Is Mormonism Christianity?
September 3rd, 2009 With the rising popularity (in my opinion, deservedly so) of such people as Glenn Beck and Mitt Romney, and the increase in Mormonism, I am constantly being asked if Mormonism is just another normal Christian denomination with only minor differences. The answer unfortunately is an emphatic “no.” Mormons do not believe the same things at all. It is worlds away from Christianity and the Bible. So much so that it would take volumes to go into all the differences, but let me try to cover just a few. Let’s find out some of what is behind the fact that there is no cross to be found in the Mormon Tabernacle.
First, let’s look briefly at some Mormon history. It all started in 1820 when Joseph Smith was fifteen years old. He supposedly asked God what church he should join. He had a “vision” in which two people stood above him in the air and told him he should not join any church because they were all wrong, but that in the future the “real” truth would be revealed to him. About three years later a heavenly being, an angel called Moroni, supposedly appeared to him and told him that he had buried some gold plates, engraved in an ancient language. and that Joseph was chosen to translate them, to restore the “real” truth to the church. Joseph had to wear special glasses to be able to translate the golden plates. The book that came out of this was The Book Of Mormon, written in 1829. The next day the Mormon church was organized.
Before we go further we must know that in the Bible we are told, “But even if we, or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel to you other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!” Galations 1:8. Now remember, supposedly an angel gave Joseph Smith a new gospel. By the way, there is no angel named Moroni in the Bible. I think if I were Joe Smith I would have come up with a name like Gabriel to have sounded more credible.
The end result is that Mormons believe The Book Of Mormon , Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price and anything else written by Joseph Smith is the inspired word of God and not the Bible. They also believe that the church president hears from God and there can be no error in what he says. Because of that, the president changes the “true” gospel from time to time as things warrant it. For instance, about twenty five years ago the president got a new revelation that African Americans could become priests in the church for the first time in the Mormon 150 year history. Up until then they believed that Cain was cursed with dark skin and became the father of all the blacks. Of course, there is nothing at all in the Bible about that. Actually the “revelation” came about because of public pressure (and probably decreased financial support).
So what do they believe that is so different from Christians:
- Jesus was not born of a virgin.
- Jesus was married to Mary and Martha. ( that justifies having multiple wives.)
- Jesus’s second coming will be to Salt Lake City, Utah
- Salvation can only be gained by good works. (obviously the death and resurrection of Jesus was a total waste of time and effort. Hence, no cross in church.)
- Women can not be saved apart from men. ( I won’t even attempt a comment on that one)
- There will be marriages and child bearing in heaven. (Jesus teaches the total opposite when He says “At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage.” Matthew 22:30.)
- The more children a man has the more honor and glory he will have in heaven. (Again, this is not in the Bible.)
- God the Father is flesh and bones, not a spirit (Jesus Himself said, “God is spirit.” John 4:24.)
- Only a Mormon can get to heaven. (This is obviously far from Biblical.)
- God the Father was once a man like us.
- God lives on a planet near the star Kolob.
- God (”Heavenly Father”) has at least one wife, our “Mother in Heaven,” but she is so holy that we are not to discuss her nor pray to her.
- We can become like God and rule over our own universe.
- There are many gods, ruling over their own worlds.
- Jesus and Satan (”Lucifer”) are brothers, and they are our brothers - we are all spirit children of the Heavenly Father
- Jesus Christ was conceived by God the Father by having sex with Mary, who was temporarily his wife.
- We should not pray to Jesus, nor try to feel a personal relationship with him.
- The “Lord” (”Jehovah”) in the Old Testament is the being named Jesus in the New Testament, but different from “God the Father” (”Elohim”).
- Before coming to this earth we lived as spirits in a “pre-existence”, during which we were tested; our position in this life (whether born to Mormons or savages, or in America or Africa) is our reward or punishment for our obedience in that life.
- Dark skin is a curse from God, the result of our sin, or the sin of our ancestors. If sufficiently righteous, a dark-skinned person will become light-skinned.
- The Garden of Eden was in Missouri. All humanity before the Great Flood lived in the western hemisphere. The Ark transported Noah and the other survivors to the eastern hemisphere.
- Not only will human beings be resurrected to eternal life, but also all animals - everything that has ever lived on earth - will be resurrected and dwell in heaven.
- Christ will not return to earth in any year that has seen a rainbow.
- Mormons should avoid traveling on water, since Satan rules the waters.
- The sun receives its light from the star Kolob.
- If a Gentile becomes Mormon, the Holy Ghost actually purges his Gentile blood and replaces it with Israelite blood.
This is just a sampling of the many differences between Mormons and Christians who believe in the Bible, and as you can see, they are huge differences. The Mormons do a lot of good works, and they have grown in leaps and bounds. I am sure that Satan is tickled to death with them.
