The Mormon Doctrine of Deity: The Roberts-Van Der Donckt Discussion: To which is added a discourse, Jesus Christ, the revelation of God; also a collection of authoritative Mormon utterances on the being and nature of God — John Shaqi
The Mormon Doctrine of Deity: The Roberts-Van Der Donckt Discussion: To which is added a discourse, Jesus Christ, the revelation of God; also a collection of authoritative Mormon utterances on the being and nature of GodRoberts, B. H. (Brigham Henry)
Religion
The Mormon Doctrine of Deity: The Roberts-Van Der Donckt Discussion: To which is added a discourse, Jesus Christ, the revelation of God; also a collection of authoritative Mormon utterances on the being and nature of God
Roberts, B. H. (Brigham Henry)
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- Doctrines; God (Christianity); Jesus Christ -- Mormon interpretations; Latter Day Saint churches -- Doctrines
As God is infinitely perfect, all potentiality is excluded from him;
in other words, there is no room for growth or more perfection.
Consequently, no possibility of change. Therefore, God was never
without the fullness of the Godhead, consequently, never a man.
NOR CAN MAN EVER BECOME A GOD.
Man is finite or limited in everything, ever changeable and changing,
ever susceptible of improvement. What is finite can never become
infinite. Supposing man grown or improved for billions of years; after
that immense period, he could begin over again improving for billions
of years, and yet ever remain short of infinite perfection, as no
number of finite things can make the infinite. There is and always
shall be a first and a last, to which could be added more and more.
"When a man hath done, then he shall begin, and when he leaveth off, he
shall be at a loss" (Ecclesiasticus 18:2).
A being cannot be at the same time infinite and finite, necessary and
contingent, compound and simple, unchangeable and changeable, eternal
and temporary, omnipotent and weak, actual being and potentiality,
etc., etc.
Now if God were an exalted man, he would have all those contradictory
attributes at the same time, which is absurd. Therefore, it is an utter
impossibility that God should be an exalted man.
As to man becoming God, the idea is absurd. With far more reason
might we contend that the gnat will develop into a lion, and the
animalcules which we swallow in a sip of water will grow into gigantic
giraffes and colossal elephants, as there is infinitely less distance
or difference between those respective animals than between the most
perfect creature and the Creator, the finite and the infinite. Bring
all the scientists of the world together, the Darwins, the Huxleys,
the Tyndalls, the Pasteurs, the Kochs, the Teslas, the Edisons, etc.,
etc., supply them with the most ingenious machinery, and the most
complicated instruments, and with unlimited material, let them make,
I will not say an imitation sun or moon, but simply a little worm as
we often unconsciously crush under our feet, or let them produce not
the magnificent lily or rose, but a tiny blade of grass. Before such
a task, apparently so insignificant, those profound mathematicians,
naturalists and chemists, will throw up their hands in utter impotence.
Expert mixers can indeed make wines in their laboratories, but will
President Roosevelt or Emperor William, or other sovereigns, ever give
them an order to manufacture a little bunch of grapes or a few of the
commonest berries?
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