The Bible, Genesis 1: 26-27

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.

The Bible, Psalm 82: 6

I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.

The Bible, John 10: 34-36

Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken; Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God?

Joseph Smith, Doctrine and Covenants 103: 9-10

"For they were set to be a light unto the world, and to be the saviors of men; And inasmuch as they are not the saviors of men, they are as salt that has lost its savor, and is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden under foot of men."

Joseph Smith, Doctrine and Covenants 130: 1-2, 6-11

When the Savior shall appear we shall see him as he is. We shall see that he is a man like ourselves. And that same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us there, only it will be coupled with eternal glory, which glory we do not now enjoy. The angels do not reside on a planet like this earth; But they reside in the presence of God, on a globe like a sea of glass and fire, where all things for their glory are manifest, past, present, and future, and are continually before the Lord. The place where God resides is a great Urim and Thummim. This earth, in its sanctified and immortal state, will be made like unto crystal and will be a Urim and Thummim to the inhabitants who dwell thereon, whereby all things pertaining to an inferior kingdom, or all kingdoms of a lower order, will be manifest to those who dwell on it; and this earth will be Christ’s. Then the white stone mentioned in Revelation 2:17, will become a Urim and Thummim to each individual who receives one, whereby things pertaining to a higher order of kingdoms will be made known; And a white stone is given to each of those who come into the celestial kingdom, whereon is a new name written, which no man knoweth save he that receiveth it. The new name is the key word.

Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith 346-347

Here, then, is eternal life -- to know the only wise and true God; and you have got to learn how to be Gods yourselves, and to be kings and priests to God, the same as all Gods have done before you, namely, by going from one small degree to another, and from a small capacity to a great one; from grace to grace, from exaltation to exaltation, until you attain to the resurrection of the dead, and are able to dwell in everlasting burnings, and to sit in glory, as do those who sit enthroned in everlasting power.

Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith 354-355

The first principles of man are self-existent with God. God himself, finding he was in the midst of spirits and glory, because he was more intelligent, saw proper to institute laws whereby the rest could have a privilege to advance like himself. The relationship we have with God places us in a situation to advance in knowledge. He has power to institute laws to instruct the weaker intelligences, that they may be exalted with himself, so that they might have one glory upon another, and all that knowledge, power, glory, and intelligence, which is requisite in order to save them in the world of spirits.

This is good doctrine. It tastes good. I can taste the principles of eternal life, and so can you. They are given to my by the revelations of Jesus Christ; and I know that when I tell you these words of eternal life as they are given to me, you taste them, and I know that you believe them. You say honey is sweet, and so do I. I can also taste the spirit of eternal life. I know it is good; and when I tell you of these things which were given my be inspiration of the Holy Spirit, you are bound to receive them as sweet, and rejoice more and more.

Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 4: 199-200

You have the words of eternal life in your possession. What next? Take your own philosophy; if I am organized and capacitated to receive this glory and this exaltation, I must be the friend of Him who has brought me forth and instituted this exaltation for me; I must not be His enemy at any time. Again, you say, 'we are organized to become Gods, even sons of God; to act independently.' You expect to see the time when you will have at your control worlds on worlds, if your existence endures. . . . 'Now,' say you, 'we are to have kingdoms, thrones, principalities, powers, dominions, &c.' Can you read it in this book? This is the Old and New Testament, which you and I were taught, from our youth, to believe is the word of God. If I am to receive these blessings I will be an independent character, like those who dwell in eternity. If this is the case, let me pause for a moment and use my own natural philosophy. How can I prove myself the friend of God, who has placed all this glory within my reach, unless His influences are withdrawn from me, to see whether or not I will be His friend? At the time when you receive the greatest blessings by the manifestations of the power and Spirit of God, immediately the Lord may leave you to yourselves, that you may prove yourselves worthy of this exaltation. Multitudes, on the right hand and on the left, when this Spirit and power are withdrawn from them, sink into unbelief, and do not know whether there is a God, or not. Ask them, 'What did you realize and experience yesterday?' The reply is, 'I do not know anything about it. I can see this house, I can see the sun I can see men and women, but I can say no more.' 'Do you believe what you believed yesterday?' 'I do not know.'

