# Do Mormons Believe They Will Become Gods? > Gospel Principles says exaltation is the kind of life God lives. The King Follett sermon says God was once as we are now, and that the faithful must learn to be gods. Isaiah 43:10 says no God was formed after the LORD. - Canonical: https://apologetics.wiki/latter-day-saints/do-mormons-believe-they-will-become-gods - Religions: Latter-day Saints - Denominations: none - Beliefs: none - Tags: latter-day-saints, godhead, exaltation - Updated: 2026-10-10 - Author: [Paul Ambrose](https://apologetics.wiki/author/hi-its-paul) ([GitHub](https://github.com/hi-its-paul)) Yes. Gospel Principles, a manual of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, says exaltation is eternal life, the kind of life God lives, and that the faithful can become like Heavenly Father. The King Follett sermon, as the church prints it in the April 1971 *Ensign*, says God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and that you have got to learn how to be gods yourselves. Isaiah says that before the LORD no God was formed, and there shall be none after him. ## Key points - Gospel Principles, chapter 47: exaltation is the kind of life God lives. He is the Father of spirit children. He is a creator. We can become like our Heavenly Father. [(1)](#ref-1) - The same chapter says the exalted will have everything the Father and Jesus Christ have: all power, glory, dominion, and knowledge, citing Doctrine and Covenants 132:19–20. [(1)](#ref-1) - The King Follett sermon: God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man. [(2)](#ref-2) The same sermon says you have got to learn how to be gods yourselves. - The Gospel Topics essay Becoming Like God quotes Lorenzo Snow: “As man now is, God once was: As God now is, man may be.” It says little has been revealed about the first half, and consequently little is taught. [(4)](#ref-4) - The essay Mother in Heaven says all human beings are spirit children of a Heavenly Father and a Heavenly Mother, and that Latter-day Saints do not pray to Heavenly Mother. [(5)](#ref-5) - [Isaiah 43:10](/bible/isaiah/43/10) says before the LORD there was no God formed, neither shall there be after him. [(8)](#ref-8) [Do Mormons believe in the Trinity?](/latter-day-saints/the-godhead-in-latter-day-saint-teaching) is the confession those sentences answer. ## What is exaltation? Gospel Principles says exaltation is eternal life, the kind of life God lives. [(1)](#ref-1) On [that page](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-principles/chapter-47-exaltation?lang=eng): > Exaltation is eternal life, the kind of life God lives. He lives in great glory. He is perfect. He possesses all knowledge and all wisdom. He is the Father of spirit children. He is a creator. We can become like our Heavenly Father. This is exaltation. The chapter says the exalted will have everything that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have, all power, glory, dominion, and knowledge. It points to Doctrine and Covenants 132:19–20, Latter-day Saint scripture. [(7)](#ref-7) [Doctrine and Covenants 132:20](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/132?lang=eng&id=20) says then they shall be gods, because they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them. [Do Mormons practice polygamy?](/latter-day-saints/do-mormons-practice-polygamy) quotes that section’s teaching on many wives. Gospel Topics now says plural marriage is not required for exaltation. The promise of becoming gods is still in the verse. The same chapter says Paul named a celestial kingdom and a terrestrial kingdom, and that latter-day revelation adds a telestial kingdom in Doctrine and Covenants 76:81. Exaltation, in the manual, is the highest of those, the life God lives, not a lesser kingdom. The chapter quotes Moses 1:39, in the Pearl of Great Price, for the Father’s work and glory: to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. That book is Latter-day Saint scripture. ## Did Joseph Smith say God was once a man? The *Ensign* text of the King Follett sermon is the church’s published wording of what Joseph Smith preached on April 7, 1844, at the funeral of King Follett. [(2)](#ref-2) A William Clayton report is in the [Joseph Smith Papers](https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/discourse-7-april-1844-as-reported-by-william-clayton/1). [(3)](#ref-3) On [the Ensign page](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1971/04/the-king-follett-sermon?lang=eng): > God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens! That is the great secret. The same sermon says you have got to learn how to be gods yourselves, and to be kings and priests to God, the same as all gods have done before