The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
NO! That is incorrect!
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
Wow...that explains a lot.
I had to stop and think what we were talking about, LOL!
Anyway, you have a tough job RM and I do appreciate your even-handedness. Solomon himself would be kept busy! Thanks for making the religion forum possible.
“I suggest reading #239 before you condemn anyone else to hell.”
1. I reread your series of heretical teachings about the requirements to qualify for Christ’s atonement. They remain non-Biblical and heretical.
2. I didn’t condemn you to hell. Only Christ will do that, if you do not accept the Gospel of Grace, instead of the mormon gospel of worthiness.
Of course, since I am talking to a person wearing magic underwear...
a. The Christ I am referring to is the Biblical Christ who is eternally God, neither created nor made nor resulting from a celestial breeding of the gods, like the mormonic jesus.
b. When I use the word “atonement”, I am talking about the Biblical atonement that happened on the cross, when the
aforementioned Biblical Jesus Christ shed His blood and laid down His life, and not the sweaty mormon jesus in the garden.
here who are always trashing my faith...
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Nobody here has ever “trashed your faith”
You can have faith in your own big toe or a flying macoroni monster...
However the Flying Inmen post the truth about mormonism, the actual words of the early mormon leaders and the written doctrines ...
If those are your beliefs then you will appreciate the illumination of the tennets of your religion...
You have often posted my beliefs...the scriptures from the Christian Bible...
Have I ever accused YOU of “trashing my faith” ???
Or even “trashing my beliefs” because you did so ???
No I doubt if you will find such a post from me...
(BTW thank you for posting Christian Bible scripture...I dont feel the least bit insulted whenn you do so...in fact to the contrary...Its a blessing to know you set such store by an “apostate” publication...)
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
NO! That is incorrect!
You should also be grateful that not only are you NOT charged by the post, but that you are not charged triple for posting links and JPGs, although in this case, I'd let you post it for free :-)
That's one to bookmark for later perusal.
For instance?
***
excuse me some angels are called holy men!
Acts 1 (angel aka holy men in white apparel)
9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;
11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
Gen 19
1 And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground;
2 And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant’s house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night.
3 And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.
4 ¶ But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter:
5 And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.
6 And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him,
Rev 21
12 And had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel:
13 On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.
14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
15 And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.
16 And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.
17 And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.
:-)
excuse me some angels are called holy men!
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When ???
Where ???
19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
13 Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.
18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
Mark 7:15 There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.
Mark 7:18 And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him;
Mark 7:21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
It was Jesus who said not to defile our bodies which are the temple of the holy spirit, so i think we should ask him what it is that defiles.
The verses above answers the question very plainly.
I was set free too, only i feel that i was set free from religion, but to each his own need. God bless.
excuse me some angels are called holy men!
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ALL adultery is called sin and a punishable by death activity and dont do it...
But that didnt stop the mormon savior, Joey Smith from cheating repeatedly on his wife, Emma hale...
RM It was not the first time.
If it were not the first time, can you provide links to decisions by yourself that upheld the complaint? I believe that many of us missed that. Thanks.
There are no small parts, just small actors...
There now you feel better...
:)
It is a matter of interpretation...
It the Lord sanction who is any one to question...
Abraham and Jacab would also be guilty!
David tried to do some on his own and the Lord rebuke him!
Angels are obviously able to assume the appearance of humans. Notice they always appear as men, or at least in the Christian scriptures. I don't know if the LDS pseudo-scriptures have female angels.
At one point in my life, as a traveling rep for a pharmaceutical company, I had several radio stations programmed into my company car radio that I could listen to Through The Bible Radio on. I can still hear Doctor McGee’s voice as I read certain passages of scripture! Don’t you know folks out in LA must have thought his accent ‘charming’.
It is a matter of interpretation...
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Of course it is...
How convenient...
But still the words “some angels are called (were) holy men” are not in the Chrsitian Bible...
How inconvenient...
Those in the Telestial & Terrestrial Kingdom are saved by grace...
I know the words and how they are used can get confusing
Thanks for the opportunity to post this.
The Lord compared terrestrial glory to that of the moon (see D&C 76:97). It exceeds the telestial in all things (see D&C 76:91). Those who will inherit this kingdom are those who experienced one or more of the following circumstances:
• Died without law (see D&C 76:72).
• Were in spirit prison and received a testimony there but rejected the testimony of Jesus while on the earth (see D&C 76:73–74; see also D&C 138:32).
• Were honorable people who allowed themselves to be blinded by the craftiness of men (see D&C 76:75).
• Were not valiant in their testimonies of Jesus (see D&C 76:79).
Among other blessings and limitations, those who qualify for the terrestrial kingdom will:
• Come forth in the First Resurrection after celestial beings are resurrected. 2
• Receive of God’s glory but not His fulness (see D&C 76:76).
• Enjoy the presence of the Son but not the fulness of the Father (see D&C 76:77).
• Not be able to obtain a crown in the kingdom of God (see D&C 76:79).
• Be ministered to by celestial beings (see D&C 76:87).
The Lord compared telestial glory to that of the stars (see D&C 76:81). Those who shall inherit this kingdom are those who:
• Rejected the gospel, the testimony of Jesus, the prophets, and the everlasting covenant (see D&C 76:82, 101). (ie. mormonism)
• Were liars, sorcerers, adulterers, and whoremongers (see D&C 76:103).
• Loved “and [made] a lie” (D&C 76:103).
Among other blessings and limitations, those who inherit the telestial kingdom will:
• Suffer the wrath of God on earth (see D&C 76:104) and not be redeemed from the devil until the last resurrection, which will take place after the Millennium (see D&C 76:85). 3
• Be denied the Savior’s fulness (see D&C 76:86).
• Be able to receive the Holy Ghost through the ministration of beings in higher glories (see D&C 76:86–88).
• Never be able to come where God and Christ dwell (see D&C 76:112).
At one point in my life, as a traveling rep for a pharmaceutical company, I had several radio stations programmed into my company car radio that I could listen to Through The Bible Radio on. I can still hear Doctor McGee’s voice as I read certain passages of scripture! Don’t you know folks out in LA must have thought his accent ‘charming’
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