This article discusses why our understanding of God matters. It also examines the inevitable consequences of embracing the Mormon belief system.



INTRODUCTION

The majority of Mormons with whom I have spoken cannot see why having a different idea of God to that which is taught by the Bible, should be a big deal. In their defence they maintain that the Bible has been incorrectly translated and that they have their own prophet's revelations. They go on to reason that because there is only one true God, this means that the Christian denominations and the LDS church are in reality worshipping the same deity anyway.

Our response to this is that the Bible has undergone more investigation, over a longer period, than any other book in the entire history of the world. And it has come out squeaky clean. There is a mass of evidence available — archeological, historical and literary — that backs up both the truthfulness of the biblical record and the accuracy of its translation, thereby invalidating Joseph Smith's claims (see the link to the article, "Corruption of the Bible is an LDS Smokescreen," listed at the end of this page.)

When it comes to the suggestion that in reality Christians and Mormons are worshipping the same God; if it was that simple, why did the God of the Bible object so strenuously to idolatry?

Idolatry comes about through having a wrong idea of who God is.

Behind every false deity stands that great deceiver and enemy of both God and man, Satan. So we need to tread carefully.



THE INVISIBLE WAR

We're unaware of our own involvement in the conflict between satanic forces and the Kingdom of God, because it's in the spiritual realm. Nevertheless, we're in the thick of a battle being waged for our souls.

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)

Flesh and blood and are no match against the wiles of Satan, so God has given us His word, the Bible, to use as a spiritual weapon. Not only will it protect us from both spiritual attack and deception, but it can also be used on the offensive, to expose false teachings.

Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil..... And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Ephesians 6:11, 17, KJV) (The editor's emphasis)

The Lord Jesus Christ used the Bible as a spiritual weapon. When Satan attempted to dissuade Him from following God's plan for His life, He exposed his attacks for what they were, by quoting from the book of Deuteronomy (c/f Matthew 4:3-11). The Bible also tells us that when the apostle Paul preached Christ to the Bereans, they examined the scriptures daily, "to see if these things were so" (Acts 17:10-12). Consequently, many of them believed. But because Eve disregarded what God had told them and chose rather to believe Satan's lie, we now live in a fallen, suffering world.

If we choose not to use the God's Word as a spiritual weapon, we do so at our own peril.

Joseph Smith knew that if he was to succeed in creating a religion that fitted in with his own ideas, he would have to render the Bible impotent as a spiritual weapon. And so he founded the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (known as the LDS) on his claims that the Bible was unreliable as it had been incorrectly translated, that large sections of important teachings on salvation had been removed by evil people, and that the primitive church of Jesus Christ had fallen into total apostasy after the death of His apostles. (See the link to the article, "The Apostasy is a Mormon Fallacy" at the end of this page.)

Smith's claims about the corruption of the Bible ensured that right from the very start, his followers had no reliable standard of truth against which to test whether or not his teachings were correct. Consequently they had no way of telling whether or not he was a false prophet. This gave him free reign to introduce a religion that suited his own personal agenda.

Instead of using the Bible as their standard of truth against which to judge the correctness of all other teachings, Mormons are still, to this day, taught to use their own prophet's revelations to determine the accuracy or otherwise of the Bible, — which is exactly the opposite of what God has told us to do:

"The most reliable way to measure the accuracy of any biblical passage is not by comparing different texts, but by comparison with the Book of Mormon and modern-day revelations." (Church News, June 20, 1992, page 3, quoting a letter from the First Presidency [Presidents Benson, Hinckley and Monson] dated May 22, 1992, to all of the Church)

Because the LDS church gives Joseph Smith's teachings precedence over those of the Bible, they have been drawn into deeper and deeper spiritual error.

Joseph's exclusive teachings on God emanate from his unbiblical doctrine of eternal progression, which declares that God and man have the same origins. He maintained that there are Gods without number, and that through obedience to the LDS's laws and ordinances, we too can progress to godhood. (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 7:333; Journal of Discourses volume 2, page 345; Pearl of Great Price, Abraham 4:3,10,25; 5:8; Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pages 370-372, 346).



