Seeking A Clear Definition Of Exaltation

[orion88]

There is only one God in all of existence. There may be others that are called gods, but to us there is only one, and He has been and will be our God forever.

Based on this quote by altersteve, I'm seeking some clarification.

Do you view Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as 3 Gods?

What is the doctrine of exaltation and eternal progression? That a being can become

a God (i.e, a Deity - like Joseph Smith taught Heavenly Father progressed from a man

into a God) or that a person can become a non-deity (a god)?

[bluebell]

I think what altersteve was saying is that there is only one God, to us, in the same way that, regardless of the billions of fathers in the world, there is only one man who is father to ME.

For me, there is no other father in existence than mine and likewise, for LDS, there is no God but God the Father-no other God will ever or could ever take His place.

[Calm]

Exaltation:

Eternal life is the phrase used in scripture to define the quality of life that our Eternal Father lives. The Lord declared, “This is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39). Immortality is to live forever as a resurrected being. Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, everyone will receive this gift. Eternal life, or exaltation, is to live in God's presence and to continue as families (see D&C 131:1–4). Like immortality, this gift is made possible through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. However, to inherit eternal life requires our “obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel” (Articles of Faith 1:3).

http://lds.org/study/topics/eternal-life?lang=eng

[Calm]

http://lds.org/manual/gospel-principles/chapter-47-exaltation?lang=eng

Our Heavenly Father is perfect, and He glories in the fact that it is possible for His children to become like Him. His work and glory is “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39).

Those who receive exaltation in the celestial kingdom through faith in Jesus Christ will receive special blessings. The Lord has promised, “All things are theirs” (D&C 76:59). These are some of the blessings given to exalted people:

1. They will live eternally in the presence of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ (see D&C 76:62).

2. They will become gods (see D&C 132:20–23).

3. They will be united eternally with their righteous family members and will be able to have eternal increase.

4. They will receive a fulness of joy.

5. They will have everything that our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have—all power, glory, dominion, and knowledge (see D&C 132:19–20). President Joseph Fielding Smith wrote: “The Father has promised through the Son that all that he has shall be given to those who are obedient to His commandments. They shall increase in knowledge, wisdom, and power, going from grace to grace, until the fulness of the perfect day shall burst upon them” (Doctrines of Salvation, comp. Bruce R. McConkie, 3 vols. [1954–56], 2:36; italics in original).

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More than this would be speculation.

Edited December 31, 2011 by calmoriah

[orion88]

http://lds.org/manua...tation?lang=eng

They will become gods (see D&C 132:20–23).

By the term "god" do you mean a Deity?

[ERayR]

Do you view Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as 3 Gods?

To answer this question you must clearly define what you term as God.

[Calm]

By the term "god" do you mean a Deity?

Sorry, got interrupted.

See edited post, particularly my short comment at the end.

[Xioneye]

Based on this quote by altersteve, I'm seeking some clarification.

Do you view Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as 3 Gods?

What is the doctrine of exaltation and eternal progression? That a being can become

a God (i.e, a Deity - like Joseph Smith taught Heavenly Father progressed from a man

into a God) or that a person can become a non-deity (a god)?

As Joseph Smith alluded to: God was fully God when he was once a man LIKE Jesus was fully God when he was a man. EOS No godhood for exaltation. A "called" god is one who lays down his life and receives it again subject to God (As Adam was administered the gospel of Jesus Christ). Thus they continue from exaltation to exaltation or the continuation of the seeds (two kinds, spiritual and physical) God the Father, Son and Holy Ghost do NOT continue the seeds as they did not come by way of the seeds but without father and without mother having neither beginning of days nor end of years. Yeah, it means that Adam and Eve were in fact our spirit parents in the pre-existence as Brigham taught and got confused about how exactly this works................indeed.

If any think to challenge my interpretations I hope they come packing some sort of scriptural rationale. Please do not pan it out of hand.

You all know how many times the Book of Mormon (more so originally) called Jesus the Eternal God and the very Eternal Father.....I hope you do anyways. I say its time Mormons measure up to the height of their true scriptural heritage and stop believing the adolescent drivel of yester-years.

[altersteve]

Do you view Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as 3 Gods?

They are three separate and distinct divine beings, so they are "gods" in that sense, but they are one God as the scriptures teach.

What is the doctrine of exaltation and eternal progression?

Exaltation is to become joint-heirs with Christ, and to enjoy life with our Heavenly Father in families forever where we will inherit a portion of God's kingdom. We will become as God is. What this means exactly is not clear.

Eternal progression is to continue to learn and grow in the afterlife.

That a being can become

a God (i.e, a Deity - like Joseph Smith taught Heavenly Father progressed from a man

into a God) or that a person can become a non-deity (a god)?

