"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;" (1 Tim 4:1)
The Mormon church’s official name is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). In Oct 2011, Joel Osteen made the assertion that Mormons are Christians. Osteen, pastor of the largest "church" in America and well known for his “all-about-me-love-of-self” false and perverted gospel, is biblically ignorant and spiritually naive at a frightful level. He is the bench mark of "ungodly men" warned about in Ju 1:4, who "turn the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and deny the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ." Mormonism is about as far removed as a cult can be from true, Biblical Christianity. In 1997 Jimmy Carter said Mormons are Christians and should not be the targets of “proselytizing” (Carrie Moore, “Are Mormons Christians,” Deseret News, Nov. 15, 1997). During the interview, Carter likened those who reject Mormons to “Pharisees.” Carter defined his personal philosophy as “a nonjudgmental, reconciling type of spirituality.” He testified that “the people in my own local church have no interest in trying to condemn Mormons or trying to convert Mormons to be good old Baptists like me.” Jimmy Carter, like Joel Osteen and so many other “evangelical” leaders of today are ecumenical heretics at best and indeed, wolves in sheep's clothing (Matt 7:15). They reject God’s Word by their ungodly views and beliefs and thus evidently prove themselves to be unregenerate.
The Bible warns of false christs and false gospels (2 Cor 11:1-4), and both are hugely manifest in the Mormonism cult. False teachers use the same language as true Bible teachers but they have a different dictionary and twist and wrest Scripture to their own liking. Jesus warned of many who would call Him Lord and even do many wonderful works but they are unsaved workers of iniquity (Matt 7:21-23).
This is Mormonism.
This report will briefly cover a bit of history, beliefs, practices, and how to effectively witness to the Mormon, more less a beginner's guide for those that may be familiar with Mormonism and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS), but know very little about what they really believe and practice.
Let's start where Mormonism started. With Joseph Smith.
Mormonism’s Shady and Deceptive Beginnings
The Encyclopaedia Britannica describes Joseph Smith's (1805-1844) childhood in this fashion:
"He was a literate, but unschooled, lad from a large family, and his neighbors at Palmyra, N.Y. remembered him as a diviner who dug for buried treasure." (The New Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Joseph Smith," 1991)
Diviner is one who practices divination, which is the practice of attempting to foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge by occult or supernatural means. Witchcraft in other words.
God's Word plainly opposes and warns those who dabble in demonic divination, the very same devilish spirit of divination that Paul rebuked out of the damsel in Ac 16:16-20,
"There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee." (De 18:8-10)
Smith claims he had an encounter with Elohim and Jesus in 1820, when he was 14 years old. He had been praying about which denomination was true, basing his prayer on Jam 1:5, when God the Father and Jesus appeared to him and informed him all Christian churches and denominations were wrong, and had become apostate, and “all their creeds were abomination in His sight.” Jesus also informed him that would give him the truth. Except God doesn't reveal Himself through visions and dreams anymore, nor is there any further addition to the revelation of God; the canonization of Scripture has been complete (Rev 22:18-19). At the time of this alleged divine visitation, Smith was living in Palmyra, New York.
Smith claims around three years later, when he was 17 years of age, an angel named Moroni or Nephi appeared to him on Sept 21, 1823, and told him the location of a book written on gold plates, along with a pair of special glasses composed of “two stones in silver bows, fastened to a breastplate,” which he called Urim and Thummim, and these would enable him to translate the plates, which contained “the fulness of the everlasting gospel,” into a book. The golden plates were allegedly located on a hill called Cumorah, and supposedly held the record of lost American history and Jesus Christ. These dug-up plates were supposedly written in a language Smith referred to as "reformed Egyptian."
"And now, behold, we have written this record according to our knowledge, in the characters which are called among us the reformed Egyptian, being handed down and altered by us, according to our manner of speech." (Joseph Smith, Book of Mormon, Mormon 9:32)
Then in 1826, Smith was tried and found guilty of fraud by the State of New York. He was accused of being a "glass looker," convicted of putting a seer stone into a hat and reading it, attempting to swindle people out of money or treasure. Do bear in mind, this is after the so-called prophet of God had already had his divine revelations and instructions from God himself on his new course in life, the new spokesman for God, the new revelation of God that would come through him, the new denomination that would be birthed through him that wasn't apostate. This is the great "prophet" that is found guilty of practicing sorcery and swindling/robbing people by deception. Below is a photocopy of a court document written by Justice Albert Neely, from the discovery of two bills in Chenango County, showing the officials who participated in the arrest and trial of Joseph Smith, South Bainbridge, in1826.
Smith used the same peek-stone to translate the Book of Mormon from golden plates never seen by anyone, except Smith and eleven other people who have claimed to have seen them. He claimed that after he translated the first 116 pages using the so-called Urim and Thummim, his friend Martin Harris lost the manuscript. What actually happened, Harris’s wife had taken the manuscript and hid or burned it, because she did not want her husband to continue giving money to Smith (Mather, “Early Days of Mormonism”).
But the "angel" Moroni or Nephi was not the only one appearing to the "chosen" Smith in the spiritual world. There was also John the Baptist in 1829. He allegedly appeared to Smith and his cohort Oliver Cowdery, and then supposedly laid hands on them, ordained them to the high priesthood of Aaron, baptized them, and charged Smith to establish the restored church! After this, in the same year, the apostles Peter, James, and John also allegedly appeared and conferred the Melchizedek priesthood on Smith and Cowdery.
The next year, in March 1830, Smith published the Book of Mormon. The next next month, Smith and five other men ordained themselves elders of the newly established Mormon church. They initially called themselves the Church of Christ, which was later changed to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). Most of these elders were relatives of Joseph Smith. Smith had a another "revelation" whereby he was told to name his wife, Emma, “the Elect Lady and Daughter of God.”
In spite of this scandalous history, the Smith followers of that day and in the LDS Church to this day, believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, and that the Book of Mormon is God's revelation, inspired and written by God through Smith in the 19th century. The truth is quite the opposite. Smith was a fake, a deceiver, a pathological liar and a sorcerer. He pulled the wool over the peoples eyes and tickled their ears with fables, like he had done before. They fell for it. Nothing changed for Smith, only a different audience. By his own testimony, Smith used the same sorcery and deception and lying to "translate" the Book of Mormon that he used when looking for treasures, with the aid of his peek-stone. Smith would put the stone in his tall white stovepipe hat, then put the hat over his face and allegedly read the words off to his scribe. In the exact same manner he had previously used to magically seek the location of hidden treasure, he produced The Book of Mormon. The following testimony of Smith’s father-in-law, Isaac Hale reflects this:
“I first became acquainted with Joseph Smith, Jr. in November, 1825. He was at that time in the employ of a set of men who were called ‘money-diggers;’ and his occupation was that of seeing, or pretending to see by means of a stone placed in his hat, and his hat closed over his face. In this way he pretended to discover minerals and hidden treasures. . . . Smith, and his father, with several other ‘money-diggers’ boarded at my house. . . . Young Smith gave the ‘money-diggers’ great encouragement, at first, but when they had arrived in digging, to near the place where he had stated an immense treasure would be found—he said the enchantment was so powerful that he could not see. . . . After these occurrences, young Smith made several visits at my house, . . . and while I was absent from home, carried off my daughter, into the state of New York, where they were married without my approbation or consent. . . . In a short time they returned . . . . Smith stated to me, that he had given up what he called ‘glass- looking,’ and that he expected to work hard for a living. . . . He also made arrangements with my son Alva Hale, to go up to Palmyra, and move his (Smith’s) furniture to this place. . . . Soon after this, I was informed they had brought a wonderful book of Plates down with them. . . . The manner in which he pretended to read and interpret, was the same as when he looked for the money-diggers, with the stone in his hat, and his hat over his face, while the books of plates were at the same time hid in the woods!" (affidavit of Isaac Hale, affirmed to and subscribed before Charles Dimon, Justice of the peace, March 20th, 1834, reprinted by Daniel Kidder, Mormonism and the Mormons, 1842).
David Whitmer also testified that Smith translated the Book of Mormon with his peek stone:
“I will now give you a description of the manner in which the Book of Mormon was translated. Joseph would put the seer stone into a hat, and put his face in the hat, drawing it closely around his face to exclude the light; and in the darkness the spiritual light would shine. A piece of something resembling parchment would appear, and on that appeared the writing” (An Address To All Believers In Christ, by David Whitmer, p. 12).
Emma Smith, Joseph wife, testified the same thing to her son. In a letter written Mar 27, 1876, Emma testified that the entire Book of Mormon was translated by the use of a stone:
“In writing for your father I frequently wrote day after day, after sitting by the table close by him, he sitting with his face buried in his hat, with the stone in it, and dictating hour after hour with nothing between us” (Emma Smith, The Saints’ Herald, May 19, 1888, p. 310).
Many other testimonies acknowledge that Smith’s peek-stone or “seer stone” was seen and acknowledged by Mormon authorities, though in their descriptions of it, they describe it as just a typical stone with nothing peculiar about it. And that is all it ever was. A stone, used by a master manipulator and deceiver to con many people. Concerning the golden plates, all eleven witnesses who claimed to have seen them, are highly suspect. Three were from Smith’s own family (including his father and brother), which had a poor reputation in their community and motive to support Joseph’s religious views, as they were involved with Josephs hoax and bamboozlement of treasure searching with divining rods and seer stones. Oliver Cowdery and Martin Harris used divining rods to search for hidden treasure, something even admitted to by a modern times Mormon writer, D. Michael Quinn, in Brigham Young University Studies (Fall 1978, p. 82).
Everything about Smiths ability to read some golden plates that were fresh revelation from God, is a blatant lie and fiction of the highest level. In his so called translating work, Smith never testified to the power of God for this task. The testimonies show a swindler and deceiver hard at work.
