"Gods of their own planets?

Posted on Jan 5, 2012

There is no Mormon doctrine that says we will become “gods of our own planets.” A search of LDS.org, which includes all of the church lesson manuals, all talks given in church conferences, and all magazines published by the LDS church shows that there are no instances—zero—where it is taught that we will be “gods of our own planets.”

Mormons, along with many other Christian denominations, believe in deification or theosis, based on the teaching that we can become heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17).

Little is known, though much might be speculated, about the specific details of our potential under this doctrine. Reducing it to ruling a planet caricatures a profound and complex belief.

The word “planet” makes Mormons seem more like sci-fi enthusiasts than devout Christians. Other Christians, who also believe in theosis or deification, are not ridiculed in this way.

This isn’t just a quibble about semantics. Claims that Mormons hope for their own planets almost always aim to disrespect and marginalize, not to understand or clarify."

----------------

Translation: We are covering up our past, pretending that what is found on LDS.org is all that the church has ever taught (these liars are not referring to things before 1970's apparently), and that using the word "planet" makes our weird beliefs sound as weird as they are, and we would prefer to couch it in better-sounding language while denying that we teach that as the Good Lord Hinckster taught by example. And of course, no comments or open discussion allowed...only drive-by PR.

I couldn't help but ask if the first paragraph is somewhat dubious on their Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/MormonVoices

Certainly there are plenty of quotes on this from The Brethren, but they escape me at present. Plus logically, how else would someone be a God after Elohim's example unless their children had a place to live during their mortal probation. A planet! Duhhhhhhh



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 01/15/2012 12:23PM by athreehourbore.

Just because Mormons can tie it back to a reference in the Bible doesn't mean that other Christians believe the same thing. I don't know of any other religion - Christian or not - that teaches that humans will become Gods. And it's taught pretty clearly in Primary lessons. The teacher has a picture of a dog and a puppy, a horse and a foal, showing that baby animals grow up to look like their parents. Then the teacher asks, "If God is our Father, what does that mean we will become?"

There are many schools or sects of Hinduism that teach that all people are already gods, even if they don't know it yet.

And Buddhism teaches that all people are already the Buddha. The whole point of Buddhist practice is to rediscover this fact.

To realize your own nature as eternal Brahman is to realize your godhood.

hello Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> And Buddhism teaches that all people are already
> the Buddha. The whole point of Buddhist practice
> is to rediscover this fact.

I don't know about this. I grew up in Buddhism and their notion of gods and angels aren't the same as those of western religions'. And they don't believe that people are already Buddha (Buddha was never a god but just a man, a great teacher)... They believe that we are stuck in a cycle of reincarnations until we have absolved all our karma and reach nirvana (enlightened state), where we escape from the cycle and are forever at peace. Until then, tho, they think that you always have to be reborn as something in another life, and if you did a lot of good things then you might get to be an angel for a life-time (tho being human is the best), but the angels die, too, and reborn as something else.

so you are taught to always treat others (animals included) well since that dog you want to kick might be your reincarnated great grandpa... and also because you don't want to have to come back as a dog in your next life and get kicked (because they believe that what goes around literally do come around if not in this life then in the next one.

We all have the same "Buddha nature". Thus, we are all the Buddha.

What school or sect of Buddhism were you raised in? Some Mahayana sects are quite dualistic, but Tibetan, tantric and other esoteric schools are monist.

Apples & Oranges.

There's a fine line between realizing our buddha nature vs. becoming "like" the buddha.

One involves transcending ego, the other requires maintaining, molding, sculpting, nuturing, and developing the ego in a certain way.

The goal of buddhism is to transcend duality and realize that everything is one. The goal of mormonism is to create individual, dualistic gods who (although one in purpose) must necessarily remain separate individual egos for all of time.

There's really no comparison...

yeah true, kolobian, agreed, different concept of "god" entirely.

But still part of what Hindu and Buddhist yogis, mystics, and many non-yogi practitioners ("believers"), would call "god". Still a legit "god concept".

> smorg Wrote:
> I don't know about this.

I could have sworn I just heard my bishop saying "I don't know that we teach that..."

the minute they say that we are destined to go on in eternity creating spirit children. Wait a minute--celestial bodies should create celestial baby bodies, not spirit bodies.

If God were our father and had a celestial body, we'd have one as well.

Anagrammy

No major Christian group has ever taught that people become gods.

