LDS Beliefs About God and the Godhead: Nature of the Divine

LDS Perspective

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that God the Father is the Supreme and Absolute Being, the Almighty Ruler of the universe who possesses a tangible, perfected body of flesh and bones (Doctrine and Covenants 130:22). He is the literal Father of our spirits, making all humans "beloved spirit son[s] or daughter[s] of heavenly parents" with divine origins and potential. God is perfect, possessing all power, knowledge, and glory, and His work and glory is "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39). He is not a being without body, parts, or passions, but rather the "Great Parent of the universe" who looks upon humanity with fatherly care. The Godhead consists of three distinct personages—God the Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost

Historical Perspective

The LDS Church teaches that God the Father is an embodied, exalted being who once lived as a mortal man. According to Doctrine and Covenants 130:22, "The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's." This doctrine was articulated definitively by Joseph Smith in his 1844 King Follett Discourse, where he declared, "God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens!" Smith taught that God "was once a man like us" and that understanding this is "the first principle of the Gospel." This view contrasts sharply with traditional Christian theology, which holds that God is immaterial spirit (John 4:24). Brigham Young reinforced this teaching, stating that God "was once a man in mortal flesh as we are, and is now an exalted being." LDS the