Christian or Cult?

Christian or Cult?

 This is one of the handouts we provide at our workshops.  It’s a simple side-by-side comparison of Mormonism vs. Christianity.

 Who is God?

 Bible:  John 4:24; “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”

LDS:   D&C 130:22; “The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us.”

 Who is Jesus?

 Bible: John 1:1, 14; “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”

LDS:  Encyclopedia of Mormonism, pg. 724; “Jesus Christ, whose main title was Jehovah, was the firstborn spirit child of God the Father and thus the eldest brother and preeminent above all other spirit children of God.”

 Who is the Holy Spirit?

 Bible: John 14:17; “Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.”

LDS:   Doctrines of Salvation 1:39; “I have never troubled myself about the Holy Ghost whether he will sometime have a body or not because it is not in any way essential to my salvation. He is a member of the Godhead, with great power and authority, with a most wonderful mission which must be performed by a spirit. This has satisfied me without delving into mysteries that would be of no particular benefit.”

 Salvation

 Bible:  Acts 4:12; “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

LDS:  D&C 1:30; “And also those to whom these commandments were given, might have power to lay the foundation of this church, and to bring it forth out of obscurity and out of darkness, the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth…”

 Other teachings of the LDS Church

 All churches but the LDS Church are the whores of the earth

 1 Nephi 14:10; “And he said unto me: Behold there are save two churches only; the one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the other is the church of the devil; wherefore, whoso belongeth not to the church of the Lamb of God belongeth to that great church, which is the mother of abominations; and she is the whore of all the earth.”

Jesus said this about His Church – Matthew 16:18; “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

 Joseph Smith is god to the Mormons

 “God is not willing to let me gratify you; but I must teach the Elders, and they should teach you. God made Aaron to be the mouthpiece 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; and if you don’t like it, you must lump it.” – Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pg. 363.

God said this about other gods – Isaiah 43:10-11; “Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.  I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.”

 No Need For LDS Members to Think

 In the June 1945 issue of Improvement Era Magazine, pg. 345 it says; “When our leaders speak, the thinking has been done”.

Paul tells us this about thinking – 2 Tim. 3:16; “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”

 Joseph’s Consent Needed for Entrance to Heaven

 From Journal of Discourses 7:289 it says; “…that no man or woman in this dispensation will ever enter into the celestial kingdom of God without the consent of Joseph Smith.”

 Book of Mormon Most Correct Book

 Joseph Smith in History of the Church 4:461; “I spent the day in the council with the Twelve Apostles at the house of President Young, conversing with them upon a variety of subjects. Brother Joseph Fielding was present, having been absent four years on a mission to England. 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.”

 By the late 1980’s there had been 3,913 changes made to the Book of Mormon that changed either the doctrine, the meaning or the full message of what was originally said.  These changes are not of the typographical sort.

 False Prophecies

 God tells us in Deuteronomy 18:20-22; “But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.  And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken?  When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.”

 No river has ever emptied into the Red Sea, yet it says the following in the Book of Mormon:

 1 Nephi 2:8 says; “And it came to pass that he called the name of the river, Laman, and it emptied into the Red Sea; and the valley was in the borders near the mouth thereof.”

 Joseph Smith prophesied the following

 “Inhabitants of the Moon are more of a uniform size than the inhabitants of the Earth, being about 6 feet in height.  They dress very much like the Quaker Style and quite general in style, or the one fashion of dress.  They live to be very old; coming generally near a thousand years.  This is the description of them as given by Joseph Smith the Seer.” – The Oliver Huntington Journal, Book 14; also found in The Young Woman’s Journal, published by the Young Ladies’ MIA, 1892, 3:263-4.

 Jesus was married

 Journal of Discourses 4:259-60 says; “It will be borne in mind that once on a time, there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and on a careful reading of that transaction, it will be discovered that no less a person than Jesus Christ was married on that occasion. If he was never married, his intimacy with Mary and Martha, and the other Mary also whom Jesus loved, must have been highly unbecoming and improper to say the best of it.”

 Jesus and Lucifer are brothers

 From the book Gospel Through the Ages, pg. 15, it says; “The appointment of Jesus to be the Savior of the world was contested by one of the other sons of God. He was called Lucifer, son of the morning.”

 God had sex with Mary

 Journal of Discourses 4:218 says; “When the time came that His first-born, the Saviour, should come into the world and take a tabernacle, the Father came Himself and favoured that spirit with a tabernacle instead of letting any other man do it. The Saviour was begotten by the Father of His spirit, by the same Being who is the Father of our spirits, and that is all the organic difference between Jesus Christ and you and me.”

