The Mormons really have a thing for dead people. I mean they really like dead people…..so much in fact that they have been have been known to marry dead women and to baptize dead people. The latter practice has gotten them in tons of trouble with Jews, Catholics and Christians alike to stop this soul robbing.
Quick Mormon soul robbing Facts:
They do not limit their soul robbing to known Mormon loved ones.
They've soul robbed most known Native American tribal chiefs.
They've soul robbed every entry they could find in every encyclopedia.
They've soul robbed names they have gleaned from tombstones, from obituaries, from old city hall records, from English Church Christening logs, from immigration entry records, and from my parents' genealogy records.
The Mormon church has paid cash for names to Russian museums. This, much to the consternation of officials in the Russian Orthodox Church.
They soul robbed Holocaust victims and Nazis in the same rites and dead dunked Hitler three different times.
George Washington was one of the first people they soul robbed.
Baptism is the first ceremony performed in behalf of the dead in the temple. This is performed in the beautiful very expensive font is mounted on the full sized statues of 12 golden oxen, located in the temple basement. (A little odd don’t you think to stash 12 golden Ox and millions of names of non Mormons?)
Typically 200-300 baptisms are performed per hour, with LDS teenagers serving as proxies to introduce them into the temple rituals and vicarious Ordinance work at an impressionable age.
The Mormons have no respect for the dead and this practice should be outlawed. Please think about writing to congress and doing everything you can to stop this soul robbing of innocent people. The dead should not have to pay because Mormons cannot get enough living people to join their church.
Despite the out cry from a spiritual public for Mormons to stop soul raping the dead, Mormons refuse to comply. So let's continue to take what is "sacred" to Mormons and expose them so people can continue to seek the truth and save the dead from the evil clutches of the Mormons.
Mormons Pleasing the Family not The Lord
Recently my brother baptized his 8 year old daughter as a Mormon. He had my parents come to town so that my father could participate in this Mormon ritual. Indoctrination in Mormonism begins in early childhood. Mormon children are taught that they must obey all the commandments. They are taught that they obey priesthood authority,(aka men) attend church, study the scriptures, pay a full ten percent tithing of all their allowance and gift money, avoid people and places where you might find temptation, (such as all non-Mormons) then you will be able to keep all the commandments. If you are not able to keep all the commandments, then it is because you have failed and have done something wrong.
I find it odd my brother would allow his child to be baptized. After all, just a few weeks prior to her baptism, my brother had told me he did not buy into what the church believed in. He stated he did not understand all of the teachings, even though he is an Ex-missionary. He too has a hard time buying into the baptism for the dead, aka soul robbing. He finds it difficult to believe that God is from a planet Kolob, and that his prophet Joseph Smith believed in the marriage of many women, or that he believed in men in the moon. He was unaware of many of the Mormon beliefs.
He did not know about Mormons and spirits which in a nut shell says everyone on earth now was a spirit in the pre-existence. When we die, our spirits are separated from our bodies and if we were good they go to "spirit paradise." If we were bad they go to "spirit prison." The spirit world exists as a place for spirits to go while awaiting the second coming.
I really get that he struggles with the belief that Mormons believe in multiple Gods and multiple worlds. Yep. Mormons believe that God created multiple worlds and each world has people living on it. They also believe that multiple Gods exist but each has their own universe. We are only subject to our God and if we obtain the highest level of heaven MEN can become gods.
I did not even bother to tell him that Brigham Young said that gold and silver grow the same way the hair grew on his head grows. (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourse, 1852, p 219) Or that Brigham Young taught that the sun and moon were inhabited! In fact he said there was no doubt about it, either! ( Journal of Discourses, 1880, p 271)
Poor thing I am not sure if he could take the truth. In fact I am not sure he cares.
Anyhow so my brother, who is Mormon because it is what makes his mother, father and wife happy, jumped into the water to baptize his daughter in the name of………errrr ahhhhhh I am not sure he even knows. What he does know is he made his parents very proud, and his daughter got lots of presents and even a party because she did as she was told.
I guess what is sad, is that Mormons who do not fully believe in the crap that is shoved down their throats, will still go to their bishop, tell the bishop the lies they need to hear to get a temple recommend or whatever they need to dunk their children into the well of deception..... aka baptism. My brother does NOT like going to church, he on several occasions has shared he doesn't buy into the whole Mormon thing, however, it is people like him who baptize children and go to temples.
Well I guess I say good for him. He is showing himself and the world that Mormons will lie in the name of their Mormon God. Perhaps because my brother will never be honest to our parents how he feels about the church, he is seeking his own type of revenge on the church, or perhaps it just goes right past him, and as always, he just does as he is told, even though he is 38.
No matter. I think it is important to get information out about these good Mormon people and how they will lie and soul rob to please their God or in my brothers case to keep family peace. Yes the one thing my poor brother believes in is pleasing family.
I find it odd my brother would allow his child to be baptized. After all, just a few weeks prior to her baptism, my brother had told me he did not buy into what the church believed in. He stated he did not understand all of the teachings, even though he is an Ex-missionary. He too has a hard time buying into the baptism for the dead, aka soul robbing. He finds it difficult to believe that God is from a planet Kolob, and that his prophet Joseph Smith believed in the marriage of many women, or that he believed in men in the moon. He was unaware of many of the Mormon beliefs.
He did not know about Mormons and spirits which in a nut shell says everyone on earth now was a spirit in the pre-existence. When we die, our spirits are separated from our bodies and if we were good they go to "spirit paradise." If we were bad they go to "spirit prison." The spirit world exists as a place for spirits to go while awaiting the second coming.
I really get that he struggles with the belief that Mormons believe in multiple Gods and multiple worlds. Yep. Mormons believe that God created multiple worlds and each world has people living on it. They also believe that multiple Gods exist but each has their own universe. We are only subject to our God and if we obtain the highest level of heaven MEN can become gods.
I did not even bother to tell him that Brigham Young said that gold and silver grow the same way the hair grew on his head grows. (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourse, 1852, p 219) Or that Brigham Young taught that the sun and moon were inhabited! In fact he said there was no doubt about it, either! ( Journal of Discourses, 1880, p 271)
Poor thing I am not sure if he could take the truth. In fact I am not sure he cares.
Anyhow so my brother, who is Mormon because it is what makes his mother, father and wife happy, jumped into the water to baptize his daughter in the name of………errrr ahhhhhh I am not sure he even knows. What he does know is he made his parents very proud, and his daughter got lots of presents and even a party because she did as she was told.
I guess what is sad, is that Mormons who do not fully believe in the crap that is shoved down their throats, will still go to their bishop, tell the bishop the lies they need to hear to get a temple recommend or whatever they need to dunk their children into the well of deception..... aka baptism. My brother does NOT like going to church, he on several occasions has shared he doesn't buy into the whole Mormon thing, however, it is people like him who baptize children and go to temples.
Well I guess I say good for him. He is showing himself and the world that Mormons will lie in the name of their Mormon God. Perhaps because my brother will never be honest to our parents how he feels about the church, he is seeking his own type of revenge on the church, or perhaps it just goes right past him, and as always, he just does as he is told, even though he is 38.
No matter. I think it is important to get information out about these good Mormon people and how they will lie and soul rob to please their God or in my brothers case to keep family peace. Yes the one thing my poor brother believes in is pleasing family.
Vatican letter directs bishops to keep parish records from Mormons
By Chaz Muth
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- In an effort to block posthumous rebaptisms by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Catholic dioceses throughout the world have been directed by the Vatican not to give information in parish registers to the Mormons' Genealogical Society of Utah.
An April 5 letter from the Vatican Congregation for Clergy, obtained by Catholic News Service in late April, asks episcopal conferences to direct all bishops to keep the Latter-day Saints from microfilming and digitizing information contained in those registers.
The order came in light of "grave reservations" expressed in a Jan. 29 letter from the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the clergy congregation's letter said.
Father James Massa, executive director of the U.S. bishops' Secretariat of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, said the step was taken to prevent the Latter-day Saints from using records -- such as baptismal documentation -- to posthumously baptize by proxy the ancestors of church members.
Posthumous baptisms by proxy have been a common practice for the Latter-day Saints -- commonly known as Mormons -- for more than a century, allowing the church's faithful to have their ancestors baptized into their faith so they may be united in the afterlife, said Mike Otterson, a spokesman in the church's Salt Lake City headquarters.
In a telephone interview with CNS May 1, Otterson said he wanted a chance to review the contents of the letter before commenting on how it will affect the Mormons' relationship with the Catholic Church.
"This dicastery is bringing this matter to the attention of the various conferences of bishops," the letter reads. "The congregation requests that the conference notifies each diocesan bishop in order to ensure that such a detrimental practice is not permitted in his territory, due to the confidentiality of the faithful and so as not to cooperate with the erroneous practices of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."
The letter is dated 10 days before Pope Benedict XVI's April 15-20 U.S. visit, during which he presided over an ecumenical prayer service attended by two Mormon leaders. It marked the first time Mormons had participated in a papal prayer service.
Father Massa said he could see how the policy stated in the letter could strain relations between the Catholic Church and the Latter-day Saints.
"It certainly has that potential," he said. "But I would also say that the purpose of interreligious dialogue is not to only identify agreements, but also to understand our differences. As Catholics, we have to make very clear to them their practice of so-called rebaptism is unacceptable from the standpoint of Catholic truth."
The Catholic Church will eventually open a dialogue with the Mormons about the rebaptism issue, Father Massa said, "but we are at the beginning of the beginning of a new relationship with the LDS. The first step in any dialogue is to establish trust and to seek friendship."
The two faiths share intrinsic viewpoints on key issues the United States is facing, particularly the pro-life position on abortion and an opposition to same-sex marriage.
However, theological differences have cropped up between Mormons and Catholics in the past.
In 2001 the Vatican's doctrinal congregation issued a ruling that baptism conferred by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints cannot be considered a valid Christian baptism, thus requiring converts from that religion to Catholicism to receive a Catholic baptism.
"We don't have an issue with the fact that the Catholic Church doesn't recognize our baptisms, because we don't recognize theirs," Otterson said. "It's a difference of belief."
When issuing its 2001 ruling, the Vatican said that even though the Mormon baptismal rite refers to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the church's beliefs about the identity of the three persons are so different from Catholic and mainline Christian belief that the rite cannot be regarded as a Christian baptism.
Latter-day Saints regard Jesus and the Holy Spirit as children of the Father and the Heavenly Mother. They believe that baptism was instituted by the Father, not Christ, and that it goes back to Adam and Eve.
Msgr. J. Terrence Fitzgerald -- vicar general of the Diocese of Salt Lake City -- said he didn't understand why the Latter-day Saints church was singled out in this latest Vatican policy regarding parish records.
"We have a policy not to give out baptismal records to anyone unless they are entitled to have them," Msgr. Fitzgerald said of his diocese. "That isn't just for the Church of the Latter-day Saints. That is for all groups."
Though he said the Salt Lake City Diocese has enjoyed a long-standing dialogue with the Latter-day Saints, Msgr. Fitzgerald said the diocese does not support giving the Mormons names for the sake of rebaptism.
Mormons have been criticized by several other faiths -- perhaps most passionately by the Jews -- for the church's practice of posthumous baptism.
Members of the Latter-day Saints believe baptizing their ancestors by proxy gives the dead an opportunity to embrace the faith in the afterlife. The actual baptism-by-proxy ceremony occurs in a Mormon temple, and is intended to wash sins away for the commencement of church membership.
Jewish leaders have called the practice arrogant and said it is disrespectful to the dead, especially Holocaust victims.
"Baptism by proxy is a fundamentally important doctrine of the Latter-day Saints," Otterson said. "We have cooperative relationships with churches, governments -- both state and national -- going back to the last century. Our practice of negotiating for records and making them available for genealogical research is very well known."
Father Massa said he is not aware of aggressive attempts to obtain baptismal records at Catholic parishes in any of the U.S. dioceses.
He also said the Catholic Church will continue to reach out to the Mormons and carry on the efforts of understanding that have already begun, especially in Salt Lake City.
"Profound theological differences are not an excuse for avoiding dialogue, but a reason for pursuing dialogue," Father Massa said.
DESPITE THE FACT THE JEWS AND CATHOLICS HAVE ASKED KINDLY FOR MORMONS TO NOT BAPTIZE THEIR DEAD, THEY CONTINUE THE PRACTICE OF SOUL ROBBING.
By Chaz Muth
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- In an effort to block posthumous rebaptisms by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Catholic dioceses throughout the world have been directed by the Vatican not to give information in parish registers to the Mormons' Genealogical Society of Utah.
An April 5 letter from the Vatican Congregation for Clergy, obtained by Catholic News Service in late April, asks episcopal conferences to direct all bishops to keep the Latter-day Saints from microfilming and digitizing information contained in those registers.
The order came in light of "grave reservations" expressed in a Jan. 29 letter from the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the clergy congregation's letter said.
Father James Massa, executive director of the U.S. bishops' Secretariat of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, said the step was taken to prevent the Latter-day Saints from using records -- such as baptismal documentation -- to posthumously baptize by proxy the ancestors of church members.
Posthumous baptisms by proxy have been a common practice for the Latter-day Saints -- commonly known as Mormons -- for more than a century, allowing the church's faithful to have their ancestors baptized into their faith so they may be united in the afterlife, said Mike Otterson, a spokesman in the church's Salt Lake City headquarters.
In a telephone interview with CNS May 1, Otterson said he wanted a chance to review the contents of the letter before commenting on how it will affect the Mormons' relationship with the Catholic Church.
"This dicastery is bringing this matter to the attention of the various conferences of bishops," the letter reads. "The congregation requests that the conference notifies each diocesan bishop in order to ensure that such a detrimental practice is not permitted in his territory, due to the confidentiality of the faithful and so as not to cooperate with the erroneous practices of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."
The letter is dated 10 days before Pope Benedict XVI's April 15-20 U.S. visit, during which he presided over an ecumenical prayer service attended by two Mormon leaders. It marked the first time Mormons had participated in a papal prayer service.
Father Massa said he could see how the policy stated in the letter could strain relations between the Catholic Church and the Latter-day Saints.
"It certainly has that potential," he said. "But I would also say that the purpose of interreligious dialogue is not to only identify agreements, but also to understand our differences. As Catholics, we have to make very clear to them their practice of so-called rebaptism is unacceptable from the standpoint of Catholic truth."
The Catholic Church will eventually open a dialogue with the Mormons about the rebaptism issue, Father Massa said, "but we are at the beginning of the beginning of a new relationship with the LDS. The first step in any dialogue is to establish trust and to seek friendship."
The two faiths share intrinsic viewpoints on key issues the United States is facing, particularly the pro-life position on abortion and an opposition to same-sex marriage.
However, theological differences have cropped up between Mormons and Catholics in the past.
In 2001 the Vatican's doctrinal congregation issued a ruling that baptism conferred by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints cannot be considered a valid Christian baptism, thus requiring converts from that religion to Catholicism to receive a Catholic baptism.
"We don't have an issue with the fact that the Catholic Church doesn't recognize our baptisms, because we don't recognize theirs," Otterson said. "It's a difference of belief."
When issuing its 2001 ruling, the Vatican said that even though the Mormon baptismal rite refers to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the church's beliefs about the identity of the three persons are so different from Catholic and mainline Christian belief that the rite cannot be regarded as a Christian baptism.
Latter-day Saints regard Jesus and the Holy Spirit as children of the Father and the Heavenly Mother. They believe that baptism was instituted by the Father, not Christ, and that it goes back to Adam and Eve.
Msgr. J. Terrence Fitzgerald -- vicar general of the Diocese of Salt Lake City -- said he didn't understand why the Latter-day Saints church was singled out in this latest Vatican policy regarding parish records.
"We have a policy not to give out baptismal records to anyone unless they are entitled to have them," Msgr. Fitzgerald said of his diocese. "That isn't just for the Church of the Latter-day Saints. That is for all groups."
Though he said the Salt Lake City Diocese has enjoyed a long-standing dialogue with the Latter-day Saints, Msgr. Fitzgerald said the diocese does not support giving the Mormons names for the sake of rebaptism.
Mormons have been criticized by several other faiths -- perhaps most passionately by the Jews -- for the church's practice of posthumous baptism.
Members of the Latter-day Saints believe baptizing their ancestors by proxy gives the dead an opportunity to embrace the faith in the afterlife. The actual baptism-by-proxy ceremony occurs in a Mormon temple, and is intended to wash sins away for the commencement of church membership.
Jewish leaders have called the practice arrogant and said it is disrespectful to the dead, especially Holocaust victims.
"Baptism by proxy is a fundamentally important doctrine of the Latter-day Saints," Otterson said. "We have cooperative relationships with churches, governments -- both state and national -- going back to the last century. Our practice of negotiating for records and making them available for genealogical research is very well known."
Father Massa said he is not aware of aggressive attempts to obtain baptismal records at Catholic parishes in any of the U.S. dioceses.
He also said the Catholic Church will continue to reach out to the Mormons and carry on the efforts of understanding that have already begun, especially in Salt Lake City.
"Profound theological differences are not an excuse for avoiding dialogue, but a reason for pursuing dialogue," Father Massa said.
DESPITE THE FACT THE JEWS AND CATHOLICS HAVE ASKED KINDLY FOR MORMONS TO NOT BAPTIZE THEIR DEAD, THEY CONTINUE THE PRACTICE OF SOUL ROBBING.
Mormons and Tithing: Robbery in the name of God
Mormons and Tithing
I found this article and some comments about Mormons and their tithing ritual. I remember even as a small child having to "give" 10% of my allowance. I was not offered a choice it was demanded from the Mormons.
Members of The Mormon church are required to hold annual tithing settlements to declare their tithing faithfulness. Why is tithing more important than chastity? Why not hold annual "chastity settlements" or "honesty settlements" or "doing good to our fellow man settlements." Why is a 10% admission charge required for entry into the temple and eventually into the CK?
Most other faiths and other non-profit organizations publish their financial statements. The LDS church never reveals to members what their money is being spent on. There is no reason this shouldn't be done in the form of public financial statements as it is done in other religions and as it was done in the church's past. Members are expected to be responsible to the church in their tithing; shouldn't the church be just as forthcoming with where their money is spent?
In 1997, Time magazine estimated that the net worth of the LDS church was at the minimum $30 billion. (Some estimates put the net worth at $50 billion today.) The church is already rich, so why does it need money from poor members? Couldn't an organization this wealthy allow its poorest members to forgo the 10% tithing requirement? Why doesn't the church give more money to charity rather than spend all that cash on more multi-million dollar temples, shopping malls, TV/radio stations and cattle ranches in ..:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Florida and Nebraska?
In order to receive any assistance from the Bishop's Storehouse, a member in financial difficulty must first be declared a "full tithe payer". Why does someone who is hungry have to prove their "worthiness" to eat? When Jesus fed the multitude with the loaves and fishes, did he conduct "worthiness" interviews first?
Comment1:
Most other faiths and other non-profit organizations publish their financial statements. The LDS church never reveals to members what their money is being spent on. In an address at BYU, Gordon B. Hinckley gave a talk with a sub title of Trust and Accountability. See http://unicomm.byu.edu/about/foundation/documents/hinckley.htm
Now just how is the church suppose to be accountable when they do not publish their financial statements? Now what is wrong with this picture.
