The Mormon Misconception

 

In the Gospel of John 8:32 we read, "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."[1]  This is the purpose of the article you are about to read!  As is humanly possible I will not attempt to chronicle any conclusions drawn from the facts that are herein presented.  My aspiration is to present the truth of God's Word contained in the Scriptures of the Bible alongside what is presented as truth by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, most often referred to as Mormons.  To avoid opinions and personal surmises I will number each factual statement and present a bibliography at the close of this commentary.  Time, space and your valuable time, limit the number of parallels I will explore.  However, rest assured that you will only glimpse the tip of the iceberg.

 

Let me begin by saying that Mormons do not believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, therefore the many doctrinal contradictions with Christianity are totally ignored.  Wallace Bennett who wrote, “Why I Am A Mormon”, states; "we recognize the Bible's limitations..... we do not ascribe final authority to any of its statements..... we do not accept the idea that with the adoption of the present contents of the Bible the whole canon of Scriptures was closed for all time."[2]  Mr. Bennett’s belief in Mormon doctrine flies in the face of biblical truth.  As an example, John 4:24 reads, "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."[3]  However Orson Hyde, a Mormon theologian wrote, "Remember that God, our Heavenly Father, was perhaps once a child, and mortal like we ourselves, and rose step-by-step in the scale of progress, in the school of advancement; He was moved forward and overcame, until He has arrived at the point where He now is."[4]

 

It's not uncommon for Mormons to disparage deity.  Jesus Christ is said to have been a "spirit being" before coming to earth just as all humans exist before being born in this world.  The Mormon “Doctrine and Covenants” quotes Jesus as saying, "I was in the beginning with the Father, and am the firstborn..... ye were also in the beginning with the Father."[5]  Brigham Young, a forefather of LDS went on to demean the Lord by saying, "Saviour was produced, not by a direct act of the Holy Spirit but by actual sexual relations between Adam-god, an ‘immortal or resurrected & glorified father’, and Mary."[6]  The KJV Bible says, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God."(Luke 1:35).

How about this!  Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, is accused by LDS of either polygamy or the sin of fornication.  "If he (Jesus) never married, his intimacy with Mary and Martha, and the other Mary also, whom Jesus loved, must have been highly unbecoming and improper to say the best of it."[7]

 

How is it possible for a religion to believe that Jesus Christ can atone for sin when they strip Him of deity and accuse Him of iniquity?  The answer is found in their doctrine of baptism; "Baptism in water has several purposes.  It is for the remission of sins,"[8]  God's Word says, "Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his,(Jesus’) blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins."(Romans 3:25) [9] 

 

The Mormons believe that, "Joseph Smith, as have many other prophets, sealed his testimony with his blood that the righteous might be honored and the wicked might be condemned"[10]  It may be understandable that Latter-day Saints do not give much credence to the "blood" because they believe that blood is a result of sin;  "With the eating of the ‘forbidden fruit’, Adam and Eve became mortal, sin entered, blood formed in their bodies,"[11]  The Mormon doctrine of redemption and salvation states, "all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel [12], "all are redeemed by the Savior’s self-sacrifice from the individual consequences of the fall"[13], included are "beasts, fowls of the air, and fishes of the sea"[14] Now listen to the Word of God, "believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved" (Acts 16:31) "He that believeth on him is not condemned; but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the only begotten Son of God" (John 3:18) [15] 

 

Not only does LDS believe in a salvation of works,ie. baptism, obedience to laws & ordinances and laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost [16], which is contrary to Ephesians 2:8-9, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast."[17]  Brigham Young of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said, "I want you to tell them, and tell all the great men of the earth, that the Latter-day Saints are to be their redeemer..... believe in God, believe in Jesus, and believe in Joseph his prophet, and in Brigham his successor, and I add, if you believe in your hearts and confess with your mouth Jesus is the Christ, that Joseph was a prophet, and Brigham is his successor, you should be saved in the kingdom of God."[18]  This Mormon "prophet" also said, "No man or woman in this dispensation will ever enter the celestial kingdom of God without the consent of Joseph Smith..... every man and woman must have a certificate of Joseph Smith, Jr., as a passport to their entrance into the mansions where God and Christ are.....

 I cannot go there without his consent.....  He  reigns there as  supreme a being in his sphere, capacity, and calling, as God does in heaven."[19]

 

The Bible is believable because we are told in II Peter 1:19-21, "We have also a more sure word of prophecy; where unto ye do well that ye take heed..... Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation.  For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost."[20] 

 

Joseph Smith claims to have transcribed the Book of Mormon from ancient, golden plates written in "reformed-Egyptian characters" (an unsubstantiated language).  Mr. Smith remained hidden behind a curtain while translating the hieroglyphics and dictating to transcribers.[21]  It seems unusual that only one person saw or had access to these precious and quite valuable golden plates.  Even more unusual are the many passages in the Book of Mormon which are identical to the 1611 King James version of the Bible, translated by a group of 70 theologians, hundreds of years after the Mormon "plates" were supposedly inscribed.  In fact some 25,000+ words are duplicates of the KJV!  Please dare to compare; Moroni 10 with I Corinthians 12:1-11  &  2 Nephi 14 with Isaiah 4  &  2 Nephi 12 with Isaiah 2.[22]

 

It's my prayer that you will carefully consider what you have just read.  That you will search the Scriptures found in the Holy Bible because Jesus said in John 5:39, "Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life; and they are they which testify of me."[23]

The Mormons’ mission is “ the restoration of the "true church" and the eligibility for the attainment of deity by all Mormons,”[24]  Have they listened to the age old lie of the serpent in the Garden of Eden?  "And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods..." Genesis 3:4-5 [25]

 

Bibliography

 

[1] KJV, Holy Bible, King James Version

[2]Bennett, “Why I Am A Mormon”, p.159

[3] KJV

[4] Orson Hyde , Journal of Discourses Volume 1, p. 123 

[5] Doctrine and Covenants, 93:21, 23

[6] Orson Hyde, Journal of Discourses Volume 1, p. 187

[7] Orson Hyde, Journal of Discourses volume 4, p. 259

[8] KJV Bible published by LDS with Joseph Smith translation, topical guide & Bible dictionary

[9] KJV

[10] Doctrine and Covenants, 135;6-7;136;39

[11] ‘Fall of Adam’,Bible dictionary LDS published KJV with topical guide, Bible dictionary & JST

[12] Article 3, "The Articles of Faith of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints,"

Pearl of Great Price, p. 60

[13] Talmage, Doctrines and Covenants, p. 58

[14] Doctrines and Covenants, 29: 23-25

[15] KJV.

[16] Article 4, "The Articles of Faith etc."

[17] KJV

[18] Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 6:249.

[19] Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 7:289

[20] KJV

[21] "What They Believe",Harold J. Berry, p.101

[22]   Walter R. Martin, "The Kingdom of the Cults", p. 184

[23] KJV

[24] The New Encyclopaedia Britannica, Micropaedia/Ready Reference Vol 18, 15th ed.

[25] KJV

Acknowledgments

Subsidiary assistance for this article was gleaned from; "Another Gospel", Ruth A. Tucker, Academie Books, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49506, © 1989; "What They Believe", Harold J. Berry, Back to the Bible, Lincoln, Nebraska 68501, © 1987; "The Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Error" [Tract], Keith L. Brooks, rev.  by  Irvine Robertson, The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago, © 1985