THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST

OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS

by Al Provost

 

Introduction

I believe that in writing a paper such as this, one must be compassionate for the feelings of the Mormon or ex-Mormon, however, the Word must be given to all.

Paul says it best in Romans 10:13-14: "for ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ How, then can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach if they are not sent?"

This paper is written in Love, because Jesus said "Love your neighbor" and "Go and tell everyone about me" and Proverbs 15:1 states "A soft answer turns away anger . . ." The evidence presented here will speak for itself.

 

"THE MORMONS"

There has been much written about the "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" (The Mormons). This paper will give a brief overview of a few subject areas within the Mormon Church.

First, listed below are a few essential truths of Christianity:

Further, the Bible states: in 1 Thes. 5:20-21 "....do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good (correct)." And Deut. 18:21-22 says: "How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord? If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken."

So, with these verses in mind, let’s proceed with information directly from various Mormon books. The books used are: The Bible, The Book of Mormon (A), Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price, Journal of Discourses, History of the Church and various journals that the Mormon church holds as true and correct.

(A) On Nov. 28,1841, Joseph Smith stated that "...the Book of Mormon was the most correct book of any book on earth..."

NOTE: A comparison of the latest edition of the Book of Mormon, with the first edition (the 1830 edition that was supposed to be translated by God) will show more than 3000 changes. Doctrines & Covenants 1:29 and 20:8.

We will discuss four topics concerning the Mormon church:

    1. A brief history.
    2. Some of the doctrines of the Mormon church.
    3. A few of the teachings of the Mormon church.
    4. Four of the many prophecies of Joseph Smith and other leaders of the Mormon church.

Brief History of the Mormon Church

According to the Teachings in the Various Mormon Books

1820 At age 14 Joseph Smith had his first "vision" in the woods in New York. Two Personages appeared. One pointed to the other and said "this is my Beloved Son. Hear Him." Joseph Smith was told that all "sects" (Christian Denominations) were corrupt.

September 21, 1823 Moroni, a messenger sent from God, appeared at Joseph Smith’s bedside three times. He was told that "golden plates" and the Urim and Thummim (which translate the plates) had been deposited (buried).

September 22, 1823 Joseph Smith went up the hill Cumorah and found the plates. An angel told him not to take them but to come back each year for four years.

January 18, 1827 Joseph Smith married Emma Hale.

September 22,1827 Joseph Smith was given the plates by an angel and told to keep them until the angel should call for them again. Soon thereafter, Smith started translating the plates which were in the "Reformed Egyptian" language.

April, 1829 Oliver Cowdery joined Joseph Smith and copied down what Joseph Smith told him to write.

May, 1829 Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery went to the woods where John the Baptist conferred on them the priesthood of Aaron.

April 6,1830 The "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" was officially organized.

June 27,1844 Joseph Smith was killed by a mob. He became, in Mormon eyes, a "martyr".

1845 Brigham Young became the second president of the Mormon church.

1846-1847 The Mormon trek to Salt Lake City.

Before we go any further, we shall go back in time to discover how the "plates" came to be. The Book of Mormon tells the story about the nation of the Jaredites. In the year 2,250B.C., a hundred or so years before Abraham, the Jaredites who lived near the region of the Tower of Babel, were told by the Lord to build eight barges for an ocean trip. These eight barges, driven by the wind for 344 days, landed at exactly the same time and place: the West coast of Central America. Over the years the Jaredites established many cities with a population of two million men, plus women and children; probably a total of about five million. The Jaredites, however, did not get along with each other. They engaged in a final battle, in which all but one warrior was killed. This account was recorded on 24 plates by Ether who survived the battle and buried the plates.

