Mormonism 101
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Why Mormonism?
Why Mormonism?
I have been noticing an influx of Mormon missionaries in our town over the last few years, and especially since 2020. I wonder if it is not because of the Jehovah’s Witnesses retreat to letter writing instead of door to door work, and the Mormons feel like there is more of an opening for them. I don’t know, but whatever the reason, they are at the library, they are on Facebook, and they are knocking on doors.
I for one am glad for it. I enjoy when they come to my house, Angie not so much, but having the witness field come to you, is just convenient.
With that in mind I have a two fold reason for doing this class.
I want to prepare you for the knock on the door.
There arguments and promises may sound plausible, even similar to what you may believe, but knowing them ahead of time helps to see through the misinformation they will be spreading.
We shouldn’t be frightened or confused, but ready when they come
I want to prepare you for the knock on the door
We can often be too busy, but if we are prepared ahead of time, we can use this time for Christ.
This is a mission field that does not know God, but is coming to you ready to speak about the things of God.
The time together this evening is going to contain
a flyover understanding of the History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the LDS
Some common words and phrases that have been twisted and now posses uncommon meanings
And sprinkled throughout some Evangelism talking points to help us witness to these missionaries
Followed by some question and answer time
There is a lot of material on Mormonism out there. I have brought some on the table in front for you to look at, but this is a cult that is very broad in its categories. Mormonism covers Egyptology, Archeology, Native American Studies, theology, End times study, Languages, Angels and Demons, Aliens, and many other topics.
There is no way to cover it all, but this class does not intend to. This really is a starting point to
keep you from fear when they come to the house
To prepare you from falling victim to their claim of being just another Christian denomination
and to help you to witness to them about the true Gospel and salvation in the Lord Jesus.
With that lets start with a history of the LDS.
History of the LDS
History of the LDS
Mormon teachings have changed considerably over time and continue to change today, and even their history has evolved over time.
There are many different versions of the beginnings of the Mormon church, even different versions told by Joseph Smith Jr himself. The Mormons call the beginning of their religion Joseph Smith’s “First Vision” and it is something Mormon missionaries may bring up, but the First Vision has multiple versions
In the various accounts Joseph could have been anywhere between 14 and 18 years old.
The date could have been anywhere from 1820-1824
Some stories say he didn’t know if God existed and was seeking
others that He was upset about the difference in the denominations and looking for the true church
Others that he was praying for forgiveness of sins and asking for wisdom as to which denomination to join
Either way he was questioning faith in some general way and praying in the woods near his house in Palmyra New York, and
Either Jesus came to him
Or Jesus and the Father both came to him
Or a few angels on behalf of Jesus and the father appeared to him
The stories all differ, but the point is that he was told, by some supernatural being, maybe God or one of his emissaries, that all the denominations are corrupt and not to join any of them.(ED of WR p193-194)
Most stories have a break here and 3 or more years pass before the angel Moroni appears to him and says that he, Joseph, was to return the faith to what God had intended. (WR&C p 233-234)
Current LDS missionaries may avoid this topic entirely, because the latest trend in Mormonism is to make the world believe they are just another denomination. Not too long ago, however, they would readily call us all apostates and say they were the only true church, they still believe that and teach that, but they may not be as open to proclaim it as they once were.
In that second supernatural encounter with Moroni, somewhere between 1823-1827, Smith was given golden tablets with mysterious symbols on them, and told to translate the true history of the church into the Book of Mormon. He used a hat and a secret seer stone to do the translating. He would put the seer stone in his hat, and then put his face in his hat so that no light could be seen and then images would flash before his eyes, and he would tell them to a friend or his wife, who was behind a curtain, what he saw. He never translated directly form the tablets, and sometimes the tablets were not even in the same building, but always from the stones in his hat.
Just as a side note, Smith was convicted of fraud 3/20/1826 in the state of New York, for charging people to find buried treasure on their property, using this same seer stone and his hat. So the stone was useful for more than just translation work. (WR&C p267)
His first translation partner was a man named Martin Harris. He gave Joseph a place to stay and financed the translation and publication of the Book of Mormon. He took copies of the writings from the golden tablets to some classical language experts, and they told Harris, he was being defrauded by a con man, but Harris didn’t believe it and continued to fund the project (ED of WR p 79-80). Later Harris’s wife begged him to see the translation before it was finished. Smith at first refused, but later said God told him it was Ok. When Harris showed his wife the 116 pages they had translated so far, the copies mysteriously vanished. Many believe Harris’s wife knew he was being defrauded and destroyed the papers. Smith said God told him that Harris needed to repent of his asking for the papers, even though if you remember God also said it was Ok to take the papers. Smith went on working with his own wife Emma, a man named Oliver Cowdrey, who was also staying with Smith in a man named David Whitmer’s house, who also helped until the translation was finished (ED of WR p 80-81).
Another side not here. 27 of the 239 chapters in the Book of Mormon are direct copies from the Bible, Ex 20; Is 2-14, 29, 48-54; Mal 3-4; Mt 5-7. 18 of these inserted chapters, a full two thirds of them are inserted in 2 Nephi and the part of the 116 pages that went missing (ED of WR 83).
