Author's Note: With one exception, this segment includes only those doctrines which deal with attributes of the Father that are not mutual with the Son. The exception is doctrine number 287: "God, the eternal Father, is an exalted man." We know that Christ, too, is now an exalted man.
281. God the Father is the supreme member of the Godhead.
282. God the Father carries the title of Elohim.
283. God the Father is the literal father of the spirits of all people.
284. God the Father is the spiritual and the physical parent of Jesus Christ.
286. God the Father is to be the object of our worship.
287. God, the Eternal Father, is an exalted man.
281. God the Father is the supreme member of the Godhead.
God, the Father, the supreme God, knows the equivalent of every phase of the Great Plan, which we are working out. He has had our experiences or their equivalents, and understands therefore the difficulties of our journey. His love for us is an understanding love. Our earth troubles we may lay fully before him, knowing that he understands how human hearts are touched by the tribulations and the joys of life. (A Rational Theology, p. 67) TLDP:220
quoted by Elder Joseph Fielding Smith
Everlasting covenant was made between three personages before the organization of this earth, and relates to their dispensation of things to men on the earth; these personages, according to Abraham's record, are called God the first, the Creator; God the second, the Redeemer; and God the third, the witness or Testator. (May 16, 1841) TPJS:190; DGSM:8
quoted by John A. Widtsoe
He is our Heavenly Father; he is also our God, and the Maker and upholder of all things in heaven and on earth. He sends forth his counsels and extends his providences to all living. He is the Supreme Controller of the universe. . . . [T]he hairs of our heads are numbered by him, and not a sparrow falleth to the ground without our Father; and he knoweth every thought and intent of the hearts of all living, for he is everywhere present by the power of his Spirit—his minister, the Holy Ghost. He is the Father of all, is above all, through all, and in you all; he knoweth all things pertaining to this earth, and he knows all things pertaining to millions of earths like this. (In Tabernacle, Jan. 8, 1865, JD11:41) DBY:19
. . .God is the only supreme governor and independent being in whom all fullness and perfection dwell; who is omnipotent, omnipresent and omniscient; without beginning of days or end of life; and that in him every good gift and every good principle dwell; and that he is the Father of lights; in him the principle of faith dwells independently, and he is the object in whom the faith of all other rational and accountable beings center for life and salvation. (Lectures on Faith delivered to the School of the Prophets, 1834-35) LOF2:2; DGSM:8
Anthon H. Lund, Charles W. Penrose
(First Presidency)
The Council of the Twelve
In all His dealings with the human family Jesus the Son has represented and yet represents Elohim His Father in power and authority. This is true of Christ in His preexistent, antemortal, or unembodied state, in the which He was known as Jehovah; also during His embodiment in the flesh; and during His labors as a disembodied spirit in the realm of the dead; and since that period in His resurrected state. To the Jews He said: "I and My Father are one" (John 10:30; see also John 17:11, 22) yet He declared "My Father is greater than I" (John 14:28); and further, "I am come in my Father's name" (John 5:43; see also John 10:25). The same truth was declared by Christ Himself to the Nephites (see 3 Nephi 20:35 and 3 Nephi 28:10), and has been reaffirmed by revelation in the present dispensation (D&C 50:43). Thus the Father placed His name upon the Son, and Jesus Christ spoke and ministered in and through the Father's name; and so far as power, authority, and Godship are concerned His words and acts were and are those of the Father. ("The Father and The Son; A Doctrinal Exposition by The First Presidency and The Twelve," published by the Church in a pamphlet, June 30, 1916. Reprinted in AF:420-426. See MOFP:5:23-34) MOFP5:31-32
The presiding authority in the Universe is, God the Father, his Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. . . . (Man, His Origin and Destiny, pp. 50-53) TLDP:243
quoted by John
My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. (Jesus speaks of his sheep to whom he gives eternal life) John 10:29
Related Witnesses:
quoted by John
But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. . . .
28. Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I. . . .
31. But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence. (Jesus comforts the Twelve in anticipation of his crucifixion) John 14:26,28,31
We follow the Son as he follows his Father. We labor and strive to be like the Son as he is like the Father, and the Father and Son and Holy Ghost are one. For these holy Beings we have unbounded love, reverence, and worship. (The Promised Messiah, p. 13) TLDP:228
Know ye not that he was holy? But notwithstanding he being holy, he showeth unto the children of men that, according to the flesh he humbleth himself before the Father, and witnesseth unto the Father that he would be obedient unto him in keeping his commandments. . . .
