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Mormonism is polytheistic?

MattusMaximus

Intellectual Gladiator
MattusMaximus
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Jan 26, 2006
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I vaguely recall seeing from another thread somewhere here in R&P that someone mentioned that Mormonism was actually polytheistic in nature, but that the LSD Church basically made that a kind of hush-hush secret teaching for marketing purposes (it might put off a lot of Christians whom they're targeting) - kind of like how the $cientologists have made the whole Xenu story kind of hush-hush until you've been in the Church for quite some time.

Is there any accuracy to this claim about Mormonism? Could someone please elaborate on this? I'm curious. Many thanks in advance.
 
MattusMaximus said:
I vaguely recall seeing from another thread somewhere here in R&P that someone mentioned that Mormonism was actually polytheistic in nature, but that the LSD Church basically made that a kind of hush-hush secret teaching for marketing purposes (it might put off a lot of Christians whom they're targeting) - kind of like how the $cientologists have made the whole Xenu story kind of hush-hush until you've been in the Church for quite some time.

Is there any accuracy to this claim about Mormonism? Could someone please elaborate on this? I'm curious. Many thanks in advance.
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Many gods but Mormons only worship one.

The idea, and one I like, is that god was once a man who became god and his god before him was a man who became a god.

BTW: The Catholic church is also polytheistic but in a different way. They have a lot of demi-gods they call saints.
 
RandFan said:
Many gods but Mormons only worship one.
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Is this kind of like a "my god is bigger than your god" kind of thing?

The idea, and one I like, is that god was once a man who became god and his god before him was a man who became a god.
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Really? They teach that humans can become gods? Whoa, that's a new one to me.

BTW: The Catholic church is also polytheistic but in a different way. They have a lot of demi-gods they call saints.
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Understood. I've figured out the whole Catholic theological hierarchy - does this mean that the Mormon theology is set up so that the gods are not so hierarchical, rather they are more lateral?
 
I'm not talking about what RandFan is talking about..

One could claim, and people have claimed, that Christianity is polytheistic because of the trinity. As in, the trinity is three seperate gods.. not three aspects of god.
 
MattusMaximus said:
Is this kind of like a "my god is bigger than your god" kind of thing?
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I don't think so.

Really? They teach that humans can become gods? Whoa, that's a new one to me.
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It's by no means unique to Mormonism but yeah. And why not? What is a god and given a billion or trillion years or more why couldn't humans acheive a status of god?

It's the only view of an afterlife that would even begin to make sense to me. Not that I would want to have power over mortals but because I would want to progress and learn and create. I like Sim Earth and I think I could get into playing god.

What a-priori state of affairs preclude humans from becoming god or god like?

But, like the bronze age traditions before it, it's bollocks.
 
TobiasTheViking said:
No more so than basic Christianity is polytheistic. Which some people claim it is.
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Well, historically - before the standard "trinity" orthodoxy took over - there were forms of Christianity which were extremely polytheistic. A good example is how some early Christians taught that there wasn't one but two gods - one for the OT and one for the NT, and the OT god was essentially evil & wicked (Marcionism is a good example of this). Apparently, there were other versions of Christianity that had many, many more gods than that as well - I recall learning that from some Bart Erhman lectures, though I cannot recall the specific sects.
 
There's this, which seems to follow somewhat with what RandFan is saying. I understand that it is not approved by the LDS church. I am not a Mormon myself, so I don't know anything one way or another. Sounds like it's about circa 1960.

 
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Mormons believe that if you are a good mormon then your reward, rather than going to heaven, is to be given your own cosmos to be God in. So there's still only one God per cosmos, but there is more than one God overall, at least in principle. Not sure whether that counts as polytheism.
 
shadron said:
There's this, which seems to follow somewhat with what RandFan is saying. I understand that it is not approved by the LDS church. I am not a Mormon myself, so I don't know anything one way or another. Sounds like it's about circa 1960.

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Not a great video. There are some mistakes but it does give a general idea of the concept.
 
UndercoverElephant said:
Mormons believe that if you are a good mormon then your reward, rather than going to heaven, is to be given your own cosmos to be God in. So there's still only one God per cosmos, but there is more than one God overall, at least in principle. Not sure whether that counts as polytheism.
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It's funny, sometimes, as an actual Mormon, seeing ignorant accounts from others who haven't the faintest clue what we believe, purporting to state what we believe.

Anyway, no, that is not what we believe. Neither is anything else that has so far been stated in this thread.