Upon completion of the Book of Mormon Smith said the Angel Moroni took back the tablets and hid them. So the Book of Mormon is all that can be seen of them today. Smith founded the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Palmyra New York on 3/26/1830 based on the Book of Mormon (ED of WR 82-83). Upon gaining some followers he moved the church to Kirtland Ohio and by 1836 built the first Temple there (WR &C 235).
This early Temple was very much a Pentecostal church, with similar teachings. the service would have singing of hymns, teaching, speaking in tongues, falling down on the ground shaking. There view of God was always a little off, tending towards a Modalistic view of God at the beginning, where God the Father sometimes appeared as God the Son, but were the same person. It wasn’t until 1835 that Smith began to describe Jesus and the Father as separate Gods, and the Holy Spirit as the mind shared by Jesus and the Father. Then in 1840 he reached the place where Mormons stand today where he taught that Jesus, The Father, and The Holy Spirit are three separate gods who rule the earth (ED of WR 135). These constant changes had their effects on the relationships of Smith with his closest followers.
The LDS started a bank in Kirtland, and within a year it went under. Many lost money and again Smith was facing fraud charges and arrest. He then decided it best to move the church to Far West, Missouri. Get out of town while he could. Harris who had funded the Book of Mormon and been Smiths partner, was excommunicated from the church at this point over disagreements about the failure of the bank. His other two partners Oliver Cowdrey and David Whitmer would be excommunicated in Missouri shortly after moving there over disagreements about the doctrinal changes Smith was bringing in. Specifically over the Trinity and polygamy.
There were three main witnesses beside Smith who said they saw the Angel Moroni and the golden tablets. Some claimed to have also seen John the Baptist, Jesus, The Father, Elijah, Peter, James, and the apostle John among others. But the three closest to him, Harris, Cowdrey and Whitmer, were all excommunicated from the church by 1838. 8 years after the churches founding.
It was this time between Ohio and Missouri in the early 1830’s that Smith published Doctrines and Covenants, a selection of his teachings the church recognizes as one of the 4 “standards” as they call them. Essentially their Scriptures.
The Bible, as long as it is properly translated. Smith started his own translation, but did not finish before he died.
The Book of Mormon, which also has changed some over the years,
Doctrines and Covenants which is added to through the years, because Mormons believe their are still apostles and prophets and their teachings are often considered greater than Scripture, because they are living oracles of God
while it will not become part of the 4 standards until much later, in 1880, Smith writes much of the Pearl of Great Price here in the early 1830’s.
We will cover each of these a little more in depth in the next section, but this is where these books fit in the history of the church.
As we said Smith has some trouble with his followers and some troubles with the law and so he takes the church into Missouri. Once in Missouri the LDS began work on a new Temple, and laid the cornerstone in Independence Missouri. Smith declared Independence both the original site of the Garden of Eden, and the site of a New Jerusalem based around his temple. He went so far as to prophecy within one generation there would stand a Temple in Jackson County Missouri. To this day there is no Temple there. The Cornerstone in Independence is the closest he ever got.
Another side note here, an off shoot group, split off of the RLDS, which is a split off of the original Mormon church, now owns this land, but has never built upon it.
This move to Missouri was followed by quite a few difficulties, which is why the temple was never finished initially. Taking 2000 members, and planting them in the middle of Missouri to begin a New World turned out to be a bigger disruption to the culture already there than Smith had thought and it wasn’t long until there was violence between Mormons attacking the locals, and the locals attacking the Mormons. The issue of slave state and free state also came in to play here, as Missouri was largely a slave state and the Mormons were abolitionists.
It got so bad a 3 month long war erupted between Governor Lilburn Boggs and the State of Missouri against Smith and the Mormons. Smith was caught and arrested (ED of WR 133), and the Governor issued Executive Order 44 stating "The Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the state if necessary for the public peace — their outrages are beyond all description."
Just another side note, this order remained in effect for 138 years and was not rescinded until June 25, 1976 by the then Governor Christopher Bond.
Smith escaped from jail and made his way to Quincy Illinois in April of 1839. From their Smith moved the church to a swamp near Commerce Illinois and changed the cities name to Nauvoo, which he claimed meant beautiful. They built a temple and this is where the doctrines of the church really began to develop and change. This temple would be the first temple where Smith would teach Mormons to be baptized for the dead, and celestial marriages and sealings for all eternity were happening for the first time here. In fact Smith would be sealed to over 30 women in this temple. This meant that they would be his wives in eternity and they would be the mothers of a new world, and wives to the god Joseph Smith.
Joseph’s teachings had changed at this point to allow all white men the opportunity to become gods on their own planet, through faithfulness to his teachings. Black men and those with darker skin like the Native Americans were excluded from the priesthood and therefore from becoming gods, because while the Mormons were abolitionists Smith still believed dark skin was a curse from god. This also kept them from the highest heaven, because to attain that level a man needed to be sealed in marriage for all eternity to at least one wife, but some taught many wives. Because they would need many wives to spend eternity populating their own worlds.
Joseph married mothers and daughters, sisters, some as young as 14, along with other men’s wives, and had them sealed for all eternity in marriage to himself. By his death Smith would have over 40 wives (ED of WR 133).
