IX. Mormonism

     This rapidly-growing cult arose in the mid-1800's and is enjoying rapid growth on the basis of a good surface image, an organized "mission" program, and the general ignorance of their victims.

A Brief History of Mormonism

     Joseph Smith (b. Dec. 22, 1805) was 15 years old when he became confused over the division and differences of denominational churches.  He read James 1:5 and began praying for guidance in selecting a church.  Although virtually ignorant of the Bible, in 1820 Smith claimed that both God the Father and Jesus appeared in a vision and told him that all the churches were corrupted and he should have nothing to do with any of them.

     September 22, 1823 - Smith claimed the angel "Moroni" appeared to him and showed him the location of a partially buried box containing two gold tablets.  It is alleged that these tablets were buried in 420 A.D. by an ancient prophet and they contained the sacred record of America's early inhabitants and the "true" word of God.  Smith claimed to have found these tablets near Palmyra, New York.

     1827 - Smith allegedly removed the tablets, worked on the translation (?), and three years later (1829) published the "Book of Mormon."  (Considerable evidence indicates that the true source of the book is a stolen manuscript of one Solomon Spaulding entitled "The Manuscript Found" which is a fictional account of where the American Indians came from.)  Conveniently, the "angel" took back the golden "tablets"!

     May 15, 1829 - "John the Baptist" allegedly appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery to confer upon them the "priesthood of Aaron".  Later, the Apostles Peter, James, and John allegedly appeared to bestow the "priesthood of Melchizadek" and the "keys of the Apostles" on them.

     April 6, 1830 - the "Church of Jesus Christ" was organized with Joseph Smith designated as "seer, translator, Prophet, and Apostle of Jesus Christ".  At the time, Smith was 24 years old and the church had 6 charter members.

     1831-1838 - Persecution by locals who knew Smith and rejected his claims led Smith and his followers to move to Kirtland, Ohio.  Here the movement grew to around 1600.  In June, 1831 Smith "received two revelations" (Doctrines & Covenants #52:3 & 84:3) which led them to Missouri, where Smith bought 63 acres as the future Temple site.  The Mormons intended to move the local "heathens" out by purchase or force.  Missouri governor Boggs ordered the Mormons out of the state in 1839.

     This led the Mormons to settle in Nauvoo, Illinois.  A town quickly developed and Smith became mayor.  Smith began to think that he was destined for world rulership and considered creating an empire in Texas.  When Smith had an anti- Mormon newspaper destroyed, he landed in jail in Carthage, ILL.  Before he could be tried, a mob of 12 men broke into the jail and murdered Joseph Smith.

     With the death of Joseph Smith, a struggle took place that has left the Mormon Church divided.  Brigham Young was the majority choice and he led the larger body of Mormons westward, finally settling in the area that became Salt Lake City. Arriving at the "Promised Land" in July, 1847, work was begun on a tabernacle and temple.

     Brigham Young continued and emphasized the doctrine of polygamy, which had allegedly been revealed to Joseph Smith at Nauvoo, Illinois on July 12, 1843 (Doctrines & Covenants # 132).  As westward migration brought Utah into greater contact with the eastern states, polygamy was dropped in 1890 because of congressional pressure and the desire for statehood.

     1857 - the Fancher wagon train was massacred in southern Utah by a Mormon mob, in retaliation for their "persecution" years earlier in Missouri.  This "mountain meadow massacre" was ordered by Brigham Young.  Bishop John D. Lee was put in charge of slaughtering these 150 souls on their way from Arkansas to California during the gold rush.  Lee was tried, convicted and executed 20 years later by the United States government.

     June 1978 - Revelation to Spencer W. Kimball allowing blacks to hold priesthood.

     April 1984 - Reorganized Mormons accept women into priesthood.

The Smaller Sects of Mormonism

The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Those who refused to acknowledge Brigham Young as Smith's legal successor went to several different persons.  This group is the largest group to break away and held that Smith's legal successor had to be a descendant of Joseph Smith.  In 1860, this group made Joseph Smith III their leader.  This group denies that polygamy was authorized and differs with the Utah group over the Godhead. A seminary, hospital, and home for the aged are maintained in Independence, Missouri.  (Independence, MO. is the site of Christ's Millennial Temple, according to Joseph Smith.)

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Strangites.

