Last modification date: Wednesday December 15, 2010 From the back cover, "The
Biblical Roots of Mormonism explains how the Bible sustains Mormon Is this statement really true or do the authors practice "eisegesis," i.e., they inject their own Let's investigate together.
Some of the comments I make are taken from my
book, Who are Latter-day
Saints? It God the Father is the
father of all spirits, including the spirits of everyone who has born
or ever will The author does not reference LDS Church
magazine articles showing the Mormon belief in a It is recorded in the
Old Testament that the sons of God, Satan among them, presented
themselves Some believe these sons of God are those
angels who left their estate and mingled with the John the Revelator told
how Lucifer gathered unto himself one-third of the stars of heaven
(spirit Mormon theology has this great war taking
place near when the world was created. The identity Michael the Archangel
led the fight against Lucifer. Lucifer and his followers were
defeated and cast In Mormon theology, Michael the Archangel is
none other than Adam. I'm not sure why the author When they encountered
Jesus on earth, they recognized him as the only begotten Son of God
(the Every person born in
the flesh on earth was first born in the premortal realm as a spirit
offspring of The author did not elaborate on whether one
needs to be involved with a woman to have offspring.
To fulfill this purpose
and continue to progress eternally, each must choose freely to leave
the The author does not elaborate on how spirits
in the premortal world could progress there when they Those in the premortal
realm who choose not to enter mortality must remain in the premortal
realm, This is a rather strange statement to make
for several reasons.
1. Take a look at the tense of the word
implying choice. "Those who choose (present tense)."
In 2. Some clarification is warranted.
Those who chose (past tense) to follow Satan (about 1/3) were 3. According to LDS theology, spirit children
could progress in the premortal world without a physical The Savior's disciples
cast out devils during their missionary work (page 19).
There is no casting out of devils in the Book
of Mormon. I don't recall if this was ever recorded in The ultimate punishment of Satan and his
underlings is eternal separation from Heavenly Father with But in Mormon theology, every one who does not progress into
becoming a god or goddess suffers Satan uses all means - some garishly
blatant, others profoundly subtle - to deceive mankind. He hints Interestingly, the LDS Church teaches (in a profoundly subtle way)
that disobedience to God's law in Satan and the evil spirits that follow him
suffer constantly from a grinding awareness of their loss The author did not provide a scriptural reference.
During the thousand-year reign (known as the
Millennium) of Christ before the final judgment, Satan A similar teaching is found on page 284 of the 1998 edition of
Gospel Principles. "Because of the However, the Bible says an angel cast Satan into the bottomless pit
and he had no power thereafter. God the Father worked
through Jesus Christ to create the earth, and together they created
man This is not in line with what the LDS Church teaches.
Religion 430-431 – Doctrines of the Gospel Student Manual says, “We know that Jehovah-Christ, After the fall, God would not allow Adam and
Eve to eat of the fruit of the tree of life because they There is much contradictory information in LDS theology as to
whether the Fall was a sin. See the After eating of the tree, they lost their
innocence, felt shame in nakedness, and were cast out of the Chapter 6 of the 1998 edition of Gospel Principles says that great
blessings resulted on account of After being cast out of the Garden, Eve
conceived their firstborn son, Cain (page 25).
The Book of Mormon and the Pearl of Great Price say that Adam and
Eve gained the ability to In the first three chapters of Genesis, God
is referred to as "Lord God." Thereafter, God is referred Genesis 4:6 - And the Lord [Jesus Christ
as denoted by the use of "Lord" only] said unto Cain,
Why art It seems that the Lord God is a reference to
Heavenly Father.
Interestingly, the Book of Mormon says that
Jesus is the Lord God in 2 Nephi 6:9 - "Nevertheless, the Another place in the Book of Mormon has Jesus
[Lord God] speaking. "But behold, thus saith the Lord Had he not made this
choice [Adam chose to eat of the forbidden tree], he
would have remained Adam would not have remained alone. He was
with God.
He [Adam] would
have been incapable of producing offspring, and therefore unable to
obey God's But the animals were given the same blessing.
They did not have to disobey God to get their Mormons speculate that God would not have
created a new woman for Adam. If it were me, I Adam chose mortality
and with it offspring (page 28).
The author speculates here. The Mormon
version of Adam did not know he would gain the powers Adam and Eve took their
first steps in fulfilling Heavenly Father's plan of salvation. They
were not In LDS theology, the devil should also be
congratulated for him accepting his role in the plan. Spiritual death is
separation from God (page 28).
Those in the two lower divisions of the
celestial kingdom, and those in the terrestrial and telestial The Fall was part of
Heavenly Father's plan of salvation (page 28).
The Mormon Heavenly Father needed Adam and
Eve to fall, otherwise his plan would have been Adam and Eve are
accountable for their transgression and the Fall; their offspring are
not. The Book of Mormon refers to these
consequences as a punishment (Alma 42:1-22).
Every mortal human
being has a biological father and mother, and through them
acquires a The author does not mention that the LDS
Church teaches that in the premortal life on earth, God's body is physical
(Genesis 9:6), although perfected and glorified beyond all human
compre- Genesis 9:6 does not imply God's body is
physical.
The LDS training manual Religion 430-431 - Doctrines of the Gospel Student
Manual teaches But Latter-day Saints do not attribute a physical body to the Holy
Spirit.