By 1844 not only was Smith teaching that there were three gods of this earth, but that there were innumerable gods that all had their own planets, and that the gods of this earth, were once men like us and earned the right to be gods. In his King Follett Discourse (a speech he gave at the request of a recently deceased man’s family named King Follett) in that speech he said, “God himself who sits enthroned in yonder Heavens is a man like unto one of yourselves.” Lorenzo Snow another prophet in the LDS summed this teaching up, with “As man now is, God once was; As God now is man may be.” (WR&C 242). The church was growing and changing rapidly at this time. Smith became a Freemason, and the ceremonies of the LDS Temple began resembling the Masonic ceremonies. So much so that the Masons accused Smith of stealing their rituals and kicked him and all Mormons out of the Freemasons entirely.
In 1844 Smith declared himself a candidate for president of the United States and really began to upset the Mormons. One Mormon, William Law split off from the group and founded a newspaper in Nauvoo called the Nauvoo Expositor with the intent to publish anti Smith articles. Nauvoo being run by the Mormons, had a city council meeting which ended in the destruction of the Expositor. The split grew to such a level that martial law was declared over the entire area and the state militia had to be called in to calm things down. When they arrived they placed Smith and his brother Hyrum in prison in Carthage Illinois. 2 Days later Smith and Hyrum both would be dragged out of the jail by 200 men and murdered (ED of WR 134).
The church was left in tatters at this point. Smith had left his son Joseph Smith the 3rd as his successor but he was too young (12) so Joseph’s first wife Emma helped lead what would become know as the Reorganized Church of Christ of Latter Day Saints until he was of age. The RLDS as they would become known was formed in 1853 Beloit, WI, but Joseph Smith the 3rd would not take control until 1860. (ED of WR 140)
Another group also came into Wisconsin following a man named James Jesse Strang. Strang claimed an Angel declared him to be the new leader of the LDS and even showed him golden tablets buried in Vorhee, Wisconsin. He would take his followers up to Beaver Island, the biggest island in Lake Michigan, and he would be crowned King of Beaver Island. He did not do much better with his followers than Joseph and was shot by one of his followers in 1856. He was brought back to Vorhee where he died of his wounds July 9, 1856. He was initially buried in a field in Vorhee, but his family had him later move here to the Burlington Cemetery. His followers are still here in Burlington and have a place off Mormon Road dedicated to this along with a church building off Spring Prairie Rd. This group are known as the Strangites.
The final Group, the largest of the three groups that split after Josephs death, were gathered together by the then apostle Brigham Young as he returned from a trip east where he had been fundraising during the commotion in Nauvoo. This group are the Mormons we know and think of today. Brigham too had some trouble with the law regarding fraud charges, and so he thought it best to move the church out west, to unclaimed land. They would travel over the course of 1846 and 1847, with hundreds dying on the way from cold and sickness on to Utah where they would lay claim to parts of California, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, and Wyoming. Once The Utah territory was added to the United states Young became Governor of just Utah. The LDS built another Temple, started Salt Lake City, and invited Mormons from all over the world to claim land there.
In 1857 Brigham’s problems with the US government continued and President James Buchanan would send out troops to try and remove him from the Governors chair. Young sent his own troops to meet them and a war ensued that lasted until 1858 (ED of WR 586). This trouble with the government continued through the history of the LDS. The next trial came with their belief in polygamy. The US government would not let Utah become a state while they continued to hold to plural marriages. Young fought this until he died and the government disincorporated the LDS church and tried to seize their assets. John Taylor took control of the church after Young but spent much of his time in hiding. When he died William Woodruff took the presidency and after a few years in hiding he declared that God told him polygamy was no longer allowed in the LDS church. By the 1890’s polygamy was officially banned for Mormons, but in practice it would not stop until the early 1900’s and there are still 100’s of splinter groups who split off from the Mormons over this issue, who continue to practice plural marriages today.
The first president of the LDS church not to practice plural marriage wasn’t until 1945, George Albert Smith had only one wife.
The last big doctrinal change pushed by the culture and the government would come after the civil rights movement swept through the country in the 1960’s. The LDS stance rejecting all people of color from the priesthood began to look pretty bad. From internal and external pressure and from a direct revelation from God then president Spencer Kimball announced in 1978 all men were able to join the priesthood and therefore could be baptized for the dead, sealed to their wives, and eligible for godhood. The doctrine of the previous more than hundred years of the church was never rescinded, or explained, he just said now god says it is Ok. The church grew by 60% over the next ten years, dozens of new Temples were built, and the church boomed in Africa where previously there had been very little missionary work, understandably (Ed of WR 150-151).
As of 2014, the Mormon church had 15 million members in 29,000 congregations world wide, 84,000 missionaries, and over 150 Temples. Also in 2020 there was a large push for Temple building and now there are over 200 worldwide. They also have 3 colleges, named after Brigham Young, in Utah, Hawaii, and Idaho (WR&C 234).
This is not a small cult, but an influential one that has roots both here in the US and here in Burlington. We will run into them, and it is a good idea to know both who they are and what they believe. Now that we know a little about who they are and where they came from, I would like to have us take a look at a little of what they believe.
Common Phrases Different Meanings
Common Phrases Different Meanings
One of the most important things to remember when dealing with the Mormons is they are using the same language as us, but they have completely different meanings for there words. You can’t have them reference Scripture without telling you which Scriptures they are discussing. You can’t just let them say God with out having them explain what they mean. You can’t let them say salvation without explaining what they mean by the word. We share common phrases with them, but the meanings are completely different. Lets explore some
Scripture - We mean the Bible, but they mean the 4 standards, and often times the teachings and doctrines of their prophets. We must remember they have living prophets and 12 current apostles from which they continue to receive commands form god.