THE GOD OF ETERNAL PROGESSION

Fourteen years after the LDS church had been established, in what became known as the King Follett Discourse, Joseph Smith made the following announcement:

"We have imagined and supposed that God was God from all eternity. I will refute that idea and take away the veil that you may see. It is the first principle of the Gospel to know for a certainty the Character of God ..... that he was once a man like us ..... 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, namely by going from one small degree to another" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, compiled by Joseph Fielding Smith, 1976, pages 345-346 c/f "Times and Seasons," Volume 5, pages 613-614)

He also maintained that God has a body of flesh and bone:

"That which is without body, parts and passions is nothing. There is no other God in heaven but that God who has flesh and bones." (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 1976, Compiled by Joseph Fielding Smith, page 181.)

However, our Sword of the Spirit warns us to beware of false prophets whose aim it is to persuade us to follow other gods:

If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. (Deuteronomy 13:1-3, KJV)

Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them (Deuteronomy 11:16, KJV)

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man ..... (Romans 1:18-23, KJV) (Author's italics)

The following is the chorus of LDS hymn No. 27, "Praise to the Man," eulogizing Joseph Smith, who according to their theology, has progressed to godhood:

"Hail to the prophet, ascended to heaven,
Traitors and tyrants now fight him in vain,
Mingling with Gods he can plan for his brethren,
Death cannot conquer the hero again."

But according to the Bible, Joseph Smith was merely following in the footsteps of Satan:

How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. (Isaiah 14:12-14, KJV) (Emphasis by editor.)

UNDERSTANDING GOD

A true understanding of the biblical God is way beyond the capabilities of mortal man's loftiest imaginations. How could a created being ever hope to fathom out the one who had created him? Thankfully we don't have to try to do that. God has revealed as much of Himself as is possible for our finite minds to grasp, firstly through the prophets in the Old Testament, and then lastly through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ (Hebrews 1:1-3).

The Bible tells us that God is self-existing; the First Cause and the Creator of all that exists. And as He created and sustains the universe and all that is in it, everything is subject to Him. Moreover He is unique in that He always has always eternally been and always will be the only God. So He is supreme over all. Because He is spirit, His presence permeates the entire universe. That is why nothing is hidden from His sight. He is, always has been and always will be eternally unchanging, without sin, immortal, and omnipotent. He has no limitations and none of His purposes can be thwarted. (c/f Genesis 1:1, Isaiah 40:26, 44:6, John 4:24, 1:18, Psalm 36:9, Jeremiah 23:24, Romans 1:18-23). He also created both time and space, so He is not subject to these dimensions, hence his ability to reveal the future inerrantly, through His prophets.

The LDS's teachings concerning the God they worship came from Joseph Smith's revelations, and they describe a radically different deity to the God of the Bible.



THE LDS GOD IS NOT EVEN NECESSARY TO THE UNIVERSE

Their teaching that God was once a mortal man, who then progressed to godhood in the same way that all the other Gods had done, indicates that the Mormon deity only became a God long after the universe had come into existence. So he had nothing to do with its creation. This means that he is not even remotely necessary to the universe, but is subject to it in the same way that we are. And he is only one amongst a great many other Gods, each of whom rules their own world and has a God, who has a God, ad infinitum. In other words, the LDS God is not unique, he has many limitations and he is far inferior in every conceivable way to the infinite God of the Bible.

The only difference between the LDS God and mankind is that he has progressed further than we have at this moment in time.



THE LDS GOD DIDN'T CREATE US, HE BEGOT US

LDS teaching is that every single member of the human race, plus Christ, the devil, all the angels, demons, principalities and powers in the heavenlies, were the literal offspring of the Mormon God, whom he begot through the normal reproductive process in a previous existence that they call our first estate (See chapter 2, Gospel Principles; Doctrine and Covenants 93:21, Discourses of Brigham Young, Page 26 and "Mormon Doctrine" by Bruce McConkie, pages 192-193, 321, 516, 589). And so it follows that when a Mormon uses the term "Heavenly Father," he means this literally.

