Seven Differences Between Mormonism and Christianity

mormoninfo.org ^

[greyfoxx39]

Introduction

The purpose of this is to let you know seven

differences between Mormonism and traditional

Christianity (Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox).

Many would think that Mormonism is simply a part of

Christianity, particularly since they are called “The

Church of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-day Saints”

(emphasis added). The problem is that we, as traditional

Christians, think that Mormonism is teaching another

Jesus than what the Bible teaches (cf. 2 Corinthians

11:3-4, 13-15).

The Seven Differences

1. Mormon scripture teaches that all the various

Christian denominations, particularly the

Presbyterians, Baptists, and Methodists, are all

considered by Jesus Christ to be “wrong.” When

the Mormon prophet Joseph Smith, Jr. was questioning,

as a 14-year-old boy, which of these churches to join, he

claimed, “I was answered that I must join none of them, for

they were all wrong; and the Personage who

addressed me said that all their creeds were an

abomination in his sight; that those professors were

all corrupt; that: ‘they draw near to me with their

lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for

doctrines the commandments of men, having a form

of godliness, but they deny the power thereof’”

(Joseph Smith--History 1:19, Pearl of Great Price,

emphasis added, cf. 1:9).

“Behold there are save two churches only; the one is

the church of the Lamb of God, and the other is the

church of the devil; wherefore, whoso belongeth not

to the church of the Lamb of God belongeth to that

great church, which is the mother of abominations;

and she is the whore of all the earth (1 Nephi 14:10,

Book of Mormon).”

2. Mormon scripture, prophets and apostles teach that

there is more than one god who created this world,

that there are many gods who rule over other worlds,

and that worthy Mormons may one day become gods

themselves. Even though Mormons claim there is only

one God for them, they still believe that the Father,

Son, and Holy Spirit are separate gods who are only

one in their purpose rather than in a personal being

that they share eternally.

Three separate personages--Father, Son, and Holy Ghost-

-comprise the Godhead. As each of these persons is a

God, it is evident, from this standpoint alone, that a

plurality of Gods exists. To us, speaking in the proper

finite sense, these three are the only Gods we worship.

But in addition there is an infinite number of holy

personages, drawn from worlds without number, who

have passed on to exaltation and are thus gods (Bruce R.

McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 576-7).

“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 have done before you, namely, by going from

one small degree to another… until you attain to the

resurrection of the dead, and are able to dwell in

everlasting burnings, and to sit in glory, as do those who

sit enthroned in everlasting power (Joseph Smith,

Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 346-7).

“As man is God once was, as God is man may be”

(Prophet Lorenzo Snow, The Life of Lorenzo Snow by

Thomas C. Romney, 46).

“And then the Lord said: Let us go down. And they went

down at the beginning, and they, that is the Gods,

organized and formed the heavens and the earth”

(Abraham 4:1, The Pearl of Great Price).

3. Mormon scripture, prophets and apostles teach

that God the Father is an exalted man with flesh

and bones.

“God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted

man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens! …I say, if

you were to see him today, you would see him like a man

in form--like yourselves in all the person, image, and

very form as a man; ...I am going to tell you how God

came to be 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” (Smith,

Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 345).

“The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as

man’s” (Doctrine and Covenants 130:22).

4. Mormon prophets and apostles teach that God

the Father has at least one wife by which we were

all literally born from as spirit children prior to

coming to this earth. Some of these prophets and

apostles have even taught that Jesus had wives

and children.

“This glorious truth of celestial parentage,

including specifically both a Father and a Mother, is

heralded forth by song in one of the greatest of

Latter-day Saint hymns. O My Father by Eliza R.

Snow, written in 1843 during the lifetime of the

Prophet, includes this teaching:

“ In the heavens are parents single? No; the thought makes reason stare!

Truth is reason, truth eternal, Tells me I’ve a Mother there.

When I leave this frail existence, When I lay this mortal by,

Father, Mother, may I meet you In your royal courts on high?”

(McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 516-7).

“We have now clearly shown that God the Father had

a plurality of wives, one or more being in eternity,

by whom He begat our spirits as well as the spirit of

Jesus His First Born, and another being upon the

earth by whom He begat the tabernacle of Jesus, as

His Only Begotten in this world. We have also

proved most clearly that the Son followed the

example of his Father, and became the great

Bridegroom to whom kings’ daughters and many

honorable Wives were to be married” (Apostle Orson

Pratt, The Seer, 172).

“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 (Prophet Brigham Young,

Journal of Discourses, vol. 1, 50).

NOTE: Most Mormons are unaware that Brigham

Young in fact taught that Adam was the God of this

world. Only members of fundamentalist Mormon groups

(not affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday

Saints) hold to this doctrine today. Regardless of this

identification of God as being Adam, no one denies that

Young believed that God the Father has more than one wife.