4 standards, or books of Scripture in Mormonism
The Book of Mormon
Written in Reformed Egyptian
A combination of the Hebrew language with Egyptian characters Smith claimed Abraham, Moses and the early prophets wrote in.
No such language exists or ever has, as far as anyone outside of Joseph Smith knows.
This was translated by Joseph Smith after he received the Golden tablets from the Angel Moroni.
It teaches that at the tower of Babel, and later just before the Assyrian captivity of Israel, in 600 BC or so, two seperate groups traveled to the United States and became what we know as Native Americans.
Jesus visited these tribes and set up the church both in Jerusalem and in the Americas around the same time, 1-35 AD.
There were wars between the tribes in America, Satan influencing one side and that is why they have dark skin, but all of the good side, that followed Christ were wiped out , between 36-421 AD.
The LDS teach that after the apostles, the church in the Middle East also died out and went apostate until Joseph Smith brought back the true teaching of the early church.
This was all written on golden tablet and hidden in the Hill Comorah in upstate New York from 421 AD, until revealed to Joseph Smith in 1823 or so.
Doctrines and Covenants
A collection of revelations from Joseph smith from between 1830-1844
Also contains the writings of other prophets in the LDS
The LDS have a prophet president and 12 apostles who all speak for God.
Because of this their doctrines and teachings evolve and change over time. and current prophets can contradict older prophets.
Doctrines and Covenants has contained commands against polygamy in its earliest editions, commanded polygamy as a means of salvation in later editions, and today it rejects polygamy.
It has taught that God was an eternal Spirit, Jesus had flesh and blood, and the Holy Spirit was their shared mind, as Joseph Smith taught early on, but today this doctrine is completely removed from the book and Smith’s later teaching is held as true, that there are three separate gods, father, son, and holy spirit.
Smith and Brigham Young both taught that living prophets carry more weight in the church and should be followed over all older written revelation.
A 1945 LDS Leadership statement said “When our leaders speak, the thinking has been done.” (ED of WR 34)
This is why the teachings change so often. They have modern revelation that supersedes older.
If the doctrines of the past, the Scriptures themselves can be changed, then the authority in the church is not god, but the man with the authority to change the teachings about God. Mormons have both a god who once was a man, and a bunch of men in power over them pretending to be gods.
The Bible
Article 8 of the beliefs of the LDS found in the book “The Pearl of Great Price” states that the Bible is true if it is interpreted correctly.
The Book of Mormon assumes the Bible has been corrupted as it teaches in 1 Nephi 13:28 that many “plain and precious things” have been removed.
So the book of Mormon places itself above the Bible as more authoritative.
While Smith died before he could finish he began a rewriting of the Bible, he claimed as direct revelation from God.
It can’t be described as a translation, because Smith did not go back to any original writings, to the Greek or the Hebrew, but instead added to and subtracted from the KJV
The KJV is the standard version most Mormons will use
Some examples include
God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Joseph Smith translation changes the numbers to John 4:26 and reads:
For unto such hath God promised his Spirit. And they who worship him, must worship in spirit and in truth.
For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good.
Joseph Smith Translation
For we know that the commandment is spiritual; but when I was under the law, I was yet carnal, sold under sin. 15 But now I am spiritual; for that which I am commanded to do, I do; and that which I am commanded not to allow, I allow not. 16 For what I know is not right, I would not do; for that which is sin, I hate. 17 If then I do not that which I would not allow, I consent unto the law, that it is good; and I am not condemned.
The LDS do have their translation online and they actually have the KJV on the same page so you can see all of the additions and subtractions Smith made together. It is quite helpful.
Smith also claimed many books of the Bible were missing.
The LDS claim to have recovered the missing book of Moses, and the missing Book of Abraham, both are found in their 4th standard, their fourth Scripture, The pearl of great price.
Books they claim are still lost are The wars of the Lord (Num 21:14), Jasher (2 Sam 1:18), Nathan teh prophet (1 Chr 29:29), Jahu 2 Chr 20:34), a lost epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, and one to the Ephesians, along with the book of Zenock, Zenos, and Neum referenced in their Book of Mormon.
The Bible is included as one of their standards, Scripture for them, but it is not seen as reliable or as authoritative as their living prophets, or even their other Scriptures.
The Pearl of Great Price
This one is really interesting. It was not originally part of the standards.
Before 1890, there were only 3 standards.
As early as the late 1830’s there was a presence of LDS in England. The English branch of the LDS collected some writings of Smith, the Book of Moses, The Book of Abraham, A reworking of the Gospel of Matthew, Smith’s own history, and the 13 Articles of faiths in a collection they called The Pearl of Great Price.
In the 1890’s the Utah branch of the church got hold of this book and made it the final standard.
The Book of Moses
This is basically a rewrite of Genesis 1-7, where smith adds to the story.
In the first chapter Satan tempts Moses to worship him
Satan fails, moses refuses to worship him and he gets angry
then God tells Moses the creation story
In chapter 5 the fall is recast as a blessing so that man may be tested and redeemed
The Book of Moses 5:11
And Eve, his wife, heard all these things and was glad, saying: Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient.