God the Son, Jesus, and God the Father have
form and substance and are both seen by I wonder if the LDS sons and daughters of Heavenly Mother and
Father were visible or invisible That which can be seen or shown directly to
the senses must have form and substance (page Seems like spirits have form and substance too.
God provides for his children the experiences
needed to reach their full potential as his sons The LDS God wanted Adam and Eve to disobey him in the Garden of
Eden so they could begin Despite God's admonition that the Israelites
should marry their own, Samson was led to marry I would say Samson was allowed by God, not led by God.
The importance of family is reflected in the
emphasis on order of birth and lineage throughout The author omitted mention of his family (Heavenly Mother and
Father) in the premortal life. God the Father, who is a divine personage ...
Jesus Christ, who is a divine personage with ... For some reason the author did not refer to the Holy Ghost as a
divine personage.
Adversity, joy, suffering, and death are
encountered in mortality (page 36).
I wonder if spirit bodies had joy in their premortal state before
the LDS Church says they came His [God's] purpose is for men and women, by
their own choice, to progress towards perfection The Mormon version of Adam and Eve could not progress without
disobeying God first.
God the Father ... is willing to bequeath the
power of eternal increase (eternal progression) to The author should have clarified this term a little further. In LDS
theology, eternal increase means Jesus Christ is not the firstborn in the
flesh (that would be Adam), but he is the firstborn of Notice how the author uses the context of firstborn incorrectly
even though using the same It should be worth noting that Israel, David, and Ephraim were called the firstborn (Ex. 4:22; God the Son (Jesus Christ), acting on
direction from ... the Father, created the earth and worlds The Mormon prophet Joseph Smith taught Jesus created other worlds:
"That by him, and Would you believe in the "extraterrestrial" Jesus if you lived on these other worlds?
The Atonement began in the Garden of
Gethsemane. His sweat became as drops of blood (page More clarification is given in the 1998 edition of Gospel
Principles on page 67. "In the Garden of But Jesus was sweating in Gethsemane–he wasn’t bleeding.
"And being in an agony he prayed He [Jesus] told them that a spirit did not
have flesh and bones as he did (page 41).
This would mean that the Mormon Jesus, as the first spirit child of
Heavenly Father and Mother, He [Jesus] also shares names that are usually
reserved for the Father. The choice of names or In the Book of Mormon, Jesus is called both the Father and the Son.
Jesus was called the Son Without his Atonement ... no man or woman
could return from mortality to the presence of God In Mormon theology, only those humans who become gods and goddesses
will return to the In that moment, at his ninth hour upon the
cross, Jesus sensed what it was like to die a This is an interesting thing the author teaches. Being separated
from God is equated to a Joseph Smith taught similarly.
"Therefore, I must gather together my people, according to the parable of the wheat and the The tares (those who don’t inherit eternal life–who don’t become gods) will be burned.
One finds a similar teaching in the Book of Mormon. In verse 24, we see that the saved people “have a place to sit down in the kingdom of
God, If one doesn’t have a place in the kingdom of heaven with Abraham and Jacob, “they shall If you don’t have eternal life in the kingdom of heaven with God,
your kingdom is of the devil. Those who don’t choose eternal life and become gods end up choosing eternal death–to go During the three days before his
Resurrection, his spirit entered the spirit world to organize But when did Jesus actually preach to the spirits in prison?
There is a better explanation from "Which sometime were disobedient when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of The answer is given by the word "when."
The spirits of those men, to whom Noah had preached, were in prison because they had Noah had preached the Word of God for 120 years. He saved his family and no one else. It Following his Resurrection, Jesus appeared to
many individuals and groups, including his There is no biblical support that this refers to Nephites or
Lamanites in the Americas.
"And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall These other sheep most likely refers to Gentiles. The Jews and
Gentiles will one day be united Unlike the other two personages of the
Godhead, he does not occupy a glorified physical body "Three glorified, exalted, and perfected personages comprise the Godhead or supreme I suppose you could say the LDS version of the Holy Ghost has a
glorified spiritual body.
Satan is the great deceiver, he offers
counterfeit gifts of the spirit that may seem divine in I'm not sure why the author choose Exodus 7 to prove his point. The
magicians of Pharaoh Insulting deity, showing a lack of reverence
for sacred things, or false claiming to possess This is an interesting teaching.
A magazine published by the LDS Church says, “Relief Society helps each sister learn that ... The Mormon Jesus and Heavenly Father "acorns" became
oaks.
A former president of the LDS Church taught, “We are gods in embryo, and thus have an Sounds blasphemous to me.
The gift of the Holy Ghost–his constant
companionship–is available only to those who have Its odd that you don't find the ordinance of confirmation in the
Bible or Book of Mormon or that The Mormon Church teaches that it is the only true church on the
earth.
The Gifts of the Spirit include: ... the Gift
of Knowing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God ... Satan I wonder how Satan imitates the gift of knowing that Jesus Christ
is the Son of God to deceive Interestingly enough, Joseph Smith revealed that all members of The Church of Jesus
Christ of Nowhere is God described in this testament as
the mystical union of three divine persons or "I have always declared God to be a distinct personage, Jesus Christ a separate and distinct Nowhere in the Bible is there 3 Gods.
