Was God ever a man?

[_Fence Sitter]

Aside from the incarnation, was God ever a man? I'm a non-Mormon, and I just read an interview with Hinckley in which he says he doesn't know anything about God once being like us. This confused the hell out of me. For years, Mormons themselves had told me that God's progression from man to divinity is supposed to serve as our own model for the same kind of progression. Moreover, I was told by Mormons that God had parents, which suggested that at one point he was a spirit baby, meaning that he had to have undergone, one way or another, a form of spiritual progression.

So which one is it?

Welcome.

In case you are unfamiliar with the board, a brief description of its denizens might be in order so that you may understand the nature of the responses to your question.

For the most part here you will encounter people who no longer believe in the doctrines and historical claims of the Mormon church. We do have a few posters, like Tobin, who seem to have created their own unique version of Mormonism. And we have a few posters who still have some faith in the church that Joseph Smith started. Most of us have been life long members and many of us are still considered members by the church itself, since the only criteria for membership seems to be baptism, or the offspring of a baptized member.

Now on to your question.

The simple answer is that it is both.

This is possible because Mormonism does not have a well developed theophany and is not really concerned with resolving contradictions in its ever evolving doctrinal views. So depending on who you ask and what you read you may find support for the notion that God (the father - remember Mormons consider God the father and Jesus Christ as two separate beings) was once a man like the rest of us and evolved into God by the same process we are or you may find that God the father is a unique being different from all other who was the first God to begin the process of deification of mankind.

[_Themis]

You said that God is "unlikely to have been of our species..." But the Mormon Encyclopedia says this under the heading, "God the Father: Overview": "Gods and humans represent a single divine lineage, the same species of being, although they and he are at different stages of progress."

Again, I'm confused.

Not surprising. Tobin's views are his, and should not be confused with what the church may teach. Hinkley was of course lying. He knew church doctrine has God as once a man. At the next conference I seem to remember him telling members that wink wink he knew the doctrine. It is still the doctrine of the church, but maybe not emphasized like it was in the past.

[_zeezrom]

If man progresses toward god then what else can a person conclude?

[_bcspace]

Aside from the incarnation, was God ever a man?

Yes. God the Father was once a man as per official LDS doctrine.

I'm a non-Mormon, and I just read an interview with Hinckley in which he says he doesn't know anything about God once being like us.

He didn't actually say that or end on that note.

[_grindael]

Does that help?.

No.

[_bcspace]

The Mormon Encyclopedia doesn't have the best understanding of Mormonism.

True, it is not published by the Church and therefore does not qualify as a doctrinal work. However, the quote by mcamillus is actual LDS doctrine. We, the Gods, the angels, etc. are all the same type of being (homo sapiens) and of the same lineage.

[_Dantana]

Forrest: Y-y-you're still Lieutenant Dan.

Maybe God still is a man....With a really kewl computer.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/2 ... 26262.html

Freaky Physics Experiment May Prove Our Universe Is A Two-Dimensional Hologram.

"Everyone knows the universe exists in three dimensions, right? Maybe not. For some time now serious physicists have been pondering the seemingly absurd possibility that three-dimensional space is merely an illusion--and that we actually live in a two-dimensional "hologram."

"The prospect of making a discovery that would not only defy common sense but also overturn centuries of scientific thinking has Chou thinking in philosophical, almost mystical terms."

"I have always believed that if indeed there is a creator, then the mechanism by which the world was created is not necessarily unknowable, and if we delve deeply enough we might reach some very interesting and inescapable conclusions," Chou told The Huffington Post in an email. "This topic brings up all sorts of interesting philosophical and theological questions which are perhaps better discussed over a beer or a nice cup of tea. In the meantime, we scientists have a job to do."

[_Markk]

You said that God is "unlikely to have been of our species..." But the Mormon Encyclopedia says this under the heading, "God the Father: Overview": "Gods and humans represent a single divine lineage, the same species of being, although they and he are at different stages of progress."

Again, I'm confused.

The Mormon Encyclopedia doesn't have the best understanding of Mormonism. God the Father is believed by Mormons to have evolved on a planet separate from our own. Since evolution on another world is unlikely to have been exactly the same as ours, God the Father is unlikely to be human. Does that help?

Also, God the Father's father is unlikely to be the same species as him having likely evolved on a world separate from God the Father's and so on. The idea behind Mormonism is more advanced or evolved species guide less advanced species like our own. They send a emissary to be an example for us. In our case, his name was Jesus Christ and he was fully a human-being.

LOL...If your heavenly father gave birth to you with one of his spirit wives...than how can he be another species when you came from his loins in the spirit. I would love to sit in on one of your teachings, I bet the missionaries get a good laugh when they are by themselves.

[Guest]

LOL...If your heavenly father gave birth to you with one of his spirit wives...than how can he be another species when you came from his loins in the spirit. I would love to sit in on one of your teachings, I bet the missionaries get a good laugh when they are by themselves.

What I think gives Tobin away as being full of B.S. is that his typical answers to most questions would fly under most TBM's radars unless they know how out-there the underlying belief is that he holds to support that view.

For example, take his oft-cited claim that no one should believe in Mormonism unless God has told them they should. No missionary is going to quibble too much over that (unless he is saying it to a committed investigator who is having second thoughts over whether or not they have received an answer from God...). But with knowledge of what he claims to believe, you have to take into account that he means this both literally (as in, some other dimensional being ought to show up) and abstractly (in that the being he claims appeared to him made no mention about the LDS church being true, instead assuming that if said being had needed to clarify that point it would have done so). But neither his crazy literal belief on this subject nor his irrational assumption would be welcome by almost any missionary. They'd more likely result in a prayer of "Oh God, make him stop!"

Which, come to think of it, may have been answered. Maybe God was in the neighborhood that day anyway and decided he'd get a jump on his prayer-answering list for the next couple of decades and popped in to Tobin to say, "Stop it!" then went on his merry way, checking off the many, many boxes. "Elders Jones, Alexander, Clark, Murphy, Bentley, Juarez, Twitchell, Adams, Frank, etc., etc., asking 'Please make him stop!!'

"Check, check AND check!"

Which goes to show omniscience and that whole "eternal round" thing with time God has going on can really be a bitch. Or, Sitcom fodder for celestial programming directors. Take your pick.

[_Dantana]

But, what are the logistics?
If god was once a man, but now isn't. What is the defining difference? Is it the super-powers? How did he acquire them? Did a higher governing body lay hands on his head and bestow them? Did he gain them through acquired knowledge?

As far as I can tell, it's all still about physics.

I mean, what kind of safeguards could be in place to keep these bestowal, or acquirable superpowers... privatized?