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Heavenly Father – Wants Us to Be Heirs to All He Has
“I am a child of God,” a beloved Latter-day Saint children’s song says “rich blessings are in store.” The song continues “If I can learn to do his will, I’ll live with him once more.” The last verse of the song says “I am a child of God. His promises are sure. Celestial glory shall be mine, if I can but endure.” These verses capture the tender Latter-day Saint hope to return to live with their Father and Mother in Heaven (See #59 A MOTHER IN HEAVEN) and receive “all that [the] Father hath” (Doctrine & Covenants 84:38).
Latter-day Saints believe in the concept of human deification or apotheosis where humans can become as God is. Doctrine & Covenants 132:19–20 explicitly states that men and women sealed to each other as couples become gods and thus inherit all power.
Apotheosis is also taught in the Book of Mormon. It is said that men can speak with the tongue of angels (2 Nephi 31:13–14; 32:2–3) and one scholar has shown how this is a nod to the human potential to become like God. 101 The experience of the Three Nephites in the Book of Mormon (3 Nephi 28:6–10) also strongly teaches that man has the ability to become as God is (See #19 THREE NEPHITE DISCIPLES REMAIN ON EARTH). Authors Val Larsen and Newell D. Wright have extensively documented this belief in the text of the Book of Mormon.102
While the Latter-day Saint concept of deification is unique from all Christian movements, sects, and denominations, other churches such as the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church believe in man’s ability to partake, albeit in a limited way, in the divine nature of God.
Latter-day Saints believe that the human potential to become like God is first explained and taught in the Bible. Support for deification is found in Genesis 1:26–27; 2:17; 3:22; Psalm 82:6; Matthew 5:48; John 10:33-34; Acts 17:29; Romans 8:16–17; Galatians 3:29; Titus 3:7; James 2:5; 2 Peter 1:4; and Revelation 3:21. Psalm 82:6 has received the most attention from Latter-day Saint scholars for its affirmation of human potential for apotheosis.103
The Early Church Fathers also seem to have believed in an ability to become as God is, but it is not clear in what way they believed that we can become like God.104 Likewise, it may not be fully understood by believing Latter-day Saints how we become like God since we may not know everything about God’s nature and characteristics. Surely, there are “many great and important things” (Articles of Faith 1:9) that will be revealed about this topic moving into the future and, whatever that nature and those characteristics, we will “inherit thrones, kingdoms, principalities, and powers, dominions, all heights and depths” and become “gods, because [we] have no end; therefore shall [we] be from everlasting to everlasting, because [we] continue; then shall [we] be above all, because all things are subject unto [us]. Then shall [we] be gods, because [we] have all power, and the angels are subject unto [us]” (Doctrine & Covenants 132:19–20). We will do all of that if we are faithful and diligent in keeping God’s commandments.
101Neal Rappleye, “‘With the Tongue of Angels’: Angelic Speech as a Form of Deification,” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 21 (2016): 303–23, https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/with-the-tongue-of-angels-angelic-speech-as-a-form-of-deification/
102Val Larsen and Newell D. Wright, “Theosis in the Book of Mormon: The Work and Glory of the Father, Mother and Son, and Holy Ghost,” Interpreter: A Journal of Latter-day Saint Faith and Scholarship 56 (2023): 275–326, https://journal.interpreterfoundation.org/theosis-in-the-book-of-mormon-the-work-and-glory-of-the-father-mother-and-son-and-holy-ghost/.
103Daniel Peterson, “‘Ye are Gods’: Psalm 82 and John 10 as Witnesses to the Divine Nature of Humankind,” in The Disciple as Scholar: Essays on Scripture and the Ancient World in Honor of Richard Lloyd Anderson, eds. Stephen D. Ricks, Donald W. Parry, and Andrew H. Hedges (Provo, UT: FARMS, 2000), 471–594, https://scripturecentral.org/archive/books/book-chapter/ye-are-gods-psalm-82-and-john-10-witnesses-divine-nature-humankind; David Bokovoy, “‘Ye Really Are Gods’: A Response to Michael Heiser concerning the LDS Use of Psalm 82 and the Gospel of John,” FARMS Review 19.1 (2007): 269–70, https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/msr/vol19/iss1/15/.
104Daniel Becerra, “Becoming Like God: Incarnation, Moral Formation, and Eternal Progression,” in Ancient Christians: An Introduction for Latter-day Saints, eds. Jason Combs, Kristian Heal, Catherine Taylor, and Mark Ellison (Provo, UT: Neal A. Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship, 2022), 369–93.
