"We believe in a God who is Himself progressive, whose majesty is intelligence; whose perfection consists in eternal advancement -- a Being who has attained His exalted state by a path which now His children are permitted to follow, whose glory it is their heritage to share" (The Articles of Faith, p. 430).

Since the Latter-day Saint male believes he is following the "same path" to Godhood as Elohim, he is really doing nothing more than repeating a process started by an infinite number of Gods aeons ago. The "exalted" Mormon male, like all Gods before Him, will supposedly go on to populate his world, just as the God of Mormonism populates this one. In turn, he will receive worship of his offspring just as Elohim receives worship. Mormon Apostle Orson Pratt explains:

"Each God, through his wife or wives, raises up a numerous family of sons and daughters; indeed, there will be no end to the increase of his own children: for each father and mother will be in a condition to multiply forever and ever. As soon as each God has begotten many millions of male and female spirits, and his Heavenly inheritance becomes too small, to comfortably accommodate his great family, he, in connection with his sons, organizes a new world, after a similar order to the one which we now inhabit, where he sends both the male and female spirits to inhabit tabernacles of flesh and bones. Thus each God forms a world for the accommodation of his own sons and daughters who are sent forth in their times and seasons, and generations to be born into the same. The inhabitants of each world are required to reverence, adore, and worship their own personal father who dwells in the Heaven which they formerly inhabited" (The Seer, p. 37).

Mr. Pratt's comments raise some interesting points. If a human-turned-God has the ability to procreate throughout eternity and organize a new one when the former is full, are we to assume that Elohim (the God of Mormonism) has other planets out there somewhere that he is in charge of? If not, and since this planet we call home is still far from being filled, would it not be correct to assume that Elohim hasn't been a God for very long?

Let us set aside reason (and scripture) for a moment and hypothetically assume that Mormons can reach Godhood and acquire the necessary attributes for such an eternal feat. Is such an eternity really going to be what most Mormons expect?

Though the Bible gives very few details of what heaven will be like, it is described as a real place so wonderful that our thoughts cannot imagine its glory:

"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" (1 Corinthians 2:9).

Revelation 21:4 adds:

"And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away."

Because of sin, man has proven to be the cruelest of God's creations. Through man's sinful acts he has brought suffering and pain upon himself and others. No human alive could ever honestly say that life here on earth does not have its share of heartaches, disappointments, and sorrow. All of us have seen the effects of a fallen race, and the view is often very unpleasant.

We hear of places like Auschwitz, Rwanda, and Tiananmen Square. Such names flash horrible pictures of the dead, in some cases tens of thousands of them, slaughtered as a result of human depravity. Historical figures like Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Idi Amin, and Mao Tse-tung prove to us that there seems to be no limit to man's inhumanity to man.

We see the effects of sin on God's creation and we ask ourselves, "Is God pleased with us? Is what takes place every day on earth really making God happy?" Remember, according to Mormonism, this is Elohim's "heaven." This planet was his inheritance and reward for a life of good works in a previous world and while it is true that Mormons do not believe their God is physically present, they do believe he is aware of what takes place here.

Though the Bible denies such a teaching, Mormonism teaches that every human being is a literal child of God. (The Bible declares we become children of God only through faith in Christ.) Given this LDS premise, it is fair to ask, "Does God overflow with joy watching His children stumble through life? Does He bubble with pride as He witnesses His children killing each other in war, aborting their babies, overdosing on drugs, and stealing from each other?" Only the most sadistic of creatures would define heaven in such a disappointing way. Yet, if Mormonism is true, the Latter-day Saint who hopes to one day obtain Godhood can expect no better. Second LDS President Brigham Young made this clear when he said,

"Sin is upon every earth that ever was created, and if it was not so, I would like some philosophers to let us know how people can be exalted to become sons of God, and enjoy a fulness of glory with the Redeemer. Consequently every earth has its redeemer, and every earth has its tempter; and every earth, and the people thereof, in their turn and time, receive all that we receive, and pass through all the ordeals that we are passing through" (Journal of Discourses 14:71-72).

If Brigham is telling the truth--and Mormons have no reason to doubt it--then every earth ever created, including the one they hope to eventually inherit, will be infected with sin. Every Mormon couple who obtains Godhood has no choice but to look forward to the day when one of their own children will cause the other family members to rebel (tempter) and fall into sin, thus making it necessary to sacrifice another one of their children to die for the sins of the rest of the family (redeemer). "All the ordeals that we are passing through," death, sorrow, failure, etc., will be experienced again and again, only this time, the Mormon, as "God," will be in charge of the mess.

Since the Bible teaches such sorrows will be "passed away" in heaven, the LDS version of heaven is hardly that which is described in Revelation 21:4. In fact, it isn't really a heaven at all.

Bill McKeever is the founder of Mormonism Research Ministry, which is a missionary/apologetics organization that was organized for the express purpose of propagating the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to expound the differences between Mormonism and biblical Christianity.  This article was reproduced with permission of Mormonism Research Ministry.