The Mormon Abomination

It is exceedingly difficult to compose a succinct definition and description of the Mormon or Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints beliefs and practices since they are rather strange and incredulous. Mormons attempt to be identified as a part of mainstream Christianity, but anything can be further from the truth. While today they are placing great emphasis upon Jesus Christ to demonstrate their “Christian” identity, the Jesus of Mormonism is not the Jesus of the Bible.

Regarding the sources for their beliefs, Mormons identify the King James Version of the Bible, the Book of Mormon which was “translated” by Joseph Smith and published in 1830. Smith claimed it is the “most correct book” on earth. Doctrine and Covenants, containing a collection of modern revelations, and The Pearl of Great Price, which clarifies teachings that were lost from the Bible.There are about fourteen million Mormons worldwide.

Joseph Smith Jr. (1805–1844) was born in Sharon, Vermont. By 1817, he had moved with his family to the burned-over district of western New York. He claimed that while praying in a wooded area near his home in 1820, God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to him and told him his sins were forgiven and that all contemporary churches had "turned aside from the gospel." The event would later grow in importance to Smith's followers, who now regard it as the first event in the gradual restoration of Christ's church on Earth.

 In 1823, Smith claimed the angel Moroni directed him to a buried book of golden plates in the hills of Palmyra, New York describing the Judeo-Christian history of the ancient American civilizations of the Nephites and the Lamanites. In 1830, Smith published what he said was an English translation of these plates called the Book of Mormon, named after Mormon, a so-called ancient prophet–historian who allegedly compiled the book. He had given it to his son Moroni who appeared to Joseph Smith as an angel. There were three witnesses who claimed to have seen the angel and the golden plates, each one exhibiting a bizarre spirituality.

There are many conflicting views of the source of the Book of Mormon. Some say Smith wrote it. Some claim it was collaborative effort Other say it was plagerized from a fictional work written by Solomon Spalding, a retired Congregational minister,

That same year Smith published his book, proclaimed his visions, gained followers, and organized the Church of Christ, calling it a restoration of the early Christian church. Members of the church were called "Mormons.” In 1838, Smith announced a revelation renaming the church as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

One thing for sure, the Mormons were a people on the move. They settled in Kirkland Ohio, moved to western Missouri where they were ousted by order of the Governor.  In late 1839, they bought the small town of Commerce, Illinois and renamed it Nauvoo, derived from the traditional Hebrew with an anglicized spelling meaning “beautiful.” They settled and built a temple. By 1844, the population of Nauvoo's had swollen to about twelve thousand due to Mormon influx, rivaling the size of Chicago.

On June 27, 1844, in Carthage, Illinois, Smith and his brother Hyrum were killed by a mob who began burning homes and threatening members of the group. A full-scale battle ensued, and Mormons were forced to flee from Nauvoo. Two years after their expulsion, their temple was set ablaze by an arsonist. It was destroyed in 1867. Because Hyrum Smith was the logical successor, the deaths of the brothers caused a leadership crisis, and Brigham Young assumed leadership over the majority of Mormons. Believing they could find no peace among their neighbors, they trekked west and finally settled in Salt Lake City.

Through the early years of the Christian Church there have been many views cited regarding the person of Jesus Christ and His relationship with God, but no group has ever perverted, distorted, and blasphemed God more than the Mormons. They are polytheists and have many gods. They reject the Doctrine of the Trinity and claim that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are three gods. God the Father has not always been the Supreme Being of the universe but attained that status through righteous living and persistent effort. Mormons believe that God the Father has a “body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s” While Jesus and the Father have physical bodies, the Holy Spirit has a spirit-body. God resides on a planet called Koleb and is married to his goddess wife and produces spirit children. God the Father was once a mortal who lived on an earth. He died, was resurrected, glorified, and grew into his deified status. According to Joseph Smith, there is a “God above the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Jesus is the literal son of god born of his mother Mary. He is the first of the many spirit-children born of his parents, father and mother god. He is the brother of Lucifer. Jesus is the Yahweh or Jehovah of the Old Testament and is the creator of many worlds He was the spiritual "first born" Son of God in the preexistence. "Every person who was ever born on earth was our spirit brother or sister in heaven. The first spirit born to our heavenly parents was Jesus Christ, so he is literally our elder brother" Mormons claim they know more about Jesus than any other Christian Church.

God sent his pre-existent spirit children to earth to receive physical bodies and grow and develop into exalted “godness.” They are born basically good and are "gods in embryo." But they were deceived and sinned requiring Jesus to come to earth to suffer and die and atone for their sins and put them back on the right path. After his resurrection, according to the Book of Mormon, Jesus appeared to the Nephites in America.

Jesus' atonement provided immortality for all people. Exaltation (godhood) is available only to Mormons through obedience to Mormon teachings: faith, baptism, endowments, celestial marriage, and tithing. "Wherefore, as it is written, they are gods, even the sons of God- wherefore, all things are theirs" Exalted people will live eternally in the presence of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. They will become gods and will have their righteous family members with them and will be able to have spirit children who will have the same relationship to them as we do to our Heavenly Father. They will be an eternal family. They will have everything that our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have - all power, glory, dominion, and knowledge. The Mormons state: "As man is, God once was; as God is, man may become."

