The mixing of religious and non-religious beliefs in an individual.

Mormon Beliefs, are they Christian?

Mormon Beliefs, are they Christian?

There's a lot of discussion about Mormon beliefs. So, in order to make this easy, I will list out what Mormonism actually teaches. These are not sensationalized, and inaccurate statements.

Following documentation from Mormon authors. Finally, please understand that the Mormon Church uses Christian terms but has radically changed the meanings of those terms. So, when it says that Mormons belief in the father the son and the Holy Spirit, they are really saying they believe in a God from another planet, with a goddess wife, who literally is the father of Jesus, and that there is a spirit being, the Holy Ghost, who is another God.
These are Mormon beliefs

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, known as the Mormons, teaches that God the father used to be a man on another planet, that he became a God by following the laws and ordinances of that God on that planet and came to this world with his wife (she became a goddess), and that they produce a spirit offspring in heaven. These spirit offspring, which includes Jesus, the devil, and you and me, are all brothers and sisters born in the preexistence. The preexistence spirits come down and inhabit babies at the time of birth and their memories of the preexistence are lost at the time. Furthermore, faithful Mormons, who pay a full 10% tithe of their income to the Mormon church through Mormon temples, have the potential of becoming gods of their own planets and are then able to start the procedure over again.
Is it Christian? No.

If you were to go to any Christian bookstore and look in the non-Christian cult section you will see numerous books on Mormonism that document Mormon beliefs as aberrant and un-Biblical. The Mormon Church is not considered a Christian church.

This is not simply an opinion that they are false; it is a fact that they teach abberant and unchristian theology. In fact, Jesus warned us about such groups when he said in Matthew 24:24 that in the last days many false Christs and false prophets will arise and deceive many. Mormonism is exactly that, a manifestation of a false prophet: Joseph Smith, who taught all these things.

The Bible does not teach that God came from another planet, or that he has a goddess wife, or that we can become gods. In fact, the Bible clearly and definitely contradicts those teachings. But, the Mormon Church responds by saying that the Bible is not really trustworthy, that the true faith was lost, and that its leader, Joseph Smith, restored the so-called "true" Christian faith: god from another world, becoming gods, goddess mother, etc. Of course, the Mormon Church's claim is not true.

One question to ask the Mormon Church as a whole is why is it that it does not appoint a representative to publicly debate and answer the challenges of competent Christians who know not only the Bible, but what Mormonism teaches? Why is it that the Mormon Church refuses to have open dialogue and appoint a representative who would attempt to defend the LDS teachings from the Bible? Why does it refuse to do this? I believe it is because it doesn't want to be made to look bad.
Mormon Beliefs documented

Please note that these teachings are documented from Mormon writers, not anti-Mormon writers:

1. Book of Mormon
A. The book of Mormon is more correct than the Bible, (History of the Church, vol. 4, p. 461.)
2. Devil, the
A. The Devil was born as a spirit after Jesus "in the morning of pre-existence," (Mormon Doctrine, p. 192.)
B. Jesus and Satan are spirit brothers and we were all born as siblings in heaven to them both,
(Mormon Doctrine, p. 163.)
3. God
A. God used to be a man on another planet (Mormon Doctrine, p. 321; Joseph Smith, Times and Seasons,
vol. 5, p. 613-614; Orson Pratt, Journal of Discourses, vol. 2, p. 345; Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses,
vol. 7, p. 333).
B. "The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as mans..." (D&C 130:22).
4. God, becoming a god
A. After you become a good Mormon, you have the potential of becoming a god (Teachings of the Prophet
Joseph Smith, p. 345-347, 354).
B. "Then shall they be gods, because they have no end; therefore shall they be from everlasting to
everlasting, because they continue; then shall they be above all, because all things are subject unto them.
Then shall they be gods, because they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them," (DC 132:20).
5. God, many gods
A. There are many gods (Mormon Doctrine, p. 163).
B. "And they (the Gods) said: Let there be light: and there was light," (Book of Abraham 4:3).
6. God, mother goddess
A. There is a mother god (Articles of Faith, by James Talmage, p. 443).
B. God is married to his goddess wife and has spirit children (Mormon Doctrine, p. 516).
7. God, Trinity
A. The trinity is three separate Gods: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. "That these three are separate individuals, physically distinct from each other, is demonstrated by the accepted records of divine dealings with man," (Articles of Faith, by James Talmage, p. 35).
8. Heaven
A. There are three levels of heaven: telestial, terrestrial, and celestial (Mormon Doctrine, p. 348).
9. Holy Ghost, the
A. The Holy Ghost is a male personage (A Marvelous Work and a Wonder, Le Grand Richards, Salt Lake City, 1956, p. 118; Journal of Discources, vol. 5, p. 179).
10. Jesus
A. "Therefore we know that both the Father and the Son are in form and stature perfect men; each of them possesses a tangible body . . . of flesh and bones," (Articles of Faith, by James Talmage, p. 38).
B. "The birth of the Saviour was as natural as are the births of our children; it was the result of natural action. He partook of flesh and blood - was begotten of his Father, as we were of our fathers," (Journal of Discourses, vol. 8, p. 115).
C. "Elohim is literally the Father of the spirit of Jesus Christ and also of the body in which Jesus Christ performed His mission in the flesh ..." (First Presidency and Council of the Twelve, 1916, God the Father, compiled by Gordon Allred, p. 150).
11. Joseph Smith
A. If it had not been for Joseph Smith and the restoration, there would be no salvation. There is no salvation [the context is the full gospel including exaltation to Godhood] outside the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Doctrine, p. 670).
12. Pre-existence
A. We were first begotten as spirit children in heaven and then born naturally on earth (Journal of Discourse, vol. 4, p. 218).
B. The first spirit to be born in heaven was Jesus (Mormon Doctrine, p. 129).
C. The Devil was born as a spirit after Jesus "in the morning of pre-existence," (Mormon Doctrine, p. 192).
13. Salvation
A. "One of the most fallacious doctrines originated by Satan and propounded by man is that man is saved alone by the grace of God; that belief in Jesus Christ alone is all that is needed for salvation," (Miracle of Forgiveness, by Spencer W. Kimball, p. 206).
B. A plan of salvation was needed for the people of earth so Jesus offered a plan to the Father and Satan offered a plan to the father but Jesus' plan was accepted. In effect the Devil wanted to be the Savior of all Mankind and to "deny men their agency and to dethrone god," (Mormon Doctrine, p. 193; Journal of Discourses, vol. 6, p. 8).
C. Jesus' sacrifice was not able to cleanse us from all our sins, (murder and repeated adultery are exceptions), (Journal of Discourses, vol. 3, 1856, p. 247).
D. Good works are necessary for salvation (Articles of Faith, p. 92).
E. There is no salvation without accepting Joseph Smith as a prophet of God (Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 1, p. 188).
F. "The first effect [of the atonement] is to secure to all mankind alike, exemption from the penalty of the fall, thus providing a plan of General Salvation. The second effect is to open a way for Individual Salvation whereby mankind may secure remission of personal sins (Articles of Faith, by James Talmage, p. 78-79).
G. "As these sins are the result of individual acts it is just that forgiveness for them should be conditioned on individual compliance with prescribed requirements -- 'obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel,'" (Articles of Faith, p. 79).
H. "This grace is an enabling power that allows men and women to lay hold on eternal life and exaltation after they have expended their own best efforts," (LDS Bible Dictionary, p. 697).
I. "We know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do," (2 Nephi 25:23).
14. Trinity, the
A. The trinity is three separate Gods: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. "That these three are separate individuals, physically distinct from each other, is demonstrated by the accepted records of divine dealings with man," (Articles of Faith, by James Talmage, p. 35).

