Mormonism Vs. Christianity

Dark Knight

 

            The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS or Mormon Church) professes to be a Christian church.  However, a careful comparison of basic doctrinal positions of that church to those of historical, Biblical Christianity reveals many radical differences.  The following pages contain selectively quoted writings that are available in any Mormon Church library or bookstore, and perhaps even in the homes of many Mormon people.  What use would this paper be if it used unknown facts?  Therefore, only easily accessible and widely accepted sources shall be quoted in the following pages.

            Mormon doctrine is derived from four primary sources.  The first and second of those four are the Bible and the three sacred texts of Mormonism: the Book of Mormon, The Doctrine and Covenants, and The Pearl of Great Price.  The third comes from the writings of the founder of the church, Joseph Smith, and the fourth primary source originate from the writings of church leaders, especially the church presidents who are considered to be inspired prophets of God.  Further exploration into these “prophets of God” will follow.

Christianity has taught the belief in the existence of one, singular God who rules over the universe single-handedly.  Mormon theologian and Apostle Bruce McConkie states, “[A] plurality of gods exist… there is an infinite number of holy personages, drawn from worlds without number, who have passed on to exaltation and are thus gods.”[1]  The afore mentioned theory appears nowhere in traditional Christian doctrines.  The Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith describe God in the following way, “In the beginning, the head of the gods called a council of the gods; and they came together and concocted a plan to create the world and [the] people in it.”[2]  The Christian bible never says that God got a committee together to set up a plan.  The bible says, he spoke, it was, end of issue.  See the book of Genesis for more information on the topic.

            Although they believe that numerous gods exist, Mormons consider themselves monotheists because they focus their worship exclusively on the Godhead of this earth.  With this being the case, a more accurate description of Mormon practice is henotheism, a form of polytheism that stresses a central deity.  This point is proven in the previous two quotes.  They choose to acknowledge one god, but the phrase “council of gods” suggests that they have a henotheistic outlook.

            If asked the question, “Who is God?” a Mormon would tell you that God the Father is an exalted man with a physical body of flesh and bone.  Founder Joseph Smith said, “If the veil were rent today, and the great God who holds this world in its orbit and who upholds all worlds and all things by his power, was to make himself visible-I say, if you were to see him today, you would see him like a man in form.”[3]  Not only is God’s for changed in Mormonism but the Trinity, a fundamental Christian belief, is also denied as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit seen as three separate entities.  “The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit.”[4]  Mormon theologian Bruce McConkie refers to and interprets this when says, “There are three Gods—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.[5]  Their separate personages—Father, Son, and Holy Ghost comprise the Godhead.  As each of these persons is a god, it is evident, from this standpoint alone, that a plurality of gods exists.  To us, speaking in the proper finite sense, these three are the only gods we worship.”[6]

            Throughout history, Christians have refused to accept the existence of other gods.  They believe that people personify objects with godlike qualities, but never have they considered such a possibility as other deities controlling the universe.  To even say that many gods exist is to step away from Traditional Christian thought.  Yet this is exactly what Mormon Church Founder, Joseph Smith, criticized when he wrote:

Men say there is one God.  That is a strange God [anyhow]—three in one and one in three…  It is curious organization…  All are crammed into one God according to sectarianism (Christian faith).  It would make the biggest God in the entire world.  He would be a wonderfully big God—he would be a giant or a monster.[7]

 

Two facts have thus far been discussed.  Firstly, Christians are monotheist, believing in one god, while Mormonism is henotheist, believing in many gods but worshipping one god.  Secondly, the Trinity, which is the Christian definition of the Godhead, differs from Mormonism’s view of separate, but likeminded gods.  The difference between the two religions does not stop here though.  Christians believe that God is, has always been, and always will be God.  Mormonism disagrees.  Joseph Smith is quoted, saying:

God himself was once as we are now and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens! …  Here is how God came to be God.  We have imagined and supposed that God was God from all eternity.  Refute that idea and take away the veil so that you may see…  He was once a man like us; yea that God himself, the Father dwelt on an earth, the same as Jesus Christ himself did…[8]

 

            Brigham Young, the second Mormon Church president, also taught “God the Father was once a man on another planet who ‘passed the ordeal we are now passing through…’”[9]  “God is a glorified and perfected man, a personage of flesh and bones.  Inside this tangible body is an eternal spirit.”[10]  The last three quotes effectively answer the question of where Mormonism believes god came from, that he is an evolved man.  Christians believe that God has always been a god and reject the philosophy that he could be some advanced form of mankind (discussed in following passages).

