The LDS Jesus Christ is Not the Savior of the Bible

The Jesus Christ in whom Mormons have put their faith differs radically from the biblical Christ. And common sense tells us that trusting in a different Saviour has to have different consequences. Faith on its own has no merit or power. It's in whom or in what we have placed our faith that counts, not the mere fact that we have faith. Having faith in and following a fictitious Christ will result in a fictitious salvation, no matter how sincere we may be. (And bear in mind that the atonement of the Mormon Christ has different benefits and different conditions, to those of the biblical atonement of the Christ of the Bible.)

This article discusses the following facts, which reveal that there is very little difference between the LDS Jesus Christ and ourselves:

1. The LDS leadership admits that their Christ is not the Saviour of the Bible.
2. He was not eternally deity, but had exactly the same origins as they say that we had.
3. Like ourselves, He is merely a product of the universe and is subject to it.
4. He had to earn His own salvation.
5. He is not unique and is only one of a great many other redeemers in the universe.
6. Members of the human race helped him to create (re-organize) the world.
7. He was our biological brother, and Lucifer's brother, in a previous existence.
8. His atonement only provided for our resurrection and made possible our attaining the lowest degree in heaven in the after life (which is not where God and Christ are). However, it opened the way for us progress further by earning the right to forgiveness of own, personal sins and eternal life, through the LDS church.
9. Christ's earthly, physical body was fathered by God.

THE LDS LEADERSHIP ADMITS TO FOLLOWING A DIFFERENT CHRIST

Mormonism is not Christianity. When the writer was still in the LDS church many years ago, Mormons were regularly instructed from the pulpit never to call themselves Christians. The reason given was that Christians were apostate and their teachings were an abomination in the sight of God. But the LDS leadership has since changed their stance. For some time now they have been pulling out all the stops to get themselves included in the Christian fraternity, and with this aim in mind have spent a fortune on a massive public relations campaign. They are even giving away Bibles for free, and are going as far as to claim that they are a Christian denomination (see the article, Mormonism's Claim to be a Christian Denomination ). And consequently, Mormons now become indignant if anyone tells them that they are not Christians or that their Jesus Christ is not the Saviour of the Bible. However, their leadership readily admits that the LDS Christ is not the "traditional" Christ.

In bearing testimony of Jesus Christ, President Hinckley spoke of those outside the Church who say Latter-day Saints do not believe in the traditional Christ. "No, I don't. The traditional Christ of whom they speak is not the Christ of whom I speak. For the Christ of whom I speak has been revealed in this the Dispensation of the Fulness [sic] of Times. He together with His Father, appeared to the boy Joseph Smith in the year 1820, and when Joseph left the grove that day, he knew more of the nature of God than all the learned ministers of the gospel of the ages ("The LDS Church News," week ending June 20, 1998, page 7) (Italics inserted by the writer.)

"..... the Christ followed by the Mormons is not the Christ followed by traditional Christianity." (Elder Bernard P. Brockbank, of the First Quorum of the Seventy,"The Living Christ," Ensign, May, 1977, pages 26 and 27.)

"..... virtually all the millions of apostate Christendom have abased themselves before the mythical throne of a mythical Christ ....." (LDS Apostle Bruce McConkie, "Mormon Doctrine," page 269).

President Hinckley, Elder Brockbank and LDS Apostle Bruce McConkie each insists that the differences between the Christs of Christianity and Mormonism are so vast that they cannot be considered as being one and the same person. President Hinckley put it this way: "The traditional Christ of whom they speak is not the Christ of whom I speak." He then went on to explain that Joseph Smith's first vision had been the catalyst that had resulted in Mormons believing in a different Jesus Christ to the one described in the Bible as being our Saviour.

However, they are standing on shaky ground here because there are nine known contradictory versions of Joseph Smith's first vision, to which President Hinckley refers. The official version that gave Joseph Smith a different idea of who Christ and God were, only came to light for the first time approximately twenty-two years after the event was supposed to have occurred. Prior to that nobody, not even his own family, had ever heard of it. But it fitted in with his latest doctrines as though it had been made for them. So in spite of the fact that it was invalidated by an earlier, contradictory version of his first vision, written in his own handwriting, it became the catalyst that made acceptable the introduction of a host of unbiblical doctrines into the LDS belief system, including eternal progression and their present doctrine on an unbiblical Jesus Christ. (See the article, Joseph Smith's First Vision and the Controversy Surrounding It .)