you, by going from one small degree to another. It also says the first sentence of the Bible read, in Joseph’s comment on the Hebrew, “The head one of the Gods brought forth the Gods.” [Genesis 1:1](/bible/genesis/1/1) names one God as the creator of heaven and earth. Joseph’s sentence is his interpretation, printed by the church. It is not that King James line. The essay Becoming Like God says that because the wind was blowing and transcription was limited, the church does not have certainty about his exact or complete wording, and that the accounts are an imperfect record. [(4)](#ref-4) The church still prints the sermon, and the essay still quotes the couplet below. [Are Mormons Christians?](/latter-day-saints/are-mormons-christians) sets that exalted man beside [John 4:24](/bible/john/4/24), which says God is a Spirit. ## What is the Lorenzo Snow couplet? Lorenzo Snow, the church’s fifth president, is quoted in Becoming Like God. [(4)](#ref-4) On [that page](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics-essays/becoming-like-god?lang=eng): > 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. The essay is frank about the first half. It also quotes Gordon B. Hinckley, then president, in 1997. Asked about the topic, he said that gets into some pretty deep theology that we don’t know very much about. Asked about divine potential, he said, “Well, as God is, man may become,” and that the church believes in eternal progression very strongly. The concession is real: little is taught about “God once was.” The second half is still taught, in Gospel Principles, as becoming like Heavenly Father, with all power. [What do Mormons believe?](/latter-day-saints/what-do-mormons-believe) quotes the church’s identification of Jehovah as the premortal Jesus, under the direction of the Father. A Father who was once a man, and a Son who is Jehovah, are two beings. [Isaiah 44:6](/bible/isaiah/44/6) says beside the LORD there is no God. [(8)](#ref-8) ## Is there a Heavenly Mother? The essay [Mother in Heaven](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics-essays/mother-in-heaven?lang=eng) says the church teaches that all human beings, male and female, are beloved spirit children of heavenly parents. [(5)](#ref-5) On [that page](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics-essays/mother-in-heaven?lang=eng): > The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that all human beings, male and female, are beloved spirit children of heavenly parents, a Heavenly Father and a Heavenly Mother. This understanding is rooted in scriptural and prophetic teachings about the nature of God, our relationship to Deity, and the godly potential of men and women. The doctrine of a Heavenly Mother is a cherished and distinctive belief among Latter-day Saints. The essay also says there is no record of a formal revelation to Joseph Smith on this doctrine. The earliest published references, it says, came shortly after his death, and the best-known lines are Eliza R. Snow’s: “In the heav’ns are parents single?” and “Truth eternal / Tells me I’ve a mother there.” The same essay says Latter-day Saints direct their worship to Heavenly Father, in the name of Christ, and do not pray to Heavenly Mother. It quotes Gordon B. Hinckley: the fact that we do not pray to our Mother in Heaven in no way belittles or denigrates her. [The Family: A Proclamation to the World](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/the-family-a-proclamation-to-the-world/the-family-a-proclamation-to-the-world?lang=eng), from the First Presidency and the Twelve in 1995, says each person is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents. [(6)](#ref-6) Dallin H. Oaks is quoted in Becoming Like God: our theology begins with heavenly parents, and our highest aspiration is to be like them. [(4)](#ref-4) That is the church’s teaching, including the limit it prints: no formal revelation on record, and no prayer addressed to her. The Bible’s God is the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. [John 1:1](/bible/john/1/1) says the Word was God. [(10)](#ref-10) It does not say the Word has a mother who is a goddess beside the Father. [The Trinity](/christianity/the-trinity) confesses one God, not a heavenly couple who progressed to godhood. ## Do Mormons get their own planet? Becoming Like God says the doctrine of exaltation is often reduced in media to a cartoonish image of people receiving their own planets. [(4)](#ref-4) It says few Latter-day Saints would identify with caricatures of having their own planet, and that most would agree that the awe inspired by creation hints at our creative potential in the eternities. The essay does not say there is no future