"Many men say there is one God; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are only one God! I The Book of Mormon even says Father, Son, and Holy Ghost is one
God, not 3 Gods. Apparently One God - The oneness shared by the Godhead
... one in purpose ... This perfect oneness is Take careful note here. According to the author, one God = oneness
= one in purpose = The disciples were not "one God" when they were
one in purpose with Jesus and the Father. Jesus was with God in the beginning, was and
is in perfect purpose with God, and can be called Jesus is God.
Jesus Christ was the firstborn spirit offspring of God the Father
(page 63).
The author omits Heavenly Mother again.
The council majority came up with a
compromise conception, declaring that there were indeed "The Council of Nicea took place in 325 A.D. by the order of the Roman Emperor
Caesar Flavius "The main purpose of the council was to attempt to heal the schism in the church provoked by Arius proposed the heretical teaching that Jesus was a created
being. This heresy still exists The author failed to mention these important points.
Mary bore testimony of
Jesus Christ and his celestial commission (see Luke 1:46-55),
demonstrating The word celestial has special significance to Latter-day Saints.
The book of Genesis contains the earliest
prophetic scriptural reference to Mary. I will put enmity If the woman is Mary and Jesus is her seed, then why did the author
fail to mention who the seed Didn't the devil put enmity between his seed and Eve's seed or did
he wait thousands of years Thus, God the Father became the father of
Jesus, bringing him into mortality through the body of There have been a range of opinions on how Jesus was conceived in Mary’s womb but all seem to A few notable Mormon teachings follow:
"His unique status in the flesh as the offspring of a mortal mother and of an immortal, or resurrected This seems to imply Heavenly Father had some form of sexual relations with Mary to conceive Jesus’ The Mormon god probably needed to get married to Mary otherwise he would have committed "That Child to be born of Mary was begotten of Elohim, the
Eternal Father, not in violation of This teaching seems to have its roots in the Book of Mormon
where an angel is reported to have Latter-day Saints must ponder that the Mormon god (believed
by some to have a body of flesh
Chapter 9 - Scripture Ezekiel foretells of the stick of Judah (the
Bible) and the stick of Ephraim (the book of Mormon) This is a doctrinal error. The Bible says the two sticks are representative of two nations: “And join them one to another Notice that the author stopped at verse 20, so he does not
understand the true meaning. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints uses the King James Version of the Bible without This needs to be qualified by what the author says on page 88. The Pearl of Great Price ... The writings of
Joseph Smith include a portion of Joseph Smith's inspired These writings of Joseph Smith are included as footnotes in the
King James Version of the Bible Mormons revere the Bible as they do the Book
of Mormon (page 87). I don't believe this is entirely accurate. The eight article
of faith of The Church of Jesus Christ of Notice the disclaimer attached to the Bible but not to the Book of
Mormon. The Book of Mormon testifies of the Bible,
and the Bible testifies of the Book of Mormon (page 87). See "Comparing the Bible and the Book of Mormon - do they have the same divine author?" The subtitle of the Book of Mormon stresses
that it is Another Testament of Jesus Christ The caption “Another Testament of Jesus Christ” has not always been in the Book of Mormon. The prophet Joseph Smith translated the Book
of Mormon into English from the original Into King James English I might add. The way Joseph Smith did the translation is not clearly taught in
their Gospel Principles training The Pearl of Great Price ... It contains
insights and information on the Creation ... and the nature The Book of Abraham says the Gods created the earth and then they rested on the seventh Sincere scholars and clerics study
painstakingly and write prolifically on matters of interpretation. That is why we can safely say that Mormon scholars and clerics are
sincerely wrong in some of The best ancient manuscript is no match for
the still small voice of the Spirit or the teachings of The 2008 version of Teachings of Presidents of the Church - Joseph Smith reveals some startling The author wrote a lot in this chapter but he never proves a total
apostasy. But of course, He told the Thessalonians that before the
Second Coming there would be a falling away (2 Again, the author stops short and does not read the rest of the
chapter. “Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering This man of sin has not been revealed yet. “Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that “For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be “And then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his The man of sin will begin a series of events that will result in the culmination of the great The Bible reassures its readers that this
apostasy would be followed by a restoration and A similar teaching is found on page 267 of the 1998 edition of
Gospel Principles: "Prophets of old foretold the restoration of the gospel. The Apostle John saw that the gospel Read the passage carefully. The angel Moroni did not fly in the midst of heaven preaching to those which dwell on the Again, the author does not understand the correct context of
Revelation. The Catholic Church, the largest Christian
sect that has endured since the Ascension of There was no Catholic Church in the days of Christ. It was upon continuous revelation from God the Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ that the This is incorrect. Please study the passage. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art According to his will and purpose, he
communicates directly to individuals, or through the Makes sense.
God will not leave men in darkness; he will
always send his prophets (plural) because he But the Mormon Church teaches there was a total apostasy from the
first century until Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints ... are blessed to be led by living In Mormon theology, women are not prophets. The author fails
to consider the biblical teachings. There were female prophets in the Old Modern prophets have made important
predictions about his Second Coming (page 110). I am not
aware of any modern Mormon prophet predictions. Prophets
of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints address the world
during semi- LDS president Spencer W. Kimball taught Eve was not literally
created from Adam’s rib. He This official Church publication shows a teaching error. The
President of the Church is the presiding high priest. Only he holds
the keys to the The office of high priest was not
held by the apostles. This was an office of the Levitical But Jesus gave these keys to all the disciples. Let’s look at
Matthew 18:1-18 very closely: The Lord has established a
pattern in which the most senior member of the Quorum of This was not the pattern of the early church.
