Mormonism

Positives:

(1) Central Leadership, (2) Evangelism, (3) Respectable Lives, (4) Hard-lined on Giving

(1) Central Leadership

- Very structured and organized group.

- the world-wide impact that they've had.

(2) Evangelism

- Most Mormons participate in missions work.

- Two years for men and 18 months for women.

- Almost evangelized the world.

(3) Respectable Lives

- Pride themselves on being good citizens.

- Most of them have nice jobs and are well educated.

(4) Hard-lined on Giving

- Are known to keep their members accountable to tithing.

- Can't be a part of the Mormon church without giving a tithe.

Superficiality:

- Tithing is not defined. It could be 10% of paychecks, gross or net?

- Utah (2009) was the #1 ranked state for pornography.

- Haven't evangelized the middle-east – missionaries are afraid to die.

1805

On December 23, Joseph Smith Jr. was born.

- Family attended a Presbyterian church where he was exposed to a “dead”

Christianity.

- After some years, he began searching for a different way.

1820

He was praying and asking God which denomination was the right one.

- It was here that he claims that God gave him his first vision.

- God answered, “None of them are right; they are all wrong.”

1823

Joseph Smith Jr. received his second vision from the Angel Moroni.

- He had Joseph transfer words from a golden plate into a book – became Book

of Mormon.

- Important to note – He claims that he was given his vision from an angel.

1830

Martin Harris (one of three witnesses that claimed to see the golden plates) said the

writing was Reformed Egyptian.

- Later Martin Harris broke away from Joseph Smith – Said that the three

witnesses never actually saw the plates with their natural eye, but only through

spiritual vision.

- The Book of Mormon became available for purchase on March 26th

, 1830.

- Church of Christ (Mormon Church) officially began on April 6

th

, 1830 with six

members in Kirtland, Ohio.

- Changed the name to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

- Interestingly, the Joseph Smith’s right-hand guy was from the Church of Christ.

- Experienced rapid growth in Kirtland.

March 26th

, 1830.

The Book of Mormon became available for purchase

April 6th, 1830

Church of Christ (Mormon Church) officially began on with six members in Kirtland, Ohio.

Changed the name

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Kirtland

Experienced rapid growth

1840

Joseph was arrested in Kirtland. He escaped and moved to Nauvoo, Illinois.

- A local paper, the Nauvoo Expositor, started to publish anti-mormon material.

- Joseph ordered his members to ransack the newspaper's headquarters and the

burn every anti-mormon newspaper.

- This led to his arrest.

1844

A mob stormed the prison and shot Joseph Smith Jr.

- Allegedly, Joseph Smith Jr. shot several mob members before he died.

- The mob formed because they were upset that their printing presses were

destroyed.

- The Mormons consider Joseph Smith Jr. a martyr.

1847

Joseph Smith Jr. was succeeded by Brigham Young.

- Abandoned Joseph Smith's more extreme teachings to make it more socially

acceptable.

- Leads the Mormon church on a journey to Salt Lake City, Utah

1877

Brigham Young dies.

- The Mormon church numbered 150,000.

- The Mormon church wouldn't be where it is today without Brigham Young.

Two Distinct Groups:

FLDS (Fundamentalist Group), LDS (Brigham Young)

LDS (Brigham Young)

Hold to the more watered down version.

- 16.1 million members in 29,253 congregations with 83,000 full-time

missionaries.

FLDS (Fundamentalist Group)

Hold to Joseph Smith's earlier teachings.

- Polygamist groups.

- Mostly in hiding because of illegal activity. (Including Child Abuse and

Molestation)

Orson Pratt (Famous Prophet, 1891)

“Who knows that even one verse of the

Bible has escaped the pollution so as to convey the same sense now that it did in

the original?”

a) Don't believe that the Bible is the infallible Word of God.

b) Place faith in their own writings and not the Bible.

Four Sources of Doctrine

1. The Book of Mormon

2. Doctrine and the Covenants

a) Record of 138 revelations.

b) More controversial doctrines – “Baptism of the Dead” and “Celestial

Marriage”.

