In June of 1840, Snow declared, "As man is, God once was; as God is, man may become." Besides correctly illustrating the Latter-day Saint teaching that God was once a mere mortal man, this couplet also declares that man has the potential to become God! According to LDS theology, eternal life is synonymous with godhood. In the words of LDS Apostle Bruce McConkie, "Thus those who gain eternal life receive exaltation ... They are gods." (Mormon Doctrine, pg. 237).
Recently, there has been an open discussion about the topic questioning if Mormonism is what we would consider Biblical Christianity. Biblical Christianity teaches that God is eternal, yet Mormonism teaches that god was once a man like us. I would like to list a few verses and see what you think according to the Bible.
Deut 33:26-27 (KJV)
26 There is none like unto the God of Jeshurun, who rideth upon the heaven in thy help, and in his excellency on the sky. 27 The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them.
Psalms 41:13 (KJV)
13 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting, and to everlasting. Amen, and Amen.
1 Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. 2 Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.
2 Thy throne is established of old: thou art from everlasting.
Isaiah 63:16 (KJV)
16 Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not: thou, O Lord, art our father, our redeemer; thy name is from everlasting.
These are just a few verses that teaches that our God was never a man and has always existed as God. There is only ONE God. The Mormons' teachings allow for as many gods as there are people.
Joseph Fielding Smith
“The Father has promised us that through our faithfulness we shall be blessed with the fullness of his kingdom. In other words, we will have the privilege of becoming like him. To become like him we must have all the powers of godhood; thus a man and his wife when glorified will have spirit children who eventually will go on an earth like this one we are on and pass through the same kind of experiences, being subject to mortal conditions, and if faithful, then they also will receive the fullness of exaltation and partake of the same blessings. There is no end to this development; it will go on forever. We will become gods and have jurisdiction over worlds, and these worlds will be peopled by our own offspring.” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation2:48, quoted in Achieving a Celestial Marriage Student Manual, 1976, p.132)
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