The basic premise of Mormonism is that the Church Christ founded somehow needed a restoration. Unfortunately, this cannot be true, unless Christ is a liar. The LDS claims that God chose Joseph Smith to reestablish the Church of Jesus Christ after it had disappeared some 1,700 years earlier following the death of the first apostles.
“And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Mat 6:18
Here Christ says his Church will not be destroyed.
“I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.” John 16:12-13
“But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.” 1Tim 3:15
Here Christ says, and Paul reaffirms, that the Church will always teach the TRUTH.
Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Mat 28:18-20
Again, here Jesus assures us that He is always with us, to the very end.
So Christ says His Church will not be destroyed or fall away from him, that the Holy Spirit will guide the Church to always teach the Truth, and He will always be with us. Yet Mormons believe the Church almost immediately went apostasy.
The only reason for a ‘restoration’ is that Christ lied.
And judging from the lack of Lds responses on this, even in 2007-2009 when Lds FReepers were more active "countering" posts...+ from what I saw on a Mormon discussion Web site...Lds have real problems among themselves with dealing with Matt. 16:18.
General authority quote after general authority quote assures the Lds grassroots that in the 21st century & beyond, God would ne'er dare lead the church astray and that they are on a fine course via their "prophet."
While they say that with 100% assurance, they somehow also conclude -- at least their leaders have with 100% assurance -- that Christ could somehow ne'er fair well in keeping the church from going astray.
* So their current "Captain Prophet" @ the helm, whoever that is at the time, is supposedly 100% dead-on and set for life...
* "Captain Moroni" Click here for Deseret Book 'Captain Moroni Action Figure' -- a real, well a real-fake name/character Smith made up for the Book of Alma in the Book of Mormon -- (not to be confused with the ghost-angel Moroni character in the Book of Mormon)...anyway, Captain Moroni could "compel" 4,000 to meet their maker in raising a "Title of Liberty" flag [yeah, I'm "sure" they had that swashbuckling, flag-hoisting 'Captains' back then...Tennessee Nana & Elsie, stop laughing...of course, the Hebrew South or Central Americans -- give or take several thousand miles -- had action figure prototypes titled "Captain" about 100 years before Christ's public ministry!!! You 'history' scoffers, you!]
* But "Captain Christ"??? No...Mormons concluded He couldn't even keep the ship afloat...and that 100% of the crew "mutinied" on Him. And the ship named "Christian" went down to Davy's locker, per 14 yo pimply-faced teen Joey Smith.
And Mormons, who conclude from the book of Moroni in the Book of Mormon, that 7 year-old, 364-day children can't sin, seem to conclude that...
...hey, if 7 yo can't go wrong...
...then we'll place our entire physical and spiritual eternal lives in the hands of what a 14 yo saw!!!
12 Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.
13 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?
14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.
17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.