Concern About Mormonism
Do you have a spouse, relative, or friend who belongs to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? Is your neighbor or co-worker Mormon (a.k.a. LDS)? Do your children know Mormons at school? Have you ever had the Mormon missionaries come to your door? Have you seen or heard a television or radio ad sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? For that matter, are Mormons Christians? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you need to be equipped with the truth regarding Mormonism.
Generally speaking, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are model citizens. They are devout in their beliefs, family-oriented, are clean in language and appearance, eschew smoking, drinking, and carousing, and are active in the PTA, as well as in politics. Mormons are often the first to show up on your doorstep with a fresh-baked loaf of bread when you move next door to them. They are usually hard-working and honest people. LDS kids, for the most part, are the kind of kids parents like their own children to hang out with because they tend to stay out of trouble and have strong moral values. The question then begs to be asked, "So what is the problem? They sound like good Christian people."
The problem exists in the fact that the gospel as defined by Mormonism is a false gospel founded on the teachings of false prophets and apostles. Furthermore, Mormonism is not just another denomination of Christianity. Rather, it is a quasi-Christian religion not founded on Biblical truths, but on untested "revelations" given to LDS Church leaders. This comes as a bold statement and one to which Mormons would most likely take offense. What are the reasons then, for making such an assertion and why is it important and urgent for people to know?
The importance and urgency for Christians to be equipped with the truth concerning Mormonism is two-fold;
1) We are commanded to preach the gospel of salvation, for God is willing that no one should perish (Mark 16:15-16, 2 Peter 3:9).
2) We are to keep watch over ourselves, our families, and other believers, for "grievous wolves will come in" among us and "not spare the flock" (Acts 20:28-29)
The importance and urgency for those who currently identify themselves as seekers of spiritual truth is also significant. If there is indeed absolute truth regarding the character and nature of God, then it becomes imperative to understand what He requires of us. Since there is a vast variety of religions and belief systems to choose from, most of them contradictory to one another, we must evaluate each of them according to the facts, evidence, and veracity of their claims.
 Mormons use Christian terminology and sound very Biblical, but they define those terms differently than Christians who understand the Bible do. Just as a chameleon can, by the change of his color, appear to be a part of its surrounding environment, Mormonism can appear at first glance to look like Christianity. On close inspection, however, one can see that it is not. Instead, one finds a false gospel that leads its followers far from God and His saving truth. The god worshiped by Mormons is not the God of the Bible.
Did you know according to Mormon Doctrine:
•That God was once a man who earned godhood through works and worthiness? 1
•That early LDS prophets taught that Jesus was conceived through sexual relations between God the Father and Mary, one of his Celestial wives? 2
•That Christ's atonement doesn't cover all sins? 3
•That "As man is, God once was; as God is, man may become?" 4
•That the LDS temple ceremony was taken from Masonic temple rituals? 5
•That no one can enter the “Celestial Kingdom” (where the Father and Jesus dwell) without the express permission of Joseph Smith? 6
Other interesting facts:
Almost all converts to Mormonism come from a nominal Christian background.
Mormon missionaries do not evangelize (preach the "Good News" that salvation comes through Jesus Christ alone); they proselytize (to recruit or convert, especially to a new faith, institution, or cause). They do not believe in the universal church.
Mormonism is one of the wealthiest churches per capita on earth. "In business terms, the [LDS] Church is an $8-billion a year conglomerate that employs about 10,000 people." (Time Magazine, July 29, 1991) It is estimated that the LDS Church has $25-$30 billion in assets as of 1999 (Mormon America, Richard & Joan Ostling, 1999, Appendix B, pp. 395-400)
The Church's commercial enterprises include 312,000 acres of land outside of Disney World, a cattle ranch of over 200,000 acres on the Utah-Wyoming border (one of many ranches), grapefruit and orange holdings in Florida, several insurance companies (including Beneficial Life, among others) Bonneville International Corporations (which owns fifteen radio and two television stations), and Deseret News (a daily Utah newspaper), to name jst a few! (Mormon America, Richard & Joan Ostling)
Marriot Hotels--owned by the prominent LDS Marriot family-- place a Book of Mormon in each room, while offering hard-core pornogaphy on cable.
"The Mormon Church is the single largest sponsor of Boy Scout Units in the United States, and Mormon officials have admitted this is an effective manner in which to share the faith." (Fast Facts on Mormonism, John Ankerberg & John Weldon, 2003, p. 15)
"Far more persons convert to the Mormon Church from other churches or from a status of no religious affiliation than leave." (This People [Mormon periodical], Spring 1990, p. 21) Once people "check in" to the Mormon religion, few are able to "check out."
As you will learn from your examination of Mormonism, it is extremely difficult for members to leave the organization. Fear plays a major part in a questioning Mormon's failure to resign membership. There is fear of damnation, loss of relationships, loss of business (in predominantly LDS communities), loss of job (when employed by other Mormons), loss of reputation, fear that if Mormonism is not true, nothing else may be. There is so much concern about "apostasy" among LDS that the majority of them will refuse to look into the problems of their religion. Many will even refuse to look at their own church's history or writings by early Mormon leaders for fear it might "shake their testimonies of the truthfulness of the [Mormon] gospel." Indeed, current LDS leaders have gone so far as to intimidate members with warnings that they should not "study themselves out of the church" and should only read the "faith-promoting history" of Mormonism.
