LDS How LDS Say a Person Becomes Like God (Attains Godhood)

[Rescued One]

Before we can go to the temple, we must be active, worthy members of the Church for at least one year. Men must hold the Melchizedek Priesthood. We must be interviewed by the branch president or bishop. If he finds us worthy, he will give us a temple recommend. If we are not worthy, he will counsel with us and help us set goals to become worthy to go to the temple...
We must seek earnestly to obey every covenant that we make in the temple. The Lord has said that if we are true and faithful, we will enter into our exaltation. We will become like our Heavenly Father. (See D&C 132:19–20.) Temple marriage is worth any sacrifice. It is a way of obtaining eternal blessings beyond measure.

Chapter 38: Eternal Marriage

 

[devin553344]

Before we can go to the temple, we must be active, worthy members of the Church for at least one year. Men must hold the Melchizedek Priesthood. We must be interviewed by the branch president or bishop. If he finds us worthy, he will give us a temple recommend. If we are not worthy, he will counsel with us and help us set goals to become worthy to go to the temple...
We must seek earnestly to obey every covenant that we make in the temple. The Lord has said that if we are true and faithful, we will enter into our exaltation. We will become like our Heavenly Father. (See D&C 132:19–20.) Temple marriage is worth any sacrifice. It is a way of obtaining eternal blessings beyond measure.

Chapter 38: Eternal Marriage

That appears to indicate that LDS believe they will become a trinity or something like it? Would they then have to provide a sacrifice of their own like Jesus did? Sounds terrible actually. I think I'll stick with hoping to become an angel.

 

[Ironhold]

"Like" is better understood as "like unto" in the aforementioned passage of D&C.

 

[Rescued One]

LDS Scripture:

Doctrine and Covenants 132
19 And again, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife by my word, which is my law, and by the new and everlasting covenant, and it is sealed unto them by the Holy Spirit of promise, by him who is anointed, unto whom I have appointed this power and the keys of this priesthood; and it shall be said unto them—Ye shall come forth in the first resurrection; and if it be after the first resurrection, in the next resurrection; and shall inherit thrones, kingdoms, principalities, and powers, dominions, all heights and depths—then shall it be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, that he shall commit no murder whereby to shed innocent blood, and if ye abide in my covenant, and commit no murder whereby to shed innocent blood, it shall be done unto them in all things whatsoever my servant hath put upon them, in time, and through all eternity; and shall be of full force when they are out of the world; and they shall pass by the angels, and the gods, which are set there, to their exaltation and glory in all things, as hath been sealed upon their heads, which glory shall be a fulness and a continuation of the seeds forever and ever.

20 Then shall they be gods, because they have no end; therefore shall they be from everlasting to everlasting, because they continue; then shall they be above all, because all things are subject unto them. Then shall they be gods, because they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them.

21 Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye abide my law ye cannot attain to this glory.

 

[Rescued One]

That appears to indicate that LDS believe they will become a trinity or something like it? Would they then have to provide a sacrifice of their own like Jesus did? Sounds terrible actually. I think I'll stick with hoping to become an angel.

1. LDS consider the Nicene Creed an abomination to God. Their so-called trinity is a group of three such as their President and his two counselors. They don't become a Trinity, they have a position of one god with two lower gods as counselors.

How grateful we are for a knowledge of Supreme Beings that rule and govern this world. Our belief does not come from the speculations of men about the existence and nature of God, but from firsthand experience from the Prophet Joseph Smith in the Sacred Grove. His experience clarified for mankind the existence of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. Thus to the world came the vision that three personages comprise this great presiding council of the universe and have revealed themselves to mankind as three separate beings, physically distinct from each other as demonstrated by the accepted records of their divine dealings with mankind.
L. Tom Perry, “The Articles of Faith,” Ensign, May 1998, 22


2. Humans, according to the Bible, don't become angels or gods.

 

[twin.spin]

This is how:The New and Everlasting Covenant - ensign
Elder Marcus B. Nash, “The New and Everlasting Covenant” December 2015, Ensign , p. 43

“The greatest of all the blessings and gifts of God is eternal life—which is the life God lives! This gift is given only to those who receive all gospel ordinances and abide by the covenants encompassed within the new and everlasting covenant. In the Lord’s words: “The new and everlasting covenant … was instituted for the fulness of my glory.” Indeed, those who enter into the new and everlasting covenant and endure to the end “shall come forth in the first resurrection … and shall inherit thrones, kingdoms, principalities, and powers, dominions, all heights and depths.” The Lord emphatically declares that “it shall be done unto them in all things whatsoever my servant hath put upon them, in time, and through all eternity; and shall be of full force when they are out of the world; and they shall pass by the angels, and the gods, which are set there, to their exaltation and glory in all things, as hath been sealed upon their heads, which glory shall be a fulness and a continuation of the seeds forever and ever. Then shall they be gods.”

