As God Once Was

The Quote

“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.” — Joseph Smith, JoD 6:3 (April 7, 1844)

Lyrics

[Extended Intro - Atmospheric, building cosmic soundscape]
[Distant choir: "Ahhhh"]
[Piano and strings gradually layer in]

[Verse 1 - Building, confident]
April seventh, eighteen forty-four
A funeral sermon, but something more
King Follett's dead, the mourners weep
But Joseph has a secret to keep
He stands before the temple, tall
"I'll tell you now the truth of all"
"I'm going to tell you," hear him say
"How God came to be God this day"

[Pre-Chorus - Rising]
Eight thousand souls beneath the sky
"The great secret—I will not hide"
"If I fail to do it, understand,
I'll renounce my prophetic stand"

[Chorus - Massive, anthemic]
God himself was once as we are now
An exalted man upon his mortal brow
You have got to learn to be gods, don't you see?
The same as all gods have done—eternally
As God once was, man now is
As God now is, man may become
The great secret of the universe
The prophet's magnum opus

[Verse 2]
"If the veil were rent today
And the great God made display
You would see him like a man in form
Like yourselves, the very norm"
Eight thousand witnesses that day
Heard every word the prophet say
Eighty-one days before he died
The "great secret" he couldn't hide

[Bridge - Shift, modern day]
Nineteen ninety-seven, Larry King
Asks President Hinckley everything
"Do Mormons believe God was once a man?"
The prophet pauses, shifts his stand

"I don't know that we teach it
I don't know that we emphasize it"
The great secret, once so bold
Now carefully controlled

[Final Chorus - Epic, questioning]
God himself was once as we are now
Eight thousand heard the sacred vow
You have got to learn to be gods, don't you see?
Or do we not know that we teach it—publicly?

The King Follett Discourse stands
In the Journal by their own hands
The great secret still on record
But "I don't know that we teach it"

[Outro - Piano, fading]
As God once was
(I don't know that we teach it)
Man may become
(I don't know that we emphasize it)
The great secret
(Eighty-one days before he died)
The prophet told
(Now we're not sure if we teach it)

Historical Context

The Setting: April 7, 1844 — A funeral sermon for King Follett, delivered before approximately 8,000 people near the unfinished Nauvoo Temple.

The Speaker: Joseph Smith Jr., founder and first President of the LDS Church. He would be killed 81 days later at Carthage Jail.

Significance: This is considered Joseph Smith’s most theologically significant sermon. It establishes the doctrine of divine progression — that God was once a man and humans can become gods.

The Modern Ambivalence

1997 — Larry King Live Interview:

Larry King: “Are Mormons Christians?” Gordon B. Hinckley: “Yes, we are.” Larry King: “Do Mormons believe God was once a man?” Gordon B. Hinckley: “I don’t know that we teach it. I don’t know that we emphasize it… I understand the philosophical background behind it, but I don’t know a lot about it, and I don’t think others know a lot about it.”

The “great secret” Joseph couldn’t contain became something President Hinckley “didn’t know that we teach.”

The Paradox

• The King Follett Discourse remains published in the Journal of Discourses
• The Lorenzo Snow couplet (“As man now is, God once was”) was taught for generations
• Modern prophets now distance from the teaching
• The doctrine is neither officially affirmed nor officially denied

The great secret — or is it?