creating. It rejects the cartoon. Gospel Principles still says God is a creator and that the exalted become like him, with all power. [(1)](#ref-1) The fair statement is the essay’s: not a slogan about a private planet, and still a hope of creative life like the Father’s. ## What does the Bible say about becoming gods? [Isaiah 43:10](/bible/isaiah/43/10) [(8)](#ref-8), on [that page](/bible/isaiah/43/10): > Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. [Isaiah 44:6](/bible/isaiah/44/6) says beside him there is no God. [Isaiah 45:5](/bible/isaiah/45/5) says there is no God beside the LORD. Those sentences are about the LORD’s uniqueness. They are not a ladder of gods. [Psalm 82:6–7](/bible/psalms/82) says, “I have said, Ye are gods,” and then, “But ye shall die like men.” [(9)](#ref-9) The psalm rebukes unjust rulers. It is not a promise that the righteous will become gods by nature. [John 10:34](/bible/john/10/34) is Jesus quoting that psalm when his hearers accuse him of blasphemy. The argument is his, that the Father sanctified and sent him. It does not undo [John 1:1](/bible/john/1/1). [Matthew 5:48](/bible/matthew/5/48) says be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect. [(11)](#ref-11) [2 Peter 1:4](/bible/2-peter/1/4) says believers may be partakers of the divine nature. [(12)](#ref-12) Becoming Like God reads Genesis 1, Psalm 82, John 10, Matthew 5:48, and 2 Peter 1:4 as divine potential. Many Christians read the same lines as moral likeness and a share in God’s life, not as becoming gods who once were men. [Ephesians 2:8–9](/bible/ephesians/2), quoted on [What do Mormons believe?](/latter-day-saints/what-do-mormons-believe) beside 2 Nephi 25:23, says salvation is God’s gift, not a promotion earned after all we can do. ## Frequently asked questions ### Do Mormons believe they can become gods? Gospel Principles says they can become like Heavenly Father, and that this is exaltation, the kind of life God lives, with all power, glory, dominion, and knowledge. The King Follett sermon says you have got to learn how to be gods yourselves. ### Do Mormons believe God was once a man? The King Follett sermon, as the church prints it, says God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man. The essay says little is taught about that half of the Lorenzo Snow couplet, and it still prints the sermon. ### Do Mormons believe in a Heavenly Mother? The Mother in Heaven essay says yes: spirit children of a Heavenly Father and a Heavenly Mother. It also says they pray to the Father in Christ’s name and do not pray to Heavenly Mother, and that there is no record of a formal revelation to Joseph Smith on the doctrine. ### Do Mormons believe they get their own planet? The church’s essay calls that a cartoon. It says the teaching points to creative potential in the eternities, and Gospel Principles says the exalted become like the Father, who is a creator. ## Keep reading - [What do Mormons believe?](/latter-day-saints/what-do-mormons-believe) - [Do Mormons believe in the Trinity?](/latter-day-saints/the-godhead-in-latter-day-saint-teaching) - [Are Mormons Christians?](/latter-day-saints/are-mormons-christians) - [Do Mormons practice polygamy?](/latter-day-saints/do-mormons-practice-polygamy) - [The Trinity](/christianity/the-trinity) - [Is Jesus God?](/christianity/is-jesus-god) ## Passages quoted on this page ### Doctrine and Covenants 132:20 English, churchofjesuschrist.org. [Open on churchofjesuschrist.org](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/132?lang=eng&id=20) > Then shall they be gods, because they have no end; therefore shall they be from everlasting to everlasting, because they continue; then shall they be above all, because all things are subject unto them. Then shall they be gods, because they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them. ### Genesis 1:1 King James Version. > In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. ### John 4:24 King James Version. > God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. ### Isaiah 44:6 King James Version. > Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God. ### The Family: A Proclamation to the World English, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. [Open on churchofjesuschrist.org](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/the-family-a-proclamation-to-the-world/the-family-a-proclamation-to-the-world?lang=eng) > All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose. ### John 1:1 King James Version. > In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ### Isaiah 45:5 King James Version. > I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: ### Psalms 82:6–7 King James