Mormons may scoff at or ignore Smith's ties to the occult, but there is a substantial amount of documented eye-witness accounts that tell of his use of soothsaying to fool people into thinking he could locate buried gold and silver. Smith was skilled at manipulating people, and he brought that same skill into religion, clearly perceiving how it could bring him riches, power and women, the three things that occupy the mind of the unlearned lost.
"In his official history, Joseph Smith downplayed his experience as a money-digger and sought to cast this activity in the context of manual labor. However, Smith was involved in such endeavors for years in two widely separated areas and enjoyed an established reputation as a gifted seer. He was thought to be able to locate lost goods with a special seer stone and magical religious ceremonies." (Wayland D. Hand, "The Quest for Buried Treasure: A Chapter in American Folk Legendry," in Folklore on Two Continents: Essays in Honor of Linda Degh, Trickster Press, 1980)
"The peep-stone story can no longer be set aside as a vicious story circulated by those who wished to persecute the budding Prophet [i.e. Joseph Smith], for this new evidence, dating four years before he founded his church, witnesses incontrovertibly to Joseph's early “glass-looking” activities." (Wesley P. Walters, Joseph Smith's Bainbridge: N.Y. Court Trials, 1974, p. 131)
This should have put up red flags to anyone that was under the spell of this false prophet. When a sorcerer attempts to use occult power of sorcerer in search for wealth, is subsequently convicted of fraud by the state, and then a few years later claims to be a prophet chosen of God to give a new revelation of Jesus Christ located on some golden plates buried in the woods somewhere, without any evidence whatsoever of his claims, he should have been rejected, marked and ostrasized by the people. Sadly, that did not happen, and many simple-minded people (which are gullible, naive unregenerate false believers, who believe every word if its flattering and charismatic and lust-fulfilling enough, Pr 14:15) have been led astray, putting their faith into a wicked, evil, wolf in sheep's clothing instead of the Lord God and His Word.
In spite of the fanciful nature of Smith’s story and his dubious, shady character, the Smith cult started having a following and gradually grew. Smith gained only a small group of followers in his home area of New York. His work was much hindered by his reputation and that of his family. The following testimony is from a newspaper in Palmyra, New York, and is dated March 12, 1831:
“The ‘gold bible’ question excites but little interest in this section of country, its followers being few and generally of the dregs of community, and the most unlettered people that can be found any where, and besides there is much reason to doubt the sincerity of many of them. The first idea of a ‘Book’ was doubtless suggested to the Smiths by one Walters, a juggling fortune-teller, who made the ignorant believe that an old book in his possession, in the Latin language, contained an account of the ante-deluvians, &c. and the word was given out that the book Smith was about to find, was a history of hidden treasures. Smith and his father belonged to a gang of money-diggers, who had followed that business for many years, Jo pretending he could see the gold and silver by the aid of what they called a ‘peep stone.’”
In 1831, Joseph Smith, and his roughly 200 followers, moved to Kirtland, Ohio (reported in The Telegraph of Painesville, Ohio, May 17, 1831). It was at this place that Brigham Young joined the Mormons and was ordained an elder, and where they built their first temple, first settlement, and opened their first bank called “The Kirtland Safety Society Bank.” Smith gave a prophecy that the bank would swallow up all other banks and would prosper greatly. Smith of course was the treasurer. It didn't take long for their shady financial dealings to bring the wrath of the people upon their little cult. Smith was arrested 7 times in 4 weeks and was convicted of operating a bank without a state charter. Smith and his second man, Sidney Rigdon, escaped with their tails between their legs, due to the many lawsuits that were filed against them and the tens of thousands of dollars of debts they were unable to pay. Wow, that is righteous behaviour isn't it.
Just in the nick of time, Smith had a new revelation from God instructing him and his cult to move to Independence, Missouri. The excuse: Oliver Cromley had raised up a large church there according to Smith. In truth, there were only a handful of people when they arrived. In reality, the move was to escape the rage and lawsuits of the people they had swindled. Some stayed in spite of their disappointment of the "large church" that Smith had lied about. The little cultish Mormon community started building a temple called “the New Jerusalem,” secondary to another one of many of Smith's bogus “revelations,” that before their generation would pass away, they would finish building a temple and the city of New Jerusalem in Jackson County, Missouri (Doctrine and Covenants, 84:2-5, 31). Since his so-called "revelations" were all bogus lies, it didn't take long for the little cult of Mormons to be driven from Jackson County and no Mormon temple was ever built there.
While in Missouri, in 1838, there was a fallout of some of the people in the Mormon circle. Oliver Cowdery, Martin Harris, David and John Whitmer were forced to leave the Mormons, of whom Smith claimed, "are too mean to mention” and charged them with being “counterfeiters, thieves, liars, and blacklegs of the deepest dye.” (History of the Church, vol. 3, p. 232). But they, in turn, charged Smith and the Mormons of great wickedness.
After being chased out of Missouri, the little group of Mormons next moved to Hancock County, Illinois, and began building a community named Nauvoo. One thing of particular interest that they built here was a Masonic lodge, which was inaugurated in 1842. Yes, Smith, his brother Hyram, and the majority of the other Mormon leaders were Masons. And that is why there are so many similarities between Mormon temple ceremonies and the pagan Masonic rites. Mormonism is for all intends and purposes, a pagan religion through and through, not only evident from the history of peek or seer stones and golden plates, but further noted upon examining their doctrines and practices further below.
Nauvoo became the major political power and second largest city in that county of Illinois by 1844. Smith owned the town and its court. The Mormons maintained a militia, the Nauvoo Legion, that enforced their will as law.
“Of late he [Smith] had grown more violent and open in his lawlessness. He had sent a band of his followers into Missouri, to kidnap the witnesses in a case where a Mormon thief was to be tried. He had brutally assaulted and beaten a county officer in the streets of Nauvoo. . . . That absurd ecclesiastical court of his had repeatedly discharged men accused of grave offences, and warned the officers against any attempt to rearrest them. . . . He appropriated the exclusive right to deal in real estate, to sell liquor, to marry, and to give in marriage” (John Hay, “The Mormon Prophet’s Tragedy,” Atlantic Monthly, Dec 1869, pp. 669-78).
And shortly thereafter, in 1844, Joseph Smith was ushered into the eternal fires of hell by way of gun battle, a fitting end to a wicked immoral and spiritual reprobate swindler, manipulator, pathological liar, deceiver, womanizer, covetous thief, murderer, wolf in sheep's clothing and so much more. But it was his immorality that was the end of him. Their practice of polygamy in 1843 and 44, would bring about his demise. Both Joseph and his brother Hyram, attempted to back up their practice by pretending they had received a revelation from God on the plurality of wives. It was Smith's attempts to seduce and steal the wives of other men, and then create new doctrine in support of this, that led some of the men to publish a newspaper in protest of plural marriage, but also protest against eternal progression of man toward godhood, and the eternalizing of the marriage covenant. They called it the “Nauvoo Expositor” and it only published one edition ever, on June 7, 1844, before being destroyed by Smith and his henchmen. The editors of the paper included William Law and Robert Foster (whose wives had been unsuccessfully approached by Smith) and Francis Higbee (whose betrothed, Nancy Rigdon, had also been unsuccessfully wooed). The destruction of the printers resulted in the arrest of Joseph and Hyram Smith for rioting. They were released but later they were arrested again and charged with treason and jailed at neighbouring Carthage, Illinois, where they were attacked by an angry mob and killed on June 27, 1844. A six-shot pistol had been smuggled into the jail by a Mormon elder, and Smith shot some men before he was killed, of which at least two died of their wounds (The Documentary History of the Church, Vol. 7, pp. 102-103; John Hay, “The Mormon Prophet’s Tragedy,” Atlantic Monthly, Dec. 1869, pp. 669-78).
After Joseph Smith’s death, Mormonism split in two. The largest of the two groups accepted the leadership of Brigham Young as their new captain, who then moved in 1847 to Salt Lake City, Utah (which then belonged to Mexico). Over the next several years, thousands more would join them. Shortly thereafter, they went to work on building a huge edifice called the Mormon Tabernacle, which took 40 years to complete. For the next thirty years, Young and his “saints” laid the foundation stones of the Mormon cult. Young would become quite rich, owning multiple mansions, yet owed the LDS church one million dollars at his death in 1877, which he had “borrowed” from church tithes (with 140,000 Mormon membership at his death), a massive amount of money in those days. Young lived nothing like the humble apostles or the Lord Jesus Christ, but more like a king. Young was a zealous polygamist, with 55 wives at one point, of which at least 6 were married to other men simultaneously. He said:
“The only men who become Gods, even the Sons of God, are those who enter polygamy” (Journal of Discourses, vol. 11, p. 269)
Little known to most Mormons, Young was a rather rough and ruthless character. In 1857, he commanded Bishop John D. Lee to murder a wagon train of over one hundred helpless non-Mormon immigrants. Twenty years later Lee was convicted and executed by the U.S. Government. Young escaped punishment, and his role in the Mountain Meadows Massacre has escaped the Mormon history books. This event has been dramatized in a movie called September Dawn.
Many more "prophets" and "apostles" would come over the years, all more or less maintaining their LDS membership till death separated them into a Christ-less eternity of torment and gnashing of teeth in the furnace of fire.
