Do Mormons Believe They Can Become Gods?

[Greg West]

Here's another chapter from my book, A Mormon Answers the Hard Questions Posed by Anti-Mormons

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have a unique understanding of the Godhead and our relationship to Deity. These beliefs are solidly based in the Bible. Many critics have used out-of-context quotes and deliberate misinterpretations of our beliefs to impute some bizarre, prideful aspiration to reach beyond God's plan of Salvation as Lucifer once did. (Isaiah 14:12-15)

A correct understanding of our doctrine about the nature of God is needed to understand our beliefs regarding the eternal reward promised to the faithful followers of Jesus Christ. It was Jesus who declared: "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." (John 17:3)

THE GODHEAD
Our first article of faith states, "We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost."

Our understanding of the nature of God does not rely on scriptural interpretations, the decisions of ancient Christian councils, or other historical sources. Joseph Smith, the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, saw and spoke with God the Father and the Son in a heavenly vision in the spring of 1820. This event, referred to by Mormons as the "First Vision," opened up the floodgates of revelation, casting off centuries of apostate notions that God only spoke to man through the Bible and that revelation to apostles and prophets had ceased with biblical times.

As a result of his personal, first-hand knowledge, Joseph Smith taught:

The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us. (Doctrine and Covenants 130:22)

To Mormons, the Godhead consists of three separate and distinct beings:

God the Father
Jesus Christ
The Holy Ghost

Mormons do not believe the Trinitarian or Triune doctrine of the Godhead, rejecting it, not only as unscriptural, but also conflicting with the testimony of Joseph Smith and modern day apostles of Jesus Christ. Trinitarians believe that the members of the Godhead are various manifestations of one single being. In other words, they believe in a three-in-one God without body, parts, or passions.

VARIOUS CONCEPTS OF GOD
The following passages cite key documents from various mainstream denominations. The italics and underlining are mine, used for emphasis.

From the Catholic Encylopedia
(http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15047a.htm)

The Trinity is the term employed to signify the central doctrine of the Christian religion -- the truth that in the unity of the Godhead there are Three Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, these Three Persons being truly distinct one from another. Thus, in the words of the Athanasian Creed: "the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, and yet there are not three Gods but one God." In this Trinity of Persons the Son is begotten of the Father by an eternal generation, and the Holy Spirit proceeds by an eternal procession from the Father and the Son. Yet, notwithstanding this difference as to origin, the Persons are co-eternal and co-equal: all alike are uncreated and omnipotent. This, the Church teaches, is the revelation regarding God's nature which Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came upon earth to deliver to the world: and which she proposes to man as the foundation of her whole dogmatic system.

In Scripture there is as yet no single term by which the Three Divine Persons are denoted together. The word trias (of which the Latin trinitas is a translation) is first found in Theophilus of Antioch about A.D. 180. He speaks of "the Trinity of God [the Father], His Word and His Wisdom ("Ad. Autol.", II, 15). The term may, of course, have been in use before his time. Afterwards it appears in its Latin form of trinitas in Tertullian ("De pud." c. xxi). In the next century the word is in general use. It is found in many passages of Origen ("In Ps. xvii", 15). The first creed in which it appears is that of Origen's pupil, Gregory Thaumaturgus. In his Ekthesis tes pisteos composed between 260 and 270, he writes:

There is therefore nothing created, nothing subject to another in the Trinity: nor is there anything that has been added as though it once had not existed, but had entered afterwards: therefore the Father has never been without the Son, nor the Son without the Spirit: and this same Trinity is immutable and unalterable forever (P. G., X, 986).

It is manifest that a dogma so mysterious presupposes a Divine revelation. When the fact of revelation, understood in its full sense as the speech of God to man, is no longer admitted, the rejection of the doctrine follows as a necessary consequence. For this reason it has no place in the Liberal Protestantism of today. The writers of this school contend that the doctrine of the Trinity, as professed by the Church, is not contained in the New Testament, but that it was first formulated in the second century and received final approbation in the fourth, as the result of the Arian and Macedonian controversies. In view of this assertion it is necessary to consider in some detail the evidence afforded by Holy Scripture. Attempts have been made recently to apply the more extreme theories of comparative religion to the doctrine of the Trinity, and to account for it by an imaginary law of nature compelling men to group the objects of their worship in threes. It seems needless to give more than a reference to these extravagant views, which serious thinkers of every school reject as destitute of foundation.

