From: dali@milton.u.washington.edu (David A. Lee)
Subject: True Christianity vs. The Myth of Mormonism
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle
Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1992 06:16:40 GMT

This is an exerpt of some writing/compiling that I did recently.  Hope it
makes some people think.

	A major tenant of the Mormon religion is that all men will 
become exalted gods over their own kingdom on a star after death.  
This is in clear contradiction with Scripture.
 
	"You are my witnesses," declares the Lord, "and my servant whom 
	I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand 
	that I am he.  Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one 
	after me. (Isaiah 43:10)
 
	By this word we have the authority that no one not Joseph Smith, 
not Brigham Young, or any other Mormon will ever be a god.  
The following statement made by Joseph Fielding Smith, the tenth 
prophet and president of the Mormon church stated:
 
	Mormonism, as it is called, must stand or fall on the story of 
	Joseph Smith.  He was either a prophet of God, divinely called, 
	properly appointed and commissioned, or he was one of the biggest 
	frauds this world has ever seen.  There is no middle ground.  
	If Joseph Smith was a deceiver, who willfully attempted to 
	mislead the people, then he should be exposed; his claims should be 
	refuted, and his doctrines shown to be false, for the doctrines of an 
	imposter cannot be made to harmonize in all particulars with divine 
	truth. If his claims and declarations were built upon fraud and 
	deceit, there would appear many errors and contradictions, which 
	would be easy to detect. The doctrines of false teachers will not 
	stand the test when tried by the accepted standards of 
	measurement, the Scriptures. (Doctrines of Salvation, 1:188) 
 
	The Jesus of Christianity is The One True God come in the flesh.  
He is not a second God. The doctrine of the Trinity states that there 
is One God in three Persons (the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit).  
Not three Gods, not one person & also three persons. The Jesus of 
Christianity was never just man but was always fully man and fully 
God.
	The Jesus of Mormonism is the literal physically begotton son of 
God the Father, a separate entity who also progressed to Godhood (i.e 
a separate God from the Father). The Mormon Jesus, like the Mormon 
Father, had to work out his own salvation (whether or not this is 
saved by works)  he is a saved being.  This basic tenant, cannot 
allow the Mormon religion to be called Christian.  No more than 
Christianity is Judaism.
	The Book of Mormon was not inspired by God.  If in fact Joseph 
Smith relied upon the Scriptures to determine truth, he should have 
been wary of the beings he claims to have seen in the woods.  The 
fact that he said he saw both God the Father and Jesus should bring 
suspicion enough in light of John 1:18:
 
	No man has seen God at any time.
 
	Even Joseph Smith claimed no one could see God without the Holy 
Priesthood, and Mormon history shows us Smith had no such 
Priesthood in 1820 when his vision supposedly took place.  In fact, 
he didn't receive the priesthood until nine years later.
The beings in Smith's vision claimed all the churches at that time 
were wrong and all their doctrines corrupt.  If that were true, why 
does Mormonism have some doctrines in common with Christian 
denominations?  Certainly if all the doctrines of the Christian 
churches were wrong, Mormonism should not have any doctrine in 
common with biblical Christianity.
	Later Smith was visited by an angel who was so bright his "room 
was lighter than at noon day."  Immediately 2 Corinthians 11:14 
comes to mind:
 
	And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of 
	light.
 
	Instead of confirming the truthfulness of God's Word, the angel 
told him of plates that contain the "fullness of the everlasting 
gospel."  Another gospel?
 
	But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel 
	other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally 
	condemned! (Galations 1:8)
 
	A true Christian, seeing what Smith saw, would trust Galations 
1:8, knowing there is no other gospel.  
	Mormons believe the Book of Mormon "another testament" of 
Christ, a second witness.  Never do the Scriptures give any 
indication that another book is necessary to testify of Christ and His 
divinity.
 
	The Book of Mormon is not the source of doctrines of the Church 
	of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  It can scarcely be termed a 
	book of doctrine, for doctrines are suggested, although not defined, 
	and none of the peculiar beliefs by which the Mormons are 
	distinguished today are present.  For example, as we have mentioned, 
	the Mormons teach "the sublime truth that God the Eternal Father 
	was once a mortal man who passed through a school of earth life 
	similar to that through we are now passing."  And they teach that 
	men through progression and exaltation may become gods in the 
	same sense and with the same status as God the Father.  But theses 
	and other doctrines that are the backbone of Mormonism today are 
	absent from the Book of Mormon.
	
