Mormonism Part 2
Last week we got a general overview of Mormonism and a tad bit of history. This week we are going to talk about some of the extra documents that Mormons use for their doctrine, along with some ideas that seems to contradict the Bible.
To start, Mormons use the King James version of the Bible. But unlike evangelical Christians, they have 3 additional books they use that help create their doctrine. Those three books are:
- The Book of Mormon
- The Pearl of Great Price
- The Doctrine of Covenants
- The Mormon church claims that the extra books are a direct revelation from God to Joseph Smith which adds to the Bible.
- The Mormon church teaches that their additional books do not contradict the Bible, rather it compliments it
Here at EBC we teach there are no extra books outside the Bible. We believe that Revelation is the last book written and we hold true to the scriptures that “…if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book” – Revelation 22:19
There are some seemingly contradictive statements within the Mormon texts. One of those being something that comes out of one of their books called 2 Nephi. In 2 Nephi 5:21 it states that there was a curse that occurred on humans which caused some’s skin to turn black. Those that are black are cursed. This highly contradicts the Bible. All throughout scripture we see God desiring anyone to come to Him. We do not see anywhere in scripture where God curses humans and causes their skin to be black.
In one of their books, Doctrine and Covenants chapter 76:58, and chapter 88:29, among other scriptures within their texts, talk about how Mormon men can become gods of their own planet if they reach the third level of heaven. We believe that there is only one God that has existed for eternity as 1 Timothy 2:5 states. We do not believe anyone else can become a god. And we believe that there is only one level of heaven.
The Mormon church teaches that the Trinity is false. They believe that God the Father was a man just like we are today, and he had physical relations with Mary, which bore a human son named Jesus that had god-like powers, but is not God Himself. We believe that the Trinity is Biblical, and Mary was conceived as a virgin and birthed a Son named Jesus who is both God and man.
Joseph Fielding Smith who was the 10th president of Mormonism, not to be mistaken by the founder of Mormonism, Joseph Smith, stated, “There is no salvation found without accepting Joseph Smith.” This is a really bold claim considering the Bible is clear that Jesus is the only way to salvation. No other means are necessary and by no one else shall we be saved except through Christ (Acts 4:12).
Lastly, the Mormon church teaches that Satan and Jesus are brothers. There is no biblical verse that talks about this. In fact, that would mean that either Jesus was created, or Satan is eternal. Both of those are incorrect. Jesus is eternal as it says in Hebrews 7:3. Satan was an angel called Lucifer and we know that angles were created beings as Paul tells us in Colossians 1:16.
Categories: Apologetics Spotlights