Brigham Young said, "Take up the Bible, compare the religion of the Latter-day Saints with it, and see if it will stand the test."

Question

The following is his whole quote.

I say to the whole world, receive the truth, no matter who presents it to you.

Take up the Bible, compare the religion of the Latter-day Saints with it, and see if it will stand the test. (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 16, p.46)

With this challenge in view I have a lot of questions but I will only focus on one question? Joseph Smith stated, "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 he was once a man like us.... (“King Follett Discourse,” Journal of Discourses 6:3-4, emphasis added)

My question is why does Moroni 8:18 and D & C 20:17 refute what Smith stated? Moroni 8:18:

18 For I know that God is not a partial God, neither a changeable being; but he is unchangeable from all eternity to all eternity.

Doctrine and Covenants 20:17:

17 By these things we know that there is a God in heaven, who is infinite and eternal, from everlasting to everlasting the same unchangeable God, the framer of heaven and earth, and all things which are in them;

Since God is unchangeable and eternal according to LDS writings how do you reconcile this with Joseph Smith stating he "Will refute that idea and will take away the veil?"

Answer 1

(I have very little knowledge of LDS, so the following isn't meant to defend or represent that church's position. It was inspired by my own Question comment about geometric fractals.)

The apparent contradiction, explained in The Gods of the Mormon Church | Catholic Answers is:

• God “is unchangeable from all eternity to all eternity” (Moroni 8:18)
• “God himself was once as we are now” (King Follett Discourse)

Looking at this with what I know of Biblical Christianity and Physics, I don't see that there has to be a contradiction.

Imagine the path of a Christian:

• accepts God's holy spirit at baptism, which combines with the human spirit to become a spirit embryo of a new being.
• lives life guided by God's spirit, and develops and improves spiritual character.
• sheds the physical body and the developed spirit becomes immortal.
• becomes a full child of God and a sibling of Jesus, equal in power, but following the standard family hierarchy of authority.
• works and learns with god in this universe.
• creates a new universe.
• becomes the God of that universe, sharing all experiences with the Father of the previous universe.
• creates an Earth and mankind in that universe.
• recurse.

The dimension of time within each universe is orthogonal to the dimension of time outside it, so “forever” within a universe is independent of time without it. (See Multiple time dimensions - Wikipedia.)

In each universe, “God” is unchanging (universe time).
But “God” used to be a human before this universe and its time was created (God time).

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Again, note that I'm not saying this is true, or that there is any actual denomination that believes it. I'm simply giving an example of why this apparent contradiction isn't as obvious as the Roman Church claims.

Answer 2

This has a question that has an answer in Answers to Gospel Questions vol 2 by Joseph Fielding Smith (if you have an account I believe you can read this online finding the section titled "As Man Is, God Once Was").

Question: Will you kindly explain these two expressions, 'We know that there is a God in heaven, who is infinite and eternal, from everlasting to everlasting,' and 'As man is, God was; as God is man may become.'

Answer: "Everlasting to everlasting" means from the eternity past to the eternity future as far as man's understanding is concerned, from the pre-existence through the temporal (mortal) life unto the eternity following the resurrection. The Savior said:

...The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. (John 5:19)

From this remark we gather that the Son was doing what the Father had done before him. However, so far as the Father is concerned, we will leave that until we receive further knowledge, when and if we become glorified in his kingdom.

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continued...

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Now the Father has promised us, if we are obedient to his commandments, that we also shall advance line on line and precept on precept until we also may receive the fulness and become sons f God through obedience to the gospel, then we will be like him. Then he was as we are, we may become as he is, and this is good scripture.

Let us present a few passages of scriptures which show that those who are faithful in the keeping of his commandments, shall also become sons of God...

John 10:34-36

34 Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?

35 If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken;

36 Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?

1 John 3:1-4

1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

Romans 8:13-17

13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

Rev 21:7

7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.

pg 127-129

_{transcribed by hand, any errors are my own}