Comment2:
I can't think of any other religion that shakes down members for contributions the way the Mormons do. Yes, other churches pass around baskets and pressure you into giving money. But the Mormons require (yes, it is required) that members attending a meeting with the bishop at the end of the year to state, on the record, if they have paid a full tithe. If you have not, for any reason, you will be lectured on the need to repent and come back into compliance with the law of tithing.
Comment 3:
I think tithing settlement is a complete invasion. I bristled every time I had to do it. It just reinforces the fact that you have to pay your way into the temple and into the "celestial kingdom". Back when I was a member, my bishop once withheld my recommend because I was a month behind on paying my tithing. I was working my ass of in ward and stake callings, taking my kids to church every week by myself, doing my visiting teaching, etc., but he felt I wasn't worthy to go to the temple, that I was "stealing from the lord." I missed my cousin's wedding because I didn't have the recommend. I was devastated and completely embarrassed to miss the wedding. I was so ashamed because of the things the bishop said to me. I am so relieved to be out of that mental, emotional, financial trap
Comment 4:
..."Tithing is an important test of our personal righteousness. President Joseph F. Smith (1838-1918) said: "By this principle it shall be known who is for the kingdom of God and who is against it. … By it it shall be known whether we are faithful or unfaithful" (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph F. Smith [1998], 276)." To think, according to the Mormon church, your faith and righteousness/worthiness depends upon how many sheckles you divvy over to God. How utterly absurd!
Comment 5:
In 1997, Time magazine estimated that the net worth of the LDS church was at the minimum $30 billion. (Some estimates put the net worth at $50 billion today.) The church is already rich, so why does it need money from poor members? Couldn't an organization this wealthy allow its poorest members to forgo the 10% tithing requirement? Why doesn't the church give more money to charity rather than spend all that cash on more multi-million dollar temples, shopping malls, TV/radio stations and cattle ranches in Florida and Nebraska? In order to receive any assistance from the Bishop's Storehouse, a member in financial difficulty must first be declared a "full tithe payer". Why does someone who is hungry have to prove their "worthiness" to eat? When Jesus fed the multitude with the loaves and fishes, did he conduct "worthiness" interviews first?
I found this article and some comments about Mormons and their tithing ritual. I remember even as a small child having to "give" 10% of my allowance. I was not offered a choice it was demanded from the Mormons.
Members of The Mormon church are required to hold annual tithing settlements to declare their tithing faithfulness. Why is tithing more important than chastity? Why not hold annual "chastity settlements" or "honesty settlements" or "doing good to our fellow man settlements." Why is a 10% admission charge required for entry into the temple and eventually into the CK?
Most other faiths and other non-profit organizations publish their financial statements. The LDS church never reveals to members what their money is being spent on. There is no reason this shouldn't be done in the form of public financial statements as it is done in other religions and as it was done in the church's past. Members are expected to be responsible to the church in their tithing; shouldn't the church be just as forthcoming with where their money is spent?
In 1997, Time magazine estimated that the net worth of the LDS church was at the minimum $30 billion. (Some estimates put the net worth at $50 billion today.) The church is already rich, so why does it need money from poor members? Couldn't an organization this wealthy allow its poorest members to forgo the 10% tithing requirement? Why doesn't the church give more money to charity rather than spend all that cash on more multi-million dollar temples, shopping malls, TV/radio stations and cattle ranches in ..:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Florida and Nebraska?
In order to receive any assistance from the Bishop's Storehouse, a member in financial difficulty must first be declared a "full tithe payer". Why does someone who is hungry have to prove their "worthiness" to eat? When Jesus fed the multitude with the loaves and fishes, did he conduct "worthiness" interviews first?
Comment1:
Most other faiths and other non-profit organizations publish their financial statements. The LDS church never reveals to members what their money is being spent on. In an address at BYU, Gordon B. Hinckley gave a talk with a sub title of Trust and Accountability. See http://unicomm.byu.edu/about/foundation/documents/hinckley.htm
Now just how is the church suppose to be accountable when they do not publish their financial statements? Now what is wrong with this picture.
Comment2:
I can't think of any other religion that shakes down members for contributions the way the Mormons do. Yes, other churches pass around baskets and pressure you into giving money. But the Mormons require (yes, it is required) that members attending a meeting with the bishop at the end of the year to state, on the record, if they have paid a full tithe. If you have not, for any reason, you will be lectured on the need to repent and come back into compliance with the law of tithing.
Comment 3:
I think tithing settlement is a complete invasion. I bristled every time I had to do it. It just reinforces the fact that you have to pay your way into the temple and into the "celestial kingdom". Back when I was a member, my bishop once withheld my recommend because I was a month behind on paying my tithing. I was working my ass of in ward and stake callings, taking my kids to church every week by myself, doing my visiting teaching, etc., but he felt I wasn't worthy to go to the temple, that I was "stealing from the lord." I missed my cousin's wedding because I didn't have the recommend. I was devastated and completely embarrassed to miss the wedding. I was so ashamed because of the things the bishop said to me. I am so relieved to be out of that mental, emotional, financial trap
Comment 4:
..."Tithing is an important test of our personal righteousness. President Joseph F. Smith (1838-1918) said: "By this principle it shall be known who is for the kingdom of God and who is against it. … By it it shall be known whether we are faithful or unfaithful" (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph F. Smith [1998], 276)." To think, according to the Mormon church, your faith and righteousness/worthiness depends upon how many sheckles you divvy over to God. How utterly absurd!
Comment 5:
In 1997, Time magazine estimated that the net worth of the LDS church was at the minimum $30 billion. (Some estimates put the net worth at $50 billion today.) The church is already rich, so why does it need money from poor members? Couldn't an organization this wealthy allow its poorest members to forgo the 10% tithing requirement? Why doesn't the church give more money to charity rather than spend all that cash on more multi-million dollar temples, shopping malls, TV/radio stations and cattle ranches in Florida and Nebraska? In order to receive any assistance from the Bishop's Storehouse, a member in financial difficulty must first be declared a "full tithe payer". Why does someone who is hungry have to prove their "worthiness" to eat? When Jesus fed the multitude with the loaves and fishes, did he conduct "worthiness" interviews first?
Are Mormons Selfish?
Okay so listen we know that Mormons worship a false prophet, and we know Mormons believe all men will become Gods of their own planet thus they believe in more than one God. We also know that this planet has 7 billion people and we can hardly feed ourselves yet the Mormons are big breeders and do not believe in birth control or saving this planet.
In addition, most of us understand that Mormons are so insecure with their religion they need to go around saying the are the ONLY true church and that they are the "chosen" and "elite". In addition to all this, we get that Mormons believe in tithing, no they just cannot pass the basket, they need to keep a record, and then call you in once a year and let you know whether you have been naughty or nice handing over your hard earned money to the Mormon corporation.
So this brings up a question. Are Mormons selfish?
Many will say, heck no, why they take care of their own. Believe me, this is true. Mormons will take care of their own, but that sadness comes with Mormons will not take care of non-Mormons. Because they are the chosen and the elite, they have no regarded for non Mormons. In fact they disregard non Mormons so much, that they wait for non-Mormons to die, and then hunt them like prey so they can baptize them Mormons. Actually there should be a law, but Mormons can use their selfishness to baptize whom ever, including the likes of Hitler, Elvis, Ann Frank and believe it or not it showed up on their records Mickey Mouse.
With that said, it is the holiday season and so I went down memory lane. As a Mormon youth, Christmas was about getting. Mormons shopped and shopped and shopped, even if they could not afford food on their table, they shopped.
It was all about giving, so that they could get. Ahhh and the Mormon guilt. Who could forget that. Even as a youth, if I had a cold and was sick, I was forced out of the house to go sing Christmas Carols at fellow Mormon homes. Of course if I mentioned we sing songs for an old people’s homes or an agency, they became upset with me. How dare I want to use these precious youthful Mormon voices for anything other than for other Mormons. The same went with donations. Mormons just do not like to donate to non-Mormon agencies. I used to tell my mother as a teenager, that I would like to donate to the food bank, my parents would not hear it! A good Mormon would NEVER give their money to a non-Mormon organization.
Of course you could imagine my joy when I finally quit the church and lovingly give to a variety of organizations as often as I can without shame or guilt.
Now, if I can only un-baptize all the dead relatives they baptized, I would be inb 7th heaven (or in the case of Mormons, one of the three Kingdoms of heaven!)
In addition, most of us understand that Mormons are so insecure with their religion they need to go around saying the are the ONLY true church and that they are the "chosen" and "elite". In addition to all this, we get that Mormons believe in tithing, no they just cannot pass the basket, they need to keep a record, and then call you in once a year and let you know whether you have been naughty or nice handing over your hard earned money to the Mormon corporation.
So this brings up a question. Are Mormons selfish?
Many will say, heck no, why they take care of their own. Believe me, this is true. Mormons will take care of their own, but that sadness comes with Mormons will not take care of non-Mormons. Because they are the chosen and the elite, they have no regarded for non Mormons. In fact they disregard non Mormons so much, that they wait for non-Mormons to die, and then hunt them like prey so they can baptize them Mormons. Actually there should be a law, but Mormons can use their selfishness to baptize whom ever, including the likes of Hitler, Elvis, Ann Frank and believe it or not it showed up on their records Mickey Mouse.
With that said, it is the holiday season and so I went down memory lane. As a Mormon youth, Christmas was about getting. Mormons shopped and shopped and shopped, even if they could not afford food on their table, they shopped.
It was all about giving, so that they could get. Ahhh and the Mormon guilt. Who could forget that. Even as a youth, if I had a cold and was sick, I was forced out of the house to go sing Christmas Carols at fellow Mormon homes. Of course if I mentioned we sing songs for an old people’s homes or an agency, they became upset with me. How dare I want to use these precious youthful Mormon voices for anything other than for other Mormons. The same went with donations. Mormons just do not like to donate to non-Mormon agencies. I used to tell my mother as a teenager, that I would like to donate to the food bank, my parents would not hear it! A good Mormon would NEVER give their money to a non-Mormon organization.
Of course you could imagine my joy when I finally quit the church and lovingly give to a variety of organizations as often as I can without shame or guilt.
Now, if I can only un-baptize all the dead relatives they baptized, I would be inb 7th heaven (or in the case of Mormons, one of the three Kingdoms of heaven!)
Could You Write that Book?Could you write a book that satisfies these requirements? It certainly proves something about the Book of Mormon…
Could you write a book that satisfies these requirements? It certainly proves something about the Book of Mormon…
1. Write a history of ancient America covering a period of from 2200 B.C.E. to
400 A.D.? Why ancient America? Because that’s what the Book of Mormon claims to
be about silly.
2. You must start telling tales that resemble this book to your family at least ten years before you write it.
3. You must be primarily self-educated. If you are formally educated, it may or may not make it more difficult to write, that will obviously depend on your
individual “education,” but don’t worry about learning how to spell, since . . .
4. You must include at least 3000 grammatical and spelling errors, even if you use a secretary to transcribe your dictation. Now this is going to be really
hard, because where are you going to find such an ignorant secretary. Good luck on that one.
5. Your “history” must be 531 pages long, and must use the phrase “and it came to pass” 3,856 times.
6. You must come up with a good explanation as to why filler such as “and it came to pass” would be so frequently repeated if your history is supposed to have come from gold plates where space was at a premium.
7. Once your book is published you are only allowed to change it 3500 times for grammatical and spelling errors and 500 times for doctrinal, historical or other
substantive inconsistencies.
8. Your “history” must replace the actual millions of inhabitants of the ancient Americas during this time period with fictitious nations, including one nation
founded by refugees from the mythical tower of Babylon who came to the Americas on a giant barrel-like barge with holes in the top and the bottom (don’t ask) of
the barge and two other nations founded by “jews” who know next to nothing about Jewish dietary or religious practices.
9. You must describe the inhabitants of America and their religious, economic, political and social and cultural institutions in such way that they don’t in any way represent the religious, political, social and cultural institutions of the actual inhabitants of ancient America. Even make up some names of coins that were never used by the actual inhabitants of America. Throw in some animals and crops that are only in the Americas post-Columbus and make up some funny names
of non-existent animals too, like cureloms.
10. Make sure you plagiarize from more than one section of the bible, and from various other sources, so that your claim that many ancient authors contributed
to the book can be trumpeted by apologists.
11. Make up a story about a dead guy coming to America and killing millions of inhabitants and burying cities in the ocean and under the earth. Call him Nosferatu or Lestat. No just kidding — you must actually call him Jesus.
12. Claim that your inconsistent and grammatically awkward prose (except for the plagiarized parts which are somewhat better written) is not fiction, but a true
and sacred history.
13. Include in your book 54 chapters dealing with wars that bear no resemblance to the actual wars that took place in the ancient Americas. Make sure that at least some of these wars include the nonsensical accounts of million man armies. Ignore the problems associated with the logistical support for such a large army. Also include million men armies fighting to the last man and their bones and steel weapons disappearing from the face of the earth. Include 21 historical chapters which bear no resemblance to actual history, try and include some
inconsistencies here too, like people reappearing in the narrative after they have already died.
14. You must include 55 chapters on visions and prophesies. At least one of the “visions” must be an almost verbatim recital of a dream that some member of your family, preferably your father, told to you as a boy. Some of the prophesies must be plagiarized directly from the bible, but others must “prophesy” about things that have already happened between the time of the supposed prophesy and the present, so that you can show how accurate the “prophecies” of your book are. Except for the “prophecies” about events that have already taken place,
which must be laden with details, all prophecies should be very vague. Never do anything stupid like prophesy that Christ will come in 1891, the civil war would
start in the 1830’s or that people live on the moon and dress like Quakers, that would be quite a problem for you.
15. Included in your narrative will be bogus modes of travel that were never used in ancient America, bogus descriptions of clothing and clothing materials
that were never used in ancient America, bogus descriptions of crops that never existed in ancient America and bogus types of government as well.
16. You must invent 280 names. Well, not really invent, you can take some from the bible, some from the apocrypha, some from maps, etc. Some should be inside
jokes (Moron, Ether), some should be silly (anti-nephi-lehite, curelom), some should so forgettable that you refer to them obliquely (brother of jared) and some should come from the occult practices you were taught by your parents (Laman).
17. Every objective scholar who looks at your work and examines its claims to be a history of the ancient Americas must denounce it as a fraud. (OK, this one was
easy, but you deserve a break after so many hard ones in a row.)
18. Claim that your book is the word of God. Then start a religion with doctrines contrary to the book. (Don’t worry, this is actually much easier than it sounds.)
19. Throw in all kinds of absurd, impossible and contradictory statements. (If you need help with this see Ether 15:31, Mosiah 21:28 and 2 Nephi 19:1 for some
examples to get you started.)
20. No one but you or the members of the religion you founded must believe your claims that the book is of divine origin. To cover for the fact that you cannot
produce the gold plates, make up a story about the gold plates upon which the record came being “taken up into heaven” and get 11 people who are related to
you and/or with a financial interest in your book to say that they saw the plates before they disapperared. Make sure that you refer to the dead guy that
takes the plates back “to heaven” by at least two different names.
21. Get four dishonest and shifty characters to claim that they too had an magical dead guy come down from “heaven” to “testify” to them about your book.
Each of these witnesses must have a financial stake in the book.
22. Make sure that something in your book fulfills some vague biblical prophesy. (And yes, I know vague and biblical prophesy are redundant and repetitive.)
23. Thousands of men with a vested financial interest in the religion you founded, including many who are criminals and who lie under oath to congress,
must accept your book (and your teachings that contradict the book) for over 100 years. In fact, you must make sure that every man who leads your church for the
first 100 years must be a criminal. Make sure that you commit every one of the following crimes: treason, sedition, murder, perjury, conspiracy to commit
murder, bigamy, statutory rape, fraud, conterfeiting, illegal banking, assault, and bribery. Send some of your followers on missions and have sex with their
wives while they are away too. Make sure that every man that leads your church for the next 100 years commits at least 3 of the above crimes.
24. Since your book is filled with inconsistencies which easily demonstrate it as fraudulent, you must include an appeal to magical thinking at the end of the
book, or no one will follow you.
25. You’ve got to then get a bunch of believers in your fraudulent history to, a few of them glady, but most of them under some form of coercion, give up two
years of their life to con others into beleiving your bogus history. Have sex with some of their wives while they are away. Call this sex “celestial marriage.”
26. Some of these salesmen must even pay their own way. Now some of them will, over the course of these two years, come to the realization that your book is a
fraud, but over half of them must stay in your church.
27. You must derive your financial riches from the book and the religion which you found upon its teachings (and no we must not forget about the doctrines that
contradict the teachings of the book). Despite making several fortunes over the course of your life by conning the believers of your book out of their hard
earned money, you will waste it all and flee at least two states due to your financial improprieties and declare bankruptcy at least once. And along the same
financial vein, you must also steal money from your foster daughters. And while you’re at it, have sex with some of them too.
28. When your financial cons and sexual scandals cause problems for your family and followers, you must blame everything on religious persecution and leave
town. You must ingraine this into your followers so that they carry this false persecution complex with them unto the third and the fourth generations. You must teach all the leaders of your movement to have sex with the wives and the daughters of those with lower callings in your church. You must have sex with 14 year old girls and cause that any follower of yours that does not want to have sex with 14 year old girls to be removed from any leadership position in your church. (Yes David Koresh did this too, but he never wrote a book and he’s not
about to write one now is he?)
29. Your book must result in a people whose unlawful practices will be referred to as barbaric by both the Congress and the Supreme Court of the United States
of America.. (If you live somewhere other than the US, similar organizations of the country where you live will suffice) You must include in your religion
covenants that require your people to blindly obey orders to murder non-members of your cult. Your book must result in a people that will kill and steal from
any who dare visit territory controlled by your followers. Your people must murder at least 20 children in cold blood.
30. Start right now, and spend a year writing the first draft of this book. Then complete the second draft in three months, BUT YOUR SECOND DRAFT MUST BE WRITTEN WITHOUT REFERENCE TO THE FIRST DRAFT. Before starting on the second draft, you
must let the only copy of the first draft go to someone who does not believe you saw god, or that you saw any dead guys, or that dead guys gave you any gold
plates. Then come up with a good explanation as to why, since the plates were supposedly translated by the power of god, god didn’t just help you write the
same words over again.
31. Then get someone in the pay of the religion you founded to write a dishonest
“challenge” to “prove” your book isn’t fiction (even though it is). THEN, get someone else to spend a couple of hours coming up with a silly parody showing
what a dishonest hack the author of the first challenge was.
COULD YOU WRITE THAT BOOK?
1. Write a history of ancient America covering a period of from 2200 B.C.E. to
400 A.D.? Why ancient America? Because that’s what the Book of Mormon claims to
be about silly.
2. You must start telling tales that resemble this book to your family at least ten years before you write it.
3. You must be primarily self-educated. If you are formally educated, it may or may not make it more difficult to write, that will obviously depend on your
individual “education,” but don’t worry about learning how to spell, since . . .
4. You must include at least 3000 grammatical and spelling errors, even if you use a secretary to transcribe your dictation. Now this is going to be really
hard, because where are you going to find such an ignorant secretary. Good luck on that one.
5. Your “history” must be 531 pages long, and must use the phrase “and it came to pass” 3,856 times.
6. You must come up with a good explanation as to why filler such as “and it came to pass” would be so frequently repeated if your history is supposed to have come from gold plates where space was at a premium.
