Infinite Regress in Early Restoration Sources?

One major teaching that occurred early in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the notion of a plurality of divine beings. This idea is expressly taught in the Book of Abraham, the Doctrine and Covenants and Joseph Smith's private and public teachings. However, some members go as far as to say that the infinite regress concept was taught by Joseph Smith during his lifetime.

Now I should make an essential recognition. I don't believe infinite regress is incoherent in the sense that it can't work as a theological model. I do believe that infinite regress suffers from various other problems, but I don't go out of my way to teach others of my faith that it is false or mistaken. There are things I like about it and it is a common theological model in the LDS faith. It has been taught by many general authorities. The model is very comprehensible and straightforward.

However, I do think it is important to be honest with the implications of the idea and understand it on its own terms and in light of scriptural teachings and the historical sources that allegedly support the idea.

Joseph Smith

Joseph Smith dictated the text of The Book of Mormon during The Book of Mormon contains a passage where King Benjamin makes a very direct statement about Jesus Christ:

For behold, the time cometh, and is not far distant, that with power, the Lord Omnipotent who reigneth, who was, and is from all eternity to all eternity, shall come down from heaven among the children of men, and shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay, and shall go forth amongst men, working mighty miracles, such as healing the sick, raising the dead, causing the lame to walk, the blind to receive their sight, and the deaf to hear, and curing all manner of diseases.

— Mosiah 3:5

The concept directly stated in this passage appears to make the claim that Jesus Christ (who is identified the Lord Omnipotent per v. 8 of the chapter) retained His power "from all eternity to all eternity". Such a notion is in tension with the idea that Jesus was one of many other gods who at some point obtained such a power, for the text is clear that such a power has been an attribute of His for all temporal moments.

This is also compounded by passages such as Alma's discussion with Zeezrom. Alma explains concepts about the priesthood and connects it to the Son of God, a superior priesthood which high priests are ordained to:

Thus they become high priests forever, after the order of the Son, the Only Begotten of the Father, who is without beginning of days or end of years, who is full of grace, equity, and truth. And thus it is. Amen.

— Alma 13:9

There are many other passages in The Book of Mormon that are inconsistent with the idea of an infinite regress model, but I won't go into them here[^]. However, there are other works that Joseph Smith originated that also contra-indicate the concept. When Joseph Smith commenced his work on expanding biblical passages and working on what is now known as the Book of Moses, there appears another passage that appropriates the same description as Alma. This time, it is placed in the mouth of the Lord as He introduces Himself to Moses:

And God spake unto Moses, saying: Behold, I am the Lord God Almighty, and Endless is my name; for I am without beginning of days or end of years; and is not this endless? And, behold, thou art my son; wherefore look, and I will show thee the workmanship of mine hands; but not all, for my works are without end, and also my words, for they never cease.

— Moses 1:3-4

During March of 1839, Joseph Smith was confined in Liberty Jail[^]. While imprisioned, he dictated a letter addressed to Edward Partridge in particular and the other saints in general, and later the text would compose the sections of D&C 121, 122, and 123. In the letter, Joseph uses an interesting epithet to describe God the Father:

a time to come in the which nothing shall be with held whither there be one god or many god’s they shall be manifest... according to that which was ordaind in the midst of the councyl of the eternal God of all other Gods before this world was that should be reserved unto the finishing and the end thereoff where <​when​> evry man shall enter into his eternal presants and into his imortal rest

The plain reading of the title "eternal God of all other Gods" suggests something stronger than an infinite regress model would imply. The expression exhibits a single eternal God whose status is superior to every other god. Nothing in the phrase leaves room for the existence of gods occupying a higher order or station than the Father unless, of course, one emends the text beyond its plain reading.

Joseph Smith made a small note about a teaching opportunity he preached on January 30th, 1842[^]:

Sunday 30. preached in the morning after. father coles [Austin Cowles].— & in the evening, at his house, concerring [concerning] Spirits their operation & designs.—

Wilford Woodruff claims to have been present when Joseph taught that day[^]. He writes:

Jan 30[th] [1842] Joseph the Seer taught the following principles that the God & father of our Lord Jesus Christ was once the same as the Son or Holy Ghost but having [or bothaving = both having?] redeemed a world became the eternal God of that world he had a son Jesus Christ who redeemed this earth the same as his father had a world which made them equal & the Holy Ghost would do the same in his turn & so would all the Saints [^] (Next page) who inherited a Celestial glory so their would be Gods many & Lords many their were many mansions even 12 from the abode of Devils to the Celestial glory All Spirits that have bodies have power over those that have not hence men have power over Devils &c

Over a year later in August 27th, 1843, Franklin D. Richards records the following about what he had with Joseph Smith[^]:

Joseph also said that the Holy Ghost is now in a state of Probation which if he should perform in righteousness he may pass through the same on a similar course of things that the son has

George Laub

George Laub, when writing from his recollection in his journal starting in January 1st, 1845, records numerous words that he attributes to both Joseph and Hyrum Smith. The first one is attributed to Joseph Smith from April 6th, 1843[^]:

