The Corruptible God

There are several passages in Scripture that explain to us what we are NOT to believe about God. One of those passages is Romans 1:22-25, which says we are not to believe that God is a man because men are creatures, and are corruptible beings.

“Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the
incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and
four-footed animals and crawling creatures… For they exchanged the truth of God
for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is
blessed forever. Amen.”

The main issue here that Paul is concerned about is that people were exchanging the true glory of God for a far lesser one –the glory of corruptible man. This is precisely what the Mormon Church has done! They worship a creature whom Joseph Smith says had to grow up to become a God (History of the Church Vol. 6, pg. 305-306), and whom James Talmage says became God by following a path that men of this earth must follow (Articles of Faith pg. 430). A creature whom BYU professor and LDS author, Bob Millet, says is a redeemed man. A creature who was once born of heavenly parents, and took counsel from. A creature who does not have the power to create all things, including the spirits of men (History of the Church vol. 6, pg 311), nor is sovereign over all things -for how can a creature be truly sovereign?

The Bible gives us passages like Hosea 11:9 that says God is not a man, and Isaiah 40-48, which repeatedly says that God isn’t something we can compare to anything. But again and again the Mormon prophets have taught doctrine that exchanges the glory of God for the lesser one: Joseph Smith taught that, “I say, if you were to see [God] today, you would see him like a man in form – like yourselves in all the person, image, and very form as a man” (History of the Church vol. 6, pg. 305). Isn’t this in direct violation of the Romans’ passage – exchanging the glory of God for an image in the form of corruptible man?! Lorenzo Snow created the famous couplet that says, “As man is, God once was/as God is, man may become”, and the Journal of Discourses teaches, “Remember that God, our heavenly Father, was perhaps once a child, and mortal like we ourselves, and rose step by step in the scale of progress, in the school of advancement; has moved forward and overcome, until He has arrived at the point where he now is” (vol. 1, 93).

It’s a tragedy that the Mormon Church has worshiped and served a creature rather than the creator! If Paul lived today he would say, “You fools have made God into a corruptible man!”