Hey gramps,
I looked on this website how people can become gods and I googled the Psalms verse you quoted saying that ye are gods,” and I came across some anti-Mormon stuff trying to dispute that scripture. I copied some of the following scriptures that they used saying that there is just one God and no one else can be a god.
Isaiah 46:9; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me.
Isaiah 43:10; Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me.
Isaiah 45:21-22; There is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me. Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.
This hasn’t shaken my faith in the Mormon Church but I would like to know if you can clear up those scriptures because they do seem pretty straight forward about there being no other God. Oh, and they also said (the anti-Mormons) that the Psalms verse meant “ye are gods” in the sense that the people have power over other people, or in another sense they were kings and whatnot.
Marco, from Orlando, Florida

Dear Marco,
That is a simple matter. In the first place we quote 1 Cor. 2:9-14, and we also use the Joseph Smith translation of the Bible, as it clarifies a small point clearing up an inconsistency in the King James Version—
But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit; for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, except he has the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
For the underlined portion, the KJV says—
even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
As written, the KJV statement says that no man knows the things of God. That, of course, cannot be true because there are men who DO know the things of God. In fact, knowing God is essential to the eternal life that we all seek, as we read in John 17:3—
And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
The referenced scripture goes on to say that only the Spirit of God knows the things of God. This is an obvious error that has crept into the original scripture, undoubtedly from one of the many hand-written copies that were made of the scriptures before the printed word began to be used. Joseph Smith, an unlettered boy, with only three years of formal education, under the inspiration of God Himself, corrected the errors in the King James Version, eliminating these internal inconsistencies.
The import of this scripture in 1 Corinthians, is that unless one has the Spirit of God with him, he cannot know what the scriptures really mean, because they can only be understood by the influence of the Spirit of God upon the person. And the Spirit of God dwelleth not with the proud or the wicked or the unclean.
For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God (Eph 5:5).
Therefore, there are two truisms to consider: 1) if a person is unworthy of the Spirit, he cannot understand the scriptures, and 2) if a person cannot understand the scriptures it is a demonstration that he is not worthy of the influence of the Holy Spirit.
The detractors that you cite, in saying that there is only one God, are denying the divinity of Jesus Christ. For if there is just one person who is God, we must assume that they are referring to God the Father. To justify their position they have to invent another obvious falsehood–that God and Christ (and they also include the Holy Ghost) are merely three manifestations of the same being. In order to adhere to that fabrication, other scriptures that demonstrate the They are indeed three separate beings, must be ignored or denied. For instance, I’ve always wondered how those who adhere to the dogma of the Divinity being comprised of three manifestations of the same being, interpret the scripture found in John 8:15-18—
Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man. And yet if I judge, my judgment is true: for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me. It is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true. I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me.
One more point in passing–the detractors, who are spending their time trying to tear down the Church and kingdom that was restored by God in these last days– are not using the King James Version of the Bible, but a more modern translation. We do not object to that in the citations that they quote, as the meaning of the their particular references is not changed by the newer versions. However, if they would trace the Bible back to the Hebrew from which it was translated into the modern languages, they would find that they are refuted in the very scriptures that they cite. Let’s examine one of their citations together with its preceding verse, Isa 43:10-11 —
10 Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.
11 I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.
The word, LORD, in both verses is translated from the Hebrew, Yhovah, and the word, God, is translated from the word ‘el, a derivation of the word ‘elohiym. ‘elohiym is the Hebrew word for God the Father, and Yhovah is the Old Testament name by which the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the God of this world, identifies himself. That concept is clearly displayed in Exodus 6:2-3 and Zechariah 12:8-10, and it is also obvious also from the above cited Isaiah 43:11, where the LORD specifies himself himself as the Savior.
Gramps