Christianity vs the Mormon Religion

"Mormonism must stand of fall on the story of Joseph Smith. He was either a Prophet of God, divinely called, properly appointed and commissioned or he was one of the biggest frauds this world has ever seen. There is no middle ground. If Joseph was a deceiver, who willfully misled people, them he should be exposed, his claims should be refuted, and his doctrines shown to be false..." (President J.F. Smith, LDS Doctrine of Salvation, vol.1 pp.188-189)

It has taken more research than one would first imagine to reveal both the public and secret, excuse me sacred doctrines of the Mormon Church. I want to warn the reader that what you are about to learn will both fascinate, shock and make any Christian feel very uncomfortable. Still, it is important to understand who were the founders the Mormon religion, what doctrines it originally followed as opposed to those it espouses today, and what it promises its worshippers in death. If you become over or under whelmed by the facts concerning this religious sect, you can fast forward to the end of this Paper for a quick listing of the major tenants of Mormonism under the heading "Doctrinal Issues of Christianity Verses Mormonism".

                                       Summary 

Joseph Smith Jr. {b.1805}, was the founder of the Mormon religion. He was a young man who believed he received visions and understandings from Jesus and the Holy Spirit on how He and all men can become gods.

Smith taught that God the Father was once an "intelligence". The LDS Church has never defined this word. But it appears to be related to the traditional understanding of an eternal Intelligent Life Spirit that God gave to Adam and now to all humans. The Mormon God the Father did not create anything, but instead He "progressed" until He was able to organized the matter and energy He found around him. Thus, He alone is credited with organizing the universe and its planets. The Spirit Children He creates with his Goddess wife(s) are indwelled by these same eternal intelligences and then go down to God the Father's planet and indwell its inhabitances. Mormons believe that God the Father is enthroned in a place in space near the sun Kolob. NASA knows of no such sun. Now, when these indwelled humans die, they have the possibility of being resurrected as god-men with their own planet. And, with their wives, create their own Spirit Children. And so, this system which has been eternally in place, will continue eternally. Today, all Mormon men believe they have the possibility of becoming a god-man. The god-man of planet earth was once a man who "progressed" and at death was resurrected as an immortal and a god with his own planet. Then, this god-man with his wife, began producing Spirit Children that are indwelled by "intelligences" and indwell the humans of planet earth. However, there are innumerable planets with human inhabitances all waiting for their own god-man to be assigned and continue this eternal process.  

Old school Mormons are taught that the god-man of this earth is Adam who, in a rare appearance, physically impregnated Mary who conceived Jesus. Thus, Jesus was not virgin born, but he was ‘special’ in that his biological father was the god-man Adam, and His indwelling spirit was that of Michael the angel. However, most modern Mormons now believes in the traditional virgin birth scenario in which the Holy Spirit caused Mary to conceive. The LDS Church is split on these two teachings. Further, all Mormons believe that Jesus is the Spirit Brother of Lucifer. Also, Jesus was the first born Spirit Child of God the Father. And, while He self-sacrificed Himself for the sins of mankind, this event happens all the time with other ‘special’ spirits self-sacrificing themselves on other planets for the sins of their inhabiters. So for Mormons, there is no Creator God as creation always eternally existed. And the system of mortal men becoming immortal god-men was also eternally in place.

Modern Mormons believe that Jesus is mankind's saviour but, as with all mankind, Jesus had to progress to godhood status during His mortal life on earth. Because Jesus self sacrificed Himself, earth's men now have the opportunity to become gods with their own planets. Mormons believe that the Holy Spirit was also a man who died and in his case, was translated into an immortal spirit-man. Thus, Mormons do not believe in the traditional understanding of an eternal united Trinity of one substance. Instead, their Godhead consists of three separate immortal god-men with a common goal.

Old school Mormons believe that once Jesus ascended into Heaven, His spirit returned back to Michael. But all Mormons believe that Jesus, Michael and Lucifer are spirit brothers. Old school Mormons believe Adam was the physical incarnation of the angel Michael. Original Mormon doctrine stated that Adam was God the Father of planet earth. This doctrine was changed in 1976. While all these differing doctoral beliefs are confusing, and are prone to change, they are not seen by Mormons as that important. Instead, they are seen as distractions from the only important belief. That the god-man of earth allowed his first born spirit Jesus to self sacrifice Himself for the sins of the people so they could attain god-man status. Thus, they turn a blind eye to some Mormon doctrines as they are not germane to their daily worship beliefs and practices.

All Mormons believe that all religions, including traditional Christianity, are false and an abomination to God in that they are a continuation of pagan Mystery Babylon. Smith taught that Cain was cursed by God and given a "mark" that consisted of dark skin. Thus, his offspring continue to bear this accursed mark as people of color. The LDS Church officially dropped this doctrine in 2013. Only the LDS Church is approved by the Mormon god-man of planet earth. Polygamy is approved by the Mormon god-man of earth. However, this doctrine was dropped in 1890 as it was against federal law. Still, many traditional Mormon men believe in having multiple wives so as to be able to create more Spirit Children to populate their future planets. They point to founder Joseph Smith who is thought by the LDS Church to have had approximately forty wives one of whom was fourteen years old. However, it is taught that he did not consummate the marriage, but instead saved or sealed their consummation to take place in Heaven. Smith, along with his brother, were jailed pending a trial for arson. A mob stormed the jail and Smith was killed in a shootout trying to escape. Smith killed two men and wounded three. He was 38 years old.  

The LDS Church teaches that Smith was symbolic of Jesus as he was a good man, divinely appointed to revealed the mysteries of god, was misunderstood, and eventually unjustly martyred by evil men. 

THE DEEP DIVE

Joseph Smith Jr. 

The Mormon Religion starts with its founder Joseph Smith Jr. who was born on a small farm in rural Vermont December 23rd 1805 the fourth of nine children. The farm experienced several years of crop failures so the family moved west to the town or Palmyra located in upstate New York. It was there that Joseph spent his early childhood and attended regular revival services. It was also there that his family finally chose to become members of the Presbyterian Church. However, Joseph stated he personally “leaned towards Methodism”. At an early age, Joseph claimed he could put his face down into the hat, and in the darkness see visions. Local residents began to pay him to reveal insights into their lives. By 1819, Joseph was involved in the Art of Scrying. This is the practice of looking into a translucent ball or other material in order to receive spiritual visions. To do this he would put a crystal sphere or stones into a hat then stick his face into the rim.

In 1820 Joseph heard a revival preacher suggest that a believer should seek council on an issue by praying (James 1:5). That night Joseph, who was fourteen at this time, said he went into a grove of trees near his home, dropped on his knees and prayed in order to receive guidance on which denomination was most approved by God. His prayer was , “If some supreme being exist, please hear my prayer.” (Messenger & Advocate, Vol. 1 Pg. 79). This is a strange way to start a prayer concerning which denomination is the best in the eyes of God. In fact, to say a prayer to anything that happens to be listening is to open oneself up to the possibility of a satanic intervention. So, it is not surprising that Joseph now encounters what he described as two radiant beings. Scripture warns us that, “… even Satan can disguise himself as an angel of light,”  (II Corinthians 11:14). 

