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
Hey, BYU students and ex BYU students...did you know your alma mater namesake taught your god wasn's always infinite?
From the article: God, the Father was born of woman (Lds "prophet" Joseph F. Smith)
Did all you Catholics know that there's yet another Mary-like figure somewhere in the heavens who supposedly gave birth to God the Father?
From the article: "The Father is a glorified, perfected, resurrected, exalted man who worked out his salvation by obedience to the same laws..." (Lds "apostle" Bruce McConkie)
So...Mormons say the Mormon god had to save himself??? The Mormon god is a saved being, eh? And an Lds church manual praises some glorified Mom-god? Which Mormons worship this god when the one hymn in the Lds hymnal that mentions her is sung???
In sharp contradiction, the true One God -- the God of the Bible -- the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Paul has always been...
...God
...and always been holy [in no need of "salvation"]
...almighty...no need to "attain" anything!
This God acted alone in creation...no "council of gods" as Mormons claim In facts, no other true gods at all!
And this God has the triple Omnis...
...Omnipresent...not bodily limited...
...omniscient...this God has has no need to be a "student" of any previous god...
...omnipotent...this God didn't go from a 98-lb weakling to divine Charles Atlas or some Hercules as the Mormon myth implies...
All I can say is “Poppycock!”.
I think south park did a fair job on the mormons. Very nice people in my experience but I wouldn’t follow their faith.
Here are some other things Mormons believe:
Mormon theology teaches:
* God was born and raised on another planet.
* He has a harem of wives.
* They produce spirit-babies that are sent to earth; there they gain bodies and earn sainthood.
* Jesus is the brother of Lucifer.
* Jesus is the chosen/elected savior by a council of gods from other worlds.
* America is the promised land, not Israel. The holy city is Independence, Missouri, not Jerusalem. Jesus’ latter-day agenda is to return to Missouri.
* The U.S. Constitution is as sacred as the Book of Mormon. In the latter days, it will be under siege and will be saved by Mormons. Thus, we must “reclaim America” to save the Constitution and usher in a genuine age of Mormon leadership. They want to build a Mormon kingdom on earth, similar to modern day Dominionists/Kingdom Now proponents within Christianity. Founder Joseph Smith had a socialistic philosophy and wished to have a society that shared things in common.
* America’s founding fathers were “spirit babies” who created a “sacred Constitution.”
* Salvation is works-based and not through grace and faith.
And good advice re: not following Mormon leadings...I suspect we'll get a poster who will come on here advocating his Mormon links...with a canned spam message about an "anti-Mormon" gang...
ALL: But Utherdoul can't be accused of being a part of any FR "gang"...
So, ALL: Follow your gut feeling...don't talk to Lds Missionaries unless you're witnessing to them...
One of the reasons why Mitt Romney is not electable as POTUS. He will never get the support of fundamentalist Christians in the South, all of whom regard Joseph Smith as a con man and Mormons as heretics.
Independence MO is the home of the RLDS or Community of Christ as it’s now known .... so it’s interesting how the SLC Mormons claim Independence Mo as their Holy City ... SLC is Brigham Young’s version and Independence Mo is Joseph Smith, Jr. version ... who’s right??
Yes, and we’ll have a front line contender for president that believes all these heresies. Yes, and we have one that believes all these heresies leading evangelicals, Protestants, and Catholics around by the nose in huge Washington rallies.
And some think Mitt Romney and Glenn Beck are really smart people. Not in my book. Anybody so spiritually bereft as to fall for all that trash is dumb as a post...and they have no business leading this country anywhere. America needs to get back to its Christian roots.
One of the reasons why Mitt Romney is not electable as POTUS.
___________________________________________
...is because he is a liberal, starting with his life time PRO-ABORTION stand...
* God was born and raised on another planet.
(Yup...how do you think the script for the Superman series was inspired?)
* He has a harem of wives.
Good point...makes ya wonder why Lds church manuals only mention one goddess?
* They produce spirit-babies that are sent to earth; there they gain bodies and earn sainthood.
Makes ya wonder why Mormon leaders allows ANY exceptions for abortions given that there are supposedly spirits who've been awaiting a special-delivery body! (Mormons allow abortions for health of the mom...a wide-open exception...severely disabled children...rape...to cover up incest...if the abortionist says so...and if God says so)
* Jesus is the brother of Lucifer.
Yeah...imagine that...if Lucifer would have beaten Jesus in the Mormon pre-existence spirit-birth order, then Lucifer could have been the Mormon savior of the world!
* Salvation is works-based and not through grace and faith.
Well...salvation is indeed "trust" based for Mormons...trusting in THEMSELVES!!!
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)
THAT is the great slap in Jesus's face that Mormonism mkaes, because it at once relegates the Cross to an aside, and raises the sin of satan to a goal of devout Mormons, to commit themselves to the sin of Cain 'and the God of Christianity can just lump it if he doesn't like it, we Mormons will work our way to worthiness and god will have to usher us into His kingdom eacuse we;ve earned it!'
Do they believe dinosaurs and men coexisted? That’s my Poppycock litmus test.
BTW, welcome to FR, n00b.
Just like Satan said to Eve.
Genesis 3: 4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
One needs look no further when Joseph Smith says the exact same thing as Satan said to Eve to know where the teachings of Smith come from.
What do you make of the Ica Stones?
Hugh Hewitt claimed that Mitt Romney was one of the smartest politicians he's met. But to me there's a difference between "smartness" (IQ) and discernment -- spiritual IQ especially re: spiritual issues.
How scary that is to think that somebody who can't even define what the world religion of the Christian faith is (true-believing Mormons think Christians are "apostates") is somebody who could be so close to the White House!
I mean, what kind of confidence is that when the president has to deal with world religions at such a key level (i.e. Islam). If Romney can't get the basics of Christianity down, how would we expect him to get Islam figured out?
Yes, and we’ll have a front line contender for president that believes all these heresies. Yes, and we have one that believes all these heresies leading evangelicals, Protestants, and Catholics around by the nose in huge Washington rallies. [Sasportas]
Yes...just imagine a POTUS Scientologist influencing all those impressionable kids about Scientology...or a POTUS Hare Krishna...same thing...
One of the reasons why Mitt Romney is not electable as POTUS. He will never get the support of fundamentalist Christians in the South, all of whom regard Joseph Smith as a con man and Mormons as heretics. [Strk321]
Well put.
Exposed as a hoax, were they not?
I don’t know. I read of them more than a decade ago.
Check wikipedia. Some Peruvian farmer admitted to forging them using a drill and cow dung.
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