James J. Strang was a member of the group in Nauvoo, IL.  Joseph Smith sent Strang out to search for a new location.  Strang went to Wisconsin.  When Joseph Smith died, Strang claimed a vision that authorized him as the new leader and produced a letter from Smith dated June 1844 which named him as the next president of the church.  The letter was not taken seriously by the higher- ups, but a page was unexplainably torn out of the Nauvoo, IL. postmaster ledger for June 1844.  Strang led a group, including some major people, to Wisconsin.  He became "King James" and advocated polygamy.  He died leaving five pregnant widows.

Church of Jesus Christ, Bickertenite.

William Bickerton, a follower of Sidney Rigdon, received a vision in 1874 that led him and a few followers to St. Johns, Kansas.  Bickerton was ejected for adultery. Four splits have occurred.

Church of Christ (Temple Lot) or Hedrickite.

This little group exists simply because its members hold the deed for the Temple "site" in Independence, Mo.  Both of the larger groups have tried to obtain the land, but failed.

Church of Christ (Fettingite).

Otis Fetting was ordained an Apostle of the Temple Lot Church in 1926.  Fetting claimed that John the baptist had visited him in his home in Port Huron, Michigan, on November 30, 1930.  Otis and John talked for two hours and this led to another small group.

     The "Fundamentalists" are those small groups that hold to the practice of polygamy, of which there are 13.  However, many observers in Utah say the practice is making a general comeback, with over 30,000 people involved in polygamous marriages.

The Mormon Scriptures

     The Book of Mormon claims to have been written between 600 BC and 421 A.D., recording the life of a man named Lehi and his descendants.  This Jewish family escaped from Jerusalem just ahead of the 6^th century B.C. Babylonian siege.  Lehi and company built a boat and sailed to the west coast of North America and became the ancestors of the American Indians.  After His ministry, death, resurrection, and ascension, Jesus appeared to the American Hebrew Indians and preached to them.  He set up a church with 12 'Nephite' Apostles and the church did very well until becoming apostate and dying out after 300 years.  The golden plates shown to Joseph Smith helped him to restore the original American church.

     The Doctrine & Covenants is a collection of alleged revelations given to Joseph Smith between 1823-1844.  Since the original portion of the D&C was published in 1933, there have been 2,786 editorial changes made.  Some of the more interesting sections are:

     57:1,2/ Missouri is the appointed land for the gathering of the saints, the land of promise, and the place for the city of Zion.

     58:21/ keep the laws of the land

     84:2-5,31/ the temple will be built in western Missouri "in this generation" and dedicated by the hand of Joseph Smith.^[1]

     87:1-6/ a war (the civil war) will break out in South Carolina and spread throughout the world.^[2]

     117:12/ "Oliver Granger" would be remembered from generation to generation (“Who’s he?)

     132:1-4/ polygamy is an “essential covenant” for Mormons and they are condemned if they reject it (although the Book of Mormon specifically refers to the polygamy of David and Solomon as an abomination before God - Book of Jacob 2:24-27).^[3]

     The Pearl of Great Price (1888 copy pictured) is a small volume, composed of three sections - the books of Moses, Abraham, and Joseph Smith.  The Book of Abraham was allegedly translated from an ancient Egyptian papyrus, which contained the writings of Abraham while he was in Egypt.  It is this document that was used to deny the priesthood to blacks.  In 1967, the papyrus was publicly photographed and then copies were given to three reputable Egyptologists.  Whereas Joseph Smith had translated each Egyptian character with an average of 75-100 English words and claimed that it was the writings of Abraham while in Egypt, the three Egyptologists all found it to be a common Egyptian funeral document.

     - Book of Moses 1:6 "there is no God beside Me"

Current Mormon Doctrine

     While presenting a well-scrubbed image of morality and family in their TV commercials, this cult has some dark heresy under its wing that many aren't aware of.  Strangely, the theology of modern Mormonism is, at many points, in serious contradiction with their own "Scriptures."

     Originally, Joseph Smith claimed to have translated the Book of Mormon from golden plates and this was the basis of their doctrine about God (Alma 11:26-31; 18:26-28), which seems quite similar to Biblical teaching.  However, later "revelations" replaced the eternal, Creator Spirit with a notion of divine development from man into God which all may participate in.  The "god" of current Mormonism is the first man, Adam, who became a "god" by the same means that Mormons believe they will become gods.^[4]

God . . . is a man like unto you . . . You have got to learn how to be Gods yourselves^[5]

 The Lord created you and me for the purpose of becoming Gods like himself . . . We were created . . . to become Gods like unto our Father in heaven.^[6]

 God was once a man in mortal flesh as we are.^[7]

 . . . man is the king of kings and lord of lords in embryo.^[8]

 God . . . is a personal Being, a holy and exalted man . . .^[9]

     The Salt Lake City, Utah body of Mormonism has continued to practice polygamy and this is how the women are kept under control and pleasing to their husbands, for they can only be called out of the grave on resurrection day by their husbands.  Mormons expect to someday be gods, producing spirit children to populate the planets they will rule over.