Mormons have three levels of eternal life.

Exaltation in the Celestial Kingdom for faithful Mormons where people may become gods or angels.

Terrestrial Kingdom for righteous non-Mormons; They are honorable men of the earth, who were blinded by the craftiness of men. These are they who receive of his glory, but not of his fullness.

Telestial Kingdom for wicked and ungodly (not hell); "These are they who are liars, and sorcerers, and adulterers . . . who suffer the wrath of God on earth."

While all Mormons attend church in their local congregation or services at the Tabernacle, only a select group who fulfill all the rules of Mormonism receive a Temple recommend. Adult males are ordained into the Melchizedek Priesthood. Temple recommends are usually issued by a bishop who is responsible as a "judge in Israel." The one who attends the Temple enjoys the spiritual atmosphere and participates in baptisms for the dead.

Baptism for the dead is an Important Mormon practice carried out in the Temple. Baptism is an essential requirement to enter the Kingdom of God. Mormons are asked to trace their family trees and discover the names of ancestors who died without learning about the so-called “Mormon Gospel.” These relatives from past generations are baptized by proxy in the temple. For Mormons, genealogy is a way to save more souls and strengthen the eternal family unit. Jews have strongly objected to the Mormons baptizing by proxy the names of Jews, especially holocaust survivors.

About 2.4 million rolls of microfilm containing two billion names that have been traced are locked away behind fourteen-ton doors in the Granite Mountain Records Vault, a climate-controlled repository designed to survive a nuclear blast.

 The practice of baptizing for the dead is based upon one verse of the New Testament (1 Corinthians 15:29), although the meaning of that verse is esoteric. The early church viewed the practice as being unique in Corinth and an outgrowth of the heresy of Gnosticism and forbid it.

One of the strange practices of Mormons is the wearing of “sacred underwear” by those who have received a temple recommend and have participated in the endowment or initiation ceremony. Mormons compare this practice with the practice of other religions who wear sacred garments, except Mormons wear those sacred garments as underwear. Joseph Smith described Mormon underwear as “the most sacred of all things in the world, next to their own virtue, next to their own purity of life.”

The promises made in the endowment ceremony are similar to the promises made in Masonic ceremonies. There is a distinct relationship between Mormonism and the Masons. Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormon movement, as was true of his older brother Hyrum and possibly his father, were Freemasons while the family lived near Palmyra, New York. Smith introduced a temple endowment ceremony including a number of symbolic elements that were very similar to those in Freemasonry. Smith remained a Freemason until his death.

Regarding the primary issue of salvation, Mormons teach that one attains heaven not by grace alone through faith, but by faith together with obedience to the Law and ordinances of Mormonism.

Mormonism is an abomination. It distorts everything we as Christians hold dear, believe and teach. Their doctrine of God is blasphemous. Their understanding of Jesus is contrary to Scripture. While the Bible teaches one God in three persons, the Mormons are polytheists, believing in the existence of many gods. Mormons who are exalted can themselves become gods leading authors Ed Decker and David Hunt to title their expose’ of Mormonism The God Makers.

Christians can confront Mormons on many levels:

We believe there is one God in Three Persons, Mormons believe there are many gods. Mormons are polytheists.

To suggest that God would hide golden tablets near Palmyra, New York intending to restore the true church to be discovered in 1828 is ridiculous. If such golden tablets presented possible truth they would have been unearthed in archaeological digs in Israel, not Palmyra, New York.

The geographical location, the “burned over” section of upstate New York, presented the perfect environment to create a fanciful religion

The Bible says no one has seen God at any time (John 1:18) yet Joseph Smith claims that God the Father and Jesus appeared to him in 1820.

Jesus told the woman at the well that God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. (John 4:25). Mormons teach that God has a physical body.

Jesus is the only begotten Son of God from all eternity not the product of a sexual relationship between, father and mother god.

To suggest that Jesus is the brother of Lucifer and Jehovah (Yahweh) in the Old Testament is pure invention and contrary to Scripture.

The Bible says we are the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:26) not the pre-existent spirit-children of father and mother god.

According to archaeological evidence, there is no trace or record of Nephites and Lamanites ever existing in so-called Mesoamerica. Dr. Raymond T. Matheny, a Brigham Young University professor, after working in the area of archaeology for twenty-two years, reported that the scientific evidence simply does not support the existence of the peoples and events chronicled in the Book of Mormon, be it in Central America or anywhere else in the western hemisphere. There is manifold historical and archaeological evidence supporting the truth claims of the Bible.

Mormons teach that the truth of the Book of Mormon will be affirmed to the seeker through a “burning in the bosom.” The truth of the Bible is confirmed by multitudes of ancient documents, historical and archaeological discoveries.

Summary:

In thinking about the Mormons I am reminded of what the Apostle Paul  said about the Jews in Romans 10:2-4:

For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.

 Mormons are not Christians and will be judged for their distortion of and additions to the Word of God. When confronting them, probing questions and a clear witness to the Gospel must be presented with humility and compassion. They have been deceived.