It’s one of the most quoted lines about Latter-day Saint belief. Here’s exactly what Joseph Smith said in 1844, and what it means for God’s children.
Yes. Joseph Smith taught in the 1844 King Follett discourse that “God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man.” Two months later, in the Sermon in the Grove, he taught that “God the Father of Jesus Christ had a Father,” asking, “Where was there ever a son without a father?” Lorenzo Snow summed it up: “As man now is, God once was: As God now is, man may be.” Through Christ, God’s children can become like their Father and create worlds without number (Moses 1:33; D&C 132:20), while always remaining His children and worshipping Him (D&C 76:59).
The answerYes. Joseph Smith taught it plainly
In April 1844, about three months before his martyrdom, Joseph Smith preached a funeral sermon for King Follett to thousands at a general conference in Nauvoo. He said: “God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens! That is the great secret” (History of the Church 6:305; Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, ch. 2).
Then he told the Saints what it meant for them: “Here, then, is eternal life—to know the only wise and true God; and 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, namely, by going from one small degree to another … from grace to grace, from exaltation to exaltation” (History of the Church 6:306).
The Sermon in the GroveThe Father had a Father
Two months later, on June 16, 1844, in one of his last sermons, Joseph took it further. Speaking of Abraham’s reasoning that “intelligences exist one above another, so that there is no end to them,” he said: “If Jesus Christ was the Son of God, and John discovered that God the Father of Jesus Christ had a Father, you may suppose that He had a Father also. Where was there ever a son without a father? And where was there ever a father without first being a son? Whenever did a tree or anything spring into existence without a progenitor?” (History of the Church 6:476).
His conclusion was just as direct: “Hence if Jesus had a Father, can we not believe that He had a Father also? I despise the idea of being scared to death at such a doctrine, for the Bible is full of it.” In the same sermon he described the goal for the faithful: “then we shall see as we are seen, and be as our God and He as His Father” (History of the Church 6:476). This is eternal progression: an endless line of divine Fathers and sons, one above another, “so that there is no end to them.”
The BibleThe Son does what He saw the Father do
Joseph said he would prove it from the Bible, and his main text was Jesus’s own words: “The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise” (John 5:19). If the Son took a body, lived, died and rose again, Joseph reasoned, He was doing what He had seen His Father do. The accounts are collected by the Joseph Smith Papers (Accounts of the “King Follett Sermon”).
The Bible also teaches that God’s children can grow up to be like Him. Jesus commanded, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). He quoted Psalm 82: “Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?” (John 10:34). Paul called us “heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17), and Jesus promised, “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne” (Revelation 3:21).
Restoration scriptureGods, and worlds without number
The risen Christ told the Nephites, “I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect” (3 Nephi 12:48). Modern revelation explains the path: “you shall receive of his fulness, and be glorified in me as I am in the Father” (D&C 93:19–20). Of those exalted in the new and everlasting covenant, the Lord says: “Then shall they be gods, because they have no end” (D&C 132:20).
The Father tells Moses, “worlds without number have I created,” and “this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:33; 1:39). Exaltation means doing what He does. The Church’s Gospel Principles manual says the exalted “will become gods,” “will be able to have eternal increase,” and “will have everything that our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have—all power, glory, dominion, and knowledge” (Gospel Principles, ch. 47). Like our Father, His exalted children will create worlds without number.
Taught for nearly two centuriesFrom Joseph Smith to today’s manuals
This isn’t a fringe idea. Lorenzo Snow received it by revelation in 1840 and put it in a couplet: “As man now is, God once was: As God now is, man may be.” He kept it to himself until he knew Joseph Smith had taught it, and once it was public, “he testified of it frequently.” He later became the fifth President of the Church (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Lorenzo Snow, ch. 5).
The Church’s basic gospel manual still teaches it in Joseph Smith’s words: “It is the first principle of the Gospel to know for a certainty the Character of God. … He was once a man like us; … God himself, the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth, the same as Jesus Christ himself did.” It adds: “He wants us to succeed even as He did” (Gospel Principles, ch. 47). From the Nauvoo grove to today’s classrooms, the Church has taught it with confidence.
Always His childrenWe never replace or outgrow our Father
Becoming like the Father never means becoming equal to Him or replacing Him. Just as Jesus said, “my Father is greater than I” (John 14:28), we will always be below our Father as His children. The Church’s essay “Becoming Like God” says: “Latter-day Saints believe that God’s children will always worship Him. Our progression will never change His identity as our Father and our God” (Becoming Like God).