However, "Father" was a term of speech that was commonly used in a figurative way in biblical times. For instance, in the Hebrew culture it was customary to give the title of "Father" to someone who provided for their needs or protection; or who was the source of advice, wisdom, education, and so on. This term was also used to describe those who were worthy of honour and respect because of their provision of guidance, etc., such as a counsellor, a prophet or a priest; or even to indicate a person who had been the source of, or the founder of an occupation or a life-style:

I was a father to the poor ..... (Job 29:16, KJV)

[Concerning Joseph] So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God: and he hath made me a father to Pharaoh ..... (Genesis 45:8, KJV)

And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle. And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ. (Genesis 4:20-21, KJV)

"The richness and beauty of the biblical concept of father lies in that, being a source of another, the father imparts and communicates himself to this other. ....." from International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, revised edition, Copyright © 1979 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. All rights reserved.)

So when Christ taught His disciples to pray to "Our Father" in heaven, He wasn't inferring that God had sired us all in a previous existence, as is claimed by the LDS. He used the word "Father" purely as a term of honour and respect, in the context of God being our benefactor and the provider of all that we have. (For further information on Hebrew terms, see the link to the article, Mormon Doctrines on Christ Misconstrue Hebrew Terms of Speech, listed at the bottom of this page.)



THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE LDS'S BELIEFS ABOUT GOD

The Bible teaches that in the beginning there was God, and that He created all else, including mankind. But the first thing we notice about LDS teachings, is that God didn't come first, man did, and then he progressed to godhood. Their literature talks about man being a god in embryo, and I have heard the following couplet by Lorenzo Snow quoted from the LDS pulpit more times than I can remember:

"As man is, God once was; and as God is, man may become."

The LDS's theology has the effect of exalting man and his abilities, whilst at the same time diminishing God and His abilities. And this culminates in blasphemy and mistaken ideas.



DE-GLORIFYING GOD

THE VIRGIN BIRTH
In Matthew 1:18-25 and Luke 1:34-35 the Bible very clearly teaches that Christ was conceived through a miraculous work of the Holy Spirit, and that Mary remained a virgin until His birth.

However, the LDS's story is that Heavenly Father came down to earth in his body of flesh and bone, and impregnated Mary in the normal manner of men, in spite of the fact that she was betrothed to Joseph at the time. (Matthew 1:18).

Christ was Begotten by an immortal Father in the same way that mortal men are begotten by mortal fathers. (Mormon Doctrine, 1979, page 547)

Jesus is the only person who had our Heavenly Father as the father of his body (Family Home Evening Manual, 1972, pages 125-126)

The birth of the Savior was a natural occurrence unattended by any degree of mysticism, and the Father God was the literal parent of Jesus in the flesh as well as in the spirit ("Religious Truths Defined," Joseph Fielding Smith, page 44. See also Gospel Principles Manual, 1997, page 64).

Christ Not Begotten of Holy Ghost... Christ was begotten of God. He was not born without the aid of Man, and that Man was God! (Doctrines of Salvation, Joseph Fielding Smith, 1954, 1:18)

The LDS would have us believe that on the one hand God condemns adultery (Exodus 20:14, Leviticus 20:10, Deuteronomy 5:18 etc.) but that on the other hand He practices it.

[NOTE: In order to qualify to be our substitute and bear our sins on the cross, Christ had to be born without a fallen nature. Otherwise He would have been in the same predicament as we were, and would Himself have needed a Saviour. If Mary had conceived in the normal manner, which the LDS church insists she did, Christ would have inherited her genes. And although she may have been a wonderful person, she was still a member of a fallen race. But Christ was not conceived in the normal way. That is why the Bible consistently stresses that she remained a virgin until His birth. The Holy Spirit miraculously enabled Christ's foetus to begin developing in Mary's womb, without making use of her ova, and without there having been any sexual intimacy. So Christ had none of fallen mankind's genes in Him. His was a miraculous conception. And although Mary carried Him and bore Him, she was, in fact, only His surrogate mother.]

