The Mormon Gods, Past and Present

THE MORMON GODS, PAST AND PRESENT

If our ideas about God are wrong
then we'll be wrong about our other doctrines too,
because ultimately all our beliefs stem from our view of God.

THE ORIGINAL LDS GOD

Most Mormons are unaware that the LDS church has worshipped three different deities at various times since their inception. Should they wish to do so, they can check up on this fact for themselves in the LDS archives.

According to the 1835 printing of Doctrine and Covenants, their initial teachings on deity were similar to those of protestant Christianity:

"..... We shall, in this lecture speak of the Godhead: we mean the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. There are two personages..... They are the Father and the Son: The Father being a personage of spirit, glory and power: possessing all perfection and fullness: the Son, who was in the bosom of the Father, a personage of tabernacle..... And he being the only begotten of the Father ..... possessing the same mind with the Father, which mind is the Holy Spirit." (1835 Doctrine and Covenants, Lecture Fifth of Faith, 5:1-2, pages 52-53, First edition.) (Writer's italics)

It is the practice of the LDS church to sanitize or to deny any aspects of their history that may reflect negatively on them. They even have a name for this practice. They call it, Lying for the Lord. Consequently, they vehemently deny having worshipped different deities at various times in the past. They maintain that the above quote was only the personal opinion of one of their early members. But this excuse is invalidated by the fact that it was included as official doctrine, and part of their canon, in their 1835 printing of Doctrine and Covenants.

The following is an extract from an article on Wikipedia, that reveals that the above Lectures of Faith genuinely represented the beliefs of Joseph Smith and the early LDS church:

The Lectures were selected for that volume by a committee appointed on September 24, 1834 by a general assembly of the church to arrange the doctrines and revelations of the church into a single volume. That committee of Presiding Elders, consisting of Joseph Smith, Jr., Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams, stated that the Lectures were included "in consequence of their embracing the important doctrine of salvation," and that the Lectures, together with the church-regulatory sections that followed, represent "our belief, and when we say this, humbly trust, the faith and principles of this society as a body." (See 1835 D&C, Preface.) Accordingly, the church body accepted the committee's compilation on August 17, 1835 as "the doctrine and covenants of their faith, by a unanimous vote." (History of the Church 2: 243-6).

Furthermore, Marvin W. Cowan, in his Mormon Scripture, Doctrine And Covenants, Part II, reveals that although the First Presidency of the LDS church had voted on the inclusion of the Lectures, as they represented the doctrines of their faith; because of the changes that were later made to their doctrines over the years, the time came when the Lectures on Faith no longer represented the LDS's teachings. So in 1921, eighty-six years later, they were finally deleted from their doctrinal records:

Although the LDS founding Prophet, Joseph Smith, stated that he prepared those lectures for publication in the Doctrine and Covenants and the LDS General Conference held in 1835 unanimously voted to accept them as "the doctrine and covenants of their faith," they were deleted in 1921 by the First Presidency without any vote at a General Conference. Thus 75 pages of what had been LDS scripture from 1835 until 1921 were uncanonized, making the current Doctrine and Covenants a much smaller volume! Some LDS General Authorities in 1921 knew that conflicting teachings about God in the Doctrine and Covenants was confusing members, so the First Presidency deleted the Lectures on Faith in order to eliminate the confusion........... Thus the Lectures on Faith taught that God the Father was a Spirit Being but the Son had a body of flesh, while Section 130:22 of the Doctrine and Covenants declared that both the Father and Son have bodies of flesh and bones. Since both teachings originated with Joseph Smith, it should raise some questions about his revelations.

Although the LDS vehemently denies that Joseph Smith ever taught the above, the following verses that are recorded in the LDS's 1981 printing of Doctrine & Covenants, clearly indicate that at the time they were written (it says in 1830), Joseph Smith taught that God had always, eternally, been God, and that he had created mankind:

By these things we know that there is a God in heaven, who is infinite and eternal, from everlasting to everlasting, the same unchangeable God, the framer of heaven and earth, and all things which are in them; And he created them male and female .... (Doctrine & Covenants Section 20:17, 18 (revelation through Joseph Smith, the Prophet, April, 1830.)