7. Once your book is published you are only allowed to change it 3500 times for grammatical and spelling errors and 500 times for doctrinal, historical or other
substantive inconsistencies.
8. Your “history” must replace the actual millions of inhabitants of the ancient Americas during this time period with fictitious nations, including one nation
founded by refugees from the mythical tower of Babylon who came to the Americas on a giant barrel-like barge with holes in the top and the bottom (don’t ask) of
the barge and two other nations founded by “jews” who know next to nothing about Jewish dietary or religious practices.
9. You must describe the inhabitants of America and their religious, economic, political and social and cultural institutions in such way that they don’t in any way represent the religious, political, social and cultural institutions of the actual inhabitants of ancient America. Even make up some names of coins that were never used by the actual inhabitants of America. Throw in some animals and crops that are only in the Americas post-Columbus and make up some funny names
of non-existent animals too, like cureloms.
10. Make sure you plagiarize from more than one section of the bible, and from various other sources, so that your claim that many ancient authors contributed
to the book can be trumpeted by apologists.
11. Make up a story about a dead guy coming to America and killing millions of inhabitants and burying cities in the ocean and under the earth. Call him Nosferatu or Lestat. No just kidding — you must actually call him Jesus.
12. Claim that your inconsistent and grammatically awkward prose (except for the plagiarized parts which are somewhat better written) is not fiction, but a true
and sacred history.
13. Include in your book 54 chapters dealing with wars that bear no resemblance to the actual wars that took place in the ancient Americas. Make sure that at least some of these wars include the nonsensical accounts of million man armies. Ignore the problems associated with the logistical support for such a large army. Also include million men armies fighting to the last man and their bones and steel weapons disappearing from the face of the earth. Include 21 historical chapters which bear no resemblance to actual history, try and include some
inconsistencies here too, like people reappearing in the narrative after they have already died.
14. You must include 55 chapters on visions and prophesies. At least one of the “visions” must be an almost verbatim recital of a dream that some member of your family, preferably your father, told to you as a boy. Some of the prophesies must be plagiarized directly from the bible, but others must “prophesy” about things that have already happened between the time of the supposed prophesy and the present, so that you can show how accurate the “prophecies” of your book are. Except for the “prophecies” about events that have already taken place,
which must be laden with details, all prophecies should be very vague. Never do anything stupid like prophesy that Christ will come in 1891, the civil war would
start in the 1830’s or that people live on the moon and dress like Quakers, that would be quite a problem for you.
15. Included in your narrative will be bogus modes of travel that were never used in ancient America, bogus descriptions of clothing and clothing materials
that were never used in ancient America, bogus descriptions of crops that never existed in ancient America and bogus types of government as well.
16. You must invent 280 names. Well, not really invent, you can take some from the bible, some from the apocrypha, some from maps, etc. Some should be inside
jokes (Moron, Ether), some should be silly (anti-nephi-lehite, curelom), some should so forgettable that you refer to them obliquely (brother of jared) and some should come from the occult practices you were taught by your parents (Laman).
17. Every objective scholar who looks at your work and examines its claims to be a history of the ancient Americas must denounce it as a fraud. (OK, this one was
easy, but you deserve a break after so many hard ones in a row.)
18. Claim that your book is the word of God. Then start a religion with doctrines contrary to the book. (Don’t worry, this is actually much easier than it sounds.)
19. Throw in all kinds of absurd, impossible and contradictory statements. (If you need help with this see Ether 15:31, Mosiah 21:28 and 2 Nephi 19:1 for some
examples to get you started.)
20. No one but you or the members of the religion you founded must believe your claims that the book is of divine origin. To cover for the fact that you cannot
produce the gold plates, make up a story about the gold plates upon which the record came being “taken up into heaven” and get 11 people who are related to
you and/or with a financial interest in your book to say that they saw the plates before they disapperared. Make sure that you refer to the dead guy that
takes the plates back “to heaven” by at least two different names.
21. Get four dishonest and shifty characters to claim that they too had an magical dead guy come down from “heaven” to “testify” to them about your book.
Each of these witnesses must have a financial stake in the book.
22. Make sure that something in your book fulfills some vague biblical prophesy. (And yes, I know vague and biblical prophesy are redundant and repetitive.)
23. Thousands of men with a vested financial interest in the religion you founded, including many who are criminals and who lie under oath to congress,
must accept your book (and your teachings that contradict the book) for over 100 years. In fact, you must make sure that every man who leads your church for the
first 100 years must be a criminal. Make sure that you commit every one of the following crimes: treason, sedition, murder, perjury, conspiracy to commit
murder, bigamy, statutory rape, fraud, conterfeiting, illegal banking, assault, and bribery. Send some of your followers on missions and have sex with their
wives while they are away too. Make sure that every man that leads your church for the next 100 years commits at least 3 of the above crimes.
24. Since your book is filled with inconsistencies which easily demonstrate it as fraudulent, you must include an appeal to magical thinking at the end of the
book, or no one will follow you.
25. You’ve got to then get a bunch of believers in your fraudulent history to, a few of them glady, but most of them under some form of coercion, give up two
years of their life to con others into beleiving your bogus history. Have sex with some of their wives while they are away. Call this sex “celestial marriage.”
26. Some of these salesmen must even pay their own way. Now some of them will, over the course of these two years, come to the realization that your book is a
fraud, but over half of them must stay in your church.
27. You must derive your financial riches from the book and the religion which you found upon its teachings (and no we must not forget about the doctrines that
contradict the teachings of the book). Despite making several fortunes over the course of your life by conning the believers of your book out of their hard
earned money, you will waste it all and flee at least two states due to your financial improprieties and declare bankruptcy at least once. And along the same
financial vein, you must also steal money from your foster daughters. And while you’re at it, have sex with some of them too.
28. When your financial cons and sexual scandals cause problems for your family and followers, you must blame everything on religious persecution and leave
town. You must ingraine this into your followers so that they carry this false persecution complex with them unto the third and the fourth generations. You must teach all the leaders of your movement to have sex with the wives and the daughters of those with lower callings in your church. You must have sex with 14 year old girls and cause that any follower of yours that does not want to have sex with 14 year old girls to be removed from any leadership position in your church. (Yes David Koresh did this too, but he never wrote a book and he’s not
about to write one now is he?)
29. Your book must result in a people whose unlawful practices will be referred to as barbaric by both the Congress and the Supreme Court of the United States
of America.. (If you live somewhere other than the US, similar organizations of the country where you live will suffice) You must include in your religion
covenants that require your people to blindly obey orders to murder non-members of your cult. Your book must result in a people that will kill and steal from
any who dare visit territory controlled by your followers. Your people must murder at least 20 children in cold blood.
30. Start right now, and spend a year writing the first draft of this book. Then complete the second draft in three months, BUT YOUR SECOND DRAFT MUST BE WRITTEN WITHOUT REFERENCE TO THE FIRST DRAFT. Before starting on the second draft, you
must let the only copy of the first draft go to someone who does not believe you saw god, or that you saw any dead guys, or that dead guys gave you any gold
plates. Then come up with a good explanation as to why, since the plates were supposedly translated by the power of god, god didn’t just help you write the
same words over again.
31. Then get someone in the pay of the religion you founded to write a dishonest
“challenge” to “prove” your book isn’t fiction (even though it is). THEN, get someone else to spend a couple of hours coming up with a silly parody showing
what a dishonest hack the author of the first challenge was.
COULD YOU WRITE THAT BOOK?
Questions all Mormons Should Ask Themselves
Really, honestly...I am not a bible thumper....Matter fact, I am not all that Christian. Really I just believe in a loving God. Though I have read the bible many times mainly I was forced to read the bible, however, as an adult I read it just to read it. Recently though on a "born again" type of page, I saw these questions, and I was clearly impressed with the research this person must have gone through to ask these questions. In fact so impressed that I thought I would share their questions with my raeders. So enjoy and pass the questions along..........
Questions all Mormons Should Ask Themselves
1. If Gods are individuals who have passed through mortality and have progressed to Godhood, how has one person of the Trinity (the Holy Spirit) attained Godhood without getting a body? (See Acts 5:3,4)
2. If Gods are individuals who have passed through an earth life to attain Godhood, how is it that one person of the Trinity (Jesus Christ) was God before He received a body or passed through earth life? (Matt. 1:23 and Hebrews 10:5)
3. If the Book of Mormon really contains the fullness of the Gospel, why does it not teach the doctrine of “eternal progression”? (See D&C 20:8,9)
4. God said, “Is there a God beside me? Yea, there is no God; I know not any”. How can there be Gods who are Elohim’s ancestors? Surely an all-knowing God would know this and wouldn’t speak falsehoods. (See Isa. 44:8 and Journal of Discourses Vol. 1, pg. 123)
5. How can any men ever become Gods when the Bible says, “Before me there was no god formed, neither shall there be after me”? (Isaiah 43:10)
6. If Adam is the “only God with whom we have to do”, did Adam create himself? (Journal of Discourses Vol. 1, pg. 50, 51)
7. Joseph Smith stated that without the ordinances and authority of the priesthood no man can see the face of God and live (D & C 84:21, 22). He also said that he saw God in 1820 (Joseph Smith 2:17). Joseph Smith, however, never received any priesthood until 1829 (D&C 13). How did he see God and survive? In which was he in error: his revelation in D & C 84:21, 22 or his experience in the grove?
8. If a spirit is a being without a body (See Luke 24:39), why do Mormons teach that God the Father has a body of flesh and bones? (See John 4:24)
9. If the Father is Elohim and Jesus is Jehovah (as the Mormons teach), how does a Mormon explain Deuteronomy 6:4, which in the Hebrew says, “Hear, O Israel: Jehovah our Elohim is one Jehovah”?
10. If the Book of Mormon contains the fullness of the Gospel, why doesn’t it teach that God was once a man?
11. If Mormonism is the restored church, which is based upon the Bible, why are Mormon leaders so quick to state that the Bible is “translated wrong” when faced with some conflict between the Bible and Mormonism?
12. If Jesus was conceived as a result of a physical union between God and Mary, how was Jesus born of a virgin? (Journal of Discourses Vol. 1, page 50)
13. Why did Christ not return in 1891 as Joseph Smith predicted? (History of the Church, Vol. 2 page 182).
14. Journal of Discourses Vol. 2, page 210 says Jesus was being married to Mary and Martha in Cana. Why then was he INVITED to his own wedding? (John 2:1,2)
15. Why does the Mormon church teach that there is no eternal hell when the Book of Mormon teaches that there is? (I Nephi 14:3, II Ne. 9:16;28: 21-23, Mosiah 3:25, Alma 34:35, Heleman 6:28 and 3:25,26).
16. How can Mormons teach that the repentant thief was not saved when the Book of Mormon states that Paradise is where the righteous go? (Luke 23:43, Alma 40:12, 16)
17. How did Nephi with a few men on a new continent build a temple like Solomon’s while Solomon needed 163,300 workmen and seven years to build his temple? (See I Kings 5:13-18 and II Nephi 5:15-17)
18. If the book of Mormon is true, why hasn’t a valid geography been established for the book?
19. Why was Joseph Smith still preaching against polygamy in October 1843 after he got his revelation in July 1843 commanding the practice of polygamy? (D & C 132; and History of the Church Vol. 6, page 46, or Teachings of the Prophet, page 324)
20. If Lehi left Jerusalem before 600 B.C., how did he learn about synagogues? (See II Nephi 26:26)
21. If the Book of Mormon is true, why do Indians fail to become white when they become Mormons? (II Nephi 30:6 – prior to 1981 revision)
22. What kind of chariots did the Nephites have in 90 B.C. some 1500 years before the introduction of the wheel on the Western Hemisphere? (Alma 18:9)
23. How do Mormons account for the word “church” in the Book of Mormon, about 600 B.C., which was centuries before the beginning of the Church on the day of Pentecost? (I Nephi 4:26)
24. How do Mormons account for the italicized words in the King James Version (indicating their absence in the Hebrew and Greek) being found in the Book of Mormon? (A comparison of Mosiah 14 and Isaiah 53 will provide at least 13 examples)
25. How did the French word “adieu” get into the Book of Mormon? (Jacob 7:27)
26. Was it right or wrong for Solomon to have many wives? (See Jacob 2:24; D & C 132:38,39) Which is it?
27. If polygamy was a provision for increasing population rapidly, why did God give Adam only one wife?
28. D&C 129:4, 5 says, “When a messenger comes saying he has a message from God, offer him your hand and request him to shake hands with you. If he be an angel he will do so, and you will feel his hand.” How can this test distinguish between an angel of God and a Jehovah’s Witness missionary…or a Mormon Elder.
29. If Joseph Smith was a true prophet, why did he fail to realize that “Elias” is the N.T. form of the name “Elijah”? (D & C 110:12,13 and 1 Kings 17:1 and James 5:17) How could Elijah (Elias) have appeared to Joseph Smith in the Kirkland Temple as two different people?
30. If children have no sins until they are eight years old, why are they baptized at age eight to wash away non-existent sins? (See Moroni 8:8)
31. How could the Garden of Eden have been in Missouri when the Pearl of Great Price declares that it was in the vicinity of Assyria and had the Euphrates and Hiddekel Rivers in it? (See P of GP Moses 3:14 and D&C 116 and 117; Genesis 2:8-15)
32. Brigham Young said, “The only men who become Gods, even the Sons of God, are those who enter into polygamy”. (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 11, page 269) Why did the Mormons yield to the pressure of the government and stop practicing polygamy?
33. Heber C. Kimball stated, “We are th people of Deseret, she shall be no more Utah: we will have our own name”. Why did this prophecy fail? (J of D. Vol. 5, page 161)
34. How did Joseph Smith carry home the golden plates of the Book of Mormon, and how did the witnesses lift them so easily? (They weighted about 230 lbs. Gold, with a density of 19.3 weighs 1204.7 lbs. Per cubic foot. The plates were 7” x 8” by about 6”. See Articles of Faith, by Talmage, page 262, 34th Ed.)
35. When Christ died, did darkness cover the land for three days of for three hours? (See Luke 23:44 and III Nephi 8:19, 23)
36. If the Book of Mormon was translated by the gift and power of God, why have the Mormons changed it? (There have been over 3,000 changes in the Book of Mormon, exclusive of punctuation changes)
37. If God speaks through a prophet, why do Mormons vote on whether or not to receive and authorize it?
38. It has been established that the “Sensen” manuscript was simply a common Egyptian burial papyrus. Why do the Mormons still accept the Book of Abraham which was translated from that manuscript?
39. Why is it that no other writings have been found in the language of “Reformed Egyptian”, the supposed language of the Book of Mormon plates? Is there evidence that such a language really existed?
40. Joseph Smith said that there are men living on the moon who dress like Quakers and live to be nearly 1000 years old. Since he was wrong about the moon, is it safe to trust him regarding the way to heaven? (See The Young Woman’s Journal, Vol 3, pages 263, 264.)
41. Why do Mormons not study Hebrew and Greek so that they can intelligently discuss the accuracy of the translation of the Bible?
42. Joseph Smith prepared fourteen Articles of Faith. Why has the original No. 11 been omitted?
43. According to Hebrews 7:24, the Melchizedek Priesthood is not transferable. Why do Mormons pass it from one to another?
44. If Mormonism came as a revelation from God, why are the Mormon Temple Oaths almost identical to the oaths of the Masonic Lodge?
45. Why did the Nauvoo House not stand forever and ever? (D&C 124:56-60)
46. If genealogies are important, why does the New Testament tell Christians to avoid them? (I Timothy 1:4; Titus 3:9)
47. The Bible says, “The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin”. Why did Brigham Young say that there are some sins which can be atoned for only by the shedding of ones own blood.
48. God rejected the fig leaf aprons which Adam and Eve made. Why do Mormons memorialize the fall by using fig leaf aprons? (Gen. 3:21)
49. If baptism for the dead was a Christian ceremony, why did Paul use the pronoun “they” rather than “we” or “ye”? Why did he exclude himself and other Christians when referring to it? (I Cor. 15:29)
50. Why does the Mormon church teach that the broad way leads to the Terrestrial Heaven when Jesus taught that it leads to destruction? (Matthew 7:13, 14)
Questions all Mormons Should Ask Themselves
1. If Gods are individuals who have passed through mortality and have progressed to Godhood, how has one person of the Trinity (the Holy Spirit) attained Godhood without getting a body? (See Acts 5:3,4)
2. If Gods are individuals who have passed through an earth life to attain Godhood, how is it that one person of the Trinity (Jesus Christ) was God before He received a body or passed through earth life? (Matt. 1:23 and Hebrews 10:5)
3. If the Book of Mormon really contains the fullness of the Gospel, why does it not teach the doctrine of “eternal progression”? (See D&C 20:8,9)
4. God said, “Is there a God beside me? Yea, there is no God; I know not any”. How can there be Gods who are Elohim’s ancestors? Surely an all-knowing God would know this and wouldn’t speak falsehoods. (See Isa. 44:8 and Journal of Discourses Vol. 1, pg. 123)
5. How can any men ever become Gods when the Bible says, “Before me there was no god formed, neither shall there be after me”? (Isaiah 43:10)
6. If Adam is the “only God with whom we have to do”, did Adam create himself? (Journal of Discourses Vol. 1, pg. 50, 51)
7. Joseph Smith stated that without the ordinances and authority of the priesthood no man can see the face of God and live (D & C 84:21, 22). He also said that he saw God in 1820 (Joseph Smith 2:17). Joseph Smith, however, never received any priesthood until 1829 (D&C 13). How did he see God and survive? In which was he in error: his revelation in D & C 84:21, 22 or his experience in the grove?
8. If a spirit is a being without a body (See Luke 24:39), why do Mormons teach that God the Father has a body of flesh and bones? (See John 4:24)
9. If the Father is Elohim and Jesus is Jehovah (as the Mormons teach), how does a Mormon explain Deuteronomy 6:4, which in the Hebrew says, “Hear, O Israel: Jehovah our Elohim is one Jehovah”?
10. If the Book of Mormon contains the fullness of the Gospel, why doesn’t it teach that God was once a man?
11. If Mormonism is the restored church, which is based upon the Bible, why are Mormon leaders so quick to state that the Bible is “translated wrong” when faced with some conflict between the Bible and Mormonism?
12. If Jesus was conceived as a result of a physical union between God and Mary, how was Jesus born of a virgin? (Journal of Discourses Vol. 1, page 50)
13. Why did Christ not return in 1891 as Joseph Smith predicted? (History of the Church, Vol. 2 page 182).
14. Journal of Discourses Vol. 2, page 210 says Jesus was being married to Mary and Martha in Cana. Why then was he INVITED to his own wedding? (John 2:1,2)
15. Why does the Mormon church teach that there is no eternal hell when the Book of Mormon teaches that there is? (I Nephi 14:3, II Ne. 9:16;28: 21-23, Mosiah 3:25, Alma 34:35, Heleman 6:28 and 3:25,26).
