Posted on 11/05/2010 6:32:25 PM PDT by Colofornian
LDS Prophet Joseph Smith taught that God was once a mortal man:
"God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens! That is the great secret. ...I am going to tell you how God came to be God. We have imagined and supposed that God was God from all eternity. I will refute that idea, and take away the veil,...
It is the first principle of the gospel to know for a certainty the character of God, ...and that He was once a man like us; yea, that God himself, the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth, the same as Jesus Christ Himself did; ...you have got to learn how to be gods yourselves, and to be kings and priests to God, the same as all gods have done before you, namely, by going from one small degree to another,... from exaltation to exaltation, until you attain to the resurrection of the dead, and are able to dwell in everlasting burnings. and to sit in glory, as do those who sit enthroned in everlasting power" (History of the Church, Vol. 6, Ch. 14, p. 305-6).
LDS President Brigham Young declared that God was once a finite being:
"It appears ridiculous to the world, under their darkened and erroneous traditions, that God has once been a finite being" (Deseret News, Nov. 16, 1859, p. 290).
LDS President Joseph Fielding Smith said that God had a father, a grandfather, etc.:
"Our father in heaven, according to the Prophet, had a father, and since there has been a condition of this kind through all eternity, each Father had a Father" (Doctrines of Salvation, 2:47).
LDS President Joseph F. Smith taught that God was born as a mortal on some other earth:
"I know that God is a being with body, parts and passions...Man was born of woman; Christ, the Savior, was born of woman; and God, the Father was born of woman" (Deseret News, Church News, Sept. 19, 1936, p. 2).
LDS Apostle Bruce R. McConkie taught:
"The Father is a glorified, perfected, resurrected, exalted man who worked out his salvation by obedience to the same laws he has given to us so that we may do the same" (A New Witness for the Articles of Faith, p. 64)
LDS Apostle Melvin Ballard explained that God has a wife:
"For as we have a Father in heaven, so also we have a Mother there, a glorified, exalted, ennobled Mother" (As quoted in Achieving a Celestial Marriage, LDS Church manual, 1976, p. 129).
LDS Doctrine and Covenants promises the faithful LDS couple that they can achieve godhood in the same manner as God the Father:
"...if a man marry a wife, and make a covenant with her for time and for all eternity,... they shall [have]...a continuation of the seeds [children] forever and ever. Then shall they be gods, because they have no end; therefore shall they be from everlasting to everlasting,... Then shall they be gods, because they have all power,... and continuation of the lives,... [endless procreation of spirit children]" (Doctrine and Covenants Section 132:18-22)
LDS President Brigham Young taught that faithful Mormons can achieve godhood:
"Intelligent beings are organized to become Gods, even the Sons of God, to dwell in the presence of the Gods, and become associated with the highest intelligences that dwell in eternity. We are now in the school, and must practice upon what we receive" (Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 245).
LDS President Joseph F. Smith said:
"We are precisely in the same condition and under the same circumstances that God our heavenly Father was when he was passing through this, or a similar ordeal" (Gospel Doctrine, p. 54).
As recently as 2007 both Apostle Boyd K. Packer and Dallen Oakes, during an interview for PBS, explained that God the father has a resurrected body. Apostle Packer stated:
"That vision [Joseph Smith's 1820 vision] taught us some things. We learned about the personality of God the Father, a resurrected Being, as part of our gospel." [link]
Apostle Oakes used the same term when he was interviewed:
"The first revelation received by Joseph Smith was the appearance to him of the Father and the Son embodied, separate, identifiable, tangible Beings who appeared to him in what we refer to as the First Vision. And that first revelation, concerning the nature of God as an embodied, glorified, resurrected Being, challenged the creeds of Christianity. Christianity describes God as a disembodied, incomprehensible, spiritual entity that fills the whole universe, and an indistinguishable Father and Son." [link]
LDS Apostle James E. Talmage taught that God progressed from a mortal to a god:
"We believe in a God who is Himself progressive, whose majesty is intelligence; whose perfection consists in eternal advancement — a Being who has attained His exalted state by a path which now His children are permitted to follow, whose glory it is their heritage to share. In spite of the opposition of the sects, in the face of direct charges of blasphemy, the Church proclaims the eternal truth: 'As man is, God once was; as God is, man may be'" (Articles of Faith, Ch. 24, p. 430-431).