Comment by Jeff H on December 13, 2009 at 7:26pm

Comment by Jeff H on December 13, 2009 at 8:07pm: sleep well doone... I charge for insomnia treatments!

Comment by david thurman on December 14, 2009 at 3:18am: What are the things that unite Mormons and Christians?

Comment by david thurman on December 14, 2009 at 3:48am: i just wanted to add, that it's suddenly turned into a Mormon/Christian dialog here on Redefine God I find that interesting. Mormonism is psychologically rooted in 18th century American Evangelicalism. It's a unique American form of Christianity, it's a sect of American Evangelicalism which is a sect, of Roman Catholicism. If you are outside the religious framework it's easy to see, if you are inside the framework it's difficult to see. Mormons do not perceive themselves as not being Christian at all they simply have a different take on it. I realized how deeply this went when Mitt Romney could not for the life of himself figure out that there was no way in hell that evangelicals would vote for him. I'm pretty certain if it was a two party race, Satan or A Mormon, (which is how some folks see Obama) that the majority would vote for Satan, the distrust in the Evangelical community goes that deep. Mormons have no clue on this simple fact and have no clue to exactly why that is. If any of the Mormons can Illuminate me on exactly why this is such a blind spot in the Mormon Church then ,I would be most interested in that.

PS, For Mormons that don't know me, well Satan doesn't literally exist it's a metaphor, just like angels don't literally exist, it's a metaphor. Then again, maybe it's exactly right here Literal/metaphorical divide that Mormonism shares virtually everything with American Evangelicalism except for how the literal story lays out. Maybe what we have are two literalism's arguing

Comment by Jeff H on December 14, 2009 at 9:57am: David, That is kind of the case and kind of not. Mormons will say they believe in Jesus, but who and what Jesus means to them is entirely different then Jesus as taught in scriptures. That's why the comparisons above. Mormons say they are Christian, but they aren't, because the God and Christ they believe in are completely foreign to Christianity.

The last mormon I debated substantially had come on to a Christian site. He made a few comments, and something just wasn't right. I asked Him if he believed Jesus was created or eternal. He answered the Jesus was the Son of God, so I asked him the same question again. I got some other very true statement that didn't answer the question. Finally I started pointing out to the "Member Cloud" that had gathered that he was dodging. Eventually he 'fess up his beliefs, saying I was being mean spirited. His credibility was a shot up to the Christians on that site.

The funniest ~sigh~ thing happened. I had been on this site for months, and he popped in here. He did the same thing, He laid low and started out with the same kind of charade. Mormons as more open minded Christians... New and improved revelation. When I let him know who I was I heard him fall out of his chair from the other side of the US.

Mormons claim to be literalist, but their twisty skewed.

As an aside, I do believe in Angels, and Satan. Jesus did, and he taught about it as fact. Who am I to say different.

Comment by david thurman on December 14, 2009 at 12:54pm: "As an aside, I do believe in Angels, and Satan. Jesus did, and he taught about it as fact. Who am I to say different."

Oh I do to, literally believe them to exist, I see them all the time. :D turn the news on..:D They aren't external, their actions are external, their existence is internal. You might say from my perspective, angels bring union the devil brings division. The devil will point to the scripture to justify their position "But Jesus brought Division" Jesus brought clarification between an Angel and a Demon. If Jesus came to bring division and was about division, he would have followed his own statement "he with no sin may throw the first stone". He did not throw the stone because he came to break the illusion of our divisions he held that as simply the Devil speaking. I do love metaphors and Art, Jesus could tell our story with the best of them....:D

On a side note, don't throw all mormons under the same bus If you do I'm going to start saying you are just like Ken Copeland and that Name it claim it is true....:D I think you know, dubiousness of ideas and individuals exists in Christianity as well as outside Christianity.