In Fact, Michael Boldea, who is a wonderful Christian saint who heads up Hand of Help Ministry ( a ministry worthy of our support), tells of the time that he was going around to churches in America, interpreting for his late grandfather, Dumitru Duduman, who only spoke Romanian and was truly a man of God. They were asked to speak at a Mormon convention and Duduman gladly accepted. At the beginning of the talk his grandfather said in Romanian, “The real founder of the Mormon Church was not Joseph Smith. It was Satan.” Michael looked at his grandfather in surprise and said to him in Romanian, “I can’t say that, Grandfather.” Duduman said, “Say it.” So Michael interpreted what his grandfather had said and to his astonishment there was no uproar. In fact, at the end of the talk many in attendance gave their lives to Christ.
After the meeting was over Michael asked some of the people about their reaction when his grandfather said, “The real founder of the Mormon Church was not Joseph Smith. It was Satan.” Each person said individually something to the effect, “I was awestruck. Did you not see the giant angel that stood behind your grandfather when he said that?”
September 3rd, 2009 at 4:03 pm
“I am constantly being asked if Mormonism is just another normal Christian denomination”
I’m wondering why they would ask you–your list of what “they believe” is so fraught with error that I can’t imagine how you got so much misinformation in one post.
September 3rd, 2009 at 4:23 pm
Dear Alma,
It seems that these days my e-mail and phone messages are constantly full of all sorts of questions pertaining to God, the Bible, etc., but that question has surprisingly come up very often. Maybe Mormonism is on the rise so much that people are being approached more often by their “witnesses,” or maybe it is as I mentioned, that the high profile members such as Glenn Beck have just brought the religion more into main stream thinking and curiosity. At any rate, I have been surprised that so few Christians seem to truly understand some of their beliefs, so I thought it might be good to arm our people with some facts.
Thank you for your comment. I truly appreciate hearing from you.
Yours in Christ Jesus, Bob Morley
September 3rd, 2009 at 6:38 pm
A good place to start in determining what actual differences exist between Mormonism and other Christian denominations would be at the LDS website. The site http://lds.org contains all of their scripture, lesson manuals, magazines and addresses by their leaders. It is the site that members of the church use for study and direction, so it certainly would be a place to find whether Mormons indeed believe or are taught the things you suggest.
September 4th, 2009 at 12:41 am
Dear David,
I assume you are a Mormon and you were very polite in your comment, so I feel it only appropriate that we do furnish resources for the statements we made about Morman beliefs. Therefore I will endeavor to do much of that below, with links to the web site that you referred to that do try to support those positions. There are a few points that we brought up that may require too much cross referencing to be possible in this brief comment, but I think you will find the vast majority of the differing beliefs that we listed will be addressed to your satisfaction directly from the LDS web site and or books written by your founder, Joseph Smith, such as the Book of Mormons, or other of your prophets:
God was once a man like us: http://packham.n4m.org/gbh-god.htm
- God has a tangible body of flesh and bone: D&C 130:22
- God lives on a planet near the star Kolob: Book of Abraham 3:3-16
- God has at least one wife, our “Mother in Heaven”: Joseph Fielding Smith, Man, His Origin and Destiny, p 348-355: “All men and women are in the similitude of the universal Father and Mother…” (More citations in The Changing World of Mormonism, Chapter 7)
- Jesus was married: This idea is consistent with the Mormon doctrine that marriage is required for godhood; see citations from early church leaders at Changing World of Mormonism, Chapter 9. The church denies that this is a doctrine of the church here.
- We can become like God and rule over our own universe. http://packham.n4m.org/gbh-god.htm
- There are many gods, ruling over their own worlds: Citations in “http://www.utlm.org/onlinebooks/changech7.htm#From%20One%20to%20Many”>The Changing World of Mormonism, Chapter 7
- Jesus and Satan (”Lucifer”) are brothers: D&C 76:25, Moses 4:1-4
- Jesus Christ was conceived by God the Father by having sex with Mary: Citations in The Changing World of Mormonism, Chapter 7
- We should not try to feel a personal relationship with Jesus: “Our Relationship With The Lord” by Apostle Bruce R. McConkie
- “The Lord” (”Jehovah”) in the Old Testament is the same being named Jesus in the New Testament, but not the same as “God the Father”: D&C 110:2-4; Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, article “Jehovah”; 1 Nephi 19:10
- In the the highest degree of the celestial kingdom some men will have more than one wife: D&C 132:63
- “Pre-existence”: See Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, Vol. 1, ch 4, esp pp 60-61
- Dark skin is a curse from God: 1 Nephi 12:23, 2 Nephi 5:21, Alma 3:6, Jacob 3:8, 3 Nephi 2:15, Morm 5:15.
- The Garden of Eden was in Missouri: D&C 116:1; see also D&C 107:53.
