This article explains how Joseph Smith, who claimed to be a latter-day prophet, was able to bring into being a religion that opposes every major doctrine in the Bible, in spite of the Bible being one of their standard works.

When he first started up the LDS church, their teachings were similar to those of Christianity. For the first twelve years they worshipped the trinitarian deity, as is borne out by their 1835 printing of Doctrine and Covenants. (Note that at that stage Smith taught that God was a spirit being.)

"..... We shall, in this lecture speak of the Godhead: we mean the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. There are two personages ..... They are the Father and the Son: The Father being a personage of spirit, glory and power: possessing all perfection and fullness: the Son, who was in the bosom of the Father, a personage of tabernacle ..... And he being the only begotten of the Father ..... possessing the same mind with the Father, which mind is the Holy Spirit.." (1835 Doctrine and Covenants, Lecture Fifth of Faith, 5:1-2, pages 52-53, First edition.) (Writer's italics)

Suffice it to say that Mormonism of today has changed to the extent that it no longer bears any resemblance whatsoever to Mormonism of the early days. It is a different religion altogether, with a different God (a saved sinner with a body of flesh and bone), a different Saviour and a different atonement, gospel and salvation. (Links are given at the end of this page to relevant articles on these subjects.)



THE FOUNDER OF THE LDS CHURCH

Joseph Smith came from a family of occultists. Prior to founding the LDS church he had earned his living by convincing his victims that he could locate buried treasure with the aid of his seer stone. However, nothing ever materialised, and he was eventually charged and found guilty by a court of law. There are court records, affidavits and other documents still available that provide ample proof of his misdemeanours, as well as of his involvement in the occult, spiritism and necromancy.

The LDS maintains that all this evidence is either counterfeit or that it was given out of spite because of opposition to the LDS church. Another of their excuses is that this type of activity was considered normal in those days. But if that was the case why did people submit sworn affidavits lodging their objections to Smith's activities and consistently complain to the authorities; and why was he taken to court and legally charged?

On examining the records available from that period in time, it becomes obvious that Joseph Smith was a persuasive orator. As a teenager he had frequented the local juvenile debating club, and he also became an exhorter in the evening meetings of the Methodist Church. This tells us that he was a gifted speaker, with "religious" leanings.

In June 1828 he joined the probationer's class of the Methodist church, subsequent to which a Mr. Joseph Lewis complained that Smith's lifestyle rendered him unfit to be a member of the church. The minister thereupon requested that he either submit himself to an investigation and publicly confess, repent, and promise to reform his ways, or else resign from the church. He chose to resign. (c/f History of the Pioneer Settlement of Phelps and Gorham's Purchase, 1851, page 214, The Amboy Journal, Amboy, Illinois, April 30 and June 11, 1879, page 1).

There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord (Deuteronomy 18:10-12, KJV). (Italics inserted by writer.)

Smith later claimed that in 1820 (eight years before he had joined the Methodist church), God had told him in a vision not to join any of the churches as they were all apostate and that their creeds were an abomination in His sight, citing the Methodist Church, amongst others, by name. (See Joseph Smith — History 1:18-19, Pearl of Great Price.) But the fact that he had joined the Methodist church after he later maintained that he had had this so-called first vision invalidates any claims he made in this regard.

It is quite possible that his claims concerning this vision had their roots in Smith's resentment against the Christian church in general due to his experience with the Methodists, because within two years of resigning from the Methodist church he had started up his own LDS church, maintaining that God had told him that all the other churches were apostate.



LAYING THE FOUNDATION FOR DECEPTION

Although Joseph Smith did have a limited education to start off with, after the formation of the LDS church he spent a short time studying Greek, Hebrew, German and so on. And he was certainly not stupid. He knew that the type of religion he planned to bring into being would never fit in with the teachings of the Bible, and that he would have to come up with an innovative explanation. He also realised that he needed to provide a plausible reason for establishing a new church.