16. How can Mormons teach that the repentant thief was not saved when the Book of Mormon states that Paradise is where the righteous go? (Luke 23:43, Alma 40:12, 16)
17. How did Nephi with a few men on a new continent build a temple like Solomon’s while Solomon needed 163,300 workmen and seven years to build his temple? (See I Kings 5:13-18 and II Nephi 5:15-17)
18. If the book of Mormon is true, why hasn’t a valid geography been established for the book?
19. Why was Joseph Smith still preaching against polygamy in October 1843 after he got his revelation in July 1843 commanding the practice of polygamy? (D & C 132; and History of the Church Vol. 6, page 46, or Teachings of the Prophet, page 324)
20. If Lehi left Jerusalem before 600 B.C., how did he learn about synagogues? (See II Nephi 26:26)
21. If the Book of Mormon is true, why do Indians fail to become white when they become Mormons? (II Nephi 30:6 – prior to 1981 revision)
22. What kind of chariots did the Nephites have in 90 B.C. some 1500 years before the introduction of the wheel on the Western Hemisphere? (Alma 18:9)
23. How do Mormons account for the word “church” in the Book of Mormon, about 600 B.C., which was centuries before the beginning of the Church on the day of Pentecost? (I Nephi 4:26)
24. How do Mormons account for the italicized words in the King James Version (indicating their absence in the Hebrew and Greek) being found in the Book of Mormon? (A comparison of Mosiah 14 and Isaiah 53 will provide at least 13 examples)
25. How did the French word “adieu” get into the Book of Mormon? (Jacob 7:27)
26. Was it right or wrong for Solomon to have many wives? (See Jacob 2:24; D & C 132:38,39) Which is it?
27. If polygamy was a provision for increasing population rapidly, why did God give Adam only one wife?
28. D&C 129:4, 5 says, “When a messenger comes saying he has a message from God, offer him your hand and request him to shake hands with you. If he be an angel he will do so, and you will feel his hand.” How can this test distinguish between an angel of God and a Jehovah’s Witness missionary…or a Mormon Elder.
29. If Joseph Smith was a true prophet, why did he fail to realize that “Elias” is the N.T. form of the name “Elijah”? (D & C 110:12,13 and 1 Kings 17:1 and James 5:17) How could Elijah (Elias) have appeared to Joseph Smith in the Kirkland Temple as two different people?
30. If children have no sins until they are eight years old, why are they baptized at age eight to wash away non-existent sins? (See Moroni 8:8)
31. How could the Garden of Eden have been in Missouri when the Pearl of Great Price declares that it was in the vicinity of Assyria and had the Euphrates and Hiddekel Rivers in it? (See P of GP Moses 3:14 and D&C 116 and 117; Genesis 2:8-15)
32. Brigham Young said, “The only men who become Gods, even the Sons of God, are those who enter into polygamy”. (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 11, page 269) Why did the Mormons yield to the pressure of the government and stop practicing polygamy?
33. Heber C. Kimball stated, “We are th people of Deseret, she shall be no more Utah: we will have our own name”. Why did this prophecy fail? (J of D. Vol. 5, page 161)
34. How did Joseph Smith carry home the golden plates of the Book of Mormon, and how did the witnesses lift them so easily? (They weighted about 230 lbs. Gold, with a density of 19.3 weighs 1204.7 lbs. Per cubic foot. The plates were 7” x 8” by about 6”. See Articles of Faith, by Talmage, page 262, 34th Ed.)
35. When Christ died, did darkness cover the land for three days of for three hours? (See Luke 23:44 and III Nephi 8:19, 23)
36. If the Book of Mormon was translated by the gift and power of God, why have the Mormons changed it? (There have been over 3,000 changes in the Book of Mormon, exclusive of punctuation changes)
37. If God speaks through a prophet, why do Mormons vote on whether or not to receive and authorize it?
38. It has been established that the “Sensen” manuscript was simply a common Egyptian burial papyrus. Why do the Mormons still accept the Book of Abraham which was translated from that manuscript?
39. Why is it that no other writings have been found in the language of “Reformed Egyptian”, the supposed language of the Book of Mormon plates? Is there evidence that such a language really existed?
40. Joseph Smith said that there are men living on the moon who dress like Quakers and live to be nearly 1000 years old. Since he was wrong about the moon, is it safe to trust him regarding the way to heaven? (See The Young Woman’s Journal, Vol 3, pages 263, 264.)
41. Why do Mormons not study Hebrew and Greek so that they can intelligently discuss the accuracy of the translation of the Bible?
42. Joseph Smith prepared fourteen Articles of Faith. Why has the original No. 11 been omitted?
43. According to Hebrews 7:24, the Melchizedek Priesthood is not transferable. Why do Mormons pass it from one to another?
44. If Mormonism came as a revelation from God, why are the Mormon Temple Oaths almost identical to the oaths of the Masonic Lodge?
45. Why did the Nauvoo House not stand forever and ever? (D&C 124:56-60)
46. If genealogies are important, why does the New Testament tell Christians to avoid them? (I Timothy 1:4; Titus 3:9)
47. The Bible says, “The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin”. Why did Brigham Young say that there are some sins which can be atoned for only by the shedding of ones own blood.
48. God rejected the fig leaf aprons which Adam and Eve made. Why do Mormons memorialize the fall by using fig leaf aprons? (Gen. 3:21)
49. If baptism for the dead was a Christian ceremony, why did Paul use the pronoun “they” rather than “we” or “ye”? Why did he exclude himself and other Christians when referring to it? (I Cor. 15:29)
50. Why does the Mormon church teach that the broad way leads to the Terrestrial Heaven when Jesus taught that it leads to destruction? (Matthew 7:13, 14)
What Mormon Missionaries WON'T Tell You
Most of us have had a Mormon Missionary knock at our door. If you have ever invited them in and listened to a presentation of their beliefs, you probably found most but not all of what they said very similar to those beliefs held by Christians. However, while trying to convince you that your Church is wrong and the Mormon Church is right, there are several points they intentionally leave out. Below is a list of Mormon beliefs the missionaries will be reluctant to tell you about:
They will be reluctant to tell you that the God they worship was not always God.
"We have imagined and supposed that God was God from all eternity. I will refute that idea, and take away the veil, so that you may see." (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pg. 345)
They will be reluctant to tell you that they believe Jesus Christ is the spirit brother of Satan:
"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. Haughty, ambitious, and covetous of power and glory, this spirit-brother of Jesus desperately tried to become the Savior of mankind." (Milton R. Hunter, Gospel Through the Ages, pg.15)
They will be reluctant to tell you that, according to Mormonism, Jesus Christ was a polygamist.
"I discover that some of the Eastern papers represent me as a great blasphemer, because I said, in my lecture on Marriage, at our last Conference, that Jesus Christ was married at Cana of Galilee, that Mary, Martha, and others were his wives, and that he begat children." (Orson Hyde, Journal of Discourses 2:210)
The grand reason of the burst of public sentiment in anathemas upon Christ and his disciples, causing his crucifixion, was evidently based upon polygamy, according to the testimony of the philosophers who rose in that age. A belief in the doctrine of a plurality of wives caused the persecution of Jesus and his followers. We might almost think they were 'Mormons'" (Jedediah M. Grant, Journal of Discourses, 1:346)
They will be reluctant to tell you that for at least half a century church leaders were teaching that Adam was really God and the only God with whom we have to do.
"Now hear it, O inhabitants of the earth, Jew and Gentile, Saint and sinner! When our father Adam came into the garden of Eden, he came into it with a celestial body, and brought Eve, one of his wives, with him. He helped to make and organize this world. He is Michael, the Archangel, the Ancient of Days! about whom holy men have written and spoken--He is our Father, and our God, and the only God with whom we have to do." (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 1:50)
"I have learned by experience that there is but one God that pertains to this people and he is the god that pertains to this earth--The first man. That first man sent his own son to redeem the world..."(Heber C. Kimball, Journal of Discourses 4:1)
They will be reluctant to tell you that Brigham Young, who held the office of President of the Mormon church longer than any other man, taught that men must practice polygamy in order to become Gods.
"The only men who become Gods, even the Sons of God, are those who enter into polygamy." (Journal of Discourses 11:269)
They will be reluctant to tell you that the book of Mormon fails to contain any Mormon doctrine
Many portions of this Mormon Scripture even contradicts Mormon theology.
They will be reluctant to tell you about their secret temple ceremonies which, until April 1990, portrayed Christian ministers as hirelings of Satan. Nor will they tell you about the sacred underwear they are wearing which, they believe, actually protects them.
They will be reluctant to tell you that Mormon leaders have taught that Jesus was conceived by way of a sexual relationship between God and Mary.
"..how are children begotten? I answer just as Jesus Christ was begotten of his father. The difference between Jesus Christ and other men is this: Our fathers in the flesh are mortal men, who are subject unto death: but the Father of Jesus Christ in the flesh is the god of Heaven" (Joseph F. Smith, Family Home Evening Manual, 1972, pg. 125)
They will be reluctant to tell you that they believe the bible has been corrupted throughout the centuries and cannot be trusted fully by itself.
"I believe the Bible as it read when it came from the pen of the original writers. Ignorant translators, careless transcribers, or designing and corrupt priests have committed many errors." (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph smith, pg.327)
"But the Bible has been robbed of its plainness; many sacred books having been lost, others rejected by the Romish Church, and what few we have left, were copied and recopied so many times, that it is admitted that almost every verse has been corrupted and mutilated to that degree that any two of them read alike." (Orson Pratt, The Seer, pg.213)
They will be reluctant to tell you that the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants, which they claim to be both sacred and without error, contradict each other many times.
For example, in the Book of Mormon, God called David and Solomon's act of polygamy an abomination, whereas in the Doctrine and Covenants He claims to justify it. Jacob 2:24 in the Book of Mormon says, "Behold, David and Solomon truly had many wives and concubines, which thing was abominable before me, saith the Lord." Section 132:1 in the Doctrine and Covenants, however, states: "Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you my servant Joseph, that inasmuch as you have inquired of my hand to know and understand wherein I, the Lord, justified my servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as also Moses, David and Solomon, my servants, as touching the principle and doctrine of their having many wives and concubines."
They will be reluctant to tell you that they use Christian terms with Mormon meanings.
For example, a Mormon would probably agree with you that a person must be born again. To the Mormon, however, "born again" is a process which begins with water baptism. Another example are the words "salvation" and exaltation," which are synonymous in the Christian's mind. However, general salvation to the Mormon merely means the resurrection which everyone in the world will receive at death. Exaltation, or individual salvation, is the reward earned by the Mormon by following the laws of the Moron church. "Eternal Life" to the Mormon means Godhood. Regarding the word "scriptures," the Christian thinks of the Holy Bible while the Mormon could be thinking of not only the Bible but the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price as well.
They won't want to tell you that in order to gain entrance into the highest form of Mormon heaven, the Celestial kingdom, you must accept Joseph Smith, Jr. as a prophet of god. Faith in Jesus alone, Mormonism teaches, will force you to spend eternity in a lower form of heaven.
Tenth LDS President Joseph Fielding Smith stated in his book, doctrines of Salvation, that there is "No salvation without accepting Joseph Smith. The word "salvation," used in this context, must really mean "exaltation" because former Mormon apostle Bruce R. McConkie stated in his book Mormon Doctrine that general salvation is given to everyone regardless of belief. Personal salvation or exaltation to the highest form of Mormon heaven comes only by accepting Joseph Smith as a prophet of god and by following the laws of the LDS church.
They will be reluctant to tell you that their founder, Joseph Smith, Jr., made many false prophecies which, according to the Bible, would classify him as a false prophet rather than a true prophet of God.
For instance, in 1835 Smith claimed that the Lord would again come in just 56 years. We would gather from this "prophecy" that Jesus Christ would again come to earth on or before 1891; no doubt Joseph Smith was incorrect (History of the church 2:182). In 1832 Joseph Smith claimed he had a revelation concerning the building of a temple in Independence, Missouri. According to section 84, verses 4 and 5, of the Doctrine and Covenants, he stated this "temple shall be reared in this generation. For verily this generation shall not pass away until an house shall be built unto the Lord, and a cloud shall rest upon it..." to this day the spot consecrated by Smith fails to be the sight of a great temple, but instead is covered with a well-kept lawn. In fact, the Mormon church does not even own the land.
They will be reluctant to tell you that the God they worship was not always God.
"We have imagined and supposed that God was God from all eternity. I will refute that idea, and take away the veil, so that you may see." (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pg. 345)
They will be reluctant to tell you that they believe Jesus Christ is the spirit brother of Satan:
"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. Haughty, ambitious, and covetous of power and glory, this spirit-brother of Jesus desperately tried to become the Savior of mankind." (Milton R. Hunter, Gospel Through the Ages, pg.15)
They will be reluctant to tell you that, according to Mormonism, Jesus Christ was a polygamist.
"I discover that some of the Eastern papers represent me as a great blasphemer, because I said, in my lecture on Marriage, at our last Conference, that Jesus Christ was married at Cana of Galilee, that Mary, Martha, and others were his wives, and that he begat children." (Orson Hyde, Journal of Discourses 2:210)
The grand reason of the burst of public sentiment in anathemas upon Christ and his disciples, causing his crucifixion, was evidently based upon polygamy, according to the testimony of the philosophers who rose in that age. A belief in the doctrine of a plurality of wives caused the persecution of Jesus and his followers. We might almost think they were 'Mormons'" (Jedediah M. Grant, Journal of Discourses, 1:346)
They will be reluctant to tell you that for at least half a century church leaders were teaching that Adam was really God and the only God with whom we have to do.
"Now hear it, O inhabitants of the earth, Jew and Gentile, Saint and sinner! When our father Adam came into the garden of Eden, he came into it with a celestial body, and brought Eve, one of his wives, with him. He helped to make and organize this world. He is Michael, the Archangel, the Ancient of Days! about whom holy men have written and spoken--He is our Father, and our God, and the only God with whom we have to do." (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 1:50)
"I have learned by experience that there is but one God that pertains to this people and he is the god that pertains to this earth--The first man. That first man sent his own son to redeem the world..."(Heber C. Kimball, Journal of Discourses 4:1)
They will be reluctant to tell you that Brigham Young, who held the office of President of the Mormon church longer than any other man, taught that men must practice polygamy in order to become Gods.
"The only men who become Gods, even the Sons of God, are those who enter into polygamy." (Journal of Discourses 11:269)
They will be reluctant to tell you that the book of Mormon fails to contain any Mormon doctrine
Many portions of this Mormon Scripture even contradicts Mormon theology.
They will be reluctant to tell you about their secret temple ceremonies which, until April 1990, portrayed Christian ministers as hirelings of Satan. Nor will they tell you about the sacred underwear they are wearing which, they believe, actually protects them.
They will be reluctant to tell you that Mormon leaders have taught that Jesus was conceived by way of a sexual relationship between God and Mary.
"..how are children begotten? I answer just as Jesus Christ was begotten of his father. The difference between Jesus Christ and other men is this: Our fathers in the flesh are mortal men, who are subject unto death: but the Father of Jesus Christ in the flesh is the god of Heaven" (Joseph F. Smith, Family Home Evening Manual, 1972, pg. 125)
They will be reluctant to tell you that they believe the bible has been corrupted throughout the centuries and cannot be trusted fully by itself.
"I believe the Bible as it read when it came from the pen of the original writers. Ignorant translators, careless transcribers, or designing and corrupt priests have committed many errors." (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph smith, pg.327)
"But the Bible has been robbed of its plainness; many sacred books having been lost, others rejected by the Romish Church, and what few we have left, were copied and recopied so many times, that it is admitted that almost every verse has been corrupted and mutilated to that degree that any two of them read alike." (Orson Pratt, The Seer, pg.213)
They will be reluctant to tell you that the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants, which they claim to be both sacred and without error, contradict each other many times.
For example, in the Book of Mormon, God called David and Solomon's act of polygamy an abomination, whereas in the Doctrine and Covenants He claims to justify it. Jacob 2:24 in the Book of Mormon says, "Behold, David and Solomon truly had many wives and concubines, which thing was abominable before me, saith the Lord." Section 132:1 in the Doctrine and Covenants, however, states: "Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you my servant Joseph, that inasmuch as you have inquired of my hand to know and understand wherein I, the Lord, justified my servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as also Moses, David and Solomon, my servants, as touching the principle and doctrine of their having many wives and concubines."
They will be reluctant to tell you that they use Christian terms with Mormon meanings.
For example, a Mormon would probably agree with you that a person must be born again. To the Mormon, however, "born again" is a process which begins with water baptism. Another example are the words "salvation" and exaltation," which are synonymous in the Christian's mind. However, general salvation to the Mormon merely means the resurrection which everyone in the world will receive at death. Exaltation, or individual salvation, is the reward earned by the Mormon by following the laws of the Moron church. "Eternal Life" to the Mormon means Godhood. Regarding the word "scriptures," the Christian thinks of the Holy Bible while the Mormon could be thinking of not only the Bible but the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price as well.
They won't want to tell you that in order to gain entrance into the highest form of Mormon heaven, the Celestial kingdom, you must accept Joseph Smith, Jr. as a prophet of god. Faith in Jesus alone, Mormonism teaches, will force you to spend eternity in a lower form of heaven.
Tenth LDS President Joseph Fielding Smith stated in his book, doctrines of Salvation, that there is "No salvation without accepting Joseph Smith. The word "salvation," used in this context, must really mean "exaltation" because former Mormon apostle Bruce R. McConkie stated in his book Mormon Doctrine that general salvation is given to everyone regardless of belief. Personal salvation or exaltation to the highest form of Mormon heaven comes only by accepting Joseph Smith as a prophet of god and by following the laws of the LDS church.
They will be reluctant to tell you that their founder, Joseph Smith, Jr., made many false prophecies which, according to the Bible, would classify him as a false prophet rather than a true prophet of God.
For instance, in 1835 Smith claimed that the Lord would again come in just 56 years. We would gather from this "prophecy" that Jesus Christ would again come to earth on or before 1891; no doubt Joseph Smith was incorrect (History of the church 2:182). In 1832 Joseph Smith claimed he had a revelation concerning the building of a temple in Independence, Missouri. According to section 84, verses 4 and 5, of the Doctrine and Covenants, he stated this "temple shall be reared in this generation. For verily this generation shall not pass away until an house shall be built unto the Lord, and a cloud shall rest upon it..." to this day the spot consecrated by Smith fails to be the sight of a great temple, but instead is covered with a well-kept lawn. In fact, the Mormon church does not even own the land.
What You need to Know About Mormons-but they probably won't tell you
As of late I have been on the message boards talking about the Mormons versus the FLDS. This brings traditional Mormon ladies out of the wood work defending their church. You can tell by reading their messages that they are resiting the things they were taught to say to people like me, the “Mormon hater” or the term the Mormons conjured up, “Anti-Mormon” and my favorite from one of these fine LDS women called me an angry spider. God bless her for not calling me the F word as so many of these Mormons have called me. Though I have to admit there is this one lady online that really believes in her churches teachings and I have to admit, she has gained my respect. It seems we agree to disagree and fight for our own personal truths.
Still to see how some of these people respond to the real truth reminds me when I was a teenager and I asked my Bishop what to do when someone tells me my church is not true. He told me the same thing I see these bloggers say. Nothing has changed and as I was exploring this phenomenon, of how Mormons defend themselves, I came across this article I really wanted to share.
Enjoy
What You need to Know About Mormons- but they probably won't tell you
© Isaiah Bennett, May 1997 REDIMIR 1997-1998
"Good morning, sir. I'm Elder Lamb and this is Elder Sanders. We're from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and we have an important message for you. May we come in?"
