Monday, March 14, 2011

More on Mormons - Eternal Progression

From LDS.org.  Does this image illicit a good feeling?  It should.
First of all, I am not Mormon and am unsure of the exact beliefs and what they mean to those who practice the religion. That being said I am sure that I don't have it all perfect. These posts are simply my research. I would love to read the explanations of those who practice Mormonism. Thank you!


An important terminology difference is the idea of being saved vs. the idea of eternal life.  If a non-Mormon Christian and a Mormon are having a discussion, the non-Mormon idea of being saved is what a Mormon will call eternal life.  This is because Mormons believe that everyone is “saved” from the first death, which I will address later.  One way that this distinction will become clear is through the question “if you were to die today, do you know that you would spend eternity with your father in heaven?”  The answers of the two religions will vary in response to this question.
Another difference is the expressed in this quote “As man is, God once was, and as God is, man may become.”  It appears that, Mormons not only believe in the one God, but also a bunch of other Gods.  When you die the second death you may get a chance to become a God. (If this is not true, please help me understand in the comments)
Here are some excepts from Journal of Discourse 3:3 – 4  
"God himself was once as we are now, and is exalted Man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens.  That is the great secret…for I am going to tell you how God came to be God.  We have imagined and supposed that God was God from all eternity, I will refute that idea, and will take away a do away with the vail, so that you may see…and to know that he was once a man like us; yea, that God himself the Father of us all, dwelt on earth the same as Jesus Christ himself did…Do you believe it? If you do not believe it, you do not believe the Bible…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…until you arrive at the station of a God and ascend the throne of eternal power, the same as those who have gone before you." 
The LDS church understands Yahweh (LORD) as being a separate entity from Elohim (God).  As shown about there is also the possibility of individuals becoming Gods.  Non-Mormon Christians see Yahweh and Elohim as the same being based on the phrase "the LORD your God."  Using Bible Gateway, I found several hundred examples of this phrase.
Our Eternal Life  - A brief explanation of eternal life from LDS.org (goes with the image at the top). 

2 comments:

  1. Just a couple of thoughts on this. Who is the us in the creation acount? Also repeated again after Adam and Eve ate the fruit and became one of us? John 14 Is curious as it speaks about the Father and Christ as seperate beings. Many look at Verse 10 to show that they are one and the same person. However, the same language is used in verse 20 saying Christ is in us as he is in the father. And later in the Chapter Christ says that his Father is greater then he is? I don't know your personal thoughts on these differences that are in the bible but I believe that the position of the Godhead that we adhere to best describes these passages as there are 3 seperate beings comprising the Godhead but they are one in purpose. This works where Christ is being baptized and the voice of God the father is heard from the heavens and the Holy Ghost comes in the form of the dove. All three present at an important event for the gospel. Also at that event the voice from heaven was heard to say, "this is my Son in whom I am well pleased." I see that we are taught to only worship one God, not only believe that the is one God. But I really don't spend a lot of time thinking about this other then on internet blogs. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have always heard the “us” as referring to Christ and God as one being. The example that helped me understand the Trinity was that it is like an egg. There are three parts. There is a shell, a yolk and a white. All three are separate, but are one entity; if you don’t have one part you don’t have an egg (even though they can be separated). God is the entire egg. I guess the two vantage points are really two interpretations of the scripture.

    I do think that the important (probably more so) differences have to do with the idea that humans can become Gods and are equal to Jesus (we are all spirit children). Maybe I am misunderstanding this idea, but it seems quite a bit different from the Protestant belief. I am not sure how we can become a God. I don't think that idea shows up in the Old or New Testaments. (can anyone find it there?)

    Any thoughts?

    ReplyDelete