Mormonism Impossible (Part Two): The Law of the Gods

As stated in Part One,

“It is no secret that Mormon doctrine teaches that God was once a man on another planet in the distant past, and because he was such a good man on his planet, he was exalted to being the God of his own planet, which we call Earth…”[1]

This brings me to another hard question for Mormonism. It concerns the Mormon doctrine of Exaltation.

The following is taken from the LDS website:

What is Exaltation?

Exaltation is eternal life, the kind of life God lives. He lives in great glory. He is perfect. He possesses all knowledge and all wisdom. He is the Father of spirit children. He is a creator. We can become like our Heavenly Father. This is exaltation.

If we prove faithful to the Lord, we will live in the highest degree of the celestial kingdom of heaven. We will become exalted, to live with our Heavenly Father in eternal families. Exaltation is the greatest gift that Heavenly Father can give His children (see D&C 14:7).[2]

It seems that their website and their books teach different things. We know that the books teach that when a Mormon man dies, that if he were good enough, if he were married, and if he followed the “law,” that he would become exalted. But exalted to what?

What Joseph Smith writes in Doctrine and Covenants (D&C), Section 132:19-37, is our focus. In verse 19, the D&C teaches that if a man marries a wife, and if he “abides in my covenant” “they shall pass by the angels, and the gods, which are set there (in eternity), to their exaltation and glory in all things, as hath been sealed upon their heads…” and continuing immediately in verse 20, “Then shall they be gods” (which verse 20 actually says this twice, as if there were any questions about it.

Perhaps you are not convinced and would like another example? OK. In verse 29, “Abraham received all things… and hath entered into his exaltation and sitteth upon his throne.” Not enough yet? Continue to verse 37:

“Abraham received concubines, and they bore him children; and it was accounted unto him for righteousness,[3] because they were given unto him, and he abode in my law; as Isaac also and Jacob did none other things than that which they were commanded; and because they did none other things than which they were commanded, they have entered into their exaltation, according to the promises, and sit upon thrones, and are not angels but are gods.”[4]

It is clear both in this section of D&C as well as in several other pieces of literature found in the Latter Day Saint movement that their core doctrines teach that when a man dies, he becomes the god of his own world, populating that planet. After all, “As man is, God once was, and as God now is, man may become.”[5]

So, the reason I am writing this article is because I see a problem. If God was once like us, then that means that there were likely other men on the same planet he came from who rules other worlds. If God were alone on that planet, then he could not become a god, because the D&C tells us that a requirement for becoming a god is that he must have a wife. So, there were at least one another woman in this world from which he came. We can safely assume that they had children and populated their planet, but it is also safe to assume that there were other couples on that planet as well. For instance, where did his wife come from? Where did he come from? One can clearly see that this planet that God (as we supposedly now know Him) lived on was populated indefinitely. The significance here is that Mormon doctrine unquestionably requires an infinite past, and that there are an infinite number of men who became gods.

Here is the Question

With all of these planets, or worlds, as LDS documents describe, and the people becoming gods, who is it that made this law? Why do men become gods? If this has been happening from infinite regress, which I believe I sufficiently proved impossible in Part One, then where did this law come from that says that men will become gods if they are good enough?

The problem here is that there is no answer. In order for there to be an answer, there would have to be an ultimate beginning of the universe, someone to start it all, but this is not the case. All gods in Mormonism have been exalted to god status by obeying the “law” according to D&C 132 et. al.

Do you see what the problem is? Why is it that a man becomes a god in the first place? Why did this man who became a God (supposedly as we know him), become a god? Because his god set this order? What about that god? When the god of the man (who Mormons call their god) was a man, what was it that made him a god? How far back can we go with this? What is it that makes this a thing? Why, in Mormonism, does a man become a god?

Fortunately, there is an easy answer. It is that Mormon doctrine is false. It is not only false theologically, but also logically, as we can clearly see in Part One. Think of it like this: even if infinite regress was a thing, that still does not answer why this law is in effect. This law of men becoming gods literally transcends Mormonism! In a twisted, roundabout, yet logical way, this argues that there is one God, not many, as we would find in Mormonism (monolatry). One God would have to set this law in effect in order for men to become gods of their own worlds.

For more, see my book on Mormonism:

https://www.amazon.com/Mormonism-Refuting-Fundamental-Apologetics-Latter-Day/dp/1662885377/

Be sure to also check out Mormonism Impossible (Part Three): The Greatest Conceivable Being!

Written by Nace Howell through the grace of the Lord Jesus

[1] Section Six 1843-44, p.345-6. http://www.boap.org/LDS/Joseph-Smith/Teachings/T6.html

[2] https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-principles/chapter-47-exaltation?lang=eng

[3] Sound familiar? See Romans 4:9; Romans 4:22; Galatians 3:6; James 2:23; Genesis 15:6; Titus 3:8.

[4] https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/132?lang=eng

[5] It isn’t “official doctrine,” but it is official doctrine….. https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1982/02/i-have-a-question/is-president-snows-statement-as-man-now-is-god-once-was-as-god-now-is-man-may-be-accepted-as-official-doctrine.html?lang=eng

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