What about a more current Prophet like Gordon B. Hinckley?
Since Joseph Smith is the founder of the Mormon Church and he was a false prophet and a dishonest man it is not reasonable to
expect the church to be true today. However one may still wonder so here is some food for thought. It is well known that the
Mormon Church teaches that God was once a man and that we may become a God.
I went to the library and obtained 2 articles where Gordon B. Hinckley was interviewed. they are:
(A) The San Francisco Chronicle, Sunday, April 13, 1997. This is a 7 page article starting on page 3/Z1
(B) Time Magazine, 8-4-1997, page 51-57.
In the San Francisco Chronicle Don Lattin asked Gordon B Hinckley "There are some significant differences in your beliefs. For
instance, don't Mormons believe that God was once a man?" Hinckley's answer was " I wouldn't say that. There is a little
couplet coined, "As man is, God once was. As God is, man may become." Now that's more that a couplet than anything else.
That gets into some pretty deep theology that we don't know very much about."
The reporters for Time Magazine were S.C. Gwynne and Richard N. Ostling they report the following from Gordon B. Hinckley " On
whether his church still holds that God the Father was once a man, he sounded uncertain, "I don't know that we teach it. I don't
know that we emphasize it...I understand the philosophical background behind it, but I don't know a lot about it, and I don't think
others know a lot about it."
I find it quite interesting that he said "I don't know that we teach it" as well as That gets into some pretty deep theology that we
don't know very much about." and
I don't know a lot about it, and I don't think others know a lot about it." Oddly enough Joseph Smith, James Talmage and Bruce
McConkie seem to have known this.
James E. Talmage, Articles of Faith, Ch.24, p.430 - p.431
We believe in a God who is Himself progressive, whose majesty is intelligence; whose perfection consists in eternal advancement
-- a Being who has attained His exalted state by a path which now His children are permitted to follow, whose glory it is their
heritage to share. In spite of the opposition of the sects, in the face of direct charges of blasphemy, the Church proclaims the
eternal truth: "As man is, God once was; as God is, man may be." With such a future, well may man open his heart to the stream of
revelation, past, present, and to come; and truthfully should we be able to say of every enlightened child of God, that he "beareth all
things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things."
Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p.321 GODHOOD
Joseph Smith said: "God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens! 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 take away the veil, so that you may see. It is the first principle of the gospel to know for a certainty the 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 himself the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth, the same as Jesus Christ himself did; and I will show it from 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, namely, by going from one small degree to another, and from a small
capacity to a great one; from grace to grace, from exaltation to exaltation, until you attain to the resurrection of the dead, and are
able to dwell in everlasting burnings, and to sit in glory, as do those who sit enthroned in everlasting power. . . . [Such persons are]
heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ. What is it? To inherit the same power, the same glory and the same exaltation, until
you arrive at the station of a god, and ascend the throne of eternal power, the same as those who have gone before." (Teachings,
pp. 345-347.) Again: "Every man who reigns in celestial glory is a god to his dominions." (Teachings, p. 374)
Should we conclude that the current President of the Mormon Church does not know Mormon doctrine?
I find this very unlikely. We are then left with 2 options the doctrine of God is currently being changed by the Mormon Church or
Gordon B. Hinckley lied. I came to the conclusion that he lied. Why I do not know possibly because such things as this would
hinder missionary efforts in getting converts. Mormon missionaries certainly do not come to your door and say God was once a
man and you can become a God. Nor do they say Jesus and Lucifer are brothers and our elder brothers. I believe if they were up
front about these L.D.S teachings less people would become Mormons. Someone has suggested they might say "milk before
meat" In other words basics before deep theology. I could understand that position. However, if that were the case then that is
what he should have said instead of lying about it!
Since Joseph Smith is the founder of the Mormon Church and he was a false prophet and a dishonest man it is not reasonable to
expect the church to be true today. However one may still wonder so here is some food for thought. It is well known that the
Mormon Church teaches that God was once a man and that we may become a God.
I went to the library and obtained 2 articles where Gordon B. Hinckley was interviewed. they are:
(A) The San Francisco Chronicle, Sunday, April 13, 1997. This is a 7 page article starting on page 3/Z1
(B) Time Magazine, 8-4-1997, page 51-57.
In the San Francisco Chronicle Don Lattin asked Gordon B Hinckley "There are some significant differences in your beliefs. For
instance, don't Mormons believe that God was once a man?" Hinckley's answer was " I wouldn't say that. There is a little
couplet coined, "As man is, God once was. As God is, man may become." Now that's more that a couplet than anything else.
That gets into some pretty deep theology that we don't know very much about."
The reporters for Time Magazine were S.C. Gwynne and Richard N. Ostling they report the following from Gordon B. Hinckley " On
whether his church still holds that God the Father was once a man, he sounded uncertain, "I don't know that we teach it. I don't
know that we emphasize it...I understand the philosophical background behind it, but I don't know a lot about it, and I don't think
others know a lot about it."
I find it quite interesting that he said "I don't know that we teach it" as well as That gets into some pretty deep theology that we
don't know very much about." and
I don't know a lot about it, and I don't think others know a lot about it." Oddly enough Joseph Smith, James Talmage and Bruce
McConkie seem to have known this.
James E. Talmage, Articles of Faith, Ch.24, p.430 - p.431
We believe in a God who is Himself progressive, whose majesty is intelligence; whose perfection consists in eternal advancement
-- a Being who has attained His exalted state by a path which now His children are permitted to follow, whose glory it is their
heritage to share. In spite of the opposition of the sects, in the face of direct charges of blasphemy, the Church proclaims the
eternal truth: "As man is, God once was; as God is, man may be." With such a future, well may man open his heart to the stream of
revelation, past, present, and to come; and truthfully should we be able to say of every enlightened child of God, that he "beareth all
things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things."
Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p.321 GODHOOD
Joseph Smith said: "God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens! 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 take away the veil, so that you may see. It is the first principle of the gospel to know for a certainty the 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 himself the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth, the same as Jesus Christ himself did; and I will show it from 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, namely, by going from one small degree to another, and from a small
capacity to a great one; from grace to grace, from exaltation to exaltation, until you attain to the resurrection of the dead, and are
able to dwell in everlasting burnings, and to sit in glory, as do those who sit enthroned in everlasting power. . . . [Such persons are]
heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ. What is it? To inherit the same power, the same glory and the same exaltation, until
you arrive at the station of a god, and ascend the throne of eternal power, the same as those who have gone before." (Teachings,
pp. 345-347.) Again: "Every man who reigns in celestial glory is a god to his dominions." (Teachings, p. 374)
Should we conclude that the current President of the Mormon Church does not know Mormon doctrine?
I find this very unlikely. We are then left with 2 options the doctrine of God is currently being changed by the Mormon Church or
Gordon B. Hinckley lied. I came to the conclusion that he lied. Why I do not know possibly because such things as this would
hinder missionary efforts in getting converts. Mormon missionaries certainly do not come to your door and say God was once a
man and you can become a God. Nor do they say Jesus and Lucifer are brothers and our elder brothers. I believe if they were up
front about these L.D.S teachings less people would become Mormons. Someone has suggested they might say "milk before
meat" In other words basics before deep theology. I could understand that position. However, if that were the case then that is
what he should have said instead of lying about it!
Click on any Link below
Or use the arrows to turn the page.
Or use the arrows to turn the page.
Christian Beliefs
Explained
Explained
HOME
| This is one page in a book on Mormonism To turn the page use the arrows at the bottom of this page. Or click here to see the Table of Contents. |
