The False Hope of Mormons

Thus came the voice of the Lord unto me, saying: “All who have died without a knowledge of this gospel, who would have received it if they had been permitted to tarry, shall be heirs of the celestial kingdom of God; also all that shall die henceforth without a knowledge of it, who would have received it with all their hearts, shall be heirs of that kingdom; for I, the Lord, will judge all men according to their works, according to the desire of their hearts.”

Doctrine & Covenants 137:7-9

Before I address this passage, there is a bit of a quandary: 

This is in the Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, pg.403, and I’m guessing it was published in 1997 since it's of the same series as the one on Brigham Young, which shows 1997—I tossed the one on Smith’s teachings after I tore out the pages I wanted to address.

My 1968 D&C does not have this “prophecy,” having ended at D&C 136.

My 2002 “Triple Combination” (BOM, D&C, POGP) DOES have it, as does the current version on the LDS internet page.

SO what gives? Why was this not in the 1968 version? I don’t have a copy of any earlier publication, but I’d like to know when it was dropped.

Anyway, there is a real problem here. If a person has never heard the true, biblical Gospel then they cannot have “confess[ed] with [their] mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in [their] heart that God raised Him from the dead,” then they cannot be saved (Rom.10:9). Their chance of doing so was lost when they died (Heb.9:27).

If they didn’t hear the Mormon gospel it doesn’t matter because it’s a false gospel so they can’t be saved anyway.

On top of that, we are not save by our works; this is stated throughout the New Testament. (e.g., Eph.2:89)

Mormon Scripture-Twisting

The Book of Mormon (the stick of Joseph in the hands of Ephraim,) had now been published for some time, and as the ancient prophet had predicted of it, “it was account as a strange thing.”

Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, pg.373

According to Joseph Smith, the two “sticks” in Ezekiel 37:16 are the Bible and the Book of Mormon. However, as any reading of the actual text of Ez. 37:15-28 would demonstrate, the sticks represent the nations of Judah and Ephraim, and are symbolically put together to join all Israel as one nation again. Read for yourself from the King James Version (the version Mormons like):

15 The word of the Lord came again unto me, saying,

16 Moreover, thou son of man, take thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim and for all the house of Israel his companions:

17 And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.

18 And when the children of thy people shall speak unto thee, saying, Wilt thou not shew us what thou meanest by these?

19 Say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes of Israel his fellows, and will put them with him, even with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in mine hand.

20 And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before their eyes.

21 And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land:

22 And I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all.

23 Neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions: but I will save them out of all their dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they be my people, and I will be their God.

24 And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.

25 And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children for ever: and my servant David shall be their prince for ever.

26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.

27 My tabernacle also shall be with them: yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

28 And the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore.

Smith’s citation from Hosea 8:12, about “a strange thing,” suggests the passage refers to the “stick of Ephraim” being the Book of Mormon. But “the strange thing” was how the nation of Israel (Ephraim) regarded the law.

Mormons fail to look at the context of the “two sticks” so they can learn another example of scripture-twisting by Smith to support his lies.