Joseph stated this was the first of many visions and prophecies he received over his short lifetime. He said he saw two illuminated “personages descend", one was God the Father who pointed to the second person and said, “This is my beloved son. Him listen to”. This is a direct quote from Matthew (Matthew 17:5). Joseph asked the beings which was the correct denomination in the eyes of God. He was told that the Christian religion had become a great apostasy within a few generation of Jesus’ ascension. They told him that all the various Christian denominations were now a corrupt abomination in the eyes of God. Consequently, the keys of authority of the Holy Priesthood had been withdrawn from the earth and no man was now authorized to act in God’s name. Thus, the rites of baptism, laying on of hands, indwelling of the Holy Spirit, blessings of any kind and Communion were no longer valid. This corruption had led to the proliferation of many dominations with their confusing orthodoxies. They told him that he had been appointed to resurrect the “new church”. However, there are 5 major problems with this storyline.

First, Jesus personally promised that His Gospel would be everlasting and would not become apostate (Matthew 16:18).

Second, the history of the Christian religion has been well documented since Christ. There is absolutely no mention of the Christian religion experiencing a great apostasy and becoming apostate. None of the respected theologian fathers of the first, second and third centuries (i.e. Ignatius, Eusebius, Clement of Rome, Polycarp, etc.) make any mention of great problems with Christian theology much less apostasies. 

Third, the founding of the Mormon Religion is in line with the start of all false world religions. A man is concerned about the spiritual state of mankind, and the need for a true religious doctrine to lead it from darkness to light. He is contemplating this issue, or is in prayer when he is suddenly visited by an angel who tells him that all religions are wrong, but his religion will be the right one in the eyes of God. 

Forth, Joseph will not write about this vision until twenty two years later when it is published in the Church’s “Times and Seasons” publication.

And fifth, this vision was not officially accepted by the Church until the 1880’s when it was edited to say that Joseph was visited by one angel. This was decided by Brigham Young the second President of the Church after Joseph was publicly executed by an angry mob. More on that later.

After this vision event, Joseph went to a local Methodist preacher and told him of this experience. Apparently the pastor told others and according to Joseph, “All men of high standing … the great ones of the most popular sects”, bitterly harassed and persecuted him. However, researchers have reviewed the towns newspaper during this time period and there are no stories concerning Joseph, his vision or an ensuing social uproar. This is all the more unusual as the paper actually had a ‘gossip column’. Over the course of twenty four years, Joseph made comments concerning this first vision, but was inconsistent in stating the date. He also fundamentally changed his understanding of who God was. His god went from being a spiritual being at his first visitation to an actual physical human. In order to put this controversy to rest, Brigham Young wrote that Joseph did have a vison, but it was of only one angel not two, and it did not involve God. Today modern scholars including Mormon scholars do not believe Joseph had this first vision. However, because it is this seminal event that started the religion, Church leaders decided to keep it as part of official Mormon doctrine. 

Strangely, in 1823 a full three years after his first vision, Joseph’s mother, sisters and two brothers joined the local Presbyterian Church. It was then that Joseph and his wife Emma also became members. Strange because he said he was told by God and Christ in 1820 that all denominations were blasphemous. This record of their joining the local Presbyterian church is one more dating inconsistency that led Brigham Young to eventually conclude that Joseph’s first vision did not happen at all. And, if it did, it was only an angel telling him not to join any organized religion, which he then immediately did. Interestingly, the Church's records show that Joseph was eventually expelled from the congregation in 1828 due to “... his belief in magic, and his use of divining rods and crystal balls to aide in his ‘money-digging’ activities”. Apparently, Joseph also made money hiring himself out to find buried treasure along with gold and silver mines.  

Joseph is documented as having committed thirty criminal acts and at least that many banking fraud offences. He was arrested at least forty two times in New York, Ohio, Missouri and Illinois. He would escape prosecution by posting bail then crossing state lines always heading westward and taking his Church followers with him. One of his more interesting crimes was treason against the state of Missouri by allegedly conspiring to assassinate the Governor. Because he seldom stayed in town to go to trial, the Church has interpreted this as he was an innocent law abiding citizen who was persecuted because of his religious beliefs. Bottom line, Joseph was a defendant in thirty eight criminal cases which made up approximately 20% of the total number of cases he was involved in. Further, he served as either a defendant, plaintiff or witness in over two hundred legal issues in twenty five years. Cases filed against him included Conspiracy to Murder {twice}, Bank Fraud, Threating a Judge, Treason {twice}, Larceny, Disorderly Conduct, Assault & Battery, Perjury, Fornication, and Inciting a Riot (JosephSmithPapers.org). No, Joseph was not an innocent man.

                                     The Angel Morani

On September 21, 1823, Joseph stated he had a second vision. He was visited by an angel who called himself Moroni. Moroni said he was once the human son of a man named Mormon. He told Joseph that he was from the ancient Nephite nation which lived in the Americas many hundreds of years before the English settled in 1607. He told Joseph that Jewish settlers left Jerusalem and sailed across the ocean in three separate waves of immigration to eventually settle the land. Please note, in the early 1800’s it was generally understood that Native Americans were the fabled lost tribe of Israel. Moroni told Joseph that these Jewish immigrants prospered creating large cities and eventually split into two separate nations, the Nephites and the Lamanites. Unfortunately, every few years the two nations went to war with each other. A final battle was held in which the Nephite’s nation was completely destroyed by the Lamanites with Moroni the only Nephite survivor. However, Mormon had previously written down the history of these nations on 8”x6” golden plates. Moroni said he added some additional information and then in 421 A.D. put the plates in a stone box and buried it on a hillside named Hill Cumorah near Palmyra New York. He stated that a great battle took place at Cumorah and that two hundred thousand heavily armed men were killed there. 

This somewhat small hill has been extensively excavated numerous times, but strangely, not a single relic of any kind has ever been found on the hill or for that matter on the US continent. In the 1970’s LDS President Spencer W. Kimball wrote in the LDS Church News publication that people should, "stop looking for archeological evidence from the Book of Mormon as there is none !” Thomas Ferguson a wealthy attorney and staunch believer, spent twenty five years and many hundreds of thousands of dollars looking for any archeological evidence to prove that the Book of Mormon was true. He concluded, there was no truth to the story, Joseph Smith was not a prophet and Mormonism was a lie. 

Moroni explained he later died and came back as an angel. He was sent to tell Joseph that he had been appointed to translate the plates into English and start the one true religion of God. He then showed Joseph the box and plates, but Joseph was not allowed to actually take them. In 1827, and having met annually over a four year period, Joseph was finally allowed to dig up the plates and start to translate them from Reformed Egyptian Hieroglyphics to English. He was able to accomplish this by using seer or crystal stones also found in the box. He gave these two stones the Old Testament names of the Urim and the Thummim. Joseph would take each plate, one at a time, and put it in a top hat. Then he would put his face into the hat’s rim. In the darkness, and looking through the stones, he was able to translate the plates. The plates were then said to have been reburied by the angel Moroni and were never seen again. How terribly inconvenient.

To date, no archeological evidence of any kind has ever been found concerning theses large ancient nations with their cities and millions of people. Some Mormon missionaries will still insist that the plates were referring to the Inca civilization of Mexico. But this civilization came into existence one thousand years after the Jewish immigration date given by Joseph. Also, the Inca were pagans that regularly conducted human sacrifices. Therefore, they were definitely not Jewish. Other missionaries will say that the ruins of these great civilizations are still waiting to be discovered in either America, or Central America, or South America. But the Archeological Department of Brigham Young University has written an official declaration that the story of this civilization was a fictitious writing from the imaginative mind of Joseph Smith. 

Further, the Hill of Cumorah and the surrounding areas have been extensively studied and excavated over the past two hundred years with not a single artifact of any kind ever having been found. Joseph also wrote of a cave in the Hill filled with gold. No cave has ever been found. 