Comment by Jeff H on December 14, 2009 at 3:31pm: I would just as quickly say some of Copeland's teaching aren't scriptural nor are the name it and claim its. That's a far cry off from the teaching that God had physical sex with Mary to form Jesus. "How he could then be born to a virgin is beyond me." Olsteen is just as bad.

If you ask any of them if God was once a man just like us, no manner how far off in other ways, they would say no.
--------------------------------------------------------
Satan is a real being and opposite Michael the Archangel in power. Jesus speaking about Angels was him speaking in truth.

Comment by Seth Rogers on December 17, 2009 at 10:27pm: You know Jeff...

What on earth does this have to do with the original point of this website?

Is everyone OK with you turning "Redefine God" into your own personal pulpit for Evangelical anti-Mormon excess?

As for whether Mormons are Christian or not...

Mormons are Christian in the same sense that Peter and Paul were Jews.

Well, yeah. They were. But there was a lot more to it than that.

For myself, I can't imagine why the rest of the readership of a blog project like this gives two straws whether Mormons get to be invited to the exclusive country club of white American Protestant privilege. I certainly don't. We Mormons can chart our own course on the American religious landscape without following after obsolete American Protestantism begging for permission to exist.

Comment by Jeff H on December 18, 2009 at 1:23am: "Mormons are Christian in the same sense that Peter and Paul were Jews." Nope.... I also see you're a bigot, because you try to throw a race card with "White American Protestant". I'm no bigot, and my church's leader happens to be a very gifted black pastor. Keep your racist comments to yourself.

Funny about mormons playing the "White Card" when they could receive the Temple Ordinances prior to 1979. http://www.exmormon.org/blacks1.htm

You are right on one additional front. Mormons don't need any permission from Protestants. That is because they have nothing to do with one another.
"Is everyone OK with you turning "Redefine God" into your own personal pulpit for Evangelical anti-Mormon excess?"

First, you've been on the site for a week. You might get to know it a little better before you critique it too hard.

I never brought up the topic of mormonism until a mormon who I had a history with came on the site by accident. He had come on to a Christian site, and started to mingle some, entering into different conversations. I felt something was really wrong with some of his answers and comments. Finally I asked him who he thought Jesus was, and he balked when I asked him if he believed Jesus was created. That isn't Christian Doctrine. He wouldn't answer and wouldn't answer until it became obvious. When he finally did, the rest of the people stopped listening to him. They knew it wasn't Christian Doctrine, but weren't aware that mormons believed that. He eventually left. I had been on RG at the time for probably close to a year. He was going through ning sites I guess, but he landed in this one and I could hear him fall out of his chair on the East Coast when I said hello.

We had volumes of debate and discussion, then one day he just up and said he and his son (he had brought him in as reserves) were leaving, and he deleted his user. It took all his content, and really messed up a lot of the discussions on the site. It was really a crappy thing to do. I never brought up mormonism since then, until Eric came and resurrected this discussion. I've had no need to.

You can keep the anti-mormon card to yourself. I'm not intimidated by it. I'm not anti-mormon, I'm anti- false teaching and interpretation. I'm anti- putting on the mantle of Christian Doctrine when what they say isn't Christian. This is a debate site. I work with mormons, and we talk scripture and debate in person. I consider them my friends, as they do me. I know they are trustworthy and sincere, as they do me. Still, we all know when the theology caps go on, it is likely to get intense. We're ok with it.

You're welcome here, and I mean that absolutely. I firmly believe and support the right of all faiths to worship as they see fit. I served in the military because I believe personal freedoms are worth defending at home and abroad. Stick around, speak your mind. If we butt heads, then we do. That's the nature of the site. I truly bear no one on this site ill will, not even Roman. :-)

Once again, welcome.

Comment by Seth Rogers on December 18, 2009 at 1:31am: Jesus isn't a created being in Mormon doctrine for the simple fact that there is no such thing as a created being in Mormon doctrine.

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