Scripture shows that order. Even Christ, after all things are subdued, “shall … also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all” (1 Corinthians 15:27–28). The exalted “are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s” (D&C 76:58–59). Joseph’s own words keep that order: “be as our God and He as His Father.” For more, see Do Latter-day Saints Get Their Own Planet? and “You’re Polytheists”? 1 Corinthians 8:5–6.
Check the premiseThe presuppositions baked into the question
Before this question can be answered fairly, the person asking has to justify a few assumptions packed inside it:
- That this is something the Church hides. It’s printed in Church manuals today, in Joseph Smith’s own words (Gospel Principles, ch. 47; Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, ch. 2).
- That Joseph Smith only hinted at it. He said it outright twice in 1844: “God himself was once as we are now” and “God the Father of Jesus Christ had a Father” (History of the Church 6:305, 6:476).
- That becoming like God means becoming His equal or rival. We always remain His children and worship Him: “they are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s” (D&C 76:59; John 14:28).
- That the Bible says nothing like this. Jesus said the Son does what He saw the Father do (John 5:19), commanded us to be perfect as the Father is (Matthew 5:48), and promised to share His throne (Revelation 3:21).
FAQQuick answers
Do Latter-day Saints believe God was once a man?
Yes. Joseph Smith taught in 1844 that “God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man,” and the Church’s Gospel Principles manual still teaches that “He was once a man like us.”
What is the King Follett discourse?
A sermon Joseph Smith gave to a general conference in Nauvoo in April 1844, at the funeral of King Follett. He taught that God was once as we are, and that we must “learn how to be gods yourselves … from exaltation to exaltation.”
Did Joseph Smith teach that God the Father had a Father?
Yes. In the June 16, 1844 Sermon in the Grove he said: “If Jesus Christ was the Son of God, and John discovered that God the Father of Jesus Christ had a Father, you may suppose that He had a Father also. Where was there ever a son without a father?”
What does “As man now is, God once was” mean?
It’s the couplet Lorenzo Snow received by revelation in 1840: “As man now is, God once was: As God now is, man may be.” It sums up eternal progression, and he testified of it frequently.
Do Latter-day Saints believe they will become gods?
Yes. The exalted “will become gods” and receive all the Father has (Gospel Principles, ch. 47; D&C 132:20), creating as He creates, while always remaining His children and worshipping Him (D&C 76:59).
Will Heavenly Father always be our Father?
Yes, forever. The risen Christ said, “I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God” (John 20:17). Exaltation means becoming like our Father in an endless line of Fathers and Sons, never replacing Him; we are always below Him, and He is always our Father.
What Bible verse did Joseph Smith use in the King Follett Sermon?
John 5:19: “The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do.” Joseph taught that the Son does what He saw the Father do before Him.
Is believing God was once a man polytheism?
Latter-day Saints worship one God, the Father, through His Son, as Paul did: “there be gods many, and lords many, But to us there is but one God, the Father” (1 Corinthians 8:5–6).
SummaryKey takeaways
- Joseph Smith taught in April 1844 that “God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man.”
- In the June 1844 Sermon in the Grove he taught that the Father had a Father: an endless line of divine Fathers and sons.
- Lorenzo Snow’s couplet and today’s Gospel Principles manual teach the same doctrine.
- The exalted become gods and create worlds without number, always remaining below our Father as His children.
Read the King Follett discourse, the Sermon in the Grove and John 5 for yourself. For quick, sourced answers, open Galatians18, and follow me on X at @TraviXai.
Sources
- King James Bible (churchofjesuschrist.org): Matthew 5:48 · John 5:19 · John 10:34 · John 14:28 · Romans 8:17 · 1 Corinthians 15:27–28 · Revelation 3:21
- Book of Mormon: 3 Nephi 12:48
- Doctrine and Covenants: D&C 76:58–59 · D&C 93:19–20 · D&C 132:20
- Pearl of Great Price: Moses 1:33 · Moses 1:39
- History of the Church 6:305–306 (King Follett discourse), BYU Studies
- History of the Church 6:473–479 (Sermon in the Grove), BYU Studies
- Gospel Principles (2009), ch. 47, “Exaltation”
- Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Lorenzo Snow (2012), ch. 5
- “Becoming Like God,” Gospel Topics Essays
- Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith (2007), chapter 2
- “Accounts of the ‘King Follett Sermon’,” Joseph Smith Papers
- Featured image and in-article graphic: original graphics by thebookofmormon.ai (painterly backgrounds; no photographs or likenesses of real people).