From the Southern Baptist Convention
(http://www.sbc.net/bfm/bfm2000.asp#ii)

A. God the Father
God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. He is all powerful, all knowing, all loving, and all wise. God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. He is fatherly in His attitude toward all men.

B. God the Son
Christ is the eternal Son of God. In His incarnation as Jesus Christ He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Jesus perfectly revealed and did the will of God, taking upon Himself human nature with its demands and necessities and identifying Himself completely with mankind yet without sin. He honored the Divine law by His personal obedience, and in His substitutionary death on the cross He made provision for the redemption of men from sin. He was raised from the dead with a glorified body and appeared to His disciples as the person who was with them before His crucifixion. He ascended into heaven and is now exalted at the right hand of God where He is the One Mediator, fully God, fully man, in whose Person is effected the reconciliation between God and man. He will return in power and glory to judge the world and to consummate His redemptive mission. He now dwells in all believers as the living and ever present Lord.

C. God the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God, fully Divine. He inspired holy men of old to write the Scriptures. Through illumination He enables men to understand truth. He exalts Christ. He convicts men of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment. He calls men to the Saviour, and effects regeneration. At the moment of regeneration He baptizes every believer into the Body of Christ. He cultivates Christian character, comforts believers, and bestows the spiritual gifts by which they serve God through His church. He seals the believer unto the day of final redemption. His presence in the Christian is the guarantee that God will bring the believer into the fullness of the stature of Christ. He enlightens and empowers the believer and the church in worship, evangelism, and service.

The Articles of Religion of the Methodist Church I-IV
(http://www.umc.org/interior.asp?ptid=1&mid=1817)

Article I - Of Faith in the Holy Trinity
There is but one living and true God, everlasting, without body or parts, of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness; the maker and preserver of all things, both visible and invisible. And in unity of this Godhead there are three persons, of one substance, power, and eternity - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

Article II - Of the Word, or Son of God, Who Was Made Very Man
The Son, who is the Word of the Father, the very and eternal God, of one substance with the Father, took man's nature in the womb of the blessed Virgin; so that two whole and perfect natures, that is to say, the Godhead and Manhood, were joined together in one person, never to be divided; whereof is one Christ, very God and very Man, who truly suffered, was crucified, dead, and buried, to reconcile his Father to us, and to be a sacrifice, not only for original guilt, but also for actual sins of men.

Article III - Of the Resurrection of Christ
Christ did truly rise again from the dead, and took again his body, with all things appertaining to the perfection of man's nature, wherewith he ascended into heaven, and there sitteth until he return to judge all men at the last day.

Article IV - Of the Holy Ghost
The Holy Ghost, proceeding from the Father and the Son, is of one substance, majesty, and glory with the Father and the Son, very and eternal God.

From the Assemblies of God
http://ag.org/top/beliefs/truths.cfm#2

a. Terms Defined
The terms "Trinity" and "persons" as related to the Godhead, while not found in the Scriptures, are words in harmony with Scripture, whereby we may convey to others our immediate understanding of the doctrine of Christ respecting the Being of God, as distinguished from "gods many and lords many." We therefore may speak with propriety of the Lord our God who is One Lord, as a trinity or as one Being of three persons, and still be absolutely scriptural.

b. Distinction and Relationship in the Godhead
Christ taught a distinction of Persons in the Godhead which He expressed in specific terms of relationship, as Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, but that this distinction and relationship, as to its mode is inscrutable and incomprehensible, because unexplained.

c. Unity of the One Being of Father, Son and Holy Ghost
Accordingly, therefore, there is that in the Father which constitutes him the Father and not the Son; there is that in the Son which constitutes Him the Son and not the Father; and there is that in the Holy Ghost which constitutes Him the Holy Ghost and not either the Father or the Son. Wherefore the Father is the Begetter, the Son is the Begotten, and the Holy Ghost is the one proceeding from the Father and the Son. Therefore, because these three persons in the Godhead are in a state of unity, there is but one Lord God Almighty and His name one.

d. Identity and Cooperation in the Godhead

The Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost are never identical as to Person; nor confused as to relation; nor divided in respect to the Godhead; nor opposed as to cooperation. The Son is in the Father and the Father is in the Son as to relationship. The Son is with the Father and the Father is with the Son, as to fellowship. The Father is not from the Son, but the Son is from the Father, as to authority. The Holy Ghost is from the Father and the Son proceeding, as to nature, relationship, cooperation and authority. Hence, neither Person in the Godhead either exists or works separately or independently of the others.