12. And also, the voice of the Son came unto me, saying: He that is baptized in my name, to him will the Father give the Holy Ghost, like unto me; wherefore, follow me, and do the things which ye have seen me do. (Nephi tells why Christ was baptized, between 559-545 B.C.) 2 Nephi 31:7,12
282. God the Father carries the title of Elohim.
Anthon H. Lund, Charles W. Penrose
(First Presidency)
The Council of the Twelve
. . .God the Eternal Father, whom we designate by the exalted name-title "Elohim," is the literal Parent of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and of the spirits of the human race. Elohim is the Father in every sense in which Jesus Christ is so designated, and distinctively He is the Father of spirits. Thus we read in the Epistle to the Hebrews: "Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?" (Hebrews 12:9). In view of this fact we are taught by Jesus Christ to pray: "Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name" . . . .
. . . . Jesus Christ is the Son of Elohim both as spiritual and bodily offspring; that is to say, Elohim is literally the Father of the spirit of Jesus Christ and also of the body in which Jesus Christ performed His mission in the flesh, and which body died on the cross and was afterward taken up by the process of resurrection, and is now the immortalized tabernacle of the eternal spirit of our Lord and Savior. ("The Father and The Son; A Doctrinal Exposition by The First Presidency and The Twelve," pamphlet published by the Church June 30, 1916. Reprinted in AF:420-426. See MOFP5:23-34) AF:421
quoted by John A. Widtsoe
I want to tell you, each and every one of you, that you are well acquainted with God our Heavenly Father, or the great Elohim. You are all well acquainted with him, for there is not a soul of you but what has lived in his house and dwelt with him year after year; and yet you are seeking to become acquainted with him, when the fact is, you have merely forgotten what you did know. (In Tabernacle, Feb. 1857, JD4:216) DBY:50
That Child to be born of Mary was begotten of Elohim, the Eternal Father, not in violation of natural law but in accordance with a higher manifestation thereof; JTC:81; DGSM:9
Anthon H. Lund, Charles W. Penrose
(First Presidency)
The Council of the Twelve
[I]n all His dealings with the human family Jesus the Son has represented and yet represents Elohim His Father in power and authority. MOFP5:31-32
Anthon H. Lund, Charles W. Penrose
(First Presidency)
The Council of the Twelve
Jesus Christ is the Son of Elohim both as spiritual and bodily offspring; that is to say, Elohim is literally the Father of the spirit of Jesus Christ and also of the body in which Jesus Christ performed His mission in the flesh, and which body died on the cross and was afterward taken up by the process of resurrection, and is now the immortalized tabernacle of the eternal spirit of our Lord and Savior. ("The Father and The Son; A Doctrinal Exposition by The First Presidency and The Twelve," pamphlet published by the Church June 30, 1916. Reprinted in AF:420-426. See MOFP5:23-34; "The Father and the Son," IE1916Aug:935) MOFP5:27; TLDP:230
Among the spirit children of Elohim, the first-born was and is Jehovah or Jesus Christ, to whom all others are juniors. (Gospel Doctrine, p. 70) MPSG1987:39
Neither the Father Elohim nor the Son Jehovah would alienate himself from the children of men. It is they, the men, who cut themselves off if there be estrangement. Both the Father and the Son would gladly commune and associate with men. CR1964Apr:93
The Bible has hundreds of references to the name of God, a sacred word which usually refers to God the Father, or Elohim. (CR 1986Apr; Reverent and Clean, Ensign, May 1986, p.49)
God the Father, the great Elohim, the Almighty God, is the Father of our spirits, the framer of heaven and earth, and the author of the plan of our salvation. (CR 1987Oct; “The Light and Life of the World”, Ensign, November 1987, p.63)