How came Spirits? Why, they are and ware Self Existing as all eternity & our Spirits are as Eternal as the very God is himself & that we choose to come on this Earth to take unto ourselvs tabernakles by permition of our Father that we might be Exalted Equil with God himself & therefore Jesus spake in this wise, I do as my Father before me did. Well, what did the father doo? Why, he went & took a body and went to redeem a world in the flesh & had power to lay down his life and to take it up again. This is the way we become heirs of gods and joint heirs of (with) Jesus, etc. But those who die without the obediance of the gospel while having a privlege here will have to subject to the law they are under, but those who have not had this privilege will have it in the prison of Spirits. For so long as they have not the priviledg they cannot be condemned. Therefore they must come under condemnation by this wise, etc. For they will be as they ware in torment of fire & brimstone untill the fullness of times, for they know not what will be their doom and as there are many mantions or Departments in my father's kingdom suitable for every one's condition, Jesus Said he would goe to prepare a place, That where I am ye may also come. For we are to goe from glory to glory & as one is raised, the Next may be raised to his place or Sphere and so take their Exaltation through a regular channel. And when we get to where Jesus is he will be as far ahed of us in exaltation as when we started.

The next one is a sermon allegedly given by Joseph Smith on April 20th, 1843[^]:

But Every one being a diffrent or Seperate persons & so is God, & Jesus Christ & the Holy Ghost. Seperate persons. But they all agree in one or the self same thing. But the Holy Ghost is yet a Spiritual body and waiting to take to himself a body, as the Savior did or as God did or the gods before them took bodies. For the Saviour says the work that my Father did do I also & those are the works. He took himself as a body & then laid down his life that he might take it up again & the Scripture say those who will obey the commandments shall be heirs of God & Joint heirs with Jesus Christ. We then also took bodys to lay them down, to take them up again, & the Sperit itself bears witness with our spirits that we are the children of God & if children then heirs and Joint heirs with Jesus Christ if so be that we suffer with him in the flesh that we may be also glorified to gether. See Romans 8 ch., 16 & 17 Vers.

This particular entry is fascinating because of the phrase "as the Savior did or as God did or the gods before them took bodies". In one article, Loren Pankratz contends that Laub's statement ought to be interpreted as Joseph teaching an open-ended eternal chain of gods[^], but such an interpretation overlooks the context of the statement being made. Ironically, Pankratz fails to provide the rest of the quote in its complete thought. The entry continues by asserting that Jesus did what he saw the Father did: which was entering mortality followed by death and resurrection. Laub then writes using almost identical wording that "We then also took bodys to lay them down, to take them up again". It is very clear from the context of this passage that the Holy Ghost is waiting to enter mortality and resurrect just like every other god has before.

Laub also mentions a discourse who he alleges comes from Hyrum Smith, dated to April 27th, 1843[^]:

Bro. Hurum Smith April 27th 1843
Concerning the plurality of gods & worlds
Now I say unto you that there are lords meny & gods meny but to us there is but one God the Father & Jesus Christ the first begotten who is made Equil with God so that he himself is a god and now the work that the father done did he doo also & So there is a whole trane & leniage of gods & this world was created by faith & works the same as if a man would build a house He knows where the materials are & believs he could do the work of that building, for he understood the Sience of building & by faith he gained the work with his own hands and compleated that Building. The Same way was this world by faith & works & by understanding the principle. It was made by the hands of God or gods. It was made of Element or in other words of cayus [chaos]. It was in cayatick from all Eternity and will be to all Eternity, & again they held counsil together that they might ro[l]l this world into form as all others are made, Showing you by the building of a house as a sample or as figure in my Father's house are many mantions, or in my Father's world are meny worlds. I will goe & prepar a place for you, & then if there are meny worlds then there must be meny gods, for every Star that we see is a world and is inhabited the same as this world is peopled. The Sun & Moon is inhabited & the Stars & (Jesus Christ is the light of the Sun, etc.). The Stars are inhabited the same as this Earth. But eny of them are larger then this Earth, & meny that we cannot see without a telliscope are larger then this Earth. They are under the same order as this Earth is undergoing & undergoing the same change. There was & is a first man Adam and also a Saviour in the Meredien of times, the same computing times and all things in order. Meny things are to be considered that will bring knowledg to our understanding, but the foolish understand not these things for this world was paternd after the former world or after Mansions above.

At first glance, it appears that Laub seems to recall Hyrum teaching a lineage of gods in the hereditary sense. However, it is far from conclusive that this statement attests a belief in an eternal regression of gods. At most it seems to suggest that there are a plurality of gods and that there are many worlds inhabited by divine beings. The notion of a lineage of gods is also not elaborated and its intended meaning is obscure. Laub's entry does not necessitate a reading that supports infinite regress, as there could still be a lineage of gods in multiple other plausible senses. Unfortunately, Laub doesn't clarify what Hyrum meant here so it would be speculative to jump to any conclusion. The statement is certainly compatible with an infinite regress but it cannot limit the interpretation to it exclusively either.