“In summary, those who enter into the new and everlasting covenant and endure faithfully to the end will (1) receive the fulness of the glory of God, (2) enjoy the power of godliness in time and eternity, (3) be exalted, (4) enjoy eternal marriage and increase, and (5) become gods. Taken together, these blessings culminate in the gift of eternal life.”​

Mormonism teaches that people can become gods. Period.

 

[Ironhold]

Again, note the theological significance between "God" and "god", the latter referring to someone who is exalted and the former referring exclusively to Heavenly Father.

 

[dzheremi]

Again, note the similarity to their true theological antecedent, Islam (not the early Church that they claim to be a restoration of), which has as part of its creed la ilaha ila Allah "there is no god (lower case) but God (upper case)", and likewise denies the consubstantiality of the Holy Trinity, and hence orthodox Trinitarian theology itself.

Though of course the difference is that the Mormon 'trinity' is polytheism dressed up in Christian-like language to ensnare Christians since it came out of a mostly Christian society, while Islam is monad-worshiping (you can't really call it monotheism when the vast majority adhering to Sunni Islam describe their holy book as being eternal and uncreated; attributes which Christianity rightly reserves for God alone) dressed up in Arab paganism -- e.g., circling around the hills of Safa and Marwa during Hajj, which was a pagan practice of the pre-Islamic Arabs, as recognized in Sahih/authentic Hadith -- to ensnare pagans, since it came out of a mostly pagan society.

It's totally different, you guys. It's not just a rehash for people named Mortenson instead of Abdullah.

 

[Rescued One]

The Mormonism taught in their scripture Doctrine and Covenants says:

D&C 132
20 Then shall they be gods, because they have no end; therefore shall they be from everlasting to everlasting, because they continue; then shall they be above all, because all things are subject unto them. Then shall they be gods, because they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them.

Their founder, Joseph Smith, Jr., said:

"If a man gets a fulness of the priesthood of God he has to get it the same way that Jesus obtained it, and that was by keeping all the commandments and obeying all the ordinances of the house[LDS temple] of God."
Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 308.

The Mormonism taught in 1976:

"Here, then, is eternal life---to know the only wise and true God; and you have got to learn how to be Gods yourselves, and to be king and priests to God, the same as all Gods have done before you, namely, by going from one small degree to another, and from a small capacity to a great one; from grace to grace, from exaltation to exaltation, until you attain no the resurrection of the dead, and are able to dwell in everlasting burnings, and to sit in glory, as fo those who sit enthroned in everlasting power."Joseph Smith, The King Follett Discourse, April Conference of the Church, 1844
Teachings, c. 1976, pp. 346-347

The Mormonism taught in 1984:

2 Our Father Advanced and
Progressed Until He Became God

President Joseph Fielding Smith said: “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).

President Joseph F. Smith taught: “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” (Church News, 19 Sept. 1936, p. 2).

President Wilford Woodruff explained: “[God] has had his endowments a great many years ago. He has ascended to his thrones, principalities and powers in the eternities.
We are his children.....We are here to fill a probation and receive an education” (Deseret News Weekly, 28 Sept. 1881, p. 546).

How does it help us to know that the basic elements of God’s life in a mortal world were the same as ours? President Brigham Young explained:

“He is our Father—the Father of our Spirits—and was once a man in mortal flesh as we are....

“...There never was a time when there were not Gods and worlds and when men were not passing through the same ordeals that we are now passing through....

“It appears ridiculous to the world, under their darkened and erroneous traditions, that God has been a finite being” (Deseret News, 16 Nov. 1859, p. 290).

Search These Commandments, Melchizedek Priesthood Personal Study Guide, Copyright 1984, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, pp. 252-253


“...There never was a time when there were not Gods and worlds and when men were not passing through the same ordeals that we are now passing through....

(You will note that the word Gods has an uppercase G.)

 

[Peter1000]

It is a biblical teaching that we mortals can become like God is.
2 Peter 1:4 King James Version (KJV)
4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

You see, God has given us an exceeding great and precious promise: if we escapte from the corruption that is in the world through lust, he promises us that we can partake in the divine nature. The divine nature is the literal nature that is God. IOW we will have the same divine nature as God has, and we will be like Him.

