What is this doctrine?

[_Fortigurn]

I have been presented with the following quotes. I would prefer responses from LDS members.

"That exalted position was made manifest to me at a very early day. I had a direct revelation of this. It was most perfect and complete. If there ever was a thing revealed to man perfectly, clearly, so that there could be no doubt or dubiety, this was revealed to me, and it came in these words: "As man now is, God once was; as God now is, man may be." This may appear to some minds as something very strange and remarkable, but it is in perfect harmony with the teachings of Jesus Christ and with His promises."

Prophet Lorenzo R. Snow, Unchangeable Love of God, Sunday, September 18, 1898

As a matter of fact, he taught that through this process God himself attained perfection. From President Snow's understanding of the teachings of the Prophet on this doctrinal point, he coined the familiar couplet: "As man is, God once was; as God is, man may become." This teaching is peculiar to the restored gospel of Jesus Christ."

Elder Marion G. Romney, General Conference, October 1964

"The doctrine that God was once a man and has progressed to become a God is unique to this church."

Official LDS Lesson Manual, 1997, page 34, "The Teachings of Brigham Young"

The Prophet Joseph Smith taught of a much simpler and more sensible relationship: “God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens! That is the great secret. If the veil were rent today, and the great God who holds this world in its orbit … was to make himself visible … , you would see him like a man in form—like yourselves in all the person, image, and very form as a man; for Adam was created in the very fashion, image and likeness of God, and received instruction from, and walked, talked and conversed with Him, as one man talks and communes with another.”"

“Strengthening the Family: Created in the Image of God, Male and Female,” Ensign, Jan. 2005, 48

I have a few questions:

* What doctrine is being referred to here?

* Is this a revelation?

* Is this taught by the LDS Church?

Please note that I am not here to debate the doctrine.

[_KimberlyAnn]

I'm no longer LDS, so I won't reply to your query, but I do want to say "Welcome back." Haven't seen you around these parts in forever!

Kimberly Ann

[_Inconceivable]

Fortigurn,

Doctrine is a word slippery in definition at best. There is no accepted standard for the term.

Doctrine? Whatever.

However, I would prefer to say that it has been taught in the Mormon church to the affect that all should accept it as a revelation from the Mormon Almighty God Himself.

There may come a time when it will not be required it be accepted as revelation.

[_CaliforniaKid]

Hey, it's Fortigurn!

[_Boaz & Lidia]

<logic mode=off>

<mopologist mode=on>
It was doctrine at the time it was spoken for the people of that era. It could still be doctrine if so determined by the current true and living prophet.
<mopologist mode=off>

<logic mode=on>

[_Scottie]

<logic mode=off>

<mopologist mode=on>
It was doctrine at the time it was spoken for the people of that era. It could still be doctrine if so determined by the current true and living prophet.
<mopologist mode=off>

<logic mode=on>

Hey, I spoke with a TBM girl just the other day who told me that the gospel makes PERFECT sense, and she couldn't fathom how anyone couldn't see that.

[_harmony]

Hey, I spoke with a TBM girl just the other day who told me that the gospel makes PERFECT sense, and she couldn't fathom how anyone couldn't see that.

The gospel does. It's the church that doesn't. Gospel = God. Church = men. Simple, really.

[_Scottie]

Hey, I spoke with a TBM girl just the other day who told me that the gospel makes PERFECT sense, and she couldn't fathom how anyone couldn't see that.

The gospel does. It's the church that doesn't. Gospel = God. Church = men. Simple, really.

Well, except that nobody can define exactly what "The Gospel" is...

But other than that, yeah, I suppose it's simple. :)

[_TygerFang]

The church could list everything that it said that is doctrine and everything that isn't and it really wouldn't make a difference at all. The doctrine would just change during the next political debate...

[_bcspace]

Is this taught by the LDS Church?

This is the way our Heavenly Father became God. Joseph Smith taught: “It is the first principle of the Gospel to know for a certainty the character of God. … He was once a man like us; … God himself, the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth, the same as Jesus Christ himself did” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pp. 345–46).
Chapter 47: Exaltation,” Gospel Principles, 301

Doctrine is a word slippery in definition at best. There is no accepted standard for the term.

Yes there is. The standard is illustrated in the link in my siggy. For example, the above is doctrine because it's published in Gospel Principles, an official work of the Church.