Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - June/71

Contributor - Ted L. Dykstra

Title - Orthodox Christianity vs Mormonism

Topic - Cults

In the first chapter of his letter to the Christian churches in Galatia, the Apostle Paul writes:

I am surprised at you! In no time at all you are deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ, and are going to another gospel. Actually, there is no "other gospel', but I say it because there are some people who are upsetting you and trying to change the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel that is different from the one we preached to you, may he be condemned to hell. (Gal. 1 : 6-8)

This strong warning by Paul, although addressed to recent converts to Christianity in the early churches in Galatia, may well be taken to heart by many Christians today. We are constantly co fronted with the teachings of such sects and cults as the Jehovah's Witnesses, Christian Scientists, Unitarians and Mormons, all of which freely refer to Jesus Christ and readily quote from the scriptures in support of their doctrines. Undoubtedly one of the fastest growing cults, particularly here in Alberta, is Mormonism. It is now strongly entrenched as an accepted "Christian" church and exerts religious and political power for greater than the size of its membership would indicate. The majority of the conversions to Mormonism come from the members of established Christian churches, particularly among those people who have not had a strong basic Christian education. I therefore ;deem it appropriate, perhaps even necessary, to use this space in the Pioneer for the purpose of alerting its readers to the inherent dangers of Mormon theology, by briefly discussing several points in Mormon doctrine- and comparing them with those of Orthodox Christianity.

ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY

Prior to proceeding with our discussion on Mormonism it may be beneficial to first define the phrase "Orthodox Christianity". Orthodox Christianity teaches four basic truths.

1. God became incarnate (flesh) in the man, Jesus.

2. Christ atoned (paid for) man's sin through his death on the cross.

3. Christ rose in bodily form from the grave, conquering death and proving he is 901-

4. The Bible is the inspired, authoritative Word of God.

These points are perhaps best summed up in I Corinthians 15: 3-4 where we read that: Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again on the third day, according to the scriptures.

This passage, which has been called the "plumbline" of Christianity has been the doctrinal basis of the Christian faith since the Church was first established in the first century. No other religion, cult or sect incorporates all of these points into their creed or doctrine or agrees with Orthodox Christianity on the summation found in 1 Corinthians 15 :3-4. Are the Mormons Christians? What do they believe? The following discussion will attempt to answer these as well as other questions relating to Mormonism.

MORMON DOCTRINES AND BELIEFS

The article of faith of the Mormon Church state that:

- We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and his Son Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.

- We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgressions.

- We believe that through the atonement of Christ all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.

- We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; repentance; baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; and the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.

To the marginal and uninformed Christians these articles of the Mormon faith undoubtedly appear similar to those of other Christian denominations, but are they?

Perhaps the following discussion will shed some light on the matter. The Mormon Concept of the Trinity

Although the Mormons confess to believe in God the Eternal Father and his Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost, it is readily apparent from their writings that this is not the Triune godhead of Orthodox Christianity. In reality the Mormons believe in three entities. This is clearly evident in the following statement by J. E. Talmage, a leading Mormon theologian.

Three persons composing the great presiding council have revealed themselves to man: 1. God the Eternal Father; 2. His Son, Jesus Christ, and 3. the Holy Ghost these three are separate individuals, physically distinct from each other.

The founder of Mormonism, Joseph Smith, described the Trinity in the following manner:

The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's; the Son also: but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of spirit.

These two quotations should dismiss any questions we may have on the Mormon position on the Trinity.

The Mormon Concept of God

By now it should be readily apparent that the God of Mormon theology is not the God of the Bible. In fact the god of present day Mormon theology is not even the same god as the one described in The Book of Mormon. Aside from the fact that no distinction is made in the use of the various Biblical names for God, the concept of God as depicted in The Book of Mormon does not differ greatly from that of the Bible. In both instances God is seen as one God (monolithic), unchangeable throughout time. However, in the "Inspired Version" of the Bible and the Book of Moses in "The Pearl of Great Price", God had become anthropomorphic (taken on human form), and in the Book of Abraham, which follows the Book of Moses in "The Pearl of Great Price" a definite polytheism (many gods) had developed. In the closing sections of his "Doctrines and Covenants" and in the "King Follett Discourse" Smith's concept of God had changed so radically as to depict God as -having a body of flesh and bones (see previous section). The Bible however clearly teaches us in John 4 : 24 that "God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth". In order to substantiate his own false doctrine, Smith in his "Inspired Version" changed this to read "God has promised his Spirit".