Version. > [82:6] I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High. [82:7] But ye shall die like men, and fall like one of the princes. ### John 10:34 King James Version. > Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? ### Matthew 5:48 King James Version. > Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. ### 2 Peter 1:4 King James Version. > Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. ### Ephesians 2:8–9 King James Version. > [2:8] For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: [2:9] Not of works, lest any man should boast. ## Sources Numbered to match the HTML References list. Item 1 is `#ref-1` under `#references`. Scripture links to the King James Version on this site. 1. [Gospel Principles, Chapter 47, Exaltation](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-principles/chapter-47-exaltation?lang=eng) (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Exaltation is the kind of life God lives.) 2. [The King Follett Sermon, Ensign, April 1971](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1971/04/the-king-follett-sermon?lang=eng) (Joseph Smith’s April 7, 1844, sermon, as the church prints it.) 3. [Discourse, 7 April 1844, as reported by William Clayton](https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/discourse-7-april-1844-as-reported-by-william-clayton/1) (The Joseph Smith Papers. A reporter’s account of the King Follett sermon.) 4. [Becoming Like God, Gospel Topics Essay](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics-essays/becoming-like-god?lang=eng) (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Lorenzo Snow couplet, and the essay’s note on the sermon’s wording.) 5. [Mother in Heaven, Gospel Topics Essay](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics-essays/mother-in-heaven?lang=eng) (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A Heavenly Mother. Members pray to the Father, not to her.) 6. [The Family, A Proclamation to the World](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/the-family-a-proclamation-to-the-world/the-family-a-proclamation-to-the-world?lang=eng) (First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, September 23, 1995. Each person is a spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents.) 7. [Doctrine and Covenants, 132:19–20](https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/dc-testament/dc/132?lang=eng&id=20) (Latter-day Saint scripture. Then shall they be gods.) 8. [Book of Isaiah, 43:10; 44:6](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/isaiah/43/10). King James Version 9. [Book of Psalms, 82:6–7](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/psalms/82). King James Version 10. [Gospel of John, 10:34; 1:1](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/john/10/34). King James Version 11. [Gospel of Matthew, 5:48](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/matthew/5/48). King James Version 12. [Second Letter of Peter, 1:4](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/2-peter/1/4). King James Version ## See also - [Do Mormons Believe in the Trinity?](https://apologetics.wiki/latter-day-saints/the-godhead-in-latter-day-saint-teaching) — No. Latter-day Saints teach that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are three separate beings, one in purpose. That is not the Nicene confession of one God in three persons. - [Is Mormonism a Cult?](https://apologetics.wiki/latter-day-saints/is-mormonism-a-cult) — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a large public church, and its style guide rejects the word Mormonism. The doctrinal disagreement is three beings, Joseph Smith’s revelations, and exaltation, not a slur. - [What Do Mormons Believe?](https://apologetics.wiki/latter-day-saints/what-do-mormons-believe) — Latter-day Saints believe in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost as three beings, and they receive the Book of Mormon beside the Bible. Nicene Christians confess one God. - [Are Mormons Christians?](https://apologetics.wiki/latter-day-saints/are-mormons-christians) — Latter-day Saints worship Jesus Christ and use his name. Their teaching of God, of Jesus, and of salvation is not the Nicene confession, so they are not a denomination inside Trinitarian Christianity. - [Do Mormons Celebrate Christmas and Easter?](https://apologetics.wiki/latter-day-saints/do-mormons-celebrate-christmas-and-easter) — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints keeps Christmas as the season of Christ’s birth and Easter as the celebration of his resurrection, with Easter Sunday services. ## History [View history on GitHub](https://github.com/Apologetics-Wiki/apologetics-wiki/commits/main/src/content/articles/do-mormons-believe-they-will-become-gods.md)