By: Olivia Russell
Mormonism was started in the early nineteenth century by a man named Joseph Smith. He claimed that he was experiencing visions from God, one in particular of an angel by the name of Moroni leading him to ancient golden plates buried in a box on a hill in Manchester, New York. In 1830, he published what he claimed was written on the golden plates, and that is what is now known as the Book of Mormon. He established the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Fayette, New York, though it originally had a different name. The church was relocated multiple times over the next decades due to persecution and violence toward the group. In 1844, Joseph Smith was murdered by a mob in Illinois, and Brigham Young led members of the church to what is now Salt Lake City, Utah–over one thousand miles away.
Two hundred years later, the Mormons now have four books that they consider legitimate works of scripture: the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price, and the King James Bible. In this, they consider the Bible to be the least legitimate of the four, as Joseph Smith writes in the Pearl of Great Price that much of the Bible was misinterpreted or corrupted in translation after the death of the apostles. While Mormons respect the Bible, they more often look to the Mormon holy books, which do not align with Biblical beliefs on many accounts. For instance, they believe in salvation in two senses of the word: “individual salvation” or “exaltation” refers to the idea that a person is saved through works. “General salvation” refers to the idea that all men are inherently saved by belief alone in Christ.
In Ephesians 2:8-9 KJV, Paul writes, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.” This verse alone goes against both of their definitions of salvation. Salvation is not through works, like individual salvation claims, but through faith. General salvation refers to belief, not faith, and therefore, this verse contradicts this idea too. Mormons do not believe in the idea that faith is what saves, even as there are multiple verses throughout the Bible that claim this is true (Luke 7:50, Hebrews 11:1-6, Mark 11:22-24, 2 Corinthians 2:5).
It is also believed that God was once a man and became God. They believe that God has a physical body, as does his wife, whom they call “Heavenly Mother.” To believe that God has a beginning and was initially a man before the Lord is a major misunderstanding and ignorance of scripture. Psalm 90:2 KJV reads, “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.” God has no beginning. He has existed for all of time, and He was not yet a man before Christ, but instead created man and the earth. This verse says that before the mountains were formed, God was there. The idea that the Lord was first a man and became God aligns more with Buddhist beliefs and goes against every aspect of scripture.
Finally, the Mormons believe that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three distinct Gods. They will say that Jesus is a separate being created as a result of the sexual relation between Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother, made to be an “elder brother” of all people. Jesus was married, and His death did not pay for the sins of everyone on the cross but provided resurrection for everyone. In the Bible, several verses state the idea of the Trinity, claiming that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are of one being (Deuteronomy 6:4, Isaiah 45:5, James 2:19). It also explains that Jesus was not born of a sexual act, but of a supernatural circumstance (Luke 1:35, John 1:14, John 10:30).
The Bible alone is the Word of God, and it is without error (2 Timothy 3:16, Revelation 22:18-20). The Mormon church is drastically separated from Biblical beliefs, and they claim to be a Christian denomination. This is not written out of judgment for the members of the church, but for the official doctrine and ideology behind it.
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