THE LDS CHRIST HAD THE SAME ORIGINS AS FALLEN MAN

Mormon teaching is that in a previous spiritual existence Christ, ourselves, the devil and the angels, were all part of one big family, with the same parents. (God the Heavenly Father leads a married life, and we were all his biological offspring. See chapter 2, Gospel Principles; Doctrine and Covenants 93:21, Discourses of Brigham Young, Page 26 and Mormon Doctrine by LDS Apostle Bruce McConkie, pages 192-193, 321, 516, 589).

Among the spirit children of Elohim [the LDS God] the firstborn was and is Jehovah or Jesus Christ to whom all others are juniors .... There is no impropriety, therefore, in speaking of Jesus Christ as the elder brother of the rest of humankind.... (LDS President Joseph F. Smith, "Improvement Era," volume 19, pages 941-942, June 30, 1916)

"..... He was called Lucifer, son of the morning. Haughty, ambitious, and covetous of power and glory, this spirit-brother of Jesus ..... " The Gospel Through the Ages, 1945, page 15, by Milton R. Hunter, LDS First Council of the Seventy, written and published under the direction of the General Priesthood Committee of the LDS. Council of the Twelve.) (Emphasis by editor.)

But the Bible tells us that the devil is a fallen, created, angelic being (Ezekiel 28:13-19); and that Christ, who is eternal deity (John 1:1), created all the angelic beings, including the devil:

For by Him [Christ] were all things created, that are in heavens, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities or powers: all things have been created by Him and for Him: and he is before all things, and by him all things consist. (Colossians 1:16-17, KJV) (Italics inserted by writer.)

The words, "thrones, dominions, principalities or powers" mentioned above were used by rabbinical Jews to describe the different orders of angels.

THE LDS JESUS WAS ONLY ONE OF MANY REDEEMERS

The LDS Jesus Christ is not even unique in being a Redeemer, as they maintain that He was only one of many Redeemers in a great many worlds.

Sin is upon every earth that ever was created ..... Consequently every earth has its redeemer, and every earth has its tempter; and the people thereof, in their turn and time, receive all that we receive, and pass through all the ordeals that we are passing through (Brigham Young, second President and Prophet of the LDS Church, "Journal of Discourses," 14:71-72).

THE LDS CHRIST WAS ASSISTED BY MANKIND IN THE CREATION

(N.B. when the LDS talks about creation, they mean the reorganization of already existing elements.) The gap between the LDS Christ and fallen mankind is reduced even further by their claim that in our pre-existence some of us assisted him in His creation of the earth. LDS doctrinal writer and member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Bruce McConkie explains:

That he [Christ] was aided in the creation of this earth by "many of the noble and great" spirit children of the Father is evident from Abraham's writings ..... (Abrah. 3:22-24). Michael (the archangel) or Adam was one of these. Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Peter, James, and John, Joseph Smith, and many other noble and great ones played a part in the great creative enterprise." c/f Doctrines of Salvation, Volume 1, pages 74-75 (Mormon Doctrine, page 169, LDS Apostle Bruce McConkie.)

THE LDS CHRIST NEEDED SALVATION

Just as Mormons do today, the LDS Jesus also had to earn his own salvation:

Jesus kept the commandments of his Father and thereby worked out his own salvation, and also set an example as to the way and the means whereby all men may be saved (LDS doctrinal writer and Apostle Bruce McConkie, "The Mortal Messiah," Volume 4, page 434).

THE LDS JESUS DIDN'T SAVE SINNERS, BUT SLAUGHTERED THEM

The Bible tells us that Christ didn't come to earth to judge, but to save, and that judgment will come after death:

Luke 9:54-56
54 And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?
55 But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.
56 For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. c/f Mark 2:17, Luke 5:30-32.
KJV

And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment (Hebrews 9:27, KJV).

However, the Book of Mormon gives a long, judgmental account of earthly sinners that Christ destroyed (see BOM 3 Nephi 9:3-15, which is totally out of character of the Christ of the Bible).

THE LDS JESUS IS JEHOVAH, THE GOD OF ISRAEL

The Book of Mormon maintains that after Christ's resurrection he visited the Americas, where he announced that he was the Jehovah of the Old Testament, and the God of Israel:

"Behold, I am he that gave the law, and I am he who covenanted with my people Israel; therefore, the law in me is fulfilled, for I have come to fulfil the law" (Book of Mormon, 3 Nephi 15:5 - See also Doctrine and Covenants 110:3-4).

