The majority of Mormon doctrine that I was taught when I was a member in the 70s is derived from a non canonical funerary eulogy given by Joseph Smith Jr. in Nauvoo, IL in 1844. In conversing with mormons on other forums in the past, such as CARM, Nothing has changed to any great degree with those beliefs. Any mormon that wishes to correct the record is welcome to do so. Excerpts from the discourse appear below from a BYU web site.
Mormon Literature Sampler: The King Follett Discourse
“First, God himself, who sits enthroned in yonder heaven, is a man like one of you. …
…
I am going to tell you how God came to be God. … God himself, the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth the same as Jesus Christ himself did, and I will show it from the Bible.
…
Here, then, is eternal life--to know the only wise and true God. And you have got to learn how to be Gods yourselves--to be kings and priests to God, the same as all Gods have done--by going from a small degree to another, from grace to grace, from exaltation to exaltation, until you are able to sit in glory as do those who sit enthroned in everlasting power.
…
The mind of man is as immortal as God himself. … their spirits existed coequal with God … Is it logic to say that a spirit is immortal and yet has a beginning? Because if a spirit has a beginning, it will have an end. That is good logic. … But if I am right, I might with boldness proclaim from the house tops that God never did have power to create the spirit of man at all. God himself could not create himself. Intelligence exists upon a self-existent principle; it is a spirit from age to age, and there is no creation about it.
…
The first principles of man are self-existent with God. God found himself in the midst of spirits and glory, and because he was greater, he saw proper to institute laws whereby the rest could have the privilege of advancing like himself--that they might have one glory upon another and all the knowledge, power, and glory necessary to save the world of spirits.
…
Footnote: This sermon, important for its startling new doctrine regarding the nature of God, was reported by Willard Richards, Wilford Woodruff, Thomas Bullock, and William Clayton and was first published in the Times and Seasons, 5 (15 August 1844): 612-17. Obvious errors in punctuation and sentence structure have been edited.”
Mormon Literature Sampler: The King Follett Discourse
The King Follett Discourse
Joseph Smith
…“First, God himself, who sits enthroned in yonder heaven, is a man like one of you. …
…
I am going to tell you how God came to be God. … God himself, the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth the same as Jesus Christ himself did, and I will show it from the Bible.
…
Here, then, is eternal life--to know the only wise and true God. And you have got to learn how to be Gods yourselves--to be kings and priests to God, the same as all Gods have done--by going from a small degree to another, from grace to grace, from exaltation to exaltation, until you are able to sit in glory as do those who sit enthroned in everlasting power.
…
The mind of man is as immortal as God himself. … their spirits existed coequal with God … Is it logic to say that a spirit is immortal and yet has a beginning? Because if a spirit has a beginning, it will have an end. That is good logic. … But if I am right, I might with boldness proclaim from the house tops that God never did have power to create the spirit of man at all. God himself could not create himself. Intelligence exists upon a self-existent principle; it is a spirit from age to age, and there is no creation about it.
…
The first principles of man are self-existent with God. God found himself in the midst of spirits and glory, and because he was greater, he saw proper to institute laws whereby the rest could have the privilege of advancing like himself--that they might have one glory upon another and all the knowledge, power, and glory necessary to save the world of spirits.
…
Footnote: This sermon, important for its startling new doctrine regarding the nature of God, was reported by Willard Richards, Wilford Woodruff, Thomas Bullock, and William Clayton and was first published in the Times and Seasons, 5 (15 August 1844): 612-17. Obvious errors in punctuation and sentence structure have been edited.”