THE FALL
Another section of LDS teaching that defames God is their version of the fall. (The following few paragraphs are taken from the article on this site, on the fall of Adam and Eve.)

Mormon teaching is that the forbidden fruit in the garden of Eden was sex. But according to the Bible, Adam and Eve were man and wife. And nowhere does the Bible ever say that sex between a married couple is forbidden or that it is a sin. On the contrary, married couples are counselled not to withhold themselves from one another (1 Corinthians 7:5-6). And God never changes the goalposts concerning sin. This false teaching about the forbidden fruit being sex, is a red herring that was introduced in an attempt to make their doctrine of eternal progression seem plausible.

They go on to say that in order to obey God's more important command to be fruitful and multiply, Adam and Eve were forced to disobey His other command not to eat of the forbidden fruit. And this was a test that He gave Adam and Eve, to see whether or not they would have the wisdom to choose the right commandment to obey. So in their eyes it was a wonderful moment when Adam was wise enough to disobey God's command about the forbidden fruit:

"Of course for this whole plan to work, physical bodies had to be prepared in which Heavenly Father's spirit children could dwell. Thus, the first commandment on record is the commandment to Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. Mormonism teaches this was a greater and more important commandment than the commandment not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil" (LDS Apostle Talmage, Articles of Faith, pages 64-65). (Note by editor: "To be fruitful" was not the first commandment on record — see Genesis 2:15-17. Emphasis by editor)

"There was as yet neither procreation nor death. These would enter the scheme of things only after the fall. Adam and Eve had to break the lesser commandment, and incur the Fall, in order to fulfil the greater commandment." (LDS Apostle McConkie, A New Witness for the Articles of Faith, pages 84, 91).

However, the biblical God is not devious; that is Satan's role. God is good, pure, holy, righteous and true. The Bible tells us that He is light, and that in Him there is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5). He would never give us conflicting commandments. Nor would He ever plan for anyone to have to progress through disobedience or sin. Besides which, because of His attribute of righteousness, the laws of the universe He created are moral. Good actions benefit and build us up, and sinful actions degrade and harm us. The consequences of sin are always negative or destructive, never positive or constructive. Sin always spoils, hurts, destroys and kills. So sin or disobedience could never be the catalyst that would enable us to progress eternally. The very opposite would be the case.

If the fall had been part of God's plan for mankind, and if He had been hoping that Adam and Eve would be clever enough to disobey His command about the forbidden fruit, then why did He punish them both so severely? Only a sadist would have deliberately engineered things that way.

This is what LDS scriptures say about the jubilation of Adam and Eve immediately after the fall:

"And in that day Adam blessed God and was filled, and began to prophesy concerning all the families of the earth, saying: Blessed be the name of God, for because of my transgression my eyes are opened, and in this life I shall have joy and again in the flesh I shall see God. And Eve, his wife, heard all these things and was glad, saying: Were it not for our transgression we should never have had seed, and we should never have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient." (Moses 5:10) (Italics inserted by the writer.)

Mormon scripture presents the fall of mankind as something to celebrate, whereas the Bible portrays it as a tragedy.

The above passage in the LDS's book of Moses insinuates that God is someone who plans, promotes and rewards disobedience. Moreover, the Mormon version of the fall portrays Him as a being who deliberately gives us conflicting commands so that we will be forced to disobey Him, one way or the other, and then punishes us for it.

Joseph Smith's unbiblical version of the fall drags a holy and good God of truth and righteousness down to the level of devious, sinful man.

GOD'S OMNIPOTENCE
To go on to the next anomaly, the Bible teaches us that God is omnipotent and all powerful, to the extent that He can sway even a king's heart:

The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will. (Proverbs 21:1 KJV)

God's unlimited might and power was exhibited very clearly when He led the Israelites out of Egypt, to their promised land. They had been slaves for 400 years, and as such had no experience in warfare. What is more, they had very little in the way of weaponry. On the other hand, their enemies had the most sophisticated weapons of the day, as well as horses and chariots, whilst the Israelites had to fight on foot. But God assured them that He would give them victory over their enemies. And He did just that:

For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath. (Joshua 2:10-11, KJV)

But the LDS scriptures presents a very different picture of God, portraying him as being somewhat limited in power. For instance, they maintain that He was unable to prevent the primitive church that Christ had died to bring into being, from going into total apostasy. The implication is that He has less power than do the forces of evil, and is unable to protect His own. They further claim that He was unable to protect His holy word, the Bible from being corrupted.