One individual, LeGrand Richards, 7th Presiding Bishop over the LDS Church from 1938-1952, was a highly revered author and authority among Mormons, who stated the LDS do not depend entirely upon the Bible's teachings (at least he is honest about that):
"The position of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will be discussed from the point of view that it is the only Christian church that does not depend entirely upon the Bible for its teachings." (LeGrand Richards, A Marvelous Work and a Wonder: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 2004, p. 1)
Today Mormonism grows mainly by the process of huge families, but also the relentless work and aggressive promotion of their beliefs, often personified by two young men, dressed in white shirts, ties, and slacks and usually a name tag, going door to door to hand out Mormon literature, telling people about Joseph Smith, a man they say was a prophet of God. About a third of young Mormon men dedicate 18-24 months for missionary service, helping to distribute the 5 million copies of the Book of Mormon given away each year by the LDS. Though they may come across as kind and gentle, the Lord Jesus Christ warns not to be deceived but to judge righteously, for they are false teachers:
"Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment." (Jn 7:24)
Smith claimed to have been ordained after the order of Levi, but that is impossible because he was not a Jew and was not of the tribe of Levi. God forbade any stranger to assume such a position, and such that did were to be put to death (Num. 3:10; 18:6-7). Smith also claimed to have been ordained after the order of Melchizedek, but that again is an impossibility because only Jesus Christ is and could be ordained after that order, since Jesus Christ is God and was Melchizedek. How do we know this? The priesthood of Melchizedek required a kingly position (Heb 7:12), a position of absolute righteousness ("king of Salem ["peace"] Heb 7:1, "king of righteousness" Heb 7:2), an eternal and parentless generation (Heb 7:3), eternally existent (Heb 7:3), the Son of God (Heb 7:3), an eternal priest (Heb 7:3), an immortal existence (Heb 7:23-25), a sinless life (Heb 7:26), the absence of all infirmity and weakness (Heb 7:28), and a personal appointment by God (Heb 5:4-6; 7:17) — all of which could only be met by One, the Lord Jesus Christ.
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And that is a brief version of the sordid, morbid and debased history of the Mormon LDS church and cult. How wickedly immoral and disastrous it is, led by a false prophet that has been the cause of millions going to hell through his sorcery, manipulation and deception.
There is a man in Scripture whom the sorcerer Joseph Smith resembles almost to perfection. He was also was a sorcerer. His name is Simon the sorcerer. We find his account in Acts 8:8-24. Like Simon, Joseph bewitched the people of Palmyra, N.Y., and then pretended to be a believer so he could gain the power of God. Like Simon, Smith wasn't interested in serving God, but being God. Both had wicked and unforgiven hearts.
The Word of God is very clear that Joseph Smith should have been rejected, marked and avoided immediately (Rom 16:17-18). Why? A "prophet" that preaches a different god is to be rejected (De 13:1-5) and a "prophet" that lives a wicked life is to be rejected (2 Pet 2:1-2, 10), and a false teacher is to be marked and avoided (Rom 16:17).
Smiths motives are precisely in line with what the Bible warns of concerning the false teacher:
"For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple." (Rom 16:18)
"(For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)" (Phil 3:18-19)
But its his false teachings that give him away, and demand his expose and avoidance, which should have happened immediately in that day, sparing possibly the deception and eternal damnation of millions of souls,
"Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them." (Rom 16:17)
"Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves." (Matt 7:15)
So the LDS Church was formed based on the visions of their false prophet, Joseph Smith, which he claimed began in 1820, and today there are four books Mormons use for their authoritative Scripture, numbered here in order of importance to the LDS Church: (1) The Book of Mormon; (2) The Doctrine and Covenants; (3) The Pearl of Great Price; and (4) The King James Bible.
Just because they use the King James Version of the Bible, doesn't mean you have some sort of spiritual connection with the LDS if you happen to also use the KJV (which you should), something Mormons will use as bait. It is good to remember that the Bible takes a back seat in the LDS Church. Consider the words of Jeffrey Holland, 9th President of Brigham Young University and member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, concerning The Book of Mormon:
"It should be considered the most remarkable and important religious text to be revealed since the writings of the New Testament were compiled nearly two millennia ago. Indeed, in its role of restoring plain and precious biblical truths that had been lost, while adding scores of new truths about Jesus Christ and preparing the way for the complete restoration of his gospel and the triumphant day of his millennial return, the Book of Mormon may be considered the most remarkable and important religious text ever given to the world."
Joseph Smith, Mormonism's False Prophet
Let's cover some further detail on the the life of one Joseph Smith, the founder of this cult through false revelations and lies, a known swindler, imposter, pathological liar, deceiver, serial adulterer, hypocrite, sluggard, murderer and worthless greed. He is also a false prophet and wolf in sheep's clothing. Quite the resume eh.
Many testimonies of citizens in that day were published after Smith founded the Mormon church. The following examples are representative of dozens that were collected:
“I was acquainted with the family of Joseph Smith, Sen., both before and since they became Mormons, and feel free to state that not one of the male members of the Smith family were entitled to any credit, whatsoever. They were lazy, intemperate and worthless men, — very much addicted to lying. In this they frequently boasted of their skill. Digging for money was their principal employment. In regard to their Gold Bible speculation, they scarcely ever told two stories alike” (Parley Chase, affirmed before Frederick Smith, Justice of the Peace of Wayne County, Dec. 11, 1833).
“These circumstances and many others of a similar tenor, embolden me to say that Joseph Smith Jr., is not a man of truth and veracity; and that his general character, in this part of the country, is that of an impostor, hypocrite and liar” (Rev. Nathaniel C. Lewis, Methodist Episcopal Church, affirmed and subscribed, before Charles Dimon, Justice of the peace, March 20th, 1834, reprinted by Daniel Kidder, Mormonism and the Mormons, 1842)
“... Joseph Smith Jr., resided near me for some time after this, and I had a good opportunity of becoming acquainted with him, and somewhat acquainted with his associates, and I conscientiously believe from the facts I have detailed, and from many other circumstances, which I do not deem it necessary to relate, that the whole 'Book of Mormon' (so called) is a silly fabrication of falsehood and wickedness, got up for speculation, and with a design to dupe the credulous and unwary — and in order that its fabricators may live upon the spoils of those who swallow the deception” (affidavit of Isaac Hale, Joseph Smith’s father-in-law, affirmed to and subscribed before Charles Dimon, Justice of the peace, March 20th, 1834, reprinted by Daniel Kidder, Mormonism and the Mormons, 1842).
Smiths proud, arrogant, and egotistical boasting and braggery.
"Come on! ye prosecutors! ye false swearers! All hell, boil over! Ye burning mountains, roll down your lava! for I will come out on top at last. I have more to boast of than ever any man had. I am the only man that has ever been able to keep a whole church together since the days of Adam. A large majority of the whole have stood by me. Neither Paul, John, Peter, nor Jesus ever did it. I boast that no man ever did such a work as I. The followers of Jesus ran away from Him; but the Latter-day Saints never ran away from me yet. . . . When they can get rid of me, the devil will also go." (History of the Church, Vol. 6, pp. 408-409)
Smith was a liar and serial adultery, about which he lied as well! In a sermon on May 26, 1844, Smith testified that he had only one wife, whereas in reality he had dozens! He stated:
“What a thing it is for a man to be accused of committing adultery, and having seven wives, when I can only find one” (Joseph Smith, May 1844).
Smith’s claim to be able to perform miracles was a bogus lie.
“He did, however, announce that on a certain evening, about twilight, he would walk on the water. The place of his selection was watched by Gentile boys until one of Smith’s followers was seen to construct a bridge of planks just under the surface. Watching their opportunity, the boy removed the outer planks. Before the prophet made the attempt to walk he exhorted his followers to have strong faith. When his bridge suddenly gave way he swam ashore and said, ‘Woe unto you of little faith! Your faith would not hold me up’” (Frederic Mather, “The Early Days of Mormonism,” Lippincott’s Magazine, August 1880).
“However much he might fail in discovering material treasures, Smith’s hold upon the religious infatuation of his followers grew more and more strong. John Morse, an aged convert to Mormonism, had recently died, and Smith was sent for to restore him to life. After looking at him Smith declined, because it would be a pity to have him suffer rheumatism and die again so soon! This was something like Brigham Young’s refusal to restore a lost leg to one of his Mormons, on the ground that if he did it the man would be obliged to walk on three legs all through eternity!” (Mather, “The Early Days of Mormonism”).
Smith’s claim to be able to read ancient languages was a bogus lie.
“That the prophet was not well advanced either in Greek or English appears from a story related by the Rev. Henry Caswall, who visited Nauvoo, Illinois, in 1842. He had with him a copy of the Psalter in Greek, which he handed to the prophet and asked him to explain its contents. Smith looked at it a few moments, and then replied, ‘No, it ain’t Greek at all, except perhaps a few words. What ain’t Greek is Egyptian, and what ain’t Egyptian is Greek. This book is very valuable: it is a dictionary of Egyptian hieroglyphics.’ Pointing to the capital letters at the beginning of each verse, he said, ‘Them figures is Egyptian hieroglyphics, and them which follows is the interpretation of the hieroglyphics, written in the reformed Egyptian. Them characters is like the letters that was engraved on the golden plates.’ Upon this the Mormons began to congratulate Mr. Caswall on the information he was receiving. ‘There!’ they said, ‘we told you so: we told you that our prophet would give you satisfaction. None but our prophet can explain these mysteries.’ The prophet then attempted to buy the book, on the ground that it could be of no use to Caswall, because he did not understand it” (Frederic Mather, “The Early Days of Mormonism,” Lippincott’s Magazine, August 1880).
Smith was a convicted peek-stone looker, and he lied about that as well. In1826, four years prior to writing the Book of Mormon, Smith was tried and found guilty of deceiving people in the state of New York by claiming he could find hidden treasure through a peek-stone. For years the LDS church claimed that it was not true, even though it was published publicly in magazines such as Fraser’s in 1873. In 1971, Wesley P. Walters located the original court records in a government building in Norwich, NY. These documents proved beyond a shadow of doubt that Smith was a guilty “glass looker.” The court ascertained,
“That at Palmyra he [Smith] pretended to tell by looking at this stone where coined money was buried in Pennsylvania, and while at Palmyra had frequently ascertained in that way where lost property was of various kinds...”