If you let them in, you've invited them to begin the process of "discussions," six canned lessons they've been trained to deliver and leading, ideally, to baptism into the Mormon Church.
They'll begin by telling you the Heavenly Father has a plan for your eternal happiness. Jesus Christ and Joseph Smith are central figures in this plan of salvation. Prophets, both ancient and modern, reveal the purpose and will of God. The Book of Mormon is additional scripture testifying to the message.
The lessons last about an hour each and are spread over four to six weeks. On their second and subsequent visits, the young missionaries will urge you to repentance, faith in their doctrines, baptism into their church, and moral living. Only their church, they say, can lead you to true righteousness and ultimate salvation. All other so-called Christian churches profess creeds abominable to the Lord and offer only counterfeit holiness.(1) Shortly after the death of the Apostles, Mormons claim, the pure Christian faith was overtaken by false doctrine and vanished totally from the earth. This "apostasy" was reversed and the true Church was restored in 1830 in upstate New York by the boy-prophet, Joseph Smith.
If you live a life obedient to LDS dictates, you can progress to the point of perfection. You will become like God and return to Him in His highest heaven. Provided your spouse, children and parents live equally dedicated lives, you will spend eternity with them as a family.
Requirements for this eventual "exaltation" include living the "Word of Wisdom," or abstaining from coffee, tea, alcohol, and tobacco; tithing, or paying to the Church one-tenth of your income; fulfilling all Church responsibilities; and dedicating all your energy to spreading the Mormon gospel.
Not an unattractive message, on the face of it. Some spiritual seekers are drawn by the Mormon challenge of sacrificial living and giving. Ignorant of the orthodox Christian teaching on salvation and eternal life, many suffering the loss of a loved one find consolation in the Mormon teaching on eternal families. Culling an occasional spiritual kernel from the Book of Mormon, prospective converts conclude both it and its ecclesiastical publisher present irrefutable divine truths.
But Mormons, whether missionaries, neighbors, or colleagues, are trained to present only the "milk" beliefs, the bland and less offensive teachings designed to hook the unsuspecting. The "meatier" doctrines are kept back for later, much later. Indeed, many faithful members know little or nothing of their Church's fundamental tenets.
Here's the rest of the story
I.God the Father is a glorified man, possessing a physical body. That is, the Almighty Lord was once born of human parents in some other universe. He lived a Mormon way of life, repented of His sins, died, and was eventually raised by His God and installed as God of this world.
Mormons justify this belief by mishandling and misunderstanding such biblical texts as Gen. 1:26-27; Ex. 33:11; Deut. 4:34; Ps. 33:18; and Nahum 1:3. Most of these passages, and others like them, refer to the "arm," "eye," and "feet" of the Lord.
However, other passages speak of God's "feathers" and "wings" (Ps. 91:4). Or they refer to Him as a "consuming fire" (Deut. 4:24) or a "rock" (Deut. 32:4). In all these examples, the inspired writers simply communicate in human words and human images the inexpressible power, presence, and love of the infinite God.
Latter-day Saints force the context of Gen. 1:26-27. Since man is made in God's image, they argue, God must look like a man! But though the Genesis passage states God created man both male and female, Mormons insist that God the Father is a male. The fact is, "the image of God" refers not to some literal correlation of body parts but to the spiritual similarities shared by Him with all His rational creatures (angels and human beings). In other words, we are made in God's image because we, like Him, can choose and can love. We are endowed with such moral and intellectual qualities as holiness, wisdom, justice, and truth. By these, we enjoy spiritual fellowship, even sonship, with the Father and "pattern" of our spirits.
When confronted by Mormons with their belief in an almighty Heavenly Father, ask them about His origins. Was there ever a time He didn't exist? Was He always God? Did He ever commit sin?(2) If He has a body of flesh and bones, where is it?(3)
Help Latter-day Saints to see the true nature of God: He is infinite Spirit (John 4:24); a spirit does not have flesh and bones (Luke 24:39); God is not a man, even an exalted one (Numbers 23:19; Hosea 11:9); God was always God, He is immortal, and He is all-holy (1 Tim. 1:17); no one can see the "face" of God and live (Ex. 33:20; John 1:18).
II. There are many Gods. Mormons will tell you they believe in one God, Whom they call the Heavenly Father. They worship and pray to Him alone. He is the only God to Whom they relate. But -- referring to Gen. 1:26-27 and 1 Cor. 8:5 -- Latter-day Saints insist the ancient Jewish patriarchs and prophets, along with St. Paul and the other Apostles, believed in a plurality of Gods.
If you press them, they respond: "Look, God Himself taught Mormon doctrine. See here, God says, 'Let us make man in our image [Gen. 1:26].' He was talking to His Son Jesus Christ and the spirit-man, the Holy Ghost. Right there, then, you've got three Gods! Those three Gods oversee our universe. The Father is supreme, the other two are His helpers."
At first blush, the Mormon apologist has confused three distinct Persons of the Trinity with three separate Gods. But it gets worse. St. Paul, they maintain, knew of other Gods when he wrote to the Corinthians: "For there be [those] 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. . . ." (I Cor. 8:5-6). Therefore, Mormons assert, there are as many supreme Gods as there are worlds. Brigham Young taught that the number of Gods and worlds is uncountable.(4) The LDS Church, however, occupies itself with only the one (or three?) Gods of this world and leave it to inhabitants of other universes to worship and obey their respective Gods.
As for the Genesis citation, no Jewish or Christian commentator sees the least hint of polytheism in the use of the plurals "us" and "our." While the Hebrew word for God, Elohim, is in plural form, and therefore must be replaced by plural pronouns, the rest of the passage is in the singular: "God created (singular verb) man in his own image. . . ." Various interpretations are consistent with the biblical revelation of monotheism. For example, the Lord may have simply used the "plural of majesty" -- rather like a monarch and, until recently, the Pope, who often referred to himself as "We." Or, God may have been addressing His heavenly court of angels, who also possessed the image of God in that they were rational beings endowed with knowledge, will, and immortal life. Further, Christians may comfortably conclude the Father was indeed communicating with the Son and the Holy Spirit, Who, as mighty God, exist dynamic and creative from all eternity.
St. Paul did not teach a plurality of Lords and Gods. He merely commented that there are entities that are called gods. Whether he was referring to the crass idols of Zeus or Hermes, or craftier masters such as greed and pride, he -- and we -- know that men have created and will continue to create other gods and lords, displacing the one true God. We do not merely limit our adoration and service to one God among millions: we don't, in fact, know of any other God.
You can help the Mormon see the fallacy of multiple infinite beings. While not explicitly presented in the Bible, the doctrine of the Trinity is imbedded in scripture's insistence on one only God and its equally clear teaching that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are Persons possessing equal majesty, power, and Lordship. They are not united solely in purpose or will, as Mormons assert, but in very Being. Read chapters 42-45 in the book of Isaiah to find crystalized the ancient Hebrew belief in one God. Christ and His followers confirm monotheism in John 17:3; 1 Cor. 8:4; Gal. 3:20; Eph. 4:6. The Son is called God throughout Christian scripture. See John 20:28 and Heb. 1:8. Similarly, the Holy Spirit is confessed as God: Acts 5:3-4 and 2 Cor. 3:17. If the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, yet there is only one God, then only the truth revealed in the Blessed Trinity can explain scripture's doctrines.
III. A man can become God. He can't become God of this world, mind you, since that position is already filled. But a man who lives as a faithful Mormon in this life, fulfilling all obligations imposed on him by the LDS Church, may progress to Godhood in the next life. He will be given his own world to populate and rule, together with his heavenly wife or wives (including, usually, his own earthly Mormon spouse).
Spencer W. Kimball, Mormon prophet during the 1980s, declared to a group of college students: "Each one of you has it within the realm of possibility to develop a kingdom over which you will preside as its king and God. You will need to develop yourself and grow in ability and power and worthiness, to govern such a world with all of its people."(5) So, having achieved divinity, a man will do for his own creation all that the Heavenly Father has done for him. In turn, he will be worshipped as God by the children he procreates, just as he now adores and obeys God the Father.
Because Mormons see God as an advanced and perfected man, they conclude that their members enjoy a similar progression. They confuse Christ's admonition to "be perfect" (Matt. 5:48) with "become a God." In fact, since there is but one God, man's perfection lies in becoming fully conformed to the divine image in which the first Adam was created. He is to become a perfect man, aided by the grace brought by the Second Adam.
Try to get Latter-day Saints to see that an earthly parent-child analogy cannot apply to our relationship with the Lord. An earthly father's task is to raise his son to become self-supporting and independent, autonomous in his own life's decisions. It's not so between us and God. We'll never achieve His status; we'll never grow apart from Him; we'll always need Him. Yes, we shall enjoy fully His communicable attributes of eternal life, love, and goodness. Like a bar of iron, we'll glow with divine fire. (See 2 Pet. 1:4.) The boundaries between perfect humanity and divine glory may appear blurred. But they won't be eliminated. We'll always be His perfected children, never His equal.(6)
IV. Jesus Christ: half-God, half-man.(7) Mormonism teaches that matter is eternal. That which we call "spirit" is really just highly refined matter. Therefore, God didn't create from nothing; He merely "organized" pre-existent matter. This includes the "spirit" form of His Son, Jesus Christ, Whom the Heavenly Father and one of His heavenly wives created as their first-born. (Lucifer and his minions, together with every other person, were similarly conceived in the heavens, thus making us all Christ's junior brothers and sisters.)
Two thousand years ago, the Heavenly Father looked with favor upon His daughter, the Virgin Mary. He visited her in His flesh-and-bones male body and had sexual intercourse with her. The result was Jesus Christ in His mortal body. Since Mormons say they believe Mary was a virgin when she conceived her Son, LDS theologians have had to redefine the definition: a virgin is a woman who has not had sex with a mortal man; since God the Father was by then an immortal man, no loss of virginity occurred, though "normal and natural" intercourse took place.(8) An early
Mormon apostle taught that God the Father and Mary were "associated together in the capacity of Husband and Wife."(9)
Many Latter-day Saints believe Christ was married and had children. Because marriage is the only way a man can become a God in the next life, should not the Lord have taken a wife (or wives) and shown us how to live worthily? Since the blessings of marriage are crowned by the birth of children, Christ is said to have had several. While such notions were taught openly during the presidencies of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, the current membership is cautioned not to throw such spiritual pearls before scoffing swine.(10)
Latter-day Saints will not worship Christ. They are forbidden to pray to Him. All prayer is directed to the Father only, in the name of the Son. Because they don't understand the true nature and Persons of God, Mormons confuse the divine and human natures of His Son. For them, He must be a lesser God, since He (and the Holy Ghost) were formed by the Father and are subjected to Him in all things. Though both now Gods, Christ and the Holy Spirit became Gods later than did Heavenly Father and are totally dependent upon Him Who created them.
Biblical verses supporting the Holy Trinity and the full deity of the three Persons are also useful here, to establish that Christ is mighty God from all eternity. He accepted and expects adoration. He received Thomas' worship ("My Lord and my God," John 20:28) without demurral. See also Matt. 2:11; 28:9, 17; John 9:38; Rev. 5:14.
Keep in mind that Mormons maintain these doctrines are part of the pure truth revealed by God in every age to His Church. Abraham, Moses, Isaiah and all the prophets knew and taught God had a physical body, knew and taught a plurality of Gods, knew and taught that men can evolve into Gods, and knew and taught a subordinate Christ. The same is true for the first Apostles, chosen by Christ two thousand years ago. Such glorious doctrines were lost, the Mormon Church declares, because the Catholic Church, after having replaced the true Church of Christ, removed many "plain and precious" truths from the scriptures. The world was thus enthralled in the blackness of apostasy until the Lord restored all these teachings in 1830.
V. In the Mormon Temple, God gives men all the secrets necessary for salvation. It's in their temples, Latter-day Saints are told, where the full purity of these restored teachings is revealed. The temple ceremonies, written by Joseph Smith soon after he became a Freemason and containing many Masonic parallels, are said to replicate the rituals performed in the temples of Solomon and Herod.
Only those worthy to enter the temple may return to God after death. About 20% of Mormons hold "recommends," cards permitting them entrance to the temple and performance of the secret ceremonies. The so-called "restored" gospel teachings presented above are emphasized in a visual manner by a video.
I've been through the "endowment" ritual several times. It takes about 90 minutes. The words and actions never vary. The temple patron hears the Gods' plan for creating the world and mankind; he makes "covenants" with the Lord to support the Mormon Church in every way he can; he promises not to speak critically of Mormon leaders and to avoid loud laughter; he will live a righteous and faithful life.
Throughout the presentation, the patrons are taught special "signs" and "tokens," consisting of various arm gestures and handclasps, each having sacred names. Participants also don special clothing and head coverings during the endowment.
Temple attendance is obligatory for ultimate salvation. Even if you live a good, holy, Mormon life, assenting to its doctrines and participating in church activities, you cannot enter the presence of God without giving Him, after death, the same signs and tokens and code names learned in the temple. Since these are forbidden to be spoken of outside temple walls, those who desire eternal life must pay the price to enter the temple.(11)
While a Mormon, I lived a life worthy of the temple. I tried hard to be interiorly prepared, as well, praying and often fasting before attending an endowment session. But never did I "feel" the promised "Spirit of the Lord" within its walls or during its banal ceremonies. They were rote, repetitious, lifeless and even silly. (Some fundamentalist Protestant detractors pretend to uncover bizarre satanic or sexual overtones to the temple rituals. Nothing is further from the truth. Since being purged, in 1990, of most anti-Catholic references and threats of disembowelment for revealing their secrets, the temple ordinances are now rather bland and, except for their theology, rather inoffensive.)
God doesn't appear to be the focus of temple work. There is practically no prayer as such. Each patron is required to listen to the instructions, learn the signs and names and repeat them accurately. Since the teachings, signs and gestures never vary, the ceremony becomes quickly familiar. Those who attend do so in the belief that their performance here will enable those who were not Mormons on earth the chance to become Saints in "spirit prison." Some Mormons even boast of going through three or four sessions a day and thus "saving" three or four dead friends or relatives.
Mormons need to know that God is Lord of all. He has revealed Himself fully in His Son (Heb. 1:2), Who Himself charged His Apostles to preach the gospel until the end of time (see Luke 10:16: 2 Tim. 2:2; 4:2-4). He does not hide Himself from His people, but desires they all be saved. He taught the truth openly (Matt. 26:55; John 8:2) and founded a Church to hand it down to every generation (2 Thes. 2:15; 3:16).
There's no need for temples to teach us the secret way to salvation: that path was made clear by the Light of the World and is in every age illuminated by His Body, the Church. Christ's promises of power and permanence, once made, are irrevocable. (See Matt. 16:18; 28:20; John 14:16, 26; 16:13; Eph. 5:29.) The Catholic Church has preserved the purity of Christian faith and life: no "former" truths need be "restored" and secretly "revealed."
Mormonism is "pretty poison." It attracts largely by holding back its offensive doctrines and leading instead with its strong suit of family values and patriotic devotion. But "There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death" (Prov. 14:12).(12) The "good fruit" of Mormonism is bought with counterfeit theology.
Changes in mormon's practices
1. BLACKS: "You see some classes of the human family that are black, uncouth, uncomely, disagreeable and low in their habits, wild, and seemingly deprived of nearly all the blessings of the intelligence that is generally bestowed upon mankind. . . . That curse will remain upon them, and they never can hold the Priesthood or share in it until all the other descendants of Adam have received the promises and enjoyed the blessings of the Priesthood and the keys thereof." (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 7:290-291). "The descendants of Adam" are his white descendants. Though not all white men have been converted and received the Mormon priesthood, in 1978 then-prophet Spencer W. Kimball received a "revelation" canceling the Lord's previous edict to Young and admitting men of color to the priesthood and temple. Proselytizing successes in Brazil and other "dark" countries may have helped the Lord change His mind.
2. POLYGAMY: "I understand the law of celestial marriage to mean that every man in this Church, who has the ability to obey and practice it in righteousness and will not, shall be damned, I say I understand it to mean this and nothing less. . . ." (Pres. Joseph F. Smith, Journal of Discourses 20:31, 1878.) "Celestial marriage" refers to polygamy. Twelve years later, in response to governmental pressure and desiring Utah statehood, the Mormon prophet officially "suspended" plural marriage. A practice once proclaimed crucial for salvation now would merit its proponents excommunication.
3. ABORTION: "There is no excuse for abortion unless the life of the mother is seriously threatened." (Gospel Principles [a basic manual for church members], 1988, p. 241.)
"There is seldom any excuse for abortion. The only exceptions are when -- 1. Pregnancy has resulted from incest or rape. 2. The life of health of the woman is in jeopardy in the opinion of competent medical authority; or 3. The fetus is known, by competent medical authority, to have severe defects that will not allow the baby to survive beyond birth." (Gospel Principles, 1992, p. 251.) Bowing yet again to societal pressures, the Mormon Church, between 1988 and 1992, discovered additional excuses to permit the killing of the unborn. Very few Mormons realize their tightly "pro-life" church offers such accommodating loopholes.
NOTES:
1. See Joseph Smith - History 1:19. This is found in the Mormon book of scripture The Pearl of Great Price.
2. Mormon apostle Bruce R. McConkie taught that the Father "worked out His own salvation by obedience to the same laws" He has since given us. A New Witness for the Articles of Faith, p. 64.
3. On a planet near the star Kolob, Mormons maintain. See Abraham 3:3 in The Pearl of Great Price.
4. Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 22.
5. Cited in Doctrines of the Gospel Student Manual, p. 29.
6. When pushed, Mormons will say we can never achieve God's status, we'll never be equal to Him. That's just an attempt to soften the offense of this doctrine. What they mean is, as men go on to become Gods, this reflects additional majesty to the Heavenly Father. Since the present God has had a long head-start, we'll never catch up to Him in power and glory, since He advances as we do. But a Mormon man, once on the path of progression, may one day arrive at the level God is at now. Then, his own sons, becoming Gods in their turn, will push him even further along, into the eternities.
7. According to a text published by the LDS Church for use by college-age students, Jesus Christ was "the only man born to this earth half-Divine and half-mortal." The Life and Teachings of Jesus and His Apostles, p. 10.
8. See Bruce R. McConkie, The Mortal Messiah, vol. I, p. 314 and Mormon Doctrine, pp. 546-547.
9. Orson Pratt, The Seer, pp. 158-159.
10. See apostle Orson Hyde, Journal of Discourses 2:210 and 4:259-260. Also, President Jedediah M. Grant, Journal of Discourses 1:346.
11. "Pay the price" is not restricted to cash contributions, though to be temple-worthy you have to give the church 10% of your income, plus additional offerings.
12. See also 2 Cor. 11:14: "Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light."
Still to see how some of these people respond to the real truth reminds me when I was a teenager and I asked my Bishop what to do when someone tells me my church is not true. He told me the same thing I see these bloggers say. Nothing has changed and as I was exploring this phenomenon, of how Mormons defend themselves, I came across this article I really wanted to share.
Enjoy
What You need to Know About Mormons- but they probably won't tell you
© Isaiah Bennett, May 1997 REDIMIR 1997-1998
"Good morning, sir. I'm Elder Lamb and this is Elder Sanders. We're from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and we have an important message for you. May we come in?"