The Book of Mormon (written by Joseph Smith before he had changed his mind about his doctrines on God), also teaches the trinitarian deity; that God was a spirit being; and that there always had been only one eternal, unchanging God:

And I do this that I may prove unto many that I am the same yesterday, today and forever. (2 Nephi 29:9)

For I know that God is not a partial God, neither a changeable being; but he is unchangeable from all eternity to all eternity (Moroni 8:18).

And then Ammon said: Believest thou that there is a Great Spirit? And he said, Yes. And Ammon said: This is God. And Ammon said unto him again: Believest thou that this Great Spirit, who is God, created all things which are in heaven and on the earth? And he said Yes ........ (Alma 18:26-29)

And the king said: Is God that Great Spirit that brought our fathers out of the land of Jerusalem? And Aaron said unto him: Yea, he is that Great Spirit, and he created all things both in heaven and in earth ..... (BOM Alma 22:9-11)

..... Christ the Son, and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit, which is one Eternal God..... (Alma 11:44)

..... the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost are one ..... (3 Nephi 11:27)

..... to dwell in the presence of God in his kingdom, to sing ceaseless praises with the choirs above, unto the Father, and unto the Son, and unto the Holy Ghost, which are one God..... (Mormon 7:7)

Now Zeezrom said: Is there more than one God? And he answered, No. (Alma 11:28-29)

..... there is but one God (Alma 11:35)

As part of their trinitarian teaching, in line with the Bible, the Book of Mormon maintains that the Lord Jesus is the eternal God:

It must needs be that the Gentiles be convinced also that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God (2 Nephi 26:12)

Mormon doctrinal books now teach that the godhead consists of three separate Gods, and that although the Holy Ghost is a spirit personage, like their God the Heavenly Father, he can only be in one place at any one time (LDS Apostle McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, page 359); whereas the Spirit "fills the immensity of space", and permeates all nature (Gospel Doctrine, Volume 1, page 94). They also maintain that the Holy Ghost is a literal son of God.

THE SECOND MORMON GOD

Shortly after the establishment of the LDS church, Joseph Smith began introducing teachings that distanced Mormonism further and further from biblical Christianity. And a fair number of his newer teachings/revelations contradicted or didn't fit in with their own Book of Mormon, which he had maintained contained the fullness of the "everlasting" gospel, was the most correct book on earth, and the keystone to their religion.

On the 6th April, 1844, in what became known as the King Follett Discourse, Smith proclaimed:

"We have imagined and supposed that God was God from all eternity. I will refute that idea, and take away the veil, so that you may see ..... God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens!" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, page 345, compiled by Joseph Fielding Smith). (Italics inserted by editor.)

The above speech was addressed to Mormons fourteen years after the establishment of the LDS church. And Smith's wording, "We have imagined and supposed that God was God from all eternity," reveals that they had, in fact, originally believed that God had always, eternally, been deity (which is confirmed by the Book of Mormon). So the emphatic denials by the LDS about having worshipped different Gods at various times, don't make sense.

In in the 1844 LDS publication, "Times and Seasons," volume 5, pages 613-614, Smith reiterated that God was only an exalted man (with a body of flesh and bone), and that ordinary, mortal men could also become Gods. LDS teachings on this exclusively Mormon God are well documented. Here are a few examples:

God is a perfected, saved soul enjoying eternal life. (Second Counselor in the First Presidency, Marion G. Romney, as per Salt Lake Tribune, April 3, 1977.)

