Mormonism – Admirable Zeal but Deplorable Doctrines

1. On the physical nature of God.

1) They say that God the Father is flesh and bones just like you and I. Doctrines and Covenants 130:22

2) He lives near the planet Kolob in outer space. Pearl of Great Price, Abraham 3:3-5

3) The Bible says that God is a Spirit (John 4:24).

4) He inhabits eternity (Isa.57:15).

5) 1 Corinthians 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

2. On the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

1) “I have always declared God to be a distinct personage, Jesus Christ a separate and distinct personage from God the Father, and the Holy Ghost was a distinct personage and a Spirit: and these three constitute three distinct personages and three Gods. If this is in accordance with the New Testament, lo and behold! we have three Gods anyhow, and they are plural; and who can contradict it?….Hence the doctrine of a plurality of Gods is as prominent in the Bible as any other doctrine. It is all over the face of the Bible…..Paul says there are Gods many and Lords many. I want to set it forth in a plain and simple manner; but to us there is but one God-that is pertaining to us.” From The Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith

2) Mark 12:29-32 “And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. And the scribe said unto him, Well, Master, thou hast said the truth: for there is one God; and there is none other but he:”

3) 1 Cor. 8:4-6 “As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one. For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,) But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.”

1. 2 Nephi 29:9, 10 Need more than just the Bible

2. Joseph Smith said, “I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.” The Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pg. 194.

3. Jesus told the apostles he would guide them into “all truth.” John 16:13

4. Peter wrote that we have everything that pertains to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3).

5. Scriptures are profitable to make man of God perfect according to 2 Tim. 3:16, 17.

1. Polygamy Doctrines and Covenants 132:61, 62

2. Bible says polygamy is sin.

1) Matthew 19:5, 6 “And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.”

2) 1 Cor. 7:2 “Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.”

3. Marriage is eternal. Doctrines and Covenants 132:18

4. Matthew 22:30 “For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.”

1. Those who live “right” will be gods. Doctrines and Covenants 132:20

2. Lorenzo Snow, 5th President said, “As man now is, God once was; as God now is, man may be.” The Encyclopedia of Mormonism says that he received this quote by revelation.

3. We will be immortal, but not gods. 1 Corinthians 15:51-54 “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality.”

4. 1 John 3:2 “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”

1. “The fleshly body of Jesus required a Mother as well as a Father. Therefore, the Father and Mother of Jesus, according to the flesh, must have been associated together in the capacity of Husband and Wife; hence the Virgin Mary must have been, for the time being, the lawful wife of God the Father: we use the term lawful Wife, because it would be blasphemous in the highest degree to say that He overshadowed her or begat the Savior unlawfully.” Orson Pratt, The Seer, page 158

2. The Bible says, “And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. ” Luke 1:35