Declaring himself to be a latter-day prophet, Smith claimed that God had revealed to him that after the death of Christ's apostles the early church had become apostate, and that he had been given the task of restoring the true church on earth. He also maintained that the Bible was not reliable as it had been incorrectly translated, and that large sections containing important teachings about salvation had been removed by evil people. This ensured that his followers would not be able to use the Bible as their standard of truth to verify whether or not his teachings were correct. And this opened the door for him to introduce whatever teachings suited his purposes.

"Many important points touching the salvation of men, had been taken from the Bible, or lost before it was compiled." (Joseph Smith, History of the Church, Volume 1, page 245)

"Ignorant translators, careless transcribers, or designing and corrupt priests have committed many errors" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, page 327).

Although his followers accepted his claims about the Bible having been corrupted, Joseph was wise enough not to bring about any radical changes in doctrine until the church had become well and truly established.



THE INTRODUCTION OF ETERNAL PROGRESSION

Twelve years after the formation of the LDS church, Joseph Smith introduced his Law of Eternal Progression with the following pronouncement:

"We have imagined and supposed that God was God from all eternity. I will refute that idea, and take away the veil, so that you may see ..... God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens!" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, page 345, compiled by Joseph Fielding Smith).

In order to avoid duplication, eternal progression will not be discussed in depth here, as a link is provided at the bottom of this page to an article that explains it more fully. But to put it briefly, the eternal progression teaching is that every living being originally existed as intelligent matter, then progressed, each in his own time, to the next stage by taking on a spirit form, and finally to the stage of taking on a physical body. The ultimate is to progress, or to be "translated" to godhood, which is eternal life. What this means is that deity and man have the same origins, with the same scope for advancement. So the only difference between us and God is that He has reached a further stage of progression than we have, at this moment in time. When I was in the LDS church they often quoted a couplet, that went something like this:

As man is God once was; as God is man may become.

(The LDS teaches that outsiders should only be given "milk," in regard to spiritual knowledge, and that "meat" is only suitable for their membership.) It has never been the their practice to reveal their exclusive doctrines until after folk have been baptized into membership of their church. Then they follow a graduated system of indoctrination. So right up until fairly recently, few people outside the LDS membership were aware of their true beliefs. However, since the advent of the Internet and the subsequent public disclosure of LDS teachings by ex-Mormons, there has been such widespread condemnation of their claim that men can become Gods, that the LDS has recently toned down the wording of their teachings. They now talk about becoming "like God," whereas when the writer was still in the LDS not all that long ago, they didn't mince their words, and said straight out that men could become gods in their own right, reigning over their own worlds, through obedience to the laws and ordinances of the LDS church.

However, in spite of their new wording, there has been no actual change in their doctrine of eternal progression, as the ultimate is still "translation" to godhood.

"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" (Journal of Discourses 6:4; Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, page 346, compiled by Joseph Fielding Smith).

Although many of the folk who had joined the LDS under their original belief system left the church at this stage, Smith managed to persuade the majority to join him in his rejection of the biblical spirit God, and to follow instead a deity with a body of flesh and bone, who had once been a sinner in need of salvation, but who had progressed to godhead through Mormonism. This was probably what induced him to brag:

"I am the only man that has ever been able to keep a whole church together since the days of Adam. A large majority of the whole have stood by me. Neither Paul, John, Peter nor Jesus ever did. I boast that no man ever did such a work as I. The followers of Jesus ran away from Him, but the Latter-day Saints never ran away from me yet." (The History of the Church Volume 6, pages 408-409). (Italics inserted by author.)

HOW LDS DECEPTION WAS MADE PLAUSIBLE

One can't help wondering how on earth Smith managed to convince his followers that his later Mormon teachings had any connection with the Bible at all. But let us not forget that he was a persuasive orator and a very successful deceiver. He had already convinced them that he was God's latter-day prophet, and that when he spoke it was the same as if God had spoken. For this reason the LDS introduced a policy that has been carried down to this day, that their prophet is never criticized. And the fact that he had convinced his followers that the Bible had been incorrectly translated and that large sections were missing from it, meant that they weren't concerned about his new doctrines deviating from the teachings of the Bible.

Their title, "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints," gives the impression that they are both biblical and Christian, and they actually teach their members that their title proves that they are the true church. But in reality nothing could be further from the truth. Mormons worship a different God, their gospel is different and so is their salvation. And although they do everything "in the name of Jesus Christ," the Christ they believe in is not the biblical Christ, a fact which their leadership admits.