The Father is a glorified, perfected resurrected, exalted man who worked out his own salvation by obedience to the same laws he has given to us so that we may do the same (LDS Apostle Bruce McConkie, in "A New Witness for the Articles of Faith," page 64)

God and man are of the same race, differing only in their degree of advancement (Mormon Apostle, Dr. John Widtsoe (1872-1952), member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles in "Gospel Through the Ages," page 107).

God, angels, and men are all of the same species, one race, one great family (Mormon Apostle Parley P. Pratt, in Key to the Science of Theology, 1978 Edition, page 21).

How many Gods there are, I do not know. But there never was a time when there were not Gods .... (2nd LDS President and Prophet Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 7:333).

This turnabout in Smith's theology, which emanated from his doctrine of eternal progression, is one of the main reasons why Doctrine and Covenants contradicts the earlier Book of Mormon in so many places, and also why the Pearl of Great Price contradicts the Book of Mormon. But you will never stumble across the truth as to why these discrepancies exist by listening to the imaginative excuses that are put forward by the LDS church. They are merely smoke screens designed to prevent their membership from realizing that the contradictions are there simply because their doctrines, and the teachings of their prophets, have changed radically over the years.

The main ingredient of truth is its consistency. It is eternal, and never changes. That's why we can always rely on it. Biblical Christianity still teaches exactly the same doctrines as did the apostles of Christ, which were recorded in the Bible, for all to see. But Mormonism of today bears no resemblance to their beliefs at the start.

THE THIRD MORMON GOD

Brigham Young, the second president and prophet of the LDS church, introduced the teaching that not only was the LDS God an ordinary, exalted man of flesh and bone, but that he was one man in particular, i.e. Adam (see Journal of Discourses, Volume 1, pages 50-51 and Deseret News June 18, 1873). The LDS tries to cover this up by insisting that his sermon was wrongly reported. But that wasn't the only time that their prophet proclaimed that Adam was the LDS God. According to the LDS's own records, he taught this doctrine extensively and consistently over a period of about twenty five years.

Speaking in the Tabernacle on the morning of October 8, 1861, Young remarked: "I will give you a few words of doctrine, upon which there has been much inquiry, and with regard to which considerable ignorance exists. Br. Watt will write it, but it is not my intention to have it published therefore pay good attention, and store it up in your memories. Some years ago, I advanced a doctrine with regard to Adam being our father and God, that will be a curse to many of the Elders of Israel because of their folly. With regard to it they yet grovel in darkness and will. It is one of the most glorious revealments of the economy of heaven, yet the world holds it [in] derision. Had I revealed the doctrine of baptism from the dead instead [of] Joseph Smith there are men around me who would have ridiculed the idea until doomsday. But they are ignorant and stupid like the dumb ass." (Manuscript Sermon, "A Few Words of Doctrine," Brigham Young Collection, Church Historian's Office, Salt Lake City.)

The following three quotes were featured in the article The Mormon Church Claims to Receive Modern-day Revelation, on Michael Davis' Mormonism Homepage:

"Concerning the doctrine that Adam is our Father and God ... the prophet and Apostle Brigham has declared it, and that is the word of the Lord" (F. D. Richards, Millenial Star, August 26, 1854, vol.16, p.534).

"When Brigham Young proclaimed to the nations that Adam was our Father and God ... he made the most important revelation ever oracled to the race since the days of Adam himself" (Mormon Edward W. Tullidge, The Women of Mormondom, p.79,179, 196-197, 1877).

"If the President makes a statement it is not our prerogative to dispute it ... when I first heard the doctrine of Adam being our Father and God, I was favorably impressed — enjoyed and hailed it as a new Revelation" (Mormon A.F. McDonald, Minutes of the School of Prophets, Provo, UT, 1868-1871, p.38-39).

(Note the period between the dates of the abovequoted publications.)