It is with good reason we strive to educate people with the differences between historic Christianity and Mormonism; if Mormonism is true, then just about every person on earth will inherit a degree of glory in the next life, meaning everyone gets to go to some level of heaven. If, however, the biblical record is true, there will only be a relatively small number of the earth's population from Adam until the present who will inherit eternal life (living in God's presence forever). Consequently, it is imperative to know spiritual truth because where a person spends eternity depends on it. Regardless of which religion in the world is true--or if none are true--the facts and evidence should support it.
It is our belief that the preponderance of evidence falls in favor of Judaic-Christianity. By “Judaic Christianity” we mean everything God revealed about Himself on Mount Sinai to the Children of Israel, all the way to the Cross where Yeshua Ha'Mashiach (Hebrew for Jesus Messiah) died a substitutionary death to atone for the sins of mankind. Our goal is to point seekers in the right direction of where to find that evidence.
The cross is the main symbol of Christianity and can be found on Christian churches all over the world. The cross is a significant Christian symbol because it was there that God redeemed us from death and hell. The Apostle Paul asserted, "For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified" (1 Cor. 2:2).
"For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God...we preach Christ crucified" (1 Cor. 1:18, 23).
 You will not find a cross on a Mormon Church, temple, or campus. (The pentagram has long been associated with the occult. The pictures of the stained glass pentagram (right) and "sunstone" (above) were taken of the LDS Nauvoo Temple, which is covered with pentagrams and sun-god faces. All LDS temples have pentagrams and other occult symbols on them. Historically, these symbols have never been part of Christianity or its Jewish foundation, but have been associated with pagan worship anciently and today.
Footnotes:
1. "God undoubtedly took advantage of every opportunity to learn the laws of truth and as He became acquainted with each new verity He righteously obeyed it...As He gained more knowledge through persistent effort and continuous industry, as well as through absolute obedience, His understanding of the universal laws continued to become more complete. Thus He grew in experience and continued to grow until He attained the status of Godhood." (Milton R. Hunter [LDS Apostle 1958], The Gospel Through the Ages, Deseret Book, pp. 114-115)
"God is a perfected, saved soul enjoying eternal life" (Marion G. Romney, [LDS Apostle] "How Men Are Saved," Ensign [an LDS magazine], Nov. 1974, p. 38)
2. "God the Father is a perfected, glorified, holy Man, and immortal personage. And Christ was born into the world as the literal Son of this holy Being; he was born in the same personal, real, and literal sense that any mortal son is born to a mortal father. There is nothing figurative about his paternity; he was begotten, conceived and born in the normal and natural course of events, for he is the Son of God, and that designation means what it says." (Bruce R. McKonkie, [LDS apostle] Mormon Doctrine, 1966, p. 742)
3. "If a man commit adultery, he cannot receive the Celestial kingdom of God. Even if he is saved in any kingdom, it cannot be the Celestial Kingdom." (History of the Church, Vol. 6, p. 81)
"Murder...is a 'sin unto death,' (1 John 5:16-17) a sin for which there is 'no forgiveness' (D&C 42:79, meaning that a murderer can never gain salvation)...He cannot join the Church by baptism; he is outside the pale of redeeming grace." (Bruce R. McKonkie, Mormon Doctrine, 1966, p. 520)
4. Quoted from Lorenzo Snow [LDS prophet], Millennial Star, vol. 54, p.404
"Here, then, is eternal life---to know the only wise and true God; and you have got to learn how to be gods yourselves..." (History of the Church, Vol. 6, p. 306)
"The whole design of the gospel is to lead us onward and upward to greater achievement, even, eventually, to godhood." (Gordon B. Hinckley [LDS prophet], "Don't Drop the Ball," Ensign, Nov. 1994, p. 84)
It is highly interesting that three years after saying the gospel leads to godhood, President Hinckley could not recall being familiar with the teaching. Time Magazine reporter, Richard Ostling, interviewed Mr. Hinckley. On whether the LDS Church holds that, "God the Father was once a man, he [ Hinckley] sounded uncertain, ‘I don’t know that we teach it. I don’t know that we emphasize it ... I understand the philosophical background behind it, but I don’t know a lot about it, and I don’t think others know a lot about it.’" (Time Magazine, August 4, 1997, p. 56)
5. There are many resources available proving the connection between Masonic temple rituals and Mormon temple rituals. The articles are too extensive to quote here, but a very good one on this topic can be found at Utah Lighthouse Ministry (Captain Morgan and the Masonic Influence In Mormonism)
6. "...every man and woman must have the certificate of Joseph Smith as a passport to the entrance into the mansion above where God and Christ are...I cannot go there without his consent" (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 7, p. 289) |
