 | Godhood as
Their Ultimate Goal
 | The ultimate goal
of Mormonism is to become a god |
| Equivalent terms
are exaltation, eternal life and having an eternal family |
| Godhood as the
goal is often understated |
| Godhood is still
clearly and universally taught |
| Doctrine &
Covenants 132:19,20: "...then they shall be gods..." |
|
| Compare with
Christianity
| Exaltation, in
Mormonism, means godhood |
| Being saved, in
Mormonism, usually refers only to resurrection |
| In Mormonism,
resurrection is a free gift, but exaltation must be earned |
| Talk to Mormons
about exaltation not about salvation |
|
| Godhood as a
Disputed Goal
| Godhood is clearly
the goal of Mormonism |
| Often Mormons talk
about eternal life, exaltation, or eternal family but do not connect these with godhood - even though they are all synonymous |
| Many Mormons
discount "becoming a god" but embrace "eternal
life" or having an "eternal family" |
| Often we need to
show Mormons what the LDS church teaches |
|
| Godhood as a Hidden
Goal
| Godhood is not
part of Mormon missionary's discussions |
| The goal of
Godhood is not part of the LDS Church's television advertisements |
| Many Mormon
converts say they have never heard of godhood as a goal |
| The doctrine of
godhood makes the LDS church look very non-Christian |
| The LDS church is
actively trying to appear Christian - to make it appear that there
is not so great a distance between Mormonism and Christianity |
| The divide between
Mormonism and Christianity is pictured in Luke 16:23 when the
rich man in hell looked across the great chasm to see Lazarus with
Abraham |
|
| Godhood as an
Eternal Family
| The LDS church
attracts people with its doctrine of eternal families |
| Their
advertisements and initial discussions do not mention that only gods
can have an eternal family. |
| A single person
cannot be exalted |
| Mormonism places
family as the highest priority, seemingly above even their
Christ |
| Many Mormons no
longer realize their church teaches they can not have an eternal
family without becoming a god |
|
| God as Man / Man as
God
| The Mormon god was
once just a man |
| The Mormon god
earned the right to be a god |
| The Mormon god is
flesh and blood |
| The Mormon god is
limited in power compared to the Christian God |
| The religion of
Mormonism is man-centric and not, like Christianity, God-centric |
| Mormonism is
attractive because it gives man, ultimately, the power and the glory that rightly belongs to God |
|
| One God or Many
| Mormonism teaches
there are many (millions?) of gods - each with their own world or
universe |
| Mormons base
their claim to believe in only one god by saying they only put their
faith in the god of this world |
| But the god of
this world is really three separate gods organized into a
"godhead" unified in direction |
| Mormonism rejects
the concept of the triune God - even though the oldest Mormon
documents appear to substantiate this concept |
|
| Perfection as Their
Intermediate Goal
| Eternal life is
not a free gift in Mormonism |
| Eternal life must
be earned by becoming perfect and fulfilling other requirements |
| Mormonism has
taken the command "Be ye perfect" and turned it into
"Become ye perfect" |
| Teaches
you can become perfect |
| Rejects
Christ's perfection offered to his children. |
| Doctrine of
perfection creates a lot of stress in Mormons |
| Rejects
the biblical teaching that the purpose of God's law is to show us
our sin and turn us (convert us) to rely solely on what Jesus did
for us. |
| Obsessed with becoming perfect |
| Substantially
weakens the definition of sin - many sins are called transgressions
or mistakes. |
| Progression towards perfection will take a long time, working
even ages after death. |
| Also taught
that the second coming is near |
| Creates a
paradox: If Christ came today, won't most Mormons have not had
enough time to become perfect? |
|
| Perfection as a
Watered-down Goal
| Mormonism teaches you
must become perfect to gain eternal life |
| Also
teaches you can't become perfect, but must "do all you can
do" to become perfect |
| And it teaches you shouldn't worry about becoming perfect, if you are
diligent then god will "make up the difference" |
| Mormonism teaches
there were many perfect men |
| But
current Mormon
Sunday school curriculum states "perfection in this life is not
possible or even expected" |
| Recent LDS church
articles make all of these claims |
| Mormonism rejects
the Gospel message of free eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ |
| Redefines 'grace' from a free gift of God to a power their
god grants the worthy to do what they could not do on their own
- even this 'grace' must be earned |
| Recent quote of a
Mormon apostle: "The gospel of Jesus Christ is the gospel of
work." |
| Result of this
doublespeak seems to be the over-reaching message from the LDS
church to its members of "don't think about it, just keep
working and it will all work out!" |
|
| Conclusions
| The corresponding
tutorial article presents the conclusions of the Godhood chapter of
the Basic Mormon Doctrine Tutorial |
| The article is
similar to this summary, therefore it is not
repeated here |
| To go to this
conclusion article in the tutorial Click
Here - then use your browser's 'back' button to return to this
summary |
|
