Who are the Latter-day
Saints?
-Investigating Mormonism
Basic Introduction to Mormons
The official name is “The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints.”
This group believes that it is the only true
church in the world today.
Belief in a “restored gospel message.”
Church statistics (2007)
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Total membership - 13,193,999 (+2.47%)
Children increase - 93,698
Converts baptized - 279,218 (+2.3%)
Full-time missionaries - 52,686 (-0.9%)
Temples in operation - 124
Source: www.lds.org (General Conference
Reports).
LDS scriptures
Book of Mormon.
Doctrine and Covenants.
Pearl of Great Price.
The Holy Bible (King James Version).
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The belief is that precious parts of the Bible
have been removed.
Disclaimer: The Bible is the Word of God as
far as it has been translated correctly.
Scriptural authority
The Mormon scriptures serve as the authority
where they and the Bible disagree.
‘Community of Christ’ uses JST of Bible.
Contrary to the Bible, they teach for example:
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God told Abraham to lie about Sarah being his sister.
Adam and Eve disobeyed commandments to become
mortal (Alma 12:31; Plan of Salvation).
The Fall was a fall upward, not downward.
The Prophet vs. the written
Word?
“We are differently situated from any other
people that ever existed upon the earth;
consequently those former revelations
cannot be suited to our conditions …”
The Prophet vs. the written
Word …
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At a meeting in Kirtland, Ohio, Joseph Smith said,
“Brother Brigham, I want you to take the stand and tell
us your views with regard to the [living] oracles and
the written word of God.”
Brigham Young said, “When compared with the living
oracles those books [the previous revelations] are
nothing to me; those books do not convey the word of
God direct to us now, as do the words of a Prophet or
a man bearing the Holy Priesthood in our day and
generation. I would rather have the living oracles than
all the writings in the books.”
The Prophet vs. the written
Word …
Joseph Smith said to the congregation,
“Brother Brigham has told you the word of
the Lord, and he has told you the truth”
(Teachings of Presidents of the Church Joseph Smith, 2008, pp. 198-199).
Are you not concerned
by this?
Is the Bible relevant to you today?
Does a present day teacher override an
Old or New Testament prophet?
Some key LDS Church events
1823 – angel Moroni appears to Joseph Smith.
1827 – Joseph obtains the golden plates and begins
the translation from reformed Egyptian into English.
1830 – The Book of Mormon is printed.
April 6, 1830 – the church is organized (D&C 21:3).
April 26, 1838 – the church is named (D&C 115:4).
How was the Book of Mormon
translated?
It is said to be translated by the gift and power of
God.
Gold plates on a study table vs. looking into the
bottom of a black hat?
… or a stolen text originally authored by
Solomon Spaulding?
How it began once upon a time …
The place …
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Manchester, New York (early 1820).
A spiritual revival …
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Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists.
The boy …
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15 year-old Joseph Smith.
The environment …
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Doctrinal confusion.
The mission …
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Bring mankind back to God.
Attempting to bring mankind
back to God …
Joseph Smith:
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What is to be done?
Which of the denominations is right?
Are they all wrong together?
If any one of them be right, which is it, and
how shall I know it?
“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God
… and it shall be given him” (James 1:5).
The 1820 Vision … seeking God
1820 – early spring day. Sacred Grove, New
York.
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Joseph was said to have a vision of Heavenly Father
and Jesus.
He was told that all the churches were wrong and that all
professors of religion were corrupt.
1823 – angel Moroni visits Joseph in his
bedroom.
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Informed him of gold plates buried in the hill Cumorah.
History of ancient American inhabitants.
Compare Moroni’s words with the prophet Malachi (JSH
1:37-38 vs. Malachi 4:5-6).
Analyzing the 1820 account
“The teachers of religion … understood
the same passages of scriptures so
differently as to destroy all confidence in
settling the question by an appeal to the
Bible” (JSH 1:12).
Have you allowed someone or something to
destroy your confidence in the Bible?
Analyzing the 1820 account …
“I asked the Personages who stood above
me in the light, which of all the sects was
right (for at this time it had never
entered into my heart that all were
wrong) – and which I should join” (JSH
1:18).
Recall that young Joseph had these thoughts before he
went into the woods.
Does only one denomination represent the true
church?