When the early church fathers spoke of deification or theosis, they were referring to the ability of humans, in their future perfected state, to allow the beauty and power of God to permeate them perfectly. The analogy is that of a clear window through which light can shine. This is what mainstream Christians mean today by theosis. It involves a human being being linked to God, not becoming a part of God or becoming a new god.

D. Michael Quinn gave an interesting talk at Sunstone a few years ago in which he pointed out that Mormon theosis is not at all similar to the mainstream Christian idea of theosis. He said that the closest idea to the Mormon concept was that of the ancient Greeks and Romans, who believed that mortals could be made into gods by other gods.

All this goes to one of the main differences between Mormonism and traditional Christianity: Mormonism holds that God is an exalted man, i.e., that God and humans are the same species of being. Traditional Christianity holds that God is not a human being. He is much more, and very "other."

As for the whole get-your-own-world thing, Joseph Fielding Smith wrote, "We will become gods and have jurisdiction over worlds, and these worlds will be peopled by our own offspring." Doctrines of Salvation, v. 2, p. 48. This is probably the most authoritative statement of this doctrine. Other than this, it is really kind of a semi-folk doctrine.

Back in the late '80's, I recall a guy I knew getting back from his mission and waxing poetic about several things, one of which was getting his own planet.

I see the usual "spin-phrases" being used on stuff like this--"little evidence" - "just a theory" - "we just don't know" - "early church leaders interpreting doctrine on their own"...

It seems that doctrine that used to be proudly believed as something that made TSCC special (and by extension, made TBM's superior) is now too embarrassing to look "mainstream christian" so they're back to the old "we never said that" fallback position...

Also found on LDS.org. But I guess it doesn't count because the word "planet" isn't found in it. The spin is just plain pathetic.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/15/2012 01:03PM by athreehourbore.

President Spencer W. Kimball said in a general priesthood meeting:

“Brethren, 225,000 of you are here tonight. I suppose 225,000 of you may become gods. There seems to be plenty of space out there in the universe. And the Lord has proved that he knows how to do it. I think he could make, or probably have us help make, worlds for all of us, for every one of us 225,000.

“Just think of the possibilities, the potential. Every little boy that has just been born becomes an heir to this glorious, glorious program. When he is grown, he meets a lovely woman; they are married in the holy temple. They live all the commandments of the Lord. They keep themselves clean. And then they become sons of God, and they go forward with their great program—they go beyond the angels, beyond the angels and the gods that are waiting there. They go to their exaltation.” (In Conference Report, Oct. 1975, p. 120; or Ensign, Nov. 1975, p. 80

Sounds like apologists are trying to override the system again.

I guess it was tied to the doctrine that Gordon denied, when he said, "I don't know that we teach that." Because if God was once a man, like we are now, then it stands to reason that whatever He has now, would someday be ours too, such as our own planet.

It makes me wonder what the Church will be like in 100 or 200 years from now. By then, will it then be as mainstream as the Protestants?

If it does become mainstream, either its doctrine will change (new revelation?) or it will not be Christian. The doctrine that God was once a man is totally alien to Christianity. God is totally "other". Jesus, of course, is open to discussion. The great mystics speak of union with God. Like the Buddists, it is going beyond ego and finally being union with God, but not God. It certainly isn't a matter of physical bodies. Having spirit babies isn't found in any other religion in the world that I know of. As far as having your own planet and living like Gods, which planet would I go to, my parents or my husband? and my children? (you get the idea). When Jesus was asked a simular question about wives and husband who were brothers, he basically dismissed it as nonsense.

So...being the self of the body, aren't we in a way already "gods of our own planets"? No big charge there...

= "gods of our own planets...of atheists."

Yogis teach that the human body is a microcosm of the entire universe.

Inner space is outer space, and vice versa. Fun to explore!

I remember thinking that when I had my own planet it would look like the Coastal Redwood country. So, somehwere, somehow, someone taught it to me. I do think living an eternity in the Redwoods would be cool though.

1) I'd be QUICK to repudiate mistakes others made in My Name...

2) I'd work out 'some way' to warn ppl of natural disasters.. Before they happened.

3) NOT be so picky about details: tattoos, earrings, etc.

4) Wouldn't give people contradictor instructions! Nothing HIDDEN, including $

5) NO 'Special Favors'!!! Treat EVERYONE the Same!

