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What Did Early Christians Teach about Exaltation? #701 · Scripture Central

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  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear
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  what we shall be. But we know that when he shall
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  appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
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  Hey listeners, this is Nick from Scripture Central, and today's
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  podcast addresses the question, What did early Christians teach
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  about exaltation? In 1832, Joseph Smith and Sidney
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  Rigden had a grand vision of the heavens.
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  This vision, not unlike other early Christian descriptions of
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  the heavens, would go on to be canonized as Section 76 of the
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  Doctrine and Covenants. One of the most sacred blessings
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  promised to those who would obtain the highest heaven or the
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  celestial Kingdom, may seem foreign to many Christians
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  today. They are they who are priests
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  and kings, who have received of his fullness and of his glory.
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  Wherefore, as it is written, they are gods, even the sons of
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  God. Furthermore, in another
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  revelation given to Joseph Smith, these same Saints are
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  similarly described. Then shall they be gods, because
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  they have no end? Therefore shall they be from
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  everlasting to everlasting because they continue.
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  Then shall they be above all, because all things are subject
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  unto them? Then shall they be gods, because
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  they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them.
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  The language of Saints becoming gods or like God, is found
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  within the Bible. For example, when challenged by
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  the Pharisees who sought to stone Jesus, they listed
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  blasphemy as Jesus's crime. Jesus, however, responded by
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  citing Psalm 82, verse six. The Jews answered him, saying,
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  For a good work we stone thee knot, but for blasphemy, and
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  because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God.
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  Jesus answered them. Is it not written in your law?
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  I said, ye are gods. Peter taught the Saints that ye
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  might be partakers of the divine nature, and Paul taught that we
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  are the children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of
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  God, and joint heirs with Christ.
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  Some of these promises are especially manifest in the
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  writings of the Apostle John. In a string of blessings given
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  to seven churches, the Saints are promised to him that
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  overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I
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  also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
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  Again at the close of the Revelation they are promised.
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  He that overcometh shall inherit all things, and I will be his
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  God, and he shall be my Son. Finally, in the first epistle of
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  John the Apostle powerfully taught Beloved, now are we the
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  sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be.
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  But we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him,
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  for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this
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  hope in him purifies himself, even as he is pure.
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  The ultimate fate of mankind was clear to the early apostles.
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  While full details of our eternal lives have not been
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  revealed, we have been promised that we would be like God in the
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  fullest sense of the word. This belief continued well into
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  the early centuries of the Church.
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  Clement of Alexandria, who taught during the 2nd century
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  AD, once wrote the Word of God became man, that thou mayest
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  learn from man how man may become God.
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  Furthermore, he believed that God rejoices most when he sees
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  us bright with the ornament of intelligence, and thereby he is
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  made like to God. He is beautiful, He does not
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  ornament himself. His is beauty, the true beauty,
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  for it is God, and that man becomes God since God so wills.
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  Tertullian similarly taught that our exaltation depends upon
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  God's grace and mercy. Who will reward the faithful
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  with this blessing? For we shall be even gods, if we
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  shall deserve to be among those of whom he declared.
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  I have said ye are gods, and God standeth in the congregation of
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  the gods. But this comes of his own grace,
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  not from any property in us, because it is he alone who can
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  make gods. Irenaeus of Lions similarly
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  taught that the word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, who did
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  through his transcendent love become what we are, that he
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  might bring us to be even what he is himself.
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  By the 6th century AD, teachings about exaltation began to slowly
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  fade in official discourses and sermons of mainstream
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  Christendom. Some Christian churches still
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  maintain a form of this teaching, most notably the
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  Eastern Orthodox faith. Nonetheless, there remains
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  distinct differences in how many contemporary Christians
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  interpret this doctrine and the ancient teachings of the New
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  Testament authors and other early Church Fathers.
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  But the full implications of this important doctrine have
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  been more completely revealed and restored through the Prophet
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  Joseph Smith, clearly demonstrating the ultimate fate
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  of mankind. When the Lord spoke to Moses, he
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  declared, This is my work and my glory to bring to pass the
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  immortality and eternal life of man.
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  Like Clement of Alexandria and other early Christians, Latter
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  Day Saints likewise believe that God rejoices most when he sees
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  us bright with the ornament of intelligence and the eternal
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  life that He freely bestows on us.
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  We believe that God actively desires us to share the same
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  kind of life He has. Should we accept His gift and
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  stay true to the covenants we have made with him?
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  Of course. The doctrine of exaltation or
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  becoming like God does not in any way belittle God or seek to
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  replace him now or anciently, as expressed by the 1st Presidency
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  in a doctoral exposition entitled The Father and the Son
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  in 1916. Yet though yet though exalted
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  Saints begods per DNC section 76, verse 58, they are still
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  subject to Jesus Christ as their Father in this exalted
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  relationship. And so we read in the paragraph
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  following the above quotation, and they are Christ's and Christ
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  is God's. Rather, we will simply enjoy the
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  same type of life that God lives while we worship and serve him
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  in celestial glory. This has been noted by Scott
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  Peterson, who wrote those who believed this doctrine anciently
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  did not hold that they would replace God.
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  On the contrary, the assumption was that they would always
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  worship and reverence God and Christ.
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  However, for early Christians, salvation in its fullest sense
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  consisted of God making you as He is and empowering you to do
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  what He does. Thus, the redeemed would
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  continue to worship God, but would participate in His
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  creative acts throughout eternity.
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  This doctrine also serves to elevate mankind more fully,
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  demonstrating our relationship with our Heavenly Father.
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  Specifically, it teaches us what we as His children are capable
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  of becoming. If we stay true and faithful to
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  the covenants we have made with God in this way, we truly will
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  be heirs, Heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.
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  Thank you for listening to this presentation from Scripture
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  Central. For more information, please
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  visit scripturecentral.org.