Answering Mormons (We've got lots of em' here in the Flathead.)

No one can deny that Mormons are typically upstanding, moral people, who are often leaders in our communities, doing much good. However, several months ago, some Mormons came to visit Sis. Melissa. She had an in depth conversation with them, during which they claimed to believe everything that she said she believed. However, she knew that they did not. She just didn’t know how to counter their statements.

Years ago, I had been given a copy of the Book of Mormon and did a little reading, so I knew that her feeling was correct and that what her Mormon visitors told her was untrue. Still, I had never put together any argument to show this.

Consequently, I began to do a great deal of research on Joseph Smith and Mormonism. To my surprise, I found that many Mormons, including the Mormons’ own historical society, have recently challenged the traditional Mormon account of their history, showing that it is historically inaccurate and that Joseph Smith was a pretty shady character, to say the least.

The writings of recent Mormon historians confirm this in startling light, including the fact that Smith was a seer before his “revelation” and that he continued to dabble in occult practices, eventually embracing the beliefs of Freemasons and merging them with his own Mormon teachings. These are documented, historic facts and not stories created by anti-Mormons.

I’ve got tons of information, for anyone who is interested (most of it is in quotes or sections of other peoples’ writings, who are much more authoritative in their knowledge of Mormon history and teaching than myself).

Some of the teachings of Joseph Smith and later Mormons are reminiscent of a bad science fiction novel. For starters, Smith's translation of what he called, “The Book of Abraham” (one of the sacred writings contained in Smith's "Pearl of Great Price") and subsequent Mormon expositions state that God (Elohim) was once a man like those on earth today--except he was born on another planet. Elohim grew to maturity and was obedient to the laws of the god who governed that particular planet. That god had once been a man, as well, and in subjection to his own god (and so on). When Elohim died, he was resurrected and judged by his god. Then, being found worthy, he was raised to godhood and given many righteous woman as wives.

So much for Bible’s account of God’s own words, “Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.” (Isaiah 44:8)

Elohim and his wives were sent to a heavenly residence, somewhere in our galaxy, near a star named Kolob. There, he procreated and produced many spiritual children. When preparing the earth, Elohim asked his two eldest sons (Jesus and Lucifer) to produce plans, of which he chose the one made by Jesus and exalted him to godhood.

Lucifer, of course, became angry and led a rebellion with a third of his brothers and sisters. Another third of Elohim’s children fought against Lucifer. The last third agreed with Elohim but did not commit to the battle. Lucifer and his followers are now Satan and the demons.

The children of Elohim who defeated Lucifer became the fair white race on earth, with blond hair. Those who were not as valiant in battle were given a darker complexion and dark hair. The noncombatants were given dark skin, which was also the “mark” or curse that was placed upon Cain. Until recently, Mormons taught that all blacks were excluded from salvation and could never ascend to godhood.

If you think this is fantastic, you should hear the story behind the angel Moroni and how the gold tables came to Joseph Smith. Moroni’s story could be a spin-off of the Mormon creation sci-fi epic, on the scale that Deep Space 9 or Next Generation are spin-offs of Star Trek. If you’re curious, I’d be happy to furnish the story. (If you weren’t raised Mormon, you’re sure to be entertained by it.)

Smith’s own story is quite interesting as well. Ooooh yeah. I'd need more than just a blog to tell this guy's story. Each decade or subject could become its own volume in the epic and evolvution of Joseph Smith, his shaping and his beliefs.

Though many are more interesting, let me just say that in regard to polygamy, Mormon historian Todd Compton states (his book In Sacred Lonliness: the Plural Wives of Joseph Smith, p.2), "I arrive at a list of thirty-three well-documented wives of Smith." He also notes (p. 15) that "fully one-third of his plural wives, eleven of them, were married civilly to other men when he married them,"and adds that the youngest of Smith's wives was 14 years old.

Another Mormon historian, Richard L. Bushman puts the number of wives with other living husbands at ten, stating, "Joseph married about thirty additional women, ten of them already married to other men. Nothing confuses the picture of Joseph's character more than these plural marriages."

It seems that Joseph was in the habit of "testing" his disciples' loyalty by asking them for their wives to see if they would comply. However, the story is much more dark and perverted than I will get into. It was Smith's desire for a young girl that prompted the giving of a prophesy, stating that these women were given to him by God. The prophesy and subsequent teaching of Smith rapidly evolved into a very dark and mystical (I'm leaving a lot out) aspect of the religion that few Mormons care to speak of. Even then, Smith changed and blatantly overstepped the limitations stated in his own teachings.

Still, Smith's successor, Brigham Young stated that polygamy was empraced by Jesus and his disciples. He even went as far as to say that it was the very teaching that led to his persecution and eventual Crucifixion.

Some of the Mormons teaching are not openly publicized, even to potential converts, for obvious reasons, but devout Mormons are thoroughly indoctrinated into them in later years (much like the teachings of Freemasons). Mormons believe that:

• "There are more gods than there are particles on a million earths"
• God the Father has a body of flesh and bones and was once a sinful man on another planet (if I had the Star Wars theme song, I'd play it at this point.)
• God had to "progress" to his current status of godhood, as we must also do.
• By becoming members of the Mormon church and remaining faithful to the various tenets of the faith, men (only Mormons and only men) can progress to become gods like Elohim and rule over their own earth one day.
• God lives with many goddess wives on a planet near the great star Kolob.
• Polygamy is part of God’s holy ordinances.
• Jesus Christ is the brother of Lucifer, the Devil.
  
