Who is The Spirit of the Lord?

There is a small dispute between some General Authorities on just who the Spirit of the Lord really is in I Nephi 11:1-11.

James E. Talmage wrote in 'Discourses on the Holy Ghost' by James E. Talmage compiled by N.B. Lundwall on page 13.

That the Spirit of the Lord is capable of manifesting Himself in the form and figure of man, is indicated by the wonderful interview between the Spirit and Nephi, in which He revealed Himself to the prophet, questioned him concerning his desires and belief, instructed him in the things of God, speaking face to face with the man. "I spake unto him," says Nephi, "as a man speaketh; for I beheld that he was in the form of a man; yet nevertheless, I knew that it was the Spirit of the Lord; and he spake unto me as a man speaketh with another." However, the Holy Ghost does not possess a body of flesh and bones, as do bote the Father and the Son, bus is a personage of spirit. Much of the confusion existing in human conceptions concerning the nature of the Holy Ghost arises from the common failure to segregate His person and power. unquote p. 13.

Here we have Elder Talmage advising us to examine more carefully the attributes of the Holy Ghost and he does exactly what he advises us not to do. (In another place McConkie said that 'the appearance to Deity to man since the fall of Adam has been God, the Father or God, the Son and not the Holy Ghost.') The Holy Ghost just doesn't appear to men in the form of a man but comes in the heart as the D&C 8:2, says, "Yea, behold I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart."
v. 3, Now, behold, this is the spirit of revelation; ...

Here is Elder McConkie’s Mormon Doctrine, P. 752, has to say, under SPIRIT OF THE LORD.

“To gain a sound gospel understanding, the truth seeker must determine in each scriptural passage what is meant by such titles as Spirit, Holy Spirit, Spirit of the Lord, Spirit of God, Spirit of truth. In many instances this is not difficult; in some cases, however, abbreviated scriptural accounts leave so much room for doubt that nothing short of direct revelation can identify precisely what is meant. We know for instance, that the Spirit personage who appeared to the Brother of Jared was the Spirit Christ, for he so identified himself. (Ether 3.) But when we read the account of the appearance of “the Spirit of the Lord” to Nephi (I Ne. 11), we are left to our own interpretive powers to determine whether the messenger is the Spirit Christ of the Holy Ghost. Presumptively it is the Spirit Christ ministering to Nephi much as he did to the Brother of Jared, for such is in keeping with the principle of ADVOCACY, INTERCESSION, and MEDIATION, the principle that all personal appearances of the Father and the Son together, have been appearances of Christ.

Elder Bruce R. McConkie is the only general authority who has given a rational explanation of
I Nephi 11:1-11. All the others said, oh, it is nice that the Book of Mormon talks about the Holy Ghost and now we can tell the world that the Holy Ghost has a body even if it is a spirit body. I don't think Elder Talmage gave too much thought to it in my opinion.

In Lecture Fourth in Lectures On Faith we read the most important doctrine as given by Joseph Smith: 1. Having shown, in the third lecture, that correct ideas of the character of God are necessary in order to the exercise of faith in him unto life and salvation; and that without correct ideas of his character the minds of men could not have sufficient power with God to the exercise of faith necessary to the enjoyment of eternal life; ...

What do you think? Important? I should think so!

Kay D. Jenkins