	Another major doctrine of the Mormon gospel is the teaching of 
	the church regarding "celestial marriage."  We read, "The crowning 
	gospel ordinance requisite for Godhood is celestial marriage...."  This 
	"crowning gospel ordinance" cannot be found in the Book of Mormon.  
	
	The following reveals other "gospel" teaching of Mormonism that 
	are not to be found in the Book of Mormon:
 
	The Mormon church organization, with its rigid complexities, are 
	not to be found in the Book of Mormon, although the church places 
	great emphasis on it.
 
	The Mormon so-called "Melchizedek priesthood order" cannot be 
	found in the Book of Mormon.
 
	The Mormon so-called "Aaronic priesthood order" cannot be found 
	in the Book of Mormon.
 
	The Mormon doctrine of the plurality of Gods cannot be found in 
	the Book of Mormon.
 
	The Mormon doctrine of "the three degrees of glory" cannot be 
	found in the Book of Mormon.
 
	The Mormon doctrine of the plurality of wives cannot be found in 
	the Book of Mormon.
 
	The Mormon doctrine of "the Word of Wisdom" cannot be found in 
	the Book of Mormon.
 
	The Mormon doctrine of a "heavenly mother" cannot be found in the 
	Book of Mormon.
 
	If all the doctrines we have mentioned above were removed from 
	the Mormon "gospel," the Mormon system as it is known today would 
	cease to exist, yet not one of these vital tenants are found in the 
	Book of Mormon, the "everlasting gospel in its fulness."
	If the Book of Mormon had, in fact, contained the "everlasting 
	gospel in its fulness," there would have been no need for the 
	Doctrine of Covenants, the Pearl of Great Price, nor any "modern day 
	revelations" to be written, all of which have an intrinsic place in the 
	Mormon system.
	
	How then can Mormons claim that the Book of Mormon is a 
	revelation of the "everlasting" gospel?  How then are men to believe 
	that it is "the most perfect book that was ever written"?
	The problem which Mormons cannot explain is that if one is to 
	believe Joseph Smith is the Prophet of God and the Book of Mormon 
	the Word of God it is not possible, with any logic, to discredit one 
	without discrediting the other.
	
	The question arises of how thinking persons can accept the 
	doctrinal omissions, fallacies, discrepancies, and inconsistencies of 
	the Book of Mormon and its translator.  The answer lies in the fact 
	that the energetic program of Mormonism makes any danger remote 
	of the average member studying the Book of Mormon carefully and 
	arriving at the point of its incredibility.
	
	No matter how far the Book of Mormon defies reason, fact, and the 
	later revelations of their prophets, Mormons must believe that it 
	was divinely revealed and divinely translated.  
 
	This book must be either true or false....If false, it is one of the 
	most cunning, wicked, bold, deep-laid impositions ever palmed upon 
	the world, calculated to deceive and ruin millions who will sincerely 
	receive it as the word of God, and will suppose themselves sincerely 
	built upon the rock of truth until they are plunged with their 
	families into hopeless despair.  The nature of the message in the 
	Book of Mormon is such, that if true, no one can possibly be saved 
	and reject it; if false, no one can possibly be saved and receive it. 
	(Mormon Apostle Orson Pratt, Divine Authenticity of the Book of 
	Mormon).  (Einar Anderson, p.147-149)
 
	The Bible teaches that a true believer has the witness of the 
Spirit that he is saved and ready for heaven.  Are you certain that if 
you were to die today that you would be in the presence of the Lord?
2 Nephi 25:23 says you are saved by grace "after all you can do."  
Have you done all you can do?  How do you know if you have or have 
not done all you can do?  Read James 2:14-26. 
 
	Therefore, no one will be declared righteous in his sight by 
	observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of 
	sin.  (Romans 3:20)
 
	The law has no power to save from sin, it merely points out mans 
imperfection, and his need for salvation. 
 