283. God the Father is the literal father of the spirits of all people.
Anthon H. Lund, Charles W. Penrose
(First Presidency)
The Council of the Twelve
. . .God the Eternal Father, whom we designate by the exalted name-title "Elohim," is the literal Parent of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and of the spirits of the human race. ("The Father and The Son; A Doctrinal Exposition by The First Presidency and The Twelve," pamphlet published by the Church June 30, 1916. Reprinted in AF:420-426. See MOFP:5:23-34) AF:421
quoted by John A. Widtsoe
There is not a person here today but what is a son or a daughter of that Being [God our heavenly Father, Elohim]. In the spirit world their spirits were first begotten and brought forth, and they lived there with their parents for ages before they came here. (In Tabernacle, Feb. 8, 1857, JD4:216) DBY:50; DGSM:7
Man is the offspring of God. . . . We are as much the children of this great Being as we are the children of our mortal progenitors. We are flesh of his flesh, bone of his bone, and the same fluid that circulates in our bodies, called blood, once circulated in his veins as it does in ours. As the seeds of grains, vegetables and fruits produce their kind, so man is in the image of God. (In Tabernacle, Feb. 23, 1862, JD9:283) TLDP:212
Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? (Paul writes to the Jewish members of the Church on faith, about A.D. 60) Hebrews 12:9
There are thousands of members of this Church who know—it is not a question of imagination at all—they know that God lives and that Jesus is the Christ and that we are the children of God. He is the Father of our spirits. We have not come from some lower form of life, but God is the Father of our spirits, and we belong to the royal family, because he is our Father. CR1946Apr:125
For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
29. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device. (Paul preaches on Mars' Hill about the Unknown God) Acts 17:28-29
And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation? (The congregation appeals to God not to punish them for the rebels' sake) Numbers 16:22
quoted by John
Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. (The risen Christ appears to Mary Magdalene) John 20:17
[T]he great Eternal God is our Father and we are begotten of Him or UNTO Him and to Him we owe allegiance, to Him we owe obedience, because He is our Father and our God and our King. We should obey Him because of His parentage to us; we should obey Him because we are His children and He has the right to our obedience, and being so high and exalted and lifted up, He understands us better than we understand ourselves and He has our destiny in His hands and He has power over life and over death and we should be obedient to Him because of our relationship to Him. CR1916Apr: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. (Letter to the Church in Rome, about A.D. 55) Romans 8:16-17
quoted by Elder Joseph Fielding Smith
God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man. . . . If the veil were rent today, . . . if you were to see him today, you would see him like a man in form—like yourselves in all the person, image, and very form as a man. . . .
. . . . 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. (To the Church in general conference—to a congregation of 20,000—,"King Follett Sermon" April 7, 1844) (See HC6:302-317, also see The Words of Joseph Smith, pp. 340-62.) TPJS:345-46; DGSM:7-8
The Father of our spirits has a full knowledge of the nature and disposition of each of His children, a knowledge gained by observation and experience in the long ages of our primeval childhood, when we existed as unembodied spirits, endowed with individuality and agency—a knowledge compared with which that gained by earthly parents through experience with their children in the flesh is infinitesimally small. (The Vitality of Mormonism, p. 320) TLDP:218
God the Father, the great Elohim, the Almighty God, is the Father of our spirits, the framer of heaven and earth, and the author of the plan of our salvation. (CR 1987Oct; “The Light and Life of the World”, Ensign, November 1987, p.63)
284. God the Father is the spiritual and the physical parent of Jesus Christ.
One of the great questions that I have referred to that the world is concerned about, and is in confusion over, is as to whether or not his was a virgin birth, a birth wherein divine power interceded. Joseph Smith made it perfectly clear that Jesus Christ told the absolute truth, as did those who testify concerning him, the Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ, wherein he is declared to be the very Son of God. And if God the Eternal Father is not the real Father of Jesus Christ, then are we in confusion; then is he not in reality the Son of God. But we declare that he is the Only Begotten of the Father in the flesh.
Mary told the story most beautifully when she said that an angel of the Lord came to her and told her that she had found favor in the sight of God, and had come to be worthy of the fulfilment of the promises heretofore made, to become the virgin mother of the Redeemer of the world. She afterwards, referring to the event, said: "God hath done wonderful things unto me." "And the Holy Ghost came upon her," is the story, "and she came into the presence of the highest." No man or woman can live in mortality and survive the presence of the Highest except by the sustaining power of the Holy Ghost. So it came upon her to prepare her for admittance into the divine presence, and the power of the Highest, who is the Father, was present, and overshadowed her, and the holy Child that was born of her was called the Son of God.
