All About Mormons

The idea that "God has a father" is not well established in Mormonism. Mormons, like many other Christian denominations (specifically the Orthodox and Eastern Catholic branches of Christianity), do believe in "theosis," the idea that man can progress to become more like God. Historically, this concept (which was had among the earliest Christians) has led some Mormons to speculate that if Man can become like God, perhaps God was once a man. Perhaps He too had a creator, a "Father."

While this idea is interesting, it is not well-established in Mormon theology. I would classify it as "a theological question," not an official "Mormon doctrine." Gordon B. Hinckley, the current president of the LDS Church, has been asked this very question on several occasions. Here are some of his responses (verbatim or reported):

"There was a little couplet coined, 'As man is, God once was. As God is, man may become.' Now that's more of a couplet than anything else. That gets into some pretty deep theology that we don't know very much about...Well, as God is, man may become. We believe in eternal progression. Very strongly. We believe that the glory of God is intelligence and whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the Resurrection."

"President Gordon Hinckley says the concept of God having been a man is not stressed any longer, but he does believe that human beings can become [more like God] in the afterlife."

"On whether his church still holds that God the Father was once a man, he sounded uncertain. ‘I don't know that we teach it. I don't know that we emphasize it...I understand the philosophical background behind it, but I don't know a lot about it, and I don't think others know a lot about it."

That having been said, I'm sure you can find Mormons who do believe God was once a man and that He had a Creator/Father/God. I personally am skeptical. It's not something that is often spoken of in Church; I think I've only heard the concept mentioned a few times in Church during the entire 27 years I've been a member.

To hear two Mormon theologians with differing opinions debate this topic, visit this podcast.

It is also interesting that in the October 1994 General Conference President Hinckley made specific reference to President Snow's couplet, but seems to have intentionally omitted the first half:

"...[T]he whole design of the gospel is to lead us onward and upward to greater achievement, even, eventually, to godhood. This great possibility was enunciated by the Prophet Joseph Smith in the King Follet sermon and emphasized by President Lorenzo Snow. It is this grand and incomparable concept: As God now is, man may become! Our enemies have criticized us for believing in this. Our reply is that this lofty concept in no way diminishes God the Eternal Father. He is the Almighty. He is the Creator and Governor of the universe. He is the greatest of all and will always be so. But just as any earthly father wishes for his sons and daughters every success in life, so I believe our Father in Heaven wishes for his children that they might approach him in stature and stand beside him resplendent in godly strength and wisdom."

For the sake of full disclosure, I recently discovered that a single Ensign article published in 2005 does briefly mention the idea that God was once a man, though it doesn't specify whether or not He was a perfect, divine man like Jesus Christ or a fallen man like us. The quote was not really related to the topic of the article, however, and the article was not written by a member of the First Presidency or the Council of the Twelve. It clearly does not meet the doctrinal standard laid out by the church itself.

Another visitor recently asked this same question. I'll post my responses here:

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Believing in multiple Gods while worshiping only one is called henotheism, not polytheism. While it is true that some individual Mormons are henotheists, the church does not officially endorse henotheism, and many Mormons (like myself) reject it. No Mormon is a polytheist.

It's also important to note that Mormons use the term "god" at times to denote what other Christians would probably call "archangels" or "the children of God." This is in harmony with Old-Testament language (see Psalms 82:6, for example). If you're able to translate from "Mormonese" to "non-Mormonese," however, you'll understand that even this does not necessarily denote henotheism in the minds of many who use the term.

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Hi friend. I'd be happy to clarify further. I must confess that I thought you were one of the many "hit-and-run" anti-Mormons who routinely visit my site, leave a "controversial" statement, and then never return. :) I'm very happy to see that you sincerely want to learn more about the Mormon viewpoint. Let me answer your questions.

Is the doctrine that The Father was once a man in dispute among Mormons?

Yes! The doctrine that the Father was once a man is very, very much disputed among Mormons. Mormons tend to break into four groups:

1. Some Mormons believe that God was once a fallen man like we are. They believe He was once a mortal with his own Father God. These Mormons are henothesits, and I believe they are very much in the minority, though I've conducted no official survey.
2. Some Mormons believe that God the Father once chose to be mortal for a time in the sense that Jesus Christ chose to be mortal. In other words, God the Father was divine before He became mortal, while he was mortal, and continued to be God after his period of mortality. He was never a fallen man like we are. In this view, God the Father was always an "exalted" being; He had no "Heavenly Father" who created Him.
3. Some Mormons believe that God the Father was never a mortal being at all. These would say He experienced mortality vicariously through His Son, Jesus Christ, and that He had no "Heavenly Father" Himself.
4. I suspect the majority of Mormons simply don't care one way or the other. :)

As the Church is not actively teaching about this kind of "deep doctrine" now days, Mormons are free to speculate and suppose all they want.

I have always thought [the idea that God had a Father] was rather central to Mormonism.

No, even the henotheists among us who believe God had a Father would not say that this idea is "central to Mormonism." As the late Gordon B. Hinckley, prophet and president of the Church, once said: "I don't know that we teach it. I don't know that we emphasize it...I understand the philosophical background behind it, but I don't know a lot about it, and I don't think others know a lot about it."

Many members of other Christian denominations believe that this debated idea is central to Mormonism because they get their information from anti-Mormon, "anti-cult" ministries. Obviously, these "ministries" have a vested interest in distorting Mormon doctrine.

Is there a single informative and approved book that makes these things clear? How do I tell what is doctrine and what is opinion in the LDS faith?

Mormons believe in continuing, modern revelation. We believe that, just as God spoke His truths to ancient prophets, He also speaks to modern-day prophets. Because we believe in a dynamic, living God, we go out of our way to avoid things like "creeds," or official statements that try to cement doctrines or practices into place. Who are we to say that God won't provide additional information next year? Who are we to say that He won't reverse some Church policy to better help us adapt eternal principles to the ever-changing circumstances of human existence? It is not right for men to limit God; He can say and do whatever He wants. It's one of the perks of being God, I guess. :)

My personal rule for defining "doctrine" is this: whenever the modern leaders of the Church are collectively teaching a principle over an extended period of time, that principle is doctrine, especially if it can find support in the canonized scriptures of the Church. I believe this general rule is in harmony with what the Church itself has said defines "doctrine."

Based on this rule, we can see that the number of well-defined doctrines in Mormonism is relatively small. For example, here are a few teachings I would consider doctrinal:

1. God the Father loves each of us and wants us all to progress and become more like He is.
2. Jesus Christ is the divine Son of God through whom salvation is made possible.
3. God can communicate with men, and the records of His communications (the Bible, the Book of Mormon, etc) are true but not infallible.
4. Christ established His church during His mortal ministry. Because of men and women who exercised their free agency in ways contrary to God's will, that church was lost from the earth for a time. It was restored in modern times by Jesus Christ through the prophet Joseph Smith.

There are many, many ideas floating around, like the one you cite, that may or may not be true. Clearly, though, these ideas do not meet the standard of "doctrine."

Hope this helps!