	The true church is made up of people who have acknowledged the 
fact that they are sinners in need of forgiveness.  The Bible refers to 
the true church as the Body of Christ.  In 1 Corinthians 12:27, Paul 
says that as a believer, "You are the body of Christ, and members in 
particular."   
	The Church is also made up of those who realize that there is 
absolutely nothing they can do to buy their salvation and have put 
their total trust in Jesus Christ.  We are saved by grace, not by 
works.  Please read Romans 3:21-4:25; this section fully explains 
why we are saved by grace, not by works.  The Bible says we cannot 
trust ourselves:
 
	"Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my 
	sin?" (Proverbs 20:9)
	
	"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this 
	not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works so that no 
	one can boast."  (Ephesians 2:8-9)
	
	"Stop trusting in man, who has but a breath in his nostrils.  Of 
	what account is he?" (Isaiah 2:22)
 
	It is not true that Mormonism does not attack Christianity.  It's 
	very tenants are an affront to Christianity, since it believes that the 
	blood of Christ was not enough to save man.  The Mormon believes 
	Christ died and rose again merely to pave the way for all men to be 
	resurrected.  Salvation, or exaltation, is solely dependant upon the 
	works of men.  In the words of Mormon Apostle James Talmage:
 
	Salvation is, and must be, a cooperative enterprise between God 
	and man. (An Understandable Religion  p.24)
   
	One of the most offensive tenants of Mormonism is their 
	insistence that they are the only true Christian church on the face of 
	the earth and that every other church is in a state of apostasy.  The 
	Mormons deny almost every fundamental of the Christian faith, and 
	insist they alone represent true Christianity.  
		In 1973, Mormon Apostle Mark E. Peterson succinctly stated 	this Mormon position when he said:
 
	When the Savior established his church during his mortal 
	ministry...one important fact became conspicuously clear: Salvation 
	comes through the Church. It does not come through any separate 
	organization or splinter group nor to any private party as an 
	individual.... Therefore it was made clearly manifest that salvation 
	is in the Church, and of the Church, and is obtained only through the 
	Church. (The Ensign, July 1973, p.108)
 
	From the context it is clear that Peterson refers to the Church of 
	Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints as "the Church."
 
	The true Church is made up of people, not four walls.  It is a 
living organism.  Ephesians 2:19-20 states clearly that Christ is the 
chief corner stone of the Church.  1 Peter 2:4-5 states that 
Christians are living stones built into the spiritual house.  Ephesians 
1:22 states that God placed Christ to be the head.  The church is the 
body.  5:23 confirms this.  The Mormons believe that the Church is 
built upon the Prophets and Apostles.  But you must ask what are the 
Prophets and Apostles built upon?  Upon the cornerstone, Jesus 
Christ.  He is the true foundation the church is built upon.  He 
founded the Church, and reigns as the authority over it.  No other man 
can claim authority over Christ! 
	The claim of any "church organization" to be the one true church 
is proof to anyone who knows the Scriptures that it is, in fact, a 
false church.  No church organization has the authority or power to 
save; that comes only through Jesus Christ and Him alone. 
 
	Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under 
	heaven given to men by which we must be saved.  (Acts 4:12)
 
	Clearly we are not to find our authority and support in anything 
but God.  By accepting Christ, the Holy Spirit dwells within us, and 
by reading the Word of God, the Bible, we allow Him to guide us.  The 
only thing true Christians trust is the Holy Spirit which dwells in 
us.  It says in Scripture "Seek and ye shall find."  He will never 
mislead us, or go against His Word.  Once you accept Christ into your 
heart as your Lord and Savior, He will never leave.   
 
	So do not fear, for I am with you;  do not be dismayed, for I am 
	your God.  I will strengthen you and help you;  I will uphold you with 
	my righteous right hand. (Isaiah 41:10)
    
	The Mormon religion believes in "living oracles," as the source of 
Church authority.  In recent years, many Mormon authors have been 
placing disclaimers in their books.  Even Mormon General Authorities 
have prefaced their writings with the claim that their books are not 
official church publications and may not represent official LDS 
church policy.  
	This would seem to tell us that the Mormon church, which claims 
sole authority when it comes to gospel matters, has within its ranks 
leaders who don't speak with full authority.  Furthermore, the words 
of the "living oracle" become null and void after he dies.  Ezra Taft 
Benson made this clear in his "14 Fundamentals in Following the 
Prophet" speech.  He stated that Mormons are not to pit dead 
prophets against living prophets, and that the words of the living 
prophet supersede those of the dead: 
 
	Beware of those who would pit the dead prophets, for the living 
	prophets always take precedence (Ezra Taft Benson, "14 
	Fundamentals," Press Copy, p.5).
 