3. The Pearl of Great Price

a) Book of Moses – Equivalent to the first six chapters of Genesis.

b) Book of Abraham – A translation of the “Egyptian” papyrus. Proved

fraudulent.

4. Living Prophets

Revelation 22:18-19

(Bad way to Refute)

1. Most common mistake when trying to refute Mormonism.

2. The Bible also says the same thing elsewhere. (Deuteronomy 4:2)

Galatians 1:8-9

1. Even if what Joseph Smith said happened was true – doesn't mean anything.

2. All we have to do is prove that the Book of Mormon is a different gospel.

There Are Many Gods.

A. Claim to believe in the Trinity, but they really don’t.

B. Don't even believe in a single God.

C. Joseph Smith Jr. – “Here then, is eternal life – to know the only wise and true God;

and you have got to learn how to be gods yourselves, and to be Kings and Priests

to God, the same as all gods before you.”

Goal of a Mormonism is to become

god

Don't believe that Jesus is uniquely the son of God

we all could have been

Him.

Believes that Satan was

Jesus brother

Ephesians 4:3-6

1. Only ONE God! Jesus is God!

2. Even the Pharisees acknowledged

Hebrews 1:1-3a

1. Jesus is the heir of all things.

2. God made the universe through Him!

3. Jesus is the exact representation of God!

Book of mormon

Conclusion: Jesus is not the brother of Satan, and He is not just “a” god. The Book of

Mormon is a different gospel!

James Talmage (Apostle)

“Jesus is our redeemer through faith in God, Jesus,

and Joseph his prophet, and Brigham his successor, and you will be saved in

his Kingdom.”

Don’t believe in Hell

– What are you being saved from?

levels of heaven

3-At the top level, you get your own planet with your own wives and families, and

you get to be your own god.

Facts on Hell

1. Jesus teaches on hell in 46 verses in the Bible.

2. Uses the word “hell” in 16 of those verses.

Celestial Marriage

A. Believe that you get to keep your marriages and families in Heaven.

Also believe a bunch of other “strange” things:

1. Baptism for the Dead (I Corinthians 15:29)

2. Temple Worship – Weird stuff that's not talked about.

3. “Magic Underpants”

(I Corinthians 15:29)

Baptism for the Dead

Mark 12:24-27

1. Jesus clearly teaches that there is no marriage in Heaven.

2. “You are in error because you do not know the scriptures or the power of God.”

3. “You are badly mistaken!” Mormons are “BADLY MISTAKEN!”

2 Peter 1:20-21

a) “Origins in the will of men.”

b) Joseph Smith made up the book of Mormon to fulfill his own desires.

i. Polygamy is attractive to those who struggle with sexual desires. The

Mormon church still sends their women after worldly men to this day.

ii. Having your family in Heaven is attractive to those whose core value is

family.

iii. And who wouldn't want to own your own planet?

Additional Facts:

(1) The cities named only in the book of Mormon have never been discovered.

(2) No book of Mormon names have been found in New World Inscriptions.

(3) No genuine inscriptions have been found in America of Egyptian – or anything even

similar to Egyptian – which could correspond to Joseph Smith's “Reformed Egyptian”

text.

(4) No ancient copies of the Book of Mormon scriptures have been found.

(5) No mention of the Book of Mormon persons, nations, or places have ever been found.

(6) No artifact of any kind that would demonstrate that the Book of Mormon is true has

ever been found.

(7) Mormons claim that the Book of Mormon is the most accurate book ever written. Yet, it has undergone 3,000 significant changes since it was written in 1830.

(Proverbs 30:5-6)

The Mormon church is a lie. Whether it was delivered by an actual angel or not – it is clearly not from God! It's founder is not Joseph Smith – but Satan whose goal it is to lead the whole world astray. Can't be scared to reach out to Jehovah’s Witnesses or Mormons – but we must know the facts so we can help turn their hearts to God!