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From the source reviewed by the commentator: ‘Man is the child of God, formed in the divine image and endowed with divine attributes, and even as the infant son of an earthly father and mother is capable in due time of becoming a man, so the undeveloped offspring of celestial parentage is capable, by experience through ages and eons, of evolving into a god.’”

Now, of course, the "question" on the table is...is "Classic Mormonism" still taught and believed by contemporary Mormons?

Say...the younger generation of Mormons...what are they teaching the younger generation of Mormons? Still classic Mormonism?

Well, almost eight years ago, Lds elder Richard D. Allred was leading a BYU-Idaho devotional entitled "True Course - Destination Verified." (Feb. 17, 2003)

Within his message to young impressionable college students were these two lines:
-You are an heir to godhood (Galatians 4:7) and have the seeds of deity within you.
-You are a god in embryo (John 10:34). Source: True Course - Destinations Verified

You, see most of the public time -- when Lds just want to trot out their milk and not their meat...they'll reference the "heir" part above...but it'll be subtle...they won't usually say "heir to godhood." And they certainly won't pull one of the common "inside" Mormon references to your supposed internal godhood that like some New Ager, you need to "realize"--their oft' (internal) repeated reference to Mormons being "gods in embryo."

Now Allred cited John 10:34 about supposedly referencing people as "gods-in-embryo"...it doesn't say we are "embryo" anything divine there...Jesus said: Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?

The John 10 reference by Jesus is to Psalm 82...where unjust judges who would die like men are referenced there as "gods." Whatever kind of "gods" Jesus is referencing there, they are "unjust" ones!

Even a well-internally respected Lds apostle & scholar, James E. Talmage, highlighted this in his book Jesus the Christ...Talmage explained John 10:34-36 under the heading: "Divinely Appointed Judges Called Gods-In Psalm 82:6. . . ." (James E. Talmage, Jesus The Christ, 501; 15TH ed.).

God "calling" someone a "god" for reasons of inherited authority doesn't = being a god by nature!

But when it comes to all things "inheritance" and "heir" -- Lds usually distort Biblical things. For example, note how Lds speaker Allred cited Gal. 4:7 -- yet continue reading to see what Gal. 4:7 really says!

Romans 8:17 references: "joint heirs with Christ" and "glorified together"

For a proper understanding of the concept of “heirs” or “co-heirs” as highlighted in the Bible, here's three relevant verses:

* 7That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:7)
* 3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you... (1 Peter 1:3-4)

* ...12giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. 13For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Col. 1:12-14)

Now why are the apostle Paul's verses especially relevant to Mormonism's misinterpretation of what being an “heir” is?

Mormonism says being such an heir is reserved for married temple Mormons who work their way up the highest part of heaven.

But...
* ...the apostle Paul says the works-oriented never rise up above servant status; and that being an heir is reserved for sons (Gal. 4:7).
* ....Mormons are trying to justify themselves by their "worthiness"; the apostle Paul says we are "made" heirs by being justified by His grace (Titus 3:7)
* ...Mormons say this inheritance is worked for by temple rituals & other actions; but the apostle Paul says it's God who qualifies you (Col. 1:12)
* ...Mormons say this inheritance is deserved (God paying up what you worked for), but the apostle Peter said this "inheritance" kept in heaven is based only upon God's "great mercy" grounded in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. (1 Pet. 1:3-4)
...Mormons claim this inheritance is a climbing operation, where they pull themselves up by their own bootstraps & reach the highest peaks of heaven. The apostle Paul instead talks about inheritance (Col. 1:12) as a rescue operation, where God had to send His Son into a dark world to pull us out (Col. 1:13-14).

Finally, let's go to a common Mormon prooftext -- Romans 8:17...but let's properly back it up to Romans 8:15 as well for better context:

15For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 16The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

Mormons say EVERYBODY is God's children; the Bible says, no, only Jesus Christ is God's son -- yet God the Father has chosen to adopt many more as children. Mormons really don't know what to do with this concept of "adoption." It's completely foreign to their theology.

So being an heir is really tantamount to being an adopted child, another image the apostle Paul uses three times.
* An adopted child doesn't "work" for the highest degree of glory in his father's household. He is simply "received" into it.
* An adopted child doesn't do all of these temple rituals to qualify for heir status. No, the Father qualifies the adopted child.
* An adopted child doesn't rely upon works-worthiness to become an heir. No, he or she is completely at the "great mercy" and "grace" of his new family's father!

If Mormonism ran orphanages the way it operates religiously, all these orphans would have to jump through all kinds of hoops to get adopted...and that hoop-jumping would completely overshadow the gracious & merciful rescue operations of those who go out of their way to qualify these orphans.