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Because presidential candidate Mitt Romney is a Mormon, this worldview is now being re-examined in American culture. But what is more fascinating is that Mormonism wants to be regarded as simply another expression of Christianity. This was driven home to me personally when I recently spoke at a luncheon in an Omaha church. During the Q and A after my lecture, I was asked whether I had concerns about Mormonism and Mitt Romney. I mentioned that Mormonism is not an expression of Christianity but is a cult, holding heretical views about Jesus and about the Trinitarian nature of God. After the lecture, a Mormon woman came up to me, expressing deep resentment that I characterized Mormonism as a cult. She argued strongly that Mormons are Christians. Further, Elder M. Russell Ballard, a member of Mormonism’s Council of Twelve Apostles, was interviewed recently by US News and World Report. He argued that Mormons “see ourselves as New Testament Christians, organized the same way, with Apostles.” Are they? How should we think about Mormonism?
Mormonism is by far the largest and fastest growing cult, with as many as 10 million adherents worldwide. Its beginnings revolve totally around Joseph Smith, who was born in 1805 in Sharon, Vermont. His life changed in 1820 when he supposedly received a vision from God, who told him that all other religions were an abomination but that he was the prophet to bring restoration. In 1823 a vision from the angel Moroni informed him that he would uncover a number of golden plates that needed translating from “reformed Egyptian hieroglyphics.” He was able to translate them with a huge pair of spectacles he called the “Urim and Thummim.” Between 1827 and 1829 he “translated” the plates and in 1830 published The Book of Mormon. In another vision from John the Baptist in 1829, he received the Aaronic priesthood and founded the “Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.” The Mormons, led by Smith, relocated to Illinois, where they built the city of Nauvoo, where he instituted the practice of polygamy. When Smith and his brother Hyrum tried to destroy a local newspaper office because of its stand against the Mormons, they were arrested and jailed in Carthage, Illinois. Tragically, an angry mob stormed the prison and on 27 June 1844 shot and killed the two brothers. The leadership mantle passed to Brigham Young. Under Young’s leadership, the Mormons relocated to Salt Lake City in July 1847. There they settled down and built their unique brand of religion. Young’s influence was virtually dictatorial, but it provided the stability needed for the group to grow. During this period, the US government sought to make Utah a state but first the Mormons resisted this effort and later refused to give up polygamy as a condition for statehood. Only when the government threatened the Mormons with property loss did they change their doctrine and abolish polygamy as a doctrine.
Today, the Mormons are a highly structured and organized religion. Led by a First President, a Council of Twelve Apostles and a Council of Seventy, there are also bishops, counselors and teachers at all levels. Further, virtually all Mormon males serve as deacons and elders. Males over 12 years old are also members of the Mormon priesthood of Aaron or Melchizedek. Because they regard themselves as the true church, Mormons call all non-Mormons “Gentiles.”
For Mormonism, “scripture” includes the Bible and The Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon, which supposedly was written by several people from about 600 B.C. to A.D. 428, tells of the migration of an ancient people from the Tower of Babel to Central America. These people, known as the Jaredites, perished because of apostasy. A later migration occurred in 600 B.C., when a group of Jews were supposedly told by God to flee Jerusalem before the Babylonian captivity. These Jews, led by Lehi and his son Nephi, crossed the Pacific Ocean and landed in South America. There they divided into two opposing nations, the Nephites and the Lamanites. The Lamanites, cursed with dark skin because of their iniquity, were the ancestors of the American Indians. The Nephites recorded prophecies about the coming of Christ, and after His resurrection He visited them. He instituted communion, baptism, and the priesthood for the Nephites. Later they were annihilated in a battle with the Lamanites in A.D. 428. Before they were killed in battle, Mormon, the compiler of the divinely revealed Book of Mormon, and his son Moroni took the golden plates on which “the revelation” was recorded and buried them. These plates were uncovered 1,400 years later by Joseph Smith. How reliable is this “history?” There are several key points that demonstrate that The Book of Mormon is unreliable as a historic text: 1. There are no reliable witnesses to the plates Smith supposedly translated. 2. As Boa remarks, “Though The Book of Mormon was buried in A.D. 428, it contains about 25,000 words verbatim from the A.D. 1611 King James version of the Bible!” I recently visited the new Mormon temple in Omaha, Nebraska, where I live. During the tour, one guest asked why there is no archeological evidence for the historical claims of The Book of Mormon. Our guide could offer no answer. 4. There is absolutely no evidence of anything called “reformed Egyptian hieroglyphics.”
Mormonism teaches that God the Father was once a man, but became God. He has a physical body, as does his wife (the Heavenly Mother). Mormons deny the trinity, arguing that the Father, Son and Spirit are three separate gods. Mormons likewise teach that it is possible for all faithful Mormons to one day become gods too. For Mormons, Jesus is a separate god from the Father (Elohim) and is the spirit child of the Father and Mother in heaven. He is, therefore, the “elder brother” of all men spirit beings. His body was created through sexual union between Elohim and Mary. In fact, Mormonism teaches that Jesus was married, as a polygamist, to the two Marys and Martha.
His death on Calvary’s cross does not provide full atonement, but does guarantee resurrection for everyone. For Mormonism, salvation, which is an exaltation to godhood, can only be earned through obedience to LDS leaders, Mormon baptism, tithing, marriage (which they believe is eternal) and secret temple rituals. Using 1 Corinthians 15:29, the LDS church also teaches that present day Mormons can be vicariously baptized for their ancestors, who will then be “saved.” For that reason, Mormons spend a great deal of time studying their family’s genealogy so that they can be baptized in their place.
Mormonism is a worldview that has generated passion and growth. It has been an aggressive religion, expecting all teens to commit two years in missionary service, for which they raise their own funds. Also, the LDS leaders expect every Mormon to tithe 10% of all income, with the result that the LDS church is extremely wealthy, with assets over $30 billion. Mormons are also visibly active in politics and social causes that promote conservative values and ethics. They remain a powerful force in American culture.
By any definition of biblical Christianity, Mormonism is not another expression of Christianity. It is a cult and a highly organized religion with a distinctive worldview that in no way resembles biblical Christianity.
See the interview with Elder Ballard in the US News and World Report (12 November 2007), p. 28. Also, see James P. Eckman, The Truth About Worldviews, pp. 95-104. |
