We Are Children of God

Premise #1: Being—In the Classical Christian Framework, humans have a distinct nature from their Creator. In the Mormon Christian Framework, humans have the same nature as their Creator.

Both Classical and Mormon Christians believe that God is the Creator and humans are his creations. We both affirm that humans are unique in creation because they are made in the image of God. The difference is that Classical Christians believe in a Creator-creature distinction. The Creator is in a class all his^[i] own, and everything else is in the class of created things—the earth, sun, sky, ocean, trees, animals, and humans. For Mormon Christians, humans are of the same species as God.

If there was one slight nuance between Classical and Mormon Christianity that has the most numerous and far-reaching implications, this is probably it.

First and foremost, the Mormon Framework tells us that we are children of God. Wow! This is perhaps the single most powerful message Mormon Christianity has to share with the world. It says volumes about what Mormon Christians think about God, how they view themselves and all humankind, and how they see our relationship to God in the past, present, and future. Removing the definite and clear-cut distinction between God and humans, the Mormon Framework puts God within our same realm—or more precisely, puts us within God’s realm—of nature and existence. Our being of the same species as God allows for us to be his literal children.

In the Classical Framework, being God’s literal children simply cannot be. Many Christians in Classical faith traditions may believe it, but with a Creator-creature distinction, it’s an outright impossibility. A “child of God” or phrases akin to it are sometimes used in Classical Christianity, though it cannot be a literal notion. Such expressions are often used to refer to someone who has received Jesus as his or her personal Savior. Even if intended to be literal by the well meaning user of the expression, it in fact cannot be literal within the Classical Framework. It is impossible.

For Mormon Christians, saying that we are “children of God” is not merely to use an expression denoting one’s salvation status, but rather represents a straightforward conviction affirming each individual’s nature as offspring of deity. They consider this concept so fundamental and yet so paramount to their understanding of everything else that it is taught to young children as soon as they are able to comprehend it. In fact, one of the most popular Mormon children’s songs is called I Am a Child of God.

Being literal children of God means that God is, as we would expect, our literal Father. Referring to God as our Father is of course part and parcel of being a Christian. Jesus often referred to God not only as “my Father,” but also as “your Father” and “our Father” (see Matthew 6:8-9; 7:21). But again, a Classical Christian must take any reference to God as the Father of humans as metaphor or allegory. A Creator-creature distinction wouldn’t allow for the possibility of God having any familial relationship to us. But for Mormon Christians, it’s a simple reality—God is our literal Father.

Deep-seeded Divinity

But how can we be literal children of God? That’s an excellent question. I know my mom and dad, and although they are wonderful people, they are not God. In the Mormon Framework, the individual, also called the soul, is in fact comprised of two united parts—a physical body and a spiritual body. The physical is what we can see (i.e., our body parts), while the spiritual is the part of us that cannot be seen. The word “spiritual” in this sense does not mean metaphorical or symbolic, but is a very literal notion. Spiritual things still have substance—just not a substance that’s discernible with natural eyes.

With this in mind, we can understand how we can be literal children of God. When we talk about mom and dad, we’re talking about the progenitors of our physical body. God, however, is the progenitor of our spiritual body, making us his literal offspring. His divine nature is seeded in every fiber of our being—in the makeup of our spiritual DNA so to speak. We have royal blood running through our veins.

Furthermore, this deep-seeded divinity is in every one of us—every human living or dead, born or unborn, already past or yet to come—and there’s nothing that can take that away from us. Just like there is nothing that can change who your mom and dad are, there is nothing that can change the fact that you are a child of God.

This divine nature within each one of us is unconnected to our past or current sins. Even if we have made some serious mistakes or traveled down life’s forbidden paths, nothing can change our divine heritage. Our acceptance of Jesus has no bearing on it. It is unaffected by religion, race, class, gender, orientation, or any other boundary that divides us. We are all—yes, every single one of us—of one nature: the nature of God.

Now if Classical Christians have a high view of the human race for being made in the image of God, then the Mormon view of humans is all the more exalted. You see, in the Mormon Framework, as literal children of God, we are in fact all royalty, children of a King!

In Classical Christianity, the Trinitarian God is in a class of his own. In Mormon Christianity, we are of the same nature as God. Only in the Mormon Framework can we say that we are literal children of God.

Brothers and Sisters

With God as our Father, and we as his children, that means we’re all family—brothers and sisters! Of course, some in Classical Christianity use terms of affinity like “sister” or “brother” to describe each other, but again, this must be taken figuratively. A common view is that those who have invited Jesus into their heart metaphorically become children of God, and thus brothers and sisters of other believers. Whatever the use of these titles though, in the Classical Framework, we cannot be literal brothers and sisters.

Mormon Christians on the other hand take this relationship very literally. If you ever attend a Mormon Christian service, expect to be greeted at the doors as a sister or brother. And since this relationship is not defined by a person’s salvation status, but rather the unconditional and unchangeable nature of each human as a child of God, then they would not see any issue calling anyone a brother or sister—whether a Classical or Mormon Christian, or even an atheist. You see, we are all one big family—the family of God.

How would this world be different if everyone believed that we are sisters and brothers? With a vision of humankind’s familial relationship, we will see that when we fight with each other, we fight with our own kin. When we disgrace each other, we bring shame to our own family. When we kill each other, we shed our own blood.

If only we could see how alike we are, we would see no more need for war. We would see us all as many nations under one God. If we could see that we are related—not by some distant relationship, but a close bond as sisters and brothers—then there would be no place for ethnic strife abroad or racial divisions at home. We are many races with one Father. We are all, every one, brother and sister, and children of God.

What it all comes down to is that in the Mormon Framework, we are in fact a lot more alike—and like God—than we ever could have imagined.

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[i] I will use a masculine pronoun to describe the Classical Christian God in keeping with the Bible and tradition, but without actually presuming any gender distinction.