Evangelical/LDS Dialogue Part 3 Deification

3.Biblically, Jesus is God; Jesus was not a man who progressed to Godhood.

Joseph Smith, the 1st Prophet of Mormonism, said on April 6, 1844, just two months before his death:

“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.” (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 6, pg 3)

THAT BLASPHEMOUS STATEMENT CANNOT BE FOUND IN THE BIBLE!!

We’ve already seen John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Let’s put John 1:1 together with Psalm 90:2:

2. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. (Psalm, 90:2)

JESUS IS GOD, AND GOD ALWAYS HAS BEEN GOD! Instead of the man Christ climbing the ladder of achievement to Godhood (instead of man becoming God), GOD BECAME MAN! MORMONISM HAS IT EXACTLY OPPOSITE OF CHRISTIANITY! IN CHRISITIANITY, JESUS BECAME THE GOD-MAN: (PHILLIPIANS 2:5-8)

“5. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
6. Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
7. But made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
8. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”

You see in Mormonism, man becomes god; in Christianity, God became man, to save us all.

POLYTHEISM: Poly = many, Theism = God; Polytheism = many Gods. Mormonism is Polytheistic. Mormonism believes the goal of every Mormon male is to become a God himself. What does the Bible say about Polytheism?

“5. Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen; that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.” (Isaiah 43:10) -Rocky Hulse, Mormon Outreach

You mention a score of issues with the above posting, once again using the illogical tactic of a "shotgun" approach by jamming various inconsistencies into one post hoping one claim hits a soft spot.

You assert that Latter-day Saints believe that Jesus somehow needed to "progress" toward Godhood while on the earth. The problem with this statement is that Latter-day Saints believe Jesus Christ was also the pre-existent Jehovah, and thus was deified before coming to earth as the "Only Begotten of the Father." You also fail to acknowledge the various quotes FROM THE BIBLE Joseph Smith uses in the King Follet discourse and in his rebuttal to the Nauvoo Expositor just days before his own death in regards to a plurality of deity. For your convenience, I'll use them now.

Rev. 1:6, 1 Cor. 8:4-6, 15:46-48, John 5:19, 10:33-34, 17:9-11, 1 John 5:7-8, Ex. 3:16, Rom. 8:15-17.

Latter-day Saints may not be accurately called Polytheists, though Henotheist is a more accurate definition. Henotheism, is a belief in and possible worship of, multiple gods of which One is supreme. The New Testament Christians were henotheists when they acknowledged other deity, yet worshiped the Father through His Son Jesus Christ. (1 Cor. 8:4-6, John 5:18, Philip. 2:6)

If Christ can do nothing of himself but what he saw the Father do also, then why is it so blasphemous to say that Jesus Christ was once as we are now, who lived and breathed on this earth, remaining sinless. No statement or twisting of context can account for the fact that Latter-day Saints have never professed a belief that Christ was a sinner as you and I are. Even Christ said His Father was greater than himself (John 14:28). Thus Christ returned to His God, who is our God. (John 20:17) and became equal with His Father.

Also, very interesting that you bring up Isa. 43:10 which mentions that before Jehovah was no God formed. This is accurate as Christ was the Only begotten of the Father and the "Firstborn." This also has reference to Jehovah being created, in the statement "before me was no God formed" refuting the mainstream creedal Christian doctrine of creatio ex Nihilo. There could be no other who could be the Savior, as the next verse indicates "beside me there is no Savior." In context, Isaiah does not refute plural deity, but focuses Israel's worship toward their God as the Savior.