Title: Becoming Like Our Heavenly Parents Kicker: We are the literal children of heavenly parents. By learning about our divine heritage, we can understand our own divine potential and progress toward becoming like God. An article on the Gospel Topics page of lds.org discusses the unique Latter-day Saint doctrine that all people have divine potential as literal descendants of heavenly parents. [https://www.lds.org/topics/becoming-like-god?lang=eng] These beliefs have biblical origins, tracing back to the first centuries following Christ’s death. The Apostle Paul teaches that we are “the offspring of God” (Acts 17:29), [https://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/acts/17.29?lang=eng#28] and he emphasizes that “we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God” (Romans 8:16–17). [https://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/rom/8.16-17?lang=eng#15] Most of Christianity has chosen to interpret such scriptures metaphorically, but Latter-day Saints understand the doctrine literally, believing that we can become like our heavenly parents [http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Mother_in_Heaven]. Considering such doctrine, we may wonder how it is possible for us to obtain divinity. As quoted in this Gospel Topics article, Joseph Smith [https://www.lds.org/churchhistory/presidents/controllers/potcController.jsp?topic=facts&leader =1] taught the Latter-day Saints to work to understand God because “if men do not comprehend the character of God they do not comprehend themselves.” As we follow his counsel, we will begin our own divine progression, which, according to the article, is a process that is “ongoing and require[s] patience, faith, continuing repentance, obedience to the commandments of the gospel, and reliance on Christ.” Becoming divine is like ascending a ladder, climbing from principle to principle until we become like God. As we climb, we will recognize exalted experiences in our everyday existence. One rung may be the joy of raising children. Another may be an impulse of empathy or the desire to help others. As we climb toward divinity, it is crucial to recognize that our ladder of progression leans against the pillar of the Atonement [http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Atonement_of_Jesus_Christ]. By continuously relying upon the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we become humble and unify our purpose with God’s will. Only then, says the article, can we be become like God and recognize “the vast human potential [the Atonement] makes possible,” and that “human nature is at its core divine.” Read More 1. Joseph Smith revealed that the human soul was not created ex nihilo or the belief that creation was from nothing. (D&C 93:29, 33) [https://www.lds.org/scriptures/dctestament/dc/93.29%2C33?lang=eng#28] 2. Lorenzo Snow [https://www.lds.org/churchhistory/presidents/controllers/potcController.jsp?leader=5&to
pic=facts], the fifth President of the Church, penned the couplet, “As man now is, God once was: As God now is, man may be.” [http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Godhood] 3. In 1995, the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles declared the following in “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” [https://www.lds.org/topics/familyproclamation?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.” Read Gospel Topics’ full article “Becoming Like God.” [https://www.lds.org/topics/becominglike-god?lang=eng] Source: lds.org/topics —Natalie Cherie Campbell, Mormon Insights