The Mormon Concept of Sin and Salvation

From this distorted view of God, Mormons go on to explain sin. Mormons believe that the original sin was not such a bad thing, in fact they claim it was necessary to provide mortal parentage for -the "spirit children" of God who are waiting for the experience of earth life. They believe that man is not a sinner by nature and that sin carries no particular penalty. This of course means that Mormons do not accept Jesus Christ as the Savior of Mankind. Salvation to the Mormons is something to be earned. The Mormon concept of salvation is faith plus baptism plus works. This is why Mormons place such great importance on the ritual of "Baptism for the Dead", which they base on I Corinthians 15 : 29. A Mormon traces his family tree for as many names as he can find and then goes to the temple and is baptized by immersion for each of his ancestors. This gains both the Mormon and his dead relatives eternal life.

Scripture, however, clearly teaches us that salvation is not only personal (Romans 10 :9-13; Acts 3 1; and John 1 : 12) but also a free gift. For in Ephesians 2 :8-9 we read:

For it is by God's grace that you have been saved, through faith. It is not your own doing but God's gift. There is nothing here to boast of since it is not the results of your own efforts.

In addition to this Mormon theology teaches that there are sins for which there is no atonement through the blood of Christ. Brigham Young states in his "Journal of Discourses" that:

There is not a man or a woman who violates covenants made with their God that will not be required to pay the debt. The blood of Christ will never wipe that out, your own blood must atone for it.

Scripture however tells us that "If we confess our sins to God, we can trust him, for he does what is right - he will forgive us our sins and make us clean from all our wrongdoings" (I John 1 :9). Similarly scripture teaches us that works are a natural outgrowth of faith but that they in no way merit our salvation.

The Mormon Concept of the Bible

Article 8 of the Mormon Articles of Faith declares that:

We believe the Bible to be the Word of God, as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the Word of God.

Furthermore, Article 9 of the official doctrines of the Mormon Church states that:

We believe all that God has revealed, all that he does now reveal, and we believe that he will reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom Of God.

It is evident from the preceeding statements that the Mormons believe in a progressive revelation. They accept not only "The Book of Mormon", but several other , revelations" by Joseph Smith as being the Word of God. These other "revelations" are, in the order in which they were written:

1. Book of Mormon (1830)

2. Doctrines and Covenants (18301834)

3. The Inspired Version of the Bible (1832 ?)

4. The Pearl of Great Price (1833!835)

5. The King Follett Discourse (1844)

All these writings are declared to be equal authority with the Bible, in spite of the fact that they not only contradict scriptures in numerous places but each other as well.

Is "The Book of Mormon" God's Word? The answer of course is a resounding NO! ! What then does the Book of Mormon really teach. The Book of Mormon is basically a "historical" outline which tells the remarkable story of two Hebrew migrations to the American continent during Old Testament times. The first migration, consisting of a group of people called the Jaradites, occurred about 2250 B.C. The second expedition under the leadership of a Jewish prophet called Lehi, arrived in South America about 600 B.C. These people supposedly were the ancestors of the North American Indians (this would make all Indians Semetic instead of Mongoloid as claimed by anthropologists). In 34 A.D. Christ appeared to these people, teaching them about baptism and communion, and preaching to them the entire Sermon on the Mount. Apparently they must not have taken Christ's teachings to heart, for in 385 A.D. after a great battle most of them were destroyed.

Aside from its "historical" implications The Book of Mormon has relatively little significance. It does not propose any astounding new doctrines or creeds. Most of the doctrines associated with Mormonism today, were developed after The Book of Mormon had been published. There is no doubt that the entire Book of Mormon is a scholastic fraud, a figment of Joseph Smith's fertile imagination. The following examples will bear this out.

The Book of Mormon was alledgedly translated from "Reformed Egyptian Hieroglyphics". This allegation was repudiated by Professor Charles Anthon of Columbia University in a letter written on February 17, 1834. Furthermore although supposedly written in Reformed Egyptian Hierolyphics The Book of Mormon is written in the same style as the King James Bible of 1611. As a matter of fact it contains numerous direct plagiarisms from that Bible, which did not come into being until over 1200 years after The Book of Mormon was to have been written. In addition to this The Book of Mormon. makes no distinction between the various Biblical names for God. For example in Mosiah 3 : 18 (124 B.C.) we read "The Atoning Blood of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent". It is obvious that the phrase "atoning blood of Christ" is out of place in 124 B.C. Similarly the Greek word omnipotent" is not likely to have been included in the vocabulary of the North American Indian in 124 B.C. It is safe to say therefore, that The Book of Mormon is definitely not the Word of God. The -same thing may also be said for the other revelations of Joseph Smith as has already been pointed out in the section dealing with the Mormon concept of God.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

It should be obvious that Mormon theology 'completely contradicts the historic Christian faith and that its entire complex system is based on the "revelations" of one man, Joseph Smith, all of which have been repudiated by archaelogists, anthropologists, and Bible scholars. In spite of the emphasis Mormons place on good works and clean living they can not be called Christian.

It is hoped that this rather brief resume of Mormon theology will help Orthodox Christians to be more aware of the inherent dangers of these teachings.

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