In the latest LDS manual for priesthood and Relief Society sunday meetings, it features the teachings of Joseph Smith and will be in use for the next two years. Today’s lesson is on the topic of God the Father. There is a particular passage in the manual that I was surprised to see, especially in contrast to the famous comment quoted in this post’s title made by Gordon B. Hinckley in Time magazine.
The passage in the manual is taken from the King Follett Discourse, perhaps Joseph’s most controversial sermon.
“God Himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens! That is the great secret. If the veil were rent today, and the great God who holds this world in its orbit, and who upholds all worlds and all things by His power, was to make Himself visible,—I say, if you were to see Him today, you would see Him like a man in form—like yourselves in all the person, image, and very form as a man; for Adam was created in the very fashion, image and likeness of God, and received instruction from, and walked, talked and conversed with Him, as one man talks and communes with another. …
For the sake of openness and fairness, I’m providing the most apologetic source for discussion of President Hinckley’s interview, the topical page from FAIR. Regardless of how you slice it, doesn’t it seem weird to say we don’t teach it and then so clearly include it in a correlated church manual now?
What are your thoughts?