View source for As Man Now Is, God Once Was

“I am a child of God” is a fundamental tenet of [http://comeuntochrist.org The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints], whether taught in the beloved [[Primary]] song or phrased in the [[Proclamation to the World|Family Proclamation]] as “All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents.”[https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/the-family-a-proclamation-to-the-world/the-family-a-proclamation-to-the-world?lang=eng]

Investigators of the Church of Jesus Christ and students of the restored gospel understand that the children of heavenly parents live on the earth, but does it follow that those heavenly parents also had a mortal experience?

Four years after [[Lorenzo Snow]] was baptized, he was attentively listening to a sermon on the parable of the laborers in the vineyard when “the Spirit of the Lord rested mightily upon [him]” and “the eyes of [his] understanding were opened, and [he] saw as clear as the sun at noonday, with wonder and astonishment, the pathway of God and man.” He wrote “the following couplet which expresses the revelation, as it was shown [him]”:

: “As man now is, God once was:”
: "As God now is, man may be.”[https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1982/02/i-have-a-question/is-president-snows-statement-as-man-now-is-god-once-was-as-god-now-is-man-may-be-accepted-as-official-doctrine.html?lang=eng]

He added, “I felt this to be a sacred communication, which I related to no one except my sister [[Eliza R. Snow|Eliza]], until I reached England, when in a confidential private conversation with President [[Brigham Young]], in Manchester, I related to him this extraordinary manifestation.”

In a later private interview in Nauvoo, he shared the experience with the Prophet [[Joseph Smith]]. “The Prophet’s reply was: ‘Brother Snow, that is a true gospel doctrine, and it is a revelation from God to you.’” (LeRoi C. Snow, ''Improvement Era'', June 1919, p. 656.)[https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1982/02/i-have-a-question/is-president-snows-statement-as-man-now-is-god-once-was-as-god-now-is-man-may-be-accepted-as-official-doctrine.html?lang=eng]

In fact, the Prophet taught the doctrine publicly in a funeral sermon for Elder [[King Follett Discourse|King Follett]]:

: “God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens! … It is the first principle of the Gospel to know for a certainty the Character of God, and to know that we may converse with him as one man converses with another, and that he was once a man like us; yea, that God himself, the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth, the same as Jesus Christ himself did.” (''Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith'', sel. Joseph Fielding Smith, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1938, pp. 345–46.)[https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1982/02/i-have-a-question/is-president-snows-statement-as-man-now-is-god-once-was-as-god-now-is-man-may-be-accepted-as-official-doctrine.html?lang=eng]

[[Stephen E. Robinson]] explained: “Thus, the Father became the Father at some time before 'the beginning' as humans know it, by experiencing a mortality similar to that experienced on earth. There has been speculation among some Latter-day Saints on the implications of this doctrine, but nothing has been revealed to the Church about conditions before the 'beginning' as mortals know it. The important points of the doctrine for Latter-day Saints are that Gods and humans are the same species of being, but at different stages of development in a divine continuum, and that the heavenly Father and Mother are the heavenly pattern, model, and example of what mortals can become through obedience to the gospel.”[https://eom.byu.edu/index.php/God_the_Father]

He added, “With God as the literal Father and with humans having the capacity to become like him, the basic religious questions "Where did I come from?," "Why am I here?," and What is my destiny?" are fundamentally answered.”
[https://eom.byu.edu/index.php/God_the_Father]

[[Gerald N. Lund]] wrote that “the Church teaches many principles which are accepted as doctrines but which the [[First Presidency]] has seen no need to declare in an official pronouncement. This particular doctrine has been taught not only by Lorenzo Snow, fifth President of the Church, but also by others of the Brethren before and since that time.” He concluded, “the teaching of President Lorenzo Snow is both acceptable and accepted doctrine in the Church today.”[https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1982/02/i-have-a-question/is-president-snows-statement-as-man-now-is-god-once-was-as-god-now-is-man-may-be-accepted-as-official-doctrine.html?lang=eng]

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ may wonder why this doctrine isn’t regularly taught now. Since Joseph Smith's sermon, known as the King Follett discourse, the doctrine that humans can progress to exaltation and godliness has been taught within the Church. As noted previously, Lorenzo Snow, the Church’s fifth president, coined a well-known couplet: “As man now is, God once was: As God now is, man may be.” "Little has been revealed about the first half of this couplet, and consequently little is taught. When asked about this topic, Church President [[Gordon B. Hinckley]] told a reporter in 1997, “That gets into some pretty deep theology that we don’t know very much about.” When asked about the belief in humans’ divine potential, President Hinckley responded, “Well, as God is, man may become. We believe in [[Eternal Progression|eternal progression]]. Very strongly.”[https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics-essays/becoming-like-god?lang=eng]

==Sources==

* [https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1982/02/i-have-a-question/is-president-snows-statement-as-man-now-is-god-once-was-as-god-now-is-man-may-be-accepted-as-official-doctrine.html?lang=eng ''Ensign'', I Have a Question, “Is President Lorenzo Snow’s oft-repeated statement—“As man now is, God once was; as God now is, man may be”—accepted as official doctrine by the Church?” by Gerald N. Lund]
 
* [https://eom.byu.edu/index.php/God_the_Father ''Encyclopedia of Mormonism'', “God the Father: God the Father: Overview” by Stephen E. Robinson]

* [https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/the-family-a-proclamation-to-the-world/the-family-a-proclamation-to-the-world?lang=eng “The Family: A Proclamation to the World”]

* [https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics-essays/becoming-like-god?lang=eng Gospel Topics, "Becoming Like God"]

[[Category:Fundamental Principles]][[Category:Joseph Smith]]