“Hear,
O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” Deuteronomy 6:4
“Therefore
go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…” Matthew 28:19
“…and
the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came
from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” Luke 3:22
Joseph
Smith founded the Latter Day Saints movement in the 1820’s. According to Mormon
tradition, while living in upstate New York, Smith found several gold plates that
contained writings by the prophet Mormon that he had been directed to by an
angel. Smith also claimed that God granted him the ability to translate and
interpret the plates, which he called the Book of Mormon,
named after the ancient prophet Mormon who had compiled them.
The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints uses this collection of writings (The
Book or Mormon) in addition to their translation of the Old and New Testaments
called the New World Translation (NWT). Mormons consider the Book of Mormon to
be the direct word of God. This of course flies directly in the face of real
Christian Scripture which tells Christians in the Book of Revelation:
“I
warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone
adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in
this scroll. And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God
will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy
City, which are described in this scroll. Revelation 22:18-19
“Do
not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the
commands of the Lord your God that I give you.” Deuteronomy 4:2
In
Kirtland, Ohio, Joseph Smith started a church where people were converted to
Mormonism and he began to establish the community of believers in what was
believed to be a new Zion. Smith believed that God called him to establish the
new Promised Land. Smith commissioned the building of a Mormon temple to symbolize
the new community bond. It is at this point persecutions of Mormons began in
earnest when non-Mormons in the area began to disapprove of the expansion. Things
got so bad that these Latter Day Saints needed to move to Nauvoo, Illinois.
Again they tried to build another temple in Illinois. It is at this point Smith
announced his candidacy for president of the United States in 1844. Also in 1844, Smith and the LDS community
severely angered non-Mormons by destroying a printing press after it was used
to publish articles critical of Smith's power and practice of polygamy. During
the resultant turmoil, Smith was imprisoned and later murdered when a
mob stormed the jailhouse.
Somewhere
right around this time frame Smith established a church overseeing body of what
appears to have been elders called the Quorum. The Quorum consisted of twelve
apostles, one of whom was Brigham Young. Brigham Young immediately faced
opposition from the non-Mormon
community and believed it was important to avoid conflict due to what had just
transpired with Smith so once again the Mormons relocated the community, this
time they settled in Utah which is where they have been based from since. In
Utah the Mormons via Young established what amounted to a theocracy,
holding authority in both the church and government.
Over
time, the Mormon community began to experience resistance from both internal
and external
sources over their unbiblical practice of polygamy and other questionable
practices. In 1890, the federal government seized all of the church's assets. It
is at this point Joseph F. Smith went before the United States Congress and
publicly opposed the practice of plural marriage, and ever since the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints officially rejects the practice of plural
marriage. Whether or not they actually adhere to this declaration is another
story.
Beliefs
…and
this is where it gets really strained and hard to believe. Mormons see
themselves as Protestant Christians. The problem is that there are Mormon
beliefs that clearly differ from true biblical Christian orthodoxy and
doctrine. Their most glaring theological error is denial of the Trinity. Mormons
believed that the early Christian Church was corrupt, so they reject both the
Nicene Creed. Most Protestant Christians believe that corruption later in the history
of the church was possible but the least corrupt era during the church was the
early nascent church or the time of the Church Fathers. It wasn’t until the
combination of Church and State and the Romanizing of the Church that we see
real Protestant Christians start to diverge from the true Catholic (worldwide) church.
Because the Mormons distrust and rejected things like the Nicene Creed they
would therefore reject things like the concept of the Trinity which is clearly
stated in the Nicene Creed by delineating the three persons within the Trinity.
There are some branches of the LDS church that believes that each form
possesses its own divinity in a form of modalism. Some Mormons believe that the Father was once in
physical form and had sexual relations with Mary to conceive Jesus.