The LDS church now owns the Hill of Cumorah and operates a lovely visitors center with souvenir keychains. 

Also, Joseph said the gold plates were written in “Reformed Egyptian”. This was a phrase Joseph used to describe the hieroglyphic writings. However, this phrase has never been heard of in Egyptian history. Also, the idea that the Jews would have written sacred records in the pagan Egyptian language, and not Hebrew the language of their God, is ludicrous in the extreme. The Egyptians were and continue to be the sworn enemies of the Jews. 

GOLDEN PLATES & ELEVEN WITNESSES

The story of Joseph Smith finding a buried golden book is the keystone upon which the Mormon religion is founded. Smith himself wrote, "The Book of Mormon is the most correct book of any book on the earth {including the Bible} and a keystone of our religion." The official Mormon Church Story is that Joseph Smith, following the directions of the angel Moroni, dug up a golden looking book that consisted of thin 8" by 6" gold looking metal plates bound together by three "D" rings.

Every page had Reformed Egyptian hieroglyphics engraved on each side. Smith translated the writing using seer stones and a top hat. He was then allowed to select eleven witnesses to see the actual Book. The first three witnesses said they saw the angel Moroni reading the Book, and heard the voice of the Lord speak by way of angels. Later, Smith allowed eight additional men to look and peruse the Book. Smith then had all eleven men sign affidavits that they saw the angel, Book and plates. These affidavits are included in the first pages of the Book of Mormon. So here we have a lucid and straight forward understanding of what happened according to the Mormon Church. Now the actual facts behind this story.

The three men who swore they saw and heard angels along with seeing the Book of Mormon all later recanted their original statements. They then left the Mormon Church and had no further contact with Joseph Smith who they called a scoundrel and polygamist. Instead they said they did not actually see or hear angels and they did not actually see the Book. Instead they said they saw the angels not with their flesh eyes but with their spiritual eyes. In other words, they thought they saw a vision of the angels. They also said they did not actually see the Book as it was wrapped in cloth. But they were allowed to hold the bundle. They said the bundle weighted about 30 to 60 pounds. The LDS Church states that the men later recanted their original recantments and returned to the Church? This is not true. One of the three men over time joined thirteen different denominations while one became a Methodist and the other started his own religion.

The other eight men consisted of two families. One group were members of Smith's extended family. The other group consisted of men who helped finance the early Church and the printing of copies of the Book of Mormon. They stated that they actually saw and leafed through the Book. Different men gave very different descriptions of how the Book looked. Some said it had the look of gold or polished brass, while others said it had a whitish yellow hew, or was greenish, or had a golden copper color. One said the metal looked like a cross between lead and gold. I guess they should have gotten together on this question. Later, Smith's wife, mother and two siblings said they saw and held the bundle but did not actually see the Book. The eight men never recanted that they saw the Book of Mormon before Moroni came and took it away never to be seen again.

Interestingly, in 1843 three men devised a hoax that they perpetrated on Smith. They created a counterfeit book composed of plates made of copper and etched with Egyptian symbols using acid. They then took the book to Smith to decipher. Smith stated it was written by a descendant of Ham, the youngest son of Noah. The descendant was also the son of a Pharaoh King of Egypt. Wow! However, without saying anymore, Smith stopped translating the book and never spoke of the work again. The following year after Smith's death, the men revealed that it was a hoax. However, Brigham Young insisted it was authentic and had the book archived by the Church as an ancient sacred relic. In 1980, the book was analyzed using a microscopic cross section of the copper's composition and smelting process. The metal was shown to have been created using techniques popular in the 1800's. Recently, an exact reproduction of the Book of Mormon as described by eye witnesses was created out of tin with etched pages using 19th century tools in two hours. Now really, who do you think created the Book, and isn't it it interesting that while it is the foundation of the Mormon religion, it was for no apparent reason taken away and rehidden? (Wikipedia "Golden Plates")

After Joseph’s death, Brigham Young tried to clear up this matter concerning the recanting of witnesses by publishing an article. In it he wrote, “…the writings in the Book of Mormon concerning those who handled the plates and conversed with the angels of God were afterwards left to doubt and to disbelieve that they had ever seen an angel” (Journal of Discourse: Vol. 7, Pg. 164). Further, Brigham wrote, “Reading about these witnesses as cited in LDS articles of the times; one is drawn to the conclusion that these were unstable men and easily convinced; for example Martin Harris changed his religion over eight times while others started their own religions (Journal of Discourse Vol 7: 114-115).  

In order to generate some income, in 1825, Joseph and his family became involved in treasure hunting. They were paid to walk various farmlands with divining rods in hand to search for silver and gold deposits. In 1926, Joseph was once again arrested and tried for committing fraud on the people he was hired by. Who does that surprise? But Joseph's financial problems were about to be solved.

In 1828 Joseph found and started translating the Book of Mormon and in 1830 it was published. At that time he called his Church the “Church of Christ”. But in 1834 he changed the name to the “Church of the Latter-day Saints”. Then in 1838, he changed the name again to the “Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints”. It was thought that he included the full name and title Jesus Christ into the Church’s title as it would serve as a selling point to a predominately Christian nation. 

In 1845 Josephs‘ mother Lucy Mack Smith published a book aptly titled, ”History of Joseph Smith by His Mother”. She had two copies printed. She kept one and gave the other to Brigham Young. He pronounced the book full of lies and errors which means it must have been true. Orson Pratt obtained Lucy’s copy and published it in 1853. In 1865, Brigham commanded all Mormons to destroy their copies. In the book, Lucy said that Joseph had an active imagination and a quick wit. She said he kept the family entertained by instantly creating fantastic stories on the spot concerning fictional ancient civilizations of this continent. He made the stories come alive by inventing leaders, life styles, adventures of the inhabitants, strange animals species, buildings, warfare and religious worship. She said, "He could do this with as much ease as if he had actually spent his whole life among them”. Researchers have since discovered that Joseph had access to a number of novels and history books that are noticeably parts of his works in both text, special events and storyline structures. 

Joseph said he received a revelation to move from New York to Ohio, then to Missouri and later to Illinois. As noted earlier, these revelations always occurred at the same time he was arrested, then released on bail for various crimes such as fraud and creating disorderly civil conduct. In Illinois he built a town called Nauvoo on the state line with Missouri just in case he needed to make a fast exit.

In 1839 Joseph built the first Mormon temple. Four years later arsonists burned the temple down leaving only the two front towers of stone standing. The following year a tornado struck the towers and toppled them. It was also in Nauvoo that he revealed his boldest and most inflammatory remarks concerning recent revelations. You may want to sit down before reading the following.

BASIC MORMON DOCTRINE 

Joseph first announced that God the Father was once a man just as are all men. But He progressed and was eventually perfected to such a degree that at his death, he was resurrected as a physical immortal. Then, with his resurrected immortal wife now a Spirit Mother Goddess, they continued to have relations which allowed her to give birth to “Spirit Children”. The LDS Church has no official understanding of how an immortal couple come together to create Spirt Children. These children are then indwelled by eternal “intelligences” a title that is not officially defined by the LDS Church. The Spirits remained in an ethereal state with their parents until they were allowed to descend down to the planet their father is the god-man of. At that time they indwelled its inhabitants. Now, the physical mortal people of this planet can choose to progress by living a life of righteousness through the exercise of free will. Then, when they die, their perfected intelligence had the opportunity to be rewarded. If it is a male, his body is resurrected immortal and he becomes a god-man. If it is a female, her body is resurrected immortal and she it becomes a Spirit Mother Goddess. Thus, the couple become the god and goddess of their very own planet. Smith announced that all men had this opportunity as long as their marriage took place in a Mormon Temple. In this way the couple was united for all eternity.  

