Against Mormonism

Mormonism may not seem like an ideal target of an article but the staggering statistic is that 70% of Utah is Mormon. I pray that this brings the light of Jesus Christ upon any Mormon who may read this, I am not here to just bludgeon you with theology but to ask you to consider some of the things I will bring up here, even if you disagree with them. May the Lord Jesus Christ grace my words, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Short History of Mormonism

Mormons term themselves the “church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints” or LDS for short. They are headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah but also have a large community in Missouri as well. Many Mormons could be well-intentioned people but as I’ll show in this, they have a plethora of theological problems which are not compatible with Christianity. Some of them struggle with why Christians do not consider Mormons as Christians.

Mormonism began in 1830 when Joseph Smith asserted that he had seen two celestial angels who told him that all existing churches were false, and that he had been chosen to "restore" the one true Church. This “revelation” he said was given by angels and we can quickly note the Holy Scripture that states, “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.” - Galatians 1:8-12

Beliefs About Christ

Mormons will quickly tell you they believe that Jesus Christ is God. However this is not in the same sense as we mean it, just because we use the same terminology or phrasing doesn’t mean we are saying the same thing. God is Triune, Mormons do not believe God is Triune (neither do Muslims or Jews), therefore we do not have the same God.

Mormons do not believe Jesus is eternally God or part of an eternal Trinity. They believe Christ was created by the Father, which is modern Arianism. Mormons, would you respond the same way the Pharisees did when Jesus says, “Truly before Abraham was, I AM”?? Christ is God, co-eternal and consubstantial with the Father from all eternity. Mormons raise the same objections to the co-eternal nature of Christ as God as do Muslims and Jews.

Mormon leaders have taught that Jesus’ incarnation was the result of a physical relationship between God the Father and Mary (Journal of Discourses, vol. 8, p. 115; Mormon Doctrine, p. 547). This is disgustingly ignorant, and grotesque to think God wants to commune with humanity in a lustful sexual demonic way. That may sound harsh to some Mormons but it’s absolutely true. It’s like saying a father or mother would want to have sexual relations with their own children, it’s abominable and demonic.

And sadly you will find cases of incest, marrying cousins and sisters throughout history in Mormonism too. I don’t want to misrepresent and say it’s common, but it’s definitely frequent in history is the word I would use. And our beliefs radiate into actual life.

One of Mormonism’s key problems is having no real distinction between God and humanity, and I’ll show more examples of this throughout the article. But we see the first example here. At best, in Mormon belief Jesus is a created separate God from the Father, who is eternal into the future but not eternal from the past. That’s at best. More so, Mormons ultimately reject the divinity of Christ as a lower being from the Father. They deny His equality of essence with the Father, and this is their number one error. Changing this would change a lot of the other beliefs I’ll get into below.

To combat this, we need to go back to one of the first enemies of Christianity, Arianism. St. Athanasius’s Four Treatises Against the Arians is a good resource that would be helpful against today’s Mormons and Jehovahs Witness who deny that Christ is co-eternal, Second Person of the Godhead, in one essence with the Father.

Trinitarian Problem

The next biggest problem, which results from the first is Mormons believe the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct individual beings with each their own essence. As opposed to the Christian doctrine (of all denominations) that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit share one essence, but are three distinct Persons. If we were to say they are three distinct beings, then that leads to Tritheism, meaning there are now three gods of the universe, not one God. Mormons ultimate rejection of Christ as God, equal to the Father, necessitates them denying the Trinity.

They also believe that God the Father has a “body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s” (Doctrine and Covenants 130:22). This is extremely dangerous to believe, only the Son of God, Jesus Christ became incarnate in flesh and bones. The Holy Scriptures, Holy Tradition and all of Christian History attest to this. The Father did not become incarnate, nor the Holy Spirit.