Don't forget, Mormons play word games.
If you go to LDS dot org, and type in Joseph Smith + polygamy
it responds with "no matches found"
But of course, if you go to family search dot org and enter the info for joe smith, you can see for yourself how many wives he had.
I have reason to believe they have edited their on-line J of D as I am no longer able to do a word search of "six shooter" to find the Joseph Taylor account of the actual killing of J.S.
They never like to admit what really is true.

IT'S IN THEIR SCRIPTURES!!

Not the "planet," but about becoming "gods" (not "god-like" or subservient to God, but "gods"):

D&C 76:58 inhabitants of the CK become gods
D&C 132:17 those who do not abide the law [of celestial marriage] become angels, NOT gods
D&C 132:20, 37 those who receive exaltation are gods, and have no end
D&C 132:37 Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are gods, not angels

If you are a god, you can create not just a planet, but a universe.

Also...
On planets....Perhaps Mormons don't get their own planets, but they do believe the Earth will become a huge seer stone of glass. People living on the Earth after this transformation will be able to look into the Earth and see things happening on "inferior" kingdoms (planets). See D&C 130:9

Also, God's home planet orbits a star named "Kolob." (See Abraham 3:3) and this planet with God is a giant crystal ball. (See D&C 130:6-8)

If I could be a god, I wouldn't put trillions of creatures on a planet where they can't live without the Sun, and yet the Sun can kill them. I wouldn't put them on a planet where they'd boil to death in a Sahara-like environment, or freeze to death in Antarctica. It would be a lovely late spring everywhere, all the time. I'd at least put them in a place where even the planet they live on can kill them. What kind of stupid plan is that?

Not to mention it was in the gospel principles book where it SPECIFICALLY says "people who are in the highest kingdom can become Gods," a fact the women in RS were very excited about.

I can't believe they would try to deny that teaching...and get away with it.

Au Contraire.............
These are taken from MORMON DOCTRINES and/or written by Mormon GA or other bigwigs (seers and revelators): TBMs read carefully PLEASE...if you want to deny this, you should burn every copy of every book in the Morg lit.

“Having fought the good fight we then shall be prepared to lay our bodies down to rest to await the morning of the resurrection when they will come forth and be reunited with the spirits, the faithful, as it is said, receiving crowns, glory, immortality and eternal lives, even a fulness with the Father, when Jesus shall present His work to the Father, saying, ‘Father, here is the work thou gavest me to do.’ Then will they become Gods, even the sons of God; then will they become eternal fathers, eternal mothers, eternal sons and eternal daughters; being eternal in their organization they go from glory to glory, from power to power; they will never cease to increase and to multiply, worlds without end. When they receive their crowns, their dominions, they then will be prepared to frame earths like unto ours and to people them in the same manner as we have been brought forth by our parents, by our Father and God” (Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 283; Journal of Discourses 18:259, October 8, 1876).
4th President Wilford Woodruff

“There are a few individuals in this dispensation who will inherit celestial glory, and a few in other dispensations; but before they receive their exaltation they will have to pass through and submit to whatever dispensation God may decree. But for all this they will receive their reward-they will become Gods, they will inherit thrones, kingdoms, principalities and powers through the endless ages of eternity, and to their increase there will be no end, and the heart of man has never conceived of the glory that is in store for the sons and daughters of God who keep the celestial law. (Wilford Woodruff, June 27, 1875, Journal of Discourses 18:39).

10th President Joseph Fielding Smith
“Latter-day Saints believe in this progression in eternity until, eventually, we become worthy through knowledge, wisdom, humility, and obedience, to be like God, and then to have the privilege of being made equal in power, might and dominion (D&C. 76:95), and to possess all that the Father hath (D&C. 84:38) as members of ‘the Church of the First-born’” (10th LDS President Joseph Fielding Smith Jr., The Way to Perfection, p. 9).

12th President Spencer W. Kimball
“Brethren, 225,000 of you are here tonight. I suppose 225,000 of you may become gods. There seems to be plenty of space out there in the universe. And the Lord has proved that he knows how to do it. I think he could make, or probably have us help make, worlds for all of us, for every one of us 225,000” (Spencer W. Kimball, “The Privilege of Holding the Priesthood,” Ensign (Conference Edition), November 1975, p. 80).