Smith went on to state that Jesus was the first Spirit Child of God the Father. As such, He was considered "special". Further, because He freely self-sacrificed Himself on behalf of the sins of the inhabitants of the planet earth, mankind could now achieve godhood. However, this self-sacrificing event happens all the time on all other planets in the universe each having their own god-man and saviours. Joseph also announced that while he himself did not practice polygamy, it was allowed by earth's god-man. In fact, this was the quickest way for a god-man to populate his own planet with “Spirit Children”. 

People who have left the Mormon Church report that the religion has some beliefs that are made public and some beliefs that are kept secret, or as the Church likes to call them sacred. These secret-sacred beliefs are only revealed to those firmly entrenched with the Church. Please see these secret-sacred rituals at the end of this Paper. It has been proven with absolute certainty through LDS own records that Joseph Smith was a polygamist and initially had 27 officially registered wives with the youngest a fourteen year old child. 

Brigham Young was faced with having to come up with an explanation as to what was the status of these wives when Joseph Smith was killed. He explained that those women who had husbands, yet were also married to Joseph Smith, should remain married. But, at their deaths, their spirits would be joined with Joseph to birth his Spirit Children. However, the current husbands were free and encouraged to marry other women so as to have, upon their deaths, Spirit Mother Goddesses who would produce their Spirit Children. Also, as for the living unmarried women Joseph was married to, they were now by proxy, physically married to Brigham in life, but would be spiritually Joseph’s Mother Goddesses in death. Mormon afterlife is apparently very complicated and crowded.

                  How The Doctrine of Polygamy Began 

So how did the Polygamy doctrine began? Joseph assigned a man by the name of Willard Richards to serve as his personal secretary. He followed Joseph around to accurately record the beginning events concerning the Mormon Church movement. This record shows that Joseph had a meeting with his brother Hyrum and William Clayton a close friend. He told them that his wife Emma highly suspected he was having affairs with a number of women. Fanny Alger in 1831 has been documented by the Mormon Church as being the first. He said his relationship with Emma was now "strained". While he wanted to make her happy, he did not want to give up his affair with Fanny {the woman}. Hyrum suggested that Joseph should write out another revelation that polygamy was approved by the earth's god-man just as it was in Old Testament times. Joseph said he doubted Emma would believe this, but had Clayton write it down and then Hyrum delivered it to Emma. She later stated she did not believe it, but kept quiet in order to save the marriage, the infant Church movement and to not embarrass their nine children. When Joseph was killed, she immediately publicly stated she was against polygamy and it kept her in “constant emotional agony”. Of their nine children, four died still born and one from birth defects. Fanny Alger was just the first in a string of Joseph's ongoing extra marital affairs. 

In 1887, the Mormon Church created an official list of Joseph Smith’s first 27 wives. Genealogical records have added an additional 22 wives to the list for a current total of 49 wives. It is expected that DNA research will probably reveal even more wives. Nine of his wives were married to Mormon men creating polyandry in which the woman has two or more husbands. Again, these women married Smith because they wanted the honor of birthing Smith's Spirit Children.

                       The Death of Joseph Smith Jr. 

So why and how did Joseph die? By cross referencing the dates of various revelations, we can pinpoint the beginning of the end of Joseph Smith. In 1844, Joseph announced that the god-man of the earth was once a human, all men could be god-men, and polygamy was legitimate in the eyes of the earth's god-man. He announced that the physical god-man of the earth was Adam who had physical sex with Mary in order to produce the physical body of Jesus which was then indwelled by the spirit of the angel Michael. He went on to say that Jesus had multiple wives and while He was crucified for the sins of the people of this planet, this happened all the time on other planets with other god-men using their own Christ like Spirit Children to accomplish this same outcome.  

It appears these extremely inflammatory remarks by Joseph plucked the last good nerve of the areas Christians. It was then that a Christian printer began to produce articles that included confessions of multiple women who had married Joseph. Smith found out and in a rage had the printer’s shop burned down. The authorities discovered that Joseph was behind the burning and arrested him and his brother James on a charge of arson in February of 1844. 

They were taken to the town of Carthage, Illinois to await trial. News spread quickly that Joseph had been arrested for arson and over the next four months, vigilante mobs began to regularly form outside the jail. A friend of Joseph’s was eventually able to smuggle a gun to him probably while delivering food.

On Thursday June 27^th, 1844, the mob of approximately one hundred and seventy five men stormed the jailhouse. Joseph took his gun, stuck his arm just outside the door and fired all six shots randomly into the crowd killing two and wounding three. Then Joseph ran to jump out of a second story window. As he climbed through the window he was shot in the back by those entering the room, and in the chest by those standing outside on the ground. He fell down to the ground and was shot again repeatedly. The number of times he was shot was never released. The mob inside the room also killed Joseph's brother Hyrum by shooting him in the face. His last words were, "I have been shot in the face and am a dead man!" Never have truer words been spoken. While five men were indicted for the killings, all were acquitted in a jury trial. Because Joseph was running for President of the United States at the time {you heard me}, he is considered the first presential candidate to be assassinated. Joseph was thirty nine years old and his Church consisted of tens of thousands of devoted followers. You can't make a story like this up! 

Joseph was now compared by his church members to Christ in that he was a teacher, a prophet {no prophecies came to fruition} of the god-man of the earth, and a misunderstood innocent man who was unjustly murdered by an angry mob. Thus like Christ, he died a martyr for his people, and the one true religion of the god-man and goddess of planet earth. In Biblical times, a person declared a false prophet was arrested, tried and taken outside to be stoned to death by the public. Smith's death strikingly parallels this tradition only his death was quicker and more humane.

Following his death, in 1847 Brigham Young assumed the position of second President and Prophet of the Mormon Church. It was then that Brigham called all Mormons to follow him to Salt Lake Valley, Utah. The area at that time was a Territory, but under his leadership, the Mormon Church began to build Salt Lake City. Brigham would later become the first Governor of the Territory of Utah. In 1850 he led six thousand Mormons from Illinois to Utah. Interestingly, Joseph Smith's parents and siblings remained in the Midwest.

Additional Mormon Doctrine Revealed By Brigham Young

Brigham said he had a revelation that black skin was the result of a curse that God put on Cain. And, while people of color could enter Heaven, it was only to perform works of service. In 1856, he officially instituted polygamy as Church doctrine. He then announced a revelation that Adam was the god-man of the earth and the only god that Mormons were to follow. God Adam was the father of all human spirits and was Jesus’ physical biological father who physically impregnated Mary. Because a new prophet can override the prophecies of an older one, the LDS Church today can and does say that this doctrine was never taught. However, Brigham is well documented as teaching these doctrines from 1852 till 1877. He also taught that Eve was only one of Adam’s many wives and that Michael the Archangel was the “Ancient of Days” that the Bible speaks of, and not the Triune Godhead. Also, Michael, as one of the creators of the world, transitioned from a spirit being to becoming the physical Adam. Brigham stated that while the earth was created by the organizational powers of God the Father, Jesus the Son and Michael the Holy Spirit, Adam was now the god-man of earth. Eve, along with his other wives, were now producing Spirit Children in Heaven to indwell the humans of planet earth. Today, the LDS church still teaches that Adam is “The Ancient of Days” not God. It is Adam who is also Michael, that will sound the trumpet at the end of the Age. There is a difference of opinion in the LDS Church if Adam or Jesus will judge the earth at the End of the Age. Brigham taught Adam but the Modern doctrine now says Jesus.

