UNMASKING MORMON TEACHING
Pastor Eric J. Hanson (February 28, 2003)
Intro: The term “Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints” sounds like a nice church name. For many years this group has been trying to be seen as simply a Christian denomination. But there are matters of the group’s doctrine, we need to examine carefully before accepting them as a Christian Church. Let’s do that now.
THE BIBLE
The Bible was penned by some 40 writers, over a period of 1600 years. Though this book was recorded by people from different eras, education levels, status in life, and occupations, it all holds together with a glorious power, telling one grand story from beginning to end. That story is the grand narrative, told by the loving and all knowing God, of the creation, fall, struggles, and redemption of the human race. The Bible is filled with fulfilled prophecy. It, especially the New Testament Greek parts of it, have more very early manuscripts surviving to this day, than any other work of antiquity. The Bible’s existence is truly a miracle.
The Bible is the standard for Christians the world over. In it, Jesus Christ clearly established the Church and set in motion a countdown to the end of the age. The centerpiece of that countdown is found in Matthew 24: 14 (read). The Bible is capped off with the Book of Revelation, given to the apostle John from the glorified Lord Jesus Christ. This book deals with many things from churches in existence at the time it was given. It also tells of events leading up to eternity future. Revelation is the last word from God, which has the exalted status of scripture. Because it deals with the consumation of history, this book also contains a serious warning regarding adding to or subtracting from it. (Read Revelation 22:18-19)
MORMON ADDITIONS TO THE BIBLE
The name Mormon is supposedly that of a fourth century American prophet, whose son was named Moroni. This long deceased Moroni is, according to the Mormons, now the angel Moroni.
The “LDS” (Latter Day Saints) believe that a man by the name of Joseph Smith was given new revelations for the Americas. These revelations include The Book of Mormon, The Doctrines and Covenants, The Inspired Version of the Bible, The Pearl of Great Price, & The King Follett Discourse. All of these were written or spoken by Joseph Smith between 1830 and 1844.
The existence of these writings and the scriptural status given to them by the LDS is a clear violation of the warning given in Revelation.
Over the course of the 14 years in which these things were written, Smiths ideas about God changed. And these writings contradict each other on several major tenets regarding who or what is God. In 1830, Smith was off base, but not terribly far, regarding who God the Father is. By 1844, his teaching, and Mormon doctrine today, was way far away from the Bible.
GOD
The Bible clearly teaches that God is spirit, lives outside of space or time, is eternal and unchanging, and is triune, that is, one being but three persons. (Show scriptures from church statement of faith.)
The LDS teach that God the Father has a body of flesh and bones like ours, though glorified. They teach that He, Adam, and the archangel Michael are all the same person. They teach that God was once an ordinary man.
The Bible clearly teaches that Jesus Christ is God the Word, eternal and unchanging. He participated with the Father and Holy Spirit in the creation and sustaining of the universe. He became a man by miraculous virgin birth, so as to break the flow of sin transmittal. He qualified to be our savior by living a sinless life.
The LDS teach that Jesus Christ was an ordinary man, and is the son of God only in the sense that he descended from Adam. He obtained his current high status as a god by earning it. They further teach that he was married in polygamy to both of the sisters Martha and Mary, as well as to Mary of Magdela. They teach that he had children too. The Mormons believe that one can never advance any higher than an angel in the afterlife unless on marries in this life. (read from 58-59 of Is Mormonism Christian?)
By the way, they teach the lie that angels come from people. The truth is that angels were created as angels, a separate order of creation from people.
The Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit is God. He was present and active in the creation of the universe and the refining of planet Earth. He can be grieved. He can be quenched. He is a counselor. He imparts power and gifts. He is present everywhere at once. He is Spirit. (read from statement of faith.)
The LDS teach that the Holy Ghost (Spirit) is a substance (made up of many minute particles). They teach that it travels very rapidly, but is not omnipresent. They teach that varying amounts of this substance are dispensed to different people. They teach that Jesus was not conceived of the Holy Spirit. They teach that the Holy Ghost (as they always call him) is not a person at all, not God.
Summation of Mormon teaching on God: God was once just a man. Jesus is a separate God from the Father. The Holy Spirit is just a substance.
MANKIND
The Bible clearly teaches that we all have a starting point in time, which is the point of our conception. We did not exist prior to that. We are created in the image of God in that we have a spirit, we make genuine choices, we create, and we are made for eternity, not just time. We are not God. We never will be God. We all are born in sin due to the curse of sin on the whole Earth and everything in it. We cannot redeem ourselves, being sinful. We need a savior. We cannot earn salvation.
The Mormons teach that we all existed as spirits from eternity past. We never had a beginning. We became embodied, and in the process forgot the past, in order to be tested by the making of choices in this life. The Earth life is a necessary stage in our development toward Godhood. We can all, if we follow the teachings of the LDS writings, progress straight from this life to a God state, and eventually have a planet of our own to be Lord and God over.
SALVATION
The Bible could not be more clear that since all are fallen and in need of a savior, all must choose that savior or perish.
The LDS teach that salvation is a better future life, free of the harassment we live with here. Salvation comes about by our own efforts to obey the teachings of the Salt Lake church. The more we do and the more children we have, (thus pulling more spirits into bodies), the better off we will be when we die. To the Mormon, paradise is not characterized by closeness to and worship of God, but by pleasures of ease and plenty, while on the road to actual Godhood. To them, salvation is all about self. (It is very, very much like the Muslim version, only more complicated and more developed. Muslims never get to be Gods either.)
CONCLUSION
There is more of course. The LDS teach wrong things about baptism and other such things. They also have the usual cult trappings of:
1. The exalted and unquestionable leader,
2. The special book and/or writings which are equal to or above the Bible,
3. Claims to be the only group that has the truth.
Don’t be fooled by the rhetoric of this bunch. They lower God. They exalt man. They ignore much scripture, even while claiming to honor the Bible. Anything it says that disagrees with Joseph Smith is relegated to being mis-translated, even though this assertion is garbage. The science of Bible translation is well established and understood.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is no church. They are a false religion, and they do not know the way of salvation.