From the Presbyterian Church (USA)
(http://www.pcusa.org/today/archive/believe/wpb9405.htm)

The term Trinity wrongly suggests that Christians are tritheists. To avert the erroneous idea of having triple gods, some have appropriately placed a "u" in the midst of the word, making it Triunity. Taken from the Latin tria, threefold, and unus, one, this preserves the oneness notion intended by the ecumenical councils of the fourth century that included the Trinity in their creeds.

Muslims and Jews have presumed, as have some Christians, that Christians worship three separate gods. An African Muslim once said that the main difference between his religion and Christianity was that he had several wives and one God, while Christians had one wife and several gods. Muhammad thought Christians believed in three different deities, one of them the goddess Mary, who was impregnated by intercourse with the father God.

Although Muhammad held Jesus in high regard, he rejected Christianity because he thought it contained polytheistic paganism. He did not realize that monotheism is basic to the Christian statement of belief, the Nicene Creed. Beginning with "I believe in one God," this affirmation parallels the first article of the creeds of Islam, "There is no God but Allah," and of Judaism, "The Lord our God is one Lord" (Deuteronomy 6:4).

Misrepresentations by outsiders of the Christian doctrine of God may have arisen from the bewilderment of many church members from the first century onward. This is seen in the confusion that the Nicene formulation attempted to eliminate. Early Christians found some of their oral and written traditions puzzling. Was the God of the Old Testament a different God from the God of the New Testament? Did one God have no beginning and another one have his beginning at Bethlehem? Was the God of law separate from the God of grace? Were Divine beings sent from heaven to earth like relay runners, one carrying on after another one finished?

And if Christ is God and if God is non-physical Spirit, does that mean that Christ never really had flesh and blood? Since there is no full discussion of these questions in the Bible, the source of Christian doctrine, varying--indeed, clashing--answers were given to these theological questions. Christians were in a dilemma as to what to believe.

THE TRINITARIAN/TRIUNE BELIEF DEFIES LOGIC AND SCRIPTURE
From the above descriptions of the Trinity by various faiths, we have the following admissions:
The Trinitarian/Triune belief is unscriptural. Catholics state: "In Scripture there is as yet no single term by which the Three Divine Persons are denoted." The Assemblies of God explain: "The terms "Trinity" and "persons" as related to the Godhead, while not found in the Scriptures, are words in harmony with Scripture together.

This is an astounding admission from a denomination that believes that the scriptures are inerrant and sufficient alone for salvation. The doctrine of the Trinity arose out of "confusion" as to what Christians should believe and had its origins in the Nicene Council in the 3rd century. This confusion is a sure sign of apostasy in the ancient church because, by the 3rd century, Christians no longer had any certainty as to what God was and who Jesus Christ was.

Peter, James, John, and Paul certainly had no doubts as to the nature of the Godhead. It was Peter who said, "For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount." (2 Peter 1:18, italics added)

The Presbyterian USA web site is well worth visiting because it lists the various conflicts and contradictions inherent in Trinitarian belief. If Christ was begotten of the Father, then he had a beginning. If he had a beginning, how then is he God? If God the Father is a spiritual being without a body, how then is Christ God when he was "fully man" with a mortal body of flesh and bone? If "Christ did truly rise again from the dead, and took again his body, with all things appertaining to the perfection of man's nature, wherewith he ascended into heaven," how is it that this physical, resurrected person "dwells in all believers as the living and ever present Lord" as the Holy Ghost, who has no body?

Furthermore, when Christ appeared to his disciples, he let them touch the marks in his hands and the wound in his side. He ate a piece of fish and honeycomb and told them "Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have." If Jesus, fully God and fully man, was in physical form as a resurrected personage, what became of this resurrected body? Was he then a physical being and the Father a spirit?