Brigham taught that Jesus was a Spirit Child of Adam and a spirit brother of all mankind. He was also a brother of the angels, spirit beings of all kinds and the brother of Lucifer and the fallen ones. Modern Mormons do believe that Jesus is the spirit bother of Lucifer. Brigham emphasized that Jesus was not begotten by the Holy Spirit, but instead by a physical immortal god-Adam. Today, the LDS doctrine states that Jesus was virgin born but like all people, had to "progress" during His ministry. Originally, Mormon doctrine taught Jesus was a married polygamist {possibly including Mary Magdalene} and had children. Today the LDS no longer have an official position on this question. Some believe He was married while others believe He remained single.  

The LDS Church has an old saying, “The Christ followed by the Mormons is not the Christ followed by traditional Christians.” Amen to that! 

So, God the Father of the Mormons is not God the Father of the Bible. And the Jesus of Mormons is not the Jesus of the Gospels. Mormon Doctrine states, ” … if Jesus was the Son of God, and … God, the Father of Jesus had a Father, then you may surmise he had a Father also.” (Mormon Doctrine Pg 322) In 1844, Joseph Smith was quoted as saying, “Every man has a natural and constitutional right to be a false prophet, as well as a true one … I am going to tell you how god came to be god … We have imagined that god was from all eternity {eternal}. I will refute that idea and take away the veil, so that you may see god was once {a man} as we are now. And, you have to learn to be gods yourselves … the same as all gods {that} have come before you.” (Joseph Smith, “Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith”, pp. 344-347). While the entirety of the Old and New Testaments consistently refutes all these ideas, the LDS church believes that the Bible is in error about these issues and it’s prophets are responsible for correcting these misunderstandings. 

Within weeks of releasing a sermon that God was not eternal and did not create anything, that men and women can become gods and goddesses, that God and Christ were not eternal, that polygamy was god ordained and the Bible was filled with errors, an enraged mob arrived at Joseph Smith’s jail cell. A gun battle erupted and when it was over three men were killed including Joseph. His violent death was considered at that time to be a Divine warning to the Mormon Church that God will not be mocked! 

The Mormons had now moved to the middle of a desert land to practice their religion in peace. But in 1857, Brigham Young is thought to have directed a Mormon militia to attack a wagon train of settlers heading west from Arkansas to California. One hundred and forty innocent people were murdered. This event is referred to as the “Mountain Meadows Massacre”. No motive concerning the event was ever discovered. It is theorized that Brigham, or one of his lieutenants, became paranoid that the settlers were secretly government agents sent to destroy the LDS movement. The Mormon militia leader was tried and executed.

On an interesting yet macabre note, Mormons celebrate all holidays including their own holiday with the rather ill conceived title of Pioneer Day. They are not celebrating the Mormon massacre of pioneers passing through Utah to California. Instead, they are celebrating Brigham Young bringing Mormon pioneer settlers to Salt Lake City Utah who later massacred innocent pioneers. Just wanted to get that straight.

Brigham Young was instrumental in cleaning up the Church’s early unsavory history primarily concerning Joseph it’s founder. He stated that Joseph did have a seminal visit from a celestial being named Moroni. But this was not God nor was it Christ whose name is Jehovah. Instead it was an angel that told him not to join any denomination. He also explained that Joseph was constantly getting further light and knowledge that corrected most of the false doctrines and prophecies he had pronounced earlier.

This has become the mantra of the LDS Church. They now say that the Church’s past history is past and it serves no purpose to focus on it. Instead, the Church is always in the process of reinventing itself and moving forward. This in turn means that an LDS member cannot, and will never become confused by the facts.  

The Book of Mormon, a cornerstone of the religion, has been thoroughly examined over the past two hundred years by Mormon and secular scholars. The book, which is considered dull and uninteresting to most readers, is universally accepted as also being a writing of fiction. None of the people, places or events cited in the book have proven to have any credible historical or archeological support. The subject matter of the book and its literary structure contains many ideas apparently lifted by Joseph from existing books that were popular and easily available to him prior to his publishing date of 1830.  

DOCTRINAL ISSUES OF CHRISTINITY VERSES MORMONISM 

God was once a mortal man who lived on another planet similar to earth. As a human man, god ‘progressed’ by living in obedience to the laws and ordinances of a Mormon like gospel he had on his particular planet. He physically died, but his reward was to became a resurrected immortal man who was now a god-man. He was still married to his physical wife(s) who at death were transformed into a physical Mother Goddess. Together, the couple continued to have relations and the Mother Goddess continually births Spirit Children. These Children were then indwelled by eternal free roaming "intelligences" which defy LDS definition. These Spirit Children are then directed to descend down to the planet, now owned by the planet's god-man and Spirit Mother Goddess, to indwell human newborns. Mormons on this planet called earth, worship the god-man of this planet. But this god-man is just one among millions or billions of other god-men who rule over other planets. Mormons believe that if they progress in their god’s footsteps, they will also achieve perfection and will become gods and goddesses with their own planet(s). So, while there are innumerable planets with humans on them, only "special" progressed people on these planets become gods and goddesses and are responsible for creating Spirit Children to indwell their populations. 

THE FOUNDATION OF MORMONISM IN THE FOUNDERS WORDS

Joseph Smith wrote, “…you have to learn to be gods yourselves….the same as all gods have done before you, namely, by progressing from one small degree to another…” (Joseph Smith, Journal of Discourse, Vol. 6 Pg. 4, 1844).  Joseph Smith went on to say, "Man was begotten by their Father in Heaven who was begotten by his Father in Heaven and so on from one generation to generation. There was no beginning so no first god. Gods, like the universe are eternal. The mind of man is coequal {coeternal} with god himself. This system is eternal and exist upon a self existent principal. It exist without creation." (Joseph Smith, King Follet Discourse, 1844) Joseph went on to say, "The universe was and is always in a state of eternal progression including the progression of god. God the Father was once a man who progressed to godhood as did Jesus. All humans can simply progress to become gods and goddesses. There was not a time when there were not gods. The process is part of an eternal progression. A lineage of gods with each having been a man before them and all with a planet." Brigham Young wrote, "As God is, so can man become and as man is, so God once was. There was never a time when there was not gods." (Brigham Young, Journal of Discourse, 7:333). For Mormons, the G in the word God is capped only when referring to God the Father. The g is not capped when referring to a male Mormon becoming a god.

Mormons believe that all people have existed for all eternity. First people existed as “intelligence” which is a word that has never defined by the LDS Church. Then a person is given a spirit body in Heaven created by their now eternal god-man and Spirit Mother Goddess. It is this spirit body that encapsulates an eternally existing free roaming ‘intelligence’ to form a complete spirit that can now indwell a physical body on earth. You follow? A person's intelligence has existed eternally just like their god-man has. They have been around him in one form or another forever. It’s simply that their god-man has "progressed" ahead of them. John Smith wrote, “god himself {earth's god-man}, finding he was in the midst of spirits {eternal intelligences} in glory, because he was more intelligent {progressed}, saw it as proper to institute laws {to create spirit bodies} whereby the rest {other spirits} could have the privilege {be incapsulated} to advance {practice Mormonism on a planet} like him {rewarded w/a planet}.” Get it?

