Showing posts with label God (nature of). Show all posts
Showing posts with label God (nature of). Show all posts

Tuesday, December 19, 2017

How Can An Eternal God Have Once Been A Man?

This question was posed in an online group regarding the LDS doctrine that “God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens!” (Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1938, p. 345).  Below it I have included my response in three parts.

Question:
Premise 1: God does not change
Premise 2: God is eternal
Logical conclusion: God has always been god and could not have once been man because that would have involved him not being god eternally and changing into god.
What is the flaw in this argument?

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

5 Scriptures that Testify that God is Real

{{PD-US}}
Countless people throughout time have wondered: “Is there a God?” There are nearly as many opinions on this subject as there have been people who have lived on this planet.  For this reason, many people feel confused or uncertain about whether or not God exists, and if so, what that actually means for us humans.

Many people have rejected the notion of the existence of a God or a higher being altogether.  Still others acknowledge that there may indeed be some kind of higher being who exists in the universe, although they do not know who or what this being may be, or what form he/she/it may take.  Others choose to reserve judgment for a number of reasons, including waiting for more evidence (one way or another) to present itself.

The problem is that many of those who search for God tend to reject scripture out of hand as a reliable source of evidence.  I imagine that this is because they assume that religious texts are essentially biased.  However, this forces them to look for evidence that is inconclusive at best.  There are many who point to the workings of the natural world, and of creation as evidence of a divine presence, but there are just as many people who point to the same evidence to say there is not a god.  There are some who try to use a process of logic to reason their way to God, but once again there are many who would argue that logic suggests that there is no God.  Even some religious people might argue that God is beyond our ability to grasp through human reason alone.  I mention all of this in order to demonstrate the evidentiary value that scripture can have in an honest and open-minded investigation into the existence of God.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Can Men Be Gods? What the Bible says about exaltation.

My friend T. S. sent me this question the other day, and I was somewhat amused to receive it, as I have been waiting for someone to send me just such a question since I started writing this blog.

Q: I have a nonmember friend who read a chapter in a world religion book about Mormons and it said that we believe we will become God and have our own planet someday and now she thinks we are freaks.  How do you respond to this and what scriptures are there in the Bible that support such a claim?

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Are You A Christian If You Don't Believe In The Trinity?


A friend of mine asked me to explain the doctrine of the trinity and its origins, and the nature of the Godhead, esp. according to the Bible. She asked me verbally at Bible study last week, so I will have to paraphrase her question.

Q: I have a friend that has several issues with the doctrines of the LDS church. One of them centers around your belief that God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are each separate beings. This does not conform to the doctrine of the trinity, which he holds to be one of the basic criteria for true Christianity. Where did the doctrine of the trinity (that says that God and Jesus and the Holy Ghost are the same being) come from? What does the Bible say about it?
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