In all fairness one must admit that this was a very unpopular teaching. And apparently Mormon Apostle Orson Pratt opposed the Adam God doctrine right from the start. But the LDS has a strict rule, and that is that nobody criticizes their prophet, as he is divinely led by God. They also extend this same rule to their other leadership. Whenever their members have questioned this, they have been assured that God will never permit the prophet or the leadership to teach false doctrine or to lead the LDS church into error, or words to that effect. Apostle Pratt was duly warned that he was on the brink of apostasy. When that didn't bring an end to his opposition, he was sent on a mission to the eastern United States, effectively removing him from the Salt Lake area.

But that didn't stem the opposition to this doctrine. In the November and December issues of their "True Latter-Day Saint Herald," the break-away RLDS Church printed a refutation of Brigham's Adam-God doctrine, using the same arguments and scriptures that Pratt had. And they went as far as to urge the LDS church to return to the true God. In his diary under the date of February 3, 1861, John D. Lee, adopted son of Brigham Young, recorded the following:

"Eving attendd Prayer meeting & instructed the Saints on the points of Doctrine refereed to by the true Latterday Saints Herald & their Bombarding Pres. B. Young for Saying that Adam is all the god that we have to do with & to those that know no better, it is quite a stumbling Block... " (A Mormon Chronicle: The Diaries of John D. Lee, The Huntington Library, 1955, Volume 1, page 293.)

As soon as Brigham Young passed away so did his divinely revealed doctrine on the LDS God being Adam. It was soundly refuted by the church leadership and is still a source of great embarrassment to them. So much so that they have done their utmost to cover it up, to the extent of denying outright that there ever had been any such doctrine in the LDS church.

After Young's death, they reverted to worshipping their second God, i.e. an ordinary, exalted man of flesh and bone.

These three contradictory teachings on the God the LDS worshipped cannot all be correct. At least two of the three teachings, involving both their first and second prophets, must be wrong. Why then does the LDS church persistently maintain the facade that God would never permit their leadership to teach them error, and that their prophets are divinely inspired by God?

The LDS prophet Brigham Young had declared that God Himself had revealed this doctrine on Adam being their God, to him. And as the LDS has taken a very firm stand on his revelation on God being wrong, it is akin to their having declared him to have been a false prophet. In an attempt to cover this up, they insist that Brigham Young was wrongly quoted. However, their own records invalidate this excuse.

In Joseph Smith's case, he claimed from the start that he was leading the LDS church under God's guidance, and that as God's prophet, when he spoke it was the same as if God had spoken. Yet his doctrines changed consistently. And truth cannot change.

THE PRESENT MORMON GOD

The doctrine that God was once a man and has progressed to become a God is unique to this church. (Official LDS Lesson Manual, 1997, page 34, "The Teachings of Brigham Young")

The Mormon God, whose name is Elohim, had the same origins as did mankind. In line with the LDS doctrine of eternal progression, he had at first existed as intelligent matter. Then he took on the form of a spirit being by being born into the family of an already existing God, the same as they say we did in our pre-existence. After that he progressed to the stage of a mortal man. and lived in obedience to LDS laws and ordinances. Then after he had gained the requisite amount of knowledge/intelligence, he was exalted to godhood.

Although he is now in the heavenlies, Elohim is not a spirit being, but an exalted man with a body of flesh and bone. He lives near a planet called Kolob with his wife/wives. They have bred a myriad of spirit children. The Lord Jesus was their firstborn and his birth was followed by the births of Satan, the angelic beings and the whole of mankind.

..... God the Father had a plurality of wives, one or more being in eternity, by whom He begat our spirits ..... (Orson Pratt, an original member of the LDS's Quorum of Twelve Apostles, The Seer, page 172)

When Elohim's offspring had progressed far enough, the earth we live on now was created so that we could also be born to human parents and take on bodies of flesh and bone, to enable us to progress eternally, in the same way as he had done.

Although he is only one amongst an innumerable number of other gods that exist in the universe, all of whom achieved their godhood the same way as he did, Elohim is the only God with whom we have to do.