Adam is told about Christ and given the Holy Spirit
The Book of Abraham is one of the most interesting parts of the Pearl of Great Price.
In 1835 Smith bought an Egyptian exhibit off a man, complete with its own mummy and scroll
Smith claimed the Scroll was written in reformed Egyptian, just like the Book of Mormon, and began translation work on it with his seer stones and his hat he finished the writings in 1841.
In 1835 there were only a handful of people on the planet who could read ancient Egyptian.
Smith was not one of them
The Rosetta stone which gave the world the ability to read Egyptian was discovered first in 1824 and only a few people were working on the translation of that work and so by 1835 Smith could not have known what he had.
the guy he bought it off of could not have known what he had
Smith claimed it was a lost Book of Abraham and told the story of Abraham being saved from sacrifice before Pharoah in Ur.
Abraham then is told about how God created the universe
How God is not eternal, as stated in the Book of Mormon, but now in the Book of Abraham, god is a man who lives on a planet near the star Kolob. (Abraham 3:1-4)
It finishes with a few chapters rewriting Genesis 1-2 again
The helpful part is that Smith included some hand drawings of the Egyptian he found on the Scroll, and his own translation of the images
This was helpful because after translating this scroll it was lost in 1844, along with the mummy and the rest of the exhibit that Smith purchased.
Turns out some of Smiths followers had held on to some of it, and their children donated the scroll to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York
Where it was discovered in 1967 (Ed of WR 74-75).
they knew it was the same scroll because it had the same depictions as Smith had drawn in the Pearl of Great Price, and when they turned it over
The back of it had Smith’s drawings of the temple he had built in Kirtland Ohio at the time he was doing the translation (ED of WR 302).
The LDS claim that this is part of the original scroll, but that the Abraham portion is still lost.
They have to say that because now there are many people who can read Egyptian and the markings Smith translated are proven not to be the mysterious reformed Egyptian, and Smiths translation of the symbols were completely wrong.
Modern Egyptologists have examined the scroll and found it to be an Egyptian burial scroll, for a man name Hori, and has nothing to do with Abraham or Jews at all.
The JST version of Matthew 24
The JST is the rewrite of the Bible Smith started. It is not complete because he died before it was completed.
The Pearl has two reworkings of Genesis in the Book of Moses and Abraham, and this reworking of Mathew 24. The rest of his work in the JST can be found online
What is interesting about this is that none of the prophets or apostles since Smith in the LDS has tried to finish this project.
If they have direct connection to god, just as Smith did, why haven’t they been able to finish the reworking of the Bible?
if the Bible is corrupted, and Smith was bringing it back to its original state, wouldn’t that be a priority for the LDS?
God - We mean the creator of all things, the originator of life and the sustainer of life. They mean one of many gods.
Not trinity
three gods, Jesus, the Father and Holy Spirit, all separate gods
this is a doctrine that changed over time.
Initially Smith taught, as was originally written in Doctrines and Covenants, that god was both a Spirit father and physical son that shared the same mind called the holy spirit.
This is what he taught in the early 1830’s in Kirtland Ohio
Then, by the time he wrote the Book of Abraham and towards the end of his life, in the 1840’s he filled the universe with millions of gods, and Jesus, the Father, and the holy Ghost all became separate gods.
The father lives on a planet near the star Kolob
has a physical body
was once a man and became god through obedience to his god
God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?
This is what they call the doctrine of eternal progression. There is an endless progression of gods begetting gods in the past and on to the future.
This is one of the things I have the missionaries who come to my door think about. I ask them why we should worship elohim, when he had a god before him? Wouldn’t the god who created our god be greater than our god and shouldn’t we worship him? Because Smith didn’t live long enough to flesh this doctrine out any further there is no writing about how it all got started, before Elohim and his god, so when I ask they have no answers, but I pray it gets them thinking.
I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me,
As a man god the father has spirit wives, and physical wives, including the virgin Mary who was both god’s wife and Josephs
Brigham Young believed and taught openly that Adam was god and Eve was one of his wives as well. This has since then been formally denied by the church. They deny they ever taught it, and deny Young ever said it, but as a prophet of God Brigham’s word on it is in writing and preserved.
The father has spirit children that inhabit the spirit world and that he implants into physical children on earth for testing.
There level of obedience here on earth decides the afterlife for them.
As spirit children these are the angels of Scripture
so in Mormonism all is man. God was once a man, Angels are men waiting to be, or have already been, and the next generation of gods will come from the men of this earth.
Mormonism is entirely man centered.
The father and his spirit wife had Jesus as their first born, and satan as his brother, along with all other spirit children
Jesus had a plan to test people so they could become gods, and satan had another idea. The father went with Jesus idea, and so satan rebelled, taking some spirit children with him. The spirit children following satan became demons
The Father is Elohim - which is actually just a generic word for god. In the bible Elohim can mean, God, Angels, false gods, the spirit of men. But in Mormonism it is the name of the father
Jesus is gods physical son and the Archangel Michael is Jesus spirit body
They share this belief with Jehovah’s witnesses
They teach Archangel means chief over all angels and so they say Jesus is the spirit above all other spirits
Jesus is Satan’s brother
They were both born from Elohim and a spirit bride of his
Jesus was born through the physical relationship of God with the Virgin Mary.
