Mormons frequently point to Psalm 82:6, quoted by Jesus in John 10:34-35, to say that the Bible teaches that men are gods, or at least can become gods. Taken alone, these two scriptures could possibly be construed to have that meaning (although the “you” to whom Jesus addressed His teaching in John 10 certainly were not on the “god track” (they tried to kill Jesus a few verses later.)
When the Bible speaks elsewhere of “gods” they are not humans (either formerly or in the future.) Today in reading Psalm 96:4-5, I saw vindication of His absolute uniqueness, and how He views anyone or anything else that would be termed “a god”:
For the LORD is great and greatly to be praised: He is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the LORD made the heavens.
So what's the litmus test of the Bible to be called God with a capital G?
You have to have made the skies we see above us. Jeremiah 10:11 says the exact same thing:
Thus you shall say to them, “The gods that did not make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.”
So why would I want to return to a system of thought that would turn my attention toward — and ask me to emulate — entities that will be destroyed by God?
For more information, see The Mormon Mirage 3rd Edition: A Former Member Looks at the Mormon Church Today (Zondervan, 2009). Also available as an audiobook and as an expanded-text E-book for Nook, Kindle and other reading devices.
