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Introduction
History
Theology
References
I don't know if you have seen this commercial. Picture this. Their are three working males loading a truck on a work site. The narrator asks each one of these men a question as they are around the truck. To the first he inquires as to when the last time was that he went out with his wife. He replies by saying, it was last month when they went to a football game. To the second he asked as to when the last time was that he had done something his wife wanted to do. After thinking for a while he says, that it was last year when they went fishing. The third worker was asked as to when the last time was that he told his wife that he loved her. After a long silence he answered, I don't know, not for quite a while. Toward the end of the commercial we see one worker by a telephone booth. The picture then goes to wide angle and we notice all three men, each at a telephone booth along the wall. You could swear that this was a 'get the loving feeling' telephone company commercial , but it wasn't. It ended with, 'this has been brought to you by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter - Day Saints'.
I must say it was a well produced commercial. It appealed to the working class average Joe, it talked of love and affection, it related to family and transmitted wholesome values. The Latter - Day Saints (LDS) or Mormons emulate a positive image, traditional values, respectable children, a quiet lifestyle and all those things you like in a good neighbour. It's just about convincing enough to make you want to find out where these people hang out. But before you do let's spend a bit of time and take a look behind the curtain of respectability and do some serious studying on the beliefs of the LDS church. I'll begin by noting that I am not attempting to condemn the people themselves, but to expose their theology, not to deny them the opportunity to faith in Christ, but to reject their faith.
In the Bible (Deut 13) we read that if a prophet or dreamer of dreams appears telling the future and leading you to follow other gods, you must put him to death, even if he is your brother.
(Deut 13:1 If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, 2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; 3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him. 5 And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee. 6 If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers; 7 Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; 8 Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him: 9 But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. 10 And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. 11 And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is among you. 12 If thou shalt hear say in one of thy cities, which the LORD thy God hath given thee to dwell there, saying, 13 Certain men, the children of Belial, are gone out from among you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known; 14 Then shalt thou enquire, and make search, and ask diligently; and, behold, if it be truth, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought among you; 15 Thou shalt surely smite the inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is therein, and the cattle thereof, with the edge of the sword. 16 And thou shalt gather all the spoil of it into the midst of the street thereof, and shalt burn with fire the city, and all the spoil thereof every whit, for the LORD thy God: and it shall be an heap for ever; it shall not be built again. 17 And there shall cleave nought of the cursed thing to thine hand: that the LORD may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and shew thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee, and multiply thee, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers; 18 When thou shalt hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep all his commandments which I command thee this day, to do that which is right in the eyes of the LORD thy God. )
In the new testament Paul says in Galatians that should some one come to you preaching another gospel than the gospel Paul revealed to them, he shall be eternally condemned! Even if it is an angel of light it shall be damned by God.
( Gal 1:6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: 7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. 9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. )
This is an aggressive defence for the gospel, and is no small talk by Paul. The reason he, guided by the spirit, wrote this appears all the more evident when we examine Mormonism. The LDS church has its roots in the man of Joseph Smith Jr. He was born in Vermont on Dec23, 1805 and is responsible for the creation of this monstrous religious empire beginning in 1830.
Briefly I relate here its origin as the Mormons know it. Around 600 BC the two families of Lehi and Ishmael left Israel and landed on the south-west corner of South America. Nephi and Laman, two sons of Lehi, had a fight and God showed his displeasure with this and cursed the Lamanites with black skin, the ancestors of the American Indian. God guided the Nephites north and were in Central America during the time of Christ. Just after his crucifixion Christ came to America and converted both Nephites and Lamanites. 150 years later apostate Lamanites and religious Nephites had a war and in 384 AD the Nephites were wiped of the face of the earth. (In 1492 when Columbus discovers America he runs into the Lamanites).
During the war of 384 a prophet and priest of the Nephites named Moroni, noticed that they were going to be destroyed. He gathered records of his predecessors, made an abbreviated history, wrote it on some golden plates and gave it to his son Moroni who hid them in a hill near Palmyra New York. Fifteen hundred years later this Moroni appeared as an angel to Joseph Smith and told him where to find that plates. Upon finding the plates he was given large spectacles called the Urim and the Thummin, with which he could translate the hieroglyphics into English. This became the book of Mormon.
