The Mormons

History

This group is officially known as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. As we shall see, they are neither the Church of Jesus Christ nor are they saints.

The beginnings of the Mormons date back to 1820, with a man named Joseph Smith, Jr. Smith was born in Vermont, but his family moved to New York State when he was still young.

In 1820, when Smith was only fifteen years old, he claimed that as he was praying in the woods, God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to him. He tells us that these heavenly visitors told him to not join any church because all churches were wrong and not one church on earth was teaching the truth about God.

In later visions Smith claimed that an angel guided him to certain "golden plates which were buried near his home. Smith further contended that it is from these plates that the Book of Mormom was translated. Unfortunately for those of us interested in seeing these plates Smith tells us that the angel came and took them away after he was through translating them.

The early years of Smith were controversial to say the least. ln 1826, Smith was accused of being a "disorderly person and an imposter", in Bainbridge New York. During his trial, Smith admitted that he was frequently involved in magical arts and hunts for buried go1d. He was found guilty of disturbing the peace.

By the time Smith died in 1844 he had forty eight known wives and possibly twenty more undocumented wives. Smith died in Carthage Illinois. He was killed when a mob stormed the jail in which he was being held for destroying the printing press of an anti-Mormon newspaper. This act can in no way be excused, it was a vicious act of murder. Furthermore such an act only guaranteed Smith’s going dawn in history as a Mormon martyr.

Following this series of events, the Mormon movement was well on its way to becoming one of this country’s famous movements. Soon alter Smith's death, the Mormons were led by Brigham Young to what is now Salt Lake City, Utah (except for a portion of the group who saw the next leader of the movement as being of linear descent from Joseph Smith. This group is known today as The Re-organized Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints. They are not in union with the SaIt Lake Mormons. To this day, their leader is a descendent from Joseph Smith. They are headquartered in Independence, Missouri).

Coupled with this unusual Mormon history, the theology 0f the Monmons is just as peculiar. Their teachings are completely the opposite of Christianity Their doctrines are so garbled and contradictory that they have been commonly referred to as a "maze".

We must understand that it was the Mormons who contended with Orthodoxy. When Joseph Smith claimed that no church teaches the truth about God , he immediately brought to bear the whole might of God’s Truth as contained in the Orthodox Church, upon himself. It is critical to realize that, for the most part, the Mormons are not fully aware of the teachings of the Orthodox Church. When members of this group are confronted with the claims of Orthodoxy they are left without an adequate response. Either they must accept the Truth of Orthodoxy, or they can, because of intense family and church social pressure ignore it. But one thing is certain after a Mormon has been exposed to the Orthodox Church; he or she will never have the same outlook on Church history again. For those Mormons who find it more important to know the Truth, as opposed to the social pressure, they have found their way into the Orthodox Church.

Theology

Among the heretical doctrines of the Mormons are the following: Please note that this is only a partial list of the Mormon deviations. We are here only dealing with the major falsehoods, those which pertain especially to the Orthodox. An attempt to treat all the Mormon teachings would require volumes.

To properly understand Mormon teachings, we should have a basic understanding 0f their sources of authority. In addition to the Bible, the Mormons claim three other books considered equal to, If not greater than, the Bible. These are The Book Of Mormon, The Pearl Of Great Price, and Doctrine and Covenants. The Book Of Mormons is thought by Mormons to be much more accurate than the Bible since, according to Mormon reasoning, the Bible has undergone numerous translations and distortions through the centuries. Therefore, when contradictions occur between the two books, and they do occur regularly, it is at this point where an "incorrect" translation has been rendered. This is no less than mere absurdity. The Mormons hesitate to admit that their own Book Of Mormon has undergone over three thousand alterations since its publication. Add to this the fact that Joseph Smith claimed that an angel took the plates away, from which The Book Of Mormon was allegedly translated and it is apparent that the Mormon suspicion of the Bible is totally without basis. This becomes especially clear when one considers the scholarship which has consistently proven the Bible to be amazingly accurate.

There are also a number of Mormon theologians whom the Mormons consider authoritative. Among them, one of the most respected Mormon theologians is Talmage.. Outside of Mormonism, Talmage, who is deceased, enjoys little, if any, exposure.

Reading some of Talmage's works will enlighten anyone as to why this is so. Concerning the Nicene Creed, Talmage once wrote: "It would be difficult to conceive of a greater number of inconsistancies and contradictions expressed in words as few."

Now we let Mormonism speak for itself:

One God