The book of Mormon also describes the events in the year 600 B.C. when Lehi and his family (including two sons Nephi and Laman) were forced to leave Jerusalem (That was about 15 years before the exile of Judah to Babylon). Lehi received a set of brass plates containing the five books of Moses. Lehi’s son Nephi built a ship and the family began to sail eastward with the help of a compass which Lehi found on the ground. (The compass was invented in the 12th century A.D.). After a long trip, they landed on the west coast of South America (By this time the Jaredites had exterminated themselves). They migrated to North America to the area of the mid-west and built many large cities in a thousand-year period. In 34A.D., Jesus Christ came down to them and taught them the "Sermon on the Mount" (3 Nephi 11:28) as well as other teachings. After that there was peace for about 200 years between the Nephites and the Lamanites. After the 200 years, there was constant warfare between these two groups. In a final battle, near the hill of Cumorah, all were killed except Moroni, whose father’s name was Mormon. In 385 A.D before the last battle, Mormon had hidden the various plates in the hill Cumorah which is in New York. Moroni, in 421 A.D., buried additional plates, including the books of Ether.

Now we travel 1400 years into the future where we meet up with Joseph Smith in his first vision in 1820.

Let’s look at the history.

1. Nothing in the Bible or any other book tells of the two trips by sea to a "promised land".

    1. Archaeology has found NO cities that are mentioned in the Book of Mormon, NO trace of the millions of people, NO inscriptions, NO artifact of any kind. It is very unlikely that archaeology found no trace of their existence since they were in the area for approximately 1000 years.
    2. It took Noah 100 years to build the "ark", how long did it take to build the eight barges and the ship?

      3. 4. In 1 Nephi 2:5-8, it is stated that the river Laman emptied into the Red Sea. History and Geology tells us that there has never been a river that emptied into the Red Sea.

      5. Jesus Christ died and rose from the dead in 33A.D. in Israel. Jesus said when he comes again it would be as He rose to heaven, and "all would see him". If Jesus is true, how do we explain His appearance in 34 A.D.?

    Doctrines of the Mormon Church

    What is the Mormon’s doctrine of God?
    1. "In the beginning, the head of the Gods called a council of the Gods on the star Kolob .... plan to create the earth and its people.." Journal of Discourses Vol.6.

2. "And now, behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and of the only and true doctrine of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, which is one God, without end, Amen". (2Nephi 31:21) Compare this statement from the Book of Mormon, to the following: "I have always declared God to be a distinct personage, Jesus to be a separate and distinct personage from God the Father, and the Holy Ghost was a distinct personage and a Spirit; and these three constitute three distinct personages and three Gods....". Quoted in Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith on July 16, 1844. See item (A) on page 1.
    1. "The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as mans.." Doctrine & Covenants 130:22
    1. ".....you have got to learn how to be Gods yourselves,.....the same as all Gods have done before you." The King Follett Discourse pages 8-10 by Joseph Smith.

What is the Mormon’s doctrine of man?

"Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence or the light of truth, man was not created or made, neither indeed can be." Doctrine and Covenants 93:29

What is the Mormon’s doctrine of salvation?

    1. "If you will believe in your hearts and confess with your mouth Jesus is the Christ, that Joseph was a prophet, and that Brigham is his successor, you shall be saved in the kingdom of God...."And, "No man or woman in this dispensation will ever enter into the Celestial Kingdom of God without the consent of Joseph Smith........" Journal of Discourses 6:229; 7:289.
    1. "...There is no salvation outside the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints." Bruce McConkie--Mormon Doctrine 669-670

What about the doctrines?
  • Is there one God or three Gods?
  • Where is the star Kolob?
  • Is it true that I will become a God?
  • Was man created or not? In the Pearl of Great Price, Abraham 4:26 states, "Let us go down and form man...."
  • Joseph Smith, a man, must give his O.K. before we can enter the Kingdom?

Teachings of the Mormon Church

1. The Christian church was an abomination until the Mormon church was founded in 1830. Pearl of Great Price-Joseph Smith 2:16-20

2. "...I say unto you Joseph Smith.....they who are not baptized in water......shall be damned..." Doctrine and Covenants 84:74.

