Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (known as the LDS) berate Christians for "attacking Mormons." Their stance is that it is wrong, unfair and uncalled for, to oppose the spiritual beliefs of others. But they misunderstand the motives of those who have taken on the difficult task of ministering to Mormons. Christians have nothing against Mormons. On the contrary, they care deeply about them. That's why they oppose the deceptive doctrines of the LDS church.



THE REASON FOR THE EXISTENCE OF THE LDS CHURCH

Right at the start, we need to be clear about the fact that the existence of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints rests squarely on their claim that after the death of Christ's apostles the Christian church became totally apostate, and that their teachings are an abomination in the sight of God (Joseph Smith History 1:19). Thousands upon thousands of Mormon missionaries have been spreading the message of their gospel, which includes the total apostasy of the Christian church, on an ongoing basis:

Nothing less than a complete apostasy from the Christian religion would warrant the establishment of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (Joseph Smith, Jr., History of the Church, verse 1, page 40)

In order to ensure that Mormons understand that the LDS church has been attacking the Christian church and trying to destroy their faith ever since Joseph Smith came on the scene with his fantastic claims, here are a few more of the many derogatory statements that have been made over the years, by the LDS leadership:

"We talk about Christianity, but it is a perfect pack of nonsense ..... it is as corrupt as hell; and the Devil could not invent a better engine to spread his work ..... (LDS Apostle John Taylor, who became the third LDS Prophet and President, Journal of Discourses, Volume 6, page 167)

"The Christian God is the Mormon's Devil ....." (2nd LDS President Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Volume 5, page 331).

"What is the church of the devil in our day, and where is the seat of her power?.... It is all of the systems, both Christian and non-Christian, that perverted the pure and perfect gospel.... It is communism; it is Islam; it is Buddhism; it is modern Christianity in all its parts ....." (LDS Apostle and doctrinal writer Bruce R. McConkie, The Millennial Messiah, pages 54-55) (Emphasis by editor)

"Both Catholics and Protestants are nothing less than the 'whore of Babylon' whom the Lord denounces by the mouth of John the Revelator as having corrupted all the earth by their fornications and wickedness. Any person who shall be so corrupt as to receive a holy ordinance of the Gospel from the ministers of any of these apostate churches will be sent down to hell with them, unless they repent" (LDS Apostle Orson Pratt, The Seer, page 255)

"After the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized, there were only two churches upon the earth. They were known respectively as the Church of the Lamb of God and Babylon. The various organizations which are called churches throughout Christendom, though differing in their creeds and organizations, have one common origin. They all belong to Babylon." (LDS Apostle George Q. Cannon, Gospel Truth, page 324)

"The Christian world, so-called, are heathens as to the knowledge of the salvation of God" (2nd LDS President and Prophet Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 8:171)

"Doctrines were corrupted, authority lost, and a false order of religion took the place of the gospel of Jesus Christ, just as it had been the case in former dispensations, and the people were left in spiritual darkness ..... For hundreds of years the world was wrapped in a veil of spiritual darkness, until there was not one fundamental truth belonging to the place of salvation ..... Joseph Smith declared that in the year 1820 the Lord revealed to him that all the 'Christian' churches were in error, teaching for commandments the doctrines of men." (LDS President and Prophet Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, Volume 3, pages 266, 282) (Emphasis by editor.)

LDS claims are a direct attack on the Christian church and its teachings. Their missionary endeavour is to convince folk that the Christian church is apostate, and then to persuade them to embrace Mormonism instead. So why should Mormons become indignant or object when Christians take whatever steps are necessary to prove that their assertions are false?