If you let them in, you've invited them to begin the process of "discussions," six canned lessons they've been trained to deliver and leading, ideally, to baptism into the Mormon Church.
They'll begin by telling you the Heavenly Father has a plan for your eternal happiness. Jesus Christ and Joseph Smith are central figures in this plan of salvation. Prophets, both ancient and modern, reveal the purpose and will of God. The Book of Mormon is additional scripture testifying to the message.
The lessons last about an hour each and are spread over four to six weeks. On their second and subsequent visits, the young missionaries will urge you to repentance, faith in their doctrines, baptism into their church, and moral living. Only their church, they say, can lead you to true righteousness and ultimate salvation. All other so-called Christian churches profess creeds abominable to the Lord and offer only counterfeit holiness.(1) Shortly after the death of the Apostles, Mormons claim, the pure Christian faith was overtaken by false doctrine and vanished totally from the earth. This "apostasy" was reversed and the true Church was restored in 1830 in upstate New York by the boy-prophet, Joseph Smith.
If you live a life obedient to LDS dictates, you can progress to the point of perfection. You will become like God and return to Him in His highest heaven. Provided your spouse, children and parents live equally dedicated lives, you will spend eternity with them as a family.
Requirements for this eventual "exaltation" include living the "Word of Wisdom," or abstaining from coffee, tea, alcohol, and tobacco; tithing, or paying to the Church one-tenth of your income; fulfilling all Church responsibilities; and dedicating all your energy to spreading the Mormon gospel.
Not an unattractive message, on the face of it. Some spiritual seekers are drawn by the Mormon challenge of sacrificial living and giving. Ignorant of the orthodox Christian teaching on salvation and eternal life, many suffering the loss of a loved one find consolation in the Mormon teaching on eternal families. Culling an occasional spiritual kernel from the Book of Mormon, prospective converts conclude both it and its ecclesiastical publisher present irrefutable divine truths.
But Mormons, whether missionaries, neighbors, or colleagues, are trained to present only the "milk" beliefs, the bland and less offensive teachings designed to hook the unsuspecting. The "meatier" doctrines are kept back for later, much later. Indeed, many faithful members know little or nothing of their Church's fundamental tenets.
Here's the rest of the story
I.God the Father is a glorified man, possessing a physical body. That is, the Almighty Lord was once born of human parents in some other universe. He lived a Mormon way of life, repented of His sins, died, and was eventually raised by His God and installed as God of this world.
Mormons justify this belief by mishandling and misunderstanding such biblical texts as Gen. 1:26-27; Ex. 33:11; Deut. 4:34; Ps. 33:18; and Nahum 1:3. Most of these passages, and others like them, refer to the "arm," "eye," and "feet" of the Lord.
However, other passages speak of God's "feathers" and "wings" (Ps. 91:4). Or they refer to Him as a "consuming fire" (Deut. 4:24) or a "rock" (Deut. 32:4). In all these examples, the inspired writers simply communicate in human words and human images the inexpressible power, presence, and love of the infinite God.
Latter-day Saints force the context of Gen. 1:26-27. Since man is made in God's image, they argue, God must look like a man! But though the Genesis passage states God created man both male and female, Mormons insist that God the Father is a male. The fact is, "the image of God" refers not to some literal correlation of body parts but to the spiritual similarities shared by Him with all His rational creatures (angels and human beings). In other words, we are made in God's image because we, like Him, can choose and can love. We are endowed with such moral and intellectual qualities as holiness, wisdom, justice, and truth. By these, we enjoy spiritual fellowship, even sonship, with the Father and "pattern" of our spirits.
When confronted by Mormons with their belief in an almighty Heavenly Father, ask them about His origins. Was there ever a time He didn't exist? Was He always God? Did He ever commit sin?(2) If He has a body of flesh and bones, where is it?(3)
Help Latter-day Saints to see the true nature of God: He is infinite Spirit (John 4:24); a spirit does not have flesh and bones (Luke 24:39); God is not a man, even an exalted one (Numbers 23:19; Hosea 11:9); God was always God, He is immortal, and He is all-holy (1 Tim. 1:17); no one can see the "face" of God and live (Ex. 33:20; John 1:18).
II. There are many Gods. Mormons will tell you they believe in one God, Whom they call the Heavenly Father. They worship and pray to Him alone. He is the only God to Whom they relate. But -- referring to Gen. 1:26-27 and 1 Cor. 8:5 -- Latter-day Saints insist the ancient Jewish patriarchs and prophets, along with St. Paul and the other Apostles, believed in a plurality of Gods.
If you press them, they respond: "Look, God Himself taught Mormon doctrine. See here, God says, 'Let us make man in our image [Gen. 1:26].' He was talking to His Son Jesus Christ and the spirit-man, the Holy Ghost. Right there, then, you've got three Gods! Those three Gods oversee our universe. The Father is supreme, the other two are His helpers."
At first blush, the Mormon apologist has confused three distinct Persons of the Trinity with three separate Gods. But it gets worse. St. Paul, they maintain, knew of other Gods when he wrote to the Corinthians: "For there be [those] 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. . . ." (I Cor. 8:5-6). Therefore, Mormons assert, there are as many supreme Gods as there are worlds. Brigham Young taught that the number of Gods and worlds is uncountable.(4) The LDS Church, however, occupies itself with only the one (or three?) Gods of this world and leave it to inhabitants of other universes to worship and obey their respective Gods.
As for the Genesis citation, no Jewish or Christian commentator sees the least hint of polytheism in the use of the plurals "us" and "our." While the Hebrew word for God, Elohim, is in plural form, and therefore must be replaced by plural pronouns, the rest of the passage is in the singular: "God created (singular verb) man in his own image. . . ." Various interpretations are consistent with the biblical revelation of monotheism. For example, the Lord may have simply used the "plural of majesty" -- rather like a monarch and, until recently, the Pope, who often referred to himself as "We." Or, God may have been addressing His heavenly court of angels, who also possessed the image of God in that they were rational beings endowed with knowledge, will, and immortal life. Further, Christians may comfortably conclude the Father was indeed communicating with the Son and the Holy Spirit, Who, as mighty God, exist dynamic and creative from all eternity.
St. Paul did not teach a plurality of Lords and Gods. He merely commented that there are entities that are called gods. Whether he was referring to the crass idols of Zeus or Hermes, or craftier masters such as greed and pride, he -- and we -- know that men have created and will continue to create other gods and lords, displacing the one true God. We do not merely limit our adoration and service to one God among millions: we don't, in fact, know of any other God.
You can help the Mormon see the fallacy of multiple infinite beings. While not explicitly presented in the Bible, the doctrine of the Trinity is imbedded in scripture's insistence on one only God and its equally clear teaching that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are Persons possessing equal majesty, power, and Lordship. They are not united solely in purpose or will, as Mormons assert, but in very Being. Read chapters 42-45 in the book of Isaiah to find crystalized the ancient Hebrew belief in one God. Christ and His followers confirm monotheism in John 17:3; 1 Cor. 8:4; Gal. 3:20; Eph. 4:6. The Son is called God throughout Christian scripture. See John 20:28 and Heb. 1:8. Similarly, the Holy Spirit is confessed as God: Acts 5:3-4 and 2 Cor. 3:17. If the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, yet there is only one God, then only the truth revealed in the Blessed Trinity can explain scripture's doctrines.
III. A man can become God. He can't become God of this world, mind you, since that position is already filled. But a man who lives as a faithful Mormon in this life, fulfilling all obligations imposed on him by the LDS Church, may progress to Godhood in the next life. He will be given his own world to populate and rule, together with his heavenly wife or wives (including, usually, his own earthly Mormon spouse).
Spencer W. Kimball, Mormon prophet during the 1980s, declared to a group of college students: "Each one of you has it within the realm of possibility to develop a kingdom over which you will preside as its king and God. You will need to develop yourself and grow in ability and power and worthiness, to govern such a world with all of its people."(5) So, having achieved divinity, a man will do for his own creation all that the Heavenly Father has done for him. In turn, he will be worshipped as God by the children he procreates, just as he now adores and obeys God the Father.
Because Mormons see God as an advanced and perfected man, they conclude that their members enjoy a similar progression. They confuse Christ's admonition to "be perfect" (Matt. 5:48) with "become a God." In fact, since there is but one God, man's perfection lies in becoming fully conformed to the divine image in which the first Adam was created. He is to become a perfect man, aided by the grace brought by the Second Adam.
Try to get Latter-day Saints to see that an earthly parent-child analogy cannot apply to our relationship with the Lord. An earthly father's task is to raise his son to become self-supporting and independent, autonomous in his own life's decisions. It's not so between us and God. We'll never achieve His status; we'll never grow apart from Him; we'll always need Him. Yes, we shall enjoy fully His communicable attributes of eternal life, love, and goodness. Like a bar of iron, we'll glow with divine fire. (See 2 Pet. 1:4.) The boundaries between perfect humanity and divine glory may appear blurred. But they won't be eliminated. We'll always be His perfected children, never His equal.(6)
IV. Jesus Christ: half-God, half-man.(7) Mormonism teaches that matter is eternal. That which we call "spirit" is really just highly refined matter. Therefore, God didn't create from nothing; He merely "organized" pre-existent matter. This includes the "spirit" form of His Son, Jesus Christ, Whom the Heavenly Father and one of His heavenly wives created as their first-born. (Lucifer and his minions, together with every other person, were similarly conceived in the heavens, thus making us all Christ's junior brothers and sisters.)
Two thousand years ago, the Heavenly Father looked with favor upon His daughter, the Virgin Mary. He visited her in His flesh-and-bones male body and had sexual intercourse with her. The result was Jesus Christ in His mortal body. Since Mormons say they believe Mary was a virgin when she conceived her Son, LDS theologians have had to redefine the definition: a virgin is a woman who has not had sex with a mortal man; since God the Father was by then an immortal man, no loss of virginity occurred, though "normal and natural" intercourse took place.(8) An early
Mormon apostle taught that God the Father and Mary were "associated together in the capacity of Husband and Wife."(9)
Many Latter-day Saints believe Christ was married and had children. Because marriage is the only way a man can become a God in the next life, should not the Lord have taken a wife (or wives) and shown us how to live worthily? Since the blessings of marriage are crowned by the birth of children, Christ is said to have had several. While such notions were taught openly during the presidencies of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young, the current membership is cautioned not to throw such spiritual pearls before scoffing swine.(10)
Latter-day Saints will not worship Christ. They are forbidden to pray to Him. All prayer is directed to the Father only, in the name of the Son. Because they don't understand the true nature and Persons of God, Mormons confuse the divine and human natures of His Son. For them, He must be a lesser God, since He (and the Holy Ghost) were formed by the Father and are subjected to Him in all things. Though both now Gods, Christ and the Holy Spirit became Gods later than did Heavenly Father and are totally dependent upon Him Who created them.
Biblical verses supporting the Holy Trinity and the full deity of the three Persons are also useful here, to establish that Christ is mighty God from all eternity. He accepted and expects adoration. He received Thomas' worship ("My Lord and my God," John 20:28) without demurral. See also Matt. 2:11; 28:9, 17; John 9:38; Rev. 5:14.
Keep in mind that Mormons maintain these doctrines are part of the pure truth revealed by God in every age to His Church. Abraham, Moses, Isaiah and all the prophets knew and taught God had a physical body, knew and taught a plurality of Gods, knew and taught that men can evolve into Gods, and knew and taught a subordinate Christ. The same is true for the first Apostles, chosen by Christ two thousand years ago. Such glorious doctrines were lost, the Mormon Church declares, because the Catholic Church, after having replaced the true Church of Christ, removed many "plain and precious" truths from the scriptures. The world was thus enthralled in the blackness of apostasy until the Lord restored all these teachings in 1830.
V. In the Mormon Temple, God gives men all the secrets necessary for salvation. It's in their temples, Latter-day Saints are told, where the full purity of these restored teachings is revealed. The temple ceremonies, written by Joseph Smith soon after he became a Freemason and containing many Masonic parallels, are said to replicate the rituals performed in the temples of Solomon and Herod.
Only those worthy to enter the temple may return to God after death. About 20% of Mormons hold "recommends," cards permitting them entrance to the temple and performance of the secret ceremonies. The so-called "restored" gospel teachings presented above are emphasized in a visual manner by a video.
I've been through the "endowment" ritual several times. It takes about 90 minutes. The words and actions never vary. The temple patron hears the Gods' plan for creating the world and mankind; he makes "covenants" with the Lord to support the Mormon Church in every way he can; he promises not to speak critically of Mormon leaders and to avoid loud laughter; he will live a righteous and faithful life.
Throughout the presentation, the patrons are taught special "signs" and "tokens," consisting of various arm gestures and handclasps, each having sacred names. Participants also don special clothing and head coverings during the endowment.
Temple attendance is obligatory for ultimate salvation. Even if you live a good, holy, Mormon life, assenting to its doctrines and participating in church activities, you cannot enter the presence of God without giving Him, after death, the same signs and tokens and code names learned in the temple. Since these are forbidden to be spoken of outside temple walls, those who desire eternal life must pay the price to enter the temple.(11)
While a Mormon, I lived a life worthy of the temple. I tried hard to be interiorly prepared, as well, praying and often fasting before attending an endowment session. But never did I "feel" the promised "Spirit of the Lord" within its walls or during its banal ceremonies. They were rote, repetitious, lifeless and even silly. (Some fundamentalist Protestant detractors pretend to uncover bizarre satanic or sexual overtones to the temple rituals. Nothing is further from the truth. Since being purged, in 1990, of most anti-Catholic references and threats of disembowelment for revealing their secrets, the temple ordinances are now rather bland and, except for their theology, rather inoffensive.)
God doesn't appear to be the focus of temple work. There is practically no prayer as such. Each patron is required to listen to the instructions, learn the signs and names and repeat them accurately. Since the teachings, signs and gestures never vary, the ceremony becomes quickly familiar. Those who attend do so in the belief that their performance here will enable those who were not Mormons on earth the chance to become Saints in "spirit prison." Some Mormons even boast of going through three or four sessions a day and thus "saving" three or four dead friends or relatives.
Mormons need to know that God is Lord of all. He has revealed Himself fully in His Son (Heb. 1:2), Who Himself charged His Apostles to preach the gospel until the end of time (see Luke 10:16: 2 Tim. 2:2; 4:2-4). He does not hide Himself from His people, but desires they all be saved. He taught the truth openly (Matt. 26:55; John 8:2) and founded a Church to hand it down to every generation (2 Thes. 2:15; 3:16).
There's no need for temples to teach us the secret way to salvation: that path was made clear by the Light of the World and is in every age illuminated by His Body, the Church. Christ's promises of power and permanence, once made, are irrevocable. (See Matt. 16:18; 28:20; John 14:16, 26; 16:13; Eph. 5:29.) The Catholic Church has preserved the purity of Christian faith and life: no "former" truths need be "restored" and secretly "revealed."
Mormonism is "pretty poison." It attracts largely by holding back its offensive doctrines and leading instead with its strong suit of family values and patriotic devotion. But "There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death" (Prov. 14:12).(12) The "good fruit" of Mormonism is bought with counterfeit theology.
Changes in mormon's practices
1. BLACKS: "You see some classes of the human family that are black, uncouth, uncomely, disagreeable and low in their habits, wild, and seemingly deprived of nearly all the blessings of the intelligence that is generally bestowed upon mankind. . . . That curse will remain upon them, and they never can hold the Priesthood or share in it until all the other descendants of Adam have received the promises and enjoyed the blessings of the Priesthood and the keys thereof." (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses 7:290-291). "The descendants of Adam" are his white descendants. Though not all white men have been converted and received the Mormon priesthood, in 1978 then-prophet Spencer W. Kimball received a "revelation" canceling the Lord's previous edict to Young and admitting men of color to the priesthood and temple. Proselytizing successes in Brazil and other "dark" countries may have helped the Lord change His mind.
2. POLYGAMY: "I understand the law of celestial marriage to mean that every man in this Church, who has the ability to obey and practice it in righteousness and will not, shall be damned, I say I understand it to mean this and nothing less. . . ." (Pres. Joseph F. Smith, Journal of Discourses 20:31, 1878.) "Celestial marriage" refers to polygamy. Twelve years later, in response to governmental pressure and desiring Utah statehood, the Mormon prophet officially "suspended" plural marriage. A practice once proclaimed crucial for salvation now would merit its proponents excommunication.
3. ABORTION: "There is no excuse for abortion unless the life of the mother is seriously threatened." (Gospel Principles [a basic manual for church members], 1988, p. 241.)
"There is seldom any excuse for abortion. The only exceptions are when -- 1. Pregnancy has resulted from incest or rape. 2. The life of health of the woman is in jeopardy in the opinion of competent medical authority; or 3. The fetus is known, by competent medical authority, to have severe defects that will not allow the baby to survive beyond birth." (Gospel Principles, 1992, p. 251.) Bowing yet again to societal pressures, the Mormon Church, between 1988 and 1992, discovered additional excuses to permit the killing of the unborn. Very few Mormons realize their tightly "pro-life" church offers such accommodating loopholes.
NOTES:
1. See Joseph Smith - History 1:19. This is found in the Mormon book of scripture The Pearl of Great Price.
2. Mormon apostle Bruce R. McConkie taught that the Father "worked out His own salvation by obedience to the same laws" He has since given us. A New Witness for the Articles of Faith, p. 64.
3. On a planet near the star Kolob, Mormons maintain. See Abraham 3:3 in The Pearl of Great Price.
4. Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 22.
5. Cited in Doctrines of the Gospel Student Manual, p. 29.
6. When pushed, Mormons will say we can never achieve God's status, we'll never be equal to Him. That's just an attempt to soften the offense of this doctrine. What they mean is, as men go on to become Gods, this reflects additional majesty to the Heavenly Father. Since the present God has had a long head-start, we'll never catch up to Him in power and glory, since He advances as we do. But a Mormon man, once on the path of progression, may one day arrive at the level God is at now. Then, his own sons, becoming Gods in their turn, will push him even further along, into the eternities.
7. According to a text published by the LDS Church for use by college-age students, Jesus Christ was "the only man born to this earth half-Divine and half-mortal." The Life and Teachings of Jesus and His Apostles, p. 10.
8. See Bruce R. McConkie, The Mortal Messiah, vol. I, p. 314 and Mormon Doctrine, pp. 546-547.
9. Orson Pratt, The Seer, pp. 158-159.
10. See apostle Orson Hyde, Journal of Discourses 2:210 and 4:259-260. Also, President Jedediah M. Grant, Journal of Discourses 1:346.
11. "Pay the price" is not restricted to cash contributions, though to be temple-worthy you have to give the church 10% of your income, plus additional offerings.
12. See also 2 Cor. 11:14: "Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light."
A Quick Look at the Book of Mormon
According to Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon is more correct than the Bible (History of the Church, Vol. 4, page 461) and contains the truths of Mormonism. However, if that is true, then why does the Book of Mormon contradict Mormon theology?
This is because the theology of Joseph Smith didn't really start to go off the deep end until after the Book of Mormon was printed. To harmonize their changing theology with their written scripture, the Mormons gradually redefined common Christian words. That is why the definitions of Mormon words are different than those of Christianity. See Terminology Differences between Mormons and Jehovah's Witness for more information on this.