Analyzing the 1820 account …
“I was answered that I must join none of
them … they were all wrong … all their
creeds were an abomination in his sight”
(JSH 1:19).
Was the devil able to prevail against Christ’s
church?
What happened to Christ’s Church?
LDS beliefs (2 main thoughts):
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True church (and gospel) are periodically
removed from the earth (Gospel Principles,
p. 98).
True church was destroyed when wrong
doctrine totally infected her (Gospel
Principles, p. 105). This period is called the
“Great Apostasy.”
The man behind the
mission
Glimpses of Joseph …
Glimpses of Joseph …
Retrieving the plates from
Moroni
1827 – After receiving the plates, he
began to translate the reformed Egyptian
hieroglyphics into what is known today as
the Book of Mormon.
1829 – The translation is finished.
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“These plates have been revealed [and
translated] by the power of God. The translation
of them which you have seen is correct …” –
History of the Church 1:55.
Mormon Temples
Salt Lake City, Utah
Manila, Philippines
Hong Kong, China
Seoul, Korea
Taipei, Taiwan
Toronto (‘Brampton’), Ontario
What’s common to the
Temples?
Did you see it?
The angel Moroni …
What happens in the Temple?
The Temple Endowment.
Celestial Marriage for the living.
Proxy sealings for the dead.
Baptisms for the dead.
Secret handshakes and code words
(similar to Freemasonry).
Baptismal Font
Who can enter a Temple?
Only someone with a valid temple recommend
(or pass).
You must pass an interview:
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Do you have a firm testimony of the restored gospel?
Are you a full-tithe payer?
Do you keep the Word of Wisdom \ Law of Chastity?
Do you strive to keep the covenants you have made,
to attend your sacrament and priesthood meetings,
and to keep your life in harmony with the laws and
commandments of the gospel?
Mormon Doctrines
- are they compatible with the
Bible?
A pre-earth life
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“All men and women are... literally the sons
and daughters of Deity.... Man, as a spirit, was
begotten and born of heavenly parents, and
reared to maturity in the eternal mansions of
the Father, prior to coming upon the earth in a
temporal [physical] body” (Joseph F. Smith,
The Origin of Man, Improvement Era, Nov.
1909, pp. 78, 80).
Abraham 3:18 (Pearl of Great Price) says man is an eternal,
uncreated spirit (intelligence/soul).
2008 Presidential candidate Mitt
Romney
“I believe Jesus Christ
is the Son of God and
the Saviour of the
world.”
Sound familiar?
Let’s hear the rest of the
story…
Jesus and Lucifer are spirit
brothers
Jesus Christ is the spirit-brother of Lucifer
and the first born son of Heavenly Mother
and Father.
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“The first spirit born to our heavenly parents was
Jesus Christ, so he is literally our elder brother”
(Gospel Principles, p. 11).
“We needed a Savior to pay for our sins. Two of our
brothers offered to help” (pp. 17-18).
A plurality of Gods
There is more than one God.
Father + Son + Holy Ghost + Heavenly Mother = 4
Gods (and that is just planet Earth).
 Bible teaches one God only (Isaiah 44:6-8,
45:5-6,18,21-22).
 Book of Mormon also teaches one God (Alma
11:26-29).
“Is there more than one God?”
“No.”
God’s body
God the Father has a body of flesh and
bones.
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“The Father has a body of flesh and bones as
tangible as man's” (Doctrine and Covenants 130:22).
God is spirit.
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John 4:24; Luke 24:39; Jeremiah 23:24.
The evolution of God
God the Father was once a man who
became a God.
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“It will be a great work to learn our salvation and
exaltation even beyond the grave. This is the way our
Heavenly Father became God” (Gospel Principles, p.
305).
“We have imagined that God was God from all eternity. I
will refute that idea” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph
Smith, 1938, p.358). The 2008 edition omits this.
The Bible teaches that God is eternal.
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“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting, and to
everlasting” (Ps. 41:13; 90:2).
Be all you can be … a God
We can become Gods, rule over our own
created planets, and be worshipped.
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“Each one of you has it within the realm of his possibility
to develop a kingdom over which you will preside as its
king and god” (Religion 430-431 - Doctrines of the Gospel
Student Manual, p. 29).