Men who deny this, or who think that it degrades our Father, have no true conception of the sacredness of the most marvelous power with which God has endowed mortal men—the power of creation. Even though that power may be abused and may become a mere harp of pleasure to the wicked, nevertheless it is the most sacred and holy and divine function with which God has endowed man. Made holy, it is retained by the Father of us all, and in his exercise of that great and marvelous creative power and function, he did not debase himself, degrade himself, nor debauch his daughter. Thus Christ became the literal Son of a divine Father, and no one else was worthy to be his father. (Sermons and Missionary Services of Melvin J. Ballard, pp. 166-67) TLDP:301
Anthon H. Lund, Charles W. Penrose
(First Presidency)
The Council of the Twelve
Jesus Christ is the Son of Elohim both as spiritual and bodily offspring; that is to say, Elohim is literally the Father of the spirit of Jesus Christ and also of the body in which Jesus Christ performed His mission in the flesh, and which body died on the cross and was afterward taken up by the process of resurrection, and is now the immortalized tabernacle of the eternal spirit of our Lord and Savior. ("The Father and The Son; A Doctrinal Exposition by The First Presidency and The Twelve," published by the Church in a pamphlet, June 30, 1916. Reprinted in AF:420-426. See MOFP5:23-34) MOFP5:27
We believe absolutely that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, begotten of God, the first-born in the spirit and the only begotten in the flesh; that He is the Son of God just as much as you and I are the sons of our fathers. ("Analysis of the Articles of Faith," Millennial Star, Jan. 5, 1922, p. 2) TLDP:301
Now who is Jesus Christ, and how could he bring about the resurrection when no other man nor all men put together could do so? The Scriptures respond to these questions. They make it clear that the spirit person Jesus Christ—as are the spirits of all men—is the Son of God, our Eternal Father. In this respect he is like all other men. He differs from all other men, however, by reason of the fact that men's bodies are begotten of mortal men and are, therefore, subject to death, being descendants and inheritors from Adam, while Christ's physical body was begotten of God, our Heavenly Father—an immortal being not subject to death. Christ, therefore, inherited from his Father the faculty to live on indefinitely. CR1975Apr:123-24
285. When God the Father appears to mortals it is principally for the purpose of bearing record of the Son.
All revelation since the fall has come through Jesus Christ, who is the Jehovah of the Old Testament. In all of the scriptures, where God is mentioned and where he has appeared, it was Jehovah who talked with Abraham, with Noah, Enoch, Moses and all the prophets. He is the God of Israel, the Holy One of Israel; the one who led that nation out of Egyptian bondage, and who gave and fulfilled the law of Moses . The Father has never dealt with man directly and personally since the fall, and he has never appeared except to introduce and bear record of the Son. (Doctrines of Salvation, 1:27) DGSM:4
A general consideration of scriptural evidence leads to the conclusion that God the Eternal Father has manifested Himself to earthly prophets or revelators on very few occasions, and then principally to attest the divine authority of His Son, Jesus Christ. . . . [T]he Son was the active executive in the work of creation; throughout the creative scenes the Father appears mostly in a directing or consulting capacity. Unto Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham and Moses the Father revealed Himself, attesting the Godship of the Christ, and the fact that the Son was the chosen Savior of mankind. On the occasion of the baptism of Jesus, the Father's voice was heard, saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased"; and at the transfiguration a similar testimony was given by the Father. On an occasion yet later, while Jesus prayed in anguish of soul, submitting Himself that the Father's purposes be fulfilled and the Father's name glorified, "Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again." The resurrected and glorified Christ was announced by the Father to the Nephites on the western hemisphere, in these words: "Behold my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name: hear ye him." From the time of the occurrence last noted, the voice of the Father was not heard again among men, so far as the scriptures aver, until the spring of 1820, when both the Father and the Son ministered unto the prophet Joseph Smith, the Father saying, "This is my beloved Son, hear him" These are the instances of record in which the Eternal Father has been manifest in personal utterance or other revelation to man apart from the Son. God the Creator, the Jehovah of Israel, the Savior and Redeemer of all nations, kindreds and tongues, are the same, and He is Jesus the Christ. JTC:39-40
