Mormonism Question

[christianley]

This has long been my same question. Yet every time I ask it I get non-answers. I further ask that if God grants a planet of his own to a human to be the god of that planet, then who do the inhabitant’s worship? Do they worship their heavenly father and mother or do they worship the heavenly father of their heavenly father and mother? If they worship their own heavenly father, doesn’t that violate the commandment not to put other gods before Him?

If the Heavenly Father of our universe and our planet is just another in a long line of many gods of other planets and universes, at what point does one worship the ONE omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient God who is unchanging and has been the same throughout all eternity?

I once tried to produce what I called Trinitarian Mormonism based on the Mormon scriptures. In my old Trinitarian Mormonism the Father had a body as did the Son, but both the Father and the Son existed eternally as God without any other Gods before them. They were one God because they shared the same Being even though they were separate persons. I figured if the Father wanted a body He could get a body without any help from any previous Gods. You could really look at the Mormon scriptures and come up with these interpretations really quite easily, but you had to completely deny the King Follett sermon and other later teachings of Joseph Smith. My Mormon friends weren’t impressed because they knew this wasn’t what the LDS Church taught.

My experience is that Mormons will use this line of reasoning when talking with non-Mormons even though among themselves they know what has really been taught and is still taught. The Mormon scriptures generally don’t support the traditional Mormon doctrine which in my former Mormon life I called “folk Mormonism.” But I’ve since come to understand that “folk Mormonism” is the same as real Mormonism.

Once I figured out the Book of Mormon had no basis in fact it was easy to go to the next step of simply ignoring it and the rest of Mormon scripture. Mormonism is a powerful culture and it is difficult to leave it, but the truth does set people free.

 

[Karin]

Also am i understanding this correctly…Mormons believe that they can become gods?

 

[christianley]

Also am i understanding this correctly…Mormons believe that they can become gods?

Yes – gods just like God the Father with the same power and authority that He has including the power of eternal creation.

 

[dosdog]

That is a figment of your imagination. It is wishful thinking on your part. D&C 76 is part of the canon of LDS scripture. It is the word of God, period. It is true.
That is a figment of your imagination. There is no proof D&C came from GOD

I dare say so—as if I cared.
Ditto

There is no such thing in LDS theology. This is what true LDS doctrine teaches:

2000 B.C. Book of Abraham 4:3-7 Plurality of Gods
600 B.C. to A.D. 400 Book of Mormon Modalistic Alma 11:26-29 Monotheism
A.D. 1830 Early (April 1830) Doctrine & Covenants 20:17, 19, 28 Monotheism
A.D. 1830 - Joseph Smith Translation Modalistic Monotheism
A.D. 1834-1835 Lectures on Faith, 5th Lecture Binatarian Monotheism, or Bitheism
A.D. 1839 Later (March 1839) Doctrine & Covenants 121:26, 28, 32 Possibility of Plurality of gods
A.D. 1839-1843 Doctrine & Covenants 131:17-18; 132:20, 37 Plurality of gods (but unlike in the Book of Abraham)
A.D. 1844 [King Follet Discourse*] Plurality of Gods
In the beginning, the head of the Gods called a council of the Gods; and they came together and concocted [prepared] a plan to create the world and people it

It does not. It has been taught in the past, but it is now believed to have been a mistake, and it is not officially taught by the Church any more. It is not found anywhere in any of the canonized scriptures of the Church, which is the authoritative source of all LDS theology and doctrine.

Smith was wrong - I agree

I do not. Every religion has the right to define its own theology. I don’t tell the Catholics what they should believe, and they had better not come and tell me what I should believe.zerinus

You can believe what you Like - has no bearing on TRUTH or Reality

DD

 

[majick275]

yes they do and despite amgids protestations D&C 132 makes it clear It IS taught currently as can be seen in numerous LDS teaching manuals available online at www.lds.org like these:

library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Curriculum/mpandrs.htm/brigham%20young.htm/13%20preparing%20for%20eternal%20progression.htm

library.lds.org/nxt/gateway.dll/Curriculum/mpandrs.htm/john%20taylor.htm/chapter%201%20the%20origin%20and%20destiny%20of%20mankind.htm

these make it clear that LDS teaching on this has NOT changed. What was taught by Joseph Smith, Brigham Young and John Taylor is still taught today. I would point out that if Joseph Smith’s teachings were erroneous then the LDS church is false. (I do beleive that but I want to illustrate amgids untenable position)

amgids quotes about one God are, while true, actually evidence that LDS doctrine contradicts itself.

