Joseph wrote:Men becoming gods is a Christian doctrine. You may be interested in reading this blog post I wrote a little while back: http://www.josephantley.com/2009/08/christian-doctrine-of-becoming-like-god.html

Excellent read, even for members of the church.

faazshift wrote:

Joseph wrote:Men becoming gods is a Christian doctrine. You may be interested in reading this blog post I wrote a little while back: http://www.josephantley.com/2009/08/christian-doctrine-of-becoming-like-god.html

Excellent read, even for members of the church.

"gods" is translated "elohim," meaning pagan gods, or man-made gods, as i said before....

God has ordained rulers & magistrates to oversee humanity. I see us as being more like princes & princesses bowing down b/f our King in Heaven. Do you believe you'll have beings bowing down to you, worshiping you, in Heaven???

jabo777 wrote:

faazshift wrote:

Joseph wrote:Men becoming gods is a Christian doctrine. You may be interested in reading this blog post I wrote a little while back: http://www.josephantley.com/2009/08/christian-doctrine-of-becoming-like-god.html

Excellent read, even for members of the church.

"gods" is translated "elohim," meaning pagan gods, or man-made gods, as i said before....

You're incorrect. That is not what elohim means, nor is what the psalm refers to.

That fact that Elohim is plural in no way indicates a plurality of endless Gods stretching back through eternity past into the endless reaches of the future.

Hill Cumorah CC wrote:That fact that Elohim is plural in no way indicates a plurality of endless Gods stretching back through eternity past into the endless reaches of the future.

Has anyone indicated otherwise?

Joseph-
Please don't do the, "We don't know much about it." routine with me. I know what Joseph, Brigham, and others taught. I know what I was taught growing up in the LDS church. I know that most informed faithful LDS believe that our Heavenly Father is the son of His Heavenly Father, who was the son of His Heavenly Father, and so forth back through time and that we will someday become the Heavenly Fathers to our "spirit children", and if they are faithful they will become Heavenly Fathers to their "spirit children", and so forth.
When informed intelligent LDS people try to say otherwise , I almost feel insulted. So, please, treat me like an adult.

Hill Cumorah CC wrote:Joseph-
Please don't do the, "We don't know much about it." routine with me. I know what Joseph, Brigham, and others taught. I know what I was taught growing up in the LDS church. I know that most informed faithful LDS believe that our Heavenly Father is the son of His Heavenly Father, who was the son of His Heavenly Father, and so forth back through time and that we will someday become the Heavenly Fathers to our "spirit children", and if they are faithful they will become Heavenly Fathers to their "spirit children", and so forth.
When informed intelligent LDS people try to say otherwise , I almost feel insulted. So, please, treat me like an adult.

I didn't insinuate that I don't believe in the doctrine of exaltation.

However, I certainly don't believe in exaltation because elohim looks like a plural Hebrew noun which in turn implies the there is an eternal hierarchy of gods.

Elohim implies no such thing as an "eternal hierarchy of gods". The Godhead is either bipartite or tripartite, depending on what you believe, so the fact the the Hebrew for "God" is plural makes perfect sense.

Hill Cumorah CC wrote:Elohim implies no such thing as an "eternal hierarchy of gods".

...I thought that's what I said.

The Godhead is either bipartite or tripartite, depending on what you believe, so the fact the the Hebrew for "God" is plural makes perfect sense.

Elohim is a Hebrew word, and often a singular one at that. In Judaism, God is neither bipartite or tripartite.

Joseph wrote:

Hill Cumorah CC wrote:Elohim implies no such thing as an "eternal hierarchy of gods".

...I thought that's what I said.

The Godhead is either bipartite or tripartite, depending on what you believe, so the fact the the Hebrew for "God" is plural makes perfect sense.

Elohim is a Hebrew word, and often a singular one at that. In Judaism, God is neither bipartite or tripartite.

I honestly wasn't sure what you were saying so I said that just in case.

Good thing I'm not a Jew then, eh?

Hill Cumorah CC wrote:I honestly wasn't sure what you were saying so I said that just in case.

Guess sometimes I'm not very clear.

Joseph wrote:

Hill Cumorah CC wrote:I honestly wasn't sure what you were saying so I said that just in case.

Guess sometimes I'm not very clear.

It is almost midnight (at least here).

The vast majority of people who say "Mormons are not Christians" are just parroting something they've heard somewhere else, without bothering to look into it. It gives them an excuse to engage in bigotry and belittle 13 million people in one sweeping statement. Almost none of them ever take the responsibility to properly support this statement with any argument. Those that do offer arguments always offer spurious ones.

nicolasconnault wrote:The vast majority of people who say "Mormons are not Christians" are just parroting something they've heard somewhere else, without bothering to look into it. It gives them an excuse to engage in bigotry and belittle 13 million people in one sweeping statement. Almost none of them ever take the responsibility to properly support this statement with any argument. Those that do offer arguments always offer spurious ones.

You got that right, Nicholas!

I have told some critics with whom I have corresponded that the "Mormons aren't Christians" argument is a convenient fiction, one created (by whoever dreamed the idea up) to create an unnecessary gap between Protestant Christianity and LDS Christianity. I suspect it all came about because many critics of Mormonism just cannot abide the idea that we actually have more in common with so-called "mainstream" Christianity than they want to admit.

Thanks for steering this discussion back onto topic. If we are going to discuss the meaning of "Elohim" and theosis/deification, we ought to do it on another thread.

Don N wrote: If we are going to discuss the meaning of "Elohim" and theosis/deification, we ought to do it on another thread.

Yes sir.