This is the traditional view, held by Smith, Young and others, But
Some Mormons will say this was a supernatural event and Mary was still a virgin,
This is difficult because they teach that God has a physical body, is a man who became god.
and that he produced spirit children through the natural way of man with a wife
and that marriage on earth is to produce physical children for god to place his spirit children into
and this is done the natural way of man and wife. Why should we see Jesus birth any different?
Jesus attained Godhood through obedience to Elohim his father. Just as the father gained godhood through obedience to his god before him.
it is never explained who the god was before the father, and why Jesus did not get his own planet, but has to share a planet with Elohim, while the promise of the LDS is that you can become a god on your own planet
I thought maybe because this world is not finished, maybe he has to wait until then end to get his own planet and godhood, but they believe he is a god now. In the end their theology has a lot of gaps.
The Holy Spirit
Joseph smith taught at first the Spirit was the shared mind of the father and Jesus
he later taught that the Spirit was a god, but that he never got a body.
He attained godhood in the spirit world without having to come to earth
apparently he was even more obedient than the father or Jesus who both had to earn their godhood in physical bodies.
He empowers believers and guides them
Smith never says whether the Holy Ghost is one of Elohim’s children or was born of another god.
again the question arises, why is he sticking around here. Why not have his own planet?
Heavenly Mother
this is really not one of the gods of Mormonism, but because she has the spirit children she is necessary for life on this planet and the spirit world
there may be, and many think there are, multiple Heavenly mothers
Smith had 40 wives, it is assumed Elohim had more than just the few we know of
Heavenly mother had the spirit child Jesus and Satan along with every other person on the the planet and in the spirit world.
She is the wife of the god Elohim, so I assume she must have some godlike status, but the LDS does not go into details there.
Heaven - In LDS teachings Heaven consists of three levels.
Your personal level of obedience to the church and its teachings decides which level you can attain.
Celestial
This is the highest level and is where the dead can interact with the father.
It is said to have the glory of the sun
I assume bright and shiny, not fiery and consuming
To become your own god and get your own planet you have to make it first to this highest heaven
Not all who attain this level will become gods on their own planets, but to have the chance, you have to make it to this level.
Brigham Young taught that Joseph smith decides who reaches this heaven and there for who is eligible for godhood, He is the gatekeeper to the Celestial heaven of earth.
Those who enter the Celestial Heaven bypass the lower heavens and await their godhood.
Terrestrial
This is for faithful Mormons who never attained the celestial heaven.
Either through lack of obedience or lack of faith they did not make it to the highest heaven
Those who make it to this level have to be semi obedient in life, and then obedient in the spirit world after death.
Those who die on earth with insufficient obedience to make it to the Celestial Heaven become Angel men and missionaries in the afterlife.
They go to what is called the spirit prison and they seek to evangelize for Mormonism there (WR&C 264).
Spirit prison is for those who reject Mormonism outright on earth
Through obedience evangelizing in Spirit Prison, the angel men attain the Terrestrial Heaven which is said to have the glory of the moon
Those in the Terrestrial Heaven never see the Father, because he is in the Celestial Heaven, but they can interact with Jesus
Telestial
This is for all those who rejected Mormonism in this life, but who became Mormons in the afterlife in the spirit prison.
This is essentially a second chance for everyone on earth to make it to one of the three heavens. Those who become Mormons after death by being evangelized by angel men will make it to the Telestial Heaven
They don’t go to the higher heavens, but it is still better than earth, and at least it is not hell
it is said to have the glory of the stars
In the Telestial Heaven people interact with the Holy Spirit. They will never get to see Jesus, the father, or become gods but they do get the Spirit and it is not hell.
Hell
is for the devil and his followers, and for apostate Mormons.
The good news for those disobedient Mormons, is that even those who end up in hell, rule over hell.
The Mormons who end up here are in charge of the punishments to the devil and his followers (WR&C 249-250).
The rest of humanity, will be evangelized in Spirit Prison and make it to the Telestial heaven.
This is why the Mormons at your door walk away if you don’t show interest in joining them. It is better for you to die outside of Mormonism and enter the lowest heaven, then for you to come into Mormonism, leave it late, and end up in hell.
And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,
Salvation
By faith in Jesus some sins are forgiven
other sins can only be forgiven by shedding our own blood.
This Doctrine is known as Blood Atonement
It states that for certain sins, such as, murder, adultery, lying, stealing, counterfeiting, a white person marrying or having intimate relations with a black person, blaspheming, resisting the Gospel, covenant breaking, and apostasy, Christ’s blood is not enough to forgive you of these sins, and only the spilling of your own blood can save you. In these instances only the sinners blood can appease God’s wrath (ED of WR 68).
Brigham Young said in 1857:
“This is loving our neighbor as ourselves; if he needs help, help him; and if he wants salvation and it is necessary to spill his blood on the earth in order that he may be saved, spill it”
Like many LDS teachings, because of having living prophets, this doctrine has both been denied and asserted throughout the history of the church.
Smith hinted at it, Young taught it, Joseph f Smith defended it, Hugh brown denied it, Joseph fielding Smith and Bruce McConkie both taught that the doctrine was true, but denied anyone ever practiced it.
In 1884 apostle Charles Penrose taught that while the doctrine was true, and the only way to save some people, because of the laws of the land, and the “ignorance of the world”, it would not be practiced until God enforces his law on earth.