     Brigham Young taught that Jesus was the bridegroom at the wedding in Cana and this explains his friendship with Mary and Martha and the other Mary - they were his wives.^[10]  Mormons have been taught that Jesus was not conceived in Mary by the Holy Spirit, but by sexual intercourse with god (deified Adam) and even though she was betrothed to Joseph, this was OK because God can do whatever he chooses.^[11]

Witnessing to Mormons

Defend the Bible & Point Out the Errors in Their Scripture

     They use the King James Version, but evade all difficult passages by saying "we believe the Bible as far as it is translated correctly."  Any problem passage they will claim to be corrupted or it would agree with Mormon teaching.  We need to be ready to defend the accuracy of the Bible and assault the accuracy of their scripture.  They will not accept the Bible as authoritative until you show it to be so!  On the other hand, the Book of Mormon has been revised over the years to the point that whole paragraphs have disappeared.^[12]  Its history is unsubstantiated by archaeological investigation.

"Knock the polish" off of their testimony

     Harry Ropp suggested that, when they may tell you “I know the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith is a prophet” etc., you should first get them to tell you what they believe about God and write it down so they can confirm it before you respond.

     1. Do you accept this statement "As man is, God once was - As God is, man may become."  If they do (and they should), ask them to explain what this means to them.

     2. If they say "we believe in God the Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit," you should ask them if they believe in the trinity?  They will probably deny this and say they believe that the Father, Son, Holy Spirit are "three different gods."  Ask if there are more than three gods.

     3. Do you believe that God has a body? (they will probably say “yes”)

     4. Where does God live?  Is God alone? (they will probably say that he is surrounded by his “spirit wives”)

     5. Is your God progressing and changing? (They believe god has progressed from a "spirit person" to a man, to God, and continues to progress)

     6. If I became a Mormon, could I become a god?  Will you become a god someday?

*This sets them up to face the contradictions in the book of Mormon!  Then use the Book of Mormon on them.  "Would you show me some passages in your book which teach these things that you believe about God?" (they won't be able to find any, but make them look, maybe even come back next week).

     7. Tell them "if I can show you that your book teaches what I believe about God, but not what you believe about God, would you accept what the Book of Mormon says as true?"

          a) You might say to them, “you said the Father, Son, Holy Spirit are three different gods, but the Testimony of Three Witnesses in the front of the Book of Mormon says the Father, Son, Holy Spirit ‘is one God.’"  (They may say, "well, that means they are "one in purpose" - so why didn't this testimony say "one in purpose" instead of "one God"?  Are there any places in the book of Mormon that say they are three different gods and only "one" in purpose?) "Which IS one God" is terrible grammar, unless the unity of the three is emphasized?

               - Alma 11:27-29,38,39,44 - Amulek is a prophet (Alma 8:29,30)

               - 2 Nephi 11:7 - Christ and God are united in person

               - 2 Nephi 26:12 - Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God

          b) You might say, “you said that there are many ‘gods’"

               - But the Pearl of Great Price/Book of Moses 1:6 says "there is no God beside

                    Me"

          c) You might say, “you said that God is constantly changing, but the Book of Mormon says otherwise”

                - 2 Nephi 27:23 - "I am God...I am the same yesterday, today, and forever"

                - Mormon 9:9-11,19 - God is the same and does not change, the eternal

                     creator.

                - Moroni 8:18 - God is NOT a changeable being, "he is unchangeable from all

                     eternity to all eternity."

          d) You might say, “you said that God had a physical body, but I couldn't find that.”

               - Alma 18:26-32 - God is a great Spirit, who created everything

     8. Alma 7:10 - Rather than sexual intercourse with God, the Book of Mormon teaches that Jesus will be born of Mary who would be "overshadowed and conceived by the Holy Ghost.”

     9. Moroni 10:4 - Whereas Mormons expect "pray about the Book of Mormon and get a subjective feeling," you could say "I have prayed about the Book of Mormon and God told me it was false."  Doctrine & Covenants 9:8.  Where else could a "feeling" come from? (D&C 10:10)

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Charles E. McCoy / 2006/05/11