Jesus told his disciples, "my Father is greater than I." (John 14:28) How is this possible if they are one in the same? What of the Holy Ghost? In the final hours before his arrest and crucifixion, Jesus taught his apostles," Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you." (John 16:7) If Jesus were the Father and the Holy Ghost all wrapped up in one, how could this be the truth? If he was already present with the disciples, was not the Father and the Holy Ghost there?

How is it that God possesses that which is uniquely the Father, and uniquely the Son, yet the two are of one indivisible substance? How does a God without body, parts or passions possess a resurrected physical body? How is it that a God without passions describes himself as a "jealous God" who also feels love, anger, joy, sorrow, compassion, and mercy?

This is a jumble of confusion that blows up in our faces as we read John chapter 17. This chapter is the greatest prayer ever recorded in history. It is the words of Jesus Christ our Redeemer speaking to his Heavenly Father as he took upon him the sins of all mankind. Try to read this chapter and imagine this is Jesus talking to himself. It becomes incomprehensible unless we accept the obvious separateness of the Father and the Son.

Near the end of this prayer, Jesus prays for unity of his followers, "That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me." (John 17:21) How are the believers to be one like Jesus and the Father? They are to be one in spirit and purpose. The believer's will should be swallowed up as Jesus' in holy submission to the will of the Father.

WHO IS GOD THE FATHER?
God, our Heavenly Father is the Father of the spirits of all mankind. We are his offspring. (Psalm 82:6) He is the Father of Jesus Christ's mortal incarnation. He possesses every attribute of perfection, glory and exaltation. (Matthew 5:48) There is nothing that he does not know, no power nor authority which he does not possess.
He has a physical form and we are created in his image. (Genesis 1:27, Hebrews 1:3) Jesus Christ prayed to him. (Matthew 6:9, 26:39, John 17) We pray to him through the name of Jesus Christ, the Mediator between God and man. (John 16:26) The Father is the author of the Plan of Salvation.

His work and his glory is to bring to pass the eternal life of his children. It is by his command that Jesus Christ created the physical universe, placed the spirits of men on the earth as a mortal probation, and wrought the atonement to redeem us from the effects of sin and death. (John 5:19-20) He is the MOST HIGH. He is the God of Jesus Christ, and thus our God. (John 20:17)

WHO IS JESUS CHRIST?
Jesus Christ, as a premortal spirit, stood in the presence of God with other spirits in a time before the world was created. In this premortal estate, he attained the status of Godhood and was selected by the Father to become our Redeemer. (1 Peter 1:19-20, Proverbs 8:22-31).
Acting in accordance with the Father's will, Jesus is the Creator of the Earth. (John 1:3-10, Ephesians 3:9, Hebrews 1:2) Jesus was the Only Begotten of the Father. As such, he possessed power over life and death, while having the mortal capacity to die. He laid down his life willingly as a sacrifice for sin to save us all. (John 10:15-18, Romans 3:25, Isaiah 53:1-12)
Having died on the cross, he had power to take his life up again and become a resurrected being, breaking the bands of death for all mankind. All who die will be resurrected because of Jesus Christ. These spirits will be resurrected to varying degrees of glory and some will be resurrected unto damnation. (John 5:28-29, John 14:2, 1 Corinthians 15:40-42)
Having created the world, experienced mortality and its trials, passed through death and the resurrection, this Jesus who suffered the punishment of the sins of all mankind will be our Eternal Judge. (John 5:22-27, Acts 10:42)

THE HOLY GHOST
The Holy Ghost is a personage of spirit. He does not have a physical body and can abide in the heart of the believer. He is called The Comforter and one of his tasks is to bring to our remembrance the words of Christ. The Holy Ghost testifies of truth. (John 14:26)

The Holy Ghost gives spiritual power to the believer (Acts 1:8). A person filled with the Holy Ghost may manifest spiritual gifts such as tongues, prophecy, revelation, discernment, and many others. The gift of the Holy Ghost is bestowed upon believers following baptism by the laying on of hands. (Acts 8:17, 9:17, 19:6)
As the Testator of truth, the Holy Ghost is the converting power of God that burns its witness into the hearts of sincere seekers of truth. The Holy Ghost is often referred to as the Spirit of God which communicates by a "still, small voice." (1 Kings 19:11-12)