Jesus was conceived by the unusual physical union of the physical god-man of this planet with Mary. Because the god-man of this earth has a physical resurrected immortal body, he was able to literally have sex with Mary. In this way Jesus was not created as just another man, but a "special" man. Old school Mormons believe that Jesus was the first born Spirit Child created by the earth god-man {Adam} and his spirit wife {Eve} who together created His spirit body that then encapsulated His eternal intelligence. Then the god-man impregnated Mary and Jesus' special spirit indwelled that body. Some Mormon sects teach that this spirit was that of the angel Michael while some teach it was not. Today, the modern LDS has changed this doctrine to say that Jesus was virgin born and Mary was impregnated by the Holy Spirt. However, the Mormon Holy Spirit is a resurrected immortal man now in spirit form. Still, the Church insist that no sex occurred in the insemination of Mary. Not only was Jesus the first born Spirit Child of earth, but according to Joseph's Smith personal copy of the 'Book of Abraham', his intelligence was "superior to others" which makes him the most important Spirit Child of all earthly Spirit Children. Sadly, it turned out that the 'Book of Abraham' Joseph referred to was only an abbreviated copy of the Egyptian Book of the Dead with no literary value even to Egyptologists. So now whose the idiot?  

Joseph Smith said he had a handwritten copy by Abraham c.2000 B.C. of the 'Book of Abraham', and that it was possibly the most important book ever written. Then in 1967, the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art decided to return Joseph's copy of this book back to the Mormon Church. Sadly, it turned out that the book was only an abbreviated version of the Egyptian Book of the Dead filled with supposed magic spells and incantations. It was seen as of no value to the museum nor Egyptologists. The Mormons were extremely disappointed to find out yet another one of Joseph Smith claims was a lie. 

Because Jesus’ spirit was the first Spirit Child created by the god-man of earth and one of his wives Eve, and his intelligence was deemed as great, and because he voluntarily allowed himself to be sacrificed for the sins of mankind, thus he is to be thought of as 'special' entity. However His intelligence spirit that indwelled His body was really no different than the spirits put in the bodies of all mankind. Everyone’s bodies are created by biological mothers and fathers except for Jesus whose body was created by the power of the Holy Spirit and Mary. This was a one off impregnation to create a special body to be indwelled by a special first born 'Spirit Child'. All other human bodies are indwelled by Spirit Children created by their physical yet now immortal god-man with his Mother Goddess.  

Mormons believe that they can only know the truth by way of their feelings. Mormons do not rely on, and will disregard any facts that contradict what their feelings tell them are true. If something feels bad, like being told that Joseph Smith was a proven fraud, then they know that Smith must have been a prophet since a lie creates bad feelings, and it feels bad when someone tells them they have been duped. In other words, if they get a bad feeling when they are hearing something, this thing they are hearing must be a lie. On the other hand, because they feel good when they read the Book of Mormon, this is proof that it must be true. Negative reports on this book based on archeology, genetics, and science are irrelevant since their feelings tell them that it is a true book revealed to their prophet Joseph Sith by the earth's god-man. This is why it is completely impossible to reason with a missionary who comes to your door. The best you can do is ask them to look up ‘What is Wrong With Mormonism”. At least that way you have tried to plant a seed. 

Mormons were originally against birth control as it limits the number of Spirit Children born into a family. A Mormon women practicing birth control of any kind is forcing Spirit Children to be born into non Mormon families. And that's a bad thing? This doctrine regularly produced Mormon families in the double digits. However, most Mormons today believe it is up to the couple to decide the number of children right for them. Abortion is not allowed except in cases of rape, incest, or when medically necessity. 

Mormons believe that their Church Prophet can revise a prophecy when deemed necessary. This is very important because the prophecies of Smith, Young and others have never come to pass and many of the original doctrines were raciest and misogynistic. To do this, the Prophet Head of the LDS Church has to state that what he or a past prophet prophesied was definitely wrong. And the reason this happened was that he, or the past prophet, was prophesying as a man and not in his capacity as a Church Prophet. What? Also, newer prophets can override older prophets. This way they can immediately correct and rewrite Church history. Today 96% of Mormons believe the head of the Church is a living prophet of God the Father even if he never prophesizes anything. These revelations can come by way of a voice, a vision or the Holy Ghost. Interestingly, in Biblical times, if a prophet made a prophecy that did not come true, he was immediately stoned to death. If this was still the case, the Mormon religion would have ended a hundred and eighty years ago.

Mormons believe the afterlife consist of a number of stages. Phase One occurs when the human spirit leaves the body at death and awaits resurrection. Phase Two has the eternal spirit living in one of three levels based on their worthiness. Level One is the Highest Kingdom and the ultimate reward. It's for couples sealed for eternity through a Temple ritual. Level Two is for those who are married but not eternally sealed. Level Three or the lowest level is for single people and those not very committed to the Mormon gospel. 

The spirit world is here on earth, but cannot be seen by mortals. It is divided into Paradise for the righteous, Temporary Prison for the wicked, and Eternal Outer Darkness for the incorrigible wicked. At some point, most of those in prison will come to recognize their god-man as their Father and Jesus as their redeemer and thus be released. It is then that all human spirits will live together in peace. However, a small few will eternally refuse to acknowledge Jesus as the one who died for their sins and be sent into Hell which the Mormons call Outer Darkness. 

Mormons believe that at the Second Coming, Christ descends to the earth. As He does, the ‘fully’ righteous dead will arise in the air to meet Him as will the living ‘fully’ righteous of the earth. At the Second Coming, the righteous now inherit the Celestial Kingdom where they live with their god-man. At this time, Christ destroys all wicked mortals on earth and their unrepentant spirits are then confined in Spirit Prison. Now begins the Millennial Reign. After the Millennial Reign has started, Christ systematically resurrects the ‘medium’ righteous people held in Temporary Prison. These are decent people, but they did not fully embrace the Mormon Gospel in life. They will eventually inherit the Terrestrial Kingdom {earth}. These two types of people are still mortal, but become immortal at death. At the end of the Millennial Reign, those spirits left in prison will finally be resurrected and also inherit the Terrestrial Kingdom. Satan is then released, leads one final rebellion, is defeated, and he and his followers are cast into eternal Outer Darkness or Hell. Then God will judge all people and give them their eternal reward in one of the three Kingdoms of Heaven. Needless to say, this is not even remotely close in any way to what is described in Scripture.  

Mormons believe that the God ordained ability to save dead ancestors proves that they are the only true Church. To do this, a living Mormon goes into a baptismal pool, the name of a dead person is announced, and then that Mormon serves as a proxy for that dead person who now receives baptism in abstention and eternal life. The Mormon Church was at one time singularly focused on proxy baptizing all the Jewish holocaust victims. However, when it leaked out that they had recently reached the F surnames and had baptized Anne Frank, they were sent turs cease and desist orders from Jewish organizations and community leaders. The Mormons publicly announced they had stopped proxy baptisms, but there are rumors that it still secretly taking place.

Mormon Secrets. Mormons conduct Temple Rituals involving secret covenants and passwords that lead to celestial progression and help males to become god-men quicker. There is a Second Anointment that guarantees the promise of exaltation to the highest degree of Heaven for those few chosen married recipients. Another secret is the rewriting of the Church's sorted beginnings as contained in this Paper. The Church has a long history of playing down or hiding these events from its membership. Especially new members who never think to research the beginnings of the Mormon Church. Another little know fact is that Mormons wear sacred undergarments as a profession of faith, and for some as protection against evil.