In all of scripture, where God is mentioned and where he has appeared, it was Jehovah ..... The Father has never dealt with man directly and personally since the fall. (James Talmage, Doctrines of Salvation, volume 1, pages 11 and 27; c/f Book of Abraham 1:6-8, noting verse 8).

However, at the time that the Book of Mormon was written, Joseph Smith was a firm believer in the trinitarian deity. The fact that he taught the biblical concept of the trinitarian deity to the LDS church at the very start of their existence is well documented. And their teaching that the Lord Jesus was the Jehovah of the Old Testament fitted in perfectly with trinitarian doctrine. But shortly after the establishment of the LDS church, Joseph began radically changing his ideas about his theology, including deity.

Mormons of today do not worship Christ as God. I remember, as a young Mormon child, being warned that I was never to pray to the Lord Jesus. Yet Stephen, the first Christian martyr, prayed to Christ as God (Acts 7:59). And His disciple Thomas called Christ "my Lord and my God" (John 20:28).

Because the Book of Mormon's teachings (including those on Jehovah, i.e. Christ being the God of the Israelites), were based on their earlier belief in a trinitarian deity, their change in deity doctrine has created serious problems for them. And this is why the Book of Mormon sometimes contradicts Doctrine and Covenants and other Mormon scriptures that were written at a later time, after Smith had changed his theology.

If our ideas about deity are wrong, then we'll be wrong about our other doctrines too, because ultimately all our beliefs stem from our view of God.

To add to the confusion, there are many places in the Old Testament where the person of Jehovah [YHWH] (whom the Book of Mormon teaches is Jehovah, the Lord Jesus Christ and the God of Israel), is identified as being Elohim, which is the name of the LDS's God and Heavenly Father. Their present teaching is that Elohim is their God, not Christ (he is our brother in eternal progression); and that God the Father, Christ the Son and the Holy Ghost, are separate Gods.

However, the following are only a few of the many places where the scriptures consistently teach a trinitarian deity, and where the present LDS teaching that God the Father, Christ the Son, and the Holy Ghost are three separate Gods doesn't fit in. (The original language from which the English was translated, is given in brackets.)

Know ye that the LORD [YHWH, Jehovah] he is God [Elohim]: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. (Psalm 100:3, KJV)

Hear, O Israel: The LORD [YHWH, Jehovah] our God [Elohim] is one LORD [YHWH, Jehovah] (Deuteronomy 6:4, KJV)

That all the people of the earth may know that the LORD [YHWH, Jehovah] is God [Elohim], and that there is none else. (1 Kings 8:60, KJV)

The Hebrew translation of Exodus 3:14 tells us that it was Elohim (in Mormonism, God the Heavenly Father), and not YHWH (in Mormonism the Lord Jesus Christ), who made Himself known to Moses by the title "I am that I am." Nevertheless, Mormons fully concur with John 8:58, where Christ identifies Himself as deity by claiming the very words used by Elohim in Exodus when he said, "Before Abraham was born, I am." But this claim of Christ only fits in with the trinitarian teaching, not with the three separate Gods teaching. And if the LDS takes up the stance that because of their teaching about our pre-existence, Christ had a right to make this claim that before Abraham was born, he had existed; why would He make such a big thing of this if he knew that according to the LDS's law of eternal progression, everybody else (including the Jews to whom Christ was speaking) also had a right to make this same claim as they would all also have existed before the physical birth of Abraham?

The truth of the matter was that the biblical Jesus Christ knew nothing of the Mormon doctrine of eternal progression, because the Bible reveals, and historians confirm, that He lived His life out as an Old Covenant Jew. Yet the LDS teaches that he lived His life on earth in obedience to LDS laws and ordinances. But both history and archeology prove that Mormon doctrines were not practiced until after the LDS church came into existence in 1830 AD.

There are also many other problems in this area that could be discussed, but space does not permit. Suffice it to say that Mormonism is full of contradictions, which is an indication that its doctrines are man made and therefore fallible.

THE ATONEMENT OF THE LDS JESUS CHRIST

The LDS maintains that Christ's atonement took place primarily in the Garden of Gethsemane, was merely finished off by His death on the cross; and that its purpose was to reverse the consequences of the fall by providing for universal resurrection. It also opens the way for us to earn the right to the forgiveness of our own, personal sins through obedience to LDS laws and ordinances, good works and a virtuous life:

We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the [LDS} Gospel. (Third Article of Faith of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints).

"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 c/f the third LDS Article of Faith).

There is no salvation outside The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (Bruce McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, page 670).