5. Mormon prophets and apostles teach that God

the Father had a Father whom He followed as

Jesus had followed Him. This follows from the

preceding points.

“If Abraham reasoned thus—If Jesus Christ was

the Son of God, and John discovered that God the

Father of Jesus Christ had a Father, you may

suppose that He had a Father also. Where was there

ever a son without a father? And where was there

ever a father without first being a son? Whenever

did a tree or anything spring into existence without a

progenitor? And everything comes in this way.

…Hence if Jesus had a Father, can we not believe

that He had a Father also? I despise the idea of

being scared to death at such a doctrine, for the

Bible is full of it.

I want you to pay particular attention to what I am

saying. Jesus said that the Father wrought precisely

in the same way as His Father had done before Him.

As the Father had done before? He laid down His

life, and took it up the same as His Father had done

before” (Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph

Smith, 373).

6. Mormon prophets and apostles teach that there

are many things that Jesus did not create. For

example, He did not create our spirits, nor did He

create Lucifer, nor did He even create the planet

that He was born on as a spirit. The reason for this

is because Mormons believe that Jesus and Lucifer

are literally brothers, and we as humans are all the

younger brothers and sisters of them. We were all

born of heavenly parents, who did the creating work

of their world (not all worlds whatsoever) before we

arrived spiritually in heaven.

“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, The Gospel

through the Ages, 15).

7. Mormon prophets and apostles teach that we

should not pray directly to Jesus. Rather, they can

only pray directly to the Father in the name of Jesus.

Apostle Bruce McConkie said concerning the Father,

“He is the one to whom we have direct access by

prayer, and if there were some need -- which there is

not -- to single out one member of the Godhead, for a

special relationship, the Father, not the Son, would be

the one to choose. Our relationship with the Son is

one of brother or sister in the pre-mortal life.’

Referring to “others who have an excessive zeal,”

McConkie went on to say that they devote themselves to

gaining a special, personal relationship with Christ

that is both improper and perilous. ...Another peril is that those so

involved often begin to pray directly to Christ because of some

special friendship they feel has been developed.

...This is plain sectarian nonsense. Our prayers are

addressed to the Father and to Him only (BYU

Devotional [March 2, 1982], 17, 19 & 20).

A Christian Response

Some Mormons may quibble that some of these

sources are non-scriptural, and are thus simply the

opinions of men with no binding authority. But the Bible

says that if so-called prophets and apostles teach other

gods than what God has already clearly revealed about

Himself, we are to consider them to be false (cf.

Deuteronomy 13:1-5; 2 Corinthians 11:3-4, 13-15; &

Galatians 1:6-9). What difference does it make if the

preceding sources are deemed by the Mormon Church to

be scriptural or not? If this is truly what they taught, then

it seems quite obvious that these individuals are not

teaching the God of the Bible, and thus should be

considered as non-Christian (i.e., they are not following

the true Christ).

Mormons also quibble that the Bible is full of errors

and has been through many a translation such that many

“plain and precious truths” have been left out of the

translation we have today. Thus, Mormons unquestionably

rest their faith in what their church tells them to believe, so

long as they receive affirmation from what is called a

“burning in their bosoms.” Christians, on the other hand,

find no reason to think that many truths have been taken

from Scripture.

Why is it that all the various manuscripts

of the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek Scriptures, from which

all the various versions come, are remarkably consistent

with each other? Where is all the evidence that these

manuscripts were cut up in such a way so as to delete the

“plain and precious truths” found today in the restored

Mormon Scriptures? Christians find no reason to doubt

the words of the Lord Jesus when He said, “Scripture

cannot be broken” (John 10:35), and “[h]eaven and earth

shall pass away but my words shall not pass away” (Mat.

24:35). It is the word of God, not our “burning in our

bosoms,” that is a light to our path (Psalms 119:105).

The Christian interpretation of the Bible teaches that

there was only one Being (not a team of Gods that formed

a Godhead) who did the creation work of any world in the

entire universe (not some proper subset of it) (Isaiah

43:10; 44:6, 8, 24; 45:12; & 46:9). Of course other “gods”

are mentioned in Scripture, but they are consistently

referred to as false gods or idols that are not gods by nature

(Ps. 96:5; 1 Cor. 8:1-6; & Gal. 4:8).

(Some Mormons have attempted to support their polytheism by likening

themselves to early Christian fathers and other Christian

theologians in their view of the deification of humans. But

the latter still believe in only one true God by nature, and

hold that humans can never attain the unique features of

God like omnipotence, eternality, omnipresence, etc.