Smith had more than one vision. The first forms the basis for the Mormons belief in the nature of God and Christ. (That they are two gods and have flesh and bone). The second relates this phenomenal claim of the plates and the book of Mormon. It is common knowledge that Joseph Smith Jr. was a superstitious youth as he was known as a peep stone addict and was involved in many treasure digging operations. Their are a many good sources of the day that authenticate Smiths' strange personality, proving he was a fraud artist.
According to Smith the book of Mormon was revealed to him as the restored around everlasting gospel, the same gospel that was taken away for 1500 years, and now returned to him. Unfortunately for him, he can't back up his statements with prophecies of the bible, for nowhere does the bible contend that the gospel would ever be removed for a time.
The book of Mormon does not appear to be an original thought. The plot is incredibly similar to a piece written in 1812 by Solomon Spaulding called 'Manuscript Found'. As a matter of fact twelve pages of that document have been plagiarised. As if that wasn't enough many passages of the bible including 15 chapters of Isaiah and two chapters of Malachi have been plagiarised. Concerning the alleged translation of this document, the reformed Egyptian hieroglyphics of the plates is a non existent literary work. Expert language people and Egyptologists claim that their is no reformed Egyptian language, past or present. Consequently, one would want to know if anybody else has seen this event with the angel.
According to the LDS three men witnessed the plates and the angel on sight, and a further eight men saw and handled the plates. Well, of the original three, one claimed a call from God to leave and separate from the Mormons. The other two were led astray by one of the other eight witnesses when he received revelations different from Smith through his peep stone. Of those two, one was excommunicated for accusing Smith of adultery and the other is described by Mormon literature as a crazy, deranged person. He changed his belief no less than seven more times in his life. Mormonism was not a solid conviction and what does that make of his original claim? So much for the three witnesses. As it turns out Joseph Smith called the remaining eight witnesses liars and counterfeiters. Although all eleven have no credibility, if you read Mormon literature they are still proud of all eleven. Now that we have addressed some of the historical foundation of the LDS church we will soon realise that these people also have a false hope.
Mormonism's theology is not found in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, rather they have four revelations from God that are used as a basis for their doctrine. They are the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price, and the Bible. Whereas the bible was revealed for the eastern hemisphere the Mormons believe that the book of Mormon to be the revealed gospel for the saints of the western world. In conjunction with this demotion of the bible they claim that the bible is imperfect because it has lost many of its truths thanks chiefly to the churches of the day. So now that we have this new literary masterpiece, how do they compare with the scriptures of the old and new testament. A little bit of study and you will notice that they just don't measure up. Aside from that fact that they have made over 3000 deletions, additions, or changes, the Mormon book still has many contradictions with the bible.
Esther 1:34-37 tells us of how the Jaredites did not want their language confounded at the tower of Babel. They journeyed to the new world and continued to speak in the pure language of Adam.
( Ether 1:33 Which Jared came forth with his brother and their families, with some others and their families,from the great tower, at the time the Lord confounded the language of the people, and swore in his wrath that they should be scattered upon all the face of the earth; and according to the word of the Lord the people were scattered. 34 And the brother of Jared being a large and mighty man, and a man highly favoured of the Lord,Jared, his brother, said unto him: Cry unto the Lord, that he will not confound us that we may not understand our words. 35 And it came to pass that the brother of Jared did cry unto the Lord, and the Lord had compassion upon Jared; therefore he did not confound the language of Jared; and Jared and his brother were not confounded. 36 Then Jared said unto his brother: Cry again unto the Lord, and it may be that he will turn away his anger from them who are our friends, that he confound not their language. 37 And it came to pass that the brother of Jared did cry unto the Lord, and the Lord had compassion upon their friends and their families also, that they were not confounded. 38 And it came to pass that Jared spake again unto his brother, saying: Go and inquire of the Lord whether he will drive us out of the land, and if he will drive us out of the land, cry unto him whither we shall go. And who knoweth but the Lord will carry us forth into a land which is choice above all the earth? And if it so be, let us be faithful unto the Lord, that we may receive it for our inheritance. 39 And it came to pass that the brother of Jared did cry unto the Lord according to that which had been spoken by the mouth of Jared. 40 And it came to pass that the Lord did hear the brother of Jared, and had compassion upon him, )
What a glaring contradiction to with Genesis 11:9.
