In 1820 Joseph Smith claimed a theophany and revelation from God. 188 years later, we still have the religion of Mormonism and it doesn’t show signs of going away. But there are serious issues that each and every Mormon must deal with if they are at all interested in truth. If you are not interested in the truth, avert your eyes. Otherwise, I pray you read these words knowing that though they may initially provoke anger or pain, that is by no means the intention. The sole intention is to lead sheep back to the shepherd and away from the prowling wolves.
Issue #1: Translations
It has been demonstrated since the discovery of the Rosetta Stone that Joseph Smith lacked even a fundamental knowledge of Egyptian hieroglyphics. How then is it possible that he translated the Book of Mormon and the Book of Abraham from a language he knew nothing about? Critical scholars outside of Mormonism are in agreement that what Smith called the Book of Abraham was actually the Egyptian Book of the Dead. Not only is it highly likely that these books were created from the imagination of Smith, but there is absolutely no reasonable evidence to the contrary.
James H. Breasted wrote, “To sum up, then, these three fac-similies of Egyptian documents in the ‘Pearl of Great Price’ depict the most common objects in the mortuary religion of Egypt. Joseph Smith’s interpretations of them as part of a unique revelation through Abraham, therefore, very clearly demonstrates that he was totally unacquainted with the significance of these documents and absolutely ignorant of the simplest facts of Egyptian Writing and civilization.” Arthur C. Mace, assistant curator of the Department of Egyptian Art of the Metropolitan Museum of Art wrote, “The ‘Book of Abraham,’ it is hardly necessary to say, is a pure fabrication….Joseph Smith’s interpretation of these cuts is a farrago of nonsense from beginning to end.” Samuel Alfred Brown Mercer, of the Western Theological Seminary, and author of an Egyptian grammar, stated, “[Smith] knew neither the Egyptian language nor the meaning of the most commonplace Egyptian figures….the explanatory notes to his fac-similes cannot be taken seriously by any scholar, as they seem to be undoubtedly the work of pure imagination.” (from Wikipedia article on Joseph Smith)
Issue #2: Theophany
The Bible says that no one has seen or can see God the Father, yet Joseph Smith had a vision in which he saw God the Father and the Son. This is in direct contradiction to Old and New Testament texts and qualifies Smith as a false prophet. (And before anyone says… “but Isaiah saw God!” Isaiah uses the Hebrew word “Addonai” which is Lord and likely refers to the Son and not the Father.)
Issue #3: Visions & Revelations
Joseph Smith claimed revelations that contradict New Testament teachings, yet he claimed that the apostasy of the church began after the death of the apostles. This would make sense if Smith followed the teachings of the apostles, but this is nowhere near the case. He taught that God was an exalted man with a physical body and that the Trinity was three separate Gods. From John 4:24 we know that “God is spirit” and from Deuteronomy 6:4 we know that God is one and not three.
The Bible tells us that Satan, once the most glorious of all the angels, masquerades as an angel of light. This would explain heavenly visions with less than heavenly doctrines.
Issue #4: Polygamy
While God allowed polygamy in the Old Testament it was never the intended order and always came with consequences (i.e. the sons of David, Abraham, and Jacob). This revelation is in obvious disagreement with the Bible from the beginning of Genesis on and could not be from God.
Issue #5: Translation Errors
Mormonism states that there were translation errors to the Bible. While there were slight variations in the KJV at the time of Joseph Smith, these variations are hardly enough to find the meaning of Smith’s doctrines in the original texts.
Issue #6: Salvation
Forgiveness of sins according to Mormonism is “conditioned on individual compliance with prescribed requirements — ‘obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.” This is a works-based salvation which is clearly no gospel at all. Nothing would get the writers of the New Testament into a fit of righteous indignation more than saying men could do something to deserve salvation.
Issue #7: Original Sin
Mormonism lacks a doctrine of Original Sin, believing humans are naturally good. Ecclesiastes 9:3 tells us that “the hearts of men… are full of evil.” Paul tells us in Romans 3 that no one follows God of his own accord.
These are serious issues every Mormon must come to terms with. Beginning with the fabricated translations we can only conclude that Joseph Smith was either deluded or a liar. Thus, the legs are cut out from underneath Mormonism.
Knowing the truth, what is a Mormon to do? Repent! Confess your sin, and turn to the Lord Jesus Christ and away from the inventions of Joseph Smith. Open a Bible and ask the Lord to remove the blinders from your eyes and reveal His Word and the Gospel to you.
[...] Issues Every Mormon Must Deal With Joseph Smith claimed revelations that contradict New Testament teachings, yet he claimed that the apostasy of the church began after the death of the apostles. This would make sense if Smith followed the teachings of the apostles, … [...]
Andrew,
As a Mormon, I can deal with each issue quite easily. Instead of a long rebuttal to each item, I would like to direct you to a wonderful website for those truly objective investigators of Mormon doctrines and issues. It is called fairlds.org. The acronym stands for Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research. It is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of LDS (Mormon) doctrine, belief and practice.