Consequently, Christian deification does not teach that

humans can literally become gods. Instead, it teaches that

humans are “deified” in the sense that the Holy Spirit

transforms Christian believers into the image of God,

modeled perfectly in the human nature of Christ, by

endowing them in the resurrection with immortality and

God’s perfect moral character.)

The Bible also teaches that God is not limited to a body

that He needs to become a God. He is too great for a body

(1 Kings 8:27 & Jn. 4:21-24). He is God unchangeably

from everlasting to everlasting (Malachi 3:6 & Ps. 90:2).

This is why God has a completely different nature from

man. He is not a mere man, nor an exalted man, since He

is not a man at all (Hosea 11:9).

The Bible also teaches that Jesus created everything

that was ever created from the beginning of heaven and

earth (Jn. 1:1-3, 14 & Colossians 1:15-18). Hence,

wherever humans or Lucifer were made, they were all

made by Jesus. This is why Christians have no problem

praying to Jesus (cf. Stephen’s prayer in Acts 7:59).

Jesus told us not just to pray to the Father, but to Himself

as well (Jn. 14:14—Greek says, “If you ask me anything

in my name, I will do it”). Whether Jesus is physically

present or not is irrelevant, since He claimed to be with us

always anyway (Mat. 18:20 & 28:20). Though He

became fully man, He has always been fully God and

ought to be treated as such (Jn. 1:1 & 14; 5:18 & 23;

Romans 9:5; Philippians 2:5-10; Col. 2:9; Revelation 1:8,

17-18; & 22:6-20). Since Jesus is the only Son of God

with the nature of God (“only begotten” in Greek means

“one of a kind or genus”), He is God the Son (Jn. 1:18).

More specifically, He is the second person of God. The

Christian God is more than one person; He is actually three

persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) who are not unlike

radically connected Siamese twins (compare Isa. 44:24

with Genesis 1:26--the being of God created alone with the

plurality of persons that His being is comprised of). There

was never a time when one of the persons was without the

others. They are eternally distinct persons while eternally

inseparable in being as well as purpose.

Your eternal salvation depends on whether you really

know God or not. Jesus said, “[I]f ye believe not that I am

he, ye shall die in your sins” (Jn. 8:24). Please consider

praying to God (Father, Son, or Holy Spirit), asking Him

to cleanse you from all your sins, particularly of following

another god and another Jesus, and then repent from those

idols by leaving the Mormon Church.

Then please consider committing yourself to a genuinely “Christian”

denomination in order to grow in your new spiritual life.

1. All citations to Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith

use the pre-2002 edition.

R. M. Sivulka

[Elsie]

That send a chill down yer spine??

No; but the sentence before that does.

[Religion Moderator]

Your use of the word "bigotry" in statements to the anti-MormonISM posters on the Religion Forum suggested to me that you might be offended by "open" RF debate. Therefore I intervened.

Also, some posters - even oldtimers - were not aware of the software change that causes RF posts to appear by default ("everything" browse) and ultimately wanted some way to make them disappear again. So I make it a point to provide that information to posters who evidently disapprove of contentious religious debate.

But apparently you are here on purpose and have a theological, ideological, philosophical etc. issue to discuss - and that is fine of course. The main guideline on the RF is to encourage just that, i.e. to "discuss the issues all you want but do not make it personal." The second part of that guideline exists because flame wars ignite quickly when posters deplore each other's deeply held religious beliefs. Some "take it personally." By disallowing ad hominems we nip many flame wars in the bud.

[Elsie]

My thought about the theology being discussed is that you are disingenuous to critique Mormon theology versus “traditional” christianity which is listed as including Roman Catholics, when in fact your concerns about the theology of Mormonism eventually would by necessity cause you to equally denounce Catholic theology.

Oh?

You've got to prove your case, before you can build on it.

[Elsie]

Further that you are intolerant as regards Mormonism.

You have this right.

[Elsie]

Furter, that Mormonism is not a serious threat to traditional christianity.

You haved this almost right.

ANYthing that detracts a person from choosing CHRISTIANITY is a 'threat' to it.

I've stated what the THREAT of MORMONism is already in this thread.

[Elsie]

I choose to value religious freedom.

Over exposing heresy?

I find that a bit, shall we say, disingenious.

[Vendome]

Naw, Naw, Naw....

It’s still there at #5.....

[Elsie]

Just wondering, by what possible right do you purport to speak for the Pope?

Hell!

I can do better than THAT!!!

1 Peter 4:11

If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

(Now THAT'll send chills up yer spine!)

---

BTW - just WHERE did I say ANYTHING about speaking FOR the pope?

I merely said that the Pope might be interested in the data put forth so far.

