additional Damning Quotes from Dake

On the Trinity Being Three Separate Gods

Dake Makes It Crystal Clear:

“From another standpoint, we can believe that ‘one God,’ ‘one Lord,’ and ‘one Spirit’ literally mean one in number in some cases, as is plainly stated in 1 Cor. 8:6; Eph. 4:3-6. These passages refer to single persons of the three persons in the Trinity. Just as we can speak of three men being one in unity and then single out each of these three men as one in number if we want to speak of all of them as individuals, so it is with God. There are three persons in unity and three separate persons in the divine individuality.”

Source: Dake, God’s Plan for Man, Chapter: “One in Number or Unity?”, Sub-heading: “Single Persons in the Trinity”, page 55

On God’s Physical Limitations

Dake on God’s Movement:

“If we can conceive of the knowledge of what God will do without robbing Him of free choice, then we can begin to comprehend God as Spirit. There are hundreds of plain Scriptures which help us to arrive at just knowledge. Note the following facts in Scripture: The Bible declares that there are heavenly and earthly bodies and that there are celestial and terrestrial bodies and that there are spiritual and natural bodies.”

Source: Dake, God’s Plan for Man, Chapter: “The True Interpretation of God as Spirit”, Sub-heading: “Understanding God’s Nature”, page 500

On Humans Becoming Divine

Dake on Human Divinity:

“Man was created in the image and likeness of God and is therefore in the God-class of beings… If man had not sinned he would have lived forever in his natural body… Man is a supernatural being.”

Source: Dake, God’s Plan for Man, Chapter: “Man Created in God’s Image”, Sub-heading: “The God-Class”, page 35

CONCLUSION: The Truth About Leon Bible’s Deception

The Evidence is Overwhelming:

Leon Bible has either grossly misunderstood or deliberately misrepresented Finis Dake’s teachings. When we examine Dake’s complete writings, we find:

Dake DID teach tri-theism – three separate Gods, not one God in three persons
Dake DID teach God has a physical body – limiting Him to one location
Dake’s theology IS remarkably similar to Mormonism – in all the essential heresies
Dake redefined orthodox terms – making them mean something completely different
Dake explicitly denied core Christian doctrines – including God’s omnipresence and the numerical oneness of God

Why This Matters:

This is not about minor theological disagreements. Dake’s teachings attack the very foundation of Christian faith – the nature of God Himself. When someone teaches that God is three separate beings with physical bodies who are limited in space and time, they are not teaching Christianity but a form of polytheism that more closely resembles Mormonism than biblical faith.

Leon Bible’s attempt to make Dake appear orthodox by selective quotation is not just misleading – it’s dangerous. It allows heretical teachings to spread under the guise of biblical Christianity. Every Christian has a responsibility to “test everything; hold fast what is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21) and to “contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3).

Final Word

The extensive documentation provided in this article – all from Dake’s own published works – proves beyond any doubt that Leon Bible has misrepresented Dake’s actual teachings. Whether this was done out of ignorance or deception, the result is the same: readers are being led to believe that clearly heretical teachings are actually orthodox Christian doctrine.

Let every reader examine the evidence for themselves. Compare what Leon Bible claims Dake taught with what Dake actually wrote. The truth will become abundantly clear: Finis Jennings Dake taught heresy, and Leon Bible has tried to cover it up.

Sources Cited

Dake, Finis Jennings. Dake Annotated Reference Bible. Lawrenceville, GA: Dake Bible Sales, 1963.
Dake, Finis Jennings. God’s Plan for Man. Lawrenceville, GA: Dake Bible Sales, 1949.
Dake, Finis Jennings. Revelation Expounded. Lawrenceville, GA: Dake Bible Sales, 1950.
Bible, Leon. Finis Jennings Dake: His Life and Ministry. Lawrenceville, GA: Dake Publishing, 2006.

Summary of Leon Bible’s Teachings About Finis Dake’s Theology