Mormonism

From jkljlk , Sunstone:

     Mormon doctrine teaches the existence of many gods, not in the sense of many contending gods, some good and some bad, but rather in the,sense of many divine beings of impeccably moral character working in perfect unity for a common end. It is understandable, then, that virtually the only ones applying the term polytheism to the LDS church are its active opponents, who are frequently less interested in accurately explaining its doctrine than in harnessing it with an offensive, negative term. It seems only fair t o allow a religious body t o reject any descriptive terms which it finds unacceptable. A term acceptable t o Mormons is plurality of gods. This phrase conveys the doctrine of many gods without polytheism's connotations of many sordid beings.

 Joseph Smith, on the other hand, did confess

belief that Father, Son, and Holy Ghost "constitute three distinct personages and three Gods" (HC, 6:474)

Joseph Smith's last public discourse, 1 6 June 1844: "Paul says there are Gods many and Lords many. I want t o set it forth in a plain and simple manner; but t o us there is but one Godthat is pertaining to us . . . I say there are Gods many and Lords many, but t o us only one, and we are t o be in subjection to that one" ( H C , 6:474