Smiths lies and deceptions on "The Book of Abraham." In 1835 he claimed to have translated a papyrus written by Abraham some 4,000 years ago. This book was accepted by the LDS church as scripture and was published as part of the Pearl of Great Price. For many years it was thought Smith’s collection of papyri concerning this book had been lost in the Chicago fire of 1871, but then it was discovered by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1967 and returned to the LDS church that same year. When examined by linguists, it was proved that Smith’s “translation” was absolute bogus. His “translation” of less than 4 lines from the papyrus became 49 verses of more than 2,000 words in English!
“When Egyptologists translated this piece of papyrus, they found that it contained absolutely nothing concerning Abraham. Instead, it turned out to be a pagan funerary text known as the ‘Book of Breathings,’ a work which actually evolved from the Egyptian Book of the Dead. The Book of Breathings did not come into existence until the later stages of Egyptian history — just a few centuries before the time of Christ. Like the Book of the Dead, it was buried with those who died in ancient Egypt. It is filled with magic and pagan gods. It was obviously written by a very superstitious people, and is quite different from the religion taught in the Bible. The fact that the papyrus Joseph Smith used as the basis for his Book of Abraham is in reality the Book of Breathings cannot be disputed because the name ‘Book of Breathings’ appears clearly on the fourth line of the fragment. In 1968 two Egyptologists from the University of Chicago's Oriental Institute, Professors John A. Wilson and Klaus Baer, identified the papyrus as the ‘Book of Breathings.’ The papyrus says, “After (his) two arms are [fast]ened to his breast, one wraps the Book of Breathings, which is with writing both inside and outside of it, with royal linen, it being placed (at) his left arm near his heart, this having been done at his wrapping and outside it. If this book be recited for him, then he will breath like the soul[s of the gods] for ever and ever.’ In one case Joseph Smith derived 177 English words out of the word ‘Khons’ — the name of an Egyptian moon god! It is impossible to escape the conclusion that the Book of Abraham is a product of Joseph Smith’s imagination” (Tanner, The Fall of the Book of Abraham).
Smiths lies and deceptions in "The Kinderhook Plates Forgery." In 1843, a man came to Smith with six brass plates containing an appearance of Egyptian writing, claiming he had discovered them in a mound of dirt through guidance received in a dream. Smith was excited about the plates and stated he would translate them through revelation. Soon after, he purported to have succeeded in translating a portion of the writing and that the plates “contain the history of the person with whom they were found and he was a descendant of Ham through the loins of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and that he received his kingdom from the ruler of heaven and earth” (William Clayton’s Journal, May 1, 1843, cited in Trials of Discipleship — The Story of William Clayton, a Mormon, p. 117). The official early history of the Mormon church states the same (History of the Church, vol. 5, p. 372). The year after, the LDS church made the claim in the Mormon publication Times and Seasons, that the plates helped prove the authenticity of the Book of Mormon:
“Why does the circumstance of the plates recently found in a mound in Pike county, III., by Mr. Wiley, together with ethnology and a thousand other things, go to prove the Book of Mormon true? — Ans. Because it is true!” (Times and Seasons, vol. 5, p. 406).
Truth was, the plates were a forgery by these men who wanted to play a trick on Smith. Thirty six
years later, in 1879, W. Fugate wrote a letter in which he confessed the hoax:
“I received your letter in regard to those plates, and I will say in answer that they are a humbug, gotten up by Robert Wiley, Bridge Whitten and myself” (Welby Ricks, The Kinderhook Plates, reprinted from the Improvement Era, Sept. 1962, cited by Tanner here, where you can read more about the Kinderhook Plates).
During the Civil War the plates went missing, but in the 1960's one of them was found in the
Chicago Historical Society Museum. Extensive scientific tests have proven that it is a forgery
indeed. Here we see yet another example of Smith getting caught lying again about his ability to
translate ancient languages.
Smith was into magic and the occult, for gain of riches, power and female affection. When Smith was shot and killed while in prison, they found in his in his pocket a magic charm talisman representative of the pagan god Jupiter. In 1974, Dr. Reed Durham, director of the LDS Institute of Religion at the University of Utah, testified to this in a speech before the Mormon History Association on April 20, 1974, stating that the talisman carried by Smith, which is the shape of a silver dollar, was described in a magic book printed in 1801 in England. The occultic talisman represented Jupiter, the Greek god Zeus, which was used to gain “riches, favor, power, love and peace” and the affection of women.
Literally everything about Jospeh Smith's actions reflects how wicked and depraved he really was, how morally and spiritually reprobate he lived, a chronic and non-stop liar, swindler, deceiver and adulterer, which reflects his true character of wolf in sheep's clothing (Matt 7:15), and making him an ideal candidate for the eternal lake of fire, blowing wide open the gates of hell. But then he started a false religion, knowing that there was money to be made in religion through the coffers and gullible, and not only that, but also access to to naive, and gullible women,
"For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts," (2 Tim 3:6).
The corruption, forgery, fraud, lying, deception and terrible dishonesty of Smith leaves one with no surprise that many of his followers today do the exact same thing, with one notable example being Mark Hofmann, the subject of the Netflix docuseries Murder Among the Mormons.
Men like Smith are described precisely well in passage such as 2 Pet 2:1-12-22 — a false teacher, false prophet, natural brute beast, adulterer, corrupt, unrighteous, deceiver, wicked sinner, beguiler, covetous, cursed, follower of the way of Balaam, well without water, vain, dark, dog and pig.
"But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousess shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. . . . But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption; And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you; Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children: Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man's voice forbad the madness of the prophet. These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever. For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire."
Mormonism's False Doctrines and Damnable Heresies
Let’s be reminded of what Mormonism doctrine and practice really is, in a brief manner.
False Theology and False Jesus
The Mormon “God” is a man (he has a physical body, testified by Joseph Smith, who allegedly saw him — ah, no he didn't) who as a sinner was redeemed by another “Jesus” on another planet (they call Kolob), and who has a hierarchy of “Gods” (also exalted men) over him.
“God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens! That is the great secret. If the veil were rent today, and the great God who holds this world in its orbit, and who upholds all worlds and all things by His power, was to make himself visible,—I say, if you were to see him today, you would see him like a man in form like yourselves in all the person, image, and very form as a man... We have imagined and supposed that God was God from all eternity. I will refute that idea, and take away the veil, so that you may see. He was once a man like us; yea, that God himself, the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth, the same as Jesus Christ Himself did” (Joseph Smith, sermon, April 7, 1844, History of the Church, vol. 6, pp. 302-317).
“The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s” (Joseph Smith, Doctrines and Covenants, 130:22)
God worked for his salvation, just as men are working for theirs:
“My Father worked out His kingdom with fear and trembling, and I must do the same; and when I get my kingdom, I shall present it to My Father, so that He may obtain kingdom upon kingdom, and it will exalt Him in glory. He will then take a higher exaltation, and I will take His place, and thereby become exalted myself” (Joseph Smith, sermon, April 7, 1844, History of the Church, vol. 6, pp. 302-317)
Mormonism believes in many gods:
“If we should take a million of worlds like this and number their particles, we should find that there are more Gods than there are particles of matter in those worlds.” (Journal of Discourses 2:345)
“I wish to declare I have always and in all congregations when I have preached on the subject of the Deity, it has been the plurality of Gods. It has been preached by the Elders for fifteen years. I have always declared God to be a distinct personage, Jesus Christ a separate and distinct personage from God the Father, and that the Holy Ghost was a distinct personage and a Spirit: and these three constitute three distinct personages and three Gods." (Joseph Smith, sermon, June 16, 1844, History of the Church, vol. 6, pp. 473-479).
“How many Gods there are, I do not know, But there never was a time when there were not Gods and worlds, and when men were not passing through the same ordeals that we are passing through. That course has been from all eternity, and it is and will be so to all eternity” (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, vol. 7, p. 333).
"Joseph Smith the Prophet taught a plurality of Gods, and moreover, that man, by obeying the commandments of God and keeping the whole law will eventually reach the power and exaltation by which he also will become a God." (Joseph Fielding Smith [10th President of the LDS Church], Origin of the Reorganized Church and the Question of Succession, Deseret News, 1909, p. 99)
Mormonism's "Jesus" was not always God but earned his way to godhood by good works for salvation in the same manner as Mormons believe they will become gods someday.
“By obedience and devotion to the truth he attained that pinnacle of intelligence which ranked him as a God, as the Lord Omnipotent, while yet in his pre-existent state” (LDS apostle Bruce McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 1966, p. 129)
“Jesus kept the commandments of his Father and thereby worked out his own salvation, and also set an example as to the way and the means whereby all men may be saved” (LDS apostle Bruce McConkie, The Mortal Messiah, vol. 4, p. 434)
Mormonism's "Jesus" is a spirit child conceived through physical means between an exalted man (the Mormon god, they call Elohim God) and the virgin Mary. So "Elohim" was just a created god, born to a couple of other gods in some distance planet across the universe. They teach that Christ is a created god, Lucifer is also a created god, and both are brothers created by the same father. This "Jesus" was the first spirit born in heaven and is the spirit brother of Lucifer (Satan was the second born spirit, of whom we are all half-brothers and sisters) and is not God from all eternity but came to this earth to get a body in order to become a “God.” That body was formed when the Mormon “god” came to earth with his physical body and had sexual intercourse with Mary. So not a virgin birth. This was taught by the founder and second prophet of the Mormon church and many other past LDS leaders (e.g. Joseph F. Smith, Jr., Mormon Apostle Bruce McConkie who was highly respected in Mormonism and an LDS Priest from 1972-1985).