Mormonism also has quite a few other teachings that have been specifically designed to convince their members that they are the only true, biblical church. (This seems to be their favourite subject.) They are told that God removed His authority from the earth after the early church had gone into apostasy but that He had restored it to them. They go on to claim that because they alone have God's authority, salvation is only through the LDS church. Another claim is that they alone hold the true priesthood and that one can only progress eternally through the LDS priesthood. And they are taught that apostasy from the LDS will result in their being consigned to outer darkness. These and other teachings contribute to binding folk to Mormonism. (However, as is explained in other articles on this site, these claims are all deliberate deceptions.)

Furthermore, in order to give the illusion that their doctrines fit in with what the Bible teaches, the LDS has consistently applied dishonest meanings to biblical terms. One glaring example is the term, "salvation by grace," which according to the Bible means being saved from the guilt and the penalty of our sins by the grace of God through faith in Christ. However, the LDS applies this biblical term, "salvation by grace," to universal resurrection without the necessity for faith in Christ and without the forgiveness of personal sins, resulting in damnation — as though salvation and damnation are one and the same thing.

"The first effect (of the atonement) is to secure to all mankind alike, exemption from the penalty of the fall, thus, providing a plan of General Salvation. The second effect is to open a way for Individual Salvation whereby mankind may secure remission of personal sins. As these sins are the result of individual acts, it is just that forgiveness for them should be conditioned on individual compliance with prescribed requirements, obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel" (LDS Apostle James Talmage, Articles of Faith, page 87).

Those who gain only this general or unconditional salvation (by grace) will still be judged according to their works and receive their places in a terrestrial or telestial kingdom. They will, therefore, be damned (Mormon Doctrine, Bruce McConkie, page 669.) (Emphasis inserted by writer.)

Another example of this type of blatant deception is the LDS's definition of the biblical term "eternal" as it applies to God. Our dictionaries define the word "eternal" as meaning "without beginning or end of existence, everlasting, ceaseless and unchangeable." And in line with this, the Bible teaches that God is unchanging and that He always has been God, eternally. But the LDS maintains that the word "eternal" is only meant to be God's title in the same way as the word "Mr." is a title when it is used in front of someone's surname. So they very deceptively use the term "eternal God" for their Mormon deity who has not always been a God, but was once an ordinary, sinful man in need of salvation.

Their ongoing subterfuge indicates that in spite of the fact that Mormonism bears no resemblance to Christianity, and that it opposes every major doctrine taught by the Bible, it has nevertheless been deliberately dressed up in the guise of biblical Christianity.

At the moment the LDS is pulling out all the stops to get themselves included in the Christian fraternity, including a massive publicity campaign.

As there is freedom of religion in America, one cannot help but wonder what their motive is in maintaining a Christian facade, when their religion is anything but Christian. (The articles listed in the index of the home page of this site give clear and overwhelming evidence, with references from their own literature, of Mormon opposition to everything that biblical Christianity stands for, apart from the morality issue.)

However, when considering their roots, everything falls into place.

Joseph Smith's religion of Mormonism is the biggest success story ever, in the arena of spiritual deception. The LDS church follows a false god, trusts in a counterfeit Jesus Christ, has an unbiblical way of what they call salvation, and propagates Joseph Smith's false gospel under the name, "the gospel of Jesus Christ." Their church membership in the year 2000 numbered 11 million, and the projection of experts is that if current trends hold their membership could reach 265 million worldwide by 2080.



THE REASON BEHIND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF MORMONISM

Because Smith had stressed right from the earliest days that important teachings on salvation had been taken from the Bible, we realise with hindsight that from the start he had been nurturing a plan to lead folk away from the way of salvation that God had revealed to us in the pages of the Bible, and to substitute in its place a false gospel that fitted in with his own agenda. And to confirm that this is precisely what he did do, we will compare the biblical, Christian gospel with the LDS gospel, which they deceptively call "the gospel of Jesus Christ".