“Mortality is the testing or proving ground for exaltation
to find out who among the children of God are worthy to
become Gods” (Doctrines of Salvation, Joseph Fielding
Smith, Volume 1, p. 69).
The Bible teaches:
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“Before me there was no God formed, neither shall there
be after me” (Isaiah 43:10).
The Trinity
The Trinity is not 1 God, but 3 Gods.
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"They [Father, Son, and Holy Ghost] constitute three
distinct personages and three Gods" (Teachings of
the Prophet Joseph Smith, 1938, p. 370).
The Bible teaches:
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“The Lord our God is one Lord” (Mark 12:29).
The Book of Mormon teaches:
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“Christ the Son, God the Father, and the Holy Ghost
is one Eternal God” (Alma 11:44).
The Priesthood
Men hold the priesthood, women do not.
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Both Melchizedek and Aaronic.
(Gospel Principles, Chapter 13).
The Bible teaches:
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Men and women belong to the royal
priesthood of believers (1 Peter 2:9).
Salvation
Six definitions according to Ensign, May
1998 article. We’ll focus on these three:
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(a) resurrection.
(b) eternal life.
(c) escape from hell to inherit some kingdom
of glory.
Eternal Life
Eternal life is living life as a God.
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“Exaltation is eternal life, the kind of life God lives.
He lives in great glory. He is perfect. He is a creator.
We can become like our Heavenly Father. This is
exaltation” (Gospel Principles, p. 302).
How is a Mormon saved?
“For we labor diligently to write, to
persuade our children, and also our
brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be
reconciled to God; for we know that it is
by grace that we are saved, after all we
can do” (2 Nephi 25:23).
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In this sense, “saved” means to become a
God … you must earn it.
Celestial Glory
Paradise of the Gods (Doctrine and
Covenants 76:51-70.
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Celestial Kingdom has 3 subdivisions. The highest is
for the married Gods (D&C 131:1-3).
Not much said about 2 lesser subdivisions except
that the inhabitants could be in eternal service to
the Gods as ministering servants (D&C 132:16).
Equal in power, might, and in dominion as Heavenly
Father (D&C 76:95).
Terrestrial Glory
Those who died without law.
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Honorable men of the earth who were
blinded by the craftiness of men (D&C 76:7280).
Telestial Glory
Liars, sorcerers, and adulterers
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Jesus has prepared mansions for them (D&C 76:111).
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The Bible has them in the lake of fire.
Joy or eternal misery?
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Joseph Smith’s parable of the wheat and the
tares: “Therefore, I must gather together my
people, according to the parable of the
wheat and the tares, that the wheat may be
secured in the garners to possess eternal life,
and be crowned with celestial glory … while
the tares shall be bound in bundles … that
they may be burned with unquenchable fire”
(D&C 101:65-66; see also Book of Mormon – 2
Nephi 2:27-29).
Original Sin
Humans that are born on earth are godsin-embryo.
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"We are gods in embryo, and thus have an unlimited
potential for progress and attainment" (Teachings of
Ezra Taft Benson, pp. 21, 584).
Omnipresence
God is not omnipresent.
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“The Holy Ghost is a member of the Godhead. He is a
spirit that has the form and likeness of a man. He can be
in only one place at a time” (Gospel Principles, p. 37).
The Mormon Heavenly Father also has this limitation with
his body of flesh and bones.
The New Jerusalem
Latter-day Saints will build the New
Jerusalem prior to Christ’s Second
Coming.
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Jackson County, Missouri in the United States is the place
for the city and temple (D&C 57:1-4).
A place of peace and refuge for the saints before
calamity and destruction befall the earth (D&C 45:42, 6669; 124:10).
The Bible teaches: New Jerusalem comes
from heaven.
What should we do?
Pray. Remember that this is a spiritual war.
Trust in Jesus as the “Eternal God,” not in a
procreated spirit child.
Become knowledgeable.
Seek out the lost.
Don’t believe every ‘angel’ you meet.
Examine the fruits of the spirit. ‘False doctrine’
is the easiest ‘false’ fruit to spot.
References
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www.ldslearning.org
(free PDF books and scriptural commentaries).
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www.lds.org
scriptures.lds.org
www.mormon.org
www.ldsces.org
(Mormon Church’s educational system).
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www.ldscatalog.com
(to order LDS training manuals).