a common argument put forth by mormons in defense of their believe in man becoming Gods is often focused on one biblical text in the gospel of john , chapter 10
which states the following ....
Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’
and from this the mormon belief is that Jesus own word tell us that man can become a God -- and we should believe the masters words
ANSWER
not only is this an eisegetical foundation as a foreign meaning is being read into the text and is introducing severe difficulties in the word of God
seeing Jesus a devout jew only believed in the ONE TRUE GOD but this one GOD denied all posibility of there being other Gods governing this universe ..
consider for a start that christ himself states a commonly held belief which is all through the old and new testament ... in mark 12
And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 And the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. 33 And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And after that no one dared to ask him any more questions.
this is sufficient grounds to establish what the LORD JESUS A believe in regards to the God he served as a believing jew -- that there is but ONE GOD who is eternal to his being .. but we have futher confirmation as to what God himself knew to be the truth
Set forth your case, says the Lord; bring your proofs, says the King of Jacob.
Let them bring them, and tell us what is to happen. Tell us the former things, what they are,
that we may consider them, that we may know their outcome; or declare to us the things to come.
Tell us what is to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods;
do good, or do harm, that we may be dismayed and terrified.
Behold, you are nothing, and your work is less than nothing; an abomination is he who chooses you -- isa 41 :21 - 24
here we have God challenge the false Gods by means of his holy prophet isaiah .. and what is the challenge he requests --- simple these so called Gods .. to declare the future event, as well as the past event and give a just reason for all that happened .. only the true God knows both of these facts with perfect knowledge since he is one that will it to be seen .. and he decreed such things
this is a challenge which the mormon god fails on both account in one single instance ... he was not able to completely tell the future of one its member .. he said he will go out proclaiming the mormon massage in the future, and it was not fulfilled to a little thing called death .. the man died before he could embark on the mission .. so did not the God of joseph smith know this would happen preventing this mans future missionary work -- david w patten died in a shot out the year prior to this supposed prophecies fulfillment
so on this basis the God of the joseph can not predict the future accurately
now for futher clarification of there only being one God of all the universe, and not many
Thus shall you say to them: “The gods who did not make the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under the heavens -- jeremiah 10 :10 -11
“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen,
that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he.
Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.
I, I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior.
I declared and saved and proclaimed, when there was no strange god among you;
and you are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and I am God.
Also henceforth I am he; there is none who can deliver from my hand;
I work, and who can turn it back?” -- isa 43 :10 -13
that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he.
Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.
I, I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior.
I declared and saved and proclaimed, when there was no strange god among you;
and you are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and I am God.
Also henceforth I am he; there is none who can deliver from my hand;
I work, and who can turn it back?” -- isa 43 :10 -13
Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:
“I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.
7Who is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and set it before me,
since I appointed an ancient people. Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen.
Fear not, nor be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it?
And you are my witnesses! Is there a God besides me? There is no Rock; I know not any -- isa 44
But the Lord is the true God; he is the living God and the everlasting King.“I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.
7Who is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and set it before me,
since I appointed an ancient people. Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen.
Fear not, nor be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it?
And you are my witnesses! Is there a God besides me? There is no Rock; I know not any -- isa 44
At his wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot endure his indignation.
I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me there is no God;I equip you, though you do not know me,
that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me;
I am the Lord, and there is no other.
I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the Lord, who does all these things.-- For thus says the Lord, who created the heavens (he is God!),
who formed the earth and made it (he established it; he did not create it empty, he formed it to be inhabited!): “I am the Lord, and there is no other.--- Declare and present your case; let them take counsel together! Who told this long ago? Who declared it of old? Was it not I, the Lord? And there is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides me.
“Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.
By myself I have sworn; -- isa 45 : 5 -7, 18. 21 -23
By myself I have sworn; -- isa 45 : 5 -7, 18. 21 -23
even though there several important truth in these 3 passages for the sake of this refutation i will only bring out the one that is at the heart of this ... that there is only 1 true GOD -- unlike him... all other gods .. are of mans cravings and are like wise .. like men who perish so to does these false Gods -- they have no life to them they are not like yahweh the great God of man kind ... and since we know this being that joseph proclaimed under is a perish god of his wantings based on the above information that joseph made a false prophecy in his name
with this as the back drop to the claim posed .. we need to ask the following questions
1 --- what does Christ mean when he states "ye are Gods?
2 --- would Gods beloved son ... contradict the clear teaching he so adamently believed in .. since he revealed them to the prophets ?
3 --- does the bible actually indicate that man can or will become Gods ?
and to answer these questions we need the context of john 10
Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” 33 The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.” 34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? 35 If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken— 36 do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 37 If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; 38 but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father
in this section we note a few interesting facts
A) Jesus claims that scripture can not be broken -- this i believe indicates that scripture to its nature and origin is from God very being and as the being of God is true in of itself .. since the scripture has its origin in this being then all that is contained is unchanging and uncorruptable (2 timothy 3 :10 -17)
and this vitally important as it serves to show how christ regard God very revelation with a high esteem -- above all thing it is inerrent and infallible , and in turn it can not be contradictory as it flows with great consistency from old to new testaments
B) we also see that jesus is making two claims that these people are gods (present tense) i .e they are gods in their own deluded capacity as unrighteous judges .. and this is seen in the fact they are judging Jesus with no warrent -- we need to take in consideration psalms 82 1 -8 for a fuller conclusion to this
I said, “You are gods,sons of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless, like men you shall die, and fall like any prince
note these words are of judgement in fact the whole psalm is one of judgement --- against men who false judge israel how is this relivent well for two simple reasons
like the men in this psalm, the men in Jesus day had judged jesus falsely not in what he claimed but in the claim of blasphemy
the other point is a direct claim of being the "SON OF GOD" and the very injection of personal language which would make him eternal "do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’"
in other words the father set apart the son for a very specific pupose in accord to his will -- which is to glorify himself in redeeming a people for his pleasure
questions 1 and 2 are fully answered in this section, now for question 3
does the bible actually indicate that man can or will become Gods
not in this passage it does not, and with the thought of isaiah contual use of there only being one God ... none before nor after him neither beside him
You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen,
that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he.
Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.
I, I am the Lord, and besides me there is no savior. -- isaiah 43 :10 -11