The Book of Mormon Verses Mormon Doctrine
The Book of Mormon does not contain Mormonism. It is more Christian than it is Mormon. Mormon theology is about many gods, god being a man, men and women potentially becoming gods, but the Book of Mormon is basically Christian in its teachings.
The following information is in the Book of Mormon. Compare it to Mormon doctrine and see the differences. It is obvious that Mormonism grew and was pasted together as it developed. It is not internally consistent and it is self-contradictory.
The Book of Mormon Verses Mormon Doctrine
Book of Mormon says:
There is only one God
Mosiah 15:1,5; Alma 11:28; 2 Nephi 31:21
Mormon Doctrine says
Mormonism teaches there are many gods.
Joseph Smith, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 6, p. 5
Book of Mormon says:
The Trinity is one God
Alma 11:44; Mosiah 15:5; 2 Nephi 31:21
Mormon Doctrine says
The Trinity is three separate gods.
James Talmage, Articles of Faith, p. 35. 1985.
Book of Mormon says:
God is unchanging
Mormon 9:9,19; Moroni 8:18; Alma 41:8; 3 Nephi 24:6
Mormon Doctrine says
God is increasing in knowledge.
Joseph Smith, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 6, p. 120.
Book of Mormon says:
God is spirit
Alma 18:24,28; 22:9,11
Mormon Doctrine says
God has the form of a man.
Joseph Smith, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 6, p. 3.
Book of Mormon says:
Eternal hell
Jacob 3:11; 6:10; 2 Nephi 19:16; 28:21-23.
Mormon Doctrine says
Hell is not eternal.
James Talmage, Articles of Faith, p. 55.
Book of Mormon says:
Polygamy condemned
Jacob 1:15; 2:23,24,27,31;3:5; Mosiah 11:2,4; Ether 10:5,7
Mormon Doctrine says
Polygamy was taught and practiced.
Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 3, p. 266
12 Essential Mormon Doctrines not Found in the Book of Mormon
If the Book of Mormon is the "most correct book of any on earth" (History of the Church, vol. 4:461), then why does it not contain essential Mormon doctrines such as...
Church organization
Plurality of Gods
Plurality of wives doctrine
Word of Wisdom
God is an exalted man
Celestial marriage
Men may become Gods
Three degrees of glory
Baptism for the dead
Eternal progression
The Aaronic Priesthood
Temple works of washings, anointing, endowmants, sealing.
The founder of Mormonism said the Book of Mormon was the most correct book of any book, including the Bible (History of the Church, Vol. 4, page 461), and that a man could get closer to God by following it than any other book. Yet, essential Mormon doctrines aren't even found in it.
This is because the Book of Mormon is nothing more than a fictional account made up by Joseph Smith. It wasn't until after the book had been printed that the additional heretical doctrines of Mormonism started to develop. That is why the Book of Mormon sounds so Christian -- at first.
This is because the theology of Joseph Smith didn't really start to go off the deep end until after the Book of Mormon was printed. To harmonize their changing theology with their written scripture, the Mormons gradually redefined common Christian words. That is why the definitions of Mormon words are different than those of Christianity. See Terminology Differences between Mormons and Jehovah's Witness for more information on this.
The Book of Mormon Verses Mormon Doctrine
The Book of Mormon does not contain Mormonism. It is more Christian than it is Mormon. Mormon theology is about many gods, god being a man, men and women potentially becoming gods, but the Book of Mormon is basically Christian in its teachings.
The following information is in the Book of Mormon. Compare it to Mormon doctrine and see the differences. It is obvious that Mormonism grew and was pasted together as it developed. It is not internally consistent and it is self-contradictory.
The Book of Mormon Verses Mormon Doctrine
Book of Mormon says:
There is only one God
Mosiah 15:1,5; Alma 11:28; 2 Nephi 31:21
Mormon Doctrine says
Mormonism teaches there are many gods.
Joseph Smith, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 6, p. 5
Book of Mormon says:
The Trinity is one God
Alma 11:44; Mosiah 15:5; 2 Nephi 31:21
Mormon Doctrine says
The Trinity is three separate gods.
James Talmage, Articles of Faith, p. 35. 1985.
Book of Mormon says:
God is unchanging
Mormon 9:9,19; Moroni 8:18; Alma 41:8; 3 Nephi 24:6
Mormon Doctrine says
God is increasing in knowledge.
Joseph Smith, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 6, p. 120.
Book of Mormon says:
God is spirit
Alma 18:24,28; 22:9,11
Mormon Doctrine says
God has the form of a man.
Joseph Smith, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 6, p. 3.
Book of Mormon says:
Eternal hell
Jacob 3:11; 6:10; 2 Nephi 19:16; 28:21-23.
Mormon Doctrine says
Hell is not eternal.
James Talmage, Articles of Faith, p. 55.
Book of Mormon says:
Polygamy condemned
Jacob 1:15; 2:23,24,27,31;3:5; Mosiah 11:2,4; Ether 10:5,7
Mormon Doctrine says
Polygamy was taught and practiced.
Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, Vol. 3, p. 266
12 Essential Mormon Doctrines not Found in the Book of Mormon
If the Book of Mormon is the "most correct book of any on earth" (History of the Church, vol. 4:461), then why does it not contain essential Mormon doctrines such as...
Church organization
Plurality of Gods
Plurality of wives doctrine
Word of Wisdom
God is an exalted man
Celestial marriage
Men may become Gods
Three degrees of glory
Baptism for the dead
Eternal progression
The Aaronic Priesthood
Temple works of washings, anointing, endowmants, sealing.
The founder of Mormonism said the Book of Mormon was the most correct book of any book, including the Bible (History of the Church, Vol. 4, page 461), and that a man could get closer to God by following it than any other book. Yet, essential Mormon doctrines aren't even found in it.
This is because the Book of Mormon is nothing more than a fictional account made up by Joseph Smith. It wasn't until after the book had been printed that the additional heretical doctrines of Mormonism started to develop. That is why the Book of Mormon sounds so Christian -- at first.
The Role of Women in Mormonism
Author's name: Jessica Longaker
The Bibliography is on the bottom of this page
Religious Studies 263 March 27, 1995
Women and Mormonism
Many religions have recently begun changing in an attempt to equalize the roles and responsibilities of men and women. Mormonism is one of the exceptions. The Mormon position on women has changed little since the early 1800's, when the official view was that "woman's primary place is in the home, where she is to rear children and abide by the righteous counsel of her husband" (McConkie 844). This attitude, coupled with the doctrine of polygamy and the absolute power claimed by the men of the church, created a legacy of profound sexism which modern Mormonism has been unable to escape.
Mormonism has created an ingenious system of oppression, in which opposition towards men is tantamount to arguing with God. The Mormon religion makes no distinction between clergy and laity, at least with regard to men (Laake 9). All Mormon men are ordained as members of the "priesthood," with the absolute authority to preach the gospel, bestow blessings, prophecy, perform healings and baptisms, and generally speak for God. "Their priesthood gives them the right to advise and instruct the Saints (i.e., Mormons), and their jurisdiction extends over all things spiritual and temporal" (Snowden 134).
At age twelve, boys become members of the Aaronic, or lesser priesthood, and at nineteen become eligible for the Melchezedek, or higher priesthood. Members of either priesthood are higher authorities on everything than are non-members. Women are, of course, excluded from the priesthood. This practice in effect says that a woman's prepubescent son is more qualified to advise her than she is to advise him. The official explanation is that women are kept from having the priesthood because women are more spiritual than men, therefore, men need to have the priesthood to teach them how to be better people (Johnson 86). Women are also told that, because they have the all- important ability to bear children, men need the power of the priesthood merely to remain equal with them.
The most notorious example of Mormon treatment of women is, of course, the practice of polygamy. In early 1843, Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon church, announced to the press that, despite rumors to the contrary, the Latter-Day Saints did not practice polygamy and believed it was an abomination (Wallace 53). He spoke the truth as far as the vast majority of Mormons was concerned, for polygamy is expressly forbidden in the Book of Mormon. However, Joseph himself had been married to at least eleven women besides his legal wife by 1843. (Wallace 52). The first of these, in 1835, was a seventeen year old orphan who had been taken in by his wife, Emma Smith. Joseph apparently married all of these women without the knowledge of either his wife or his fellow Mormons (Wallace 52).
On July 12, 1843, Joseph Smith declared that God had given him a new revelation concerning marriage and he revealed it to his brother and other high-ranking male church members. This revelation from God, at one point, specifically instructed "mine handmaid Emma Smith, Joseph's wife" to accept this doctrine and allow Joseph to have as many wives as he liked, as long as they were all "virtuous and pure" (Snowden 191). Emma Smith was a very strong-willed woman, and Joseph was so frightened of her wrath that he sent his brother Hyrum to inform her of God's plan. Emma was understandably scornful, and threw Hyrum out of her house (Wallace 55). Later, she managed to obtain a written copy of the revelation, and while in Joseph's presence, tossed it directly into the fireplace. However, the damage had already been done. Joseph is said to have been married to twenty-seven wives at the time of his death (Snowden 282). Emma left the church after his death and later denied that her husband had ever practiced polygamy (Wallace 65).
There were many reasons given for the practice of polygamy. The one most popular during the time was, of course, that God had commanded it, through Joseph Smith. The Mormon belief is that polygamy is holy and was practiced commonly in ancient times until people began spreading false religions. Adam, in his previous, spiritual existence, had many wives, of whom Eve was just one (Wallace 291). Jesus was also a polygamist "who was married whereby He could see His seed before He was crucified" (Hoekema 56), and his wives were Mary, Martha, and Mary Magdalene. Mormon Doctrine states that the president of the church had to suspend the practice of polygamy in 1890 because of the conditions at the time, but "obviously the holy practice will commence again after the Second Coming..." (578).
There were other justifications for polygamy. Mormons were often fond of stating that they were better than "Gentiles," as non-Mormons are called, because their system of polygamy kept them from committing the sin of adultery. Polygamous marriage was supposed to "make possible the procreation of enough bodies for thousands of spirits which have long awaited incarnation" (Snowden 141). Some Mormons today explain that many men died from war and disease, and all of the extra women needed husbands to support them. A less sympathetic view of polygamy was voiced by Sir Richard Burton on a visit to Utah. He said, "The..motive for polygamy in Utah is economy. Servants are rare and costly; it is cheaper and more comfortable to marry them" (Wallace 94).
Polygamous marriage is basically essential to Mormon theology. Mormon Doctrine states that God was once a human man, and "He is now a glorified, resurrected Personage having a tangible body of flesh and bones" (250). As a matter of fact, "all gods first existed as spirits, came to an earth to receive bodies, and then, after having passed through a period of probation on the aforesaid earth, were advanced to the exalted position they now enjoy" (Hoekema 38). After death, a good Mormon man who has followed a few certain rules is catapulted to this same status and receives his own planet to populate and rule over (Fife 103). To receive this honor, a man must be "married for eternity" in the Mormon temple. This special marriage is binding after death as well as until it.
"Celestial" marriage, as this eternal marriage is often called, is essential for Mormon women. Without being celestially married to a holder of the priesthood, a woman cannot be "saved" (Green 154). Mary Ettie Smith, a Mormon woman who left the church and Utah in 1856, said that "women do not amount to much in themselves," and that women in those times were often celestially married to men they had no intention of ever living with, so that they could have a man who would be able to get them into heaven (Green 154).
In the temple marriage ceremony, women are given secret names known only to their husbands, for identification purposes, so their husbands can pull them through to "the other side" after death (Laake 118). During the marriage ceremony, until 1990, men made their temple covenants directly to God, while the women had to make their temple covenants to their husbands (Laake 328). This means that while male temple workers representing God lead the men through the cloth representing the veil between worlds, husbands, symbolically, lead their wives through. Women also promise to obey their husbands in everything as long as their husbands obey God (Laake 108). As part of the ceremony, women also receive their endowments. These are sacred ordinances and promises which make a person eligible to enter the highest level of heaven, and Mormons receive them on their first visit to the temple (Laake 93). Men usually receive their endowments when they enter the temple to become a priesthood holder or go on a mission, but women enter the temple for the first time to be married.
After death, while their husbands are creating and ruling over planets, the women have the questionable honor of bearing his "spirit children" for eternity. These spirit children descend to their Father's planet to inhabit bodies as mortals, who are then ruled over by him. Mormon Doctrine states that these celestially married men and women "will live eternally in the family unit and have spirit children, thus becoming Eternal Fathers and Eternal Mothers" (516). A man who has multiple wives can beget many more spirit children, making him much more powerful. Birth control is, of course, very strongly discouraged. Ambitious Mormon men must beget many children with as many wives as possible, for "their glory (in heaven) is in proportion to the number of their wives and children" (Snowden 141).
Mormons believe that all humans are literally the spirit children of God who are momentarily inhabiting fleshly bodies. This creates a philosophical problem for them, for how could their spirits have been begotten by a Father without a wife? Therefore, in addition to the Father in Heaven, there is "a Woman of like glory, perfection, and holiness" who is "associated with him as a Mother" (McConkie 516). This seems quite unusual for such a patriarchal religion, and indeed, there is almost nothing written about Her. There is also no explanation for God's disregard for his own commandments on polygamy.
It is hard to deny the effect of polygamy on the thousands of women who lived with it. Anne Eliza Webb, one of Brigham Young's wives, wrote of her mother, "Polygamy...was the most hateful thing in the world to her, and she dreaded and abhorred it, but she was afraid to oppose it, lest she be found fighting against the Lord" (Wallace 62). This was the main reason so many women grudgingly accepted polygamy. The elders of the church assured these women that those who refused to practice polygamy would be damned, and since the men spoke for God, the believers had to comply (Wallace 74).
Polygamy effectively reduced women to mere commodities. Heber C. Kimball said, "I think no more of taking another wife than I do of buying a cow" (Wallace 101). Missionaries, who were almost always men, made a special effort to convert women, and these newly converted women were encouraged to come to Utah. After leaving their families and homes, and depleting their savings to come to "paradise," they discovered the doctrine of polygamy.
If a man felt his wife was not behaving properly, he could always find a more compliant one. Because all women must be married to go to heaven, the pressure to conform to the expectations of men was incredible. If a man was not content with his wife, Brigham Young "recommended...that he take a plural wife or two -- since this was a sure cure for a shrewish and recalcitrant female" (Fife 101). The system did not even provide the camaraderie one might expect from a household full of women, for wives were often in competition for attention. Technically, the first wife had to approve subsequent wives (Wallace 82), but few women chose to risk the wrath of their husbands and the church elders by refusing someone.
Polygamy was officially suspended by the President of the church in 1890, twenty-eight years after polygamy was declared illegal by the U.S. government, and thirteen years after a U.S. court had ruled that polygamous marriages were not valid (Wallace 368). Ann Eliza Webb had filed for divorce from Brigham Young in 1873, forcing the government to take a stand on the continuing practice of polygamy. The court ruled that she could not receive a divorce, since she was never legally married (Snowden 287).
The church has since become militant about preventing polygamy; anyone found practicing it is immediately excommunicated, and those who preach it are ostracized (Johnson 76). However, polygamy is still in practice in the church, just in a less obvious form. If a woman's husband dies, she may, after a suitable mourning period, marry another man as long as she marries him "for time", or only until death. After death, she will be brought into heaven to be with her first and true husband for eternity. However, if a man's wife dies, he may marry again celestially, thus providing for himself a polygamous family in heaven. The government may be able to thwart the holy practice of polygamy on earth, but they can do nothing about it in heaven.
Because of the doctrine of celestial marriage, it is very difficult for Mormon women to obtain divorces in the church. Women are told that "divorce is usually the result of one or both not living the gospel", and that a woman who wants a divorce is "untrue to the covenants she has made in the house of the Lord" (Laake 176). Legal divorces are no problem to obtain, but they create many problems in the religious life of a Mormon; a church divorce is almost impossible. After a civil divorce, a woman's temple recommend is rescinded (Laake 193).
In other words, she is considered unworthy to enter the temple, until she can prove to the heads of the church that the divorce was not caused by adultery. This is done by describing one's sexual activities very exactly in a series of letters to the male church authorities (Laake 194). Believers must submit to this humiliating rule in order to avoid spending eternity with their ex- husbands, because they must be able to enter the temple to obtain a "cancellation of sealing" (Laake 210). This cancellation is required if a woman wishes to remarry in the temple, for women can be celestially married to only one man at a time. Men are not required to undergo any of this to get their temple recommends back, and they, of course, have no need to cancel the celestial marriage to one woman in order to marry a second (Laake 223).
Many Mormon men in their late teens choose to go on a mission for the church, to preach the gospel in a foreign land. This practice, in addition to increasing the church's membership, serves an additional purpose by increasing the devotion of these men to Mormonism. Once a man has spent two years of his life in a foreign country for his faith, deprived of any contact with television, music, and women (for this is required), he will almost certainly never leave the church. He has sacrificed too much, and he cannot afford to disbelieve in the religion that caused it. This system also works in the same way with regard to women, for they are the ones left behind. While a woman's boyfriend or fiancé is off preaching for two years, she spends those years waiting for him. Not only will she believe more strongly in the religion which he left her for, but she will feel more devotion for the man. He must be the right man for her, because she has waited so long for him.
Mormon women today are still brought up to believe that the most important thing they can do is "to marry the right person, in the right place, by the right authority" (McConkie 118). Deborah Laake, who was excommunicated in 1993 for writing Secret Ceremonies, states that "it had been repeatedly impressed on me that if I failed to marry a faithful Mormon man...in a Mormon temple, I would be denied access to the highest level of Mormon heaven" (Laake 4).
The temple marriage is so important "that a longing for romance on earth should not be allowed to interfere with it" (Laake 77). Twenty-one year old Mormon men returning from missions are told they should be married within six months (Laake 51).
Girls and boys are also told that a good and proper Mormon home is a patriarchal one. A handbook written for fourteen year old boys states that, "The patriarchal order is of divine origin and will continue throughout time and eternity" (Laake 39). Husbands conduct family prayers, bless their wives and children, and generally control the household. They also are in charge of "family home evening", one night per week set aside for family prayer and togetherness. The Mormon belief is that Eve's roles in life, those of help-meet and child-bearer, set the pattern for all of her daughters (McConkie 844). Girls are told that God wants them at home (Laake 153), and boys are never taught to clean up after themselves, since when their mothers stop doing it for them, their wives will take over the job. These ideas, at least, have not changed at all since the nineteenth century.
Mormons, and particularly Mormon girls, are commanded to remain completely chaste until marriage. Girls grow up believing that their virginity is what makes them worth marrying (Laake 195), and they are told that "If you sully your body by allowing boys to touch it in forbidden ways...no good man will ever want to marry you" (Johnson 74). According to Mormon Doctrine, "Loss of virtue is too great a price to pay even for the preservation of one's life--better dead clean, than alive unclean" (McConkie 124). In order to enter the temple for the all-important marriage ceremony, Mormons must undergo a rigorous interview by their bishops about the intimate details of their sexual history to ensure their purity (Laake 86). Mormon colleges today have dress codes for women which forbid shorts, short skirts, and other articles of clothing that could possibly incite a young man's lust.
Mormons, like most religions, believe that the woman in a relationship bears the guilt for any sexual wrongdoing. Girls are told that if they "let" a man touch them, he will not respect them, even though he is the one doing the touching. One Mormon woman's date, at the front door of her house at the end of a perfectly sinless night, ordered her to enter her house, fall on her knees, and pray for forgiveness for the sins that she had made him want to commit (Johnson 79).