[Elsie]

You are not Catholic yet you seem to fantasize that you speak for and can pronounce judgment on all religions. You do not.

Then I guess I'd better switch to being a Catholic so I can!

[svcw]

zombie defenders march on

[Jabba the Nutt]

So, is this how you are going to decide who to vote for for President? Really?

Jesus welcomed prostitutes and even tax collectors to his table.

[Jabba the Nutt]

The Constitution outlaws religious tests for public office. Are you using your own religious test to decide how to vote? This isn't a general discussion about religion, it's an argument to not vote for Romney.

That is not the American Way. I've asked, what the point of this discussion is. I've asked what exactly about Mormon beliefs would make Mormons unqualified for public office. I'll ask what about Romney's Mormon faith makes you fear what he will do in office?

I've received tons of theology, but no answer to my questions.

[Elsie]

So, is this how you are going to decide who to vote for for President? Really?

What are you JABBERing about?

This thread is about religious differences - NOT politics!

---

Jesus welcomed prostitutes and even tax collectors to his table.

HE sure did!

And then told them to SIN NO MORE; right?

[greyfoxx39]

The Constitution outlaws religious tests for public office. Are you using your own religious test to decide how to vote?

The Constitution states that no one would be prohibited from running for public office because of his religion. There is NO prohibition against a voter voting for or against a candidate because of the candidate's religion.

This is a fallacy that has been posted over and over by Mitt supporters ever since '08.

That is not the American Way.

The American way is that a voter may vote his/her conscience.

I'll ask what about Romney's Mormon faith makes you fear what he will do in office?

I'll answer that.

Mitt Romney has made the following vow numerous times in the mormon temple. Can you guarantee he will put the Oath of Office before his oath to "consecrate everything to the mormon church"?

“You and each of you covenant and promise before God, angels, and these witnesses at this altar, that you do accept the Law of Consecration as contained in the Doctrine and Covenants, in that you do consecrate yourselves, your time, talents, and everything with which the Lord has blessed you, or with which he may bless you, to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, for the building up of the Kingdom of God on the earth and for the establishment of Zion."

Additionally, why would I vote for anyone whose power of discernment allows him to continue to follow the beliefs listed in the article at the top of this thread? See my tagline.

[svcw]

The Constitution outlaws religious tests for public office.

Correct.

However, this does not refer to individuals, it refers to government mandated religious tests.

Individuals may use whatever criteria they wish to use to pick the candidate of their choice.

This the Religion Forum, not the political forum, so the discussion is about religious differences not political.

[Utah Binger]

Coffee being served hot and cold directly below!

[MHGinTN]

When you start posts with non sequiturs, it's hard to believe your motives are 'pristine':

The Constitution outlaws religious tests for public office. Are you using your own religious test to decide how to vote?

An individual can use any criteria they choose to determine for whom they will vote. But then you knew that, so we can readily see that you meant to create a non sequitur as your tool.

[greyfoxx39]

Yep.

[Springfield Reformer]

The Constitution outlaws religious tests for public office

That's a serious misstatement of the law. In court you can get in real trouble for doing that. But not here of course. Anyway, the point of the Constitutional prohibition on religious tests is not to restrict a voter’s free expression under the First Amendment, but to restrict the federal government from limiting voter ballot choices based on religion. Constitution 101. This is not rocket science.

That is not the American Way

What’s not the “American Way?” You do realize the early English settlers of America came here primarily to exercise their God-given natural right to quarrel over religion, don’t you? Religious liberty means nothing at all if not the inherent right to try and persuade someone that religion A is true and its opposite, religion B, must therefore be false. It is hard to imagine anything more American, by history and principle, than folk like us on the FR Religion forum duking it out over how Mormonism contrasts with Christianity and what significance that has to our life as Americans. That’s what Americans do. We think and act like free people.

This isn't a general discussion about religion, it's an argument to not vote for Romney.

Now there you go trying to read minds and attribute motives that haven’t been stated. That’s a violation of the “no personal attacks” rule for this forum. Don’t worry. I won’t report you.

But I would like to challenge your assumption. Not all things revolve around “pragmatic” political outcomes. In fact, pragmatism at the expense of principle is a distinctly sub-Christian ethic, and it is a forbidden fruit to me (and those like me). Like Jesus said, “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but loses his own soul?”

So we’re not primarily saying “don’t vote for Romney.” That may be a side-effect if our message is believed. But please know I am telling the truth when I say our interest in this is not who sits in the WH. Our interest is in knowing the truth and using that knowledge to live in obedience to Christ, because that way lies real freedom. Like Jesus said, “You shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” No one is freer than one who is free to live obediently to God, regardless of the shifting winds of the world around him.

[greyfoxx39]

Well said!