www.ChristDeaf.org
WHAT MORMONS TEACH
and
WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS
Mormons are very nice people.  But does their church teach the Bible?  There is a big difference between the Bible and Mormon teaching.  Here are just a few of the different teachings.

Compare the Bible and Mormon teaching.  Look in the Bible to see for yourself if it is really true.  Then you decide which you believe:  God's Word or Mormon teaching.

If you want to know more about the Bible, visit a Christian church that really believes and teaches the Bible as God's truth.

Who is God?
How many gods?
Who/what are angels?
Why did Jesus die on the cross?
How are we saved?
Who is Satan, the devil?
Is the Bible true?
Does God change?
After we die...
do we get a second chance to be saved?


WHO IS GOD?

The Bible says... 
  • "God is a Spirit."   (John 4:24)
  • God is Eternal, without beginning and without end (Psalm 90:1-2)
  • God never changes (Malachi 3:6; Psalm 102:27)
Mormons teach...
  • God was (and still is) a man. 
  • The Mormon god was a man who became an angel, and then he became a god.   "The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's" (Joseph Smith, Doctrine and Covenants, 130:22)
  • God has a wife, or God may have many god-wives. 
  • God has sex with his god-wives, so the wives get pregnant and have spirit babies.
  • "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 [Adam!] is our Father and our god and the only God with whom we have to do." (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 1:50.  Today the Mormon Church seems to ignore Brigham Young's earlier teaching that "our Father and our god" is Adam.)
The Mormon creed:
"As Man is, God was.
As God is, Man may become."

HOW MANY GODS?

The Bible says there is
ONLY ONE GOD.
  • "Remember today, and never forget that the Lord is God in heaven above and here on  earth.  There is no other god."  Deuteronomy 4:39
  •  "Listen, Israel:  The Lord is our God.  The Lord is the only God."  Deuteronomy 6:4
  •  "This is what the Lord says:  'I am the first and the last, and there is no God except me.'"  Isaiah 44:6 
  • "I am the only God.  I am the Savior  There is no other God." Isaiah 45:21
Why is the Mormon teaching so attractive?  It was the devil's first temptation to Eve in the Garden of Eden:  "You will become as God..."  (Genesis 3:5)
Mormons teach...
  • There are many, many gods.
  • Planet Earth has only one male god (and his goddess wives) but...
  • other gods rule over other planets.
  • If you become a good Mormon, you can become a god and can make spirit babies for your own planet!

WHO ARE ANGELS?

The Bible says...
  • God made the angels His "ministering (helping) spirits" (Hebrews 1:13-14)
Mormons teach...
  • Dead Mormon people become angels. 
  • Then they become gods.

WHY DID JESUS DIE ON THE CROSS?

The Bible says... 
  • "Christ carried our sins in his body on the cross so that, freed from our sins, we could live a life that has God's approval."  1 Peter 2:24
  • "Christ died for us while we were still sinners. this shows God's love for us."  Romans 5:8
  • "He was wounded (hurt) for our rebellious acts.  He was crushed for our sins...  and the Lord has laid all our sins on him."  Isaiah 53:5-6
  • "The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all sin" (1 John 1:7). 
Mormons teach...
  • Jesus died to atone (pay) only for Adam's sin, not ours.
  • If you believe that Jesus died to forgive your sins, you believe a false religion and you will not be saved.
  • "There is not a man or 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... Every man and woman will have to atone for breaking covenants."  (Brigham Young, Doctrine & Covenants)

    •  

HOW ARE WE SAVED?
WHAT MUST WE DO SO WE CAN GO TO HEAVEN?

