Mormonism a Cult?
Well it was bound to happen and it did. Reverend Robert Jeffress pastor at the First Baptist Dallas had to shoot his mouth off (which was very unchristian of him) and call Mormonism (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) a “cult”. Where is the outrage in this country? I mean if he would have called following Mohammad (Muslim) a cult there would be total outrage and a mainstream media firestorm. So where is this outrage and mainstream firestorm now that a Christian religion has been attacked? Nothing, just crickets. So why the attack upon the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints? Is that all opponents have on Romney and Huntsman? Come on for crying out loud, this is a Christian religion with Christian beliefs.
First, the Mormons believe in the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost. The only differences are that the Mormons believe that each is a separate entity. Plus, Mormons believe that Jesus Christ died for our sins upon the cross and He is our Savior.
Second, Mormons believe in wearing temple garments after receiving their endowments in the temple. These are not as some refer to them “magic pajamas”. Let me explain these things better so you can understand them. Temples have been built by the “commandment of the Lord where he could teach, guide, and bless His people. This is shown in Exodus 26-27, 40:35, 2 Chronicles 5:1-14, 7:1-2 (Temple of King Solomon), and Ezra 3:1-13, 6:3 (Temple of Zerubbabel). When Christ was on earth the only existing temple known was the Temple of Herod. Jesus was often found there. Luke 2:40-49 and Matthew 21:10-14”. (http://www.lds.org). Now endowments are special blessings that are done in the temple which worthy members make promises and covenants with God and learn how to return to live with Him. Lastly, the temple garments are worn as an “armor of God” after a worthy member receives their endowments at the temple. These are worn daily and many members are buried with their temple garments.
Third, Mormons believe that Joseph Smith (founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and the Book of Mormon) was a prophet and revelator. This does not mean that Joseph Smith is worshipped by members of the Mormon Church, like so many think. Joseph Smith is respected and loved by those in the church for his love of Christ, his interpreting and securing the plates which the Book of Mormon was written from, and for his ultimate sacrifice to bring the words of Christ to all nations, kindred’s, and tongues. The Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ taking place in the America’s. Since its publication, the Book of Mormon has been part of a great controversy, but has not been proven wrong by the many who have tried to deny its truth. Along with the Book of Mormon, the King James Version of the Bible is used, along with the Doctrine and Covenants which contains revelations given to the prophet Joseph Smith and some additions by his successors in the presidency of the church. So it is NOT true that Mormons do not use the Bible. In fact, this year for Sunday school in Mormon churches across the world, there has been a study of the New Testament. Mormons believe in Jesus Christ and that He is the Savior.
So as you have read Mormonism is not a cult, it is a Christian Church by all rights. Mormons may have different ways of doing things but what it really comes down to is that the Mormons believe in the Father, Son, Holy Ghost, the King James Version Bible, the Ten Commandments, faith, hope, and charity. Yes, there are certain things that are different, but what really matters is the fact that Mormons believe like all other Christian churches believe in the basics of Christianity and that is that Jesus Christ came here to earth to die for all of our sins so we may be resurrected and return to our Father in heaven. I hope this clears some of the misconceptions of the Mormon Church and if you want to learn more facts about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints please go to www.mormon.org or to www.lds.org. By the way, if you were wondering, yes I am a Mormon.
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22 Responses to Mormonism a Cult?
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At what point does a cult stop being a cult, and become a religion? If one examines almost all of the major religions,( except Hindu, no-one is sure when it started) in the early years they all filled the qualifications of a cult. In fact the Caesar called Christianity a cult. Islam under Mohammad was at one time considered a cult. Buddha was leader of a cult, at one point. During the reformation all the protestans were cultists in the eyes of the Catholic Church. So, when did all these “cults” become religions?
JMG; You actually support those who have attempted to reveal the truth in these posts. I wonder how much you actually know about the Bible. I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints having been converted in 1974 after growing up in a small community of protestants and Catholics in West Central Illinois. I am totally familiar with the Bible which I cherish and know that those books of scripture you have condemned in your post actually support the Bible. I can tell you that your information is skewed or maybe a better word would be mostly false if not all false.