            Because Mormonism teaches that godhood can be earned, it is a small logical step to assume that Mormons would then try their hardest to become gods.  Mormon Theologian Bruce McConkie states, “The exaltation which the saints of all ages have so devoutly sought is godhood itself.”[11]  Moreover, Joseph Smith exhorted all Mormon men to strive for this goal when He said, “Here then is eternal life—to know the only wise and true God; and you have got to learn how to be gods yourselves, and to be kings and priests to God, the same as all gods have done before you…”[12] Once again there is a reference to other gods in the phrase “only wise and true”, meaning that there are unwise, and untrue gods out there.

            The Christian Bible teaches that God has always been God.  Psalm 90 states, “From everlasting to everlasting you are God.”  If God is God from “everlasting to everlasting” then it is not possible for God to have evolved from a man.  For if he had evolved the psalmist would have written “from birth to everlasting.”  The Bible goes on to reveal in Isaiah 43, “Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me.”  Does this verse prove ignorance in the Christian God?  Certainly not!  It makes it very clear that there are no other gods in existence other than the Christian God.  If Christians believed that we could become gods, then the phrase “nor will there be one after me” would not appear.  This verse destroys any hope of any man thinking that he may become a god.

            This does not mean that Mormonism is wrong.  Proving one side over another is not the purpose of this paper.  The only thing that has concretely been stated is that Mormonism is not a branch of Christianity.  The Mormon religion has claimed that it follows the same beliefs and doctrines as Christians; this is not true, as this essay is intended to prove.  Christianity and Mormonism are two completely different religions, like Buddhism and Hindu, both have similar backgrounds, but they should not be called “the same religion”.

            All religions that believe in heaven also believe in some form of heavenly benefits.  The Christian Bible refers to heaven as a paradise where we can be with God forever and live in peace and harmony.  Mormonism has developed a different view of what they think heaven is like.  They believe that they will become gods, like their god.  They will have their family members with them and will be able to have “spirit children” also.  They will receive a fullness of joy.  Finally, they will have everything that our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have—all power, glory, dominion, and knowledge.[13]

            Mormon Church president James Talmage adds, “We are to understand that only resurrected and glorified beings can become parents of spirit offspring … and the spirits born to them in the eternal worlds will pass in due sequence through the several stages or estates by which the glorified parents have attained exaltation.”[14]  When Jesus Christ was questioned about the state of marriage in eternity he said, “Your problem is that you don’t know the Scriptures, and you don’t know the power of God.  For when the dead rise, they won't be married.  They will be like the angels in heaven.”[15]  Child rearing and the covenant of marriage are for our earthly existence only.  The Bible does not teach a doctrine of celestial parenthood, and it explicitly rejects “heavenly marriages.”

            Both their definitions of God as well as their views of heaven differ between the two religions; the same is true about the prophesies of Mormonism.  The Bible tells us how we know when a prophet does and doesn’t speak the words of God when it states, “When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken.”[16]  “…  That prophet or dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has counseled rebellion against the Lord your God.”[17]  Traditional Christians had zero tolerance for false prophets.  Having cited this, Mormonist prophesies needs to be examined with a critical eye.