• Jesus had to work out his own salvation.
• The shed blood of Jesus is not sufficient to save us from our sins, that it only gives us resurrection so we may be judged for our works; that men cannot be saved by grace through faith, but only by our works of righteousness.
• The blood of Jesus cannot cover certain sins.
• That man cannot gain eternal life and enter the presence of the Lord outside of Mormonism.
• The fall in Eden was essential to our eventual godhood, as a result of our knowledge of and progression through good and evil.
• Michael the archangel is Adam (Doctrines and Covenants 27:11, if you want to check it out.)
  
• The lost non-Mormon dead can still be saved through present intercessory works.
• Mormons can be baptized for the dead.
  
• The doctrines of the inspired Mormon leaders are superior to the Bible.

Mormons do hold that the Bible is inspired. However, Doctrines of Salvation 3:191 says, "We are all aware that there are errors in the Bible due to faulty translations and ignorance on the part of translators; ...Guided by the Books of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and the Spirit of the Lord, it is not difficult for one to discern the error in the Bible..."

Not surprisingly, Joseph Smith has his own translation of the Bible.

Mormons also believe that all mankind was pre-existent, spiritually begotten by the Heavenly Father through union with a "Heavenly Mother" and man's spirit waits for an earthly tabernacle to reside in so that each one can earn his way to godhood.

Surprising? The early Mormon church fathers actually taught that the Biblical doctrine of salvation by grace through faith was dangerous. Even in recent years, the Brigham Young University has stated that a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is “improper and perilous.” Hmmm… so much for Romans 4:5 and Ephesians 2:8-9.

[Bruce McConkie, the Brigham Young University, called a personal relationship with Jesus Christ “a gospel hobby that creates an unwholesome holier-than-thou attitude. In other instances it leads to despondency because the seeker after perfection knows he is not living the way he supposes he should. Another peril is that those so involved begin to pray directly to Christ because of some special friendship they feel has been developed. In this connection a current and unwise book, which advocates gaining a special relationship with Jesus, contains this sentence – ‘Because the Savior is our mediator, our prayers go through Christ to the Father, and the Father answers our prayers through His Son.’ This is plain sectarian nonsense.”]

It’s no wonder that the Apostle Paul told the Church that “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel,” and “though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel to you than that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed.” (Galatians 1:6,8)

As for the angel Moroni, the introductory page of the Mormon “Doctrines & Covenants” (third paragraph) says that he is an angel of light. Hmmm… II Corinthians 11:13 warns about false apostles and deceitful workers who transform themselves into apostles of Christ. Verse 14 says, “And no marvel, for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.” Scripture warns us about any messenger who 1) brings another gospel, 2) comes as an angel of light 3) talk to the dead. That pretty much covers the angel Moroni, whose mysterious “reformed Egyptian” (a language that never existed) gospel on golden plates was taken up into heaven after being “translated” by Smith (thus, no one else ever saw it).

After the angel Moroni (the resurrected son of the prophet Mormon), several other angelic messengers appeared to Smith, bearing "keys" that pertained to the restoration of the original church. John the Baptist appeared and ordained both Smith and a disciple to the Aaronic priesthood, granting the authority to baptize. Later, he received visitations of the apostles Peter, James and John, who ordained Smith to the ancient priestly order of Melchizedek. By 1836, Elijah, Moses, and Christ had all appeared to the newly annointed prophet, restoring the fullness of God's power on earth.

In the Mormon History of the Church, Joseph Smith makes some statements that clearly show he believed that God imparted to him an office similar to that of Christ.

Check out this quote:

"God made Aaron to be the mouth piece for the children of Israel, and He will make me be god to you in His stead, and the Elders to be mouth for me" (vol. 6, pp.319-320).

These are just a few of the eye-openers. I could go on, but I will end there so that this does not read more like a book. I also learned that Mormons are given permission to deny or soften some of these teachings when witnessing to potential converts, even though they are clearly stated in the church’s writings and approved teachings.

However, having refered to the origin of God in the "Book of Abraham," let me just add that Joseph Smith didn't exactly do a great translation of the Book of Abraham (or anything else, for that matter). When, in 1967, the papyri from which Smith claimed the Book of Abraham were translated were compared to his translation notes, it became obvious that just one papyrus was used for the entire text and little grew into much.

Dr. Hugh Nibley showed that the single papyrus fragment in question came from a pagan funerary text known as the "Book of Breathings,” which evolved from the Egyptian Book of the Dead. The name "Book of Breathings" actually appears clearly on the fourth line of the text.

When Professor Richard A. Parker, Chairman of the Department of Egyptology at Brown University, translated the papyrus he made some interesting discoveries. Smith had translated the entire thirteenth and fourteenth verses of Abraham chapter one (76 words, including proper names) from a single character resembling a backward E. He also translated 177 words in Abraham 1:16-19 from the character for the Egyptian god Khonsu.

Let me know if your curiosity is peaked about the rest of the story or any specific questions that you have. The Book of Mormon and the traditional Mormon history has been labeled by historians as the most incredible work of fiction every produced on this continent. I even have a letter from the National Geographic Society. Quite interesting.