But God gave us the Bible specifically for our protection against false prophets, wrong teachings, and spiritual deception of all kinds. In other words, He provided the Bible to teach us all about spiritual things, to nourish and sustain us spiritually, and to protect us from deception in the spiritual arena. But the LDS would have us believe that having done that, He was unable to safeguard it from being corrupted. Here again the insinuation is that the forces of evil won yet another victory over a somewhat limited God. (On the other hand they teach their membership that God would never permit the LDS to be led into error. Hmm.)



OVERRATING THE ABILITIES OF MANKIND

Just as the LDS intimates that God is less than He is, so they also maintain that man is more than he is.

The Bible teaches that God originally made us in His image. And although we still have traits of goodness in us, His image has been sadly tarnished and we all fall short of the glory of God. So much so, that even our good deeds are done with a subconscious desire to glorify, promote, please or serve ourselves:

For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment (Isaiah 64:6, NASB)

For there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth [only] good, and sinneth not. (Ecclesiastes 7:20, KJV)

Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin? (Proverbs 20:9, KJV)

If we say that we have not sinned, we make him [God] a liar, and his word is not in us. (1 John 1:10, KJV)

No matter how hard we try to live righteously through our own efforts, sooner or later we find ourselves slipping up and sinning in word, thought and deed. That is why God has never called on us to earn the right to forgiveness of our sins either under the Old or the New Covenants. He knows our limitations. So under the Old Covenant, He instructed His people to sacrifice an unblemished animal to cover their sin. The sinner had to identify himself with his substitute sacrifice by placing his hand on the animal's head. This indicated that it would die in his place, for his sin (Leviticus 4:27-31, Numbers 15:22-26). God was giving them a graphic picture of the coming, promised Messiah, who would sacrifice Himself once and for all, for the forgiveness of all the sins of those who trust in Him for salvation.

The continual pall of smoke rising from the sacrificial altar was mute evidence of the fact that fallen man was unable to live the way that God wants him to live.

God's people, Israel, had His laws, His protection and His guidance. And although they had every intention of living pure and obedient lives, no matter how hard they tried, they could not revert back to the way man had been before the fall. The prophet Jeremiah puts it like this:

O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. O Lord, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing. (Jeremiah 10:23-24, KJV)

(Note the utter humility of a man who recognizes his helpless, fallen condition and his need for God's intervention.)

Bearing in mind our weakness, in His wisdom and mercy God has devised a foolproof way of salvation under the New Covenant, that caters for the fallenness of man. In other words, it does not depend upon our own hopelessly inadequate efforts or abilities, but on the efforts, abilities and righteousness of the mighty, sinless Christ. Our part is to stop trusting in our fallen selves, and instead to submit to and put our faith solely in the risen Christ and his sacrificial death on our behalf. In return God has promised us forgiveness of all our sins, plus eternal life:

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:14-15, KJV)

He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:18, KJV)

In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace (Ephesians 1:7, KJV)

To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. (Acts 10:43, KJV) (Italics inserted by writer.)