 

[Karin]

Yes – gods just like God the Father with the same power and authority that He has including the power of eternal creation.

 

[Fidelis]

That said, nevertheless the fact remains that they were not willing to tolerate his ideas that the earth and the planets revolved around the sun. They believed that the earth was at the center of the universe, and everything else revolved around it. Were they really willing to tolerate the idea that there might be other inhabited planets beside our own? I very much doubt that.

This is very revealing. I just showed you this was not the case, but you don’t seem to want to be confused by the facts, but instead repeat the same misinformation. You are proving yourself to be disingenuous and deceptive in this area, therefore I see no reason to accept your characterization of Mormonism. Good day! :tiphat:

Now: Are there any honest and reliable Mormons here that can answer my original questions straightforwardly?

 

[zerinus]

This is very revealing. I just showed you this was not the case, but you don’t seem to want to be confused by the facts, but instead repeat the same misinformation. You are proving yourself to be disingenuous and deceptive in this area, therefore I see no reason to accept your characterization of Mormonism. Good day! :tiphat:

Now: Are there any honest and reliable Mormons here that can answer my original questions straightforwardly?

Nice copout. Have you any idea how ridiculous that makes you look? Burying your head in the sand always does, you know!

zerinus

 

[Karin]

Just how many theology things have the mormons changed over the years??? why where they changed?

 

[LittleDeb]

Just how many theology things have the mormons changed over the years??? why where they changed?

That is a loaded question! It will take a lot of threads just to begin to answer.

Part of their theology is that it is an ever-changing doctrine. They hold that God reveals things as they are needed. A contradiction to a previous doctrine is not important because current revelation trumps earlier revelation.

The term, “line upon line, precept on precept,” is common. While it might resemble the development of doctrine understood in the Catholic Church it is different in some very important ways. Namely within developed doctrine, it is a deeper understanding of an unchanged teaching. LDS teaching changes. To them that is a very good thing.

 

[dosdog]

That is a loaded question! It will take a lot of threads just to begin to answer.

Part of their theology is that it is an ever-changing doctrine. They hold that God reveals things as they are needed. A contradiction to a previous doctrine is not important because current revelation trumps earlier revelation.

The term, “line upon line, precept on precept,” is common. While it might resemble the development of doctrine understood in the Catholic Church it is different in some very important ways. Namely within developed doctrine, it is a deeper understanding of an unchanged teaching. LDS teaching changes. To them that is a very good thing.

1.Montanism- , apocalyptic movement of the 2d cent. It arose in Phrygia (c.172) under the leadership of a certain Montanus and two female prophets, Prisca and Maximillia, whose entranced utterances were deemed oracles of the Holy Spirit. They had an immediate expectation of Judgment Day, and they encouraged ecstatic prophesying and strict asceticism. They believed that a Christian fallen from grace could never be redeemed.
Prisca claimed that Christ had appeared to her in female form. When she was excommunicated, she exclaimed “I am driven away like the wolf from the sheep. I am no wolf: I am word and spirit and power.”
The belief that the prophecies of the Montanists superseded the doctrines proclaimed by the Apostles

 

[yeshua]

Greetings!

Forgive me for interrupting, but I do have answers for your thread. But first, you should know, the final authority for doctrine in the LDS church is a member of their hierarchy, so in this case a bishop or general authority, neither of which I am nor am I a member of the LDS church. I am, however, a very close friend to a professor of theology at Brigham Young Univeristy, and he has assured my answer is accurate.

