LDS - law of eternal progression

[B-A-C]

We have talked about Mormons here on TalkJesus a few times. They no longer want to be called that, and prefer "latter day saints" (LDS) now.
In any case, one of their fundamental beliefs is some called "eternal progression". Some people will become gods. In fact there isn't just one God, but there are many gods.
If you live a life "worthy" of godhood, you too can become a god.

Now of course I had heard all of this before, but having lunch with a LDS co-worker, he asked me... "don't you believe God wants us all to be just like Him?"
Don't you want to be a god? There was also another conversion about eternal marriage and a few other things.

For the purpose of this thread... I have a few questions.. Mostly I am looking for scripture.

Does the Bible ever say there are other Gods anywhere? Not man made gods, but real gods?
Does the Bible ever say anywhere that we ourselves can become like God? (to the point of being a god).
If everyone is a god, doesn't that effectively make no one a god? I mean, can there be a "supreme being" if everyone is equally supreme?

Wasn't the sin of Satan.. that he wanted to be God (or at least like God)?
( Isa 14:12-14; ) ( Ezek 28:13-17; )

There are other non-Bibical beliefs, no hell, but only outer darkness. Pre-existence as spirit-children. Eternal marriage in heaven. Satan and Jesus are brothers, and a few others...
but I am primarily concerned with anything in the Bible that could be construed as "we can become like God".

Gen 3:5; "For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

Isa 41:23; Declare the things that are going to come afterward, That we may know that you are gods; Indeed, do good or evil, that we may anxiously look about us and fear together.

John 10:34; Jesus answered them, "Has it not been written in your Law, 'I SAID, YOU ARE GODS'?
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Deut 5:7; 'You shall have no other gods before Me.
Exod 20:3; "You shall have no other gods before Me.

Isa 43:10; "You are My witnesses," declares the LORD, "And My servant whom I have chosen, So that you may know and believe Me And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, And there will be none after Me.

 

[B-A-C]

Gen 5:1; This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day when God created man, He made him in the likeness of God.

1 Tim 2:5; For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

Mal 2:10; "Do we not all have one father? Has not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously each against his brother so as to profane the covenant of our fathers?


1 Cor 8:4; Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that there is no such thing as an idol in the world, and that there is no God but one.
1 Cor 8:5; For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords,
1 Cor 8:6; yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.

2 Sam 7:22; "For this reason You are great, O Lord GOD; for there is none like You, and there is no God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

1 Chron 17:20; "O LORD, there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

Isa 43:10; "You are My witnesses," declares the LORD, "And My servant whom I have chosen, So that you may know and believe Me And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, And there will be none after Me.

Rev 22:13; "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."

Isa 44:6; "Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: 'I am the first and I am the last, And there is no God besides Me.

 

[Dave M]

Genesis 1:26
Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."

now I believe in the trinity one God and three God heads. But the above verse could be twisted I suppose and to make it sound like more then one God.

Does the Bible ever say there are other Gods anywhere? Not man made gods, but real gods?

 

[Dave M]

Does the Bible ever say anywhere that we ourselves can become like God?

closet I could find, I suppose twisted you might get some to beleive we become like God. Heck a lot of tv preachers preach we are little gods now.

35But those who are considered worthy to share in the age to come and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage. 36In fact, they can no longer die,because they are like the angels. And since they are sons of the resurrection, they are sons of God.

 

[B-A-C]

Good verse. But even in this verse I notice something... "Let us MAKE man..."
God made man. God continues to create men to this very day.
God is our creator.

Can a God be created? Not an idol, but a real God.

 

[Dave M]

Can a God be created? Not an idol, but a real God.

great point there is only One God,

Dont the Mormons deny the deity of Christ?

 

[B-A-C]

35But those who are considered worthy to share in the age to come and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage. 36In fact, they can no longer die,because they are like the angels. And since they are sons of the resurrection, they are sons of God.

I am assuming this is from Luke 20.

One thing about this passage, (also see Matt 22:30; Mark 12:25; Luke 20:35; ) is it says we won't be married in heaven. But I notice here is says "sons" (small S) of God versus the Son of God (capital S).

 

[B-A-C]

Dont the Mormons deny the deity of Christ?

If you ask them, they would say no. But again Jesus is just one god is vast sea of many gods. They believe is is the current god is this world. So in that sense they believe in His deity.
However when they die, (some) of them are resurrected as gods that are equal to Jesus, so He is no longer "God" at that point.

 

[B-A-C]

1 Cor 15:40; There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another.
1 Cor 15:41; There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.
1 Cor 15:42; So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body;
1 Cor 15:43; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;
1 Cor 15:44; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
1 Cor 15:45; So also it is written, "The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
1 Cor 15:46; However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual.
1 Cor 15:47; The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven.
1 Cor 15:48; As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly.
1 Cor 15:49; Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.

It seems this might say we are raised as being like the "second man" (Jesus) who was from heaven.
However notice this passage also says, the natural (physical) body comes first, .."Then the spiritual". The spiritual body doesn't exist before the natural body.

 

[B-A-C]

Isa 14:12; "How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations!
Isa 14:13; "But you said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north.
Isa 14:14; 'I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.'
Isa 14:15; "Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, To the recesses of the pit.

Even though the sin of Satan was trying to make himself equal to God, it seems some people still want to do this.

Ezek 28:8; 'They will bring you down to the pit, And you will die the death of those who are slain In the heart of the seas.
Ezek 28:9; 'Will you still say, "I am a god," In the presence of your slayer, Though you are a man and not God, In the hands of those who wound you?

Not only did Satan want to be God, he wanted Jesus to worship him. ( Matt 4:9; Luke 4:7; )
Isn't it also the way Satan framed the temptation to Eve in the garden?

Gen 3:4; The serpent said to the woman, "You surely will not die!
Gen 3:5; "For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

Satan tells us that we can be like God.