Do all people realize that? If they did, let me tell you, they would cling fast to their integrity. When the mind of a righteous man is beclouded by darkness, when he does not know the first thing about the religion he believes in, it is because the vail is dropped so that he may act on the organization of his own individual person, which is calculated to be as independent as the Gods, in the end. When you are fully aware of this, then you are ready to lay down your lives for the cause of God and for His people, if you act on your own integrity and philosophy.

One of the greatest trials that ever came on the Son of God when he was in the flesh, upon that man whom we hold as our Saviour, was when the mob had him in their possession. They spit on him, scourged him, mocked him, and made a wreath of thorns and placed it upon his head, (and I will insure that it was so placed on his head as to cause the blood to start) and said to him, 'Here is your cross, you poor, worthless scamp, take and carry it on to that hill, for there we are going to nail you to it.' How would you feel in such a time, and at that very hour and moment when this tabernacle suffers, should the Father then withdraw Himself and say, 'Now, my son, I will see whether you will prove yourself worthy or not.' Did he walk up the hill? He did, and carried the cross until he fainted under it; then they took it and went on, and he submitted patiently to the will of his Father.

Orson F Whitney, Collected Discourses 3: 45

Mormonism, to me, is but another name for God's truth, and to find the fullness of that truth we would have to bring together and aggregate the truth of all religions, adding thereto all others that God would or could reveal.

Truth is truth, where'er `tis found,
On Christian or on heathen ground.

This religion called Mormonism is no new thing.  According to our view it is the oldest of all religions.  It has been upon the earth in different ages, being revealed from heaven from time to time as often as it became necessary to renew the sacred fire upon the altar of the human heart, and revive in men's souls the knowledge of truth which they had turned from and forgotten. Its object from the first has been man's salvation -- the salvation of all men, who are universally the children of God.  You who have supposed that Mormonism is a narrow and exclusive faith, have not understood it aright.  If I knew of a religion that was broader and better I would embrace it.  But to me it is the broadest, the best, the most reasonable of all religions, and consequently I remain a Mormon.  My religion proposes to save all men, but to save them upon just and consistent principles; not the rewarding of one soul for the good done by another, nor the punishment of the innocent for the misdeeds of the guilty, nor the never-ending punishment of any soul; but the judging of all men according to their works, and their salvation according to their merits in different degrees of glory.

Mormonism teaches that God was once just like ourselves; that the eternal part of Him was enshrined in mortal flesh, subject to mortal ills and earthly pains and toils.  I do not now refer to the experience of the Savior in the meridian of time.  I mean that in the far away aeons of the past God once dwelt upon an earth like this, and that through its trials and vicissitudes and the experience they afforded He became a more intelligent being than before, ascending finally by obedience to certain principles, ennobling and exalting in their nature, to the plane which He now occupies.  These truths, forming the ladder up which He climbed to celestial heights, up which we too are expected to climb from earth to heaven, from mortality to immortality, from a world where grief and sorrow reign, to a better and brighter sphere where sorrow and suffering are unknown--these truths are self-existent and eternal.  God did not create them.  Intelligence, the light of truth, cannot be created.  But by means of His superior intelligence, which is his glory and which makes Him God He instituted laws whereby the rest, the lesser intelligences, might advance like Himself.  These laws we call the Gospel, the plan of salvation, formulated in the heavens before this world was, and revealed again and again to the children of Adam for their salvation.  We hold that men are literally the sons and daughters of God; that He intends we shall become like Him; and it is certainly reasonable to expect that the child will eventually develop to the status of the Parent.  We are divine beings in embryo, and it is only a question of time when we shall blossom in perfection.

Wilford Woodruff, The Journal of Discourses 6: 120

If there was a point where man in his progression could not proceed any further, the very idea would throw a gloom over every intelligent and reflecting mind. God himself is increasing and progressing in knowledge, power, and dominion, and will do so, worlds without end. It is just so with us.

Lorenzo Snow, Improvement Era, June 1919, 658–59

These children are now at play, making mud worlds. The time will come when some of these boys, through their faithfulness to the gospel, will progress and develop in knowledge, intelligence and power, in future eternities, until they shall be able to go out into space where there is unorganized matter and call together the necessary elements, and through their knowledge of and control over the laws and powers of nature, to organize matter into worlds on which their posterity may dwell, and over which they shall rule as gods.