God the Father has a perfected physical body; is eternal and personal
LDS theology teaches that God the Father (Elohim/Heavenly Father) is a perfected, glorified, immortal being who has a physical body of flesh and bone. This is explicitly stated in Doctrine and Covenants 130:22: 'The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's.' God is understood as eternally progressing in glory, though within LDS theology, God is fully God and his nature and character are unchanging.
This is a radical departure from classical Christian theology, which holds that God is immaterial, omnipresent spirit. LDS theology also teaches that God was once as we are now — a principle associated with Joseph Smith's King Follett Discourse (1844) and sometimes summarized as 'As man now is, God once was; as God now is, man may become.' This doctrine of eternal progression is distinctive to LDS theology and distinguishes it significantly from all other Christian traditions.
Key Distinctions
- Theism type:
- theism of a divine Family — Father (Elohim) is an embodied, glorified divine being; social polytheism
- Primary divine attribute:
- eternal progression; love; omniscience and omnipotence relative to our world
Scripture References
- Doctrine and Covenants 130:22-23
- Moses 1:39
Sources
- Doctrine and Covenants 130
- Joseph Smith, King Follett Discourse (1844)
- LDS Gospel Topics: Godhead