Joseph Smith:“God the Eternal Father, whom we designate by the exalted name-title Elohim, is the literal Parent of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and of the spirits of the human race” (Messages from the First Presidency, 5:26)
Brigham Young: “Jesus, our elder brother, was begotten in the flesh by the same character that was in the garden of Eden, and who is our Father in Heaven. Now, let all who may hear these doctrines, pause before they make light of them, or treat them with indifference, for they will prove their salvation or damnation. . . . Now remember from this time forth, and forever, that Jesus Christ was not begotten by the Holy Ghost” (sermon, April 9, 1852, Journal of Discourses, vol. 1, pp. 50-51)
Brigham Young: "The birth of the Saviour was as natural as are the births of our children; it was the result of natural action. He partook of flesh and blood--was begotten of his Father, as we were of our fathers," (The Journal of Discourses, Vol. 8, published D.H. Well, 1956, p. 115)
Bruce McConkie: “Christ was begotten by an Immortal Father in the same way mortal men are begotten by mortal fathers” (Mormon Doctrine, p. 547)
Mormonism's "Jesus" is not eternal and had a beginning (i.e., not part of the eternal Trinity) and was even contaminated with a sin nature.
Brigham Young: “[While Christ was] tabernacling in the flesh, he was more or less contaminated with fallen nature. While he was here, in a body that his mother Mary bore him, he was more or less connected with and influenced by this nature that we have received. According to the flesh, he was the seed of Adam and Eve, and suffered the weaknesses and temptations of his fellow mortals” (Journal of Discourses, vol. 6, pp. 95-96).
The Mormon "Jesus" is a polygamist. The Mormon "Apostles" Orson Pratt and Orson Hyde taught that "Jesus Christ was married at Cana of Galilee, that Mary, Martha, and others were his wives, and that he begat children” (Journal of Discourses, 2:210). As did the polygamists fourth Mormon President/Prophet Wilford Woodruff and tenth President/Prophet Joseph Fielding Smith. This also fits Mormon dogma, since an unmarried and childless Jesus would disqualify him from the pathway to becoming a god.
Brigham Young: “The Scripture says that He, the Lord, came walking in the Temple, with HIS TRAIN; I do not know who they were, unless HIS WIVES AND CHILDREN...” (Journal of Discourses, vol. 13, p. 309).
Orson Pratt: “...I said, in my lecture on Marriage, at our last Conference, that Jesus Christ was married at Cana of Galilee, that Mary, Martha, and others were his wives, and that he begat children." (Journal of Discourses, vol. 2, p. 210)
The work of the Mormon "Jesus" was insufficient for man’s salvation, and to complete salvation one has to believe in the false prophet Joseph Smith that he came from God to restore the church (i.e., Smith takes a role in a persons salvation).
Mormon leaders have even admitted that their Jesus Christ is different. In 1998, Mormon President Hinckley said,
“The traditional Christ of whom they [non-Mormons] speak is not the Christ of whom I speak. For the Christ of whom I speak has been revealed in this the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times. He together with His Father, appeared to the boy Joseph Smith in the year 1820, and when Joseph left the grove that day, he knew more of the nature of God than all the learned ministers of the gospel of the ages” (LDS Church News, week ending June 20, 1998, p. 7).
Mormonism believes that Adam was God, and came from heaven with one of his heavenly wives, Eve.
“When our father Adam came into the garden of Eden, he came into it with a celestial body, and brought Eve, one of his wives, with him. He helped to make and organize this world. He is MICHAEL, the Archangel, the ANCIENT OF DAYS! about whom holy men have written and spoken—HE is our FATHER and our GOD, and the only God with whom WE have to do. Every man upon the earth, professing Christians or non-professing, must hear it, and will know it sooner or later. . . . Now, let all who may hear these doctrines, pause before they make light of them, or treat them with indifference, for they will prove their salvation or damnation” (Brigham Young, preached in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, April 9, 1852, Journal of Discourses, vol. 1, pp. 50-51).
The Word of God on the other hand teaches there is only one God (De 6:4; Is 43:10; 44:6, 8, 24; 45:5-7, 21-22; 46:9) and that He is a spirit (Jn 4:24) and eternally God (Ps 90:2; 93:2; Rom 1:20), and He is not a man and has never been a man (Num 23:19; Hos 11:9), and that He does not ever change (Mal 3:6). Attempting to turn Him into a man is idolatry (Rom 1:22-25). This is plain and simple heresy and blasphemy. Nowhere does the Bible even imply that God was ever a man, or that man can become God! Mal 3:6 says, “For I am the LORD, I change not...” How could this be true if God was once a man? Gen 1:1 states that God existed “in the beginning” before man was ever created. Jn 4:24 declares God to be a “spirit,” and Jesus tells us in Jn 1:18 that no man has seen God at any time. Num 23:19 makes it very clear, “God is not a man that he should lie; neither the son of man that he should repent.” Joseph Smith and the Mormons are liars. God has always been God, and no one has ever “become” God. The Word of God teaches that Jehovah and Elohim are the same God: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord [Jehovah] our God [elohim] is one Lord [Jehovah]” (De 6:4); “the LORD [Jehovah] is God [elohim], and that there is none else” (1 Ki 8:60b). Those who pretend to be a god, like Jospeh Smith and many Mormons do, will be eternally destroyed (Jer 10:10-11).
The Word of God is also clear that Jesus Christ is eternal and as such could not have been created (Is 9:6; Mi 5:2; Col 1:17; 1 Jn 1:2), and that all things were made by Him (Jn 1:1-3; Col 1:16) including Satan but NOT including God the Father, because He, too, is eternal and was never created (De 33:27). The Bible is also very clear that Mary was a virgin when Jesus was born and that His conception was by the Holy Spirit of God (Matt 1:18), and that Jesus had NO sin (2 Cor 5:21; Heb 4:15; 1 Pet 2:22) and is forever higher and separate from all sinful men (Heb 7:26). Nowhere does the Bible even suggest the faintest possibility that Jesus was married or had children, nor was the wedding (Jn 2:1-11) where Jesus was called to (Jn 2:2) His own wedding as the apostate LDS "Apostle" Orson cited. No mention is ever made in Scripture that Jesus had a wife or children, and surely this would have been the case were it true, especially when He made provision for the care of His mother while dying on the cross (Jn 19:26-27).
The Word of God warns about false Christs (Matt 24:24; 2 Cor 11:4) and is clear that those who promote false gods contrary to the Scriptures are to be rejected (De 13:1-5), marked and avoided (Rom 16:17-18). God's Word warns about false teachers who will deny Christ and give themselves to lasciviousness, covetousness, and rebellion against authority (2 Pet 2:1-3, 10) and this is a very accurate description of Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and other early leaders of Mormonism.
False Doctrine of Salvation/Gospel
Mormonism's gospel is thoroughly and terribly heretical, false and perverted, in many different ways.
Mormon doctrine, Joseph Smiths restored "gospel," is a very busy gospel of works. They teach that without our own righteousness, there is no forgiveness of sins (contrary to the entire Bible and the gospel, especially Rom 4:1-8 and more). This is what the 3rd Article of Faith of the LDS Church says: "We believe that through the atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the law, and ordinances of the gospel." In the book of Nephi 25:23, we read further instructions on this: "...for we know that is by grace that we are saved after all we can do." To be a true believer, you also have to be baptized and confirmed in the LDS church. Mormon elders then confer the Holy Ghost upon the new "believer" in the power of the Melchizedek priesthood. Then you have to tithe, always and faithfully, never neglecting it even once, and always wear temple garments underneath black t-shirts, and learn secret handshakes and passwords that will one day take you through the veil and into celestial glory where you can become a god.
Mormonism plainly teaches that salvation is by faith in Christ plus good works in being part of the Mormon church:
“Jesus Christ did what only He could do in atoning for our sins. To make His Atonement fully effective in our individual lives, we must have faith in Christ, repent of our sins, be baptized, receive The Holy Ghost, obey His commandments, and strive to become like Him” (Basic Beliefs of the LDS Church)
Mormonism rejects Christ’s blood cleansing sinners from all sin, and embraces the false gospel of losing salvation (as all false religions do):
“Christians speak often of the blood of Christ and its cleansing power. Much that is believed and taught on this subject, however, is such utter nonsense and so palpably false that to believe it is to lose one's salvation. Many go so far, for instance, as to pretend, at least, to believe that if we confess Christ with our lips and avow that we accept Him as our personal Savior, we are thereby saved. His blood, without other act than mere belief, they say, makes us clean” (What the Mormons Think of Christ, LDS publication, 1973, p. 22).
Eternal life to the Mormon is exaltation to godhood, and—being far from being the gift of God’s grace—takes much effort and eons of time to achieve, an ambition supposedly shared by every Mormon male.
Mormonism believes that Joseph Smith holds the keys to heaven:
“Joseph Smith holds the keys of this last dispensation, and is now engaged behind the vail in the great work of the last days. . . . no man or woman in this dispensation will ever enter into the celestial kingdom of God without the consent of Joseph Smith. From the day that the Priesthood was taken from the earth to the winding-up scene of all things, every man and woman must have the certificate of Joseph Smith, junior, as a passport to their entrance into the mansion where God and Christ are—I with you and you with me. I cannot go there without his consent. He holds the keys of that kingdom for the last dispensation—the keys to rule in the spirit-world; and he rules there triumphantly, for he gained full power and a glorious victory over the power of Satan while he was yet in the flesh, and was a martyr to his religion and to the name of Christ, which gives him a most perfect victory in the spirit-world. He reigns there as supreme a being in his sphere, capacity, and calling, as God does in heaven. Many will exclaim—‘Oh, that is very disagreeable! It is preposterous! We cannot bear the thought!’ But it is true” (Brigham Young, sermon, Oct. 9, 1859, delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, reported by G. D. Watt, Journal of Discourses, vol. 7, pp. 282-91)
Mormons believe that a baby is born without a sin nature, which is false and contrary to Scripture (e.g. Rom 5). Further, they claim that a child becomes accountable before God when they reach the age of eight. Where does the Bible teach this stuff?! Nowhere is about right. Mormons have done a lot of adding to God's Word, all to keep the false system of works going and people in bondage to the LDS church.