THE LDS CHURCH HAS CONSISTENTLY CHALLENGED OTHERS TO PROVE THEM WRONG

"Take up the Bible, compare the religion of the Latter-day Saints with it, and see if it will stand the test." (2nd LDS Prophet and President Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Volume 16, Page 46)

"The Book of Mormon can and should be tested. It invites criticism." (Hugh Nibley, Professor at LDS's Brigham Young University, and an Apologist for the LDS Church, in An Approach to the Book of Mormon, Page 13)

"Convince us of our errors of doctrine, if we have any, by reason, by logical arguments, or by the word of God, and we will be ever grateful for the information, and you will ever have the pleasing reflection that you have been instrumental in the hands of God redeeming your fellow beings from the darkness which you may see enveloping their minds." (Orson Pratt, original member of the LDS Quorum of the 12 Apostles, The Seer, Pages 15, 16)

"If this is not correct doctrine then I am in error, and if I am in error I want to be corrected." (Joseph F. Smith, Journal of Discourses, Volume 20, Page 31)

There have been many more statements by the leadership of the LDS in a similar vein, but these are sufficient for you to get the point that they invite those who see error in their teachings to come forward and state their case. Christians have taken them up on this challenge, using both the Bible and available historical evidence as the means of exposing their doctrinal error and revealing the fact that Joseph Smith was both a false prophet and a deceiver.



MORMONISM IS A RELIGION OF DECEPTION

The pattern of ongoing deception that was established right at the start of the LDS church by their prophet and founder, Joseph Smith, appears to have become entrenched in Mormonism. Over the years the LDS leadership has been less than honest in their attempts to conceal their exclusive doctrines, as well as certain aspects of their history, to the extent of denying that they exist. They have even coined a term for their dishonesty. They call it Lying for the Lord. But if their doctrine is from God and they are the true church, then there should be no need for them to feel compelled to lie either about their teachings or their history.

Surely, declaring the truth and making it known should be the aim of any group who claims to be of God for the simple reason that He is a deity of truth, holiness and righteousness. It is the devil who is a liar and a deceiver, not God.

But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. (John 3:21, KJV)

"Because you have spoken falsehood and seen a lie, therefore behold, I am against you," declares the Lord God. (Ezekiel 13:8-9, NASB)

He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house: he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight. (Psalm 101:7, KJV)

A righteous man hateth lying ..... (Proverbs 13:5, KJV)

Lying lips are abomination to the Lord: but they that deal truly are his delight (Proverbs 12:22, KJV)

Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another. (Ephesians 4:25, KJV)

But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. (Revelation 21:8, KJV) (Emphasis by Editor)

Very few members of the LDS are aware of the real reasons why their fellow Mormons leave the church, because their leadership deceives them in this regard. They are deliberately given the false impression that folk only leave the LDS because they are involved in sin, or because they are no longer willing to live according to the church's high standards. But the truth is that the majority who leave do so simply because they have discovered that Mormonism is a religion of deception. LDS scriptures are contradictory, failed prophecies have been removed from or altered in LDS literature, and doctrines have been changed on an ongoing basis, so that Mormonism of today bears little resemblance to what it did in its early days.

As Alfred Adler, the Austrian psychologist stated, "A lie would have no sense unless the truth were felt to be dangerous."

Then too, the LDS has always had a policy of secrecy concerning their exclusive doctrines, which are only revealed after baptism into membership. This in itself is a deceptive ploy, as few folk would join the LDS church if their doctrines (especially the teaching that God was once a mortal man who had earned the right to be exalted to godhood), were fully revealed up front, prior to membership. As it is, they are first taken into membership and then introduced to the nitty gritty of Mormon teachings through a graduated system of indoctrination that has been very carefully worked out.

Since the advent of the Internet, those who understand Mormonism have had an avenue to make the truth known. This enables folk to be aware of exactly what beliefs they will be committing themselves to, should they join the LDS church. And it enables Mormons who are still living under deception, to discover the truth about both Mormonism and biblical Christianity, for themselves.

Mormonism needs to be exposed for what it is.



