LDS view of God

[darinhouston]

I am hoping that Karen is still viewing the forum and that she will sign up and join us in discussion here -- to kick things off, I have a question that I've always wanted to ask an LDS member -- I know a few, but the nature of the professional relationship prevents me from "putting them on the spot" when they might not be knowledgable about their own religion, or risking them thinking I am disrespectful of their religion. I hope you don't find this too direct, but I mean no disrepect -- I am only seeking Truth and trying to find out where we might have different views from one another. In any event...

I have a bit of third hand knowledge of the official historic LDS views, but often wonder what the "man on the street" (or woman) believes. Karen, you refer to God as "Father" on the radio from time to time -- not "our Father" or "the Father" but as a proper noun -- someone called "Father." I have heard that LDS does not view God in the same way that I do, and that they are not montheists (a fundamental aspect of both Christianity and Judaism). Many of your calls have centered on Christ -- now, Christ is the key figure in the Christian Faith, and I commend your inquiries as to who He is/was and what He did and why, etc. I would love to discuss that further in this forum, but I'm interested also in your views of the "Father."

Even more fundamental to Christianity than even Christ is the belief that there is ONE God -- the maker of all there is -- all the Universe (seen and unseen), and there is NO other "godlilke" person/thing like Him anywhere else in this dimension or any other dimension. My understanding of LDS theology is that there are many such "Fathers" in the universe and that the god we all call "Father" is just the Father of Earth, and that there are other planets/people who have their own "different" Heavenly Father.

Can you elaborate on what LDS teaches in this regard?

[karenstricycle]

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[darinhouston]

What I mean by The Father, or how I relate to the greater scheme of things is :

OUR FATHER. The Father of us all ! The One God of us all- of all men.
Our God. Our Father in Heaven. El. The One True and living God. The Father.
"That giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not." (This is who I direct my attention to.)

Steve Gregg explains to me that he believes this One is Jesus Christ. Normal.
I Believe that Jesus Christ is The Son of The living God. Even still. Also normal.

(It gets really interesting at this point...) What are Peoples thoughts on this-

Up to this point, we might only have some modest differences -- forgive me if I confuse things because I don't exactly have a grasp on this aspect of who God and Jesus are and how they relate (nor do I believe anyone can know perfectly). But, generally speaking, the Christian view of Jesus Christ is that He was not the "One" in all respects (in Himself exclusively) partly because we don't believe the Father is a "man," but that Jesus was a man embodying the Spirit of God but still a mortal man. He was/is in some real sense God, but the Father was a separate One in Heaven even while Jesus was on Earth. Jesus was supernaturally born without a human father, but carried by a real human mother and delivered both as fully a human and still being an expression of who God is. We don't have a unified view of exactly how that works, because it's not really given to us (we call it the Trinity), but God is a single "being" having three "essences" or "aspects" or personalities/persons expressed in what we call the Father, the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit, all of which are collectively God, the One, el, etc.

You suggest after this, it becomes interesting -- I'm interested to see what you mean by that.

Q Do Mormons really believe that if they lead a good life, they’ll become gods of their own planets?

A “If Mormons lead a good life, they will be like gods” is the first part–that implies that we think we can work our way into heaven - and even more audacious, become gods. We don’t really think that. We think that we show our devotion to Jesus Christ through living by His commandments (as He asked us all to do - if ye love me, keep my commandments) and then with His “grace” or mercy, or atoning power (which all mean the same thing), we are purified and able to go to Heaven. . . and, yes, eventually become gods AND goddesses (women don’t get left behind one bit).

The second part of your question is really just the doctrine of who God is and our relationship to Him. This is where Mormons really are different. Joseph Smith actually SAW God, and when he saw Him, he realized that God was an exalted man. He looked like a man (only glorified), and talked with Joseph “face to face” (as he did with Moses). Joseph Smith taught that God really is an exalted Man– eternities more glorious, intelligent and powerful than us, however. And so he taught that as puppies grow up to be dogs, and chicks grow up to be chickens, this level of glorious exaltation is also the natural progression for man.

So, yes! We believe that there is some divine potential within us.

I found this on an LDS Q&A blog a while back. I'm wondering how universal this view is. Do you believe that a given man can become exalted following this life and become a god like Heavenly Father is?

[karenstricycle]

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[darinhouston]

If The Book of Mormon is not authentic as it reads.... Then there is no LDS Church.

Thanks, Karen. That all sounds largely like Orthodox Christianity, and I'm glad that at least for your part, you don't share in at least some of the LDS "outer space stuff" I'm so curious about, but your statement above does leave me with a further question.

(and I don't mean to cross-examine you -- we just haven't had any "seeking" LDS around here before -- I do hope you have some questions of your own and we can dialogue further on aspects of Christianity).

So, your comment about the Book of Mormon and LDS Church -- what does the Book of Mormon teach that is sufficiently distinctive from the Bible to warrant a "separate church" ? (I'm presuming authenticity for the moment, though I don't share a view towards its authenticity).

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[darinhouston]

Do you believe both Elohim and JHVH/YHWH refer to the same entity?