According to our dictionaries, the word "eternal" means without beginning or end of existence, ceaseless and unchangeable. But in order to fit their deity of eternal progression in with biblical terminology, the LDS teaches their followers that the word "eternal" is only God's title, and not His description. This is how LDS Apostle Bruce R. McConkie puts it:

Eternal life is the name given to the kind of life that our Eternal Father lives. The word eternal, as used in the name eternal life, is a noun and not an adjective. It is one of the formal names of Deity (Moses 1:3, 7:35; D&C 19:11) and has been chosen by him as the particular name to identify the kind of life that he lives. He being God, the life he lives is God's life; and his name (in the noun sense) being Eternal, the kind of life he lives is eternal life. Thus: God's life is eternal life; eternal life is God's life — the expressions are synonymous.

..... But only those who obey the fulness of the [LDS] gospel law will inherit eternal life (D&C 29:43-44)..... Thus those who gain eternal life receive exaltation ..... They are gods. (Mormon Doctrine, LDS Apostle Bruce R. McConkie, page 237.)

However, in his King Follett Discourse Joseph Smith made it clear that his LDS teachings on deity directly contradicted the biblical teaching that God had always been God eternally, when he said:

"We have imagined and supposed that God was God from all eternity. I will refute that idea."

Eternal progression is unbiblical. The Bible consistently teaches that God is eternally unchangeable, that He has always been the only God, and that He will always continue to be the only God, eternally. It also intimates that behind every other so-called god stands that great deceiver, Satan.

THE MORMON GOD IS NOT OMNIPRESENT

According to LDS Apostle John Widtsoe, the Mormon God's omnipresence is fulfilled through the Holy Spirit, which is not to be confused with the Holy Ghost (Evidences and Reconciliation's, pages 76-77). And Brigham Young, the second LDS Prophet and President, said:

"Some would have us believe that God is present everywhere. It is not so" (Journal of Discourses 6:345).

Then too, LDS Apostle James Talmage stated that neither God the Father, nor any other member of the Godhead, can be physically present in more than one place at one time. (The Articles of Faith, page 39). And Joseph Smith taught:

"The idea that the Father and the Son dwell in a man's heart is an old sectarian notion, and is false" (Doctrines and Covenants 130:3).

Yet again the Book of Mormon contradicts Joseph Smith's teachings on the second LDS God and also the teachings of Doctrine and Covenants, maintaining that the Lord does dwell in the hearts of the righteous. But bear in mind that it was published by Joseph Smith at the time that he had taught that God was Spirit. Here is what he wrote in the Book of Mormon before he'd turned to the worship of an exalted man of flesh and bone:

"And this I know, because the Lord hath said he dwelleth not in unholy temples, but in the hearts of the righteous doth he dwell" (BOM Alma 34:36).

Contrary to present LDS teachings, the Bible teaches that because God is Spirit (John 4:24) He is omnipresent; meaning that His presence is everywhere simultaneously:

But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded? (1 Kings 8:27, KJV)

Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord. (Jeremiah 23:23-24, KJV)

(The LDS cannot attribute that last statement as having been the words of their version of the Holy Spirit, as they maintain that the Holy Spirit is merely an impersonal force, and not an actual person with a personality.)

THE LDS GOD IS NOT A UNIQUE, INFINITE BEING

Mormons maintain that we are of the same species as God. Therefore, any fallen man is able to progress to godhood through obedience to the laws and ordinances of the LDS church, in the same way that God did. Brigham Young delivered a message in the Salt Lake Tabernacle on August 8,1852, in which he said:

"The Lord created you and me for the purpose of becoming Gods like Himself" (Journal of Discourses 3:93).

Both the Journal of Discourses and the Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith record that, on April 6, 1844, the LDS prophet Joseph Smith preached to a congregation of 20,000 saying:

"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 kings and priests to God the same as all Gods have done before you" (Journal of Discourses 6:4; Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, page 346, compiled by Joseph Fielding Smith). (Italics inserted by the editor.)

