According to LDS teaching, why should we worship this God?
Upvote:0
A few things I can think of:
When you are a child, let's say 7, do you obey your parents, and the things they tell you to do, or the things your grandparents say.
We have been given no commands by our "grand-heavenly-father" to be worshiped, nor have we ever been instructed by our God or him to worship him, the only reason we know he must exist is because of light indirect mentioning in the scriptures
Dave DeLong shares the following here:
"it's pretty simple. Mormons worship God the Father, through the Son. While we believe that there are other gods out there, they are not our God. I find that an analogy helps me think about this clearly: At work, I have one boss. He is my boss and no one else is. There are other bosses, but I do not report to them, they do not affect my quarterly reviews, and I don't really interact with them in any sort of manager-underling relationship. The same goes for God."
Upvote:2
As is often helpful when addressing questions such as these, the definition of "worship" should be considered. According to the NOAD, worship means:
- show reverence and adoration for (a deity); honor with religious rites
- treat (someone or something) with the reverence and adoration appropriate to a deity
Notice the words reverence and adoration, which have much to do with respect and love. Now consider the prominent LDS doctrine that all people on earth are children of God. Assuming there is a succession of Gods as implied by the quotes given in the question, God the Father has his own father, who is also a god, and who also has a father who is a god, and so on.
The Gospel Topic Essay titled "Becoming Like God" offers more insight in this matter. Specifically, the following excerpt is relevant:
Does belief in exaltation make Latter-day Saints polytheists?
For some observers, the doctrine that humans should strive for godliness may evoke images of ancient pantheons with competing deities. Such images are incompatible with Latter-day Saint doctrine. Latter-day Saints believe that God’s children will always worship Him. Our progression will never change His identity as our Father and our God. Indeed, our exalted, eternal relationship with Him will be part of the “fulness of joy” He desires for us.
One way to understand this (my opinion) is as follows: generally, young children on earth respect and love their fathers (and mothers) more than their grandparents, great-grandparents, and so on. They have a closer relationship with their fathers, spend more time together, and work through more problems together. This is not to say their fathers are somehow better or worse than their grandfathers or great-grandfathers; rather, the fathers are closest to their children and most directly responsible for their care, upbringing, and protection, and are therefore given the most attention.
Similarly, all people on earth as children of God love and respect Him more than His father or others who came before Him because He is the most relevant to us. He has the responsibility of raising His children on earth to one day return to His presence and live with Him forever. He requires His children to respect and love Him as He is their Father—the God most closely related to them.
Upvote:5
Consider any reason a Christian would worship God:
- He created us.
- He (through his Son) saved us.
- He has commanded that we worship him and pray to him in the name of Jesus Christ.
- We know and love him.
- We fear the consequences of not reverencing him.
All apply, and specifically to God.
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