Baptism. Mormons believe that a person cannot receive eternal life without experiencing a full water emersion baptism. Most Mormons are traditionally baptized at the age of eight. During a baptism, Mormons use the words Father, Son and Holy Spirit, but these names have a completely different meaning in the Mormon Lexicon. The Mormon Godhead {not Trinity} is composed of three non eternal yet exalted separate immortal human beings. The term Father means the human god-man of only the planet earth and no other realm. The term Son means Jesus a 'special' human but not eternal nor Devine. The term Holy Ghost refers to an entity who was also once a human, but now in an immortal spirit body. The three are not eternal but humans now immortal, and not united in essence but separate beings working towards a common cause.

Mormons believe in an eternal God the Father who created all things. Yes and no. Mormons believe that there was originally one supreme God called Elohim who is now the God over all gods. However, they do not believe God the Father created all things from nothing. Instead, God was surround by eternal preexisting matter, energy and intelligences {spirits}. God took this existing matter and instructed Jehovah {Jesus} to organize it into universes and planets. So God the Father did not create anything and Jesus took pre existing fundamental elements and gave them form and order.

The most basic of Christian doctrines is that a Triune Godhead eternally existed. The Triune Godhead consists of three eternal and coequal spiritual entities all of one accord and of one substance. This Godhead existed before anything else existed including time, space and matter. They personally and intelligently created all spiritual and physical realms. They created them from nothing as nothing else existed before creation. They willed all creation into existence. It was God the Father that initiated the act creation. Instantly, a separate but coequal eternal entity Christ, known then as the Word of God or God the Word gave a command. Instantly, a third separate but coequal eternal entity known as God the Holy Spirit initiated that command and all things were created from nothing. That moment is known today as the Big Bang. Spiritual and physical existence continues to be held together because the Triune Godhead continues to will it to be so.

The Mormon Church also teaches that God the Father is enthroned near the star Kolob. The Mormon Church has no official text on where this star is actually located. It prefers for members to "Look beyond the mark" of attempting to find an actual star and instead "focus on a spiritual meaning" as opposed to a "literal astronomical positioning". The Mormon Church teaches that God the Father has at least one wife or Mother Goddess who continues to produce His Spirit Children. The Church refuses to say if there is more than just one wife. Me thinks that means yes.

Mormons believe that those who leave the Church were never really Mormons in the first place. Therefore, at death, these people will be cast into Outer Darkness. Well, that was easy!

Mormons are required to only read church approved materials. Any literature that is critical of the LDS Church is considered satanic and/or written by disgruntled apostates or others who do not know the truth. They are to be ignored and even reasonable sounding arguments against the Church should be seen as unimportant if they cause one to doubt their LDS faith. 

Mormons are commanded to convert the entire world to Mormonism. To accomplish this, all Mormons are baptized at the age of eight, and all healthy males from the ages of 19 to 22 are required to go on eighteen month missions throughout the world. In some cases this includes unmarried daughters. Married couples are encouraged to save money so that they can go on a mission trip together. Some Mormons are taught that going in a mission is a box that must be checked in order to receive their own planet to rule at death. 

Mormons are taught that they are assured salvation even if they are wrong. This is because earth's god-man will forgive them because they believe Jesus is this world's saviour just as do all Christians. If they are right, and they know they are, then they will be together forever with their family as god-men and Mother Goddesses. And if they are wrong, god-man {the Mormon god of this planet} will forgive them as their intentions were pure. Therefore, why not be Mormons as all the 'go straight to Heaven bases' are covered? 

Mormonism is the one true Church because it has the name Jesus Christ in its title. Mormons are told that they are the one true church of the earth's god-man as their religion incudes the name Jesus Christ. Well, that makes perfect sense. Go on? And Mormons are told to simply ignore past unsavory historic events associated with the founding of the Church. Just ignore Joseph Smith saw God and Christ, then it was actually only two angels, then it was actually only one angel, then it was actually no angels. Forget the many Church name changes, Church doctrine changes, the ability of one prophet canceling another prophet’s prophecies in order to rewrite history, moving the Church from state to state to avoid fraud convictions and incarceration, polygamy issues, the Book of Mormon declared a fantasy by its own Church. And last but not least, forget their founder was married to over forty women {and lets not forget that one child}, and murdered three men in a jailbreak shootout. Instead, they are simply to focus on Joseph's Smith's vision of a bright future as god-men and Mother Goddesses with their very own planet to rule.  

Members believe that the Book of Mormon is true. The Book of Mormon supposedly tells the story of various people who populated the Americas for over 2,600 years from 2,200 B.C. to 420 A.D.  Mormons believe that the second group of people who occupied the Americas was a lost Jewish tribe who left Jerusalem and sailed to the Americas. They spoke Hebrew yet kept their records in Reformed Egyptian? And while these people numbered in the millions, they somehow left absolutely no archeological proof of their existence. And even though the Archeological Department of Brigham Young University has officially stated that the story of these people is pure fiction, many Mormons still believe in the incredibly boring stories contained in this book. Recent surveys show that educated, liberal and moderate Mormons do not believe these stories as written by Joseph Smith. Still, these false accounts are not critical to them when deciding to stay or leave the religion. The most important issue for them is tradition and community. They were raised Mormon, are proud to live a wholesome lifestyles, and have deep abiding ties within their extended families and the Mormon community at large. So, once a Mormon, always a Mormon. However, conservative high school educated Mormons believe all the doctrines of the Church and continue to practice all customs including, in some cases, polygamy. 

Mormons believe the Bible contains errors. Mormons believe the traditional Bible contains errors. However, they are excited and optimistic that God has appointed the LDS Church to correct these errors, and through its prophets, actually add to the Bible and bring it to a state of completion. Oh boy... count me in! 

Mormons believe that before Jesus ascended to Heaven, He came to North America to preach and heal the Native Americans who were a lost tribe from Israel. However, Mormons are taught that most of the Native Americans rejected Jesus and His Gospel. So, God cursed them just as He did Cain. Their mark was the same as Cain in that their skin turned dark as did their hair which also went from curly to straight. Those natives that received the Gospel of Jesus remined white or pure, and I guess blond and curly? As strange as it may sound, it was a common belief in the 18^th and 19^th centuries that Native Americans came from Israel. While Native Americans believed they came from deep within caves and springs. They also believed that the earth rested on the back of a turtle that swims through space. Well, at least they got that part right. 

Many Mormons continue to believe this skin curse doctrine even though modern DNA testing shows that Native Americans are direct descendants of the Mongol race who occupy northeast Russia. They eventually migrated to America around 13,000 years ago by way of the Bering Strait ice sheet. This was a temporary fifty five mile long bridge between Russia and Alaska. The bridge melted 11,000 years ago when the earth went through a warming climate change. Joseph Smith ordained that all people of color were considered cursed by God. As such, Church members were not allowed to socially interact or marry them. Also, people of color were not allow to serve in leadership positions, or receive Church blessings. These doctrines were abolished in 1978. That’s right…1978! 

Prophecy. Joseph Smith made four major prophecies of which none occurred. The best know prophecy was that the Second Coming of Christ would occur in 1891 or before he reached the age of eighty. That's got to sting. Maybe he should have prophesied his being shot to death in a jail cell at the age of thirty nine?

Some Mormons believe Jesus was married while on earth and had many wives who are now with Him in Heaven creating Spirit Children to indwell the humanoids on another planet. Today, the LDS church takes no official position on the marital status of Jesus.

Mormons wear a sacred three piece underwear type garment. This garment was personally designed by Smith who commanded that it never be altered. The Mormon Church 'insists' that it be called an undergarment and not underwear as that term makes it sound ridiculous. It is also considered sacred and not blessed. The Church states it is worn primarily for "spiritual guidance"?

