=21. Unity of the Godhead.=[84]--The Godhead is a type of unity in the attributes, powers, and purposes of its members. Jesus, while on earth[85] and in manifesting Himself to His Nephite servants,[86] has repeatedly testified of the unity existing between Himself and the Father, and between them both and the Holy Ghost. By some this has been construed to mean that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are one in substance and in person, that the names in reality represent the same individual under different aspects. A single reference to prove the error of this view may suffice:--Immediately before His betrayal, Christ prayed for His disciples, the Twelve, and other converts, that they should be preserved in unity,[87] "that they all may be one" as the Father and the Son are one. It is absurd to think that Christ desired His followers to lose their individuality and become one person, even if a change so directly opposed to the laws of nature were possible. Christ desired that all should be united in heart, and spirit, and purpose; for such is the unity between His Father and Himself, and between themselves and the Holy Ghost. [84] See Note 11. [85] John x, 30, 38; xvii, 11, 22. [86] III Nephi xi, 27, 36; xxviii, 10; see also Alma xi, 44. [87] John xvii, 11-21. =22.= This unity is a type of completeness; the mind of any one member of the Trinity is the mind of the others; seeing as each of them does with the eye of purity and perfection, they see and understand alike; under similar conditions and circumstances each would act in the same way, guided by the same principles of unerring justice and equity. The one-ness of the Godhead, to which the scriptures so abundantly testify, implies no mystical union of substance, nor any unnatural and therefore impossible blending of personality; Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are as distinct in their persons and individualities as are any three personages in the flesh. Yet their unity of purpose and operation is such as to make their edicts one, and their will the will of God. To see one is to see all; therefore said Christ when importuned by Philip to show them the Father: "Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me."[88] [88] John xiv, 9-11.