The Bible is clear about the Godhead and the creeds are totally wrong. I have had many conversations with individuals such as your self on a one to one basis and when those actual principles of Jesus Christ having a physical body of flesh and bone (of which he revealed to his disciples after His resurrection) telling them to touch him for a body has not flesh and bones as ye see me have. When these verses in Luke 24 are presented to those of your position they claim that is the reason why God has to fit the description contained in the creeds and can not have a body or in other words is a god of three persons (not to be confused with person) without body parts or passion. The Bible even reveals that His body of flesh, bone & blood, His blood having been shed for us came forth from the tomb a resurrected incorruptible or in other words the same body being made alive by the spirit putting off corruption becoming a physical body of flesh, bone and spirit with out corruptible blood.
The Bible is very clear on this subject and the doctrine of the trinity can not be found in the Bible. I know the doctrines of the protestant faiths in that small town and I was informed by more than one minister that I would be cast into hell if I did not accept the doctrine of the trinity. Do you not believe that no one but those who accept your faith are going to hell? I have never known a church in that little town and they had Christian churches, except of course, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that didn’t take that position.
I’m really not concerned what you or any other individual believes. That is your God given American right and what I can’t understand is why you folks have never permitted the members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that same right. Most of those religions in the the 1800′s believed that killing the latter-day saints at Hawn’s Mill in Missouri and other locations was doing God a great work. After those 16 to 18 years of slaughter of the saints in the United Sates they drove them from the nation into the wilderness. Where they were able to live and build and have become among the most prosperous people in America folks like you still attempt to destroy them.
You should study the bible if you did to you would discover that the Savior was accused of gaining His power from the chief of the devils and then if you were to study further you would discover that Jesus Was murdered as was the most of his apostles and many others of his disciples so being latter-day saints we as a people are in good company. I find it difficult to understand why one who claims to follow the Savior would be as hypocritical of others, who do follow His teachings but refuse to love thy neighbor as thyself which is the 2nd great commandment. What is a Christian?
Fred E. Barrett,
The pseudo-revelation found in the book of Mormon, Pearl of Great Price, Doctrine and Covenants, not to mention the oft quoted King Follett discourse, do not support monotheism, and therefore, they run absolutely counter to the core teaching of the Bible. They do not support it unless you reinterpret the Bible to fit them. This is precisely what Mormonism attempts to do.
The New Testament itself claims to be God’s final and complete revelation to man before the return of Christ occurs. Jude 1:3 says the following:
“Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”
Jude does not write of “faith” in this verse, but rather “THE faith”. By THE faith, he means the apostolic testimony contained in the New Testament writings. He urges his readers to earnestly contend for it against anything which attempts to challenge or replace it. Further he describes this testimony as having “once” been “delivered unto the saints”. The word “once” here actually carries with it the meaning of “once and for all”. Jude’s point is that the message has been communicated by God to man and that it is complete and finished, not to be added to or changed. Mormonism ignores this truth and exalts to an even higher position its own pseudo-revelation, making the Bible little more than a place from which verses can be plucked from their contexts in order to support alien Mormon doctrine.
As for the creeds, you don’t seem to realize that the creeds are based upon the Bible. While some Christians may indeed believe the creeds simply because their clergy tell them to do so, many others believe them because they have found that they do in fact reflect the teaching of the Bible itself. You make much of the fact that Christ had a physical body of flesh and blood and then, following the resurrection, a body described as having flesh and bone. It may surprise you to know that Christians have no problem with this teaching. The Son or Logos did indeed come and tabernacle among us (John 1) taking upon himself an unfallen human nature and a human body. He did not discard the nature or the body following the resurrection. This truth, however, has not bearing whatsoever on the validity of Biblical doctrine of the Trinitarian nature of the one and only God.
It is true that you won’t find a verse that speaks of the trinity, however, the truths that, when considered together, lead to the conclusion of the Trinitarian nature of God are literally EVERYWHERE in scripture.
Here is what I mean:
—- First, there are verses that declare that THE “FATHER” IS GOD.
