Mormonism (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) is VERY different from historic, biblical Christianity. One simple question makes this plain.
How Many Gods are There in All of Reality and All of Existence?
Although Mormons call themselves Christians, and use many of the same terms as Christians (Jesus, God, Bible), the religion of the Latter-day Saints is a drastic departure from historic, biblical Christianity. This is especially seen in how the two religions understand how many gods there are in all of reality and all of existence.
I have asked Mormon friends and missionaries this simple question: “How many gods are there in all of reality and all of existence?” A usual first response I hear is this: ‘For us, there is one God, the father of our Lord Jesus, and one lord Jesus Christ.’ But when pressed a bit further, it becomes clear that within the Mormon understanding of God and reality there is a belief in the real and literal existence of a multiplicity of other gods in the universe—gods who are in the same category of being and godhood as God the Father.
The Mormon Doctrine of Eternal Progression
Mormonism is very different from the monotheism of biblical Christianity. For one, Mormons reject the biblical doctrine of the Trinity (a doctrine that teaches there is only one God in all of reality who eternally exists as three persons [Father, Son, Holy Spirit]). Mormons teach that the godhead consists of three separate gods. (They also believe that God the Father has goddess wives).
But it goes MUCH further than merely rejecting the trinitarian nature of God. Mormonism teaches that God the Father was once merely a human being who lived on another planet, and that he, through obedience, attained the status of godhood. One well-known Mormon prophet put it this way: ‘as man is, God once was; as God is, man may become’ (Lorenzo Snow). The process of going from a human to the exalted status of godhood is what is known in Mormon theology as the doctrine of “eternal progression”.
How Many Gods Are There? Mormon Answer: ‘I Don’t Know; No One Knows’
Reminding my Mormon friends of their theological framework, I ask again: ‘How many gods are there in all of reality and all of existence?’ The answer I then hear is: “I don’t know.”
A Mormon understanding of God prohibits one from actually knowing how many gods exist in reality. This makes sense in light of the Mormon conception of God. Because in their view of God and reality, there could already be millions or billions of others gods in the universe (men and women who have attained godhood who are in the same ontological category of being as God the Father). In addition to this, our Mormon friends hope to one day attain the status of godhood, which would mean there will one day be more gods being worshiped in the future.
The MANY Gods of Mormonism Vs. the ONE God of Christianity
This shows that the Mormon understanding of God is a far departure from historic biblical Christianity. As others have observed, Mormon thought is far closer to Hinduism—which teaches there are millions of gods in the universe.
The Bible teaches that while there might be so-called “gods” in the world, these gods are not real in the way the God of the Bible is real; they are merely idols. We might treat them like gods, but there is actually no other God in all of reality who is in category as the LORD God, maker of heaven and earth. There is an ontological and categorical difference between other so-called ‘gods’ and one true God of all reality.
How Many Gods Are There In All of Reality and Existence? ONE.
Contrary to Mormonism, in all of reality and in all of existence, there is only one God. This the Christian and biblical understanding of God. The God of Christianity is the eternal God—not created, but eternally existing [He never became God, but has always been God]. Here we see the wide divide between the religion of Mormonism and historic, biblical Christianity.
Deuteronomy 6:4 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.
Isaiah 43:10 “You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.
Isaiah 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; besides me there is no god.
(For another post on Mormonism, see this “Why you should NOT pray about the Book of Mormon“)