Plus, the early church did not have a quorum. He
does not leave his people to stumble blindly through empty and
darkened hallways But the Mormon Church teaches there was a total apostasy
from the first century until The author went to great lengths in
an attempt to show that it makes sense to view Joseph He has a section called Angels
Appear and Speak. Another is called Angels
Take Action. But other men also claimed to have seen and
interacted with angels, or to be have called by The Lord is never
pleased with sin - he detests it and abhors the transgressions of men But the Mormon god
blessed Adam and Eve for their transgression in the Garden of Eden. Joseph
Smith used the Urim and Thummim. The Urim and Thummim is
described in the The apostles did not
use the Urim and Thummim. It was reserved for use by high priests Some historical
accounts show that Joseph Smith wore some form of spectacles to Joseph Smith had a message. He talked
like a prophet ... suffered like a prophet, and died Joseph Smith was not killed for
his faith in Christ. He was killed by a mob. Apparently they Joseph Smith - like Noah, Moses,
Ezekiel, Isaiah, Peter, Paul, and others ... was a prophet Joseph Smith is highly praised by
Latter-day Saints, despite the fact that no bonafide Joseph
asked them [Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ] which of the churches
then The churches must have been pretty pathetic if they wanted the
devotion of a 14-year In regards to this purported vision, some clarification is
warranted. Mormons claim that in From
... at age fourteen to the time of his martyrdom at age thirty-eight,
Joseph Smith was Joseph
(said to be like Moses) performed no miracles. These
anti-Mormon forces hoped that the Mormon Church would die with the
Mormon Gamaliel's context was not Latter-day
Saints, but of the early Christian church. This I can understand that the author
wants to take Gamaliel's words and apply it to his Other
religious groups can also take Gamaliel's counsel to apply it to them
too - Muslims Latter-day Saints,
then and now, take the persecution and martyrdom of the prophet Jehovah's Witnesses
and Seventh Day Adventists do exactly the same thing. But, being Latter-day
Saints do not believe Joseph Smith was a god (page 129). Below
are some excerpts from an LDS hymn #27, called "Praise to the Man". It was in Stanza 3 says "Great is his glory and endless his priesthood, Ever and ever the keys he Seems like too much praise for Mr. Smith. Apart from the
praise Roman Catholics bestow on The priesthood
is the power and authority of God. God has delegated this power and Mormon
women do not have this power and authority because they are not
priests. The priesthood was well established
during the time of the apostles. Peter spoke of a "holy Yes he did. Christians believe men
and women are priests offering spiritual sacrifices to God. The
ordination and setting apart of a priesthood holder is accomplished by
the laying on of The
author did not provide one biblical reference, or even one from his
very own Book of The author also fails to mention the way Aaron and
his sons were anointed and consecrated. If you look at the record of Jesus and the
disciples, they did not wear special garments ... for Acting for the Lord on earth,
priesthood holders cast out devils and lay hands upon the There is no record in the Doctrine
and Covenants (said to be modern day revelations and I could not find one reference in the Book of Mormon describing a
believer in Christ One does not even find an equivalent of a Mormon Day of
Pentecost verified by non- Priesthood authority is required to
perform ordinances such as baptism, confirmation, Mormon
women are not allowed to baptize people. The
Levitical priesthood was passed on by lineage to members of the tribe
of Levi Despite Joseph Smith not being a Levite, he was said to
have been ordained into the Christ established the
Royal Priesthood, which came to be known as the Melchizedek I have seen no official Mormon
teaching about this, so it appears to be the author's The Royal Priesthood includes both men and women. Offices
with the Melchizedek Priesthood include elder, high priest, patriarch
(evangelist), In Christian churches, all
women are called to be evangelists. In the early church, there was
no office called seventy, high priest, or quorum. It
[the priesthood] is not passed on as a birthright or by lineage
(page 137). Despite what the author says, the LDS Church places
great importance on birthright and All of Jacob’s sons are said to have had the priesthood (p. 90).
You can give the Aaronic In regards to lineage, Doctrine and Covenants 86:8 says, “Therefore, thus
saith the Lord Joseph Smith said about the priesthood, “He had reference
to those whom God should Since Latter-day Saints are believed to come from Abraham and
non-Abrahamic peoples, From http://scriptures.lds.org/en/gs/e/28, it appears the LDS
Church attaches the “The tribe of Ephraim: Ephraim was given the birthright in
Israel (1 Chr. 5: 1-2; Jer. 31: 9). The Bible reveals the birthright was given unto the sons of
Joseph, not only to one son If Latter-day Saints believe the priesthood has anything to do with the birthright, they Also,
see the blessing of Israel on his son Judah. "Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall
praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of Like was stated before ... Ephraim
did not prevail over Judah. "The great majority of those who have come into the Church
are Ephraimites. It is the Seems like all Latter-day Saints are only from two tribes
according to this. But it is unclear There
was a priesthood that ministered in bread and wine ... and managed
tithing in the I read the
passage of Genesis. Bread and wine was brought, but there is no
indication Men could not reach their
full spiritual potential through the Levitical Priesthood alone
(page Only the tribe of Levi in the Old Testament had the Levitical
Priesthood. And besides that, The
early apostles of Christ held the priesthood. Peter wrote of a royal
and hold priesthood This
was not the Levitical nor the Melchizedek priesthood. He
[Jesus] set the ecclesiastical example for all men to be ordained to
the Melchizedek "For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, The was only one
high priest at a time in the Old Testament. There were no high priests
in The
ordination and setting apart of a priesthood holder is accomplished by
the laying on of I
will quote verse 20 too as the author failed to mention it. "And the LORD said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Notice
that? No ordination. Also, he laid his hand on him, not
hands. I have never seen Jesus ordained twelve apostles.