3. " ...the elements from which creation took place are eternal..." Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith pages 350-352.
  1. "...man was an eternal existent being..." The Gospel through the Ages, page 127
  2. The Bible is in error. 1 Nephi 13:28; 2 Nephi 29.

What about the teachings?
  1. Science has given us evidence that humanity and the universe are not infinite; they had a beginning. The Creator and the Cosmos, Hugh Ross-Chapter2.
  2. There is much evidence showing that the Bible is without error. See the section below titled "The Bible".

"The Bible" A source that shows the reliability of the Bible are the "Dead Sea Scrolls". These scrolls were first discovered in 1948 in some caves in the area of Qumram, near the Dead Sea in Israel. It is believed that the scrolls were placed in clay jars around 70 A.D. at the end of the uprising against Rome. The scrolls have been reviewed for content and discovered to be the same as the Bible of today. In other words, our Bible has not changed in 2000 years. Besides the "Dead Sea Scrolls", many writings have been found to verify the reliability of the Bible. WHY?? History tells us that the early Jewish historians were extremely careful in copying existing documents (i.e. the Torah etc.). In the early centuries after Christ’s Resurrection, the rapidly growing number of churches and home groups required an increased supply of copies of the Old and New Testament books. The Gospels and Letters in the New Testament were transcribed with every bit the same accuracy as the Old Testament books by the early Jewish historians. Since we do not have the original documents, we should ask, how reliable are the copies we have in regard to the total number of manuscripts and the time interval between the original and the earliest existing copy.

This time frame in some cases is less than 50 years. When comparing the original manuscripts of the New Testament with those of ancient secular history you will see that the numbers of New Testament manuscripts are numerous.

Let’s take a look at these numbers:

 

AUTHOR

WRITTEN

EARLIEST COPY

TIME SPAN

COPIES

Caesar

100-44B.C.

900A.D.

1000 years

10

Plato

427-347B.C.

900A.D.

1200 years

7

Aristotle

384-322B.C.

1100A.D.

1400 years

49

Homer

900B.C.

400B.C.

500 years

643

New Testament

48-110A.D.

125A.D.

15-90 years

20,000+

The evidence for the Bible being an accurate document is far beyond reasonable doubt. It’s not hard to understand WHY???

Prophecies of the Mormon Church

  1. Prophecy of the Temple construction.

"Which city shall be built, beginning at the temple lot, which is appointed by the finger of the Lord, in the western boundaries of the State of Missouri....which temple shall be reared (in Jackson County) in this generation...." Doctrine and Covenants (D&C) 84:1-5 Also see D&C 101:17-21 and Journal of Discourse Vol. 3 pg. 17; and Vol. 13 pg. 362.

  1. Prophecy of the coming of the Lord.

    2. "On the 14th of February 1835, Joseph Smith said that God had revealed to him that the coming of Christ would be within 56 years, which being added to 1835 shows that before 1891 and the 14th of February....." History of the church page 182 and Journal of O. Huntington Vol.2 pg. 129.

  2. Prophecy of the men on the moon.

"Inhabitants of the moon are of more uniform size than the inhabitants of the earth . . . this is the description of them as given by Joseph Smith (The Seer), and he could "see" whatever he asked the Father . . ." Journal of O. Huntington Vol. 2 pg. 166

". . . when you inquire about the inhabitants of that sphere (the moon) you find that the most learned are ignorant in regard to them. . . So it is with regard to the inhabitants of the sun. Do you think it is inhabited? . . . No question of it, it was not made in vain." Taught by Brigham Young in the Journal of Discourses Vol 13 page 271

  1. Prophecy of the 10 lost tribes of Israel.

"I do not know how much before the ten tribes will come from the north; . . . the ten tribes will be heard of . . . they will not sorrow any more as they have been doing during the twenty-five hundred long years they have dwelt in the Arctic regions." Journal of Discourses page 68

WHEN SHOULD WE TRUST A PROPHET?

