Casen:
Our canonized scriptures tell us we can become “like” God
I’m not sure what “canonized” scriptures are, but if you mean the Bible, then the only reference I can find to “being made like God” is from the mouth of the serpent (Gn 3:5). There are other statements that men may be like God in certain attributes in this life (e.g., Eph 4:24), but for the most part the rest of scriptures proclaims “Who is like God?” (e.g., Ps 71, 89, 113) and “No one is like God.” (e.g., Dt 33:27). I’m not a bible scholar by any means (remember: I’m Catholic
) there are just the results of a quick search on
biblegateway.com.
and D&C section 76 says the following:…
Does LDS doctrine say righteous people will be given a planet to run when they die?
NO
Have some speculated that that could be the case?
Yes
In light of the King Follet Discourse, to say that “some” have “speculated” seems disingenuous at best. Joseph Smith himself
demanded that such was the case. He wasn’t postulating, or theorizing, or speculating. His language was quite strong.
So here we’re left with two options. First: Smith, as primary prophet of the Church, must be taken at his word in this matter; the progression of gods must reflect reality since that was his clear assertion. Second: the statements of the prophets of the Mormon church do not necessarily reflect or define the doctrine of the church; since Smith was clearly propounding this his belief with all the force his authority should have, there must be some “filter” on the statements of prophets.
If the first is true, then there’s definitely some ‘splainin’ to do, inasmuch as this belief appears upon inspection to contradict both elementary metaphysics and sacred scripture. However, no one here seems willing to take that on, and from what all of you say, apparently Mormons don’t really believe it.
So, we’re left with option #2, which gives us a new question: what is the nature of this “filter” on the teachings of LDS prophets?
This is the point at which I reach the limit of my knowledge of the Mormon church. The question all of this raises, and one that I hope you can answer is this: in the face of Smith’s apparently authoritative statements on the matter, why
isn’t the progression of gods part of Mormon doctrine? Was there a defined process through which it was abandoned, or has the belief simply fallen out of favor over time, or was there some other mechanism?
I think this is the key question.
Have I EVER in my whole life ever heard a church sermon, conference talk or lesson on this topic?
NO!
That means little. I haven’t really ever heard the Catholic Church’s teaching on contraception from the pulpit, and rarely about abortion, but that can mean three things: it is assumed to be obvious to everyone present, or that the preacher doesn’t have the cajones to take the subject on in front of a possibly hostile congregation, or (most sadly) the priest himself doesn’t agree with the teaching*.
I don’t understand why you find it troubling that we don’t have all the answers. If I ask ten Catholics what heaven will be like I will likely get ten answers. Should I find that troubling? I don’t think so.
Neither do I… to a point.
It only means that God has not chosen to reveal to us all the details and people form their own opinions to fill in the holes.
No, what it means is that you asked the wrong people. The difference is that we as Catholics have a Magisterium, a teaching authority that can and will give you a definitive answer. In this case, they would tell you that we cannot know in this life what the joys of heaven may entail, but we certainly know some of what they will not.
The larger problem with the “ask ten Catholics” method of catechesis is that very few Catholics even know what they don’t know. I must sadly admit that we don’t do nearly a good enough job of passing on the teachings of the faith, at least not in the last 50 years or so.
*this doesn’t mean the church teaching isn’t well-defined. It is, but some, even priests, take it upon themselves to dissent.
But if you’d like to try, good luck.