( Gen 11:5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. 6 And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. 7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. 8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. 9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth. )
On another occasion these jaredites were told by God to build a barge, (Joseph Smith's fantasy with the ark story) and sail to the now known American continent. Ether 6:5,8 relates that they were propelled by a furious ceaseless wind, yet it took them three weeks short of a year to get across. That's less than 1 nautical mile and hour. Comparatively you can walk faster.
( Ether 6:4 ...and it came to pass that when they had done all these things they got aboard of their vessels or barges, and set forth into the sea, commending themselves unto the Lord their God. 5 And it came to pass that the Lord God caused that there should be a furious wind blow upon the face of the waters, towards the promised land; and thus they were tossed upon the waves of the sea before the wind. 6 And it came to pass that they were many times buried in the depths of the sea, because of the mountain waves which broke upon them, and also the great and terrible tempests which were caused by the fierceness of the wind. 7 And it came to pass that when they were buried in the deep there was no water that could hurt them, their vessels being tight like unto a dish, and also they were tight like unto the ark of Noah; therefore when they were encompassed about by many waters they did cry unto the Lord, and he did bring them forth again upon the top of the waters. 8 And it came to pass that the wind did never cease to blow towards the promised land while they were upon the waters; and thus they were driven forth before the wind. 9 And they did sing praises unto the Lord; yea, the brother of Jared did sing praises unto the Lord, and he did thank and praise the Lord all the day long; and when the night came, they did not cease to praise the Lord. 10 And thus they were driven forth; and no monster of the sea could break them, neither whale that could mar them; and they did have light continually, whether it was above the water or under the water. 11 And thus they were driven forth, three hundred and forty and four days upon the water. 12 And they did land upon the shore of the promised land. )
I hardly think that this book is without flaw. How can a book written between 600 and 500 BC have hundreds of quotes from the New Testament ,and then in King James English, 2000 years before its time? If logic and reason has persuaded you maybe you could appreciate a quote from Revelation 18:22. "If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book".
Joseph Smith has said that the Mormon theology of God is that "God the Father has a body of flesh and bone as tangible as man". Orson Pratt has said "The substance of which God is composed is wholly material". Brigham Roberts has said that "man is the offspring of Diety not in a mystical sense but actually..." King Follet said "God was once as we are now". Lastly a quote from Brigham Young, "When our father Adam came to the garden of Eden he came into it with a celestial body and brought one of his many wives with him". From these quotes we see that the Mormon God has climbed the ladder of life just like man is now doing. We are his physical descendants and in time will become like him who has a glorified body of flesh and bone. To put this into context, we have to travel to the first pages of life.
Genesis declares that the serpent enquires and says to the woman, "you will not die, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God". Herein lies the author of Mormonism. The serpent is no longer the devil and the devil travels in other seductive forms than the serpent, but the lie is still there. Not only will you be like God, you will become God. We are not deity nor will we become deity and here is the answer. Concerning the multiplicity - "The Lord our God is one Lord" Deut 6:4, Mark 12:29, and "Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God" Isaiah 44:6. For the origin of God he is "from everlasting to everlasting" Ps 90:2. Concerning physical offspring we read that " And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground" in Gen 2:6.
As for the the belief that God has flesh and bone, Mormons by way of various texts from the bible explain that God is an exalted man and has everlasting arms Deut 33:27, a head and hair like snow Rev1:14, hands Ex15:12, feet Eph 1:22, a mouth Deut 8:3, and nostrils strong enough to pile up water Ex 15:8. Well if that's the case, and we use the same logic, what an odd God they have. In Ps 91, "He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust". Now he is a bird! The same thing can be done with the words of Christ. He said he is the true vine so now he is a fruit. He said he is the way so now you walk on him, and the door so now he needs hinges! Simple English will tell you that we are talking figuratively. It's not for nothing Paul tells us that the god of this world has blinded the eyes of unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light. Romans 1:21-26 explains that although they knew God , they didn't glorify him for they exchanged the glory of God for mortal man and because their hearts were darkened God gave them up to vile passions.