Mormon women can only hope to become goddesses consigned to eternal pregnancy as they give birth to spirit beings who will eventually people another planet with another Adam and Eve, a fall into sin, and another “Jesus.” It is a process that has been going on forever and will continue ad infinitum, ad absurdum.
Mormonism teaches that living people can be baptized for the dead, to help the dead achieve their salvation, which isn't far off from Catholicism. Joseph Smith: “The greatest responsibility in this world that God has laid upon us is to seek after our dead.” The LDS church teaches that the names of the dead must be known before they can be baptized by proxy, so it maintains the largest genealogical library in the world, which sits at greater than 725 million names in their record center in Salt Lake City. Mormons perform millions of proxy baptisms every year. The Mormon temples form a crucial part of this ceremony, but the temple rites are secret. Until 1990, the Mormon participants swore an oath not to talk about the rites on penalty of death. In the temple wedding ceremony, the participants receive special underwear that they are to wear for the rest of their lives; they receive a new name that they are not supposed to tell to others; and they learn secret handshakes.
Mormonism teaches that majority people will eventually be saved, but they go to three different heavens, according to their merit (Mormon Doctrine, p. 348).
Joseph Smith: “We believe that through the atonement of Christ all mankind may be saved by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel” (3rd Article of Faith)
The three heavens: Bad people go to the lowest heaven, the Telestial Kingdom (Doctrine and Covenants, 76:81-86), good people who were not Mormons go to the Terrestrial Kingdom (Doctrine and Covenants, 76:71-79), Mormons will go to the Celestial Kingdom (Doctrine and Covenants, 76:50-70). Mormons are taught four secret handshakes in the temple ceremonies so that they can gain entrance into the third heaven by thus shaking God’s hand (Bob Witte and Gordon Fraser, What’s Going on in There: An Exposing of the Secret Mormon Temple Rituals).
The Mormon faith is absolutely loaded with heresy, damnable heresy, and perversion of the gospel. Their gospel is thoroughly false (Gal 1:8-9) and loaded with "damnable heresies" (2 Pet 2:1). The Bible on the other hand teaches that salvation is a free gift of God’s grace and it is not by works of any sort; good works follow as the evidence of true conversion (Ac 16:31; Rom 3:24; 4:1-8; Eph 2:8-10; Ti 3:3-8). Any sort of mixture of grace and works is a false gospel (Rom 11:6). True salvation is received directly from Jesus Christ and not through any church (Jn 1:9-13; 6:35, 37; Matt 11:28-30; 1 Jn 5:10-13) and very vast majority of people will never be saved (Matt 7:13-14). In the resurrection, the glorified saints do not marry (Lk 20:34-36). The Bible does not teach that the dead can be saved through baptism performed by the living, including in 1 Cor 15:29. Paul did not say that he baptized for the dead but that “they” baptized for the dead. He was referring to the practice of others. This heretical doctrine is extremely contrary to the teaching of Christ (Lk 16:22-31), and the doctrine of salvation, which teaches us that no salvation is offered on the other side of the grave (Pr 1:20-32; Rev 21:8, 27). There is no opportunity for salvation after death (Lk 16:22-31; Heb 9:27; 2 Cor 6:2). The blood of Jesus Christ indeed cleanses us from ALL sin (1 Jn 1:7; Rev 1:5), redeems us from ALL our sins (1 Pet 1:19), and makes us nigh to God (Eph 2:13). God is not building special temples today (Jn 4:20-24; Ac 7:47-50; 17:24; Heb 8:1-2; 9:11-12, 24). Jesus said nothing in secret (Jn 18:20), which condemns Mormonism’s secret rites. Jesus and the Apostles did not baptize or marry in a temple.
False Bibliology and Ecclesiology
The process of becoming a member of the LDS church is completely works based, idolatrous and blasphemous. A large component of this process and retaining membership is tithing. The false Mormon god requires money and lots of it, and without your continual faithful tithing dues paid, you cannot ever enter into the third heaven, the celestial heaven, the highest heaven where God allegedly resides according to LDS dogma. Thus, the Jesus-flavoured Mormon church is a multi-billion dollar organization. Mormon dogma is based on tithing works, but the Bible doesn't warn in vain that we become like the false gods and idols that we worship: "They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them." (Ps 115:8). Hence the incredible greed amongst the Mormon people, because they serve the god of mammon.
The Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS) are bought out to hierarchical dogmatism and ungodly authoritarianism comparable to that of Roman Catholicism. The “Ward Teachers’ Message” for June 1945 made the following frightful statement:
“When our leaders speak, the thinking has been done. When they propose a plan, it is God’s plan. . . . When they give direction, it should mark the end of controversy. God works in no other way.”
Mormonism believes the writings of Joseph Smith and of Mormon prophets and apostles and other continued revelations are of equal authority with the Word of God. The four Mormon scriptures are the Bible, the Book of Mormon, A Pearl of Great Price, and Doctrines and Covenants.
“We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God” (Articles of Faith, #8)
“In addition to these four books of scripture, the inspired words of our living prophets become scripture to us. Their words come to us through conferences, Church publications, and instructions to local priesthood leaders” (Gospel Principles, pp. 51-52)
“We believe all that God has revealed, all that he does now reveal, and we believe that he will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the kingdom of God” (Articles of Faith, #9)
Mormonism believes the Bible not to be reliable or trustworthy. Joseph Smith taught that:
“Many important points touching the salvation of men, had been taken from the Bible, or lost before it was compiled” (History of the Church, vol. 1, p. 245)
Joseph Smith taught his people to doubt the accuracy of the Bible: “...it was apparent that many important points touching the salvation of men, had been taken from the Bible, or lost before it was compiled.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 10)
Leaders of the Mormon church, from Joseph Smith, Jr., until today, serve allegedly as “President of the High Priesthood and of the Church” and as “Prophet, Seer, Revelator and Translator.”
The Word of God however teaches that the "faith was ONCE delivered unto the saints" by the twelve apostles of Christ and other disciples of that day (Ju 1:3). The Scriptures alone, minus nothing, plus nothing, are sufficient for all doctrine and practice concerning this life (2 Tim 3:16-17). Nothing else is needed or can be added to or substituted with the Scriptures and everything is to be tested, scrutinized, carefully examined by the Word of God alone (Is 8:20; Jn 7:24; Ac 17:11). Mormon scripture not only adds to the Bible; it directly contradicts it and makes its own writings authoritative along the same lines. The Word of God makes it clear that no new prophets of God will arise before the return of Christ, but that many false prophets will arise (Matt 24:3-4, 15, 24). In this passage, Jesus gives the entire panorama of prophecy for the end times, and He does not say one word about prophets of God that were yet to arise to speak new revelation during this dispensation.The Word of God is very clear that God promised to preserve all the words of His Word, the Bible, in the very language He gave them in (Ps 12:6-7; 100:5; 119:152, 160; Is 40:8; 59:21; Matt 5:18; 24:35; 1 Pet 1:25). Nothing has been lost, and today we have the perfect preserved Hebrew Masoretic Text and Greek Textus Receptus, and faithful, accurate translations that derive from these God-breathed texts.
False Teachings on Man
Mormonism believes that mankind was eternally pre-existence before being birthed in the world. They claim man is first begotten as spirit children in heaven and then born on earth.
Joseph Smith: “I am dwelling on the immortality of the spirit of man. ... The intelligence of spirits had no beginning, neither will it have an end. ... There never was a time when there were not spirits; for they are co-equal with our Father in heaven. ... But if I am right, I might with boldness proclaim from the house-tops that God never had the power to create the spirit of man at all. God himself could not create himself” (sermon, April 7, 1844, History of the Church, vol. 6, pp. 302-317; see also Journal of Discourses, vol. 4, p. 218).
LDS church manual: “All men and women are . . . literally sons and daughters of Deity” (Gospel Principles, p. 11).
Basic Beliefs of the LDS: “Before you were born, your spirit lived with God. This premortal life is sometimes referred to as the preexistence. In this setting, you had the opportunity to grow, mature, and learn many eternal truths from our Heavenly Father. Yet you yearned to be more like Him. Like any loving parent, God wants His children to progress. Heavenly Father understood that you could only progress to a certain point without the experience of mortality. He knew that you needed to: Receive a physical body.”
Mormonism advances the idea that men can become gods through obedience to the teachings of LDS/Mormonism. Those who attain the highest heaven achieve godhood and can have their own planet.
Joseph Smith: “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, sermon, April 7, 1844, History of the Church, vol. 6, pp. 302-317).
Brigham Young: “The Lord created you and me for the purpose of becoming Gods like Himself ” (Young, Journal of Discourses, vol. 3, p. 93)
Mormon Apostle John Widtsoe: “God and man are of the same race, differing only in their degrees of advancement” (Widtsoe, Gospel Through the Ages, p. 107)
Mormon Apostle Bruce McConkie: “Thus those who gain eternal life receive exaltation . . . They are gods” (McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 237)
Mormon Apostle Parley P. Pratt: “God, angels, and men are all of the same species, one race, one great family” (Pratt, Key to the Science of Theology, 1978 ed., p. 21)
Lorenzo Snow, 5th President of the LDS: “As god once was, man is. As God is, man may become.”