The Bible in 1 Thes. 5:20-21 states "Test everything."

    1. The temple was never constructed in Jackson County, Missouri.
    2. The Lord did not return in 1891.
    3. There are no men on the moon.
    4. The 10 lost tribes are not in the Arctic.
    5. A man by the name of Mr. Miller, prophesied in 1831 that Christ would return in 1843. Joseph Smith said, "I showed them the fallacy of Mr. Miller’s data concerning the coming of Christ . . . I told them the prophecies must all be fulfilled . . ." History of the Church page 272.

The following has been taken from the Doctrine of Salvation: "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 Vol.1, page 188.

This statement indicates that the Mormon church and Joseph Smith himself believe that a true prophet must be without error. Are the prophecies on pages 7 and 8 correct or do they have some error to them? There are additional errant prophecies of Joseph Smith that are not included in this paper for brevity sake.

Note: Only a few of the Doctrines, teachings and Prophecies are listed here.

Questions:

    1. Why should I believe the Mormon teachings and that of Joseph Smith when I see the errors?
    2. How can I trust that the Mormon church speaks for God?

Conclusions

I personally know many people who are Mormon. They do good works and are very loving people. The Christian’s assurance for everlasting life after death is based on the "faith" (the belief) that Jesus Christ died for our sins and we will be with Him in heaven. The Mormon religion requires "works" in order to be "good enough". Within these two options lies a world of difference. Let’s look into the difference. Say, that the Mormon religion is right and Christianity is wrong. It seems to me that if I naturally do "good" for others and the community I will be "good enough" to go to heaven after death. So, it appears I will be O.K. along with the folks in the Mormon religion. However, if Jesus is God, and if Christ is the "Way the Truth and the Life" then the Christian is doing what God (Jesus) said to do and will be with Jesus, in heaven, after death. What about the person who has heard about Jesus and rejects Him as God? Can you say for certain what will happen to that person’s soul? The Bible, in John 6:28-29 states "..Jesus’ disciples asked Him; ‘What must we do to do the works God requires?’ Jesus answered; ‘The work of God is this; to believe in the one He has sent (Jesus)’ When you become a follower of Jesus Christ, you are guided by the Holy Spirit to do the will of Christ. Thus, the fruit of your labor comes through as works. Works, inspired by the Holy Spirit, expresses your thankfulness for the "gift" of salvation. Works are not a requirement for salvation.

I sincerely believe that many Mormons are not aware of some of their prophecies, doctrines etc.

A Final Note on the Bible

From the Mormon text Article of Faith #8: "We believe the Bible to be the Word of God as far as it is translated correctly.

From the Doctrine of Salvation Volume 3:191 ". . . The Holy Scriptures translated and corrected by the spirit of revelation by Joseph Smith."

From the Bible Deuteronomy 4:12 "You shall not add to the Word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it . . ."

From the Bible Proverbs 30:5-6 Every word of God is flawless, do not add to the words or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar".

From the Book or Mormon 1Nephi 13:28 ". . . there are many plain and precious things taken away from the book (Bible) . . .

See "The Bible" on page 6 of this paper.

From the Bible Revelations 22:18-19 " I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes words away form this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life . . ."

Brigham Young said; "Take up the Bible, compare the religion of the Latter-Day Saints with it, and see if it will stand the test". And Orson Pratt echoed; "Convince us of our errors of Doctrine, if we have any, by reason, by logical argument, or by the word of God and we will ever be grateful for the information and you will ever have the pleasing reflections that you have been instruments in the hands of God of redeeming your fellow beings".

It appears, with all the reason and evidence presented, that there are many errors in the doctrines, teachings and prophecies of the Latter-Day Saints.

Jesus wants us all to be with Him in eternity!!!

Follow Jesus Christ, God the Son.