Do Latter-day Saints believe they can become “gods”?

[jdawg1012]

Well, I boil it down to this.

3 Nephi 14:12
12 Therefore, all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them, for this is the law and the prophets.

Can we put them together?

Matthew 22:

36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

3 Nephi 14:12
12 Therefore, all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them, for this is the law and the prophets.

So:

37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38 This is the first and great commandment.
39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40 On these two commandments hang[s:] "Therefore, all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them."

I think, therefore, that loving God and your fellow man will lead you to do to all men, whatsoever thing you would that they should do to you. (And as a bonus, what soever you do to your fellow man, ye have done it unto God. Completing the circle. God is love!) :ymhug:

[Thomas]

It is mistake to think priesthood authority has any right to command any man.

36 That the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness.

37 That they may be conferred upon us, it is true; but when we undertake to cover our sins, or to gratify our pride, our vain ambition, or to exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, behold, the heavens withdraw themselves; the Spirit of the Lord is grieved; and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man.

38 Behold, ere he is aware, he is left unto himself, to kick against the pricks, to persecute the saints, and to fight against God.

39 We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion.

40 Hence many are called, but few are chosen.

41 No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned;

42 By kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and without guile—

[Lilli]

It is mistake to think priesthood authority has any right to command any man.

36 That the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness.

37 That they may be conferred upon us, it is true; but when we undertake to cover our sins, or to gratify our pride, our vain ambition, or to exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, behold, the heavens withdraw themselves; the Spirit of the Lord is grieved; and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man.

38 Behold, ere he is aware, he is left unto himself, to kick against the pricks, to persecute the saints, and to fight against God.

39 We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion.

40 Hence many are called, but few are chosen.

41 No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned;

42 By kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and without guile—

Bingo. Thus why Joseph Smith continually warned us and the Saints in his day that we all must prove all things said and done by even and especially all Church leaders before following them. He knew how even the highest leaders could fall and many did in his day.

[log]

It is mistake to think priesthood authority has any right to command any man.

... Um...

61 And now I, Alma, do command you in the language of him who hath commanded me, that ye observe to do the words which I have spoken unto you.

... and so on...

... and so on...

Which actually opens up an interesting question - when does commanding men become unrighteous dominion?

[Thomas]

It is mistake to think priesthood authority has any right to command any man.

... Um...

61 And now I, Alma, do command you in the language of him who hath commanded me, that ye observe to do the words which I have spoken unto you.

... and so on...

... and so on...

Which actually opens up an interesting question - when does commanding men become unrighteous dominion?

When they are man's commandments.

[log]

It is mistake to think priesthood authority has any right to command any man.

... Um...

61 And now I, Alma, do command you in the language of him who hath commanded me, that ye observe to do the words which I have spoken unto you.

... and so on...

... and so on...

Which actually opens up an interesting question - when does commanding men become unrighteous dominion?

When they are man's commandments.

How can we tell?

[jdawg1012]

Which actually opens up an interesting question - when does commanding men become unrighteous dominion?

When they are man's commandments.

Amen, I will say this though, it's really, really important to be objective though. Like with the beards issue.

I don't care if anyone has a beard or not, but it really bothered my dad that the "unspoken" rule was that men couldn't have beards ( I say this for background).

But, in young adulthood, the Spirit told me to keep my face clean shaven. Apart from occasional laziness or growing a goatee for my (then) fiancee (I can have a beard in less than two weeks, so it was just a fast thing), I have always done a pretty good job of it since the Spirit told me to.

My personally philosophy is this: The Spirit tells the same things to everyone. What I mean by this, is if the Spirit tells a truth, it tells the same one to everybody it concerns. That's NOT the same as personal revelation (like my not having facial hair). Anything that is for an individual, is individual. Ditto for your family. (I can only personally speak as a father, and father's diving right to revelation, though). Anything that is for say, your ward...well, every righteous person in your ward will have THAT prompting, right along with the Bishop of that ward, and not a different one. Sweet and bitter water don't run from the same fountain. Same for Stake, and World. Not everyone gets the same promptings for different circumstances, but if the Prophet receives a revelation of truth regarding the whole world, every person who asks will receive that same prompting.

So, if someone gives a command, counsel or whatever, that I don't agree with, and I am within the bounds of their stewardship, and the message, I ask God. Always, if it has been true, even if I didn't understand or agree, God still told me it was true, and I understood and knew why later. But the feeling to trust was always there.

But, I have also been given a bad command from a priesthood leader, at least two times that I can remember. On both occasions, I said the same thing: "Add a thus saith the Lord, and take the responsibility upon yourself, if it is sin, and may the sin be upon your head if it is wrong, and I'll do it, according to your priesthood office." (I also said (to paraphrase), "If it truly is God's will, them I'm sure you have no qualms commanding me to do it in His name.") Both bishops recanted, and backpedaled faster than you can say "Unrighteous dominion." And I didn't do what they said, and I will forever and always feel that it was the right choice.

No other person, or calling, can supersede revelation God gives to you, NO ONE. If the Prophet receives it for the world, you can get a confirmation. Likewise with stakes, wards, families, all the way on down. Hypothetically, you should always get a confirmation of truth, but sometimes counsel given by a bishop of another ward or whatever, doesn't apply to you. I still think you can receive witness that the bishop spoke the truth, if you sincerely ask. But I KNOW that you can and will receive witness of any proclamation laid over you, that concerns you, from the Lord, through His authorized servants. And that is my testimony, for God is no respecter of persons. I so testify, in the Name of Jesus Christ, amen.

[jdawg1012]

How can we tell?

For what its worth, I basically answered that question in the post I was typing while you wrote your question. I cannot answer for Thomas, but I can answer for me. Make of it what you will.

[log]

Naw, your answer's sound.