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What the Bible Says About God
1. ALWAYS GOD - in the past as well as in the future.
"Art thou not from ever-lasting, O Lord my God, mine Holy One?" Hab. 1:12
"For I am the Lord, I change not." Mal. 3:6
"...from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God." Psa. 90:2
"God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent." Num. 23:19
"Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man,...who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever." Rom. 1:22-25
The LDS god started as a finite man and progressed to godhood.
2. ALWAYS HOLY - Both in the past and future.
"...a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he." Deut. 32:4
"I am God, and not man; the Holy One in the midst of thee." Hos. 11:9
"The Lord is righteous in all his ways and holy in all his works." Psa. 145:17
"God is light, and in him is no darkness at all." 1 John 1:5
"Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness." Psa. 119:142
The LDS god achieved holiness.
3. ALL KNOWING - Both in the past and in the future.
"Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being his counsellor hath taught him? With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him knowledge, and shewed to him the way of understanding? ... There is no searching of his understanding." Isa. 40:13, 14, 28
"Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite." Psa. 147:5
The LDS god had to learn everything.
4. ALL POWERFUL
"The Lord God omnipotent reigneth." Rev. 19:6
"...his eternal power and Godhead." Rom. 1:20
The LDS god attained his power.
5. OMNIPRESENT
"The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; where is the house that ye build unto me: and where is the place of my rest?" Isa. 66:1
"Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord." Jer. 23:23-24
The LDS god can be in only one place at a time.
6. ACTED ALONE IN CREATION
"I am the Lord that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone, that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself." Isa. 44:24
"By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth." Psa. 33:6
"Thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all." Neh. 9:6
The LDS god cooperated with the Council of Gods to create.
7. NO OTHER GODS
"I am he; before me there was no God formed neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no saviour." Isa. 43:10-11
"I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God....is there a God beside me; yea, there is no God; I know not any." Isa. 44:6 & 8
"To whom will ye liken me, and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be like?...for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me." Isa. 46:5 & 9
"I am the Lord; that is my name; and my glory will I not give to another." Isa. 42:8
The LDS God has a father and mother, grandparents, brothers and sisters, etc.
For a more in-depth discussion of the LDS view of God and man:
Mormonism and the Threefold Problem of Progression: Examining the LDS Doctrine of Eternal Progression in Light of the Bible, Philosophy, and Science
I believe Jesus knows best!
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So what do you plan to do about this that the LORD Jesus Christ knows best and says to you ???
Jesus said to Resty, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man or woman comes to the Father except by me.” The LORD Jesus Christ, John 14:6
Those scriptures were written for Christians...
you claim to be a mormon...
You cant be both...
Mormonism is not Christianity...
Words fail me when accusations, falsehood and ignorance continue to flow from antis shallow lips...
Can we look forward to that soon?
Those who study the Book of Mormon know how each testifies of each other the Bible and the Book of Mormon.
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No Resty, the Bible is not mentioned in the book of mormon...
In fact Joey Smith claimed that he wrote the book of mormon because the Bible was lacking..
And the Christian Bible does nopt “testify” or supoort the book of mormon...
In fact the book of mormon is never mentioned...
however we are warned in the Bible about false prophets and false jesus and “another” gospel which will be false...
Is that what you mean ???
The warnings against falsehoods like the book of mormon ???
My shallow thin lips have managed to preach the saving Grace of the Gospel of the LORD Jesus Christ...
What do your shallow lips do ???
Besides judge and condemn ???
That includes you, restornu.
Loving others includes not letting them go on a self-destructive course to hell. People care whether you end up in hell or not. Telling them the truth is not *hate*.
If we knew you had cancer and we had a cure for it, would you accuse us of *hate* for telling you we had something to help you when you were already doing something else that you thought would help but didn't? Would that be hate?
Is not the most important thing to get along is to strive to live the Ten Commandments.
NO! It's to love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your strength and to love your neighbor as yourself and to know Christ and Him crucified.
Jesus didn't mince words with the Pharisees when He called them white washed tombs, all bright and shining on the outside and full of rottenness and dead men's bones on the inside. How would Mormons react if someone talked to them like that, using Jesus' own words?
People can offer or share but the other person also has the right to accept or move on.
