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Deification (i.e. "Eternal Progression" in LDS parlance) was clearly taught in the early days of Christianity -- not by random heretical sects, but by noted Church fathers:
Irenaeus: “If the Word became a man, it was so men may become gods. Do we cast blame on Him (God) because we were not made gods from the beginning, but were at first created merely as men, and then later as gods?”
Clement: “The Word of God became a man so that you might learn from a man how to become a god.”
Saint Justin: "[Men are] deemed worthy of becoming gods and of having power to become sons of the highest.”
Athanasius: “The Word was made flesh in order that we might be enabled to be made gods. He became man that we might be made divine.”
Augustine: “But He that justifies also deifies, for by justifying he makes sons of God. For he has given them power to become the sons of God. If then we have been made sons of God, we have also been made gods.”
In much more recent years, the noted Christian scholar, C.S. Lewis, said, “The command Be ye perfect is not idealistic gas. Nor is it a command to do the impossible. He is going to make us into creatures that can obey that command. He said (in the Bible) that we were 'gods' and He is going to make good His words. If we let Him – for we can prevent Him, if we choose – He will make the feeblest and filthiest of us into a god or goddess, dazzling, radiant, immortal creature, pulsating all through with such energy and joy and wisdom and love as we cannot now imagine, a bright stainless mirror which reflects back to God perfectly (though, of course, on a smaller scale) His own boundless power and delight and goodness. The process will be long and in parts very painful; but that is what we are in for. Nothing less. He meant what He said."
I think all of these individuals believed in the same God you do, since you claim to believe in the God of the Bible, as did they.
You're welcome.
I don't care what these individuals thought. This is not from the Bible.
It has nothing to do with either my "sincerity" or "my belief." I posted a non-LDS source for you to fact-check what I said.
Thank you. What I meant was that you were sincere, and I assumed you simply copied and pasted from your church's site, without vetting the source. I meant no disrespect.
Sorry, I think I misplaced a bracket. This should now work.
Quote:
In Christian theology, divinization (deification, making divine, theopoesis or theosis) is the transforming effect of divine grace,[1] the spirit of God, or the atonement of Christ. Although it literally means to become divine, or to become a god, most Christian denominations do not interpret the doctrine as implying an overcoming of a fundamental metaphysical difference between God and humanity, for example John of the Cross had it: "it is true that its natural being, though thus transformed, is as distinct from the Being of God as it was before
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"It's not in the Bible! It can't be true!"