Do Latter-day Saints believe that they become “gods of their own planets?” The answer is No, no such doctrine is believed or taught by Latter-day Saints. Joseph Smith never taught such a doctrine; and it is not found in any of the canonized scriptures of the Church. LDS theology does indeed teach that those who are exalted to the celestial kingdom are deified; they become divine; they become “gods”:
Doctrine and Covenants 132:
20 Then shall they be gods, because they have no end; therefore shall they be from everlasting to everlasting, because they continue; then shall they be above all, because all things are subject unto them. Then shall they be gods, because they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them.
21 Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye abide my law, ye cannot attain to this glory.
22 For strait is the gate, and narrow the way that leadeth unto the exaltation and continuation of the lives, and few there be that find it; because ye receive me not in the world neither do ye know me.
Which is also confirmed in the Bible:
John 17:
20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
1 John 3:
2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
2 Peter 1:
3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
And also in the writings and teachings of the Early Church Fathers. Deification or theosis was a widely held belief in the early Christian church, and the ECFs wrote extensively about it. I had previously given plenty of examples, which can be seen here. But nowhere is it said in LDS scripture, theology, or revelation that they become “gods of their own planet”. That is something that was added to it by the critics. LDS scripture teaches that those who are so exalted in the celestial kingdom of God, and are “deified,” receive all that the Father has:
Doctrine and Covenants 84:
37 And he that receiveth me receiveth my Father;
38 And he that receiveth my Father receiveth my Father’s kingdom; therefore all that my Father hath shall be given unto him.
Who wants to be a “god of their own planet” when they can have all that God the Father has—all the stars, planets, galaxies in the universe that God has created? It is estimated that there are 2 trillion galaxies in the universe, each of them containing trillions of stars with planets. Who wants to be “god of their own planet,” when they can have all the trillions x trillions x sextillion of stars, galaxies, and planets that God has created? There is no LDS scripture that says that we become “gods of our own planet”. Joseph Smith never taught such a doctrine. LDS theology and doctrine is ultimately derived from the canonized scriptures of the Church—including Bible and modern revelation, modern LDS scripture—and no such doctrine is found in any of those sources.
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