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Prepared by Ralph Price, May 2000
The purpose of this material is to contrast Mormonism with the Bible, showing
why the doctrine of man (Mormonism) is false.
- Scripture.
- "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints accepts four books as
Scripture.
- The Bible.
- The Book of Mormon.
- Doctrine and Covenants.
- The Pearl of Great Price.
Joseph Smith said of the Book of Mormon that it is, "the most correct
of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get
nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book."
They believe that the Holy Spirit continually reveals His word today.
Jude 3
says that the faith was "once" delivered unto the saints. Literally
"once for all."
2 Pet.
1:3 says God has given unto us all things that pertain unto life
and godliness.
History of the Book of Mormon.
Joseph Smith claims that an angel named Moroni told him where to find golden
tablets with ancient Egyptian written on them.
He claims that he used the Urim and Thummim to translate these tablets. He
claims that God gave him each letter.
This is important because the Book of Mormon has thousands of grammatical
errors. (Book of Mormon 1830 edition).
- p. 193 "The priests was..."
- p. 192 "They was added..."
- p. 290 "They did not fight against God no more..."
- p. 351 "That all might see the writing which he had wrote upon the
rent."
- p. 506 "I have wrote them..." "I were about to write."
- p. 506 "That to teach baptism unto they."
- p. 582 "This thing had ought not to be."
The book of Mormon is another gospel (Gal.
1:6-9).
They will say it is not another gospel but a continuation of the Bible.
However, it is another gospel for the following reasons.
- Example 1.
- Jesus born at Jerusalem (Alma 7:10).
- Jesus born at Bethlehem (Mt.
2:1).
- Example 2.
- Disciples first called Christians in 73 BC (Alma 46:13-14).
- The Bible says that they were first called Christians in Antioch which
was well over 100 years later (Acts
11:26).
- Example 3.
- Melchisedec got his priesthood through his father (D&C 84:14).
- The Bible teaches that Melchisedec did not get his priesthood from his
father (Heb.
7:3).
- Example 4.
- God has a fleshly body (D&C 130:22).
- The Bible says that God is a Spirit (Jn.
4:24; Lk.
24:39). Flesh and blood can not inherit the kingdom of God (1
Cor. 15:50).
God the Father.
They believe that, since we are made in God’s image, He must have a body
made of flesh and bones (D&C 130:22).
1 Cor.
15:50 tells us that flesh and blood can not inherit the kingdom of God.
This has to be talking about heaven because of the context of 1
Cor. 15.
John
4:24 tells us that God is a Spirit.
A quote from their website: "All good things come from God. Everything
that he does is t help his children become like him—a god."
Jesus Christ.
They believe that Jesus was the first offspring of heavenly parents.
- They believe that every person who was born on earth was first born in
heaven of spirit parents.
- They believe that God prepared the earth to help us grow to become more
like Him.
- "Since we could not progress further in heaven, our Heavenly Father
called a Grand Council to present his plan for our progression. We learned
that if we followed his plan, we would become like him. We would have a
resurrected body; we would have all power in heaven and on earth; we would
become heavenly parents and have spirit children as he does (see D&C
132:1920).
- The obvious implication from this is that Christ is not eternal.
The Bible teaches that Christ is eternal and that He is equal with God, the
Father, in all respects.
Colossians
1:16 tells us that all things in heaven in earth were created by Christ.
Mormons teach that these "heavenly parents" came before Christ. Who
created them if not Christ?
Philippians
2:5-8 tells us that Christ was equal with God.
The Lord’s Supper.
They partake of the Lord’s supper on each "Sabbath day."
Notice this quote; "Jesus gave his disciples wine when he introduced
the sacrament. However, in a latter-day revelation he has said that it doesn’t
matter what we eat and drink during the sacrament as long as we remember him
(see D&C 27:23). Today, Latter-day Saints drink water instead of
wine." How can they claim that their teaching is not another
gospel????
Marriage.
They believe that God has given us a way to enter into eternal marriages.
"In the celestial glory there are three heavens or degrees; And in
order to obtain the highest, a man must enter into this order of the
priesthood [meaning the new and everlasting covenant]; And if he does not, he
cannot obtain it." (D&C 131:13).
- The Bible does not mention that there are three degrees of heaven.
- Paul says that he was caught up into the third heaven. The three heavens
that he was referring to were:
- Where the birds fly.
- Space.
- Where God is. (This is where Paul was taken).
In order for an individual to enter into an eternal marriage, he must have a
ceremony performed by the "proper priesthood authority" and it must
be done in "one of the holy temples of our Lord."
Anyone not married by the proper Mormon authority and in a "holy
temple" is married for this life only.
They say that the eternal marriage gives one the opportunity to continue as
families after this life.
What blessings can one gain in eternity by an eternal marriage?
One can live in the highest degree of the celestial kingdom.
One can be exalted as God is and receive a fulness of joy.
One can, at some future time, increase his family by having spirit children.
The Bible clearly teaches that all marriages are for this life only (Mt.
22:30). There is no marriage in heaven!!!
Baptism for the Dead.
Mormons teach that individuals can be baptized for their ancestors.
- They say that some of our ancestors never had the opportunity to hear the
gospel.
- They are now in the "Postmortal Spirit World" where they are
taught the gospel.
- Those who accept the gospel are waiting for the temple ordinances to be
performed for them.
What is the "Postmortal Spirit World"???
"The spirits of those who are righteous are received into a state of
happiness, which is called paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where
they shall rest from all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow."
"Now this is the state of the soul of the wicked, yea, in darkness, and
a state of awful, fearful looking for the fiery indignation of the wrath of
God upon them; thus they remain in this state, as well as the righteous in
paradise, until the time of their resurrection." (Alma 40:1214).
The spirits are classified according to the purity of their lives and their
obedience to the will of the Lord while on earth. The righteous and the wicked
are separated, but the spirits may progress from one level to another as they
learn gospel principles and live in accordance with them.
They believe in a spirit prison where there are the two classes of spirits.
- Those who have never heard the gospel who can be taught and go to heaven
if their ancestors are baptized for them.
- Those who have rejected the gospel, either on earth or in the spirit
prison. These individuals must suffer for their sins until they pay for them
in full. At this time they will be allowed to inherit the lowest degree of
heaven.
None of this is taught in the Bible.
First, those who are in hell have no other opportunity to hear the gospel. Hebrews
9:27 tells us that after death comes the judgment.
- 1
Peter 3:19 talks about Christ preaching to the spirits who were in
prison.
- These spirits were the people who were alive while Noah was preparing the
ark.
- Christ preached to them by the Holy Spirit through Noah (2
Pet. 2:5).
Second, those who are in hell can never go to heaven (Lk.
12:26). There is a great gulf which no one can cross.
Notice their eleventh article of faith: "We claim the privilege of
worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and
allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they
may."
While it is true that all men should be free to choose their religion, it
sounds to me like the Mormons see nothing wrong with idolatry.
Idolatry is condemned (Deut.
4:22-24).
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