Really, you should be leaving the task of explaining what Mormons believe to people who actually have some clue what it is that we Mormons believe.
 
In the NT, didn't Jesus often imply to his disciples that they could do what he could; that all could potentially achieve his magical powers? Yet, Jesus is also a God, of sorts...at least he seems to be the object of the worshiping Christians.
 
RandFan said:
BTW: The Catholic church is also polytheistic but in a different way. They have a lot of demi-gods they call saints.
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I was once a Catholic and was NEVER taught or even expected to see the saints as demi-gods in any way. They were presented as people we could hope to emulate or ask for intercession if we wished. They were meant to be inspirations, not considered gods or demi-gods. And I was in college when I became Catholic. Where did you hear that demi-god thing? :confused:
 
Bob Blaylock said:
It's funny, sometimes, as an actual Mormon, seeing ignorant accounts from others who haven't the faintest clue what we believe, purporting to state what we believe.

Anyway, no, that is not what we believe. Neither is anything else that has so far been stated in this thread.

Really, you should be leaving the task of explaining what Mormons believe to people who actually have some clue what it is that we Mormons believe.
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Well, Bob, this is the JR Educational F forum, and if we're all so wrong, what is wrong with straightening us out? I have no problems talking Catholic with anyone here, and I know several others who have shared, such as RandFan. If it's secret, then say so, and we'll go back to learning from the materials available to us, and you can keep your beliefs.
 
Minarvia said:
I was once a Catholic and was NEVER taught or even expected to see the saints as demi-gods in any way. They were presented as people we could hope to emulate or ask for intercession if we wished. They were meant to be inspirations, not considered gods or demi-gods. And I was in college when I became Catholic. Where did you hear that demi-god thing? :confused:
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Agree - they were also chums with god, and could put in a good word (as well as, presumably, a bad word) for us, and sometimes provide more direct help in their own specialty areas. St Blaise was good with throats, and I used him a lot when I was young.

In general, a Catholic regards a saint as anyone who makes it to heaven. The one who are canonized have proved that state through a series of miracles, and by working on the minds of the church bureaucracy, which in itself could be regarded as a miracle.

One could, however, regard the trinity as a polytheism, though the church has labeled that explicitly as a heretical belief. There is philosophical/theological power in being said to believe in one god (i.e., it sounds better than belief in polytheism), and the church will not allow itself to be denied that.
 
quarky said:
Is Jesus God?
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Guaranteed second person of the trinity, coexistant and omnipotent along with his other sibs/aspects/facets. I think that's pretty much spelled out in every version of the Apostles/Nicene creed I've read.
 
shadron said:
Bob Blaylock said:
It's funny, sometimes, as an actual Mormon, seeing ignorant accounts from others who haven't the faintest clue what we believe, purporting to state what we believe.

Anyway, no, that is not what we believe. Neither is anything else that has so far been stated in this thread.

Really, you should be leaving the task of explaining what Mormons believe to people who actually have some clue what it is that we Mormons believe.
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Well, Bob, this is the JR Educational F forum, and if we're all so wrong, what is wrong with straightening us out? I have no problems talking Catholic with anyone here, and I know several others who have shared, such as RandFan. If it's secret, then say so, and we'll go back to learning from the materials available to us, and you can keep your beliefs.
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Based on my experience with several other discussions on this forum that dealt with Mormonism, it seems to be quite futile to try to set things straight.

I'm 46 years old, and I have been a practicing Mormon my entire life. I know from firsthand experience what it is we are taught, what we believe, and what we practice. Yet it seems that in every discussion I've participated in on this forum, regarding Mormonism, the discussion quickly deteriorates into me being repeatedly accused of either not knowing what I believe, or else of outright lying; while others who do not have any such firsthand knowledge put forth all manner of misinformation and distortion, and seem to be accepted as greater experts than I.

It's a foolish game for me to let myself get sucked into. I'm not going to play it tonight. If I am wise, I won't let myself get sucked into it again, as I already have several times.

It seems futile to try to put forth any factual information in this forum regarding the teachings and practices of my faith, so for now, I'm not even going to try. I will let it suffice to state that what has been represented so far in this thread regarding Mormon beliefs is, for the most part, not correct. There is some truth here, but much more misinformation and distortion. Experience with past threads on this forum regarding my faith has only shown me that the more I try to put forth a true account of what I believe and practice, the more the thread gets swamped with untruth and deception from other contributors.

If you really want to learn anything that is true or useful about Mormonism, I am afraid that it simply is not going to happen on the Randi forums.
 
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