quoted by Joseph Smith,
translating John
And no man hath seen God at any time, except he hath borne record of the Son; for except it is through him no man can be saved. (Revised Version) (The record of the Apostle John ) JST(John 1:18 in Appendix)
Related Witnesses:
quoted by Mormon
Behold my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name—hear ye him. (God the Father testifies of his Beloved Son, A.D. 34) 3 Nephi 11:7
It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him (Visitation of the Father and the Son, spring of 1820) JS-H 1:17
For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father— (Vision to Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon, Feb. 16, 1832) D&C 76:23
recorded in Acts
But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,
56. And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. (Stephen is stoned and receives a vision of the Father and the Son) Acts 7:55-56
quoted by Joseph Smith
And I, John, bear record, and lo, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Ghost descended upon him in the form of a dove, and sat upon him, and there came a voice out of heaven saying: This is my beloved Son. (The Lord reveals that John bore record of his glory, Kirtland, Ohio, May 6, 1833) D&C 93:15
quoted by Mormon
And this is my doctrine, and it is the doctrine which the Father hath given unto me; and I bear record of the Father, and the Father beareth record of me, and the Holy Ghost beareth record of the Father and me; and I bear record that the Father commandeth all men, everywhere, to repent and believe in me. (The resurrected Jesus Christ addresses his Nephite disciples, A.D. 34) 3 Nephi 11:32
Yes, God does live. The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are three separate personal beings, alike in form, in whose image man is made. In order that these basic fundamental truths, lost to the world through centuries of erroneous teachings, might again be available to people of our day, a new revelation was necessary, and this was given to the fourteen-year-old Joseph Smith in the form of the most glorious vision ever given to mortal man, so far as the records indicate—a vision in which Father and Son appeared simultaneously. . . . CR1948Oct:59
Author's Note: Joseph Fielding Smith: There are too many passages [in the Bible] which declare very definitely that God did appear, "face to face," with his ancient servants. Therefore, passages which declare that no man has seen him, must be in error. The prophet Joseph Smith has given us a correction of John 1:18 as follows: "And no man hath seen God at any time, except he hath borne record of the Son; for except it is through him no man can be saved." [JST(John 1:19 in Appendix)] (MPSG72-73:16)
286. God the Father is to be the object of our worship.
We do not worship the Son, and we do not worship the Holy Ghost. I know perfectly well what the scriptures say about worshiping Christ and Jehovah, but they are speaking in an entirely different sense—the sense of standing in awe and being reverentially grateful to him who has redeemed us. Worship in the true and saving sense is reserved for God the first, the Creator.
Our revelations say that the Father "is infinite and eternal," that he created "man, male and female."
And gave unto them commandments that they should love and serve him, the only living and true God, and that he should be the only being whom they should worship. (D&C 20:17-19
Jesus said: True worshippers shall [note that this is mandatory] worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
For unto such hath God promised his Spirit. And they who worship him, must worship in spirit and in truth. [JST John 4:25-26
There is no other way, no other approved system of worship. ("Our Relationship with the Lord," in Brigham Young University Speeches of the Year, 1981-82, p. 98) TLDP:746-47
We . . . accept without any question the doctrines we have been taught by the Prophet Joseph Smith and by the Son of God himself, that we pray to God, the Eternal Father, in the name of his only begotten Son, to whom also our father Adam and his posterity have prayed from the beginning. CR1916Oct:6
receiving the Word of the Lord
And you shall fall down and worship the Father in my name. (Revelation received June 1829) D&C 18:40
recorded in Luke
And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. (Jesus fasts 40 days and is tempted of the devil) Luke 4:8
recorded in Mark
And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. (A scribe asks Jesus in sincerity: "Which is the first commandment of all?") Mark 12:30