Revelation 3:21 King James Version (KJV)
21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

How can I sit with Jesus in his throne, unless I am like him? Again, I must first overcome this world, and then, if I do, I receive incredible promises from God, even to be like Him.

Again the scriptures say that we who overcome, will be joint-heirs with Jesus in all that the Father has.
What does the Father have that I will share with Jesus? Just think about that. Does the Father have all the "OMNIES"? If He does, I will share in that nature with Jesus Christ. I will be like Jesus.

Again, Jesus told his apostles that they would do greater works than "he did". He is God the Son, and Jesus is telling mortals that they would do greater things than he did. How can we do that unless we are like him. We can't.

The bible clearly teaches this doctrine, and so did some of the church fathers after the apostles past. I would have to do research again to come up with the names of those fathers, but 20 years ago, I read the church fathers and there was no mistake that some of them knew we could become like God. Only in the 4th century did that doctrine fall from favor in the church and was totally tossed out as heresy.

 

[TasteForTruth]

Before we can go to the temple, we must be active, worthy members of the Church for at least one year. Men must hold the Melchizedek Priesthood. We must be interviewed by the branch president or bishop. If he finds us worthy, he will give us a temple recommend. If we are not worthy, he will counsel with us and help us set goals to become worthy to go to the temple...
We must seek earnestly to obey every covenant that we make in the temple. The Lord has said that if we are true and faithful, we will enter into our exaltation. We will become like our Heavenly Father. (See D&C 132:19–20.) Temple marriage is worth any sacrifice. It is a way of obtaining eternal blessings beyond measure.

Chapter 38: Eternal Marriage

The 1-year restriction hasn't been in place for some time now.

 

[dzheremi]

It is a biblical teaching that we mortals can become like God is.

And it is not Biblical teaching nor anywhere in the Fathers that man can become an almighty God, creating His own world populated with 'spirit children' and the like.

So there isn't really any common ground here, except for maybe in certain language that Mormonism borrowed from historical Christianity and gave very, very different definitions, in accordance with uniquely Mormon theology.

 

[Peter1000]

And it is not Biblical teaching nor anywhere in the Fathers that man can become an almighty God, creating His own world populated with 'spirit children' and the like.

So there isn't really any common ground here, except for maybe in certain language that Mormonism borrowed from historical Christianity and gave very, very different definitions, in accordance with uniquely Mormon theology.

So Peter telling us that we can have the same divine nature as God is not good enough for you?

 

[dzheremi]

Being partakers in the divine nature in Christianity is not what Mormonism makes of it.

 

[TasteForTruth]

Being partakers in the divine nature in Christianity is not what Mormonism makes of it.

That is clearly not a popular thing here on CF, but I, for one, am grateful that the Restored Gospel moves man in a different direction.

 

[dzheremi]

Alright. Not sure why you felt the need to quote my post to say that, but okay. That's your view. I'm glad that Mormon heresy isn't popular on CF, so I guess we both have things to be grateful for.

 

[TasteForTruth]

Alright. Not sure why you felt the need to quote my post to say that, but okay. That's your view. I'm glad that Mormon heresy isn't popular on CF, so I guess we both have things to be grateful for.

It was your words that inspired my expression, so quoting you felt appropriate. And the forum can quickly become a place where negativity only resides, so it's not bad, in my opinion, for someone (anyone) to express a positive sentiment from time to time. I didn't expect you to agree with the sentiment. As for "Mormon heresy" not being popular here, maybe we should both rethink that... Accepted, no. Popular, very much so.

 

[dzheremi]

Mormonism is very popular here on CF? Hmm. I haven't seen that, but maybe I'm not looking in the right places.

 

[TasteForTruth]

Mormonism is very popular here on CF? Hmm. I haven't seen that, but maybe I'm not looking in the right places.

Popular as a topic of discussion.

 

[Peter1000]

Alright. Not sure why you felt the need to quote my post to say that, but okay. That's your view. I'm glad that Mormon heresy isn't popular on CF, so I guess we both have things to be grateful for.

Tell me what you think "that we might be partakers of the divine nature" means to you?

Peter uses "divine nature". Does not God have a "divine nature"? Peter says that God has promised that we might partake of the "divine nature", if we overcome the world. Seems pretty straight forward to me. Peter think we can have the same "divine nature" as God has. And why not, since we are the sons of God. Why would we not be granted his same "divine nature"?

Any way tell me how you interpret "that we might be partakers of the divine nature".