            “Therefore, let my servant Joseph and his seed after him have place in that house, from generation to generation, forever and ever, saith the Lord.  Moreover, let the name of that house be called Nauvoo House…”[18] Joseph was killed three years later and his family was run out of town.  “…For behold, and lo, I [Joseph Smith] shall triumph over all my enemies, for the Lord God hath spoken it.”[19]  Less than two years after this prophesy was given it was proven false.  On July 27^th, 1844, Joseph Smith was shot dead by a mob of his enemies.  Although he killed two men and wounded a third in the fight, he was not triumphant all of his enemies or else he would have not been shot and killed.  This prophecy is petty in comparison to the scope of the following.  When looking at the terrible sinners of his day, Joseph said,

And now I am prepared to say by the authority of Jesus Christ, that not many years shall pass away before the United States shall present such a scene of bloodshed as has not a parallel in the history of our nation; pestilence, hail, famine, and earthquake will sweep the wicked of this generation from off the face of the land…  I declare unto you the warning upon the earth whose eyes shall not be closed in death until they see all the things, which I have spoken, fulfilled.”[20]

 

The generation spoken of simply died.  They were not swept off the face of the land in the manner described by the prophecy.  There is no chance that they will be in the future because the generation spoken of existed more than 160 years ago.  Those that are still waiting for the prophesied cataclysm to come about are wasting their time.

            Who is Oliver Granger?  According to Mormonist prophesy, everyone should know.  “And again, I say unto you, I remember my servant Oliver Granger; behold, verily I say unto him that his name shall be held in sacred remembrance from generation to generation, forever and forever, saith the Lord.”[21]  Upon being questioned about Mr. Granger, even Mormon Elders had not heard of him.  “Sacred remembrance” suggests that all should know of him… like Abraham, David, Noah, and Solomon; however, few, if any, followers of Mormonism remember Oliver Granger.  This fact has more than adequately proven the prophecy false.

            Joseph Smith looked over the church that he had started from scratch and was quoted to say, “I have more to boast than ever any man had.  I am the only man that has ever been able to keep a whole church together since the days of Adam.  A large majority o the whole have stood by me.  Neither Paul, nor John, nor Peter, nor Jesus ever did it.  I boast that no man ever did such a work as I.”[22]  Joseph Smith was killed one month later.

It seems odd that he would die so soon after he made such an incredible statement.  The popular music band, The Beatles, also suffered a similar fate.  They were performing a concert across from a chapel and noticed that more people were coming to their performance than going to church.  They said, “Look, we are more popular than God!”  A short time later their band broke up and a couple wound up dead.  The two situations could have nothing in common, but it may be something to look in to.  As the old proverb foretells, “Pride goeth before destruction.”[23]

            It should be obvious that Joseph Smith was indeed a “false prophet” as defined in the Old Testament and, had he lived in ancient Israel, he would have been put to death; his Mormon following would have been kicked out of town and forgotten.  Christianity cannot recognize Mormonism as a division of itself because Mormonism’s teachings are in direct opposition to Christianity’s.  This is not an attempt at Mormon-bashing, rather, a statement of fact that must be recognized.  Using Traditional Christian Doctrines, Mormonism’s founding prophet was discredited.  There is no way that Christianity could, using their stringent standards of perfection, recognize Mormonism as a sister religion.

In comparison, both religions have the same historical figures.  News flash: So do Judaism and Islam.  Judaism and Islam were both founded by sons of Abraham.  The same historical figures do not make two religions the same.  No one would dare to say Judaism and Islam are the same religion.  The same should be said of Christianity and Mormonism; they appear similar but are quite different.

            Mormonism teaches that worthy Mormon men hope to someday become a god of a universe.  Yet, isn’t that the same deception Satan used to snare Adam and Eve?  Did he not tempt them by telling them that they would know everything that God knows?  Mormonism teaches a different God, a different Jesus, and a different reality of heaven.  They use a different plan of salvation (works) and emphasize different authorities for belief, such as their various holy books.  They often use the same terms Christian use, but with different definitions.  This is why Mormons and Christians should not be thought of as being the same—they aren’t.  They have much the same backgrounds, like Judaism and Islam, like Buddhism and Hinduism, but the religions are diametrically opposed to one another.  Which one is right?  Only God (or the gods) knows.  Nevertheless, they cannot both be right, for they contradict each other.