I’m not sure why my profession of belief in Mormon doctrine is a sin that requires repentance. It seems to me that Jesus only condemned the hypocrits of the Jewish faith. Those that were guilty of abominable sin, while appearing to be pious. He was much more gentle with the rank and file Jew. He invited them to come unto him and to repent of their sins. I never once read of him condemning people for the sin of believing in the wrong religion (other than idolatry).
It doesn’t bother me so much, your condemnation, since it is only indicative of what you have been taught about my religion by your own leaders. I only pray that you might some day objectively try and find out for yourself if all that you have been taught is actually true, because I can assure you, you really have no idea of what you speak regarding our doctrine.
Don
Don,
I’m not interested in reading a list of rebuttals by Mormon scholars. I’m interested in personal responses, not dissecting the response of someone I have no contact with.
Jesus condemned false prophets and teachers as well as hypocrites. We have the New Testament by which to measure such teachers, and Joseph Smith fails the test.
If I have no idea about your doctrine, why don’t you inform me?
Andrew
As a Mormon, I can deal with each issue quite easily. Instead of a long rebuttal to each item, I would like to direct you to a wonderful website for those truly objective investigators of Mormon doctrines and issues. It is called fairlds.org. The acronym stands for Foundation for Apologetic Information and Research. It is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing well-documented answers to criticisms of LDS (Mormon) doctrine, belief and practice.
You think FAIR is “objective”? You must be joking. Of course, from YOUR standpoint, I can see how you think it would be, since obviously, you believe what they say.
I’m not sure why my profession of belief in Mormon doctrine is a sin that requires repentance. It seems to me that Jesus only condemned the hypocrits of the Jewish faith. Those that were guilty of abominable sin, while appearing to be pious. He was much more gentle with the rank and file Jew. He invited them to come unto him and to repent of their sins. I never once read of him condemning people for the sin of believing in the wrong religion (other than idolatry).
All those who have not “truly” accepted Jesus Christ, as He truly is and is truly described in the Bible, are still in their sins, and as such, are still condemned to hell. Mormons have not accepted the real Christ. While you and FAIR would disagree with that, Biblically it is true, which is probably what Andrew is trying to get you to discuss, rather than just have you refer people to a Mormon website to do your talking and thinking for you.
It doesn’t bother me so much, your condemnation, since it is only indicative of what you have been taught about my religion by your own leaders.
It doesn’t bother me so much, your misinterpretations of the Bible, since it is only indicative of what you have been taught about your religion by your own leaders, who themselves have it wrong.
I only pray that you might some day objectively try and find out for yourself if all that you have been taught is actually true, because I can assure you, you really have no idea of what you speak regarding our doctrine.
It’s always funny to hear Mormons claim, over and over, that “nobody understands our religion.” Like they are the ONLY ones who can possibly understand it. Forget that people may understand it, and disagree with it. Forget that there are thousands of ex-Mormons out there, some former lifelong members, who have left after discovering the truth, who do “know” about the LDS religion. Forget that it’s usually because you can ask 5 different Mormons a question, and get 5 different answers, all of whom think their answer is the real teaching of the church. Forget all that.
We would also pray that YOU might some day objectively try and find out for yourself if what you believe is true. Yes, we know you believe you have confirmation from the Spirit that Mormonism is true, as Moroni 10:3 has told you to do. But what about those of us who have confirmation from the Spirit that Mormonism is NOT true? How do we know which “witness of the Spirit” is truly of the Spirit, and which is false? B/c they both can’t be right…
Don,
This is why I don’t trust the LDS site (and you shouldn’t either):
The first to present his case seems right, till another comes forward and questions him.
Proverbs 18:17
Andrew
Entering your blog is like entering Sodom. You’re just a den of snakes hoping to spiritually rape an unsuspecting Mormon. Shame on you!
Don,
Nobody forced you to come into this blog and comment, did they? You had the opportunity to read the comments before you posted, then decide whether you wanted to post something or not, and then after you decided to post, you also got to decide WHAT you wanted to post.
What you have encountered, Don, is disagreement with what you posted. You should have known by what was posted prior to your comments, that you would probably have encountered some opposition. Further, you didn’t even really provide any thoughts of your own, but rather punted to FAIR.
And if you are “unsuspecting”, that’s your own fault. Doesn’t 1 Peter 3:15 tell us to ALWAYS be ready to give a defense for our faith?
Don,
How does calling Mormons to confront the truthfulness of their beliefs make this a “den of snakes…”? We have asked for a biblical defense of Mormonism and got a link. Do you know what the Bible really says?
Andrew
Thanks for posting this. I have Mormom relatives and as far as I can tell you will have better luck seeing a crack addict get saved than a Mormom leave their cult.
sihgup,
The sinful flesh is hopelessly dead, and the deceptions of the evil one (see Eph. 2:1-3) are very real and effective. Without the Holy Spirit opening our eyes, we will never understand the power (Romans 1:16) of the Gospel. But the best part of the story is the first two words of Ephesians 2:4 (NASB or ESV)… “But God”… Those two words change everything. We were hopeless, “But God”…
It is good for us to remember Paul’s charge to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:1-5 when he says:
1In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. 3For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.
Andrew
Excellent bible verses. I would quote those to myself when I used to hand out gospel tracts in the FrenchQuarter of New Orleans. Along with “God has not given me a spirit of fear, God has not given me a spirit of fear..”