The Root

[Shulem]

That gets into some pretty deep theology that we don’t know very much about.

Tell us what you do know and quit lying for the church.

We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.

So, the first principle is you believe in God, the Eternal Father, who was once a man like us, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost who does not yet have a body of flesh and bone like the Father. It's really that simple.

I understand exactly what Joseph Smith was teaching. It does not require additional revelation to understand Smith's idea of the character of God and how God came to be God. We are given to understand that He was once a man like us and dwelt on an earth, the same as us, and the same as all gods have done before.

I get it. But Mormons today are in denial and bury their heads in the sand.

[bill4long]

Tell us what you do know and quit lying for the church.

We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.

So, the first principle is you believe in God, the Eternal Father, who was once a man like us, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost who does not yet have a body of flesh and bone like the Father. It's really that simple.

I understand exactly what Joseph Smith was teaching. It does not require additional revelation to understand Smith's idea of the character of God and how God came to be God. We are given to understand that He was once a man like us and dwelt on an earth, the same as us, and the same as all gods have done before.

I get it. But Mormons today are in denial and bury their heads in the sand.

It's a different Mormonism now than the one I grew up in. All the Faithful that I knew were well aware of the doctrine and embraced it enthusiastically. (Also, everyone was well aware that, while suspended at the time, Plural Marriage would be restarted amongst mortals during the Millennium, and practiced in the Afterlife. The women always went a little silent when that topic was broached. But I digress.)

The King Follet sermon was published by church-owned Deseret Books in the volume Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith for years. I bought a copy at Deseret Books bookstore in Anaheim in the early 80s. Our ward building had a copy of it in the library.

I once had some guy tell me that the "our God was once a mortal man who became a god" doctrine wasn't official doctrine blah blah blah. I hear Mormons say that these days too. So I called church headquarters circa 1985. I believe it was the Correlation Department. Had a little chat with a nice lady on the other end. I asked her if the King Follet sermon had the force of official doctrine. She replied almost with glee, "ohhh yes, the Brethren quote from it all the time." I later discovered that is has been quoted all over Correlated church materials, institute manuals, CES training manuals, etc.

I find it amusing what Gordo said during the Larry King interview. Then at a conference made a hasty clarification to the Faithful that The Doctrine was alive and well.