The garment is worn to remind the wearer to keep their focus on their god-man and becoming a god-man themselves. Many Mormons believe it also provides magical protection against harm and evil. The garment has four sacred symbols on each breast and knee. The meanings of these symbols have changed as the Church evolves, but basically symbolize core Mormon beliefs. During his presidential campaign, Mitt Romney admitted publicly that he never leaves home without being securely wrapped in his Mormon undergarmentwear.

Joseph Smith taught that at the Second Coming, Jesus will descend to Jackson County Missouri and rule the earth from there for the next 1,000 years. The Bible states Jesus will descend to Jerusalem, but why mention the Bible at this point. Smith also taught that the Garden of Eden was located in Independence Missouri which is also located in Jackson County. The Mormon god-man of the earth must really like Missouri ... a lot! 

In 1844 Joseph Smith announced that polygamy was a 'god ordained' part of the LDS doctrine. While Joseph Smith swore that he was not personally a polygamist, LDS Church records today acknowledge he was secretly married to forty women with the youngest being fourteen. The Church states that his sweet spot age for women to marry was between the ages of twenty and forty, with of course the exception of the fourteen year old child he married. He also freely married women who were already married. He apparently did not have relations with all his wives instead "sealing" some to procreated with later in Heaven {includes the 14 year old}. Also to be considered, Joe had nine children by his wife Emma so he probably just did not have the time to consummate his marriage with all his wives. It turns out that Smith's god ordained polygamy doctrine was officially banned by the Church in 1890. However, it continues to be practiced by an unknown number of conservative old school LDS members to this day. In fact, there are six television series showing the lifestyles of polygamous families. 

THE FUNDAMENTAL FLAW OF MORMONISM

As with all false religions and denominations of the world, their founders took a kernel of truth and twisted it to suite their purpose of creating a religious doctrine in their own image. Having read some of the sermons given by Joseph Smith, it is clear he possessed an exceptional mind. He was literate, articulate and had an in-depth knowledge of the Bible. And like all people, he struggled to understand how did God the Father come into existence? His rational intellect led him to assume there must have been no beginning of anything including God. All things existed eternally. But then how did God become an entity. Using his incredible intellect, he concluded that intelligences eternally existed in a spiritual universe. He ascribed this understanding as being given to him by Jesus through the Holy Spirit. But this is not true. It was a solution that came from his own vivid imagination. The term intelligences has never been defined by the LDS Church. But the word intelligences was Smith's way of describing the biblical Intelligent Life Spirit given by God to mankind so that a person can obtain eternal life. With out the Intelligent Life Spirit, a person is only a mind and body. The Intelligent Life Spirit is the spirit that leaves the body at death carrying with it remembrances of the person's life.

This is a kernel of biblical truth that Joseph decided to spin. The Bible is clear that God created Adam with a mind, body and spirit. God the Father breathed "life" both physical and spiritual into Adam (Genesis 2:7). All people are then born with a body, mind and spirt. However, since the fall of Adam, all people are now created in the image of man and not God as was Adam (Genesis 5:3). So now, this spirit all people are born with is the Spirit of the Flesh. It is only when a person recognized their Creator, repents of their sins and asks to be indwelled by the Spirit of God that they are reborn {in the Spirit} and guaranteed eternal life.

However, Smith created a system in which there is no Creator God. Instead, there is an eternal system in which creation always existed. The universe with its intelligences and planets and humans always existed. There have always been gods who, with their wives, produced Spirit Children that were naturally indwelled by intelligences. It was then, when this spirit indwelled a humanoid on a planet, that the person now had the possibility of living a moral life and at death, have the capability of receiving immortality and becoming the god of a planet. And thus, this cycle repeats itself eternally. As for where the Biblical God the Father can be found, Smith said he had a revelation that he was enthroned in an area in space near a sun named Kolob. There is no known sun by this name.

So Smith had an intellectual problem and solved it by creating an eternal self sustained system of automatic existence and reward. A system that had no beginning and no end. A system without a Creator God, but one in which man becomes his own god. Lastly, all people on all planets sin and so are in need of a savior. Earth's savior was named Jesus, but according to Smith He was only one of billions of saviors sent by their gods to save billions humans on billions of planets.

This is THE fundamental doctrine upon which the LDS Church is built. And it is THE fundamental flaw in the Church's doctrine. Once a person reads the Bible, they discover that there is a Eternal Creator God who created all things spiritual and physical from nothing. The Bible clearly states this in Chapter one, verse one of the Bible (Genesis 1:1). And this same God created mankind and His Spirit indwells all who recognize Him as their Creator. This truth is what puts members of the LDS Church on perilous ground and on the wide road to destruction. They say they know God, but they mean the immortal god-man and not the Eternal God the Father. They say they believe in Jesus, but they mean Jesus the god-man and not Jesus the one and only eternal Word of God. They say they believe in a Holy Sprit, but they mean the god-man holy spirit and not the one and only Eternal Holy Spirit of the Triune Godhead.

The LDS Church has all the right words, but if you pull back the curtain, you find these word have all the wrong meanings. And, there is no excuse for LDS members not to pull back the curtain no mater what their grandparents might think.

    SUMMERY 

Religious scholars, including those of the Mormon Church, are in agreement that the Book of Mormon, its stories and the Book of Abraham are both works of complete fiction. Further, the Mormon Church states that, "... there are no conclusive connections between the Book of Mormon text and any specific geographical sites". Meaning, the events sited in the book did not actually take place, so stop looking for evidence that they did. These findings have been published and are available to LDS Church members. Yet, there has been a total lack of response by the LDS membership to these revelations. This proves that, even though the foundational doctrines of the LDS Church have been repeatedly proven to be fictional writings from the mind of an inventive yet morally corrupt and delusional man, these revelations have no effect whatsoever on true believers. They have a fundamental disconnect when it comes to facts versus their religious beliefs. It is obvious that Mormons do not believe in the historical authenticity of Mormon scriptures in the first place. Thus, for them there is nothing to disconfirm. This is the same with Flat Earthers and those who believe the six televised moon landings were faked. Their minds are made up on the subject and any attempt to sway them only makes them more resolute in their beliefs. Many Mormons will tell you that they would not leave the Church even if its entire history is proven to be a lie. Why? Because, as with so many religions, family tradition and social bonds go deeper than the truth. This is why the LDS Church is considered by 49% of Americans as being a cult. This percentage would be much higher if more Americans knew more about this secretive religion.

SIGNS MORMONISM IS A CULT

The Mormon Church has an authoritarian hierarchy that enforces high participation demands on Church members including a strict tithing requirement of at least ten percent of a households income. Questioning leaderships decisions is not permitted. The serving president of the Church is considered a prophet of God and not to be challenged. The Church's theological doctrine is completely removed from mainstream Christianity. They believe God is a man living on a planet and Jesus was not Divine but only "special". That all men can become gods and have their own planet to rule. The Church conducts secret practices that are not to be revealed to the public and in some cases to the general membership. Ninety four percent of Mormons believe the Book of Mormon is fact and written by a prophet of God. That families can be eternally bound together through Temple ceremonies and the dead can be baptized. The congregations are isolated from other religious doctrines and eighty six percent of Mormons are white non Hispanic. A recent Pew poll showed that almost half of Americans consider Mormonism a cult.

Two final thoughts to consider. First, today the Mormon Church is the wealthiest Church in the world with assets of over $300 billion dollars. Second, since the Mormon Church doctrine was revealed to Joseph Smith by the angel Moroni, would it not be more fitting to refer to the institution as the Church of Moron, and its members as Morons? 

Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.” (Romans 1:22)