The Bible says... 
  • We must believe in Jesus and receive the free gift God gives us:  God forgives all of our sins, and God takes us to heaven if we believe Him. 
  • "God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that every person who believes in Him will not be lost, but have eternal life."  John 3:16
  • "God saved you through faith as an act of Kindness.  You had nothing to do with it  (not your good works).  Being saved is a gift from God.  It's not the result of anything you've done, so no one can brag about it."  Ephesians 2:8-9
  • "He saved us, but not because of anything we had done to gain his approval.  Instead, because of His mercy He saved us."  Titus 3:5
Mormons teach...
  • You must become a Mormon and
  • you must do all the rules of their church so you can go to the highest level of heaven, the "Celestial Kingdom."
  • "All have the potential of eternal life, conditional upon individual worthiness and obedience to the Savior's ordinances and teachings." (LDS web site)
  • "The sectarian dogma of justification by faith alone has exercised an influence for evil since the early days of Christianity" (Mormon Apostle James Talmage, Articles of Faith, 1909, p. 120). 

WHO IS SATAN, THE DEVIL?

The Bible says... 
  • The devil, and all his demons, are angels who rebelled against God's authority. 
  • The Chief angel, Lucifer, the Angel of Light, was not satisfied being the highest angel.  He wanted to be a god. Lucifer rebelled against God. 
  • God threw Lucifer out of heaven.  God made hell for Lucifer and other rebelling angels.    See:

    •          Isaiah 14:12-15
             Matthew 25:41
             2 Corinthians 11:14
             Revelation 12:7-9
Mormons teach...
  • Satan (the devil) is Jesus’ brother!

IS THE BIBLE TRUE?

The Bible says... 
  • "Every Scripture passage (Bible verse) is inspired by God.  All of them are useful for teaching, pointing out errors, correcting people, and training them for a life that has God's approval."   2 Timothy 3:16
  • Jesus said: "The earth and the heavens will disappear, but My words will never disappear."  Matthew 24:35
Mormons teach...
  • "We believe the Bible to be the Word of God in so far as it is translated correctly." 
  • Mormon leaders say that it is impossible to translate the Bible correctly, because "many covenants of the Lord they have taken away." 
  • Mormons teach from  different books instead of the Bible:
      • (1) The Book of Mormon, 
      (2) Doctrine and Covenants, and 
      (3) The  Pearl of Great Price
  • Also the Mormon church accepts new teaching from their leaders as God's truth, as we see in the next topic:

DOES GOD CHANGE?

The Bible says... 
  • “I am the Lord, I do not change.”  Malachi 3:6
  • "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever."  Hebrews 13:8
Mormons teach...
  • The Mormon god is always changing.  He is becoming "better," more and more perfect. 
  • The teaching of the Mormon god often changes with "new revelations" through the church's "living prophets."  Examples: 
  1. Many years ago, Mormons practiced polygamy (a man could have many wives) because the Mormon god said that polygamy was good and right.  But in 1895 the Mormon god changed his mind and told them to stop polygamy, so Utah could become a state in the USA. 
  2. For many years the Mormon god did not permit black people to become Temple Priests. But in 1978 the Mormon god changed his mind, and he let black people become priests.

AFTER WE DIE
DO WE GET A SECOND CHANCE TO BE SAVED?

The Bible says... 
  • "Everyone must die once and be judged." Hebrews 9:27
  • Jesus clearly describes life after death in Luke 16:19-31, where
    • no one can travel between heaven and hell.
    • no one from heaven can visit earth again.
    • there is no scond chance for salvation -- now is the time to trust Christ and be saved.
Mormons teach...
  • People who die without knowing or accepting Mormonism can still be converted after they die. 
  • In their temples, Mormons "baptize" dead people by proxy, hoping that the dead person in the afterlife will convert to Mormonism, and be saved. 
  • This is the reason for Mormons' strong interest in geneologies.
  • This is one of important purposes of Mormon temple.

Click here for a brief FAQ about Mormon teaching
Click here for a PDF file with more information about the Mormon Church and their teachings.

Pastor Tim Eckert (Quad Cities Lutheran Deaf Ministry, Iowa) has excellent resources for Deaf Christians concerning the teachings of  Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses.  Go to www.revealed.net/deaflutheran and click on the link to "Defending Your Faith."

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