Claim 2 of 9 · Case 11 · Mormonism
Latter-day Saint scripture teaches that the Father has a body and that the faithful may become gods, while Isaiah’s God says there was no God formed before him and none after him: the two pictures of God cannot both be true.
One claim from the free evidence repository at apologetics.pro.
Mormonism teaches that God the Father has a glorified, tangible body of flesh and bones, that he is an exalted being within an eternal order, and that faithful humans may become like him, an outcome called exaltation, while always worshipping him. These are canonized scripture and the teaching of the church’s highest leaders, stated below in their own words, down to the book, section and verse. Historic Christianity teaches the opposite: God is spirit, no one has seen him, he fills heaven and earth, and he is not a man. The book of Isaiah, which Latter-day Saints also honour, says again and again that there is no other God, none before him and none after him, language about uniqueness of kind, not only about whom to worship. The disagreement is about God’s nature: whether the Father is uncreated and alone of his kind, or the most advanced of beings who share a kind of divine life that we may share too. Both sets of texts are below; read them side by side and ask which reading has to treat more of the Bible as figurative.
Backed by 6 pieces of evidence
Doctrine and Covenants 130:22
This is the primary source: because it’s canonized scripture, there’s no reasonable denying that the church teaches an embodied Father, down to the book, section, and verse.
Gordon B. Hinckley, church president, quoted in the Religious Studies Center at Brigham Young University
This confirms the teaching is current and mainstream, held by the church’s highest leadership, and not just one old verse read in isolation. It shows the claim represents what the church actually holds today.
“Becoming Like God,” Gospel Topics Essays
This is the church’s own careful statement of exaltation, including the part that keeps us from strawmanning the doctrine.
“Exaltation,” Gospel Topics, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Exaltation is the church’s own term for its highest promised outcome, tied directly to its temple and covenant system.
Isaiah 45:5, New American Standard Bible
This supports the claim with the plainest single line of the pattern. It is checkable by anyone and shows the emphasis is on there being no other God, not merely on choosing whom to worship.
Isaiah 43:10, New American Standard Bible
This supports the claim by adding the “none before, none after” language, which is the part that speaks to God’s uncreated and unique nature, the exact point in dispute between the two views.