Mormons
(and possibly loony readers of the Da Vinci Code) are unique in their belief
that Jesus was married, they also believe that Jesus came to the Americas after
he was crucified, buried, and resurrected. How He could do this (possibly
twice) after He said, “It is finished” (John 19:30) and the Bible explicitly
tells us that He died once for all (1 Peter 3:18, Romans 6:10, Hebrews 7:27,
9:28)…is a little shady and frankly…preposterous. It is also claimed in the
Book of Mormon that the people of the Americas lived in perfect peace for more
than 200 years after Jesus appeared to them.
Mormons
also believe that all souls have always existed; thus, they are not created.
This is another heresy unique to the Mormons. If our souls have always existed
that would make people’s souls eternal not just immortal. This is only possible
for an eternal God…not people. But of course this is where the Mormon beliefs
diverge from weird to outright nutty. If they are eternal or have always
existed then the possibility of people becoming gods (little “g”) comes in
view. And wouldn’t you know it…that’s exactly what Mormons believe! Strange as
it may seem, they believe that God evolved from human form and they also
believe that all Mormons can evolve into gods (lower case "g", and plural). Real Christians see this for the
absurdity that it is. A true Christian understands that it is only through
Jesus Christ’s atoning work on the Cross that we are even deemed righteous in
the eyes of God let alone divine. We are human and will always be a created
being. God is wholly other and is not created.
Mormons
claim that a prophet by the name of Mormon and a Prophet/Warrior name Moroni collected the stories in ancient
times and carved them into seven golden plates, which would later be “discovered”
by Joseph Smith. The would be found by Smith at the direction of the Angel Moroni (yes, the same guy after he dies). The Book of Mormon tells of the account of the ancient people (Native
Americans) of the Americas up through an account of Jesus's visit to North and
South America. The book of Mormon begins with the story of a man named Lehi,
who was told by God to build a boat, take his family, and sail to the Americas.
Lehi obeyed, so his family prospered.
Strangely,
what I believe we see in Mormonism is an early American version of Star Trek’s
Borg and the hive mentality too. Although Mormons do not believe in icons like a cross being allowed in church because they believe it is a form of idolatry and idol worship, they do have
symbols within their religion that are prominent. One of which is the seagull and the other is a beehive.
The beehive is significant not only because Mormons carried bees with them as
they relocated to Utah but also because the beehive symbolizes industriousness and obedience. Oddly
enough…just like the Borg in Star Trek. It is a collective worker mentality. Mormons strive to work together, as
does a hive of bees, with the result being a supposed unified or familial moral harmony
(or should I say uniformity to nearly a ritualistic and blind degree?).
On
the issue of polygamy it should be stated that Joseph Smith and early adherents
clearly advocated plural marriages. He believed it would quickly expand the
numbers of Mormon believers. Another unbiblical practice of the Mormons was/is the baptism of
the dead which supposedly gives deceased
people like family members a chance to gain entry into heaven or the kingdom of
God.
Another
little known but sad and racist fact about Mormons is that they shunned people
of darker skin for many years. Mormons believed that dark skin was a physical
representation of the legacy or “mark of Cain”. Since Cain killed Abel, Mormons
believed he was cursed by God. Therefore, dark-skinned people carried this
association and were avoided by many Mormons. It was not until 1978 that African-Americans were permitted to become part of the priesthood of believers. Lovely.
There are other things that could be said about Mormons and their flawed belief system like the fact that pagan symbols akin to Freemasonry abound in their faith (pentagrams, all-seeing eye, etc.), but this threads the needle too close to conspiracy theories for my liking. What I have provided here speaks volumes in itself. From the outside they seem Christian-like but as soon as closer scrutiny is placed on them they fall woefully short of Scripture.
There are other things that could be said about Mormons and their flawed belief system like the fact that pagan symbols akin to Freemasonry abound in their faith (pentagrams, all-seeing eye, etc.), but this threads the needle too close to conspiracy theories for my liking. What I have provided here speaks volumes in itself. From the outside they seem Christian-like but as soon as closer scrutiny is placed on them they fall woefully short of Scripture.
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