LYING FOR THE LORD

"We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous ....." (The LDS's 13th Article of Faith)

To carry on what was said in the previous section concerning "lying for the Lord," it needs to be understood that the LDS church has knowingly and deliberately perpetuated the pattern of deception that was started right at the very beginning by their founder and prophet, Joseph Smith, in spite of the above 13th Article of Faith that they profess to stand by.

For instance, their leadership is fully aware that Joseph lied when he said he had translated the Book of Mormon from inscriptions on golden plates. His scribes testified that whilst he did his so-called "translating," the supposed golden plates were always carefully hidden away, and that nobody ever saw them. His method was to place an occultic stone in the crown of his hat, put his face over it and pull the brim up to exclude the light. Then he would read out the words that he maintained emanated from the stone, so that his scribes could write them down. So in reality the Book of Mormon either came about through a series of occultic revelations through his stone, or else it was a work of fiction. But intent on deception, Smith lied, and claimed to have translated the Book of Mormon from "Reformed Egyptian" inscriptions engraved on gold plates. And the LDS perpetuates that lie. Illustrations of Smith translating the Book of Mormon show him sitting at a table and peering at gold plates lying there in front of him. But that wasn't the way it happened. And the LDS leadership is well aware of this fact.

Furthermore, the witnesses to the Book of Mormon had to be coerced by Joseph Smith into signing the statements that were composed by himself, and are printed in the front of the book. At first they were unwilling to sign these testimonies, as they felt they gave the wrong impression. They freely admitted that they hadn't actually seen the golden plates with their own eyes, but only in a type of dream or vision, and then only after much prayer and effort. So the entire story about the Book of Mormon is based on deception, from start to finish. (Fully referenced details are contained in the article, The Book of Mormon Witnesses Who Never Saw the Gold Plates )

The following is an extract of an article on the subject of LDS lying, that was featured on Mormonwiki.org:

"Lying for the Lord refers to the practice of lying to protect the image of and belief in the Mormon religion, a practice which Mormonism itself fosters in various ways. From Joseph Smith's denial of having more than one wife, to polygamous Mormon missionaries telling European investigators that reports about polygamy in Utah were lies put out by "anti-Mormons" and disgruntled ex-members, to Gordon B. Hinckley's dishonest equivocation on national television over Mormon doctrine, Mormonism's history seems replete with examples of lying. Common members see such examples as situations where lying is justified. For the Mormon, loyalty and the welfare of the church are more important than the principle of honesty, and plausible denials and deception by omission are warranted by an opportunity to have the Mormon organization seen in the best possible light."

The ordinary Mormon needs to realize that if he wants to know the truth, he will have to look for it outside the sphere of the LDS church.



NOTE BY EDITOR:
There has been a major change in the tactics of the LDS church in recent years. In the days when the editor was a member, we were exhorted from the pulpit on a regular basis never, ever to call ourselves Christians. (Remember their claim that Christian teachings are an abomination in the sight of God?) But recently they have done an about turn. For some time now they have been engaged in a massive and very deceptive publicity campaign, costing them millions of dollars, portraying themselves as being Christians. And as part of this campaign, they have been giving away Bibles for free. You will find an informative, fully referenced article, by following this link: Mormonism's Claim to be a Christian Denomination .

They have also radically amended their latest teaching manuals, in order to downplay the differences between their exclusive teachings and those of the Bible.

(However, it seems that the LDS isn't only trying to become included in Christian circles. Some time ago they began hosting inter-faith rallies in their SLC tabernacle. According to the press release for the 2009 rally, Muslim prayer, African-American spirituals, mythic imagination, neo-Pagan meditation and interfaith worship formed part of the program.)

A comprehensive index of articles on the doctrines of Mormonism, comparing them with what the Bible teaches, can be called up by clicking on the "Home" button at the bottom of this page.

Should you have any questions or concerns, you are welcome to write to the editor, who was a second generation Mormon, at response@bibtruth.com



Copyright 2010 by Mormonism and Biblical Truth. All rights reserved.

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