There is no salvation without accepting Joseph Smith as a prophet of God, (Doctrines of Salvation, Volume 1, page 188.)

However, the Bible teaches that the genuine Jesus Christ earned real salvation for fallen mankind on the cross at Calvary, where He fully atoned by paying the once-for-all price for the forgiveness of all the sins of those who by faith identify themselves with Him; and that salvation is only through Himself.

Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3, 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)

In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: (Colossians 1:14 KJV)

..... no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6, KJV)

Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:12, KJV)

Neither the Mormon atonement nor their plan of salvation will be found anywhere in the Bible, no matter how long or hard you search for them.

THE VIRGIN BIRTH

The unbiblical LDS teaching is that God Himself fathered Christ through a physical relationship with Mary. Although the writer never personally heard this preached from an LDS pulpit, it was taught by Joseph Smith and other LDS leadership, and it is taught in fairly recent official LDS lesson books (for instance in the Family Home Evening [Manual], Personal Commitment, copyright 1972 by Corporation of the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, pages 125-126), as well as in the sources mentioned below:

These name-titles all signify that our Lord is the only Son of the Father in the flesh. Each of the words is to be understood literally. Only means only; Begotten means begotten; and Son means son. Christ was begotten by an Immortal Father in the same way that mortal men are begotten by mortal fathers. (Mormon Doctrine, LDS doctrinal writer Bruce R. McConkie, page 546-547)

When the Virgin Mary conceived the child Jesus, the Father had begotten him in his own likeness. He was NOT begotten by the Holy Ghost. (President Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Volume 1, page 50)

"The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints proclaims that Jesus Christ is the Son of God in the most literal sense. The body in which He performed His mission in the flesh was fathered by that same Holy Being we worship as God, our Eternal Father. Jesus was not the son of Joseph, nor was He begotten by the Holy Ghost. He is the Son of the Eternal Father!" (Benson, page 4; Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Volume 2, page 725, 1992; The Teachings of [LDS President] Ezra Taft Benson, page 7)

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).

Thus, God the Father became the literal father of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the only person on earth to be born of a mortal mother and an immortal father. From his mother he inherited mortality and was subject to hunger, thirst, fatigue, pain, and death. He inherited divine powers from his father. (Gospel Principles 1997, page 64)

The Family Home Evening [Manual], Personal Commitment, copyright 1972 by Corporation of the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also included the following sketch on page 126:

There are several problems with this blasphemous and highly offensive teaching. Firstly, at the time of her conception, Mary was betrothed to Joseph. And in those days a betrothal was legally binding, necessitating a divorce to break the bond. Secondly, the Bible makes it clear that Christ was conceived through a miraculous work of the Holy Spirit. And thirdly there is an excellent reason why Christ had to be conceived in this manner. In order to qualify to pay the price of our sins, it was essential that He should be absolutely pure and untainted by sin. If this had not been the case, He would have been in the same boat as we were, and would Himself have needed a Saviour. Although Mary may have been a wonderful, kind and good person, she was still a member of a fallen race. So any child that she bore through the fertilization of her ova would naturally have carried the gene of her fallen nature, no matter who the father was. But that never happened. Her conception came about solely through Christ's embryo being miraculously formed inside her womb, by the power of the Holy Spirit, without the use of her ova, thereby bypassing the necessity of fertilization. (See Matthew 1:18-20, Luke 1:34-35.) In other words, it was a true virgin birth in that Mary was Christ's surrogate mother.

The Mormon version of Christ's conception would have meant that Mary would have lost her virginity. But the Bible tells us that when she gave birth she was still a virgin (Matthew 1:25). The LDS excuse that she could still be considered a virgin as God Himself had physically fathered the earthly Christ is unacceptable, because it is nonsense. A woman is either a virgin or she is not.

(After 1972, because of the massive public outcry against this doctrine, the LDS leadership decided that it would be better not to publicly teach this anymore.)

The Book of Mormon, that was authored by Joseph Smith before he radically changed his ideas on theology, supports the Bible in maintaining that Christ's conception came about through the power of the Holy Spirit (which was Smith's earlier teaching, at the start of the LDS church):

...she being a virgin, a precious and chosen vessel, who shall be overshadowed and conceive by the power of the Holy Ghost, and bring forth a son, yea, even the Son of God. (Alma 7:10) (Emphasis by editor.)

(Mormons may be unaware of the fact that the original printing of the Book of Mormon gave Joseph Smith's name as being the author and proprietor of the copyright. It was only after he was unable to sell the copyright that he made the decision to removed his name as the author. A copy of the original Book of Mormon is in the LDS archives.)