CONCLUSION
Now the conclusion! (I know it takes me forever to get there, but it's important that you have the best scriptural and doctrinal foundations to understand our beliefs.) If you skipped down to this page without reading the supporting material that precedes, shame on you! You must have the intellectual and spiritual integrity to consider the points I have made so far. Go back and read it if you didn't already! For the rest of you who muddled through the facts and citations above, well done! Let's finish up with a scriptural Q&A session.

Question: For all that Jesus did to obey the Father, what did He receive?

The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand. (John 3:25)

All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you. (John 16:15)

Answer: Jesus Christ obtained the fullness of his Father's eternal glory, power, and dominion All that his Father possessed became his.

Question: What is promised to Jesus Christ's followers?

Acts 17: 29 - "we are the offspring of God."
Romans 8: 17 - "heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ.
2 Corinthians 3: 18 - "changed into the same image from glory to glory."
Galatians 4: 7 - "if a son, then an heir of God through Christ."
Ephesians 4: 13 - "Till we all come . . . unto a perfect man."
1 John 3: 2 - "when he shall appear, we shall be like him."
Revelation 3:21 - “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.”

Answer: The ultimate reward Jesus promises his followers is to become like him. If Jesus has received "all that the Father hath" and promises to make us "joint heirs" with him what will we receive? If we "shall be like him" when he appears, what will we be? If he grants us to sit on his throne as he has set down with his Father, what will be our glory?

Think of it in this more colloquial way. In all of existence, is any creature's offspring destined to become something different than it's parent? Does a chicken egg hatch pigs? Do the offspring of salmon become elks? It doesn't happen. Romans chapter 8 tells us:

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... (Romans 8:16-17, italics added)

God is our Heavenly Father. The measure of our creation is to become like him. For this reason, he appointed Jesus Christ to create the earth, to atone for our sins, and provide the resurrection and eternal life. This gives richer meaning to the oft quoted verse:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John 3:16)

God the Father loves us because we are his children. It is only through the atonement of Jesus Christ that we can come back to him. Jesus loved us, his brothers and sisters, so much that he was willing to sacrifice and suffer to bring us back. He wants us to be with him and to receive the eternal reward promised.

WHAT IS ETERNAL LIFE? ETERNAL PROGRESSION!
Your mind likely reels at considering this. Take a second to answer a question. Since the day you were born, have you ever done something to improve yourself? Did you ever give up a bad habit? Did you learn to read? Did you graduate from school or college? Did you ever stop smoking, lose weight, lower your cholesterol, or start exercising to get in shape?

The answer to any of these may be yes. Now consider, if you have accomplished these things in the short span of a mortal lifetime, what will you be able to accomplish if you can live forever?

You will live forever, thanks to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. You may inherit eternal life if you have faith in Christ, repent of your sins, and be obedient to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.

Having obtained a hope of eternal life in a world where Satan cannot deceive or tempt anyone, where sickness, death, fatigue, and mortal urges are conquered, what will you become if you continue to improve and grow in Christ? What will you be like in a thousand years? In ten thousand? In a million? Can you not imagine it?

This is the belief of the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We anticipate the principle of eternal progression. God the Father will always be our God. Jesus Christ, his Son will always be our Redeemer. No matter what glory we may obtain, like Jesus, our will is swallowed up in God's. There is no usurpation of God's glory. This is what Paul meant when he wrote:

For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,) But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him. (1 Corinthians 8:5-6, italics added)

There is no prideful striving for superiority. The path of Jesus Christ leads the faithful, penitent, and obedient to God and his throne as joint-heirs with him for all eternity.

This enlightened view of the purpose of our creation is ennobling and encourages us all to go forward in humility and service to the Master. We know that of ourselves we can do nothing. We are totally indebted in all things to the Lord Jesus Christ. I encourage you to research the scriptures I have cited and ponder them. Pray about them and seek the Holy Ghost to confirm the truth.

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Originally posted 3/15/2008
Bumped 3/19/2009