In 1954 President of the LDS Joseph Fielding Smith said that while the doctrine has never been practiced, it still remains that some sin is outside of Christ’s atonement and the spilling of that persons own blood can save them. (ED of WR 69)
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
LDS teaching is you are saved by grace after all you can do.
2 Nephi 25:23: “For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to god, for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.”
You work as hard as you can and god will make up the difference, but you still may not make it to the highest heaven
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Faith fulness to the teachings of the Mormon church are necessary to make it to one of three Heavens.
In the Pearl of Great Price, there is a list of 13 articles of faith, or doctrinal teachings of the LDS.
Article 3 states (ED of WR 40-41)
participation in the atonements, salvation, comes at the cost of “obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel”
The more obedient the higher the heaven you can attain
To reach the highest level of heaven
Marriage in the Temple is necessary
You must have a spouse to reach the highest heaven.
Priesthood blessings are necessary
You must be ordained to both the Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthood.
These are special ordinances granted through ceremonies, many of which are reminiscent of Freemason ceremonies, and by approved people in the Temple able to pass along these blessings.
The Mormons who come to your door will have at least the Aaronic priesthood, and if they are called elder they will have both priesthoods.
The Brigham Young Universities, Encyclopedia on Mormonism, says this about priesthood
Within the Melchizedek and Aaronic Priesthoods, men may be ordained to various offices. Those who hold certain offices may then be called and set apart to particular positions of Church service. Beginning at age twelve young men, if they are worthy and desire it, may have the Aaronic Priesthood conferred upon them and be ordained to the office of deacon; they may be ordained a teacher at age fourteen, and a priest at age sixteen. At the age of eighteen, they may have the Melchizedek Priesthood conferred upon them and be ordained to the office of elder. Later, as need and calling dictate, they may be ordained to other offices in the Melchizedek Priesthood. The office of bishop is an appendage to the Melchizedek Priesthood (D&C 84:29), but its function is to preside over the Aaronic Priesthood (D&C 107:87–88). The office of patriarch is an office in the Melchizedek Priesthood.
Baptism by qualified person is necessary
This is why they practice baptism for the dead. Baptism is necessary for salvation in the Mormon church.
Salvation is only possible if a person exercises faith, repents, receives baptism by immersion, and the laying on of hands by someone with the proper priesthood authority” (WR&C 248)
Even those in Spirit prison must be baptized to go to heaven, so they need living people to be baptized on their behalf.
This is one of the reasons the Mormons are so big on ancestry records. They need to know who was in their family in the past so they can get them out of prison through baptism.
I Corinthians 1:14, 17-18:
For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
Holy Spirit anointing by proper person is necessary
After baptism members of the Melchizedek priesthood can lay hands on an individual to impart the gift of the Holy Spirit to them” (WR&C 245)
The Holy Spirit then will stay with that person as long as they are
“obedient to the ordinances and commandments of the church”
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,
Being sealed to your wife for all eternity is necessary
Not only must you be married, but you must be sealed to your wife in a separate ceremony so that she will be with you for all eternity to create spirit children on your own planet
Mormons can be sealed for all eternity to women who do not live as wives now. Many women have been sealed to Joseph Smith who never were his wives on earth.
As you can see there is a lot that is necessary to be saved. Don’t let them tell you it is by grace or by faith, because there is much more they are not telling you.
They are not coming to your door for fun. They are trying to earn their way to the highest Heaven
Knowing this you can use it to help you evangelize. This is a very legalistic and rule based religion, it can crush individuals under the weight of the requirements. A focus on the rest offered in Christ, and how He has accomplished salvation on our behalf, can be helpful.
Also, utilizing the contradictions in the teachings of the LDS themselves, their changes over time, and their contradictions from the Bible can help to open their eyes to the deception they have received.
Evangelizing Missionaries
Evangelizing Missionaries
Like all religions those who come to your door may not even know all of the information we covered today. They may believe some of it, have never heard of some, and reject some. The best way to know what someone believes is by asking them. This also is a great way to show how what they believe is very different from what the Bible teaches,
Helpful questions to distinguish between Christianity and Mormonism
You talk a lot about atonement, what does that word mean to you?
He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Have you ever been baptised for a dead person? Why do you practice that? Where do you see that in the Bible?
I Corinthians 15:29: “Else what shall they do who are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? Why are they, then, baptized for the dead?