WHO IS THE HISTORICAL, BIBLICAL JESUS CHRIST?

The biblical Christ is self-existing. He has always, eternally existed as God.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In Him was life ..... (John 1:1-4, KJV) (Emphasis by editor.)

Because Christ had the attributes of God, revealing God in the flesh, He has never ever sinned. So He never ever needed salvation. He was salvation (John 14:6).

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).

Christ is both the creator of life and the giver of eternal life (John 4:14). He created the universe and everything that is in it. So it is subject to Him. And He is worshipped by Christians as God, the second person of the trinity.

The biblical followers of Christ looked upon Him as deity and worshipped Him.

And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. (John 20:28-29, KJV)

And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. (Acts 7:59-60, KJV)

[The Apostle Paul said] ...... but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. (Philippians 1:20-21, KJV)

The New Testament talks about Christians as being "those who called upon the name of the Lord," (c/f Acts 9: 21; 22:16). Furthermore, the Book of Mormon (which Joseph Smith wrote before he changed his doctrines on deity) has the people looking upon Christ as God, and praying to Him:

And behold, they began to pray; and they did pray unto Jesus, calling him their Lord and their God. (3 Nephi 19:18)

Although the word "trinity" isn't mentioned in the Bible, the concept of the trinitarian deity is taught consistently throughout the entire Bible (see the article on the Biblical God listed in the index on the home page). It certainly did not originate with the Council at Nicea in the fourth century, as the LDS so wrongly claims it did. They merely rubber-stamped the fact that the concept of the trinity always had been one of the foremost doctrines of the church. Long before the Council at Nicea came into being, independent secular historians and other men of note recorded the fact that the early Christians had worshipped Christ as deity. (See Celsus, on the True Doctrine by R. Joseph Hoffmann, Oxford University Press 1987; The Christians as the Romans Saw Them by Robert L. Wilken, Yale University Press, 1986; and volume 4 of The Ante-Nicene Fathers.)

Because the Bible disproves Joseph Smith's ideas about Christ, he resorted to writing his own "translation," radically changing the doctrinal sections that didn't fit in with his own personal theology. However, he had no scholarly reasons for doing this, and in reality his "divinely translated Bible" is nothing more than an amendment of the 1828 King James version that was in his possession at the time. The changed sections bear no resemblance to what was written in the original languages. Nor do they fit in with the teachings of the primitive church which, besides having been given to us in our Bibles, were recorded in letters that were circulated amongst believers. And those documents are still in existence. Nobody, apart from Smith's followers, accepts his translation. (See Joseph Smith's Inspired Translation of the Bible .)

CONCLUSION

Because the primitive church fully understood the use of biblical terms and was familiar with the culture of those times, the concept of the trinity presented no problems to them, and they readily accepted it as a biblical doctrine. However, this is not the case today, as we live in a different culture, and are treading on strange ground.

Consequently, over the years, in his struggle to understand God, Joseph Smith chose to bring deity down to his own level. And that is why the LDS Jesus Christ, who was tailor-made to fit in with Smith's man-centred doctrine of eternal progression, bears no resemblance to the biblical Saviour of mankind. He has a different nature, attributes, origin, birth and history, and is a different person altogether. The LDS Jesus Christ is not the Christ of the Bible.

To compound these grave, foundational and major doctrinal deviations; as already mentioned above, the LDS Christ's atonement also differs radically from the atonement taught in the Bible. Not only is the person of the LDS Jesus Christ inferior in every way to the Christ of the Bible, so is his atonement.

Finally, what the LDS wrongly terms "the gospel of Jesus Christ" is in reality the gospel of Joseph Smith. The gospel they promote will not be found anywhere in the Bible, as it consists purely of Joseph Smith's own exclusive ideas, which contradict what the Bible teaches. (Eternal progression is part of their basic teaching on the gospel.) However, as the LDS has deliberately and deceptively applied their own exclusive meanings to biblical terms, unless one is familiar with their beliefs, as well as with the teachings of the Bible as a whole, it is easy to gain the false impression that Mormonism is biblical.

NOTE: Many of the errors in the LDS's teachings about Christ are directly related to their disregard of the customs and terms of speech used by the people living in biblical times. This subject is dealt with in an easy to understand way, at this link: Mormon Doctrines on Christ Misconstrue Hebrew Terms of Speech.

To access a comprehensive index of fully referenced articles comparing various other aspects of Mormonism with what the Bible teaches, click on the "home" button at the bottom of this page.

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