It was important that there be twelve (page 139). There are
15 apostles in the LDS Church, not 12. At the 178th General Conference, the "On Saturday, February 2, 2008, funeral services for President Hinckley were The following day, all 14 ordained Apostles living on the earth assembled in When Mr. Hinckley was alive, he was one of the 15 apostles. Jesus
appointed a Quorum of the Seventy to go out among the people to
preach, teach, "After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two A few things here. The were not subordinate to the twelve
apostles. They had not gone into an area where It would help tremendously if the author
gets the context right. The eight quorum was
established in April 2005 (page 139). There were no quorums
(with seventy in each group) in the New Testament church. The
commitment of the Church to restoring and maintaining the same
ecclesiastical The Institute of Religious Research
has produced several documents that fully address The
Church is often referred to as "the Mormon Church" or
"the LDS (Latter-day Saint) Odd. You would think
"Christian" would be preferable to "Latter-day
Saint." Christ and his apostles did not
accept financial compensation for their ministry, and But they did accept
financial donations for help in the ministry. The
global leadership of the Church consists of ... a total of 575
ministers. All qualify Despite
what the author said before. he now admits they are paid (ie. they
receive) a The Church employs and provides monetary
compensation to a number of people in This is what we call Mormon
double-speak. Saying one thing and then attempting
Chapter 15 - Church Practices To fast
is to abstain from food and drink for a specified purpose and usually
for a specified I checked those passages but it does not instruct the
people of God to fast for a certain The Sabbath - New Testament
... The apostles observed the Sabbath during their public Yes. Saturday. The
early priests of Israel were admonished to refrain from drinking
alcohol in order to The early Latter-day Saints drank wine in their
sacrament meetings (Doctrine and Imagine that. Smoking or chewing tobacco in
their meetings. Apparently they were not Giving to the
Lord ten percent of one's time and substance is an eternal principle
(page The author did not clarify whether this is 10% of the gross or
net. Also, he did not A biblical test
of favor in the Lord is whether the work of a man or a church bears
good The author does not mention whether he
considers false doctrine as false fruit. On at
least one Sunday of each month, the Saints fast (page 153). The
bible does not designate Sunday as a fast day. Latter-day
Saints observe the Sabbath on Sundays (page 154). The early
church observed the Sabbath on Saturday. As in
the early Christian church, the Sabbath today is also observed by
Latter-day Saints No.
In the early church, Saturday was the Sabbath. Because
the Sabbath is given for these purposes, Latter-day Saints do not buy,
sell, or Supposedly Mormon
football players are excluded from his law because they work for their "Our prophets have told us that we should not shop, hunt, fish, attend sports events, or A
family can be exalted in heaven and endure forever in the eternities.
The key purpose Getting someone saved in the kingdom of God is not the
key purpose of the Mormon Church. Jesus
called and set apart his missionaries to go out two-by-two to harvest
the souls of One time I was talking with Mormon missionaries and 3 (maybe
4) came to my house once. The author seems to want to lock in a special
significance of the number 2. He also does not "Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes: and salute no man by the
way" (verse 4). Do Latter-day Saints really follow this
example? "And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give: for the But
Mormon missionaries go from house to house. If they do stay in a
home for food, they "And heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The kingdom of God is come nigh There is no record of these healings in the modern
day revelations of the LDS Church. There Let's look at the 70 when they
return. "And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us There is no record of casting out demons
in the modern day revelations of the LDS Church. Let's look at
reference to Mark chapter 6 that the author made. Again, the
author misses some "And they went out, and preached that men should repent.
