AboutCindy Beggs Expertise Although I am not a member of the LDS Church, I can answer most of your general questions re: the LDS faith. Please no LDS bashing. I have a love for the Church's history.
Experience Although I am not a member of the LDS faith, I have been facinated with the Church's history for over 30 years.
Organizations Mount St. Mary's Alumni
Publications Master's Thesis in Mount St. Mary's Library in Los Angeles, CA.
Education/Credentials Bachelor's degree in Liberal Arts. Minors: Religious Studies and psychology. Master's degree in the Humanities/Cultural Studies.
Question Does God exist in a physical body? A body of flesh and bone? Did God start with a mortal body (like mine) and develop into being God (as he is now)?
I have just recently started reading the Book of Mormon after living a life as a Lutheran
Answer Hello Charlie. Thanks for the question. I will answer your question using LDS references.
According to the Gospel Doctrine, page 64, "God is an organized being as we are now in the flesh." The Doctrine and Covenants 130:22 states, "The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's." Carfred Broderick writes: "God is a procreating personage of flesh and bone" (Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Autumn, 1967, p.100-101).
To answer your third question, those in the LDS Church believe that God was once man and he achieved the Godhood. This concept is known as "eternal progression." Joseph Smith taught: "I will prove that the world is wrong, by showing what God is...God himself was once as we are now and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens! That is the great secret...I am going to tell you how God came to be God. We have imagined and supposed that God was God from all eternity. I will refute that idea, and take away the veil, so that you may see" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.345).
Joseph Smith continues: "God himself...is a man like unto one of yourselves...God himself, the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth...You have got to learn how to be Gods yourselves" (Times and Seasons, vol.5, pp.613-614); "Here then is eternal life---to know the only wise and true God; and you have got to learn how to be Gods yourselves...the same as all Gods have done before you...To inherit the same power, the same glory and the same exaltation, until you arrive at the station of a God" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.346-347). Orson Pratt wrote: "The Gods who dwell in heaven...were once in a fallen state...they were exalted also, from fallen men to celestial Gods" (The Seer, p.23); "our Father in Heaven was begotten on a previous heavenly world by His Father; "He was begotten by a still more ancient Father; and so on from generation to generation, from one heavenly world to another" (The Seer, p.132). Milton R. Hunter wrote: "God the Eternal Father was once a mortal man who passed through a school of earth life similar to that through which we are now passing. He became a God" (The Gospel Through the Ages, p.104);"there was a time when the Deity was much less powerful than He is today...He grew in experience and continued to grow until He attained the status of Godhood. In other words, He became a God by absolute obedience..." (The Gospel Through the Ages, p.114-115).
The subject of eternal progression in the LDS Church is very facinating. The internet is a great place to learn about the LDS Church. Bookstores have a few books on the LDS Church as do libraries. I found that Amazon.com and Barnes@noble are great resources too. Just type in "LDS" or "Mormon" in the search engine and you can see the books that are available for purchase. You can buy most of them used as well.