However, Joseph Smith had different ideas about the abilities and the loftiness of fallen man, who in his eyes was a god in embryo. So he cast aside the way of salvation that was so graciously offered to us by God at such tremendous cost to Himself, ignoring the above scriptures and a great many others just like them. Then he came up with a story that will not be found anywhere in the Bible. He claimed that Christ's atonement merely reversed the curse of death that came about because of Adam's sin, thereby ensuring resurrection from the dead for all. He said that this then opened the way for us to earn the right to forgiveness of our own personal sins. The following are some of the LDS teachings that indicate that we have to literally save ourselves:

After this instruction, you will be responsible for your own sins; it is a desirable honor that you should so walk before our heavenly Father as to save yourselves; we are all responsible to God for the manner we improve the light and wisdom given by our Lord to enable us to save ourselves. (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 1976, Compiled by Joseph Fielding Smith, page 227)

The Father is a glorified, perfected resurrected, exalted man who worked out his own salvation by obedience to the same laws he has given to us so that we may do the same (LDS Apostle Bruce McConkie, in A New Witness for the Articles of Faith, page 64)

"Redemption from personal sins can only be obtained through obedience to the requirements of the [Mormon] gospel, and a life of good works ..... The Sectarian Dogma of Justification by Faith Alone has exercised an influence for evil" (Mormon Apostle James Talmage, Articles of Faith, pages 478-479).

[Editor: What the LDS doesn't seem to be able to grasp, is that if you have genuinely put your faith in Christ as your Saviour from sin, then you will not only follow Him, but will also rely on Him for the necessary grace, power and strength to do so. Why should this be termed an influence for evil?]

Contrary to what Joseph Smith says, God gave us the biblical way of salvation by grace, through faith in Christ, because He knew that our reliance upon our fallen selves was what spelled our doom.

"The idea of attaining salvation through self-effort and good works is a fundamental characteristic of human nature. But try as hard as one will, he cannot remove the guilt and penalty of his own sins." (Lehman Strauss, 'Doctrine of Salvation')

Tragically Joseph Smith's teachings have led to Mormons missing out on the only way of salvation that God in His mercy has provided for fallen man.



CONCLUSION

Because of the LDS teaching that God is an exalted man, Mormons have gained a false impression about both God and mankind, resulting in a radically different belief system to that taught by the Bible.

It is well to remember that God gave us the Bible so that we could protect ourselves from this type of spiritual error.

Mormons need to realize that if God did decide to provide extra-biblical revelations, these would either fit in with the Bible that He had already given us for our spiritual guidance and protection, or else they would build upon it. But LDS teachings don't do that. They contradict the Bible. And that should ring out warning bells. Truth never changes. Its main ingredient is its consistency.

The most puzzling thing about LDS teachings on deity, is why did God call out Joseph Smith to start up the "true" church, without letting him know from the start that He was in reality an "exalted" man, with a body of flesh and bone, who had earned his right to godhood? Surely the God whom a church worships is the mainstay of both their church and their teachings? Their story doesn't ring true. Bear in mind that the Book of Mormon, which they claim is the mainstay of their religion, teaches that God is a spirit being (Alma 18:26-28, 22:9-11). And early Doctrine and Covenants written at the start of the LDS church in 1830, teach that God had always, eternally, been God, and that he had created mankind, not begotten them:

By these things we know that there is a God in heaven, who is infinite and eternal, from everlasting to everlasting, the same unchangeable God, the framer of heaven and earth, and all things which are in them; And he created them male and female .... (Doctrine & Covenants Section 20:17, 18 (revelation through Joseph Smith, the Prophet, April, 1830.)

If you are a Mormon, this next paragraph is written to you personally.

Although you have been deceived into following and worshipping Joseph Smith's later, unbiblical God, you now know the truth. And so I would urge you to turn from the false teachings that have misled you, accept the Bible for the standard of truth that God intends it to be, and turn to the only true God, who has revealed Himself to us in the pages of the Bible. He is a God of forgiveness and mercy, and has been waiting for this very moment.

The following links will lead you to articles mentioned above:

Corruption of the Bible is an LDS Smokescreen

The Apostasy is a Mormon Fallacy

Mormon Doctrines On Christ Misconstrue Hebrew Terms of Speech

What is Biblical Salvation?

A comprehensive list of fully referenced articles on Mormonism, comparing their teachings with those of the Bible, can be accessed by clicking on the "Home" button below.

You are welcome to write to the editor (who was a second generation Mormon), at response@bibtruth.com


Copyright 2009, by Mormonism and Biblical Truth. All rights reserved.