THE INFERIORITY OF THE LDS GOD

Because the LDS deity had first lived as a mortal man prior to his exaltation, this means that he only attained godhood after the universe had already been created. So he played no part whatsoever in its creation. Consequently, he never has been and never ever will be even remotely necessary to the functioning of the universe. Nor was he responsible for creating matter, energy, space and time, and so on, either. He is, therefore, subject to all these things, as opposed to being the creator and sustainer of them. (The LDS teaches that far from creating matter, he merely re-organizes it.)

On the other hand, the biblical God is the unique, self-existing, unchanging, First Cause, who created the universe and all that is in it, including time, space and matter. So everything that exists is subject to Him and is sustained by Him (Hebrews 1:3). Furthermore, as He is the only God who has ever existed, and is both infinite and omnipotent, He is supreme over all.

We can only come to the conclusion that the LDS God is vastly inferior in every way to the biblical deity. In fact, the only difference between him and ourselves is that he has advanced more than we have at this particular moment in time.

LDS teachings have brought a unique, pure and holy, omnipotent, eternal Creator God of unimaginable glory, power, wisdom, holiness and perfection down to the level of a fallen, created man. They have denied God's spiritual essence and His eternal and infinite nature, and have turned to the worship of a God made in their own fallible, finite, and physical likeness.

When we substitute our own ideas about God we always detract from His glory. Bound by the dimensions of time and space, man has a very limited knowledge and understanding of eternal things. And in trying to reduce an eternal, infinite and indescribably amazing and powerful God who had created the dimensions of time and space and who upholds and sustains the whole of the universe and everything in it by his omnipotence, to terms that he could understand, Joseph Smith simply denied the truth about Him in the same way as did the pagan idolaters in biblical times.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man ..... (Romans 1:18-23, KJV) (Author's italics)

If you are a Mormon, I would ask you to meditate for a moment on the fact that the Bible reveals that although people worship many and varied gods, there is in reality only one true God. And it makes it clear that to worship any of these other so-called gods is to commit the sin of idolatry. Bearing in mind that the god of the LDS bears no resemblance whatsoever to the God of the Bible (see the article on the biblical God on this site), Mormons are standing on very shaky ground. The fact that you are a sincere person and have been misled by a false prophet, doesn't change your status quo.

As someone who was once in your predicament, I am asking you not to lose heart. I know all too well the disillusionment, deep hurt, and anger that accompanies the realization that one has been spiritually deceived. You probably feel that you could never ever trust anyone again in the spiritual arena. So I wouldn't dream of asking you to trust me either. You don't even know me. But you can trust God's written word to you, the Bible. And I am asking you in the name of the biblical Lord Jesus Christ, who loved you enough to die for you, to turn solely to the Bible for spiritual knowledge and teaching. I realize that you have been indoctrinated to believe that God revealed to Joseph Smith that the Bible is unreliable. But hopefully you have by now realized that Joseph Smith was a deceiver. So if you have the will, you can give yourself permission to "accept" that the Bible is a true, accurate and reliable record of God's word to us.

It isn't easy for a Mormon to untangle his mind regarding what he has been taught, because it is the LDS practice to mix selected Bible teachings together with the teachings of their own scriptures. And their system of indoctrination is powerful. So trying to understand what the Bible actually teaches is initially like trying to find one's way out of a maze. But God is the greatest Teacher of all, and He can and will help you. I know this is so, because He helped me when I was in that predicament. All you need do is to humbly pray to the biblical God, and ask Him to enable you to understand what the Bible truly teaches.

The following are links to articles on the LDS Holy Spirit/Holy Ghost, and the Biblical God, as well as on the reliability of the Bible:

The LDS Holy Spirit and Holy Ghost

Understanding the Biblical God

Corruption of the Bible is an LDS Smokescreen

You are welcome to write me at reply@bibtruth.com

Copyright 2007, Mormonism and Biblical Truth. All rights reserved.