 Pre-existence & Heavenly Mother

 From the Encyclopedia of Mormonism, pg. 1123 it says; “There is indeed indication that the intelligence dwelling in each person is coeternal with God. It always existed and never was created or made (D&C 93:29). In due time that intelligence was given a spirit body, becoming the spirit child of God the Eternal Father and his beloved companion, the Mother in Heaven. This spirit, inhabited by the eternal intelligence, took the form of its creators and is in their image (Ballard, p. 140).”

 No cross, just Moroni, an angel of light

 Bible:

1 Cor. 1:18 says; “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.”

 Mormon:

“…the cross, with its focus on the death of Christ, does not symbolize the message of a living, risen, exalted Lord who changes the lives of his followers. Thus, President Gordon B. Hinckley, counselor in the First Presidency, stated that the lives of people must become a “meaningful expression of our faith and, in fact, therefore, the symbol of our worship” (p. 92).”  Encyclopedia of Mormonism, pg. 345.

 Bible:

2 Cor. 11:14; “And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.”

Gal. 1:6-8; “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.”

 Mormon:

Introductory page of D&C (1976) says; “…In September, 1823, and at later times, Joseph Smith received visitations from Moroni, an angel of light, who revealed the resting place of the ancient record from which The Book of Mormon was afterward translated.”

 True Salvation to the Mormon

 Gospel Through the Ages, pg. 116, 119; “Here, then, is eternal life—to know the only wise and true God; and you have got to learn how to be Gods yourselves, and to be kings and priests to God, the same as all Gods have done before you… namely, by going from one small degree to another…”  (Also see Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pg. 346).

“Marriage is not only a righteous institution, but obedience to this law is absolutely necessary in order to obtain the highest exaltation in the Kingdom of God.”

 Bible – Isaiah 45:22; “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.”

 What is “scripture”?

 Members of the LDS Church have what they call the “Standard Works”.  This compilation of four books constitutes their scripture.  These four books include the Bible (as far as it is translated correctly), the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price.  This is what they’ve said about the Bible:

 Doctrines of Salvation 3:190; “We are informed in the Book of Mormon that the Hebrew scriptures went “forth from the Jews in purity unto the Gentiles, according to the truth which is in God,” and after they went forth from the Jews many changes were made, and “many parts which are plain and most precious; and also many covenants of the Lord have they taken away.”  (Also see 1 Nephi 13:23-32).

 Bible – Isaiah 40:8; “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.”

 If this doesn’t look or sound like the God of the Bible that you’ve been taught; you’re not alone!  The reason we have written this paper is to warn as Jude 3 tells us to do and because our hearts are broken over the false doctrine of the LDS Church.  After being a Mormon from Utah and spending 30 years in the Church I can assure you that everything we’ve presented is indeed truth.  We’ve checked and double checked to make sure all of our research is well documented for the investigator to review on their own.

 If you’re a Mormon, our first concern is that you know we’re not here to bash you or to make you feel as if we’re out to get you.  Our concern for your salvation is so heavy on our hearts that we have provided this information for you.  Please keep in mind that it’s not the Mormon people we have an issue with; it’s the doctrine of the LDS Church and you are not a church!  Please know also that there are thousands of people in the body of Christ who pray for you every single day!

 If you have a burden to reach those lost in the Mormon Church, we could use your help!  Please write to receive materials that you can share with your friends.

 If you’ve never asked Jesus to be your Savior and God it is easy to do!  Just sit for a moment and ask Him to come live in your heart.  Tell Him you’re in need of a Savior, you’re a sinner and you want a relationship with Him.  Next thing to do…share your news!

 With Love in Christ;

Michelle Grim

1 Corinthians 1:18

2 Responses to “Christian or Cult?”

  1. Bethenia January 22, 2011 at 6:47 am #

    I was never part of the mormon church but I was once having sessions with two elders, until they started pretty much stalking me and not giving up. But the hearts and souls of the people who have been deceived and feel trapped with fear of disfellowship (I’m guessing it is just like when a Jehovah’s Witness or Amish person discards their faith) has always made me very sad for them and want to reach out to them. I just found your blog today but will be reading through much more of it. You have done a tremenous amount of work on just the content of this page so I am sure the rest of your blog will be even more insightful and can help me reach out to people as well. Thank you for being such a blessing to people.

    • lifeafterministry January 23, 2011 at 9:44 pm #

      Thank you so much for your kind words of encouragement! I’m so happy to hear that you weren’t tricked into the false ideologies of the Mormon Church. It’s hard when someone leaves Mormonism but the rewards are far greater than anything here on earth you may have given up. God is good!

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