And they cast out many devils, and There
is no record of casting out devils or healings in the modern day
revelations of the LDS All followers of Christ are called to
assist in the missionary effort. Just as he was sent by the The 1997 Gospel Principles teaches
similarly - "The missionaries are given the responsibility to But
female LDS missionaries are NOT allowed to baptize anyone because they
don't have the Missionary
work is the work of men and angels and is not geographically limited
(Revelation Wait a moment. Isn't missionary work the
work of women too, even if they are not allowed Also, the missionary role
of the 70 was geographically limited to the cities that Jesus would I looked at Revelation 14:6 and only ONE angel is
mentioned. Where does the author see Missionaries are commissioned to baptize
the repentant "in the name of the Father, and of Mormon female missionaries are NOT commissioned to baptize anyone
because they do not In fact, Mormon males holding the Aaronic offices of
"Deacon" and "Teacher" are not allowed Missionaries spend much of their time
proselyting door-to-door or in public venues (page Since the author likes to follow the example of two-by-two in his
reference to the seventy The main proselyting missionary effort is
carried out by two cooperating groups of people: Working together, the full-time missionaries
and local Church members work in the same In the New Testament, all believers are considered
missionaries. There was no structured We recognize the good in all churches. We say
to everyone: live the teachings which you It seems like the author is not willing to acknowledge how the LDS
movement started. In Mormonism, an ordinance is a formal
ritualistic act ... performed by the authority of the LDS women do not perform many acts
because they do not have the priesthood in the Confirmation, receiving the gift
of the Holy Spirit, follows baptism. A confirmation is carried The author omits any
mention of Peter's visit with Cornelius and his group. They
received Jesus often demonstrated the ordinance of the
healing of the sick, typically by the laying The author seems fixated on the theme
of the "laying on of hands." He omits mention of Jesus
gave the authority of the priesthood to his apostles who then went
forth to perform Let's examine the passages the author uses in his text. "Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, There
is no record of cleansing lepers, raising the dead, casting out devils, or healings in the "And they cast out many devils, and anointed with oil many that were sick, and healed
them" There is no mention of the apostles passing on the
authority to perform the ordinance of "And it came to pass, that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and of a bloody flux: to True, but people brought their sick into the
streets for healing in the shadow of Peter (see The author also omitted
some special miracles wrought by God through Paul. "And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul:
So that from his body were brought Jesus
loved children and instituted the ordinance of blessing them
(page 173). Apart from this event, I do not recall any time in the
Bible or any of the Mormon scriptures Moses
laid hands upon Joshua to ordain him to the Aaronic Priesthood
(Deuteronomy 34:9) "And Joshua the son of Nun was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hands Joshua could not hold the Aaronic Priesthood because he was from
another tribe. In the Book of Numbers, I don't see an ordination,
but rather some kind of change in The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints accepts the biblical teaching that
saving This is an odd statement for the author to make, for if
true, then only those who reach According
to the example set by the Savior, the sacrament is usually received
each week According to the Bible, Jesus did not set the pattern of
once a week on Sunday for the Latter-day children must wait until age eight
to be baptized. At that age, they are considered There is no set age in evangelical churches because children mature
at different rates. There Doctrine and Covenants 29:47 says, "Wherefore, they cannot
sin, for power is not given unto So if a child is informed enough to kill someone or steal something
at the age of six, this is There is no biblical teaching on the age of accountability being
eight. Bishop is the highest office in the Aaron
Priesthood; bishops also hold the Melchizedek So, in Mormon theology, a person can hold two priesthoods at the
same time. Among the most sacred and important of all
ordinances are those administered in the temples The author failed to mention the temple ordinance of baptism for
the dead in this passage. Baptisms for the Dead [a temple
ordinance] Paul refers to baptism for the dead in his
dissertation to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 15:29). This biblical passage has nothing to do with a temple
ordinance. The early church did not I'll refer you to two articles that explain this doctrine more
fully: The molten sea upon the twelve oxen that Latter-day Saints use to baptize for their dead Washing and Anointing
[a temple ordinance] The ordinances of washing and anointing (or
purification) ... continued in the New Testament This biblical passage has nothing to do with a temple
ordinance. Jesus did not wash his disciples When the authors mention purification, I wonder if they ever
consider the teachings in Leviticus Endowment [a temple ordinance]
And, behold, I send the promise of my Father
upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, This biblical passage has nothing to do with a temple
ordinance. The endowment happened in If you look at page 79 of the October 2010 edition of the church's magazine
called Ensign, it "When should I receive my endowment? As you can see, this teaching on the "endowment" is an invention of
the Mormon Church, The
crowning ordinance of the sealing of families comes through the power
of the priesthood A few notable things to mention here. This biblical
passage has nothing to do with a temple ordinance. Jesus gave the
keys of Jesus did not give these "keys" to the
disciples in the temple. Jesus spoke the words of The
author seems to infer "sealing" with eternal marriage, but
this is not the context of the These are just 4 major examples of how the author commits
eisegesis in just one chapter. And ... which of the 4 so-called temple ordinances are
performed vicariously for the dead? I don't recall any LDS literature where dead people are washed for,
where dead people go By exercising faith through works, men and
women are saved through the Atonement of The May 1998 edition of Ensign magazine reveals six different meanings for the word
"salvation." I will discuss some of the main definitions. The children of God are judged on earth and
in the afterlife for their works in mortality (page But the author, earlier, said that the 4 sacred temple ordinances
(baptisms, endowments, While salvation (immortality) is assured
through acceptance of the Atonement of Christ, the Lord This would cover definition A and B above. Even someone who rejects
Christ in mortality will The rewards that flow from rendering good
works in the glory of God include ... becoming a In Mormonism, the ultimate reward is eternal life (i.e. living life
as a god or goddess). In the Latter-day Saints disentangle from this
either-or construct and embrace faith, works, and grace In Mormon theology, those who don't become gods or goddesses are
considered damned. They Latter-day Saints are seekers. They ... trust
the grace of God through the Atonement of Jesus In
Mormon theology, Mormons are taught that they must pay Jesus back for
their debt. See Before the public ministry of Jesus, temples
were built as houses of worship and dwelling places God directed the building of only one temple. This was in
Jerusalem.