The LDS church believes in the concept of a pre-existence. This is where we exist before our mortal lives. Before the creation of the earth, a plan of salvation was crafted for the children of God (us). The plan of salvation is our blueprint for us becoming as God is. Think of it as a progression of the human condition.This means that in Mormon Theology, and this sounds rash but it is not meant to be, the Fall was necessary. Man must go through this life to learn and become pure for the next step of “human evolution.” This plan was instituted by Jesus Christ on the Earth under the name Jehovah in the Old Testament. Yet fully knowing that since the conception of the plan, Christ would have to come to the Earth and atone for the sins of men. Christ died for all people on every planet, the Universal Savior, and thus ushered in the next step for mankind. The Atonement of Christ, though is primarily associated with the Garden of Gehsemene.

Recap: It was necessary for Christ to come because it was a part of the plan of salvation set forth in the pre-mortal existence. It was necessary for him to suffer and atone because of the sins of men. He died and become the Savior for all people on all planets.

Thanks!

 

[Blinky]

Do Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and Lorenzo Snow have their own planets?

 

[majick275]

depends on how you define it…I think they occupy a very warm place with the other false prophets.

 

[majick275]

If you will read the links that I posted above you will see for yourself waht mormons teach in their churches. You can see form the source that it is the LDS chruch official website and these are current lesson manuals.

 

[Blinky]

What is the level of technological development on the other planets?

 

[Katholikos]

And of course the goal of every Mormon is to become a God and create their own universe.

Exaltation (becoming a God) is exclusive to males.

QUOTE: Exaltation is eternal life, the kind of life that God lives. He lives in great glory. He is perfect. He possesses all knowledge and all wisdom. He is a creator. We can become Gods like our Heavenly Father. This is exaltation. END QUOTE

Among the “blessings of exaltation”: QUOTE: 2. They will become gods. 3. They will have their righteous family members [wives, plural] with them and will be able to have spirit children. These spirit children will have the same relationship to them as we do to our Heavenly Father. They will be an eternal family. END QUOTE

Source: Gospel Principles, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah

 

[Blinky]

How do these “gods” and their wives copulate to produce the spirit children?

 

[christianley]

Exaltation (becoming a God) is exclusive to males.

QUOTE: Exaltation is eternal life, the kind of life that God lives. He lives in great glory. He is perfect. He possesses all knowledge and all wisdom. He is a creator. We can become Gods like our Heavenly Father. This is exaltation. END QUOTE

Among the “blessings of exaltation”: QUOTE: 2. They will become gods. 3. They will have their righteous family members [wives, plural] with them and will be able to have spirit children. These spirit children will have the same relationship to them as we do to our Heavenly Father. They will be an eternal family. END QUOTE

Source: Gospel Principles, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah

I think we can put this subject to rest altogether. Look at this link on the current LDS web site:

lds.org/library/display/0,4945,11-1-13-59,00.html

It clearly explains that we will become Gods and have spirit children who have the same relationship to us as we do to our Heavenly Father. It also says this is how our Heavenly Father became a God. Case closed.

From the manual:

"The Prophet Joseph Smith taught: “When you climb up a ladder, you must begin at the bottom, and ascend step by step, until you arrive at the top; and so it is with the principles of the Gospel–you must begin with the first, and go on until you learn all the principles of exaltation. But it will be a great while after you have passed through the veil [died] before you will have learned them. It is not all to be comprehended in this world; it will be a great work to learn our salvation and exaltation even beyond the grave” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 348).

This is the way our Heavenly Father became God. Joseph Smith taught: “It is the first principle of the Gospel to know for a certainty the character of God. . . . He was once a man like us; . . . God himself, the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth, the same as Jesus Christ himself did” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pp. 345-46).

“Our Heavenly Father knows our trials, our weaknesses, and our sins. He has compassion and mercy on us. He wants us to succeed even as he did.”

 

[Karin]

. 3. They will have their righteous family members [wives, plural]

PLURAL WIVES …I thought that was ILLEGAL and not endorsed by the state of Neveda oh I mean the Mormon Church