	In reality, Mormons have no firm basis for truth other than the 
words of sinful man.
	Of all the tests that can be applied to Mormonism in an effort to 
prove whether it is from God or not, the test to determine the 
authority of its founder should be the most obvious.  As Joseph 
Fielding Smith stated:
 
	He [Joseph Smith] was either a prophet of God, divinely called, 
	properly appointed and commissioned, or he was one of the biggest 
	frauds the world has ever seen, there is no middle ground. (Doctrines 
	of Salvation, 1:188)
 
	The founder of the Mormon religion and "translator" of the Book of 
Mormon, Joseph Smith, is known to Mormons as a prophet.   Anyone 
with a knowledge of Biblical Scripture would quickly disagree.  
Why?  We must look at the nature of a prophet according to 
Scripture.  Klaus Bockenmuehl, professor of theology and ethics at 
Regent College in Vancouver, B.C., had this to say in his book, 
Listening to the God who Speaks:
 
	What is the nature of a prophet?  A prophet is clearly one who, on 
	the basis of divine revelation, speaks of things to come, who  
	predicts  future events.  It is just as important, however, that the 
	prophet must also  remind  God's people of the commandments God 
	has given in the past.  That is why the prophets referred back, for 
	example, to the Ten Commandments (Jeremiah 7:9, Hosea 4:2).
	In most situations, then, prophets are preachers of conversion and 
	change who challenge God's people to turn from their disobedience to 
	the living God.  As the people's representative listeners-to-God, 
	prophets have to take up the often desperate struggle to keep the 
	nation on track and within the divinely given framework for healthy 
	living.  Thus Isaiah conveys the word of the Lord: "Oh, that you had 
	heeded My commandments!  Then your peace would have been like a 
	river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea" (Isaiah 
	48:18).
	
	The prophets are like a chisel in God's hands, used to shape the 
	people according to the will of God.  They struggle especially against 
	the people's tendency to avoid the divinely appointed moral task and 
	against the people's temptation to replace obedience to God's 
	commands with cult, ritual, or material sacrifices.  Samuel, for 
	instance, had to tell King Saul, "Behold, to obey is better than 
	sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams" (1 Samuel 15:22).  Hosea 
	added, "I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God 
	more than burnt offerings" (Hosea 6:6).  Sacrifice and ritual can 
	sometimes go hand in hand with selfish aims, even making those 
	aims appear religious and legitimate.
	
			DISTINGUISHING TRUE PROPHECY FROM FALSE
 
	From the moment Israel was promised a prophet (in the book of 
	Deuteronomy), the problem of how to stave off false prophecy and 
	guidance loomed large.  Anyone, after all, can come along and claim 
	to have a revelation from the Lord.  What are the standards that 
	enable us to distinguish between true and false?
	
	If we look at the prediction ministry of the prophet, a true 
	prophet is one of whom it can be stated, "All that he says surely 
	comes to pass" (1 Samuel 9:6).  A false prophet is one whose 
	predictions do not come true (Deuteronomy 18:22).
		
	Far more important, however, is another standard:  Does the 
	prophet preach change and conversion where-ever it is necessary?  
	Indeed a multitude of false prophets are guided by their desire to 
	please people, often for reasons of material gain (see Jeremiah 
	6:13).  These false prophets pacify the qualms of conscience and 
	confirm people in their rejection of God's will and guidance 
	(Jeremiah 6:14).  They claim God's protection (Jer. 7:4) for those who 
	refuse to amend their ways, or who follow their own thoughts and 
	are unwilling to listen (Jer. 18:12; 22:21).  These false prophets 
	"strengthen the hands of the evildoers" (Jer. 23:14): "they continually 
	say to those who despise Me, ... 'You shall have peace'; and to 
	everyone who walks according to the imagination of his own heart, 
	'No evil shall come upon you'" (Jer. 23:17).
		
	People are not adverse, in fact, to pressuring the prophet into 
	blessing the plans they have already made, demanding a promise of 
	prosperity.  It takes a strong heart for a prophet to stand alone and 
	affirm what must be the bedrock rule of the true prophet: "As the 
	Lord lives, whatever my God says, that I will speak" (Miciah in 2 
	Chronicles 18:13). (Klaus Bockenmuehl, p.22-24) 
 
	Joseph Smith fails on the first count, "All that he says surely 
comes to pass" as many of his predictions did not come true.  
Bill McKeever, from his book Answering Mormons' Questions, 
writes:
 