These same temples were defended and cleansed
by Jesus (Mark 11:15-17; Matthew 21:12- Jesus only cleansed one temple. There was only one temple
designated by God in the Bible. Jesus commenced the preach of the gospel to
the dead (1 Peter 4:6) (page 196).
This was discussed in a previous chapter.
There is no giving or taking of marriage in
heaven (Matthew 22:30-32), but rather all such matters And in the spirit world ... if you factor in the proxied
work. According to LDS theology, those in Ordinances are associated with temples
(page 198).
This was discussed in a previous chapter. There is no
biblical teaching in the New Testament.
In ancient times there were porters at the
gates of the temple to check the worthiness of Yes. These porters were of the tribe of Levi (1 Chronicles
9:17-26). They had watch over the The followers of Jesus Christ are called to
by holy ... in order to ... enter into the temple of the Peter and Paul did not have temple recommends enabling them to
enter the temple in In the days of Moses, the priests were given specific garments to
wear (page 200).
Yes. Only the Levites were priests. They were visible garments, no
undergarments. It is During the millennial reign of Christ,
temples upon the earth will be filled day and night for These passages reference one temple, not more.
Latter-day Saints are a temple-building
people (page 202).
Correction. Only the tribe of Ephraim is the LDS group building
temples. "It is Ephraim, today, Because moral agency is an eternal
principle, the deceased are completely free in the spirit Theoretically, a person in the
spirit world may not even show up to one of these supposed The endowment is an
ordinance in which the participant learns about the Creation, Heavenly This is definitely not the
endowment described in the Bible. See a previous chapter. Only
Church members who hold temple recommends may enter the temple
(page 204). This is not the biblical teaching. Worthiness
is determined through two brief interviews (page 204). This
is not the biblical teaching. Some clarification is warranted
here. In the interview, the candidate is examined to see if he (1) Have faith and a testimony of God the Eternal Father, his
Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy A
temple recommend last two years for adults and one year for youth if
worthiness is This is not the biblical teaching. There
was no segregation between Christians. All were allowed to meet
in the temple. They Endowed members of the Church covenant to
wear a special temple garment night and day Peter, Paul, and the other disciples did not wear temple garments.
In the Old Testament, only Interestingly enough, the symbols that appear on garments worn by
Mormons in some temple The entire October 2010 edition of the church's magazine (Ensign)
is devoted to the topic of "Why is symbolism used in the temple? Jesus and the disciples did not wear any special clothing when they
went to the temple. In When Saul sought the help of a sorceress, it
was revealed through a visitation by Samuel The sorceress talks about an old man coming up, but she doesn't say
all are in adult form. Isaiah and Peter called the more perilous
level of the spirit world a "prison," where both According to Doctrine and Covenants 138:18-19, those in the LDS
version of "paradise" Doctrine and Covenants
138:35 says, " And so it was made known among the dead,
both It is
unclear why those in the Mormon version of paradise need to re-learn
that redemption Jesus
prophesied of the opening of the spirit prison (John 5:25) where the
dead would John 5:25 does not specifically focus on those in some
form of "spirit prison" as opposed Jesus revealed that there is a great
gulf between those in paradise and this in spirit Yes. The parable also teaches that
people cannot travel between these two divisions. LDS theology says that the righteous
spirits can preach among (after traveling to) those Peter spoke
of the temporary "hell" that exists in the spirit prison
where souls are left only According to the Book of Mormon, the
dead cannot be saved after they have died. There is Such
souls in this hell [spirit prison] will be delivered up at the Final
Judgement (Revelation "And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and
death Yes.
They are delivered for judgment -- their judgment is the second death.
But it Revelation
21:8 says,
"But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and To me, it looks like the author does not agree with Revelation
21:8. Isaiah and Ezekiel describe the earth as
becoming like the Garden of Eden during Taking a look at those 2 references does not mention that it
occurs during the Heaven There
will be three kingdoms (2 Corinthians 12:2) (page 214). There
are 5 kingdoms in LDS theology. Three of them of a celestial
order, the It will be
those, even a few, who will journey the narrow path ... (in the The author should have clarified things here. In LDS
theology, the greatest Joseph Smith referred
to this as the damnation of the mind, a great misery for "God has decreed that all who will not obey His voice shall not escape Exaltation, or becoming exalted, comes to
those who keep the Lord's way The author seems shy to reveal the true meaning of
exaltation in LDS Being
"like Christ," or like a god, was introduced early in the
Old Testament LDS theology teaches that some will become gods, not
just "like" a god. Paul wrote to the
Galatians that man is a son of God (page 219). But this does
not mean that man is a "god in embryo." Also remember
that The
one-third of the host of heaven who joined Satan in rebellion against
God I have never
seen any teaching by the LDS Church where they state that 1/3 Certain work can
only be accomplished in mortality. Other work can only be Jesus did not teach
that you can proxy save someone. All the
spirits in paradise and the spirits in spirit prison who are not
confined to This is contradicted by the Book of Mormon. The
Second Coming and the First Resurrection In
the morning of the first resurrection will come up those assigned
celestial The
second resurrection is sometimes called the resurrection of the
damned, Please note that the second death has no power over
those in the first The author fails to mention from
which resurrection those of a telestial order come Those
who will enter into the telestial kingdom are those who made a free
and An
LDS training manual speaks about these telestials:
"These people did not receive the gospel or the testimony of Jesus Compare this with what the Bible has to say: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, The LDS Church calls the telestial kingdom a place of glory
whereas the Bible The sons of
perdition will dwell in outer darkness and have no hope of Oddly enough, those in the two lower sections of the
celestial kingdom, those
The Bible recognizes plural marriage and
regulates it, but neither encourages I think the fact that God made
only one woman for Adam shows that God's King
David, ... was admonished for his sin of adultery and murder, but not
for I'm not sure on what point
the author is attempting to make. God did not The teaching about
plural marriage is found in Doctrine and Covenants, chapter “Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you my servant Joseph, This is called the new and everlasting covenant of marriage. Joseph Smith said, The Bible teaches monogamy is God’s standard since Adam
and Eve. The doctrine You are damned if you reject the covenant of polygamy. It is
unclear how many The prophets also had the keys of this power–the power to
take either wives or Joseph Smith revealed the Mormon god is
a polygamist who glorified himself in “This promise is yours also, because ye are of Abraham, The Mormon Lord issued a strong commandment to certain
Latter-day Saints to If you don’t do what Abraham did when you are commanded,
you cannot receive LDS theology teaches it was righteous for Abraham to take
concubines–for he “Abraham received concubines, and they bore him children; Speaking of the time in or around the
millennial reign of Christ, the prophet Isaiah I found no indication of
this being related to the Millennial period. I would suggest At various
times throughout biblical history, the Lord looked favorably on men
and It
would help if the author supplied some examples to back his claim. The
Old Testament does not condemn the many men who married multiple
wives. The Old Testament does not condone the many men who
married multiple wives In fact, the
polygamist David was said to be a man after God's own heart
(page The author should note that this same David was a
"murderer." Does this mean While
God clearly stated his displeasure with some of David's actions, he
did not Here we
go again. Neither did God condone David for having multiple wives. The
Lord revealed his desire to build his Church with righteous souls
raised in strong The author seems to believe that God
is interested in the large families produced by The revelation establishing
eternal marriage and the plurality of wives was given in This revelation is found in Doctrine and
Covenants 132. But Joseph Smith was already With the passage of federal laws
targeting polygamy, there arose a clear conflict Why
would Latter-day Saints be torn by rejecting the laws of man and
accepting Many
chose family and what they firmly believed was a commandment of the
Lord Are there other
commandments (like baptism) that God wants you to hide yourself Utah became a state, and the Church began a
new chapter in its long struggle for The early church (with Peter, Paul, and the rest of the
believers) did not struggle It should be noted that the FLDS Church still practices polygamy
in accordance with Abortion The Bible refers to the human embryo as a
person (page 234). The author failed to mention what a former president of the LDS Church
taught: "We So, in LDS theology, the human embryo is actually a god. A
god in embryo is still a god. The Bible emphasizes repeatedly the
"begetting" (procreating as a father) of "sons"
and In LDS theology, Jesus is the first spirit child procreated by
Heavenly Mother and Father. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints must not submit to, perform, You "may" be subject to Church discipline?
I figured that one would always be disciplined Church leaders have said that some
exceptional circumstances may justify an abortion, I would suggest that giving up the baby for adoption is better
than murder. As a man, Discrimination The doctrine of moral agency (the power to
choose) is precious to Latter-day Saints Ask a Latter-day Saint if Adam and Eve chose wisely or poorly in
disobeying God in the Equal Accountability Faithful Latter-day Saints take the law of
chastity very seriously (page 240). According to page 251 of the 1997 Gospel Principles training
manual "unchastity is next to Marriage Between a Man and a Woman As a doctrinal principle, based on sacred
scripture, we affirm that marriage between a man According to the teachings of Jesus, even an eunuch can serve God
in the kingdom (Matthew The Magnificent Bible The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints reveres the Bible and encourages everyone to To be honest with you, I don't believe the LDS Church believes
all the King James Version of the Notice that no such disclaimer is placed on the Book of Mormon. On the other hand, the Community of Christ (formerly called the
Reorganized Church of Jesus The Ancient and Modern Combine The ancient scriptural record of the Bible
comes together with modern scriptures to form a new The author should really look at the introduction page of the
Book of Mormon sometime. It refers Interestingly, the Book of Mormon does NOT contain key Mormon
teachings and practices. So The Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants,
and Pearl of Great Price harmonize with the Bible They share some common teachings, but being in harmony is
stretching things quite a bit. Check God still lives and speaks to his children.
He has given mankind modern scriptures ... and other These "other writings" include General Conference
speeches and the words printed in such New Scripture Reveals New scriptures reveal new doctrines ...
This is necessary because man is always being called by This is a subtle way of saying that the Book of Mormon is a
higher law than the Bible and that The 2008 version of Teachings of Presidents of the Church - Joseph Smith reveals some startling "We are differently situated from any other people that ever existed upon the Brother Brigham, I want you to take the stand and tell us your views with Brigham Young said, "When compared with the living oracles those books [the Joseph Smith then said, "Brother Brigham has told you the word of the Lord, If the Lord tarries, I suppose even the Book of Mormon will become irrelevant in a few hundred Christians have much more reverence towards the Bible. |
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