Joseph Smith never taught that "Heavenly Father progressed from a man into a God," as I have explained several times on this board. Before you quote anything from the King Follett discourse, read it in the context of what Joseph says about Jesus Christ receiving the power to lay down His life from His Father, and ponder what that must mean about the Father's mortality.

We will become divine beings, so will be "gods" in that sense. This is the only reasonable way to interpret the term "god" in the context of God's children "becoming gods." But we will also become like God, which I believe is something far greater. We will receive power, glory, and dominions, and Jesus Christ will share with us what He will inherit from the Father, since He is the only one who will truly inherit anything. Anything we inherit is only because Christ is sharing it with us out of His grace and mercy. But once again, what it means to be "like God" and "joint-heirs with Christ" is not clear, and the Church has not claimed any further revelation than what is already taught in the scriptures.

Edited January 1, 2012 by altersteve

[mfbukowski]

Based on this quote by altersteve, I'm seeking some clarification.

Do you view Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as 3 Gods?

What is the doctrine of exaltation and eternal progression? That a being can become

a God (i.e, a Deity - like Joseph Smith taught Heavenly Father progressed from a man

into a God) or that a person can become a non-deity (a god)?

Let me make it simple.

"God" is a collective noun AND a singular noun. One God, three persons. One Family, three persons. One Corporation, three persons.

The reason it is both collective and singular is because their unity in love and purpose is perfect. Imagine perfect parents, where if you ask mom a question, she will tell you the same thing dad will tell you. (our parents don't do that because they are not "one") There is perfect communication between them- they are, as it were, of "one mind" because they are perfectly one in purpose.

John 17- we can be one with the Father in the same way the Father and the Son are one. THAT is "exaltation".

[Maidservant]

All human beings will continue (resurrection).

We will continue to be ourselves.

We came from celestial law and we entered this mortal plane and received a body, which is now added to us eternally (resurrection). We have the opportunity to return to celestial law, this time with our body and with the husband or wife (of our body). This return is not dependent on physical death. It is dependent on our progression within our covenants, the operation of which covenants may be constant within us/upon us during mortality, during death and continuing beyond our resurrection (I say 'may', because we struggle and can lose these privileges as well, until we repent).

There is one God. God is one. There is one God because God is one. God IS (IS/=) One. There is only one God, in foil to the Adversary (the Adversary is not and cannot be God, the Adversary is not the one God).

Those who are bound to the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost by covenant have the potential (if they endure in keeping the covenant) to enter this limitless union of God (which also includes those things which have been created by God). The persons who are the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost are already bound in this covenant that pre-dates this earth and this mortality, that is ancient beyond aeons. They have an office and a presidency as directly relates to this specific earth and mortality (very brief period, a "week").

[Storm Rider]

By the term "god" do you mean a Deity?

My anwer would be no. God the Father is our deity, our God even though we recognize that Jesus and the Holy Spirit as members of the Godhead and are Gods; however, we pray to the same God that Jesus does.

We will be one with the Father and we will be able to do his bidding in all his creations. What does it mean to do his bidding? I assume we will participate in his creations and do all that he asks of us. There are some LDS who think they will become deities with worlds of their own and will populate those worlds with their spirit children. However, I reject those kinds of descriptions because we have been given so little to explain the complexities they present. It is easier for me to grasp and understand that I am a child of God and through Christ I may return to the Father and become one with him. What we will be doing in the eternities is exactly what our Father will ask of us.

[orion88]

My anwer would be no. God the Father is our deity, our God even though we recognize that Jesus and the Holy Spirit as members of the Godhead and are Gods; however, we pray to the same God that Jesus does.

We will be one with the Father and we will be able to do his bidding in all his creations. What does it mean to do his bidding? I assume we will participate in his creations and do all that he asks of us. There are some LDS who think they will become deities with worlds of their own and will populate those worlds with their spirit children. However, I reject those kinds of descriptions because we have been given so little to explain the complexities they present. It is easier for me to grasp and understand that I am a child of God and through Christ I may return to the Father and become one with him. What we will be doing in the eternities is exactly what our Father will ask of us.

I'll quote a few teachings of the LDS Church from one of her training manuals.

Page 243 of the 1997 Gospel Principles says, "We can be exalted as God is and receive

a fulness of joy. We can, at some future time, increase our family by having spirit children."

Page 302 says, "He glories in the fact that it is possible for his children to become like

him. He has said, This is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal

life of man” (Moses 1:39).

Earlier, in the manual it says, "All good things come from God. Everything that he does is

to help his children become like him—a god. He has said, “Behold, this is my work and my

glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39). (page 9).

The 2009 version removes the term "-a god."

Was this because it is not proper to think of Heavenly Father as a god or that it was too

early in the manual to teach people that they could become a deity like Heavenly Father?