( Rom 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: 21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things. 24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: 25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. 26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: )
In this case the passions are polygamy. Although practised publicly during the first years of Mormonism the US federal government imposed a law that banned polygamy and now the God of the LDS was to be subservient to the state.
Concerning Jesus Christ they don't believe that he was begotten of the Holy Spirit but rather the virgin Mary became one of the wives of Adam our God and Father. The purpose for this was that Christ be their offspring by natural generation. They continue by suggesting that Jesus was a polygamist, for in the marriage at Cana he is claimed to be the bridegroom and married Mary, Martha and the other Mary. This is utter nonsense, comes from the devil and belongs in the trash. My saviour was not born by glorified sexual intercourse or much less marry the same woman that bore him. This bastardisation and blasphemy of Christ proves beyond a shadow of doubt that Mormonism is not Christian. Mormonism originates from the devil and is not the truth. Should you want to know the truth, then look to the God of the only bible who is the truth, and Jesus Christ who is the only way to him, and the Holy Spirit will convict you of this by His power. Don't play around with God, because you are playing with fire. Your eternal destiny will become a highway to hell.
It is rather obvious that they deny the indwelling of the Holy Spirit for they have never known Him or felt His power. As they destroy the Christian God it only makes sense that their salvation makes complete nonsense. To them one must believe the book of Mormon, and those other documents they have, believe that both the living and the dead must be saved (that's why they have a baptism for the dead!) and repent and believe in the Mormon church.
In salvation they ultimately have to work their way to the top. They do not believe in justification by faith and salvation by grace, and know nothing of the greatest event in the history of the world - Christ's death and resurrection. The Mormon saviour becomes no more than a pre existent spirit and the spirit brother of Lucifer the devil!
This is only the beginning of a complex religion that has a slice of perverted Christianity, ties with masonry and the occult and is wrapped in the cloak of divine revelation. We have only dealt with the origin of the LDS and their view of God, man and salvation. Their is so much more like the relation between Joseph Smith and free masonry, and of the temple ceremonies that happen behind closed doors. We could also study the whole concept of marriage, eternal marriage and polygamy as it originated and as it is practised now. An interesting aside are the revelations of their first prophet verses the following leaders. The similarities and differences between the LDS of Utah and the reorganised LDS. The belief of how Negroes came into being and their view of blacks. The hierarchy of the priesthoods in the LDS system and the Mormon quest for world control.
They remain a people of a polytheistic pagan cult whose membership is in the millions and have thousands of missionaries. They have multi billions of dollars in real estate holdings and the like. Truly it is an empire.
In Joseph Smith's visions he was told that all the sects of Christendom were wrong, the creeds and confessions of the protestant church were an abomination to the Lord, and claimed that their churches in error, their theology abhorrent, and their people misled. Well I hope you have seen that from the authority of scripture to test the spirits, from the challenge of the Mormon church to compare the bible with their faith, and through logic and reason the Mormon faith does not stand up. Because Paul tells us to hate what is evil and to cling to what is good we ever more cling to the gospel of the risen Christ in eager expectation of His glorious return.
Is Mormonism Christian?, GH Fraser, Moody Press 1957
What does the book of Mormon teach GH Fraser Moody Press 1964
The God Makers, D. Hunt / E. Decker, Harvest House 1984
The Maze of Mormonism W. Martin 1984, Vision House 1984
Kingdom of the Cults, W. Martin 1984, Bethany House 1984
What is the book of Mormon, Publication by LDS, 1982
Mormonism under the searchlight, W. E. Biederwolf, Glad Tidings Publishing Co. (date unknown)
Live speech W. Martin Langley, BC Canada, 1986
The Book of Mormon
The Bible (King James Version) see also 2 Cor 4:1-11
For more assistance you can reach the Christian Research Institute at http://www.equip.org
Internet access for Mormon material can be found at http://www.ldsworld.com/links/