For instance:
I Corinthians 15:24 “Then cometh the end, when he (Jesus) shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.”
—- Then there are verses that say that JESUS IS GOD.
For instance:
John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (Clearly from the context of the chapter, the “Word” is referring to none other than Jesus.)
And :
John 20:28 “And Thomas answered and said unto him (Jesus), My Lord and my God.” (As the verse clearly states, Thomas’ statement was said “unto him” and the context makes it abundantly clear that he is addressing Jesus.)
—- Further, there are verses that indicate that the Holy SPIRIT IS GOD.
For instance:
Acts 5:3-4 “But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land? Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.” (Note that in the first verse, Ananias is said to have lied to the Holy Spirit, but in the second verse, Peter makes lying to the Holy Spirit equivalent with lying to God.)
Finally, these verses and many others make it abundantly clear that the Father is not the Son, and Holy Spirit is not the Father or the Son. There 3 are somehow distinct from each other.
So far so good for Mormonism. Since Mormonism upholds the doctrine of polytheism (more than one God), these verses are not a problem. However, we are not finished yet with scripture, and it is right here that Mormonism fails miserably in claiming agreement with the Bible.
Why? Simply because there is another group of verses which state that there is only ONE GOD.
For instance:
Isaiah 43:10 “Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.”
Isaiah 45:5-6 “I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.”
I Corinthians 8:4 “As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one.”
So pervasive is the concept of Monotheism in the Bible that the it can be honestly be said to be the core doctrine of the entire testimony of scripture. The key verse for the Israelites was and has always been Deuteronomy 6:4 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD:…” indicating that they and their OT scriptures roundly rejected any concept of polytheism (many Gods).
So this is what the early church found in scripture when they attempted to put into words what the scriptures say about God. In order to remain true to the full testimony of scripture, they had little choice but to come to the conclusion of Trinitarianism. Any other position is unbalanced and inconsistent with the Bible.
Further, I do not hold the position that one who does not hold to Trinitarianism is destined for hell. Salvation is not based upon one’s score on a theological exam. One can certainly be a Christian even if he or she does not hold to Trinitarianism. Such a one could be a Christian, albeit a confused and immature Christian. However, any organization (such as Mormonism) that purports to be a mouthpiece in the world for Christ, but which espouses and attempts to spread doctrines that conflict with the testimony of the Bible is indeed a cult. Those within the ranks of such an organization who lend their efforts and talents to its expansion are engaging in cultist activity, confused believer or not.
You cite the fact that Mormons died at the hands of non-mormons as though it is proof positive of the truth of their doctrines. Yet, many Trinitarian Christians have been martyred as well. I don’t point to this as something that proves that Trinitarianism is true. It doesn’t. Neither does it, nor can it, make aberrant Mormon doctrines agree with scripture.
Finally, you too have the God given American right to believe whatever you wish just as well as I do. Please explain to me how my pointing out that Mormon doctrine is not in agreement with the Bible does anything to take this right away from you. You are perfectly free to follow Mormonism even if it is not a part of the Christian church. Lovin your neighbor is not allowing him to walk in error when you can help. Pointing out the scriptural short-comings of Mormonism is doing precisely that.
JMG
Is Mormonism a Cult? That depends entirely upon the definition of the word cult. But there is much to indicate that the doctrines and practices as taught by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have affinity with the ancient and even modern sociological definitions of that word.
Mormons are not Christians – they do not believe the truth about Christ…and that? is NOT who a Christian is.
Nor Islam
You are dead wrong in saying that Joseph Smith has never been proven a fraud. His ridiculous translation of ancient Egyptian is in the Church archives. He bought a papyrus and “translated” it into the Pearl of Great Price. Once the fruits of studying the Rosetta Stone became known to the general public, it was clear that the actual papyrus that Smith “translated” was merely a funerary text from the Book of the Dead. This is dead nuts proof that he is a fraud. You cannot argue it. I was born a Mormon, but when I heard about this and researched it, it opened my eyes to a host of lies I’d subscribed to my entire life.
http://www.utlm.org/images/changingworld/chwp341papyrus.gif