Then going back to page 302:

"They will have their righteous family members with them and will be able to have spirit

children also. These spirit children will have the same relationship to them as we do

to our Heavenly Father. They will be an eternal family."

This seems to imply that you (if you are exalted) will be worshipped by your spirit

children.

Does that sound like a fair interpretation?

[thesometimesaint]

Only in a limited sense. Our earthly children will never pray to us, and I believe that our spirit children will never pray to us. However they(mortal ones, and spirituial ones) will always be our children.

[Maidservant]

Define worship. And it might be helpful also if a person could locate the development of that idea over time--i.e. the etymology of the English word worship in comparison to what the scriptures actually say. I know I am going to be in the minority even among LDS, but any definition of worship that includes an idea of "obeisance" (not obedience) is not my relationship with my Father, nor do I understand it to be anything that my Father asks of his children. So if this is the element upon which we are making the difference whether or not "we will become exalted, or gods" is whether or not we are due obeisance, then I think this is a mistaken and unwarranted and irrelevant crux to be making a discussion upon or defining God upon.

[zerinus]

Based on this quote by altersteve, I'm seeking some clarification.

If you have a question about what altersteve has said, you need to ask him. If you have a general question about what the Church teaches, then you can ask everybody else.

Do you view Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as 3 Gods?

Yes, three Gods united in mind, purpose, and will.

What is the doctrine of exaltation and eternal progression?

Those are two different things. Exaltation is a scriptural concept and has a clearly defined meaning in revelation. It means being saved in the highest degree of celestial glory. See D&C 132:17, 19, 22-23, 26, 29, 37, 39, 49, 57, 63. Eternal progression is not a scriptural concept, and does not have a clearly defined meaning. I have yet to come across a statement which gives a clear explanation of what "eternal progression" is, and backs it up with what God has revealed.

That a being can become a God (i.e, a Deity - like Joseph Smith taught Heavenly Father progressed from a man into a God) or that a person can become a non-deity (a god)?

Not sure how you differentiate between "deity" and "god" (or "God"). You need to explain.

[zerinus]

I'll quote a few teachings of the LDS Church from one of her training manuals.

Page 243 of the 1997 Gospel Principles says, "We can be exalted as God is and receive a fulness of joy. We can, at some future time, increase our family by having spirit children."

Page 302 says, "He glories in the fact that it is possible for his children to become like him. He has said, This is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39).

Earlier, in the manual it says, "All good things come from God. Everything that he does is to help his children become like him—a god. He has said, “Behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39). (page 9).

The 2009 version removes the term "-a god."

Was this because it is not proper to think of Heavenly Father as a god or that it was too early in the manual to teach people that they could become a deity like Heavenly Father?

Then going back to page 302:

"They will have their righteous family members with them and will be able to have spirit children also. These spirit children will have the same relationship to them as we do to our Heavenly Father. They will be an eternal family."

This seems to imply that you (if you are exalted) will be worshipped by your spirit children.

Does that sound like a fair interpretation?

No. Those are speculative comments that go way beyond what God has revealed. Your best bet on those issues is to stick closely to what God has revealed in the standard works.

Edited January 1, 2012 by zerinus

[Storm Rider]

I'll quote a few teachings of the LDS Church from one of her training manuals.

Page 243 of the 1997 Gospel Principles says, "We can be exalted as God is and receive

a fulness of joy. We can, at some future time, increase our family by having spirit children."

Page 302 says, "He glories in the fact that it is possible for his children to become like

him. He has said, This is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal

life of man” (Moses 1:39).

Earlier, in the manual it says, "All good things come from God. Everything that he does is

to help his children become like him—a god. He has said, “Behold, this is my work and my

glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39). (page 9).

The 2009 version removes the term "-a god."

Was this because it is not proper to think of Heavenly Father as a god or that it was too

early in the manual to teach people that they could become a deity like Heavenly Father?

Then going back to page 302:

"They will have their righteous family members with them and will be able to have spirit

children also. These spirit children will have the same relationship to them as we do

to our Heavenly Father. They will be an eternal family."

This seems to imply that you (if you are exalted) will be worshipped by your spirit

children.

Does that sound like a fair interpretation?

I overlook these types of statements. They are more definitive than they should be. We do not have full revelation regarding this topic and are left with more questions than answers. I believe that we may become gods, but I do not think we will become a deity like the Godhead.

As an aside, I don't spend a lot of time thinking about this topic. I focus on what those topics where we have clear revelation and discussion: faith, repentance, baptism, etc. We need to focus on the becoming more like Christ than understanding what a god is and does and what a deity is and does. LDS have done a better job proposing what we might do in the eternities, but they do not come close to explaining all things. God has not chosen to explain clearly many things.