287. God, the Eternal Father, is an exalted man.
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, and who upholds all worlds and all things by His power, was to make himself visible,—I say, if you were to see him today, 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. . . . 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. (To the Church in general conference—to a congregation of 20,000,"King Follett Sermon" April 7, 1844) (See HC6:302-317, also see The Words of Joseph Smith, pp. 340-62.) HC6:305
John R. Winder, Anthon H. Lund
(First Presidency)
God Himself is an exalted man, perfected, enthroned, and supreme. By His almighty power He organized the earth, and all that it contains, from spirit and element, which exist co-eternally with Himself. ("The Origin of Man," IE1909Nov:81) TLDP:221
Christ was the Son of God, of God the Father; the Father of His Spirit was the Father of His body. He was an exalted man who had passed through all things that Jesus Christ, His Beloved Son, afterwards passed through. It was a repetition of the things that had been done from remote, eternal ages, the great plan of salvation for all the people of all the worlds that God has created. CR1916Apr:23
God, our Eternal Father, is an immortal exalted Man, with a body of flesh and bones and eternal spirit, inseparably connected that cannot be divided and cannot die. (Man, His Origin and Destiny, pp. 50-53) TLDP:243
The Church proclaims the eternal truth: "As man is, God once was; as God is, man may be." With such a future, well may man open his heart to the stream of revelation, past, present, and to come. . . . AF:390
As man now is, God once was. . . .
We are the offspring of God, begotten by Him in the spirit world, where we partook of His nature as children here partake of the likeness of their parents. Our trials and sufferings give us experience, and establish within us principles of godliness. (At Brigham City Tabernacle, prior to being sentenced by Judge Powers in the First District Court, Jan. 10, 1886, JD26:368) TLDP:157
Through a continual course of progression, our heavenly Father has received exaltation and glory, and he points us out the same path; and inasmuch as he is clothed with power, authority, and glory, he says, "Walk ye up and come in possession of the same glory and happiness that I possess." (In Tabernacle, Oct. 1857) DGSM:92
The Church teaches that when God created man in his own image, he did not divest himself of that image. He is still in human form and is possessed of sanctified and perfected human qualities, which we all admire. All through the holy scriptures, the Father and the Son are seen to be separate and distinct personages. We affirm the doctrine of the ancient scripture and of the prophets that asserts that man was created in the image of God and that God possessed such human qualities as consciousness, will, love, mercy, justice. In other words he is an exalted, perfected, and glorified Being. CR1969Apr:51
Our Father in heaven is a personage of tabernacle, just as much as I am who stand before you to-day, and he has all the parts and passions of a perfect man, and his body is composed of flesh and bones, but not of blood. (To Sunday School children, in Tabernacle, July 24, 1877, JD19:64) TLDP:221
Remember that God, our heavenly Father, was perhaps once a child, and mortal like we ourselves, and rose step by step in the scale of progress, in the school of advancement; has moved forward and overcome, until He has arrived at the point where He now is. (General conference, Oct. 6, 1853, JD1:123) TLDP:221
'Mormonism' claims that all nature, both on earth and in heaven, operates on a plan of advancement; that the very Eternal Father is a progressive Being; that his perfection, while so complete as to be incomprehensible by man, possesses this essential quality of true perfection—the capacity of eternal increase. AF:474
Related Witnesses:
Where shall we find a prototype into whose likeness we may be assimilated, in order that we may be made partakers of life and salvation? or, in other words, where shall we find a saved being? for if we can find a saved being, we may ascertain without much difficulty what all others must be in order to saved. We think that it will not be a matter of dispute, that two beings who are unlike each other cannot both be saved; for whatever constitutes the salvation of one will constitute the salvation of every creature which will be saved; and if we find one saved being in all existence, we may see what all others must be, or else not be saved. We ask, then, where is the prototype? or where is the saved being? We conclude, as to the answer of this question, there will be no dispute among those who believe the Bible, that it is Christ: all will agree in this, that he is the prototype or standard of salvation; or, in other words, that he is a saved being. And if we should continue our interrogation, and ask how it is that he is saved? the answer would be—because he is a just and holy being; and if he were anything different from what he is, he would not be saved; for his salvation depends on his being precisely what he is and nothing else; for if it were possible for him to change, in the least degree, so sure he would fail of salvation and lose all his dominion, power, authority and glory, which constitute salvation; for salvation consists in the glory, authority, majesty, power and dominion which Jehovah possesses and in nothing else; and no being can possess it but himself or one like him. (Lectures on Faith delivered to the School of the Prophets, 1834-35) LOF:7:9