Comment: This is one of the most difficult passages to deal with. The Mormon does not see how it is illogical for him to attach his own theological baggage to this passage, and how by doing so he makes it meaningless in its context. To help you explain it, we will look at what it means. The Christian church had never practiced baptism for the dead in the sense that the LDS Church wants us to believe. They are forced to take 1 Corinthians 15:29 out of its context and force their own peculiar meaning on it. First, the Bible does not teach that baptism saves anyone (even 1 Peter 3:21, upon close examination, does not do so), hence it certainly would not be needed to “redeem the dead” as Mormons put it. 1 Corinthians 15:29 is found in the “resurrection chapter.” The needed clue to its meaning is found in the language in which it was originally written, that being Greek. The word “for” is the Greek term huper. It refers to the taking of someone’s place, or to substitution. Baptism “for” the dead is not baptism of a living person in behalf of or for the benefit of a dead person, but rather the immersion of a living person in the place of or into the former position of a now deceased person. It is the baptism of a new convert who takes the place in the church of one who has died. The baptism of a young child, for example, the day after an elderly saint of the Lord has passed away could be viewed as the younger person coming to “fill” the position of the person who has gone home to be with the Lord. This vein of thinking is carried on in the context when Paul says in the next verse, “Why are we also in danger every hour?” (NASB). Being a Christian in those days was a dangerous business. Paul’s whole point in the entire passage has to do with the fact that if the dead are not raised (v. 12) there is absolutely no point in bringing new converts into this dangerous position through baptism when there is no future life to promise them, no reward in the future for their faithfulness. Why not just let everyone die off without filling their positions in the church, since, if there is no resurrection, “we are of all men most to be pitied” (v. 19). Belief in baptizing the living to somehow help in saving the dead demonstrates a complete misunderstanding of the New Testament teaching concerning the nature, extent, and purpose of salvation. (James White)
Can you explain why you believe in modern prophets? If they are speaking from God, why don’t they agree with each other?
when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.
Some Mormon prophets, namely Brigham Young among others, have taught Adam was Elohim (god), do you believe that? Why or why not?
Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.
What happens after you die? Where in the Bible do you see a second chance? How do you explain Hebrews 9:27 “Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment,” (WR & C p 273-274)
It can be Helpful to see the inconsistencies in their teachings from their own Book of Mormon.
Baptism for the Dead, or a second chance for salvation: Alma 34:32-35; 2 Nephi 9:38; Mosiah 2:39, 3:25, 16:5, 11; 26:25-28
32 For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors. 33 And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed. 34 Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world. 35 For behold, if ye have procrastinated the day of your repentance even until death, behold, ye have become subjected to the spirit of the devil, and he doth seal you his; therefore, the Spirit of the Lord hath withdrawn from you, and hath no place in you, and the devil hath all power over you; and this is the final state of the wicked. (Alma 34:32-35)
Polygamy is acceptable to God: Jacob 1:15, 2:24, 28, 3:5; Mosiah 11:2; Ether 10:5
24 Behold, David and Solomon truly had many wives and concubines, which thing was abominable before me, saith the Lord.( Jacob 2:24)
More than one God exists: Alma 11:26-31, 44; 2 Nephi 31:21; 3 Nephi 11:27, 36; Mormon 7:7; Testimony of the Three Witnesses in the front of the BoM
And he hath brought to pass the redemption of the world, whereby he that is found guiltless before him at the judgment day hath it given unto him to dwell in the presence of God in his kingdom, to sing ceaseless praises with the choirs above, unto the Father, and unto the Son, and unto the Holy Ghost, which are one God, in a state of happiness which hath no end. (Mormon 7:7)
God is not spirit, but has a body of flesh and bones: Alma 18:2-5,24-28, 22:9-11; Mosiah 15:1-5
The Father, because he was conceived by the power of God; and the Son, because of the flesh; thus becoming the Father and Son—4 And they are one God, yea, the very Eternal Father of heaven and of earth. (Mosiah 15:3-4)
God has not existed eternally as God, but is an exalted man that once lived on a planet like we do, and progressed to become a god: 1 Nephi 10:18; Mosiah 3:5; 3 Nephi 24:6; Mormon 9:9-11, 19; Moroni 7:22, 8:18
18 For I know that God is not a partial God, neither a changeable being; but he is unchangeable from all eternity to all eternity. (Moroni 8:18)
Some Scriptures that may help to cause some questioning in their beliefs systems include:
“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.
Yahweh the Lord says in Isaiah that there are no other gods but God, either before Him or after Him. This is a direct contradiction of the eternal progression doctrine of the LDS. More than that Jesus himself says He is this Yahweh, not some separate God in
I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he.
Notice the wording here. Jesus is quoting from Isaiah and saying He is the Lord of the Old Testament, the God who has no other gods before or after Him. This is a trinitarian passage and directly refutes many beliefs of the LDS. They may not agree but at least it might get them thinking.
Fear not, nor be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it? And you are my witnesses! Is there a God besides me? There is no Rock; I know not any.”
No other God but Yahweh. he was not a man who earned his godhood from another god, because He knows of no other god.
Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
“Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.
The best part is these passages agree with the Book of Mormon. It can be used both to show the inconsistencies in the teaching of Smith and to refute the Book of Mormon. If they say the Bible has been corrupted and we cannot trust it, you can still take them to Smiths writings in the Book of Mormon that say the same thing. The Bible is consistent, the teachings of the LDS are not.
Here are some links to debates with Mormons on YouTube
https://www.aomin.org/aoblog/mormonism/100-verses-for-witnessing-to-mormons/
https://www.aomin.org/aoblog/mormonism/can-men-become-gods-white-vs-tanner/
https://www.aomin.org/aoblog/debate/debate-what-is-accomplished-in-the-atonement-dennis-potter-salt-lake-city-utah-4-4-2003/
Recent podcast with ex Mormons
https://crossexamined.org/what-will-you-say-when-mormons-come-to-your-door-with-dr-corey-miller/
More videos dealing with the topic of Mormonism
https://apologiastudios.com/category/cults/mormonism/
Websites for Additional Information
http://utlm.org/navonlineresources.htm
https://www.4mormon.org/
https://mit.irr.org/