	Smith earned the title of false prophet very early.  In the 
beginning of his new movement, he gave a false prophecy concerning 
the sale of the copyright of the Book of Mormon in Canada.  Though 
Smith claimed God had said it would be sold, the two men sent to 
perform the task came back having failed to do so (David Whitmer, 
An Address to All Believers in Christ, p.31).
	Smith also claimed the American Civil War "would be poured out 
upon all nations" (Doctrine and Covenants, 87:2).  History shows this 
was not the case.
	In 1832 Smith prophesied that a temple would be built in 
Independence, Missouri, "which temple shall be reared in this 
generation.  For verily this generation shall not pass away until an 
house shall be built unto the Lord" (Doctrine and Covenants, 84:4-5).  
To this day there is no such temple.  
	Like a hereditary disease this trait was passed down to other 
church authorities.  Brigham Young declared that by 1882 the Elders 
of the Mormon church would be thought of as kings on their thrones 
(Journal of Discourses, 4:40).  He also said the Civil War would not 
free the slaves (Journal of Discourses, 10:250).
	Every prophecy of God will come to pass.  All those who have been 
deceived by the words of Joseph Smith and other false prophets will 
for eternity regret having heard their names, and will hold them in 
reproach for the damnation that has come upon their souls for 
accepting a false gospel and not that of the true and living God. 
	A prophet is one who "speaks the things of God," and cannot be 
thought of as one who only predicts future events.  Surely the 
Mormon church would not limit their prophet to merely the roll of 
seer, since no LDS prophet of recent years has made any attempt at 
predicting the future.  By the very definition of the word "prophet," 
we must conclude that the Christian Church still has functioning 
prophets today, though not in the same sense as Mormons see it.
Mormons insist that only one man can be a prophet at any given 
time, and that this prophet is necessary to guide their church.  The 
Bible, however, says the task of guidance is given to the Holy Spirit.  
John 16:13 states:
 
	Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you 
	into all truth....
 
	The Lord has raised up many men of God whom other Christians 
emulate and follow.  Some of these great men have been considered 
"prophets" of their day by fellow believers.  But whatever their title, 
they, like all believers, are subject to the Scriptures and must come 
under its authority.
	Mormon leaders in the past have proclaimed they are not under 
biblical authority, or any written authority for that matter.  In 1980 
Ezra Taft Benson, who at that time was an apostle (later becoming 
Mormonism's thirteenth president in 1985), delivered a speech 
entitled "Fourteen Fundamentals in Following the Prophets."  In this 
speech he declared the living Mormon prophet to be a more vital 
authority to the Mormon church than their standard works (the Bible, 
the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price 
).
	To illustrate his position, Benson proceeded to tell how Brigham 
Young took copies of the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and Doctrine and 
Covenants, and after laying them down in front of him, said, 
 
	There is the written word of God to us, concerning the work of 
	God from the beginning of the world to our day.  When compared with 
	the living oracles those books 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 
	writing in the books.
 
	Benson went on to relate how Joseph Smith (who was president), 
said, 
 
	Brother Brigham has told you the Word of the Lord, and he has told 
	you the truth.
 
	What we really have here is a violation of Jeremiah 17:5:
 
	This is what the Lord says:
 
	"Cursed is the one who trusts in man, 
	  who depends on flesh for his strength
	  and whose heart turns away from the Lord...."
 
 
	Many Mormons hold values which are highly praised in this 
society.  There are some wonderful commercials on TV made by the 
LDS church praising the strength of the family.  As people, the 
Mormons you and I meet will be very respectable, kind and honest 
people.  But they are misled by the false doctrine contained within 
the Mormon church.  Their beliefs, which are in great conflict with 
Holy Scripture, are what we must question.  That is what I and all 
other Christians do.  The answers to these questions come from Holy 
Scripture, the only authority that exists from God.  
	The primary goal all Mormons live for is to attain individual 
salvation, or exaltation, which is to become a god over your own 
kingdom through all eternity.  The way to reaching this point is by 
obeying the doctrines of the Mormon church. 
	The true Christian keeps the commandments of the Lord, not to 
earn or keep his salvation, but because he loves the Lord who first 
loved him.  
	One is self-serving, one is self-less.
	One seeks approval of man, one shows loyalty to God. 
	Which one do you believe???  
 
	For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses 
	his life for me and for the gospel will save it. (Mark 8:35)
 
Proverbs 29:25 says:
 
	Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the 
	Lord is kept safe.
 
	So we say with confidence,
	"The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
	   What can man do to me?"  (Hebrews 13:6)
 
 

-- 
"There are hundreds of tiny balls in every machine, and hundreds of machines
in every pachinko parlour, and a pachinko parlour on every block in every
town in Japan; so there are billions of little balls falling forever, like a
chromium-plated hailstorm that never melts."  - from "Clive James in Japan"