Then why all the complaints to the mods and accusations of *hate* from the mormons? It doesn't seem that they have any problem telling others that they're wrong. Is it only Mormons who can tell others they think the others are wrong but nobody can tell Mormons that they think Mormons are wrong.
It works both ways.
But believing in the Jesus of the BIBLE is critical for salvation.
Jesus is God the Father come in the flesh, virgin born.
The Mormon Jesus is the half-brother of Lucifer, born of a union of God and Mary, one of His many wives, which makes God an adulterer and Mary not a virgin.
No one can believe in just any old being they happen to label as Jesus and expect that that's good enough. Only the virgin born Jesus, who is God Himself, sinless, died, buried and was resurrected, the Jesus of the New Testament, is capable of saving anyone. False Jesus's can't save anyone.
Thank you it includes you too!:)
Isn't that what you refer to as being *hateful? Accusing others of lying, accusations, and ignorance? Can't you just get along and LOVE others?
I have no malice towards anyone and I am puzzled what is wrong with doing the right things?
Oh really? Then why the accusations?
We are not supposed to be the enemy, so we each see things differently yet I try to adhere to the core principles given by God.
Do you really? Like here where you accuse others of lies?
Did not the Lord said; As I have Love You Love One Another!
Yes, he did. Where's your love in those accusations?
Stunt Mormon.
Not really worth it.
Only if your reply was that simple to my quest but sadly it is not.
I have no interest in belittling or making lite of another’s faith for I hold dear it means something to them, yet before I know it I cast into this situation that is between a rock and a hard place damn if you do and damn if you don’t.
Some times in order to defend ones post one is put into a position of clipping wings of their opponent which could have been avoided altogether if the children of the Lord would adherer to
Matt 5
1 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:
2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,
3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
13 ¶ Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.
14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.
15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
Nope. I’m not confusing with anyone.
You pinged me out of the blue on behalf of Resty, that makes you a proxy.
And uhm, no, The God speaks to us through the bible and tells he always was and always will be - He has no beginning no end.
You know that.
You also know God ain’t keen on competitors, look what happened to Belzeebub. So how is you presume to be a god with a small g when the God with a Big G says thou shalt have no others beside me, I see no others, etc.
I don’t things are going to go well for those who seek to be a god.
Nice try at the whole divide doctrinal faiths against each other but you ain’t even close.
......"clipping wings" could be avoided if we just allow mormons to proselytize and pontificate to their heart's content without rebutting the fallacies of Joseph Smith's Book of Fiction....right, resty?
BTW, I haven't seen ANYONE whose "wings" were clipped by your tirades...no one has had their faith OR their ability to debate affected by anything you may have posted.
{mormon attitude of superiority} alert.
Amazing how words taken out of contest can be use to turn which even the Lord accused the Pharisees and Sadducees of doing.
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I have no malice towards anyone and I am puzzled what is wrong with doing the right things?
Oh really? Then why the accusations?
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How can it be... when the falsehood and accusations that are hurled first towards the LDS and this is an example of yours metmom is seemly trying to turn or rend the LDS words.
To state the grievances made towards the LDS and again metmom you seem to be trying to turn and rend words as though the FR LDS are making these attacks on the antis when it is the antis who initiate them and then want it both ways..
Well it does not work that way.
What does work is to let this be a testament who is who going out of their way stepping on who’s toes here!
I still have no malice towards anyone here I remain puzzled
I didn’t ping you on behalf of anyone but myself. Your posted comment #2, right?
Some times in order to defend ones post one is put into a position of clipping wings of their opponent which could have been avoided altogether if the children of the Lord would adherer to; “Love One Another” ~ Resty
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......”clipping wings” could be avoided if we just allow mormons to proselytize and pontificate to their heart’s content without rebutting the fallacies of Joseph Smith’s Book of Fiction....right, resty?
BTW, I haven’t seen ANYONE whose “wings” were clipped by your tirades...no one has had their faith OR their ability to debate affected by anything you may have posted.
{mormon attitude of superiority} alert. ~ greyfoxx39
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Still putting words in my mouth...
Well your vitriol rebuttal speaks for itself!
Hardly, indeed the opposite, Resty is the wind beneath our wings!
Her inane ramblings and complete disconnect from anything resembling logic or reasoning bolsters our positions with every post.
Why do you think I often wonder if she really is in our side...
LOL...
Like I said...
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