King Follett Sermon quote: 'God himself was once as we are now and is an exalted man' — Joseph Smith teaches that God's pre-divine humanity is the 'great secret.'

Joseph Smith quotes: 'God himself was once as we are now and is an exalted man and sits enthroned in yonder heavens. That is the great secret.' He also says: 'if you were to see him today, you would see him like a man in form like yourselves.' Mike emphasizes that Smith explicitly frames this as the 'first principle of the gospel' — core, not peripheral doctrine.