Let's be honest. Mormons are some of the nicest people I've ever met. When someone says they're a Mormon, you can rest assured that they will most likely be easy to get along with and reliable. But does that mean Mormons are Christians, just because they say they are and are normally great people? We need to look at what they believe and compare that to what regular Christians believe. And as always, the Bible is going to be the arbiter.
Notes:
History:- In his early teens, Joseph Smith was paid to act as a "seer" who used seer stones to find buried treasure.
- Joseph Smith had a vision of God Almighty and Jesus together when he was 14 (Joseph was born in 1805 and the vision was in 1820). They told Joseph that Joseph would restore true religion to the world. They told Joseph that none of the churches established at the time were correct.
- In 1823, the angel Moroni, who was a resurrected prophet (you will not find in the Bible that people become angels), visited Joseph and told him about some Golden Plates that were buried near his home.
- In 1827, Joseph found the plates and said they contained a record of God's dealings with the ancient Israelite inhabitants of the Americas. From these tablets came The Book of Mormon. He also found other artifacts such as a sword, a compass, a breastplate, and the Urim and Thummin.
- Joseph uses the Urim and Thummin (gemstones that were carried by the high priest of Israel on the ephod). Joseph said the plates were written in reformed hieroglyphics)
- Joseph finished the translation in July of 1829 and published The Book of Mormon in March of 1830. There are no eye witnesses to the plates.
- In 1830, Smith had a revelation to establish the "City of Zion".
- The Mormons are forced to leave New York and move through Ohio, doubling their congregation along the way. Smith is also visited by John the Baptist, Peter, James and John to restore the priesthood to the earth.
- In 1838, Smith was tarred and feathered for plotting to swindle several families out of their properties. Smith had taken on debt when trying to build the first Mormon Temple, and was also about to be brought up on illegal bank and counterfeiting charges. He escaped with Sydney Rigdon to Missouri.
- In Aug 1838, the Missouri, Mormon war broke out. Smith surrendered in Nov. He and others escaped and fled to Illinois. They built the first Mormon temple in Nauvoo.
- Smith is arrested in Jun, 1844 for destroying the printing press of someone printing anti-Mormon literature. An angry mob of 200 showed up at the jail, Smith attempted to escape, and he was shot by the mob.
- Oct, 1844, the Illinois, Mormon war broke out. The Mormons were driven out of Illinois and ended up in Utah.
What Books Do the Mormons Accept as Authoritative? They believe in these four, and in this order of importance:
- The Book of Mormon. Although DNA has conclusively proven that the information about the Native Americans in the Book of Mormon is false, they still believe it. DNA shows that there is zero Israeli blood in Native Americans.
- The Pearl of Great Price
- Doctrine and Covenants
- The Bible. Most Mormons use the King James Version, but attach the qualifier, "as far as it is correctly translated."
What their Book of Mormon says about Christians:
- 1 Nephi 14:9: And it came to pass that he said unto me: Look, and behold that great and abominable church, which is the mother of abominations, whose founder is the devil
- 1 Nephi 14:10: And he said unto me: Behold there are save two churches only; the one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the other is the church of the devil; wherefore, whoso belongeth not to the church of the Lamb of God belongeth to that great church, which is the mother of abominations; and she is the whore of all the earth
What the Bible says about cults:
- 2 Cor 11:13-15: For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. (14) And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. (15) Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.
| Christian Belief | Mormon Belief |
|---|---|
| The Bible is the inerrant Word of God, written directly by guidance of the Holy Spirit through His chosen vessels. | The Bible is fourth on their list of books. |
| No other doctrine other than what the apostles preached is acceptable. | The angel Moroni gave Joseph Smith some plates that were translated into The Book of Mormon. |
| There's only one God. | Polytheistic. They believe in the doctrine of eternal progression, where you can become a God. "As man is, God once was and as God is, man can become" - Prophet Lorenzo Snow |
| You can't become a God. This is the reason for the fall of Satan. He wanted to become like God. | "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." - Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 348 |
| God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth - John 4:24 | God has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's; the Son also - Doctrine and Covenants 130:22 |
| Jesus is God in the flesh. Jesus and God are one. - John 10:30, Philippians 2:5-6, John 1:18 | Jesus is the spirit-brother of Satan. "The appointment of Jesus to be the Savior of the world was contested by one of the other sons of God. He was called Lucifer, son of the morning. Haughty, ambitious, and covetous of power and glory, this spirit-brother of Jesus desperately tried to become the Savior of mankind." - Milton R. Hunter, The Gospel Through the Ages, p. 15 - First Council of The Seventy |
| Jesus was born to a virgin, through the Holy Ghost - Matthew 1:18-25 | "When the virgin Mary conceived the child Jesus, the Father had begotten him in His own likeness. He was not begotten by the Holy Ghost." - Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, vol. 1, p. 50 |
| Jesus atoned for our sins by His death on the cross. | Jesus atoned by sweating blood in Gethsemane. |
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