- Animal resurrection: http://packham.n4m.org/animals.htm
- Rainbow: http://packham.n4m.org/prophet.htm
- Satan rules water: D&C 61
- Sun’s light is from Kolob: Book of Abraham Facsimile # 2, Explanation of Fig 5
- Gentile blood is replaced: History of the Church 3:380, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith p. 150
September 4th, 2009 at 2:50 am
Hi I’m a christian and grew up in Utah and have many mormon relatives descended from Utah Pioneers. All that you noted in your article is true and can be documented somewhere in the archives of mormon church history and teaching. Some of these beliefs are unknown to many members of the LDS church because its doctrine is ever evolving and has been buried to some extent in an effort to camaflouge the real mormon church as christian. Thank you for taking the time to point out the differences between true christian faith and the masquerading fraud of mormonisn.
September 4th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
I think you might have missed my point. What the Church teaches, and thus what Mormons believe is contained in their scripture and literature. I don’t doubt that the sources you list are accurate, but the majority of your quotes don’t accurately reflect what the beliefs of the Church really are. If I were to apply your reasoning to Christianity - using just the Bible, I might come up with something like this:
What Christians actually believe is:
Incantations and the blood of birds cure leprosy. (Leviticus 14:49-53)
Donkeys speak like humans. (Numbers 22:21-30)
The main purpose that Jesus was sent to earth was to get families to fight with one another. (Matthew 10:35-36)
And obviously there are many more just like these that could be used to illustrate the point. Are they accurate quotes? Are they taken out of context? Do they represent the central core of the Christian teaching of the Gospel?
The atheist might say, “some of actual Christian beliefs are unknown to many Christians, because their doctrine has evolved and much has been buried to some extent in an effort to camouflage the real Christian church.”
I would still maintain that if someone wants to know what Mormons believe and what members of the Church are being taught by their leaders, the websites are a highly accurate source.
September 4th, 2009 at 4:36 pm
Having spent three years in Salt Lake, I can attest to the argument that the Mormon church is not being led by the Holy Spirit. With many of my friends as Mormon’s during those years, I had the opportunity to learn about the church, with many things being very secret. It became clear, that the contolling tennants of LDS do not take advantage of the saving grace and freedom of our Lord. The members live in fear, believe good works will save them, and are brainwashed from many sectors of the church. I went to a couple of services, and found them to be void of the Holy Spirit and down right creepy. After reading the Book of Mormon, I clearly had a burning in my heart that it was the work of Satan. Joseph Smith was a deceiver, a convited criminal, and a great leader for the devil. Thank you Bob for again speaking the truth.
September 4th, 2009 at 6:27 pm
Dear David,
Actually, if we had the time to do it I could show you that the Mormon beliefs that I listed in the article are still being taught today, and taught on the web site you refer to. The one exception is polygamy, which is not currently being taught, due to US law, but as you will agree, is still being practiced to some degree. These things do not, of course, appear on the main pages of the Mormon web site, but if we had time to go through all of the embedded lessons at that site, which I have spent time studying, I could take you through them point by point. Believe me, I do not write these articles haphazardly.
On the other hand, none of the three things you brought up are being taught in Christianity. In fact, you could go through the entire history of Christian teaching and find that none of them were ever beliefs. So, to compare the two things is like apples and oranges. The things I listed in the article are or were actual beliefs of the Mormon Church.
However, it is obviously a waste of time to search point by point through an entire listing of differences. We need to look at the underlying falacy. The main problem with Mormonism lies in the basic premise of Mormonism. Joseph Smith and your church leaders have either never considered, or have thrown out the fact, that God is, and always has been, wise enough and powerful enough to preserve His Word. One of the basic building blocks of true Christianity is the belief in the inerrancy of God’s Holy Word. And this inerrancy was even proven with the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. God made sure through the centuries that His communication to mankind was not changed, and when the modern Bibles were compared with the Dead Sea Scrolls mankind was amazed at the accuracy of the current text. Mormonism fails to acknowledge that God was so phenomenal that he could accomplish such a feat throughout the centuries.
A very young and naive Joseph Smith was easy fodder for Satan, the master deceiver, to ply his wiles and convince him that the Bible had been changed so much that it was no longer of any use. Satan could not have accomplished that with a true believer who would have known that even messages from angels are worthless unless they stack up with God’s Word. Satan, of course, did include some truths in his communication in order to make things sound believable, just as he did with his biggest lie, evolution.
David, the Bible is such a phenomenal work that it can be proven to be without error. It can be proven to be the actual Word of God. But it takes in depth study to understand and appreciate that fact fully. That is one of the things that Unlocking God’s Secrets did. If you would be willing to read it, and have the desire to do so, you are more than welcome to send your mailing address to me at my personal e-mail, morley120@juno.com . I would be delighted to send you a copy free of charge. Once you discover the wonders of the true communication from God, the Bible. you will understand that no other book, or man designed beliefs, are at all necessary. I truly hope I hear from you.
In Christ Jesus, Bob Morley
September 5th, 2009 at 2:17 am
Good article and well answered, Bob.
BTW, in an earlier post you mentioned the book “The Big Fisherman” by Lloyd C Douglas. I can’t remember how I got hold of it but I have a 1949 copy of that book. At some stage I’ll have to actually read it!
Many blessings.