The strict chastity demanded by the church often clashes with the fact that girls are taught please their husbands and the other men in their lives. This lesson makes it very difficult to maintain the strict chastity required of women. What does a girl do when the man she is dating, whom she is supposed to obey because he is inspired by God, wants to do more than kiss her? In Mormon-dominated Utah, in 1978, seventy percent of the teenage brides were pregnant at their weddings (Johnson 39).
However, the Mormon church is more tolerant of unwed mothers or pregnant brides than it is of divorced women (Laake 217). No matter how sinful the circumstances, a pregnant woman is fulfilling God's plan and her purpose in life, by providing a body for one of the many spirits waiting to be born. Bearing children is the main purpose of a woman in this life; Sonia Johnson stated that, "I'd been conditioned to believe that if I didn't have babies, I wasn't worth much. Having children was what women were made for" (Johnson 42).
The Mormon church of today is still clinging to the beliefs of the nineteenth century; ideas which are becoming more outmoded every day. A few women in the Mormon church are trying to make a difference, but they are usually swiftly excommunicated (Laake 342; Johnson 351). In Mormon magazines, which are full of advice for women from the heads of the church, the message has changed in response to the feminist movement. In 1964, advice on marriage and divorce was fairly dispassionate; by 1972, these topics were addressed with increasing panic and harshness (Laake 175). Feminists are described as "the Pied Pipers of sin who have led women away from the divine role of womanhood down the pathway of error" (Laake 176). Obviously, the Mormon church is not going to alter its views on women in the immediate future. It is questionable whether it is even possible for Mormonism to equalize the roles of men and women, because the oppression of women is so integral to the religion. Men and women cannot truly become equal in the church, for the basic tenets of Mormonism are so fraught with sexism that equality would change the religion beyond recognition.
Bibliography
The Book of Mormon. Salt Lake City, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 1981. First English edition, 1830.
Fife, Austin and Fife, Alta Saints of Sage and Saddle. Salt Lake City, University of Utah Press, 1980.
Green, N. W. Mormonism: Its Rise, Progress, and Present Condition, Embracing the Narrative of Mrs. Mary Ettie Smith. Hartford, Belknap & Bliss, 1870.
Hoekema, Anthony A. The Four Major Cults. Grand Rapids, Michigan, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1963.
Johnson, Sonia From Housewife to Heretic. Garden City, New York, Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1981.
Laake, Deborah Secret Ceremonies, a Mormon Woman's Intimate Diary or Marriage and Beyond. New York, Dell Publishing, 1993.
McConkie, Bruce R. Mormon Doctrine. Salt Lake City, Bookcraft Inc., 1966.
Smith, Joseph The Prophet Joseph Smith's Testimony. Salt Lake City, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
Snowden, James H. The Truth About Mormonism. New York, George H. Doran Co., 1926.
Wallace, Irving The Twenty-seventh Wife. New York, Simon and Schuster, 1961.
The Bibliography is on the bottom of this page
Religious Studies 263 March 27, 1995
Women and Mormonism
Many religions have recently begun changing in an attempt to equalize the roles and responsibilities of men and women. Mormonism is one of the exceptions. The Mormon position on women has changed little since the early 1800's, when the official view was that "woman's primary place is in the home, where she is to rear children and abide by the righteous counsel of her husband" (McConkie 844). This attitude, coupled with the doctrine of polygamy and the absolute power claimed by the men of the church, created a legacy of profound sexism which modern Mormonism has been unable to escape.
Mormonism has created an ingenious system of oppression, in which opposition towards men is tantamount to arguing with God. The Mormon religion makes no distinction between clergy and laity, at least with regard to men (Laake 9). All Mormon men are ordained as members of the "priesthood," with the absolute authority to preach the gospel, bestow blessings, prophecy, perform healings and baptisms, and generally speak for God. "Their priesthood gives them the right to advise and instruct the Saints (i.e., Mormons), and their jurisdiction extends over all things spiritual and temporal" (Snowden 134).
At age twelve, boys become members of the Aaronic, or lesser priesthood, and at nineteen become eligible for the Melchezedek, or higher priesthood. Members of either priesthood are higher authorities on everything than are non-members. Women are, of course, excluded from the priesthood. This practice in effect says that a woman's prepubescent son is more qualified to advise her than she is to advise him. The official explanation is that women are kept from having the priesthood because women are more spiritual than men, therefore, men need to have the priesthood to teach them how to be better people (Johnson 86). Women are also told that, because they have the all- important ability to bear children, men need the power of the priesthood merely to remain equal with them.
The most notorious example of Mormon treatment of women is, of course, the practice of polygamy. In early 1843, Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon church, announced to the press that, despite rumors to the contrary, the Latter-Day Saints did not practice polygamy and believed it was an abomination (Wallace 53). He spoke the truth as far as the vast majority of Mormons was concerned, for polygamy is expressly forbidden in the Book of Mormon. However, Joseph himself had been married to at least eleven women besides his legal wife by 1843. (Wallace 52). The first of these, in 1835, was a seventeen year old orphan who had been taken in by his wife, Emma Smith. Joseph apparently married all of these women without the knowledge of either his wife or his fellow Mormons (Wallace 52).
On July 12, 1843, Joseph Smith declared that God had given him a new revelation concerning marriage and he revealed it to his brother and other high-ranking male church members. This revelation from God, at one point, specifically instructed "mine handmaid Emma Smith, Joseph's wife" to accept this doctrine and allow Joseph to have as many wives as he liked, as long as they were all "virtuous and pure" (Snowden 191). Emma Smith was a very strong-willed woman, and Joseph was so frightened of her wrath that he sent his brother Hyrum to inform her of God's plan. Emma was understandably scornful, and threw Hyrum out of her house (Wallace 55). Later, she managed to obtain a written copy of the revelation, and while in Joseph's presence, tossed it directly into the fireplace. However, the damage had already been done. Joseph is said to have been married to twenty-seven wives at the time of his death (Snowden 282). Emma left the church after his death and later denied that her husband had ever practiced polygamy (Wallace 65).
There were many reasons given for the practice of polygamy. The one most popular during the time was, of course, that God had commanded it, through Joseph Smith. The Mormon belief is that polygamy is holy and was practiced commonly in ancient times until people began spreading false religions. Adam, in his previous, spiritual existence, had many wives, of whom Eve was just one (Wallace 291). Jesus was also a polygamist "who was married whereby He could see His seed before He was crucified" (Hoekema 56), and his wives were Mary, Martha, and Mary Magdalene. Mormon Doctrine states that the president of the church had to suspend the practice of polygamy in 1890 because of the conditions at the time, but "obviously the holy practice will commence again after the Second Coming..." (578).
There were other justifications for polygamy. Mormons were often fond of stating that they were better than "Gentiles," as non-Mormons are called, because their system of polygamy kept them from committing the sin of adultery. Polygamous marriage was supposed to "make possible the procreation of enough bodies for thousands of spirits which have long awaited incarnation" (Snowden 141). Some Mormons today explain that many men died from war and disease, and all of the extra women needed husbands to support them. A less sympathetic view of polygamy was voiced by Sir Richard Burton on a visit to Utah. He said, "The..motive for polygamy in Utah is economy. Servants are rare and costly; it is cheaper and more comfortable to marry them" (Wallace 94).
Polygamous marriage is basically essential to Mormon theology. Mormon Doctrine states that God was once a human man, and "He is now a glorified, resurrected Personage having a tangible body of flesh and bones" (250). As a matter of fact, "all gods first existed as spirits, came to an earth to receive bodies, and then, after having passed through a period of probation on the aforesaid earth, were advanced to the exalted position they now enjoy" (Hoekema 38). After death, a good Mormon man who has followed a few certain rules is catapulted to this same status and receives his own planet to populate and rule over (Fife 103). To receive this honor, a man must be "married for eternity" in the Mormon temple. This special marriage is binding after death as well as until it.
"Celestial" marriage, as this eternal marriage is often called, is essential for Mormon women. Without being celestially married to a holder of the priesthood, a woman cannot be "saved" (Green 154). Mary Ettie Smith, a Mormon woman who left the church and Utah in 1856, said that "women do not amount to much in themselves," and that women in those times were often celestially married to men they had no intention of ever living with, so that they could have a man who would be able to get them into heaven (Green 154).
In the temple marriage ceremony, women are given secret names known only to their husbands, for identification purposes, so their husbands can pull them through to "the other side" after death (Laake 118). During the marriage ceremony, until 1990, men made their temple covenants directly to God, while the women had to make their temple covenants to their husbands (Laake 328). This means that while male temple workers representing God lead the men through the cloth representing the veil between worlds, husbands, symbolically, lead their wives through. Women also promise to obey their husbands in everything as long as their husbands obey God (Laake 108). As part of the ceremony, women also receive their endowments. These are sacred ordinances and promises which make a person eligible to enter the highest level of heaven, and Mormons receive them on their first visit to the temple (Laake 93). Men usually receive their endowments when they enter the temple to become a priesthood holder or go on a mission, but women enter the temple for the first time to be married.
After death, while their husbands are creating and ruling over planets, the women have the questionable honor of bearing his "spirit children" for eternity. These spirit children descend to their Father's planet to inhabit bodies as mortals, who are then ruled over by him. Mormon Doctrine states that these celestially married men and women "will live eternally in the family unit and have spirit children, thus becoming Eternal Fathers and Eternal Mothers" (516). A man who has multiple wives can beget many more spirit children, making him much more powerful. Birth control is, of course, very strongly discouraged. Ambitious Mormon men must beget many children with as many wives as possible, for "their glory (in heaven) is in proportion to the number of their wives and children" (Snowden 141).
Mormons believe that all humans are literally the spirit children of God who are momentarily inhabiting fleshly bodies. This creates a philosophical problem for them, for how could their spirits have been begotten by a Father without a wife? Therefore, in addition to the Father in Heaven, there is "a Woman of like glory, perfection, and holiness" who is "associated with him as a Mother" (McConkie 516). This seems quite unusual for such a patriarchal religion, and indeed, there is almost nothing written about Her. There is also no explanation for God's disregard for his own commandments on polygamy.
It is hard to deny the effect of polygamy on the thousands of women who lived with it. Anne Eliza Webb, one of Brigham Young's wives, wrote of her mother, "Polygamy...was the most hateful thing in the world to her, and she dreaded and abhorred it, but she was afraid to oppose it, lest she be found fighting against the Lord" (Wallace 62). This was the main reason so many women grudgingly accepted polygamy. The elders of the church assured these women that those who refused to practice polygamy would be damned, and since the men spoke for God, the believers had to comply (Wallace 74).
Polygamy effectively reduced women to mere commodities. Heber C. Kimball said, "I think no more of taking another wife than I do of buying a cow" (Wallace 101). Missionaries, who were almost always men, made a special effort to convert women, and these newly converted women were encouraged to come to Utah. After leaving their families and homes, and depleting their savings to come to "paradise," they discovered the doctrine of polygamy.
If a man felt his wife was not behaving properly, he could always find a more compliant one. Because all women must be married to go to heaven, the pressure to conform to the expectations of men was incredible. If a man was not content with his wife, Brigham Young "recommended...that he take a plural wife or two -- since this was a sure cure for a shrewish and recalcitrant female" (Fife 101). The system did not even provide the camaraderie one might expect from a household full of women, for wives were often in competition for attention. Technically, the first wife had to approve subsequent wives (Wallace 82), but few women chose to risk the wrath of their husbands and the church elders by refusing someone.
Polygamy was officially suspended by the President of the church in 1890, twenty-eight years after polygamy was declared illegal by the U.S. government, and thirteen years after a U.S. court had ruled that polygamous marriages were not valid (Wallace 368). Ann Eliza Webb had filed for divorce from Brigham Young in 1873, forcing the government to take a stand on the continuing practice of polygamy. The court ruled that she could not receive a divorce, since she was never legally married (Snowden 287).
The church has since become militant about preventing polygamy; anyone found practicing it is immediately excommunicated, and those who preach it are ostracized (Johnson 76). However, polygamy is still in practice in the church, just in a less obvious form. If a woman's husband dies, she may, after a suitable mourning period, marry another man as long as she marries him "for time", or only until death. After death, she will be brought into heaven to be with her first and true husband for eternity. However, if a man's wife dies, he may marry again celestially, thus providing for himself a polygamous family in heaven. The government may be able to thwart the holy practice of polygamy on earth, but they can do nothing about it in heaven.
Because of the doctrine of celestial marriage, it is very difficult for Mormon women to obtain divorces in the church. Women are told that "divorce is usually the result of one or both not living the gospel", and that a woman who wants a divorce is "untrue to the covenants she has made in the house of the Lord" (Laake 176). Legal divorces are no problem to obtain, but they create many problems in the religious life of a Mormon; a church divorce is almost impossible. After a civil divorce, a woman's temple recommend is rescinded (Laake 193).
In other words, she is considered unworthy to enter the temple, until she can prove to the heads of the church that the divorce was not caused by adultery. This is done by describing one's sexual activities very exactly in a series of letters to the male church authorities (Laake 194). Believers must submit to this humiliating rule in order to avoid spending eternity with their ex- husbands, because they must be able to enter the temple to obtain a "cancellation of sealing" (Laake 210). This cancellation is required if a woman wishes to remarry in the temple, for women can be celestially married to only one man at a time. Men are not required to undergo any of this to get their temple recommends back, and they, of course, have no need to cancel the celestial marriage to one woman in order to marry a second (Laake 223).
Many Mormon men in their late teens choose to go on a mission for the church, to preach the gospel in a foreign land. This practice, in addition to increasing the church's membership, serves an additional purpose by increasing the devotion of these men to Mormonism. Once a man has spent two years of his life in a foreign country for his faith, deprived of any contact with television, music, and women (for this is required), he will almost certainly never leave the church. He has sacrificed too much, and he cannot afford to disbelieve in the religion that caused it. This system also works in the same way with regard to women, for they are the ones left behind. While a woman's boyfriend or fiancé is off preaching for two years, she spends those years waiting for him. Not only will she believe more strongly in the religion which he left her for, but she will feel more devotion for the man. He must be the right man for her, because she has waited so long for him.
Mormon women today are still brought up to believe that the most important thing they can do is "to marry the right person, in the right place, by the right authority" (McConkie 118). Deborah Laake, who was excommunicated in 1993 for writing Secret Ceremonies, states that "it had been repeatedly impressed on me that if I failed to marry a faithful Mormon man...in a Mormon temple, I would be denied access to the highest level of Mormon heaven" (Laake 4).
The temple marriage is so important "that a longing for romance on earth should not be allowed to interfere with it" (Laake 77). Twenty-one year old Mormon men returning from missions are told they should be married within six months (Laake 51).
Girls and boys are also told that a good and proper Mormon home is a patriarchal one. A handbook written for fourteen year old boys states that, "The patriarchal order is of divine origin and will continue throughout time and eternity" (Laake 39). Husbands conduct family prayers, bless their wives and children, and generally control the household. They also are in charge of "family home evening", one night per week set aside for family prayer and togetherness. The Mormon belief is that Eve's roles in life, those of help-meet and child-bearer, set the pattern for all of her daughters (McConkie 844). Girls are told that God wants them at home (Laake 153), and boys are never taught to clean up after themselves, since when their mothers stop doing it for them, their wives will take over the job. These ideas, at least, have not changed at all since the nineteenth century.
Mormons, and particularly Mormon girls, are commanded to remain completely chaste until marriage. Girls grow up believing that their virginity is what makes them worth marrying (Laake 195), and they are told that "If you sully your body by allowing boys to touch it in forbidden ways...no good man will ever want to marry you" (Johnson 74). According to Mormon Doctrine, "Loss of virtue is too great a price to pay even for the preservation of one's life--better dead clean, than alive unclean" (McConkie 124). In order to enter the temple for the all-important marriage ceremony, Mormons must undergo a rigorous interview by their bishops about the intimate details of their sexual history to ensure their purity (Laake 86). Mormon colleges today have dress codes for women which forbid shorts, short skirts, and other articles of clothing that could possibly incite a young man's lust.
Mormons, like most religions, believe that the woman in a relationship bears the guilt for any sexual wrongdoing. Girls are told that if they "let" a man touch them, he will not respect them, even though he is the one doing the touching. One Mormon woman's date, at the front door of her house at the end of a perfectly sinless night, ordered her to enter her house, fall on her knees, and pray for forgiveness for the sins that she had made him want to commit (Johnson 79).
The strict chastity demanded by the church often clashes with the fact that girls are taught please their husbands and the other men in their lives. This lesson makes it very difficult to maintain the strict chastity required of women. What does a girl do when the man she is dating, whom she is supposed to obey because he is inspired by God, wants to do more than kiss her? In Mormon-dominated Utah, in 1978, seventy percent of the teenage brides were pregnant at their weddings (Johnson 39).
However, the Mormon church is more tolerant of unwed mothers or pregnant brides than it is of divorced women (Laake 217). No matter how sinful the circumstances, a pregnant woman is fulfilling God's plan and her purpose in life, by providing a body for one of the many spirits waiting to be born. Bearing children is the main purpose of a woman in this life; Sonia Johnson stated that, "I'd been conditioned to believe that if I didn't have babies, I wasn't worth much. Having children was what women were made for" (Johnson 42).
The Mormon church of today is still clinging to the beliefs of the nineteenth century; ideas which are becoming more outmoded every day. A few women in the Mormon church are trying to make a difference, but they are usually swiftly excommunicated (Laake 342; Johnson 351). In Mormon magazines, which are full of advice for women from the heads of the church, the message has changed in response to the feminist movement. In 1964, advice on marriage and divorce was fairly dispassionate; by 1972, these topics were addressed with increasing panic and harshness (Laake 175). Feminists are described as "the Pied Pipers of sin who have led women away from the divine role of womanhood down the pathway of error" (Laake 176). Obviously, the Mormon church is not going to alter its views on women in the immediate future. It is questionable whether it is even possible for Mormonism to equalize the roles of men and women, because the oppression of women is so integral to the religion. Men and women cannot truly become equal in the church, for the basic tenets of Mormonism are so fraught with sexism that equality would change the religion beyond recognition.
Bibliography
The Book of Mormon. Salt Lake City, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 1981. First English edition, 1830.
Fife, Austin and Fife, Alta Saints of Sage and Saddle. Salt Lake City, University of Utah Press, 1980.
Green, N. W. Mormonism: Its Rise, Progress, and Present Condition, Embracing the Narrative of Mrs. Mary Ettie Smith. Hartford, Belknap & Bliss, 1870.
Hoekema, Anthony A. The Four Major Cults. Grand Rapids, Michigan, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1963.
Johnson, Sonia From Housewife to Heretic. Garden City, New York, Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1981.
Laake, Deborah Secret Ceremonies, a Mormon Woman's Intimate Diary or Marriage and Beyond. New York, Dell Publishing, 1993.
McConkie, Bruce R. Mormon Doctrine. Salt Lake City, Bookcraft Inc., 1966.
Smith, Joseph The Prophet Joseph Smith's Testimony. Salt Lake City, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
Snowden, James H. The Truth About Mormonism. New York, George H. Doran Co., 1926.
Wallace, Irving The Twenty-seventh Wife. New York, Simon and Schuster, 1961.
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