The Mormon Church teaches that God the Father was once a man like us who progressed to become a God and has a body of flesh and bone (Doctrine and Covenants 130:22; "God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens!" from Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pp. 345-347; Gospel Principles, p. 9; Articles of Faith, p. 430; Mormon Doctrine, p. 321). Again this is just another example of how Mormonism has no distinction between God and man. Essentially you yourself are God which is asinine.

To say the Father has a body of flesh like us is literal blasphemy as it’s a rejection of the Trinity. Christ being God and the Holy Trinity are dogmatic beliefs for all Christians, it is not optional. Quite simply Mormons do not affirm these dogmatic beliefs.

Joseph Smith wrote, “Many men say there is one God; the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost are only one God. I say that is a strange God. . . . All are crammed into one God according to sectarianism [the Christian faith]. It would make the biggest God in all the world. He would be a wonderfully big God—he would be a giant or a monster” (Teachings, p. 372). For Mormons wondering why their beliefs aren’t considered Christian, I’ll reiterate this. Joseph Smith blatantly denies the Trinity. How is the Mormon conception of God any different than the Pagan religions who believed in Tritheism as well? Such as the Egyptian: Osiris, Isis, and Horus? Mormons belief is indistinguishable from this, it’s a pagan belief, therefore not a Christian one.

Hell

Mormons were extremely influenced by universalists which said that all people will be saved, hell will be temporary for some but eventually everyone will come to experience heaven. The Mormons that do believe in an eternal hell, then say only a very limited few will be there such as Satan and the fallen angels.

This is opposed to the biblical teaching of hell, which is eternal. So the short answer is, Mormons generally don’t believe in hell. And if they do, it’s for a very select few.

Mark 9:43, Jesus Christ our Lord and God says, “If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, where the fire never goes out.” No Christian believes in the doctrine of universalism as Mormonism does.

Apotheosis vs Theosis

As opposed to the Orthodox Christian view of Theosis that we become god by grace; as in we become like Him. Mormons believe in apotheosis which means humans are of the same nature as God and will literally become Him. This destroys the distinction between man and God. This nullifies any need of a savior in the first place. For the Mormon reading, this one is pretty easy to prove, save yourself from death and evil. You can’t. Therefore you are not and will not be God Himself.

Mormons have even appealed to the Orthodox to show their beliefs are biblical regarding becoming God, see the Salt Lake City Tribune article from 2018. To which the Orthodox respond the same way I do, no it’s not the same view. There’s a difference between becoming like God by grace (Orthodoxy) vs. becoming God Himself by nature (what Mormonism proposes).

Are Mormons Polygamous?

Polygamy was practiced for the vast majority of LDS history and only recently have they changed their stance on this. This practice actually divided and split Mormon groups into many different sects pretty quickly into their existence in the 1800’s. Mormonism founder, Joseph Smith was confirmed to have 20 wives. Up until almost 1900, Mormons all openly practiced polygamy. As a result of the vast polygamy, divorce and remarriage was frequently allowed with no limits to unhappy wives. How is this any different from the modern worldly hookup culture of today? Just with a brand of “marriage” on it? It’s not any different.

It wasn’t until 1890 that the then leader of Mormonism, Wilfred Woodruff, claimed to have received a revelation that the practice must be ended. Mainline LDS are no longer polygamous and believe these polygamous groups as apostates to their religion. So I am glad Mormons accept that monogamy is God-intended for us as human beings, I would then pose the question, why was this not clear to Joseph Smith when he founded Mormonism? And if he can be wrong about this revelation, what else could he be wrong about?

Conclusion

Mormons generally believe after the apostles there was a great apostasy until the time of Joseph Smith. Which is why they think the Trinity is a made-up doctrine and reject all sorts of other Christian beliefs. Mormonism proposes many of the same problems the Church has faced in past history, we only have to look to the Church, the Scriptures, and the Saints who illuminate truth for all. And I pray that any Mormon who reads this does not take offense to my challenges at their beliefs. But would contest with them, even if they disagree. The Lord Jesus Christ be with us all!