Bruce R. McConkie
"The Promised Messiah: The First Coming of
Christ"
Page 19
Unfortunately some have supposed that the
Almighty is not almighty, that he has not attained the high ultimates of
perfection and power here named, and that somehow he is still learning new
truths and progressing in knowledge and wisdom. Such a view comes from a total
misconception of what eternal progress really is. The simple, unadorned fact is
that God is omnipotent and supreme. He has all power, all knowledge, all truth,
and all wisdom, and is everywhere present by the power of his Spirit. In him
every good and wholesome attribute dwells independently and in its eternal
fulness and perfection. There is no charity, no love, no honesty, no integrity,
no justice, mercy, or judgment, that he does not possess in the absolute and
total and complete sense of the word. If there were some truth he did not know,
some power that was denied him, some attribute of perfection still to be
obtained, he would not be God; and if progression lay ahead for him where his
character, perfections, or attributes are concerned, then retrogression would
also be a possibility; and by falsely so assuming, we would soon find ourselves
mired in such a morass of philosophical absurdities that we would be as far
removed from saving truth as are the pagans and heathens.
"Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith"
Page 348
What did Jesus do? Why; I do the things I saw my
Father do when worlds came rolling into existence. My Father worked out his
kingdom with fear and trembling, and I must do the same; and when I get my
kingdom, I shall present it to my Father, so that he may obtain kingdom upon
kingdom, and it will exalt him in glory. He will then take a higher exaltation,
and I will take his place, and thereby become exalted myself. So that Jesus
treads in the tracks of his Father, and inherits what God did before; and God
is thus glorified and exalted in the salvation and exaltation of all his
children.
The notion that our God is still progressing in knowledge-that he is gaining new truths-seems to have come from a faulty interpretation of the Prophet Joseph Smith's King Follett Sermon and a misunderstanding of what is meant by eternal progression, God progresses in the sense that his kingdoms expand and his dominions multiply (see D&C 132:31, 63; Moses 1:39). Joseph Smith described our Father's progression in the King Follett Sermon. Speaking as Christ might speak, the Prophet said: "I do the things I saw my Father do when worlds came rolling into existence. My Father worked out his kingdom with fear and trembling, and I must do the same; and when I get my kingdom, I shall present it to my Father, so that he may obtain kingdom upon kingdom, and it will exalt him in glory. He will then take a higher exaltation, and I will take his place, and thereby become exalted myself." The Prophet therefore concluded: "So that Jesus treads in the tracks of his Father, and inherits what God did before; and God is thus glorified and exalted in the salvation and exaltation of all his children" (Teachings, pp. 347-48) The idea that God progresses in any manner other than through the exaltation of his children is without scriptural support. 'I believe that God knows all things," President Joseph Fielding Smith testified, "and that his understanding is perfect, not I relative.' I have never seen or heard of any revealed fact to the contrary. I believe that our Heavenly Father and his Son Jesus Christ are perfect. I offer no excuse for the simplicity of my faith." (Doctrines of Salvation 1:8.)
Joseph Fielding McConkie
and Robert L. Millet
"Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon"
Volume 1 Page 247
The notion that our God is still progressing in knowledge-that he is gaining new truths-seems to have come from a faulty interpretation of the Prophet Joseph Smith's King Follett Sermon and a misunderstanding of what is meant by eternal progression, God progresses in the sense that his kingdoms expand and his dominions multiply (see D&C 132:31, 63; Moses 1:39). Joseph Smith described our Father's progression in the King Follett Sermon. Speaking as Christ might speak, the Prophet said: "I do the things I saw my Father do when worlds came rolling into existence. My Father worked out his kingdom with fear and trembling, and I must do the same; and when I get my kingdom, I shall present it to my Father, so that he may obtain kingdom upon kingdom, and it will exalt him in glory. He will then take a higher exaltation, and I will take his place, and thereby become exalted myself." The Prophet therefore concluded: "So that Jesus treads in the tracks of his Father, and inherits what God did before; and God is thus glorified and exalted in the salvation and exaltation of all his children" (Teachings, pp. 347-48) The idea that God progresses in any manner other than through the exaltation of his children is without scriptural support. 'I believe that God knows all things," President Joseph Fielding Smith testified, "and that his understanding is perfect, not I relative.' I have never seen or heard of any revealed fact to the contrary. I believe that our Heavenly Father and his Son Jesus Christ are perfect. I offer no excuse for the simplicity of my faith." (Doctrines of Salvation 1:8.)