“Man can transform himself and he must. Man has in himself the seeds of godhood, which can germinate and grow and develop. As the acorn becomes the oak, the mortal man becomes a god. It is within his power to lift himself by his very bootstraps from the plane on which he finds himself to the plane on which he should be. It may be a long, hard lift with many obstacles, but it is a real possibility” (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p. 28. See also Doctrines of the Gospel Student Manual Religion 430 and 431, p. 52).

Apostles
“If you have been pretty good people and have kept the com¬mandments of God as far as you understood them, and have done well in many respects, you may have the opportunity of becoming angels; but there is quite a difference between angels and those who have the privilege of endless increase, and of being crowned as kings and priests in the eternal worlds” (Orson Pratt, July 11, 1875, Journal of Discourses 18:50).

“In the Heaven where our spirits were born, there are many Gods, each one of whom has his own wife or wives which were given to him previous to his redemption, while yet in his mortal state. Each God, through his wife or wives, raises up a numerous family of sons and daughters; indeed, there will be no end to the increase of his own children: for each father and mother will be in a condition to multiply forever and ever. As soon as each God has begotten many millions of male and female spirits, and his Heavenly inheritance becomes too small, to comfortably accommodate his great family, he, in connection with his sons, organizes a new world, after a similar order to the one which we now inhabit, where he sends both the male and female spirits to inhabit tabernacles of flesh and bones. Thus each God forms a world for the accommodation of his own sons and daughters who are sent forth in their times and seasons, and generations to be born into the same. The inhabitants of each world are required to reverence, adore, and worship their own personal father who dwells in the Heaven which they formerly inhabited” (Orson Pratt, The Seer, p. 37).

“Man is to become a God. The difference between the human and the divine is a matter of education and development. Gods and men are of the same species, and it is just as reasonable that God’s children should attain to the fulness of His spiritual stature, as that man’s children should grow to the fulness of his physical stature. The Son of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God. Neither need we, His sons and daughters, think it robbery to aspire to that glorious plane where stand God our Father and Jesus Christ, our Elder Brother. He has made it possible for us all to come unto Him and be like Him. He laid down His life to bridge the chasm and enable us to cross it over” (Orson F. Whitney, Collected Discourses 4:132).

“…Mormonism be it true or false, holds out to men the greatest inducements that the human mind can grasp… It teaches men that they can become divine, that man is God in embryo, that God was once man in mortality, and that the only difference between Gods, angels and men is a difference in education and develop¬ment. Is such a religion to be sneered at? It teaches that the worlds on high, the stars that glitter in the blue vault of heaven, are kingdoms of God, that they were once earths like this, that they have Character of God, and to know that we may converse with him as one man converses with another, and that he was once a man like us; yea, that God the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth, the same as Jesus Christ himself did, and I will show it from the Bible” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pp. 345-346. Italics in original. See also Gospel Principles, 1997, p. 305).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/15/2012 10:06PM by enoughenoch19.

Buddhists and Hindus DO NOT make any claims of being Christians now or ever! So, that is irrelevant.

EnoughEnoch19, are you replying to my post far above in this thread? If you hit "reply" at the bottom of my post, your post will appear directly below my post, and it will be clear that you are responding to my post.

My post was directly commenting on this line from "sexismyreligion"'s post above mine:

"I don't know of any other religion - Christian or not - that teaches that humans will become Gods."

"-Christian or not-" is the phrase that prompted my comments about Hinduism and Buddhism, and my comment is therefore relevant.

Why must worthy temple going mormons always speak guile?

Maybe if you don't search lds.org for "gods of our own planets" but for "create worlds", you will be able to find gems like these:

Nothing is more basic in the restored gospel than these truths that, because of recent events of space travel, are so timely. The great hope of the gospel for us is that we may come to a oneness with our Lord and our Father and partake of this same work and glory and godhood. Being joint-heirs of all that the Father has, we may then look forward to using those powers to organize still other worlds from the unorganized matter that exists throughout boundless space. Creating other worlds, peopling them with our own eternal posterity, providing a savior for them, and making known to them the saving principles of the eternal gospel, that they may have the same experiences we are now having and be exalted with us in their turn—this is eternal life.

What liars Mormons are.

They can lie and deny. No one buys it but themselves to make it all okay. If that is what they need to do to keep believing in it, then so be it. I'm just glad I'm out.

I'm BIC, a Seminary graduate and I had to look up what "theosis" was..sorry dude, I was always taught I'd get my own planet and become a God..well technically since I'm female I'd be a wife of my husband the God, but that's really a moot point.