Joseph F. Smith, 6th President of the LDS: “The Father has promised us that through our faithfulness we shall be blessed with the fulness of his kingdom. In other words we will have the privilege of becoming like him. To become like him we must have all the powers of godhood; thus a man and his wife when glorified will have spirit children who eventually will go on an earth like this one we are on and pass through the same kind of experiences, being subject to mortal conditions, and if faithful, then they also will receive the fulness of exaltation and partake of the same blessings. There is no end to this development; it will go on forever. We will become gods and have jurisdiction over worlds, and these worlds will be peopled by our own offspring. We will have an endless eternity for this” (Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 2, p. 48)
Author on Mormonism: "Mormons believe that every human being is a God in 'embryo' form, or childlike form. Just as a boy becomes a man or a girl becomes a woman, we believe men and women become Gods and Goddesses. We believe the purpose of this life is to move us along that path, and that this life is one of multiple steps in that direction. Of course if this is what we believe, then yes, we believe there are multiple Gods. In fact, there must be billions, trillions, or even more Gods." (Joshua Steimle, Mormon DNA: What Mormons Are Really Made Of, Sept 7, 2010)
The Bible however teaches that there is but one God (Is 43:10; 44:6, 8, 24; 45:5-7, 21-22; 46:9) and that men will always be men and God will always be God (Rev 21:3). He created man’s soul in the day He created Adam (Gen 2:7), not prior, so that all of mankind comes from Adam (Rom 5:12), who was not sinless but the cause of all of mankind's fall into sin and destruction (Gen 3). The Bible is likewise clear that all false gods will perish (Jer 10:10-11), and that embracing false gods is the highest form of idolatry.
The False Doctrine of Polygamy
In the 1840s, Joseph Smith privately proclaimed to his inner circle that previous marriages were invalid and that previous married women were free to take new marriages. These marriages were not legal under United States law. At one point, Smith even demanded the wives of all 12 of his “apostles.” There are many testimonies to Smith’s plural marriages (e.g. Mormon author John J. Stewart; Fawn M. Brodie who published a list of 48 women who may have been married to Smith, including 5 pairs of sisters, and a mother and daughter; Stanley S. Ivins who guessed as high as 60 more; Mormon writer Todd Compton).
Smith claimed that he had a revelation on the legitimacy of plural marriages on July 12, 1843. It is still recorded inDoctrine and Covenants, section 132. But then Smith disobeyed even his own “revelation” about plural wives. Mormon apologists have lied and deceived about Smith’s polyandrous marriages, claiming they were only for eternity and that he did not cohabit with the women who were married to other men. This was a blatant lie, with books like Mormon Polygamy: A History by Richard Von Wagoner, debunking these lies.
The first seven Presidents or "Prophets" of the LDS church all practiced polygamy. Second President Brigham Young had 55 wives. Third President Heber Kimball had 45 wives. Sixth President Joseph F. Smith, had 5 wives. LDS publicly lied about and denied the practice of polygamy until 1852. Jerald and Sandra Tanner have given much evidence of this in their book, The Changing World of Mormonism (http://www.utlm.org).
In 1852 they finally admitted their polygamy, and from that time till 1890, the Mormon leaders and prophets declared that the doctrine of polygamy was divine revelation and that nothing would ever force them to change it. In 1855, for example, Brigham Young stated:
“Now if any of you will deny the plurality of wives and continue to do so, I promise that you will be damned” (Deseret News, Nov 14, 1855).
On Sept 24, 1890, Mormon President and prophet Wilford Woodrow issued a Manifesto declaring a new revelation that polygamy was not the will of God. In 1904, Mormon President Joseph F. Smith lied about the status of polygamy within Mormonism. Many leaders of the Mormon church continued to practice polygamy after the Manifesto (including Smith himself), even to this day. In 1965 a report in the NY Times stated that as many as 30,000 men, women and children still live in polygamist Mormon families (New York Times, Dec 27, 1965). In 1967, William M. Rogers, who was former special assistant to the Utah State Attorney General stated, “In Utah . . . the practice of polygamy has never ceased. It is more widespread than ever. And increasing year by year.” (Ladies Home Journal, June 1967). Many polygamist marriages continue to this day, which is unsurprising in light of the fact that one of the Mormon church’s official scripture books contains Joseph Smith’s alleged revelation about polygamous marriages (Doctrine and Covenants, 132).
The Bible is clear that polygamy is not the will of God (Gen 2:24; Mk 10:2-12), and we have the recored history of the first polygamist in the Bible, which was a rebel (Gen 4:19; cf. Gen 2:24). When king David married more than one wife, he was doing this against God’s law, which forbade kings to multiply wives (De 17:17). Joseph Smith was guilty of death even under OT polygamy laws (Lev 18:18; 20:14). No example of any sort of approval of multiples wives can be found in the NT, nor was such the case in the lives of the apostles (1 Cor 9:5). It is unbiblical for a polygamist to be a pastor or deacon (1 Tim 3:2,12).
Some Other Discrepancies Between the Bible and the Book of Mormon
There are many, here are a few more of them.
Jesus's birth place
Book of Mormon claims Jesus was not born in Bethlehem but in Jerusalem (Book of Mormon, Alma 7:1).
The Book of God however tells us that Jesus would be (and was) born in Bethlehem (Mi 5:2; Lk 2:4-5, 15-16).
Jesus’ name was revealed ninety years before Mary.
Book of Mormon claims Jesus' name was revealed 90 years before Mary (Book of Mormon, Alma 19:29)
The Book of God however tells us that Jesus' name was first revealed to Mary (Lk 1:31)
God is a man and has flesh and blood like a man.
The Book of Mormon tells us that God has flesh and blood like a man (Book of Mormon, Ether 3:8-9)
The Book of God however tells us God is a Spirit (Jn 4:24)
The darkness after Christ’s crucifixion was three days long.
The Book of Mormon says the whole earth would be covered in darkness for three days after Christs crucifixion (Book of Mormon, Helaman 14:20, 27)
The Book of God however tells us it was only three hours (Lk 23:44)
One of Zedekiah’s son lived and went to America.
The Book of Mormon claims that one of the sons of Zedekiah escaped death and fled to America (The Book of Mormon, Helaman 6:10; 8:21)
The Book of God however tells us that all the sons of Zedekiah were slain (Jer 39:6)
A new everlasting gospel.
The Book of Mormon claims that God gave him a new gospel, “the everlasting gospel”
The Book of God however tells us that any gospel different from the preached in the Word of God is a false and perverted gospel (Gal. 1:1, 6-12; 2 Cor 11:4).
The true church.
The Book of Mormon claims that God told Smith that the true church had ceased.
The Book of God however tells us that God the Son promised the true church would never cease (Matt 16:18; 28:18-20).
The mystery of one body consisting of Jews and Gentiles.
The Book of Mormon claims that the doctrine of the Gentiles being one body in Christ with the Jews was revealed to Nephi 600 years before Christ.
The Book of God however tells us that this was a mystery that was hidden in the ages prior (Eph 3:5-6).
Concluding this point on the corrupted and false beliefs and practices of Mormonism, much more could be added here but this should suffice to show how terribly perverted, corrupt and false Mormonism really is. It is vital to understand that Mormons are not true Biblical-based Christians. Far from it. The have been duped and deceived into believing outrageous and blasphemous lies. Anyone that treats a Mormon as if they are a Christian, is extremely ignorant of the Bible and spiritually naive at a very frightful level. In other words, lost, just like the Mormon. The Bible warns of false christs and false gospels (2 Cor 11:4) and there are many, including in Mormonism. False teachers use the same language as sound Bible teachers but they have a different dictionary. They also do not know the deeper things of Scripture so they wrest them to their own destruction (2 Pet 3:16-17).
“To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” (Is 8:20)
Jesus warned of many who would call Him Lord and even do many wonderful works but they are far from being saved (Matt 7:21-23). This is Mormonism.
It is quite something that a group of people that embrace such false doctrines and practices and damnable heresies, would have the audacity and brashness to make the following statements:
“When the light came to me I saw that all the so-called Christian world was groveling in darkness.” (Journal of Discourses 5:73)
“With a regard to true theology, a more ignorant people never lived than the present so-called Christian world.” (Journal of Discourses 8:99)
“What! Are Christians ignorant? Yes, as ignorant of the things of God as the brute beast.” (Journal of Discourses 6:25)
“...all other churches are entirely destitute of all authority from God; and any person who receives baptism of the Lord’s supper from their hands highly offend God, for he looks upon them as the most corrupt of all people” (Orson Pratt [Mormon Apostle], The Seer, p. 255)
“Christians - those poor, miserable priests Brother Brigham was speaking about - some of them are the biggest whoremasters there are on the earth...” (Heber C. Kimball [First Counselor to Brigham Young], Journal of Discourses 5:39).
If you are reading here dear Mormon friend, you should reject this idolatry, blasphemy and utter heresy, and turn in repentance to the Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation of your soul. Read more here on the one true life-saving gospel of Jesus Christ.
Witnessing Against Mormonism's Ultimate Authority
To be an effective Biblical witness to the Mormon, one must understand not only the falsehood of Joseph Smith's prophethood, and the false doctrines and practices of Mormonism that oppose the sound doctrine of God's Word, but also the ultimate authority for what they believe.
Knowing their ultimate authority is vital if we are to effectively witness to them and show their ultimate presupposition (this belief or ultimate authority, that takes precedence over all other beliefs) to be a vain deceit. So what is their ultimate presupposition, their ultimate starting point for what they believe?
