From: ACUS10@WACCVM.SPS.MOT.COM (Mark Fuller)
Subject: LDS: Which God? (was: Nibely Genius or Fool)
Originator: root@mogate.sps.mot.com
Organization: Motorola Inc.
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1992 16:28:15 GMT

>>>>> continued

    Again, Robert, back to your concerns about the everlasting hell-fire:
do you beleive the Mormons have been guilty, through their 'truth restored',
of leading others to 'another god'?  I have already presented a few Biblical
passages dealing with the graveness of the LDs leading us to this
'other' god.  I would like to cover the Biblical position a bit more.

    As I said earlier, the concept of worshipping another god, other
than Jehovah, as Mormon Apostle McConkie has explained as doctrine of
the LDs Church, violates the very first Commandment.  In Ex. 20:2 we
learn, 'I am Jehovah, thy God, thou shalt have no other gods
before me.' This command is repeated in Deut. 5:6.

   In fact, this first commmandment is the foundation of the 'Shema'.
The Shema is the confession of faith, recited by Jews morning and evening.
Before the 2nd century AD it consisted of Deut. 6.4. and was named for the
first word of the confession, '_Hear_, O Israel, Jehovah our God is one
Jehovah;'  This confession was beleived to be the minimum study of the
Torah -- that there is only one God.  This passage continues, 'and thou shalt
love Jehovah thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with
all thy strength.'

    Did the 'Shema' sound familiar to you?  It should because Jesus affirmed
it to be the great command, and qouted it in in Mark 12:28-34.  You can
understand why the Mormon doctrine is so foriegn -- that Jesus is Jehovah,
while the father is some other god named 'Elohim'.  Not only did Jesus recite
the 'Shema', but the scribe repeated it back to Him causing Jesus to respond
'Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.'  Funny, that Jesus would not have
taken the opportunity to straighten out the bit of confusion the LDs claim we
are all in.  (Remember McConkie's word? trashing around in darkness?)

    One other thing to note, right after Jesus's recitation of the great
'Shema', he qoutes Psalm 110.1, the Messianic prophecy which places
Jehovah in the position of Father, speaking to the Son.  This is the
passage which McConkie translated as 'Elohim said to Jehovah', when
in fact it says, 'Jehovah said to Adonai'.  I, myself, have to wonder
why the Mormon Apostle would resort to such subterfuge, while at the
same time stating that the Christian world is thrashing in darkness.

    I would also like to point out, while we are on the subject of
Jesus, and who he claimed to be, (in relation to the Father):
In Mark 8:54 Jesus said to the Pharisees, 'If I glorify myself,
my glory is nothing: it is my Father who glorifies me, whom ye
say, He is our God.'  Lets put on our thinking caps for a moment, who
did Jesus just say his Father was?  His Father is who the Pharisees claim
is their God.  The only God the Pharisees would know about is the God of
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob -- Jehovah.  I am sure you will agree that the
following is a great prophecy of the work of the Messiah:

  'All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his
  own way; and Jehovah hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.'
_Is. 53:6_

    Who has laid on the Messiah the iniquity of us all?  Jehovah has.
If the Messiah is the Son, then who is Jehovah?  The Father, of course.
Was'nt it the Mormon Apostle McConkie who asserted we are 'thrashing
in darkness' for thinking like that?

    As aditional material: Ex. 34:14, 'For thou shalt worship no other god;
for Jehovah, whose name is jealous, is a jealous God.'  Isa. 43:10,
'Ye are my witnesses, saith Jehovah, and my servant whom I have chosen,
that ye may know and believe me, and understand the I am he; before me
there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.'  Who do
the Mormons teach Jehovah is?, a creation of something called 'Elohim'.
Again, Isaiah says in 44:6-8, `Thus saith Jehovah, ... I am the first,
and the last, and beside me there is no God.'  In fact, in this same passage,
Jehovah calls Israel his 'witnesses' and asks the question: 'Is there a
God beside me? Yea, there is no God; I know not any.'  If I were to
beleive the Mormon gospel, I would be forced to conclude God led his
people to be false witnesses.  God repeats this in Isaiah 45:5-6,
concluding 'I am Jehovah, and there is none else.'  Isaih 45:18,
'I am Jehovah, and there is non else.'  Isaiah 45:21-22, 'There is
no God beside me, a just God and a savior; there is none beside me. ...
For I am God, and there is none else.'  Isaiah 46:9-10, 'I am God, and there
is none else; I am God, and there is none like me...'

    I am sorry if this is getting repetitious, but thats the way God
gave it to us.  The idea of following another god is serious business.
Based on what we have covered so far, do you really think the Mormons
are justified in saying,

  'There is no salvation outside of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
 Saints'.  _Mormon Doctrine_, pg.670.

    Where do you think Mormon Apostle McConkie was coming from when he
attributed the creeds of Christendom to 'Lucifer'? 'evil concepts' which
lead to damnation?  As far as I can tell, Christendom has had a pretty good
handle on the identity of God, while the makers of 'truth restored'
have ocsillated from Brigham Young's teaching that Adam is God, the Father
of Jesus Christ, to the Talmadge-era 'out of thin air' god.

   You may be tempted to begin relying on your testimony -- that you
know in your heart that the teachings of the LDs are true.  I know you
have prayed about the BoM -- if it is not true,  and you feel you received
a confirmation.  I would ask you to consider Ezekial 14:4-11 concerning
how God will answer us if we come before Him with an idol in our hearts.

Mark
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