There are a number of things that should be kept in mind when reading Laub's entries:

At most, given his conclusory and summarized remarks, it appears that Laub expanded on what He believed Joseph and Hyrum understood from either the King Follet Sermon or the Sermon in the Grove. Therefore, they can at most tell us about what Laub believed Joseph taught.

[^]: Several biblical passages suggest perspectives of God that contradict an infinite regress. See Deuteronomy 32:43, 1 Chronicles 16:25; 29:11; 2 Chronicles 2:5; Nehemiah 9:6; Psalm 95:3; 96:4; 97:9; 135:5; Ephesians 1:15-23; 4:6.

[^]: There are other passages in The Book of Mormon that present a description of the Father in a way that conflicts with eternal regress models. 1 Nephi 11:6 presents the angel that Nephi spoke to as saying: "Hosanna to the Lord, the most high God; for he is God over all the earth, yea, even above all." No qualifier is given for "above all" and the plain reading of the text doesn't support any notion of gods higher than the Father. Furthermore, many statements refer to God the Father and Jesus Christ as "the Eternal Father" or "Eternal God", indicating that they

[^]: Letter to the Church and Edward Partridge, 20 March 1839, p. 14, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed July 5, 2026, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/letter-to-the-church-and-edward-partridge-20-march-1839/14

[^]: There are passages that have been compiled in the Doctrine and Covenants which present God the Father as the center and origin of divinity and glory. D&C 88:41 reads in the original manuscript "judgment, goeth before the face of him, who sitteth up[on] the throne, and gove[r]neth, ...and executeth all things, he comprehendeth all things, and all things, are before him,13 and all things, are round about him, and he is, above all things, and in all things, and is through all things, and is round about all thing[s] and all things are by him, and of him, even God for ever, and ever..." See Revelation, 27–28 December 1832 [D&C 88:1–126], p. 37, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed July 6, 2026, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/revelation-27-28-december-1832-dc-881-126/5. Additionally, others present God as having been almighty for all of eternity. For example, during the dedicatory prayer for the Kirtland Temple, Joseph uttered "O Lord, God Almighty, hear us in these our petitions, and answer us from heaven, thy holy habitation, where thou sittest enthroned, with glory, honor, power, majesty, might, dominion, truth, justice, judgement, mercy and an infinity of fulness, from everlasting to everlasting". See Minutes and Prayer of Dedication, 27 March 1836 [D&C 109], p. 280, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed July 7, 2026, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/minutes-and-prayer-of-dedication-27-march-1836-dc-109/7. Likewise, the revelation of D&C 61 is introduced the same way: "Behold & hearken unto him the voice of him who hath all power who is from everlasting to everlasting even alpha & omega the begining & the end". See Revelation, 12 August 1831 [D&C 61], p. 101, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed July 7, 2026, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/revelation-12-august-1831-dc-61/1.

[^]: Journal, December 1841–December 1842, p. 60, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed July 3, 2026, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/journal-december-1841-december-1842/15

[^]: Discourse, 30 January 1842, p. 3-4, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed July 3, 2026, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/discourse-30-january-1842/1, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/discourse-30-january-1842/2

[^]: This is the only document we have that suggests the concept that the Saints would undergo the same experience to redeem a world just as the Father and Son did and as the Holy Ghost will eventually do.

[^]: Discourse, 27 August 1843, as Reported by Franklin D. Richards, p. 27, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed July 4, 2026, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/discourse-27-august-1843-as-reported-by-franklin-d-richards/3

[^]: Laub, George, 1814-1880. George Laub reminiscences and journal , https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org/assets/99e8a641-a854-428c-a9b2-e1fcad1e15b1/0/22?lang=eng (accessed: July 4, 2026).

[^]: Ibid., https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org/assets/99e8a641-a854-428c-a9b2-e1fcad1e15b1/0/34?lang=eng (accessed: July 4, 2026). This source is not attested anywhere else and it is absent from the History of the Church. Since Laub seems to unreliably date many of his recollections, it probable that the sermon actually dates a year later than Laub attributes, following the King Follet Sermon.

[^]: Loren Pankratz, "Was Joseph Smith a Monarchotheist? An Engagement with Blake Ostler's Theological Position on the Nature of God," Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 55, no. 2 (Summer 2022): 37–72, https://www.dialoguejournal.com/articles/was-joseph-smith-a-monarchotheist-an-engagement-with-blake-ostlers-theological-position-on-the-nature-of-god/

[^]: Laub, George, 1814-1880. George Laub reminiscences and journal, https://catalog.churchofjesuschrist.org/assets/99e8a641-a854-428c-a9b2-e1fcad1e15b1/0/37?lang=eng (accessed: July 4, 2026)

[^]: England, Eugene (1978) "George Laub's Nauvoo Journal," BYU Studies: Vol. 18: Iss. 2, Article 5, https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol18/iss2/5, footnote 24.

[^]: Pratt, Parley P. Key to the Science of Theology. Project Gutenberg, e-book #35470, https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/35470. Accessed July 5, 2026.