Mormonism's "ultimate authority" in their claim that their beliefs and system is true, is not the Bible or the Book of Mormon. We know this to be true because whenever they encounter a doctrine or practice in either the Bible or the Book of Mormon that contradicts what they believe or what their church teaches, they will always revert back to what the LDS church teaches. They actually reject the authority of God's Word because to them it can only be true and believed inasmuch as it is accurately translated and only the LDS church can render an accurate translation. Since there are passages in the Book of Mormon that are verbatim from the Bible, they rely on the LDS church to give them the correct meaning of the passage, not some soul-winner. So Scripture is not their ultimate authority, it must then be the LDS church. Not quite. Some people have done an outstanding job of disproving, beyond a doubt, several key teachings of the LDS church. For example, the LDS church and Book of Mormon teaches that the American Indians descended from Jews, and came to America from Israel (previously also called Palestine). This has been shown to be fictitious. They have also claimed the Book of Abraham was translated from “Reformed Egyptian” but scholars have proven this to also be a work of fiction, in fact showing that the document that Joseph Smith translated from was actually something like an Egyptian funeral dirge, and says nothing even remotely close to what Smith translated.
One might expect there to be a mass exodus from the LDS church when these key claims of the LDS church are debunked, but that doesn't happen. Just the opposite in fact. The Mormon people simply believe the LDS church, despite all the evidence against it. This is simple-mindedness to the absolute core, which is the mindset of an unsaved person that is gullible and naive, believing whatever some authority figure says to them, when factual and truthful or not. We are reminded of what Pr 14:15 says, "The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looketh well to his going." Only true Biblical conversion can change the plight of the simpleton (Pr 1:20-32). One then would suppose that the LDS church is their ultimate reason. But that is not the case. If a Mormon believes the LDS church despite the vast amount of evidence against it, then there must be another "ultimate authority" for believing what they do, even moreso than the church. Could it be the "living prophet," since they falsely believe in foretelling prophets as we find in the Scriptures? Their ultimate reason for believing Mormon doctrine because they believe whatever the living prophet said? They do assume whatever he says is right, but this is also problematic, since it is rare to find any Mormon who believes everything Joseph Smith or Brigham Young taught, even though their beliefs and practices are mostly based upon what these men taught. Yes they believe the LDS prophets, but they do not hold their prophets to be their ultimate reason for believing.
When you challenge they faith, you can know what the underlying reason is that they believe the Book of Mormon, the Pearl of Great Price, the Doctrine and Covenants, the LDS church, and their prophets. Though Mormons may be extremely inconsistent in their beliefs, doctrines and practices, there is one thing they are not inconsistent on. They claim to know beyond any doubt that Mormonism is true because they have prayed over these different ares and then experienced a “burning in the bosom” which confirms that these things are true. In other words, their ultimate authority and reason for believing in the Book of Mormon, of the LDS Church, in Joseph Smith and the Prophets, that confirms their beliefs to be true, is a feeling they have experienced, and this is very real to them. They deem this presupposition as a reliable way of coming to the truth, a fiery feeling they have experienced in the bosom. Whenever challenged, Mormons will almost universally appeal to this feeling. The LDS church website describes “Your Bosom Shall Burn within You” as the following:
"The Lord will cause the feeling of security and truth to take hold of the individual and burn within the bosom, and there will be an overwhelming feeling that the thing is right."
The following way shows the Mormons folly of finding truth in this way.
Everyone has a testimony of sorts. My testimony happens to completely contradict the Mormon testimony. I know beyond any doubt that Jesus Christ is very God, is equal God with God the Father and God the Spirit, and that no man cometh unto the Father but by Him. He is 100% the Son of God and God the Son. I also testify that I was eternally saved in one instantaneous moment in time by the grace of God alone, through repentant and surrendered faith in Jesus Christ alone. Since my testimony contradicts the Mormon testimony, how do we know which one is true? If the answer to that question is based on developing certain feelings like a "burning in the bosom," or certain experiences that have been ours, then we would have to say that we are both right. But this is Biblically impossible, because truth is absolute and consistent, not relative and contradictory. It is also logically impossible because the LDS church teaches that I am wrong, but I say that they're wrong. One thing is certain: we cannot both be right!
If we rely on feelings and experiences to know what is true and right, then the man who feels that he was actually supposed to be a women, and then goes and has his pearly package cut off, must be correct in thinking so. Who can challenge him? He feels that it is true, so it must be true, even though every human being in the entire world knows that its not true, neither biologically or logically or rationally.
Of course, this is no way of knowing what is true or right. Our feelings are true in only one sense: you really do feel that way. But your feelings are not a way of knowing the truth. The Bible tells us about feelings and whether we should rely upon them:
"He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool:" (Pr 28:26a)
"There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." (Pr 14:12)
"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (Jer 17:9)
Your heart is no arbiter or judge of the truth. Your heart can neither confirm or deny the truth, and because of its wicked and deceitful nature, it will naturally bend toward that which is wrong. The truth is the truth whether you believe it to be or not, whether you ever existed or not. Truth is eternal and never stops being truth.
The Mormon will often proceed to Jam 1:5, as their authority for finding truth in this way:
"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."
Jam 1:5 does not teach that we come to knowledge by asking God to reveal something to us we should know. James says "wisdom" — "If any of you lack wisdom," not "knowledge." Wisdom is the practical usage of knowledge. Knowledge comes before wisdom. To be able to use truth in some practical way, one must first know the truth. "What is truth?" asked Pilate (Jn 18:38). The Bible is very clear on what truth is, and how we can find it.
1. How do we find truth? The Apostle Paul exalts his audience in Berea for looking for and finding truth:
"These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so." (Ac 17:11)
Did the noble Berean's first pray over what Paul said? Did they ponder it to be true? Did they look for some kind of feeling, like a burning in the bosom, to confirm to be true what Paul had taught? No, is the answer to these questions. What they did do is search the Scriptures to see "whether those things" that Paul was saying, "were so." (Ac 17:11). This is how we find the truth. This is how we find knowledge, for the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, and God gave us His Word so we can know whether something is true or not. God, Who created all things that can be known, reveals all things to be known (De 24:24). We find the truth then by searching the Scriptures, the Word of God, which God has promised to eternally preserve unto all generations. And He has.
2. What is truth? Again, the Bible tells us:
"To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice." (Jn 18:37b).
"And when he [Jesus] putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice." (Jn 10:4)
So Christ's voice is truth. How do we hear Christ's voice? By the Word of God of course:
"Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth." (Jn 17:17)
"Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth." (Ps 119:142)
"Thou art near, O LORD; and all thy commandments are truth." (Ps 119:151)
"Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him." (Pr 30:5)
"Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." (Matt 24:35)
"The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever." (Is 40:8)
"Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you." (1 Pet 1:23-25)
God's Word is truth irregardless of someones feelings (including that ever enigmatic "burning in the bosom"), emotions, opinions, or experiences, or even your very existence. It is eternal, unchanging, preserved to all generations, and will judge you one day (Jn 12:48), regardless of your thoughts and rebellion or rejection of it, and it alone is the measuring stick of absolute truth. The Lord Jesus Christ declared,
"He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day." (Jn 12:48)
Mormon friend, you cannot base your beliefs or testimony on feelings you've had regardless how "hot" they might be burning in your bosom, which are about as steady and stable as the wind. Feelings come and go like the wind, and are no way of knowing whether something is true or not. This feeling, a burning in the bosom or some other feeling, did not come from the Holy Spirit, even though you might have prayed, because the Holy Spirit will never give a testimony or direction that is in conflict with what He has already inspired in His Word, the Word of God.
You may claim to have a dependence on the Holy Spirit and your feeling and the Holy Spirit are one and the same, but if that be true, you would do what the Bible tells you to do. 1 Jn 4:1 plainly instructs us to test the spirits to see if they are of God,
"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world."
The way that we prove things isn’t rationalism, but faith in God's Word. The Holy Spirit is the author of Scripture (2 Pet 1:20-21), and Eph 6:17 tells us that the Word of God is the Sword of the Spirit, so the Holy Spirit is NEVER going to contradict Scripture. That’s how we test. If that “feeling” you have contradicts the Bible, then it isn’t the Holy Spirit. Period.
God's Word is truth, and it is true regardless of our feelings and thoughts towards it, or whether we ever existed to experience it or not. It is folly and vain to believe anything on the basis of a feeling, and now that you know the truth, and have your beliefs soundly debunked, I must call on you to repent of your sins, your self, of the idols and religion you have embraced, turning from these things to God and believe in the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
This is the presuppositional approach to apologetics we must follow, taking the Mormon position, for the sake of argument, and showing it to be vain and foolish, "lest [they] be wise in [their] own conceit." (Pr 26:5b). Then, we must invite the Mormon to take our position, in order to show them that it is the only possible way to come to the knowledge of the truth and ultimately salvation.
Closing
I am reminded of 2 Cor 4:3-4, concerning the Mormon people:
"But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them."
Mormonism is a false religion and cult, that demonically blinds the eyes and minds of the people to the truth. The evidence and facts of this speak clearly for themselves.
The Mormon people may be fine people, and I believe many of them to be, but they have been terribly deceived, with the wool pulled over their eyes.
"Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." (Eph 5:14)
You may think you know God, but the truth is you are far away from him:
"He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. . . . And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition." (Mk 7:6-7, 9)
Stop believing in lies, falsehoods, false prophets, man-written books and a man-made system and tradition that keeps you on the broad destructive path and will ultimately drive you into the eternal fires of hell.
Have a desire to know and love the truth, and God will open thine eyes to see your need of Christ and salvation and how truly deceived you have been, unlike these people in 2 Th 2:10 who reject the Lord and His truth,
"And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved."
It is God's will for all to be saved, and that includes Mormons,
"To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me." (Ac 25:18)
"The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." (2 Pet 3:9)
Go to the following link and read how you can be truly saved, born again, through the truth of God's Word — How a Mormon Can Be Saved from the False Religion He Embraces, Unto Eternal Life through the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.