Transcription
The Mormon Church has tried to step away from the idea that members of the church believe, and that it was ever church doctrine that the righteous will one day become gods and create worlds. Do Latter-day Saints believe they can become gods? Latter-day Saints believe that is God's purpose to exalt us to become like him? But this teaching is often misrepresented by those who caricature the faith.
The Latter-day Saint belief is no different than the biblical teaching which states, "The spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God, and 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." Now, the language here isn't outright denying that we ever taught this. But the use of quotation marks on the word "gods" implies that this is the part that has been somehow caricatured. Sure, we believe in exaltation, but we don't believe we become literal gods. Anyone who did believe that was mistaken or taken in by the caricature. Well, let's take a look at some of those who caricature the faith and misrepresent this point in a literal fashion.
"Eternal life is the kind and quality of life that Heavenly Father and his beloved Son live. When the Father offers us everlasting life, he is saying in essence, if you choose to follow my Son, if your desire is really to become more like him, then in time you may live as we live and preside over worlds and kingdoms as we do."
And it's not just President Nelson. Lorenzo Snow is the one who coined the famous couplet: "As man now is, God once was. As God now is, man may be." And when asked if this was doctrinal in 1982, the church published an answer in the Ensign. I've linked the whole article in the description, but its conclusion is: yes, this statement is doctrinal. Way to go making a caricature of our beliefs, Gerald N. Lund. Although, if we do hold on for a moment, it would seem that Gordon B. Hinckley disagrees or is certainly downplaying the idea that this is doctrine. This is from an interview in 1997.
"There are some significant differences in your beliefs. For instance, don't Mormons believe that God was once a man?"
"I wouldn't say that. There was a little couplet coined: 'As man is, God once was; as God is, man.' Now, that's more of a couplet than anything else. That gets into some pretty deep theology that we don't know very much about."
"So, you're saying the church is still struggling to understand this?"
"Well, 'as God is, man may become.' We believe in eternal progression very strongly."
Now, while Gordon B. Hinckley seems to downplay that the couplet is doctrinal, he seems to confirm the second half of it, which our video today is focused on. But I'm not going to forgive the contradiction over whether the couplet is doctrinal or not, just because he supports my point that prophets have taught that we will become gods. That would be cherry-picking, and we're not here for that.
What does, however, seem particularly egregious about Gordon B. Hinckley equivocating regarding Lorenzo Snow's couplet is that just 3 years earlier, he was quoting it over the pulpit at General Conference.
"On the other hand, the whole design of the gospel is to lead us onward and upward to greater achievement, even eventually to godhood. This great possibility was enunciated by the Prophet Joseph Smith in the King Follet discourse and emphasized by President Lorenzo Snow. It is this grand and incomparable concept: 'As God now is, man may become.' Our enemies have criticized us for believing in this. Our reply is that this lofty concept in no way diminishes God the Eternal Father."
When the prophet of the church speaks at General Conference, is that not doctrine? And even if you believe something has to be taught by multiple leaders over time to be considered doctrine, let me introduce you to some of the many other prophets that have also taught this doctrine.
Joseph Smith declared it in the King Follet discourse. He taught that God was once one of us and that all the spirits that God ever sent into the world were susceptible of enlargement, having the capacity to become like God in the eternities. Since 1844, the church has continued to teach the core doctrines that Joseph presented in the King Follet discourse and to view the plan of salvation in light of the truths Joseph Smith taught about humankind's premortal existence, mortal experience, and divine eternal potential.
Joseph F. Smith taught it as well. "Man is a jewel being, possessed of body and spirit, made in the image of God and connected with him and with eternity. He is a god in embryo and will live and progress throughout the eternal ages if obedient to the laws of the Godhead as the gods progressed throughout the eternal ages."
And it's just been taught in church teaching manuals. In chapter 47, "Exaltation," it starts off by saying, "We could become like him, an exalted being." Sure, maybe that's a bit ambiguous, but then right there, point number two: "They will become gods."
So, has the Gospel Principles book, which is published by the church, made a caricature of the church's beliefs? Did the Presidents of the Church 2013 Institute manual do the same when it quoted the following from Lorenzo Snow?
"President Brimhall, these children are now at play, making mud worlds. The time will come when some of these boys, through their faithfulness to the gospel, will progress and develop in knowledge, intelligence, and power in future eternities until they shall be able to go out into space where there is unorganized matter and call together the necessary elements and through their knowledge of and control over the laws and powers of nature to organize matter into worlds on which their posterity may dwell and over which they shall rule as gods."
And as the scripture that just keeps on giving, D&C 132 lays out very clearly that men can become gods.
Now, the church in the same FAQ that we started with also said, "Do Latter-day Saints believe they will get their own planet?" No. This idea is not taught in Latter-day Saints scripture, nor is it a doctrine of the church. This misunderstanding stems from speculative comments unreflective of scriptural doctrine. Latter-day Saints believe that we are all sons and daughters of God and that all of us have the potential to grow during and after this life to become like our Heavenly Father. The church does not and has never purported to fully understand the specifics of Christ's statement that "in my Father's house are many mansions."
This is quite simply refuted. If it is not a doctrine of the church, why was it taught in this manual or by him? Or why has it already been mentioned throughout this video, often linked with the doctrine of becoming gods? Let's start with the quote from Gospel Fundamentals. "They will receive everything our Father in Heaven has and will become like Him. They will even be able to have spirit children and make new worlds for them to live on and do all the things our Father in Heaven has done."
Now, that may just have been speculative comments unreflective of scriptural doctrine, even though that was a church manual. But surely something found in Doctrines of Salvation should count. "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." That was Joseph Fielding Smith, who apparently is just running around making speculative comments.
And back to that Russell M. Nelson video. "When the Father offers us everlasting life, he is saying in essence, if you choose to follow my Son, if your desire is really to become more like him, then in time you may live as we live and preside over worlds and kingdoms as we do." It's worrying if the current prophet of the church is making speculative comments unreflective of scriptural doctrine, especially when he is addressing the church in his official capacity as prophet, seer, and revelator.
"Do you know what the word prophet means?"
"He speaks for God."
But then the doctrine is planets plural, often spoken of as worlds plural. And the statement from the church's FAQ says planet singular. Though technically, however, there is no getting away from the fact that these two doctrines have been taught, and not just by some rogue Sunday school teacher on a deep doctrine dive, but by prophets, seers, and revelators of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and in the church's official materials. So, any attempt to deny it is simply gaslighting.
Now, if you have friends and family in the church, out the church, or somewhere in between who you feel would benefit from this video, go ahead and share it with them. And feel free to let me know in the comments if I missed anything. And so you don't miss anything, be sure to subscribe.