The Christian gospel is a message intended for all the inhabitants of the entire world, regardless of belief, race or creed. It tells of the amazing love of a holy and righteous Creator God for the sinful, fallen and wayward race of mankind.

In order to rescue us both from the power that sin has over us and from its terrible eternal consequences; and also to reconcile us to His righteous rulership, God (in Christ) came down to earth and took on a body of flesh, so that He could qualify as one of us in order to be our Redeemer. Then He became our substitute sin-bearer. Although He Himself knew no sin, He voluntarily, graciously, humbly and courageously paid the terrible price for our sins, on our behalf, in our place, on the cross, so that we could be set free from guilt and condemnation. He only laid down one condition. In order to qualify for salvation we have to identify ourselves with our Saviour, by trusting solely in Him, in His ability, and in His sacrificial, substitutionary death on the cross.

This means that everyone, no matter what their past may have been, what sins they may have committed, or what may be their station in life, stands on level ground at the foot of the cross. And so there is hope for all. What a Saviour!

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16, KJV)

God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them (2 Corinthians 5:19, KJV).

Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree (1 Peter 2:24, KJV)

For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (2 Corinthians 5:21, KJV).

For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God (1 Peter 3:18, KJV)

Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood ..... to Him be the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. (Revelation 1:5,6, KJV)

But the LDS gospel is not like that at all. Mormonism was designed specifically to draw folk away from biblical Christianity and salvation. We know that this is so because firstly, as already mentioned above, Smith had maintained from the start that important teachings on salvation had been removed from the Bible. And secondly, their gospel is aimed solely at Christians or at folk who are familiar with or who have been brought up in a Christian society. Very roughly, their gospel goes something like this:

In a vision God revealed to his latter-day prophet, Joseph Smith, that the Christian church (for which Christ had died) had became apostate shortly after the death of His apostles. So he removed His authority for the gospel from the earth. But in these latter days He has restored both the true gospel and His authority to the earth, through his prophet, Joseph Smith. And as the LDS church alone has God's authority for the gospel, salvation is only possible through their organization. Furthermore, the Bible (that God gave us as our standard of truth, to protect us by being taken in by spiritual deception) is not reliable as it has been incorrectly translated and large portions have been removed by evil people.)

As can be seen, the Mormon gospel would make no sense to anyone other than those with some sort of a Christian background or with at least a knowledge of Christianity. It's whole purpose is to create an environment where we turn away from God's way of salvation and from the truths given to us in the Bible, to the deceptions taught by their false prophet, Joseph Smith.

Furthermore, if Mormons do eventually become aware of the contradictions and errors in LDS doctrines, the majority of them have been so thoroughly indoctrinated that they will continue to avoid the Christian church like a plague and still be convinced that the Bible is unreliable. So even then Mormonism has still served its purpose. Whether he stays or whether he goes the Mormon has been indoctrinated to the extent that he is reluctant to have anything to do with what happens to be the true, biblical gospel. And what is more, because of having been so thoroughly deceived by the LDS church, he feels he can never trust anyone else again in the spiritual arena.

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Ephesians 6:12, KJV)

CONCLUSION

If the reader is a Mormon I want to encourage you not to give up in your search for the truth.

Your best way forward is to begin reading the Bible in a new way, with a new attitude, giving yourself permission to accept that it is God's proven standard of truth. It's better to start with the New Testament, either with the gospels or else with one of the epistles, such as Philippians or Colossians, and to prayerfully read each book that you tackle from beginning to end, before going on to another, asking God to help you to understand what he wants you to learn from your reading for each day. It's also helpful to keep a notebook, marked with the dates and the passages read, together with what you feel God has taught you from each particular reading.

You are welcome to write to this site. The email address is at the bottom of the home page.

The following are links to some of the articles referred to above:

Corruption of the Bible is an LDS Smokescreen
The LDS Jesus Christ is Not the Saviour of the Bible
The Apostasy is a Mormon Fallacy
LDS Authority Teaching Has No Basis
The Mormon Gods, Past and Present
LDS Pre-existence is Disproved by the Bible




Copyright 2008 by Mormonism and Biblical Truth. All rights reserved.